Confession--I love a real tree for Christmas.  But, I also love a fake tree that looks really fake.  Fake trees that try to look real are just a little too cheesy for me.  A nice silver tree, especially one that is well-loved and shows it here and there, is just the ticket to brighten up my home for the holidays.

Besides, a silver tree reminds me of my Grandma Lil.  She and Grandpa Ben had one in their apartment on 13th Street in St. Louis.  I don't remember a lot about Grandma Lil and Grandpa Ben, but I remember the silver tree.  I also remember the smell of the shaving soap that Grandpa used, the tile in the bathroom, and the nicely shaped wooden posts of the beds.

Several years ago, I thought of Mom's silver tree that she used to put up in her sunroom, and I dug it out of dad's basement and set it up.  It was an instant hit with the grandkids.  It is different than any they have, plus what isn't cool about a turning color wheel?  Which reminds me of how nice it is NOT to have to put lights on a cedar tree every year.  Taking them off is even worse than putting them on because by the time you take them off the tree is especially prickly.  

Now, I also have another confession.  I don't like to decorate early.  I do like Christmas decorations, but they make me feel a little claustrophobic.  It is always with a sign of relief that I take down the decorations and pack them away.  It is probably partly because we are always having to fit people into our house with a shoehorn anyway, and the tree just eats up quite a large amount of room that could be used for seating at the family dinners.

Anyway, I put decorating off as long as I could this year, but today was the day.  So I rounded up 11 of our 17 grandkids, gave them the box with the tree, and set them to it.  They did a nice job.  The Biggles and Middles helped the Littles as needed.  They always do.  I love them for it.

Afterward, Colyn found some lights and the kids decided to try to brighten up our porch.  That didn't quite work, so they decided to decorate the playhouse.  Not only did they decorate it, but they cleaned the playhouse, and then they cut a little tree down and decorated it too.

Fernnook has gotten quite festive this year with a lighted outdoor tree and gnomes at the boy's place (Ken and KJ's), and a lighted outdoor tree at the Joel Harding home.  Of course dad's house has outside lights, but it faces Highway K, not K-2.  I don't know about further down the road past us, because I haven't been down after dark lately, but now we can add our own dazzle with our lighted tree and playhouse.  

We celebrated the lovely tree and playhouse decorations with cups of hot toto (as Toliver calls it) and marshmallows.  

What would family life be without all the conversations?  The last couple of weeks, since we are in December and Christmas is soon to be upon us, the Middles and the Littles have been having some interesting debates over some of the finer points of Christmas.

The first was between two of the Middles (both 5). (And, I admit, because I have slept multiple times since I heard this one, it may be off in the exact wording, though not in the ideas expressed.)

Adeline:  I can't wait until Santa comes.

Andrew: You know Santa is just pretend.

Adeline:  No he isn't!

Andrew:  Yes he is!

Adeline:  Well, I've seen him.  I saw him at Silver Dollar City.

Andrew: That was just a person dressed up in a Santa suit.

Adeline: Haven't you ever woke up on Christmas morning and there were a lot of presents under the tree that weren't there the night before?  See, he is real.

Andrew: That's just your parents that put them there.

Adeline and Andrew together: Grandma????

Grandma:  This is something you need to ask your parents, not me! (I am not chicken or anything....)

The second conversation was more recent and was between two of the Littles (both 2).

Toliver: Santa is coming to my house.

Linus: Santa is coming to my house.

Toliver: No, he is coming to my house!

Linus: He is too coming to my house!

Linus: (Turning to look at me with a big grin) Grandma, I bewieve in Santa!

Caveat: The next evening as we were driving home from church, Linus' older brother Chappell said, "Linus doesn't believe in Santa anymore."

I am curious how that came about.

(To see a post about a different girl in our family that believed in Santa for ever-so-long go to https://fernnookfarmgirl.blogspot.com/2006/11/mayberry-meanderings-in-august-we-have.html) 

Fall and Winter Doings

We at Fernnook have had a busy Fall and start to Winter.  Having Ken and Kenny Joe here have added to the ideas for fun and festivities.  One tradition we started was to enter a Fernnook float in the Doniphan Lighted Christmas Parade.  Somehow we didn't place...but we did have a blast.  Even Grandpa Jerry Martin joined the Potbelly Gnomes as an Honorary Leading Citizen of the Province of Fernnook.  Unfortunately KJ fell off the float.  It was embarrasing for him, but there were no broken bones.  His motto, as it should be, is, "Whatever it takes to get Fernook on the map!"

A few weeks later on Christmas Eve we had our traditional appetizers and gifts.  But, we broke tradition on Christmas Day, and instead of having ham and picnic sides, Ken and Kenny Joe did a reverse sear on some lovely prime rib.  To make the day more perfect, we were blessed with a lovely warm day...the kids had a blast playing kickball and riding their bikes.  Some of them (the younger set) were playing pirates in Papa Bob's boat.  Somehow the key from one of the tractors ended up in the boat, and it took Papa a good while to find it the next day (oops!)    

Here is a fun story about a family named Christmas.

Tip of the hat to Amy.

Immanuel

God with us.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cheer:

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa?
Claustrophobic

What do you get when you cross a shark and snow?
Sharkbite

Where do you find reindeer?
Where you left them.

