It’s officially the end of the holiday season…at least in my house it is.  Our tree was down on the 30th and all decor was boxed up by December 31st.  While I normally wait until the first weekend of the year…my allergies started kicking in – and suddenly – I could care less about the pine tree smell in my house…I wanted it out!

But going thru my iPhone photos – I can’t help but get a little sad that we have to wait a whole 12 months for that holiday fuzzy feeling.  I don’t remember being as excited about the holidays – until becoming a mom.  Yea – when I was a kid, I had my fair share of excitement when the holidays came around…but it’s different now.  I get to choose how to celebrate, what to do and create traditions for my own family.   To me, the best part of the holidays is being together – surrounded by love, the smell of food, and the sounds of laughter.  Sharing a few of my favorite things that we did as a family this year – and what’s become a tradition around the Metelus household.

Oh Christmas Tree! Once the final Thanksgiving decor is put up – its time to break out the Christmas tree.  This year – I started our decorations early by putting up our lights and adding a Santa and a few snowmen to our yard.  The kids got such a kick out of them.  And since I was having a ton of family over for the Thanksgiving break – I wanted our house to be even more festive.  But I saved the tree for a few days later – because I didn’t want the stress of decorating with 20 people in my home.  Once we got our tree – as we do every year, Cee-Lo’s Christmas Album and Mariah Carey’s Christmas Album is our soundtrack – as the kids (including my nieces and nephew) get in the holiday spirit as we all decorate.

Holiday trip:  With the kids out of school for two weeks, it makes sense for us to do a quick family getaway for the holidays…and this year – it was Disney to take part in Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.  Orlando is always a fun trip for us since we have a ton of famiy there – but taking in the sight’s and sounds of Christmas topped off with Mickey and Minnie – is definitely a winner!