Holidays

No pictures today--my camera needs new batteries, and I have been feeling too crazed to actually take pictures.  On the 22cnd, inspired by Ginny at Small Things, we did Christmas for the animals.  We strung (okay, mostly I strung) cranberries and popcorn, and we opened up all of our leftover decoration pumpkins and gourds.  The pumpkin and gourd part was a big hit around here, as we decided to fling them down on our patio to open them, and then we placed them around the yard for the squirrels.  We did not have a fire as planned, as it was pouring down rain (and very warm--it has been hard to believe it is December), so we turned out all the lights in the house and lit all the candles in the house.  I had hurriedly made a few beeswax candles, which feels like a nice tradtion, and we had our Advent wreath.  It was quite pretty.  However, I have to confess that the day did not feel at all calm and peaceful to me.  I was feeling anxious to make it happen, and prepare for my parents arrival, and I did want to make some sort of Solstice celebration take place.  And I am glad I did it, even if I did not get a real sense of calm, meditative peace.  I am looking forward to longer days--not that we can really complain around here, as it gets dark around 5:30 at the shortest day (the sun rises a good deal later, but I can hang with that), but the quality of light is what I miss.  Next year, hopefully I will have it more together, but, quite frankly, I probably won't.  Oh well. 

The 23rd was a great day.  My parents got here late on the 22cnd, so they were here the whole day, sending my children into paroxysms of joy.  The baking got done, which was fun, and we had a caroling party at our lovely neighbor who is a pianist.  Singing Christmas carols was such a huge part of my Christmases growing up, and I really want that for my children.  I made a bunch of cookies and the neighbors all went over and we sang and drank wine and my children ate A LOT of cookies.  I hope we keep doing it.

These days...

I randomly posted these pictures as ones to highlight.   The first one is Mary's Star Path.  The children continue to like it, although next year I think I will have them do it in the morning after breakfast, because right now they are tired and squabbling over who is going to blow out the candle (which neither of them can really do--it takes forever, with me trying to move the candle to find where the heck their breath is coming from--do other kids have this problem?). But some nights it is terribly sweet, with David or Elsa holding the candle and saying a long, rambling blessing/gratitude with great solemnity before blowing the candle out.  Next time it happens, I need to make a point immediately after to write down what they say, because usually it goes into the hecticity of bedtime, and I think the slightly disorganized nature of their prayers makes them harder to remember. 

I had bigger plans for the ending scene.  I would have liked to have added more animals, and also some shepherds, but I am petering out.  And I have to remember that I have lots of years to add to it.  So, next year I can make some more sheep and maybe even attempt an ox...and shepherds.  Baby Jesus is made and waiting on the craft shelf for Christmas Eve.  We have been singing/listening to the song "Maria Wandered Through the Wood,"  while we do it, which is melancholy and appropriate and I think sets the tone well. 

Jesse took the next one of Elsa and David looking at the funny papers together, which is a nice reminder that more often than not, our children do get along.  They are so lucky to have eachother, and when they are not throwing things at eachother or shoving eachother to get the bigger portion of my lap.

Elsa and I went crazy the other day painting a bunch of glass things blue.  I mixed some water color paint with water and Modge Podge and then we painted them all different colors.  I have no idea what to do with the glass, though, as it totally will wash off.  Maybe they can be spare gifts in case anyone "attacks" with a present.  Really, it was just random craftiness, that made yet another big mess to clean up.  But we had fun.
Elsa and Jesse went to the Nutcracker last night.  It started at 7:30, which was a bit late for a five year old, but I really wanted her to see a good production--my mother always took us to the one in Boston after Christmas, which was lots of fun, and it was quite good.  But that is not an option here-Asheville is a great city, but it is certainly small.  I took her to one two years ago, which was kind of disappointing--the tree didn't grow, and there wasn't an orchestra, and I just wanted her to see a good one.  They had a really good time--they got dressed up and went out to dinner, and it was really sweet.  She got home at 10:30--I was sure that she would be asleep in the car, but she still needed stories and snuggle time with Mama.  Today we kept things very, very low key.  David and I stayed home--he went to bed at about 6:30, having missed his nap, and I made caramels.  Oh, and notice especially the twine all around the Christmas tree.  Thusfar, it has capsized twice.  Both times I was sitting on the living room sofa, and just watched it come down.  (Different from two years ago, when I was in the kitchen and David started to pull it down, and I got there before it fell.  Something about small children does make your reaction time a smidge quicker.)  The second time I cried, which was upsetting for the children.

