Valentine's Day

Is it a Hallmark holiday?  Is it a day of great romance?  Is it really about love or about getting things? 

I dare say it's all of that and more, depending on who you ask and when.  Valentine's Day brings a number of things to mind for me.  One of my absolute favorite memories of Valentine's is the cards I used to get from Grandma Kral.  They looked kind of like these:





Picture from Wholesale Accessory Market



Are You a Holiday Crier?

Do you cry during the holidays?  Do you find an emotional message that speaks directly to you around every corner?  I do.  Truth be told, I cry all year round.  But the holidays seem to be especially heartwarming.

A few years ago I was pregnant during Christmas.  Kay Jewelers commercials made me tear up!  And if I hear The Christmas Shoes...well, that was it.  I pulled over more than once to sob my way through the beautiful song and recollect myself so that I could drive safely again! 

This year I've shed a few tears too.  A few days ago I gave the gives some change for the Salvation Army bucket and the sincere, "Thank you," that the bell ringer gave us brought tears to my eyes.  And then today...the kids got me!  We already went to talk to Santa and let him know what we wanted, but since then we learned that Dada has to work on Christmas day.  So, we waited for over half an hour to see Santa again today.  We went to the mall to play at the train table at Barnes and Noble and get some Kataluma Chai (pretty much the main reasons we ever go to the mall!) and the kids wanted to put those things on hold to go visit Santa again to ask him one question. 

So, we waited and when it was our turn they ran up to Santa and started talking all at the same time.  Santa laughed, "Ho, ho, ho," and settled them down.  Then he told him he remembered they'd already come to see him and asked if they thought of something else they wanted.

"Kind of,"  Jace said.

Gracie added, "Our Dada has to work Christmas day."

Santa sighed, "Oh, I see."

"So, if it's not a problem, could you bring our presents on Christmas Eve eve?  That's Thursday night, " Jace finished.

Santa put his hand on Jace's shoulder and said, "I'd be happy to do that for your family.  It'll lighten my load for Christmas night too."

I know I'm a sucker.  I know the kids asked more so they could get their presents early than so Scott could enjoy them with them.  But the tears welled up and had a difficult time not letting the dam break!  It really was special.  Tyler even gave Santa a hug and said, "Tank you, Ho Ho," before running away. 

They're loving, wonderful children.  I hope their Christmas Eve morning is everything they hoped!

Getting Ready For Christmas

November was a great month of daily thanks.  I think it was a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Starting last Sunday we've been looking forward to Christmas as the holiday season continues. 

We have an Advent wreath on the table and lit the first candle last week, symbolizing the hope of the season.  That's a tough concept for the kids to grasp, but we talked about it all week long, lighting that candle each night.  Tonight we got to light two candles, the second being for preparation: much easier to explain.  Getting ready for Christmas has been the name of the game around here, and today we kicked it into high gear. 

Each day of December we're doing at least one thing to celebrate and prepare for Christmas.  Let's see...what have we done so far?  We've sent all the gifts that need to go out through the mail and started the cards.  Hopefully we'll finish that task this week.  We've also made a batch of cookies and decorated them with friends.  We're doing more of that this week too!  We've read some stories, and checked out many more from the library. 

We got our tree today and Scott's got the lights on it.  The kids and I will be making some decorations and putting them and the ones we already have on the tree this week too. 

See what I mean about kicking it into high gear? 

We've also got plans for going to see Zoolights, go out for a holiday breakfast, finish our shopping, make more cookies, sing more Christmas songs, watch more movies and television specials, and generally have more holiday fun! 

What are you doing to get ready?  Whatever it is, I hope your season is filled with all the love and joy you can handle. 

Halloween (and more) Unit Review

Yesterday was Halloween!  We took a break before the end of our Simple Machines Unit to have some fun with and learn about Halloween.  And, as it turns out, there are a few other holidays that fall right around now that are part of other cultures that we're not.  We talked about them too! 

