Christmas Recap

This was our second Christmas in our new house and the second Justin and I have had the privilege to host the annual Christmas Eve Open House my parents started over 20 years ago.

Our house was decorated and I am a little sad to see all the festive sparkly decorations down after having them up for nearly a month.

 

 

Because it was so warm on Christmas, we weren’t able to have a nice cozy fire going in our fireplace so I dressed it up with these adorable mercury glass votives and tea light holders I got at Dollar Tree. The whole set up was $20 and I am very impressed with the quality of the glass.

We had enough food to feed an army. I am quite proud of the spread. We even put out the train set Aunt Faye gave us around the food table. It wouldn’t quite stay right on the tracks so we didn’t want to risk a derailment and food catastrophe so we didn’t having it running.

   

Sami got some great shots as usual and I really love this one of me holding Pax when he was opening his present from Aunt CAT.

   

We were missing Liam since he was at his mama’s house, but Pax and Wyatt looked awfully cute in their matching Snoopy Christmas jammies.

After everyone left, Wyatt left out egg nog and cookies for Santa and went right off to bed.

Santa was rather busy this year. Wyatt really only asked for tennis shoes, a ceiling fan, and a toy camper. He got all that and more. We turned his Hot Wheels car table into a farm table and he got a big red barn, some hunting figurines, and tons of animals. Of course he got the three things he asked for too.

 

   

Justin and I really had fun with his gifts this year. I think one of the things Justin and Wyatt have had the most fun with is his bow and arrow set.

Dollar Tree was the best place for stocking stuffers this year. They usually have a good bit of licensed character merchandise around Christmas time and I was able to stuff his stocking FULL for $14!

Justin was so good with my presents this year. He got me three big Georgia Grown signs for my office and even made me a coat hook from old railroad spikes. I got a Mexican sugar mold candle and a really cool Georgia cast iron sign.

Amanda was pretty crafty this year too. She hand embroidered a family tree for Mrs. Desiree (with two extra branches for Justin and me to fill up with future babies!), a Dawg House sign for Justin (finished up with minutes to spare on Christmas morning), and these mason jar wall sconces for me. I am a big fan of homemade gifts and my whole family is just so talented!

  

Wyatt got a few gift cards from out of town family and he had a really good time picking out his own presents. I have been so blessed with a giving family but I really think a sweet, loving, only half-nuts family is the best gift ever!

 

Merry Christmas!

Hometown Holidays

Last weekend, Wyatt stayed with Mrs. Desiree and Mr. Sheldon while Justin and I dabbled around the house wrapping presents and little things around the yard. May was so happy that she went for two swims in the 40- and 50-degree weather.

Our winter garden is coming along. The broccoli and cabbage heads are starting to form. We have seen wild rabbits out there twice at night in the past week.

  

Doc Bunny (our pet rabbit) especially enjoyed the turnips from the garden. She munched happily in the sunshine all day. We have her in the carport to block the cold winds from her right now and I think she enjoyed the warm weather.

 

We burned off our burn pile where we left all the fallen branches and yard debris. These old bushes Justin ripped out a few months ago must have been properly dried because they went up very quickly. I told him I felt like Moses with the burning bush.

 

Saturday night we had the Ashburn Christmas Parade. This year’s theme was a patriotic Christmas. We had World War II veterans as grand marshals.

 

Amanda’s Arts Council float won best civic organization! We are using those silver trees for another project coming soon. Can’t wait to see them all dec’d out again.

 

After the parade, we went to visit Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Wyatt was enamored and he didn’t want to leave Santa’s lap, which is a huge difference from this Christmas two years ago (terrible pic because I snapped it from a video):

I snagged this vintage Turner County ornament that night too. It’s only one year younger than I am!

Sunday, I finished up my thesis (PRAISE!) while Mimi and Wyatt hung out together. He was the tape-master of the Christmas present marathon wrapping session.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Every year, Justin insists we don’t get our Christmas tree until at least December 1. Christmas creep is real and some folks were putting their trees up the second week of November. Not the Cooks. We usually stick firm to the December 1 date, although last year we did budge a day early and got ours on November 30. We went out to the Brumby and White Christmas Tree Farm in Chula and picked out a beautiful Fraser Fir. I am all about Georgia Grown products, but I prefer these delicious smelling North Carolina trees every time. The climate in Georgia isn’t quite right for them to grow here.

Wyatt even got to pick out his own little tree for his room. His favorite part is riding in the back of the truck as Justin drives back to the tree shaker and wrapper.

  

 

We decorated Wyatt’s little tree first. He got a lot of airplane ornaments from his grandma so it made sense to add a Dusty Crophopper to the top to serve as a topper.

Wyatt has very strong opinions about what he wants to wear and I usually am okay with that. He refused to put his pants on so we got some very memorable photos of him with his tighty whities, black socks, and antler headband on!

