Auld Lang Syne

Image: Little House in the Big Woods

When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, "What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?"

"They are the days of a long time ago, Laura," Pa said. "Go to sleep, now."

But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa's fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods. She looked at Pa sitting on the bench by the hearth, the fire-light gleaming on his brown hair and beard and glistening on the honey-brown fiddle. She looked at Ma, gently rocking and knitting.

She thought to herself, "This is now." She was glad that the cosy house, and Pa and Ma and the fire-light and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.

I pray that you all will have a very blessed and happy 2012.

Take care,

~Melanie

Merry Christmas!

I'll be taking a blog break until after Christmas, so I would like to go ahead and wish you and your families a Merry Christmas just a bit early. I have so enjoyed your sweet friendships throughout the year, and I pray God will greatly bless you in the coming year.

When I come back from break, I'll have a few giveaway wins to show you! :)

This is a picture of our nativity.

My husband bought the stable years ago,

then we added everything else.

It's been with us for a long time. :)

Blessings to you all, my friends.

Take care,

~Melanie

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
~Luke 2:7 KJV~

~Charlotte~

Image-Little House in the Big Woods

In each stocking there was a pair of bright red mittens, and there was a long, flat stick of red-and-white striped peppermint candy, all beautifully notched along each side.

They were all so happy they could hardly speak at first. They just looked with shining eyes at those lovely Christmas presents. But Laura was happiest of all. Laura had a rag doll.

She was a beautiful doll. She had a face of white cloth with black button eyes. A black pencil had made her eyebrows, and her cheeks and her mouth were red with the ink made from poke berries. Her hair was black yarn that had been knit and raveled, so that it was curly.

She had little red flannel stockings and little black cloth gaiters for shoes, and her dress was pretty pink and blue calico.

She was so beautiful that Laura could not say a word. She just held her tight and forgot everything else. She did not know that everyone was looking at her, till Aunt Eliza said, "Did you ever see such big eyes!"

Laura sat down on the edge of the bed and held her doll. She loved her red mittens and she loved the candy, but she loved her doll best of all. She named her Charlotte.

~Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House in the Big Woods

I'm sure you know by now that I love the Little House books. :)

I thought it might be nice to post a story about Christmas back when things were a little more simple and less hurried.

Hope you all have a great week. Thanks for stopping by.

Take care,

~Melanie

~Our Christmas Tree~

The first year my husband and I were married (1991), we went to a tree lot in town and bought a real tree. The following year we bought an artificial tree, and have used it ever since. It's been a very good tree, and is still in decent shape.

But, I've been wanting to cut our own tree for several years now. I have fond memories of our family doing that when I was little girl, and I thought Katie would enjoy it too. I found a tree farm a couple years ago and called them, but the prices were very high, so we decided against it. This year we had planned to put up our artificial tree again, but on Saturday morning I thought I'd try again to find another tree farm, so I searched the internet and found another one near us. I called them and was so happy to find their prices were much more reasonable. So, Saturday we went to the tree farm and cut our own Christmas tree. The weather was beautiful, and we had a great time. :)

We chose a Virginia Pine, and we are really enjoying it. It has a wonderful pine scent, and the branches are pretty sturdy, so they hold some of the heavier ornaments we have.

Here are some pictures of our day...

There were lots of pretty trees there, so it was
hard to choose!



Katie in front of the tree we chose



Daddy's hard at work cutting it down.
I love Katie's sweet smile. :)



My husband dragging the tree to the car.



It was no easy task getting the tree on top of
the car!



Lights



Ornaments

So pretty♥

We have our nativity at the bottom,
and the tree skirt my mom made
about 30 years ago.

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you're all having a great week. :)

Take care,

~Melanie