Days with the Dorans

 I do love the North Pole Village, but it was just too much for me this year with everything going on. I did manage to get up the Christmas in the City (which I adore). We got rid of some of our bookcases (put in the basement) to make room for the birds who normally live in front of the window now. It worked out nicely and I've so enjoyed this room this season! Some pictures from the village...

After setting up my 'Christmas in the City' village, Jonasen was eager for me to put of my 'North Pole' village. It was not something that I was looking forward too, as I have so many houses and accessories that it can sometimes be difficult to organize (I like the placement of the houses to make sense... food together, toys, lodging...) and it is so time consuming. I was a bit surprised when Joe opted to stay back with me instead of going with Jeff when he offered to bring the kids to my folks' so I could work on my village. Just getting ready took so long. We had to move the grandfather clock (not an easy job), lug up all the boxes and bring card tables in from the garage. Joe didn't complain one bit... he seemed to know that all our 'prep' work would pay off! When we unpacked the boxes, Joe was so excited. He remembered where I put each house last year and told me where they should go. I told him that we could organize it differently this ye...

We have survived three kids with two Christmas trees for quite some time, but if I've learned one thing as a parent. it is to never say "never"... The Friday after Thanksgiving, I began decorating our living room. I always put a tree with white lights and red and gold trimmings up in our front window. I like being able to decorate a tree myself and have a room look fairly clutter-free (except for Jeff's many guitars that is... Well... I guess I should say it is fairly 'kid free'- though again, let's face it- that is nearly impossible in this house). As always, the kids loved watching me decorate and were excited dancing around and singing carols. The Bigs would hand me the ornaments and appeared to understand that this was 'mom's' tree. They didn't even try to put them on the tree themselves. It seemed to be a huge success until I looked down and saw the newest addition to our family walking around with the most curious little smile on hi...

Each December in addition to trimming trees, hanging wreaths and placing stockings on the mantle, I am busy setting up different Christmas villages. They are a lot of work but my children are old enough now that they remember each house and could give you a tour of each village. Their favorite (of course) is the North Pole Village. There you will find the many shops of the elves and atop a mountain- Santa's Sleigh Launch. I love watching their eyes light up and hearing their conversations as they spend hours looking (and surprisingly not touching) the villages. When I was a little girl my dad had a 55 gallon fish tank and under that fish tank each Christmas, my mom would set up a Christmas Village. It contained a few houses- (I believe it had belonged to my Grandma Drapal ) and a skating rink she created on a mirror. The way she displayed it I felt as if I could shrink down to the size of the figurines and enter that world. Like my children, I spent hours there- dreaming. My mom...