Christmas Countdown!

Hurray! It's the last day of school before the Christmas break! The kids will be off for 16 days! They don't return until the Monday after New Year's! I'm so excited about that. I'm hoping to get some nice photos of the kids on the days they are off. At 14, my son really doesn't like his picture taken but he may make his Momma happy and let me take a few shots of him with family. :)  To the contrary, Caitlin (like most 8 year old girls) loves to have her picture taken!

Here's a little of what I've been doing--still decorating, wrapping and baking.... I remembered I had this little village I bought from CVS drug stores about five years back. The little buildings are sold individually. I have about a dozen different ones and I really couldn't find a place on the first floor to display them so I chose four, added some color lights inside them and some snow, and I put them all on a crystal pedestal cake plate! I had gotten "Vermont Mountain" ceramic backgrounds that I never used from ages ago and I just used one as a backdrop.  It adds some cheer to a corner of one of my kitchen counters.

We didn't set up our big Heritage Village in the basement this year. I packed away the handmade mountains and lights for that as we decided to set that up every few years as a treat. I do have out my other village. I call it the Honeymoon Village--Billy and I bought it on our honeymoon at Walt Disney World! It isn't Disney related with characters. It was just sold in the gift shop near Cinderella's Castle. 

Obviously, it is all in white and sparkly and glittery! My husband has a real sentimental attachment to this village! He personally wraps the base it sits on every year because he worries about it!

Our manger....I'm sentimental about this manger because I have three of them! I have combioned the sets choosing pieces from each one. My Mom bought three sets of the figures sold at Woolworths in 1949--one set for herself to save, one set for her Mom, and one set for her future mother-in-law. They are made of chalkware and are painted so nicely! They are very fragile and some have chipped but I still love them! 

 Some of them still have the prices on the bottoms. When my grandparents passed away, I asked for their set. It wouldn't be Christmas without them!

Happy Friday!