a farmhouse christmas. {2015}.

Dave was thrilled to lug all 50 billion totes of Christmas decor down from storage earlier this month {okay, yes, I tend to exaggerate…but it felt like 50 billion}. He was even more thrilled when I decided to dismiss 99.9% of the decorations he had just hefted down a flight of stairs.

This Christmas, I felt a need to simplify. Decor, calendar commitments, gifts… all of it. The Christmas season has increasingly become frenzied, lacking margin to simply slow down and breathe in the good gifts of the season. Recently, I embraced the phrase, “good enough is good enough.” And, do you know what I’ve learned? It’s true. Good enough really is good enough.

This means, my Christmas cards are yet to be mailed. And, if they don’t make it to my loved ones’ mailboxes before the 25th? It’s okay, they were sent with love and, that, my friends, is good enough.

This means, my tree top is all kinds of droopy.

We had the best time cutting down our own tree this year. Dave helped the boys use the saw and we all cheered and yelled, “timber!” as the tree fell. Y’all, this tree. She certainly isn’t the sturdiest thing: ornaments consistently slide off the branches and she has already toppled over soaking the rug in lovely tree water.

Between the flimsy tree branches and all of the little hands in this house, she is most certainly not picture perfect. Even still, we love this goofy tree. She makes us all smile. And, that, my friends, is good enough.

This means, when my littlest love is sick, I let the laundry pile up while I hold her and we sing Christmas carols together.

I know how quickly these adorablely, squishy, hilarious, frustrating toddler years will pass and I do not want to miss a moment. If she wants me to hold her and rock her, I will scoop her up and hold her tight.

So, when I take a photo of the no-frills Christmas centerpiece on our table and notice that I forgot to move the laundry basket out of the shot, it’s okay. I have a table to feed my loves and I have clean clothes for them to wear. And, I have photo documentation of both. That, my friends, is good enough.

This means, when the wreath keeps falling from it’s perch above the kitchen sink and I decide to hang it on the back porch and it falls yet again, I can simply set it on the porch swing. Then, I will still see a pop of color as I’m doing dishes and looking out the window. That, my friends, is good enough.

This means, when I tried to hang garland above the front door {but the darn command hook commercials are big, fat liars because they fall down EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. you hang anything weighing over 0.5 ounces}, I gave up and hung them below the crown molding.

And, then, I snapped a photo to document my accomplishment: I hung the garland that has been laying across my chair for two weeks. Hurray!

But, I tried to open the front door to let the dog out and realized this is not functional. I had to pull down the garland and accidentally ripped off two giant chunks of paint {command hooks! I’m talking to you!} and decided to just lay it across a table and pretend that was the plan all along. Because, well, who really cares about garland anyway? That, my friends, is good enough. 

You see, it’s all about perspective. About letting go of guilt and striving and perfection. Slowing down to soak in the joys of this season.

Deck the halls of your home: go all out or simply place a few small branches of pine in a glass jar. Do what is good enough for you.

Keep some blank space on your calendar. Drink hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire {even if the weather is unseasonably warm and you have to open a window before you melt}. Turn off the lights, turn on Christmas music and sing along under the soft glow of the tree.

Read advent devotions to your kids, yet give yourself grace if you miss a day or two (or ten) and do a big catch up on the weekends.

My favorite advent devotional: The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp. We also read her family devotional during our Jesse Tree readings {this doesn’t happen every night and that’s okay, we do this as often as we can and let go of the guilt. Let’s face it, I can’t remember to do anything consistently every day…}.

 

Have y’all seen these? They are pretend snowballs for indoor snowball fights. I feel like they are just giant cotton balls but my kids LOVE them.

I’ve had these Christmas glasses since college. I worked at Pottery Barn and would buy the most random things with my discount since I lived in a 10X10 room and had no need for nice things. I’ve never unpacked them until our first Christmas here in the farmhouse because I finally had open shelving. Apparently, they are a classic that stood the test of time since it feels like college was decades ago.

Wishing you all an intentional, joy-soaked Christmas season, my friends. <3

*Today, I’m linking up with Becky at This is Happiness for a Christmas Home Tour.