Christmas Tour of Homes 2008

It's time again for BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes! At first I wasn't going to participate because I thought it'd look just like last year. But, I couldn't resist...and there have been some minor changes/additions. I'll try not to talk too much since I know you're here for the pictures!

Now, since I haven't posted about actually getting the tree, we'll start there. Grab your cup of coffee/cocoa while we go outside.

Stan and the kids always go get our tree and bring it back as a surprise to me. Jake didn't make the trip this year because his nap was much more important. Trust me.

Here we have it all inside and set up, complete with towels under it to catch any melting ice. It's so hard to wait for it to dry out before stringing the lights!

Now we will stay inside for the rest of the tour because, baby it's cold outside! It was -3 degrees when I took the kids to the bus (wind chill -20). When I went out to crank the Excursion it said to me, "Are you stinking kidding?!" So lets cozy up to the fire for a bit.

Ok, so here it is all decorated. I give each of the kids a bowl full of the non-fragile ornaments to hang wherever they can reach then I hang the rest up high. In case you're wondering, the tree is roughly 13 feet tall. And yes I need a 10-foot ladder to decorate it. And yes I'm afraid of heights.

But isn't it worth it?! ;o)





Now we'll go around the room and check out the rest of the Christmas sights.

I was a little bummed that I didn't put up my little cowboy tree with the chili pepper lights this year, but having a 2 year old in the house calls for some modifications. He likes whacking the bell tree (pictured above) and making it ring. And I resist the urge to stop him, since what's the use of having a bell tree if it doesn't ever ring?

These little trees are new this year. Not the greatest picture, but at least I don't think you can see any cobwebs.

This year Stan came up with the idea of the 12 scents of Christmas and I gladly took that challenge. I found this cute little...um...what's it called? Anyway, you put the scented wafer in the bowl and light a tea light under it. Lots of fun! (Now if only the tea lights lasted longer...)


Confession: this is last year's picture, but it looks the same. I promise. Mom made this fun quilt wall hanging a couple years ago.

And she made this fun wintery/tree quilt wall hanging this year!! Isn't it beautiful?!

This is also last year's picture, but again...it still looks the same. This was new last year and I absolutely love it! I'd love, love, love the Willow Tree nativity set figurines. Maybe someday...but for now I'm happy with this!

(We do have our fun Little People nativity set...somewhere...I still need to go digging for sheep and baby Jesus. They couldn't have gone too far. Surely.)



So there you have it! Thanks for stopping by, we really enjoyed the visit! If you come back next week we'll have some homemade nativity cut-out sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles. That is, if you trust them. The girls always help make them...and sample them during the process.

Be sure to check out the other homes in the tour!