A sickly start to the year

Well, if this month is any indication of the rhythm of things, this year is going to keep us closeted due to illness for a good while!  We've been sick for almost a month.  Do you know what that means?  It means, my good people, that true sleep has become a thing of the far past!  That and December has come and gone without much notice on our part.  

Yet, somehow, there is light at the end of this long tunnel.  A whisper of clean air perhaps?  An almost vague smell of sunshine?

Little (and big) bodies are tired of fighting, yet valiantly continuing to fight on.  It brings a sweet warmth somehow (in a non-literal sense, obviously) when feverish little ones curl up against my side and ask for a story, or to help hold the little hand mixer.  And the kind ways my dear husband lifts my spirits and shoulders my burden.  We are learning patience, friends.  Patience with our bodies, patience with each other, patience waiting on the Great Healer.  

Not everything in life stops with us.  We watch, as though glued to a window - outside, apart from everyone - the world pass by at no mean speed.  The merrymaking, the festivities, the cheer, all serving to remind us of the time.  Then they drift away like smoke and time once again becomes a stranger in our lives.  (At least insofar as time means dates and deadlines.  Nap-times and mealtimes are non-negotiable.)

Our projects are not idle hobbies to pass the time.  They have become ways to keep love and laughter alive.  A few new peg people for the little ones.  A woodburning to send to a far-away friend.  A dabble in cheesemongering to save some old milk.  (That last one was a triumph of no small proportion.  Mozzarella is hardly a beginner cheese...)  

And so, another year is closed.  May the new one find you replete with health of spirit, quiet joy and inner peace.  (And maybe with a few loving projects of your own in queue?)

My blessings

While far from our usual merrymaking this time of year, nevertheless, we have had our fill of those special moments and blessings that this feast brings.  It seems that even illness is no match for Christmas!  Hope you have enjoyed counting your own blessings too...

:: little hands so eager to help with the holiday baking

:: large trays of warm, fragrant gingerbread cooling on the countertops

:: cuddling together on the sofa in the twilight while reading the story of the Christ-child

:: watching little ones building forts under the dining room table

:: managing to keep up the family tradition of homemade Yule logs

:: woodburning late in the evening when all is quiet

:: hearing baby coo and squeal and laugh when we play with her

:: watching the snow flakes swirl down onto the beautiful ice-robed trees 

:: playing snakes and ladders together at least 5 times in one day

:: finishing the blanket and being happy yet a tiny bit sad it was done and gone

:: seeing papa playing with the kiddies in the special ways only a papa can

:: feeling my heart swell as I listen to laughter and squealing from my babies 

:: pajama days... too many in number to be respectable

:: finishing the laundry 

:: a clean house (!!)

:: planning new projects for the coming year (!)  :o)

Christmas medley

I've been MIA lately because we have been running the gauntlet of illnesses.  Yay.  It's not just stuffy noses or little coughs.  That stuff is easy!  These are the full out, fever-with-a-hacking-cough-throwing-up sick.  It seems to happen all at once and always in the winter.  Maybe I should keep this as a spring-summer-early fall type blog.  With three kids passing viruses around, the winter is too unpredictable.  

Anyhow.  Christmas preparations have been limited here.  We've baked a tray or two of cookies (when fevers were down and moods were up...), done a few cards and lined up a few other crafts that have yet to be tackled.  No real shopping has been done, except for children's tylenol.  (Possibly the perfect gift for all our parent friends?)  We have actually considered buying shares...  Mostly though we're making pots of soup, peeling oranges (they say the vitamin C is good...), cuddling up under blankets, and basically doing what we can to help our bodies fight this off.  

We were planning on spending this Christmas in Michigan at the Dormition.  Doesn't look like that will happen at this rate.  I am disappointed.  I am also sad that I haven't been able to do very much to prepare for Christmas.  I don't lament the shopping, truth be told.  It's the other stuff.  The baking, the cooking, the decorating, the festive making and crafting.  D told me that this year, we're going back to the roots of Christmas - the real deal.  Without all these distractions and fuss, we have no choice but to focus on Christ Himself.  That is a very beautiful and comforting thought.  

In fact, while our situation is not comparable in the least, these past few weeks have made me think profoundly on the terrible war going on in Syria.  Not the war itself, but the hundreds and thousands of Christians who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ.  And here I am wondering what to buy for D.  How's that for a dose of perspective...

On a less serious note, though not one to subtract from the previous sentiments I hope, I wanted to share this funny story.  I had put on a load of laundry in the washer and left to do another few chores.  When I came back, both my kids had pulled up their soft chairs in front of the washer and were staring with wide eyes at the load spinning and sudsing up with soap.  They were there for like 15 minutes!  It was honestly as if they were watching TV, except they were watching a washing machine!  Some kids enjoy video games.  Mine prefer a good round of dark clothes to capture their attention...

Father Christmas

Today is St. Nicholas's Feast Day.  For some reason, this is about the time we bring out our Nativity figures, decorations and festive hymns and carols.  It is the start of all Christmas preparations, baking, crafting and making.  I actually don't think we ever made it an official tradition.  To me, St. Nicholas is Father Christmas.  He brings Christ's Nativity to our minds so profoundly.  We can't help but stop what we're doing to stand in our hearts by the manger and contemplate with wonder at the King of Heaven become a helpless child.  

This is a feast especially for children.  Ours love the Nativity creche.  Too much in fact.  With all the ball playing, stampeding and general mayhem, we really considered putting it away for this year.  But it's still here.  And every now and then, if you look over, you will see a little one sitting in front of it, gazing at the Child in the manger, or holding His Mother carefully in two hands.  (They have to be touched, don't you know.)

In other non-Christmas news, I am happy to report that the poster of the solar system is done and waiting to be laminated (which might actually take longer than the poster to finish).  M has been asking a lot of questions on the stars and planets, so I figure it's as good a time as any to bust out something visual for the little guy.  He is our little academic.  He is loving school and absorbing french so thoroughly that he doesn't even think when he speaks.  He just talks.  And he is talking in full sentences.  (Although we catch the odd Arabic or English word thrown in every now and then...)  It is good to be a child.  

And I am finished crocheting squares and have moved on to sewing them together.  This particular pattern looks beautiful and I'm debating making another blanket with just this!  (I'm crazy!)  Anyhow, this is so exciting.  Fingers still crossed!  

Hope you have a blessed day!

PS - I found this CD just last week and we've been listening to it non-stop in the car.  M particularly likes it for some reason.  Favourite tracks are 4, 14, and 16... oh and maybe 20 too I think?