Pinewood Castle

first photos

I feel like I have just purchased a Stradivarius after only finishing Suzuki Violin Book 1.

I also feel like someone, once tone-deaf, suddenly able to carry a tune with a decent singing voice.

 

I am both intimidated and refreshed by the sudden ability to shoot close-ups, portraits, moving children and kittens, and faces in candlelight.

Even though it's a struggle for me to learn anything after coming down with adult-onset ADD, I am pretty elated with our new camera. Remembering anything involving numbers is a particular challenge for me: aperture, shutter speed, ISO, mm, which of our four lenses to use. Good thing National Camera Exchange offers free classes. In the meantime I am totally experimenting with the little I have gleaned along the way.

The rest of these photos to re-cap our week (most of them anyway) are off the smart phone. {I am still resisting Pinterest and Instagram.} We were out & about more than usual this week, enjoying the full twelve days of Christmas.

While I am not sure what unschoolers actually do, I am pretty sure we need to unschool this week. To me this means making a rough schedule that includes kids cleaning while I resume exercise and shower, breakfast together by 8 am, together time (devotions, Lingua Angelica, Logic of English, thank you notes, art, start looking up our European destinations), finish gifts for pen-pals (they are still coming, really!) outside time, lunch by noon, music practicing (sessions in which I am a conscientious Suzuki practice parent and sit down to listen and help), Teaching Textbooks math, reading time, invite some friends over, afternoon activities, a few doctor appointments, dinner on time, bedtime on time. Time to re-adjust for the new year!

Full enough days, especially with a recital on the agenda this week. My two girls were nominated by their teachers to perform on the Suzuki department recital! Would you like to come? It's free! They would be overjoyed to share the joy of music with you. MacPhail, Antonello Hall, Friday at 6 pm.

Next week maybe we can get back to the full curriculum - if we all stay healthy. There is an alarming number of flu cases, pneumonia, etc. in our corner of the metro. Our current immune building arsenal consists of Emergen-C and colloidal silver.

As for today, my goals are to begin a food journal, set my weekday alarm for 6:00 am, celebrate Epiphany with some star folding, and get a roasted chicken dinner an scones on the table by five o'clock so we can clean up in time to "do the Downton". Will you be watching?

We at Pinewood Castle wish our readers the best as we all get back to normal life after celebrating the HolyDays!

More Great Gifts . . .

Christmas Eve and Christmas day were enjoyed at home this year, gathering after Mass for seafood pasta, enjoying a family Christmas concert. Our tradition is to let the kids open the box from Aunt Terri on Christmas Eve, but we wait to open everything else Christmas morning.

Through the years we have tried different approaches with gift giving. What seems to work for us is to let the kids browse through some pre-selected catalogs (Mind Ware, Timberdoodle, Museum Tour, HearthSong, Magic Cabin, Nova Natural, home school catalogs like this or this, etc.), circle and initial items that catch their interest. The next step is to write letters to St. Nicholas on December 6th because that helps us narrow down the choices that fit into a reasonable budget per child.

Obviously, the more kids you have, the more quickly gifts add up. And, the more years that go by, the more expensive things seem to get. This year I left most of the ordering to my husband so I wouldn't be the one to get into trouble since I am the one who tends to go over budget. Thanks to him, I think we mostly stayed within budget! Yeah!

This process can be a difficult time of self-doubt for us - are we encouraging materialism? Does gift giving detract from the real meaning of Christmas? Do the kids get it from me - do they see my hungry eyes when I get my favorite catalogs in the mail?

We do our best to  balance our wants v. needs and live within our means throughout the year, but at Christmastime we do indulge in a few of those wants. Our usual response to the "I wants" is "put it on your Christmas or birthday list"! This is definitely a time of year when I am grateful to be Catholic. We are not Puritans, nor do we indulge in rampant secularism. We take the ancient/pagan holidays, explore their history, baptize them and make them Holy Days, and celebrate them in a meaningful way. Christmas, after all, means Christ's Mass.

To fend off gift gluttony, we abide by a few ground rules. First, we pray before opening gifts. Second, we open them one at a time beginning with the child who found the Christmas pickle. Third, we remind the children to thank the giver. Fourth, we save some gifts to open on Epiphany. We thought about saving them all for Epiphany, but one of our children has a birthday very close to that date!

A few more random thoughts -

Sometime in the course of gift opening, our 5yo observed with glee, "Christmas is the only time we ALL get presents!" So funny - like it's everyone's birthday on Jesus' birthday! (although the Nativity is much more than just Jesus' birthday)

It's also funny how we buy our kids fun toys and games for Christmas, then when are adults we get "extra" things we have been putting off buying for months, years, or decades. Do you do this too?

Joe and I took advantage of sales, coupons, free shipping deals, and Kohl's discounts to splurge on many wants/needs. Firewood to fend off the inevitable sub-zero temps, bath towels to replace a faded ten year old set, jeans to replace those with gaping holes, dress pants for Joe to wear to work, boring things like that. Well, boring to the kids - not so boring to parents who have waited so long for them!

