Show and Tell Tuesday - Christmas Decorations

Linking up with Andrea for Show and Tell Tuesday.

I love these posts, I love documenting our own Christmas decorations but I also love looking through the rest of the link up to see what others have done.  Everyone has so many neat ideas and unique styles. 

I didn't want the pictures to be the exact same as last year so I tried changing it up a bit and moved some things around.  To the untrained eye, I'm sure it looks very similar to last year, but I am pleased with the changes. 

(I took photos on three different days and Dave also took some photos, so the lighting is not consistent, and everyone says "who cares?".)

I'll start with this little guy, a sweet little angel decoration.  

Mantle with mostly red and gold

Our nativity has moved over here and is lit by a red lamp

New gold tree from Plant World

I love our new pillows

The piece de resistance, our tree :)

Oh hey!

All metallic colours on the piano.

Lights across the back window is another new addition.  We finally got new lights for our tree so we had this extra strand of the old lights to use elsewhere.

Love this pom pom wreath

It's on the door into the basement.  See our box of Christmas cards on the counter, ready to be addressed and sent out!  If you don't normally get a Christmas card from us, but want one (and know me personally), send me your address on Facebook Messenger :)

These little guys welcome our guests and the mailman

My attempt at building greenery urns.

I moved this garland of woodland creatures to the staircase.  That means I have nothing in the doorway between the living room and dining room so I'll look for another garland for that.  Something bright and cheery that would match our silver tinsel tree. 

The advent calendar.

E's tree in this room that he more or less decorated himself.  He picked out some ornaments he wanted to put on it, with some coaxing from us, and then I hung most of them under his direction. 

See 2014's decorations here and here.

And 2015's here.

Weekend Recap

On Friday morning, Q and I got out of the house early so we could apply for our passports.  We got to the passport office right before it opened but there was already a long line.  They are very efficient though and we didn't have to wait long.   I did some wrapping and I a bit of decorating around the house when we got home, and in the afternoon we went to do some errands and got a Starbucks :)

I made poutine and wings for supper.  I tried a recipe for salt and pepper wings that was alright, but also a honey garlic one that was amazing.  I would make it again.  We had leftover turkey gravy in the freezer from Thanksgiving so I used it for the poutine.  This is Dave's meal.

E wanted a picture of his meal too and snuck his head in for a smile. 

On Saturday morning, I got up early for the semi-annual task of signing up for Toronto Recreation programs.  I got the swimming and skating lessons we wanted and the enjoyed a couple of minutes by the tree before everyone else got up.

Captured this little guy while he "played" on the floor

E finished decorating the tree in his room.  He put his arms over his head because he was cheering "It's Christmas!!"

Then we went outside so I could finish putting together the urns with greenery.  This is not my strong suit, but I managed and they look okay.  Then E played with his chalk before we headed to Sportball.

For the rest of the afternoon, we did stuff around the house and I got groceries.  Then I left the boys at home and I went to my office Christmas party.

Matching necklaces :)

On Sunday morning, we were off to church for the second Sunday of Advent.  We had three baptisms and so had cake in the hall afterwards. 

E had a friend over to play after lunch.  Dave cleaned the house, and I made oat cakes - holiday baking has begun!  We then walked up to Mad Mexican for supper.  They have a new menu, including nachos, and we enjoyed our meal.  It was nice to walk and see the Christmas lights, and not have to make supper!

Mmm, nachos!

Relaxing on the couch when we got home from dinner while Dave put E to bed.  

This next week is busy with Christmas events and preparations for our party!

Friday Favourites

Linking up with Andrea, Erika and Narci for Friday Favourites.

We don't do Elf on the Shelf here, but we do have this advent calendar.  The first year, I included some healthy treats in amongst the candy, that has gone by the wayside.  This year's calendar is filled with foil wrapped kisses, reese peanut butter bells, and mint squares.  And the 24th has a Marshmallow Santa in it.  And even if I'm the only one listening, I read the corresponding bible verses.

This little guy had his two month appointment this week and he rocked it! He screamed briefly during the shots, but was right on track with weight (12 lbs now), head movement, eye focusing, and smiling/cooing.  Our doctor was impressed!

I made our granola recipe yesterday. It smells so yummy when it is baking. 

We booked a winter holiday and I'm so excited! We are going to the Royalton Blue Waters in Jamaica.  I have not been down south since I was pregnant with E and I'm looking forward to spending a week on the beach and by the pool.   These watersides are going to blow E's mind!

I am excited to see this new movie, Office Christmas Party.  I hope it is our local theatre for the mom and baby movie soon.  I love Jason Bateman and everyone else in the cast. 

Happy Friday!

December Goals

This series has been fairly successful and has pushed me to achieve a few things that I may not have but for the accountability of this post.  I have tried to select goals that cover our home, family time, and, fitness. 

November's goals were:

1. Get our flu shots.  Done and done.  We went to a pharmacy this year rather than our doctor's office and it worked out quite well.  No excuses for not getting your flu shot, they are free and available everywhere! 

And you can bribe your child if you need to (although since he got the nasal spray instead of the shot like I had, I think I deserved the treat, not him!)

2. Start planning our annual Christmas party.  Plans are pretty much the same as last year, and they are saved in a Google Doc.  The glassware we rent has been reserved, invitations have been sent out, and the decorating has begun. 

3. Have some of E's friends over for playdates.  This did not happen.  We had two birthday parties on the first weekend, then we were in Halifax, then our house was in disarray with the window installation, and this last weekend was also packed with events.  This will definitely be a priority for January!

4. Organize our winter clothes.  I got our winter boots, coats, hats, mitts and scarves down from the storage above the closet.  E does not need a new snowsuit or boots yet so that's good.  I also cleaned out his drawers and got rid of clothes that he'd grown out of, and I brought up my sweaters from the basement and put them away.

5.  Start writing in Q's baby book.  This will be an ongoing process for his first year but I've completed a few pages so far - things like his name, birthday, weight, family tree, and some firsts, like first smile.

Goals for December:

1. Try out a fitness class at our local gym.

2. Wrap all of our gifts before December 20. 

3. Try some new side dishes for our Christmas dinner.

4. Apply for Q's passport and my new passport.

5. Walk to school to pick up E.