Happy Thanksgiving

I woke this morning to a quiet house and a layer of frost covering everything outside. If I squint my eyes hard enough, I can almost imagine that it's snow.....

This is the first major holiday I have had since Todd moved out, and there was quite a bit of emotion building up to it. Holidays are times for family, and when your family has had major changes, well.... let's just say that can bring on the waterworks.

However, despite the changes, I know I am lucky. Todd and I still get along (mostly) and we are having Thanksgiving today, together (with some other friends too). Which means that we both get to spend Thanksgiving with the kids, and for this I am grateful. And, I must say that it was nice to wake up this morning in my own time to a quiet house. I have been drinking my coffee, making cranberry sauce, doing some chores, and enjoying the peace. And I plan to sneak in a run before the kids come over at noon.

And, since it's Thanksgiving, I may as well share some of my gratitudes from the past few days:

• For the wildlife that surrounds me in the city. Just yesterday, there were 5 types of birds and 2 kinds of squirrels, in my front yard, all at the same time. As I am wriitng this, there are about 25 bushtits swarming the feeders. It makes me so happy. If you feed them, they will come. I love that my tiny city lot can offer enough wilderness to support these creatures.

• For my friends and family who have been there for me to lean on during this time of transition. I know that I mention this almost every time I do a gratitude post, but I honestly feel so thankful every day for these people in my life.

• For Phoebe and the way that she will randomly shout out "I love you mom!". It's a nice reminder. I think adults should do that more often. The world would definitely be a happier place.

• For good music. Right? I have been listening to The Wood Brothers newest album, Paradise,  and it is amazing. I love them. I already have my ticket to see them when they come here in January. I have seen them several times and they never disappoint. Have you heard them? If not, I suggest you do. Luckiest Man is one of my favorite songs of all times. Grateful to the max for those guys.

• For laughter. It's the best way to heal your soul, hands down.

What are you grateful for today?

Wishing you all a fabulous holiday weekend.

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Handmade Holidays

Ever since Finn was a baby, I have hand-made many Christmas presents for him each year. However, as Finn has gotten older, he has become mainly interested in books, legos, art, and science. He already has plenty of hats and mittens and he won't wear sweaters or thick socks. I couldn't think of anything that he wanted or needed that I could make that he would actually appreciate. So this year, I didn't make him anything for Christmas.
I made Phoebe a felted play mat for her ponies. I actually had a really fun time making it... but so far she hasn't shown a whole lot of interest in it. It comes out here and there for a few minutes, and then is soon forgotten.  I imagine that it will eventually get it's turn, but it may take a while. I knit a dress for Phoebe too-- even though she didn't really need one. But that's all I hand made for my kids this year.
I did make some hand stitched felt ornaments, and knit some cowls, but I was not the crazy crafter that I normally am this time of year. I am not sure if it is because my kids are reaching an age where I can't make what they are really interested in, or if I have become busier or lazier, or if I just felt like they didn't need anything I could make.
It was nice to not be so stressed in the days leading up to Christmas, trying to get everything done in time, but I also feel like the lack of handmade gifts sort of took some of the personalization out of Christmas-- like we let commercialism take over. I missed seeing presents that I made sitting under our tree, and hope that next year I can find the inspiration to hand make more of their gifts. I will have to start the planning earlier next year though......
Did you make many of your holiday gifts this year? If so, when do you start planning and preparing your gifts for the holidays? I swear, I think I need to start in July.... Pin It Now!

This Moment

{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. Inspired by Soulemama.

