Christmas has come and gone. Perhaps for some. Not for me. I am the world's biggest Christmas junkie. I love it. Did you get that? I LOVE IT!!!! Because I do (and true to my compulsive nature) I over-do. At least in the decorations department. Around my house, if you stand still long enough between Thanksgiving and the first of December, you're liable to end up decorated!Budding photographer (and granddaughter) Maggie took these first two pictures "up close and personal" and they've quickly made my "favorites" list. The one above is now my computer's desktop background. I'm hoping it will ease my grieving as I have to pack the Christmas decorations away for another year.
There were probably less gifts under our tree this year than any year in our family's history. The economy and my retired husband's continual reminders that we now live on a "fixed income" (GRIN) curtailed our spending. But guess what - it didn't matter one little bit. Everyone was delighted with their gifts because all, no matter how meager, were expressions of love. We are a richly blessed family. This was the first Christmas in three years that all three of our adult children and their families were here at the same time. That was all the gift this momma could have ever wanted! What joy! Lots of laughs - lots of nostalgia - lots of foolishness - lots of wonderful FAMILY fun! I repeat - we are a richly blessed family. I am so grateful to the One Who blesses us with every good and perfect gift!!
There are lots of sheep in our house. We ARE Wooley's after all! This little Christmas lamb on the hearth was made for me at a Build-a-Bear by my granddaughter Mira when she was 3 (with a little help from her mom, of course). It has a recorder chip in its arm that repeats (in Mira's sweet lilting voice) "I love you Gran". Needless to say, it's one of my treasured possessions. The little black sheep it's hugging joined our menagerie this year - a gift from a dear friend who likes to remind me that every family needs a few black sheep to keep life interesting.Ready for the tour? I really wanted to get this done in time for BooMamma's Christmas Tour of Homes but, as usual, my intentions got preempted by life's demands.
Enter the front door (which NOBODY ever does - ALL my guests are kitchen door friends) and you are greeted with a small wall tree "Tidings of Joy." Yes, my trees all have names. What can I say? I told you I was a Christmas nut! I love the little barefoot angels on this tree. They are positioned over a Bible my grandmother gave me for my birthday in 1956. The Bible is opened to the passage in Luke where the angel announced to the shepherds in Bethlehem's fields good tidings of great joy - that a Savior had been born Who was Christ, the Lord.
This tree is 10' tall and we call it "Families Are Forever." Some years ago I began framing and decorating photos of our family's Christmases through the years. There are over 200 photo ornaments. I may try to count them when I take it down this year. So many people have asked how many there are this year it's made me wonder. My family would be content if this were the only tree we had. They never tire of looking at the photos and remembering the stories behind them. It just doesn't get old. The grandchildren love laughing at pictures of their parents when they were little and can't quite grasp that the young people in the picture of Roy and me on our first Christmas together (1964) is really their grandparents. This year it was especially fun as (oldest granddaughter) Mallory's fiance spent the holidays with us and got to see all his beloved's growing up pictures.
The mantle - a bit different this year. When I was decorating the nativity tree and hung an ornament that said "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy" God laid out in my mind how the mantle should be arranged. His design was a little prettier than I was able to implement but that's what's fun about praying while you decorate. God gives you so many wonderful worship opportunities!
"O Holy Night" is the 7' nativity tree. I'm real committed to the traditional red and green for Christmas but the nativity tree is the exception. It has dark blue ornaments to emulate the holy night that the Word became flesh and came to dwell among us. I am especially fond of my cross stitch nativity ornaments on this tree. In the early '90's I had the privilege of being involved in pageant ministry at my church and made the Magi costumes from red, blue and purple fabrics as a remembrance of the colors God chose for the tabernacle. When I cross stitched these ornaments in later years I stitched the Magi in the same colors and love remembering the fun I had making those costumes in years gone by.
Yes - a SHEEP tree! "The Lord is My Shepherd." The symbolism of sheep and the shepherd is not lost on a family that is really WOOLEY. And, yes - I know sheep are dumb and stubborn - so we won't go there. But I also know we belong to a Shepherd that loves us, cares for us and provides for us. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
My oldest daughter, Lori, made this quilted wall hanging for me several years ago. I love it (and her) dearly! Fellow quilters out there will know what a serious quilter she is when I tell you she made the entire thing from fabrics in her "stash" and even did the Magi's clothing from Batiks.
