Just a few happy things...

Visions of Misletoe still in my head...
flowers abloom in pink & redlinens on a freshly made bed...
appetites for Christmas not yet fed...
A Happy Twefth Night to you and it's all said.

The Founders on Religion...

My brother gave me the marvelous book for Christmas. While the founders of the United States wanted a there to be a separation of church and state, they framed this goverment for a religious and moral people. This is a subject that interests me and I have written about before here.

"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams

"No Man has a more perfect Reliance on the alwise, and powerful dispensations of the Supreme Being that I have nor think his aid more necessary." George Washington

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." Thomas Jefferson

This is a book to buy for your library.

Rickenbacker's Bistro...

If you ever happen to be in Ogden, Utah. Don't miss this place... YUM!

This Year I Will...

I'm a person who likes to make goals and I do that all the time, but this year I'm planning to make some resolutions as well. And, I'm reading this book, (I'm about 30 pages in and it's really great so far), to help me make some plans that will help me achieve the things I want to. I also want to continue some goals we made last summer in our family that have been going well, but you know how things can slip if you're not careful.

I was listening to the TV while doing some housework the other day and they were interviewing people about their resolutions and I thought some of them were pretty great and thought about how fun it would be to do their resolutions in my own way. One guy said that he would like to perform an act of kindness everyday. I don't think that he meant holding a door for someone and that sort of thing, I think he meant something really intentional and thought out. That would be really fun I think.

Some of the goals I have are just not as fun to contemplate... like losing 15 pounds for my sister's wedding. I don't want to hate the photos for the rest of my life. Talking kinder to myself and others would cause a lot less stress in my life. I hate saying the wrong thing. And, I hate how I always say lately, "fer" and "yeah" instead of, "for" and "yes". I want to be the kind of person who accomplishes more and worries less. I need to find a way to put those things and a few others into concrete goals that can be measured for progress.. (see I'm being optimistic already). Still, I'm contemplating these goals because they are the things that are making me the most unhappy. I'm actually a pretty happy person, but I think it makes sense to get rid of the things that make you the most unhappy first.

It's a bright shining new day in a bright and hopeful new year. My Christmas Paperwhites are soaking up the brilliant sunshine in the window this morning and almost anything seems possible.

Happy New Year!!!

We rung in the new year like this. Well, we meaning little c. We, C and I stood by in a sleep-deprived, Grinch-like fashion and wished we were home in our bed. We actually made it until midnight, which never has happens. We had Chinese food, delicious, and watched the ball drop in Times Square, very anticlimatic. Shouldn't someone sing The Star Spangled Banner or Auld Lang Syne or something?? ... the ball drops and we sit there and watch two guys talking baseball... I didn't need to stay up to see that! Do I sound down on the New Year? I'm not.

This is going to be a great year! I'm going to get a nap sometime today and then it's going to be great! I have lots of plans for this year and I just can't wait to get started.

What did you do to celebrate?

The Jane Austen Action Figure...

I recieved this for Christmas. I love it! On the back it says her weapon of choice is a pen, or language or something and it has a lot of fun Jane quotes. I wish I didn't throw the box away now. Fun!

The Ultimate Gift...

This is a great film to watch with your children. Little c really enjoyed it and I like films that lead to a good family discussion and this is a good one for that.

C is fishing and I'm making stuff...

The Reading Room...

This is a great film about a widower whose wife wished for him to build a reading room in the tough neighborhood where he grew up. I thought this was a valuable film to watch with little c. It did have some very sad violence in it (there is a scene where they show a girl who has been beaten by her drunken father) and so I would not let very young children watch it and I think that older children should watch with their parents. The film is full of good messages and interesting observations and will prompt some good discussion. The acting is very well done by the principal actors and the script is pretty tight with only a few awkward spots.

Christmas is still in full swing around the house but...

...the Shop has to be a holiday ahead.

A few Christmas Favorites! & Twelfth Night...

Christmas Eve dinner by candlelight...
Hooray it snowed!!! Little c in 3 sweaters 3 scarves a vest and 3 pairs of gloves... watching her talk on the phone to her cousins for an hour while she wrote "Merry Christmas" with her snowboots all over the front lawn so that Santa could see.
The moment when everything was wrapped and ready.
The gift wrap that turned out the prettiest...
New slippers.. Good morning everyone! I hope that you had a really wonderful Christmas... and don't forget to celebrate for 12 days you know the song... :) (although the poor person in that song gets an awful lot of birds.. 7 swans, 6 geese, 4 calling birds, 3 french hens, 2 turtle doves and a partridge.) Anywho.. I we celebrate for 12 days. The decor stays up, the lights stay on, the Christmas books are out and read, the Christmas music and movies are listened to and watched. On Twelfth Night (January 6th) we have another candlelight dinner and talk about our favorite Christmas memories.

Merry Christmas!

May you and your family have a wonderful Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas to Me...

