It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It is the weekend after Thanksgiving and I think I have been the model of restraint when it comes to starting the Christmas season. I have only been listening to Christmas Carols for the last two weeks. Can I help it if they are already on the radio?! Thanksgiving gives me the official go-ahead to start decorating. My tiny house will have four Christmas trees this year... 1 big and 3 little. We are trying something different this year and giving the kids their own little Alpine trees to decorate as they want.

Here is our version of the Christmas hearth. Although it is not the fireplace of my dreams, I love to decorate it each year. This year I have chosen to highlight the Nativity on the "mantle" (just a little shelf above the electric fireplace). Travis was so excited because this is the first year he could read all of the names on our stockings.

This is the little mini tree in the kitchen. I call it the "star tree" because it is the one tree in the house with a theme. It is also the only tree with a color scheme of maroon and white. The other trees are a mish mash of decorations and colors.

In an effort to disperse some of our ornaments we came up with a plan to let the kids decorate their own alpine trees. Our son was especially into it. We call this the "train tree" for the obvious reason. He is definitely MY boy, as he insisted on using every ornament he had. The tree is a little more than full at this point. At the rate the kid is going, next year we will have to invest in a full sized one just for him!

Here is Chelsea decorating her little tree. Chelsea is an easier name to find than Travis, so she has a lot of ornaments with her name on them. Chelsea's idea was to put 4 or 5 ornaments on a branch and leave the rest bare. When she wasn't looking I switched some around so the tree wouldn't tip. She loved seeing her Dora, Princess, and Sesame Street ornaments. When I envisioned the ornaments she had, I though for sure the tree would be entirely covered in pink.

The finished products... Travis has his tree on the right and Chelsea's tree is on the left.

Here is our big tree. John and I decorated this on our own, as the kids had lost interest after their little trees were done. True to tradition, I managed to stuff almost every ornament that we had on the tree. Lots of our ornaments are from places we have visited, like our honeymoon in St. Lucia or the cruise we went on with his family to Key West. As of late, the ornaments are from places like Sesame Place, Edaville Railroad and Storyland. How the times have changed!!!
After all was done, we looked out the window and saw the first sleet and snow of the year. Perfect timing. And while I wouldn't call the night "silent", as my son and his friend are playing trains upstairs and being rather loud, I will admit that, for the time being, "all is calm, all is bright" here at Casa Campbell!