Living room bookcase. I told you everything gets decorated - GRIN! Note the shepherd boy and cross stitched "we are his people . . ." on the left. It's a sheep thing, folks - I told you I was compulsive. ROFL
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing" (7' foot) adorns the dining room. Many of the angels on it are ornaments friends have given me over the years and bring back the sweetest memories when I hang them on the tree and enjoy them while we gather around the table.
The angel with its big book atop the china cabinet always reminds me of the Lamb's Book of Life. I'm so glad my name is recorded there. Is yours? I hope so!
This little 3' tree is "Jolly Old St Nick" and is in the hall bathroom. Yep! Bathroom! Who wants to go potty and forget it's Christmas for pete's sake??
The breakfast room is all about Santa. (This is what faces you when you come in the kitchen door.) This 6 1/2' tree we call "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and it hosts all the children and grandchildren's photos taken with Santa through the years. Even the ones where they are screaming their heads off. Now that our youngest grand, effervescent Megan, is an ever so grown up 5 year old, she finds it incredulous that she was once scared of Santa.
Baker's rack in the breakfast room - home of the stereo and source of lots of Christmas music!
Kitchen bookcase - Both pictures of our littlest Wooley "lambs" got updated to this year's Santa photo after this picture was taken.
Wouldn't it have been a shame if the fridge had missed out on a tree and a sheep??
Now for the bedrooms - "Angels We Have Heard on High" (6 1/2') in our bedroom is beside my quiet time chair for the holidays (normally my "quiet place" is in my sewing room/study but that room houses guests in December so I move my study paraphernalia to our bedroom.) This tree is probably my most "elegant" tree. I'm pretty much homespun plaid and pine cones as opposed to elegant - but I DO love glitz! This tree is all angels, stars and crosses. MANY mornings as I met with the Lord this month He used the angels to remind me He has given His angels charge over me. The stars have often reminded me of His covenant with Abraham and of the fact that He knows all the stars by name. What am I that He is mindful of me! But oh how I rejoice that He IS!
"Beary Christmas" is in the children's room (the guest room where all the toys and Disney movies are housed). It's a fun little 6' tree of teddy bears (some I cross stitched for my youngest daughter when she was collecting them as a teen - some I stitched for her twins!).
Lastly, "Let Heaven and Nature Sing" (3' tree in the sewing room/guest room). I have trouble picking a "favorite" of my trees but this little one is at the top of the list. Cardinals seem even more special against the stark background of winter to me and I love them on this little tree surrounded by scrolls of the Word. If you zoom on these scriptures you'll see that none of them are traditional "Christmas" scriptures. They remind me that the whole counsel of the word of God adds music to my life year round.
Enter the front door (which NOBODY ever does - ALL my guests are kitchen door friends) and you are greeted with a small wall tree "Tidings of Joy." Yes, my trees all have names. What can I say? I told you I was a Christmas nut! I love the little barefoot angels on this tree. They are positioned over a Bible my grandmother gave me for my birthday in 1956. The Bible is opened to the passage in Luke where the angel announced to the shepherds in Bethlehem's fields good tidings of great joy - that a Savior had been born Who was Christ, the Lord.
This tree is 10' tall and we call it "Families Are Forever." Some years ago I began framing and decorating photos of our family's Christmases through the years. There are over 200 photo ornaments. I may try to count them when I take it down this year. So many people have asked how many there are this year it's made me wonder. My family would be content if this were the only tree we had. They never tire of looking at the photos and remembering the stories behind them. It just doesn't get old. The grandchildren love laughing at pictures of their parents when they were little and can't quite grasp that the young people in the picture of Roy and me on our first Christmas together (1964) is really their grandparents. This year it was especially fun as (oldest granddaughter) Mallory's fiance spent the holidays with us and got to see all his beloved's growing up pictures.
The mantle - a bit different this year. When I was decorating the nativity tree and hung an ornament that said "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy" God laid out in my mind how the mantle should be arranged. His design was a little prettier than I was able to implement but that's what's fun about praying while you decorate. God gives you so many wonderful worship opportunities!
