Thursday 13 – Unusual Christmas Trees

I promise this is my last Christmas post.  You’ve probably seen a lot of these trees around the web but I just had to gather a bunch together.  It was really hard to narrow my list to 13!  Enjoy.

1.  This Pac-Man Christmas tree inspired in the most classic arcade game is on display in Madrid, Spain.  It’s a pyramid so it has 4 (identical as far as I could tell) sides.  It was made of colored LEDs and to make it even cooler, it's an animated version!(Link)

2.  Trees made of food.

You’ll want to enlarge this sushi tree to really appreciate it.  I’m not a sushi eater, but I think this is beautiful.  It was made in Japan, of course.(Link)

 

A Brussel sprouts  Christmas tree might be interesting.  Another food I avoid.  From the SeriousEats website.

Now this is my kind of food.  Chocolate!  (link)

3.  This upside-down Christmas tree was originally designed for specialty stores. The aim was to display ornaments saving up as much floor space as possible. The best part? That you have more room for presents underneath!(Link)

 

4.  Glamorous and expensive trees.

This glamorous one is a giant Swarovski Christmas Tree, designed to promote world's most famous crystal brand's products. Photo Tanakawho (Link)

 

Last year, Singapore jeweler Soo Kee Jewellery created this Christmas tree with 21,798 diamonds totaling 913 carats and 3,762 crystal beads. The tree looked like (and was actually worth) a million bucks! Link

5.  Take a look at this huge environmentally friendly Christmas tree.  It’s one of several recycled material trees I saw.   It was built with 5 gallon water bottles and PVC pipes. (Link)

6.  Bottle trees.  I saw more of these than I can count.  Here are just a few of them.

Another environmentally friendly design. This one was set up in Sydney, Australia, and it took a huge amount of green plastic bottles. Yes, just green ones, the blue parts are just some lids left on some bottles to get the two-colored effect. (Link)

Creative Christmas trees made from empty bottles. [link]

7.  Christmas tree made of books in University Library in Aalborg. [link]

8.  This is the tree that started it all for me.  A friend sent me this picture and I thought it was so cool I had to post it.  It even has a pickle ornament!  Unusual Christmas tree made from a regular ladder. [link]

9.  Pencil Christmas Trees

Creative Christmas trees from ad campaign for Publicis Singapore. [link]

10.  What would Christmas be without a Charlie Brown tree? 

11.  This is the mother of all Christmas trees: a gigantic 7-story "tree" made from 350 regular-sized artificial trees! Approximately 70 staffers of Yilong Media company of China constructed a steel framing and then stacked this pyramid of Christmas trees. Link

12.  These unusual christmas trees are made by Vladimir Ivanov.  I love the simplicity.  They just fold up to be put away!  Above each of the large holes is a tiny hole so you can hang an ornament there.  (link)

 

13.  This ‘tree’ really caught my eye.  It’s so awesome.  No needles to pick up.  It doesn’t take up half the floor space in the room.  It’s just perfect!(link)

14.  I had to add a bonus tree.  I just couldn’t leave this out.  Antler Christmas Tree

Photo courtesy of blmurch

New Mexico, US

Wednesday Hero

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Olga Elliott


Chief Warrant Officer 2 Olga Elliott, a Multi-National Corps-Iraq human resources technician, poses with MNC-I Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Grippe after finishing the Bobby Crim 10-Miler Aug. 22, at Camp Victory in Baghdad. Elliott, a San Diego native, finished the race in 1 hour, 9 minutes, 57 seconds, earning her top female honors.

Photo Courtesy United States Army

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Ready For A Good Laugh?

I thank God that He never gave me a hyperactive boy.  I love Mark Lowry, a Christian comedian.  He tells the funniest stories of his childhood as a hyperactive kid.  And as an adult.  This one is about an encounter with one of his teachers.  Please take just a couple of minutes and watch it.  And go ahead and laugh.  It’s good for you.

Hanging Out at Grandma’s House

 

Legos and counted cross stitch…

 

… and playing games.  It all added up to a lazy, pleasant day.  It was so nice to have my daughter and her family here for a little more than a full day.  They were up and gone to DSIL’s grandma’s house early Sunday morning.

Thanks, Entrecard Friends

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Christmas season.  These are my advertisers from this week.  Please go visit them.

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…It’s Not Over Yet!

We’ve been celebrating since Wednesday and have one more day before all Christmas celebrations are complete.  Here’s a brief summary of our fun.

Wednesday evening – MWH’s mom’s birthday was Wednesday.  They arrived to stay with us in the afternoon.  The four of us met Mom and Dad’s friends for dinner then back here for dominos.  The men beat us really bad.  But we had a good time.

Thursday – Some friends of ours who also know Mom and Dad came over for lunch and stayed for a couple of hours.  We had a good time talking and laughing and playing Apples to Apples.

Friday – Jesus’ Birthday!!!  MWH’s younger brothers came for dinner at noon and presents.  My sister was here, too.  About the time MWH’s brothers had to leave, our daughter and her family arrived!  We had another round of presents and another dinner.  And more games.

Saturday(today) – Just celebrating having the kids here.  We had a huge breakfast and then pizza for dinner.  My daughter has Celiac’s Disease and there’s a local pizza place that makes a great gluten free pizza.  She says it’s the only real pizza she’s found since her diagnosis.  We worked on a puzzle and – surprise! – more games.  Here’s a picture we took today.

