12/14/10

Christmas LOVE!



I love this season.  LOVE IT, Love it, love it!  {hence the hearts}  It's absolutely my favorite.  And it's called CHRISTMAS.  Not "Holiday".  
Furthermore...why do people from other non-Christian religions celebrate Christmas?!  I respect all religions, but I don't celebrate their special holidays.  ...hmmm....makes me wonder, that's all.  




...and here's this year's tree - a fun change from the red & white peppermint thing I had going on for the last two years.  Peppermint was exciting, but I'm more in the mood for different colors this year.  I found a huge tub of plastic ornaments from Sam's Club and I'm glad I chose plastic because...


...Brooke loves to rip them off with brute force and eat them.  After having four kids, I've finally learned to decorate with plastic!  It's a Christmas Miracle!!! 


My humble Nativity.  The reason for all of my excitement - the birth of our Savior.  I get giddy thinking about how exciting it all must have been for all of us in Heaven, for those waiting His arrival on Earth, and even for the unknowing during that time.  What a beautiful, humble, exciting moment in time. 

{And let's not forget that noble donkey. He/She had an important job!}

18 comments:

Rebecca Talley said...

I love nativity sets. I've been trying to collect them. I was very sad when my daughter broke the angel on my newest set.

And, plastic ornaments are the only way to go with kids. Almost all of my ornaments are pastic now because my kids broke all the glass ones.

missliss5/Melissa said...

Ahhh! Your newly decorated tree is gorgeous!!!

Granny J said...

B.e.e.e.autiful! Your tree topper reminds me of "The Angels Came To Sing" by Sally DeFord @ www.defordmusic.com
I love her work! Enjoy.

Nicole Howell said...

Hello,
In regards to your question about others celebrating Christmas I feel compared to share. I am an agnostic, but am equally in love with the season as you are. I celebrate the spirit of magic, forgiveness, caring, giving and love. Also, the cold weather, goodies and general kindness in the air can't help, but affect all people. In addition to the fun aspects the practical reason for many to celebrate is that it is very much a part of the American identity to celebrate the winter holiday season and may not be about Christmas specifically, but really just the magic of spending time with family and friends.

Jenna Z said...

I must agree with Nicole, I LOVE the winter holidays (yes, I said it, holidays!) and we celebrate our wonderful nondenominational Christmas all season long with goodies, gifts, charity, music, and parties. Does it offend you that people celebrate Christmas in a completely non-Christian way?

Beth said...

Woo hoo for plastic!

Bring Pretty Back said...

I almost bought those same ornaments at Sams club, but decided I have so many I didn't need them. Now I am disapointed I didn't buy them!
I need a new nativity , I have been looking for one. I hope I find the perfect one .
Have a pretty day!
Kristin

Bobbie said...

I've been on a search for new nativity figurines with no luck. Walmart does not carry nativity scenes, or at least ours doesn't. Other stores in the area either don't carry them either, or they are so poorly made that they look like a 3 yr old painted them. Anyone have any ideas where to go? I live in the Jackson/Lansing Michigan area.
And... Merry Christmas Abby!

Yarni Gras! said...

oh what a wonderful tree and Nativity!
Merry Christmas to you and your family.

life in red shoes said...

Smart woman!
And I ask myself the same question you do. And you know some of our favorite Christmas songs were written by Jews????

beckstarr said...

Your tree is a beauty! And so is your girl. I've so had days like the one you described in the breakfast sandwich - can't wait to try it, and good job taking 2 seconds to make yourself something really good on such a hectic day! Thank goodness it's Christmas - I find myself getting all weepy every time I think about the Savior's humble start. Go figure I don't really understand that until I'm a momma. Yay for Christmas love.

Hillary said...

I'm so with you on the plastic ornaments. I picked up some lovely ones at Ikea and I'm so happy with them. Last year my normally well-behaved kids attacked the Christmas tree with their plastic fishing poles. For kids with tools, nothing is out of reach.

Your tree looks beautiful - love the color scheme!

Missy said...

Your tree is gorgeous! I love the turquoise accents.

I too gave into plastic from four kids of ornament fun. They are now my favorite!

TLF said...

Your tree is so, so beautiful!!

Brooke said...

I am loving your pictures! We too have plastic bulbs, it's a must with kiddos! Merry CHRISTmas to you!

Nikipoo said...

I love your nativity set! I haven't had much interest in so many of the commercial sets out there--not humble enough, but yours is perfect. Please tell me what it is/where you got it/when? I must find something like it.

Nichole

Unknown said...

"Holidays" is the politically correct term because Christians aren't the only ones that have an important holiday around the winter solstice. It's not Christmas the non-Christians are celebrating even if they call it just that (which obviously is their mistake, not yours).

It's also no coincidence that Christmas is when it is: winter solstice is the darkest day of the year and the day when it starts to get more light again. It's a celebrated day in many cultures and many of the Christmas traditions have their roots in early pagan holidays. Giving gifts comes from the Roman Saturnalia, greenery and lights from Roman New Year and Yule logs and other foods from Germanic feasts. The date for celebrating Christmas was in part chosen to replace the pagan traditions with a Christian holiday.

With all this I'm just trying to say that Christians don't have an exclusive right to the celebrations around the winter solstice and instead of wondering you should be finding stuff out.

I do love the Holidays myself and even though Jesus was a pretty swell guy it's not him I'm celebrating, it's more about the good will and cheer of people and the victory of light over darkness. I think I should be allowed that especially since Christmas is so secular anyway these days. Still, I hope you had a most wonderful Holiday of your choise.

Abby said...

NO, Jonna, you're wrong. Christmas is about CHRIST. Hence the name "CHRISTmas" I don't need to go researching anything for that. December 25th (not Winter Solstice) is Christmas Day and that is the day where Christians celebrate the miraculous birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. SO...celebrate whatever you want, whenever you want, and call it whatever you want. I love winter, too - I have fun with all of the wintery celebrations out there. My family enjoys the magic of it. However, I do have a problem with people who go through the motions of Christmas without giving a thought as to the reason. Pagan traditions -BAH- it's all about celebrating the birth of Christ. I absolutely do take offense when others try to minimize the significance of the time that we celebrate His birth. (which was actually during the Easter season...but we won't get into that now.) SO...can anybody explain why on earth we have the Easter Bunny? Is someone going to try to rationalize that one, too?! Everybody has a right to a "spring celebration?!"

Case in point: Let's say that an Anti-American group of people set up a colony here in the U.S.A. They decide that they, too, want to celebrate the 4th of July since they live in America, too because it's just so magical! However, they don't want THEIR celebration to have anything to do with "America" or the God-fearing colonials who sacrificed everything to establish this free land. They get offended when we mention "patriotism" and "freedom". That is exactly how I feel with Christmas. Too many people want to celebrate on December 25th with the "magic", gifts, presents, and such, but the bottom line is that it's a CHRISTIAN HOLIDAY on December 25th. I don't get my kids gifts for 7 days in a row for Hanukkah because I'm not Jewish.