{this moment} - homeschooling at Christmastime

{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.

a tree house for Finn

As a family we try to be conscious consumers, especially where gift giving is concerned. Although we do buy a few new things each year, we try to stick with classic toys with longevity (legos, trains and tracks) and handmade items (beautiful wooden animals and playsets). Then, of course, there are plenty of mama-made gifts, such as blankets, hats, socks, sweaters and occasionally a few stuffed animals which start gracing my needles around summertime just to have everything ready by the holidays.

Occasionally, we are ever so fortunate to have a handed down item come our way, such as this beautiful tree house. Cindy (aka Boatbaby) asked me earlier this autumn if Finn might enjoy a tree house that formerly belonged to Zach, and it was all I could do not to leap through the computer screaming YES before it was offered to someone else.


Once her in-laws, who live close to us, brought the tree house to town, I spent many days dreaming how I might personalize this beautiful toy with open-ended play pieces that Finn would enjoy.


I searched etsy high and low and saw a felt leaf bed similar to the one below and thought that looked like a bed that might belong in Finn's little tree house.


So I embroidered the leaf veins and blanket stitched the bed together, adding a little pillow, for comfort of course, and then knitted a little rug in a linen stitch, using leftover sock yarn, because no one likes to get out of bed onto a cold wood floor.


My searches on etsy also led me to this shop which had the sweetest little living room set and mushroom dining table set (pictured toward the top).


I hope whichever gnome or elf decides to call this tree house home will enjoy the soft cushions, warm rugs and fireplace.


In keeping with the season, the new resident of this tree house will have a Christmas tree and a few presents.


This sweet tree house will be Finn's main birthday gift this year. (He has a Christmas birthday but we do celebrate separately and differentiate his presents.) What a wonderful feeling to give him such a full gift that cost very little money but has much love of friends and family not to mention handmade works of art to offer. The very definition of heartfelt gift giving, I think.

Now to find a little gnome, elf or fairy who might be looking for a cozy home...

Yarn Along and temporary insanity

My Yarn Along this week will be brief in the talking (typing?) department because I have knitting to do! Last week when I reached the end of my Christmas knitting, I decided, in a moment of temporary insanity, that since I made socks for Finn's Christmas stocking, and since I was done with the rest of my Christmas knitting, that I should go ahead and make socks for the rest of the kids' stockings as well. One problem: it generally takes me around 2 weeks to make a pair of socks (with the normal amount of knitting I do) AND I can't do the knitting in front of the older kids which means no knitting during weekends and no knitting during evening hours (or at least until they are in bed). Yikes!

So here I am, knitting my little heart out on socks. At least I got smart when picking out yarn for the boys and bought sport weight which will make for faster sock knitting and nice thick boot socks for the winter. Elizabeth's socks are Panda Silk in Plum Tones, and Philip's are Indulgence 6-ply by Knitting Fever in color #05 (ha! gotta love that!)


I have one sock of each of Philip's and Elizabeth's pairs done and Paulie's...well, his yarn hasn't even arrived yet. But I can do it. Right? And the grumbling you hear...that just might be my knitting-widower husband groaning in loneliness at another evening spent reading beside me while I knit the night away.


I actually love Philip's colorway so much (and Philip's feet are almost as big as mine) that I'm kind of hoping the socks are still in good shape when he's outgrown them so I can adopt them. :)

Wish me luck! How is your Christmas crafting coming along?

Christmas book basket

One of my favorite seasonal book basket of the year is the December book basket full of our favorite Christmas books. Separate from our strictly winter books, these books are only out for the month of December so we must soak them up as much as we can during that month. I think the arrival of the Christmas books sparks the Christmas spirit almost as much as decorating our tree, decking our halls and tuning into Christmas music.

Some of our new additions to the Christmas book basket this year are two delightful books by Sven Nordqvist, author of Findus and Pettson books, which we love. The Tomte's Christmas Porridge is an adorable tale of tomtes, adventure, forgotten porridge and, of course, Nordqvist's enchanting illustrations. Findus at Christmas is an entertaining addition to the Findus and Pettson series with all of the heart, adventure and spirit of the previous editions and the addition of Christmas cheer spread by friends and neighbors to end the book in a very satisfying holiday way.


Two other books we've been immensely enjoying this season are The Nativity, illustrated by the paintings of Juan Wijngaard and narrated with Scripture, and The Candle in the Forest, which is a lovely collection of stories full of Christmas spirit and especially suited toward slightly older children. We have used this as our nightly family reading this season.

