The 12 Weeks of Christmas

I know what you might be thinking, "Did she just mention Christmas? Is she seriously going to launch into some Christmas-related post?" The answer is yes. Yes, I am. But before you abandon ship and click away to visit a non-Christmas post on a different blog, allow me to explain.

I love Christmas. I mean, I LOVE it. Always have for as long as I can recall. And every year since entering adulthood/parenthood, I have vowed to experience a leisurely, relaxed-pace, mostly handmade, tradition-filled holiday. I usually end up filling the pre-Christmas weeks with heavily exasperated sighs, rushing and running around like a madwoman, spending too much buying what I would have made myself-- if I had more time. As my husband pointed out to me last year, "You know what day Christmas is. It never changes. Why are you always caught off-guard with too much to do and too little time?" This coming from the man whose wife chooses and buys/makes gifts for his family as well as her own, I might add (snarkily). So, of course, the holiday crunch doesn't quite hit him as hard as it does me. However, I digress...

So in January of this year, I joined the Rudolph Club (online group whose members take the 25th of each month to do some Christmas-related task, thus spreading it out over the entire year instead of cramming it all in at the last minute). I participated in January and, well, just January. Yep, one month in and I ran out of Rudolph steam. Pathetic, I know.

Part of the problem for me is that I cannot find the will to do Christmas stuff when the weather doesn't cooperate. Sewing a Christmas stocking while sweat dots my brow just does not compute. I need cloudy, gray, chilly days in order to "do" Christmas. We don't see a lot of those days from April through October.

However, I have found that if I dress lightly and work at night (when I can't see all the lush green-ness outside my door) with the air conditioning cranking, I can coax myself into finding a bit of Christmas spirit. Cup of cocoa and lots of mini-marshmallows required, of course. And Christmas music. Obviously. My Christmas music collection is always at my fingertips because I have been known to listen to it at odd times of the year. When we were little, my sister and I would listen to our Christmas records (records--am I dating myself here??) in the middle of summer. My Mom's only rule was that we had to turn the music off before my Dad came home from work. My Dad is not a huge fan of Christmas music at Christmastime, let alone on a day in mid-July.

So, with September fast approaching (scratch that -- September is HERE!), I thought I would fully commit to my idea of the 12 weeks of Christmas. Why 12 weeks? Well, in the perfect world that exists in my dreams, I am finished with all the heavy Christmas preparations by December 1st. This way, I can wile away the three weeks before Christmas doing the light and fun stuff: baking cookies, watching Christmas movies, nightly walks to look at the Christmas lights, ice skating, sledding, reading Christmas books, gazing at the decorated tree, etc. I'd rather not be wrapping and shipping presents, writing out Christmas cards, scrambling to find that last-minute gift, coming up with holiday menu plans, fighting my way through the baking aisle of the grocery store, or frantically sewing (and, thus, using my seam-ripper because of said frantic sewing) late into the night.

September, October, and November = 12 weeks. For me, a little accountability goes a long way. Therefore, I will be sharing my progress here on a weekly basis. Stay tuned (and join me if you'd like! I'd love to hear ideas from others out there!).

*Edited to add: Before publishing this post, I googled "12 weeks of Christmas" and found that I am not alone. Several others are trying to get a jumpstart on the holidays as well. Nice to know I'm in good company. Go forth and plan!

Simple Woman's Daybook

For today...August 31, 2009

Outside my window...a huge canopy of shade. My, our backyard tree has grown enormously this summer. Must be from all that rain!

I am thinking...about how we can wring out the last drops of summer before Labor Day weekend. I'm thinking berry-picking!

I am thankful for...the perspective we gain every week when we take our son to Children's Hospital for treatment/therapy. While we are there, we sit near/pass by/chat with/smile at many sick children with health problems much more serious than our child's. So, while we feel frustration and fear regarding the challenges our son faces now and in the future, I do know that there are parents out there facing much bigger frustrations and fears for their own children. I always try to include these families in my daily prayers.

