decorated.

i love this time of year. for some, this season brings busyness and a never-ending to-do list. for me, time slows down, the things we choose to do are intentional, and we spend a lot of time at home. colder weather makes me want to never leave the house. instead we curl up on the couch underneath a fleece blanket and read. i love it.

tomorrow brings a new year of advent, and we are excited to begin our daily reading and hanging of the ornament. please feel free to join us. i will be posting the scripture reading daily, along with our ornament. we love the anticipation of filling up the tree and celebrating Christ's coming to earth!

we decorated our house in stages the past week. it was really the perfect way to do it. i lugged all of the boxes of decorations down from the attic last monday. that's where it ended. seriously, who has the energy to decorate after doing something like that?

on wednesday, we decorated the inside of our home, along with setting up the big christmas tree in our living room. thursday was full of turkey and counting our blessings. on friday morning, we all decorated the tree while still in our jammies. instrumental christmas music from pandora filled the air, and it was perfect. well, minus the dropped and broken glass ball ornament, and the several other ornaments dropped but not broken. we have 8 trees ranging in size and style throughout the house. christmas is everywhere you look.

would you like to see some of our decorations? you would! great, i just happened to snap a few pictures today.

this is our big tree. we love its little pinecones and sparkly lights. it beat up john a little though on its way down from the attic. those branches scratched up his arms enough to make it appear as if he was in a fight with a feline.

this is our fireplace just to the left of the big tree. the stockings are *drying* by the fire and you can see our advent tree peeking into the left of the picture. on the mantle is my most favorite nativity set we have.


it is peruvian, and i picked it up at a craft fair from a family who brought several sets back from peru. isn't it awesome!?!?

and just in case you thought this was the only nativity set we own, i took a picture to show you the rest of my collection.

and if you know me at all, you know my love for a little retro. so when i spied this tree on sale last christmas, i just had to have it!

and perhaps my most prized christmas possession are these guys. the bigger santa was always a christmas fixture in my childhood home, and the little one lived at my grandparents' home. they are quite unique and eclectic.

saturday brought an opportunity to decorate outside. i tend to be a bit like the griswold's. remember the movie national lampoon's christmas vacation? this is what the outside of our home looked like last december:

and then came the electric bill. ouch! and that wasn't even all of our decorations! so we've scaled down a bit this year and invested in led lights for the house to save on electricity usage.

i think it still looks nice. decorations for me are a reminder to reflect upon the very reason for our celebration. Christ came to earth. God sent His only Son. for me and for you.

many blessings to you this advent season.