some thoughts and a gingerbread house

It's not easy to launch back into another week of blogging about mundane goings-on when life has come to a crashing halt for so many grieving families. Many online newspapers, magazines and even other bloggers have shared some profound thoughts, and I have nothing to add that hasn't already been said. I'll simply share a few reflections.

This past weekend, on the heels of another national tragedy, one of my oldest and dearest friends brought her family up to visit mine.  The timing couldn't have been better. We spoke very little of what was happening in Connecticut.  We didn't need to.

Our children, thrilled to be in each others company again, were buzzing around, chasing each other, clambering into each others laps and onto each others backs.  They made movies together, curled up together in bed reading, ran races in the backyard, and built the little gingerbread house you see in these pictures.

They saw not one headline, not one news story, not one frightening alert.

They had the time, energy, and gift to simply be children.

As my heart breaks for the many families who were robbed of this precious gift during this season of love, joy, and peace, I am holding a space in my heart daily, even hourly, to slow down, hug my children, enjoy the holidays.

Fortunately, my kids won't remember this particular Christmas season as being different from any other year. But I hope I do.

I hope I can continue from this year forward to be more patient, more loving, more joyful, more present.  For what my children need are not more gifts under the tree, even hand-knit, lovingly-made ones, they need a family encircling them with security, peace, and love.

{this moment} - Christmas karaoke

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. See Soulemama to play along.

Christmas Car-i-oke found here.

Yarn Along

For this week's Yarn Along, I have several project on the needles and a few that I've recently finished as well.  I'm still working on Finn's Christmas sweater that I showed you last week, but I've also been working on other projects as well.  As Christmas gets closer, I find myself working on many things at one time so I can always be switching out projects depending on whose around (and watching me work) at any given moment.  Right now I'm finishing up my last Christmas hat.  Each of the kids get a new hat in their stocking each year.  Philip is getting a Storm Trooper hat (that I already attempted once, but it was too small so my lucky nephew welcomed it).  I also just started a pair of socks for my husband.  I'm hoping that they'll go quickly on size 3 needles so I can get them done (as well as my other things) in the next 2 weeks.

We're reading A Little House Christmas Treasury this week.  The kids really enjoy the Christmas stories from the Little House books and this is a nice collection of them.  Oh, I know I could look them up in each of the books to read them, but it really is lovely to have them in a single volume together.  We've read from this book a little each day since we bought it on Saturday.

Also, in the last week, I've made these felted mittens for Finn.  They are a bit big and I didn't really follow any one pattern completely.  I'll try to get my Ravelry notes updated soon (in my spare time, ha!) so that they can be copied.  They are a bit large for Finn, probably perfect for a 7-8 year old, but he can grow into them.  They are nice and thick and warm, and I hope they work well in the snow to keep his hands dry.

Elizabeth has requested a pair of fingerless mitts for Christmas.  I aim to please and I found these adorable cabled mitts in a slightly-too-small-for-me size, which should be perfect for her.  I also had some super-soft alpaca yarn from Shivaya Naturals in Ember that has been sitting in my stash for long enough.  They really worked perfectly with this pattern.

And because they are so much lovelier on a hand, I squeezed my hand into one for this shot.  (It's not easy to take a photo of your own hand with a 50mm lens!)

I also finished Paulie's R2D2 hat a couple of weeks ago and bribed Finn with a cookie to model for me.  I think Paulie will be pleased with the results!

I think Finn should have only gotten a half a cookie because he was mostly silly while I tried to get some shots.

How's your holiday knitting coming along?

Christmas crafting

This time of year is so busy, so full of making and doing, of performances and activities, yet still we somehow find ourselves with little bits and pieces of things that work their way into the schedule.  Things we do simply for the joy they bring.

Over the weekend, I noticed we had a few mandarin oranges that were past their prime.  I decided to slice them and dry them (in the oven at about 250° for a couple of hours, then left on the cookie sheet for another day to ensure complete dryness).  

And we gathered some of our little crafting beads and bells and set to work making little orange ornaments.  Finn painted all of the beads with watercolors and the total assembly time was about 15 minutes.  Just a few minutes really to bring a bit of merrymaking to our evening and mirth to our tree.

And then a friend posted a link to these little cuties.  Although my Christmas knitting list is still rather long, it seemed like a shame to miss out on this little bit of cuteness.  So the Christmas knitting was put on hold, just for an evening, to add a few wee knitted trees to our mantle.

And as you can see, I'm not the only one who is taking a moment to breathe during this busy season with a few moments of holiday crafting.  Paulie made the little wooden peg guy with his straight and tall Santa hat. I'm glad the kids are learning to take a few minutes during this time of year to slow down, revel in the season, and find a bit of crafting that brings them joy.

weekending

::knitting in pjs::

::playing with paper dolls::

::sprinkling salt over watercolors::

::reading a new Christmas book::

::walking among autumn leaves::

::making birdseed treats::

Saint Nicholas Day

Happy St. Nicholas Day to all who celebrate!

The St. Nicholas coin pictures are here.  The books we're reading are here and here.

