Tradition. . .Tradition!

The holiday season is upon us. We love ourselves some holidays here at the Bingham household. We kicked off the Christmas season with our annual trek to the Christmas tree farm two days before Thanksgiving. As we passed the pre-cut Christmas tree lots on the way to pay for the privilege of cutting one down ourselves, we briefly rethought the reasoning behind this tradition. But the nice man at the U-Cut actually cut it down for us himself, which was far less amusing than watching Josh do it, but also far more effective. The boys completely ignored the whole tree-choosing process in favor of playing with the dog that lived on the farm and of whom they were both terrified and highly entertained. Also, since we were early in the season and the tree guys were pretty bored, they took the boys for a four-wheeler ride around the farm. In retrospect, this maybe wasn't the best idea. . .but hey, it's Christmas!

We brought our pretty tree home and, a couple of days later, after we could build up the enthusiasm, we decorated it and the house. This is my children's absolute favorite day. We can get out all of the obnoxious decorations that make a mess and sing a song and they're entertained for days. This is also why I have had a steady stream of "Jingle Bells" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" in my head since last week. And since my mom requested it, I'll post some pictures of our meager decor. Probably the rest of you will be bored, but don't some of you, like me, like to see what peoples' houses look like?

Our tree:

Our mantle: (Something to note: Jonah's self-chosen stocking hanger-thingy that is a very ornate, special looking house among the other simple, silver ones. Also, Jonah's really annoyed that Noel has his name all over the place at Christmas time. We've explained it to him, but he won't hear a rational explanation. It makes it super simple when we're buying a personalized stocking hanger-thingy. I figure it, in small part, makes up for the fact that all of his teachers will pronounce his name NOELLE, like a girl, on the first day of school.)

Our banister: (We copied this idea from Real Simple magazine. We bought all of the stuff at the Dollar Store so, in total, this cost us $4. Some of you probably think we paid too much.)

We do love getting out our decorations, even if it becomes a bit "cluttery" for my taste. We bring out our many Christmas books and our personalized ornaments (which we then have to yell at the children to leave on the tree 72 times a day) and our stockings and all of the decorations that my mom has given us over the years because she feels bad that my kids love them and I don't buy them. And once we do this, the Christmas season has officially begun.

Then, on December 1st, we celebrate again. (Technically the Dec. 1st party was celebrated on Nov. 30th, so I don't know if we can rightfully call it that.) Anyway, my mom likes to kick off the season with a party, with new Christmas shirts, pajamas and books! And since we don't get to be with my family, she sends us the gifts and we celebrate it anyway (I know I'm/we're spoiled). I tried to remind us of "the reason for the season" by bringing up the Baby Jesus, but let's be honest, we all just want the presents. So here we are. Thanks, mom!

What the thumbs up?!?

Happy, Happy Christmas holidays Friends and Family!