Art by Rozanne
My mother-in-law, Rozanne Priebe, is an amazing artist. I’m so lucky because I have many of her original pieces of art. My favorites are her Santas. Please take a few moments to look at the pictures below. These are just a few of the Santas from her artistic imagination. I love each one equally. A couple of the paintings are not Santa, but are still part of my Christmas collection.
The Dickens Village
Displaying our Dickens Village each year is quite a chore. A few years ago we decided that it should be displayed above our kitchen cabinets. It looks beautiful there, but it’s no easy feat to get it there. The one good thing that comes of all of this work is that the tops of my cabinets get a good cleaning at least once a year. Judging from how dusty and grimy everything is I could probably do it more that once a year, but I doubt that’s going to happen!
Scott & Cameron are vacuuming and getting the top of the cabinet ready. I get to wash all the grimy stuff!
Christmas Stockings
My grandma Grace had so many talents!! One of them was knitting. She made sweaters for us when we were little. Grandma made us personalized Christmas stockings. I can’t image the time she put into making these. I love pulling these out every year knowing that this was a very special gift she made for each of us.
Christmas Trees
I know most sane people have one, possibly two Christmas trees in their homes. I think we all know that I am not sane when it comes to Christmas. I HAVE FIVE TREES!!! The tree here is the tree in my family room, the one I look at the most. It holds my dearest ornaments, the ones that have years of memories attached.
The tree in my sunroom has a pine cone theme. These beautiful glass ornaments are magical to me.
My Annalee tree holds the my collection of grey Annalee mice. My Aunt Sue started this collection for me when I was in high school. I now look for grey Annalees to add to my collection.
The tree in my foyer is decked with ornaments I made with mirrors, beads and crystals. Bright and shiny!
I have a bay window in my dining room that is the perfect spot for a small tree. This little tree sits on my Gran’s tea cart and brightens up this space.
So, if you only have one tree, maybe you should think about upping the ante!!
Santa’s Lap
For all of you who have taken their children to see Santa, you know that it can be a blessing or a curse. For us it was a curse more that it was a blessing. Cameron wasn’t sure about sitting on Santa’s lap. This picture is when Cameron was four – this was a success!
This picture was taken right before Cameron’s first birthday. If you look closely Cameron is NOT happy. What you can’t see is that Santa is his dad! It was truly hilarious!
When Cameron was two we had a successful trip to see Santa.
Since year two was so successful, we thought we would have another good year. Here we were at Zoo Lights at the amazing Brookfield Zoo. While we were waiting in the long, long line, Cameron was SO EXCITED. He couldn’t wait to see Santa. That all disappeared when we finally got to the room with Santa. Total meltdown! Me being “mother of the year” made my screaming son sit on Santa’s l
On Cameron’s 5th birthday he decided that he was done with Santa’s lap! Which selfishly was fine with me. The long lines are crazy and I never knew what was going to happen when we finally got to Santa! Santa was very faithful and still showed up at the Priebe home each year!
The picture below is of my husband Scott and his brother Craig sitting on Santa’s lap. Santa is their grandfather Priebe. This picture is another gem that I pull out each year!
Santa’s Key
When my son was little we didn’t have a fireplace, so how was Santa going to get into our house? A friend gave us this magic key. We made sure it was on the front door on Christmas Eve. Santa 
🎅 was always able to deliver the presents 
Christmas Mantle
About 7 years ago I envisioned my mantel looking like this. It took about 3 years of collecting trees, but I did it. My mind frequently envisions things my pocketbook can’t fund immediately, so I take it slowly & shop after Christmas sales. I eventually get there!! Then I move on to a new project.
Decoys
These beautiful decoys belonged to my great-grandfather Scholta. They were real working models. My dad had them for years and gave them to my son. Until he has a place to put them, they decorate my home and at Christmas are given festive bows!
Winter Wonderland
We got our first snow fall on Sunday and it was beautiful. Looking out my sunroom window was gorgeous, however I was not prepared for how beautiful this view would be at night. We were out for the evening and came home to this view. It is gorgeous and painted by God’s hand.
Advent Wreath
I LOVE Advent. It is such a special time of the year. The Advent Wreath originated with German Lutherans in the 19th century. With the last name of Scholta and growing up in the Lutheran church it’s no wonder it has such a special place in my heart. Each candle has a meaning. #1 HOPE #2 LOVE #3 JOY #4 PEACE Each Sunday I try to reflect on the meaning of the candle of the week.
Here I’m getting the Advent Wreath in my church ready for the first Sunday in Advent.
This is the Advent Wreath we have at home. My dad made it for us and is a duplicate of the one I grew up with – which he also made. So many special memories of lighting the candles each Sunday as we prepared for the coming of the Christ child.
Even with the hustle and bustle of my family life, I still try to stop and continue this tradition in my home.