From the kitchen... -black bean and shredded chicken enchiladas, a mixed green salad with fresh and super yummy orange tomatoes I bought at the farmer's market yesterday (they smell so sweet and fresh--just like summer!). Plus, I've got some whole milk yogurt cooking away in the yogurt maker.

I am wearing...navy cargo pants, white sleeveless top, white socks and my "indoor" sneakers.

I am creating...a to-do list for upcoming Christmas crafts (yes, I realize it is still August. But there was a hint of autumn in the air just the other day, and it got me to thinking...)

I am going...to escape to the bookstore this week, I think. An iced mocha, a stack of magazines and books, and a comfy chair...sounds like the perfect getaway (even if it's only for an hour).

I am reading...A Child's Garden by Molly Dannenmaier. Completely and utterly enchanting and inspiring!

I am hoping...to get a handle on some of the pits of chaos reigning supreme around here and re-establish some order. I think the little stacks of clutter here and there are contributing to some negative energy vibes (not to get all new age-y on you, but what I'm trying to say is clutter makes me cranky!)

I am hearing...my daughter singing random lines from our current stack of library books. I love that rather than just speaking the words, she pretty much sings everything these days. I also hear the pleasant hum of the baby monitor while my son sleeps upstairs.

One of my favorite things...when my husband accompanies me and the children on the big grocery shopping trips we make twice per month. It's so nice having his company and he helps distract the little ones while I concentrate on my giant list!

A few thoughts for the rest of the week...other than the aforementioned clutter-banishing, I plan on a trip to the library, a visit from my sister, a trip to Children's, and later in the week I'm going to get fresh market peaches to make this special peach pie with cream cheese crust for a Labor Day party this weekend. Yum!

A picture thought I am sharing...look at this busy bee gathering nectar before summer runs out. "Stocking the pantry shelves" for winter, if you will. :)

For more Daybook links, hop on over to The Simple Woman's Daybook site.

Best Playdough Recipe

When my daughter asked to do playdough in the past, she was met with reluctance on my behalf. Maybe it had something to do with a classic rookie mom mistake: I let her play with it on our coffee table, which is located in our carpeted family room. And I did this for years. Rather than finding a more appropriate place, I finally chose to ban the playdough play altogether. Truly a shame, because she loves playdough.

Nowadays, I am the one to suggest playdough as an activity. Why the change of heart? It boils down to two things:

1. I wisely contrived a plan to spread a vinyl mat/tablecloth on our ceramic tile hall. So, even if playdough bits stray from the mat (which --who are we kidding-- they will), they fall on the tiles instead of getting embedded into the carpet. Embarrassingly, this hard floor=easy clean-up concept took me years to grasp.

2. While strolling through the blogosphere, I found a recipe for playdough that is perfect. I have tried no less than half a dozen different playdough recipes in the past. Sure, the ingredients are all similar to some degree, but the results have been anything but similar. We've had: too wet, too dry, too stinky, too much, too short-lived (dried out in record time), etc. etc.


The following aspects make my new favorite playdough recipe a winner:

*it makes just enough. I'm not stuck with cups and cups worth of playdough that required the emptying of every salt shaker in the house and left me with no flour to make muffins later on.

*the recipe is so simple and straightforward that my daughter can make it all by herself (okay, she needs me to give it a good stir to smooth the lumps, but the rest is all her).

*it keeps in the refrigerator for quite some time as long as it's in a sealed bag.

Best Playdough Recipe

(found here, which is a delightful blog in many ways, so check out the non-playdough related posts too!):

4 Tbsp white flour (on humid days, I find that I have to increase the amount by another Tbsp or so)

2 Tbsp salt

A splash of vegetable oil (the original recipe calls for a dropper-full, as it is intended as a Montessori activity. I didn't have a dropper on hand, so I guesstimated here)

2 Tbsp water (if you want to color your playdough, add food coloring of choice to the water before mixing it into the rest of the ingredients)

Combine in a bowl and stir. Then knead to really incorporate the color (if used). We kept our first batch in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. We found that subsequent batches kept fresher longer if stored in one of those plastic snack-sized baggies (which, on the whole, I try to avoid using, but one little baggie can be used indefinitely for playdough storage).

