Category Archives: celebrations and festivals

Christmas 2015

I never plan to take a giant blog break at this time of year, sometimes I even make an effort not to, but it always happens anyway.

I opted out of sewing Christmas pajamas this year, both because I had other projects to concentrate on and because I had something specific in mind that I very much did not want to make.  We purchased double thick, wool-cotton red union suits for the kids.  The making of which would have required sewing about a gazillion button holes in stretch fabric.  My brain translated that as akin to being trapped in a medieval torture device while forced to watch people burn perfectly good yarn.  No, no, and no I say!  It was a good purchase.  They will wear them under work clothes, under snow gear and around the house all winter long.

I was, however, content to do a little Christmas knitting and since the suits we bought came in sizes to fit everyone except for dear Seraphina, I made her one.  Very cute.  And I was right, that Hollyberry is an amazing color for her.

The whole time I was planning for Christmas, I was thinking in terms of keeping everyone warm for the winter.  Steve and I decided together that it was far more important to us that they feel well cared for than entertained.  We gathered together coats and wool socks to go with those woolly suits.  Wool on wool on wool, to shelter our babes from the harshness of a New England winter in the mountains.  On Christmas Day we beat the long standing record high by something like 15 degrees.  I walked barefoot in the garden, mostly so that I could say that I had.  It was far from unpleasant, though a little moist.

Don’t be too freaked out by the shorts and the fan.  It wasn’t that warm!  But I’ve noticed that teenagers tend to exaggerate these things for effect.and there was a smokey kitchen mishap (one of Galen’s precious pies bubbled over).

Some of the kids were devastated by the idea of a truly green Christmas, but they appeared to have a good time all the same.  To me it actually seemed the grandest of gifts.  It will be a story to tell, a memory to share, “Remember that Christmas where we were out playing football in tee-shirts?!?”  After a full summer of not really having the strength to step outside, much less enjoy the weather, I hoped and prayed for a long mild autumn.  And when I was granted it, I found my days too full of trying to play catch up to go out and enjoy it.  But on this one glorious day, I had nothing much left to do and I just reveled in it.  And, well, finally harvested my horseradish…

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baby things, celebrations and festivals, Food, Kids, Life, snapshots, Yarn Crafts
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Merry Making (heavy on the making)

There has been so much going on this season.  The downstairs of our home has been completely changed around.  We still haven’t managed to decorate our tree, save for the lights and angel on top.  Maybe tomorrow?  Growing up, my family always decorated the tree on Christmas Eve.  I’m really kind of digging the minimalist decor!  The tree looks pretty with just lights.  I’m glad there is very little else out in the main living area just now.

I gave the kids free rein to decorate however they pleased provided they avoided headache inducing flashing lights.  They seem to have concentrated their efforts on the stairwells which are absolutely covered in garlands and lights and Iain’s attic bedroom, where they plan on spending Christmas Eve night all together again.  Their tree has been decorated for ages now, complete with wrapped presents underneath (note to self: next year we should make a stash of fabric bags for their own private use).  I’ve not wrapped or bagged a thing and I’m still working on a set of pajamas to be given tomorrow and praying a few last minute gifts show up at the post office today.  It will all be whatever it is.

The house smells overwhelmingly like cinnamon.  There are snickerdoddles baking and Galen was determined to make traditional mincemeat pie- heavy on the meat, like Almonzo’s mother.  I’ve just popped in here for a moment when it seemed like there were more than enough hands trying to tuck crust around.  Back to it all for me, and all the best to you!  Merry, merry folks!

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building, celebrations and festivals, crafts, Kids, Life, snapshots, WIP, Yarn Crafts
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an everything post….

Kind of like an everything bagel, only without the garlic.  I save the garlic for other posts.  Otherwise we’ve got it all; the 52 project, knitting, sewing, the weather, a tree…

I’m having issues with the auto-focus on my camera.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

Seraphina’s new Baby Bubble Bloomeralls!  Ack!  Don’t you just want to kiss her cheeks?!? I modified the pattern to include a button closure between the legs for easier diaper changes/potty using.  The yarn is Capra DK in ‘Velveteen’.  I’ve been itching for an excuse to make her something in this color for ages now.

Ok and now the weather, because she’s out in that, in the middle of December!  It’s so crazy.  There’s green grass in these pictures!  We were out getting our Christmas tree in sweaters.  With no snow boots.  This all feels very strange and kind of wrong.  I’m not sure what to make of it.  But it was rather nice not to have our fingers and toes going numb while waiting for everyone to decide exactly which tree was the right tree.