And the last picture is of a Pileated Woodpecker.  David came running in to tell us that there was a woodpecker on the oak tree outside our kitchen.  And there it was.  We all three of us stood and watched if for a good long time.  Elsa suggested I take a picture, which, to be frank, would never have occurred to me.  I am in general not a picture taker--this blog has been good for me that way. It did seem really special to me that he noticed it and knew what it was.  These children--watching them grow and develop is a such a joy to me.

Oh, and the kids are out of school, which is such a sweet delight to me. 

This Moment

Making Wrapping Paper

This  has been an unseasonably warm December--today it is a beautiful, albeit strange, 63 degrees, which has made it a little harder to get all of our usual Christmas making done. The kids are running around outside, which is, of course, fabulous, but I find myself sort of stressed, wanting to make things happen, and feeling like the time is running out.  I have got to make cookies (no, no, not yet) and wrapping paper and gift ideas are still floating around unexecuted....

Last December we made all of our wrapping paper--we used old paper bags from the grocery that I get when I forget, as usual, to bring my canvas bags and the brown paper that comes in packages and cut out potatoes to make shapes to print on.  I wanted to do it again this year--I do love how those packages look all tied up with scrap yarn, but every time I mentioned it, the kids didn't feel like it.  So, I just decided to do it myself.  And guess what?  The kids wanted to help.  And we have a good supply.  Next year, I may try this, now that my sewing machine may be working. 

And we have new neighbors, one of whom is a three and a half year old girl, which combined with the current lack of a fence, has been great fun for Elsa and David.  Elsa is constantly bringing things over to them--we made those fun pine cones dipped in beeswax and glitter, and cookies, and the little girls seem to be running between houses.  It is very sweet, and I do mostly like to have lots of kids underfoot.

And now we are heading off to the (indoor) pool.  I would, of course, rather stay home, but Elsa has been asking and asking, and I have been putting her off, promising soon, and you know what?  Soon is here.  So off we go, on this glorious day, to the indoor pool.  Happily, Elsa, in her enthusiasm, has packed us each a bag.  I may go check, but it makes it a little easier.

Handmade Holiday

Here is Elsa felting soap for her teacher.  Basically, we just wrap the soap in roving and dip it into hot water and felt it all around.  Afterward, we needlefelt something on it for a design.  I  have to admit, I have not fully grasped wet felting, because it never looks that tight.  Because it was peppermint soap, Elsa chose to wrap it in white and then needle felted some red on it like a package.  It was so sweet. David also participated, and felted a blue soap for the other teacher.  (They are in the same Montessori multi-age classroom--Elsa goes five days and he goes three).   We made them on Friday afternoon, and David immediately wanted to go to school and give it to the teachers, even though generally he would prefer to stay home with me.  We also gave the teachers some lotion that we made this fall using the lemon balm from Elsa's garden (and essential oils).  The recipe is in Amanda Blake  and Steven Soule's Rhythm of Family.  The lotion is great, although it did not really smell like lemon balm.  And the water that we steeped it in didn't fully absorb, so there is a little bit of brown water in it.  But the lotion works great.

We felted and cut up a bunch of old sweaters to make a garland.  Elsa commandeered the pink sweater, though, after it had been significantly cut up, and is, to be honest, wearing at school right now.  It is pretty funny--the front is all cut up and ragged but she wanted to wear it, and I have decided that, with the exception of insisting upon basic hygiene and weather appropriate clothes, I will let her wear what she wants.  In this picture, Elsa is actually cutting off sleeves of sweaters to make bracelets for presents.  She has a shelf in her room where she is keeping all of the presents she is making.  To be honest, I really want to peek, but I am refraining.


