Merry Christmas to Friends and Family!

Christmas Eve Morning: We are all home relaxing before the big day, so decided to start a new Christmas tradition: Santa head pancakes! Yum! Kirk also made Popie's brown sugar bacon...more please!


Christmas Eve was spent with the Cauchons at Tom and Roxanne's house in Waltham. We got some great shots of all the Cauchon cousins together...and a nice family shot of Tom, Roxanne and the boys! We ate a great Italian style buffet, participated in a neat 'setting of intentions' ritual led by Roxanne, opened gifts and visited until almost 10pm. Then it was a hairy ride home through fog and rain as the temperatures around here soared, melting most of the blizzard snow from last weekend.

Christmas morning started at 6:45....ah, the days when we had to wake Katy up with loud Xmas music! We started with stockings and took the traditional 'Katy with her stocking' picture. One day...I'll put them side by side in an album! Thanks to all family who sent stocking stuffers...they were great!

Katy's annual 'grandparent gift' was a special one this year...a My Twin doll made especially to look like her. The annual gifts are one way I keep the memory of my parents alive for Katy.

Katy and Kirk just opened a family gift...the game of BUNKO!

Boy, was Katy surprised to receive her first 'Benjamin' from Popie! She just couldn't believe it! Thanks to Popie from all of us! We are sure that her gift will help us have some special times in New York City in January!

We carried on the tradition that Kirk started all those years ago...of Santa's Last gift. Kirk send Katy and I on quite a scavenger hunt, filled with riddles that kept Katy and I going from one end of the house to the other for some time! At the end, Katy got her Troll bead bracelet and Swarovski crystal cat. I had to open the garage door and was surprised by my very own Kayak!!! Kirk went through some maneuverings to get the kayak here and ready to surprise me...and man, was I surprised! Bets are on that I won't use it much....but I'm setting an intention right now to plan a few trips once the weather gets warmer here
Well, it is about noontime here in 45 degree Attleboro and the presents are opened and many surprises were had! I've posted some of the best pics...enjoy and hope to talk to many of you as the day goes on! Enjoy the warmth and peace of the day!

Ode to our 'Everlasting' Christmas Tree

Oh

much maligned tree

of plastic magnificence!

We resisted your

seductive call for years,

not wanting to give in.

Yet how many hours we have saved,

how many pine trees we have conserved,

how many more moments enjoyed since you were purchased?

Watching sturdy aluminium poles fit together,

pre-lit branches glow as plugs engage,

our tree goes into full splendor in less than an hour, ready for decoration.

No more hiding the 'hole' on the back,

no more messy waterings, only to have needles fall copiously and early.

Branches bend to accommodate the ornaments of our choice!

Your fragrance, no longer from freshly sawed trunk and branch,

now permeates the air from our terracotta dove filled with essential oils of evergreen.

Oh, why did we wait?

We love your warm glow, cast out into the night, high above Metacomett Drive, lighting the wintry air!

One Week Until Christmas...

...and I've been thinking a lot about traditions. So I've taken my trusty camera and tried to give you a snapshot of some of those traditions that seem to stand the test of time. This year marks the 10th anniversary of our friend Dot getting together with us to build gingerbread houses. We've tried 'em all...from cut outs to molds (which is what i used this year) to prefab from Michaels...to the one Dot found this year that was even already glued together! No matter what disasters we've encountered...we've always ended the afternoon with completed houses (sometimes held up by cans from the inside) and good memories of sharing time with Dot.

Of course, there is the North Pole village that we erect every year. We started our collection 10 years ago after moving into our house, fulfilling a dream Kirk had of having a Christmas village. In my day, I've carved styrofoam, come up with wiring schematics that let an entire village turn on with the flick of just one button, and combed the craft stores for all sorts of decorative materials. This year, we tried something new. Each of us chose one spot of the house to set up our village made up of houses we personally loved. Katy chose houses from Elf Land (a sub-set of the NP...can you imagine...), Kirk chose his favorite houses (mostly colorful one) and I put up my all time favorite, Route One North Pole...home to Mr. And Mrs Clause. Can you tell that I needed a break? LOL!

Another 10 year old tradition is the making of gift bags. The year Katy was born, we started making bags that contained a home made cookie mix in a jar, chocolate covered and decorated pretzel rods, a handmade ornament by Katy, and a little handmade gift from me. I was hoping to teach Katy how much fun and meaningful it can be to make gifts. We've continued the tradition all these years...the ornaments went from tempra painted wood stars (when she was 10 months old) to more complicated beaded icicles. I've now got friends who count on those cookie mixes to help in their holiday baking!

For many years, we've marked the 24 days before Christmas with a Playmobile Advent Calendar. They are so cute and detailed (my favorite was one of Santa's bakery, where you put together the kitchen and angels baking sheets of cookies...) and every year, we take all the pieces and put them in a special basket that Katy can play with the following year. She has set up some elaborate scenes for Santa in years past. We were saddened last year when we couldn't find one that had a Christmas theme (they released a pirate one for boys and a doll house for girls...no Christmas at all) but gladdened when we found our current calendar at a local Learning Express...with a Christmas in the Woods theme. What is it about these little plastic items that make them so irresistible?

When we moved our family Xmas tree upstairs to showcase in the large window over our new garage, I missed having a tree downstairs as I spend so little time upstairs. Fortunately, I found this skinny little rustic tree that year which is perfect in the kitchen. I decorated it with all stars and moon ornaments that I have collected through the years and the white lights keep me in peaceful company those dark, 5:30am mornings and shine out brightly as it gets dark now before 5p.

So it is a week until the big day...and we are in good shape. With nothing on our calendar, we designated Sunday as 'baking day' which is probably a good thing given the weather we are suppose to be having over the next 72 hours here in New England. So I went out shopping for everything we need for a cozy weekend together, punctuated by a few visits from friends. It seems so important to spend some time together enjoying all the preparations and decorations and traditions and I think we will be able to do just that during the days before Christmas.

December musings...

Well, it has been a month...so my best intentions have not helped me stay current with this blog! November flew by! One highlight of the month for me was traveling to NYC on a bus trip organized lead by Trish from Katy's karate school. A group of us went on the trip expressly to visit Canal Street and go 'knock off' purse shopping. What a hoot! Gayle, Terry and I found ourselves in a van filled with bags on a side street within 5 mintues of getting off the bus! We had a great time, hit Little Italy for a late lunch, flew up to Tiffanys, then took a bike rickshaw ride through Time Square. For Gayle and Terry, who had never been to the city, it was eyeopening, and I enjoyed it on a whole other level, getting to feel more comfortable navigating Manhattan.

Before you know it, it was Thankgiving, which I hosted again this year. With a vow to stay 'centered' and unstressed, I managed to get food out ahead of time and actually relaxed and enjoyed visits with both brothers and their famlies. The next day was my birthday...and I invited local friends in for some home-made eggnog late in the afternoon and enjoyed their festive company before taking off with Kirk for a birthday dinner. My big gift was an iTouch...does basically everything that a iPhone does...but no phone...which is fine with me! It has been fun searching for applications and watching Three Stooges videos I bookmark from You Tube!