Here are a few things that have refreshed our lives ~

Immaculately new cookie sheets, non-stick pans, and spatulas to replace ten year old warped and cruddy ones -

New slippers for Joe to replace twelve year old battered ones -

New Dansko clogs to replace the worn-out eight year old pair that were hurting my feet -

And some fun Solmate socks {next best thing to Smartwool!}

Here are some quality items that were on the kids' wish lists:

Tintin books!

4-D animal puzzles -

Nanoblocks -

Inchimals -

Puzzle Blocks -

Race Car book -

A balance board -

Rush Hour game -

 

Mystery Decks -

Musicals on DVD, including this boxed set -

Capitol and White House 3D Puzzles -

A life-sized doll! (this was a huge hit)

 

Yes, I realize Christmas is nearly over and none of these ideas are of any help to you for Christmas 2012, but birthdays come throughout the year so maybe some of these ideas will be helpful to you later. Since friends and family sometimes ask me about quality toys I've created a category titled "Toys, games, and gifts". Hope that helps somebody out there!

{I do receive a small commission (see disclosure at the bottom) on anything (anything!) you purchase after entering Amazon through one of my links - as long as you are on my actual blog page, not via Google reader. I tell you, this (along with a few nice comments) is a great incentive to keep blogging!}

One more thing: I did get a fun toy of my own (thanks to sales and rebates) that I have been wanting for an infinitely long time -

I am completely giddy about this! Hopefully, by my next blog post I will get past fumbling around with the lens caps and lens changes and all those buttons and actually have some pictures to share! 

 

The Best Gifts are Hand-Made

Last year, we took off most of December to make gifts by hand and bake before Christmas day.

This year, since I'd like to finish school by the time we go to Europe, we plowed through December 21st. Did this stop my kids from making gifts? No way! They could be found awake  before dawn, working on the floor in front of the craft closet. I had no idea what they were up to until Christmas morning!

Here are just some of the clever things they made for one another:

Dioramas!

Ballet class -

Kitty-Cat Playground -

Aquarium -

Kitchen (for me) -

Origami Piano -

A board game, with rules written out, three draw piles, etc. (It's even really fun to play!)

 

This is a Mystery House! First, there were scavenger hunt-style clues to find the house. The house was found, along with a book: a hand-written mystery story to act out with the figures provided. Clever?

 

A felt sachet -

 

And this hand-me-down pink purse with clothespin and flower fairy doll - so sweet!

I think there were some more, but they have since migrated upstairs and found homes.

As a parent, it was amazing to see what my kids came up with on their own time, with their own ideas, and by their own initiative. Each child had something for everyone in our family. It warms my heart to see the fruits of just a few years of laying the groundwork.

I have had a list of little crafts to make the kids for years now, and I did make two, but would rather wait until each child has something from me to give give them. Maybe next year?

Christmas Blessings!

Popping in to wish you a Merry Christmas! Our family is enjoying ample R&R: special meals, a family Christmas concert, playful kittens, holiday baking, snow tubing, games, and time to enjoy our gifts. Hope you are also having a very Merry Christmas!

Making it Merry 2011

Yes, I am still here and everything is ok! I have not (yet) decided to give up blogging, although it's tempting from time to time. I know hard-core bloggers only take off a day or two for major holidays like Christmas or a new baby's arrival, but me? I just take breaks when I need them for as long as I need to. Thanks for hanging in there - I hope you haven't been too frustrated with clicking on my blog only to find the same old post from two weeks ago!

It seems like so many things trump blogging these days: too busy, too tired, feeling too private, uninspired, spending more time with my family, reading more, crafting more, socializing, watching the new TVs more, going out & about, and waiting for my husband to move me from Typepad to Blogger.

Honestly, without a laptop or the quiet time during the day to do my own things, blogging hours usually fall after the kids go to bed and I am am faced with the proposition of shivering in the den in front of the computer. This is coldest room in the house and because my body temp drops winter evenings after the sun goes down I try not to spend too much time in there at night. I suppose next Christmas I would be wise to ask for either a laptop that I can use while snuggling under a wool comforter or a space heater for our north-facing den/computer/music room. A laptop and a great camera sound much more useful and safe than the space heater - are these considered blogging essentials? What do you think is a reasonable number of years to go without them?

There's one more very good excuse for my blogging slump - the anticipation of Downton Abbey's second season! Are you watching the encores on PBS? I know it's just a costumed soap opera, but there is so much packed in - social order, economics, history, fine acting, and the quotable one-liners from the Dowager Countess. Who can resist booing and hissing the villains, empathizing with the martyrs, and cheering on the heroes? Anyone who knows me might not believe that I have not even been able to watch my new season 3 & 4 Lark Rise DVDs I got for Christmas because my mind is too wrapped up in Downton. Hours have been allotted to the encores, the "Matthew & Mary" homages and behind-the-scenes clips on YouTube, the just-aired Christmas special (also on YouTube), and the hilarious posts on The Guardian. Now that we are up-to-date and wired to view YouTube and Netflix on our TV, I can watch while snuggling under the wool comforter. Much better than freezing in the den trying to blog.

