Noto Family Adoption: Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree...and Thanksgiving too.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, at least at my house. I have found that this residence is the hardest to decorate, and I have also found that I didn't take any pictures of my super-duper decorations when we lived in Elmhurst. Gone are the days of the large dining room with the evergreen mounted above the molding. For a two flat that place was ah-mazing when it came to decorating.

At this casa, I don't have many surfaces to let me Christmas decorations explode over. So my living room feels a bit cluttered, but it least it is cluttered with Christmas crap. I have not yet decorated any other room, but I will get there. Hopefully later today.

I was also really excited that we decided to put lights up outside. One strand across the front of our straight house. Who can screw that up? We can...when we use our old light strand because somebody (me) likes the old ceramic lights where the bulbs go out repetitively even when they are replaced. So now we have the Charlie Brown Christmas house. It may also look a little Charlie-Brown-esque due to the fact that the strand was longer that the length of the house, so we dropped it down to the bush and just unscrewed the light bulbs in between. Yup we are those people.

Here is the house a couple hours after we put the lights up. Stupid little bulbs. It's like that building in Schaumburg were there are lights all the way around the top and we used to play the "count how many bulbs are out game," most likely when my mom wanted us to chill the heck out. Now I am that house. The "count how many bulbs are out" house. Ugh, what losers.

I just want to point out that though our lights string from our roof to our bushes, we did take out the bulbs. Those lights in the distance are our neighbors, thank-you-very-much. We are not that trashy with our Christmas lights...well, almost.

While we are on the subject of Christmas lights, let me heed a warning. They can give you lead poisoning. Yup, read the back of the box. I don't know that it is all Christmas lights or just the old ceramic ones, but I had to hold back from chewing that electrical cord. You know what else can give you lead poisoning? The eight layers of paint that came off my wall when I tried to hang the moosehead with a 3M strip. Luckily I was still standing there and the moose head did not land on baby Jesus or the three wise men. Moral of the story? Wash your hands all the time, all the day long.

This is a terrible picture of me with the piece of wall and the sad moose. For documentation sake.

The wall after the moose head. Mind you this is a plastic moose head and weighs next to nothing.

The moose head in all of its glory above the TV. I used to hate this thing, but it is growing on me. It usually resides in the garage, but I have decided to bring it inside for the sake of Christmas. I might like it more because while I was stringing the lights on the antlers I noticed how broken they are and that he might be on his way out the door. Mixed emotions friends, mixed emotions.

All out Christmas clutter.

I l.o.v.e. my Willow Tree nativity. If that moose breaks it he will surely be demolished and thrown in the trash.

Ahhhhh. The Christmas tree. Do you see how ornaments go all the way to the inside of the tree. I also put the ones that don't sparkle in the back. Its B.E.A.utiful and I just can't get enough.

I was terrible at taking pictures of Thanksgiving. Maybe because I still have a terrible point and shoot camera. Just sayin. But here is a picture of the amazing feast as well as the love of my life. Thankful for so much.