Fa-La-La-La-La (part 1)

Disclaimer:
This post will be long.
Very long.
And mushy too.
Cause that's just how I like my posts.
And you have to like it too.
And not complain.
Because it's still December.
And if you complain in December, well, that's just rude. 


What an incredible holiday we had this year. It was amazing, fun and busy throughout the whole month of December, but we rocked it out! I am just going to talk about some of my favorite things we did...


Putting up the decorations is always the Inauguration into the season. I love it. Scott hates it. Normally, we get it done together and have fun doing it.

And I always LOVE the way my home looks after it's decorated.
I think it's totally worth the hassle.

We started a new tradition this year. We bought into the hype and pulled out the ole Elf On The Shelf. We named him "Truman". A name that made a certain daddy who had originally thought Elf On A Shelf was ridiculous, think it might not be so bad after all. :)
The Elf was a really fun, creative thing to do with the boys and it kind of worked keeping Landon in-check. Thinking Truman was flying to the North Pole every night to rat them out worked as the perfect creepy bribe to keep them listening.


Truman was a naughty little thing...

Of course, we went to Crown Center for the holiday. It's so important to me that we do this every year. My dad used to take my sister and I and I can't help but think of him while walking down the isles.


Crown center during Christmas is one of the times I feel Papa Bob with us.

We tried so hard to begin to teach Landon the importance of giving.  I know Kellen is still way too young, but that baby boy wants to do everything his big brother does, so starting early with Lan-Man is inevitably teaching Kel too.  We chose angels from a tree at Starbucks. We chose little boys Landon's age and let him do the shopping.  Landon was amazing at Target. He shopped for the "angels" and didn't ask for anything. Twas a proud parenting moment. After shopping, we immediately went to Starbucks to wrap the gifts and turn them in. I feel that doing it all together like this kept it fresh in Landon's little mind. I think he got a better grasp of what he was doing.

He was so proud to give the gifts.

We took "Sleigh Rides". We filled our cups with hot chocolate and our bags with marshmallows and we traveled the streets listening to Christmas music and looking at Christmas lights. 

One of our favorite sleigh rides was an impromptu night with the Nelsons. You know you have a good friend when you can call at 9 pm and say, "Get your kids in their pajamas, I'm on my way and you're getting in the car." and she says, "Awesome!"  And awesome you are, my friend.

I took Landon to the Dollar Store and I handed him $20 dollars. I told him to chose Christmas gifts for his family. He knew he could choose whatever he wanted for the peeps that he loves. He grabbed a cart and started shoppin'. I said not a word and was there for picture-taking purposes only.
I think this may have been my favorite thing we did all season (aside from the secret cookie night). This little boy took his time and truly put thought into gifts he chose. I was a proud momma.


Daddy: An eyeglass kit ("because Kellen broke his glasses") and a car air freshener ("because he like his car clean")
Kellen: Crayons and a toy car
Aunt Sissy: A Bumpit ("because she like her hair to look pretty")
Aunt Dre: 80's colored eye shadow("because she likes to look pretty")
Grandpa: A screwdriver and a tape measure ("so he can fix our deck again")
Grandma: A coffee mug and a candle ("because she likes coffee and smelling" hehe)
Nana: A light house figure and a bird figure. I have no idea why, but he was really excited to get it for her! :)

This was just a taste of some of the things we did this season. It was my favorite year yet.   I do think Scott and I achieved our goal of making  the Christmas season more about the fun, family togetherness and much less about the gifts. In fact, it wasn't until Christmas Eve night that there was even a gift under our tree (we did all of our shopping on December 23rd).  Yea, us!