I am nearing completion on various knitting projects (dinosaur for David, hippo for Elsa and some others for the few people who actually read this blog so I can't say.  Stay tuned for the husband's hilarious present--Elsa's idea, my execution--if I can pull it off.--David and I went to Goodwill this morning and purchased a blue sweater to felt....)

Oh, and I have to admit I am feeling kind of crazed.  I always want to keep the gift giving, particularly for my children, low key.  Then, all of the sudden, toward this time, when I am hearing requests for dolls and trucks (based on some books we have read) I suddenly feel the need to make this happen, even though they will have plenty, plenty.  And bless their little grateful hearts, will be happy with what they get.

Letting Go and Decking the Halls (Hall)

A few weeks ago, I signed up to bring some baked goods for a party that our church gives for the women in the correctional institute in town and their children every Christmas.  I had such big plans and ideas--I was going to make beautiful cookies with the kids, and we weren't going to eat them, we were going to share them.  It sounded perfect, right?  A fun, Christmasy activty with a wonderful moral at the end.  But, yesterday was busy with birthday and holiday parties and consequently tired children and it didn't happen.  Truth to tell, I completely forgot, and it wasn't until my darling husband looked at the calendar this morning (I have gotten better about writing things on the calendar, but am still working on the actually looking at it) and saw that I was supposed to bring cookies to church this morning for the party.  So, off I dashed to Ingles and bought way too many cookies to assuage my guilt about not baking them from scratch.  I do wish I could have actually made really good cookies for the party, but it was a good lesson for me.  I have so many ideas floating around in my head for Christmas things to do and make and I am just getting frustrated and anxious, instead of enjoying the good bits of our days these days that are devoted to preparing for Christmas.  Every moment of our day probably will not be filled with Christmas wonder from the Sunday after Thanksgiving until Epiphany, and I probably will not be able to hand make everyone a present and come up with a present for the kids to make either.  Thank goodness my husband takes care of the Christmas cards, although I sometimes snipe at him about that--for two years now I have wanted to take one of Elsa's drawings and turn it into a card, but can't seem to pull it off.

But, on a fun note, we put up our Christmas tree today.  Elsa was so excited and sweetly impatient, demanding to set it up as soon as she woke up, before breakfast, then immediately upon her return from church--I remember the agony of waiting for my father to carefully put up the lights on our Christmas tree.  It would generally take several hours, including at least one trip to the hardware store and stern commands to stay out of the living room.  I am not quite so much of a perfectionist as my father, although I do have to do it myself, otherwise I would be standing over my darling husband's shoulder, critiquing.  I would say I am working on it, but at least at Christmas time, I am not.  To be frank, I am not the laid back member of the family.  At any rate, watching both children's delight at unwrapping each ornament from the big tree box, Elsa remembering each ornament--"Oh, this is the carriage ornament Grammy gave you when I was in your tummy," while for David it was like opening up brand new items.  Last year he was just barely two, and didn't really get it, but this year, he definitely did.  "Look, Ewsa, it's a blue ball!  It's a gingerbread man!  It's a heart cookie!" he shouted, dancing around the room, every time he unwrapped an ornament.   I don't want to forget it. Then we lit the third candle on the Advent wreath, had supper and gingerbread cake for dessert in honor of tree decorating day.  Yes, I know, yet another tradition added, but I love itI feel the need to mark our special family occasions--this is it, kids, this is our family, and we are together, let's celebrate.  Happy Decking the Halls.

Dessert night

At Elsa's request, Wednesdays our dessert night around here.  Last night we made gingerbread cookies with this recipe tweaked a little--we used some spelt and white whole wheat flour and maple syrup instead of the brown sugar.  It worked surprisingly well.  Elsa had fun adding hair to all of her people, and delivering some to the neighbors.  We all do love dessert night (I especially when I can get the kids involved.)

In other funny notes, when I asked David to set out the plates for supper last night (what he does every night), David grabbed fistfuls of hair with both hands and yelled at the top of his (quite powerful) lungs, "I am tired of doing all this WORK!"  Then he did it.