How does a tiny off grid house that’s still under construction decorate for the holidays you ask? 

I am not entirely sure but am determined to figure it out!  So on a cold and foggy day, we kicked up the fire and started.  BTW – that picture above was at 3pm when it finally started to clear.

The last few years have been difficult around the holidays.  With so much grace and a lot of His amazing providence, I don’t want it to sound like I’m complaining at all!  He has truly pulled off miraculous things and required us to figure out/remember what is really important.  We have been amazingly blessed!  Just difficult in that new traditions had to be created and old ones had to be skipped or reworked. 

This is the first time I have been able to use our Christmas decorations in 3 years – and by George I was putting my tree up!  

I (mostly) resisted my OCD urges and (mostly) let the children have at the decorating of tree and porch.  

The children were so super excited.  Then it occurred to us, the vast majority of our decorations are lighted.  And power is way to precious to use frivolously.  

We will have to run the generator a few times to have the tree lights on – giving us an excuse to bake Christmas cookies. 

I need to get 2 more stockings…  That would be the matchy thing kicking in again.  And adding a new child every 2 years makes matching stockings very difficult!  BUT I do have enough for the boys to match and different (matchy) ones for the girls.  Plus 1 extra…  for the future??  LOL  Regardless, 2 matching for us parents, we should be set and I can put the wooden initials on.  I really should just learn how to sew the silly things…

Let the annual Redecorating the Tree 10 times a Day begin!  After BabyGirl beelined and proceeded to take off ornaments, up on a tote it went!  May not be the classiest but it’s sanity saving.  I have no idea where the gifts are going to go either…

Yes, it also occurred to me how out of place a non-traditional tree is in a woodsy construction site… 

 Don’tcha love the shelf o’ wood floor! It totally works!

Is it bad that I am contemplating hunting down the tablecloths and runners to make it more sofa table-esque?  Yea yea, don’t laugh at the old melted and bent candles…

 My precious in-laws found a *battery lit* scene that is just perfect!  Yay! 

We helped decorate the church this week.  Which included making and hanging paper snowflakes, giving our children an idea.  They came home and proceeded to make over 50 more… then asked for more paper!  Lack of non-lighted décor problem – solved.  Many feet of paper snowflake garland coming up!  And if they continue making them the way they have, it will be at Grammy’s and Nana’s and Grandma’s house as well.  

Thanks to the church we got another lovely idea to decorate outside that they will be working on over the next few days while we are stuck inside during the lovely ice storm.  So excited!