Books- I finished The Princess and the Goblin and passed it on to Galen.  I misplaced my birthday book (this happens far more often then I care to admit) and have picked up this instead.

After cleaning out her drawers it turns out that Mairi Rose basically had the two pairs of velour pants I made her last year left to cover the lower half of her body- daytime or night time.  This did not seem to be enough, so in between quilt sewing (did I mention I’m actually working on two quilts now?) I’ve been making leggings.  Pretty much all the same pattern in different fabrics.  I haven’t really been keeping track of them all.  Let’s see, there was another pair of velour ones in a tan color, these stripped ones that I mentioned before and a pink and purple stripped pair…  Basically just assume that I made any pants you see her in from here on out!  I thought the last two weren’t really warm enough for winter wear (as it turns out I may have been wrong!  It’s got to hit sometime, right?).  As I was out of really thick stretchy fabric, I jumped at a sale and got a yard each of a handful of things.  She picked out some bubble gum pink cotton fleece with roses on it.  There was enough to make an attached skirt as well.  She liked that idea and I figured two layers of fleece would be warmer than one.

Tomorrow we are baking cookies.  I have some last minute knitting to do and if I get the chance, I’d like to do it alongside a nice period piece (tv show, mini-series or movie), because that’s just the kind of mood I’m in, any suggestions?

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52, baby things, celebrations and festivals, Kids, photography, sewing, snapshots, Yarn Crafts
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The Stocking Formula

I do think I’m making all this sound a lot grander then it actually is.  It’s just that I’ve been filling children’s stockings for 16 years now and in that time I’ve gotten a feel for what works for our family and what doesn’t.  As I noticed a certain pattern emerging over the time, I found that just being able to mentally plug in something to fit each category really simplified things for me, so that I don’t feel like I’m starting from scratch with five empty stockings each year.

Now in our household the stockings are ostensibly filled by Santa Claus, though at the moment no one is in a very Santa place; fickle, jaded little creatures.  I jest!  I jest!  Really either way is fine.  And we only started doing the Santa thing at all at their request.  But that’s the context that this tradition was born of.  The stocking gifts tend to be the only ones we wrap in paper.  It seemed unlikely that Santa would use the gift bags obviously made by me, therefore…  Plus there is something undeniably more exciting about tearing the wrapping off a package compared to opening a bag.  And since all other gifts, at all other points in the year are wrapped in play silks or fabric bags, that little bit of paper is an extra special treat.

Each child’s stocking gifts are wrapped in a specific color, every year without fail; one child’s in silver, another in gold, green, red, blue.  That way, even if everyone dumps the contents on the floor and it all gets mixed up, everyone knows without a doubt which gifts belong to whom.  Also, as you will see below, sometimes not all of the stocking contents actually fit in the stocking.  Which seems counterintuitive, I know.  But you will understand better in a moment.  In that case the ill-fitting gift is placed under the stocking and again the color-coded wrapping saves on confusion.  Also, it’s just a sweet little detail!

On to the formula: candy canes, gum, a deck of cards, art or craft supplies, a beautiful book and an optional practical item (as needed).

Candy Canes- I know of two companies that make big, beautiful, old-fashioned candy canes- worthy of pride of place, hanging out over the stocking’s edge- without the use of corn syrup or artificial dyes.  Hammond’s “Natural” line of candy canes come in a wide variety of flavors and Giambri’s (a little smaller and more moderately priced) come in both traditional mint and lemon.  Both companies still make other candy canes with more questionable ingredients, so be extra careful to purchase from their “all-natural” lines.  Yes, they are still sticks of pure sugar, but it’s Christmas.

For tiny ones we substitute fruit leather.  For tiny-tiny ones fresh fruit.

Gum- B-Fresh Gum.  A very rare treat.  This one is sugar free, corn free, gluten free, etc. Has no artificial ingredients or preservatives and is actually a source of water soluble calcium and b-12.

Same substitutions as above for wee folks.

A Deck of Card- Our family plays a lot of card games, usually over meals.  Cards lead a rough existence here!  In the event that we feel that enough have survived the year we make a substitution here.  I think that happened once.  Most often it’s just a deck of cheap regular old playing cards as they suit our needs just fine.  Occasionally someone will get another sort of card game entirely, such as Skip-Bo, Uno, or Quiddler (one of our all-time favorite games!).

Art or Craft- This can be anything from a pack of window crayons to a ball of yarn to a set of woodworking files depending on the age and interests of the child.  This is one area where the size and shape of an object might not conform to stocking dimensions.  So while one child’s colored pencils might fit and another’s carving knife is just fine, the third’s lap loom might need to rest below the stocking.  I prefer to get them something from each category, and from that whatever really suits the child, rather than just something that will fit.