But I digress. Christmas! We had a wonderfully quiet and traditional weekend complete with a family Christmas concert and seafood feast on the Eve, followed by the opening of packages sent by out-of-town friends and relatives.

Whispers and footsteps awoke us at 5 am Christmas morning and we descended the stairs to find baby Jesus in the manger and the cookie crumbs left by St. Nicholas.

More gifts were opened as we breakfasted on coffee cake and egg-sausage casserole before Mass.

On the Feast of St. Stephen we usually travel to my in-laws to celebrate the season with his family. The rest of the week we opted to visit the Ramsey House, which was all decked out with Victorian finery.

Compliments of Grandma & Grandpa, we took the three older children to the Guthrie Theater's annual rendition of A Christmas Carol. Dinner at Sea Change was on us but the enthusiasm of the waitress, thrilled to serve our kids rainbow trout, scallops, and frog legs instead of chicken fingers or hamburgers was worth the expense. I can't tell you how thrilled they were to dine at a fancy restaurant and see a fantastic show. Every time I looked down the aisle I spied dropped jaws and sparkling eyes.

Later in the week we purchased used ice skates so we can participate in our arena's Sunday afternoon open skate sessions. We rang 2012 by having friends over in the afternoon, making resolutions for the time capsule, watching a slide show of our 2011 photos (on the TV screen) and turning in on New York time.

My resolutions are much the same as always:

    :: more reading

    :: more craft making

    :: more sleep

    :: more prayer

    :: lose 50 pounds

and one new one this year -

    :: try to like camping ; )

 

 

Blessings for a wonderful new year, dear readers!

 

Merry Christmas from Pinewood Castle

Before Naptime:

After Naptime:

Just Before Christmas Daybook

Outside my window:: Chances are, we will have a brown Christmas in Minnesota, and actually, that's ok with me.

I am hearing:: The little ones playing inside and the big kids outside.

I am wearing:: My old glasses. Guess who got his little hands on my current pair and twisted them beyond repair?

I am thankful for:: My husband, my family, and for all the wonderful Christmas cards from family and friends. I am so thankful for people who include a little notes that say things like, "Enjoyed your Christmas card - you have darling children who are all so happy and accomplished."  Because - you know how it is with family newsletters - you want to share the joys of raising a family without bragging and it's nice to know that some people really do appreciate what you are doing and how hard it can be to raise a good family.

I Miss:: The share feature on google reader that instantly listed links to great posts on my left side bar. I am not sure if any readers miss this, but I sure miss the fun of sharing good posts I read.

I am Thinking:: How are we ever going to get back to a full school routine when it takes all day just to practice music, do some math, read aloud, and keep up with housework?

I am Pondering:: Unschooling the rest of the year. Just kidding.

I am Praying for:: Our family and what the future holds. Will we ever be able to move back to the metro? Will we still want to by the time we can? Is it better in some ways to be away from city life even if we miss out on so many educational opportunities?

Books on my Nightstand:: My Name is Mary Sutter - historical fiction about a midwife/nurse on the Northern front of the Civil War.

Taking Care of Myself:: So very disappointed that the Wheat Belly diet has not turned me into the incredible shrinking woman that I had rightfully hoped after reading the book, but I am feeling worlds  better on a wheat-free, sugar-free, low-carb diet along with some extra vitamin D. If I do cheat and have something with wheat, milk, and sugar (like, perhaps, Coldstone's mint chocolate chip ice cream with brownie bits) I pay for it with a massively painful headache the next day. If you are losing weight on this diet, please don't tell me about it or I will be insanely jealous.

From the Kitchen:: Meat and veggies, grapefruit, clementines and pomegranates. Three kinds of Christmas cookies: traditional, egg-free, and almond flour/truvia versions for Joe and me. Good thing the hunger pangs and carb cravings go away on a grain-free diet.

Around the House:: Busy!

Repairs & Replacements - replaced the bottom oven fan that finally quit working after months of rattling. While we had Kenmore on the brain we also ordered replacements for the broken veggie drawer in the fridge, broken ice bin in the freezer, and crusted-over drip tray under the water dispenser.

Updating - Joe decided it was time to replace our old tube tellies with re-certified HD Vizios that he found at a great price. Now I have to learn how to use them, but at least the baby no longer has access to the power button.

Deep Cleaning - cleaned the inside of the fridge with the help of two kids. Wow, was that yucky! We also spent a morning cleaning underneath, between and behind the washer and dryer. Even yuckier!

I am Creating:: The kids and I are sewing these super-cute ornament kits for Christmas presents. Don't look if you are on our gift list!

Good Flicks:: Nothing lately, other than reviewing Masterpiece Theater's Downton Abbey before Season 2 airs in January.

The Children:: They are so excited that Christmas is almost here they have butterflies in their stomachs. We have enjoyed several local events the last week - the ballet academy's Nutcracker, the figure skating club's Christmas show and skate with Santa, and a Hanukkah party for homeschoolers. They learned how to play the dreidel game and love it.

