ST NICHOLAS DAY

Happy St. Nicholas Day! This is also the second Sunday in Advent. Boy, December is whizzing by at an alarming rate.

When my girls were young and still at home, we would celebrate St Nicholas day by reading the story of his life and exchanging small gifts of remembrance. I always felt it was important for them to know there was a REAL Christian person behind the secular Santa Claus. He was a bishop in the 4th century in what is now Turkey. It's a very interesting life story if you want to read further about him here.





I hope all your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely. Hopefully I'll have some decorations to show tomorrow. Take a deep breath! Nerm

3RD WEEK OF ADVENT

Greetings everyone. Hope your weekend was enjoyable. Ours went well,--enjoyed an afternoon out with Amy (middle daughter) and on Sunday a beautiful service at church. The third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudette Sunday and has a special liturgy and music. Adds a deeper dimension to the Christmas season.

Here are some pics of part of the decor-Please pardon the dark photos. These were taken mid-afternoon, but as you can see thru the windows, it was gloomy and overcast outside. The temperature has been dropping all day and is now below freezing. We are waiting for the ice and freezing rain to start. Goodie!
My dining room table has what we call the Winter Wonderland display. Tanner saw it and said, "Wow, Grammie, where did you get all this great stuff? Is that real snow?" He play and poked and oohed and aahed. Is this what Christmas is about or what!!!

Below is the little town of Bethelem. We bought this several years ago at Sam's and I love it. The detail is incredible. Tanner loves this one too. LOL


Another shot of the dining room-sorry I got my pictures out of order.

These letters spelling "NOEL" were purchased at Joann's for $1.00 each. Quite the bargain, eh?

They're made of felt with eyelets so I strung them up with yarn and hung it in kitchen window.

I managed to pull off a major goof with a previous post. Put my sister Gail's gift on there and failed to tell her not to read my blog for a while! She called today to say she had seen her gift and I felt so, so bad. But I don't have time to make her anything else. Guess I'll just have to kiss up for a while. ha ha Nerm

WELCOME ADVENT

Happy December folks. Can you believe it's December? No matter how well I think I have prepared myself each year, it sneaks up on me. That's why Advent is so wonderful. Each day brings us closer to that special day when our Savior is born. The daily readings and devotions help me focus on the reason for the season. And yes, it's Christmas! Not the "holidays"! I miss the days when our girls were young and still at home. We'd light the advent wreath each night at dinner and say a prayer or verse. These are good memories for them today. I'll confess I still buy a Advent calender for myself. ha, ha

This is not a good picture (I need a new camera, Santa), but I'm posting it anyway. I've made stockings for each family member and I needed to replace a few which have worn out or sprung a leak. I have a special request from daughter Amy to knit her one, but that's just gonna have to wait til next year. My handmade list for this year is full up.
This one is velvet with yo-yos I made out of Christmas fabric. I placed buttons in the centers and sewed on a couple of snowflake buttons. I wish it showed up better, but you get the idea.
It's back to the sewing machine for me. See ya soon. Nerm