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Around Here

Holiday preparations are in full swing around here. Here's a peak into our past week;

Pattern for these felt ornaments can be found here

 

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A Time to Share

I have a love-hate relationship with the holidays. I love the festivities, decorations and parties. I love the book reading, cookie making, and hanging of lights. I love the anticipation of Santa's arrival. I love the smile on my children's faces on Christmas morning.
But the consumerism and materialism that comes along with it makes me feel pretty gross. And I am totally guilty of partaking. We will be giving our children gifts that are store bought (if only I knew how to knit legos!). Some of the gifts will be packaged in plastic. Some will be made in China or somewhere else that is likely not giving its employees a living wage. But my children will be bright-eyed when they open them and the magic of Christmas will make me forget about all of the social and environmental injustices that went into making those gifts.... at least temporarily.
Don't get me wrong-- I am conscious of my impact and try to reduce it--- buying toys locally when available, making gifts or buying from etsy, and reusing wrappings. But I feel like it's not enough. I am mentally making plans for ways to re-vamp our Christmas that will ease our burden on the Earth, without damping the joy for my children. I haven't quite figured out how to pull it off... yet...... but I do have some plans in the works for next year.
Anyways, the point of the post wasn't supposed to be a rant about the downsides of the holidays. I sat down this morning to write about how, despite all of the consumerism that surrounds the holidays, Todd and I make a point of emphasizing to our children that the holiday season is about giving and sharing what you have-- whether that is money, time or love. We typically give during the holidays by donating to others in need-- toys for tots, sending money to Heifer International, and donating to a family in need. We make our children aware of why we are helping, but there is a big disconnect-- sending a check in the mail doesn't mean a lot to a 7 year old. And yes, choosing and bringing a toy to a toy drive is great, but when they don't see who that toy is going to, I am not sure if it really sinks in.
So, this year, in addition to our regular donations, we borrowed an idea from a friend and decided to make care bags for homeless people. We purchased socks, hats, gloves, toothbrushes and some snacks. The kids divided everything up into gallon sized plastic bags and added a note that said "happy holidays". We decided to keep them in the car and when we see someone who is down on their luck, we can share ours. Finn enjoyed choosing what to put in the bags and assembling them. And after giving out our first bag a couple of days ago, he continued to talk about it for several hours afterwards.

Do you share your luck during the holidays? If you do, how? I would love to compile some more ideas that we could use for future holidays or throughout the year.

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Happy December!

As a child, I always loved the month of December. I loved the snow, the break from school, the holiday traditions we had as a family, and of course, the advent calender.  Most years we made a green and red paper chain, and tore off a link each morning when we woke up. If we were lucky, we also got an advent calendar filled with chocolate (and yes, we got to eat it each morning!).
For the past 4 years, we have done a family time advent calendar with our children.... there is an owl for each day of the month through Christmas... and each owl holds a scroll that has a family activity for the day.
Today we decorated our tree. Some of the other ideas include making paper snowflakes, seeing the lights downtown, going out to a movie, decorating a gingerbread house, choosing and donating toys for children in need, and baking cookies. As this tradition has grown, we have learned to plan most things out only a day or two ahead of time. Weather and schedules can change plans and we have found it is easier to have a list to work from, and then piece it together as we go along.

Does your family have a special advent tradition?

And for those of you who read my last couple of posts.... I had a root canal done today and I am feeling worlds better! Thanks for all of your kind words!

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Finding Time for Togetherness: Our December Tradition

The holiday season, fun as it is, is always super hectic. Between social gatherings, making and shopping for presents, and decorating the house, it seems like not much time is left for anything else.
So, when Finn was little, we started a tradition of having a family-time advent calender through the month of December. This is our way to make sure that we are finding time each day to be together as a family, doing something special. That's what the holidays are supposed to be about, right? Being with family and the ones you love? It just often gets overshadowed by presents and commercialism...
Anyways, these "owl" activities, as we call them (as our advent calender is made from felt owls), are a time for us to connect and to make memories and traditions for years to come. When I think back to Christmases of my youth, I do fondly remember certain gifts, and I sure did love opening presents. But, more than specific presents, I think of the activities we did: gatherings with family, Christmas caroling, decorating the tree, baking cookies, going to see The Nutcracker. trips into the city (of Chicago) to see the lights and store windows, hot cocoa in front of the tree, reading The Night Before Christmas, ice skating, and all of the other activities we did.
So, that is what I hope to share with my children as well. Some of our activities for this year are: writing letters to Santa, making a gingerbread house, donating toys to a local toy drive, making paper snowflakes, and seeing the light display at the Zoo. This year, we are a bit less organized than normal, and so Todd and I are deciding each day's activity the night before. It leaves us more flexibility, but it is also a bit more hectic.
How do you spend time as a family during the holidays?

