Merry Be the Sixth Day of Christmas!

I think most of us have heard the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas.'  More than just a song, there are in fact twelve days of the liturgical Christmas season, starting on Christmas Day.  I have a friend who makes a point of celebrating Christmas for all twelve days.  She often greets people  with 'Merry be the (insert day) of Christmas!'  A lovely idea, I think.  So, here we are on the sixth day of Christmas, smack in the middle--a good time for a blog post, perhaps.  While I do not have pictures from all our merry making, we have been enjoying the Christmas season.

Charles new colleagues were in a playful spirit after the company Christmas party.  While we did not go to the after party, we saw the snow sculptures when picking up a few things from the office the next morning.

The 21st started off with a little Christmas Pageant rehearsal for Nova, who was an angel on wheels this year.  The rest of the family had a quiet morning at a Cafe around the corner (keeping a 20 month old at a two hour rehearsal would have been kind to no one).  From there we went directly my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate Christmas with my dad's side of the family.  On both my mom's and my dad's side of the family it is getting hard to even say hello to everyone--30+ people will do that I suppose.  We did enjoy visiting  as much as we could.  The kids enjoyed running around with their second cousins and exchanging ornaments with them.  That night was the solstice, and we had intended to go to the solstice service/dance back at church but we were all ready for bed early that longest night of the year.

The Christmas Pageant went off without a hitch the next morning--with a real baby no less.  Nova zoomed around the sanctuary with delight.  The congregation got to call out Christmas Carols to sing and we all enjoyed the candle lighting that spread throughout the pews.  Sunday was also the day of the annual Candy Party, a holiday party of many college friends.  Below, Charlotte and Ariadne check our the pipe organ.  In the balcony above our friend matt was showing Nova and Solomon how to play the ocarina.

Christmas Eve we met my sister's new boyfriend.  We spent the day at my parents' house, all ten of us (or only ten of us, depending on how you think about it).  Brynn was in charge of stockings, her favorite part.  In the afternoon we played board games and watched movies.

Fire from the color pine cone fire starters

Brynn won, as usual

Christmas night we were a couple of tired parents not quite ready to play Santa Claus.  It reminded me in some ways of the first night the kids spent in our house, Christmas eve back in 2008.  We persevered, and before long is was actually fun.  Charles wrapped and I put together stockings and finished decorating the Christmas tree.  The ornaments from the family ornament exchange we much appreciated, since we couldn't find our main ornament box this year.  

After a relaxing morning we were off to my mom's family Christmas celebration.  Again, with the 30+ people, it was impossible to really talk with everyone, but we did catch up with several cousins, aunts, uncles, and of course, my grandparents.  It was a perfect sledding year.  My aunt and uncle have one of the best sledding hills around right out their back door.  This year nearly all the cousins under 25 went.  Brynn and Vadim went sledding, and Aria and I did too (not to mention all the other kids).  My uncle Joe was out photographing.  I'll have to see if I can get any photos from him.  The kids exchanged gifts and the adults played the annual Christmas gift game (sort of like White Elephant, but with better gifts).  Nova, Charlotte and Solomon brought out their instruments and played a little bit.  Afterward my Grandpa told me he recognized the Gavotte Solomon played right away, and that he had played it on piano as a child, and hummed a few bars of the Gossec Gavotte.

Over the holiday we have also watched my favorite Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life, made a trip to the emergency room (don't worry, nothing serious it turns out), enjoyed one on one outings, sledding with friends, and hanging out and doing nothing at all.  Merry be the sixth day of Christmas!

Holiday Teacher Gifts

Teacher gifts are a  perennial challenge.  Each school has its own unwritten norms and the only way to learn is watching.  First off is it a thing?  Our kids have had classes where no one gives teacher gifts, and ones where nearly everyone does.  The second issue is timing--end of year, holiday, or both?

Figuring out what to give is easier, but not without challenge.  We've had teachers with dietary issues, making baked goods iffy (not to mention that winter is the cold and flu season).  We want to be sensitive to varied religious backgrounds (but don't always know what they are).  There is the clutter factor--will the gift just become junk shortly after it is unwrapped?  Imagine if the teacher in question got 15 tchotchkes a year for fifteen years?  Would 225 mementos be appreciated?  Price comes into play, of course.  Last but not least, it is always nice if the kids can be involved. 

