Our Family Christmas, 2015

Hello and good evening, friends! :)

Well, I have a whole BUNCH of photos from Christmas to share with you but first ... !

I'd like to wish you all a Very Happy New Year! I hope and pray 2016 will bless you in so many ways - with fond memories, and family happiness, good health and peace in your heart - the kind of peace you can pass on to those you love and the world around you. I thank everyone, sincerely, for being such gracious and kind readers ... I so love my little blog and hope to continue it for as many more years as I can! What fun I have here with you all!

Now, here are some shots from the past couple of days - or I guess, that was last week! How time flies when you're having FUN ... :)

So how early did your Christmas start? ;)

Our tree in the wee hours of Christmas morning ... I was up with Earlybird (who, as usual, lived up to his pseudonym), sipping coffee and absorbing the peace of these dark early hours. (While, admittedly, also, consulting my to-do list in my head!)

The rest of the clan was up by 7 a.m. and it was go-time! How special is a 2 year-old's Christmas ...

EB with a new train book, one of his favorite gifts. 

Our 16 year old Crackerjack, who FINALLY got a phone! He's been very patient!

Our older boys, opening stocking stuff ... the tabletop soccer game was from Santa.

And here's Archie, who simply MUST be in the middle of everything.

A bit later in the morning, my folks and brother came over to open presents and enjoy a hearty breakfast.

Archie, again, in on the action. (Ollie was nowhere to be found).

I love how the cards look on our library door!

My mum's penuche fudge, my favorite Christmas treat! It is FABULOUS with coffee, fyi.

Speaking of coffee ... here are my pretty Christmas mugs. They hold a lot!

A felt banner stretching across the kitchen nook window ... one of my last-minute, 50% off, Michaels Store finds! And as you can see, it was such a bright and sunny day ... and startlingly warm - near 60°! Today, about a week later, we are in the 30s and there is snow on the ground ...

Our signature cocktail this Christmas: Jingle Juice Punch!

On Christmas afternoon we host a family gathering and here we have the appetizer spread  ... and my dear cousin Kara sampling the punch!

Speaking of Kara, here are her absolutely delicious Swedish spice cookies ...

The desserts table in the family room ... to my mind, you can never have too many desserts at Christmas!

My beloved Mum and me. She does most of the work at the holidays - I mostly just pick up and set tables!

More family arriving ... our home filled up with our dear ones!

So good to gather together and spend time catching up ...

Sharing laughs and swapping stories!

Little Bear loved being (mostly) in the center of attention. :)

 * Family Christmas, 2015! *

And then it was time for round two ... Bill's side of the family came up to visit on Boxing Day!

And Chinese cuisine is traditional on this holiday ... in our house, anyway!

Bill's Mom and Dad, merry-merry! :)

Little Bear and Bill with Aunt Ami and Uncle Greg (Bill's siblings!) ...

A new centerpiece: a gift from my brother - a little something for my garden. ;)

With some of my favorite ladies in the word ... my mum, Bill's mom, and my sister-in-law, Ami.

 Crackerjack, Bill and Little Bear ... digging in!

 Earlybird with his new planet shirt, showing Grandpa Bill a new present. :)

A little chaos at Christmas is natural!

And here we have Family Christmas 2015, part two!

I feel incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful family, and that we live close enough to gather together so often throughout the year. What a joyous Christmas this has been ... and here we are on the 7th day of Christmas, ready to welcome a brand new year. How are you spending your evening? We are here with the boys, enjoying our family's favorite dinner (meatloaf!) and a movie or two. We may or may not make it to midnight!

But I hope you all have a fantastic New Year's and I thank you, as always, for stopping by ...

I will see you here again very soon! 

My Christmas Tea Journal, 2015

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that your week is off to a great start! Our Christmas was very nice and I have lots of pictures to share, but in the interest of time and keeping our tea hot and fresh ... I will share them in a separate post. For today I'd like to invite you to sit and share a bit of your Christmas with me ... how your holiday went, is going still, and how you'd like to see it go next year. So grab a favorite mug and let me pour you a hearty cup of "brew" - I need something bracing today - and let's chat!

Firstly, how was your Christmas?

Ours was lovely! Spread out over a couple of days, we celebrated with family and friends and had a really nice time. As usual it seemed to fly by and I can hardly believe we are but a few days from New Year's ... 

What was the best thing you ate (or drank) this Christmas?

My mother's homemade penuche fudge is my FAVORITE Christmas treat - she makes it every year and I remember bringing pretty little packages to my teachers when I was a child. As for drinks, our signature Christmas cocktail this year was a really yummy punch called, "Jingle Juice." It made quite a large batch and while potent, was quite refreshing - nice for the mild day we had! Lots of citrus zest and juices plus frozen cranberries and ... spiced rum, Amaretto and Grand Marnier! Recipe found here ... though I will tell you, we used bottled juice instead of fresh. There just wasn't time for anything else!

What are your hopes for next Christmas? What would you like to do differently?

This was something Bill and the boys and I talked about at our family meeting last Sunday. I wrote down what each of us said so we can remember our thoughts next year. I myself wished for more time to just be home and bake and less last-minute running around. We all wished we had made more gifts. We also had to skip our town's tree lighting and caroling on the common. We talked about why these things happened (or didn't) and, moral of the story: we need to start earlier and give ourselves more time. Too many to-do's were left till late in December.

Do you celebrate Christmas beyond December 25th in any way?

Yes! There's so much fun to be had throughout the Christmas season! We keep most of our decorations up till Epiphany, and I try to leave a bit of greenery tucked somewhere till Candlemas (Feb. 2nd). On New Year's Eve we have a quiet celebration at home - a good movie or two (this for me, this for the fellas), cheers at midnight (or as close as we can get) and before bed we'll "wassail" our little apple orchard with a blessing of warm cider (an old English tradition). We'll honor Mary, Mother of God, on January 1st by attending Mass, enjoying a special breakfast after, and refreshing our peace corner ... and we'll bring blessed chalk home from Epiphany Mass with which we'll mark our front door for the New Year (20 + C + M + B + 16). Speaking of C, M and B - every day we're moving our Wise Men closer to the nativity set, and reading stories about their journey. They'll arrive at the manger on Twelfth Night (January 5th), and our dinner that night will feature a spiced beef (slow cooker) stew, hot wassail and gingerbread.

On Little Christmas (January 6th), in Irish tradition, the menfolk will be in charge of packing up decorations, picking up dinner, and doing up dishes! Yours truly will work on organizing Christmas bins and making notes for next year.

:) 

Now, I'd love to hear your answers to my questions above - either here, in the comments below, a post at your blog, or in an email sent to bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com. I hope to hear from you! For now, though, here is ...

My Christmas Tea Journal

What refreshments are you enjoying this week?

In my Christmas stocking I found a box of my FAVORITE tea - Allegro Black Decaf. It's organic, and rather expensive, so I only buy it once in a while, but I just love the flavor. I'm enjoying it in my special snow angel mug along with a couple of festive yogurt-covered pretzels ... sitting at my writing desk which looks out at the side yard, which, as you can see, is (finally) covered in snow!

What are you reading this week?

In my stocking I also found: 

Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard Von Bingen

I discovered Mary Sharratt's books this past year and I'm so eager to read this one next! I have just started digging in ... but it's so hard to find reading time in a busy mama's days!

And with the younger boys:

The Twelve Days of Christmas, a beautifully illustrated favorite, and so nice for this week "after" Christmas. I have also requested The Chronicles of Narnia (audiobook) from the library - this will be our Winter read-aloud. For New Year's Eve there will be Cider Apples and I've moved the Epiphany books up to the front of the Christmas book basket. I have listed some titles over on the sidebar under, "Epiphany Basket."

What are you listening to this week?

How about some seasonal songs? We Three Kings, Here We Come A-Wassailing, Go Tell It on the Mountain, Do You Hear What I Hear?, Joy to the World, Auld Lang Syne ... and one of my favorites, What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? by Ella Fitzgerald. I heard this standing in line at the bookstore last week and thought, what an oldie but goodie! Next year I think a little unit study on Christmas carols and what their lyrics mean - where they fall in the Nativity story - would be fun.

What are you working on this week?

Oh, I am so in love with this "planner" ... still very much a work in progress! I bought the notebook last week at Paper Source and it's just gorgeous. Smooth, lined paper and NON-perforated, silk-trimmed pages ... sturdy, copper-coil binding ... and a stunning front cover with a powerful reminder (All We Have Is Now). I am transforming this notebook into a very personalized weekly/seasonal planner and am having SUCH fun in doing so! I am trying to replicate the weekly planner I made last year but in a more manageable size. With better checklists and more planning space. I will post all about it VERY soon. :)

What's happening in nature this week?

Winter has finally arrived ...

Christmas was incredibly mild this year - we hit 70 on the 24th! And then today, at last, we had our first snow ... mixed with ice and sleet, however, so it's kind of gunky and wet. Still, it's nice to see white on the ground again!

Any projects with the children this week?

Not really - it's kind of a breather week here!

Any quotations to share, some words to inspire?

 "Write it on your heart, that every day is the best day in the year." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well, my friends, do we have time time for one more cup of tea? Ah well, perhaps not today ... here in my corner of the world it is dark and suppertime is upon us ... so it's time to clean up my crumbs and get back to business. But I hope you enjoyed this Christmas Tea post! I can hardly believe how quickly these weeks have passed ... and now here we have our last Tea together. It's been such a fun journey and I thank everyone for reading and commenting and especially those lovely ladies who sent me their own Tea posts to share here at the blog. What a gift this sharing has been! I would love to host more Seasonal Teas through the Winter ... I'm sure we can all do with a weekly sit down during this long, cold season. Spending time in our nests - WHICH will need some attention now that the festive holidays are winding down. I could use some revitalization next month, how about you?

So please stay tuned! And as always, thanks so much for stopping by ...

I will see you here again very soon ...

From my family to yours ...

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and thanking you all for your support, kindness and friendship!

I'm signing off until next week, but ... I'll see you here again very soon!

❤

My Advent Tea Journal ~ Welcome Winter!

Happy Monday, my friends ~ and Happy Winter Solstice, too!

I'm getting a late start on Tea, because it's been a busy one today! And mostly it's been a "working tea," so if you've just stepped into the kitchen to join me, please excuse the mess! There are, however, some good smells in the air and soft music in the background ... the kids are all occupied (bigs watching littles), so I'm ready to sit ...

Please grab yourself a cup (there are plenty in the cupboard) and let's chat! :)

Now as you're probably aware, today we begin a new season: around midnight tonight the seasons will change guard, as Autumn retires and Winter makes its triumphant return. Though to be honest, I don't know how triumphant Old Man Winter is in these parts - we hit 50° earlier today! And not a speck of snow to be seen, which is quite late in the game for New England ...

But snow or no, Winter is arriving at our doortsteps and I think it's a wonderful thing to prepare our hearts and home for all it has to offer. I take joy in all the seasons as they turn (and return) - and I love all of them equally. Each one has its unique pleasures and promises to offer, and I've been taking notes for years on how to make the best of each season of the year. It's such a passion of mine! I will spend more time discussing the new season in upcoming posts, but here are a few questions for us to ponder as we Welcome Winter on this dark, chilly night. I've added my own answers, but I'd love to hear yours, too!

What is Winter like where you live? Is it true to form this year?

Here in New England it's unseasonably mild, and has been for some time. They're predicting near 70° on Christmas Eve! This is just unheard of ... although, after last year's epic snowfall, I should probably be counting our blessings! Things will turn around before long, I am sure ...

What are your favorite things about Winter?

