I'm in no shape to go to bunco tonight, so while my girlfriends are tossing the dice and eating Becca's homemade chili, I'm joining BooMama's Christmas Tour of Homes. It's a little late in the day, but better late than never. So I'm sitting here with a tub of butterscotch haystacks to give me the mental discipline I need to focus. Brain food, if you will.
Here are my hubby and my son beginning the search for our tree.
It didn't take long for hide and seek to begin.
Later that day we went to our city's Christmas parade. Every parade needs two Santa's, right?
Here's my dining room.
You may notice that...
-There are no balls on the tree. That is because of the toddler. They are in a glass thing on the table and in a bowl on the bookshelf.
-The stockings are hung from the window. We have a chimney, but no fireplace. It's hidden in the walls somewhere.
-We have no tree topper. I'm not sure what happened to our last one. Thankfully, Jackson made one at school out of paper and it is perched happily at the top of our tree. I think he brought it home after I took this picture. I guess you couldn't see it anyway because of the light thing.
These are some of my favorite ornaments. Every year when we go to Jackson Hole for Thanksgiving, I buy a few new ones at Moose Be Christmas. One day I'd like to have a mountain-themed tree.
These three were from our first Christmas.
This is from our second Christmas and it's my fave.
This is our Compassion child, Marlon.
Curt picked out this ornament the Thanksgiving before Jackson was born. It's a daddy bear with a baby bear on his shoulders.
This one's from that same year, when I couldn't snowmobile because I was expecting Jackson.
Baby's First Christmas. That picture was actually taken in the summer. You can see that he had a little too much sun that day.
Jackson's new ornament for this year.
My door is so beautiful and festive that I couldn't bear to put a wreath on it. It looks so great with our Christmas lights. I'm obsessed.
If you were here in my home, I'd serve you spiced hazelnut croissants and some hot tea. I don't have a recipe for the croissants, but you can't get them here. They're amazing. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a merry Christmas!
72 comments:
Just beautiful Amanda!!! I did not participate in the Boomama tour and I have been sick about it all day...because i have issues of feeling left out...and thats how i felt all day....like i was missing "the event" and i've been sad.
We're moving in 2 weeks and i'm 1/2crazy anyway so i didn't want to fake it and be festive.... :)
Beautiful family to go with your beautiful home. Thanks for the tour and sorry that i felt like i had to explain my absence in the tour...told you i had issues.
Merry Christmas~
Love the decorations and Santa is a cutie!! Merry Christmas!
Thank you for the lovely tour. yum spiced hazlenut croissants! blessings...
Oh Amanda, loved the tour. It was great. I ate an iced sugar cookie from Rice Epicurean and felt right at home while you munched on your goodies.
I love your front door! Mine is red as well...I LOVE red front doors...so inviting!
Sarah, TN
Enjoyed your special ornaments and you are right, your door is very "Christmasy" - it needs nothing else.
Your house looks beautiful! I found your blog through my SIL Shelley (Transplanted or Texahoan). I feel like I relate so well to you. I, too, am a pastor's wife and have 1 son (I think he's almost exactly 1 year younger than yours - Feb. 13th of this year - we'll be celebrating birthday #1 in less than 2 months!)
Your house is so cute Amanda! But Jackson in that santa outfit is even cuter!
Merry Christmas to your family!
Lovely home! Thanks for inviting us in!!!
Wish I'd thought to put my glass ornaments in a bowl!
Beautiful home...and don't feel bad about eating the haystacks while you blog. I am currently eating raw cookie dough (which should be its own food group).
That Santa outfit is sooooo cute. I love it. You have some wonderful ornaments. Thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas !!!
Everything is so beautiful, Amanda! The door! It is STUNNING!! Yay!
Blessings on your family! Maybe the LORD will make your mountain-themed tree in a mountain locale :)
Colorado is beautiful :)
my love... I so enjoyed our "catch up" conversation. You are such an amazing encouragement to me and I can't wait to hug your neck one of these days. I loved the home tour at Christmas. So cute. I too love your red door. It's perfect. Merry Christmas. I am excited because I leave for Texas tomorrow. yay.
Thank you for the tour of your home. Your tree and home are beautiful! I am up for the croissants. I hope you feel better. I am going to my friends house Wednesday to bake and let me tell you she can cook and bake better than anyone I have ever known. I am going to take pictures and post the goodies on my blog. :o)
Hoping your family has a Merry Christmas!
Love,
Patty
Is that a sassy polka dot umbrella I spy in the corner???
Your door is THE BEST! No wonder you love it so!
I love all the red, red door, red walls. Very cute. I especially liked how you featured your favorite ornaments and their sentimental value. Fun post!
