This Is How We Christmas....Decorations Edition!

Lisa at The Preacher's Wife blog has asked us to blog about our decorations this week. This December has been so crazy and hectic that I have had to do decorating a little at a time. We got our Christmas tree last Saturday. Like Lisa, I got several tree branches to use for decorations... I got up early Tuesday morning before work to put the lights on it, and I placed the box of ornaments on the floor beside the tree and told Dave (hubby) and Shane (19) to put ornaments on the tree as you walk by it. So yesterday, the tree was half decorated. I took breaks between writing a paper for my course (due Wed) and finished decorating the tree...then we had to go to get a tree topper, because I could not find the angel topper :)  Dave and Shane got the lights up yesterday, and so we are pretty well set...

Nativity Set

I bought this set at Kirklands in 2001...it has actually survived intact, with no broken pieces, for the last 8 years!

Decorations

Like Lisa was saying in her blog, my husband gives me grief when I get extra tree branches...this year, my hubby and son teased me, saying that I got enough extra branches to make another tree :/  Yeah, they THINK they're funny!

Our Tree

Finally got it decorated yesterday...it has an ensemble of old ornaments, some Shane made in school when he was younger, and new ornaments. We recently got rid of a massive entertainment center, but still have not moved the speakers out of the living room...as you can see behind the tree on the right :)   Martha Stewart, I am not...

My Favorite Ornament

This is my most favorite ornament in the whole world...I have been hanging this ornament on the tree for as long as I can remember. My Mom was going to throw it out about 10 years ago...and it is not worth anything, but I saved it from impending doom and destruction! :) 

Snow Globes

My collection of snow globes...mostly given to me by my mother in law...

Outdoor Decorating

Last, but not least, the outdoors....

My new wreath I bought during Black Friday at Hobby Lobby (yes, I was crazy enough to brave the crowds that day)

Now that I have procrastinated enough, I am going to post this blog, and work on my research paper.

This Is How We Christmas....Dailey Style!

Ah....its that time again! Cold air, hot coffee, fires in the fire place, and snow on the ground! Well, no snow here in sunny Florida, but girl can always hope, right? :) 

Lisa at www.apreacherswife.com is having asking us to blog about a variety of Christmas traditions throughout December. Each Thursday, she is going to post a new set of questions. This week she asked us about 1) The Santa Thing, 2) Christmas Eve Day, and 3) The Food and Parties and Games.

Dave and I have never had Christmas JUST at our house...ever...as long as we have been married (19 years). We have always had family living close to us, until 2007. How we do Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are dependant on which side of the family we are Christmasing with. So anyway, here goes!

1) The Santa Thing. For the first several years of our marriage, we were not following Christ, so we had no problems doing the "santa thing." We had pictures taken, presents from Santa, left cookies out, etc. Shane was about 9-10 when my husband became a Christian and so he was growing out of the Santa thing anyway. If I had to do it over, we would definitely celebrate Santa in the light of Christ...

2) Christmas Eve Day. As I stated above, we have never had Christmas JUST at our house. For the first 6 years Dave and I were married, BOTH sets of family lived here, too. Dave was working as a Chef at the time, so he usually had to work early Christmas Day. We split the day between HIS and HERs parents house...which meant two sets of presents and two Christmas dinners. Yeah, we were stuffed!

Christmas Now: We alternate between families. My in-laws live in Northern Alabama and my parents live in South Virginia...so there is NO way we can do Christmas each year with both families.

If we are at Dave's parents, Christmas Eve Day is usually spent finishing up wrapping Christmas presents, puttting up and decorating the Christmas tree, attending their church's Christmas eve service, and then (while eating a variety of junk food...chips/dip, cookies, candy for dinner) we listen while my Father-in-law reads the Christmas Story from the Bible. We then go around the room and pray.

If we are at My parents, Christmas Eve Day is usually spent finishing up shopping and then we go to a nice restaurant for dinner. We then go to late Christmas Mass (my parents are Catholic) and then to bed.

OH YEAH, every year we have gotten Shane a gift to open on Christmas Eve...every year its pajamas...and even though Shane is now 19, he still wants his Christmas Eve gift...and he always knows it pajamas...yet, he still expects it!

3) The Food & Parties & Games. Honestly, we don't get invited to too many parties or play too many games...but not because we don't want to :) 

Christmas day food at Dave's parents: Prime Rib, baked potatoes, salad, and dessert.

Christmas day food at My parents: Turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes/gravy, cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, deviled eggs, salad, dessert

I can't find any pics now, but I'll post some later if I can find them