CHRISTmas Tour

Let's have a tour! Sure, why not? After all, I never did finish my Where I Live posts from way back when. Not that there's anything really DIFFERENT about this tour seeing as how you've already SEEN this room...a couple of times.

I did, at least, throw a few CHRISTmas-y things in here, so it qualifies for...

Like...we have some lights.

WHITE lights. That's what we do. We are not fans of the colors. (Except on Nana's pergola over the back porch.) Nah, it's not THAT big of a deal. We like colors alright, but we went with a golden/burgundy/cream color theme when we first got married, and you've pretty much gotta go with white lights. (Besides, they're just better. Ha!)

And don't forget the twinkly......Twinkly is a requirement.

We hung our stockings.

This is my stocking made by my Mamaw Corene upon my birth. (So, it's old.)

My mom made Paul one when we got married and then each of the kids got one for their first CHRISTmas. They are velvet with satin lining and lots upon lots of beads and sequins. Right, Mom?? Granddaughters get red stockings, grandsons get dark green. (I think Saylor would actually like to steal mine.)

My angel stocking holders were purchased at Hobby Lobby last year when they were running a 50% off sale on all CHRISTmas stuff. Thank goodness. 'Cause while ONE stocking holder at $10 ain't bad, I sure didn't want to buy SIX of them at that price!! $30 for all six was truly a good deal. They are rustic (which I like) and very, very heavy (which means they won't topple when the stockings get filled) and they have a nice long hook so that they sit farther back on the mantle (giving them even more stability). So...yeah. I pretty much love these things!!

I've got my snowmen out. They were made by a lady I used to teach with. She makes them out of white chenille (all patterns) and bits of fabric. Each one is unique. My favorite is the little angel with the golden "hair" under her halo. Awwww....

It's funny. The first ones I ever bought were for my mom. I gave her an angel boy and girl. Deep down I was pining away for that girl!! I ended up going back to get an angel for myself and over the course of two years ended up with all of these!! (Sherry Stanton, you are so awesome!) But see the tall one? My dog (Before Children) ate his nose off. Nice, huh? Oh! I should point out that the snowmen on the sled were not Sherry's creations. My Aunt Lisa gave that to me on our first CHRISTmas with Noah. It's a snowmommy, daddy, and baby (with bottle).

And LOOK!! I managed to frame (years ago) two favorite CHRISTmas photos in nice gold frames to match all my CHRISTmas decor, but I've fallen a bit behind, wouldn't you say??

We have our FamilyLife nativity out, but we haven't started reading through the book just yet, so the figures are still packed away. We'll probably start it soon enough. There's always so much to cram in over these last several days before the BIG DAY!

We always set out our family's favorite CHRISTmas stories as well. In fact, I pack them with the ornaments and stuff so we only see them at CHRISTmas time. Saylor was asking about them even before I had dragged the red boxes down from the attic! (She's a book-lover like her momma. In fact, I think there are a couple books missing from the pile. Hmm...better check her room.)

And we've got a tree.

Just kidding. This is just a mini-tree I've had for years. I bought those tEE-NINE-see (spelling?) ornaments and garlands they have at Wal-Mart every year for this tree. (You KNOW how I love wittle bitty things.) It has been Noah's job EVERY year to decorate it. Saylor helped him this year. It looks quite nice, doesn't it?

But don't worry....

We do have a real tree. A nice, big 7.5 foot one. (A shrimp compared to the 10-foot trees we USED to buy!!) I've SO got to blog about our experience getting this year's tree. Yeah. It was ...... interesting.

Growing up, my mom made Bucilla ornaments for each of us kids every year. Now she's making them for her grandchildren.

Here are some of my favorites (from my own collection):

Always liked his little broom.

My very first ornament! Raggedy Ann, 1974

Geppetto from Pinocchio. GOT to love those cool tools!

And this year's.........drum roll, please....................

Gabriel's Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz

Noah's Train Car

Atticus's Nemo

Saylor's Prince Charming from Cinderella

I've still got to work on my wreaths. I have four new wreaths to hang on our two sets of French double doors, but I've yet to purchase my hooks to actually...you know...hang them. And the dining area is definitely not ready for viewing either, considering it's serving as a staging area for all the junk we're ridding ourselves of (see future posts for explanation...and ignore the fact that I just ended that sentence with a preposition).

Okay. That's that! Glad you could stop by.