Welcome to our Holiday Home Tour

This is our second Christmas in our Forever Home, but it's the first Christmas we could decorate the walls. It's the first Christmas we've had walls, actually. (This picture was from last year.)

There's still so much to be done, and I noticed ALL of it as I walked about taking pictures. However, the coffee's hot, the fudge is fresh, and the door is open. Come on in:



This little guy is our Jesse Tree, a part of our advent celebration. (There are more symbols that go with it, but we've had trouble convincing Smidge they don't belong on the Christmas tree.) The boys found the "tree", and designed the pine cone potting soil to keep it upright. It lives in the foyer, along with a small herd of orange spacers from the flooring installation.


If you come through the arch, you'll enter our dining area (there aren't any actual "rooms" in this part of the house - just areas. When you have this many small children, it's best to have as few walls to block your view as possible.) Just as a note, the tree in this photo is in the same place as the one above from last year.


This is a detail of the window dressing. The snowflakes hanging from it were the boys' suggestions, and they're beautiful in the afternoon sun.


If you look up, you can see the detail of the arch garland. This was my first attempt ever at making something like this, and I love it. The gold reindeer are over 50 years old (you may have to click on the image to see them), and came from the Pine Cone Inn in Prescott, Arizona. My Mom worked there for many years, and that's where I spent many afternoons and evenings over the years. The Christmas displays there were always a highlight of the town "back in the day". These ornaments take me back 25 years, to a young girl surrounded by all the glitter and shine of the season, sipping a Shirley Temple, eating maraschino cherries pilfered from the bar, while she listens to "Willy and Blaze, LIVE" crooning all the Christmas carols to life.


To the right of the arch, we have the tea cart. Normally, this would house our Nativity display, but Joseph, a shepherd, and a couple of wise men seem to have absconded with the baby Jesus. Mary is holed up on the ark in the nursery with Noah's family and most of the sheep. This is what happens when you buy the child-friendly Nativity collections. You get trains and carousel horses. Which will probably disappear by New Year's, as well. Oh, and for anyone expecting a card from us this year - that's them, the blue box on the right. Enjoy! (Just on the off chance that I don't get them mailed. But we do love you and are thinking of you and wishing you wonderful blessings this Christmas!)


The stockings were... taped... to the wall... well, yes. We lack not only a chimney, but a general consensus as to where, exactly, the stockings should be hung. So for the sake of the tour, I slapped them up with tape and took the picture. And yes, we're missing one. I really ought to get on that.


To the left of the stocking wall, you have the rest of the area. Let's move on into the kitchen. Please pardon the construction debris, but notice the towering cabinet on the left. That's my early Christmas present - isn't it wonderful? We can now add the toe kicks and valances to the cabinetry. However, I assure you, the kitchen is clean and safe. Let's have some refreshments, shall we?


We have peanut butter fudge, the world's easiest. The recipe can be found here. Love this stuff!


And Christmas cookies - both of which were made, decorated, and thoroughly taste-tested by our young resident artists. (They didn't taste the ones on the plate. Honest. But, um, don't eat the white tree.)


Next year, this wall over the counter will be a window. For now, though, the boys are in the process of bring snow to the South for Christmas. They were still snipping away when I took this picture - the wall will probably be covered by Monday.


The boys have done a little extra special decorating in their room and the main bath this year, so let's take a look at their handiwork and then we'll head back to the dining room to enjoy the goodies and I'll share my fudge recipe.

Nothing says "Happy Holidays" like a Christmas-themed hand towel and some sparkly garland to greet you first thing in the morning!


Or a shimmery toilet...


And finally, the boys' room. This was all James' doing, down to arranging the lights on the ladder in a way that corresponds to the way he climbs it, so that he doesn't step on the lights. They go around the closet, weave around the toy bins, up and over the bookshelf. It's quite a display. He did this as a special surprise for his brother, and the delight both boys took in the end result tops any decoration we could have bought or built at all. Giving from the heart is just the best way to make it special.



We're far from finished, but we're right where we belong: home. Together. What a blessing!



Thanks for coming along on our Christmas Tour. As always, Kiss those babies!
~Dy