A Beautiful Book- Not just any book, but a truly special one, chosen with great care that hopefully really speaks to the child and meets them where they are at.  There are few greater gifts.  I have a personal rule that I only buy them books that are either not available through our interlibrary loan system or which I know they will read many, many times over.  Board books and many novels fit nicely in most stockings, but picture books or say a beautifully illustrated, hardbound collection of poetry, do not.  So this another area where some of the books may be in stockings and some may not, since I want to give everyone a book no matter what phase they are in.

Miscellaneous (optional)- Some years there might be a little something else, usually something practical. This year for example, everyone is getting a small wooden comb because they all keep borrowing Mairi’s which is now broken and in need of replacing!

A Note on doll stockings:

This one is kind of the wild card.  Many, many moons ago, on an adorable impulse, the older boys and I sewed a set of stockings for their beloved Waldorf dolls and the doll stockings became something of a family tradition.

Some ides for filling doll stockings:

  • shoes, hats or any other doll accessories
  • small crystals or gemstones
  • little gnomes or smaller dolls to act as the dolls’ dolls
  • a small wooden or needle felted animal, a little teddy bear
  • a tiny house plant
  • a little edible treat (you would be amazed at how giving most dolls can be, they almost always are willing to share with their keepers!)
  • dolly dress-ups: doll sized fairy wings, a wee gnome hat, a cape, etc

While I used to lean towards the fancier things on this list, these days it tends to be something very simple, like a crystal or bit of food.

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Books, celebrations and festivals, Food, Holidays, Kids, Mothering
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red and green

“Birthday traditions will not of their own accord become simpler, rather the reverse, and it is not difficult to imagine that traditions generated with enthusiasm can, in certain circumstances, become a burden.” ~ The Birthday Book: Celebrations for Everyone

The holiday season leads right into the birthday season in this house, with three birthdays in January, one in February, one in March and a break in April before our final child birthday in May.  Currently, I’m reading about birthdays while planning food for the Solstice and knitting for Christmas.  The knitting bit is a warm surprise for a certain little someone, with my current favorite everyday yarn, in the rich, festive ‘Hollyberry’.

A hand-made doll for her child (this was the only gift mentioned), a house decorated with greenery, odd bits of roots and foraged slices of wood mixed with white fairy lights, with plans for a day spent dancing, singing and eating nourishing foods.  This is the description of a Christmas celebration that I remember reading many years ago that has stuck with me.  As far as I’m concerned, it sounds just right.  Our own celebrations have become too complicated.  It’s time to scale back.  Mostly I want to reassess how we handle gifts.  We’ve always tried to keep things fun, but moderate.  In recent years we took up the “something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read” concept, to which I tacked on art supplies as we always seem to be ready to replenish by this time of year.  It sounds fairly simple.  But with five children that’s 25 gifts!  Without taking into account a few odds and ends in stockings, not to mention gifts for any of our other loved ones or the gifts and planning required for our big double birthday celebration just 11 days after Christmas.  Even so, it might not be so bad if I didn’t have such high standards for the items I’m willing to purchase.  If I was willing to buy just anything…even if it’s likely to break…or potentially toxic…or from a sweatshop…or crass…or too much money…etc….it might not be such trouble.  But that’s not something I’m willing to compromise on.  As things are, it’s too much time, too much money, too much stress and much too much time spent on the computer shopping for me.   I’ve had a late season epiphany (erm, private little hissy fit? It’s a fine line.) and announced that each child would be getting one present under the tree.  They were all like, “ok” and went right back to what they were doing….I mentioned it would mean more time to be together and that I wouldn’t feel so strained and someone said that would be a much better gift.  Right.  And all this time Steve and I have been fretting about expectations and precedents having been set.  Eye opening.

It’s not quite as little as it seems as everyone will have a nice full stocking (have I ever shared my stocking formula here?  Would you like me to?) and there will be Christmas Eve pajamas of course.  And they all like to give gifts to each other.  So really it becomes quite a lot, without even taking extended family into consideration, and I wonder why I’ve fussed about it for all this time?

I’m also reading The Princess and the Goblin.  Firstly because I’m not yet too old for a good fairy story and secondly to see what hands would be best to set it into next.

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Books, celebrations and festivals, Holidays, Kids, Life, WIP, Yarn Crafts
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Thanksgiving Snippets (and 48/52)

Since Wednesday is our regular woods day, we divided it between Thanksgiving preparations and time in the forest where they gathered decorations to grace our table.  Inside we cooked and tidied and sewed a new set of napkins from fabric that the children had picked earlier in the week.

