Jay and I have never been into the whole "decorating for the holidays" so we usually feel pretty good if we cut down a tree before Christmas and string up some white lights. I have now realized that I need to swallow my pride and start buying every little Santa, elf, reindeer or snowman I see. Although Bryn and Henry are scared of the Santa at the mall and refuse to let us drive by Hilldale (which is where Santa lives, by the way), they LOVE all the little Christmas decorations that seem to be everywhere. Christmas has a whole new meaning for me now that they are here. To see their face light up when they see a lawn snowman and then break into a version of "Frosty the Snowman" is so fun.

Although at the time I just wanted to fade into the woodwork, I can now giggle when I think of what happened today. After music class I made the mistake of walking through the children's store Happy Bambino with H and B. I should have learned my lesson after we brought them to TJ Max a couple weeks ago and they found the toy department. Henry literally ran over to a display that showcased hanging children's brooms and was in love. He grabbed one and told me he wanted a broom and his face was plastered with his adorable Henry grin. Bryn needed one too. I never thought I would be the parent who caved in to this kind of want/need from my kids but I was thinking... "It's a broom, how cute is that? I mean, they can clean with it...." So, within seconds I convinced myself that they each needed a broom for Christmas. Next thing was to figure our how to buy it without them figuring it out. So I slyly grabbed two and paid for them (while they continued to take more brooms off the hook and ask for them) and then tried to leave the store. Henry threw a fit, screams and crying....... He wouldn't leave without the broom. I either pushed him or side carried the kid out the door and then had to figure out how to get Bryn out. After I strapped them in their carseats, wet faces and all, I had to run back into the store to grab the much coveted brooms and stash them in Courtney's car. The rest of the drive home we chatted about how we need to ask for brooms from Santa and that they can't always get what they want. Since they don't particularly like him (well, they don't like the idea of talking to him in person), they decided that I should either ask him or write him a letter on their behalf. I guess that's OK, right? Then came the talk about giving is better than getting... here we go.

So, in regards to decorating, my plan is to find some tucked-away attic box that holds a few decorations to adorn our shelves and tables so Bryn and Henry have some Christmas fun at home too.

My mom went so far as to buy a fake little tree to put in my parents' upstairs that is the perfect height for them to decorate. They took the job very seriously and carefully hung each of the handpainted ornaments and were impressed with themselves when they were done.