A belated Christmas post

Once again, life got in the way of this post.  Just wanted to share our holiday décor and Christmas card with everyone!  My parents and brother go to cut down their own tree every year, and we always tag along for the fun.  This year was the first time we were cutting down a tree for our own house!  The boys loved it, even though Ashford was not able to use the saw. 

That tree just to the right of them is the one we brought home.  I LOVED having a real tree, aside from the super annoying setup, constant watering, and very messy removal (which involved a few cups of tree water all over my new rug and floor!), I'd definitely do a real tree again.  It had a lot of trunk showing through the branches, which made for such a beautiful and natural appearance. 

Before we even got the tree, we spent a good chunk of money at Home Depot on lights and crap for the outside.  Shaun wanted to do all white lights and keep it classy, but I said NO.  Kids live here, so we're going colorful and fun!  Besides, he promised the kids a blow up, and you can't have lightning McQueen surrounded by boring white lights!

 
We even gift wrapped the front door, which meant I could freely run around naked upstairs for the month!

 A lot of people thought we painted it pink from a distance, so it was a pretty fun addition. 

Here is the outside lit up!

We got the large C9 bulbs for the outside, and I love the old fashioned feel.  We also chose to use white ceramic C9 bulbs for the tree, which we had to find at Ace.  It looked so perfect!

The kids also loved decorating the tree together this year!

Relaxing and enjoying their hard work.  Ha!

Here is a look at the living room after all the ornaments were on...and there is also a peek at the new rug we got for the living room.  The Crate and Barrel one we had started falling apart, so I returned it for a credit.  This new one was just $235 at Overstock, and we really love the colors!

I'll have to take a photo in daylight so you can see it better.  Shaun is not in love with the pink, but I am! 

I wanted to share our Christmas card.  I usually try to do a fun card each year, and I'm not sure how I will top this one!  Front and back:

And here is a group shot of us on New Year's Eve, we did absolutely nothing and it was awesome.

Hope everyone has a great new year!