Red and White, So Cheery and Bright!

Who adores the combination of red and white? So fun, cheerful, and merry! Click on the picture below to go to the treasury list, where you can click each item to see all the details.

Holiday Wonder

I just love this time of year, and I love how many beautiful things I can find on Etsy to celebrate the time of year as well!

To get a closer look, click on the picture and go to the actual treasury on Etsy. From there, you can click each individual item to see the listing. Thank you for looking!

The Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney with Care

If you or someone you know is in need of a new Christmas stocking, here are a few selections that might interest you! Just click on the picture to go to my treasury list, where you can click on each item individually to view it.

So, what do you like to find in your stocking on Christmas morning?

Have a Silver and Gold Christmas

Who loves a little bling for the holidays? Glam it up in style with these amazing handmade items. 

Click on the picture to go to the treasury, where you can click each item to see it in more detail!

One of These Things Does Not Belong!

Well, the holiday season is upon us and I can tell the busy season has hit because I will be posting half the blog posts this month as in the two previous months. Whoops!

My husband and I have always had a "not till after Thanksgiving Day" policy regarding all things Christmas (except for buying gifts - I'll do that year-round if I see the perfect thing for someone!) Alas, this policy, like so many, has been completely ignored by our children. Our oldest especially, as he is eight and is An Authority on Just About Everything.

He is also very adept at getting into the boxes in the garage, and so delved into a Christmas box early. After strictly informing him that the box would be the only one to be opened early or he forfeits a Christmas present, I allowed the kids to get the stuff out of the box and start to decorate the house last week.

One of their favorite things is the Fisher Price Little People nativity set. All three love this toy, even though anything "Little People" in our regular toy selection is considered "baby stuff" by the boys. They had much fun and merriment setting the nativity up and setting out all the figures just so. I didn't really pay much attention until I went to look out the window at some deer the other day.

Can you spot the anomaly?

Just in case you need a hint:

Somehow I don't think the baby Jesus had blond hair, a pink bow, or a cuddly teddy bear. That would be because this is the baby from my daughter's Mom & Baby Minivan set. Apparently the nativity baby Jesus was missing, so the kids had to substitute. 

All you purists out there can relax, the real Little People Baby Jesus was found later that day. All is well in the world once again!

Flashback Friday - Trimming the Tree

My blogger friend Tia has inspired me to flashback on Fridays (when I remember) and this Friday her flashback inspired mine as well.

Since getting married, my husband and I have established the tradition of getting our tree the day after Thanksgiving. Now that Aaron works on that Friday serving a huge Thanksgiving feast to the homeless community, we've pushed our tree expedition back to Saturday or Sunday dependent on weather, but we like to get our tree as soon as possible so we can enjoy it for as long as we can.

Getting a real tree is a must for both of us. It is what we grew up with, and living where we do, I can't imagine celebrating Christmas without the crisp heady aroma of a real tree scenting the air! Last year was our first Christmas in our new home, and my husband managed to catch the sweetest photos of the kids as we started to decorate the tree.

Isaac was six last year, and took the task of decorating very seriously. You can see how intent he is upon his job.

Thaddeus has some developmental delay and is very sensitive about getting his hair cut, so in order to get through the ordeal as quickly as possible, my husband completely buzzes it twice a year. Last year he did it for the first time just before Christmas. So Thad looks like a recovering cancer patient in all his photos - but apart from choking on a bit of hair and throwing up, it was the least painful haircut he'd had in four years.

Also, see how he put all the jingle bells on the end of one branch? That was his decorating style last year. We had four very over-laden branches where he'd chosen to decorate. I left them like that because it was too cute!

Miriam was 21 months and this was the first year she was aware of the hoopla surrounding Christmas. She saw her older brother sniff the tree, so of course she had to as well.

This set of three photos makes my heart swell with love, and maybe with a touch of sadness because already the kids have grown up more since this time last year and have left these stages behind, and I just want to gather those moments up and hide them inside me, where I can keep my kids safe and no one can ever ever hurt them.

Of course, that's not possible, and I wouldn't be where I am today if my mom had done the same to me, after all. So as I look back over this past year, all our ups and downs, all the tears cried (many by me), all the stress, worry, fear, angst over my children (it's been a hard year), and even the laughter too - I realize that my kids will grow up no matter what I do, so I'd better just do the best I can and take lots of pictures along the way.

It's Like Christmas All Over Again!

So says my five-year old, who has been "celebrating" Christmas for three months now. He takes random toys from around the house (believe me, there is plenty to choose from, I swear the stuff is breeding) and "wraps" them in one of Dad's boots (for a stocking, don't you know?) or in one of my dish towels.

Then he "gives" them to his brother or sister or me. By "give" I mean, he says it is for you, then proceeds to unwrap it himself and tell you all about it, but don't you dare actually try to take the toy and play with it!

I finally got so tired of him carrying around his father's boots (of questionable cleanliness) that I went out to the garage and gave him his actual stocking.

Although, I have to admit, think about how much better off our finances would be if I could just wrap up any old thing around the house in a dishtowel and give it to someone as their present - especially if I get to then take it back, wrap it up again, and give it to someone else!

Somehow I think if I tried that at his next birthday, it wouldn't fly.


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