"Drumroll Please...Drumroll..."

It is my favorite time of year and dragging out the Christmas decorations is the first thing I like to do as soon as Thanksgiving is over.  I have six large totes full and working on a 7th...from house to house, I just never know what I am gonna need and it seems to change every year.  This year is extra special because we are expecting company, my brother, sis in law and nieces are coming, so I am making extra sure the house appears as though Christmas has blown up all around it :)  Griswolds we are not, but I totally relate to "Sparky" more and more each year.  The inside of the house is a piece of cake, I totally have that under control.  Its the waiting on Jay and buttering him up nicely enough so that he will break out the big ladder and heave himself up on the roof to get that top awning with lights.  If I had to do it, I would, but fortunately my husband eventually tires of my nagging and gets out there.  I even looked into hiring someone to do the work for us, but had no luck finding that service in our area.  But alas, Jay got up there and tho at one point he was very close to having a Clark Griswold-esque meltdown, he did it and they look great.  Sadly, at this point we are the only house on our street that has lights up, but we are also the only ones with small children and we are the first house you see when you turn onto our street, so it is only fitting.

Pre-outside decorations, I love red bows! 

Part of the reason Jay procrastinated was because he knew he had to clean the roof and gutters before proceeding with the lights... 

Last year he didn't have that smaller ladder and had no way of reaching that dormer, but this year he was able to hang lights up there per my request! 

Still up there after dark, right about this time it was very close to being a scene straight out of Christmas Vacation when he realized the plug he needed was on the OTHER end of the lights... 

Meanwhile, I had been working on the bottom half of the house... 

About four feet too short...

this was my "SON OF A B$&#@" moment, but like most moms, I improvised... 

JOOOYYY TO THE WOORRRLD! 

And since we're talking about decorations, I might as well add in a pic of my Santa Tree.  Had a little reservation about putting a hat on the tree vice the angel that I always use, but decided this year I was doing something different.  Pinterest wins again.