Advent Days 17-24 :: the final week

Advent Day 17 :: Make marshmallows, originally uploaded by earthchick.

It never fails that the last several days of Advent end up being a blur of activity for me. It’s one of the busiest work weeks of the year, in addition to having all the other busyness that comes with getting ready for Christmas.

So I didn’t manage to blog my daily Advent activities, but I did somehow manage to actually do them. Yay for that!

So on Monday, Advent Day 17, we made marshmallows. This is always a favorite Advent activity, for all three of us. I use the Smitten Kitchen recipe, and it’s a winner, every time.

On Tuesday, Advent Day 18, our activity was to play a board game or card game. This precipitated a major stand-off between the tow boys, each of whom had a different idea about what we were going to play. Neither would compromise, and I thought we would end up not playing at all. In the end, though, each boy played chess on the computer with one of us. It was a lot of fun, but I didn’t manage to get a picture.

On Wednesday, Advent Day 19, our activity was to go to church to help sort food from a Christmas food drive our church did (we ended up with a whole vanload of food to take to a local housing project we have a relationship with). After sorting food, the four of us went to dinner downtown and then walked around a bit looking at the city lights.

Thursday, Advent Day 20 – Buy a treat at the school bake sale. Caramels, fudge, and truffles, to be exact.

On Friday, Advent Day 21, our activity was supposed to be to make candy. The first day of winter had other plans, though. Snow, wind, and, ultimately, a power outage that lasted all day. No baking happened. I promised the boys we would do it the next day (along with the Advent activity for that day). Tiny Dancer was fine with that, but Little Buddha burst into tears. He loves ritual, routines, and traditions, and the idea of missing an Advent activity was just more than he could bear. Fortunately, I remembered these Christmas gel clings I had bought as a back-up. Though a tiny activity, it was enough to set things right.

Advent Day 22 – Open a Christmas present. I like to start letting the boys open a present or two before Christmas, so they have time to enjoy things instead of being overwhelmed on Christmas Day. Little Buddha was super-excited to open this Magic Science kit from his big sister and her family. He spent the whole day wearing this hat, using his magic wand (filled with purple crystals he made), and mixing potions. The present was obviously a big hit!

This was the make-up activity that had been planned for Advent Day 21 :: Help mom make candy. We made Peppermint Bark – easy to make, delicious to eat, fun to give.

Sunday, Advent Day 23 – Eat a piece of candy with breakfast. My Old Man isn’t convinced of the value of eating chocolate with breakfast, but this activity it always a huge hit. The boys love it, of course, and I appreciate it was a no-stress activity once the season gets crazy.

Our Advent activity for Day 24, Christmas Eve, was to make cookies for Santa. We made them, and Santa loved them, and I got no pictures.

Phew! This season flew even faster than usual, it seemed. I was grateful for the Advent activity calendar as a way of marking the time, giving my kids a little bit of extra special focus each day, no matter how busy the season was. Sometimes it feels like a lot of work, but I know they love it, and that makes it worth it.

Thanks for following along! More knitting content coming soon!

knitted :: for a friend (more handspun Mukluks!)

knitted :: Handspun Mukluks, originally uploaded by earthchick.

I’m not sure what there is to say about these that I haven’t already said. They’re fast! They’re fun! They’re cozy!

They’re such a great use of handspun. I find that my own pair of Mukluks get a lot of action, so it’s great to get to look down and see handspun on my feet so often.

These are made from delicious Southern Cross Fibre.

4 oz. Polwarth in “Claudia”

Spun up into 180 yards very lofty bulky 2-ply (actually this is 3.5 oz or so – I still haven’t plied that last half ounce). The slippers didn’t even use all of this – maybe 150 yards? Maybe less.

This pair was for a friend.

As much as I love this pattern, I think after four pairs I’m done with it for awhile (I never made a pair for My Old Man, but he is not a slippers kind of guy). I’m sure I will come back to the pattern again some time, though. As I’ve said before, I’ve knit a lot of slippers and this is the easiest and fastest pattern I’ve done so far.

raveled

Advent Day 16 :: Family movie night

Advent Day 16 :: Family movie night, originally uploaded by earthchick.

We watched Elf. First time for the boys!

Advent Day 15 :: Video each other singing or playing Christmas songs…

Advent Day 15 :: Video each other singing or playing Christmas songs…, originally uploaded by earthchick.

… and send to Grandy and Granddad.

I thought it was a nice idea – they’ve enjoyed recording each other performing in the past – but the day was packed with shopping, a piano recital, and a birthday party, and the next thing we knew, it was nearly bedtime. I suggested that we simply send Grandy and Granddad the recordings of the Christmas songs they played at their piano recital. Tiny Dancer was satisfied with this, but Little Buddha would have none of it. “We were going to do that anyway!” he declared, and he was right. He felt strongly that an Advent activity should be something new (he feels strongly about a lot of things; he gets that from his mom).

So I suggested that, for our Advent activity, we turn off all the lights, and sit in front of the lit Christmas tree, and say prayers for the people in Newtown, Connecticut. He agreed this was a good idea, and so that’s what we did.

(this is a picture of the boys dressed for their recital)

Little Buddha plays “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”:

Tiny Dancer plays “Stars” (his own composition):

Advent Day 14 :: Sleep in Mom and Dad’s room

Advent Day 14 :: Sleep in Mom and Dad’s room, originally uploaded by earthchick.

I have found it difficult to write ever since the horrible news from Newtown on Friday. I have felt too sad, and my little crafts and Advent activities seem so trivial. My heart goes out to the families of those little children and their teachers, to all the survivors and their families, and to the whole community there.

I have been hugging my own children especially tightly these last few days, and finding it hard not to cry. I am reminded all over again what a profound blessing it is to have these people in my life, and to get to care for them, teach them, learn from them, and love them every day. Our life together is in fact made up of many trivial moments. I hope that in each of those trivial moments, I honor and treasure my children, and help them see the goodness and beauty of life.

On Friday morning, the activity I put into our Advent calendar was “Sleep in Mom and Dad’s room.” The boys were excited about this, and I was relieved not to have too much work to do for their activity, as we were having friends over for dinner. This way, the boys would camp out upstairs in our bedroom watching movies while we enjoyed time with our friends.

After we said good night to our friends, we came upstairs to find the boys asleep in our bed. It was precious and tender. We moved them to their sleeping bags on the floor, and I was so grateful to have them near me all night, and to wake to their sweet faces the next morning. I did not take these gifts for granted.

Advent Day 13 :: Build a fort and sleep in it

Advent Day 13 :: Build a fort and sleep in it, originally uploaded by earthchick.

Chaos and clutter always ensue from this particular activity, but they love it, so I do, too. The next morning, I found them cuddled up together on the bottom bunk, with no blankets (since all the blankets went into building the fort).

Advent Day 12 :: Make a giant gingerbread man

Advent Day 12 :: Make a giant gingerbread man, originally uploaded by earthchick.

Turns out we never made our giant gingerbread man from Trader Joe’s last year. Good thing I never throw things away, because TJ’s isn’t stocking them here this year. So I just went down to the basement and brought this up for the boys to decorate. True, it expired in July, but it’s really all about the decorating, right?

But it turns out they got into it anyway…