come on in and stay awhile

Welcome to my home for Christmas!

I haven't had many guests this Christmas season due to a week long vacation and being snowed in for the past NINE days, (yes, I said NINE...ok, I guess there was a little break for 2 days or so, but still!)

There are so many amazing things that I love about Christmas and decorating my home is one of them. So, I thought I would invite you on in for a little tour with me just for the fun of it! I've got some peanut butter cup cookies and peppermint bark to be enjoyed and I'll even make you a cup of hot chocolate. (Boy, am I missing my holiday visitors.)

After walking through the front door, this is the first thing you might see...

Or you might be looking across the living room at this...

Or it's possible that you may be looking at this...

Our house has a very open floor plan.

On top of the fireplace, is this...
I was hoping to be able to put our Christmas tree hunting picture in here to go with the theme of the trees, but no such luck this year. If you haven't seen our "it will do" tree yet, check it out here.

One of my favorites...
Which, surprisingly neither of the kids have touched! They might be getting the hang of this no thing after all.

Next to our phone is a snowman Christmas countdown (we also have a Christmas countdown advent calendar that my mom made for us hanging behind our front door) and a place to put all of my Christmas cards I get in the mail. Have I mentioned how much I LOVE going to the mail at Christmas time?! It seriously is one of the highlights of my day (and more so this past week, since we haven't been out much). And, today, did not disappoint. We had 7 Christmas greetings waiting for us! Check back after Christmas for a quick peak at what I do with the photo cards we receive each year.

We'll finish off the tour with my snowmen collection on top of the bookcase. I've been collecting these little goodies throughout the years. And this bookcase is way out of reach of curious little fingers, but still visible to the adult eye, so that people can take a look. I try to find one (or two!) snowman that I can add each year.

Left side...

Right side...
And, here is the rest of my decor scattered here and there...
Thanks for coming over. And just think you didn't have to fight 14 inches of snow to do it.

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Ryan shoveled the driveway yesterday and today we're chaining up (with a van load of presents, clothes, food, and who knows what else!) and driving the 10 or so miles to my parents' house to stay the night for the next few days. The weatherman says that today will be the "best day" and then more snow will be coming our way again on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So, we thought we would head out earlier and just have an extended family get together. Thankfully, my sister and her family drove down from Tacoma, WA on Saturday before it really got too crazy or else we would not be spending Christmas together. It should be an interesting next couple of days with all of us crammed under one roof (6 adults, an 8-year old, 2 toddlers, a 1-year old, and an infant...yikes!), but I'm looking forward to being able to be with family.

There won't be any internet, but I'm bringing a long a few "old school" projects that I've been wanting to do like organize recipes, write in the baby book, and organize my craft idea binder. Plus, we're going to be doing a lot of relaxing. No cleaning the house, doing laundry, or whatever else I find that occupies my time. I'm just going to BE. I think I need that.

Merry Christmas and be safe, warm, and happy!


Head on over to The Lazy Organizer to see what others are talking about only 2 days before Christmas.