Here's Christmas around our house. . .
Baking gingerbread cookies with the children. The only batch of Christmas cookies at our house this year.
Genevieve figured out how to make snowflakes by herself. Her method involves colored paper and tape.
Then we hung some white snowflakes on our Christmas card garland. Give me a better idea for pinning up the single-side cards. I'm sure there's something prettier than black binder clips.
The stockings are hung and now bursting since I snapped the photo.
We like to go to a funny little tree farm and cut our own tree. This year, my husband announced we were getting a tree to suit our tall Victorian ceilings - I said dumb things like how is this going to fit in our little Nissan, I don't have enough lights, and are you crazy. He prevailed.
It's an eight footer, bought for a suitably thrifty price of $28, probably because it's not proportionally fat. I cut branches out of the back where the tree stands against the wall, and used the branches to decorate.
Teacher gifts - hot chocolate mix.
Two stockings I made for my mother to fill for the children at her house. Ben is telling me there's no stuff in his stocking. Genevieve is being tolerant and amused in a very adult way.
1. cut tree; decorate tree, eggnog
2. set up manger scene
3. hang and fill stockings
4. gifts (it got more detailed here with names and ideas)
5. make gingerbread cookies with the children
6. Christmas caroling
7. decorate porch with greens
Anything else Christmas-y that happened around here was gravy. I don't want to hate this season or allow our family to be overwhelmed and busy. Even with this short list, I still felt breathless most of December. Ha. I'm writing as if December and Christmas are over, when it's only that I've crossed off all the items on my list and I'm ready to start savoring all the joy. . .you know, the joy that comes to the weird.
17 comments:
Seeing that tray of cookies perched precariously on the edge of the sink make me NERVOUS. What if someone turns on the faucet, huh? Did ya think of that? Huh?
LOVE your daughters T-shirt.
Sorry couldn't help but notice..............cow girl kind of thing. Wish I could flip the cows around here too!
I was in the village today to pick up a few groceries. The road was crammed with cars coming back from the city. Can't imagine being in the crowd at the city buying gifts and such.Just not my kind of thing.
Rather be home enjoying my family everyday, rather then save it up for one day.
JJ, of course, I'm a mother! The children can't reach the faucet to turn it on and the husband was not home. And I didn't knock the tray to the floor (the likeliest accident in this situation).
So very wise of you to make a list of what you find important. For too many years to count, when my children were much smaller, I ran myself ragged trying to have everything just perfect for Christmas. And why? Christ certainly wasn't born in a clean place, with a feast followed by oodles of cookies awaiting Him.
As my children have grown older, I've relaxed. Whew! Thank goodness for ALL our sakes! They do the decorating these days- except I did the dining room. They help with the baking, and last year we had pasta for dinner on Christmas Day. It was so easy!
Joy to the weird, indeed!
I'm remembering something funny about your nativity scene last year.... I'm going to have to go back and look at those early Christmastime blogs.
I laughed out loud at Ben's carol. I decided to take the card situation in hand at our house this year and took an idea from a decorating magazine. I bought a large wooden quilting hoop from JoAnne's (It might have been $5) and glued clothespins around it, alternating the direction of the clip part. At first I was worried that it looked kind of hokey, but now that it's filling up with pretty cards you can't really see it.
Your tree is beautiful! I'm glad you got a tall one to suit your ceilings :) Your house looks warm and Christmasy, and I admire the sanity of your holiday to-do list. It still looks like a lot to accomplish, especially because you hand-make some of your presents.
And thanks to Ben for giving my Christmas season a new philosophical dimension. I can't get it out of my head, and it makes me smile every time: "Joy to the Weird!"
Punk, that's a great idea! What kind of glue did you use? I hope you put a pic on your blog.
DB, here's the link:
http://thriftathome.blogspot.com/2009/12/merry-christmas.html
I like your list , keeping it simple. That is what I do ,make a small list and feeling free to add to it.(That way I can feel like I went above and beyond....over-achieving,even.)lol!!!
Love it: Joy to the Weird!
Good for you on keeping it simple. Shooting for that here ourselves too.
The tree is very pretty, very twinkly.
For the cards, I thought of that poster-tack stuff, a little blob on the inside, to keep it on the garland...just an idea. We use it for lots of things here!
Happy Advent! Merry Christmas!
Oooh, and have you ever simmered Christmas Scent this time of year?
Beth, I've simmered orange peels and/or apple cores plus cloves and cinnamon sticks on the stove. Is that what you mean?
Thanks for the poster tack idea! I used that so much in college and as a teacher, but I kind of forgot about it.
Yes, we simmer oranges, lemons, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and my mom insists a bay leaf or two is in order for the "Christmas Scent."
We are all about poster tack these days at our house - it's preventing a lot of holes from thumbtacks!
Gosh you have been busy........a good way to hang your one-sided cards would be to make a couple of small holes in the tops and thread through some festive red wool or even string and tie them on with little bows.
Your tree is beautiful, and I love all your festive makes.
Have a Peaceful Happy Christmas.
florrie x
You make me laugh! I've tried to keep my list short as well, actually, Baby and sickness have kind of dictated that.
Love your garland. I would simply pin the troublesome Christmas cards on the garland with wooden clothes pins.
Try jingle bells as card holders. Centsational girl did it here:
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2009/12/jingle-bell-christmas-card-display/
Merry Christmas,
Summer
This was delightful, Margo! I hadn't visited here in a while, and I'm so glad that I did this morning! What a precious family and home you have.:)
Love the way you've combined the cards with the snowflakes. We're using simple twine and clothespins from the hardware store (no craft stores in our neck of the woods), but there are scads of darling ideas at Christian's link!
Birdy
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