I love SNOW! From gentle flurries to snowstorms - big old Nor'easters thrill me! I just love it. And nothing beats a Winter sunset stretching across a clear, frosty sky. Vivid and breathtaking - God's perfect artistry! I also love watching birds at the feeders at this time of year, and savoring the warmth of home on cold days and nights ... with extra blankets, cozy slippers, and nourishing foods like hot cocoa, baked apples and hearty beef stew.

What are some hobbies you might try over these long winter days?

I'm going to recommit to my journal-keeping this Winter, and get more organized about seasonal crafts.

What foods do you like to serve during the Winter? Are there seasonal meals you return to every year?

I love seasonal meals ... so in Winter, that means potatoes and root vegetables, pot pies, stews and soups, oatmeal, citrus fruits, molasses cookies and hot beverages of all kinds.

*☀️*

And now, for my Tea Journal Notes this week, our fourth week of Advent, just a handful of days from that holiest of nights ...

What refreshments are you enjoying this week?

We are so grateful to have received a wonderful selection of citrus fruits from Bill's aunt who now lives in Florida. Because I know I'll be "indulging" quite a bit later this week I'm trying to eat as healthy as possible these days, so my "snack" today is hot tea and a very simple (but sweet) clementine. I find oranges and clementines very Christmasy, don't you?

Now, if you're "game," maybe you'd care to join me in some last-minute Christmas crafting? :)

As I work, the cider is simmering on the stove and the boys are all busy with their own affairs - Earlybird is working with his therapist and my older boys are taking turns playing with Little Bear. I don't always have my kids at the craft table with me, but I like that they see me here ... being calm and thoughtful and taking joy in the season with my hands and my heart. It's one of those pre-Christmas days when the home atmosphere is so important ... one of quiet anticipation and joyful preparation. I try to model this mindset for my children, and hope that their memories of these days will be dear ones.

 What are you reading this week?

I'm not doing much "personal reading" this week, but that's to be expected. I do love all those holiday picture books, though! Our book basket is full of "Winter Welcome" this week, and here is a list of some of our favorites:

Winter is Coming

The Shortest Day

Wintertime

Grandmother Winter

Winter Waits

Winter Lullaby

Dear Rebecca, Winter Is Here

Waiting for Winter

Winter

When Winter Comes

The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits

 Also by my side is Winter: A Collection of Poems, Songs and Stories for Young Children, as I look for little verses to journal or share or write into curriculum plans.

What are you listening to this week?

And Winter Came ... by Enya. It is just so lovely, and an early Christmas present for me! :)

When Bill and I were first dating (in the late 80s/early 90s) then engaged ('91) and then married ('93), Northern Exposure was our favorite tv show ... for its quirky plotlines and lovable characters as well as the very cool soundtrack. Several Enya songs were used throughout the series and we just fell in love with her music. To listen to this or this just takes me right back to those sweet, early days! We're actually re-watching this series with the boys over vacation, and loving it all over again. :)

What are you working on this week?

Setting up a Blessings Jar for the New Year, organizing a family meeting, and finishing my monthly calendar for the file crate ... as well as my 2016 planner. The notebook above is - potentially - my new daybook for 2016. I found it at Paper Source (while Christmas shopping with Bill!) and not only did I love the cover, but the pages are gorgeous. It's a nice size, too. I have to play around with it a bit - but of course, I will let you all know how it turns out!

 In addition, this week is all about readying ourselves for Christmas ... a bit more in the practical sense than the pensive, but I'm trying desperately to keep things in perspective. To keep the peace we've cultivated ... in me and around me. 

A couple of projects:

Sun and moon ornaments I made for the tree ... :) I have a plan to make "nature" ornaments throughout next year - a couple each month to reflect the changing seasons and natural phenomena. I found some plain, kraft-brown, round ornaments at AC Moore that are very easy to paint up and decorate. On the back of each ornament will be a quote or sentiment I wish to pass on to my children ...

I also made this ornament, a mama robin on her nest ...

(The eggs are painted whole nutmeg!) 

What's happening in nature this week?

 Mostly, we've been taking advantage of dry, mild weather and enjoying the last sunsets of Autumn ...

Any projects with the children this week?

We set up a Solstice Tree for our little furred and feathered friends ...

And this week in our Advent plans we're focusing on "Friends, Family and Fellow Man," so it was time to move our Holy Family into the manger where the rocks, plants and animals have gathered to welcome them ...

Shepherds wait on the windowsill amongst the nativity-themed books ...

While the wise men began their journey in the bookcase across the room. :)

(and finally)

Any quotations to share, some words to inspire?

For my friends who are not quite as pleased to see Winter makes its appearance:

*❤*

Now, speaking of Winter, I am so pleased to tell you all that there will be ANOTHER Live Planing Chat between Jen, Mystie and myself sometime next month! Details to come, (and of course I'll share them as soon as I can) but I do know we'll talk further about planning strategies (nitty-gritty stuff!) and brainstorm ideas for the first couple of months of the year. If you have any suggestions please drop me a note! I will be picking up speed with my Fresh Start series starting next week, and I will address the "mind map" I mentioned in the talk last week as a couple of you have asked about it. I think it's a great tool for anyone thinking about their responsibilities and routines or perhaps beginning a new planner. A timely topic for sure!

As always, I would LOVE to hear from you, my friends, about your own Tea this week and/or your thoughts on welcoming Winter. If you have a moment, please drop me a note below or send me an email here:

>> bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com <<

(Pics are always welcome!)

I look forward to hearing from you and chatting more about all these fun topics! Thank you so much for joining me today and letting me prattle on about this and that ... I appreciate your time and kind attention! :)

See you here again very soon ...

Tea with Friends ... ❤

Happy Sunday, my friends, and blessings to all on this 4th Sunday in Advent! I can hardly believe our Advent Teas are winding down ... it feels like I just posted the idea! But here we are with Christmas but a few days away ... are you ready? Wrapped presents and cookie platters aside, are you ready in your heart to embrace Christmas? Did your Advent go the way you had hoped?

Well, tomorrow afternoon I will post my final Advent Tea, and our theme will be one of "Welcome." We will be welcoming Winter (which arrives tomorrow night!) and looking for ways to embrace this new season in our hearts and in our homes. There will be lots to talk about there! But for today, I'd like to share a lovely cup of Advent Tea, poured by my dear friend Denise ... I hope you enjoy! 

*❤*

We love weaving our faith and the true meaning of Christ-mass in our Holy-Day celebrating, (which for us begins with Thanksgiving) especially with our grandchildren. We do that in lots of various ways. Decorating the tree, which has many faith-symbols and talking about what they are, what they stand for. Another I think I wrote about, our Jesus gifts. When they were a bit younger, we would find the Christ-babe for our nativities. I have a couple who still enjoy the hunt, and now for the older ones especially, we also add in a time of discussion, "How can we *find* the
Christ-babe in our lives today? How have we LIVED the Christ to those around us?" As the Scripture says, "One generation will praise Your works to another and will declare Your mighty acts." (Psalm 145:4) Oh for us to take *every opportunity* to declare HIS mighty acts to our progeny! Passing on our love for the One who first loved us!

~~ Advent Tea Journal ~~

Refreshments:

An assortment this week: Chai Tea Latte (homemade!), peppermint tea, hot cocoa! These little Grinch cookies, that did NOT turn out like Pinterest! I only had brown candy hearts (what?) and they weren't supposed to spread out quite so much. Next time bake in mini-muffin tin, maybe??? But cute all the same. Family story that goes along with this, so the Grands will have quite a laugh!! 

Reading:

The prophecy of the Messiah - and then the FULFILLMENT of those prophecies, as recorded in the Holy Scriptures!  WOW! The lineage is spelled out. The locations are pin-pointed! The most miraculous, the Holy Son being born of a virgin! WOW! Oh, help us, Holy Father, not miss the Christ-child, who grew to be a man freely giving Himself a sacrifice for all who would receive in faith! Now, I'm not a great woman of faith, but I know Almighty God who is ever-faithful, fulfilling ALL His promises!!

Listening: 

Christmas music continues. I've been enjoying Christmas music by Third Day this week! And a little David Crowder Band Christmas as well.

Working On:

Thinking of the new year, the great growth potential! Praying about what the LORD wants to do in my life, what my "focus" of the year will be.  Trying to see how this new planner will fit me(?) It's a fun thing, playing in new planners, but I am a little timid about how this one is going to work!

Nature Notes:

We've had rain so that was good! But, we had a Christmas surprise! We've lived here 6 years and this is the first year these big, green leafy bushes (out front, facing south) have flowered! White flowers (which I didn't get a picture of) and then these adorable RED BERRIES! Not many, but a few bits of bright color here & there! I can't wait to get down to Mom's to cut the red berry-limbs that will last until March!!! Also, I am trying to identify a new-to-me bird that has been visiting our home. Has just a slight bit of red on its head, and maybe in the folds of its wings.

Projects with children:

Our focus this week is our Children/Community theater's production of Elf, Jr.!! My husband (Gramps) is co-directing this one & three grands are IN it, and one is backstage hand! They have been working diligently and I am sure it will come together beautifully, although there is some worry. Opening night is THIS Friday (18th)!! So, we are busy & excited around here, and to be candid, tired!

It seems like just yesterday you were announcing your Advent Tea, Dawn! Yet, here it is so very close to end our waiting! It has been a time of calming for me, to come to your "web-home" and join you in the pausing, the calming, the anticipating, the sharing. Thank you!

~~Denise

*❤*

Thank you so much for sharing your Advent Tea Journal with us, Denise - such beautiful thoughts and pictures! I hope the play was a success for you all on Friday night ... I am sure you all must be exhausted, but what memories you are making! Do you know, I have never seen the movie, Elf?! It seems to have become quite the holiday favorite, but so far it has slipped under my radar. I will have to sit down with the boys and check it out sometime as I know many people enjoy it. :)

Well, my friends, as I mentioned above, tomorrow I will share a last pot of Advent Tea with you all, as Winter slips into our lives and we consider how to best make it welcome. And following that, on the very next Monday (the 28th) I will have one more Tea to share, and that will be my Christmastide Tea, with thoughts on celebrating the 12 days of Christmas at home with the children. I hope you will join me!

For today though, on this beautiful 4th Sunday in Advent - bright and cold here! - I wish you all a wonderful start to your week. I hope these next days bring you little stress and much peace as we head towards The Moment we've all been waiting for ... hearts and arms wide open. :)

See you here again very soon ...

Planning for A Fresh Start!

Happy Thursday, my friends!

Now, not to rush the year's end - because this is certainly a season to savor - but I always like to keep one eye on the calendar so I can see how quickly its pages are turning. And as usual, they're flipping fast! Well, my wheels are turning too as I consider planning ahead for a great year! So as I gather my resources (and hopefully my wits) about me, I thought I'd begin a series of posts about preparing myself for a new year of home keeping. The series will pick up speed after Christmas, but here is a first quick installment.

:)

Very early this morning, as I lay in bed yearning for coffee, and marveling over my inability to sleep in past 5:30 a.m. - despite all my children still abed - my mind started wandering to my housekeeping schedule, and how it has (and has not) been working ... 

It looks really good on paper, and it's certainly thorough, but it hasn't been easy to accomplish the goals I've set for myself. Ok, let me rephrase that - I have not been able to accomplish most of the goals laid out in that calendar.

(As in, my house is a mess.)

Now, this could be the result of unrealistic planning (thinking I can do more than I can - I'm really good at that) or it could be I haven't found the right time in my day for these tasks. It could also be due to significant changes to our routine this year with the addition of Earlybird's daily home therapy. Most likely, it's a combination of all these things ...

