It feels like Christmas to me when....
...my
husband
moves the
furniture around
in the living room...
...and dusts and vacuums...
...the first snow falls softly outside...
...we put the tree up in the very same corner...
...the lighted angel with the star goes on the very top...
...the Santa collection goes up on the mantel...
...or sometimes the snowman collection goes there...
...I unearth the rustic felt stockings that I made for my family...
...they wait for me to put the silver beaded garland on the tree...
...watching the kids put each ornament on the tree...
...each ornament and decoration tells a story...
...even the handmade lightbulb Rudolph that is missing one eye...
...or our dog Madison's collar...
...and the blown glass deer and doe missing one leg...
...or the 'stained glass' ornament I made from a kit
when I was about 8 years old with the little bits of plastic
you put in the frame and then bake in the oven...
when I was about 8 years old with the little bits of plastic
you put in the frame and then bake in the oven...
...St Nick leaves little presents in their shoes by the door...
...playing "I Spy" with ornaments on the tree every night...
...there is a fire in the fireplace every day...
...our little forest of trees with twinkling white lights outside...
...we take nighttime drives around the city
to ooh and aah at the ligthed decorations...
to ooh and aah at the ligthed decorations...
...we listen to the all-Christmas music station
(that has been playing since November 1st, I might add)
and sing along to our favorites...
(that has been playing since November 1st, I might add)
and sing along to our favorites...
..."The Twelve Pains of Christmas" is our favorite goofy song...
..."The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole...best.song.ever...
...does anyone else think "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
is the most incredibly asinine song of the century...
...even Bob Geldorf says he regrets writing it...
...and the line "tonight thank God it's them instead of you"
really trips my trigger...
is the most incredibly asinine song of the century...
...even Bob Geldorf says he regrets writing it...
...and the line "tonight thank God it's them instead of you"
really trips my trigger...
...okay...
...sorry about that...
...back to the list...
...I want to suck on a
peppermint candy cane all day long...
peppermint candy cane all day long...
...Starburst fruit ones not so much...
...I want to drink hot cocoa every day...
...the wrapping paper comes out...
...and only real ribbon for bows...
...candles on the Advent wreath...
...looking inward and slowing down...
...trying to stay away from the
shallowness that bombards us...
...focusing on the true gift of this season...
What about you?
No matter what holiday you celebrate...
there are markers for the season.
What are some of the things that put you in the spirit?
What traditions do you have with your family?
I would love to hear how your family celebrates
Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Diwali or Winter Solstice or even Festivus ;-).
Do tell!
No matter what holiday you celebrate...
there are markers for the season.
What are some of the things that put you in the spirit?
What traditions do you have with your family?
I would love to hear how your family celebrates
Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Diwali or Winter Solstice or even Festivus ;-).
Do tell!
Enjoy the day! Merry Christmas!
P.S. The Art Bead Scene is holding an Ornament Blog Hop tomorrow! Can't wait to see what everyone creates! I am not an official member but I might try making an ornament tonight...
OH I so hate that song too! I think it is almost rude! I have a stained glass toy soldier that my mom and I had made and he always gets a special spot. OK we both have a Santa and Snowman collection, that is so cool. I can't believe how alike we are with the tree either. Almost all the ornaments are hand made by either me, my babes or special family members and I remember each and every story behind them. You just made me smile huge and we are getting the tree out tonight!
ReplyDeleteHugs
It is not a Christmas tradition, but a tradition our family picked up when we lived in Germany. We celebrated it when we moved back from Germany, but stopped when I joined the army. But since I have been home Mom and I have been celebrating St. Nicholaus Tag. It is German holiday when kids put their shoes outside the door and St. Nicholaus will either fill the shoes up with candy and toys (if they are good) or Krampus would give switches (if they are bad). When we were kids my brother and I would get switches with candy and toys because we were good and bad all year. Now, as adults mom and I buy each other little presents to still celebrate this holiday, a little bit of Germany in the states.
ReplyDeleteI don't particularly like that song - but Last Christmas is even worse - and they play it on the radio here everyday, every year. It's torture! Our tree doesn't go up until Christmas Eve...
ReplyDeleteOkay, wait your husband vaccums the floor when he moves the furniture? In my house that would be a Christmas miracle. We know it's getting close to Christmas because I spend one weekend making everyone clean and remove any extra stuff from the living and dining room. Then we go 'hunt' for our tree. We spend a few hours making some new ornaments. And then we decorate and then at night when everyone is sleeping I wrap presents and put a few under the tree and hide the rest! And we watch goofy Christmas movies together with hot cocoa and candy canes. Oh, I could go on, thanks for sharing Erin. I know you make the holidays magical for your family!
