It’s Christmas at the Riggio House!

Every year I blog about my trees, since I don’t just put up one tree… I put up 7!  I did find another person this year that beat me with 8, so I’m not as crazy as I thought :D.  Right Julee!

You might think this is crazy, during a very busy time of year, or that it would be stressful, since one treee can be a chore all on it’s own, but really, it’s not.  I love putting them up and it only takes a few days of dedicating myself to the task.

Well, this year I though it would be fun to share some childhood memories too.  I don’t have many pictures from my childhood, but I do have a few Christmas ones.  My clothing choices were clearly not the best :D.

I remember my sister and I sharing this couch, waiting for Santa to come, but sleep got the better of us and we ALWAYS missed him!!

Every Christmas Eve was spent at my Nana’s house along with my Aunts, Uncles and Cousin’s on my mom’s side.  My Uncle Dave would wait for the moment to embarrass us with the box of panties we were sure to get from my Nana, or the one year I got the doll that if you turned her arm her chest grew and her waist got smaller.  I still have her!

When I was real little we always had a flocked tree.

A robe, black boots and messy hair – kind of similar to what I look like every morning taking the kids to school :D.  

When I got a little older we opted for a fake green tree, with homemade ornaments that looked like little stuffed animals.  They were made of felt, purchased at the downtown Tacoma Rhodes store when it closed.  I still remember going with my mom to the close-out sale and buying that huge pile of felt.  She made all the patterns herself, hand stitched them and adorned them with buttons, yarn, jewels and beads.  Next to the tree was a multi-colored rotating wheel of light that turned and shined red, blue, green and yellow at the tree: so psychedelic.  I loved rediscovering each and every one of these stuffed toys as I decorated the tree each year.  I still have some of them packed away, but I haven’t seen them for many years.  Maybe I will find a place for them next year.

My mom made our stockings too.  They were not the typical ones that you see in the store.  They too were made of felt and were shaped more like a boot.  This pictures shows me with my brother Gari.  This was a rare visit, maybe one of a handful of times I got to visit with him (my other brother, Danny must have been visiting too, but I don’t have a picture with him in it :(. I am so thankful I have this picture.  This is one of those memories that would be totally lost if I did not have this to remind me.

I look much too old to be playing with a Barbie Camper and nice outfit!  Ugh, the 70’s.  I do still have this camper though!  I’m weird like that.  There are just some childhood toys I could never part with and this was one of them.  I remember getting the Sunshine Family and the Happy Family at the same time and I still have them as well, along with their home and the handmade crafts I made to go in the home!  Some day my kids will have to deal with all the memories I have kept over the years! At least they are all neat and organized in the attic.

*********************************************************************

Now, on to my trees for this year. If you are a blog reader, you will remember I added a tree last year – to the kitchen nook. I try to add something every year just to keep it fresh and new.  To see last year’s post go HERE.

1 – PARLOR

The view from my desk – I can see my parlor tree and my dining room tree.  I love it.

The Parlor tree is the only real tree in the house and we have fun going out to the Christmas Tree Farm every year, as a family, picking the tree and cutting it down.  This year, Nick was the official cutter.  He’s also the master picker of trees.

The fireplace is always decorated with our socks.  My Mother-in-law made mine when I was just 16 years old – I spent Christmas morning with them – it was a very special time.

It’s decorated in red, green and white ornaments.  The frames are hand-painted and have pictures of our family in them.  I need to swap some out for more current pictures though.  They are all pretty old.  I love this one of Amanda.Nicky made this one in Kindergarten.

2 – DINING ROOM

The Diningroom tree is our vacation and special memory tree.  You can also see our Christmas cards displayed all around the room on the plate ledge.

Each year I add one or two ornaments to this tree. This year it was a bird from Hood Canal. We camp nearby at Staircase right on the river and this year a little bird joined us.

Most of my trees are also adorned with extras – ribbons, grapes, vines, leaves, berries, etc.

In the dining room is a very special wisemen display made by my mother-in-law many years ago.

3 – KITCHEN NOOK

When I added this next one: the kitchen tree, I really thought it would be hard to find ornaments that were kitchen-related.  I was definitely wrong about that!  They are everywhere!

This year I added a few that I bought, while shopping with my friend Misty and a really cool one from my sister-in-law, Carmela – a wok!  My sister also sent me a rolling pin and slotted spoon. 🙂

I added this one.  I love Pho.

And one more to represent my collection of Fiestaware dishes.  I have them in almost every color.

We also have this advent calendar hanging in the Kitchen nook.  My mother-in-law made it for us long ago and the kids love counting down the days of Christmas using it. 

4 – MASTER BEDROOM

Our bedroom tree was one of the first ones I added after the original parlor tree.  I always wanted one in the bedroom when I was a kid.  It has a variety of off white, copper, gold and glittery type ornaments.  My star is leaning :(.

We did add a new one this year, that I loved from Target.  I have a really hard time passing up ornaments.  I must, at least,  look at them all in every store I visit and usually breakdown and buy one.

5 – NICK

Nick has loved Penguins for many years now and with most childhood collections they start to dwindle off and are soon forgotten.  Not Nick’s penguins.  He still loves them and every year I manage to find a new one to add to his tree.

Last year the kids had 4-foot trees. This year we upgraded to 7-foot trees :)!

This year it was the Pier 1 commercial that caught my eye for Nick’s ornament.  That chubby penguin that asked the shopper if the tree made her look fat.  I had to have her for Nick’s tree and was happy to find that they still had one left at the store!

He also has cars, Coca-Cola items and swim-related ornaments, but mostly penguins.

6 – AMANDA

As many of you know, Amanda is a ballerina.  She has taken ballet for 10 years now at Tacoma City Ballet and this year marked the 9th Nutcracker she has performed in.  Every year we visit the Nutcracker boutique in the lobby of the Pantages Theatre and pick out an ornament for her tree and just recently we have started to collect the Snow Globes, representing the different parts of the Nutcracker.  She added 2 new ones this year – the Party Scene and Flowers.  You’ll see those at the end of her tree pics.

Her tree is decorated in snowflakes, blue globes, ballet related items and crystal ornaments and now is 7 feet tall this year with a silver lit star on top.  She sneaked into my pic just in time to get a little sliver of her bright face.

We added this chandelier this year too.  So pretty with the lights.Her pink slippers ornament is the new one from the Nutcracker boutique.
The new one I bought her.  And the new snow globes.

7 – BASEMENT

The basement tree is the last one to show you – it’s our musical instrument tree since the basement pretty much belongs to Joe (except for the laundry room :D).

Every tree now has a star – 4 trees got new ones this year (the kitchen, Nick and Amanda and the basement).I also added red balls to this tree (and also to Nick’s tree).  It needed something.  Next year I plan to add some special swigs and decorations to this tree and the kid’s trees.

Some day I may be done updating them, but I can’t see that happening soon, since there is always something to add.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting our Christmas.

May Christ bless you this Christmas and New Year and may His love surround you always.

xoxoxo, Connie, Joe, Nicky and Amanda