Christmas 2010

Christmas was beautiful. 

Due to road closures, we spent Christmas Eve at church in a town far away. This allowed everyone to sleep in and enjoy a quiet and unhurried Christmas morning. While I did enjoy the peace, I truly missed Mass on Christmas morning. I missed the beautiful prayers, the joyful music, and the soul satisfying quiet of worshipping a baby born so long ago, Christ our Lord.

My family braved the long trip around the mountain to celebrate with us. They brought cheer, good food, and lively company. Dominic decided that my artistically tattooed brother was his best friend. My brother, Adam, usually incites an element of fear in the small children so this was an unexpected surprise. It was quite comical to see them sitting at the little table, Adam hunched down, while Dominic chattered away and offered bites of bacon and egg to his new buddy.

As I do not take any photos on major holidays, I like to be with my children rather than behind a camera, I have a couple snapshots from after Christmas. We had quite a few handmade gifts this year. Everyone discovered the joy making their own gifts for loved ones.

I  made a flower crown and wand for my favorite princess. The wand is a wishing dandelion. All magic comes from blowing on the flower. Children intrinsically understand the truth and power of these magical wands.

While I was so pleased to find my princess enjoying her gifts, she did take it a little far the day she enthroned herself in the big red chair.

Gracie literally spent hours parked in this position. I am sure seriously magical events were whirling around in her imagination. 

Quinton crafted seasonal gnomes for each of the girls. His specialty is woodworking thus the children have been well armored with swords and guns. Fortunately, he chose something a little more whimsical for his sisters.

Collette needed a purse to hold all her most treasured possessions and I obliged with a little flowered carry-all.

Well, this one isn't homemade, but we did receive a giant pot from Nanna and Papa. That's Collette checking out it's spaciousness.

Olivia knitted everyone a pair of hand warmers. These comfy mittens really do help with the chill!

She also made these cute little stuffed gnomes for friends. 

Now, the most amazing gift was carted in on Christmas morning. My very talented dad and brother made a new play kitchen for the children. It is tall, solid, and oh so very retro. I love it! The kids love it! I want my kitchen to be so cool.

The girls play daily but it is Dominic who has really taken to baking up a storm of cakes, ice cream, and eggs.

Maybe he is a master chef in the making.

Today is February 5th. Hmm, I think I shall post date this post. I'll never remember to look for Christmas memories in February.

Advent 2010

I know this is extremely late, but I wanted to record a few Advent adventures and crafts to remember for the future. Christmas, also late, will follow shortly.

Advent Wreath

Being as I am a procrastinator of epic proportions, hence the tardiness of this post, I did not have any candles on hand for advent. The few craft stores that I visited were also bereft of purple and pink candles. So, thinking fast and a wee bit desperately, I decided to use the clear votives left over from a previous project. My plan was to quickly decoupage pink and purple tissue paper on to the glass. But, of course, no pink and no purple were to be had in my home. As the store is 45 minutes away, a quick trip to pick up supplies was out of the question. I did have white tissue paper in the drawer and a nifty solution in the end!

The Desperately Late Mother's Guide to Advent Candles

4 clear glass votive candle holders

White tissue paper

Water colors

Modge Podge or Elmer's Glue

Glitter

Purple Ribbon

Simply water color the white tissue into purple and pink sections. The colors will be molted but that adds to the charm when lit at night. Allow the paper to dry. Have your small children tear it up into quarter size pieces. Give the little ones paint brushes and a small bowl of Modge Podge or watered down Elmer's glue. Let them paint the tissue paper on with lots of sloppy glue. When they get bored and leave, finish up by patching any bare spots and adding a final coat over the whole exterior of the candle holder. Invite the children back in to dump sprinkle glitter on the wet glue. Add a ribbon around the top with a bit more glue and let dry.

These Advent candles have ended up being my favorite by far. They look so pretty and sparkly at night and during the day. The littles can help to their hearts content and the results are lovely.

Here are a couple 'Babe in the Manger' crafts

This one was completed by my girls at their American Heritage Girls meeting. It simply involves half a styrofoam cup, brown felt, a wooden peg doll found at the craft store, gold pipe cleaners, and some raffia. Wrap the baby Jesus in brown felt and glue gun on his halo. Add some cut raffia to the cup with glue gun and then add your little baby. Some of the girls glued him in, others wanted to be able to move him around. So sweet!

My little ones painted these wooden mangers last year after we read Angela and the Baby Jesus. Then, throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas, I would hide them all in one room. Each day the children would search for the their sweet Jesus' just as the Wise Men were searching after the Newborn King. I bought these through Casey's Wood. I believe we are still searching for one baby. He will be found one day!

