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These days… Holiday Edition

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12375992_10153318842503730_6196395200179260157_n2015 Christmas cardHappy New Year to everyone.  I feel like Saturday, my feet finally hit the floor.  Prior to that it was all a whirl wind of making presents and being present (at parties and functions), making merry around here and all that encompasses our holidays.  I do miss the general feeling of walking out into the world and everywhere around us celebrating Christmas also but I am happy to now celebrate the quieter parts of Christmas with just us since all stores, public areas and most of our friends have now moved onto preparing for the next thing.

If you have been around here for our previous Christmases then you already know that we are just getting warmed up and have only really started our holidays until a few days before Christmas came and went for the rest of the world.

Our holidays you ask,  oh but they were lovely!

These holidays we:

::  Went shopping to pick the fabric for this years Christmas bags as we do every year

::  Embroidered the year on this years two bags to be added to our collection

::  Baked gingerbread, sugar, chocolate chip cookies,  caramel puffed corn (oh my so good!)

::  Had friends over for a cookie baking and exchange

::  Made lip balms and sugar scrubs to gift to our friends with our beloved essential oils (more on that later)

::  Made cream cheese mints to go with the other goodies in baskets

::  Found that many of my vintage ornaments had been damaged when something fell on the box I keep them in.  Very sad but now I will start a new search for even more of them.  I do love them so

::  Decked every inch of this house

::  Spend many nights behind closed doors creating gifts for each other

::  Finally got my very own Christmas tree in my bedroom.  Something I have always wanted since I was a little girl.          (I do think it merits its own post so I won’t go into it too much)

::   Ate lots and lots of popcorn and celebrated another Christmas season together and then rang in the new year.

::   Had an evening away with Poppa which was quite fun and so good to be alone with my sweetie.  One benefit to having so many big children in the house along with a now 18 year old (though we still had a friend stay over for good measure)

::  Livie lost her first tooth

:: Watched an abundance of Christmas movies, old and new

::  Had a great laugh when we realized that Alexandra had chosen the same clothing colors for our grandsons as we did for our kids here.  Even though the miles seperate us, our hearts are still one

These days we are just resting and enjoying being off from school, until Epiphany comes around and making lots of warm and comfy foods.  There are many walks in our woods happening here.  The smells of our woods really does call me and today as we walked out there the sun came out and for a second it seemed to be shining down just on us.  I do not long for spring at the moment.  I am too busy enjoying this season as it is just getting started.  I am actually still working on the last gifts for family that will be going out super duper late and its a good thing that our loved ones understand how overwhelmed this mama gets sometimes.   All in good time and we love each other everyday not just on Christmas.

I do hope your holiday was lovely and I would love to hear about it!

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on the feast of Saint Nick

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Saint Nicholas.  A wonderful man.  A feast day which usually catches me off guard and I am thrown into last minute crafting, fast and furious style.  This year is an exception.   I was not up until the wee hours of the morning as I have been in past years here and here are a few.  A few online purchases and really just one handmade gift and I was done.  Chocolate coins in shoes and we were golden.

Mateo got a new pair of mama made slippers (I use no pattern,  I just based it off how I make my Mary Janes which I designed and so I just winged it)  His feet will be warm and that makes me happy.   A few fabritac squiggles have been added to the bottoms so he doesn’t slip.  It works.  He also received a train whistle which everyone has been only too happy to try out for him.  His love of train seemed incomplete without the toot toot from the whistle and he has a few volunteer train conducters who blow the whistle for him as he instructs.  He however, will not try to blow it himself yet and with all these helpers this little boy of mine has decided that he doesn’t need to.

I don’t usually like store bought gifts for this day, its not our tradition but this year everyone received a pack of playing cards according to their interest or style.  We have always loved playing cards.  We will all drop whatever we are doing if there is a good enough game or tournament to engage in.  If you know your numbers, you are invited to a no mercy, drag em out card game.  Our favorites are gin rummy, Garbage (this game was taught to us by nuns) and Kings to the Corner.  Of course Poppa loves Poker and we all try to work on our poker faces to play with him.

I did add a Saint Nick doll to our tradition this year.   I have finally decided to make for us all the lovelies I have made for others people over the years.   Creating these items for my own family is a major goal of mine and this year I will be concentrating on creating more beauty for us.    The little ones really like the little Saint Nicholas and dare I say I do too though I can see where he could be so much cuter and that is my perfectionism rearing its head.  Perfectionism, is not my friend.  I am learning to leave it out of my creative time and just try to appreciate whatever I end up with.  I am also working finally on making our painted nativity and hopefully it will be done by Gaudete Sunday (oh boy I better really knuckle down here).

I must share with you that our advent rhythm of saying the Saint Andrew novena at night with the kids has been so much sweeter with our new nativity spiral.  It sounds angelic and almost like a chant with all of us saying the novena out loud in unison.  Truly magical I tell you.  It’s almost as if we all just float off to bed, light as a feather.

I am almost finished with my first ever newsletter.  It is chock full of great and fast gifts for friends, loved ones and anyone on your list.  So excited to start sharing this monthly and I need to figure out how to add a signup button somewhere here.

What have you been creating?  What do your celebrations look like?  I do hope yours was wonderful.

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