13th activity of Advent: chocolate-chip cookies

Growing up in Andi's house, if there were chocolate-chip cookies, it must be Christmas.



(Lucy was pretty sure the cookie dough ought to be squished before baking.)

We must have done them right, because Andi declared "now that tastes like Christmas!"

12th activity of Advent: a goat and some bees

This morning's Advent-calendar tag required some explanation. For many of them, Lucy's been able to "read" the illustration, but she seemed a bit baffled about this one: "it's got a chicken on it?"

Each year, we make a donation to the Heifer Project, but of course Lucy doesn't know that. We thought it would be nice to have her opinion this year as we made our decision about what to "buy": chickens? bees? a water buffalo? a camel? At two months shy of three, Lucy is very generous and thoughtful, and is absolutely ready to participate in such decisions.

I love talking with her about things. At first, she thought we should buy a lamb. (The first thing in the catalog.) I encouraged her to look at everything first, and then decide. As we looked through, she was curious about what each animal was for, asking questions like "does a water buffalo have udders like a cow so they can milk it?" We talked about wool, milk, eggs, manure. She thought we ought to buy a camel. (What a fun idea, isn't it?) I explained that we couldn't afford a whole camel, and asked if she thought we should contribute money toward one, or find something we could pay for completely. Like me, she felt most satisfied knowing we'd "bought" something concrete. (They actually put your money where it's most needed, but it's fun to think you've decided.) So then she chose a goat. I've always wanted a goat, so I liked that plan, too. And I always like to buy chickens and bees, so I gave her the choice, and she chose bees. So it's settled: a goat and some bees. Pretty satisfying, for a family whose focus is so much on local food.

This year, we're also making an additional donation, here. Flower Patch Farmgirl is one of those bloggers I love to read: she makes me think, makes me laugh out loud (which is very hard to do!), and I can't get enough of those cute kids. She and I approach religion in very different ways, but I really respect her faith and conviction, and when she says she want to build a well, I know she'll do it. And I want to help.

I love making this choice a part of our Advent activities. It's a good way to keep the emphasis on giving, rather than on getting. And boy, is it extra fun when your two-year-old helps. Isn't everything?

11 activitiy of Advent: animals and lights

Lucy and I added the sheep to the creche. They were a bit lonely, so we added the shephards, too.

Soon they were rearranged. And again later. Now the big woolly sheep is on the roof of the stable. (That big woolly sheep was a later addition to our childhood creche, made by my cousin at church. It's lamb's wool, and irresistible to cats. It will never look perfect again!)

This creche is the one I grew up with. I find it hard to let it be played with (though it's wood, and mostly sturdy), because we didn't play with it as children; it was for looking. But even though I worry for the fragile bits, I love seeing how Lucy plays with it, and have to let her. (But I happen to know another creche is on its way for Christmas, just for Lucy.)

The tree is up. There were lots of spare greens from the bottom of it, so I've begun using some of them for decoration elsewhere (shown above is my kitchen, looking into our main living space).

Lights...not so much. These are all the strands we have left. Sigh. LEDs, here we reluctantly come. Maybe by tomorrow it will be fully lit.

(edited to add: Oh, thank goodness, there are still normal lights in the world! It's now lit top to bottom.)

10th activity of Advent: cutting the tree

One of our favorite traditions at Christmas time is cutting our own tree. We've been doing it for years, usually with good friends.

This year, Lucy led the way.

We tried a new farm this year.

It's an old farm, in operation since 1955. Some of the trees are the original ones, planted all those years ago. They use a method new to us: "stump culture." Rather than cutting the tree at the ground, you leave a stump with some branches, which will bend up and become future "trees." Fascinating and sustainable.

It was a new perspective, looking up and trying to judge height, size, and shape from the ground. (Here, Tim uses Lucy to measure a tree.)

Dave had never cut a Christmas tree, so he got the honors.



Goodbye, trees. We'll be back next year.

