Merry Christmas!

Christmas Morning

After very little sleep, then waiting in the hallway since 4 am, the kids finally wore the parents down to go downstairs to see if a visitor had come.
One of the things I love about Christmas morning is the excitement, the wonder and the love my kids show to each other.  They are equally excited to see what gifts have been chosen for them as they are to give the presents they have created for their family. It's beautiful and magical.

Christmas Around the World

At the last minute we decided to host an afternoon travelling the globe exploring Christmas traditions.  We made some poinsettia magnets after reading a little bit about their significance in Mexico.  The craft took longer than I anticipated- but the kids enjoyed it so much we went with it!  We divided into two groups, one where the kids could play with a dradel and another to play tradition twister.  We used a floor map from another game, it is similar to twister.  You spin the needle and it lands on a body part and a continent.  For this days game we added one part; traditions.  I gathered traditions from different countries and sorted them into continents.  When you landed on a continent we read out a tradition while you positioned yourself on the map.  The kids loved it. Of course.
There was snack sharing with chocolate letters from the Netherlands, dried fruits from Northern Africa and the Middle East.  I personally loved the shortbread with creme de leche from Argentina, the stolen from Germany and a special cake made in a coffee tin from Italy.  Throw in some music and carols, sharing our own traditions and friends making it a great afternoon.

The Count Down Begins

This summer we have big plans. Like really BIG plans. While these plans have been in the works for literally years, it hasn't really seem real until recently. We have begun to countdown to our adventure. With my parents, my sister and her family, we are travelling for four weeks to Wales, England, Spain and Morocco. It is so exciting, and it mounts as we start to prepare, plan, research and all round get ready.
The trip is to celebrate my parent's 40th wedding anniversary, an event worthy of such a grand celebration. We will be meeting up with family for a party during our time in Wales. There will some family I have never met, and many people my kids have never met. We have been working on a family tree, putting everyone in their right spot. There will be time by the ocean, discovering tide pools, sea side birds and marine life. We will go back in time to see glimpses into Welsh history, medieval time, the Romans, the Moors, the Celtic peoples, olive groves, Flamenco and Belly dancing, Cathedrals and Mosques, museums, art galleries, cafes, fountains and the unexpected.

There has been lots of web browsing and page turning trying to decide what is important to see and do. It is important to me that we record our time away. Perhaps it will take the form of a scrapbook or a journal, individual or family records. There are lots of choices. There is lots to do still. Our motivation is a tank full of excitement, so I know we will be ready.

Play Sets

This year I decided to make each of the kids a play set as one of their Christmas gifts from us. This was an easy decision for the two younger kids, numerous ideas came quickly to mind for what the play sets could be. The decision for my youngest and oldest became all the more easier when a friend happened to post two different tutorials , at two different times, with play sets I knew they would love.
For Shai, a dinosaur play mat. This included a set of small dinosaurs, a quilted mat with patches for rocks, water and meadow. I also included a cave, volcano and tree that is similar to the ones in the tutorial. It was perfect. Except, apparently dinosaurs don't like having their pictures taken. Who wants to argue with a dinosaur?

The idea of a play mat for an almost eleven year old might be pushing it for some, but Elias' imagination has always be alive and vivid. With it being a War of 1812 theme, my history buff would love it. I made six British and six American soldiers, with six pegs should he want to make his own Native representatives. There was also a book and a mat with a river, rocks and meadow. Also a hit.

Aria is still very much enjoying fairies, something that steals my own heart. I want to indulge and encourage it as long as it will last. I enjoyed not following a tutorial for this fairy house, embroidering here and there. To reside in the house was a fairy family, felt logs, embroidered sleeping bags and pillows. Very quickly are woodland felted friends came out of hiding to investigate the new additions.

Chris and I collaborated on Ben's set. We carried on the viking theme from his birthday. I made three viking bendy dolls and Chris made a viking ship, complete with oars and shields. The vikings and soldiers were soon trying to battle each other to take over dinosaur island Christmas morning!

Gifts

I am excited to share some of the gifts we have made this year, and some very special ones that we received. Such talented, loving people in my life. Creating their own special gifts for all their relatives has been the norm for my kids. As they get older they need little to no guidance as to what they want to make for a gift, I may open the door to the craft supplies or thread a needle here and there but generally I have been weeded out of the process. Christmas morning it is often as much of a surprise for me as to what is being given.

Everyone was really excited to give this year, in fact we needed to be patient waiting our turn!

The thoughtfulness and love that went in to the perfect gifts were so much a part. Elias' gift for Ben was one such example. He worked with his dad to find a chart online listing the fish species in the lakes nearby. Next he searched out and printed a picture of each of the fish listed on the chart, with the name of the fish on the back. The chart and each of the fishes were lamented and hole punched. He put the collection on a ring, for Ben to clip to his bait box. Now Ben, who loves to fish, can identify what fish he has caught with ease, or choose a certain lake to fish as because of the fish the lake homes.

