Santa Lucia Day

St. Lucia Day is coming up and I found this darling St. Lucia Day paper doll printable last year but I can't for the life of me find out how to link it to the original source.  Have fun with it.

http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/dolls/pd_scans/xmas_morning/200dpi/kirsten.jpg

I am spending the day making a Lucia Dress for Nutmeg since she has outgrown all of our white things.

Starlings in Gingerbread

The covered porch was not possible THIS year and there is a small inaccuracy involving Nutmeg's bedroom but all in all I am pretty pleased.

St Lucia Day - Age 4

Lucia Day didn't go so smoothly this year.  The baby I tend was scheduled to arrive at 8:30 so there was a deadline.  Nutmeg got up albeit with a bad attitude but Camrock (who was the designated helper) was much too sleepy to be helpful.  There were tears, fighting and commotion for 45 minutes. Meanwhile I was lying in bed pretending to sleep with the camera poised, for 45 minutes thinking the doorbell would ring at any moment and there I was in bed still.

Nutmeg was very uspset because she wasn't able to wake us up for real.   So she had this look on her face when she finally shuffled in the room

We pretended to be asleep and she perked up, then we "woke up" from our pretend sleep as she started singing...

"Away in a manger no crib for his bed, the sweet little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head. The stars in the heavens look down from the sky, the sweet little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay."

Despite the fighting it was a great way to wake up.

You Can't Go Looking for One of Those, or Can You?

I was going through my Christmas Around the World Books looking for ideas for our holiday celebrations when I saw a German Pyramid or Christmas Windmill.  I had seen these before and suddenly I thought "If we ever want one of these we need to get it THIS year while the kids are still little enough to appreciate it."

A quick Google search confirmed my suspicion that these little whimsies are very pricey like $500-$600.  Then I found a made in China version on Etsy for about $40 and Moose and I decided to think on it.

This morning, I was out picking up some FREE furniture and decided to stop into a Salvation Army Thrift shop that I had never been in before to see if they had a Christmas Pyramid.  (Yeah Right.)

They did. 

It was missing the propellers and candle holders so I put it in my cart to think about it.  That is how I decide if I want something, I push it around in my cart and look at other things and then right before I checkout I go through everything and see if I still like it and/or the price.

Before I had a chance to decide a couple of employees saw it in my cart and remembered that there were more pieces to it, we searched and found the original box with 6 propellers and no candle holders.  But 6 propellers looked like enough to make it hobble around so I bought it for $4.99!

Here it is at home with the 6 propellers and one candle holder stick.  We are going to have to craft some pieces but I think this will be fun!  For $5 I don't feel one bit frivolous or extravagant.

Oh, and it is sitting on this awsome treadle Singer base table that was FREE.  I have always wanted one.

Matching Stockings: A Cautionary Tale

In 1959 my mother and father in law started a family. 4 little girls arrived in quick succession and a matching set of Christmas stockings was purchased. Then Moose showed up in 1977 and a matching stocking could not be found and so a stocking was made at a department store. And he was scarred for life, every Christmas the toe pointing in the wrong direction and the glittered name reminded him that he was the caboose. Scarred for 30 years.
And then his fabulous wife made him a reproduction stocking. She also made matching stockings for herself and the children so no one would be left out.
So, let this be a lesson to all the mothers out there who have a set of matching stockings and haven't go around to getting one for the "baby" of the family. Either commit matching or let everyone have different stocking, because you can't guarantee that they will marry someone crafty.

Lucia Day

This year we decided to add some Christmas traditions from the countries of our ancestors. While discovering our Swedish heritage, we decided to adopt Lucia Day because Nutmeg is so very blonde and would make a great Lucia Maiden.It is also a tradition that involves breakfast in bed. I am looking forward to next year when Lucia Day is on a Monday and it won't have to be so early!
Our Lucia served us Kaloche which are Czech though we are not but they were so yummy!

The 8th Annual Moose Appreciation Days

Thanks to my friend Jeanné, I started this tradition 8 years ago. From Feb 1 to Valentine's day we hold Moose Appreciation Days. This year I thought I would blog it.

On Feb 1, we make a big poster to greet Moose when he comes home and it stays up until Feb 15. Each day when he gets home from work he is greeted by me (wearing makeup) and a note or two telling him what we appreciate about him and a small (usually sugary) gift.

Moose Appreciation Days is a lot of work and a lot of fun. If you decide to start this tradition in your home I recommend doing only 1 week instead of 2. One of these years I dream that Moose will hold Samurai Mom Appreciation Days.