Christmas Notebook

Time is flying by at our house. Yours, too, probably! Tomorrow we will enjoy having three of five children home with one of our daughters-in-law and two of the three grands in celebration of Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to that! I love it when the kids come home. We were told last week that younger son and his wife, who live in Seattle, will be here for Christmas! That’s exciting news!

Last weekend, Genny (my Christmas elf and sister) was here to decorate. She brought along our great-niece who loves to help, as well. I made Eggnog Cookies and Eggnog Truffles.

Our great-niece put up all the snowflakes and the icicles on the kitchen garland. The pie plates are washed and the Christmas curtains are up, as well. It was nice to have a young, agile helper!

The kitchen garland displays my collection of snowflake ornaments and icicles.

There are two east facing windows (to the left) and four south facing windows. My pie plate collection sets on the pegs that the curtains hang from.

Our young helper also decorated the kitchen tree on top the fridge. It has candy and cookie ornaments.

DH hung the big snowflake over the Snow Tree in the dining room. The snowflake serves as a tree topper that turns gently in the movement of air from the furnace. The ceiling is 12′ tall, so the seven foot tree sits on an antique, round table in the corner of the dining room.

Tweak, tweak, tweak…an ongoing process.

Winston (on the cupboard ledge) enjoys watching everything we do while decorating. This little snow tree sits on top a cupboard that belonged to DH’s grandparents.

Saturday evening, after a full day of decorating and cleaning, we sat down to string popcorn and six bags of cranberries for the living room tree while we watched “White Christmas” and “While You Were Sleeping.” A fun, sit-down job to check off the list.

By the time the credits rolled and the last cranberry was snugly nestled on the string, we leaned back and admired how the house had truly begun to sparkle. All that scrubbing and dusting earlier in the day paid off—floors gleamed, windows shone, and the kitchen looked like it belonged in a holiday magazine. There’s something about getting things properly cleaned before the holidays that makes the season feel more official, more festive. It’s that old-fashioned satisfaction of seeing a job well done.

Still, no matter how much we enjoy a good cleaning spree, there are some corners and crevices that always seem to escape notice—or energy. That’s where Capable Clean stepped in for us last year, and let’s just say, we’ve never looked back. They somehow manage to make every room feel brand-new without losing the lived-in charm we love so much. It’s like they wave a magic mop and suddenly the place feels five degrees cozier.

The lights on the staircase banister cast circles of color on the ceiling of the upstairs hall. A magical night light!

Update: I wrote this the day before Thanksgiving. I think I was waiting for pictures of the chalkboard before posting, but was side-tracked by other things. I’ll post a chalkboard update soon! We are on the downhill slide to Open House on Sunday. Lots and lots to do!

~~Rhonda