Christmas Traditions

We have a lot of Christmas traditions around here. The one that kicks off everything, though, is the decorating of the tree and home. Now, let me tell you... I LOVE to decorate the tree and the house. We have Christmas stuff everywhere. I love the snowmen, santas, nativity, bells, wreaths. You name it, it's in this house. I wouldn't have it any other way. Just walking through the house makes me smile.

Since the basement is complete, and we spend a great deal of time down here, we decided that the tree should go down here too. That way, we can enjoy it more. I have to admit that I was leery of not having the tree in front of the big window in the great room upstairs. That's where it always sits! But, it's perfect down here. I love coming down the steps and seeing it all lit up. But my favorite part of the tree has to be the ornaments.

We have all kinds of ornaments (see Jeff's blog about another special ornament here), but I want to show you just two of them here.
The first is my all time favorite. Bryan made this when he was in the first grade I think. All of the kids were making smiley faces out of their thumbprints, but not Bryan. A smiley face was not good enough. He made his a viking, complete with sword, shield and hat! How cute is that?? This is mine and Jeff's favorite, for obvious reasons.

The second is an ornament that was made for me by my Granny England.
She was not my "real" Granny, but in my heart, I will always consider her that! I miss her so much, and having this ornament that she made with her own hands is so special to me.

And finally, I will share with you a favorite decoration of mine. This is a Santa that I made when I was a little girl. I actually have two, one of which my brother made. I thought about giving his to him, but they have always sat together at Christmas (they always sat on the piano when we were growing up), so I couldn't separate them now! Sorry Chris. It's made of a toilet paper roll and felt! How cute is that?? Here is mine...

I pray that you are enjoying the sights of Christmas too! Stay tuned here as I share more of our Christmas traditions throughout the week and month!

Blessings on you all.....