When the making of Christmas memories is just a memory

A lot of the blogs I follow are from young wives and mothers.  Sweet families setting up their traditions.  I remember being in their shoes.  Making Christmas special for my kiddos.  Wanting to make memories with them that they would take with them when they started their own families.  Well, here I am. My kids are grown up, and they indeed are taking their traditions with them and establishing their own.  So what does that mean to this empty nester?  For the past couple years I have been trying to get my head around how that looks... and feels.  It's hard!  For 25 plus years I worked hard at building those traditions, and now I somehow feel like a Who house after the Grinch has come through and left not even a crumb big enough for a Who mouse; empty and ransacked.  What does a mom do when her kids are grown and gone, and sometimes can't even make it home for the holidays?  All the movies are watched alone.  The tree is decorated as beautifully as before, but only seen by your eyes throughout the season.  The smell of cookies still fill the air, but the only one who is eating them is YOU!  The tight jeans are proof of that!

Sure, there are parties for hosting.  This year we had three.  And they do help to fill my time with the planning and preparing.  But when everyone goes home at the end of the night, it seems to leave me feeling more tired then warmed.  

I was listening to a song on the radio in my errand running the other day.  It's a beautiful song, and I  find myself singing along with it.  It says, "The only gift I'll ever need is the joy of family.  Oh why?  'Cause that's Christmas to me."  It struck me that THAT is my problem.  My sole focus for years has been on my family.  Making traditions and memories all based on them.  It's a lovely focus, but the problem is, when family is no longer available to come around, it leaves us empty and quite frankly, alone.  What a huge burden to put on my family, to fill such a deep hole.  Ironically a hole that I have dug myself!

I know the true meaning of Christmas.  I celebrate the birth of Christ.  Don't I?  I sing the carols of the Christ child.  My favorite song is Silent Night.  I can quote Luke chapter 2 from memory!  I have bits and pieces of those carols and that scripture throughout my house in my decor.  But in my HEART, I must admit, there has been no room.  For it has been filled these 25 plus years with traditions and the making of memories.  The creating of the "magic" of the season for my kids.  And now that they are gone, it is filled with me trying to recreate the magic in my home by decorating  every inch of my house.  Oh why?  I guess 'cause that's been Christmas to me!

How wrong I have been.  Oh to have the power to turn back time and recreate those memories once more.  To make Christ the TRUE meaning of the season and the center of those traditions.  I can't do that, but I need to start now, today in my own heart.  I need to make this my new tradition, and allow it to leave me not feeling empty and ransacked, but full of grace.  Full of giving.  Full of the love that the Father has bestowed on us by giving His only begotten son.    Who was willing to humble himself to become a helpless babe on that first Christmas morn so that He could grow up and be the ultimate sacrifice for this sinful heart of mine.

This year, may I start a new tradition in my heart.  To truly make Christmas about Him.  To the one who was born to be my friend.  HE knows my need.  Because my weakness, He is no stranger!  Behold my king!  Before HIM may I lowly bow and make the center of this season. 

A Food Truck kind of Christmas

My husband has a business.  It's a restaurant.  And for the past two years, we have opened our home and hosted a Christmas party for the team members and their families.  We bring in a food truck and park it right in front of our home and everyone can just chow down.  It is so much fun to not only enjoy the time, but also to prepare for it!

We don't have a huge yard, so we utilize the back yard space, front yard and also the small park across the street from our house.  This year we actually blocked off the street so we could use that space as well.  The neighbors don't mind, since we invite them to join us.

In the back yard, we have our fire pit set up, and our picnic table.  For additional seating, we made a table out of stacked wooden pallets.

In the park across the street, I strung lights and I decorated the picnic tables using greenery and candles in mason jars. 

It's sweet to have a wonderful team that is more like family then associates.  We had a lovely evening and are already talking about next year!

My Christmas Home, 2015

Is anyone else out there scratching their heads and wondering how in the world it's already December?  This year has flown by!  Last year I was counting down the days until I could decorate.  This year the season has caught me off guard!  

But caught off guard or not, Christmas is coming, so I need to get the house ready! 

I loved my Christmas decor I used last year, so I was happy to pull out my favorites again.  One season is just not enough! I added a few simple touches this year to make them look fresh along with a few new pieces to add to the collection.

In our living room earlier this year we added a built in on the left side of the fireplace, so it forced me to move the tree from that corner of the room.  I love that from it's new spot it welcomes you when you walk in the house and draws you on into the living room to see what is beyond it.

And of course, beyond it is the fireplace.  I love my Drummer Boy sign that my sister painted for me last year.  She has an online shop on Facebook called White Hen.  One of my favorite places to shop! She also did a few more signs for my Christmas decor this year.

