Tag Archives: Nativity Sets

Nativities

…the occasion of a person’s birth. A picture carving or model representing Jesus Christ’s birth.

Even though the Wise men from the East did not appear on the scene till months after the birth of Jesus they are depicted in many traditional Nativity scenes. I like to try to put them far off as if they are still traveling.

“My Christ he is the Lord of lords,

He is the King of kings

He is the Sun of righteousness

With healing in his wings.

My Christ, he is the heaven of heaven

My Christ what shall I call?

My Christ is first, my Christ is last,

My Christ is All in All.”

I had to wait till dark to get a good shot of the nativity set we like to put above our front door.

When JJ was here last Monday afternoon, he set this Little People Nativity on the window ledge.

‘Welcome to our wondering sight,

Eternity within a span!

Summer in winter! Day in night!

Heaven in earth! And God in man!

Great little One, whose glorious birth

Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.’

Quotes taken from Christ’s Glorious Achievements, What Jesus Has Done for You. by C. H. Spurgeon

Here are the last few sentences from this book:

“I hope that among those who have read these pages there will be many whom the Lord Jesus has specially redeemed with his most precious blood, and I trust he will appear at once to them, and say, ‘I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.’ By grace omnipotent may you be  made to yield to the Lord with the cheerful consent of your conquered wills, and accept that glorious grace which will bring you to praise the seeking and saving Saviour in heaven.”

May the miracle of Christmas and the redemptive, saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross lead you to repentance with belief and new life in Him. He alone gives us grace and peace.

Preparing Our Homes and Hearts

While I was decorating our home and listening to our Christmas CD’s it was fun to get texts and messages about what our kids here and there have been up to so far this Christmas season.

Our oldest were able to fly down to Southern California for a quick trip to enjoy the annual ‘Cousin Christmas’ party and they fit in a day at Disney with several of their cousins, too. Our local kids had their annual Christmas tree hike on their own property and found this year’s tree.

Our youngest and hubby have been trying to keep their cat and kitty out of trouble. The curiosity and skills of the newer kitty have necessitated safety locks on all their cupboards. That sneaky kitty can open the cabinet doors and has even figured out how to work around the basic child proof locks!

We’ve been pondering again the passages about our Emmanuel and the wonder of it all.

In the midst, Greg and I finished this eye straining puzzle of a historic Story Map of Ireland. Thankfully it was only a 500 piece puzzle. It was actually easier than the tea cup puzzle we finished last week. We did have to get out our magnifying glasses for parts of it. Taking the time to put this together while listening to Christmas music is relaxing for us as we ignore other distractions.

I’ll add posts next week of our tree and the rest of the decorations at Our Country Bungalow.

Christmas Decorations 2022

Our tree is the same fake tree we’ve had the last couple of years. This year I held back and only put a few ornaments on it.

I was supposed to hang a couple starts on those exposed nails that fit the other artwork we have up in this space the rest of the year. Oops.

We bought this ornament from Blenheim Palace this past September.

We had another several inches of snow over the weekend. Thankfully the snow has ceased for a while. If our grands come over we’ll have to watch them carefully so they don’t get lost in a snow drift! They love the snow!

We’ve received several cards already and our cards are being mailed today. I always feel relieved when I drop those down the mail slot!

How are preparations in your corner coming?

No Place Like Home #3

This Monday the 7th of December for No Place Like Home hosted by Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage, I’m sharing some of our Christmas decorations. Thank you Sandi!

Our front door and the entry to our home.

We have a variety of nativity sets in different areas in our home.

This mini wooden set was the first one we bought at Disneyland in the early 80’s. I bought it so our little ones could play with it with no fear of breakage.

This one is for our grands, Addy and JJ to play with.

Can you see the white metal nativity up at the top above the door on the entry window ledge?

All the decorations that are going up at our place are up now. I’ll share the tree and ornaments next week.

Today we are in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and we’ll be driving back to Colville in Washington State. I won’t be able to come around to visit blogs until tomorrow.

Christmas 2019

This is the very first nativity set that we bought for our family back in the nineteen eighties. We bought it in a Christmas shop at Disneyland in Anaheim. It’s wooden and we wanted something the kids could handle.

We’ve added a few more Nativity sets in the last few years. I wait for the after Christmas half price sales.

The manger and babe are from Verna’s stash (Dear’s mother). Don’t know the history but I like to pair it with these newer wise men.