Anyway, I next started thinking about the rooms in my house and how ridiculously cluttered they've become since ... oh, since forever, but especially since Summer when time seemed more plentiful and was definitely more flexible. So right then and there I worked out an "order of cleaning" for my new year:

>> one month = one room <<

I'll keep up with my basic weekly housekeeping as best I can, but as for decluttering and deep cleaning, I'll pace myself by concentrating on one room at a time. I'll think more about where I can make time for these tasks (weekends? evenings? lunchtimes?) and how to work them into my planner pages, but here is the basic timeframe as it appeared to my rather sleepy mind this morning:

January: The Nursery

February: Master Bedroom

March: Earlybird's Bedroom

April: Older Boys' Bedroom (before Bookworm moves home for the summer)

May: Family Room

June: Sunroom/Patio (in time for outdoor living)

July: Basement (cool work during the hot months)

August: Garage (cool work during the hot months)

September: Kitchen

October: Dining Room (ahead of Thanksgiving next month)

November: Library (ahead of Christmas next month)

December: Attic (as we bring decorations up and down)

***

Next I'm going to work up a to-do list for each room: what needs to happen to get things back in order? As I move through the house, I would also like to create a floor plan and an inventory for each room; this would be good information to store in my home keeping binder. And ultimately I will need to look over that original housekeeping calendar - the tasks and the routine - and see where I can tweak things to make it more do-able.

It's a big project, and I'm up for it! But you know, sometimes it feels like I'm forever tweaking things ... and often I worry I spend too much time on the planning and not enough time just getting things done. Do you ever feel that way? It seems like THE PERFECT PLAN must be out there, somewhere - at someone's blog or in a new book or hidden in the depths of Pinterest, perhaps ...

 I try not to get discouraged, though I think it's very easy to feel defeated when things are not going well or something we've planned (and put a lot of work into) proves an ill-fit. But none of us are perfect and so our plans - even the one that seem awesome - will never be perfect. Learning from what we've done, and striving towards something better is all we can do. Everything we do to serve our families matters ... and these are "the small things we can do with great love." ❤

I might wish I could keep up with my family's needs a little better, but I know in my heart that I'm trying. They know I'm trying. HE knows I'm trying ... 

So I'll keep trying! 

(Which means I'll be back to talk more about this topic in a future post!)

My friends, I hope you'll join me as I look for a fresh start, and plan for a happy and homey new year. I think it will be both fun and helpful to discuss these topics, and share our pictures and progress with each other. Next time I will talk about what I'm hoping my planner will do for me this year ... and how I'm working towards making that happen!

But for now, and as always, thanks so much for stopping by ... I will see you here again very soon!

Tea with Friends ... ❤

Happy Wednesday, my friends ... I hope your week's going well!

I am so pleased to share some Advent Tea with you today ... these lovely thoughts and images come from Cath, and I know you will enjoy them. :)

***

The tree:

This year my tree is white and has all the counted cross-stitch ornaments I have made (except for one I received as a gift I'll always treasure!). The shading of white and dark ... so peaceful as the tree turns round and round in a revolving stand. It's as if I'm driving on a back county road at night in a snow storm. I do miss the real tree I have gone and cut the last few years ... We started a tradition of naming our trees. I can't seem to name the fake tree this year. It's fake! No life ... no name?  
  

Past trees have been named Twinkle, Noel, Wenceslas, Genevieve, Stanislaus, and last years name being Shalom ... They started taking on Saintly names and meanings. Last year was special hosting the family for Christmas Eve and Shalom was my prayer for all entering my home. So yes, needless to say I am missing the personality in my home but thrilled to know the tradition has carried on in my baby girl's home and this year they have welcomed Alfred into their home and even bought him a red tree skirt to keep his toes warm. He is simply decorated, not overloaded with lights or ornaments, and elegantly beautiful in his simplicity!

Reading:

I am sticking with Ann Voskamp's Book for Advent and enjoying it very much. Pretty good for someone who forgets to keep up with her nine-day novenas!

Drinking:

I am out for lunch having pizza and not drinking this ...

I don't like it ... clove and spearmint are not for me. I must have grabbed the wrong box after reading the ingredients ... I hope the other box isn't this same stuff! 😕 Looks like there will be some gifts in a few Christmas cards ... Mom, do you like cloves?

I am just returning from a weekend retreat about the direction of the four gospels with a twist on Therese. Leaving, I looked down and found a fresh red rose petal on the side walk. Fresh, like it just fell off, was pulled off? Wish I would have taken a picture before giving it to the priest who walked right past it ... I went back inside to ask the sister if she brought in roses ... Nope? Therese said she will let flowers fall from heaven ... Seems we may have just received one? What a blessing ...

 
My word for Advent has been PEACE... 

Quote:   

“To the American People: Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world. 
Presidential message, December 25, 1927” ~ Calvin Coolidge

Thoughts:

Advent is moving along too quickly. Let's take it back to 6 weeks. I need more work on me!

Looking forward to: 

Being back home, getting things in order and crafting - that hasn't happened yet! And I guess it may not if I don't get started ... or should I say ... settled!

Pink Sunday....  the "Shepherds Candle"  to represent joy.

And today my cup holds ...

Good old fashioned Campbell's vegetable soup ...

(The kind grandma served for lunch with sandwiches before Marketing created 3 or 4 different types!)

My favorite ornament made by someone else...

I don't usually watch much TV ... But today I did eat breakfast (something I don't usually do), I did turn on the TV and enjoyed some of the morning shows like Rachel Ray, and The View... Trying to create some kind of routine. Trying to place some everyday joy into my life ... Trying to create chunks of time for different things that bring joy and bring something to show for my time?

Needless to say ... Baby girl will be 25, and her stocking was done for her 1st Christmas ... The man's a few years later ... And mine? Still a work in progress? Some of that used-to-have TV time kept me sitting in my chair and I have treasures to show for that time ...  Internet time? Not a lot around here to show for it? Need a plan.

And waiting.....

Until next time ... 🎄
   Cath++

***

This was just so lovely, Cath - thank you so much for sharing a little of your Advent here with me (us). It is such a privilege to share my readers' tea notes and pictures at my blog. I am so honored each time someone - YOU - share your time, your thoughts and your wide open heart. It's such a generous thing, to share in this way ... and my blog shines a little brighter each time I post "Tea with Friends."

:)

Well my friends, I hope you are able to find some time for Tea this week, a quiet hour to just sit and do something for YOU - read a little, pray a little, plan a little ... snooze a little! Recharge your batteries in some way ... and don't think for a second you don't need it ... you do! We all do. I'm so used to just go-go-going all day thinking, well, once dinner's over and the kids are in bed, then I can sit and rest. But you know what? By that time of day ... I'm just done. There is no "resting" or "recharging the batteries" ... there is just unplugging, lights out and then Zzzzzzzzz .... 

So now I ask for a bit of time like this, for me. An hour once or twice a week to sit for "tea" and quiet thoughts. Someone else is reading to the baby and someone else is answering the phone (or not). And sometimes it's just half an hour, not a whole ... but it's still a gift whatever I get. It's good for me, and it's good for my family!

Today it's a glass of wine (poured by my husband!) and Christmas cards in my lap - not the ones I still need to sign, but the ones we've received in the mail. Before I hang them, I'll sit here and think about each family with love and a prayer for their very best new year. ❤

But alas, I am now nearing the end of my rest time! There are now a few children present and a cat has just been startled from his nest by the heat. Plus, it's high time to start supper and meatloaf doesn't make itself! So I'm off to the kitchen but I leave you all with my thanks and my hopes that your evening is pleasant ...

See you here again very soon!

Our Planning Chat Replay

Planning is such a fun thing to do ... and talk about! And it's something I talk about here a lot as you all know! Well, yesterday I took part in a wonderful live planning chat with two lovely ladies, Mystie from Simplified Organization and Jen from Wildflowers & Marbles. We discussed many different aspects of planning and how we organize our days ... including how we handle it when our days are, perhaps, not quite so organized! We also took live questions from the folks following along, but you can still watch a replay of our talk, if you'd like!

You can access that here:

Live Chat Workshop: Planners, Processes & Problems

If there are any follow-up questions I can address, or points from the talk I can expand upon or clarify, please leave me a comment or drop me a note:

bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com

I look forward to discussing more "planning points" soon ... because the New Year is at our doorstop! And I am all about getting myself and my planning ready to roll ... but for now, I wish you all a very good day!

See you here again sometime soon ...

My Advent Tea Journal ~ Magic & Meaning

Happy Monday, my friends! I hope your week is off to a great start! It's time for another Advent Tea, but first off ...  how on earth did it get so far in the season?! Honest-to-goodness, time seems to pick up speed as we get closer to New Year's!

Well, on Sunday (Gaudete Sunday) we rejoiced to light our third (pink!) Advent candle. What a great time to stop and take joy in our life today - right this very minute! Joy is such a gift, something we give others and something we receive as a blessing from God. I love when He opens my eyes to the joy around me ... because sometimes I can get so wrapped up in the trials and tensions of everyday life, I forget to look around for the JOY.

Wouldn't this be a great prompt for a new year's journal?

>> What brought you joy today? How have you made this day joyful for others? <<

(Clearly, some of these snowmen get it, while others do not.)

I have such love for this week ... because for one thing, I love that pink candle! (I don't see a lot of pink in my life, lol.) But also, on this Sunday we are still very much in the heart of Advent ... I'm still able to take peace in the season that is now ... not fret over the season to come. (Ok, truth be told - I'm fretting a little. I really am a wee bit behind.)

But most of all, I love this Sunday because it almost always arrives right around my Earlybird's birthday ... and he is as joyful a boy as you will ever meet. In fact, this very DAY happens to be his actual birthday (he turns 14 on the 14th!). So it's a very special day in our household! :)

Well, this week I'd like to talk a little about sharing Christmas with children ... the magic of the season, as well as its deeper meaning. Christmas comes for all of us, but how very special it is for the children in our life. They are so ready to soak it all up and just BELIEVE ... what they see, what they hear, what they are told ... and that's sometimes a good thing, but other times not so much. How do we hone the message they receive at this time of year?

>> How do we shape their joy? <<

Speaking of joy, we have these lovely pink, sparkly letters that spell out JOY - I made them several years ago and I always bring them out on this particular Sunday. Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced one of the letters ...

 

... and the message isn't quite what I meant. At least, not on most days. But it gave us all a good chuckle!

So before I go any further, here are some Advent questions for you, in regards to our theme this week: 

What are your children's favorite aspects of Christmas?

How do you share with them the true meaning of Christmas? In what special ways do you pass on your Faith traditions?

How do you keep your family from burning out before the Christmas season has even begun?

For me, it's all about pacing and balance. Filling the weeks before Christmas with quiet delights for the senses: warm lights in the growing darkness, soft music in the background, good smells and tastes from the kitchen ... and of course, a touch of season's magic. Our Advent countdown message, a mystery unfolding in the empty manger, flickering candles, books appearing each week, packages arriving in the mail, a letter posted to Santa ...

Where is Santa right this minute? When will he come HERE? What is the angel saying? What is the candle in the manger all about? Who are the rocks and the plants and the animals all waiting to see? What do they all know that I don't ... (yet)?

Children respond so deeply to magic and mystery and anything that attracts their developing senses. They're like super-curious sponges! And boy, do they love a good story ...

But I think my children enjoy the family traditions we've created most of all - they look for them and request them every year - which makes me think that all these "little things" we've done through the years have possibly made a big impression. Living a quieter life, a bit outside of the mainstream in some ways, we are able to avoid the commercial side of Christmas that colors so much of the season these days. To a comfortable degree, anyway. We attend Mass, and soak in the atmosphere of our Parish and the words of our Pastor. I try to weave liturgical events and meaning into our days, as I do every week of the year ... 

