Christmas comes in Spain (AKA Reyes)

My dad just sent me these pictures of them getting the gifts we sent...I am aching for a visit to la patria.

christmas at grandma canfield's casa

good times, just sitting around, eating, enjoying that we were with family

a and I had dueling flashes

you'd never guess it, this was the favourite gift out of all the Christmas gifts this year,
"skulls" we bungarees call them, uncle a's mom sent them for the boys.

knitting my little heart out

a's unfinished scarf, and a half completed dishcloth for grandma marble

a warm winter cowl for mom, I am now working on my third. I made one for mom, (shhh, I think it is still on it's way!!) one for B's sis e, and I am currently working on one for me.

I can finally disclose what I have been working on...I didn't want to let anyone get glimpses before they opened their gifts! :)

the building up until Christmas was tiring on my slim fingers, but filled with joy. I knit, knit, knit like crazy for gifts for our family. It is so fun to knit and think about the person while you are knitting their item. I have knit scarves, and cowls this year mostly and the usual knitter's fave granny dishcloths as well. We tried to do Christmas as homemade as we could, and as local as possible. It was so much less hectic, and way more enjoyable.

What did you get to make for your loved ones this christmas season?

bungaree sing: twelve days of christmas

The boys love this song, LOVE it. J and O will ask me to sing it over and over. Today j volunteered to sing it for oliver (it is a little tiny book with the pictures) I guess something stuck from all the singing, but seriously it is HARD to get them straight! :)

christmas tree hunting in the pacific northwest

Our hunt in photos. We set out, we saw, we cut, we came home, we decorated. A good hunt indeed.

Is it a bad thing when the owner shows you were the boot scraper is? :)

Christmas Traditions

Advent starts today, the fourth Sunday before Christmas. The boys really haven't been old enought before to do anything too involved, but this year they are ready. We are going to innitiate two traditions, both advent things, both which celebrate family, gathering together, and what we are waiting expectantly for which is the celebration of Jesus' birth, Christmas.


Jesse Tree:

We are going to do the Jesse Tree which is a daily devotional time spent together learning about the specific incidents in the Old Testament which lead up to the Birth of Christ. Here is a definition I found at disciples now:

An ancient tradition of visually representing Jesus' family tree used by generations to prepare for Christmas. Based on the prophet Isaiah's references to the "root" and the "branches" of Jesse (King David's father) when Isaiah prophesied about the hope of the Messiah, the Jesse Tree reminds us that God’s plan has been forever and that we are a part of it.

Each day you read through the verses, and then hang one symbolic ornaments on the Jesse Tree. We started today.

4th Sunday before Christmas:
Persons, Events/Themes: Introduction to the Jesse Tree
Scripture: 1 Samuel 16: 1-13, Isaiah 11: 1-10
Symbol/Ornament: The tree

Additional Resources:
The Jesse Tree: Celebration of Advent



Bungaree Advent Calendar :

The second tradition we are going to do is we have an advent calendar that starts on the first of December marking the days up until Christmas. I know that kids can be excited about many more things than material gifts, but we can soon make them calloused to our gifts of time, energy and togetherness. This is a season to celebrate Christ, but we also would enjoy celebrating the gift that we have of spending time together. Each day we will choose a new thing to do together here are some of the (age appropriate) things I have come up with:

*make cookies for some friends and deliver
*play a game together
*listen to Christmas music while eating popcorn
*drive around looking at Christmas lights
*make a gift together for someone
*watch a good Christmas movie
*go to a coffee shop for a special hot drink
*read the Christmas story together by the tree
*make cut-out snowflakes for the windows

Do you have any special holiday memories? Do you have a tradition that you look forward to every Christmas season? Do you have any more ideas for things to do with our almost-5 and almost-3 year olds? Oh, do share!!

Who brings christmas into your home??

I know it is early, but I wanted to hear if anyone has any new favourites!! I have started listening to my Christmas music, and love hearing it after it has been a year since I have heard it. Help me out, what is missing from my Christmas tunes?

These are my old time standby ones here:
The Rat Pack with Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. is another one that we just can't get enough of. Good, great and even better classics in style on this Christmas with the Rat Pack


Oh, Brad Paisley...for that good, true sweet country Christmas....Brad Paisley Christmas it doesn't get any warmer than this, unless you start a fire. Christmas is a time to do country, even if you really don't usually like it that much. ( I love country though...so maybe I am wrong about this!)
Light of the Stable, by Emmylou Harris. This woman can sing, and she does so on this album with others who can also do it really well. This one I just bought this year on itunes, and is on our repeat list along with the rest of the goodies.

Yes, Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas...don't judge me, her voice is amazing and I had never ever noticed it until I heard this album! Even if you seriously never thought you could stand her, try this one (demos, or library....) I am sure you'll be hooked. It is all the talent with none of the gushy, sexy, overdone, stuff....it is pure and incredible.


Additions after my christmas music post from last year:

What do YOU think I need to add this year??? What are some you cannot live without? I know for me when I put these in Christmas starts up, as early as it is....it doesn't matter!! Which albums do that for you? Please share!

say it with me: \ˈpä-vər-tē\

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Today is the day that the bloggie world chose to unite to talk about poverty. It is called blog action day, and the date is the 15th of October. The topic is poverty, and how to get rid of it!

poverty: \ˈpä-vər-tē\
(the definition would go here, but I decided not to) you all know what poverty is, you see the need. Does poverty have a face to you, or is is a group of unnamed, underprivileged folks at some smelly overworked soup kitchen? How do you justify not giving? Would you give if you had no doubt that your money would be used well?

However large the need here though, poverty is even deeper, darker in much of the world. Water. Did you even think that it is possible that in many nations, people are dying from the pollution in their water supplies, dying. What is poverty if not the need for even water. My friend jessica recently told me about this amazing organization, Advent Conspiracy. I have posted two of the videos here, that tell you what it is all about, and I will mention this over and over as it has really struck in my heart.









Advent Conspiracy!!!! I am so jazzed about this movement, this change in the way we greedies are thinking. STOP ASKING, WHAT ARE YOU GETTING ME? and give!