December.

 

Advent 1, the mineral world

 

Our descending Advent "calendar"...a wool angel moves down 1 star each day....

Our Advent verse at candle lighting...

Winter is dark,

but each tiny spark

brightens the way to Christmas Day..

Shine, little light, and show us the way,

to the bright light of Christmas Day. 

 

This week was full of festivities....Advent 1 (which is not mentioned verbally...more of a feeling of anticipation as we light a new candle each week and as our wool angel descends...), St. Nicholas, and a 5th birthday:)

Festival Days are so exciting and wonderful, but simplicity must reign. Over doing it for a group of little children usually brings about chaos. I like to stick as close as I can to our usual rhythmic day, adding in little details...such as, our golden tablecloth that only comes out on festival days.It doesn't sound like much to our adult minds, but it is surely enough! I start by ironing it out in the morning....and it becomes many different things along the way... ( such as a house, a dog space, etc.)

 A tale of St. Nicholas was told during our usual storytime...

(follow the link and scroll down to the 3rd story)

He also may have visited us during our rest time to fill our boots and shoes with treasures... :)

 

Friday we celebrated a 5th birthday with a homemade cake with whipped cream frosting! (recipe from Shariffa Oppenheimer's "Heaven on Earth book)

The birthday story was told during our usual storytime and I choked up half way through it. I had a moment where I thought I wasn't going to be able to finish. I seriously had to take a hopefully unnoticeable deep breath to keep going. This child has been with us since he was a bit older than 3.5. He is very dear to me and I have seen him grow so much. Just believeing that this child is here for so many reasons, that he has selected his parents and family for all the best reasons.....thinking of the day he was first welcomed into their arms in this physical world...it is all so huge to me.

 

A birthday cake is always a crowd pleaser:) I substitute all sugars for maple syrup and it tastes just as good, even better.

 

We're soaking up all of the goodness of this holiday season together. It's hard to pick and chose what to do and what to stay home from when it comes to festivities. In the end, simplicity needs to rule here in our house. We all need the quiet. That's what Advent is mostly about...