We eat certain things and read certain words ... light special candles and believe amazing things ... and we wait, and we wonder ... because we are Catholic, and this is what Christmas means to us. It's a privilege to live this way, and though we may be entertained by the world around us, we are sustained by what we share with each other.

Christmas lights are a good example of "magic and meaning." Without a doubt, those sparkling lights are a hallmark of Christmas - shining through the darkest nights of the year. They are SUCH magic - especially for children - but why do we light them? What is their meaning? How can we make our own inner lights shine as brightly?

Here is a beautiful passage shared by my friend Michelle M., from Vermont, in which she describes an Advent walk she shared with her family and special friends. This is EXACTLY what I am talking about when I say I want my children to experience a season full of magic and meaning ... 

"I am paring down the usual Advent festivities and just trying to find quiet. With some sadness and a whole bunch of relief, I decided not to host our beautiful Advent spiral walk in the lovely round building we usually use. This has been the most lovely and spiritual part of my Advent for years and years, watching the children grow up walking in the candlelight circle. But there is just too much happening and the children are growing and transforming, so our rituals must too. I decided to invite one special family two nights ago to wander up our hill in the dark, drink hot cocoa from real mugs, light a tea light in a squat Bonne Maman jam jar, and place it somewhere in the dark while whispering a prayer or wish or hope. It was a vision now etched in my forever memories to see those sweet children's faces bent over their candle in total silence in the dark. Of course, this mood was soon changed as they came together over one jar and descended into bathroom noise humor...but that's all part of the journey, no?!"

 Thank you for sharing, Michelle! What a lovely memory for you all! :)

I'll have more thoughts on this topic in time, and I hope to post more as the week goes along, but for now - because this post is already running long! - here are my tea journal notes:

What refreshments are you enjoying this week?

This week my "tea" - in the spirit of childhood - is a cup of creamy, minty homemade cocoa! Earlybird LOVES our fire pit and so as a birthday surprise, we had one last bonfire out back yesterday afternoon. I used our old favorite snowman mugs (Crate & Barrel, from before we had kids!) and added a natural candy cane "stirrer" as an extra-special treat. 

Just before Bill lit the fire pit, I had the boys gather 'round the Advent garden so we could light the third apple's candle, and check today's rock. Our prayer for the week: God, please help us spread joy to those who need it most!

Once the words were said and the fire was lit, I took Little Bear for an amble around the yard. We had some nature walking to make up for after a rainy, head-cold kind of week!

What are you reading this week?

It's all about the children's books these days, and on our coffee table I have an array of books featuring "Animals in Advent" (our "Advent in Nature" theme this week). Many of these we own, but I request several books each week from our inter-library loan. (I often joke/worry that our librarians either love us or hate us ... but we sure do love them!)

I also parked a couple of our rather LARGE seasonal book baskets in my library nest ...

One basket for Winter books ...

And another for the bulk of our Christmas books proper. These get divided and dispersed to certain corners and baskets around the room as themes pop up through the season.

What are you listening to this week?

"Christmas Piano Music" on Pandora. I had a facial this week (finally using a gift certificate my boys gave me LAST Christmas!) and this was the music my esthetician was playing. So beautiful and calming!

What are you working on this week?

 Getting my 2016 planner in order! I just had it spiral-bound at Staples today. (Needless to say, there will be a great big post all about it in the very near future!)

There is also, of course, much Christmas to-doing this week, as we get down to the wire. Making teacher gifts is the top of the list this week.

What's happening in nature this week? 

Well, as I've mentioned, we've all been sick, and the weather has been a bit miserable, so outdoor time has been limited. It's been very mild for November, though, and the plentiful winter moths are ... shall we say, a bit disconcerting.

Meanwhile, we are happy to see so many acorn caps!

This means we should have well fed squirrels this winter! (I brought in a whole bunch of caps to set on our nature shelf to remind us our critter friends will be eating well! I'm also googling lots of "acorn cap craft ideas" ... and if you follow me on Pinterest, you know what I mean!) 

Any projects with the children this week?

We have some more handmade gifts to be finishing, and this week we'll be working with the theme, "Animals in Advent." We will be taking special care of our cats and assembling a donation to a local animal shelter ... as well as migrating our barn animals to the manger ...

Also, we'll be organizing our Solstice Tree for next week ... but that will be a topic for another post!

Any quotations to share, some words to inspire?

In addition to all those children's stories, I am (re)reading a lovely little book called Festivals with Children. It is a small book written in the Waldorf tradition with a focus on the Christian festivals (or feasts) of the year. Needless to say - right up my alley!

I love, in particular, how the author describes the season of Advent:

"The calm and quiet which is prerequisite for every "inner becoming" is under attack everywhere today but especially during Advent. Today it can only be achieved by conscious effort ... There are so many customs and suggestions for the celebration of Advent that we must choose consciously to meet our particular situation. This period of time is in danger of losing its own characteristic mood. The atmosphere of preparation is often overwhelmed by the Christmas mood of fulfillment itself. Children have often already had enough by Christmas. Too often Christmas Eve is experienced as a hard-to-achieve climax followed by exhaustion, making the celebration of the twelve days of Christmas very difficult."

***

I've found that constant activity really takes its toll - not just on me, but my children. And boy do I hate feeling tired of Christmas before it's even arrived. Community is important, absolutely, and it's hard to pick and choose among so many wonderful opportunities: a tree-lighting here, a card-making there, a cookie-baking marathon somewhere else. But as with anything (and especially with children) less often means more. The one great thing you do with your family this Advent will make an equally great memory ... eighteen great things will just make a blur. These days I try to choose carefully where we spend our energy and leave ample space in our December for rest ... so we might learn to appreciate the mood of the season as well as the magic.

❤

As always, I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts on this week's topic and of course, get a peek into your Tea Journal, too. Please leave a comment below or - even better! - send me an email with your thoughts and/or pics and I'll share them here at the blog. You can reach me here:

>> bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com <<

And I'm still hoping to do a little video tour of our Christmas library (tree and all) but that didn't get accomplished in time for this post. Hopefully I will have it for you later this week, but for now here are a few "quick pics" ...

:)

Now, before I go I have one more thing - no, make that TWO more things to tell you!

The first is to announce the winner of my Christmas Books Giveaway! I so enjoyed reading all the "hellos" and "heys" and "howabouts" from you all! I wish I could send everyone a package, but for today, I must choose one ...

 

So the randomly picked winner of the giveaway is:

 

CAROLYN!

Here's Carolyn's question which I LOVE and will definitely address soon ...

 

Hi Dawn!
Happy Advent! I've really been enjoying your blog these last 2 months! What homeschooling resource books would you recommend for a young mom looking at starting homeschooling kindergarten next fall?
Thanks,
Carolyn

 

Oh, such a fun time in a homeschooling family's life - kindergarten! I've been there three times so far, and am thrilled to revisit it with Little Bear in a few years. I have some definite favorites when it comes to resources and will get a post up as soon as I can, Carolyn. :)

 

And I'll be in touch soon to arrange mailing details ... hope you enjoy these books with your family!

 

Now, before I go, I also wanted to remind you all that TOMORROW I am participating in a live planning workshop with Mystie Winckler of Simplified Organization and Jen Mackintosh of Wildflowers & Marbles! We've got an hour to talk about all kinds of planning topics - and answer questions as we go along! You can watch our chat and submit questions by signing up HERE. There will also be a chat replay and you will receive a link for that as well.

 

Ok, well, as usual I have just gone on and ON and I thank you very much for your time and kind attention. I will be off now because as I mentioned, it is our Earlybird's birthday and before the littlest wakes up I have a few presents to wrap and a chocolate cake to frost ... :)

 

But I'll see you here again very soon!

Tea with Friends ... ❤

Happy Weekend, my friends! I am so glad you've joined me today, as we share another pot of Advent Tea. Today I have some lovely posts from Leah, Kimberly, Lisa, Tammie, Denise and Helene ...

Kind ladies, thank you so much for your participation ... and friends, I hope you enjoy! :)

First up, here are a couple of links to my blogging friends ... a post from Kimberly at A Gathering of Days, where she welcomes us into her Cozy, Christmas Home ... and another from Lisa at Its Own Sweet Will who shares her family's Christmas Tree Trimmings. Both of these posts are brimming with light, warmth and good cheer ... and oh, how I wish we could really house-hop and visit for real. What fun we would have!

❤

Now, here is a charming tree tradition, as told by Leah:

We go up into the "tree mountains" as my 7 yo son calls them. There are "rock mountains" and "tree mountains" out here ;-) The National Park Service (I think) sells a certain number of permits to cut down trees because it reduces the risk of forest fires (I had to ask ... it just felt strange to cut down the trees in the National Forest, but it is actually helping to protect the woods.) 

We like to drive up to the mountains with a giant thermos of homemade hot cocoa and perhaps some cookies. We live out on treeless plains so just being in the woods is magical. The way the sun doesn't really beat down on anything, it flitters in like little fairies through the leaves and pine needles (it is mostly evergreen in the area we harvest the tree from,) and a completely different bunch of animals make for a very - well - magical day. We play around for awhile, look for squirrels (who knew there were squirrels in trees, not just on the ground!) and then we get down to business looking for a tree.

I will admit, they are not as full-bodied as the tree farm trees. They are typically the younger trees because we have a height limit and even the taller trees are not evenly full all around because the sun only reaches one side of them before the sunlight finds its way to the west side of the mountains. BUT, even if they are sparse little things, we have such an adventure in finding a tree, that it is how we like to do things now.

As for decorating the tree, we like to make a few things and put on some purchased ornaments. One year we strung cranberries (messy!) and popcorn (I don't know how much ended up on the string with the kids helping). This year, my husband suggested that we just do natural ornaments so we can toss the tree out in the back of the property (we live on some acreage and no one can see parts of our property so only the pronghorn and cottontails and jackrabbits will be the wiser). Then, the tree can provide something for them in the cold of the year, even if it is just shelter.

Leah, what a wonderful experience this must be for your whole family, but especially your children! "Magic" is the perfect word for it  ... and boy does this whole tale fit perfectly in with my NEXT Advent post, too! (Magic + Meaning) Thank you for sharing your famlily's tree tradition with us ... you have me itching to get out into my own woods (we're surrounded here!) and take note of the dappled sunlight and frisky squirrels!

:)

And now we pop over to Tammie's!

Thank you, Dawn, for inviting us to take tea with you! This afternoon I am sitting in a sun-filled nook at my desk in our bedroom with a mug of Numi Orange Spice Tea. My husband and I tried it last year in tea-bag form and enjoyed it so much that we ordered it in a 1 lb bag of loose tea for this winter.

 

 

I am glad you asked us to share our trees here! We have a large tree in our living room, but I put up a special little tree here on my desk . . . a tiny silver tinsel tree reminiscent of the tinsel tree that my family had as I was growing up. Just looking at the sparkle and glimmer takes me right back to the excitement and anticipation that I always felt each Christmas . . . forty-something years ago!

 

 

     Last night when my husband came home from work, he suggested that we read something "Christmas-y." I knew right away what we should read ... a few selections from an Ideals Christmas issue:

 

 

We both remember this publication in our homes as we were growing up and a couple of years ago he bought me the 70th Anniversary edition. This magazine first came out in 1944, right during the dark days of World War II. In the first issue, the founder set forth his vision for the magazine with these words: "Ideals is a book of old-fashioned ideals, homey philosophy, poetry, music, inspiration, and art - things that some of us may have overlooked during these busy days." It continues to carry out those same qualities today and we find the illustrations, photographs, & stories to be charming and uplifting to us in our own busy days. I think that tonight we'll be reading some more selections from this book.

 

As far as projects I'm working on ... I'm cross-stitching ornaments for each of our five grandkids. Also, I'm putting the finishing touches on my Christmas cards ... I create our cards each year with rubber stamps. I hope to get these finished and sent out by the end of the week.

