IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!

Is it really almost Christmas 2018???  Seems like just yesterday we were enjoying soaking up the rays and listening to the ocean waves at the beach.  It’s amazing how quickly the days go by (and the years too)!  But I’m about ready for the BIG DAY…decorating is all done and most of the shopping is finished.  I am NOT a procrastinator.  I like to get finished with the preparations & shopping early so I won’t be rushed and stressed.  I do NOT work well under pressure😊  Most of the shopping was done online…or either I bought it all through the year.  So do you want to see what I’ve been up to???

The kitchen is my favorite room to decorate.  Each year I use a gingerbread theme.  The tree is filled with ginger boys & girls, apples, and my antique cookie cutters.  I am very particular about my gingers though…their face has to be just right! 

 This little red rocking chair was a Christmas gift to my husband on his first Christmas.  My ginger dollies love to sit here every year.

The table is set and ready for Christmas morning breakfast with my small family.

 Ginger boys & girls everywhere!

The side porch gets decorated with gingers too.

And I just had to have a "little red truck" this year...it will be helping the grandkids and me count down the days.  (This came from Dollar General.)

 This is my snowman themed tree at the far end of the den.  I had received so many snowman ornaments from students I decided to dedicate a whole tree to them.  Granddaughter M decorated it all by herself...and did a great job.

My husband’s office also has a small tree decorated with hunting-related ornaments.  Even the deer get dressed up!

                           (Note:  These are NOT Santa’s reindeer:)

And then there is the BIG tree…filled with all the ornaments I have collected through the years.  The first to go on the tree are some balls & bells that I bought for our 1^st Christmas together.  We were in college and poor as church mice, and I was thrilled to find these ornaments at a great bargain at a fire sale!!!  After 48  Christmases they are looking a little tired, but they will always be very special to me.  There are ornaments found on trips, gifts from friends and students, and (of course) those made by my children in grade school.  I only use ornaments that I love and that have special meanings.

The fireplace is ready for our first fire…the weather is getting really chilly so maybe we’ll have one burning soon.

The hall tree belonged to my husband's grandmother.  He would sit on the bench every Christmas & open his gifts from her.  We hang the grandkids' stockings here...because they are SO big!

And here is the outside....

I couldn’t have gotten all this done in record time this year without the help of this sweet granddaughter who L-0-V-E-S Christmas and wants to keep the tree in her room up all year! 

She even helped with preparing Thanksgiving dishes to take to my husband’s BIG family gathering at his sister’s. 

So….have you decorated?  Is the shopping done?  Are you ready for “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and “Jack Frost” to nip at your nose?  Hope you are all enjoying the preparations and getting ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus…the REAL reason for the season.