December is Finally Here!

I think since Thanksgiving was early this year and it seems like everyone apparently puts their Christmas trees up in mid-November now, it's felt like it's been December for awhile.  We try to hold off on most Christmas-related decorations (ok, I did get the stockings out and decorate the mantle after Thanksgiving) and activities until December and now that December is finally here, we are in full-on Christmas mode.  Jack, our elf, made his return on Saturday morning (December 1), we had my holiday party for work that evening, and then on Sunday, we spent the day cutting down our Christmas tree and decorating it at home.

The girls looking out over the balcony to see Jack on the mantle on Saturday morning

I was cracking up that they just kept staring up at him

He brought a note, cookies, and...

Advent calendars for the girls (they each got a chocolate one and they're sharing the American Girl one)

Plus, they had donuts & hot chocolate for breakfast...best way to kick off December!

She loved it

The other Advent calendar we have is the one my grandma made that my brother & I used growing up; the girls are both big enough now to pick out the ornament so instead of fighting over who gets to put up the ornament, they will just alternate days

Shortly after breakfast, Lucy & I headed off to her first official activity for girl scouts--roller skating!  It was also her first time roller skating and she earned her first petal (which is like a badge)

She was pretty wobbly at first but caught on quickly

On Saturday evening, Todd & I went out to dinner at Cap City for my work "holiday party" followed by some fun at Pins (and I use the term "holiday party" very loosely because literally my coworker was like, hey we should all go out to dinner one night before Christmas so we were still paying for everything on our own; it was more an excuse just to get together outside of the office)

Sunday was beautiful and definitely felt more like spring than almost winter so it was the perfect day to get our Christmas tree...of course, hundreds of other people had the same idea because it was packed!

I cannot turn down a photo opp

Todd pulling the girls in the sled to go find the tall trees

We actually contemplated this one but then realized it was probably too big....and thank god we didn't get it because once we got home, we knew it might not have fit!

Lucy always loves the little "Charlie Brown" trees

Cece was also helping to find one

And luckily it didn't take long to find a beautiful 12 foot tree that was just perfect for us

Our 2018 Christmas tree

Todd chopping it down

Lucy helped him pull the tree back to the front to pay

Ready to head home!

I swear, the tree never seems that big outside and then once we get it home, we're always thinking, wow, this is much bigger than we expected!

Clearly it' big when you have to stand on furniture to get the lights at the top

The girls were so excited to decorate!

Lucy putting up her new Dorothy ornament

Looking through the bins to see which ones they wanted to help hang

Cece was very good at putting all the ornaments on one branch

Quick posed picture with the girls

Todd & Lucy hanging the last few near the bottom before Todd had to get on the ladder to put some more near the top

The finishing touch--the star!

Love this pic of our tree decorated with the girls