It's a big rule in my house that Thanksgiving has to be cleaned away before the Christmas holiday celebration can begin. Today was a major clean up. It's taken hours and the house smells like pine sol, but it's basically clean and the Christmas tree is up.
Do you have boxes and boxes of handcrafted oraments that your children have created for you over the years? I do. And I love them. Every year when the sky is grey and the snow is beginning to fall, I pull out the ornaments and they delight me. I can honestly say I don't remember the names of all my children's teachers that spearheaded creating them, but I appreciate the effort they made on my behalf each year.
This year, I left all my children's handcrafted ornaments in the box...Before I did, I picked each up and ooed and aahed over them and even shed a tear at the memories, but I left them in the box and just put lights and decorative balls on the tree. I don't know why. But suddenly, I felt like a grownup again...alone with just today and the future in front of me. Interesting to be this age and redefining what each day means to me.
Wow! I just read what I wrote and it sounded really grown up, but the fact is, the ornaments that I chose to put on the tree were total memory lane. I made the one on the right when the children were little and the one on the left was from our original tree, when we were so poor all we could afford was one box of $2.50 ornaments and a string of lights. Those were tough days, financially... Today, life is still financially tough but I have great memories that I enjoy.
So, along with creating great memories and getting the tree decorated, I want you to have a house that smells wonderful.
Here is a recipe for a great Star Christmas Tree Cookie! Enjoy the cookies and have fun with your tree decorating!
I painted the one showing 20 years ago. I want to give one to each of my children for Christmas this year. I write books and blogs now and don't have time to paint but,
There are 7 pieces of wood that are needed for each project. Willa paints six of them. 
It takes six hours to paint the pieces. Here is a picture of Willa's art work. She free hand paints them. So each is unique and individual.
Yesterday, A friend at church said her brother would be able to cut the seventh piece, a half circle for the stand. I plan on painting it. Twenty years ago, my husband stabilized my Nativity scene by attaching supports. As you can see the original work is still stable and in really good condition. 