What do reindeer have that nothing else has?
Baby reindeer.

Why was Santa's little helper sad?
He had low elf-esteem.

One reason I like blogging is that it causes me
to slow down and think a little more deeply. My
tendency is to have an idea burst upon me, usually
in my reading, and say to myself, "Wow! What an
incredible idea," and then move on to the next
item on my to do list, folding clothes or whatever
it may be. Often I will think, "Such and such an
idea relates to this verse I read here, and to this
other idea I came across there...," and this all
makes a lightning quick connection in my brain
and then it all dissipates into the reality of
everyday needs of the moment, such as, what meat
should I thaw for dinner?

One of those connectings has been rolling
around a lot lately and here is my stab at
pulling it all together.

I am in the midst of a wonderful book called,
In the Steps of Moses, by Louis Golding. He is
attempting to follow in the steps of Moses beginning
with his birth and going straight through to his
death. After coming up to Mt. Sinai and climbing
it Golding makes the following observations:

"We had made a journey between the Nile and Mount
Sinai in the steps of Moses the Lawgiver. We were
setting out that day on a journey between Mount
Sinai and the Jordan in the steps of Moses the
Conqueror. It was not the second part of a journey
we were making, but a new journey, different in mood,
with different fellow-travellers....We had till this
moment of departure from Sinai been engaged upon an
Exodus, fugitives from the terror of Pharaoh....But
now, now that we were moving forward from Sinai, we
were not a rabble of fugitives any more. A great
thing had happened to us, no greater has ever
happened to any host of men. We were a People....
We were bound together by a Covenant....The Exodus
of a rabble was over. The Advance of a People
towards its pomised heritage was about to begin."

Psalm 114:1,2 says:
When Israel went out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion.

So, God began to dwell with His people, and His people
were the called out ones. The Tabernacle and the
Temple were symbols that He was with them. They
showed that He was in their midst.

And then God goes further, He has Isaiah pen the
following promise in Isaiah 7:14:
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,
and shall call His name Immanuel.

And, of course, that came about in the fullness of
time and Matthew 1:22,23 reports:
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a
Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which
is translated, "God with us."

No longer would they need the symbols of Tabernacle or
Temple. No longer would God's People need to
picture the presence of God. Now they had
Immanuel in the flesh. God was with them. This
is the picture I carry with me through the
Christmas season.

God with His people. No longer a symbol; no longer
a picture of God, but God Himself with them.

God with His called out ones.

Immanuel.

And now we are on a journey. A new journey. A journey
that is like none before it. It is like none other
because the People on this journey are from every
tribe and tongue and people and nation (Revelation 5:9).
And this journey will lead us straight to the Throne
of God.

It will lead us straight to our Immanuel.

Then, not only will we have God with us, we will be with
God.

Our biggest dilemma these days is whether or not
we will start a fire. If it is in the 60's as it
was last week then using the wood furnace means you
will have to open all the windows and doors. The
house quickly develops a tropical heat level. If
it is in the 4o's or below the wood furnace is
perfect and makes the house quite cozy. But this
week is in the 50's. That means it is not quite
cold enough for the wood furnace, probably it will
quickly become 80 in the house (as it feels right
now), but it is really too cool to run just the
electric heat, since we are such cheapies and will
only set the temp at 68. Oh, what to do, what to
do?

While you are helping us make this decision, here
are some fun and some thoughtful links to Christmas
Joy.

Here is a Christmas I Corinthians 13 for Busy Moms. Hat-tip to Chrysalis who gave a hat-tip to Crikl's Nest.


If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows,
strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen,
baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals and arranging
a beautifully adorned table at mealtime,
but do not show love to my family,
I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen,
carol in the nursing home and give
all that I have to charity,
but do not show love to my family,
it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels
and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties
and sing in the choir's cantata
but do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to
kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has
coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out
of the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able
to give in return but rejoices in giving to
those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces
will be lost, golf clubs will rust.
But giving the gift of love will endure!

Tammy at Family Doin's has a fun remake of
Clement C. Moore's famous poem.

And finally, this Advent Calender must have been
made with Mayberry in mind.

You may be wondering just how little our Special
Christmas Tree really is. I'll tell you.
















Robert Barry is the author of a wonderful children's
Christmas book called Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree.
I still have the copy of this that I had as a child.
Mr. Willowby gets an enormous tree for his home, but
it is a little too large and so they chop off the top
and throw it out. The butler then takes the top and
presents it to the maid, but it is again too tall
for the spot she has picked out and so--off with the
top. The gardener finds the little tree in the trash
and takes it to Mrs. Gardener, but once again it is
too tall, so "off with your head". This continues
on through a bear, a fox, some rabbits and finally
the tippy-top ends up in the little mousehole of
Mistletoe Mouse who just happens to live in the
large home of Mr. Willowby himself.

It is a delightful book. My tree is about the size
of Mr. Willowby's tree after it arrives at the
home of the bears. Not quite small enough for the
mantle (assuming we had one, which we don't), but
not even close to touching the ceiling as Mr. Willowby's
tree does.

It comes about up to my chin. It is adorable!

This will surely get you in the Christmas mood.
Enjoy!