The final day of the year 2009 is here and before I ruminate on what that means to me I am going to sit at this computer with a glass of my favorite wine nearby and I am going to share with you some of my Christmas memories. Speaking of Christmas memories, the cute little penguin in the accompanying picture is a gift from my dear Maceo and is actually a coaster. How kitschy, how fun. I love it.
Previously, I made note of the things I would like to include in our family's preparation and celebration of this sweet time of year. A handful of things I was unable to accomplish. We did not get around to making the luminarias or the cookies for all those people who make our lives just a little bit sweeter, we didn't make it to our theatre's production of Babe's in Toyland (the money just didn't stretch that far), and the Christmas cards didn't get mailed off (I will mail them on Jan.2, 2010 - better late than never?). We did, however, celebrate Saint Nicholas Day with some of the extended family. It was such a beautiful day complete with oranges, chocolate coins, St. Nick cookies, St. Nick coloring pages, pizza, games, gifts, laughter and love. I would love to post the photos but alas they have been lost due to a computer glitch.
I was a bit delayed in getting all of my decorations out; it did not happen until after St. Nick's Day. That meant that I did not find my advent wreath and calendar in a timely fashion. This forced me to be a bit creative - necessity is the mother of invention. Due to the computer glitch I will be unable to post the photos of the makeshift wreath but I will tell you about it. I really liked how it turned it. I simply placed a royal purple cloth napkin on a diagonal as the base, placed the four advent candles mounted in glass candle holders in a diamond shape on the napkin and then filled in the remaining space with clippings from an evergreen in the yard. Simple yet elegant. The advent calendar that we typically use is comprised of 24 fabric pockets sewn onto a cord. I put little gifts or candy in the pockets and the kids take turn removing the items from the pockets after we have done an evening reading and prayer. Since the calendar was not located by December 1st I made a paper chain from purple and green construction. I wove the chain around the advent "wreath" and the kids removed a link of the chain each evening. It really did look beautiful. I did get pictures of some of the other decorations. I hope you enjoy.
I love the reading and activity baskets placed on the little pew. We read most of the books in this basket because they were so accessible. I am going to continue this for a while. I am going to replace the Christmas books with ones that are related to winter in general and am going to place a variety of winter related crafts in the other basket.
We did get some crafting done. Keegan decoupaged a fabulous box to deliver Christmas goodies in. I failed to take a picture before she delivered her goodies. Keegan's boyfriend, Ian, and Bishop painted ornaments. Bishop also made a stunning wreath that I will surely treasure for years to come. Maceo tried his hand at Christmas chocolates - I cannot post pictures of this project due to the computer glitch.
I truly enjoyed the preparation for Christmas!
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