Several years ago, a few days before Christmas, I read a story to my girls that we had picked up at the library. I can't remember what it was called, but from it stemmed our tradition of 25 days of Christmas. We have high expectations, and the girls look forward to December every year. Many of our activities are repeats--we like it that way. In fact, the two of them usually sit down a couple days after Thanksgiving and make up a list of things to put in the advent calendar--a little wooden church with 24 windows and a door that open to reveal a little square compartment.
This year we made the list. . . but the list never got sorted into the slots. I just kept picking the things that fit into our day best--much to Signe's chagrin. Every day we would hear her protest: "It's December 7th (or 8th, or 12th) and we don't have the advent church filled yet!" Next year. . .
And there were many things we usually do, that made the list, but didn't actually happen. For example, we never made birdseed and peanut butter bird ornaments on the first day of winter. We didn't do a giving tree (which I am quite sad about). We missed our church Christmas party--we even worked right through the Festival of the Nativities--again, to Signe's displeasure. A few other things only half worked out, like the neighborhood gifts we made, but never actually distributed.
Despite all that, one thing is certain--we spent a lot of time together. Which is really the point, right? In fact, much of what we planned to do got sidetracked, as they tend to do when Rob is home, because Rob worked his last day on December 17th and he doesn't go back for another week. And even before that, we worked many hours and days together making this house look lovely. And as Signe recently said through inexplicable tears after watching Romona and Beezus, "Stuff is nice, but what is really important is family!" After which she hugged me tight and told me even if I die she will remember me forever. . . I am choosing to overlook the dying part and focus on the sweet 7 year old with a big heart.
Never-the-less, here is the quick parade of what we DID do (in the tardy, collage style that is quickly becoming a tradition here on the blog).
On the 8th day of Christmas. . .
We made our traditional snowflakes. And they are the
only snowflakes we got during our 25 days of Christmas. We made cutouts, as usual, but I also made some origami snowflakes that I turned into a mobile. Directions
HERE.
On the 9th day of Christmas. . .
We celebrated a double tradition. When Rob's mom was in sixth grade she received a clarinet and joined band, continuing to play throughout her school days. When Rob was started 6th grade he inherited the clarinet and followed in her footsteps. So when Hannah was about to start 6th grade we pulled out that old clarinet and decided it needed a little love and attention. So we had it overhauled and Hannah is now the oldest daughter of an oldest son of an oldest daughter, playing the clarinet. And this night was her school band Christmas concert. Afterwards we took Jacob and Noah and went out for ice cream (Hannah's best friend Jacob also plays the clarinet).
On the 10th Day of Christmas. . .
We skipped our Church Christmas Party, and turned Family Fun Friday into Family fun finish the rental before the tenants move in in five days. . . this would become a trend for a few days.
On the 11th Day of Christmas. . .
We had a full day of renovation, then piano, but managed to drive home the long way to see the Christmas lights. I never get a good picture of the lights, though my neighbor has the best display around (next year I am taking the tripod out there and capturing that Christmas wonderland which grows each year!).
On the 12th Day of Christmas. . .
Eloise saved Rachel from marrying a con artist. Of course, while the girls were engrossed in our "family" movie night, watching Eloise at Christmastime, Rob surfed the internet on the laptop and I whipped up an apron. Not nearly as much family togetherness as this day intends, but I had seven etsy orders over the weekend.
On the 13th Day of Christmas. . . and the 14th day, actually. . .
Rob and I worked our tails off finishing the
rental house. We didn't get home until 11pm on Monday and 8:30 on Tuesday! It was satisfying and a little sad to walk away, knowing the new tenant would start moving in the next day and I would not be making the trek to and from it anymore (with stops at Home Depot both coming and going and in between!).
On the 15th day of Christmas. . .
The young women at church had a Christmas exchange party. Rob was out of town one last time, so I took the girls with me. Every girl brought a gift that represented something about them. We sat in a large circle, showed our gift and told why we choose it. Then it was placed in the middle with a number on it. After every had shared, we all drew a number and got to keep the corresponding gift. Signe brought a box of hot chocolate. I brought one of my homemade dictionary snowflakes, and Hannah had me help her make a journal by sewing a cover for a composition notebook--because she loves to write. In the end we came home with: a pony ornament (me), a drawing pad and colored pencils (Signe) and a mug and hot chocolate (Hannah). Over all it was fun and festive evening.
On the 16th day of Christmas. . .
We made Christmas books. Signe made a Christmas journal for school all about our tradition of 25 days of Christmas, and Hannah made another journal (complete with a mini chalkboard on the front)--this time for a boy at school as reciprocation for a necklace he had given her. Have I mentioned that Hannah's closest friends are: Jacob, Noah, Adam, Chris, and Wyatt. All boys. I am sure she has friends that are girls, I hear their names occasionally, but it's the boys that show up at my house to play our wii and make clubs in our tree house.
On the 17th day of Christmas. . .