The Little Prince:: Still not talking, still into everything, and constantly removing his favorite felt gingerbread boy ornaments from the Christmas tree. We really have to be careful where we lay down our sewing projects. Good thing he's so incredibly cute and well-loved.

The Little Princess:: She and Choir Boy assembled the annual gingerbread house with Grandma this year while the girls and I were at violin. Precious times!

She says all sorts of funny things like:

"Aren't you going to say Goodness Golly'?" when I am exasperated.

Onion = yun-yon

Step Stool = step-o-stool

Choking Hazards = choking haz-rits

If we are actually on time for Mass, "What? Why aren't we late?"

A Few of My Favorite Things:: A new pillow, afternoon tea, staying up until midnight wrapping presents, sewing by the Christmas tree in the quiet evenings after the kids go to bed, birth announcements, peppermint mochas, the strong winter sun through the south facing windows at lunchtime, everytime we eat lunch and Sunshine notices that the time is 12:34, my baby's hugs and kisses.

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week:: Bake, sew, decorate, read, pray, prepare, and celebrate the birth of our savior.

A Little Christmas Concert

We recorded most of these today at the kid's last piano lesson of 2011. You may have to click over from Google Reader to see them!

 

Here's Choir Boy and our teacher playing O Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas:

 

 

Dancer performs Silent Night and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas:

 

She also worked hard on the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy:

 

 

Sunshine opted to sing and play for you! Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, and Rudolph:

Giggles for Kitty Lovers

Thankful Thursday

For my husband who, for the first time in . . . a long time, brought me flowers after a trying day.

 

For the short periods in time when I can see my son look, sing, and behave like an angel. Thank you, boy's choir.

 

Black belts two for $10 at Target. For choir, not karate.

 

For allergy meds that allow me to once again enjoy a real Frasier Fir.

And for close proximity to a real tree farm.

 

For strong daddies who lift up their littlest girl so she can be the one to place the angel on top.

 

For eyes (and hands) full of wonder and delight.

 

For the photo ornaments my sister sends every Christmas to each of the children.

 

For candle light and colored light, Jesse Tree and Star Path, advent wreaths and advent calendars that help us mark the days and prepare our hearts for Christmas.

Amazon Prime.

For the chance to get out of the house and resume book club after a very long baby break.

For the chance to see the December Full Cold Moon rise over Lake of the Isles.

 For kitties who curl up in the darndest places.

 

For the ability to drink coffee and own a smart phone without having to constantly hold one or the other like a fashion accessory.

For the completion of at least some of our hand made Christmas gifts ~ phone cases for teachers made by the children and the knitted gingerbread boy I made for the Little Princess (from Kid's Knitting).

 

For this beautiful dresser scarf one of my oldest and dearest friends sent me years ago. I try not to think of how long it took her to embroider this:

When it takes me four hours just to do this:

 

 For the upcoming reprieve from running to choir and ballet and karate and violin and piano.

For the decision to switch Sunshine from ballet to theater beginning in January. This better fits her passion and personality - and I won't have to make that extra trip back to ballet to pick her up at 7:30 pm.

For friends who call or write to catch up. Some relationships are best nurtured off-line.

And best of all - thankful that we are not yet knee deep in snow! Winter in Minnesota lasts long enough!

 

 

More Thoughts on St. Nicholas

Jamie at Lord Make Me a Saint has a great post up about St. Nicholas/Santa. Definitely worth a read and the comments are fascinating as well. I just added a comment that went something like:

There are only a few precious years of life when we are capable of such wonder and awe. It seems cruel to deny the children the experiences that bring this out, and frankly, I think we adults benefit from seeing the sparkle in their eyes and the fullness of their trusting hearts.

We do read "The Real Santa Claus" book and make sure they know about the very real saint and the miracles attributed to him. We don't use the term "Santa" even though he takes on some Santa-like attributes when he "visits" our home.  The kids realized somewhere along the way that this is a pretend game we play, but it doesn't make it any less fun! Couple these beloved family traditions with the opportunity to teach the little siblings about St. Nicholas and the older ones have more fun than ever.

Last night while I was resting on the sofa I overheard my eldest girl helping her 4yo sister write her letter to St. Nicholas. It was about the most precious thing I have ever heard in my mothering life. No one asked her to do this, the older ones took the initiative to "be in on the secret" and get their letters and shoes ready. Everyone had fun this morning finding the goodies in their shoes, but the sparkle in the 4yo's eyes was the best gift of all - to everyone!

If you don't already know about the St. Nicholas Center, click over to find a treasure trove of ideas for celebrating! This is where I gathered ideas for the letter from St. Nicholas (posted previously), printed it out onto parchment paper, rolled it up and tied it with a ribbon. Now I am off to put my cookie cutters to use!

Home Made Ornament Tour

How do you decorate your tree? Formal or casual? Or do you have more than one tree?

When Joe and I were first married I chose cool and casual blue Christmas decorations to coordinate with the denim sofa we had at that time. By our second Christmas together I realized that no matter how royal a blue it was, the hue would never cut it as a Christmas color. It just felt wrong to me so after Christmas I picked up more formal red and gold decorations at a Menard's sale.

