Poll Results

Here are the poll results for what is your favourite snow day activity.

     1 vote building snowmen

     2 votes sledding

     4 votes staying indoors

I selected two choices for this one. I really like to go sledding with the kids, but I also love to stay indoors and watch the snow falling. Here are some views from our big family room windows.

Check out my new poll.

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We opened up our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve after dinner. 

Liam with his new dump truck.

The girls opening up their new Wii.

Feather boa from Liam. 

Some more Littlest Pet Shop for her collection.

A new book from Moira.

A gun for the Wii. Will bought this for himself, but did a good job of acting surprised when he unwrapped it.

Before bed, the kids hung up their stockings on the Christmas tree...

and we set out a little treat for Santa and his reindeer, including a bottle of Fat Tire. 

Santa must have enjoyed his snack because everything was gone, including the bottle of beer. 

On Christmas morning we opened up our stockings. 

Kyla got Dora, Boots and Swiper characters that fit perfectly into her dress pockets.

Later in the afternoon we went over to Will's parents' house to open more presents. 

Kyla got a new Fisher Price Little People castle from Grandma and Grandpa.

Moira gathered up all of her presents into one pile before she started opening them. 

Kyla got some new lip balm. She really likes it!

An Outdoor Adventure game for the Wii.

Chillin' out in her new jammies after a long day of opening presents. 

On Boxing Day I had everyone decide what their favourite gift was. Moira chose the Littlest Pet Shop virtual pet game, Will chose his new music stand (from me), Liam is with his new dump truck, and Kyla's favourite gift was a new Hello Kitty wallet. 

As for me, I'm having a hard time deciding what my favourite gift was. I don't know if it's the new calligraphy pen that came with six different tips (that I really wanted but never mentioned) or the new glass kitchen storage containers that I've been wanting for years but only casually mentioned once, or the stationary set that was handmade for me. Everything had such wonderful meanings for me. Or maybe it was the big box of boozy chocolates that I got... 

Santa Around the World

Father Frost and Snow Maiden from Russia.

Sinterklaas from The Netherlands

Father Christmas riding a goat.

When I was young, every year at Christmas time my sister and I would spend the weekend with Nana and Papa. We would go to downtown Vancouver to the Hudson's Bay Company to go shopping. After we were done and had lunch (and tried out the adjustable beds), Papa would drive us to Woodward's and we would walk around the building looking at the fancy displays in the windows. They were all scenes of winter and Christmas with automated people and animals. One display in particular always fascinated me - it was the different Santas from around the world. I thought that it was interesting that other children had different versions of a gift-giving visitor. 

In North America, we have Santa Claus, who lives with his wife and toy making elves at the North Pole. He delivers gifts to good boys and girls on Christmas Eve, flying through the air on a sleigh pulled by eight (nine if you include Rudolph) magical reindeer. 

 In Italy, La Befana flies through the air on her broomstick, entering homes through the chimney and delivering gifts and candy on the eve of January 6th. 

In Russia, the kids are visited by Father Frost and his granddaughter, Snow Maiden. He leaves gifts under the New Year Tree on New Year's Day and travels on a sled pulled by three horses. He also carries a long magical staff with him.

In France, children leave their shoes by the fire, filled with treats for Pere Noel's donkey, Gui (French for Mistletoe). Pere Noel will leave gifts in their place if the children have been good. 

In some parts of Europe and South America, Christkind, a sprite-like child with blonde hair and wings, is the gift bringer to children. 

I asked my friend Terhi to tell me about her experience as a child in Finland. This is what she wrote to me:

To tell you about my own experience with Santa Claus… Finnish Santa Claus is called “joulupukki”. Direct translation would be “Christmas goat”. In Finland Santa knocks on the door on Christmas Eve.  The younger the kids the earlier Santa comes. A good Santa stays for a while, asks the kids to sing to him, and then delivers presents before leaving. The way you get Santa to actually come to your house is to ask a relative or a friend to act as Santa. Usually parents leave a sack of presents outside the door and Santa grabs it before coming in.

Many times the father goes out to look for Santa and miraculously, while he’s gone, Santa shows up! That’s what happened to us when I was four or five. We got tired to waiting for Santa and so my dad went out to look for him. And pretty soon Santa was knocking at our door. He brought me the coolest sled! We didn’t have time to open all the presents while he was there, as he absolutely had to go and visit some other good kids. Pretty soon after he left dad came back. Imagine that!

We saw Santa coming to our house only that one time. He always came when we were gone to the cemetery on Christmas Eve afternoon and left a bag of presents next to the tree. Many people visit graves on Christmas Eve. They even have a special bus line from downtown to the main cemeteries that day. People take candles and point settles (sp?) to the graves.

