Kevin once said that I love Christmas-- it is the best half of the year. I spend months making ornaments and garlands each year. I love the preparation and the thrill. I have many trees and decorations. I love turning my house into a Christmas tree forest.

As for my trees, instead of waiting until after Thanksgiving as usual, and putting up a tree a day for a week or so, I started the first of November. It was a long slow process. I get tired easily, but my house is getting ready, both for Christmas and for baby. Then I put out my nativity scenes, 21 this year I think. That comes after all the trees and garlands are up.

OK, want the list?
Front porch/sun room- Family tree, the tree with all the ornaments that we get over the years, each year. Also for the ornaments my children make. This is right beside the front door. (colored lights)
Across the room on the edge of the couch is the bead tree. This is our first tree and decorated all in beads. I spent half of the first two years of our marriage making the ornaments for it. (white and colored lights mixed.)
Around the seven outer and two inner windows of the front porch is a garland decorated with ball ornaments and colored lights. Over the two doors (one to the outside and one to the living room) are garlands made with holly and burgundy poinsettias. (white lights and purple lights) The front door has two wreaths with nativity scenes, one on the inside and one on the outside. (white lights)

Next the living room- Over the two windows (one to the outside and one to the front porch) are garlands decorated with silver poinsettias and sprays of jingle bells. (colored lights)
By the window is a mini fiber optic disney tree.
On the piano, aside from a huge assortment of nativities is a mini white tree decorated with pastel fairies and snowflakes. (white lights and star lights)
There is a garland across the front of the piano with purple ribbon, white and purple lights and sprays of aurora borealis beads.
There is also a twelve days of Christmas mini tree that will go on the piano.
Next to that is a full size tree that is done all in fairies and dragons. Fantasy is my personal love! That has also some aurora borealis balls on it. (colored lights, in small ball shapes)
Next is a full size disney tree. (colored lights)
Over the door to the hall is a garland with burgundy poinsettias and aurora borealis sprays of beads, and silver sprays and ribbon as well as pinecones. (white lights)

The archway between the living and dining rooms is done in a garland with thick red ribbon, pine cones, red bead sprays and ivy clusters. It has lights that alternate between colored and white.
Under the archway between the two doors to the hall (one from the living room and one from the dining room) is a Victorian themed tree that is done in all cream and gold. Most ornaments are stars or angels, but there are also several cream poinsettias. (white lights)
On the opposite side of the archway, closer to the front porch, but in the dining room is the Nativitree. It is done entirely in nativities and balls with Hebrew names of God. Red ribbon garland. (small ball shaped white lights)
On the other side of the dining room is a tree done in ornaments from the lands of our heritage. Each style of ornament represents a different land. The lights are candles.
The garlands over the windows and closet doors are old fashioned style garlands with many kinds of greenery, pine cones and apples.

In the hall way we have swags with laurel, pearls, roses and aurora borealis beads.

In the kitchen we have swags with pine cones, orange, lemon lime slices, apples, and cookie cutters.

In the hall (used to be bedroom until it fell over from lack of room) I have a tree, my baby tree. It is decorated in tiny baby angels. It has one red crystal heart and one crystal tear for each miscarriage, and one heart and one star for each living child. The garland has silver, pearls (for the pearl of great price Christ talks about) green crystals (for eternal life) and hearts and tears. This is the tree that for me has the most sentiment. (white lights)

Upstairs my girls want me to put a tree decorated entirely in stuffed animals. (colored lights) We will see if they can handle it. -- Note, we actually loaned this tree to a friend now. I decided there was no way they could do a full sized tree with out making a full sized mess.

Also a silver colored mini fiber optic tree decorated in rainbow ornaments.

Ok, there is my Christmas house. Notice, there are not any decorations outside. We have no outside outlets, and though I wouldn't mind gingerbreading the house, I do the decorations for myself, not for the neighbors, so I don't mind not being the most overtly decorated house on the block.

It was slow getting it all up. I am now finished with the trees, except for rearranging some ornaments on the Disney tree that the cats knocked over. It used to take me a day to get a tree up, but this year it took way more. I had to take more frequent breaks. I was almost all done before Thanksgiving, so I can focus on getting the house ready for the baby. I have lots of clothes to sort into girl and boy. I have already pulled out the winter stuff for this year. Unfortunately the girls make messes way faster than I can clean, and I still have to finish getting the hot tub ready. I would like to get one more nativity up, but that might not happen. Oh well, I have my lights and it is beautiful. Now to afford some presents for my girls.