For a few years our tree looked like a gussied up Victorian lady ready for a Christmas ball, curly hair and necklaces, and red ear-bobs.

While I still have all of those formal looking ornaments, more of them have stayed in their boxes with each passing year in order to make room for our more humble but precious ornaments we have made with the children. The tree has filled out a bit, along with our family. I think I might have enough ornaments for two trees, if we had the room for two!

Last January I snapped photos of them before packing them away, thinking ahead to how much fun a home made ornament post would be - and here it is! Enjoy, steal ideas, make your own post and add your link at the bottom for others to enjoy.

These gingerbread men were traced with a cookie cutter on brown felt. We stitched on a face, added a back, stiched around the edge and glued on some felt buttons. Fun & easy!

 

These angels, wreaths and bells were made from beeswax, melted and poured into molds -

 

Candy Canes are easy to make from Sculpy clay, chenille sticks or beads -

 

I think these stars were from a craft kit from Chinaberry. They have wonderful kits every year in their catalog.

 

Sequins pinned into a foam ball. Easy, a little time consuming and hazardous for young children, but dazzling when completed -

 

Christmas trees from wooden craft sticks, sequins, paint, and a star shape glued to the top -

 

I think I found the directions for this beautiful angel in Living Crafts - love her.

 

This star child might have been from A Child's Dream Come True but I can't seem to find it now.

 

The plastic mesh for these needlepoint stars can be found at Wal-Mart or Michaels -

 

These needlepoint projects could be coasters or hung as ornaments. I believe the design is in Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany in the Domestic Church -

Easy handprint reindeer from brown felt, chenille sticks, googly eyes, pom-pons -

 

These were needle felted into shapes and embellished -

 

Each year I make an ornament of our family Christmas photo. The children love to see how our family has grown!

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010 (I still need to make an ornament from this photo!)

On the Twelfth Day . . .

Several years ago (longer than it seems) the plethora of advent ideas gleaned from blogs and books both excited and overwhelmed me. Year by year we have taken the time to make the things like Jesse Tree ornaments and the Star Path that prayerfully lead us towards the Christmas holy days. Last advent I felt incredibly thankful that we had invested in these traditions and that advent has become one of the children's favorite seasons and yet I sensed that we had made a bigger deal out of advent than Christmas itself.

This year, with advent traditions firmly in place, my efforts turned towards making the twelve days of Christmas more festive and memorable and wanted to share with you some of the things that have worked for us this year.

After putting away the advent calendar we colored and cut the figures for this Twelfth Night Calendar. The figures go up each day with the help of double-sided tape, beautiful prayers for each day are included as well as an epiphany novena.

In The 12 Days of Christmas: the Story Behind a Favorite Christmas Song we read about the symbolic meanings of the numbers and figures from the Twelve Days of Christmas Song. We also read more of our favorite Christmas picture books suitable for after the 25th:

Good King Wenceslas

Old Befana

The Little Drummer Boy

The Last Straw

Books about the year:

A Child's Calendar

A Time to Keep

Around the Year

The Year at Maple Hill Farm

Using the same branches we used for the Jesse Tree we hung an ornament for each of the twelve days. I am pleased with these watercolors on card stock ornaments - I found them to be both beautiful and affordable. These were from Ballard Designs but I can no longer find them on their website.

After reading books and hanging the ornament of the day, the children ope a gift to share. These were things such as Monopoly, Parcheesi, Taboo, Bingo, a Knot Tying Game, Sherlock Holmes and Just So Stories on CD, Bubber, Usborne books, Citiblocs, a crystal growing kit and Wii games.

There was a smorgasbord of food ideas in blogland this year and we used some of them - pears, Dove chocolate, Cornish hens, onion rings, eggs, milkshakes, pirouette rolled wafers for the pipers, and chicken drumsticks.

We are still working on this Twelve Days of Christmas lapbook. I have not found as much time for this as I had hoped but the children enjoy this sort of thing. It is amazinf how educational some busywork of cutting and pasting can be when they actually read what is printed as they do it!

The candles in the Christmas pyramid/carousel get lit twice: on Christmas and Epiphany. One can cheat a bit and put tea lights near it and get it spinning without using the precious beeswax candles!

Tomorrow we will get to work on making window stars like these:

These are much easier than they look - the points are folded out of this paper using instructions from this book and taped together.

I have a nice dinner planned for Epiphany and might get to making a King's Cake but we will see. I bought sugar cones and jewel colored candy just in case! Catholic Icing has tons of crown food ideas here.

Saturday we will take down the tree and decorations in exchange for the blue and white winter decor. Our attentions will turn to snowflakes before St. Valentine's, St. Patrick's, St. Joseph's days. Lent will be here late this year - March 9th and all will go back to purple. I will be digging in my advent tubs looking for purple things and wondering why I didn't just put them in the Lent box LOL!