7th, 8th, and 9th activities of Advent: hanging out with family (and whales)

Here I am, blogging in the middle of the night, with three days to catch up on in this follow-the-Advent-calendar rhythm I've begun. But my absence has been for good reason; we've got company. Andi's brother ("uncle Dave") is here for a visit, so there's been a lot of hanging out.

Today's planned activity (look for decorations) was vague and simple on purpose, because I wasn't sure what we'd be doing; Andi took the day off for some sight seeing. We ended up going on a road trip, and though we looked for lights on the way home, that wasn't the main focus of our day. Belugas were.



And penguins, sharks, sea lions, jellies, and family.

(I want this guy's job: penguin snuggler.)




(Lucy has started requesting photos of certain things. She commissioned this last one, and Dave took it.)


And, because I can't be that close to the ocean and not visit, we spent an hour on the beach. None of it seems particularly Advent-y, and yet, it was perfect.

Yarn along: practice runs

I finished the cardiff cowl I've been crocheting this week, and it's embarrassingly wonky. I'd thought it would be a gift, but I'm going to keep it for myself, as it's wearable, but clearly a beginner's project (the bottom half is all stretched-out with extra stitches and mistakes; the top half is straight and lovely.) I spent a ridiculous amount of time last night trying to figure out how to do a foundation stitch rather than a chain for the next one--I love everything about this cowl except for the tight chain in the middle. Now I'm hoping I have the skills to make the next one better (and much faster, as I'm now one gift behind where I thought I'd be!)

For a quick in-between project, I began work today on some crochet hair ties for stocking stuffers. I'm making some little flowers from a pattern in Crochet Adorned, which I plan to attach to hair elastics for cute ponytail decorations. My fingers feel awfully huge for that tiny hook, but I'm hoping I'll get the hang of it soon.

So I haven't actually created many gifts yet, but let's just call these practice runs for the real thing.

I'm reading The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. I've just barely started it, but ooh, it's good so far! On our recent trip to Boston, we lucked out at the thrift store, finding a huge heap of good-looking books. I grabbed this one because I vaguely remembered reading good reviews of it, and because Barbara Kingsolver gave the blurb for the cover, but I didn't know anything more than that (the advantage of books under a dollar is you can judge a book by its cover without much risk!). A bad time of year to start a good book, though; I find myself thinking "read? make gifts? read? make gifts?"

See what others are reading and creating at Ginny's Yarn Along.

6th activity of Advent: St. Nicholas' Day

Here are our shoes, late last night, after I filled them. We've maintained some mystery about how they get filled, but Lucy is very adept at figuring out what's "real" and "pretend." When she asked me, as we set out our shoes, if Sinterklaas coming was pretend, I said yes. She seemed fine with that answer, as it fit her view of the world. But somehow, the magic of childhood always takes over. This morning, upon seeing the filled shoes, she asked "Why did he put those in our shoes? Did you see him come? Maybe you were cleaning. Maybe you were still putting me to bed." I love it.

I love this even more: "Mama, yours doesn't have anything special under the grapefruit! Why? If you want, you can have one of my honey sticks." Honey sticks are one of her very favorite treats, and she'd received two. By the time she realized my shoes didn't have much in them, she'd already eaten one, but still offered me the other. She's always that generous. Wow. (Not to worry; Sinterklaas returned later with a bit of candy for Mama.)

Her attitude suited the mood of the day perfectly: giving.

We quickly made up the new-and-improved cookies before the kids arrived this morning.

I assembled simple packages of cookies and a flower made with some of Lucy's painted-coffee-filter art.

And then this evening, we set off in the drizzling rain to leave our anonymous surprises at our neighbors' doors. What fun we had, knocking on the door and then run, run, running away! Most of the neighbors were not home, and when they open the door, they'll have no idea that it was St. Nicholas' Day today, but it doesn't matter. It was joyful, and meaningful to us, and I think it's bound to be a tradition for us in coming years.

Happy Saint Nicholas' Day!