A Christmas Tour Of Our Home

This past Saturday we put away all of the fall decor and brought in the bin with our Christmas tree inside and the big red tote that holds our decorations.  We gave our living room a good cleaning and then headed into the kitchen to start preparing food for our annual HorseDoover Nite.

My oldest made the sausage & cheese tray

I started HorseDoover Nite about 25 years ago when my son was just a little guy.  Hors d'oeuvres were a luxury at that time, but we made do with what we had and put together a special evening of snacks and treats.  Then we enjoyed them while we put up our tree.  Now Horse DooverNite (a play on the literal pronunciation on the word) has become an all day event that we all eagerly look forward to each year.  My youngest told me it is her favorite day of the holiday season.

My youngest made this cheese ball

The girls making pot stickers

We start first thing when we get up preparing the house to decorate for Christmas and preparing all the food we plan to eat.  Sometimes we are blessed to have family join us on this day as was the case this year and last.  We eat, listen to Christmas music and decorate our home.

Our tree is set up in the same spot it has gone for years.  The girls don't want to change it, it has to be in front of the living room door because it is the "perfect" spot.  I'm sure the fire marshal would strongly disagree, but fortunately we have plenty of other exits in case of an emergency.  I asked the girls if they wanted to do a theme or color scheme this year on the decorations for the tree and true to form they chose the "everything" theme again this year.

I kept the mantle and fireplace very simple this year.

I decorated the downstairs bathroom with just a few items.  A candle, a Christmas themed hand soap and I added a cute little finger towel to the hand towel hanging up next to the sink.

This cute little snowman I painted in a ceramics class about 20 years ago sits on one of our end tables.  I put out my poinsettia covered candy dish.  Inside are some peppermint nougat taffy candies.  They have little trees on them.

The finished potstickers

I got out the Christmas china and we used it for Horse Doover Nite.  We'll continue to use it right up until New Years.  I collected it from K Mart many, many years ago and I still love it.

I am really enjoying the pillow covers I made over the Thanksgiving weekend.  They are so pretty and I just love this fabric I chose.

My great grandmother's lamps filled and burning brightly
So very pretty and I am so happy I have them

As I sat in my recliner and looked around at our freshly decorated living room I asked my girls "Do you know what I love most about our house compared to this time last year?"  My oldest said.  "Everything?"

"Yes.  Everything."