Every year I have a new favorite.  This year my favorite is this sign I had made by White Hen.  I have it in my entry above the hanging coat rack.  It's such a cheery greeting for guests, and the rack allows them to hang their wraps upon entering the house.  My entry was recently repainted using SW Silver Strand.  A color Joanna Gaines on the Fixer Upper uses frequently.  I love it.

In the entry on the staircase, I add lighted garland every year.

In the dining room I went with a tree theme.  The table is adorned with snow scenes I made in an apothecary jar as well as home made snow globes.

On the hutch I used more apothecary jars to house snow scenes.  And I always pull out this vintage white ceramic tree, made by an elderly friend of mine.  It reminds me of one my grandmother made when I was a child.  Its a perfect seasonal accent to my white dish ware.

In my small kitchen, just a few touches are needed.  I HAVE to put a mini tree in there to house my utensil ornaments.

Other touches of red make it festive and inspire some Christmas baking.

I'm sure you have heard of the "Elf on a Shelf".  We have a "Snowman on a Shelf".  Meet Mr. McFlurry.  He appears every year at our house and provides a lot of fun getting into mischief.

Upstairs in the master bedroom, I have a small tree decorated with white pom pom garland and home made ornaments.

Sometimes it doesn't take much to add a bit of Christmas to a space.  On the bed, I have tartan pillow cases to bring in that pop of red.  The pillow I used last year.  I think the combination is all that is needed to make the bed Christmassy.  On the trunk at the foot of the bed, I simply wrapped boxes in white paper and added red ribbon.

The red cable knit pillow is the final touch in the room.

In the upstairs guest room, I have a few vintage touches of Christmas to welcome holiday travelers.

The little ceramic tree on the secretary was purchased at an estate sale.

In one salvaged frame from a thrift store, I made a chalkboard.  In another I have pinned some vintage post cards.

The stocking I hung from the chair is one I made the first Christmas my husband and I were married. It has a lot of sentamental value.

Even my husbands office got a touch of Christmas.  On his tree I added a few vintage post cards to his collection of sale boat ornaments.  The vintage metal tree stand was a find at a local antique shop.  

This is another sign purchased from the online shop on Facebook, White Hen.

So even if Christmas has snuck up on you like it has me, you still have time to pull out the decorations, and deck your halls to bring some cheer to your home.

  

Thankful Home,2015

I'm going to be honest, this year has been a difficult year to decorate for fall.  My dad passed away after a very brief and unexpected illness in late August, so bringing out the "Thanksgiving" décor has been a challenge.  But at the same time, I know I have so much to be thankful for.  I had 55 years with an amazing father who loved the Lord and loved his family.  I have had 34 wonderful years with my own sweet husband who loves God and his family as well.  I have three great kids, a sweet daughter-in-law, a step grandson and a new grand baby on the way!  Her arrival should be by Thanksgiving, which in itself is enough reason for me to pull out the decorations and proclaim my thankfulness to the Lord for His great blessings, which are far more then I deserve!

Many of the decorations for this fall are ones I used last year.  Like the sign on my fireplace mantle, made by my sister who has a shop on Facebook called White Hen.  But that's what is fun!  Pulling out familiar favorites from year to year and adding to them.  Putting them in a different place, or arranging them differently will make them seem fresh and new.  This year along with the sign, I added some silk fall leaves placed in a white pitcher on the mantle.  I wish we had beautiful fall foliage here in Florida, but the leaves won't change here until December so I have to settle for silk to bring fall color to my southern home. 

On the coffee table, a simple arrangement of a few pine cones in a white bowl was the perfect touch along side some candlesticks in the rustic, hand made wooden tray, made by the same wood worker who built my farmhouse table. 

Above my occasional table in the living room, I love using my home made chalkboard as artwork. I surrounded the chalkboard with more white ware. It's always so much fun changing out the message seasonally.  This year I opted for this simple, yet important reminder.

In the entry, I added this coat rack and above it I hung a sign I purchased again from White Hen.  I love this verse.  Even though it is perfect for the season, I intend to keep it up year around.

In the dining room, I went with natural elements using more pine cones.  I also used nuts, acorns and some wood elements.  This old stump piece is one of my favorites.  I admit I use it just about year around.  The wooden basket with the pumpkin arrangement came from "Farmhouse Wares".  An online store. 

On the hutch, I continued the natural theme by putting nuts in an apothecary jar and using pine cones here and there.  I love how the browns play against my white ware.

 

So, even though I didn't do a lot of decorating, my house gives a nice hint of the season.  Just enough to be a sweet reminder of what it is about.

So as you approach this season of gratitude and look at all you have been blessed with, I hope you too can have a thankful home as well as a thankful heart for the blessings God has granted you with this year.  And know they are always gifts of grace and far more then any of us deserve.