Barefeet in High Heels

We buy an ornament every year for our tree. 

It's the one tradition I've been able to keep up on!!

So...a Christmas timeline in review...

Some highlights you may not have noticed:

Mini #1 changed his name in 2011 from "Lucas" to "Luke" - why? His memory verse was Luke 2:11. :)

In 2010 we were literally all sleeping in one bed. We were house crashing my cousins...our home in Wichita hadn't sold and we were trying to save money.

In 2011 we put a giant tree on our little car. :)

As a kid, one of the coolest things I loved about Christmas was the Advent wreath.

It was so fun to see each new candle being lit...

...anticipation at its finest...

So, I wanted to do the same for the boys...only...cheap.  Because well, I'm cheap.

So, I stuck a random red candle in the middle of my garage sale find...

...used little votives...

...and some quarter Christmas candle decorations...

...and voila!  Super simple (and free) Advent wreath.

Mini #1 loves telling me how close we are to Christmas.

AND...that when we light the fourth candle is when we're going to be FLYING in an airplane to see the grandparents. 

I'm so excited!!!

...from our house to yours.

May your holidays be as blessed as ours are and may the true reason of the season remind you of why the hustle and bustle is so worth the celebration. 

I'll be smiling through tears this holiday season.  My grandfather went to spend Christmas in heaven this morning.  According to Mini #1, he wanted to celebrate Jesus' birthday with him.

Once again, a Mini has put it all in perspective.

The weekend included this...

Happy Sunday!!

Every year I do a Christmas village on my buffet in the kitchen.

The weekend before Thanksgiving I decorated the house.  First thing up: the tree.

The very first year I even had a tree I bought some discounted glass ornaments.

I started adding to my collection by raiding my parents tree.  This ornament I've had since I was 10.

...for a couple years.

Mini #1's ornament collection has also been started.  I'll let him blog about them some day.