Away in a Manger

I found out that my friend, Amanda, was participating in a Christmas Tour of Homes. When I realized that I wouldn't have to actually clean my house and provide paper booties to cover people's shoes when they walk in the front door, I decided to play along too.

I collect nativities. Its a bit of an obsession. At last count, I own well over 50 of them. Some are fancy and some are kitschy. So for my tour, I'll share just a few of them.

This is where it all began. My husband and I bought this on our very first anniversary. It is still probably my absolute favorite.

My best friend gave me this one created by an artist in Colorado Springs.

I love this "all-in-one" piece. It is by artist Karen Lawrence.

BigJoel and I picked this one up a few years ago on vacation in Mexico.

This set is particularly special. It was given to me by the teachers at the school where I was the Administrator. Even more special is that it was made by one of the teachers! She's so talented.

Joel and I bought this nativity for our 5th anniversary on a trip to Jefferson, Texas.

I've traveled to Peru several times and love this little set that portrays the Holy Family inside of a chullo hat.

This large nativity was made in Peru also, but given to me by the teachers at my school.

Another Karen Lawrence piece~I love this set!

A tiny Mexican nativity that I got in San Antonio at the Market.

My friend Kim and I actually made this set several (16, actually) years ago when ceramics and country blue were all the rage.

Yet another nativity that the teachers gave me, this one came from Haiti. I love the little "stable" in the background~its made from a coconut.

We have so many nativities, we can't keep them all indoors. This is yard art made by one of our church members.

When our oldest daughter was about 4 years old, I caught her rearranging the pieces of several sets one time. I asked her what she was doing and she replied, "I'm fixing it to where everyone [the kings, shepherds and even stable animals] can see Jesus. He's the most important part." So true, HannahKate, He is the most important part, isn't He.

Thanks for taking my little last minute tour. I hope you enjoyed it and may you remember The Most Important Part of this holiday season.

Deck the Halls--Froo-Froo Tree and Hometown Friends

This icicle angel is part of an icicle nativity ornament set of 12 pieces that was made by my high school pal, Tina. I took about 142 pictures trying to capture its beauty, but just couldn't get one that completely does it justice. I'm not sure how many years ago she gave it to me, but it was shortly after my mother passed away. I loved it so much, I purchased it its own tree which we now call the "Froo-Froo Tree"--all matchy-matchy with gold, red and white ornaments. But the nativity pieces are definitely the focal point of the tree.

Last night we celebrated our annual "Hometown High School Gang" Christmas with Tina and company. This group is made up of three guys and three girls that grew up in church youth group together and their spouses. Four couples in all because two of us married within "the group". We get together every year. One couple has relocated to another state. Three of us are somewhat local, but still don't see each other much during the year. I'm sure there were many times in the beginning where C & T, the two spouses not born and raised in Hometown, felt uncomfortable because we would re-tell and re-live the days of our youth each time we got together. But it has been interesting to me, that as time goes on we are less about the "good ol' days" and more about making new memories.

Over the past 20 years we have been to weddings, celebrated the addition of 9 children, mourned the loss of parents and even survived a bout with cancer. These are the people that I may not see from one Christmas to the next, but I know would be there in a heartbeat if I needed them. These are the people who pick up right where we left off last year as if it was only last week. And these are the people who, like my icicle nativity ornaments have their own tree, have their own special place in my heart.

Deck the Halls--Feliz Navidad

A little turtle ornament and nativity set from our trip to Mexico this past January.

Deck the Halls--White Christmas

Two more of my favorites...given to me by my in-laws.

Karen Lawrence is the artist.

Deck the Halls--Joy to the World! The Gourd Has Come

I know. Such a corny play on words. I just couldn't resist. Elizabeth brought me this nativity from her first trip to Peru. It is inside a gourd, hence the horrible pun.

Deck the Halls--I <3 Christmas

I don't really know where this ornament originally came from, but it belonged to my mother. IYit.

Deck the Halls--Brought to You By the Letter U

I have a circle of girlfriends that get together once a month for "Girls' Night Out". Each December, we have an ornament exchange. Last year, we decided our theme for 2008 would be "colors and letters". So we passed around 2 baskets and each person drew a letter of the alphbet from one and a color from the other. For example, I drew "U" and "purple"; so I had to find an ornament that fit that description. We had the whole year to find our ornament. I kept it in the back of my mind, but, a purple U ornament proved harder to find than I first thought. The obvious choice was an umbrella, but not only did I not want to be obvious, I never came across a purple umbrella. I considered painting a horseshoe with glittery purple paint, but decided that a U shape is not the same as the letter U. I was tempted to go with purple underwear, but who wants lingerie on their Christmas tree? (Unless maybe you're a Victoria's Secret model or Playboy bunny...which my friends are not.) So...after much deliberation and brainstorming...I settled on...are you ready...purple sea urchins! The internet is such a wonderful thing. I went online, found a company in Florida, and purchased two real-life purple sea urchins. I embellished them with a tassle, some ribbon and glitter spray. The end result was...interesting. It will probably end up on the back side of someone's tree hidden from view, but that's okay...at least its not underwear!