That's our homemade scarecrow.  Scott says he's not all that scary.  Probably true, but he was a lot of work.  We didn't use straw or corn stalks.  He's stuffed with weeds from the back yard.  When I brought them into the basement there might have been some spiders that came along for the ride.  That meant screaming and jumping.  Craziness!  But we succeeded in working together to make a fun decoration.  That's what it's all about in the end.

(Just a note about the pictures: You'll notice that Jace is in his pajamas and Gracie's in a dress.  This is typical.  Gracie likes to "look cute all the time" and Jace will stay in his PJ's until he has to change into clothes!  They keep me smiling!)

We read a book called Ghost Wings, by Barbara M. Joosse, that talked about Day of the Dead, or El Dia de Los Muertos, from the library.   In our culture talking about those that have gone before us can be taboo.  I know I've gotten a little flack for taking our kids to funerals, even though Scott and I felt it appropriate.  Day of the Dead is a holiday that celebrates the people who have died.  Family and friends remember them, talk about them, eat their favorite foods, play music they enjoyed, and they may even do all of this at their grave.  I got a special kick out of that twist!  When I was younger my mother mowed the church cemetery and at times i had to go along with her.  I used to play among the stones and practice my flute there.  It's a peaceful and pleasant memory for me, although it raises some eyebrows when I share it.  Perhaps if I were in Mexico people wouldn't think twice! 

A friend loaned me a book, Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions, by Joyce and River Higginbotham.  It talked a little about Samhain.  This festival celebrates the end of summer and the change into winter along with honoring the dead.  I'm sure there's more to it, but that's as far as we went into it.  We talked a lot, with both of these holidays, about the concept of remembering people who have died before us.  Fortunately, the kids haven't lost anyone they've been close to.  They remember bits and pieces about great grandparents that have died, but mostly we ended up talking about pets.  That works too.  Right?

We also covered All Saint's Day, from what I remembered.  Sadly, I'm sure they didn't take as much from that discussion.  Although, Gracie did ask if I was a saint because "making something for dinner that everyone likes is like a miracle, right?"  I smiled and truly appreciated that she recognized that!  I told her we'd have to wait until I died to find out, but that I probably wouldn't be a saint in anyone's eyes but hers.  Love her!

And, of course, Halloween.  We read several fun books from the library.  I've already taken them back, sorry!  But I know there was an alphabet one, one of poems (Hallowilloween, Calef Brown), and a few others.  We also read about the history of trick or treating, jack-o-lanterns, and dressing up on a few websites.  (History of Halloween and Halloween History)

We had a fun time with all this, at least I did!

Starting to Feel Like Home

We've almost been in our new digs for a week! Time flies, as they say. And it's not only starting to look lived in but to feel like home too. For example, this morning the kids were in the bathroom together and giggling a lot, so I checked in.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?"

"Farting!"

There ya have it. Apparently they're feeling comfortable in their new surroundings. I'll be making some cookies tomorrow for a BBQ at the neighbors. Nothing makes a house feel more like home than baking.

Tyler's bed got put together today. He was the last holdout...but the hardware was in one of boxes that got emptied today. Don't worry, though, he's been sleeping just fine on his mattress on the floor. He took a four hour nap today before Scott put the frame together!

We've met some of the neighbors and are sticking around here for eating and merry-making tomorrow night. Hopefully everyone enjoys our cookie offering and we'll get off on the right foot with our little neighborhood...because this is home.

Helllllooooo Out There!

Hey there, everyone. How are ya'll on this fine Tuesday-after-a-holiday-weekend morning? I'm good. I'm sitting on an exercise ball, typing away on my husband's computer, while listening to Fitz in the Morning on the Wolf - a radio station that Scott loves out of Seattle. He's getting into the Pacific Northwest state of mind. (It's been so long since I've typed that I just had to think about writing "husband's." I first wrote it "husbands" then stopped before adding the apostrophe and talked myself through it. "I only have one husband and this is his computer." That's when I backspaced the original s, added the apostrophe, and retyped another correctly spaced s. Do you backspace or delete when you make mistakes or use the mouse to go back and make your corrections?)