To extend the season we are also taking this week "off" for writing thank-you notes and celebrating a certain young lady's birthday. We are also easing back into a (revised) daily schedule, music lessons, boy's choir, and still trying to fit in some P.E. to balance things out. Looks like karate for Dino will continue through red belt and the girls get to continue a once a week ballet class through June.

Wishing you a blessed Twelfth Night honoring Christ as King, God and Man!

 

Today's Random Q & A

Why are there so many baby hand print kits when it is so impossible to get a baby to cooperate with this? Footprints are easier but much less cute.

Why is sugar cut-out cookie decorating so stressful even with the help of a box mix and ready made icing? Note to self: post-pone these until youngest is at least five. There are 100's of other cookie recipes from which to choose.

Why did the white chocolate top of my peppermint bark not stick to the milk chocolate bottom? This happened to last year's toffee too. Wonder what I am doing wrong here - maybe it has something to do with temperature?

How will I ever get anything done in the kitchen when my baby can now grab my pant-legs or skirt and pull himself up into a standing position when my hands are full or messy? Must make use of the high chair or Ergo as a back pack.

Why did I suddenly decide after almost a year that there is no room in the nursery for both a crib and a toddler bed? This morning I rearranged the furniture back to where is was before Little Prince was born and put the toddler bed mattress under the crib to be pulled out at night.I think my husband will be surprised to come home and find the toddler bed frame empty and ready for basement storage. Or he will make me put it all back the way it was.

In spite of all this we are having a wonderful time off school and celebrating the twelve days of Christmas - a topic I hope to post about soon. Each day there is an ornament to hang, a figure to tape to the calendar, a book to read, a gift to open and sometimes special food to help us remember the day and symbolism. I will share some links asap.

I wish we could go on unschooling/funschooling forever with crafts, baking, reading, lapbooks, and history pockets. I have been better able to care for the baby, pay attention to the three year old, get laundry out of the dryer before it wrinkles, make dinner on time and basically not be SO STRESSED OUT! I like the curriculum we are using but having time off makes me realize what a ball of irritable stress I have been and how miserable I have made myself and the kids by trying to homeschool and take care of littles and the daily chores and activities. We are going to take next week "off" too and I will try my best to regain my joy and good nature. And take B-12 every day.

One more thing - Mary at Vocation of Motherhood delivered a healthy BABY GIRL! The baby's five big brothers must be so proud! She does not have a birth announcement up yet, but am sure she and her dh would enjoy some congratulatory comments via her last post!

Full to the Brim

My heart is full, my tummy is full, my home is full of new stuff and it feels like everything about my life is overflowing. I wish I could stretch my heart but shrink my tummy and build the large dream home I have been sketching out today on graph paper. (dream is the key word there!)

We had a wonderful time seeing friends and family the last couple of weeks and that filled my heart right up:

A Christmas party with friends (the preschool table) - Mrs. B. made delicious tea party sandwiches, scones and tea. The children (and adults) exchanged homemade gifts.

A friend was in town for an Usborne party just before Christmas. Mary and I met online (on the Catholic Sonlight board) then IRL. Turns out she used to live in the town where we now live and was even in the same food buying club! I feel like I took her place. She is scheduled to have her sixth baby today by C-section. I am praying that all went well for her.

A friend I met ten years ago IRL through LLL meetings when we were brand new moms came back to MN to visit in-laws. She moved away to FL and we reconnected years later on the 4Real Board of all places! It was so refreshing to see her and her husband and the baby I knew who is now ten and all the rest of her children. The kids had a wonderful time playing the afternoon away while the adults conversed over hot chocolate and tea. I tried my best to convince them to move back to MN and buy the house for sale next door. One can always hope! And if they can't, can you? Wouldn't it be fun to be next door neighbors? 

Our babies then:

Our babies now:

My sister turned 50 and had a second knee replacement. She is one brave gal. We did not get to see her or my mom this Christmas but made several phone calls down south to keep in touch through it all. The day after Christmas was spent with my in-laws here in MN.

The Christmas card basket is getting full. We so enjoy all the cards that arrive each day. My favorite this year is from a family with seven children whose fifth has her eyes closed. It's just so funny because I know how hard it is to get a good picture of just five kids. To have that be the best one is just downright precious. You look great, bty, Tricia!

My schedule is full - just when I was thinking of dropping one or two activities I received notice that my son is approved to move from prep choir to training choir. Double the time, double the cost. Double the progress too, I hope, but wow, I was hoping to free up our schedule for more time at home enjoying domestic pursuits, not add to it.

My reading pile if full - I can't wait to dig in to Large Family Logistics - a gift from my cousin in CA. My hubby gave me Freckles and Laddie by Gene Stratton-Porter to add to my pile (and another Queen Mug to replace the one that broke!).

The doll population is overflowing after my daughter bought, with money saved over a year's time, Lanie - the first American Girl in our home. The girls also received these Beautiful Girlhood dolls for Christmas and already making them constant companions.

The weapons supply is expanding as well after my son received a bow & arrow as well as a Nerf dart gun. Basement toys! The hex bug and habitat may go there as well due to the raised decibel level it creates.

Our yard is full too, of snow upon snow with more to come. This is now the snowiest December on record in Minnesota.

