Black Friday - Decorating Day!

 I have never really been a true Black Friday shopper.  I sometimes shop a bit,  usually around 10:00am without all the early morning chaos.  This year I was not tempted by the sales a bit.  In fact,  I did most of my Christmas shopping in mid November.  This is something I never do, but  I was nervous that all the COVID shipping craziness would delay my packages.  I had friends waiting on packages to arrive, and I was glad to not have that stress!  I digress, back to Black Friday...

Before I get post about our decorating, I need to share a picture my mom took Black Friday and a couple of decorating pictures from our house. My parents delivered Thanksgiving food to my grandma and took her Christmas picture with her much loved cat Lucky.  My incredible grandma turned 89 last fall and still lives on her farm.  She is in great health, and I am so thankful that I get to have phone chats with her.  I am very hopeful that I will see her this year.  My mom texted me this photo in November and it is too precious to not include.

I hope I am just like her when I am 89!

T: I loved my beaver diorama.  I had a river and a waterfall! 

For me, decorating for Christmas is always an excuse for a deep cleaning.  We decided it was time to say goodbye to T's diorama.  We took one last picture with it to make sure the memory was preserved!  

Brandon bought home a bonus gift for M, new boots. Another pastor's son had owned them, but his feet grew and he was never able to wear them.  What a great surprise blessing.  Now all we needed was snow!

M: These are really nice boots!

OK, it is finally time talk about decorating! We typically decorate for Christmas the Monday after Thanksgiving.  Brandon and I decorate and clean all day and then the kids join us for hanging ornaments on the tree in the evening.  They have always enjoyed this, and I think they were a little surprised to see all that has to happen before the ornaments are hung on the tree. The cats are so curious about every new thing in our house.  I think it is safe to say that they remembered the Christmas decorations and were excited to see them return.

Sunshine: This is the coziest place to lay!  I can't wait for them to add that tree for better hiding and protection.

Sunshine:  Just kidding, this box is actually better than that soft thing!

The kids both love to play with Nativity sets.  Brandon and I each have a set that we brought into our marriage.  I am extremely particular about mine (shocker, right?), but thankfully Brandon is more generous with his and allows the children to redecorate and play.  T had a GREAT time playing with the characters.  Many of them had superhero parts to them.

T: There was a lot of rearranging that needed to be done. 

T: The star is up... now back to the nativity!

T: I'm flying in to save you, Jesus!

While T played, M looked through the CD cases for Christmas music.  Could we stream it on our TV?  You bet!  Will we ever choose that option?  I sure hope not!  There is something magical about finding the old CD's and listening to them in the order you know so well.  There are so many memories tied up in Christmas tunes.

 

 

M: I love music!  I tried to pick the perfect CD.

Once the music was playing, M was able to add some creative ideas to the nativity set as well.

T: We need to get everything out of here and start over.

T: M wanted to have all the wise men huddled together.  I am not sure sure.

Time to take a decorating break and do some wrestling.  Honestly, there was some boring times for the kids because cleaning the house takes a lot longer than setting up a nativity set. 

T: I love wrestling with Daddy!

Every emotion is extreme for T!  When her emotion is JOY, it is incredible!

 

Finally it was time to decorate the tree!!!!  It is always quite a production as we go through all the ornaments.

T: Daddy made this ornament when he was young.  It could be an earring.

M: I love looking at all of the ornaments from when I was little.

Talking about our special ornaments is one of my favorite Christmas traditions!

We have so many ornaments that literally almost every branch is filled.

Besides our two adult nativity sets, we have a toy set that the kids have loved on for years!

M: This set brings back lots of good memories.

T: I need to rearrange again.  It just wasn't working.

T: Lining up to give Jesus the gifts just makes so much more sense. 

M ended the day with this Jenga domino track experience.  We were so glad when he finally was able to knock it down.  It fell countless times while building and that made for a frustrating hour for him.  The domino effect was fun to watch, and I proud of his persistence.

M: Getting all these blocks to stand was not a simple task!