Mason Smith

This is year 2 of a tradition that I hope lasts forever! Don’t let this video fool you. This little Polar Express took me 3 long days, 2 smashed fingers, 20 sheets of plywood, and a whole lot of Christmas spirit. And what you didn’t see is that 2 hours before the parade it came down to the wire, our generator quit working, the mower exhaust broke, and it started dumping rain, but we didn’t let that stop us. Because there was a dream that needed to be made… To be 7 years old in a parade with all your friends and family handing out chocolate in a city you love… Does it get much better than that? #parade #float #christmas #Christmasparade #paradefloat #tractortrain #train #polarexpress

Who am I fooling? I couldn’t even say it with a straight face. She had the totes out and labeled for me! I love decorating early because then we get to leave it up longer! It’s all a strategy. But I’d love to know, do you think it’s too early to decorate for Christmas? #decoration #christmas #porchdecor

It’s amazing what you can do with a 25 year old sandbox, a few cans of paint, a garage full of useless trinkets, a free Saturday, and a dream. Yet again my daughter chose the colors, and I figured out how to turn this sandbox into a real floating, fully functional boat. If your first thought after watching this video was “it needs a bigger motor”, then stay tuned, because do I have a treat in store for you… 😏😂🙌 #tuggy #tugboat #DIY #tuggysandbox #boat

My wife’s reaction was well worth the work! And don’t worry… I already told my neighbors not to worry. If you saw this, would you come try to help me get down? 😂 #christmas #decorations #prank #funny #DIY

There are very few gifts that my wife loves more than custom matching holiday sweaters. Can I take a moment to shoutout @Cricut for making the process so simple! #cricutmade Yes this is an #ad but you all know that I use my Cricut on a weekly basis for so many cool projects, so when they wanted to partner to show how it can be used for holiday gift giving, I was 100% on board! If you have a handy person in your life, I highly recommend a Cricut as a go to gift for them!! They might even make you something fun with it… just saying. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Happy Holidays everyone!!

It was our turn to bring post game snacks and I wanted to finish the season with something memorable. My daughter has been on this same soccer team going on 3 years now and it’s a special group of kids that we are so thankful to be apart of. If you remember I made them warm up jerseys at the beginning of the last season and now these little mugs will match. And to be honest, we have the easy job, the true praise goes all the incredible coaches and staff that volunteer their time to coaching and helping kids, you all are the real MVP’s!!! #Soccer #snacks #DIY

Stay around for the end to see it at night! My wife saw a 5ft candy cane at the store, so I told her let me try to build it bigger and better before we buy one… And about an hour later, a little paint, and some old Christmas lights, we had a 10 ft candy cane that she liked even more!! If you have 17 extra pumpkin pales laying around, here’s a fun craft you can do… (I don’t expect anyone to have this… but I did see that stores have these pales on extreme clearance right now if you wanted to try to build one) Let me know what you think I should try to build next?!? #Christmas #decorations #candycane

Yes, I literally learned how to sew so that I could make this project. So this is both the most cozy sleeping bag ever, and also the biggest stocking you’ve ever seen. Thankful for a wife who still thinks I’m funny, even after 12 years of marriage! Who wants a giant stocking? #giantstocking #DIY #stocking #christmas

Parents night out, but still home before 9. The best kind of night! Great food, and even better company. Thankful for these amazing friends who feel like family! #chrisgiving #christmas #potluck #decirations

6 hours, 3,500 Christmas lights, 5 sheets of plywood, 3 rolls of tape, 2 rolls of wrapping paper, and a really slow drive to the parade. After building The Polar Express parade float, I realized I needed somewhere to store enough chocolate for 3,000 people, so the day before the parade I decided to toss this together! Thankful for an amazing community that puts on these fun events for my friends and family to be apart of! #DIY #trucklights #christmastruck #christmas #parade

