~December So Far~

 Yes, indeed- this is exactly how December is making me feel!!

The advent garland was hung and filled December 1st . . .

And then ever so slowly the house was festooned . . .
in the livingroom, with a boxwood wreath, paper whites, wonky advent garland and sleeping kitty . . .

and in the kitchen, with more paper whites, and my brand new (early) birthday gift: this awesome shelf from World Market! Thank you, Grammie! :)

I bought this wooden village five or so years ago and bleached the bottle brush trees turning them from a bright emerald green to a more subdued green and golden-white. One of my favorite things!

The decorating continued off the kitchen to the basement entry. . .

Getting to go by this little house all lit up just gives me oodles of joy :) And I go up and down those basement stairs A LOT.

Also in the nook, hanging from my bird hook is one of my most treasured Christmas items- this stocking was my grandfather's from when he was a little boy . . . and then it was mine all the way through my childhood. It's grown so thin and threadbare that I chose not to use it for either of my boys, but instead I display it every year. It has little nursery rhyme scenes all stitched up with blue thread, tied with a red ribbon and some very old jingle bells. <LOVE> 
The snowflake was a gift from our Belgian friend. He knows I have a weakness for blue and white Wedgwood. ;)

And in the diningroom more Christmas abounds . . .

The picture below is the one and only I had time to take on the evening of our annual Caroling Party . . . we worked frantically non-stop all day long to get everything ready- but we think it turned out well despite the crazy. Lots of hot buttered rum does that. ;) 

Our tree was put in a corner by the hall . . .

I was really happy with how it turned out this year . . . we used 1,000 brand new white lights and only the white, silver, clear or gold ornaments in our collection. I say was happy because two days later and those lights suddenly stopped working. Yep- nothing but real life here.

Speaking of real life- there is way more than Christmas in our December . . . I've been kept on my toes with bad cats. . .

school concerts and events, lots of ebay orders (yay!) and lots of birthdays . . . so far my grandfather's- this feltie squirrel is for him...

and the Husband's- the Oldest made him breakfast and I baked him a cake . . .

and then next up is my own birthday and finally my brother-in-law's. So December so far is like every December . . . very, very full. :)
And it won't be too much longer until I can do this . . . !

Happy Holiday everyone!