Given all that, this year we settled on bath salts.  We got a big bucket of Dead Sea bath salts from a local co-op, along with some one cup mason jars.  Here is Charlotte carefully measuring out the salt.  Ariadne helped screw on the lids.  Nova, Charlotte, and Solomon made decorative labels.  Done!  Only two salt spills and one melt down.      

Maybe next year we will add scent or color or something else to make the salts more personalized, (and the project more involved), but this year, this felt like plenty to do.   

St Lucia Day 2013

Ever have one of those days when nothing goes right?  A day something like the one described in the 1970s children's classic Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day? What about a holiday?

Since the year Charlotte was a baby (2009) we have been celebrating St Lucia Day.  It is a Scandinavian Christmas holiday, celebrating an Italian saint who helped early Christians by bringing them supplies while they hid in the catacombs.  Since her hands were full carrying food and whatnot, she used the ancient equivalent of a head lamp--a wreath (or garland) with candles.   Prettier, isn't it?  As it turns out, 'Lucia' translates to 'light' in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish.  When Scandinavian sailors found out that her birthday was on the winter solstice, they quickly adopted her as a favorite. (Before changing from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1582, December 13th was the Winter Solstice).

Though my family is Norwegian, we never celebrated St Lucia Day when I was a kid.  Our tradition started off when Nova was five and had recently become the middle kid.  I was looking for a way to do something special with just her and remembered reading about the holiday in the American Girl book, Kirsten's Surprise.  It was lots of fun getting it all ready in secret.  My mother made the nightgown/dress, and we made the crown and saffron buns.  Solomon and Charles were completely surprised.

Other years have had their ups and downs.  Some years we have made Cardamom cake (since it turns out not everyone in our family likes saffron).   We have had crowns made of grocery store flowers, and ones made of felt.  Charlotte has gotten in on the action.

Heading up to wake up Dad in 2012

Charles says this is one of his favorite holiday traditions because it always catches him off guard.  He was very happy to be surprised.  

This year it was a total fiasco!  I decided to sew the St Lucia dresses/nightgowns--and promptly lost the foot control for my sewing machine!  I have looked for hours.  It is still missing.  We were able to sew Solomon's pajamas at my parents' (thank you Mom and Dad). Then Charlotte announced that she did not want to do St Lucia Day.  "It is too much work." She said.  "I want them [Solomon and Dad] to wake me up and bring me breakfast."  I checked out Kirsten's Surprise from the library to help inspire Charlotte.  We lost the book after chapter two.  No one was interested in getting wreath materials with me.  I could not find the nightgowns and felt wreaths from last year, so I pushed the holiday out one day, hoping to find them (and so it could fall on the weekend).  The grocery store did not carry cardamom.  I adapted and made cookies instead.  They were completely flat (though tasty).   Solomon woke up earlier than the rest of us (5:00 am) and Charles scheduled a business phone call, even though I'd told him we were getting a Christmas tree that morning in order to save the date.

Seriously thinking about throwing in the towel, I woke Nova at 5:30.  We had just gotten to the kitchen when Ariadne woke up, clingy and tired.  When Aria threw up all over me ten minutes later, Nova said "Mom, you can go back to bed, I'll do the rest."  I was so happy!

Hearing the clinking and clanging from downstairs Charles finally guessed what was going on.  We waited in the dark in happy anticipation talking about how big our Nova had gotten.  When we woke Charlotte she cried--turns out she wanted to be in on the preparations after all.  Hiding under the table with her cookies, she got an unexpected shower when Ariadne spilled (luke-warm) hot chocolate.   It came down through the table leaves onto Charlotte's head.  What made it worse was that it was Charlotte's own hot chocolate that had been spilled.  Thankfully, Solomon was kind enough to give her the rest of his.

Though there we no costumes, the food was anything but traditional, and some of us were already up, it turns out continuing the tradition was worth it.  Ten minutes into breakfast, everyone was having a good time, enjoying a special morning.  Twenty minutes later the kids were having a ball all running around screaming playing some sort of  cookie monster game. It all left me feeling that perseverance good humor, and generosity (than you big kids) can save any fiasco.  Happy St Lucia Day!