Merry Christmas, Amanda! Thanks for inviting us to come in. You are so smart putting those ornaments up, up and away! Have a blessed and merry Christmas...
Who cares about hazelnut croissants? I want some of the butterscotch haystacks.
Jackson as Santa is even cuter than usual! And I love all your decorations, especially the fab front door.
I bet people are driving by just to look at that door.
What a great idea!! I loved being in your home and as I read your post I drank some of my own gingerbread delight and imagined having a wonedrful heart to heart with you.
Merry Christmas!!
P.S. The horse one is definitely my favorite too!
Your home is beautiful, especially decorated for Christmas! I love the red wall in your dining room; I have one red dining room wall, too! Any chance I can find out where you got that black shelf? Merry Christmas to you!
What a LOVELY idea, Amanda! :) And what fun! :) I shall have to borrow it with my friends! :) Maybe this weekend after the last paper is graded!!! You have a beautiful home...I see we have similar color preferences...I agree...it looks so festive! :)
Merry Christmas!
~Deborah :)
http://xanga.com/FidelicharisHouse
Love the red wall in your dining room.
Love the too-sexy-for-a-wreath red front door.
Love Jackson's little red face in the picture ornament.
Love the moose ornaments (maybe because I relate).
What a cute house you have, Amanda. Even without the glass balls on the tree. It's just adorable.
Your house looks so pretty Amanda. I wish I could come see it. :)
Love the door.
We finally took the time to go get our Christmas tree today, too. It is currently thawing in our living room, surrounded by towels to catch the extra snow, ice, and needles (we would choose the day after a nor'easter to go pick out a fresh tree!).
Cute red wall in the kitchen!
Loved the tour! Thanks for inviting us in :)
adorable, just adorable!
You have a beautiful home! And I do love me a red front door. I do believe the front door of a home totally sets the tone for the house. By the way, we have that very same "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament from last year. It's priceless! Hope you and your family have a blessed Christmas!
What a warm and inviting home!! Love your red wall and red front door, my FAVE!! Ya'll are such a precious family; Merry Christmas to you!! What fun Jackson will have in only days ripping into paper & boxes and what fun you'll have watching him!!!
Your house looks so pretty and I just love all your ornaments! I hope that you and your family have a wonderful Christmas! You are gonna have so much fun with the little man this year!
Loved the ornaments and the tour.
I have three words for you from one toddler boy mommy to another: Shatterproof ornament balls. (Should that actually be 4 words?)
Believe it or not, Sam's has BEAUTIFUL ones in bulk (or at least they did a month ago) for $30for 100 of them! And even though Park has managed to deface several of them, I still have at least a good 75 or so that should make it 'til Christmas:)
Hi. I came by from the tour. Your blog design is lovely. I really like it.
Now for the tour. Your home is pretty. Great looking tree. Have a Merry Christmas.
Love that door- I wouldn't cover it up either! I firmly believe no parade is complete without 2 Santas, and you couldn't find a cuter one than yours:-)
I especially loved your mountain themed ornaments- we have been spending Christmas in a log cabin in the mountains for the past 9 years, and it is so heavenly to get away from the rushing, and just settle in and dwell on what is truly important this season.
After seeing your Thanksgiving I want to go then, now, too!
Blessings!
Very festive! Love all the ornaments, especially the one with the picture! =)
I haven't had breakfast yet this morning so I could eat some of those croissants!
Merry Christmas!
~Jada
Love your ornaments, especially Rudolph! And your red door is pretty too. I agree-no decorations needed!
That's one sweet little Santa you got there! Your home is just as lovely as it can be.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
I have not one Christmas decoration up. Not a one. We've been so busy and we're in the midst of remodeling our kitchen. It just hasn't happened (the decorating). My two daughters (12 and 15) just realized we don't have a tree up two days ago. They are calling me Ebeneeza and their stepdad Ebeneezer *ha ha ha ha*. I'm planning on getting a small live tree that we can plant in the next day or two.
I'm so happy I got to see your pretty tree and pretty door! For some reason I'm really wanting haystacks now!
Lovely!
I'm obsessed with ornaments. I have three boys and each year the grandparents give them an ornament. when they move out they will have plenty for their tree!
Jackson is just 100% CUTIE PIE!
The house looks beautiful!
A red wall and a red door! You hardly have to decorate, girl! I love the ornaments in the bowl idea- our tree only has ornaments on the top half, LOL!
Okay, I am going crazy over Jackson in his Santa outfit!! I love all of your ornaments!! Did I tell you that I am depressed about how I lost all three of our stockings. For some reason I didn't pack them away last year with all our Christmas stuff. Who does that? Your house is adorable!!
