A Tale of Four Trees (Christmas Open House)

Ever have those moments when you literally become the paradox of which you complain?  I didn't put out all of my Christmas decorations that I have used in the past.  In fact, someone just starting out could go into my attic and have a full house of cheer using only my leftovers.  I say I didn't put out all of my Christmas decor this year because I am too busy with more kids than arms.  However, I may have lost steam after decorating Christmas Tree number...wait for it...four!  Mid-way through number three, I began questioning my sanity. Nevertheless, I love my trees.  And for the sake of over sharing, I thought I would let you see all of my Christmas decorations. 

First up, our "family" tree.  As an aside, I should warn you that I let the older kids help me decorate as much as possible.  So if you see clumps of ornaments or bare spots, that is probably the culprit.  Actually, the bare spots may be on account of my dividing ornaments among a whopping 4 trees....nah, let's blame the kids! This is the tree with the most heart.  Here you will find laminated hand prints, dated snowmen, and general mismatched glory! 

This is also the tree where I did the most experimenting with poly deco-mesh.  I made the tree topper from scratch by arranging decorative sticks above the bow.  All were 50% at Hobby Lobby.  Is there any place else to shop for craft goods?  If it's not on sale this week, just wait and go back next week!  Love and holla!

In the foyer, I put up a smaller tree that actually belongs to my brother, Mark.  If I'm gonna store it, I think I get full rights to use it.  Mark, if you are reading this, please don't go all Grinch and steal the tree!  I like this tree because it has a random collection of large ornaments, some cool thrift store finds, and most of my "pretty ones".

Caroline's pink tree looks pretty much just like it did last year, with the exception of a new Hello Kitty ornament on there somewhere.

Rob's tree got a boost.  It's only a 3-foot tree, so I put it up on a chest (normally housed in my foyer, by the way.)  I also technically moved his tree out of his room.  Rob's room is the only room at the top of our staircase.  So by putting this tree at the top of the stairs, when it is lit it lights up the whole stairwell so lovely.

One of my favorite details of his tree is shown below.  On the right is a hand painted wooden ornament my dad made for me when I was a baby.  Then when Rob was a baby I went to Christmas Village (a humongous arts-and-crafts show in Birmingham) and saw a vendor selling these little hand-painted ornaments.  So Rob got one to match mine.  Love!

Moving into the kitchen, I have a little display of Christmas plates and a cookie jar over on one of my counters. 

 

Then on my buffet, a collection of decorative trees (yep, more trees) and a picture frame with no picture.  That's extremely typical for my house...

 

Not pictured when I took these shots was the addition of the family gingerbread house:

  

Still in the kitchen, I have a wine tower which usually also holds my cookbooks.  They have been replaced by a nutcracker display and the whole "look" was made a little more festive:

Moving into the living room, I have still more nutcrackers watching the family activities from their home on a side table.  If you look closely, you will see Sherlock Holmes, a rock star, Big Al, an Army soldier, and a chef -- he is our new 2012 addition.

Last but not least, my mantle.  I didn't put a wreath on this mirror which I usually do.  I think I was secretly hoping for a festive family monogram which I have seen all over blogland, but I never got around to purchasing.  I still need to hang my stockings ("...with care/ In hopes that St. Nick soon would be [here]".)

Can you tell I love nutcrackers?

 

Surprisingly, neither older child has messed with my stuffed snowman and Santa this year!  I think the addition of the Fisher Price nativity (as Rob says "Jesus scene") has helped them leave my decor alone!

 

That's all for this holiday home tour!  I'm linking with Kelly, The Nester, and  Thrifty Sarah.  And, yes, I am a little late for all of these link-ups.  But my heart has been so heavy and yet my plate so full this last week, that I really have neglected my blog.  I am still praying for Connecticut, and I'm praying for the peace that Christ's birth brought the world will once again settle into all our lives.

Merry CHRISTmas,

The Coolest Gift Ever!

Good morning!  Welcome to the 4th and final week of Advent.  Christmas Day is coming down the homestretch.  Do you still have gifts to buy?  Parties to plan?  Are all your Holiday cards mailed?  Is everything wrapped?  Have you planned your menu for Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day yet?

Is your head now spinning?????

On Friday evening something seemingly trivial happened that has stayed with me all weekend and I want to share it with you.  It completely discredits the above madness.  Rob received -- in his own words -- "the coolest gift ever."  This is, of course, a 5-year-old's opinion that turned out to be a priceless statement in more ways than one.  Okay, let me start from the beginning. 

My dad came over and I cooked dinner for him. He is not going to be in town for Christmas, so we went ahead and visited, ate, and exchanged presents.  He had previously warned me that he was gifting Rob something that he was certain no one else would.  Rob received a mid-sized Rubbermaid plastic storage tub 90% full of loose change.  That's right: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, 50-cent pieces, and even Canadian $2 pieces.  It probably amounts to a couple of hundred dollars or so.  Rob thought he had just been given millions of dollars!  For a split second I thought that Rob was confused and disappointed.  That saddened me for my Dad.  (I am a horrible gift giver.  I can't relax.  I always want to give the PERFECT gift.)  But then Rob looked up and announced it was "The coolest gift ever."  Score!

