I know, I know... Way too early!

Okay, first of all let me explain the situation. We always put up our Christmas tree either the Friday after or the Sunday before Thanksgiving (depending on the date of Thanksgiving). The kids have been asking and asking to do the tree since Halloween. It has been cloudy and chilly and it just put us all in the holiday mood. We are going to my Mom and Dad's for the whole week of Thanksgiving. We will be coming back Sunday night. I just knew that I didn't want the mess of the trip mixing with the mess of putting up our decorations. I also knew that this was going to be a busy week and weekend with getting ready for the trip and shopping and visiting teaching...... So..... Last Sunday..... we put up our tree. What can I say, we are crazy. Even David and I were in the mood (me a little more than him I think - but he wouldn't have gone along with the idea if he wasn't in the mood :).
I love the Christmas season and I feel like it is too short as it is. So here ya go. Enjoy my not so great pictures of our preparation. I hope it gets you in the mood for your upcoming preparations too :).

Last year the girls noticed that I would move ornaments around after they were all done decorating. They had asked me what I was doing and I explained how I like the ornaments to look and how to fill in the spaces in the tree. They helped me some last year. This year was awesome. I didn't even have to touch the tree. Emma and Joelle fixed all the weird spots by themselves. They were pretty sneaky about it so that the younger ones didn't even notice the girls were moving the ornaments they had hung. They made the tree very pretty. It was great to see them in action. I was quite proud :).

I have always wanted a fireplace just to hang stockings above it. I was sad because this fireplace didn't have a mantel. Joelle came up with this idea and I loved it! I love living with smart people. It makes life so much easier :).