Well, it was a doozy of a week. First, Byron, then Bea, came down with a nasty stomach bug. I've been sanitizing and washing and sanitizing and washing all while hoping that I wouldn't go down with them. So far, so good.
The weather this weekend is suppose to be spring-like, happy and warm. I'll be throwing the windows up for sure.
That's January in the south for you...
Dear Friends,
Happy Holidays to you and yours. I find myself so entirely grateful for the many, many blessings that this year has bestowed upon my family and myself.
Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. It's been a pleasure to document our days here for the past three plus years. It feels good to share and grow with you all.
Wishing each and every one of you much peace, grace, love, and joy throughout this season and into the new year.
Love,
Nichole
After a steady, soaking, overnight rain, we woke up to a balmy sunshiney day. A perfect day to make cinnamon rolls to take with us for our holiday travels tomorrow.
On this solstice, it is ironically not feeling very dark. On the porch earlier this morning, Beatrix declared that today was a beautiful sunny day. "Look at the flowers growing mommy! And the chard! And the lettuce and brocolli! The irises are growing too!"
The laundry is hanging. The birds are singing away. It's hard to feel anything but happiness when it's 70 degrees out.
Yes, today is a dash of spring, of sweet relief, tossed into our mixing bowl of what has been many wet and dark days.
Tomorrow they predict big changes. Today is good.
Bea was kneeling at the oven door today, watching and waiting for the bread to be done baking. "I'm so hungry, Mommy. It smells so good."
As the sun was setting on one of our shortest days of the year, she and I were enjoying a late afternoon snack. Hot, fresh bread, butter, and milk.
Simplicity at it's finest.
I'm savoring these slow, wintery, and seemingly magical days. In years past, I've had a some issues with this time of year. I've always loved what it was suppose to be about: togetherness, finding light amidst a world of darkness, and the story of the coming of the new Babe. But our days seemed to be filled with everything but the peace and calm I so much desired.
This year has been different.
Instead of lofty visions of crafting peacefully throughout my days and evenings, I have come to the realization that I can't do it all. The fact is, my normal, non-holiday days are full to the brim (to me) and that handmaking for what feels like the masses (families are big), on top of the normal duties of the everyday - just isn't so fun (to me). There, I said it. I love making things for Beatrix or for the home when we need it, as we need it. But rushing through a long list of to-do's with only couple of weeks to finish makes for a very ungraceful and unsatisfying situation on my part.
This year we had a perfectly low key time at The Natural Child, reading winter books, stringing popcorn, making beeswax candles, and baking cookies. There's been a peaceful little hum of merry making as a result ~ one that warms a girl's heart like none other. At home our days have been filled with warmth and slowness - listening to old holiday records while decorating our tree here and there with paper chains and popcorns. I've traded frazzled late nights with the sewing machine for hot chocolate and Netflix. And it truly feels like Christmas this year!
I took Rosaleen's gift giving suggestion whole heartedly when thinking about what we wanted to give Beatrix for Christmas ~ something to wear, something to read, something she wants, and something she needs. Though the little one doesn't have a large amount of toys, the truth is, she could have even fewer and still be perfectly content. Sticks, rocks, dirt, and Dolly are her top faves.
Soon we will be travelling to see family and friends. There will be plenty of excitement, catching up, gift exchanging, laughing, lounging, snacking, and such. And though that will be good, there is no place like home - especially for the holidays. Like I said, I'm savoring this special time.
A certain little someone went ice skating yesterday.
Early in the morning, when I told her that the day was here - we would finally get to go ice skating, she asked me, "Is it snowing outside?" Aw. We live in Texas. It wasn't snowing...
She loves winter. She looks at her winter books year round and chats about that one snowy day we had last winter so often. She remembers it all so vividly still. It was a pretty incredible morning. As was yesterday's.
After rest time (that's what naps have turned to suddenly in the last few weeks), we set out to bake some cookies. Chocolate chip, oatmeal, pecan cookies to be precise. The recipe comes from this book, which I adore. I'm not so much the queen of the kitchen, but every single recipe I attempt from it comes out devine (which pleasantly surprises me).
This is my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe I've found so far. I can't say enough good things about the turnout - except that if I tried, I think I could sell enough of them to put Bea through college - they are that good....
Bea is thoroughly enjoying helping me in the kitchen these days.She pulls her yellow stool to the cabinet or directs me on the exact spot that she would like it. She is great at pouring ingredients and stirring. And she loves to make little flour castles in the mixing bowl which I find so endearing. She has been practicing how to crack eggs and each time she does it, she gets a little bit more proficient. "Goodness!" she giggles at her accomplishments (or bloopers)...
She is a fantastic dish washer and will happily wash dishes (play in water) for 30 minutes or so while I prepare a meal.
She can lick a spatula so quickly that the sight of her doing so reminds me of old films running on high speed.
She's got kitchen skills and I love our partnership in the kitchen!
These past several days have truly felt like winter to us. It's been very cold and rainy and the wind has been rattling the windows. A wool throw now adorns the couch. I've been draping my knit layers with a bulky wool sweater to ward off the chill. These sorts of attempts at holding onto warmth are not common in my parts. It's a bit exciting and a bit perfect, I must say. The grayness, the dampness, the twinkling lights, the family time at home. The love. I am overwhelmingly happy about it all.
We've gotten in the car once over the span of four days (to attend the winter fair). Otherwise, there has been a whole lot of Christmas records being played, popcorn strung for the tree, wreath making, fudge making, St. Nicholas preparations, soup making, dancing, running and sliding on the wood floors (so fun), tickle sessions, couch snuggles, stories, hot chocolate...You get the picture. I could not ask for more from this mysterious universe.
It's 6:30 and Beatrix is fast asleep. I'm off to find my wool throw and a book.
It was a glorious weekend - all wet and dreary and now it's really cold, wet, and dreary. I love it. The house has been darkish all weekend with only the lights of the tree illuminating the living room and kitchen.
Saturday, we ventured out to the Waldorf school for their winter fair. It was muddy (I still can't believe that I just wrote that) and wet.
Bea had a blast carrying our adult sized umbrella around and not dodging mud puddles even though she wasn't wearing rain boots. Oops. The festival was so much fun. We made a wood spinning top, a pom pom ornament, watched a puppet show, ate popcorn, and I scored a sweet red wool upcycled vest for Beatrix at a reasonable price. It's very cute.
I love that school. It's too bad it's an hour away from us now that we've moved out of town and that one year of tuition cost more than both Byron and my total undergrad college tuition.