Moonrise, glimpsing that glorious, great, golden orb through the trees.  I’m feeling a little alliteration happy tonight!

The birds were our main entertainment on Thanksgiving morning, all flocking to our feeders for a feast of their own.  Spotting the finches was a treat.  Especially the purple ones.  We don’t often see them.

I still try to avoid giving the little one sweets, so she had her own wee pie, full of pumpkin, coconut cream, and raisins to enjoy.

On Friday they were back out in the woods again, gathering baskets upon baskets of greens for garlands and wreaths of all sorts and sizes.  I don’t think they will be holding up well come Christmas, but I guess at least we’ll be festive until then!  The kids are more than ready for advent.  I’m not prepared in the least.  All the same I am quietly tucking into the season and trying to let go of any expectations or worries, so that I can enjoy was comes.

In some ways I think the Friday after Thanksgiving might be the nicest day of the year.  It is the only day where I never have to cook or worry about what to make.  Pie for breakfast and a buffet of leftovers for the rest of the day.

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celebrations and festivals, Food, Holidays, Homeschooling, Kids, sewing
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Halloween and 44/52

I had what I thought was an adorable idea for a costume for Seraphina and others.  As of 3:30 on October 30th, all that I’d managed of it was her little hat.  And I couldn’t have cared less.  In fact, I was quite ready to throw in the towel with Halloween across the board.  Try again next year.  Maybe.  Maybe not even that.  But Elijah, who obviously puts great stock in creative Halloween costumes, and probably equally pressing was looking to get out of washing dishes, laid the old sheet I was planning on using out on the table and started piecing together a pattern.  And so, with a good deal of help, I rallied and there were costumes all around.

I wanted Mairi Rose to be a Matryoshka with us, but no, she wanted to be Tink to his Pan.  Mommy and daughters matching costume?  Totally cute.  Controlling mommy who insists you wear the costume she wants you to wear?  Not so cute.  So I did not push even though it really would have been kind of perfect since she is just the right in between size.  Side note: All three boys and I just recently watched the Milwaukee Ballet’s production of Peter Pan.  It was magical.  And inspiring for a certain young, male, ballet dancer.

Sewing notes: I used this pattern for Seraphina’s bonnet and a pattern similar to this one for my kerchief- which was very comfortable and stayed on perfectly and I want to make a bunch more for everyday wear.  Seraphina’s dress is this one.  Details on the sweater to come.  I just made my dress up as I went along.  It didn’t balloon out as nicely as it could have.  Also, for the record, I’m not actually shaped like Humptey-Dumptey.  Or at least not any more so than you would expect a woman who has given birth to five children to be.  It’s the costume, honest! (well, mostly anyway)  Mairi’s leggings in the first picture were made from this pattern.

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52, baby things, celebrations and festivals, crafts, Food, Kids, Life, photography, sewing, snapshots, toy making
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the first week

We’ve been experimenting with making our own pack baskets.  The first one, though quite sturdy, isn’t terribly functional.  It will make a pretty basket for around the house though.

The coyotes have been so loud.  Seraphina calls back to them from the porch and various windows.  She speaks their language nearly as well as she is beginning to speak our own.  It sounds as though they are right outside my window just now, as they very well may be.

The first baking day of the school year we usually have a celebration.  Since this time around it happened to land on the day before shopping day, our options were limited.  While the older boys helped an elderly neighbor out for a couple of hours, I took the younger ones apple picking.  The sheep are grazing in the orchard just now.  Licorice has grown a great deal.  She’s fully weaned, but she still comes running when she hears our voices.

We baked what I referred to as strudel, though it really wasn’t.  The crust wasn’t thin and crisp as the term strudel would imply.  Iain said it should properly be called a “cake wrapped pie”.  It was gigantic, that’s the same tray that I serve our Thanksgiving turkey on, and incredibly delicious!  We made a smaller, unsweetened one for the tiny girl.

Seeking to reconcile our old schedule with the new, the end of the week found us at the pond.  On of my goals this year is to get us all outside as much as possible.  I like, maybe even prefer, the beach in the off season.  It’s so quiet and peaceful.  When Iain and Elijah were little, we lived down the road from a lake where they used to dump a big load of sand every autumn.  We would walk down with shovels and they spent many a happy hour digging away.  When they grew tired of the digging- did that ever actually happen?- there were kites to fly.

The ruins of a giant, grand, old sandcastle greeted us that first week.  We come prepared with lots of extra towels, changes of clothes, sweaters.  And our lessons continue on in this place in their own manner.  The older ones are teaching the younger ones to swim, though I can’t imagine that carrying on for much longer.  Still, the water is bracing, it feels strong, like having the courage to jump in fortifies them and I’m content to have them out in it as deep into the season as they please.

