Friday, December 15, 2006

Come on in!

So I enjoyed participating in Boomama's Bloggy Tour of Homes so much, I was thrilled when she announced that she was going to host again for Christmas. So please, settle in, and welcome to our Florida Christmas home!


My mom made this cheery Santa for us. He welcomes you as you enter the front hall.


















The Big Man and I begame engaged Christmas 1988. Whew! We bought our first Christmas bear that Christmas and have collected one each Christmas since. It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but we are running out of space. This year they have been separated because they no longer fit in one location. So here are some bears in the kitchen.














Here are some more in the kitchen.














More in the kitchen.
















And here are some bears in the office. That should add up to 19! We have been faithful to get these bears each year, but around 1991 we considered giving up, but reconsidered and bought a plain bear in 1992 and painted 1991 on it...and one year we thought we'd be creative and got a Snowden snowman. But since then we have returned to the bear.














When our daughter was born, we started a collection of village pieces for her. Our intent is to continue collecting them until she leaves the nest and then they will be hers. We did not display them this year, though, because we have a very curious 2 1/2 year old running around. When he is older, I'll bring them back and if Boomama continues to host, I'll post them. Here is where I need your help: we are collecting villages for MK but have yet to begin a collection for T. Willy. Any ideas? We are looking for something not too expensive and something that my future daughter in law will not hate me for.

The next post is one that I posted last week or so, but it's our tree and our fireplace mantle. After that I posted pictures of the family at our town Christmas parade. Thanks for reading and please leave a comment to let me know that you were here!!

Annette

20 comments:

Overwhelmed! said...

I love your Christmas bear decorations! Very cute. :)

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and see my 2006 Christmas Tour of Homes decorations! I do appreciate it!

Merry Christmas to you!

Dy said...

Electric trains! Or model trains. Boys love those, no matter how old they are.

Your home is so beautiful, and you did such a nice job. I'm glad you joined in this. (It was fun, wasn't it?)

Dy

ChupieandJ'smama (Janeen) said...

I love your bears!! The Santa your mom made is cute too. Thanks for the tour and have a very Merry Christmas!

Maggii said...

What a cute collection of bears......BTW I have that same Bonjour sign in my kitchen...LOL

Debbie said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Your decorations are nice. I really like your tree. And your mantel is so nice. Merry Christmas!

Pamela said...

Your Christmas bears are so cute! What a wonderful tradition. I love that you are going to hand down a Village set for your daughter one day when she leaves home. So thoughtful! Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!

Mrs. Darling said...

Oh I love the bears on the soffet. I have decorative bear plates on my kitchen cupboards. My pics are up come take a peek.

Thanks for the visit.

Mama Heffalump said...

Rosie gets a bear every Christmas! She was born in 1996! *Grin*

*Merry Christmas!*

Anonymous said...

Your home is very pretty! Thank you for sharing with us. Merry Christmas!

Cheryl said...

Thanks for stopping by.

You have quite a collection of Christmas bears. They are so cute.

And I really like the Santa your mom made!

Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Funny how collections seem like a good idea at the time... and then they start to take over the place! I love the bears. Very cute.
:-)

Susanne said...

That Santa made me smile he's so unique! Love the Christmas bears. Nice collection.

Kari said...

Oh, hubby and I are celebrating our first Christmas after being married this past April. We bought a bear at Build-A-Bear and dressed her in ruby slippers and a Christmas tree outfit and hope to continue this tradition. After seeing your great collection, I only hope we have the opportunity to collect as many! Thanks for the tour and merry (or is that beary) Christmas to you and your family!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I love your decorations! So Festive!

Anonymous said...

I think it's all lovely! Thanks for touring mine as well!

Heather Ivester said...

I love your Bear collection -- what a great idea! My daughters would love to see so many bears all together.

What a lovely home -- thanks for sharing it with us! :)

Chellie said...

Yay! Totally love it! I have a bear collection too... although it happens to be in my parent's storage right now :-) SO cute!

Chellie said...

and when it comes up "chellie" it's me.. I don't know why it does that.

Kelli said...

I love all your Christmas bears, what a great tradition! Thanks for having us over!
Kelli

Thom said...

The bears are so cute! I think it's a lovely tradition.I really like the star above your mantle,too. I'd like to get my hands on one of those before next year!

I would agree with Dy on the trains for T Willy. Antique cars and tractors are cute,too.

Hope you guys had a great holiday season!