Thirty Minus One

the nester's christmas tour of homes

welcome to our home! i just love decorating with red and gold.

i added some berries, the reindeer and the tree to make the shelves festive.

christmas tree, oh christmas tree. how lovely are your branches.

the dining room...set for company! i just love the gold leaves that i got at garden ridge to put around the candles.

i've fallen in love with these little birds.

the kitchen decor is mostly green and red. whimsical ornaments.

the kitchen table. i love "natural" winter decorations like pine cones, and berries.

and last, but not least, my tj max plates!

merry christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

our gingerbread village

adam and i made our 2nd annual gingerbread house (actually this year...village) today.

adam is so precise he even used tweezers! totally opposite of me. what a good guy doing gingerbread houses with me for hours! haha.

all that was missing was "snow" so we used cotton balls for that!

SHOW US YOUR LIFE @ Kelly's Korner: Christmas Trees

adam and i have had so much fun decorating our house for the first time for christmas!

i use a lot of reds and golds on the tree. i love the pine cones with gold glitter and the fake red berries!

another view of the tree!

our new tree skirt

a wedding gift. side note: sorry for the blurry pics! our good camera just broke.

one of the ornaments my class makes out of applesauce and cinnamon

a dollar tree treasure

an ornament from http://www.kittykeller.com/

in honor of Michael

as most of you all know, i lost my 22 year-old cousin this summer. i cannot even imagine what it would be like to be in my aunt and uncle's shoes right now. yet, they are the ones bringing a positive light to the situation by honoring michael and helping others at the same time.

my aunt and uncle have opened up a christmas tree farm (they bought the land last spring) and the donations from it will go to support a scholarship for art students at the college michael went to, texas lutheran university.

a beautiful way to honor michael.

if you would like to pick out your very own live christmas tree while supporting the cause at the same time, go to the Duck and Dog Christmas Tree Farm at 310 Warncke Road in New Berlin (in between Seguin and San Antonio). Open every Saturday and Sunday until Christmas from 10-5.

Directions From Seguin: Go West on I-10 to exit 601 (FM 775). Turn left on FM 775 and go 8 miles to Warncke Road. Turn left and go 2/10 mile to the Duck and Dog on the left.

to me, the fact that michael's parents are honoring him during the christmas season brings true meaning to the spirit of christmas, the message of HOPE through christ's birth.

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(i have heard that people who don't have blogspot accounts are having a hard time posting comments. to post a comment: click on "comments" at the bottom of the post. Leave your comment, type in the "word verification" and then "choose an identity." the easiest "identity" to choose would be "anonymous." click "publish your comment." done!)

the tables are set...

for some gobble, gobble!

my cousin, alexander. so cute! he was busy playing football in the yard.

adam and my dad getting thanksgiving lunch ready.

grandma and i.

uncle bob.

getting grub...after we were literally "stuffed" like a turkey, adam and i headed over to adam's parents' house in austin.

most of the group was really into the UT game. i decided to join the boys instead! here's rylan. he wrote about who he was thankful for and was able to sound out each word!

caden and rylan acted out the story of noah's ark as i read the story and created their own board game. so fun!

adam's parents and the grandkids.

Show Us Your Life @ Kelly's Korner: Christmas Traditions

oh, how i love traditions, especially around christmas time! head on over to see other blogger's christmas traditions at www.kellyskornerblog.com . here are some of the traditions (some of them which we just started last year since that was our first year as a married couple at christmas) that i would like to do every year.

1. having christmas "crackers" at christmas lunch. this is a tradition we just started last year but that i really want to keep up! it's a british tradition. everyone gets to crack open their cracker which has a crown in it for you to wear and a surprise of some sort.

2. decorating a gingerbread house together. it's so fun and then you have a lovely decoration for your kitchen!

3. making ornaments. my fav way to make homemade ornaments is to make them out of cinnamon and apple sauce. all you do is mix the 2 together, lay it out like cookie dough (use a lot of floor), then use christmas cookie cutters to make different shapes. i make a whole for the using a straw. then you lay the "cookies" out for a day, flip them over and lay them out for another day. after they are dry, you glue glitter on to the ornaments. wa la! i do this every year with my students but i always make some for myself, too.
4. sending out christmas cards with our picture on it.
5. driving around and looking at christmas lights. i always did this in my hometown with my family growing up and now adam and i like to drive through traditional, older neighborhoods near downtown austin and also, drive through the funky areas like 37th street to see their unique decor. this also used to include the zilker trail of lights but i heard last year was the last year for the trail.

6. going to the lighting of the texas capitol's christmas tree. we went for the 1st time last year and had the best time! it is a huge (and even better, free) event! before the tree is lit, you sing christmas carols for about an hour with a huge crowd. after it's lit, there are performers all throughout congress ave to watch. a must-see event!

7. shopping with my dad right before christmas to get my mom's christmas gifts. i've done this since i was little and it's a tradition i hope to keep up.
8. of course, we always go to the christmas eve service, then all of the extended family gets together to eat tamales and open gifts. growing up, we opened our immediate family gifts christmas morning.