I have another book by Joan Walsh Anglund about Christmas called A Christmas Sampler. It's darling. I love her books and have collected a few. They don't stay in print long, which is something I really don't understand. Little c still loves them like I do. This one isn't in print either, but there was a used copy for $2.98 on Amazon. I love their used books, they just save the day.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little...

This is an AWESOME book that little c recieved for her birthday from Aunt Jenni, Uncle Rob and the RI cousins. She loved it! How do I know. "Mom! MOM! You have to hear this part!" ... about a hundred times. It's very cute! Little c is taking this book to school to see if her teacher will read it to the whole class.

Where I Come down on Christmas Giving...

I read this very good post and found that I had a bit more to say.

The guy who gets up in church and tells everyone that Christmas has become too materialistic speaks for himself in my opinion. I don't feel that way.

I set a budget that I stick to. Within that budget (I don't want to be paying for Christmas in January, let alone July) I make it as WOW as possible. I am not bothered that Christmas stuff comes out in the stores right after Halloween. I love it! I am always really sad when it's over and I start planning for next year in January to keep me from being too sad.

The better part of my Christmas gifts are handmade by me and it really takes a year to do it. However some gifts are better NOT handmade. For instance, my father and husband probably have as large a collection of LOVE BOXES as they could really ever want. So, I make my Christmas list of people in Jan. and then if I see something really special for a good deal I can get that item and stow it away. I'm like Santa. I have a list and check it a lot more that twice.

Christmas is my hobby. I love it! And, I think it's all in the attitude. When we go see the lights I tell my daughter to look at all these lights and think how wonderful it is that Christ was born over 2,000 years ago and yet people seem to do more and more to celebrate his birth. All the lights celebrate his birth and all the gifts celebrate the gift he is to us. All the decorations are for his birthday party.

I try to make Christmas magical for my daughter. My parents did that for me. Rather than spoiling me, I feel that it taught me to be generous with others. I watched my parents give what they could in the way of gifts, service and money to everyone that they could as well. I think it's important to make Christmas a time of service too and to participate in as many service opportunities as possible.. another good reason for starting early.

Christmas gifts and giving do not make me feel gluttonous or materlialistic. That people are running around trying to do things for those they love and to serve others and to give any gift that is a gesture of love is part of what makes this season so holy. Now I know that it's hard to see giving a DVD player or a rototiller as holy, but even those things if they represent happiness or service to the person who recieves them may just be. I personally like more personal gifts. Give a book that you loved.. (I even love a book recommendation). My mother-in-law gave me an Amarylis for my birthday. She knows I love flowers. It might bloom for Christmas. Gifts are just a way of giving love and while the gifts are often not that important and often forgotton, the gesture of love is important and never forgotton.

Red Snowflake Box...

I just finished two of these large red snowflake boxes. The quote inside is a favorite of mine. It says, "We shall find peace. We shall hear the angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds... Anton Chekhov."

To me this box looks very wintery and Christmasy. The colors are fitting symbols of the season. Hopeful colors with a hopeful message... I hope.

ThE LoVe BoXeS SHoP

Bahma Bahma Diorama...

This is little c's American Indian home. Aren't the little people cute?
Do you see the horse tied up to the tree? And, do you see the little mom who is going to pick berries from that green bush?
Do you see the Indian dad who is building a fire and tanning leather for clothes.
Do you see that little c is a bit worried that her project might get bumped or jostled?

New Pink Boxes in the Shop...

ThE LoVe BoXes SHoP

Christmas Music...

We are really in the spirit of things around here. Pancake is photographed here (bot. left) acting as concert master (do they have to play the violin?) ... anyway Pancake plays the clarinet and little c is leading the all stuffie orchestra in a rousing rendition of Carol of the Bells...

Good Guys & Bad Guys...

My nephew has learned that bad guys are scary and doesn't want anything to do with them. Funny thing though... some of the good guys, especially in the comics still look a bit, well odd.. especially if you're three.

I was trying to bribe the nephew in an effort to produce good behavior with a Marvel Comic super hero named Thing. He's a good guy? Right? That's what I was told and so that's the information that I passed on to the nephew.

He looked at it and shook his head violently. Still holding said Super up for him to see I explained that this Thing guy runs with great company... Spiderman. Nephew looks at me suspiciously and says with small outstretched hand, "I try it." But, as soon as he's touching the small action figure, he freaks out "NO! NO!" "give to kweiiis" (he's the brother and brothers as rule are entitled to cast off toys). This whole scenario was repeated almost exactly and then I just gave up.

So, I looked Thing up and it turns out that he really is a good Super Hero.. founder of The Fantastic Four and everything, but he just doesn't look like a good guy to the nephew who never wanted him. It just goes to show that you shouldn't always judge by appearances.

Merry Merry Christmas...

Little c's been coloring...

The little Sugar Plum Fairy...

