unexplored (and wild) trails: Christmas Decorating

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Christmas Decorating

We came home from our Thanksgiving visit to California and started decorating for Christmas. That is usually early for me but I knew that it would take time to put everything where I wanted it. Being in a new house means everything, including Christmas decorations, get to find a new home.

It was nice to be able to use the red hutch for decorating this year. Previously the hutch lived in my bedroom and there was no sense in decorating it there. So now it makes a nice place to put up our nativity set. And it's at eye level for the grandkids to see.

We weren't sure where we wanted to put the tree. For this year it will sit here and as time goes on I'm getting used to it. I love putting up the tree. Each ornament has a story connected with it so it's a good reminder of past experiences. Some of the ornaments have a joyous remembrance and some of them are more melancholy. I continue to put them all up there because for me one of the things about Christmas is celebrating how God redeems things. Those ornaments that make me think of past sadness reminds me to leave the person or situation in God's hands and that brings a peace to me. And peace is one of the things this season is about.

We have a tradition that we hide these little elves in the main room(s) of the house. There are 10 of them. I let the grandkids hide most of them while Grandpa is out of the room. They have so much fun watching Grandpa trying to find all 10 of them. And I get to hide 1 of them and they all have to find it. This tradition started when I was a little girl. In grade school we would have Christmas parties and every year there would be cupcakes and on the top of the cupcakes was a small Christmas decoration. Some years it was a snowman, a present, a Santa, etc. Well my mom saved them and my dad started hiding them in the main room of the house every Christmas. Every year it was a challenge trying to find all of them. Fast forward to when my kids were little and my dad bought me a set of these little elves to continue the tradition. So now we hide them with the grandkids.

We've started a new tradition, Gingerbread Pancakes. They were so good. The recipe can be found at kitchentreaty.com And yes, in the background is our Gingerbread house that I do with the grandkids every year. It's in "progress", put on hold due to the flu. So a post will be coming with that decorating adventure.

I hope your Christmas is full of peace and that you all have a grand new year.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Notes to Self...

It's always a good idea to take all the sticky tabs off the replacement ink cartridges BEFORE installing into the printer.

Flannel lined jeans-it only took 3 winters for me to discover them. It would have been better to buy them 3 years ago.

Check weather, especially windspeed, before heading out on the Willamette.

Before cutting off the dripper on the drip system that appears to not be working-check to see if the hose is kinked.

Running when the temps are in the 30s means wearing many layers of clothing-thermals on legs and 2 layers of thermals on top, large sweatshirt, down vest, sometimes a rain jacket, a hat, gloves. Just think when warm weather returns and I shed these layers I will feel so much lighter and maybe be faster.

When wearing all the layers of clothes to play in the snow remember not to lay things down on the ground by your feet...it's hard to bend over to pick them up again.

Remember to bring the net when fishing from a kayak.

When you live in a house with no air conditioning it's important to pay attention to the weather forecast: if a long period of heat is forecast-do some cooking and freezing of dinners to get thru the hot spells without using the oven.

Now I get to learn how to count to ten in Korean-thanks to my grandson's taekwondo classes. And if I forget how-he's always there to remind me.

Snow can "ball up" under my riding boots when I wear my half chaps, I think the elastic under my boots helps the snow to collect down there. Now I know what the horses feel like when snow "balls up" in their hooves.

It's not necessary to cast all the way across the river. In fact it's a good way to lose some fishing gear.

When traveling and depending on Google Maps, it's best to type in exactly where you want to end up. I typed in the name of a Fall and should have typed in the Fall's name plus trailhead.

It's probably best to wear heavy duty gloves when doing major trimming on roses.

Leaving at 5am for a drive from CA to OR isn't that bad.

When having the roof striped off the house, and you have the washing machine out in the garage-with no ceiling above it, just the roof----it's a good idea to shut the lid on the top loading washing machine. That way the pieces of roof that fall won't land inside the washing machine.

When buying a house it's a good idea to take pictures of the yard and all the plants, just in case a previous owner/renter decides to take the plant(s) with them. Of course they may take them if it's written in the agreement, but otherwise they should be staying with the house.

Ammonia, black plastic bags + sunshine=clean stove grates. Now if I could just do that to the whole stove!

It would be nice to remember the sunscreen next time we go to the beach.

Traffic circles aren't so bad, traffic circles aren't so bad, traffic circles aren't so bad, traffic circles.....

A grandchild's smile is enough to brighten my day!

I really don't like packing chairs. They are awkward to pack and packing things around them-very tricky.

Even tho 99% of my household is in a POD and it's easier to clean the house, easier to wash dishes, I still can't find my packing tape, pens, glasses..need to organize what little is left in the house!

I officially love vacuum sealed bags!

It takes a long time to pack a kitchen.

Pretty sure the world is held together by packing tape.

When missing that screw from installing "something"-remember to check the box the "something" came in.

Make a list of things to do when showing the house and we need to be out.

Electric power washers are great until you get tangled up in the hose, electrical cord, and the spray cord. Next time try not to get tangled up.

It's best to hold on to the paint brush when painting

Baking soda + vinegar = cleaner grout