  

Our tree was much bigger and fuller than we were expecting! We blocked off a hallway door to the living room (since we can just go through the man cave) and almost blocked the entry to the front foyer too! We tried something a little different this year. We put the tree stand into a galvanized bucket instead of using a tree skirt. It’s more of our style and makes watering the tree a lot easier—I don’t have to worry about dripping water all over the gifts when I water the tree.

We are suckers for all white lights and 30+ years of homemade and store bought ornaments too. I love this time of year!

Christmas recap {FINALLY!}

We have been so crazy—like everyone else I’m sure—this December that it seems to all run together! I am so glad we were able to spend our first Christmas in our new house with no major disasters. We went to Brumby and White’s Tree Farm and picked out a gorgeous Frasier fir. We always stick our tree in the corner of a room, so we find the bargain trees that have big gaps in them and turn them to the corner. We got this 8 1/2’ beauty for $25! It was really fun to take Jeb with us this year.
 
Later that week, we got our tree strung with lights and added our ornaments. I love the personalized ornaments we buy each year. We ended up with one of our whole family including Jeb since it’s his first Christmas, one for Wyatt, and one for our new house.
    
It was nice to have a big fat mantle with a fire going all the time. Have I mentioned that I need to stop relying on my iPhone to capture our precious memories? 
Aunt Faye brought Wyatt an old Christmas train set. She just knew he would love it. The track is so large, he and Justin can sit in the middle of it! I can’t wait until we can figure out a way to put it around the base of our tree next year!
 
Because Justin worked on Christmas day at the fire department, we decided Santa needed to come the day before, on Christmas Eve morning so we didn’t have to rush Wyatt. I know it was so much easier to use just one kind of paper, but I think we’re going to look back one day at that blue paper and really wonder what in the world we were thinking! Wyatt was so cute getting ready for Santa. He decided to leave him chocolate milk and one of the sugar cookies he decorated with his cousins earlier that week.
    
Santa did good! Wyatt asked for three things: a “Go Dawgs!” hat, tractors, and candy. He got that and then some! Santa even set up some of his stuffed bears from his playroom for a makeshift party at his new table he brought him. He was probably most excited about the Skittles and Rolos in his stocking.
Justin did good this year. He got me a huge set of Rachel Ray pots and pans and bake ware. I love them! Our old stuff was getting scratched and was losing its non-stick factor, despite our rule to never use metal utensils in the pans.
I got Justin some swanky shaving stuff, a Garth Brooks CD set, and a new edger for our yard.
After that, we headed to Justin’s Granny and PaPa’s house to do our Christmas fun with the Cooks. It was nice to have the kids open their presents with their Granny and PawPaw. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.

I got that awesome sign with southern sayings on it from Amanda and Michael and new Correlle dishes from Mr. Sheldon and Mrs. Desiree (exactly what I asked for!). I told Justin with new pots, pans, bakeware, and dishes, it was like a conspiracy to get me to cook more!

Later that afternoon, our tree was reloaded again for Mama and Daddy, Sami, Suzi, David, and Liam to come over and swap Mastrario family presents. I think Sami’s mustache wrapping kept the boys occupied the most! My favorite gift was the cat tapestry vest I gave David last year with a gift card! He was kind enough to return the favor this year. I see a fun tradition starting up for sure! Mama and Daddy, Sami, Suzi, and David definitely spoiled us. We all got more than we needed—even a new programmable crock pot I have been wanting to try out some crock pot meals!

After we got done with the present exchanges, Mama, Suzi, Sami, and I got busy setting up for our Christmas Eve party. Amanda and Mrs. Desiree brought a ton of stuff too.
Every year for as long as I can remember, Mama and Daddy have hosted a Christmas Eve open house for all of our family and friends. It was especially important the first few years we were in Georgia because we had no family down here. We had to make our own. They invited everyone they knew. Of course now those people are the very same ones that I consider family now.
I jokingly mentioned that since we have a big enough house, we could host Christmas Eve open house at our house. Mama agreed. I don’t think she realizes it but I choked up later that night when I realized the enormity of that agreement. It meant that the responsibility was mine to host our friends and family. She had enough faith that I could get the job done that she passed the torch to me. I know she enjoyed hosting everyone for almost 30 years and that was probably a lot to give up. With everyone’s help and enough food to feed a small army, we were able to host a great event and no one left hungry or it was their own fault. I’m glad she taught me so well.
 
(My very first pecan pie ever!)

Christmas Day was probably the most relaxing I have ever had. It was probably because we got our running around done the day before. I was able to enjoy visiting with Justin’s side of the family for lunch, with my parents and sisters for dinner, and then to see my Nanny that night. I wish Justin had been able to be with us, but that is part of his job. Someone has to protect the masses. We adapt and work things out for us and make it work!