'Tis the season to be crafty, Fa La La La La La La La La...

Quick! Do something fun! Mom's in the bathroom...

Hey! Nona! Got more blue? I'm runnin' low over here.

 

  Creations...

 And, in the spirit of crafting and in the spirit of, well, a pervasive feeling of late that if the holidays are NOT going to be about buying too much stuff and they're NOT going to be about an immaculate birth then they better BE about something. Especially with a five year old in the house. Turns out, five year olds LOVE those holidays...and their spirit is very contagious. But what? What are we celebrating? Neither Mike nor I is comfortable celebrating the religious Christmas, and the secular Christmas has been largely defined by copious levels of consumerism--which is unappealing at best. We like Solstice. We can get into the celebration of the season and the return of the light (the sun (son?) Ok, I won't start). The symbolism and traditions of the Winter Solstice resonate with us... and give us a fun, celebratory focus during this time of year when celebrations abound. We'll still open stockings on Christmas morn, and Winnie asked at bedtime tonight if she can go sit in Santa's lap ("Connor did it! I want to try!"). Sure, absolutely. It's all part of the fun. I'm looking forward to coming up with ways to make Solstice really fun...
and what our family looks forward to.

So, tonight I made our advent calendar for Solstice. We'll begin counting down tomorrow, and in 10 days--on the full moon--we will be there! At the shortest day and the longest night of the year...
At the peak event of the December celebrations at chez nous.