"O Holy Night" is the 7' nativity tree. I'm real committed to the traditional red and green for Christmas but the nativity tree is the exception. It has dark blue ornaments to emulate the holy night that the Word became flesh and came to dwell among us. I am especially fond of my cross stitch nativity ornaments on this tree. In the early '90's I had the privilege of being involved in pageant ministry at my church and made the Magi costumes from red, blue and purple fabrics as a remembrance of the colors God chose for the tabernacle. When I cross stitched these ornaments in later years I stitched the Magi in the same colors and love remembering the fun I had making those costumes in years gone by.
Yes - a SHEEP tree! "The Lord is My Shepherd." The symbolism of sheep and the shepherd is not lost on a family that is really WOOLEY. And, yes - I know sheep are dumb and stubborn - so we won't go there. But I also know we belong to a Shepherd that loves us, cares for us and provides for us. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
My oldest daughter, Lori, made this quilted wall hanging for me several years ago. I love it (and her) dearly! Fellow quilters out there will know what a serious quilter she is when I tell you she made the entire thing from fabrics in her "stash" and even did the Magi's clothing from Batiks.
Living room bookcase. I told you everything gets decorated - GRIN! Note the shepherd boy and cross stitched "we are his people . . ." on the left. It's a sheep thing, folks - I told you I was compulsive. ROFL
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing" (7' foot) adorns the dining room. Many of the angels on it are ornaments friends have given me over the years and bring back the sweetest memories when I hang them on the tree and enjoy them while we gather around the table.
The angel with its big book atop the china cabinet always reminds me of the Lamb's Book of Life. I'm so glad my name is recorded there. Is yours? I hope so!
This little 3' tree is "Jolly Old St Nick" and is in the hall bathroom. Yep! Bathroom! Who wants to go potty and forget it's Christmas for pete's sake??
The breakfast room is all about Santa. (This is what faces you when you come in the kitchen door.) This 6 1/2' tree we call "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and it hosts all the children and grandchildren's photos taken with Santa through the years. Even the ones where they are screaming their heads off. Now that our youngest grand, effervescent Megan, is an ever so grown up 5 year old, she finds it incredulous that she was once scared of Santa.
Baker's rack in the breakfast room - home of the stereo and source of lots of Christmas music!
Kitchen bookcase - Both pictures of our littlest Wooley "lambs" got updated to this year's Santa photo after this picture was taken.
Wouldn't it have been a shame if the fridge had missed out on a tree and a sheep??
Now for the bedrooms - "Angels We Have Heard on High" (6 1/2') in our bedroom is beside my quiet time chair for the holidays (normally my "quiet place" is in my sewing room/study but that room houses guests in December so I move my study paraphernalia to our bedroom.) This tree is probably my most "elegant" tree. I'm pretty much homespun plaid and pine cones as opposed to elegant - but I DO love glitz! This tree is all angels, stars and crosses. MANY mornings as I met with the Lord this month He used the angels to remind me He has given His angels charge over me. The stars have often reminded me of His covenant with Abraham and of the fact that He knows all the stars by name. What am I that He is mindful of me! But oh how I rejoice that He IS!
"Beary Christmas" is in the children's room (the guest room where all the toys and Disney movies are housed). It's a fun little 6' tree of teddy bears (some I cross stitched for my youngest daughter when she was collecting them as a teen - some I stitched for her twins!).
Lastly, "Let Heaven and Nature Sing" (3' tree in the sewing room/guest room). I have trouble picking a "favorite" of my trees but this little one is at the top of the list. Cardinals seem even more special against the stark background of winter to me and I love them on this little tree surrounded by scrolls of the Word. If you zoom on these scriptures you'll see that none of them are traditional "Christmas" scriptures. They remind me that the whole counsel of the word of God adds music to my life year round. My sweet sisters, I hope your home and hearth was as filled with the presence of God, family and friends as ours was this year. I don't want to say "farewell" to Christmas 2008. I am SO thankful that the One Who gave me a reason to celebrate Christmas lives in my heart and has promised to be with me always - even until the end of the age!
2 comments:
I mentioned to you that I would love to see all of your family, and now I feel like I have had a visit with them. Thoroughly enjoyed my "visit" in your beautifully decorated home! Love, Kay
WOW!
You hold the record as my friend with the most Christmas trees. Thanks for sharing the pictures. They are beautiful.
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