December 2013 flashback: trimming the tree + Tim Mark Phil Dave, our Elf

first thing on the agenda after getting home from Disneyland was GET THE TREE UP AND OUT......Let's spread this good Christmas Cheer!!! Disneyland was the perfect place to get in the holiday spirit so it was tons of fun to bring it home and spread it around real good.

last year we started the tradition of letting the girls pick their own wonky tree to decorate.... we love picking out that Charlie Brown Tree!

 

Alice got to put the star on the little tree this year while Ellie got to top the big tree. having two trees really makes spreading the star love easy. we live in the land of fair, i'll tell you what!!

my mom gave me the idea of painitng our pumpkins white and turning them into snow men....i thought they turned out really cute....especially because i usually struggle real big in the crafty department. (insert monkey hands over eyes emoticon here. the shame!)

  

lucky for us, our Elf did NOT forget to come to our house even though it was well into December when we got home. he even whipped up an amazing breakfast for us on our first morning back, announcing his arrival to our house. what an amazing Elf!

and without losing a single second, Tim-Mark-Phil got straight to work. we loved the sneakiness he came up with this year. he is such a lil twerp, that Tim Mark Phil.

 xoxo

Christmas Traditions 2012: picking & trimming our tree

Foreword: i hope you know that i will in no way be offended if you simply overlook all of my "Christmas Traditions 2012" segment/posts....i hate being so far behind real time, but refuse to leave these cherished moments undocumented, especially since this will be a printed journal for my family someday. i also should add, there will be quite a few of these posts. i went a little crazy with Christmas Traditions this year. i think it was for two reasons: 1) with so much uncertainty in our future with little Max, i wasn't sure how much or how little we'd be able to do in the coming years. i'm not saying it's all bad- i think simplifying is wonderful in so many ways. but this year, while we could still be "care-free" in our planning, so-to-speak, we were...and we jammed a whole lotta fun in. 2) it honestly was a wonderful diversion for me. it helped my mind be preoccupied with other things, since dwelling on uncertainty can be kind of depressing-- and in my opinion is needless worrying. and so. welcome to the first of many Christmas Traditions 2012 posts, Chapman style. xoxo

Christmas time always officially starts for us with picking out our tree. last year and this year, we went to the same place, King's Trees. its super un-classy-- over by a taco bell on a busy road. but the people there are super cute and nice, and usually cut us a pretty good deal, so we love it. (this year we weren't as lucky on the good deal part, but whatevs).

actually getting the tree home and trimming it is always my favorite part. here's a little glimpse into our tree-trimming party:

(note: we actually got two trees this year; our traditional big one, and a little Charlie-Brown style one for the girls...it was too irresistibly cute not to get it, you know?)

(another note: the girls were sooooo cute and fun trimming the tree this year! oh i loved every minute of it).

my favorite part of the tree trimming was actually after we were all done -- i had bought two little boxes of ornaments, one purple and one red, for the girls to hang on the tree. by the end of each day, there would be one branch on the Charlie Brown tree that would be loaded down with purple ornaments....and one that was weighed down with red ones. i wouldn't even notice that they had done that throughout the day...but alas, there it was, a heavy-bogged-down branch full of all the ornaments on one branch. so cute and so funny.
 
here's a little glimpse at our whole front room, all trimmed and lovely:

a special thanks to my mama, who was our own lil Christmas Elf this year.
my home never felt so Merry or Bright. thanks for all the love you poured into it.

xoxo