 

Thanks again, Dawn, for your sweet hospitality!  

 Blessings to you and your family,

Tammie B.

 

 

Thank you for sharing your Tea and Christmas traditions, Tammie! I have to tell you, I feel the same way about tinsel. I wouldn't use it nowadays (though my cats would love it!), but it holds nothing but fond memories for me when I remember trees dripping with all that sparkly stuff! (And those giant colored bulbs!) And thank you for recommending that Ideals book - I'd never heard of it before, but it looks lovely!

 

***

And now, let's hear about Denise's Christmas tree traditions!

O Christmas Tree!

Our preference is live! However, the frugalilty of my self hasn't let us indulge in quite some time. :-) So, we get the next best thing: artificial. We normally put them up as soon after Thanksgiving as we can (depending on travel, time, etc) and leave them up until Epiphany! I don't have a favorite ornament.

We have four trees we normally put up. We are only putting up three this year; I'm not putting the one up in the Grands' play room, as we won't be in there much this season.

One is a wooden tree, made by my sister- and father-in-love. They worked together on it! (He has since passed on.) It is adorable! I put this one in our over-sized hallway.

Another tree is my snow-themed tree. White lights, white snowballs, white crocheted (purchased) snowflakes, and gold (they didn't have silver) jingle bells with red ribbon. I *reeeeeally like this one!* I learned several years ago that I don't like "hodge-podge." Now no offense intended to anyone who does, and I, in fact, do put one up, it is just not my preference! I discovered that while shopping during the Christmas season one year with Mom & baby sister (who had a baby of her own we were babysitting while she served our country in the Air Force).  I saw different styles of trees, all together. The one I gravitated to most was the one that only had a few different things, but several of those. I liked it! I discovered I liked things that looked *similar,* had some semblance of order, so I purchased what I liked & put up the tree! You know what? I actually enjoyed putting up that tree! I think it was a first. Ok, well that's not quite right, I always like putting up our live trees!!

Now, under this tree, we have our selections of Jesus Gifts. This is usually all that is under this tree. These are just things that represent some options. Our grands work throughout the year to earn money towards the gifts. We then match what they earn. Then at some point through the holiday, we select how they want to spend the money. Oh my goodness! What JOY this brings!! It is something they look forward to throughout the year. The money is spent locally and overseas through different organizations. Some of the gifts have been: money for the food bank, shopping for the food bank, sports equipment to a family, gift certificates to a shopping center, "Christmas meal baskets," clothing for homeless shelters (all local), Bibles, money to help fund translators, wells, providing animals, sewing machines, bicycles for missionaries, oh my goodness, the list goes on. It is always interesting to hear what our grands have picked & why they have chosen it!

The last is the Family Tree that goes in the family room. THIS is the hodge-podge tree. Ornaments handmade by little beloved hands, or handed down, or that have a special meaning. The Grands always decorate this one with us. It is not decorated yet; we just didn't have time last week! It is all set up, lit & just waiting! We *will* get to it next time they are here! Afternoon tea, carols on Pandora (thanks to granddaughter/13), decorating the tree! Yes!

Advent Tea Journal

Refreshments I am enjoying this week:

Apple-cinnamon has been my tea of choice for a bit. I seem to go in 'spurts' on what I crave. :-) Grands and I baked Peanut Butter Blossom cookies. So yummy!! Grands have been drinking their favorite, peppermint. They don't branch out too much. :-) If they do, it is for hot cocoa or vanilla milk (one can't have chocolate).

What am I reading & listening to?

Christmas readings and music, of course!! "Hope is Alive" by Ellie Holcomb is a favorite right now!

"So sing with the angels they fill up the sky! Heaven broke through & now HOPE is alive! He is right here among us, our God is with us tonight!  Into our aching, into our breaking, into our longing to be made whole! Your arms are reaching, your love's holding us close! And into our suffering, into our weeping, Into this need we have to be known. Your arms are reaching, your love is holding us close."


What am I working on?

Enjoying the Advent season. I have a Christmas funny I'm working on for my dear, sweet grands, who like to tease me, so I am going to *tease* them back! I hope I don't regret it.

What is happening in nature?

 Still hunting the elusive goose! Grandson/15 just can't get out here at the right time. They always come land on the pond at some point.  However, they must be wily creatures, as they know you can't hunt 30
mins before dawn/dusk. Guess when they come in to land?? The times he CAN hunt & is here, it seems they are too high.


Thoughts I am pondering:

 My thought this week in Advent, continuing my *Faith* theme has been: 

If I have the *faith* to believe, to take God at His Word, that Christ was born of a virgin, (Bible Scripture:  Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:27) (and I DO!) then I need to apply that same *faith* to the impossible situations in my life today! I need to have that faith that HE is faithful to His Word and IS IMMANUEL, God with us!!

*** 

Beautiful as always, Denise! Thank you for sharing your Tea and Trees with us! How I love to hear about your Grands and the love you all share ... all your trees sound lovely, but that Jesus Tree is extra-special! (Not just in looks, but in purpose!) I love what you had to say about Faith, too ... it's such a GIFT, this ability to have Faith in that which seems impossible. God is so good to give us this gift because it is so very necessary throughout life!

***

And finally, here are some Tree thoughts from Helene:

Do you prefer live or artificial trees? Cut-your-own or pre-cut?

We love live trees! I’d love to cut our own but that’s not an option down here, at least not in my area.

Are there any special tree-trimming traditions your family follows each year?

Not really - my husband trims the bottom and gets it into the stand, then he and I put on the lights. After that we all start hanging ornaments. This year my little guy was really into hanging ornaments for the first time, so I spent my time digging out non-breakable ones and handing them to him to hang. We never hang all the ornaments we have, but it’s fun to go through them all and choose which ones to hang from year to year.

What is your favorite ornament?

I love old-fashioned looking glass ornaments in various motifs. I have a “bride’s set” from my husband’s grandmother (years ago, not long after we were married) that I adore but that does not get hung up right now, because if little hands broke those I’d be pretty sad, as Grandmama has since passed away and I like having those as a remembrance of her - we were kindred spirits, despite the fact that I didn't get to know her for very long.

When do you put it up and when do you take it down?

We usually get it early-mid December, but got it earlier this year because my husband was going out of town for a week and we wanted to get the tree up and decorated before he left. I love it, actually, because we get to enjoy it longer. I usually try to wait until Epiphany to take it down, but the last few years I’ve caved and done it early. By that time everyone seems to be a little over it, and we often travel for New Year, and it’s a bit sad coming back to a drying, drooping tree.

Colored lights or white lights?

White on the tree, but the lights on the house are colored.

What refreshments are you enjoying this week?

My morning cuppa, and I’ve been downing Emergen-C trying to avoid the colds and other bugs that seem to be going around lately. As you said, illness can really put a damper on plans. My daughter seems to have a cold coming on, and I really hope she’s able to kick it as my sister and I are planning to take her to her first Nutcracker performance this Saturday.

What are you reading this week?

I pulled out my copy of "Forever Christmas" as well, actually. And I just picked up the latest in a cozy mystery series I read (Library Lovers mysteries) from my library, so I’ve got that to look forward to. Also a book called "Labor Day" that’s a collection of birth stories by women writers.

What are you listening to this week?

Handel’s Messiah has made a few appearances. I just found the "Ancient Noels" album you mentioned on Spotify, and I’m listening to that as I type. It really is lovely music, thanks for sharing your discovery!

What are you working on this week?

Trying to finish up a knitted baby hat and booties for a friend’s daughter’s baby. And also I did a huge deep clean of the apartment on our property - it needed a lot of attention, so now every surface has been cleaned, all soft things laundered, and am finishing up the washing of literally every dish and utensil out there (and we don’t have a dishwasher!). But now it’s all sparkly and ready for holiday guests to come and stay. Now just need to give our house a good scrub too, when I recover my motivation! :)

What's happening in nature this week?

Our neighbor let us pick a ton of bush beans from his garden this week. Our beans are finishing up, our collards are going crazy, and the carrots and broccoli romanesco still look good—at this point I’m still hopeful of a harvest! Plus the strawberry season is kicking into high gear, and they’re probably shipping some up north by now—if you see berries in your grocery store from Plant City, FL, they were grown right near me. :)

Any projects with the children this week?

Not really, my husband has been gone for work all week, so we had a scaled-back week that may have involved a few Christmas movies in the evenings and also some playdates with friends, all of which helped mama stay sane.

Thank you Helene, for sharing your Advent Tea Journal! I loved hearing about your Advent doings - so glad you found Ancient Noels good listening! And I had to smile at your mention of The Nutcracker - another magical moment I can remember from my own childhood. My grandmother and great-aunt would take my cousin and myself in (by train!) to see The Nutcracker in Boston and it was SUCH an experience. Full of mystery and wonder and magic. I cherish those memories!

Also I must tell you - I will be keeping my eyes peeled for those strawberries! I tend to stick to produce "in season" as much as possible, but I will not be able to resist enjoying berries raised near where you live! :)

***

Dear Friends, I hope you have enjoyed all these Advent thoughts, shared by my kind friends. Leah, Kimberly, Lisa, Denise, Tammie and Helene ... thank you all SO much for the time, energy and love you put into your posts. I appreciate your participation so much! I look forward to hearing more from you (ALL of you, dear readers!) as we continue along in our Advent journey. On Monday we have a new theme to chat about and I can't wait to dig in ...

"Magic and Meaning": Making Advent Memories Our Children Will Cherish.

(And don't forget, I'll be announcing the Book Giveaway winner, too!)

See you here on Monday afternoon, everyone ... thanks so much for stopping by and I wish you all a peaceful evening!

A Christmas Books Giveaway!

Happy Wednesday, my friends! It's a good day for a giveaway!

As I was going through our Christmas book collection I set aside some duplicates to pass on to someone else:

Merry Christmas, Strega Nona!

Dear Rebecca, Winter is Here ...

Christmas in Noisy Village

And I'd like to offer them to one of my readers! So someone will win a pretty little package from me, filled with these books and perhaps a few other seasonal delights, too ... :)

If you would like to enter your name in my Christmas Books Giveaway, please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear a suggestion for the blog - a post topic or question you might like me to answer - but you can just say, Hey, Happy Advent, too! ;)

I will announce the giveaway winner in Monday's Advent Tea post!

(And speaking of ... folks who send (or have sent) me Advent Tea comments/pics/links get entered in the giveaway twice!)

You can leave a note for me here or send me mail at:

>> bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com <<

Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday, my friends ... hope to hear from you soon!

My Advent Tea Journal ~ O Christmas Tree!

Good afternoon, my friends! I hope this post finds you well ...

We're all on the mend here, slowly but surely. It's a tough time of year to get sick - it really puts a crimp in your plans! But in a way, it's a good reminder ... Advent is all about mood and mindset, not as much about where we go or what we get done. We had planned to take the boys to a tree farm over the weekend, and I had hoped to get to the library and the craft store for some supplies. (This week's activities - and my tea post itself - all hinged on doing these things!) But alas, nobody felt up to doing any of that, so "plans and hopes" were readjusted and we just stayed home (except for an emergency run to Stop N Shop for tissues and cat food, etc.) ...

So the "forest nature walk" didn't happen, the "cut-our-own-tree experience" didn't happen, and we didn't return home from the farm with rosy cheeks and happy hearts to a pot of simmering wassail. The tree was not up and decorated in time for this post, and we missed out on parish pancake breakfast entirely ...

But you know what? Getting sick really simplifies things. I found myself re-evaluating my list and editing our schedule by asking: "What is it we actually need? What can be set aside? What is most important for the people I love?"

