The Fastest Christmas Decorating I've Ever Done

You know the words to the song "Well we need a little Christmas, right this very minute. Candles in the window...(ummm...I forgot the rest)?"

We had a very good reason to quickly usher in Christmas the day after Thanksgiving at our house. The atmosphere had to be right when the kids opened their Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Davis and Aunt Holly that night!

So, the decorating and traditions commenced first thing Friday morning. Let me clarify. First thing was NOT 5:00 a.m. We were all PEACEFULLY sleeping then. I pity those of you who were standing in a cold line to get the deals while I was in my own bed. He! He!

Picking the tree was painless, short and sweet this year. Just like I like it. We went to Lowe's, Travis held two up for us to look at, and the third one was "it." The guys (and Jillian) then took the tree home, set it up, and hung the Christmas lights on the house as we girls went to Hobby Lobby to get some quilting fabric (more later on the quilting), and to Wal Mart to buy the ingredients I needed to put together our meal for our "finger foods" tradition.

The guys were swift! They had the tree set up and the house lights completely hung by the time we got home with the fabric and groceries. And, very oddly I must say, Wal Mart was less busy at 10:30 Black Friday morning than it is 10:30 on a regular Monday morning! The only thing I could guess is that the die-hard deal seekers must have already gotten back in bed to recover from their early morning crowd-fighting.

I did a few finger food meal preparation, then took a short nap. Travis took Scott to tour one of his elevators and Holly, the kids and I all decorated the tree.

We ate the much-anticipated finger foods meal we have each year when we decorate the tree. Travis got his spicy Monterrey stuffed mushrooms and was in heaven! The kids love the mock champagne (apple juice and 7up) served in special glasses. The kids got to pick their five ornaments each to put on the tree after supper...then...drumroll...the kids got to open their gifts. I will post pictures of them opening gifts next blog.

Many hands make for light work, is all I have to say. Having all of the extra hands and minds to help make the decorating quicker made this mother's work much lighter! Thanks guys!