Oh- and please pop over to this post for your chance to win a little giveaway!

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Happy Valentine's to All My Gnomies

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Happy Mardi Gras!

In celebration of this year's Fat Tuesday, the kids and I made some hand print masks. The masks were inspired by this blog, which I came across via pinterest.
The kids had fun making them, and we are planning on parading around our house later this evening to some traditional New Orleans tunes. Should be quite an event!

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Love is in the Air

Valentine's Day is almost here. We haven't done a whole lot of Valentine's crafts this year... mostly because Finn has to make 31 valentines to bring to school this year. And that has been keeping us both pretty busy...

We did see a sweet idea over from Kim at Mothering with Mindfulness and decided to make our own heart-shaped bird treats. We cut hearts out of cardboard, covered it with sunflower butter and then coated it with birdseed. We hung them from a tree near our front window so we could watch the birds enjoy their treat.

We also decided to make some heart shaped 'stained glass'. The idea is from a craft Finn and I did a couple of years ago when we made Easter egg stained glass. You can find the instructions there. Super easy and looks cute. However, please excuse my very dirty windows shown in this picture!! Egad!

Have you done any sweet Valentine's Day crafts? Finn is home sick from school today, so we may browse pinterest for some some ideas... Pin It Now!

A Glimpse Into Our Week

This week we have been busy checking off our holiday to-do list! Here is a glimpse into what we have been up to:

• Listening to lots of holiday music (mostly on Pandora)
• Enjoying the first (and hopefully not last) snow of the winter!
• Making peppermint bark
• Watching a few favorite holiday movies
• Making these 3-D paper snowflakes
• Seeing the lights at the Oregon Zoo (and hopefully a couple more light displays before the week is up!)
• Bringing a few small toys to our local fire department for their annual toy drive
• Decorating sugar cookies with some of Finn's new friends from school
• And mostly, trying to get everyone healthy so that we can enjoy our holiday together!!

What have you been doing in this week before Christmas?

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Some Holiday Art

Over the past couple of weeks we have been busy crafting for the holidays. Here is some of what we have made....

The Best Paper Snowflakes (instructions can be found here):

Snowflake Paintings. I saw the idea on The Feminist Housewife, and found a tutorial here:

Thumb-print reindeer, inspired by this.

Snow Globes (Courtney of A Life Sustained recently wrote a tutorial in Rhythm of the Home)

Salt Dough Ornaments (a yearly tradition around here). I posted instructions last year. This year, after they cooled, we painted them with watercolors and had a sparkle party with the glitter!

What have you been crafting around your house? Pin It Now!

Let the Countdown Begin!

Finn, like most 5 year old kids, can't wait for Christmas. For weeks now he has been asking me over and over again "how many more days until Christmas?". Thankfully, tomorrow is December 1st, and we can begin the official countdown to Christmas...
Last year I made a family-time owl advent calender. The owls above have been hung on our fireplace, and each day holds a piece of paper with something special that we get to do as a family that day. They help remind Finn how many more days until Christmas, and they help remind me how important it is to spend time together as a family.
Here is my December family to-do list, although I still have not figured out what order they will go in. Last year, Todd and I decided each day the night before, leaving some flexibility in our busy schedules!:

1. Decorate the tree
2. Write a letter to Santa
3. Make (and drink) homemade hot cocoa
4. Go ice skating
5. Make holiday cookies to share with friends
6. Donate toys or food to families in need
7. Make a gingerbread house
8. See Christmas carolers
9. Take Finn to the Nutcracker ballet
10. See the infamous Peacock Lane Christmas lights
11. Watch It's a Charlie Brown Christmas
12. Go see the Zoolights display at the Oregon Zoo
13. Make upcycled ornaments
14. Dance to a Christmas album
15. Go out to a family dinner
16. Make a holiday craft
17. Make a Buche de Noel (French Christmas log cake)
18. See the light display at The Grotto
19. Watch a Christmas movie
20. See the decorations downtown
21. Take a holiday hike
22. Go on a spontaneous family adventure
23. Make holiday lanterns
24. Read The Night Before Christmas

Do you have exciting December plans? I would love to know what special plans you have for you and your family! Pin It Now!