Tomorrow – Mom and Dad, my sister, MWH and I will meet MWH’s other brother and his family halfway between here and there for another Christmas celebration.  And the kids leave for home.  :(  And Mom and Dad will head for Georgia.

It’s been wonderful.  I’ll be having a jammies day on Monday.

For to us a child is born,
       to us a son is given,
       and the government will be on his shoulders.
       And he will be called
       Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

It's Christmas Eve!

Will Santa come to your house tonight?

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday Hero

With only two days until Christmas, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and to remind you to keep our men and women that are not able to be with their friends and families this time of year in your thoughts a prayers. They do so much without ever asking for anything in return.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Flashback: Chloe’s First Christmas

Chloe was about 6 months old for Christmas 2003.  She’s checking out the fake tree.  She was a perfect angel and never tried to take an ornament off the tree.  Or climb it either for that matter.  Jillian, as you can see, just liked any ribbon she could find.  They’re pretty much kept to a minimum in our house.

Hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas!

White Christmas?

Mt Mayon in the Philippines is threatening a white Christmas – of ash falling on the surrounding area.  The booming from inside the volcano can be heard from 12 KM away and they fear an eruption is imminent.  It looks to me as if it’s already erupting.  That’s lava flowing down the slope in the picture.  The Sydney Morning Herald reported just a few hours ago that there are still quite a few people refusing to evacuate the danger zone.

But that’s not the kind of white Christmas we expect here in Michigan.  We have a little snow on the ground and more is expected later this week.  The Weather Channel says we’ll have wintry mix on Christmas Eve followed by 6 days with snow in the forecast.   My dream of a white Christmas is enough snow to look pretty but not cause problems on the road for family coming from around the state.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.  Whether it’s white or not.

Thanks, Entrecard Friends

It’s that time again.  Time to say thanks to my advertisers.  Please visit them.

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Christmas With the Alvin

This really brings back memories.  I was 10 years old in 1961 when Alvin and the Chipmunks were first on TV.  We drove everyone crazy singing this song.  And EVERYBODY wanted a hula hoop that year!  Enjoy...

Flag Friday - Argentina

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Argentine Flag Description:
The Argentine flag consists of three horizontal stripes. The top and bottom stripe are sky blue and they are separated by a white stripe. In the middle of the Argentine flag, and white stripe, is an emblem representing the sun with 32 alternating straight and wavy rays. (Sun of May)
Argentine Flag Meaning:
There are conflicting views on the meaning of the Argentine flag. One theory states that the blue represents the Rio de la Plata, (River of Silver) which is the widest river in the world and that the white represents the metal silver, as the word Argentina originates from the Latin word 'Argentum' which means silver. Early conquerors thought there were large quantities of silver hidden in Argentine's river's banks. Another theory of the Argentine flag colors state that they represent the Bourbon Dynasty of Spain, as Spain colonized Argentina in 1516. Argentina received its independence from the Spanish 300 years later in 1816.

The above information is from this site.

The following information comes from the Flag Counter widget in my sidebar.  There is much more to be found there about geography, government, population, economy, and military.

In 1816, the United Provinces of the Rio Plata declared their independence from Spain. After Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay went their separate ways, the area that remained became Argentina. The country's population and culture were heavily shaped by immigrants from throughout Europe, but most particularly Italy and Spain, which provided the largest percentage of newcomers from 1860 to 1930. Up until about the mid-20th century, much of Argentina's history was dominated by periods of internal political conflict between Federalists and Unitarians and between civilian and military factions. After World War II, an era of Peronist populism and direct and indirect military interference in subsequent governments was followed by a military junta that took power in 1976. Democracy returned in 1983 after a failed bid to seize the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands by force, and has persisted despite numerous challenges, the most formidable of which was a severe economic crisis in 2001-02 that led to violent public protests and the resignation of several interim presidents.
Population:
40.482 million (July 2008 est.)
Languages:
Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
Government type:
Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
Capital:
Buenos Aires
Independence:
9 July 1816 (from Spain)
Currency (code):
Argentine peso (ARS)

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Thursday Thirteen – Christmas Songs

I really love both Christmas Carols and Christmas songs.  So this week I decided to double up and do two sets of thirteen.

13 Christmas Carols

1. Silent Night
2. O Little Town of Bethlehem
3. Angels We Have Heard on High
4. What Child is This?
5. We Three Kings
6. O Come All Ye Faithful
7. Joy to the World
8. Hark the Herald Angels Sing
9. Come and Worship
10. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
11. The First Noel
12. Away in a Manger
13. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

13 Christmas Songs

1. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
2. All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth
3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
4. Blue Christmas (I still love Elvis!)
5. White Christmas
6. Rocking Around the Christmas Tree
7. Walking in a Winter Wonderland
8. Frosty the Snowman
9. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
10. O Tanenbaum
11. Up on the Housetop
12. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on and open fire)
13. Mary Did You Know?  (My all time favorite – best sung by Mark Lowry)

As an added bonus, I have a video of Mark Lowry talking about how he came to write this song.  It is hilarious!  Please take time to watch it.

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