ReplyDeleteAt the moment we only have our advent-wreath here - looking forward to light the third candle on Sunday. Here in Germany - as far as I know it - we decorate the christmas tree only one or two days before christmas eve. Right now it is snowing and snowing and snowing so it really begins to feel lixe christmas:-) Aahh - and I got the new Take That CD from my fiance for Nikolaus, that was a great gift a.) I love it b.) it was hard for him to get it for me because in his eyes it is "girl"-music.
ReplyDeleteOur home is in a huge upheaval. My daughter wanted her room painted for her birthday, which forced everything out in the hallway (she's a pack rat, and a sentimental one at that), and today we had to have our living room carpet fixed because it was buckling. All that furniture is packed in our kitchen....and the rest of the house is a mess. I'm really fretting over getting things done this year since we host Christmas every year for hubby's huge family.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm loving the season of Advent, which helps me focus on what's important. Listening to an all-Christmas music station puts me in the holiday mood, so I'm not going totally insane.
I love this post ... and well done on the typography! (I'm sure that wasn't easy.)
ReplyDeleteAnd that is an awful line in the Geldof song, isn't it?
We're doing our tree this weekend so I think I'll be more in the mood then.
For my family, it's not really Christmas until we watch the movie "Prancer". It's been a tradition since well, I guess since it came out in the 80's! It also doesn't feel like Christmas until one of us adult ladies in the house starts stressing about the amount of holiday baking we have to do. :) We also love listening to the all-Christmas radio station (only on since the day after Thanksgiving here. :(). My family's favorite is "The Drummer Boy"--a song not played often enough for us.
ReplyDeleteWe also have a Santa collection in our house, but we put ours under our tree until Christmas Eve.
Our family sort of eventually puts up a tree of sorts. We just add lights. I'm not sure where the ornaments are any more. We go to Mass at 4:30 Pm on Xmas Eve, then we come home to eat and light the luminarios. We turn the Tree lights on. We gorge ourselves on supper. Then we open the gifts. Then we go and watch movies. I fall asleep. The kids keep watching. I get up early and wake them early because Santa has come. Then we eat and go to a movie. Weird but fun.
ReplyDeleteI adore Christmas, the concept of it anyways. My husband tends to get shop very late though, then wrap really late, which adds some stress to the season! I love Christmas songs, hot cocoa, ornaments, snow globes!! I love snow globes! One year I'd love to celebrate the season with good friends holed up in a cabin in the snow, just good friends, good fun and some food (and maybe booze). My tradition is to try and not stick to traditions, try and be flexible so everyone's needs can be met if possible. One tradition I wish I could control is snow, but alas my super powers fail me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the pictures of your porch Christmas forest! It's stunning :) We put up decorations on Sunday and it's definitely getting me in the spirit...although no tree for us this year.
ReplyDeleteOk, it's usually stinking hot so we have Christmas eve at my SIL and the kids swim in the pool and we have very nontraditional food like lasagna and arancinis and pizza. I know, it's weird and I'm still not used to it after 28 years of marriage to an Italian. But Christmas day is a bit more traditional, well if you can call prawns and seafood for lunch traditional. It's usually too hot to have a hot lunch with all the usual trimmings so we try and keep it fairly simple with a cold lunch. Ah....Christmas in Australia, there's nothing quite like it.
ReplyDeleteOk, you lost me at my husband dusts and vacuums. Everything starting getting fuzzy and the room started spinning.
ReplyDeleteWe are eastern orthodox and celebrate Christmas in January so we don't exchange gifts.
I have a recipe for Christmas Bread that is round in shape. I bake a quarter in it and we all brake off a piece at the same time. The person who gets the quarter in their piece will have Good Luck all year.
Erin, I love reading about your Christmas markers... so many are similar to mine... including the ornamnent that I made in 3rd grade - a wreath, formed out of a slice of toilet paper roll, covered in pulled apart cotton balls, with a string through the top and a red yarn bow... yes, it was elementary, but I still have it. As I do the homemade gingerbread cookies that we schellacked and painted... and I added beads to in 8th grade. They get stored in the same box so they don't break and every year when I open it, the box and tissue still have the faint smell of gingerbread.
ReplyDeleteIsn't Christmas wonderful? Hope your marshmallows are plentiful! :)