Yarn Along

For my Yarn Along project this week, I'm working on Finn's Christmas sweater.  I decided to frog the other sweater I'd been working on because it wasn't turning out quite how I pictured it.  I went back to a basic top-down sweater pattern, in a henley style because it's easier to get over Finn's large noggin. It likely won't win any design awards, but it's easy, quick, and it will wear well.

For our reading this week, we are in full Christmas story reading mode.  The older kids favorite stories are from The Candle in the Forest, and Finn, well, all of them really, are enjoying Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury.  The favorite story from the Treasury right now is The Trouble with Trolls.

What are you working on right now?

great expectations

The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas is filled with many things.  Decorating. Baking. Hustle and bustle. Gift-giving.  Merry-making.  And great expectations.  Somehow it seems that even with carefully laid plans, with well thought out activities, expectations can still get violated, often resulting in hurt feelings, irritated family members, and other ill effects.

I found myself having to learn that lesson again this weekend. Somehow someone snuck teenagers into my house (well, actually we only have one teenager, but another one thinks she is).  And someone neglected to mention to me that certain activities might not hold as great of an appeal to teenagers as it did just a year or two ago. Despite my perfectly outlined list of advent activities, which I know will occasionally change depending other things that might happen on any given day, when some activities are mentioned, a few faces in this house lack the anticipatory delight I wish to see there.  And there go those expectations again.

Usually they come around, but sometimes they might not.  Or sometimes, like this evening, they might come up with an even better, more seasonally appropriate, more kind-hearted idea than I ever thought possible.  And then I am reminded that my joy needs to rely less on great expectations of how I think things should be and more in the act of providing them a home where they are free to share their own expectations.

About 2 months ago, Elizabeth told me that I didn't need to make her a birthday sweater this year.  I told her that was fine, but inside I was more than a little deflated.  My expectation of lovingly making her another sweater, knitted stitch by stitch with my hopes, dreams, and wishes for her, was crushed with a mere afterthought sentence she handed down.  But to her it is just a sweater, and she's not overly fond of sweaters anyway. Fortunately she still enjoys knit hats and socks that I can pour my loving thoughts into, but it really doesn't matter.  Those wishes, hopes, and dreams are poured forth whether I ever knit her another item again.  And I can, and should, find joy in simply sharing them without any expectations attached to a hand-knit sweater.

the Advent Festival

Yesterday evening we hosted our festival groups Advent Spiral.  This was our third year of hosting and I have to say that I truly think each year gets more lovely and more meaningful.

We started our evening with an Advent craft.

Each of the children (and adults, if they chose) received a log slice which they could decorate with elements of the four weeks of Advent.  There were rocks and shells to commemorate the first week, greenery for the second, feathers and little wool sheep (which we made with pipe cleaner and roving) for the third week, and a small peg doll with cloth scraps to celebrate the fourth and final week of Advent.  And we added a tealight candle to the center of each Advent log.

The kids dove into this craft, each with their own vision, making this Advent representation their own.

Each unique log was a beauty to behold and the group together were breathtaking.

Following our craft, we enjoyed a snack of Christmas treats.

Throughout the evening, each family would head into the Advent Spiral room together, in silence, to light their candle and place it along the spiral while holding a special thought, memory, or wish for Advent in their hearts. What a magical sight the spiral was following this event!

decking the halls

December 1st dawned bright and clear...and warm.  We took full advantage of the lovely weather and the weekend to decorate, celebrate the beginning of December, and remember a few traditions handed down through the years.  We brought out our advent calendars and changed our nature table.

I also spent an hour or so this morning making candles for both solstice and the upcoming birthdays in our family.

And while I was melting beeswax, I decided to try this eucalyptus chest rub recipe.

Paul enjoyed decorating during the milder weather this year.  Well, enjoyed might be a bit strong.  I don't think hanging lights is ever in his enjoyment list, but at least it was a lovely day to be climbing ladders.

Paulie and I had an interesting conversation while he was outside helping Paul hang the lights this afternoon. He asked why we don't hang colored lights or use them on our tree.  I said that I thought colored lights were gaudy. He wasn't sure what that meant so I had him look up the definition.  He came back to me with a shocked look saying, "you think colored lights are 'ostentatiously or tastelessly ornamented?!'" To which I replied, "Paul, there are many things from your childhood that you will hold onto with sentimentality, and many things that you choose to do differently. When I was a kid, we always had colored lights and silver tinsel, which I found a bit gaudy.  In fact, I decided that when I was an adult, I would have a tree in the front window with blue lights and silver balls, and another tree with white lights and special, sentimental ornaments in the living room."  He looked at me, just as surprised and said, "whoa...that kind of scares me."  I think the reason he said that is because I followed through on exactly what I wanted.

This evening, the kids decorated the little trees for their bedrooms.

With new little glittery gold knitted garlands for their trees, that I just finished this week.

And then we decorated the big tree.

With all of our special, sentimental ornaments from seasons past.

The kids were so thrilled to see their beloved ornaments and hang their own favorites.

Each year we gift the kids with a new handmade ornament.  This year's ornament was a little ceramic goat ornament from our favorite little goat farm.