It's beginning to look a lot like...oh come on, you know...

For what Autumn was this year (which, I think, was my best fall ever) I bid my farewell with a smile and a wave and a heart full of fond memories.  And pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures. 

 
Whether it was homeschool, or Marin making her way to a more manageable age while I settled comfortably into mothering three, or my growing appreciation for nature, I don't know.  Possibly a combination of all of those things.  And I'm hoping Christmas will bring much of the same happiness and good cheer.

Sant, Marin and myself, Thanksgiving 2009

To quote the late Joseph Campbell, "I think that what we're all really seeking (more than even the meaning of life) is an experience of being alive."  I think so too-- that most people, at their core, really want to dig their heels in, and to feel what it is to be alive.  Less going through the motions, less riding out the monotony, less self-medicating.  More being alive.  I want to be alive as often and for as long as I am able.

(Yes, I was most certainly alive at Thanksgiving, champion consuming ninety-four pounds of my mother's home-made stuffing, until I nearly exploded.)

 
Kevin and Jenny cooking, slicing and seriously crazy, at my mom's.

I cannot really say what this holiday season will bring for my family and myself, but this year I put together a simple list of fun and meaningful Christmas activities that I would like to see come together for us.  (Hello, goal oriented!) 

I am so excited about this holiday season, which Kevin and the kids and I really celebrate from just before Thanksgiving until the New Year, hoping to stretch Christmas from what might be only a day or two at best, to an entire month-long celebration of giving, happiness and faith.  Some of the items on my list are complete no brainers, because it wouldn't be the Christmas holiday without them, and others are meant to add a little cheer.  And some of them were completed quickly and crossed out, of course.

• Read The Night Before Christmas (My late-night Christmas Eve tradition with the kids, once they're bathed and in their Christmas pajamas after we come home from Kevin's mom's house)
• Venture out to the mall for a new family picture 
• Bake festive cookies, and sample the dough, of course (We do this every year with my mom.  Lots. Of. Sampling.)
• Take a long drive up Chicago's North Shore to enjoy the holiday lights (We so love doing this, and have added to the tradition in recent years, stopping at Dunkin Donuts for hot chocolates and a box-full of Boston Cremes.) 
• Go Christmas shopping, just Kevin and I, the weekend after Thanksgiving (another long-standing tradition of ours) (thaaaaanks Sant & Leslie, for babysitting!)
• Be thoughtful with the gifts we purchase and make for our friends and family 
• Eat dinner backwards, starting with dessert
• Host a Christmas Movie Party (Something new for this year!)
• Shop with the kids for our giving tree ornaments, one for each child (I started this last year, hoping to teach them how blessed we are to wake up Christmas morning to a family room full of presents.  Each child gets an ornament with an age and gender that corresponds to their own, and picks out and wraps a few presents for him/her.)
• Make popcorn garland
• Get dolled up, have a special dinner and see A Christmas Carol production on stage (We have tickets for Kevin, KJ, Jack and I this weekend!)
• Narrate Christmas stories to each other in front of our fireplace
• Write and mail letters to Santa
• Learn about how Christmas is celebrated all around the world (You're seeing some active homeschool planning in the last few, yes?)  (We begin our unit on Christmas Around The World tomorrow, actually.)
• Make our own gift wrap
• Decorate our house, listening to Christmas music (This is surely one of my favorite events as a mom-- helping my kids to put their collections of ornaments on the tree.)
• Shop with the kids for their parents and siblings (Again, hoping to drive home the concept of giving at this time of year.) 
• Read The Christmas Story

So our house has been decorated, we've sung bunches of Christmas songs.  We are mostly finished with our shopping and I've got some swell art projects planned for homeschool.  I am so happy that we are here already, with 2009 seeming to pass in the blink of an eye.  Knowing how quickly this season, along with everything else, passes, I really hope to savor all of the best parts. 

What are some of your traditions or favorite ways to celebrate the season? 

Comments

[Jen L.]

Your tree looks beautiful! We put ours up last night. When Dean saw it this morning, he whispered "Hot!" then proceeded to take off every ornament on the bottom branches. That would be why we put the crappy plastic stuff there. :)

As someone who works in theatre, can I just thank you for taking your kids to see a play? A lot of parents see it as too much of a hassle or think why go when we can watch a movie on tv? The immediacy of theatre is absolutely magical for kids. I wish I could be there to see their faces!

Dean and I are starting a Christmas project today. We're going to make a "shingle" of sorts each day with something we do for Christmastime/winter and display them on our mantle. Today is "We decorate the Christmas tree."

[Nikki]

That fireplace looks so welcoming. both for friends and Father Christmas. We, too, read The Night Before Christmas and even though Fin's a teenager he's happy to keep the traditions going. The local school has a farm and they have Carols in the Barn the last week of term, it's a lovely occasion, not at all comercial just fun. I made the Christmas pudding and cake on 'Stir Up Sunday'. We have advent calendars and fin will hang his stocking up for Father Christmas on Christmas Eve. We always go to a pantomime (Cinderella this year) and I have to watch Miracle on 34th Street at least once before Christmas Eve. I love traditions. Hope you enjoy every moment of yours xx

[Erica]

Your tree is beautiful! We are taking the kids to see "The Nutcracker" which I have heard much groaning from the boys about ballet and men in tights, but dammit it's my Christmas too, so they will have to suck it up! Don't I sound like a redneck? We have a house up the street from us who cover their whole yard in those plastic light up things and we bundle the kiddos up on Christmas eve night and make hot chocolate and drive around and check out the lights. Also our neighborhood lines the streets with paper bag luminaries on Christmas eve and we take a walk around the neighborhood and check it all out. Maybe I should do my own blog post on this, since I have written a small chapter here! Merry Christmas!

[H]

What a gorgeous Christmas scene! So inspiring :)

[Emma]

The whole family room scene is gorgeous. Oh, how I wish I had a fireplace!

This year, now that my 2 youngest are old enough to enjoy it, we will take a walk through an area of our city called Candy Cane Lane, where the majority of homes are decked out. We will also visit a church near there that has over 500 nativities. My 5 year old is so excited for that!

[Stacey]

I also have a good, long list of holiday traditions to complete during the month of December. Just tonight, we checked off "children decorate gingerbread houses and then proceed to argue and whine about every last stupid, stinking, ridiculous thing until mom threatens to throw both of the houses - and possibly the children too - off the bleeping deck". Ho ho ho.