A Tour of Our Christmas Home

Our house has been decorated since Thanksgiving, but I'm just now finding the time and sunshine to take and post pictures of it.  Most everything is the same as last year; I just didn't have it in me to switch things up.  There are a couple of new things though!

This sweet little nativity that my mom gave us is sitting in it's safe spot in our entry way.

Our stockings are hung on the mantle.

Grace has brought home lots of Christmas crafts including this nativity with a baby food container manger.

Our tree is nestled safely in the corner of our living room.

Our ledge holds lots of pictures, art, and our stocking advent.

I love my new map from here.

This is my most favorite Christmas photo!  It was taken during Grace's first Christmas.

Nothing says Christmas like some jingle bells!

On my desk, I added last year's Christmas card pic and the cutest little reindeer family!

I received this sign as a gift from one of my students.  Love it!!!  It's leaning here until I find a place to hang it.

Here's the nativity from Christmas Craft Day sitting beside our Jesus tree.

Our Christmas books are stacked right by the couch for an easy reach.

Our kitchen is so fun to me!

These are a few of my favorite things...including that pom pom garland that I worked so very hard on. Ha!

Lights in jars...

...peppermint sticks in vintage silver...love!

Creativity on display...most of it's Grace's, but that blue blob is Carter's.

These place mats are usually thrown on the floor or wadded up on the buffet...thanks to our Carter Man! 

These trees are a classic for the Jacobs' family.

We have some mistletoe hanging in the hall doorway.  There's been a lot of kissing going on!

I printed off my favorite quote from one of my favorite Christmas movies.  It makes me smile.  You know...'cause "smilings my favorite!"

Grace took charge of decorating her room...she gets ALL the credit.  Ha!

I decorated Carter's room for him.

His tree is totally him...pacis, balls, and bowties!

I hope you enjoyed the tour!

Our Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving weekend, we headed to our friendly neighborhood Lowe's and picked out the perfect tree.

Before we decorated and after the yearly battle with the lights (ugh!!!), I gave the kids their Christmas ornaments.

So sweet!

Grace was so excited to begin decorating!

She loved pulling out the ornaments and remembering them and talking about how they looked.  She was so fun!

Carter helped out a little.

And, Grace helped a lot!

These are two peas in a pod!

Carter was pretty excited about all the balls on the tree!  Surprisingly, he hasn't really messed with the tree.  Every once in a while, he'll walk by and swat at an ornament.

And for the finishing touch...the star on top of the tree!

I got this sweet ornament for our family this year.

My sweet sister gave me this after she saw me admiring it at the store the other day.

Grace ended the tree decorating by using ALL the leftover ornaments on her pink tree.  She was so very proud...she loves to decorate!

The Living Nativity

We went to the Living Nativity and Bethlehem Village at GBC this weekend.  It was really neat and perfect for our young kids!  The worst part was that I forgot my camera and all these pics are from my phone.  Carter loved all the animals!

Grace made a candle.

Both of them could have painted the entire night!

We went into a huge tent and watched the retelling of the story of Jesus' birth.  Grace said that this was her favorite part! 

Carter was mesmerized by the huge camels horses.

Grace signed the census and paid her taxes.

Carter giggled as he feed the sheep.

As we left, the kids got some popcorn that was popped over a fire.  This was really fun and a great way to keep the kids (and us) focused on the true meaning of Christmas...the birth of our Savior!  We will definitely be coming back next year!

a library birthday

We celebrated with my niece, Lily, at her 6th birthday party.  She had a super cute, vintage-y library party!

The girls made bookmarks,

played library (which was a HUGE hit!),

read some books,

ate cake,

and got some quality time together under the table.

Happy Birthday, Lily!  We love you!

A Visit with Santa

Well, we went to visit Santa.  Grace was excited and nervous.  Carter could have cared less.

Santa was so friendly and patient and spent so much time with Grace and Carter.  They cautiously walked up to Santa and handed him their letters.

Carter sat in his lap while he read the letter.  He was nervous, but brave!

Santa had to get on to Carter for hitting Grace...pretty sure that Carter wasn't listening.  Ha!

Next, Santa read Grace's letter.  She was not going to sit in his lap though!

Santa was a little baffled by her request..."a trash can?  a big one?  a little one?  one to go in your room?"  I love how she is looking at him!

Then, it was time for a keepsake photo with Santa.  One to put in a lovely frame.  One to cherish for years to come.  One that would capture these sweet moments with Santa and my babies.

Yep.  That's about right.  Carter's screaming and reaching out for his momma.  White socks. Ugh.  Grace is seven feet away from Santa because there was no way she was going to be tricked into sitting in that man's lap.

still kinda love it.  and it's still going in a frame.