Quotable Sunday: Sankta Lucia

Now in the winter night
Good folks are waiting
See now the maid of light
Darkness abating
Symbol of love sublime
Moving o’er space and time
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia
- English Translation of traditional Swedish Song “Sankta Lucia,” verse one.

Happy Sankta Lucia day to all my Scandinavian friends and family. The local Swedish-American Heritage group celebrated last weekend and my dear little ones were tomtes, sneaking about in one song. Such fun and memories. If I look long enough, I may be able to dig up a picture of me as a second grade Lucia…we’ll have to see if I can do that by the 13th… By then, we’ll be on the road, somewhere between here and Arizona. So stay tuned for phone-quality pictures updating travel.

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Join us for Quotable Sunday. In a tradition started by Kyrie of Are So Happy and carried on with Kerry of Young Ones and Linnea of PeppermintAlley, we invite you to post a quote on your site. Quotations can be old favorites or new inspiration…funny or sentimental…famous or personal…just give credit (where credit is due) and have fun. Thank you for joining our Sunday rhythm.

How do you join us?

After you have made a post, link it via comments to Kerry’s post. Be sure to link back to this post so your friends can also contribute. You can also join our flickr group and add your weekly contribution there. Kerry is our host in December, Kyrie will host in January, and I’ll host again in February. (Don’t worry, we’ll link it all up so you know where to go and add your contribution!)
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Thank you and welcome to the friends who joined Quotable Sunday during November:
Suzin, May, Susan, Ginny, Angela, Emily, and Melanie.

Happy Birthday Dear

Today is your birthday.  And today is Thanksgiving. We decided to mostly celebrate the former and mostly skip the latter.

Except that I made pecan and pumpkin pies.  But who doesn’t like pie on their birthday?

So we slept in, ate pie for breakfast, and went on a nice long hike.

Of course, we usually go on Thanksgiving hikes anyway, but this was of the birthday variety.

It was a relaxed and quiet day.
Full of sniffing, walking, and pictures.

You take care of your family and are constantly showing us new things.
Why would today be any different?

You are a wonderful friend and partner.
I’m so glad to explore this earth with you.

Happy Birthday my dear.

this is why

This is what we saw in Northport

And this is why we spent a week in the one-room-schoolhouse my Grandpa once attended.

Still sorting through the pictures.
It’s going to be another photo-heavy month…

ice festival

What does one do when the temperatures fall in places where snow and ice abound?
Make a festival of course.

Complete with Icey mini golf

And hot chocolate of course.
So while there are plenty of days when all I want to do is find a fireplace, a good book, and a warm drink…
Sunny days (yes, sun!) and ice festivals call for us to get outdoors and go play.

Thanks Rockford, for a beautiful day.

Christmas Crafting… a few weeks later

Before I clear all of my December pictures, I want to share a few of the things we crafted (and a few things I learned along the way).

1. Ornaments
The girls drew with fabric paints and took turns helping with the sewing machine too. They did the stuffing and ribbon selections as well.

Lesson learned: all but three of you are wondering where your ornament is. So now I know that with gifts like this, I need to either stretch out the project or have everything stream-lined so the girls don’t give up interest after the third ornament.

2. Bean bag toss (and bean bags)
This was inspired by my friend Laura, who gave the girls each a hand-made beanbag this fall. Riana designed the bean bags, picked the fabric, and worked with Ry to paint the bean bag toss.

Lesson learned: this was a gift that we teamed up to make for Amelia. At the last minute, I also made Riana a bean bag with an “R,” which was a good thing since they both play with it.

3. Hula Hoop
Riana has been wanting a hula hoop for a couple years now. The store ones are too heavy and big for her though, so we used irrigation tubing, cut to a size that is appropriate for her height and beginner status. Amelia helped put dried corn inside and wrapped the fabric with us.

Lesson learned: I am going to have to fix the fraying. Should have used those zig-zag scissors.

4. Winter Headbands
After making these for the girls, Riana decided that we should make them for her Aunts too. I still owe one to my sister, but so far, the girls like them.

Lesson learned: no, actually this one seems to have worked out pretty well. :)

5. Dakota, the horse

Amelia is a bit obsessed with horses. It’s quite cute. So we gifted her this adorable stuffed horse, which she promptly named after a horse she met this summer at Ry’s Aunt’s place. It has not left her side. (She also refuses to remove these super comfortable Christmas pajamas!)

Lesson learned: when the projects are more difficult than one’s own time and skill level, you should absolutely buy the gift from a local crafty Mama. We bought Dakota from this awesome artist. She let us visit her home to pick out just the right horse, and she promised to restuff him if we have to wash him too many times. Double win!

7. Calendars
We made calendars that hang from picture frames and we included four seasonal prints to get through the year. I think they turned out well, though it made me nervous since I had not really tested this method. And I found a couple errors in the calendars already. (Sorry, sister, I think we all know you’re not turning 18 this year!)

Lesson learned: First, everyone seemed to like that I included January 2012, so the calendar doesn’t quite run out in December. Second, I was really too late in shipping these. (Sorry!) I have never tried to ship close to Christmas before, and let’s just say I’ve learned my lesson!

8. All the things I meant to make
Oh yes, I ran out of time. There were a couple IOUs and more than a couple, “I wish I would have made…”

Lesson learned: start much earlier

All things said, I did have fun making more things this year. Certainly, I am encouraged to make more in the future and I’ve already set my eyes on a few fun projects…