christmas in the new year: III

over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go...

an annual tradition for us, we spent new year's day at aaron's parent's house enjoying some family time, tasty food (mmm...those homemade pierogies were deeeeeelicious!), and christmas day round 2.

we also stopped by aaron's dad's church beforehand to see if we could help out with their weekly saturday lunch program they offer to the public.  though there were plenty of helping hands there already, we were glad to take part.  the kids did great, and i'm thankful for opportunities where we can serve and help others together as a family.

happy new year to you all!

wordless wednesday::boys and their meat

our little guy just loves his meat.  like father like son.

 more wordless wednesday here.

christmas day

after 2 weeks of crazy 60-70 hour work week for my dear husband, we continued our annual christmas tradition of staying in and taking it slow on christmas day.

we dug into their stockings, then we finished up our jesse tree and enjoyed some homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast before opening our gifts.

gibson was pretty much spent after discovering a green ball and a matchbox truck in his stocking, but emma was certainly happy to help open the rest of his presents.

the rest of the day was spent reading to the kids from an assortment of books they received for christmas, snacking, napping and enjoying some of the new things we received.

thank you to everyone for your generous gifts!

happy merry christmas!

christmas tradition: the night before christmas

originally posted on 12.24.2009

*****

every year, aaron reads "the night before christmas" aloud on christmas eve to all of the kids.  this is a long-standing tradition which has been passed down from his side of the family.

so tonight, before the kids were "nestled all snug in their beds" we sat together listening to the story of st. nicholas' visit the night before christmas.






















and now my dear friends and family, happy christmas to all and to all a good night!

christmas tradition: decorating our tree

after deciding to re-post the christmas tradition series this past month, i realized that posting the tree trimming tradition is a bit backwards. i probably should have done this one first.  ooops.  what can you do?  the one thing i failed to mention, in the original post is our fantastic beer can christmas tree that we put up every year too.  sadly, due to some lighting malfunctions, we were unable to put it up this year.  hopefully it will be restored to its full glory next year!.

2010

the following originally posted on 12.9.2009

*****

we haven't always had an artificial tree.  for the longest time, we insisted on having a real tree.  you really can't beat that fresh scent of pine filling your home.

i dreamed of having this yearly tradition of going out to a christmas tree farm, all bundled up with the kids, and picking out the perfect tree for us.  it worked with 1 child.  but with number 2 and number 3, driving 30-60 minutes just to get to the tree farm, nursing in the biting cold...well, it didn't sound like so much fun.  plus there are all those prickly needles that poke at little (and big) feet.  no thanks.

so we have embraced the wonderfulness of a fake christmas tree.  and what is more fake than a white tree?  (well, actually, a vintage, aluminum tree would be pretty sweet too).

anyway, decorating our tree is one of our family traditions.  as we bring up the tree, ornaments and decorations, we put on some of our favorite christmas tunes to accompany us during our tree trimming affair.

this occassion is one we make sure no one misses (not even the dog).

wordless wednesday::reflections

more wordless wednesday here.

christmas tradition: christmas cards

originally posted on 12.24.2009

*****
 

one of the joys during the holiday season is that people utilize the snail mail system a lot more so than any other year.  and one of the things we look forward to is receiving christmas cards from our friends and family near and far.

now, i know this kind of goes against the "green" concept, but there's just something nostalgic about receiving cards and letters in the mail.  granted, we did cut back our list of people to receive actual cards this year, and will be sending e-cards to those we did not send tangible greeting cards to.

since we've been married, each christmas season we put up all the christmas cards we receive around an open doorway.  when it was just tyler, he used to help me put them up, and now it's emma's turn to help.  the cards are a great opportunity for the kids to learn about family members or mommy and daddy's friends who they don't see on a daily basis.  there are cousins, aunts and uncles from my side of the family that the kids have never met because everyone is spread out across the country (well, the world for that matter), and getting everyone together in one place at the same time is a nearly impossible feat. and so the photo cards have been a hit because the kids are able to connect faces with names (alternatively, we also find pictures from the computer).

aside from the christmas tree and the stockings there aren't any other christmas decorations up in our house, so the christmas cards around our doorway is a fun way to add to the christmas ambience.  thanks to everyone who sent us a christmas greeting by mail!  we appreciate it.

