Imagine my surprise (and relief!) when I was told Advent begins a week from tomorrow. I think we are all glad to have a little extra time this time of year. I've begun clearing some things from the house to provide some visual silence before things begin the slow (but very excited) build toward Christmas. This is our nature table from last year, at the height of last year's celebration. I thought I would try to lay out my plans for this year, both to gather my thoughts and share them here.
My overall mood for this year is quiet and historical (traditional? What's the right word here?) I mean to say that we'll just do our own things together, for starters. We live in a culture that's always trying to drive us away from our homes in the name of "socializing," and my personality just doesn't fit that. Let my children see who I am and how one lives a quiet life. As for the traditional or historical part, I mean share with the children what the people of our mountains did in their Christmas celebrations over a hundred years ago. I'll be writing more on that very soon.
As for Saint Nicholas Day, I chose these gold coins in a velvet pouch that I think they will love, and I'll give them a few chocolate coins, per our tradition. We'll likely read a few stories from Christmas in the Family about St. Nicholas. We used the Jakob Streit book last year for a mini-block on St. Nicholas, fitting in with the Saints and Sages mood of second grade. We don't generally do gifts on that day, but I may give them the books I got them over the Summer:
For Roan: Lucy and Tom's Christmas (as we all love Shirley Hughes)
For Laurel: Christmas Angels (always angels for Laurel)
For Willow: The Cricket and the Shepherd Boy (she really love Reg Down)
We've decided to get our Christmas tree around December 15th this year. We'll go to the tree farm we've visited in the past. It is a little funny to read about tree shortages, honestly, when I have been watching truckloads of them leave our mountains since October. And many farms have overgrown trees, meaning we often leave a tall stump when we cut ours. It will re-sprout, in addition to providing fresh greenery for the many wreath-makers who are so busy this time of year. I'm not too worried about a tree shortage here. ;-)
I've bought the children's presents already and expect them to arrive on Monday. I always love A Toy Garden, so I got everything there. I really prefer to use small online Waldorf shops, and I do compare between them for selection and price. Here's what I chose:
For Roan: Wood Marble Run and an Audubon bird call
For Laurel: Tea kettle and tall soup pot
For Willow: Wooly sheep rug hooking kit and Grimm's rainbow keyring
As far as Christmas baking, I'm thinking less is more this year. I've planned the Saint Lucia crown that turned out so well last year. We will probably bake it the day before, since I will be alone with the children and they really want to "wake" me up. I'm hoping to put together a Christmas pudding tomorrow, but I'm still puzzling over which recipe to use and how long to let it sit. I'll make my usual eggnog cheesecake bars some time, along with some peppermint bark and sugar cookies. And that's it. Can it really be it? It sounds luxuriously simple!
Thanks for sharing your preparations for Advent. It sounds just right - thoughtful and relatively simple (for a Waldorf mama - there are always so many details...) I felt the same relief when I realised that the first Advent Sunday was next week! Saying that I also just realised that there will only be three weeks during Advent so I need to think how to plan when to add items to the Nature table and when to do our weekly themed crafts revolving around rocks and minerals, then the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom and humans. I guess I will have to condense it somehow. I wrote everything down in a book and then proceeded to lose it on Sunday! Aaargh! Now having to write it all down again as I like to have my plans laid out so I know where I am before December begins. It's great that you have so many trees to choose from. I will think of you all when we read about Ruthie in the Appalachians :-)
ReplyDeleteIt can feel like a great whirlwind from St. Nicholas to New Epiphany! There are twelve days to Christmas, so that gives some flexibility. I'm trying to keep a good part of our celebrating for that time, even though we will still have school things to do. :-)
DeleteThat book is such a treasure and really captures the mood of "old" Appalachia and our place so well.
Lovely Advent plans - it sounds like it will be a peaceful, nurturing time for you all. And I'm so impressed (also envious) that your Christmas shopping is done!
ReplyDeleteI do hope so. Seems life always has a way of adding to the plans. ;-) I have a few more things to get and make, but it does feel good to be mostly done.
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