THIS & THAT AROUND OUR HOME...

 

My husband and I welcome you to our home at Christmas!

We're so glad you dropped by...

 

 The family room and combined kitchen is the heart of our home...

  

 

  

  

My husband bought me this pot rack for Christmas three years ago.

We finally got it installed last week just in time for the Tour of Homes!

 

A different view of the pot rack - and the kitchen...

  

  

The Nut Crackers are enjoyed by the kids, young and old...

  

 

  

More of the kitchen...

  

 

 

  

Other Christmas pretties...

  

 

  

Through the years, I've made most of our Christmas decorations.  I sewed the quilted stockings above and made the ceramic reindeer and sleigh below.  Last week our youngest married daughter asked, "Mom, how long does it take to collect so many Christmas decorations?"  I told her it takes a lifetime and that someday, when she lived life a little longer, she would have as many.

  

 

  

Years ago, I made the ceramic nativity.

All the kids and grandkids have grown up loving the Christmas story... 

  

 

 
 

This is a store-bought nativity, but equally as cherished...

  

 

  

Our dining room...

 

   

 

  

And the adjoining living room...

  

  

We are a musical family...

 

   
  

The guest bathroom is decorated for Christmas too...

  

  

There's a tiny Christmas tree in the playroom for the grandkids...

  

 

  

Angels watch over our family at Christmastime - and all the time...

(Real angels, too.)

  

 

Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o'er the plains,

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains.

  

Come to Bethlehem and see

Christ whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee,

Christ the Lord, the newborn King.

  

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

  

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

  

 

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If I could slow the clock down, I would linger a bit longer in Autumn... But now Winter is here and Christmas is coming, so it's time to move on.  This is our home during last year's snow storm.  We don't have snow like this but once in a decade, so the memories are still fresh and fun.  

 

 

September:  Last week I decorated the front porch in Autumn colors.  It's such a friendly access through which family, friends, stampers and scrapbookers enter.

 

 

 

 

  

This & That is intended to be a special, homey place where I can share golden nuggets about my family.  There are soooo many of us and we have wonderful traditions that span decades. 

 

Here's a photo of me (center) with my brothers and sisters when we were a little younger.  We're all married, with kids and grandkids - and even some great-grandkids!  Seven of us live in the same city and one lives five hours away.

 

Oooohhh, we have lots of stories to tell.  Check back for new adventures and fun photos. 

  

  

 

 

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On October 15th, I posted a Handmade Woven Card, along with a promise to show you some of the handmade quilts I have made...

  

20"x 20" Wall Hanging

 

  

9" x 14" Wall Hangings

  

 

 

My Favorite Quilt

I sewed the basket handles then turned them inside out

and appliqued them to the quilt patch with tiny stitches.

 

 

 

22" x 14" Wall Hanging

  

 10" Diameter Wall Hanging 

 

 

 

The grandkids sleep in the Quilt Bedroom when they visit. 

There are lots of books, games, toys and doll babies too. 

 

 

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Last Christmas, ladies gathered for the annual Christmas Luncheon...

 

 

Beautiful tables are elegantly set...

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

And a delicious buffet served...

 

 

INSIDE CHRISTMAS

 

The outside of Christmas is visible.  You can see it.  It is there in Christmas trees, in holly, in toys, in bright store windows, in gifts wrapped in colorful paper.  The outside of Christmas can be heard in chimes, in carols, in organ music, in the voices of the choir, in sleighbells.  The outside of Christmas can be tasted.  There's the turkey and cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and cookies.

 

In the hurry and scurry of Christmas, most of us limit our contact to the outside of Christmas.  We are so busy that we do not have time to get inside Christmas.  Christmas becomes a surface experience.  To discover the true riches of the Christmas season, we must penetrate beneath the surface.  We must get inside Christmas.  When we get inside of Christmas, Christmas will get inside of us and we will have a truly enriching experience.

 

No one knows how to go about exploring the inside of Christmas.  Each of us must go adventuring to find it in our own way.  One thing is certain... We must get away from the turmoil, crowds and outward excitement.  We must get away from the visible and journey into the invisible.

 

We must quiet the mind.  We must seek the inside of Christmas in the silence.  We may have to go alone into a cathedral or chapel to pray.  We may need to take a long walk under the stars, or through the falling snow.  We may choose to sit alone by the fire at home after all others have retired, and open ourselves to the inflow of goodwill, joy and peace through the Holy Spirit. 

 

When we take the time to seek and find the inside of Christmas, the Christmas spirit will glow with a new radiance within our hearts.

 

Kay Hollo found this reading among her mother's belongings, and shared it with the women at our Gift of Friendship Luncheon today.