  

My Birthday

My birthday was on a Tuesday this year, and though 34 is nothing of a landmark year, I felt like celebrating.  In the afternoon, the kids and I met a friend to see the new baby giraffe at the Zoo.  That baby giraffe was born taller than me.  On the evening of my actual birthday, Chuck and I went out on a date.  We had no particular destination in mind, and as it turns out, most things close early on Tuesdays where we live.  So we found ourselves at the Mall of America, and you know what?  It was fun.  We went out for dinner and then on a few amusement park rides.  I highly recommend the Avatar Airbender if you want a thrill.  We also got in on the Toddler Tuesday discount strangely enough.  

The weekend before we all went on a bike ride.  I love bike riding, but have done it far less since we moved from Hopkins.  It really is nice to be right on a bike trail.  While there are a lot of trails near us, most of them are down the bluff, and there is no good way from here to there without a car.  While Charles and I were on one of our car dates towards the end of summer, I'd spotted a promising trail.  The Big Rivers Regional Trail turned out to be just what we were looking for--good scenery, moderate difficulty and close to home--oh, and a good picnic spot too.  We scouted it out and made plans for a biking picnic.   My parents helped us shuttle the bikes and after a few adjustments we were off.  

I got to ride with Charlotte on the tag-a-long.  We were a great pair.  She likes to go fast!  Charles pulled Ariadne (and all our food) in the trailer.  The six of us and my parents all biked and Charles' dad, Barry, met us at the picnic site (Roberta was busy delivering a baby).  The first part of the trail was along the river with the train tracks below.  The second part took us through the woods. The trail ended by opening out into a large overlook built in the WPA era.  The river spread out wide and swampy below--a true wetland.  The airport is just across the river and the planes come quite close.  More city skyline is visible in the distance.   

  

Our picnic was faux fried chicken (cornflake breading baked in the oven), Greek salad and lemonade.  For reasons I can't explain, I was determined to have a chiffon cake with pink frosting.  I used the Joy of Cooking's chiffon recipe, substituting Pamela's Gluten Free Pancake Mix for the flour.  The frosting was butter cream with mashed raspberries to make it pink.  For anyone up for making a chiffon cake, it will be the sturdiest GF cake you will ever make--yet very moist and spongy to taste.  Must be the whipped egg whites.  

We finished up just as it was about to rain, with Ariadne falling asleep in on the bike ride back.  All in all a success.  When we got back to the parking lot my mom declared it my 'first annual' birthday bike ride.  Who knows, she might be right.    

  

More of What We Did Last Summer

Summer is always a good time for visiting.  While my sister was in town we made a trip to Zumbrota to visit our grandparents.  The kids all piled on the couch to get a picture with their GGs. We took the opportunity to look at outfits GG Rose has from different  eras, since it pertains to what Brynn is studying (and a little dress up is always fun too, isn't it?).  As it turns out, everything that our grandmother used to wear fit Brynn perfectly.  Here she is displaying the 'bat wings' of this late '70s pantsuit to Nova.  

As it turns out, our grandmother also had the outfit our great-grandmother wore to our grandparents'  wedding.  Everything was there--hat, shoes, purse and gloves--a rare find for a costumer.  So of course Brynn took pictures.  

We met our cousin Alyssa at the county fair.  The people who run the midway simply didn't show up this year.  About a dozen bouncy houses were brought in to substitute.  The next day Charlotte ended up on the front page of a local paper talking about the missing midway.

Our dad's side of the family had their annual Summer picnic while Brynn was in town as well.  It was at the farm this year, which was a lot of fun.  Charlotte and her cousin enjoyed pushing the wheel barrow full of wood back and forth, back and forth, making sure there were plenty of logs ready by the fire.  

Part of the picnic is a raffle.  This year Nova really, really, really wanted a pair of straw glasses that came with some strawberry milk...and she got them.  Lots of kids also enjoyed the bubbles.    

This side of the family still gets together for Christmas, but as it grows, we know it is only a matter of time before the logistics break up the party.  There are fourteen grandchildren spread across four sets of grandparents, with two more expected to arrive before the year is out.  But we do like getting together; toward the end of the picnic there was talk of family hikes and even a family camping trip.  