In A Pumpkin Galaxy Far Far Away....

Monday night we held our annual family pumpkin carving party. I love pumpkin carving. It was a tradition that I looked forward to each year of my childhood and I want to pass that excitement and routine onto my kids as well. But, it's probably Todd's least favorite event of the year... he dislikes carving pumpkins, hates the pressure of having to be creative and think of a design, and only does it because I make him. And, well, the kids are still mostly too little to carve. Finn can't stand the feel of pumpkin guts touching him, so he refuses to scoop them out. Phoebe thinks pumpkin guts are awesome, however, she spent most of Monday night putting pumpkin guts back into the pumpkins I had already scooped. And while Finn can decide on what he wants his pumpkin to be, I still end up having to do most of the actual carving. So this year, as I scooped out 4 pumpkins and then carved 3, the tradition start to loose a bit of it's luster. But, just a little bit.
This year's theme was Star Wars (of course, as Finn would say). Todd chose a storm trooper (because that seemed the easiest), Finn chose Yoda, I chose Princess Leia and Phoebe's pumpkin turned into an awful impression of R2D2 (OK, I was tired of carving at that point). But, all in all, the night went off without too many disasters and the pumpkins don't look half bad! And, of course, the night wouldn't have been complete without apples dipped in caramel sauce and roasted pumpkin seeds.

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Pumpkins!

Last weekend when my mom was in town, the two of us took the kids to a pumpkin patch. We tried out a new one this year, in hopes of beating the regular crowds, and we were successful. We ate kettle corn, played in some corn, went through the hay maze, saw some animals, and, of course, picked out pumpkins. Phoebe chose one that is about the size of her! We are hoping (fingers crossed) to carve them tomorrow night! The pumpkin theme: Star Wars.. just like everything else in our lives these days!

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2012: Year of the Dragon and A Couple of Fun Crafts

Happy Chinese New Year! The past few months I have been reading a lot of Chinese-american literature and watching a lot of movies set in China (including the phenomenal BBC Wild China series that you can instant view on Netflix). So, anyways, I guess you could say that I have China on the brain and this year, Finn and I decided to make some crafts to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
We made some quick and easy paper lanterns and a dancing dragon. We found instructions for both crafts here. We had fun making them, and Finn has been parading his dragon around the house for days.
Hoping the Year of the Dragon brings you much luck and happiness!

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Merry Merry

The past week has been filled with preparations, anticipation, wonder, excitement and exhaustion. Since we did not travel anywhere over Christmas, we had time instead to spend with our local friends and with one another. Last week brought lots of baking and making. Some favorite moments included:

Making (and tasting) a gingerbread house (from a kit, mind you, which was still harder than I anticipated!)

Decorating gingerbread cookies with Finn's dear friends

And making a fabric wreath when we found ourselves with a spare moment. We found a lovely tutorial here.

Christmas eve was a special dinner with friends, while we tracked Sant'a progress across the Atlantic. I think I may have been more excited than Finn for Christmas morning to arrive... and sleep eluded me for most of the night.
Christmas morning was filled with heaps of gifts from near and far, a yummy breakfast, a walk with the dogs and some time skyping with family far away.

Today we tried to re-enter the world of reality, but it was not an easy transition. Schedules are off, and less sleep (for everyone) means that we are all a bit cranky and not our best. Hoping to re-find our rhythm as we enjoy our last week of 2011!!!
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Pin It Now!