Finnish Santa Claus used to be skinnier than his American cousin and not as jolly  (after all, he IS Finnish! J ) Many times he wore vest made of fur and used a cane to walk – and to tap on the floor. In a way Finnish Santa was a bit scary. I remember running away from the department store Santa, because he was so scary. He would walk around and hand out candy, but my sister and I didn’t want to get close to him. It’s so weird when you think about all the kids over here who line up to see Santa at the mall!

I can’t remember telling department Santas what I wanted for Christmas. They were always walking around so you couldn’t sit on their lap. I guess their main job was to hand out candy.:-) We would write to Santa, though, and tell him what we wanted.

I think these days Finnish Santa  looks more and more like American Santa. I think that’s a move to the right direction! I have always liked American Santa, as he’s so big and happy and friendly-looking. He’s somebody that you really want to go and talk to, not somebody to run away from. J

Most versions of Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Pere Noel, are based on Saint Nicholas, the 4th C Greek bishop who was well known for giving to the poor. Variations occurred when each culture incorporated their own local myths with St. Nick. It is also interesting to note that while the North American Santa Claus lives at the magical North Pole, most of the European and Asian versions live in Korvatunturi,  Finland, a real town. 

A Special Visitor

Last night we had a very special visitor to our house. Santa came and made a surprise visit to the kids. He said that he was making a special visit because they had been so good this year. Moira invited him into the family room to rest his weary feet and to have a look at the Christmas lists that the girls made by cutting out pictures from newspaper flyers. 

This was as close as Liam would get. 

Next, Santa started pulling out presents from his sack. 

Moira got the pink iPod that she wanted. 

Santa even checked his list to make sure that he didn't make any mistakes. 

Kyla got the kitchen that she asked for. 

Since Liam didn't have a list, Santa brought him a very fun set of stacking cups. 

After watching the kids open their gifts, Santa had to be on his way to visit some more children who had been extra good this year. It was such a delight and honour to have Santa in our home. I'm sure the girls won't soon forget it. 

My Little Song Writer

Over the past couple of days, Moira has been working on a song for show and tell on Thursday. Here it is for your enjoyment.

Twelve Days of Winter

By Moira Rogers

(sung to the tune of  The Twelve Days of Christmas)

 

On the first day of winter my best friend gave to me, a present under the tree…

On the second day of winter my best friend gave to me, two flying geese…

On the third day of winter my best friend gave to me, three piles of snowballs…

On the fourth day of winter my best friend gave to me, four penguins…

On the fifth day of winter my best friend gave to me, five candy canes…

On the sixth day of winter my best friend gave to me, six snowflakes…

On the seventh day of winter my best friend gave to me, seven snowmen…

On the eighth day of winter my best friend gave to me, eight cups of cocoa…

On the ninth day of winter my best friend gave to me, nine Christmas trees…

On the tenth day of winter my best friend gave to me, ten coats a’ hanging…

On the eleventh day of winter my best friend gave to me, eleven icicles…

On the twelfth day of winter my best friend gave to me, twelve cats by the fire…

The twelve days of Christmas are from Christmas night to January 6th, the Epiphany. This is how long it allegedly took for the Magi to reach Bethlehem. The song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was originally a "memory and forfeit" game where a leader recited a verse and the players had to repeat it. The leader would add another verse in each subsequent round which would have to be repeated with the previous ones. If a player made a mistake they would have to pay a penalty, like offer up a kiss or a piece of candy. (Remember the game of Minister's Cat that Scrooge's nephew was playing at his Christmas party in "A Christmas Carol"?)  It is believed that the song dates back to the 1600 - 1700's and is French in origin. 

Christmas Lights

Here are some photos of the front of our house decorated with Christmas lights. 

(Sorry that they are a little blurry. I wasn't up for dragging the tripod out in the dark in below freezing temperatures. Lazy, I know.)

A lot of people in our neighbourhood decorate their yards for Christmas. It makes a nice change from our last neighbourhood where we were only one of three on our block who did. A few nights ago we took the kids out for a walk around the block to look at all the lights. It's amazing to see the work that some people put into setting up their decorations. A couple of houses looked like Disneyland with music and flashing lights and all kinds of inflatables. 

In that "light", I am going to add a little history on Christmas lights.

It's not hard to imagine homes being lit with lots of candles to illuminate the long dark days. They were even attached to Christmas trees. In 1822, Edward Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison, custom made some electric tree lights. He hand wired 80 bulbs the size of walnuts. By 1900, businesses and the rich often displayed electric Christmas lights, but it wasn't until the 1930's that the average person could afford to have them. In the 1950's Christmas lights started appearing outside, and once a trend begins it doesn't take long for people to go overboard. When I was a kid, lights along the eaves and maybe a tree was about all there was. Now there are musical lights that flash in time to the different notes, inflatable Santas and penguins, and icicle lights. I wonder what my grandchildren will be delighted with. 