Every Friday I volunteer in Signe's classroom. Lucky for me, they happened to be doing their giving tree concert. All month kids brought gifts for the giving tree at school. On the 17th, the teachers all put on a concert around the tree and then the local firemen thanked the kids for their generosity and took the gifts to give to local families in need. It was also the last day of school before winter break so Signe took her teacher a couple of soup bowls with two different soup mixes as a Christmas gift.
On the 18th day of Christmas. . .
We attempted a family photo for the VERY late Christmas card. . .
On the 19th day of Christmas. . .
Our sugar tooth was acting up and Rob was itching to try his mother's microwave divinity recipe. First we made a peppermint version--it worked well, though could have used a little longer in the mixer--but the girls protested that it tasted like toothpaste. I had to concur. So we made another batch with plain old vanilla and I barely even snapped a picture before the wax paper the candy was setting up on was empty. . . with only white traces left behind. Yum.
On the 20th day of Christmas. . .
Puzzles may not be Christmasy per say, but they give a good reason to gather around the table and spend time together. So we do one every year. The past two years have not seen the completion of the traditional Christmas puzzle and several Christmas Eve dinners where eaten upon unfinished puzzles (safely protected beneath the table cloth. But this year we sat ourselves down and finished the puzzle very nearly in one sitting. This I spy style puzzle was more engaging than meadows of flowers or harbors of sailboats, and despite the apparent chaos, much easier to boot.
On the 21st day of Christmas. . .
We whipped together our very late Christmas cards, accompanied by a crossword puzzle of what we had been up to in 2010--our version of the Christmas letter. I LOVE getting Christmas cards, and I have found that the later I send mine the fewer I receive. So I didn't receive as many this year, but I did display the ones I received in an interesting way this year.
On the 22nd day of Christmas. . .
Homemade marshmallows are a greatly anticipated treat every holiday season. When we do manage to get a neighborhood gift put together, it generally has homemade marshmallows in it. And what could be better than homemade marshmallows?. . . except maybe chocolate dipped homemade marshmallows! I even made cute little labels. . . of course I never took a picture of them. And only a couple made it out the door.
On the 23rd day of Christmas. . .
Signe sang her little heart out and pulled in passersby like a siren. Apparently there is something about two little blond girls wishing you Merry Christmas that is hard to pass up. We rang the Salvation Army bells for five hours and made enough money to double the average hourly collection amount and receive a personal call of thanks from the local organizer. If you haven't done this, you should. I am always amazed at how generous people can be. It never fails to put me in the Christmas spirit to see strangers giving money coming and going--$5, $10, $20 at a time. But even the smallest amounts add up quickly. Our little red bucket was stuffed so full people had a hard time getting the money to go in. Between that and the many, many wishes of Merry Christmas and God bless, I was beginning to feel the true meaning of Christmas--even without the white stuff.
On the 24th Day of Christmas. . .
We started the day with a little neighborly gift exchange. . .
This year, while Signe was singing "Bring us some figgy pudding" outside the supermarket the day before, we suddenly asked ourselves: "What IS figgy pudding anyway?" So we googled it, of course. Then we decided we should really try it, and if we are going to try figgy pudding, why not try an entire British menu for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. So we did.
Brussel Sprouts with bacon at hazelnuts in cream sauce
Broiled potatoes, carrots and parsnips
Honey Baked Ham (our tradition)
Capped off with Figgy Pudding and whipped cream. (which is alot more like figgy spiced cake than pudding.)
Delicious. And of course we dined in evening attire by candlelight. And Rob served us course by course. After which the girls gave us a short Christmas concert. Signe played "Deck the Halls" and Hannah played "The First Noel". Then after a quick check with Norad tracker to see where Santa was, the girls hurried off to bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads. . . or at least with visions of Christmas morning.
On the 25th Day of Christmas. . .
Merry Christmas! After a short interrogation on the stairs in front of the video camera (meant to document their excitement and torment them with the additional waiting) we let them loose upon the living room. Hannah's three favorite gifts were: a new backpack, her lego police station set, and her wii games (mariokart, press your luck, just dance 2). Signe's favorite four gifts were (she couldn't narrow it to 3): Her new barbie house (for the LIV dolls--because the one she got last year needed another to create that "neighborhood" feel. . . apparently.) her red doggy pillow pet, and her gumball machine of squinkies (very strange little rubber toys) and of course, her new DSi XL. Rob's favorite gifts include a new tool I forget the name of and his grain mill--to improve the quality of his weekly homemade bread. I like that too! My favorite gift is my new 5D Mark II camera, though I have to say my husband spoils me, because he got me lots of fabulous gifts--so really, he is my favorite gift! And after mayhem died down and we filled ourselves with scrambled eggs and ham, we picked up the mess and then picked up the grandmas at the airport--another greatly anticipated treat by all.
It was a great month and a fabulous way to end a spectacularly successful year! But more about that shortly.