Playing Christmas

 In the children's playroom, I set up a few Christmas items: a very small fake tree, a few unbreakable ornaments in a basket including a nativity set, a Santa Claus hat, and some pretend milk and cookies. The child had a grand time decorating and redecorating the room and tree. Then one would don the Santa hat while the others pretended to sleep. Freshly wrapped blocks and trucks would be waiting for them every time they awoke from their giggly slumber. 

The Prophets Visit

Finally, every Advent the prophets Isaiah and Micah come visit and perch themselves on the kitchen window sill to remind us of His coming. Each year I light a candle, read the corresponding Bible passage to the children, and have a little discussion about God's great mercy in sending the prophets to prepare all those who were awaiting the birth of the Savior. And then, we too continue to wait and prepare.

Happy Birthday Dominic!

My little turbo is three!

For his birthday we celebrated with an extremely simple family gathering. Nothing says little boy like hot dogs, french fries, and apple slices. According to his wishes, I made a "ginger cake" which consisted of a yellow cake with a gingerman pipped onto the top. 

This was one of those sweet family moments that mothers wish to tuck away  forever: the birthday boy sang, hugged, and kissed everyone, he enthusiasticlly opened his two gifts, and every one of his siblings lavished love upon him. It was a truly wonderful evening.

I must remember.

Happy Santa Lucia Day!

Simple celebrations for little ones

Saint Lucia, Pray for Us!

Simply Xavier

16 months

Saint Nicholas

An idea for far flung family: a Saint Nicholas Day activity package!

Since it is St. Nicholas' job to bring cheer and joy to those patiently awaiting the birth of the Christ child, I thought it might be fun Christmas gift to bring the celebration of his feast to my nieces and nephews. 

Included in the package:

One letter with the St. Nicholas Center's web address

1 memory game from the St. Nicholas Center

Various coloring pages found on the web

A St. Nicholas Story by Maragret Meyerkort

Gold chocolate coins

Chocolate star cookies which coordinate with the story

Some instant hot cocoa

A handmade St. Nicholas ornament

And a St. Nicholas picture for display

One thing that I did not include, although I had bought seven of them, was the Saint Nicholas book. Upon reading it, I found out that all traces of Bishop Nicholas had been removed. The book has a very protestant feel to its language, which is just fine for those looking to reclaim the wonderful saint who inspired our current Santa Claus, but it was not what I was looking for.

Instead I found the wonderful story by Maragret Meyerkort at the St. Nicholas Center. While it does not have any details about St. Nicholas' life, it tells why he comes to visit the children in such a beautiful and moving manner that I had to include it. Here is an excerpt:

Today St. Nicholas is in the heavens. Every year on his birthday he starts on his journey down to the earth. He asks for his white horse and journeys from star to star. There he meets Mother Mary, who gathers silver and golden threads for the shift of the Christ Child. Mother Mary says to him: "Dear St. Nicholas please go again to the children and bring them your gifts. Tell them, 'Christmas is nigh and soon the Christ Child will come."

Isn't that beautiful and perfectly touching for a young child?

Some other ideas to include in a gift package:

Crayons or watercolors

Homemade peppermint scented playdough

Painted wooden saint

A St. Nick puzzle

Chocolate St. Nicholas

An activity that I will do with my children at home is a CGS style presentation of St. Nicholas' life. 

I made my presentation a few years ago from the directions at St. Nicholas Center. However, they have made the presentation much more accessible by having printable cards for each component of the story. This is such a wonderful and tangible way to share the great saint's life!

St. Nicholas, Pray for Us!

More Thanksgiving

We had two Thanksgivings this year: one at my parent's home and one at my home. It was a delicious and fun-filled celebration both times!

My mom and dad hosted our first Thanksgiving complete with standing prime rib roast (yum!) and creamed corn. The kids romped with my brother, swam in the spa, and watched a home-made movie.

Everyone went home sleepy and content in their jammies after a wonderful day.

A rare photo of Stephen and me. Doesn't he look handsome?

Thanksgiving #2 was on Saturday at my house. We had a traditional turkey cooked up by my other brother. He wrapped it in bacon and stuffed it with garlic, sausage, and fruit. 

Wow! It was truly delicious.

Our children ran and played and played some more. They only stopped long enough to eat before moving on to more exciting pursuits. The two little ones in the picture are only about a month apart but Madison knows that she is older and likes to play the mommy with Xavier. 

One quiet moment: Olivia taught everyone how to make origami boxes. She learned to make them during our time spent studying Japan. I love it when learning melds seamlessly with life.