Christmas has come to the E household!

Today I decorated! YEAH! I love Christmas - I started Christmas music in our house on the 1st of November and usually the decorating happens on the 25th of November, but this year I decided to take advantage of M being home and able to unearth everything from under the stairs. (Our storage under the stairs is EXTREMELY organized, however the Christmas decorations are only used once a year, so they are a little harder to get to then other things.) While the twincesses were in bed for their nap I unpacked everything and started putting it up all over the house. Some things I put int he same place yearly, but others have moved this year from their usual spot. R has claimed a couple of items for his room - my miniature tree that is about 8 inches tall is now in his room, as well as a festive Russ teddy bear Broose that is dressed up like a moose or reindeer. I got A out of bed a little while ago and her face was fun - it just lit up and she keeps on exclaiming over things she is noticing, trying to get me to realise that there, Mommy, right there is a holly spring on the lamp! It's exciting, Mommy! (She's also really interested in the laundry I have to fold and R's undies, but that is another story. :) K got up and had much the same reaction - Oooh! They are so excited.
One of my favorite things to do while I am unpacking ornaments is to look at the different ones we have and remember who gave them to us, or if they are our yearly ornaments (we, as many families, each get one ornament a year) then I try to remember that year and what we were doing. Some were mine from when I was a kid growing up. M has one that was his as a child, it is extremely special as it is the only one we have, so I actually didn't put it up this year as I don't want it accidentally getting broken by the girls. I also have Snowbaby ornaments that I collect that are really special to me - they have not been out on the tree since the year R was born. I just don't want to risk any of them breaking and until my kids are aware and listen well not to touch my tree, I think I will not chance it. I do have out my Snowbabies nativity set. M got this for me the first year that we were in our house. After we got married and I started decorating my own home, I started looking around for a nativity set that looked like the characters were acting out the story, rather than a nativity that depicted what the artist's eye saw. Just my own preference for my own home as I have seen so many beautiful nativities over the years in people's homes. Anyway, M had been refinishing a china cabinet that we had gotten from his granny years before that was an awful dark brown paint and he made it into a beautiful honey color. He surprised me one night when I got home with the finished product with the Nativity inside it so I could enjoy my gift throughout the Christmas season. It has graced the top of the cabinet every year for the past 6 years now.
Christmas is going to be fun this year with three little people all excited - I can hardly wait!