We made bracelets and watches. Now we make a new batch of playdough on a regular basis. Throw in some cookie cutters, a garlic press (to make hair/grass/worms/spaghetti), spoons, forks, butter knives, plastic cars, or any toy that makes great tracks and is easily washed and have some fun. Just make sure you have the fun on a non-carpeted surface (ahem). Although, I'm probably the only Mom out there who needs a reminder like that! ;)

Better than a Snack Pack

I came across Organic & Thrifty recently and it is chock-full of healthy information and ideas. I was skimming a post about healthy lunchbox alternatives and found this recipe for "pudding." If the chocolate moustache around my daughter's mouth was any indication as to how much she liked this, I'd say we have a winner. Better yet, I had the few basic ingredients on hand and this snack packs a nutrient-dense punch!

Chocolate Banana-Avocado Pudding:

Puree one avocado with one banana in a food processor. Add 2 tsp cocoa powder and 1 Tbsp honey or to taste. (the banana I used was super ripe and very sweet, so I didn't need as much honey). Blend and serve!

Wordless Wednesday: A Summer Perk: Impromptu Picnics

Trying to Keep the Heart at Home

I'm not sure why, but my home has been looking anything but haven-like lately. I know what it is I should be doing, but I find myself doing just the opposite. Laundry needs folding? I think I'll sit and read this magazine. Dry dishes in the dish drainer, awaiting their journey back into the cupboards? Hmm...I think I'll read some of my favorite blogs. Aaack! Why can't I get myself in domestic gear?

I have spent many hours devising a house cleaning schedule. After trial and error, I developed a morning and evening routine that works. I have it posted in my Home Management Notebook. I am well aware what tasks are supposed to be done on what days. Everything looks good on paper. But follow-through? That seems to be sorely lacking.

I am one of those people who feels weighed down by clutter and disorder. I would even go so far as to say that a messy house depresses me. This blog has been neglected lately because this space is supposed to be about how I attempt to make all aspects of my family's life comforting and secure and peaceful. How can I write a post for a blog called "Our Haven on Earth" when my husband keeps asking me when I'm going to clear the clutter off our kitchen counter? Or the miscellaneous spills that were never wiped off the stove burner drip pans set off the smoke detector? {In my defense on that last one, our smoke detector is too close to the stove and seems to be super-duper sensitive to boot} Those occurrences hardly seem like they would take place in a "haven." To ignore that fact and wax poetic about homekeeping would make me feel like the world's biggest hypocrite. A fake.

So, I've been doing some thinking. Something must change. But, before we can change something deep-rooted in ourselves or our thinking, it helps to understand the "whys" behind the issue.

Why am I suddenly having trouble taking care of my home and myself? Okay, not taking care of myself is not really a new issue, but I have been more neglectful than usual of my needs and desires as of late. That's a post for another day. But why the domesticity nosedive?

I have noticed, since we began house-hunting in May, that I seem to have "checked out" of the home we currently inhabit, and have set my sights on the future home instead. Mind you, we haven't actually found the future home yet! But just the idea that we will soon (hopefully) be leaving this house in favor of greener pastures, has led me to abandon any energy or focus that I would normally be putting into here.

But then I realized that God has already blessed us with a comfortable and cozy space to call home. We are living in it right now. Today. Maybe He is waiting for me to show my appreciation and gratitude for our current living situation before He blesses us with the housing situation we desire. Sure, our current home has limitations and drawbacks, but it is also where we hang our hats. At least for the time being. Whether we move out next month or next year, I need to stake claim on the house we inhabit now. Victoria Moran, the author of one of my favorite homemaking books, "Shelter for the Spirit," puts it best:

"This is your home, whether you own it, rent it, or were born into it. Home is where you go to refuel--physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You no more need to own the house for this personal refueling than you need to own the service station to get gas. When your soul claims an address as its own, it doesn't matter if you stay there six months or the rest of your life. While you occupy the space, it is undeniably yours."