Tipi Camping at Blue Mounds State Park (Disclaimer--Lots of Photos)

 This year our annual camping trip was at Blue Mounds State Park.  Located in the far southwest corner of the state, Blue Mounds is prairie punctuated by the large mounds that give the park it's name (though they really do look pink most of the time).  The drive there was filled with a variety of books on CD.  The older people in the car especially enjoyed Anne of Green Gables and Artimis Fowl.  Other titles included Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag, Tikki tikki tembo no sarembo, Knuffle Bunny; a cautionary tale, and true story about a retired fire boat that helped during 9/11.

While on the prairie, we slept in a tipi, hiked out to a rock alignment that matches up with the sunrise at the equinox, and caught grasshoppers in the tall grass.  Solomon was in charge of the fires and the girls enjoyed exploring the prairie around our campsite.  Ariadne loved walking around the tipi, popping in at the door, then going out and around again.

While hiking one of the prairie trails, Nova convinced us to wander slightly off the path and go into to grass.  It was a totally different experience.  For reference, Solomon is about 5'5''.  There was also some good rocky hiking, especially by an old quarry.  Scrub oak dot the bluff, making for varied topography.  However, little ones in backpacks don't mix so well with such uncertain footing, so we didn't go too far that way.  We did go far enough to see the rock alignment.

This is the rock alignment that matches up with sunrise and sunset on the equinox.  As it turned out, we were there the morning of the equinox, but overslept after a very cold (and sleepless) first night.  You will just have to use your imagination, putting in the glints of sun from that first dawn light.  A couple of bikers who were curious about our tipi caught the sight--said it was beautiful.  

Along with the grasshoppers, the kids also found this butterfly wing.  There are cactus plants on the prairie--who knew?

Sleeping in the tipi was quite a unique experience.  We rented it from the park service and it came all set up.  The floor was composite decking (no fires inside, but no mud either).  The above picture is looking up into the rain fly, which is on the inside.  

                                        

Here it is with the rain fly down and Solomon for scale.  The park service says the tipi sleeps six, but we found it very roomy and I suspect it would easily sleep eight.  Below are our youngest sleepers.  

And a few minutes later, awake! Just a little more sunlight was all it took.  

The smoke flaps could be opened for light and air or closed to keep heat in and rain out.
On our first day, the wind was blowing the perfume of a nearby pig farm our way, so we had them closed that day.  It did make a difference.  The next day, the wind shifted and all was well.

Blue Mound State Park's camping has farms very near by.  While the odor of the pigs and the sound of bringing in the harvest late at night was somewhat inconvenient, it was also a worthwhile reminder that the land is and was far more than a recreation area.

While camping Nova learned to whittle wooden flowers, a skill Solomon picked up at a local farmers' market a few years back.  

Nova's first wooden flower. 

The buffalo were all penned up for the annual round up, so we only saw them at a distance.  We did not see any coyotes, though we did see several footprints at the beach that could have been them.  There were also deer prints and possibly something larger with lots of claws.  It was very cold the first night, and we made a little run into Sioux Falls for hats, mittens, more socks, and an extra set of clothes for Charles.  In the day, it was warm enough to go swimming (though not for long after I got a good look at those prints).

The evenings on this trip were a little rocky. This third weekend in September proved to be the first really cold one.  The first morning found us all huddled in the car.  And then there were the ghost stories.  The first night Solomon told the girls stories in the tent while Charles, Ariadne and I settled in by the fire to watch a nearly full moon rise behind our tipi.  Except Ariadne wanted to be where the action was.  For the first time in her life, she refused to nurse to sleep.  After twenty minutes we gave up and doused the fire.  The second night Nova begged for a good ghost story.  She got more than she bargained for when her dad told her Bloody Mary.  Sleep did not come easily after that.  Charlotte (who did not hear the story) somehow or other figured out that just saying 'Bloody Mary' would send Nova into a tizzy and had great fun teasing her older sister.

But the trip held peaceful moments too.  In the evening a flock of blackbirds would come roost in the few poplar trees near our tipi.  Now and then they would decide to swoop and wheel, only to return to the trees a few moments later.  After an hour or so, they would leave for the night, only to return the next.  Larger birds of prey hovered over the bluffs during the day, riding the air currents.  Watching the birds was one of my favorite parts of this camping trip.