Something a bit... different?

Well, most of Christmas went as planned. Church was an adventure. I had decided to try a new church in the area, and I came out half-deaf and feeling like I still hadn't been to a Christmas service. In fact, instead of feeling a heightened spirit of Christmas I wondered if I had just fallen victim to the commercial side of the season. The church had recently been transformed from a World's Gym and comprised of a viewing room full of chairs and a large stage in between two square movie screens. When we walked in Santa Claus music was blaring so loud I thought Tommy would not want to go to church ever again - not because it was boring, but rather because it was too loud. After a couple of minutes a big screen rolled down and covered the stage, and a count-down to the service began. By the time there was only a minute left the lights had dimmed and the music changed, and when time ran out the screen rolled back up to reveal a rock-style band complete with all jeans-clad members clapping their hands over their heads and singing along with the words on the screens. Behind them dry ice or some other magic smoke filled the air. The sermon, if you could call it that, comprised of a big screen showing of the ad for Rocky Balboa and the minister spending half his time on stage wearing boxing gloves, pretending to punch himself out. This isn't to say that I didn't get his message, or that I didn't find some parts humorous, but the actual message sure seemed to get drowned out with all the hype. With the welcome speech to all the podcast and internet viewers, and to those in Australia, we half expected to see the church appear on TV in a few months or years, insanely rich and its highest member suspected of fraud. Next year we're going for something a bit more... traditional. Hopefully we'll have found the right church for us well before then anyway.

Yesterday was far less uneventful, thank goodness, and today brought some much-needed rest. Tomorrow it's back to work until the next holiday weekend. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with those you love.

Christmas 2006

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve. The final window on the advent calendar has been opened and with it the Christmas story completed and read to Tommy before we even arose out of bed. Cinnamon rolls have sweetened our taste buds and fresh hot coffee warmed our hands. We've watched a movie together and will soon prepare to make holiday cookies. Then we'll get ready for a quiet ham dinner at home followed by my Christmas wish to Tommy and Brian, a quick trip to town for Christmas Eve service. We'll give Tommy his one little Christmas Eve present, and he'll be very excited. I imagine he'll want take it with us to church. When we come home we'll put together a plate for Santa, complete with carrots for the reindeer. We'll talk about how we hope Santa doesn't leave any crumbs for the mice (our latest adventure). Then we'll help Tommy settle into bed, remembering the excitement we harbored when we were his age and re-living the experience through his eyes. If Its a Wonderful Life is on we'll watch it to the end, and I'll cry like I always do. Then we'll make sure everything is set for the morning and turn out the lights. Unlike when we were little, we'll have no trouble sleeping, and when morning comes we'll each have our own surprises, and the best part of it all will be the time we share together and the expressions we await as we watch our gifts become unwrapped in the hands of their recipients. When it's all over we'll be reflective, thankful, and amazed at God's wonders. At the end of the day, as we set Tommy's unwrapped gifts back under the tree,we'll prepare to spend New Years with friends and look forward to yet another beginning.

Here's hoping the spirit of Christmas warms your heart as much as it does my own.

Merry Christmas!

Family

We are back from our annual trip to New Hampshire for my family's big Christmas party. It was a quicker visit than we are used to, and it left us feeling completely exhausted, but it was well worth the trip to spend time with family, and especially for Tommy and many of his cousins to get a chance to play together.

It may have looked more like November outside, but the boys certainly didn't mind!

Less than one week until Christmas!

No Time for Saturday Sky, Part II

This has turned out to be a productive crafting day, though I still need to go back and touch up some mistakes. These are nothing in comparision to the inspiration found here and here, but I really enjoyed making them.

No Time for Saturday Sky

Because I'm still making these... I think I'm almost done!

A Few Thoughts on Knitting, Crafting, & Christmas

I have finally discarded the idea that my knitting habit is only temporary. In addition, I have decided not to photograph every little thing I make, particularly since I'm currently swimming in sweater ornaments. I so enjoy almost any type of crafting and always have, but I somehow lost that interest for quite a few years after high school. Now that it's back I'm going crazy with ideas. I love the feel of the soft yarn on the needles and selecting colors and patterns of fabric for quilting or other projects. I look forward to trips to the craft store to seek out buttons, ribbon, and any other little things that might catch my eye.

Since all of this started coming back to me I have taken a liking to flickr for inspirational reasons. Every week or so I look through other crafters' photos for more ideas (not that I need any more). See my favorites here. Today I stumbled upon the purl bee's photostream and this lovely little post. Recognize a couple of the photos? ;) Blogging and flickr have become quite valuable to me for the very purpose of connecting with others who share the same interests and, again, for inspiration. Now if only I had enough time to turn all my dreams into reality! *Sigh*

On a different note, I wanted to share a few of my favorite ornaments. My mom won a Hallmark tree when I was six, and it came with an entire collection of ornaments. I was very blessed to receive them when it came time to have my very own Christmas tree. These are just a few of those that I look forward to displaying each year:

I love the holidays.

Time of Need

I have been so (happily) busy with Christmas preparations that I haven't yet taken the time to comment on my more reflective and somewhat deeper thoughts from December. There are so many. I will soon.

In the meantime, I'm asking for your prayers. My aunt 's car went off the road last week, and she is still trying to recover from some very tough injuries and trauma. I think about her each day and say a prayer of my own. This is a difficult time of year to have this happen, and a simple prayer can mean the world. Thank you in advance, to those who might offer a prayer.

On a lighter note, I hope you'll also take a time to reflect and enjoy the wonders of the holiday season and all the things for which you can be grateful. Have a wonderful night!