Christmastime is here!- mama.

For fear of being publicly mocked, we've held out on posting pictures of our fully decorated house. We've had the tree up since November 13th. Hey, if we're going to be on Ohio at Christmas, we should have everything up to enjoy that much earlier, right?

I don't think this picture does our tree justice. Ornaments are literally dripping from every branch. Henry was dying to get the tree up. It took too long for me to put all the branches on (oh, to have one of those fancy fold down trees). Then he wanted me to put colored lights on it, but the colored lights weren't working. (I only buy Christmas lights on clearance after the fact.) So we had to settle for white and gold lights this year. Then came the shocking realization to Henry that we CAN'T put up the tree unless it's snowing! Then the devastating blow that it doesn't snow in South Carolina. (I did wake up this morning thinking we still lived in Wisconsin, and dressed thinking it had snowed 6 inches the night before. Eventually I looked out the window and realized it was going to be 75 degrees today. Third winter in and Henry and I are still in denial.)

I unpacked the ornaments while everyone took naps and lay down for a little nap myself. When I woke up, Henry had half the tree decorated. The only thing missing from this picture is the tree skirt made of Great-Great Grandma Parsons' Christmas fabric that I finally finished last year.

June left her Christmas spirit up north. We unpacked our trusty plastic snowman Thomas- the first joint Christmas decoration Brandon and I purchased in college. June freaked out and is now terrified of snowmen. She sat in the other room crying "I like ghosts, I like pumpkins, I like witches. I scared snowman!" (Aunt Molly, come get her.) The offending snowman is still in the laundry room (all 18 inches of him) and she cries every time we walk past the closed door. It will be a relief when we get that terrifying thing outside.

June did warm up a little to Christmas when we found all of the horse ornaments on the tree. Hopefully we can find them all again when Christmas is over.

Henry decorated all day. There's a 5 foot tree in the office that he got to decorate with red and gold balls. Then he got working on the staircase. He was not happy when we ran out of decorations. He's dying to get the lights up outside, but we're holding out for Thanksgiving day before those go up. We got a new lighted Christmas train for the front yard at a garage sale, but our neighbor made fun of us on Facebook so we're waiting to turn on any outdoor lights. Then I'm considering purchasing something large and inflatable so we can be those neighbors.

What's the best part of Christmas? Christmas music! I am so proud that both kids' favorite song is Kenny and Dolly's "I'll be Home with Bells On." June simply calls it "Christmas Song" and she'll let you know her displeasure if you dare play ANY other Christmas song in her presence. It may be the new "Hold on Tight."