Glimpses Of Christmas...

Our thoughts are being captivated again by the reminders Christmas brings...a perfect gift from our Creator.  And because of Him, we are blessed to celebrate as family and friends, each year.  A time to slow down, reflect, give, say thanks, and enjoy family traditions.  Here are some glimpses of Christmas in our home...

A beautiful reminder of Jesus to catch our eye each day as we come and go. 

Our family train has been nursed along the past few years and finally last year, it quit completely-it sat silent under the tree leaving the little ones a little sad each night before bed(which is the time we all would gather to play with it)-but this year!!  We went out, all together to pick our new train.  It is a beauty, and the soft chugging as it goes around the track is a peaceful and calming sound.  It is the Pennsylvania and it is even carrying the Liberty Bell.  A train that should see even our littlest, Israel, through his childhood.

Here is part of my Christmas village.  My mother and father-in-law started this for me when Matt and I were first married.  One of my most favorite decorations to unpack!

Our new family table, cozied up in the corner so that we may fit our tree.  The little tree in the corner holds all of my wooden antique ornaments.  They get their own tree.  I love the glow it gives at dinnertime.

Here is our tree all done-it's first night aglow.  We always decorate the day after Thanksgiving.  We are not "Black Friday Shoppers"-a quiet day at home together is much more our style.

How fun it is to tell stories of the ornaments we pull out of the box.  The kids all get a new one each year.  Some years Matt and I pick them as a surprise, other years we all make an outing of it and the kids each pick their own.  I really like doing it both ways.

It is tradition to watch White Christmas(and sing) while we decorate the tree.

The bottom of our tree still gets weighted down from our littles.

Cole was right along side all the littles, helping.  He also sat this year and fixed all of the broken ornaments-that was fun to watch!

Yep!  It is that time...the shop is buzzing.  Here are 4 days worth of orders on their way around the world.  FUN!

Israel's first Christmas-the tree is quite captivating.  So amazing to have him here this year! I am going to just eat up having a wee little babe again at Christmas time!

Our Thanksgiving Blessing...

My dad is a die hard estate/garage -saler.  In recent years, I have not had much of a chance to do this myself due to the growing-UP of my kiddos, but dad is always on the look out, and with some wonderful direction from my mom, he found us the table we have been looking for, for years now.  I received an urgent text from my mama Saturday-saying "LOOK AT YOUR EMAIL"  she had sent pictures of the table my dad had found, and wanted to know if this fit what we were looking for.  Oh my, yes!!  We are a family of eight now, with no dining space in our house, so having the right table was important to us.  It needed to function in so many ways in our living room.  As you can imagine, chairs take up too much space, so we were looking for heavy duty benches.  The normal size tables were also too short.  We needed one that was at least 6 feet long and wider than normal as well.  We have also learned from trying different tables thrifted over the years, that the leg's placement can make or break the function when trying to squish a large amount of people around it.  Well, this table fit every one of those needs.  We didn't realize HOW WELL it fit our needs until we assembled it in the room last night at midnight!! 

Yesterday, we rented a trailer and all of us headed out to my folks to spend the afternoon and evening with them.  My mom is currently in surgery having her 2nd knee replacement.  I wanted to spend some quality time with her before the surgery because recouping is a very difficult and grueling process as she has already gone through one. We know now what to expect and it has been good to be a part of the preparation process this time.  I was able to do a very good cleaning out of her craft room so that when she is finally feeling up to crocheting, it is all ready for her andMatt and the kids did some furniture rearranging with my dad to have the house more open for her to get around during her therapy sessions.  We then said our goodbyes, and headed home with the new table and benches.  I was a bit nervous about it.  When you make a major purchase like this and it is such a massive piece of furniture that you have been looking for, for so long-you hope you made the right choice.  But as soon as I saw it set up and in it's place-I KNEW IT WAS!  We all kind of stood around marveling at it's function more than anything.  Funny how function in itself can be beautiful!  It will fit 12 people!!  That means we can easily add 4 guests to our family without doing a major furniture rearrange!  That means, Thanksgiving dinner, with our company will be comfortable and easy set up!  So excited for this Thanksgiving gift.
                             
My dad had talked a bit with the previous owner's children.  Their parents had passed away, and if any of the kids could have fit it in their homes, they would have in a heartbeat!  Even my folks were a bit tempted to take it themselves.  The children my dad spoke with said their parents had had this custom built when they were kids-how neat is that!  That is what we needed, but it just was not in the budget.

Originally, we had thought we may take the backs off of the benches, but we all agreed once it was in it's home-they are fabulous and will stay!  At some point, Matt and I will undertake refinishing the whole set in a darker stain(we tend to like dark wood), but the beautiful wearing of time is something I am liking. I am looking forward to this becoming an heirloom in our family and having it be the cornerstone to many memories of our adventure as a family!

The Longer I Sew....

One theme has been coming together over the past few years with my sewing...I LOVE COLOR.   Not just any color, it is more about the combination of colors.  Putting color together in unique ways seems to be fueling my inspiration these days.  Here are some of the examples, right now, yes, they happen to be mittens-I know-that may be getting a bit tiresome for some of you.  

Somewhere Over the Rainbow-a reminder of God's Promise to Us.

A New Christmas Forest of Wool Felted Pillows...

Toddler Mittens-this mesh of blues has got to be one of my very favorites! How pretty it will be against the fresh white snow!

Blue Spotty Dotty-Women

Green Spotty Crocodiles-Women

Don't these just look like candy!!

These were made for a customer this past week.  I was extremely pleased with the rich contrast of the navy and green.

Cinnamon and Spice Makes Everything Nice...

                     
I haven't connected with all of you for awhile. And I was thinking I would just share a little something from our home to yours.  A little trick I use to keep the home smelling yummy without breaking the bank.  If you love how your home smells at Christmas with all of the baking, but reality and the scale just do not allow for that to be happening around the clock;), this is a wonderful alternative.  I keep an old pot on the stove, full of water, cinnamon, and whole cloves.  It simmers as long as I desire.  Usually I do not even use cinnamon sticks, just the baking cinnamon powder(it is less expensive for something like this and works just as well).  You do have to check it occasionally and refill the water throughout the day so you do not end up burning the pot, but if it is on a low simmer, it's easy to maintain.  The only down side, no yummy pie is coming out of the oven after smelling that yummy aroma all day-it may just inspire some baking though! It helps with not having to purchase and burn so many candles for that cozy and homey feeling. If you are looking to buy whole cloves in bulk.  I buy mine here. I hope you are all enjoying these chilly fall days and are looking forward to the upcoming holiday season that is fast approaching!  May the Lord bless your day with all of His goodness!