O Christmas Tree!!

**Warning - this post has several pictures and there are more to come in another post!! They're not exactly in order either, but it's ok! I'll just start off by saying that I LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year. I must also say that my house looks so beautiful! I'm so proud of it, and it's so much more Christmasy than last year.

Last Christmas was the first one we spent in our new house, and the only decorations I put up were an old hand-me-down tree that Steph and I had used in our apartment. So, I started telling Gene last year that I wanted to get a new one for this year. He and I were in Lowe's last Friday and I fell in love! I found a 9 ft tree that was not pre-lit, and it was exactly what I was looking for!! I really didn't want one that was pre-lit, and this one was just perfect. I kept talking about it and talking about it. Well, last week I ran to Wal-Mart on my lunch break to get some scrapbooking stuff and sashayed (sp?) through the Christmas decorations and found a 7.5 ft tree that was only $78 so I called Gene and told him about it. He just kept telling me I didn't want a 7.5 ft one. Finally after making me ask over and over why, he told me I could go get the 9 ft one from Lowe's!!!! I was soooooo excited! So....on Friday Mom, Corey, Grace, and I went shopping and I got some new pretties to put out, and then we ventured to Lowe's! We had made room in Mom's car to haul the tree so I went up to pay for it. There was a sign up that said Christmas decorations were 25% off, but the employee I spoke to said he didn't think the trees were. Well....they were!!! So, I saved about 40$!! I was so pumped!

Grace stayed the night with Mom and Dad Friday night so the boys and I could get all the decorations up. Gene was gone to the deer woods, so we had everyone out of the way. It took us about 4 hours to get everything out. Gene also bought me new lighted garland to put on the mantle and I bought new stockings last year after Christmas so the fireplace is completely different from last year. I also had new stuff to put on the piano.

We slept in Saturday morning till about 11, then I got up and Corey and I went grocery shopping. I picked up some bows to add to the garland and tree and fake snow to put on the piano, and completed the deco when we got home! After we finished that and ate lunch we had to get around and get ready for the Christmas parade in Springdale. The Christmas committee had a float in it advertising the playhouse. Grace was going to be dressed up as a baby doll and Corey was our head elf on Santa's Workshop! We went to Mom and Dad's to get Grace dressed and ready then headed in to the rodeo grounds to meet up with everyone.

I took this picture of Grace and Corey at Mom and Dad's right before we left. Grace had on a little Christmas dress with tights and long pants on underneath and two long sleeve shirts. I also put her hair in pigtails and put some blush on her cheeks. She looked so cute!

After we got to the rodeo grounds and got out of the car, we realized just how bitterly cold it was going to be. Gene met us up there to get the camera from us, and decided it was way too cold for Grace to ride on the float. I forgot her gloves and with her pigtails her hood wouldn't stay on to keep her ears covered. So, he took her and they went and parked to watch the parade. After waiting for about 30 minutes, we finally started moving. We had other kids on the float and Teresa and I walked along side passing out candy. It was cold, but it went really well and we had a lot of fun. I was upset that it was so cold thought because I knew Grace would have loved to sit up there waving at everyone! Oh well, maybe next year!

This is a picture of the piano. It didn't really turn out that good, but you get the gist of what it looks like in the dark with the lights on!

Here's our mantle!! I'm so proud of it and the way it turned out! The boys and I had quite a time figuring out how to get the garland up there but we finally got it! The red and gold bows are the ones I bought yesterday and added to it. The stocking holders spell out Santa but it's kind of hard to see in the picture. They were actually Mom's, but she bought new ones and gave them to me since I needed five! I just love our stockings too, but I wish there was enough room on them to monogram our names on them. We'll have to take the middle ones down when we burn a fire, but that's no big deal.

Grace's eyes got super wide when we got home last night and she saw all the new decorations! She kept going over and rubbing her butt on the tree! I have no idea why...she's kinda crazy!!

And here's the whole tree!!! It looks like it's leaning a little but it doesn't really look like that standing looking at it, so I don't know! This picture doesn't do it justice either, but I'm very very proud of it!

Here's Grace doing the butt thing again! She's done pretty good with not touching it. She's been in trouble a few times, but hasn't messed with it since!

Ok, that's all I've got for now, but I do have some other pictures of Grace's newly renovated room!! I'll post more on that later!