Welcome to our Holiday Home!

Merry Soon-to-be Christmas!

I thought I would take you on a tour of our home

all dressed up for the Holiday season.

Rob is the decorator extraordinaire-

he put everything out and arranges it really nicely.

I cook. It's our deal!

This is a photo-heavy post,

so take a deep breath and let's go!

Our holiday table, all ready for Christmas Day. 

Well, almost ready.

The very lovely centerpiece that the magnificently creative Joenne made for us.

It was fantastic...she didn't say a word about it,

one day, it was just there!

The Gingerbread House Chris made at school, 

in fifth grade tradition.

It had a rough ride home on the bus, but we still like it.

Kate's surprise addition to the lights above the table.

I don't know why she did it or where the beads came from,

but somehow, it just works!

This snowman cookie jar was given to us years ago by a good friend. 

He comes out every year.

Kate filled him with peanut butter cookies she baked.

We seem to be starting a little collection of candy and/or gingerbread houses.

I think they are really cute! Some of them light up.

The teddy bear on the right

tells the entire story of The Night Before Christmas

and his little mouth moves.

It is both cute and a little creepy.

The big gingerbread house on the right was Rob's Grandma's. 

It is really sweet.

The Santa on the left was given to us by my dad and Joenne.

He answers questions that you ask, if you phrase them in a certain way.

However, we lost the list of questions so now we like to think of rude questions

and laugh at his nonsensical answers!

The Christmas tree in the Family room. This has all our family ornaments, photo ornaments, things the kids made etc.

The hearth with all the stockings. My Mother in Law hand stitched the ones for the children and it truly was a labor of love.  They are just beautiful.

These are the books I read aloud on Christmas Eve while we drink hot cocoa, 

before the kidlets go to bed.

Waterford Crystal Creche. 

This was a gift given by my In-Laws to us.

We love it!

I look forward to Christmas cards each year 

with a staggering level of delight.

I keep the pictures and letters from each year

and each Christmas season I get them all out

and look at each individual year.

This is the tree in the Living Room.

It is generally more formal

but very pretty.

The kids like to put their "family gifts"

under this tree.

An inexpensive creche that I bought from Tuesday Morning store

many years ago.

I think it was like ten dollars.

I wanted one the children could touch and move around.

Since then, Joseph lives in Trey's room and is called God,

several animals have met their untimely demise

and Baby Jesus left the building

when no one was looking.

He remains missing even today.

A carousel I bought at Tuesday Morning store a long time ago.

I like the way it plays carols while it spins

and the horses go up and down.

It also gets annoying really, really fast.

Rob's decoration of the bannister.

It is lovely 

and it leads to a 200% increase in handprints

on the side of the wall.

This is on the inside side of the front door. 

I think my mom got it for us.

Very cute!

Our little Frosty

the count-down man.

It is almost Christmas!

Finally, a framed painted angel picture

I picked up a few years ago.

I liked that it wasn't too "traditionally Christmassy."

So there you have it,

a tour of the inside of the home!

Outside we have Christmas lights

and a cute sled on the door.