Hot-tubbing in the Snow

Holiday Bazaar

Yesterday my neighbour across the street had a holiday bazaar inside her home. She invited me to set up a table so I made up a display with some Avon and my Etsy stuff. I could have filled two huge tables, but I just picked out some of the best stuff to display and put the rest of my items in a bin under the table. 

The bazaar started off steady, but quickly died. A few people wandered in at around 4 pm. I had hoped that it would have been busier, but I can't complain. I made a little bit of pocket money and I met some neat people. 

This was in my living room. I spent two days trying to figure out the best way to display my stuff. I also had some packaging to do and last minute pricing. The bazaar was only five hours long. I suppose it was worth all the effort. 

Poll Results

Here are the results for what you chose as the meaning of collywobbles:

     2 votes for a Southern dish made with collard greens

     2 votes for a tummy ache

The real definition of  collywobbles is a tummy ache. It's an archaic word that is derived from cholera. 

Check out my new poll. 

The Pleated Poppy

Hey, everyone!

Want to enter a fun giveaway? I thought so! Check out this blog for a chance to win a set of three handmade posies. Just scroll down until you find the post and then follow the directions. Good luck! (but I hope I win!)

Convenience

Kyla, Liam and I had a rough night last night. Liam has a cold and he woke up at about 1 am crying. I went into his room a couple of times to soothe him, but as soon as I left the room he would cry again. I stayed awake each time hoping that he would eventually fall asleep. when he didn't I decided to take drastic measures. I changed his diaper and brought him into bed with me, something I haven't done since he was really tiny. He wasn't feeling well and sometimes all you want is to snuggle with your mummy. He settled down right away, but didn't go to sleep. Not long after that Kyla woke up crying. She eventually made it into our bedroom and was on my side of the bed. I couldn't help her because I already had Liam so I told her to go to Will's side of the bed so he could help her. She didn't want to do that and started crying even harder. Will was quiet this whole time so I nudged him with my foot to get his attention that he needed to do something. That's when I was surprised to find out that he was SLEEPING. I couldn't believe it. I had to wake him up through his children's crying. At least I was thankful that all I had to do was nudge him. Most of the time it's not that easy to wake him up. I have to yell in his ear and shake him hard. 

Will got up and got Kyla into our bed. Liam wasn't settling down to go to sleep and started "talking" to Kyla. I put him back into his own bed and listened to him cry for a few minutes before he finally fell asleep. Just as things were getting quiet and I was starting to fall asleep myself, Kyla started crying. Next thing I know she is throwing up. And Will is SLEEPING again! I got up and helped her and got her a glass of water. She finally settled down and fell asleep. 

It never ceases to amaze me how Will is able to sleep through all that craziness. He didn't hear either one of his kids crying and he didn't even notice when his daughter was puking right next to his head. How convenient! I would love to be able to sleep through all that. How can someone be so oblivious to his children?  I guess it's easy when you know that someone else will do the hearing and care taking for you. I wonder what that kind of freedom feels like. 

The History of the Christmas Tree

For millennia, people have revered evergreens. The ancient Egyptians used date palm leaves, Romans used evergreens and the Druids included evergreens, holly and mistletoe into their ancient rituals. The evergreens, while remaining green while the rest of the plant world lay bare in hibernation, were a symbol of life over death and were believed to have magical properties that could keep evil spirits away. 

There are many stories of how the evergreen tree became associated with the Christian holiday of Christmas. What the legends all have in common is that they were used to represent the Holy Trinity in some way. The tradition also has its roots in Germany where it remained for exclusive for centuries. The nobility slowly adopted this tradition, but it wasn't until Queen Victoria married her German cousin, Prince Albert, that it became more widespread. in the mid 1800's picture of them with a small Christmas tree on a table was widely circulated and their loyal subjects wanted to emulate this royal couple. 

European immigrants to the new world brought this tradition with them, but it wasn't until the 1920's that having a Christmas tree in your home became common place. 

Early trees were decorated with small fruits, paper flowers, candy and candles. Tinsel was invented in Germany about 1610 and, up until the mid 1900's, was made of real silver. An ordinary cloth was laid under the tree to catch falling wax from the candles and any pine needles that may come off. Today we have ornate tree skirts that serve not only as decoration, but to hide the tree stand. 

The Christmas tree was traditionally set up on December 24th and taken down January 6th. Today people put their tree up much earlier. 

In our home, I don't like to put the tree up much earlier than a week or so before Christmas, but this year we did get it up early. Every year the kids get a new decoration to put on the tree. Sometimes I make them, sometimes they pick it out themselves and once in a while I will surprise them with something. I like to take the tree down New Year's Eve. I don't like the new year to start with an old dead tree in the house. 

What are your Christmas tree traditions?

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Yesterday afternoon we decorated our Christmas tree. Morgan came over to help us. Moira put on some Christmas music and we pulled out all of the ornaments. 

You can tell where Kyla hung the ornaments. They are all in this one spot!