Addy is a lot more interactive with this Fisher Price Nativity this year than she was last year. She had all the figures lined up in a row the other night when they were here for dinner. I was keeping a close watch on her mobile little brother so didn’t get a photo of the line. It made me smile real big.

Another vintage piece from Dear’s mother is the Santa and his reindeer.

This year I bought some little crafting clothespins and am using these wall pieces that decorate the entry all year round for our Christmas cards. I’m pleased with how it is working.

Our outdoor space is lit up with stars.

Now all I need to do is to wrap the gifts. Addy looked at our tree the other night and asked, “Baba, where are the presents?” I told her they would soon be under the tree.

Arise and shine, thy Light is come,
O humankind, O Christendom;
Thy glory and thy peace is here;
The Savior of the world draws near.

Christmas Past Mosaics

2013 Nativities. I’ve gone a little overboard adding 5 more nativity sets since 2013.

2014 Joy is always a strong theme at Christmas time.

2015

2016

2017: Our most delightful Christmas addition.

These are all mosaics made with Picasa on my good ole laptop that died in November. I’m still looking for a program to create mosaics/collages on my new computer.

Our little Addy has changed so much since last Christmas.

December 2018

And for context, below was our view on our way to church this morning. We had a couple of inches of snow overnight that turned to rain while we were in church so now everything is pretty slushy.

Linking up with Angie for Mosaic Monday. Thank you for hosting, Angie!

Only 9 days until Christmas! Are you ready? We don’t have our tree up yet.

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly

Infant holy,
Infant lowly,
For His bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing,
Little knowing
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Swift are winging
Angels singing,
Noels ringing,
Tidings bringing,
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.

Flocks were sleeping,
Shepherds keeping
Vigil till the morning new,;
Saw the glory,
Heard the story,
Tidings of a Gospel true.
Thus rejoicing,
Free from sorrow,
Praises voicing,
Greet the morrow,
Christ the Babe was born for you!

 

Lyrics: Traditional Polish Carol
Translator: Edith M. G. Reed
Translation Date: 1921
Music: Traditional Polish Melody

“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” is thought to be a very old Polish carol, of unknown origin. It was published in Spiewniczek Piesni Koscielne in 1908 and speaks of the stable scene-baby Jesus lying in a manger bed with the animals nearby. It also speaks of the hillside where shepherds heard the story from the angels and rejoiced.

The short rhymed phrases move the piece forward, pointing to the final statement and the purpose of the song: “Christ the babe is Lord of all.”

ht: Bible Gateway

Mystery Tree 2017

We are again pleased with our stress free Mystery Tree for 2017. We bought it at Home Depot this year and brought it home tied up with string. We skipped having it netted since we had the truck to bring it home in. This is a tradition we have kept going for several years now borrowed from my sister-in-law.

It’s a taller and chubbier tree then we’ve had in the past few years. My decorations have always been down home not fancy. Red glass balls that have now seen better days and ornaments we’ve received or collected over the years.

Our new ornament this year is Addy’s hand print and she turned 9 months old on December 20th!

Looking forward to the day that Addy will be able to enjoy the hands on Nativity sets.

I’m pleased to say that all the gifts I’m responsible for are wrapped and under the tree. Now I’m moving on to making the shopping lists for the meals we will enjoy on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

I’ve been asking myself what day it is each day this week. How are things going for you?

Angels From the Realm of Glory

Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.

Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

 

This little one continues to delight us. We were texted a video of her taking steps already. The video showed her taking three steps. Yikes! She’s not even 9 months yet. Mommy and Daddy are going to have to be on their toes to keep track of her.

All our Christmas decor is up now and all that is left is the purchase of our mystery tree and decorating that mystery tree. In the meantime Dear and I are escaping  for a night away to celebrate our anniversary. Hope you all have a good week and that you are enjoying holy nights with the bright lights of Christmas.

Be Merry…

Things have finally settled down enough in our kitchen renovations so I could start decorating for Christmas.

I’ve acquired a few new nativity sets over the last few years. I’ve had a conversation with myself and have agreed to not purchase any more.

Looks like the theme this year at this old house is to Be Merry!

You can see my neighbors lights out the window. They really light up the night! We have not purchased our Mystery Tree yet.

My extra motivation for decorating was our small group Christmas Appetizer potluck. I made Lovella’s Cocktail Sausage Wreath again.

I’ve been real slow in catching up with visits to blogs. I hope to come by soon.

Slowly and surely with long work days things are getting done. The kitchen backsplash is all done and the last thing to do is the new trim around the window above the sink.