Perhaps the most stress-relieving move we made over the holidays was the decision to stay put in our own house. Of course, we missed our families and missed our friends who live where we grew up, but we are very thankful for video conferencing in its many forms. Hurray for the internets! :) Being in our own home meant we had fun with our own new traditions and explored what the holiday season in Chicagoland has to offer. I'm positive that we barely scratched the surface. There will be plenty to look forward to in years to come.
This year I finally created a quilted pocket Advent Calendar that I've been scheming of sewing for years now. I loosely based it on this one and used fabric entirely from my stash. Stash-busting felt great! It will return to The Holiday Decoration Box (very much singular for everyone's sanity) unbound, but there's always next year for that. At least I finally embroidered our names on our stockings this year... that's only taken the better part of a decade... The pockets were filled primarily with notes and seasonally-inspired activities. I'll share my list in another post.
We also acknowledged Winter Solstice this year, which was very fun. I hope to do more of that in years to come. Christopher was especially sensitive to the early arrival of nighttime and I think that further talk about solstice - the physical/earth science part of it, the biorhythms that we notice/feel shifting, and the alignment of religious celebrations - will be interesting for us all. And a celebratory sun cake never hurts, either!
Here are a few highlights from our vacation:
Oohing and ahhing over Wonderland Express at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, riding the CTA Holiday Train, driving to see Christmas lights in Sauganash, receiving holiday cards and photos from friends and family, watching the snow fall so picturesquely on Christmas morning and sledding in it on the days following with neighborhood friends, renting a few movies, going on a date!, learning to tune and play Christopher's ukelele, donating to those less fortunate, hosting a cookie exchange party for my girlfriends, having frequent Christmas Music Dance Parties, watching Colin become a full-fledged biped and cringing as he diligently works on his speed...
Happy New Year to our friends and family near and far.
May you have an abundance of Health and Happiness in 2013.
