Merry Christmas from our Nest to Yours

It's almost here!   Christmas is coming!

We're all rather wild with excitement here in our Nest.  We're finishing up last minute baking, cleaning, and wrapping, all while singing Christmas carols and watching Christmas movies.

We have a few Christmas traditions that are really important to us.  Tonight we'll watch The Nativity together and talk about what it must have been like to be there on the night that Jesus was born.

On Christmas eve we'll go to church for a special candlelight service and then come back home, where we'll sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, blow out the candles on his birthday cake, and light the final candle in our family advent wreath.  We'll do all of that with friends and family - our "birthday party" for Jesus.

Christmas Day is pretty calm around here.  This year we'll have breakfast - cinnamon rolls and fruit - and then my husband will read the Christmas story from Luke.  After that, we'll move tree-side to open presents.  

Our Christmas dinner is going to be lasagna this year.  Strange, perhaps, and different from the turkey I'm accustomed to, but I'm looking forward to spending a minimum amount of time in the kitchen and a maximum amount of time with my family.

The rest of the day we'll play games together, watch Christmas movies, and rest.  We'll munch and snack and enjoy the simplicity of being together.

I'm going to be focused on my Nest for the next week or two, so I might be a bit scarce around here, although I'll probably pop in and out a bit.  

I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas!

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

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Merry Christmas from the Executive Mansion!

We just went on our annual Christmas Family Date, and this year we just happened to be in Raleigh during the weekend when the Executive Mansion - the Governor's Mansion - was open to the public.  Having heard that this was a beautiful tour, we decided that we couldn't miss it.

Our tour began here, in the Gentleman's Parlor.  This room was beautiful and had one of my favorite trees in it.  We learned that every single bit of greenery in this entire house is all REAL - and that a huge team of decorators did the entire mansion in a single day.

This is the library.  The governor's wife is a big supporter of the SPCA, and there were pictures and figurines of dogs everywhere.

The tree on the sun porch was decorated with ornaments made by children of military families.

This simple creche was tucked away on a small marble table beside the grand central staircase.  The mansion itself was quite beautiful - but I liked this simple decoration best. 

The formal dining room seats 24.  The mansion is available for charity groups to use, and so it is more often used as a buffet table for larger groups.

This is the Ladies' Parlor.  The tree and gifts underneath were decorated in a Victorian manner that was really beautiful.

While trying to snap a photo of the kids in front of the grand staircase that's in the center part of the house, directly in front of you when you enter through the front door, a kind security guard offered to take one of all of us.  

Some house, huh?  ;-)

A Family Christmas Date

For years now we arrange our schedules so that we all have a day off within a week of Christmas so that we can have a special family date.

We head out as soon as we can after breakfast to do some sort of simple mission project.  We've kept these very kid-friendly so that we can all participate.  

After that, we usually head into the Triangle for lunch out together.  We don't do this often, so it's a big treat, and we all enjoy hanging out around the table, eating and laughing.

Something fun usually follows.  One year it was a movie.  Another we took the kids shopping so that they could pick out something for their sibling.  Last year we went ice skating.

There's a very pretty mall in south Durham that is half indoors and half outside.  It's unusual in that there are fountains, lights in all the trees, and it's set up as if you're walking down a street - but traffic isn't allowed in that part of the outdoor mall, so it's a fun place to people watch and enjoy decorations.  We usually end up there in the early evening, where we check out their enormous outside tree and enjoy the festive decorations.

On the way home we hit a few neighborhoods known for their fun light displays.  We all like to look at the lights.

The first time we planned this, I was completely stressed about being away from my Christmas to-do list, but now I look forward to it.  While we try to build quality family time into every day, it's especially crazy during the month of December, when all of the normal things must be done plus the holiday extras.

Now, however, having one entire day devoted entire to family and service is wonderful.  We may visit a store, but not with the intention of any major shopping; we enjoy lights but don't hang any, we eat food I didn't cook, and we help out as many people as possible.  

What's your favorite holiday tradition?