Wow. I'm all over the place! I guess that happens when you're sitting on a ball!

Anyway, what's everyone else up to? Scott and I have left the monkeys with any number of relatives (THANK YOU relatives!) and we enjoyed a ride in the new truck out to Connecticut where I'll be hanging out during his last week of school. Did you know he got a new truck?

Well, there she is! If you've known us for very long you're probably wondering why this truck isn't green. Our last 5 or 6 vehicles have been some shade of green! But this is a really sharp grey and we saw another one on the road yesterday with black on the bottom and over the wheel wells...sharp. We haven't named her yet, either. Roxy (the old truck) was a part of our lives for so long, longer than our actual children, that we feel a proper mourning period would be good. Not really. We just haven't found the perfect name yet! Gotta get a feel for her first.

So, as far as the rest of my life...things are good. The kids and I spent 5 nights at Scott's brother's house. Jared's fiance has horses and the kids loved the farm. All three of them road ponies. Actually so did I! It was a lot of fun. I'll post some pictures after I figure out how to get the pictures off my camera. I can't find the cord right now and the camera card doesn't fit in the computer. Sometimes technology is a pain! But, anyway...we had a great time. Grandma and Grandpa Gebel and Scott came a few days after us and we all relaxed in our own way.

Jace explored all the nooks of the landscapes of the farm. Gracie played with Kate's hair every chance she got. Kate is the soon-to-be-aunt with horses, and really fun hair! Tyler loved the neigh-neighs, tractors, and many fire trucks. Scott's brother is a fire fighter. Kate and Jared have a very fun dog too, that we all enjoyed playing catch with. Scott, Jared, and Tom (their father) spent their time working on the farm, fixing fence, baling hay, creating the framework for a large door that will be going in the 100-year-old barn. It should be restated that they were relaxing. All three of our guys really like manual labor. I, for one, am not complaining.

As for me, I read, cooked, ate, talked and ended just about every night in the hot tub. That's my idea of vacation!

Hopefully the rest of you have found a few moments to do what you enjoy recently too. I know a lot of homeschoolers are finishing up their year...hope it's gone well. I'll slowly be making the rounds to read blogs from the past week or so during this week. Can't wait to hear how it's gone. I also have pictures to look at from my cousin's wedding that we couldn't make it to, shopping to do...and not just for me, and some peanut butter cups to eat. Well, I have a project to do that will require them (not for any of you...sorry) and then I'll eat them!

I'll try not to be gone so long this time...but no promises...I'm still on vacation!

Young Love

This weekend we finished homemade Valentine's Day cards. I am not known for my craftiness, but somehow Gracie got in her head that she wanted to make her own cards. After Jace saw her put together a few he decided he wanted to make his too.

We didn't do anything Martha Stuart would take notice of, but the kids had fun. And that's the key for me. Basically I bought a bunch of stickers and had some card stock that Mary had given me years ago, like before we moved to Georgia-years ago. That means at least three years, but I'm glad I still had it. Saved money on having to buy more. Although we probably would have just used construction paper because we have a ton of that too, that also made the move with us from Washington. A friend there was cleaning out closets and gave me a stack at least a foot high...it's taking the kids a while to go through it! They did use some for their cards. They cut out hearts to go along with their stickers and any coloring or writing they felt inspired to do.

Gracie had me write "Happy Valentine's Day!" on each card. She signed her name and we took turns writing the names of her classmates. Originally I gave Jace a little more freedom, telling him he could just write "Happy Valentine's Day" or he could add a note inside if he wanted to. He had carefully organized himself to be sure he had enough blue and yellow hearts for the boys' cards and pink and purple hearts for the girls' cards, except for one special card. I'll tell you more about that in a minute.