Amanda, I read about your red door a few weeks back on the LPM Blog. It's so great to finally see a picture. It really is beautiful! Our front door is red, too, but not quite as lovely as yours. Love the tree, ornaments, and Santa, too! Hope you are feeling better.
Beautiful!
BTW, I'm a little obsessed with your door now, too!
Hi from a fellow pastor's wife! I really liked the ornaments in the jar on the table - when I first saw the pic I thought it was done that way on purpose - not to keep them away from the toddler! LOL Great idea!
I love those ornaments! And I love how you put your breakable ones in the vase and bowl. I'm learning that things are VERY different with a 15 month old boy in the house! And I *heart* your door!
I do love me a red accent wall. And the beadboard is just icing on the butterscotch haystacks that I could eat until I'm sick.
The door is dreamy, by the way.
I loved visiting your home! Your decorations are so sweet...and so is your little Santa! :)
We have a new door similar to yours...I did put a wreath on since I just "can't" not have one, but I know what you mean about needing one!
Thanks for the wonderful tour!
Amanda, I made your haystacks last weekend and they were a hit..... they were so crunchy and delicious!!!! I miss you sweet friend!
your ornaments are beautiful. Thank you for inviting me to tour your place.
Merry Christmas
Hi!! I am a fellow Siesta, but have never commented. However, I do have to tell you how excited I was to see your cute little tree skirt from Target. I have the same one!
Merry Christmas to your family!
I love your red door! Thanks for the tour. It's fun to see everyone's Christmas decor.
That's one cute Santa you have there!
I think the game of hide and seek looked fun. Love your decorations and thanks for sharing your home with us.
I love that red wall in your dining room!!! Also, the red front door!
Thank you for inviting me in! Merry Christams!!
Davedda
I love that red wall in your dining room!!! Also, the red front door!
Thank you for inviting me in! Merry Christmas!!
Davedda
Thanks for inviting me into your home for Christmas. Love your front door. I'll be visiting everyone on the list.
Lovely! Merry Christmas!
Amanda, I found your blog through Jenny Hope. I don't know her, but I like to read other people's blogs. Is that nosy? I am so glad to have found yours so I can get to know you better. I read the LPM blog and have come to see you a siesta! I have 3 sisters my self, so I love girls!
My older 3 all just finished college this year, this week. Jackson's hide-and-seek and the Christmas parade fun flooded my mind with good memories. From footed pajamas to graduation gowns, you are building in a life passing on what's on your heart Deut 6:6, a huge heart for your good God and the Christmas story. Our family room & kitchen walls are red. Love it!
Honey, I'm gonna just call you Elizabeth Arden. LOVE that red door! Your home and decorations are absolutely darling. Thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas!
thank you for the bday message. ps these pics make me want to clean my house. I have zero decorating skills and the stockings are GREAT on the window. I would have never thought of that. Are those the ones you had made a while back?
Beautiful tree. I love that you are using Jackson's tree topper! Mr. Lee would absolutelylove the hazelnut croissants.He has to have some hazelnut every day. I may have to indulge him with some W-S croissants. thanks for the tip!
Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the tour! I love it....and your door!
SO SO pretty! I love your ornaments. :) Glad you're back among the "bloggers". I hope Jaskson is feeling better!
I love the way you balance the traditions of Christmas with a toddler in the house. I would have never thought to put the glass ornaments on display elsewhere.
Your decorations are beautiful! And Jackson is just precious! I love all the meaningful ornaments that hold so many memories! Those are the best!
Merry Christmas! I enjoyed the visit!
Very pretty! It took me a while to get to decorating this year, but once I started (and got it done), I was (and am) glad I did. Love the Rudolph ornament! Every year Ryan picks out an ornament and it's always flashy. I think next year, I want to get him a personalized one, but he likes getting his own so much that maybe I won't. I write the year on each one and will give them to him when he has his own home and tree. We have ornaments that my grandfather gave all the kids every year when I was growing up. Those are some of my favorites.
I cannot believe how big Jackson has gotten! We can't wait to see him again soon. I also love the decorations and additions you've made to your dining area since the first paint party. Good times! We miss you guys!
What a beautiful tour. I think I really like the ornament with the daddy bear and the baby bear - it made me tear up :)
I just love this time of year - for many reasons but the way my house looks all deorated just makes me smile :)
God bless,
Kim
Beautiful Amanda! Hope you had a nice Christmas and that you all feel better!
Sue
I enjoy seeing the decorations and ornaments. But I must enquire about the stockings that you were trying to find someone to finish...where is a picture of them?
Loved the tour - I especially loved the cute ornaments. Happy New Year!
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