Galen who will spend much of this year studying animals, gets to encounter them in their own world.  In his own world, which they are both equally a part of, whether it be a snail found resting at the water’s edge or the great egret that we’ll pour over guide books reading about later.  Mairi Rose and I draw forms, letters and numbers- both giant and small- in the sand with our fingers and toes.  The learning experiences provided for little Seraphine are too numerous and abstract to recount.  Lessons of balance, endurance, time, repetition, consistency and change.

Every week that I manage to end at the pond, connecting with nature and each other is a week I will consider a success.

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celebrations and festivals, crafts, Food, Homeschooling, Kids, snapshots
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Dadvent

A couple of years ago for my birthday Steve came up with a sweet little idea to make the days leading up to my birthday a small but growing celebration with little treats along the way, complete with custom made little stockings, a la Advent.  He called it “Melvent”, which is not very catchy.  This year we rebranded the concept into Dadvent, which is actually rather catchy.

We filled his stockings with offerings from different people, things like favorite dinners every night, foot massages and the occasional edible treat, as well as the finishing up of projects around the house that he’s been meaning to get to or wanting to see done.

I believe Elijah styled the welcoming committee.  I know I certainly had nothing to do with it.

After the wall painting fiasco of 2013, they wanted to be absolutely certain that he spotted their surprise.  It turns out they went a bit too far.  He noticed the lights.  He noticed the sign.  He (obviously) noticed the loud, excited crowd of dressed up children.  He totally over-looked the stockings and the little gift mounted on the wall.

I’m having computer problems again which is making it hard to accomplish anything computer related (ordering school supplies, ordering library books, setting meetings, returning emails, posting here…), but giving me a bit more time to work on stuff around the house.  But really only a bit because I find myself wasting too much time fighting with the computer and trying to bend it to my will before I give up.

 

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celebrations and festivals, Kids, snapshots
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Our Trip

What to say? We arrived late, due to weather and left early, due to weather. The trip home was what I deemed an adventure (!) when speaking to the children and thought truly treacherous with a shudder to myself- washed out roads, low to no visibility, etc. With all the time in the car I knitted an entire little dress and started a wee sweater. I read the better part of Home Grown while trying to convince an over-tired toddler to drift off to sleep.

We never actually made it to the ocean, though we did spend some time at the bay. I feel that lack distinctly. A summer without standing in awe at the vastness of endless waves seems incomplete.

We stayed in a yurt for the first time and were introduced to an ice-cream shop that had a (comparatively) huge selection of gluten and dairy free treats. That was a find! Hello, salted-caramel ice cream topped with hot fudge! Everyone was thrilled, including baby girl who devoured an all fruit smoothie.

Mairi Rose and Galen were in a Summer Solstice play. Galen, a dapper fox in his old Halloween costume. I made Mairi’s costume from this dress of mine. I took it apart and put it together so many times trying to work out the pattern, that the bust never laid right. I did work out that pattern with it though and have since made another dress utilizing it.

I documented a sunset on the beach one night with sleeping babe beside me while Steve and the kids were off on a sandbar, playing frisbee.

The whole trip had a detached from reality feel to it and it’s hard, looking back, for me to really feel that it actually happened. There were many good things, but the underlying theme was one of feeling unsettled and disconnected. This is the same trip that we’ve taken for, gosh eight or nine years now. All of the families involved are, or used to be, ones that we were close to. But we moved away from all of them quite a while ago now. And for most this is the one time of year that we see them. Time marches on. They all see each other regularly and many new families have joined the group. We’ve been replaced many times over and really we are just an afterthought now, if we’re thought of at all. Each year I feel like we’ve been more and more removed and this year the whole family felt it keenly. As Galen said, when he came back to our campsite, dejected, on our first evening there, “No one remembers me.” It’s not that our old friends no longer care for us, or vice versa, it’s just that our lives don’t relate to each other the way that they once did.

Add to that the fact that this is the second time that I’ve come home from this particular trip with Lyme Disease and I think this may well have been our last year. At least for a while. Just last year I was musing about how long this tradition would go on. I suspect it will continue on for a very long time. We just may no longer be a part of it, which is something I hadn’t really considered. This yearly trip has been a large part of our lives. Letting go isn’t something that I do well and I confess, I’m struggling with this. We had a really good thing going while it lasted.

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celebrations and festivals, Holidays, Kids, Life, sewing, snapshots, Yarn Crafts
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