Here's what we need: safety, warmth, nourishment, attention ... a feeling of being cared for, and time spent together. Well, we had all that, and then some ... so it was all good. :)

(Except for the sore throats and fevers.)

At one point on Sunday, we sent the two healthiest among us to the closest tree-lot and they came home lickedy-split with a really magnificent tree. We gathered the bits of greenery that were trimmed off and set them on our nature shelf. I still made up that pot of hot wassail since I had the ingredients on hand and they were so very good for a late autumn cold ...

We played music on Dad's phone, and I lit a few candles placed high out of reach, including this pretty one, a lovely gift from my dear aunt ...

And I reminded myself to just try to relax, reboot and follow where this Advent Sunday was taking us ...

❤

I love seasonal homeschooling as you all know, and "evergreens" are this week's theme ... which also ties in nicely with our Advent-in-Nature plans for week two: exploring the beauty of Christmas greenery. So this was a great start - bringing a big, beautiful tree into our home!

My tree is nowhere near ready to show you, so I will do a follow-up post with a look around our Christmas room, including the tree. (Perhaps even a short video?) But for now, I have some questions for YOU, and if you'd be so kind - please leave me a comment below answering them or send me an email (with tree pics perhaps?) ... OR, link me up at your own blog! I bet you have a photo or two of your Christmas tree there ... ;)

>> bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com <<

***

Do you prefer live or artificial trees? Cut-your-own or pre-cut?

I prefer live trees, harvested from a local sustainable tree farm if possible.

Are there any special tree-trimming traditions your family follows each year?

Not particularly - we tend to just layer on lights, garland and then ornaments. And lately - between cats and kids - the ornaments have been all soft and non-breakable. Bill is in charge of getting the tree up, stable and lit ... the boys and I handle the decorations.

What is your favorite ornament?

Hard to say! I love all the antique glass bulbs that belonged to my grandparents and a few of the boys' handmade treasures. When I do my Christmas room tour I will zoom in on my favorites. :)

When do you put it up and when do you take it down?

We typically get our tree the second weekend of Advent and leave it up till New Year's Day ... though I love the tradition of waiting till Epiphany, I'm usually itchy to get it out. By January the cats have thrown up dry needles one too many times ...

Colored lights or white lights?

White for the house tree ... but I love having one outdoor tree trimmed in big colorful bulbs.

❤

And now, here are notes from my Advent Tea Journal ...

What refreshments are you enjoying this week?

This week my "tea" is actually a yummy wassail ...  which, I just learned, means "to be in health." Something we can really use around here! It was a new recipe, prepared in the crockpot and full of good-for-you things ...

Orange juice, apple juice, cranberry juice ... plus sliced lemons and oranges and fresh ginger root ... honey, cloves and cinnamon sticks, too ... The house smelled amazing, so being "trapped inside" was not such a bad thing, really! Also, the recipe makes A LOT and it can be reheated as leftovers.

I also had planned to make a special cake for the day, and I ended up doing that, too ...

Another new recipe, this is a Spelt Orange Bundt Cake from Mother Earth Living, and ... Oh MY. So delicious and moist, bursting with spice and citrus flavor. I think it would be a great cake for the Winter Solstice or Christmas Day. Fyi, I used whole wheat flour instead of spelt ... and left the butter sauce on the side for those in my family who can't do dairy. (I myself slathered it on.)

What are you reading this week?

Working through my basket of magazines (holiday issues are the BEST) plus a lovely old book about living a quieter, country Christmas ...

Tasha Tudor's Forever Christmas ... my folks gave this to me back in 2001. I love re-reading this (and watching her video, Take Peace) at this time of year and refreshing my Advent attitude a bit. I've never visited her house in Vermont but it's on my "someday" list! :)

Then we have the basket of "this week" books for the younger boys ...

Filled with lovely stories (and a field guide!) to go along with our nature theme (evergreens, Christmas greenery):

A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree

Night Tree

The Legend of the Poinsettia

The Family Christmas Tree Book

The Story of Holly & Ivy

(and not shown, on request at library):

 Christmas Farm

The Littlest Evergreen

***

What are you listening to this week?

Ancient Noels is on request from my library, and we'll mostly be listening to it in the van as we drive around town. We're studying the Middle Ages this year and this month it's all about how Christmas was celebrated in medieval times - food, music, decorations, and festivities! With a soundtrack that features hammered dulcimer, recorder, pennywhistle, Celtic harp, cittern, guitar and tambourine ... this music takes you right there ... or so I'd like to imagine. ;)

(At home we're also enjoying holiday selections from Pandora Radio on our phones. I particularly like Charlie Brown music, classical Christmas and old vintage tunes.)

What are you working on this week?

Well, it's mostly all about Christmas preparations, but I'm also organizing my materials for that Planning Workshop I'm attending next Tuesday! :) 

Refreshing the file crate ...

... and assembling another homemade planner for 2016!

Then, as soon as they arrive, I'll be devoted to assembling Christmas cards ... :)

What's happening in nature this week?

Early sunsets ... surprisingly mild afternoons.

Though the mornings are quite frosty!

Some of you have asked if our Advent apple candles are still intact. Well ...

As you can see, I threw the critters off by offering a tasty pumpkin instead ... it's been fun to watch their antics. A couple of squirrels have been up on the table, sniffing at the apples and knocking over the center candle. They didn't cause too much harm though ...

Also this week we are searching our yard for any Christmas greenery we can find ... so far, plenty of evergreens, pinecones, English ivy and a few withering herbs ...

This photo will feature in my "nest assignment" next week. It's a bit bleak looking isn't it? Well, I have some thoughts on that ...

Any projects with the children this week?

Of course there will be tree decorating! And we'll spread it out over the week. Meanwhile, we've added some greenery to our manger table: a few evergreen sprigs, a pinecone and a (silk) poinsettia blossom, too.

That candle burns steadily all day and night.

Watching, waiting ...

Also, per my (admittedly, adventurous) Advent plans, we'll choose from the following craft ideas as time, (health) and supplies allow:

terrarium bulbs * nature ice molds * late autumn suncatchers * paperwhite bulb gifts * dried orange slice garlands * grinding whole spices with mortar and pestle * pine branch slice candleholders with Daddy * cinnamon stick-lined candles * gift jars of mulling spices * a local holiday greenhouse visit * water forest snow globes * twig ornaments * orange clove pomanders

(Now, in no way do I expect to do most of these crafts. Certainly not when we're all under the weather! And as I mentioned, I didn't get to the craft store as planned, so I'm short a few key supplies. But when I brainstorm a theme, I really go all out! I've pinned most of these ideas so we'll always have them if we need them. I'm hoping to get a few gifts made if nothing else, and I think the boys will really enjoy grinding spices. I have some oranges on hand to slice and dry and Bill is pretty eager to make some candleholders from our log pile.)

Any quotations to share, some words to inspire?

"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of your children, they are all 30 feet tall."

~ Larry Wilde 

***

Well my friends, it's time to wrap up our Tea! I hope you enjoyed hearing about our "doings" and a preliminary peek at our tree! I will share how it turns out once we get it all done up ... and as I mentioned, I would LOVE to hear about your tree and tea! Please share with me here in the comments or send me your thoughts at ...

>> bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com <<

I look forward to hearing from you!

Wishing you all a lovely Tuesday, with my thanks as always for reading! 

Monday Memo: More Planner Chat!

Happy Monday, my friends! I hope your weekend was a good one!

Ok, first up: some not-so-good news. I'm afraid my Advent Tea post will not be up later today, because "Mama time" (aka, blogging and teatime!) has been rather thin on the ground lately. My family has been hit with a nasty cold virus, and needless to say it has really "gummed up the works" around here! Thankfully though, the bug seems to move pretty quickly ... Little Bear is feeling much better this morning after a blessedly long night of sleep. Sleep is such a good thing, isn't it? It's probably the best thing we can do for our immune systems - get good sleep!

Anyhoo, I hope to have a fresh pot of Advent Tea ready to serve one day later this week - hopefully tomorrow! - at our usual time, just as the late autumn sun slips low in the sky. We'll be talking about Christmas tree traditions and I'd love to hear about yours!

*❤*

But now for some really FUN news! Are you all ready for some more planner talk? :)

Well ... a week from tomorrow I will be participating in a "live chat workshop," hosted by Mystie Winckler at Simplified Planning! Mystie has invited me, along with Jen Mackintosh of Wildflowers & Marbles, to talk with her about one of our favorite subjects ...

I am so excited! (And a little nervous too, to be honest ...) But I think it will be a such fun!

 We'll be talking about "planners, crates, apps, calendars, brain dumps, habits, goals, and more!" Such good stuff, right?! And there will even be a chat box where you can ask questions during the live workshop, too. I'm amazed by the whole process, honestly. I think Mystie and Jen are great ladies with fantastic blogs and I am just completely honored to have been asked to join them! Our workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, December 15th at 4 p.m. EST.

Now, here is a link to the page where you can find out more and sign up to access to the live chat. You will also receive a link for the replay and an e-mail reminder on the day of the workshop. And if you have things you know you'd like to hear me talk about - planning topics we've covered in the past, tools I use or have made, such as the file crate - please let me know in the comments below. I'm trying to organize my "stuff" and my thoughts beforehand so I'm ready to go!

Well, that's all for now, my friends ... I'm off to tend my family and work on getting everyone feeling better. Soup and grilled cheese for lunch, I think ... and lots of fruit juices! I hope to see you all tomorrow though, and I wish you all a very good day. :)

Tea with Friends ... ❤

Good morning, my friends! And blessings to all on this 2nd Sunday of Advent. ❤

I am so happy to share with you all some lovely Advent Tea notes and pictures from some of my very dear readers (and friends!). I am just so enjoying this season so far! It's unraveling slowly and simply ... and it's such fun to share. :)

Well, today we are taking the boys (the ones who DON'T have a cold) to a local tree farm to cut down our Christmas tree ... I'm hoping to have it (mostly) decorated by the time I sit down to share my next Tea Journal late tomorrow. But we shall see what the rest of the day brings ...

For now, I hope you enjoy hearing from Michelle, Denise and Helene, and I send these kind ladies my sincere thanks for taking the time to share their thoughts and pics here at the blog. I am so happy to be spending our Advent together!

***

Advent Tea with Michelle P. ...

Hi Dawn,

 

I hope your Christmas season is off to a blessed start. From the looks of your pictures I would say it is. I love the way you are incorporating nature crafts into your Christmas decor. I love the look of a country Christmas theme. I have tried for that look this year. I hope you will be able to see that from the photos. Other years I have gone with a silver theme, but my family all seems to like the country theme the best. I think it fits with the style of our home. We always have artificial trees, but I adore the smell of pine so my middle son and I hang the ornaments that have a pine smell. They usually sell them at crafts stores. The decorating begins right after Thanksgiving.

 

The day depends on my husband's work schedule. The whole family decorates the tree and my husband always plays Christmas music to get us in the mood. We have quite a few trees. The tree that has Santa in the picture holds all the family ornaments ...

 

 

The tree that has an angel on top is more of my country themed tree ...

 

 

The two trees by the fireplace hold all of our Jesse tree ornaments.

 

 

Now that my oldest boy is in college it is harder to find the time for the whole family to participate. But I have sent him photos and he will be home soon enough. I can’t wait until all my birdies are back in the nest again! We always have white lights on our trees. Somehow it seems so calming and it reminds us of the stars in the skies.

 

My favorite ornaments have to be the Jesse Tree ornaments that my son hand sculpted a few years ago. He was only 13 and I am so proud of how they turned out. We use them along with Ann Vaskamp’s book.

 

 

 

I love the cozy warm feeling of our home at night when all the lights are on and the candles are burning with the scents of the season ...

 

 

Thank you for letting me share my home with you!   

