Nativities

I love nativity sets! They are such a great reminder of what the Christmas season is all about. I have been collecting them for a while (hint, hint!) I thought I would document some of them on here, since I may never actually do this in my scrapbook or journal! This is one we made at Enrichment in Kansas a couple of years ago. It is vinyl on a glass block. I usually put a candle behind it.

This one I bought several years ago at a craft fair in Washington. I love how simple and cute it is.

This one was sent to us last year, I think, by Kendall and Lainie. It is adorable! And doubly so, since Bekah took it upon herself to label each block with its name. If you look closely, you can see that the star block says "star" in her cute kindergarten handwriting!

This one I made forever ago when we were in pilot training. I actuall made three of them, one for us and one for each of the siblings whose name we had that year. Needless to say, by the time I go to stuffing and sewing ours, I was starting to hate Christmas! But the kids love to play with this one and it has been chewed on by all of them.

This one I bought here in Enid in 1995. I love how simple it is and the kids loved to play with this one, too.


More pix on the way!

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Christmas-ness

Here is my first attempt at a homemade wreath! It smells good, but it is a little homely. However, I love the way it looks with the door wrapped in candy cane paper!

You will notice a little guy in the corner of our doorway. Thi is Spike, our garden gargoyle. Ellie decided that once we took out the garden, he needed to watch over our front door. However, he scares a lot of people, me included, with his ferocious face, so we softened him up a little with a Santa hat!

On my birthday, I made my very own gingerbread house. I know, it isn't fancy, but I got to decide where to put every piece of candy! After 4 kids, that is no small feat! (They got to decorate their own. But Ellie still askd if she could help me with hers! I said no. Mean mommy.)

Here is a picture of my attempt at a festive fireplace. Picture it at night with all the candles lit. It is much prettier.

And finally, what the holidays are all about: Playing scrabble apple with your dad, and a 3-foot-long piece of licorice wrapped around your head!

We have had a great time partying like lunatics. My sis and her family just left yesterday to continue their move to Illinois. We are trying to recover. :) We miss all of our other family and friends, but it was great to have some loved ones here for my birthday and Christmas!

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The Christmas Can-can

If you have heard this song by Straight no Chaser, you know how funny and true it is! I thought I was way ahead of schedule for christmas, but I also thought I wasn't that far behind on blogging! :) Just some random Christmas musings:

I love the smell of Christmas! I actually have some pine garland outside that I am going to make wreaths and stuff out of this week so it will smell like Christmas.

I am still hoping against hope for a white Christmas--I think it is going to be 70.

I am very excited about my sis and her family spending the holiday with us on their way to Illinois. It is so much more fun to share family traditions with someone you are actually related to!

I am excited to make my very own gingerbread house on my birthday--my design, my candy, my own choice of sprinkles etc. Silly, but it is the little things that make us happy.

I am very grateful for this season of JOY! Life would be bleak if we didn't have the Savior and I think it's great to celebrate his birth in as many ways as possible. And involving as many different kinds of sugar as possible.

Stay tuned for some pix and more postings. I have missed keeping in touch with all three of you who actually read this! :) Happy baking!

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