Two Days Before Christmas!

The Man of the House is on his annual pilgrimage.  Every year, he makes a mad dash with children in tow to find me the perfect Christmas gift (s).  

This year is no exception.  They loaded up this morning (the kids love it!) and headed for town.  They usually make a day of it- stopping to have lunch together,etc.  Even our grown daughter and new granddaughter went.

Me?  I'm enjoying the peace and quiet while working to get the house clean and orderly for Christmas.  It's really warm out, so I have the doors and windows open- enjoying the fresh breeze spreading throughout the house.
 
I may or may not still be in my pajamas at 1:30 in the afternoon.  
I may or may not have eaten three pieces of fudge while cleaning the kitchen.
I may or may not have gotten sidetracked from my work by two phone calls, a neighbor boy stopping by and the uploading of new precious pictures of my new granddaughter.  

And, since I am a grandma....I get to post a few more pictures of our sweet little Mallory, now three weeks old:

 Uploading photos of her and sharing them keeps me distracted from the intense desire to gobble her up.  She is that yummy.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

  

This was in an email sent to me this morning:

"There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me.

What in the world do leaping lords, French hens,

swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out

of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

This week, I found out.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were

not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone

during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning

plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each

element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality

which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching,  Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,  Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'

Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone"

 ~Author unknown

Look to the Light

" The birth of the Savior means to me that the world has a chance to change....the world has a chance to become what He intended it to become from the beginning... the world has a chance to accept His love and follow him..."

Christmas Vacation Begins

It's the most wonderful time of the year....Christmas happenings, school is out for vacation time and the winter weather calls for snuggling up in front of a fire.  

I'm so very pleased and thankful.
Pleased that my new little granddaughter is here to share in the Christmas joy, that my Sophomore son, who is experiencing his first year of public school, is doing so well.   (He just had his finals!)

That my family is healthy and happy, that our home is safe and warm.

Thankful for the month of December and the singing of Christmas carols at church every Sunday.
There is nothing quite like sitting in a pew with your loved ones, surrounded by friends, singing beloved carols.  

For the time of year when we give ourselves permission to slow down, reconnect and reach out.

Life is such a beautiful thing!

Christmas Festivities

 

The Christmas season is here and one of our traditions is to get our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Growing up in Oregon, my family always made a trip up in the mountains to choose and chop our own tree.   I have many memories of bundling up, sitting in the backseat with my siblings and singing along to music on 8-Tracks.   Christmas songs, John Denver, a little Earth Wind & Fire and Linda Ronstadt to name a few favorites.

We would tromp through the inevitable mountain snow, searching for the perfect tree.   Our seventies winter clothes lacking decent water-proofing, we would quickly become cold and Mom would shoo us back to the car/truck to drink thermos-held hot cocoa out of styrofoam cups.  Then we'd haul the tree home and set to decorating it!

Through the years, my husband and I have bought our trees.  While in Oregon, we never paid more than $15-$20 for a nice Fir.    Moving to other states, I was shocked to see ticket prices for an average tree up in the $70 range.   We thriftily found the cheapest we could and, a few years later, bought an artificial tree.  That, my friends, was lowering my standards.

I couldn't fathom not having a real tree filling my home with its fresh scent.

Fast forward a few years: Donated the artificial tree, went back to the real thing.

Then moved to Colorado and gulped at the prices again.

This year, I told my husband we couldn't possibly justify spending so much on a tree when it could be spent instead on gifts or family activities.  We decided to scout our own tree-filled property for something that would work.   There were several patches that needed thinned out anyway.

So one morning we set out, located a Pine tree that was growing too close to others  and chopped it down.  

 

 

 

Pine trees are a different breed of Christmas tree to be sure, but a few times as a kid we had one and they are special in their own way.  My children have only known Fir and complained that decorating it was not the same.   I told them it was rustic and real; like having a Ponderosa Pine growing indoors.  

We calculated the tree's age and found that it was 9 years old- the same age as our youngest daughter.  That gave them some food for thought- all those years growing to be cut down for our Christmas enjoyment.  We did feel good that if the tree needed to be cut for others to grow, at least it was cut in honor of Christ.

We even cut rounds off of the excess trunk, bored holes into them and hung them by ribbons on the tree.  I also cut round orange slices and hung them as well.  They smelled amazing with the fresh tree!

Here it is with its initial rustic finery; before earnest decorating commenced:

A little Charlie Brownesque, but very in tune with the Christmas season!

Christmas is Coming...

Christmas is in the air!

We headed downtown to our local Christmas festival.

 

Stopped and visited with the Grinch & Cindy Lou Who

 

Saw real live reindeer

 

And my last little child interested in sitting on Santa's knee, did.

And declared he might be the real thing.

 She inspected him rather closely, as lately she has become rather jaded.   

She told me, while waiting her turn, that she would like to ask for an ipod.

I told her I was pretty sure Santa wouldn't think ipods were appropriate for children her age.   So she changed it to a Teddy bear.

(she has a thing for stuffed animals)

The boy in front of her went up for his turn. 

He was about six.  

He asked for a cell phone.

Santa's helper asked him how old he was, in disbelief.  

My girl went next and asked for a Teddy bear.  And got smiles of approval.

I think she felt relieved about the ipod thing.

 

We wandered around and even sauntered into the library

to return a couple of books and check out a few more.

I can't ever pass up a library run. 

I love small towns!