Deck the Halls--Where It All Began

This is our very first nativity. Joel and I bought it on our first anniversary. Sixteen years and forty+ nativities later, it is still my favorite. One of my most cherished memories is from HannahKate's first Christmas. She was 4 months old and we had her in the baby bouncy seat while we put up the tree and decorations. Joel showed her each piece of this nativity as he placed them on the coffee table. I remember him saying, "And see this? This is Little Baby Jesus. He came to earth and laid in the hay...just for you." Priceless.

Deck the Halls--Mele Kalikimaka

Not that anyone has really noticed, but I've been out of the blog-loop (could I say "bloop"?) for a couple days now and I've missed you all. I'll have to fill you in later on everything I've been doing. Let me just say, I've been having a wonderful time, thoroughly enjoying myself but staying up way too late at night and getting up way too early in the morning. I'm exhausted, and somewhat afraid I will say things I'll regret later if I try to write too much now. So, I'll just share another ornament from my tree. We got this one in Hawaii a few years ago. It mimicks one of the famous Hawaiin quilt patterns.
Mele Kalikimaka! (Merry Christmas)

Deck the Halls--Sweet Little Jesus Boy

My friend Kristi gave me this nativity several years ago when she lived in Colorado Springs. It was made by a local artist from terra cotta clay and coated with a milky white glaze. There are also 2 little lambs, but they seem to be out to pasture in this picture. Something about this set reminds me of a sugary confection. It is one of my favorites.

Deck the Halls--Miss Poinsettia

My mom and I picked out this little porcelein ornament as a Christmas present for my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Burns. She wrote us the sweetest thank-you note in her oh-so-perfect handwriting. Mrs. Burns is one of the reasons I chose education as my profession.

When I was in fourth grade, there were two classes at my elementary school. Mrs. Meanie taught one class. She was old and grouchy; and she had purple(ish) hair and bright red lipstick. Mrs. Burns taught the other class. She was young and beautiful with long brunette hair that reminded me of Breck shampoo commercials. Her voice was sweet and sounded almost like singing even if she was just giving a spelling test. I could not believe my good fortune of being in her class when my best friend was suffering next door in the evil clutches of Mrs. Meanie. But my luck would soon change when Mrs. Burns explained to us that no, she had not swallowed a watermelon seed, but was in fact, going to have a baby and would not be finishing the school year with us. I was devastated.

About 10 years ago, or shortly after we moved back to Hometown, my father-in-law delivered a little gift bag to me and said it was from Mrs. Burns. Inside, was Miss Poinsettia and a letter. I immediately recognized the oh-so-perfect handwriting. Mrs. Burns told of how she had enjoyed Miss Poinsettia for many years. She said she thought of my mother and me each time she hung it on her tree. But she felt that perhaps now, I might enjoy Miss Poinsettia in my own home. And I have.

Wasn't that thoughtful of her? That's why Mrs. Burns was one of my favorite teachers and why Miss Poinsettia is one of my favorite ornaments.

Deck the Halls--Santa Gator

I enjoyed having a theme for November (Thirty Days of Thankfulness), so I was kind of at a loss when December rolled around. But as we were decorating our Christmas tree and trying to find places to display all my nativity sets, I had the most brilliant idea! One of the best parts of putting the ornaments on the tree is recalling when and where they came from. Every year I think to myself, "I should write all this down to pass on to the girls after BigJoel and I have ...well... 'passed' on." It may or may not be of much interest to anyone else, but I've decided to dedicate this month to sharing some of my favorite ornaments/nativities. So, don your gay apparel and fa-la-la-la-follow me down Memory Lane.


Joel and I bought this little gator guy on our honeymoon in New Orleans 17 years ago. It was one of our first purchases as husband and wife. We left the store with it and Joel promptly proceeded to swing the bag into a post causing the gator's tail to break off. Had I been a superstitious person, I might have been concerned that this was an omen. But fortunately, a little SuperGlue works wonders. The ornament survived and so has our marriage.