Merry Christmas From The Hawkins Family

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! In celebration of getting my tree early and all my cards done and sent, here is probably my final blog post for the year, unless of course I decide to do another one!

Since my last post, my husband, with a little help from a friend, managed to bring home a beautiful full tree for the kids and I to decorate. My husband told me if it hadn't been for our friend, who dragged it through the woods for a few miles, we wouldn't have one, so thank you Eric, and thank you Tracy for loaning us his time and energy. At any rate, even though I had cleaned the house, windows, and carpet in preparation for this event, I still managed to end up  with more cleaning before it could be brought in. I have no idea how it gets so messy, seriously, its amazing the amount of things that can pile up in a short time.

Since I KNOW everyone wants to see the tree, here it is.

The Tree before.......

As you will notice in the background, my pile of ornaments and decorations are forlornly sitting on the couch waiting for the tree to be trimmed and set. I could hear them calling to me.."tree... tree...tree...". Just kidding, ornaments don't talk, silly people! It only took 20 minutes or so to get it all ready and off we went. After stringing the lights,  Alyssa and I took turns finding places for all the ornaments I had collected over the years. It was actually alot of fun, and we had a place for every ornament. I used to collect one for each of the kids, but when you don't get a tree every year sometimes its hit and miss, I was just glad I managed to find the Babies First Christmas ones.

The tree after....

Okay so we got the tree up and I decided this year EVERYTHING was going out, and I mean Everything. I haven't decorated this much in years and it was a blast, although I think at a certain point my husband was saying, "are you done yet?", and Im like "uhhh...NO". I worked on it the rest of that day, and then some the next day, and then some the next day...you get the picture. I think I was bordering on obsessed. Lets just say it is a good thing I ran out of stuff to put out, or I might still be decorating. After my husband came home and saw what I had done, he proceeded to make a new word to describe my decorating attempts "hick-lectic". For those of you who don't know what this means, join the club, the only part I actually caught was the "Hick" part, which I assure you did not earn him any points. I think if you look up "hick" then "eclectic" and put the two definitions together you will get it. 

Tree and sitting area.

Here is another picture from a different angle, or at least I hope so, as I seem to be having a technology dysfunctional moment at this time.....

Another view....

So I totally decked out the place and proceeded to help Winter make a wreath for the front door. I have only made one other wreath...ever...so we decided to use a metal hanger form, good thing too or it never would have got done. Here are a couple pictures.....

A work in progress...

It didn't really take that long and I think she did a wonderful job, and Im not just saying that because Im her mom!

Finished wreath...

So we are all done for the moment and breathing a collective sigh of relief, not sure if this will happen next year but Im looking forward to the Irish and Australian Ornaments for next year. Come to think of it, I may have too much on the tree right now as its starting to lean forward and my husband is positive its from all the weight. Maybe I will have to send some ornaments to my daughter so we can both have leaning trees:)

Merry Christmas!

Tis the Season....

So..its that time of year again, Christmas Carols and Christmas Programs, tinsel, lights, cards and of course piles of ornaments ready to go on that ever elusive "perfect" full bodied, evergreen tree. Typically, our family tradition has been to wait until the day before Christmas to set up and trim the tree and hurriedly get it decorated without staying up until 2 in the morning. This year, I dug in my heals and said No! I want a tree earlier than normal, not at the last minute.

My pile of Christmas ornaments

My husband , being the wonderful husband he is, ventured out to the wilderness for a total of about 4 hours over the course of 2 days seeking *THE* tree. We all seem to have differing requirements for said tree, but we can all agree on at least one thing, it has to be fuller than lasts years. Since I happened to pick last years tree, I was rather devastated that no one appreciated my previous effort, although I would be the first one to admit that I was only willing to venture out about 20 feet from the house, hence the scrawny tree. My friends all know me as someone who instantly turns into a homebody by just adding a little cold weather and snow, so just the fact that I was even willing to walk outside last year and get a tree was a major milestone in my usual Winter routine.



So now that we are in this holding pattern waiting for a tree,  I have decided I really need to get my Christmas Cards done or in the very least get them started, as Im sure everyone would enjoy getting them before Christmas at least once in a blue moon. To help me along in my endeavor are my 2 sweet daughters and this awesome 80 card, Make It Yourself set,  complete with everything needed, just  provide the adhesive.

Christmas Card Set

I dont have alot of time this year, so I thought this would be a good way to get it all done and still have a homemade touch. After 2 hours of cleaning off the table, and finding all my assorted scissors, markers, glue and etc. I was ready to go to work. Needless to say, I did not get one single card done. Turns out there were several other things that needed my immediate attention, add to that a run to the post office and store and by the time I got home I was worn out. Being a homebody during the Winter does have its draw backs, since my days consist of sitting by the warm fire in my pajamas,  homeschooling the kids,  I do believe that my muscles are becoming useless.  I am hoping to get some cards done by Saturday, in the mail and on the way to their final destinations in a timely manner.


This year has been pretty much the same as previous years, too much to do, and what seems like not enough time to do it. It is so easy to get overwhelmed and feel like nothing is getting done, or getting done the *right* way. Occasionally I seem to forget the reason I celebrate personally and our family collectively. If I'm truthful with myself though, its not about when I get a tree, when I get the cards done or what I get or what I give, its all about what God gave us, a perfect gift, the gift of his only Son. So while I panic over trees, cards and finances, I will push it aside and remember what My God did for me and for the world on that first Christmas morning, and I will pray that others will also remember, the perfect gift given on that day so long ago.
God Bless you always and Merry Christmas!