I've written in the past about trying to be more present and "live in the moment." I have been successful doing this with regard to my children. It has taken practice and diligence, but I've managed to be more connected during our crazy days. Many times I have had to remind myself to take a deep breath, slow down, savor, and throw myself right into their lives and whatever activity they're doing at that moment. Kids are so great at living in the moment. It's the only way they know how to live.

So, now that I'm comfortably and more naturally being present where my children are concerned, it's time I add a new challenge: being present in my home. My belief has always been, and still is, that "house" and "home" are two different things. To me, a house is a structure. An inanimate object. But a home shelters us physically and emotionally. It is literally pulsating with life. A home is where love gathers. A place where we "shore up" in order to cope with the world outside our familiar front door. That is why I always refer to myself as a homemaker rather than a housewife.

I need to get back to the me that loves "making home." She's in there, I know she is. Heck, I hear she's even got a blog devoted to it! :) Got a little sidetracked lately, that's all. I blame it on the summer heat.

Well, I'm off to tidy up the mayhem around me (really, I'm going to shut this computer off right after I post this). Typing my thoughts out in this fashion seems to have lit a little fire under me. Sorry for the rambling and jumbled-up parts (which pretty much pertains to the entire post). My thoughts were everywhere tonight. Thank you to any faithful readers who followed along this discombobulated path of a post!

Beating the Heat

As we continue to brace ourselves against hot and icky weather, we've been forced to find some new ways to be entertained inside. Pictured above, you'll see quarters adhered to my daughter's feet with clear packing tape. Well, think of these as really, really cheap tap shoes. I took a marathon tap/ballet/jazz combo class when I was her age, and I just loved wearing my tap shoes every chance I got. I was telling her some story about "When I was a little girl..." and the topic of tap dancing came up. When Roo asked me what tap shoes were, I realized I've denied my daughter the thrill of standing in front of a mirror in leotard and tights, with a bunch of other cuties, to tap and twirl to her heart's content. While enrolling her in some sort of dance class is on the agenda someday, I figured I could fashion some tap shoes right now. I know I didn't coin (hee hee) this idea myself. I've seen tap shoes made from loose change several different spots in the past. Just tape them onto the heels and balls of the feet and off you go:

Being confined inside has also brought renewed interest in the doctor's kit. Here's Roo using the "checkoscope" (that's 4 year old medical lingo for stethoscope, by the way. She says it "checks" to make sure the heartbeat is strong and clear. So, based on that rationale, checkoscope certainly deserves heavy consideration as the newest word in medical terminology) to listen to Rascal's heartbeat:

Yes, they are wearing long sleeves and pants even though I just complained about a heat wave. I am guilty of running the central air just a bit too much, I think. I still feel hot even when they start getting chilled. So I dress them appropriately for the arctic blast that blows through our vents in order for me to stay cool (and, thus, less cranky).

Fortunately, he sits very patiently through this thorough examination. Every time. And it happens about a dozen times per day. I love the doctor's glasses she's wearing. And I also love how she makes up a random temperature: "Ah, 422.5... that's a little bit on the high side."

A couple of the benefits of the doctor's kit being used around here is the chance to learn some new vocabulary: otoscope, reflex hammer, syringe; and I think it has definitely helped our son learn to sit patiently at the real doctor's office while they do various tests and exams. After what his sister puts him through (again and again), his actual hospital visits are a piece of cake!

While I was putting Rascal down for a nap, Roo adapted this bridge from a wooden garden stake and the Bounce and Spin Zebra (it's about time that zebra carried his weight around here. He's been sitting idle for months).

I can wish for "sweater weather" as much as I want. It isn't going to make Fall come soon enough. So, in the meantime, we will keep hunting down new activities to wile away the hot summer days.