A Christmas Tour

Just a few peeks into Christmas at our house this year...joining in with The Nester's 2012 Christmas Tour of Homes! 

I was a little nervous about figuring out how we would adjust our Christmas decor to this new house...but it was so fun to find new spots to decorate and to see our "favorite things" in a new perspective!

Let's begin in the family room:

Stockings hung by the chimney...and the mantle decorated for the first time ever! (Our advent countdown books are in that red basket!)

The "kitchen tree" in the family room. (No room in the kitchen this year...and the real tree didn't fit in the family room, so it's off in the "library.") Thankful for the warmth & twinkle of this little tree.

So excited to have a piano to decorate this year! I bought the score of Handel's Messiah on a whim at a used bookstore this summer, hoping that I could use it "someday."

This nativity is my favorite. I began to paint it just before Nathanael was born...and I finished it a few weeks before Madeleine was born. So many precious memories of my own hopeful expectations while pondering the One in whom our Hope rests.

The Library:

Our tree, full of special ornaments. And you can see a peek of the Christmas train off to the left.

The children's gingerbread village. They love setting this up each year. It's lovely at night...when all the lightbulbs work!

This might be Hadleigh's very favorite Christmas decoration. She is probably the only one who remembers a Christmas spent at my parent's home...and therefore, my parent's little skating rink. Madeleine's first Christmas was also the first one we didn't spend in Asheville. We were back and forth between Texas and moving to Oklahoma that December...and my Mom found an ice skating pond, just like hers, so that our Christmas would have something familiar to add to our new family traditions for Christmas. It is still magical to watch...and Hadleigh can often be found, mesmerized as she watches the skaters glide across the pond.

The Dining Room:

Our advent candles...I love the mercury glass candlesticks instead of a wreath!

Hadleigh and Nathanael made a pair of these banners when they were 3 & 5...and I think they are one of my favorite child-made decorations.

On top of the buffet...

And below. I love to see the pile of Christmas cards grow! (And mine are going out tomorrow!)

In the office/craft space:

Christmas projects of mine over the years on a top shelf.

Our growing collection of December Daily albums...every year since 2008.  2010 & 2012 are in process!

And upstairs:

The children's room trees...the purple tree (selected by Madeleine) is new this year for her room. Nathanael's tree makes me smile each year, as I recall so many memories of it. 

It's first Christmas was in my college dorm!

I hope you enjoyed this peek into our home!  Let me know if you participated...I love seeing homes decorated at Christmas!