 

Blessings,

Michelle P.

 

***

 

You home is lovely, Michelle, and thank YOU for sharing your family Tree traditions with us! Your trees and decorations are just beautiful ... and the way that tree looks in front of the big window! Gorgeous!

 

I am in complete agreement on the white lights! I adore white lights and the peaceful feeling they give me, especially as you say, late in the day. What comfort they bring on those dark afternoons! Though I will admit I like seeing one tree - perhaps outside in the snow - full of cheerful colored lights. That always makes me smile. And yes, it's hard to get completely in the spirit without ALL our birds in the nest! Bookworm will be home just before Christmas and I will have to send some pics along to him, as you mentioned. That's a wonderful idea! As I understand it, he and his roommate have a small tinsel tree in the apartment, but I have yet to see picture-proof! ;)

 

***

Now, let's hear from Denise's Advent Tea Journal this week ...

Gifts. Such a focal point of the holy-day season, appropriate since Christ gave Himself! This year my husband & I are *only* giving gifts from the heart, to each other. Gifts of Love Service to each other, for each other, with each other for others! It is a work in progress, for me as, no I am not as organized as I should have been! I think, however, it will be a gift from the heart, simply spending the time coming up with ideas! Something I will enjoy over the next couple of weeks! Now, for our kids & grands, we have, of recent years, been giving gifts of *time with each other.*  Different gift certificates for activities the whole family can enjoy. Sometimes we join them for the activity, sometimes it is just their immediate family. Gift of time always comes from the heart, I believe!

Refreshments I am enjoying this week ...

Today I will have *hot cocoa* time with the Grands. We will be baking simple cookies - sugar cookies with sprinkles to
decorate! We will not roll them & cut them. We will drop them & then they will press with glass covered in red or green sprinkles! (Our time is very limited today.) The cookies will look festive, we will make enough to send some home with them, & put some in the freezer to bake another day to deliver to others. It is also their great-grandma's recipe, so we will call her & talk with her, asking her to share a Christmas memory. I am looking forward to *hot cocoa* time this afternoon, after school!! After 45 mins in the kitchen, the fixings for chicken & dumplings are simmering in the crockpot (family dinner tonight), the cookie dough is ready for hands to roll, smash, glitter, bake & eat!! Hot cocoa mix is ready.

What am I reading?

I've begun Advent reading. I have a couple devotionals by Ann Voskamp. My focus for Advent this year seems to be FAITH. Faith - that is a lasting gift, a gift that can increase!! Faith - to believe in what really can not humanly be explained! Faith - that precious gift from God Almighty - to little ol' me! WOW! I have attached a staged picture, so
you can see the Advents books we are using. One to go through with the grands, and one for myself! The teacup is actually my grandson's (15). He didn't want it today, as he wanted milk with his cookies and the teacup just doesn't match up to his milk consumption! :)

What am I listening to?

I asked granddaughter (13) to load Pandora on my cell. Yes! Fun! Currently I am listening to John Tesh, a Christmas instrumental. Lovely. Peaceful.

What am I working on?

Of course, fine-tuning our Advent/Christ-mass celebrating!! The Grands like to help decorate, so I only put out one nativity. I've attached a picture ...

The mantle isn't finished, but I needed to get a picture sent to my sister as my niece wants to make these this year. This is an old salt-dough nativity I made with my mom, sister and a very young daughter! It has held up very well through the years! It has to be about 30 years old now! The month of December (November too, actually) is pretty low-key on most fronts. Of course, I must keep up with our clients ... you know business related things. However on the home-front, I pretty much only do what must be done. Just keep things in maintenance mode, no deep cleaning of any kind. However, I did notice that somehow (shock) my closet shelves got all messed up. I think it is because I have had two seasons on the main shelves, and so I will get those switched out & the shelves all neatened up!

December is a month to enjoy family, friends, peace, quiet, Christ-centered activities!

What's happening in nature?

It is hunting season. Grandson (15) got his first pheasant of the season. He wanted to have it tonight, but we were just too rushed! (From after school to theater practice is just too short a time! Throw in cookie-baking, tea-time, catching up on the day, hunting & then cleaning the bird, family supper & time just flies! So they will have it tomorrow.) The ice is all melted & we are living with muddy roads! Thankfully ours is pretty sandy, so I don't generally have to worry about getting stuck! It actually warmed up nicely today & we were able to be outside early evening! Grandson tried for a goose, but didn't get one tonight.

Words to inspire.

"Christmas is about the greatest of miracles - the LORD coming to earth as a human being - and it offers to the world the greatest of gifts - eternal life."

C is for Christmas, Warren Wiersbe. Such a thought!

~ Denise

***

Oh my goodness, Denise, I just love all the details you share! We are cut from the same cloth, you and I! Thank you so much, for all the time, thought and LOVE you put into this post. I truly appreciate that you are joining me on my Tea Journal journey this year. <3 That salt dough nativity is just beautiful - what a family treasure! And if you don't mind, I'd love to borrow your idea to exchange gifts of the heart only with my husband. That's a wonderful tradition, and as you said, the brainstorming ahead is a gift in itself!

***

And now for some Advent Tea thoughts from Helene ...

Do you try to create gifts at this time of year? 

We’re doing a few. My daughter, who is 7, has been making various ornaments - Perler beads are a favorite. She also made one at her Girl Scout camp that she wants to give to her little brother - so sweet. Mostly if a gift isn’t already made by now, though, it probably isn’t going to happen.

Are you super-organized (as I always wish I'd be) and start your gift-giving early each year, by starting projects, growing things, gathering materials, and just generally planning ahead?

I’m pretty good about making small items (like knitted washcloths) throughout the year, just because if I tried to do it all now it wouldn’t happen, and besides, it gives me something to do on long car rides. :) I’m currently planning to cross-stitch some bookmarks for my family, which should be quick, but we’ll see how it goes.

How do you encourage your children to give in a thoughtful manner? Even if their gift is something they've bought, they can put their hearts (not just their monies) into the selection.

We are working on this! We’ve talked about how we don’t buy something just for the sake of it, but we really give some thought to our loved ones and what they need or enjoy.

What refreshments am I enjoying this week?

Sticking with my morning cup of Tasha Tudor’s Welsh Breakfast Tea (ever since I gave up on coffee this spring, this tea has been a mainstay of my morning). That Scottish tea you mentioned sounds tasty though, may have to add some to my tea stash to enjoy!

What am I reading this week?

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas. I also just started A Christmas Carol this evening, and I’m working my way through the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes stories (I *love* the BBC’s show Sherlock, but somehow had never read any of Doyle’s works, so I’m fixing that now).

What am I listening to this week? 

My holiday music playlist on Spotify. I still love Josh Groban’s Noel, but right now I’m also really enjoying the Three Irish Tenors and Placido Domingo. (I seem to be on a tenor kick right now—just noticed that while typing!)

What am I working on this week?

Trying to finish up gift shopping, as I find it really stressful to be doing that at the last minute, wondering if things will be delivered in time - and of course, then pushing the wrapping to the last minute as well. I really want to be able to relax and not rush through this season, so I’m trying to get time-sensitive things done.

What's happening in nature?

Cool breezes, blue skies, local strawberries turning up in the produce stands. Soon we’ll have local citrus as well. Our fig tree’s last fig just came ripe (we got about five this year—it’s only the tree’s second year, so that’s pretty okay, I think). Our garden is producing beans, and I’m holding out hope for the broccoli romanesco—the plants look healthy, at any rate!

A project with the children this week:

The kids and I are slowly putting up Christmas decorations - I’m finding that promising to dig in the tote and find something fun during a school break makes a good incentive for finishing math lessons!

***

Such lovely journal entries, Helene! I enjoyed reading your thoughts on gift-giving and I agree it's so much better to start handmade things earlier in the year. I will be working that idea into my New Year's goals. That said, we've been churning our homemade gifts the past couple of weeks, lol! Sometimes you have to strike when the iron is hot ... ;)

I had to smile when I read about your love for the BBC's Sherlock - oh I am SUCH a fan and we are waiting on tenterhooks for January when I believe it is set to return. I myself have never read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories, but my Bookworm went through a kick in high school and he absolutely LOVED them. :)

Also, I love hearing about your southern weather and how different it is from ours up here in the northeast. I'm a little envious of all that fresh produce - especially those strawberries! We'll be waiting for June for our own local berries.

***

Thanks again to Michelle, Denise and Helene for sharing their Advent Tea notes with us! I hope today you are able to sit and enjoy the blessing that is a Sunday in December ... perhaps it's in spending time with family, or at church, or puttering in your kitchen, or walking in nature. Whatever recharges your batteries, I hope you are able to do that today!

And as always, thank you so much for stopping by and I hope to see you here again tomorrow! I'll have Tea ready to serve just as the sun goes down and the tree lights come on ... :)

Advent Crafts: Pretty Pebbles, Sparkly Stars ...

Happy Weekend, my friends! I have two quick crafts to share today!

Throughout Advent we are reveling in the beauty of creation, and how the whole wondrous world awaits the birth of its King. This week our focus was "earth and sky." We have been reading books and working on crafts with a focus on stars, shells, rocks and the returning sun. Today's activities included taking the boys outside after lunch to gather branches for St. Barbara's Day (an old fashioned, annual tradition) and gathering "rocks" for an afternoon craft ...

"Daddy said it was ok to harvest pebbles from the driveway ... "

Little Bear's favorite toy of the moment - this crazy little grabber thing. No idea where it came from but he loves to use it to pick things up and move them around. It came in very handy for all that gravel!

So many colors and sizes and shapes! Cool to the touch and such gritty, crunchy sounds!

While Bill assisted Little Bear in rock retrieval, Earlybird and I snipped some forsythia branches ...

 Per St. Barbara's Day tradition, these should be blooming by Christmas ... :)

Meanwhile, Little Bear explored a very large rock in our yard - his favorite digging spot - and the soft, pretty moss growing along our stone walls. We have lots of rocks in our yard - New England soil is very rocky!

Back inside, while the gravel was soaking (removing dirt and debris), the boys decorated some popsicle stick stars I had made up the day before ...

I used a hot glue gun to form the star shapes and attached colorful yarn loops to the top. I think the shiny rainbow-colored stickers will look very pretty against the lights on the tree!

Now, here's the base for the grotto: a $1 frame I bought at the craft store.

The little wooden stand I had on hand, but I also got that at the craft store some time ago, for just a few dollars.

Pretty pebbles drying on a dishcloth ... such an array!

As the rocks were drying and the kids were busy with stickers, I did a quick internet search for an image of the Holy Family ...

 

I loved the colors and style of this one. I printed it out on paper and then used a simple tacky glue to adhere it to the center of the frame.

Here's my work station on the kitchen island ...

Clean and dry rocks, frame and glue gun.

Now, I won't lie ... this did take some time and patience. But I found it very satisfying ... I kind of felt like a stone mason! Children who are old enough to handle a low-temp glue gun could do this craft on their own (what a nice activity for a dark afternoon), but neither of my younger boys fits that bill. And my 16yo was sick with a cold, so he was out of the loop ... and of course the 20 yo is off at college, preparing for exams! He'll be pressed into craft service once he's home later this month. ;)

Here is the grotto, finished at last:

I LOVE how the candlelight reflects on the stones. :)

I think this would make a nice gift, but I'm loving it on my desk windowsill!

There is also a rope attached to the back of the frame and it does seem strong enough for hanging. (The rocks weigh down the wooden frame a good deal.) But I like this arrangement and I could see making this with all kinds of images. I'm already thinking of one with St. Francis for our nature shelf ...

