Gettin' All Festive!!!

So, I tried really, really hard to wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas. But, come on. Yeah, right. 

We began trimming up the tree around mid-November (still a little late for me). 

Josh has a love-hate relationship with my tree. Mostly just hate. He hates my tree.

The sweetest little elf helped us put the lights on:

Grandmama, Lea, & Brett came over to help us decorate, and they brought the newest family member. Meet Ralph :)

Henry even approved of his new little buddy:

It would be impossible for me to decorate my tree without my Mama's help.
(note Lea's hand-placement.....every.single.year.)

Trying so hard to put the scarf around the elf. #fail

Josh always puts safety first: He's got his eyes totally on his mother-in-law in case she falls. 

Or on football.

Putting the sis to work on my hallway.

It only took her a month to finish (she might be still working on it, actually) :)

Taking a break to watch a Christmas movie. :)

Not only did we decorate the INSIDE this year, but we also decorated the OUTSIDE!!! Along with my giant tree, Josh also really hates yard inflatables. So, of course ............ !!

Since we decorated, JoJo decided it would be a good time to come on back. And this year, he brought his sugar-mama. Meet Jessie (they've had some crazy tricks this season):

Grandmama and I also got to help Lea decorate her very first tree in her new house. What an adult she is these days:

Grandmama made her a sweet ornament to commemorate her first house. This was one of Mammie's skeleton keys. Sweetest ornament ever:

Lea also decorated the outside of her house. The falling Santa was a gift from me. You know, because he's hilarious:

Speaking of decorating things, I also decorated my nephew this season. Does he NOT look just like Ralphie with those big blue eyes??

After we were all satisfied with our decorations, we headed out to Six Flags to see some lights and ride some rides. Josh says he'll make our driveway look like this next year:

The decorations were stunning:

Those poor carolers were rudely interrupted by two skipping fools:

I loved this tree, and no one would take a picture with me. So, fine. Tree selfie.

In a snowglobe:

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

(or as Claira sings "Walkin' 'Round in Women's Underwear." Thanks, Daddy & Paw.)

Monster Plantation (still my fav!)

Brett literally thought we were going to tip the boat over. We actually almost did, HA!! Note to self: Lea and I need to sit on OPPOSITE sides of the boat!!! :) :) :)

A little spin on the Titl-a-Whirl:

Heading down to see Old St. Nick!!

Chattin' it up with Mrs. Claus and the elves:

Lilah and this elf had a solid conversation for about 15 minutes or so:

We finally made it in to see the big guy!! This is the 11th Santa picture to grace our mantle!! :)

More pretty trees:

I'm such a sucker for lights. I'd have my whole house lit up all year long if it was socially acceptable:

She totally ruined my light show:

Such a GREAT night with our festive fam! Here's how the kids looked within 2 minutes of the drive home:

I'll leave with this beauty. Nothing screams "holidays" like game-nights, especially those with mouth guards!! We laughed so hard, I literally almost wet my pants!! I foresee more mouthguard fun this season!!

Cheers to yard inflatables, and laughing so hard it hurts :) Merry, merry!!