Christmas Spirit

Ahhhh!! I finally got my Christmas stuff up in the house! Yes, I really slacked this year since I normally do it the day after Thanksgiving..but seeing how we had TWO Thanksgivings, and I haven't been feeling like a million bucks..it got postponed a little bit. 

So, we hammered it out today since the weather was pretty cold & yucky (blah!)...and we weren't really willing to go anywhere. Once a took down all my beloved fall goodies, Eric dug out the "Christmas vaults" from the garage and we started throwing all the Christmas cheer around the house: 

Our foyer..obviously this is my area:

This is Erics area because of not only the sign, but because it has the Thugnifiscent Santa triplets. 

Speaking of Santa..look who I caught in my kitchen!! He knew where the cookies were stashed!
What a fatty! 

Next up was the living room. Since I overran it with Fall stuff, Eric and I made a deal for me to tone down all the Christmas-y stuff on the entertainment stuff. I guess it's "distracting" or whatever. Hey, it's not everyday that it's CHRISTMAS! It's only one time of year, psssh. So. I only put some poinsettia vines as well as our animal Santa there: 

Our standard stockings with the stocking holders I customized a few years ago:

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE!!! I'm actually really surprised how many little blown glass ornaments I've collected since we've been here. Where ever I travel to, I get a glass ornament for it as a reminder ( a clock for Germany, beer stein for Belgium, polish pottery bell for Poland, etc). Sadly, our tree doesn't have lights on it this year since they seemed to have burned out while in storage. As much as I'd love to go buy more, I really don't wanna since we have one Christmas in Europe left, so I don't really see the point in doing that. I mean, HOPEFULLY we'll end up staying overseas (I'd LOVE that!) but I'm not gonna count my eggs before they hatch:

Yes, that's a hedgehog. Why do I have one? Because, we have had several visits by Rosalee ever since she introduced herself back in September of last year. I've been on the hunt for a cute hedgehog ornament for a while, but all the ones I've found made 'em look like they had rabies or something. It just so happened when I was in California putzing around Macys, they had their Christmas stuff out (gotta love retail stores!!) and they had these really cute hedgies! The whole thing is blown glass, but the back has a fuzzy felt on it.  I ended up buying two JUST IN CASE one happened to get smashed in the process of shipping them here. Luck was apparently on my side since neither of 'em were destroyed (YAY!) so now I have two hedgies in my european tree :)

Even my office has some Christmas spirit in it. I busted out my new Scentsy warmer that's called "Blizzard"...it's so pretty!! It's got a glossy finish to it with areas punched out in the shape of snowflakes. Then when you turn it on, you have snowflakes glowing:

I love it! Plus I have my favorite smell, "Silver Bells", in the warmer so my office smells all cozy :)

Last, but not least, my Santa chicken. Yes, a Santa chicken. There's an awesome florist store in a near by town that I love to stalk because they get these really quirky little chickens in through the various months. I've ended up getting a few different ones (a chef, angel, one with a apron, etc), so I thought it was fitting that I get "The Big Guy" to go along with the others..even though he'll only make an appearance once a year. It's the thought that counts, right?

In the midst of going through the Christmas vaults, I found some old outfits I picked up for the weenies when they were little. Sigh, I miss it when they're puppies..nice and small... Anyway, Piper has stayed pretty small, then again, she's only eight months old, but still..she's petite. To Eric's disapproval, I found the infamous Elf hat! Guess who got to sport it??

As you can see...A very happy Peep!

Yes, I'm THAT kind of dog owner. Don't judge me.