This little Sugar Plum Fairy was wrapped up and shipped to California yesterday...

The LOvE BoXes ShoP

Snowflake Bentley...

Not really a favorit Christmas book, but a favorite winter book for sure. Winner of the Caldecott Medal, this book tells the story of Wilson Bentley who was the first to use a photomicoscope to show the world the beauty and individuality of snowflakes.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens...

I've read a few emotionally tough books this year. And, I don't consider it wise for me to read those during the winter when there's not so much in the way of sunshine. Keep the really depressing stuff to the summer months I say. Then, you can read and go play at the park and work it off. Wimpy? I know it is, but that's how I have to do things.

After I've read some tough ones, I love to go back to the classics I adore. I just finished David Copperfield yesterday, a great novel. It's not A Tale of Two Cities mind you, but a great novel.

It's interesting that it was actually Dickens favorite (this, on the left, is a picture of him). He loved David Copperfield more than all the others because the book is the most autobiographical of all his books.

I won't go into the similarities to his own life, that would take hours and you don't want to read that much here.

I always find the themes of Dickens novels so refreshing. In David Copperfield, he talks a lot about how to choose a mate and what makes a happy life. I agree with all the things he writes on the subject.

Do you know that Dickens books have been so popular that they have never been out of print? Amazing, but if you read them .. not surprising. The themes are timeless, the morals are infinitely illustrated and valuable even today. I am grateful to have books like these available. They are a refuge.

It is interesting to live in today's troubled world and look back and see that there has always been great trouble. In Victorian times, for instance, you would not be able to reasonably expect all of your children to live to adulthood. We still lose too many children to accidents and disease, but back then I would say they lost close to half. In fact, according to The Demography of Victorian England and Wales By Robert Woods the average life expectancy in 1850 was between the ages of 35 and 40. I would be a very old woman if I had not already met my maker.

So, I suppose that I take some courage from Dickens novels. He lived in a challenging time as well. But, I believe that the way to the good life is still the same.. moral excellence.

Christmas in the Manger...

Here's one for the younger set. I love Felicia Bond, you may remember her books about giving mice cookies and pancakes and muffins to moose and all the adventures that follow. Morale: don't feed the wild life. Anywho, I love this little board book. It explains the Christmas story to your smallest little elf, but with tender feeling. Don't miss.

Christmas Day in the Morning...

I was recently asked if I could name a few of my favorite Christmas storybooks. Yes I can. I apoligize if you've been reading this blog all along because I believe that I mentioned this book last year. I love Mark Beuhner's illustrations along side this classic Pearl S. Buck Christmas tale of a boy who discovers the meaning of love and finds a desire to give a gift from the heart.

Pearl S. Buck's writing is a bit sophisticated so I would say a child over the age of 6 or 7 would appreciate it more than the younger set. Anyone older would love it as well... even if they're 105.

Honey...

Little c has had the most annoying cough lately, just this dry irritating cough the last 3 days. I thought about keeping her home last night as I was looking through the medicine cabinet in hopes of something that would make her more comfortable.

The cough medicine that I had said it was definitely not for kids, so I had nothing. When I mentioned this to C, he said that he'd just read an article about a study that said that a teaspoon of honey did more to alleviate an irritating cough in children far more than any over-the-counter drug. Well, I had honey and it was worth a try... it couldn't hurt. It didn't hurt... in fact it worked great. Really great. I am still scratching my head about how great. Tonight I made her drink a cup of tea that I made with a lemon wedge and about a tablespoon of honey. No coughing. None. She's still not feeling really well, but is much more comfortable. Amazing stuff honey.

I hope we are going to keep our bees. They've been disappearing you know... and we need this honey and fruit and flowers and... that's another subject.

The Holiday...

I may be the last person to have seen this film... but since no one warned me about it. I'm going to tell just in case you haven't seen it yet. It's the freakiest show. It's like it had two different writers.. one who wants to tell a nice romantic story with the holidays as a backdrop... and then some demented idiot whose mind is in the gutter.

Half of the movie has this darling story line with this elderly Hollywood writer.. sweet story and darling lines and then back to the gutter. YUCK! Rent it if you have ClearPlay and skip it if you don't.

Holiday...

This is a really fun Cary Grant- Katherine Hepburn film. The writing is great and the script is tighter than a lot of older films. It's not about Christmas, which was a bummer but... still fun.

The Bluebird of Happiness: a little book of CHEER

I received this darling little book from my mom for my birthday last month. I LOVE it! I love those little gift books anyway, but this one is a real favorite. Happiness and Bluebirds and quotes like these:

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

~Albert Einstein

Happiness... not in another place but this place, not for another hour but this hour.

~Walt Whitman

Dear Santa...

These Dear Santa mugs are really cute. I saw them yesterday shopping here... I love reproduction vintage stuff. It's less likely to give you lead poisoning and still very cute!

One Winter Afternoon...