Over the next week and beyond, I will likely write about the toys my kids receive and love, the parties we host and/or attend, the exhaustion from post-hustle and bustle, and more.  So if I don't do it again, I wanted to say for the record, "Thank you, God, for giving us the coolest gift ever."  If it weren't for the gift of Jesus, we would not have Christmas.  We may be celebrating Winter Treasure Day, Winter Solstice, or Hanukkah.  But there would be no CHRISTmas.  It is so easy to forget why we have this holiday.

My dad's gift represented small daily sacrifices of dropping pocket change into a tub.  He consistently did that and then generously and selflessly recognized that his grandson would love the gift.  (He also knew that someday his grandson would want to go to college and his daughter would responsibly put that change into savings...but that's another story.)  Maybe he didn't fully realize the impact of his actions, but this gift represents what God gave us so many years ago -- Sacrifice, Consistency, Generosity, and Selflessness. 

Please enjoy the Holidays.  Enjoy the presents and the parties.  Endure the shopping.  Blog all about it, because I love reading it.  But I encourage you in your own ways to remember why we all do this.

Merry CHRISTmas,

Guess What's On Its Way?

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Thank you Shutterfly for allowing me to blog about my Christmas card. Now, hurry up and send 'em to me so I can mail them. (I'm just a wee bit late on this project.)

Deck The Halls

Hi there!  Do you love getting to peek into others' homes and "Ooh" and "Ahh" over their holiday decor ideas?  Me too!  So here's my Christmas present to you: a peek into my home...

This year I put up three trees: our family tree in the living room and a tree in each of the kids' rooms.  Here are the details of my main tree.  (By the way, yes, I know the star is crooked.  I can't seem to make it stand up straight!)

The main tree is a combination of "pretty" ornaments and sentimental ones.  The tree itself is artificial, pre-lit, although I love a lot of lights, so I have added three more strands.  It is an eight-year old tree (purchased with wedding-present gift cards the first Christmas of Bobby's and my marriage).

A couple of firsts: first "family" ornament from '06 and first Christmas from '03

If you look at the above first family ornaments we were depicted by snowmen. I didn't realize it until just now that we are snowmen again when adding a 4th Morris to our family ornament!

I love this ornament -- a nod to our dear Houma, LA friends the 1st year we went to Mardi Gras down there.  This was also the 1st time Rob flew in an airplane.

Roll Tide!  Santa Claus put this ornament in Bobby's stocking in '09.  Little did we know that we would also be celebrating National Championship #13 this same football season!

Rob's tree also features a crooked star.  Perhaps I should just go with it and claim it's my style.  Ha!

I need to get a tree skirt for Rob's tree. There are so many cute ones on blogs and Pinterest these days, but I really am trying to keep Rob's tree as masculine as possible. Suggestions?

On Rob's tree there are plenty of sentimentals tucked in like this sweet ornament!

The hand print on the left is marked on the back -- 9 weeks old.  The footprint on the right is marked 14 months old.  Each has a partner/coordinating hand print/footprint that are on my main tree.

The football player is supposed to play "Yea Alabama" the fight song, but it needs new batteries.  The li'l doggie head is a Boston Terrier.  We had Zoe for 7 years, but she was adopted by a girl in Atlanta now.  Rob still misses her.

On the left is a wooden ornament that my dad made for me 30+ years ago. (Don't ask me why he painted blue PJs on his daughter...) When Rob was a baby, I saw this wooden ornament at a Craft bazaar and bought it for him, knowing it was so similar to my childhood one.

In Caroline's room, she has a pink tree that my dearest friend Amber bought for her when she was born.  Instead of a crooked star, I made a bow for the top of her tree.

She, too, had her hand- and footprint made as a baby.  These above were made when she was 12 weeks old.  She just recently had them made again, but they are not ready to hang yet, so I kept this set together on her tree.

Again I have used some of my childhood ornaments the kids' trees.  This one above likely has a story behind it, but I can't remember it.



 Now I will give you the bonus part of your Holiday peek: more decor.

Our Christmas mantle.  If you look closely, you will see our Elf sitting up there. He likes to move around the house, but this is today's perch. 

I also have a new found love of nutcrackers.  In the picture above, I have some kind of dramatic ones on the mantle, as well as a cute Santa's workshop nutcracker.

Beside the tree, on an end table I have a nutcracker grouping.  Notice the Rock Star in the back.  Also the ballerina/princess.  She was from Caroline's Nutcracker Ballet 1st birthday party last year.

In a corner of my kitchen I have corner shelf unit full of nutcrackers.  If you look on the top shelf you will see...

...the one that Rob says is his favorite.  He's been hot for pirates for a while now and it doesn't seem to be cooling off.

A third and final grouping of nutcrackers is near a lamp on my buffett.  What an odd variety, right?  A soldier, a vampire, a police officer and an angel.

Since I have your attention in my kitchen, I just love this!  It's a little trivet / tile that Rob made in school last year.  I am a huge sucker for sentimental decorations.  I plan to keep collecting memories and I hope someday my tree is full of Popsicle ornaments, etc.

Well, that's it for now.  May God continue to bless you this Holiday season and throughout the year.

Merry Christmas!