{the next best thing}: {finally decorated and ready to roll....}

when you work full time there is one thing you don't want the holidays to be

and that is hectic! i have been slowly christmas shopping for the last three months and am probably about 75% done. technically could probably be completely finished, but let's

be honest.....it's not even thanksgiving and i can't NOT shop on black friday.

that would be a sin.

i took madison and hailey to go and watch the 8th grade boys play at reeser stadium this morning. we froze our buns off and left at half time. it was 30 to zip-o when we took off, so i wasn't feeling all that bad. better luck next year bulldogs.

came home and decided to finish decorating the house for christmas.
zac is having about 8 of his friends over in about an hour to watch the duck game, so that was my goal....to get it finished before they walked in the door.

the little black dresser is in my downstairs bathroom. my camera is crap, so most of my pictures turned out horrible, it's much cuter in person when all the lights are off and everything is all twinkily and cute. did the whole bathroom in green and white this year. those are ice skates hanging from the knob.

here is my silly little branch tree i tried to recreate from the post the other day.
the cost of mine was only $10.....my mom cut down the branches for me and i spray painted them white. i had the container and i bought a box of ornaments at target.
i originally tried to put it on my dining room table, but the twigs were too high, so there they sit in my window. i love it!
the quilt and pillows were made by my mom a couple of years ago.

horrible picture.....new camera would be lovely for christmas by the way.
here is our fakey tree that makes my life much easier.
we get a real one a little closer to christmas because it wouldn't feel like christmas without that yummy smell. the basket with all of the little presents is for calvin and his sisters. there is a present for them to open every day up until christmas. bought everything for $1 or less...total cost....$24. love how it turned out. i will send it home with him after thanksgiving so they can start opening on december first.

the "real" tree we get has all of the ornaments that the kids have picked out over the years. my fakey tree has pictures of the kids from over the years framed in frames from the dollar tree, ornaments from target (snowflakes and red balls), and some word ornaments. i can't find a whole box of ornaments, so as soon as we put up the other tree i will be able to finish this one. still need to lug down the rest of the presents for people outside of my family. it makes a tree look so much prettier when there are presents underneath.

and i love my hutch at christmas. it's my favorite.

just threw my old bird house on the dining room table and propped it up on a little side table. put my topiaries on either side, the shawl my great grandma knit down the center of the table as a runner, two red chargers, and added a little bow and wreath to the front of the bird house.
wah - la!! instant centerpiece....cost $0

looking forward to the boys getting here. just layed out all of the food and will head down to domino's to pick up pizza after the first quarter.