The baby's mouth is full. We have fished out not only pine needles but also clementine peel, a Christmas light bulb, a hunk of ham, bits of a foam golf ball, ribbon, wrapping paper and beaded tree garland. The emails I am getting from the vet warn us to watch out for the cats this time of year. The cats just sleep under the tree, the baby is the one to watch out for!

My husband's finished rosary supply is about the only thing not full right now thanks to our Texas customers and to my friend who spread the word down south! Because comments appear to be closed on the last rosary post I will let you know here in this post that all the rosaries pictured on the previous post are sold but one - the lapis blue is still available (my personal fave). Joe will have to make a new batch to have ready for the spring First Communion and Confirmation season.

(If you are interested in this Lapis Blue Rosary please send $40 to my email address at PayPal: tracydotdunneatgmaildotcom)

A blessed Christmas to all! May your Christmas be full!

Merry Christmas from Pinewood Castle!

Two Weeks Worth of Holiday Photos!

Christmas Eve

The new nativity set appeared the morning of Christmas Eve. This gave the kids something to do while they waited. We open a few gifts on Christmas Eve, ones that have arrived in the mail from relatives and friends.

At dinnertime the seafood lovers in our family were indulged with crab legs, linguine with clam sauce and smoked oysters all lovingly prepared by my husband as the children and I finished decorating the cut-out cookies. Hmm, I don't seem to have a photo of the cookies. Most are eaten by now! We made way too many and I still have ingredients for recipes we didn't get to like peppermint bark and fudge. I will just have to save all that chocolate for St. Valentine's Day since we are ridding the house of all the extra sugar. Date sugar and agave syrup are arriving tomorrow via the buying club delivery truck. My husband actually used the dentist tactic of buying the kids' extra Halloween candy for $1 a pound and he took it to work in a big bowl. You know what he was told? That it's against "the rules" to bring in candy after the new year. Everyone must be starting their diets.

 

We still love this carousel/pyramid from Chinaberry. It mesmerizes the children. We have found that mesmerized children are preferable to wildly excited children during Christmas Eve dinner.

 

Christmas Day

Here's our newest treasure from Chinaberry - the Christmas morning coffee cake dish. Soooo moist!

Stockings were the first order of business.

Baby Jesus appears in the manger Christmas morning. No plastic toys came to adore Him like they have in years past.

Snow fell all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, making the roads too dangerous to travel the distance to Mass. I intended to take a photo of this bird feeder after the grand finale of large flakes, but by then the temperature warmed up to just above 32 and everything began to drip. I think 14" was the recorded total. Twice a day shoveling sessions for DH provided a strenuous workout! I can see why they call it "heart attack snow".

After prayers and a musical program of carols featuring piano, violin and voice (all planned by the children) we slowly began the gift opening. There were some awfully pleased faces.

Looks like a messy project to do with dad some Saturday.

Three sets of American Girl books for less than the price of one doll!

 

This is something Dino calls a "grab-nabber". He loves contraptions like this. I think it's really for senior citizens.

 

I sat on the sofa with Wild Strawberry played with this ice cream set for at least an hour. She hogs all the chocolate and vanilla. Everyone else gets mint chocolate chip and strawberry.

 

Entrapments like these now appear all over the house thanks to a large set of straws and connectors.

The Days Following

As my new dishwasher sat in the garage patiently waiting installation and I paced inside impatiently waiting for an installation call from Sears, my DH helped.the time pass for me with this last-minute gift. I mixed and baked, the kids watched the mechanical action and he did the dishes. Piles of them.

Usually after a big Minnesota snow we get a sudden drop in temperature and high winds. This time we enjoyed a few beautiful days that made for pleasant sledding with brand new sleds. Even the baby loved the ride.

 

Since Dancer is studying the states this years we picked up this 1,00 piece state bird and flower puzzle at the MHS gift shop for her. It took hours, but we did it. She helped a little.

Out to Eat

Our neighborhood babysitter was home from college and gave us an hour of free babysitting as a gift so we took the opportunity to make up for our missed date back in October when we were all sick with the flu. Although most really good restaurants are all the way in Minneapolis, we found a great one in a northern suburb that spared us the trip of traveling into the heart of the city. It was this description that pulled us in:

Restaurant  X pairs the culinary traditions of the great wine growing regions of the Mediterranean with an ever changing mix of fresh, local and seasonal ingredients.

It proved to be a great pick. We feasted on Roasted Beet Salad, Plowman's Plate (duck liver pate, game sausage and 8 yo cheddar), Beef Bourguignon and Prosciutto Wrapped Rainbow Trout. My only mistake was taking up the server's suggestion of trying Foie Gras with cherry compote for dessert without a clue as to what Foie Gras actually was. It sounded French and sweet -  I thought perhaps it was some sort of cheese or dairy delicacy like Crème fraiche. Boy was I ever wrong - it's fattened duck liver! It tasted like a hunk of fat on toast! Next time I am sticking with crème brûlée.

