Christmas through the eyes of a two year old

I have spent the past few days decorating our house for Christmas.  Parker had so much fun with all the "new" stuff.  However, it has been pretty entertaining watching how he plays with the decorations.

For Christmas last year my mom gave Parker a bunch of Christmas books.  I packed them away with the decorations so they would be "new" again this year.  He was beyond excited about all of the books and after he read them, he decided they were more well suited as a Choo-Choo train!

I have a Santa Claus decoration that is similar to a Russian Nesting Doll.  It has proven to be his favorite toy.  However, he thinks they are cups and pretends to drink from them.  I'm just waiting for the moment he actually fills one of the wooden figures up with water from our refrigerator door (note to self: remember to child lock the ice and water dispensers).

See that item he's holding?  It's not a Christmas wreath centerpiece for my coffe table.  Nope.  If you look closer you see that it's an alligator.  And, it's chasing him!

I let Parker decorate one Christmas tree all by his self.  He had so much fun doing it!  However, he would place all the ornaments on one tree branch until it was full, then he would proceed to another one.  I know I've morphed into a mom when I bit my tongue and refrained from telling him where to put each ornament so it would look "pretty".  He was so focused and when we ran out of ornaments he was absolutely beaming.  He couldn't wait to show it to his daddy when he got home that evening.  The memory makes me a little teary eyed! 

Once we were finished with the little tree he was overly excited to put together the bigger Christmas tree.  After I put it together there were a few V-shaped tree limbs (I'm assuming to put at the bases of the poles so it doesn't look so fake!  But, to a two year old, they were more fun to wear as hats.  He even told me I had to wear one and when I did so, he told me I was a princess (if someone ever needs a self-confidence booster, just hang out with a two year old!).

As much as he is enjoying all the decorations, the little guitar Christmas tree ornament is taunting him.  I had to move it to a higher branch because even though I thought it was our of his reach, nothing can stand in the way of a budding musician.  I don't have a picture of it, but Parker practically tried to climb the tree to try and yank it down.

Happy Holidays from our house to yours!

My newest crush!

Wanna know what my latest obsession is? It's pinterest! And I am in LOVE! First, who doesn't love looking at awesome pictures of items that peak ones interest? I know I sure do! But this website takes it one step further. I can plug in a word, say driftwood, for example, and it pulls up all kinds of pictures with driftwood. Pretty cool, huh?

I discovered pinterest when a friend of mine suggested I check it out after I posted a question on facebook asking where I could get ideas for remodeling our lake house. When I think of a "lake house" I picture a cabin with lots of decor involving fish. Maybe because that's what every lake house that I've been in at Lake Texoma is like. Since I'm not that into fish, I figured I had to do something different. Since there is a beautiful sandy beach within walking distance from our lake house, I figured why not have our "lake house" look like a "beach house"? I may not be able to see the beach, but at least I'll know I'm close by and can still feel like I'm "at the beach" or "on vacation" when I'm inside!

We're going to begin a total renovation of our "beach house" beginning in late August and Pinterest has absolutely been a good source of inspiration for Greg and I. I'm not the type of person who can instantly visualize what a room or house will look like. I like to see pictures and drawings. This is where pinterest has been a huge help. My thinking is that we'll have the main area of the house painted in a pale gray (my new favorite neutral) and hopefully we can find some cool "beachy" flooring. Then, I'll accent with pops of turquoise and orange, along with some lush greenery. (I'd love some actual palm leaves if anyone wants to mail me some!

With that being said, here is the board I curated on Pinterest with ideas for our "beach house"!