The Elf on the Shelf

Have you guys heard about the Elf on the Shelf? We got it as a present last year, and it has proved to be a great one. Basically, each night while your children are sleeping, your elf flies to the North Pole to report on the naughty and nice behavior of your child and when he arrives back at your house, he hides in a different location for your child to discover.
So, the first thing Finn does each morning during the month of December is jump out of bed to find Muga (that is our elf). He has a blast and it has become a lovely morning ritual.
The problem is having to remember to move the elf each night after the kids are asleep. It seems easy, right? But some days leave me physically exhausted and brain-dead (I think that is in the job description for "mom", right?), and some nights I am ready for bed as soon as the kids are down. Moving an elf just isn't on top on my to-do list. Now that we are 3 weeks into December, I have a pretty good routine going, but during the first couple of weeks there was more than one occasion where I woke up in a panic the middle of the night remembering that I needed to go and move Muga... and we have had at least one or two close calls where we had to move him in the morning without Finn seeing.
Anyways, I had no clue how popular the Elf on the Shelf was until I started reading other blog posts and facebook posts about it. And then I started finding out about some moms who apparently have no trouble remembering to move their elf and in fact find the time to create entire elf-scenarios while their children are sleeping. If you are in need of some pee-in-your-pants laughing during the hustle and bustle of the holidays, then check out this blog post making fun of over-achieving elf moms. Sorry if any of you are one of these moms.. I actually think many of these ideas are terrific and would be so fun for Finn... if I didn't have to cook, clean, work or sleep.
But, we love our Muga and love this fun tradition that we have begun.
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Handmade Holiday

Well, my 2 big projects I was hoping to finish in time for Christmas are still on my needles: a hooded sweater and a felted stocking, both for Phoebe. In the meantime though, I have been busy creating a few other handmade holiday gifts:

felted acorn ornaments:

the idea for these came from Rhythm of the Home's tutorial for acorn necklaces. I just made the string a wee bit shorter so that they were the perfect size for ornaments. And I sort of suck at making felted balls, so mine don't look quite as nice.. ;)

A set of 12 hand-dyed  play silks for Finn. I dyed these (with my friend's advice) using water colors and they came out great. It was definitely a messy project, but they look pretty sweet!

A "Be Merry" bunting. I actually made this to sell in my etsy shop, but haven't yet been able to get a presentable picture of the whole thing. It may be a little late at this point!

Some kimono xmas PJs for Miss P. I used the same pattern as I did for these, but just made the arms longer.

And, of course, we have been busy making cookies. On tomorrow's agenda are a couple of batches of saltine toffee, my favorite holiday treat. You can find my super super special recipe for them here.

Hope all you crafty mamas are getting your holiday gifts finished up in time! Pin It Now!

Giving (And the Sweetest 4 Year Old)

This year we have been trying to instill in Finn that the true meaning behind Christmas is not just getting presents, but giving presents, sharing what you have, and spending time with family and friends. Since he is only 4, we decided that showing him this, through actions, would speak much louder than words.
So last week, the family headed out for a trip to buy some canned goods and some toys to share with those less fortunate. We brought the toys to our local fire station where they were having a toy drive. And, lucky for Finn, he was able to get a tour of the station when he dropped off the toys! We brought the food to a local emergency center that helps those in need. When we get there, there was a huge line waiting for handouts of food. It was awesome for Finn to get to see us bringing something for others and seeing the actual people who were going to receive it.
We also talked about Heifer International and how they help families in need by providing them with animals (this was spurred by a catalog full of pictures of animals that we got in the mail. What 4 year old could resist that?)... Finn decided that he and I would pool some money and buy a family a share of a goat. We each took $5 from our savings (Finn's from a money jar that has about $12 total and my "savings" was actually my credit card). It was so sweet to see him get excited about this and I hope to make it a yearly tradition.
To top it off, the next day my sweet sweet boy told all of his friends at school that Christmas is not really about getting presents but about giving things to others (his teacher told me this when I picked him up). Is that not the cutest, sweetest thing you have ever heard? I mean, no doubt that when he wakes up Christmas morning and finds that Santa has been to our house, he will be ecstatic. Honestly, I am so excited to see him find his presents that I feel like a kid again! But to know that my little boy is so willing to share makes me happy beyond belief. At least I know I have done something right in terms of parenting.. (maybe that negates my threats about Santa not coming if he doesn't start listening... ?).
I have good memories of always participating in toy, food and coat drives when I was growing up and I am glad I am finally getting a chance to pass those memories along. 

Tomorrow is the last day to enter my last-minute giveaway for a holiday ornament! Pin It Now!