I’m gonna be honest folks, I’m a natural procrastinator. I’m usually scrambling around at the end of December to get everything done on my Jolly To Do List. But, I’ve vowed this year to be on top of things! In fact, I even have my Christmas card done and ready to mail out today! I am sooo proud. In fact, I’ll even show you to prove it!
My good friend Malea Ellett took our family photos, and she did a great job.
How are you doing? How are you feeling about the holidays so far? I’m feeling pretty good this year. I’ll tell you why. I didn’t get all my decorations out this year. I let my kids decorate the tree, and it looks pretty darn good. I didn’t fuss over everything being perfectly placed, and I wasn’t worried about my house looking perfectly Pinterest ready.
The only pictures I’ve taken of my decor was with my iPhone, and that was just fine with me! If you follow me on Instagram, you have already seen these pictures. 🙂 Don’t mind the laundry and the hottie vacuuming. 🙂 But guess what!?! Those are the pictures of my house this year.
The elf got a little crazy last night.
I am happily enjoying the holidays this year. I can’t say that was the case last year.
I got to be in our Relief Society program a few weeks ago, and I was nervous because a member of my ward wrote a program specifically about my family. It gave me a glimpse of how fast life can change when the holidays are focused on the hustle and bustle of the season instead of the true reason for it.
When I read the program, I sobbed like a baby because I was so grateful for the experience. Do we want our kids to LOVE Christmas? Do we want them to love SANTA, the GIFTS, the DECORATIONS, the LIGHTS? Or do we want them to love CHRISTmas? In the program, my kids all LOVED the commercialized part of Christmas. They turned into Christmas fanatics and all decided to focus their careers on the holiday. The only problem? They all eventually forgot what Christmas was all about.
There is nothing wrong with decorating your house for Christmas, I know that. In fact, if I wouldn’t have decorated at all that would have been a huge mistake. But, I do like that our decorations are simple and that the focus this year hasn’t been so full of pressure. I’m enjoying the small stuff this year. Dan brought me home a few poinsettias from his work Christmas party and that made me happy. They are so beautiful! His boss told me they got them at Costco for $11.99! They are huge too!
I am grateful for my cute kids who helped me decorate the house in one day instead of an on-going decorating marathon for weeks. The bloggers out there that have the perfect homes for the holidays are fabulous, but it’s just not real life for me. I loved Beth’s post at Sawdust and Embryos the other day. It made my smile, and it was my thoughts exactly. She’s a good friend of mine and I only wish we lived closer.
So, I’ll ask you again…how are you doing this holiday season?
xoxo,
Brooke
P.S. I look forward to Christmas cards every year! If you have a spare card, email me and I’ll shoot you my address! I would love to get one of you and your family!
I’m with you! But then again I’m the horrible mom who canceled christmas ???? Truth be told this has been my favorite season ever. There is something to “all is calm and all is bright.” Merry Christmas Brooke!!!
Love your family picture! So cute. Happiness shows through in your faces. The handsome husband with the vacuum could well be the next most popular gift requested by wives for the coming year. As a mom of six and days full of a baby that doesn’t believe in sleeping and homeschool I have yet to put up a tree or much of anything but we’ll get there. I look at beautifully arranged Christmases and enjoy the idea for awhile before going back to wiping up something. I think I’ll set a goal to have my house full of music for Christmas this year. I can push the button the CD player when I go past. Your simple and gorgeous Christmas makes me feel super festive!
Merry Christmas!
Great sentiments! I actually shook my head yesterday in shame because, seriously, the decorating is out of control and I’m exhausted. Vowing next year to do things more like you … 🙂
I love the Christmas card picture! What happened to your baby? Can’t believe how grown up your kids are:) Have a wonderful Christmas!
I can totally understand this. We don’t even have our (home) tree yet, no presents and no idea what we’re going to cook for the xmass dinner. Made ornaments for the shop though… I also loved your friends post, very honest, sometimes looking at these perfect homes on blogs … I honestly don’t know how they get it all done… So thank you for this post!