Winter has Officially Arrived

I don't know what the low was this morning, but it's 13 degrees right now with a forecasted high of only 20 degrees today.  The kale and pansies on the front porch seem to be frozen solid.  I think they were not designed to withstand temperatures this low.  The furnace seems to run continually.  Today, I'm not working - I'm taking my birthday day!

We had approximately 40 people over last night after the church choir's Christmas program.  I supplied the house, our social chairwoman supplied the hot cider and everyone brought goodies.  Several people left their goodies, so we're well stocked for now.  The choir gave Archie an i-Tunes gift card in appreciation for playing with the older children during choir practice.  The choir gave Brian a money tree, and unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it.

The party made me clean up the house and get it decorated.  I took pictures of some of the decorations for a scrapbook I'm working on, so I'll post some of them here.

 

This year, I put up one less tree than normal.  Above, the tree in the dining room is 10' tall and decorated in blue, cream and gold.  

Left, the Barbie tree sits on the stair landing in the foyer.  To the left of the Barbie tree, I hung the kids stockings, made by my high school friend, Maggi, when each child was born (see below.)

Below, the mantel is decorated in gold with new stocking holders that proclaim: Christ is born,
King of Kings and Prince of Peace.  Since our fireplace is only decorative, I keep it filled with a basket of flowers year round.  At Christmas, I put in white and gold poinsettias.

Left, is the tree in the foyer, decorated in red and white.  Almost all these ornaments are handmade.  Notice the quilt on the love seat - it was one of the first ones I ever made and it's even hand quilted.

I'll post more decorations later.