Christmas Joy

Creator of the stars at night,

Thy people's everlasting Light,

Jesu Redeemer, save us all,

And hear Thy servants when they call...

Thou camest, the Bridegroom of the Bride,

As drew the world to evening tide,

Proceeding from a Virgin shrine,

The spotless Victim all divine.
  - from an old Latin hymn

The Nativity
(1912)
N.C. Wyeth

"But Mary was keeping within herself all these sayings, 

weighing and pondering them in her heart."

 Luke 2:19

Madonna With Child And Two Angels

Fra Filippo Lippi
 Uffizi Gallery 

Florence, Italy

Bird of Dawning

Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes

Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,

The bird of dawning singeth all night long:

And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad;

The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,

No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,

So hallow and so gracious is the time.

-William Shakespeare

Red Cardinal in the snow

Dashing through the snow,
In a one horse open sleigh
Over the fields we go
Laughing all the way.
Bells on bob tail ring
making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight.

Chorus:
Oh jingle bells jingle bells
jingle all the way!
Oh what fun
it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh, Hey!
Jingle bells jingle bells
Jingle all the way!
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh

"Jingle Bells"
James Lord Pierpont
Originally published under
the title, "One Horse Open Sleigh" 
(1857)

Bringing Home The Christmas Tree
Ruth Sanderson

"Merry Christmas!"

From Dolly and Me

 Shirley Temple Black
"Little Curly Top"
1928-2014
Rest In Peace

A Brandywine Christmas:

Featuring the doll collection of Ann Wyeth McCoy, (1915-2005)
the youngest daughter of the great American illustrator,
N.C. Wyeth, sister of the legendary artist Andrew Wyeth,
and aunt to prolific surrealist and portrait painter, Jamie Wyeth.
Like her famous family members, Ann was also a gifted
artist as well as a musical composer.

At the age of 19, she composed "A Christmas Fantasy"and
entered it in a competition for young composers held by the
Philadelphia Orchestra.  It premiered the following December
under the direction of musical conductor Leopold Stokowski.

 Ann loved the holiday season and described her symphonic work,
 "as an expression of my personal  reactions to Christmas Day in our home." 

  As a child, every year at Christmastime, Ann received at least one large
 beautiful doll, bought for her by her mother, Carolyn Wyeth, who liked 
to sew period dresses and nightgowns for her daughter's dolls.

"They are like real people to me," Ann once said about her dolls.

 "I guess I never grew up."

 Since the 1970's, Ann's collection of  beautiful dolls
 has been on display each year during the Christmas season
 at the Brandywine River Museum and Nature Conservancy
 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, home to several generations
 of the famous Wyeth Family.

        

May you have the gladness of Christmas

Which is hope;

The spirit of Christmas

Which is peace;

The heart of Christmas

Which is love 

-Ada V. Hendricks

Christmas Carousel 

I like days with a snow-white collar,

and nights when the moon

is like a silver dollar

and the hills are filled

with eiderdown stuffing

and your breath makes smoke

like an engine puffing.

I like days when feathers are snowing,

and all the eaves have petticoats showing,

and the air is cold, and the wires are humming

but you feel all warm...with Christmas coming!

-Aileen Fisher

 Please have snow ...and Mistletoe...

And presents on the tree!

Vintage Christmas Tree Fairy Doll





While children wait up for Santa
on Christmas Eve night! 

Waiting For Santa
Norman Rockwell

"The holly bears a blossom,
As white as lily flow'r,
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ,
To be our dear Saviour..."
The Holly And The Ivy

An Old English Carol

"We are better throughout the year for having,
in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime."
-Laura Ingalls Wilder

"Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn king
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled

Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With angelic host proclaim
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
With angelic host proclaim
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"

"Hark The Herald Angels Sing"

-Charles Wesley

Sacred Hymns and Poems

Vintage Christmas Card

“A great company
 of the heavenly host 
appeared with the angel, saying,
 ‘Glory to God in the highest,
 and peace to men on earth."
 Luke 2:13-14

Linus tells the Nativity story
"A Charlie Brown Christmas"
(1965)

"December, month of holly,

pine, and balsam,

Of berries red,

of candles' mellow light;

Of home and

fireside, laughter, happy faces,

Of peace that comes upon the holy night."
-from an old carol

Christmas
Tasha Tudor

"Dear George, Remember no man is a failure who has friends.
Thanks for the wings!  Love, Clarence

"It's A Wonderful Life"
(1946)

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

 "Christmas Bells"
(1863)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Merry Christmas to everyone, everywhere!