1 Family x 12 (Dec)

 

It's that time of year where I try to squeeze in all the holiday posts onto the blog so that they're inside my yearly printed books.  While 2020 was the year of change, the year of doing things a little differently, for the most part, our Christmas day looked much like it typically does.  Our family together in PJ's...opening presents, hanging out, eating and drinking and playing with the kids.  This year we just added matching family jammies!

Painted Pottery Christmas Trees

 

Way back in Feb...before the world became crazy - Erin and I took the girls to one of those cute little pottery painting places.  It's the first time the girls and I had done anything like it, and I blogged about it back earlier this year.  So, fast forward to October when the store started emailing out about Christmas merchandise and Erin and I immediately knew we had a holiday project on the books.  She and I both wanted to paint one of these vintage pottery trees and I picked two smaller items for the girls to paint too.

You guys - these trees are probably 12, maybe 15 inches tall - they took us THREE days to paint.  Of course the girls were done with their trees in an hour and moved onto other projects...Erin and I were still working on our ribbons.  LOL!

Each piece needs three coats of pain to get full coverage and bright colors that pop once they go through the kiln.  We debated how to start and both decided to paint the ribbons first, then the ornaments and finally the green parts of the tree...oh, and also the bases!  Those went fast though.

We started these one Sunday afternoon and picked them back up the following weekend.  We finished them just before Thanksgiving which was perfect timing.  I dropped them off to be fired and picked them up the week after Thanksgiving - just in time to get them displayed for the holiday season!

We even had the forethought to paint the date on the bottom.  Here's to hoping these become family heirlooms down the road....displayed in the kids someday houses with their little kids helping to put in the bulbs each year.  

Operation Christmas Cheer

 

The first Christmas we spent in this house Ryan started plotting how he could Clark Griswold the outside of the house for the kids (but really, for himself).  We have three huge pine trees in the front yard near the driveway when you pull in and he's been wanting to rent a big lift so that he could decorate them from top to bottom in lights.

I've admittedly been the one resisting the extra expense of having to rent something but if there was ever a year that needed some extra holiday magic, it's 2020.  Of course, we weren't the only ones thinking that...and it's a good thing I swung through Menards a few days before Thanksgiving and grabbed 6 extra sets of lights, because we had enough to do one of the big pine trees in the front and a slightly smaller one that's nearer the shop.

In a moment of last minute inspiration we decided we wanted to do one more of the big trees in front, but we needed more sets of lights.  Early Sunday morning Ryan went to three stores looking for more light sets but they were all sold out...wah wah!  Oh well, we'll know for next year.  Which, means this is probably an annual decoration at this point.  It really is pretty when you drive up the drive.  I'm glad we did it!

Gingerbread Houses

 

Tablecloth aside, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the McGrath house.  Over Thanksgiving weekend we did all of our indoor and outdoor holiday decorating and it is really festive around here.

Each year right after the holiday I check the local stores for discounted gingerbread houses for the next year.  We've always done them Thanksgiving weekend at Mom's house with Kayden and Lincoln so I typically buy four kits and squirrel them away until the following year.

So, this year we had a few extra houses (which was good because one was really broken and one needed some hot glue to do a quick repair) so Erin got in on the fun with the girls and now we have three cute gingerbread houses decorating our dining room table.

This year was the first year that both girls were old enough to run the piping bags themselves (not without messes!).  And, while it killed me on the inside a little bit, it's also the first year that I didn't try to "help" them do their houses.  They look nothing like I'd have decorated them, but that's the fun of it right?  COVID is teaching me to let some things go :)

Christmas Tree Cutting

 

This year we decided to cut our Christmas trees on Thanksgiving morning.  We were all feeling a little nervous about how busy the tree farms get, and we all really liked cutting them a week early last year.  Ryan was in Cali the weekend before Thanksgiving, so Thanksgiving day was just as good a day as any!  And, this year we had some new friends along for the tradition!

Jamie and family typically spend Thanksgiving with Zach's parents and cut their tree with them, but as is the way with 2020, traditions are a little in flux and they opted to stay home this year, so they joined us at Williams Tree Farm and boy oh boy were the girls happy to have Stella and Lucy along for the trip.

I think this might be the first "whine-free" Christmas tree cutting we've done since the kids were old enough to talk, so what, a solid 6 years?!  They really did do a great job this year and they were excited to be a part of the process.  The girls even pulled the tree carts for awhile (albeit, a very SHORT while).  

Couldn't resist a good old, group picture!  2020 masks and all!  What a world....what a world!

With the larger group this year we ended up split up and I didn't actually see Dan or Erin cut their trees, actually, now that I think about it, did I even see ANY trees cut down!?!  Hum!  Well, in any case, we're pretty happy with our tree for this year.  The last two years haven't been ideal (mostly my fault) so I let Ryan take the lead and give the final approval on when to "cut it!".  This year it's the perfect height!  I think we both wish it was a little fatter - seems like they trim their trees pretty skinny at Williams.  But, this is how it goes when you opt for live trees!  Every year is slightly different and I suppose that's part of the charm of it.

Thanksgiving Cookies

 Before we get into 100% Christmas over here, I thought I'd round out the posts with the last of our fall activities.  If you remember back to the early days of COVID quarantine, a friend of Erin's, a baker who lives in North Carolina, started doing adorable cookie kits to help fill up her time (and also her bank account) since events like weddings and big group birthday parties were canceled.  We ordered a few kits from her back in the spring and the kids loved them so much it didn't take me long to decide if we should order her latest, Thanksgiving themed cookie kits.

Of course Erin's cookies turned out beautiful, the girls and I were not so talented, but thanks to Patty, the cookies still tasted delicious, and, the girls had fun...which was the whole point.  Like in the spring, we sent a box to Mom's house too and she joined in on the decorating from afar.  Her cookies turned out pretty too, like Erin's.  My talents come in the form on quilting and knitting - I'll leave the cookies and cakes to these other ladies in my life.

Abby/Hazel/Sadie's cookies...vs Erin's cookies below.  Think anyone else can tell the difference!?  LOL!