[and to those who didn't, we won't hold it against you :p ].

handmade holiday shopping

this weekend is the last shopping weekend before christmas.  usually it means SUPER craziness at the mall...at least i assume so but i haven't really been to one in a while so i really wouldn't know, i guess.

since "black friday," our family has had a grand time checking out the local-indie-handmade shopping events around town, and i've come to realize that there's really no reason for mall gifts when you can buy independent (well, i suppose if one were in need of a certain pair of shoes then that's not really local, but i know a local shop that sells them).  

follow along and i'll show you where we've been so far...

i think i've mentioned this before, but danielle deboe of room service relocated her store to w 25th where the larger space allowed her to accommodate not only the year-round items but items from the made in the 216 holiday shoppe.  she reopened the shop on black friday, so we decided to check it out (this was the first time in quite a while that we've ventured out to a shop on black friday).

the following weekend, cleveland handmade hosted an show at the wooltex gallery.  it was a small show, but still full of very talented artists selling their wares (including valerie mayen, who was on season 8's project runway).  one of my favorite things about shows like this, is the opportunity to develop relationships with the artists themselves...getting to know them and seeing their familiar faces at each show makes going to these events homey and comfortable.

 that same day, we also headed down the street to the artcraft holiday show...3 floors of glorious handmade items!  there was so much to see.

the following weekend after that, was the bazaar bizarre show.  this is one that i look forward to every year, and it seems that each year the west side show (which is their main one out of the 2 shows they have in cleveland) gets bigger and bigger.  this year was no exception.  we went there pretty much when they started and it. was. full.  full of great artists.  full of awesome clevelanders ready to shop.  there were definitely some tight spots...kind of tricky of you're a giant, pregnant lady.  it seems they may have outgrown that floor.  which is a good thing!  if it's still at the same location next year, i highly recommend families with babies and tots to skip the stroller and wear their wee ones.  i saw a few mamas with strollers, and they had quite the time trying to maneuver through the crowd.

and this weekend will be cleveland handmade's biggest show of the year.  the grand finale...so to speak.  the last minute market will be going on this saturday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. featuring 80+ artists.  if you're still looking for some last minute gift items this is the place you want to stop at.  you can thank superwoman/mama kathy who has made all the fab cleveland handmade events possible.  doesn't she look like she means business?

christmas traditon: gifts and stockings

this is a re-post from 12.28.2009.  

i've been behind schedule with christmas-related gift making and other obligations that i haven't had a whole lot of time to post.  following up on our jesse tree christmas tradition, i thought i'd re-post the rest of our christmas tradition series this year.  our gift tradition remains the same though the whole santa claus thing is up in the air again this year.  why such a big deal?  i LOATHE lying to my kids, even on something like this.  if we expect them to be honest and upfront with us, then we should respect them enough to do the same for them.  anyway, we're working on finding a balance in our family between the commercialized santa idea and the real santa story...this is probably something to be saved for another post (if i ever get to it!).

 *****

 this year we felt convicted to make a change with the way we approach christmas gift giving with our children.  with the christmas holiday highly commercialized in our country (i recall the cvs by our house began selling christmas items in october...gah!), the true meaning of christmas seems to get lost in between all the presents, fancy name-brand items, and the amount of money and stuff advertisements say you have to spend on people to ensure they have the BEST christmas ever.

so this year was it.  enough procrastinating.  enough feeling guilty that our presents may not be "good" enough to give to other people.  enough feeling bad that we didn't get everyone enough stuff (even if it meant racking up more debt).  in reality, the people that truly love us will know that we love them no matter how big or small a gift we give them for christmas (contrary to what marketers will have you believe).  they aren't going to love us any less (i hope!) if our gift is comprised of hugs and kisses or a store bought item.

so our new gift tradition is three-fold.  first, each child receives only 3 gifts (with the exception of our annual pair of winter socks tradition).  one is always something he/she needs and the other 2 are either items they want, wear, read, eat, a handmade item, what have you.  why 3?  the amount symbolizes the amount of gifts Jesus received from the 3 wise men after his birth, and helps bring the whole gift-opening process back to Christ.

second, as a family we purchased a gift to donate as a way to share God's love with others and help us to re-focus on what truly matters.  this year we purchased 3 ducks through world vision, though there are many other  worthwhile local, national and international organizations out there.

third, we have decided to bring back santa claus into our house (when ty discovered the "truth" we stopped the santa tradition).  however, this time around santa is not the bearer of the "ultimate" gift(s).  he is not the guy who brings you the stuff you want on your list, per se.  he leaves behind a little something for the kids to open, but nothing extravagant (emma got a small, wooden puzzle and ty received a metal slinky and batteries) so that he doesn't detract from the purpose of the whole christmas celebration.

and now to our stockings...

our stockings are handmade and personalized by aaron's mom.

when i joined the family i received a stocking of my own, and with each new grand-baby comes a new stocking.  "upgrades" are taken into consideration if you feel your stocking is no longer a valid representation of yourself (e.g ty and aaron).

we also receive an orange in each of our stockings ever year.  this is a tradition passed down from my husband's side of the family.  long ago (i don't know how long), oranges being sold in this area during the winter were very expensive.  so you wait until they're in season.  an orange found in your stocking back in the day was a real treat, because enjoying a fresh orange was a rare occasion during the winter months.