So over the weekend we have a pretty seashell ornament to make and a couple more star ornaments if time allows. Next week we'll be admiring the plants and trees of creation and gathering "Christmas greenery" which will add to our craft stash considerably! (Dried fruit, spices, evergreens, holiday flowers and berries, etc.)

Before I go, here are the books in our Advent basket this week. Some we owned and several I requested ahead from the library ...

The Star Child

Three Pebbles and a Song

The Christmas Star

Star Mother's Youngest Child

Only a Star

The Tiny Star

This is the Star

Lucia and the Light

Winter is Coming

The Shortest Day

*★*

 Well my friends, I'll be off for now. It's Saturday morning here and all my troops are up and about. Time to get the day rolling! But as always, thanks so much for stopping by ...

I will see you here again very soon!

Regarding Trees and Tea Notes ... ❤

Good Friday morning, my friends! Here we are in our first week of December! :)

On this coming Monday I will have another Tea Journal post ready to go, late in the afternoon just as the sun sets ... Our next theme will be: O Christmas Tree! And what I'd like to talk about is tree traditions and preferences, and perhaps we can share pictures of our own trees all decorated for the holidays? It could be this year's tree or last year's tree ... or any year's tree, really!

Questions I'll be posing:

Do you prefer live or artificial trees? Cut-your-own or pre-cut?

Are there any special tree-trimming traditions your family follows each year?

What is your favorite ornament?

When do you put it up and when do you take it down?

Colored lights or white lights?

:)

Remember I'd love to see a picture as well, if you're able! You can email me here:

bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com

My family will be heading to the tree farm this weekend to cut down our own tree - can't wait to see Little Bear's face! And I hope to make another short nature video to share in my journal as well. Next week our homeschooling seasonal theme is "evergreens" and that ties in nicely with our Advent plans, too.

Also, I will have a little "Nest" assignment for you (and myself!) next week. I was hoping to get to that this week, but my days have been busy and I've had to remind myself to slow down and keep things manageable. Too much mental clutter distracts me from the season's deepest meaning ...

***

Well, I will wrap up for now because we're heading outside to cut our St. Barbara's Day branches! But I will see you here soon - I have some "Tea with Friends" to share with you this weekend! :)

(Oh, and p.s.! I also have some exciting news about an upcoming planning talk I'll be attending! Stay tuned!)

Happy Weekend, everyone! See you here again very soon ...

~❤~

 

Our Advent Garden: A Christmas Countdown!

"Winter is dark, yet each tiny spark, brightens the way, to Christmas Day ... " ~ H. St. John

Two of my goals for Advent this year: keep things simple (yet meaningful), and weave nature into our days where we can. Happily, our 2015 Advent "calendar" meets both of these goals!

Every December I make a Christmas countdown of some sort for the boys. Usually there is a lot of busy-ness involved and the calendar itself is made of paper, involving pockets or post-its or tags of one kind or another. I love coming up with the daily activities but this year I'm scaling back on "scheduled" ideas and letting things just happen as time, energy and inspiration allows. A countdown, however, is always a must! It helps my special needs son practice patience and it adds to the overall atmosphere of anticipation in our Advent home.

So, as I jotted down nature notes for the coming weeks, inspiration struck! I love the Waldorf tradition of an Advent "spiral garden," and I kept returning to the idea of a hidden creche in the woods ...

(Remember this scene in Tasha Tudor's A Time to Keep? This has been on my to-do list for years!)

So I decided to combine these two ideas, and this is what I came up with ...

I had Bill move an old round patio table in front of the bird feeders, in plain view of the kitchen nook window. (I could have placed this project far out in our woods, but practically speaking, it will be easier to get the kids about as far as the patio on a cold, wet or snowy afternoon.)

He also gathered some cedar branches which I laid out in a circle along the edge of the table. 

(We have all kinds of evergreens in our yard, but the cedars have soft, feathery branches - a little easier to shape and softer on little hands.)

Next I gathered 24 rocks ... and my original idea was to have the boys find suitable rocks through the month of November (similar size, flattish shape) but since we didn't have much success in that endeavor, I bought two bags of river rocks at the craft store. I think they were about $4 a bag. I spaced them out on the table, nestling them into the cedar boughs ...

I also purchased an outdoor (led), white pillar candle for the center of the table. I stood it on a red wooden heart in the very center of the table. This candle automatically turns on each day around 3 p.m. (just as it's getting dark) and shuts off around 8 p.m. (about the time the younger boys go to bed). It "burns" for 500 hours total, so that's plenty of light to get us through Advent!

We can see the candle from the house and it's just magical! That one lonely light shining brightly through the darkness is powerful. I haven't said much about it so far ... I'm just letting the boys absorb the image ... and wonder.

:)

At the four "corners" of the table, I placed a bright red apple (more on those in a minute) ...

... and on each rock there is a gold star and a number.

Underneath each rock is a word, written in black Sharpie.

So each day through Advent, the boys will turn over one rock and find a word. I've set that daily activity for when the candle comes on. This gives us a rhythm to follow, and it's such a nice time of day when the sunlight dims and the world settles down. There's that air of transition and expectancy ...

Oh, look! It's getting dark and the candle is lit! Let's go check today's rock!

(Or at least this is how I imagine it happening.)

By the time we get to the last rock on December 24th, a special message will be revealed:

"And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.'" (Luke 2:10)

Now back to those apples! On each Sunday, I will prepare an apple to hold a beeswax tea light candle, and it will be lit, while we gather 'round ...

... and say a simple prayer for the week ahead, focusing on hope (11/30), peace (12/6), joy (12/13), and love (12/20).

(Keeping the apples intact until their particular Sunday should, hopefully, keep them fresh longer - and make them less enticing to the birds and critters who visit our patio throughout the day.)

 ❤

On Christmas eve, hovering over the white candle, a shining star will have appeared ...

See the shepherd's hook above the candle? We'll hang a star we've made and painted with glow-in-the-dark paint/glitter. A homemade Star of Bethlehem!

Come Christmas morning, in place of the candle, there will be a lovely surprise ..

Can you guess?

*

*

*

Yes, there will be a small homemade creche in the center of the table! And if it's not quite "in the woods," it will be very close! Now, I'm sure we'll be up VERY early Christmas morning, so it will still be somewhat dark outside. We'll lead the boys out with candles (LED, natch) to discover the first and best gift of the year!

❤

Of course, there will still be some hands-on activities throughout the month of December. I have assigned a theme to each week and I have some books, a little music and a few craft ideas in mind - and most of what we make will be a gift to give or a decoration for our tree. But I will have an outline of these themes and resources in a following post ... I have kept you here long enough for today!

I hope you enjoyed seeing how we put together our Advent Garden/Wreath/Calendar this year! It's something new and fun for my family and I love how it brings us outside each day ... even when the weather is so very December. It reminds us, in a very visual way, that ... though our days may be dark, the Light IS coming ... He gets a little closer every day.

:)

Enjoy the rest of your Thursday, my friends! See you here again very soon ...

From Nest to Nest ... ❤

Good Wednesday morning, my friends! I'm up super early here (thanks to my Earlybird) which means a little writing time before sunrise. :) I would love to share a couple of cozy corners from my readers today ... it's going to be a wet, foggy and cold day here in New England - perfect nest weather! What's it like where you live today?

***

First from, Lisa ~ a link to her lovely website where she is talking about the Danish concept of "hygge" and how she and her family are living Advent in their home, aka "Wit's End." I'm honored to share a little of her post here, but invite you to click over and read the rest of her wonderfully cozy details ... :)

"I'm planning to devote some time during the lovely upcoming winter months to delving deeper in hygge, learning more about its origins while celebrating all those hygge things I already embrace: candlelight, comfortable chairs, pools of warm lamplight (as opposed to that horrid, harsh overhead lighting), teatime, books, leisurely dinners with friends and family, warm blankets, the fire crackling in the stove."

"This is where I read - on my own and to my kids (I was reading this book to my older sons when my water broke with my youngest twelve years ago). Watch tv, write occasionally, sip tea, watch the fire, stare out the window. I've even been known to fall asleep here on occasion (especially on late Christmas mornings, following the early rush)."

"This is where I do nearly all my writing - a fan for noise control year round, a small space heater by my feet during the winter months."

 

Oh my gosh, Lisa - the lighting, the colors, the softness of the whole room! This is just so lovely. Your chair looks so comfy, and I love the fabric! And I also love how you have your desk placed at a kitty-corner facing the room ... that gives me a little idea for my own writing desk which I was rearranging yesterday. This is such an inspiring post, and I thank you for joining our happy Nest party!

 

Friends, to read more of Lisa's thoughts (and see more of her gorgeous photos), please pop on over to Wit's End and have a look around. I'm sure you'll want to settle right in for a spell! :)

 

***

 

And now, let's hear from cath ...

 

 

"My nest is empty, so making a nest and filling it with feathers was a comforting idea for me!  

I am watching the day go by as the sun starts to lower in the western sky. First day of buck season, man and the boy in and out ... Wondering when he's going to ask for baby girls hand? (It is coming... This trip?)

Baby girl and the boy are home for the Thanksgiving week, thank you God for safe travel in over a 10 hour drive! Thank you God for warmer than usual weather as they soon will travel north back to their nest.... Thank you God for this wonderful visit! 

Today I enjoyed watching baby girl while she watched one of the Star Trek movies and wrapped Christmas gifts ... (I hear we are a minority, never having watched them). I piddled around at the kitchen table with her in view and was in charge of the yarn ribbons when the time came. 

Outside my kitchen window, the chickadees have found the newly filled bird feeders.... Sunflower seeds. Waiting to see who else shows up in the next few days.

We kicked off Advent with Ann Voskamp's "the night before Advent" hot cocoa party and soft jammie bottoms for baby girl and the boy... Fluffy socks and a candle for my nest. I'm excited to begin the journey this Advent with Ann as the story of Christmas will unfold. Also slowly reading The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs... And filling my journal with prayers and thoughts.  

The house is all decorated which frees me for lots of craft time from that empty nest ... I have it lined with lots of feathers to keep my hands busy while I promise myself to enjoy as many Christmas Hallmark movies as I can! Counted cross-stitch ornaments, white lights on white, warm candles aglow ...  

Filling my head with plans for tomorrow as as a car travels north .... Time to share her with the boy's family ... Lots of feathers to fluff, lots of things to focus on until the January wind blows and we celebrate a late Christmas Eve ... 

On the bright side of the empty nest....
  More time to cross-stitch....
  More time to enjoy the tree....
  More time to watch movies and attend all the Christmas rush of things so that once again we can be with just her :)

 

 

***

Oh, cath - such a beautiful post! Your love for your family shines through and your Christmas preparations sound so soothing and satisfying ... unfolding at a steady pace. I love the way you described "piddling" in the kitchen while your baby girl wrapped gifts. There is such love in working alongside each other, immersed in our own things, but keeping company just the same. I'd love to hear back sometime if you have a chance on who else shows up at your birdfeeders! This is the season to watch for those new feathered friends! 

Enjoy this special time, cath, and thank you again for inviting us into your nest ... :)

Dear friends,

I have so enjoyed seeing and hearing about your cozy nests ... I'm so glad it's something we can all work on together and share how we're preparing for the long winter ahead. Today I will be puttering around in my own nest (with a toddler underfoot!) as I clean the corners and dust the drapes and tidy the shelves as best I can. In another week my nest room will become The Christmas Room, and I want to make room for all the decorations (most notably the TREE!) and ALL those book baskets! :)

I would love to see your cozy corner, too, if you have a moment sometime! Or perhaps hear about your Advent Tea? Please send me your thoughts at:

bysunandcandle AT gmail DOT com

I look forward to hearing from you, and wish you all a good day! Tomorrow I will tell you all about our outdoor Advent calendar ... the boys are enjoying it very much so far! :)

❤