Our Simple Christmas Coming to a Head

Advent is a time of joyful anticipation, so we have been procrastinating patiently waiting to put out our Christmas decorations. We put them up on Friday. In keeping with our tone of a simple, yet meaningful Christmas this year, we took it easy and had a nice family afternoon.

baby with christmas tree

Because we waited until so late in the year, our tree cost only $13. We usually cut one down ourselves as a tradition, but like I said, we’re letting go of some stuff this year in order to preserve sanity. So we picked it up at Lowes. When we got home, Mark put the lights on, and then we let the kids take over. We brought out only the non-breakable ornaments, set up a small ladder, and just let them go for it.

They did a beautiful job.kids decorated tree

We ate frozen lasagna for dinner. It was a hit! 😉 Then I hung the stockings. Our new house has no fireplace, so I hung them on the stairs along with some Christmas garland. I still didn’t have time to make the homemade stockings I want, so I used the ones I picked up at the Dollar Tree again this year.

hang stockings with no fireplace

stockings on stairs

hang stockings on stair rail

Luckily, since I was pregnant last year at this time, I had the forsight to pick up an extra stocking. I packed it away (along with the fabric paint) in our Christmas boxes so I could add the new addition this year. It took no time at all to write “Anabelle” on this stocking.

easy way to add name to stocking

Remember the easy Christmas lights I told you about? Well, it took about 2 minutes to hang them, and plug them in.

easy christmas light display

We  have only 2 windows visible from the front of our house, and we put the tree in front of the other one.

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easy christmas lights

Due to lack-of-mantle, I set up our nativity set on a bookshelf. I set up another nativity set by our stockings using some leftover green tulle.

nativity

I saw this cool family tradition on Pinterest to let your kids have a slumber party in the living room after decorating the tree. I thought that sounded so fun and magical!

sleep under christmas tree

However… at 10:15 I had had enough, and I sent everyone to their beds. lol. Perhaps we still need a few more years before that tradition becomes “doable”. They still had a great time. 😉 Perhaps while they’re still small a better tradition would be watching a Christmas movie, or reading a book- then going to bed.

I feel so blessed that we are in our new home for Christmas, and that we get to spend it together as a family. It’s going to be a great first Christmas for Anabelle, and our whole family really. It was so joyful to hang so many stockings from the stairway- one for each of my beautiful children!

all my kids

Last night I wrapped the presents. I think they’re getting about 5 presents each. Today (Christmas Eve) we are baking a Happy Birthday Jesus cake (Lydia is so cute because she thinks she invented this idea), baking some slice and bake cookies, and going to Mass. We’re having dinner at my Nana’s house tonight, and dinner on Christmas day at my mom’s, so I don’t even have to cook at all. 😉

I have a friend here who has been reading my blog for a lot longer than she has actually known me in real life, and she was telling me how much more “real” I seem in person. I don’t want you all to think that every celebration at our house is over-the-top. Birthdays around here usually consist of a family dinner, a cake, and just a few presents. Feast days get missed, the house gets messy, and somehow life seems to go on anyway. Don’t forget to enjoy these moments with your kids. It’s not about the pictures, and it’s not about the food. We all know what it’s really about. Sometimes, we just have to slow down and remember.

May God bless you and your family this Christmas! Thanks so much for reading! I am so thankful for each and every one of you. 🙂

Comments

  1. Thank you Lucy for being real with “us.”
    I have a hard time reading blogs when they seem to do it all and so well when I feel every family can’t theme each child’s birthday, every year, while staying sane. Blogs like yours remind me that we’re all just moms, doing our best.

    • I’m not sure how “doable” the themed birthdays are with large families. I just feel like we celebrate birthdays all the time- lol! I know some mommies are capable of this. More power to them!

  2. Merry Christmas Lacy! I love that your ideas are so do-able for the “real mom” of lots of littles…in both time and money. I’m glad that you were able to find ways to simplify and let some things go too, very wise! Much better for the kids to do less and have a happier mommy. 🙂

  3. Merry Christmas, Lacy! All the stocking lining the stairs is just beautiful. I get a lot out of your site, and it is always nice to get a peek into a day in your life :). Thanks for all the creative ideas and do-able crafts to celebrate feast days and such. God bless you and your growing family!

  4. Beautiful! I envy you your beautiful family and home … my favorite time was when my kids were about that age … so much innocence and joy just in living another day … we did the sleeping under the tree thing, too! Blessed Christmas to you and all.

  5. Merry Christmas, and your Christmas gift to us all is your honesty! Being pregnant, due in 9 weeks with our 4th child, I have no choice but to keep things simple otherwise I would literally collapse, not to mention Christmas here is in the middle of Summer and it is pretty hot. I am thrilled to know there are other people out there who choose to take things more simply and honestly. I think that is what Christ wants from us; it’s not about things and show, it’s about Him and if we, as mothers and parents, are to have a shot at reflecting His love and mercy, we need to limit ourselves to realistic goals!
    I hope your Christmas was full of love and joy.

  6. We let the kids sleep under the tree on the night before (or so) before we take it down…that way we don’t have to wait for them to fall asleep Christmas Eve!

  7. Jennifer Duncan says

    I have dollar store stockings that we’ve used for years. I had every intention of cross stitching each of us a beautiful keepsake stocking – but oh my gosh that was HARD! So one stocking is maybe halfway finished and we use dollar store stockings 🙂

  8. Merry Christmas, Lacy and (adorable) family! Thank you for all you do to help us celebrate our beautiful faith while keeping things real and simple. All looks merry and bright at your house…May God continue to bless you:)

  9. Merry Christmas Lacy! You do have adorable kids and a gift for sharing your creative ideas with us! For a number of years, my son and I would sleep in sleeping bags by the tree. It wouldn’t be Christmas Eve but a day or so before. It does feel special and magical! May God bless you and your family with his love!

  10. FWIW, Lands End sells lovely cross stitched stockings. Yes, they cost a good deal more than dollar store, lol…about $30 I think? Anyway, several years ago I started buying one each year, starting with the oldest child, while the rest of us used our cheapie ones. Last year we finally reached the point of having one for everyone, and this year ordered one for the new baby….so now I just have to order one for each new baby as the come. Not a thing in the world wrong with dollar store stockings, but thought I’d throw this out there. Unfortunately I don’t knit or sew or anything like that…

  11. I love the photo of your 2 children looking at the lit tree. What settings did you use on your camera?

    • I just made sure the flash was off and the kids stood really still. I think I had the white balance set on auto.