My kids had such a blast delivering the Halloween rugs that I knew we had to keep the tradition going and make Christmas rugs. Could we have bought them? Yes. Was this cheaper and more fun to do it ourselves? Absolutely! Again, we got the rugs for $6 and my daughters helped me pick out the designs and colors we were going to do. Then after delivering them all, we got coffees and hot cocoas and went on the hunt to find if anyone had put up Christmas lights yet this year! #DIY #christmas #diyrug

#ad There's only one thing better than building a parade float for your daughter and her friends to enjoy. It's being able to also hand out the most amazing chocolate bar in the world to over 2000 people in the town you love so much! Thank you @Tony's Chocolonely US for helping me not only make everyone in this town smile, but also for helping us win first place for best overall parade float!!! Now go get your Tony's Chocolonely from @Walmart right now, because these holiday flavors are incredible!!! #TonysChocolonely #TonysPartner

I asked the middle school I attended as a kid if there was anything I could do to help. 16 years ago I was lucky enough to go to this public middle school, the same one my mom went to 25 years before that. I hadn’t been back since I graduated, and a ton had changed, but these hoops were still the same. Still crooked with no lines. So I asked the school what they wanted done, and got to work. Cleaned up the yard, pressure washed off the pavement, tossed up 5 new hoops, and painted on some new court lines. The principal sent me a picture the other day of a bunch of kids playing on the hoops with the new basketballs I left and asked if I could come play soon, of course I said yes. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and if no one’s told you, I’m thankful for you! #DIY #basketballcourt #renovation

Who doesn’t love hot chocolate during Christmas time? But more importantly I love teaching my kids that it’s better to give than to receive. This is a fun gift because after the hot chocolate is enjoyed the jars can be washed off and used for whatever they want! Hope everyone has the best Christmas ever!! #hotcoco #DIY #christmascraft

Considering we’ve had our porch decorated in Christmas decor since the day after Halloween, we were both ready for a clean porch to start the New Year! Now I’d love to know, are you the type of person who leaves their Christmas lights up year round, or take them down type? #christmas #cleanup #parenting

Something I learned about 24 hours after I met my wife was that she had a VERY healthy obsession with Christmas movies. So I knew every year we were going to watch, rewatch, and watch again, any and all Christmas movies! We’d love to know what’s your favorite Christmas movie of all time?!? #datenight #christmasmovies

By her reaction, I’d say this was a successful mission. My wife’s always talked about a front porch swing, but I never really thought it was possible with the pitch of our porch ceiling, but in all reality, it was just as simple as a flat ceiling. I built this swing for under $300 and used an old crib mattress for the cushion. Still waiting on the fitted waterproof crib sheets to come in, but my wife’s been swinging in this all day, so I think she likes it. #DIY #porchswing

Our least favorite part isn’t the clean up, it’s the fact that Christmas is over, but picking it up with your best friend makes it a whole lot better! I’m probably going to make some enemies here, but we have a couple birthdays the week after Christmas, so we take this stuff down so we can celebrate them! Are you the type to clean up right after Christmas or leave it up until New Years? #cleanup #christmas #parenting

This is our Christmas tradition! Is it a pain to clean up? Yes. Do we end up leaving this up for a week? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. We did this last year and it was a hit, so I knew my kids were going to love it. And honestly, it’s the comfiest seat in the house! #movienight #ballpit #dad

Cheers to all the parents out there tonight who made magic happen for their kiddos to experience tomorrow morning. I want to start by saying my wife is the superstar of Christmas, from the thoughtful gifts to the amazing food, she is the MVP. And she would have been right here next to me tonight but wasn’t feeling her best, so she passed the baton to me to finish the job. Then all that’s left is for me to pass the baton to Santa to do his thing tonight. For everyone who’s still awake right now, wrapping presents, giving cough syrup, and making magic, I see you, you did great! Be proud of yourself and enjoy tomorrow. 🤟 #Christmas #parenting