a train ride.

a nearby town hosts a holiday lights event all for free, fabulous right?
Hot cocoa, popcorn, Santa and a train ride viewing holiday lights and decor.
We went with good friends and had a great time, well...minus seeing Santa (as per the last post).

Quinn looks excited right?  I assure you she did enjoy it. :)

the man in red.

and seeing red is all quinn sees I think.

really it was no surprise...

walk with santa.

Last night we joined our town to welcome Santa.  We walked with Mr. and Mrs. Claus down Main Street to light the large Christmas trees on the courthouse lawn.

 

the best sound.

a giggling little quinn.

lately she just starts cracking up at all kinds of things.
we are so loving this side of her. :)

this was watching a mickey mouse Christmas special.

christmas crafting.

Quinn and I have been doing a lot of Christmas crafting.
Usually each day we work on a little Christmas craft, lately involving stickers because she is obsessed with them and places them carefully and slowly onto her craft.

A few days ago we needed a proper craft for the start of December.
A Countdown.
She loved the glue stick. :)

Showing off her craft. :)

If anyone looked closely and noticed, yes we did it incorrectly.  It is counting up instead of backwards.  oops.  good job, teacher. good job.

I think December is a little confused.   High temp of 68 degrees today.
December, you (along with January) are on my approved months of winter, please make sure to bring some snow for Christmas. :)  There are snowmen to be built, sledding to be done, and cups of hot cocoa to be drunk with glistening white in the background. 

simple holiday decor.

One of the things I knew would be a little challenging this year was not to run out and grab all the Christmas decor I loved and bring it home with me (especially since we are entertaining a large group for a week at our house this year). I LOVE decorating for Christmas.   New house, new budget.  Just have to wait until the after Christmas sales and utilize gift cards in order to decorate the house next year, which I am very excited about.  That being said...I am working my skills and putting on my creative thinking cap to make our home still feel very warm and cozy and filled with holiday spirit for this Christmas season.

One strategy:  finding free holiday printables and placing them in picture frames we already have.  This has been fantastic!  Added several of different sizes throughout the house.  Command hooks/picture frame hooks are perfect for temporary decor.

Another, spot an idea, rip off the idea and make it your own. :)
On a Target shopping trip I saw a fun colorful holiday wreath that would go perfectly with our decor.  It was $25.  I went home and made my own for $6.

One (quinn) naptime later...

 

 

We also have our Christmas Family Checklist all ready to go.

 

 





Having fun finding simple ways to spice up our new home for the holiday.
And LOVING having a fireplace to decorate, an official portal for Santa, a beautiful source on warmth on a cold winter night.