What books make your Christmas season special?

weekending

.:decking the halls:.

{this moment} - beware of bandit!

{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.

Yarn Along

For the Yarn Along this week, I just started flipping through Vegan Holiday Kitchen which Paul surprised me with after Thanksgiving. We aren't vegan, but I'm hoping to get some new holiday meal ideas and have some fresh, unique dishes to add to our holiday table. I also started on a hat to match the little baby sweater that I finished late last week. (You can see that photo shoot of little Miss Penelope in her new sweater here.) Since I officially finished all of the Christmas knitting I planned, I decided to add a new project. I'm making a pair of socks for Elizabeth's stocking. The yarn is Panda Silk in Plum Tones. It's yarn that I've had sitting around for a while just waiting to be made into socks for Elizabeth.

Finn's finished socks! (Look how big his feet are getting. It makes we a little wistful.)

Happy creating!

a celebration of Saint Nicholas

Our family celebrates the saint, Nicholas, on his feast day of December 6. Well, actually we celebrate more on December 5, the eve of his feast.

Yesterday, St. Nicholas appeared on our nature table, as well as a postcard of him.


We also had a special, although simple, dinner of broccoli soup and buttermilk biscuits by candlelight.



Following dinner, we read a few books about St. Nicholas and discussed why he was famous, why he became a saint and what his folklore can teach us about his faith.


And then, of course, the children placed their shoes by the front door for their St. Nicholas Day gifts.

We celebrate St. Nicholas day following the traditional placing of the shoes by the door and following European tradition, their shoes are filled the following morning with a small orange, a peppermint stick and a couple of gold coins (chocolate-filled, of course!)

Do you celebrate St. Nicholas Day? How does your celebration manifest itself?

'tis the season...

In all the Christmases past, or at least since Elizabeth was born, (and excepting the year that Finnegan was born on Christmas Day skewing the holiday a bit) our Christmas tree and other household decorations have been up either the weekend of Thanksgiving or the following weekend with the first few days around the beginning of December. This year, with family visiting for Thanksgiving and going out of town to visit friends this weekend, we are woefully behind on spreading the Christmas cheer throughout our home.

Clearly, being out of my normal Christmas rhythm has taken it's toll, because I forgot to buy the organic jellybeans to fill the reusable candy advent calendar until the day of Dec 1. I also haven't been listening to Christmas music and reading Christmas books around the clock like I generally am by the 4th of December. I am a celebrant who needs her rhythm!


The token decorations that have made their way out of the boxes don't hold a candle to the most precious of ornaments to adorn our fir tree. Ornaments which remind me of my childhood, my early adulthood, travels both alone and with family, special crafting with my children, beautiful handmades stumbled upon, obviously momentos that help jump start the Christmas spirit within me. For some it may be Black Friday, finding the perfect gift for a loved one, or the official start of Christmas music on the radio.


But it's becoming apparent to me that seeing the joy on my children's faces and their eagerness as they uncover their "stash" of ornaments, collected for them specifically since their births, and the ultimate glow of all of our memories of Christmas's past that ignite the fires of the warmth and trigger the official advance into the season of Christmas.

What triggers the feelings of the Christmas season for you? Are you in the spirit yet?

a sweater for Penelope

The sweet little sweater that I've been knitting for the last couple of weeks is finally finished, and not a moment too soon. (Well, actually I did complete the sweater an entire day before we traveled, but that's neither here nor there.)

When my friend, Jenni, had a baby back in July, I really couldn't decide what to make for her. I did make her some booties and a matching hat, but it's really hard to knit for summer babies in the south. So I decided to wait until the weather chilled and then make her a little sweater for the winter. The sweater that grabbed my attention was this little chevron pattern in Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. The pattern is called the Fred Textured Sweater, but I think it works well for a little girl as well, especially in Carnation colored Swish DK.


The color and pattern turned out completely adorable, but I think my favorite part of the sweater might be the beautiful spalted oak buttons I acquired on etsy. Don't they add an extra little something?


So enough about the sweater, it doesn't even hold a candle to this sweet, laughing bundle of joy named Penelope Joy. (Yes, she's my namesake, well, the Joy part, anyway. Which means, she officially gets a new knitted sweater every year until she's too cool for handknits. ;)

Is there anything cuter than a baby wearing something that you lovingly made for them?