(not my photo)

New Year's Eve

Our original plans were to celebrate with a family (of nine) from church who generously invited us over to their house to celebrate on London time. The plans were a go until the the morning of when we received word that one of their children got sick in the night. (this kind of thing always seems to happen to me or another large Catholic family with whom we have plans - making socialization somewhat difficult) We partied alone and made the best of it. Truth be told, I was exhausted after a day in the city going to the dentist and taking the kids to spend their Christmas money at Lakeshore Learning Store and Creative Kidstuff. I conked by 10:30.

Sunshine's Birthday

Always sneaks up on me, just like her birth. We thought she was due at the end of January. She was determined to be full-term so our due date must have been wrong. Her arrival was a pleasant surprise and she still provides pleasant surprises each and every day. She's a happy soul.

We just can't believe she is eight. We also can't believe she chose My Little Pony for a birthday party theme. We try not to indulge the kids in brightly colored plastic when they are little. Well, she had to have her fill and make up for lost time! Now I feel guilty for repressing her cartoon craving.

Even with sub-zero temps we had a few brave party guests over to celebrate.

Here she is the morning of her real birthday. I think I have posted somewhere before about our family birthday traditions but can't seem to find the post. I'll try to post links the next time there is a birthday, ok? Ok.

The  birthday ring is half candles this time!

 
That's it, folks! Are we all caught up?

We saved some Epiphany things for the 6th and I am still working on my 2010 resolution list so I can't post that yet. I wish this year would look more like my bucket list but since this will be a Baby Year I have to be realistic and rein in my ambitions. Like Margaret, I still can't believe it's already Epiphany and the long list of things left undone. Good thing a year is 365 days!

To: You

We Wish You a Happy and Holy Christmas and a Wonderful 2010!

Scenes from Christmas 2008

After waiting in a loooong line at the Macy's display -

Baking marathon

Sunshine found a way to turn a gingerbread man into a turtle!!!

Sunshine's turtle collection kept an all-night vigil

Like that hand grabbing for a sugar plum?

She wanted a hippopotamus for Christmas -

And baby loves her elephant

Matryoshka dolls to go with the book

Remember last year when the Polly Pockets adored the Baby Jesus? This year it's the matryoshka dolls!

Dino with a dino book

Walking blocks

Herbal "dream pillow"

My Grandfather's Clock was too tall for the shelf . . . .

Relaxing in woolies from King Winter

Cat relaxes too

See the books on the right? Lots of Chesterton reading for my dear husband!

And what did I get? A happy balance of splurges I need like a hole in the head:

. . . and two items needed to replace ten-year-old pots. We did save a ton of money by purchasing 2nd quality from an outlet store that offered an additional 25% off!

Blessings to you for the remaining days of the Christmas season!

Hello and Merry Christmas to everyone! I have been spending more time looking at other blogs these days, enjoying the Christmas photos and reflections. I promise I will get some of our own photos up soon. In the meantime I am enjoying my husband being home and shamelessly taking advantage by indulging in such things as two miles on the treadmill followed by a bath in the middle of the afternoon. I also took the liberty to designate today as "basement day" and tomorrow as "paperwork day". I really should take before and after photos but it would be too embarrassing!

The mood to plan also typically strikes this time of year and I enjoyed taking a whole day to plan out the month of January and spend some time on the phone making much needed dental appointments and booking the babysitter for several dates including St. Valentine's Day just six weeks away! We don't usually do anything grand, but this year I noticed some interesting offerings through the Minnesota Historical Society such as a Victorian"poetry slam" and English country dancing. Now that the baby is weaned we may just have to take advantage of such opportunities!

Also after our basement is cleaned up enough to keep me from a panic attack we are also dreaming, and I do mean financially dreaming of finishing the basement in order to move the learning room down there. That would give us many more square feet of space to "do school", free up a main level room for a little Waldorf style play room and hopefully free our little family room of toys as well. We really should be working on that 6-12 month emergency savings in times like this but I notice that is isn't stopping my husband from breaking out his tape measure and mulling over the possibilities.

I am also thinking about what direction to go with this blog. I don't have a lot of original homeschooling ideas these days. We plan to spend the next week or two getting back into a schedule and writing thank you notes for handwriting practice.Many craft kits and fun books were received as gifts so that will keep us busy before beginning Five in a Row Volume 2.

What I would love is some feedback from you about the following possibilities:

1. I could type up my seasonal plans with ideas for circle time singing, picture books and crafts and post that.
2. I could post about books and movies and CDs that I've enjoyed or have recently taken in. I am thinking along the lines of my impressions and personal responses rather than formal reviews.
3. Or I could conceivably share my conversion story. I have always felt that God may call me to share it sometime to help others. But I don't know that I am ready for that quite yet. Maybe my continuing conversion process would be easier for me. I don't know. How nosy are you?

Here it is 5:15 and we still haven't done the 12 Days of Christmas lapbook or practiced piano. Time to make dinner now - Joe and I have a date to go to the outlet mall. I am in the market for a dutch oven and Hana Anderson has a big sale. Any suggestions? Is Le Creuset worth the $$$?