How clever is that? useful yet incredibly thoughtful!

Celebrating

We enjoyed a beautiful three days with our families celebrating Christmas. Often our visits are crammed solid, rushed and tiring. This past week was a real gift. We had the chance to catch up with family, connect, spend time. It was very much a celebration. We left feeling thankful for such a wonderful family.

Christmas Day Together

A beautiful Christmas day, just the six of us. We were up early enough to watch a gorgeous sunrise with radiant colours. There was lots of playing, excitement, wood working (with new tools!), secrets revealed, pizza made together and early to bed!

Merry Christmas

They are in their new Christmas Eve pj's, having already put out the cookies and carrots, read our stack of favorites and stockings put out. They were ready. Except for sleep. This year they out did themselves by staying awake until after three and waking up at six. Thankfully all was merry and bright!

The Gift of a Walk

We decided to take a break from the holiday preparations, the crafting, the baking, the tidying and go for a walk. Sometimes the most progress can be made by walking away. With snow shoes on we headed into the deep snow and enjoyed the beautiful trees and the river. The tubing hill was also open and it was great to fly (literally) down the hill a few times. In those moments of awe at the beauty and the amazing feeling of laughing and having fun with my special 'gang', the to do list was put back into perspective.

These are the moments I cherish during the holidays.

Traditions

There are so many Christmas traditions I cherish. Some of those traditions fell into place on their own without any guidance from me. Others were very intentional. When Chris and I were first married I bought a book about the Nativity story. While the story telling is simple and the pictures are beautiful, I wouldn't say its an exceptional book in any way. We have since added other books telling the Christmas story I enjoy much more.
We read from this very classic version every year. But the tradition that accompanies the book which we really cherish it, is the writing we add to it. Every year we add a few sentences inside its covers with the highlights of that years holidays; new babes, no power, the loss of a loved one, mountains of snow, the different homes and provinces we have been in. We read through the history each Christmas eve, remembering holidays past and the memories which each hold of those days. Its a beautiful way to capture the warmth of the season.

We have a wonderful collection of holiday books we love reading through the season. A few of the more non traditional ones we cherish are
listening to Stuart McLean's stories of Dave and his zany holidays
reading allowed (and bringing me to tears every year!) The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Gifts in a Jar

Gift giving traditions with my extended family has gone through lots of changes over the years. There were lots of years ,even as a kid, everyone exchanged a gift. As the families grew we started to draw names, each giving just one gift. There were also few years we each brought a neutral gift that we used played games with for the exchange. The games have been one of the parts of the exchange I have enjoyed the most, they have often been a gift in themselves. There have been lots of games over time; family trivia, the lucky draw, cards, Karaoke (which I loved!), auctions.

This year we decided on something we haven't tried before. First adults picking a name from the adult pool and the kids picking a name from the kid pool. The gifts couldn't cost more than $10, and they could be handmade or up cycled. The catch was the gift was to be put in a jar. A jar for a few reasons. It eliminates wrapping, bags, waste and instead is a re usable container. This twist requires you to be a little bit more creative and think outside your box....or in a jar!

We had a lot of fun with these gifts. We have been in a bit of a gifting slump with this particular exchange the last few years. We don't often see most of these family members any other time of the year, new partners come and therefore don't know them all extremely well to think of a personal gift. These new requirements breathed enough life into for us. We felt really successful in creating gifts we are joy filled in giving and that are also personal.

So since there are six of us, there were six gifts to give. I thought I would share what we did.

For my 3 yo nephew who loves super heroes we made some super hero accessories. We had recently made him a cape, so we built on that with wrist bands, a belt and a mask. A cool collection of tattoos topped it up.

My 9 yo cousin is receiving a bag made of jean with some funky embroidery. We covered the outside of the jar with hair accessories and some personal embroidered felt magnets.

Her 16 year old sister we made a hat from a felt sweater and a matching fleece scarf - which I just loved!

My 18 yo cousin is deciding what the next year will hold for her. We though it was fitting to give a flag banner with the word believe on it.

My cousin is also getting a hat made from a felted sweater, and in his jar is also some homemade hot chocolate mix and peppermint candy cane white chocolate bark. Cause really who doesn't like those!

My Aunt was originally getting a very different gift, but I ran into some sewing issues which needed me to walk away. Thankfully I found an even better replacement idea. She has a coffee mug cozy, a beautiful silk scarf with sequins I made and an embroidered broach.

Each of the gifts also have ornaments ; beeswax, salt dough or lavender filled birds and a small sweet treat we made.

I am excited to see the fun everyone else has been having making theirs and even more to see what games we decide on!

Door to Door

I love crafting, baking, creating, gifting. I am so thankful that I don't get lost in my craft room. For the seasonal- just because visits are so warming. The other day we were visiting the family we were celebrating. The kids played on the trampoline in mounds of snow, wonderful chat time, nuts and hot chocolate. We brought a little treat for the horses and donkeys which they happily recieved!

Even getting stuck in a ditch didn't dampen things!