So, after finishing a few cards he realized that he hadn't put a heart on one of the girls' cards. We went back through to find the heartless card. I found it. On the front it declared "You're a lucky African" and inside he'd written "Happy Valentine's Day, Jace." I was stunned. What the heck did that mean!? So I asked him. There are two children in Jace's class, Briana and Nicholas, that he constantly points out are African American. He's convinced that the Nicholas is actually from Africa, which he may be. I haven't met him. But, more likely, I think, he's born and raised here in Georgia. Jace doesn't buy it. He's always telling me that Nicholas will probably eat this or that because, in his mind, it's African food. (Jace has lot of theories about how our heritage defines us. Here you can learn about Indians, Native Americans or Native Indians I'm not certain.)

So I asked him what the card meant.

"She's lucky I'm giving her a card."

"Because she's African?"

"No, because she's mean."

"Does her being mean have anything to do with her being African?"

"No. She just doesn't like me."

"OK, then. First of all, we don't need to constantly point out people's ancestry, especially when it really has nothing to do with your point that she's mean. Secondly, this is a Valentine's Day card, which should be nice, even if Briana isn't nice to you. And if you don't have anything nice to say, simply write 'Happy Valentine's Day!' and sign your name."

"OK."

I don't remember if he shrugged, but I'm sure he did. Glad we talked about that.

Jace made Briana a new card, including her heart, not mentioning how lucky she is to get a card at all. Then he worked on the rest of his class's cards. He even made one very special card for Meredith, who's not in his class, but is his first little crush. Her card was adorned with a red heart, the only one he gave out. And he wrote her message in pink marker, instead of the joyful black he used for everyone else. Rather than sealing the envelope with a smiley face or dinosaur sticker like all the rest, Meredith's is closed with eight sparkling heart stickers.

What a holiday...turmoil over giving cards to those who don't like us and anticipation of giving cards to those we adore.

I can't believe how many more years I'm going to have to deal with this! Er, I mean...uh...isn't young love precious?

What I Learned On My Day Off

Oh! Wait a minute...I don't get a day off. Well, either way, I learned a few things today. Cool, huh?

1. Venison is quite tasty in many ways. Until recently my favorite was in some sort of Italian dish, spaghetti or lasagna. Tonight, however, I found a new fave. Marinate it in Italian dressing and baked it. Then wrap it in bacon and finish in the oven until the bacon is cooked. Talk about flavor...oh, so good.

2. "Don't jump on the furniture" is not specific enough. I should have also stated not to attempt jumping over the furniture, not to jump off the furniture and not to jump over your sister onto the furniture.

3. The last few chapters of a really great book are hard to put down, even if there are children crying all around you.

4. Laundry doesn't fold itself.

5. America's Funniest Home Videos can calm even the wildest of beasts. Well, at first, then it gets them riled up, laughing uncontrollably and LOUDLY at teenage boys doing inherently stupid things.

6. It's nice to have a few extra hours with the children. I'd like to hypothesize, though, that it will also be nice when they go back to school tomorrow.

A Quiet Gebel Family Christmas

It's now two days after Christmas. I'm just starting to organize and rearrange to fit in all the new stuff with all the old, and maybe to get rid of some of the old!

Christmas day I did manage to get the doll house Santa got Gracie moved into her room and to unpackage all the dolls and accessories she unwrapped that morning. As far as packaging goes...you know the plastic pieces that hold the tags onto the clothes at the store, the ones that you try to break with your teeth even though you know you shouldn't? Well, barbies, barbie clothes, barbie shoes, barbie cell phones and water bottles...all of it is held to the card board with little mini plastic things. I think I could have made another whole doll with all those pesky little pieces! In the end, though, the jolly man did a great job! Gracie loves her dolls and their house! She's been in her room every day playing with her them. And when she's not there she's been painting and coloring with the princess art things she got from her grandmas and grandpas. She's a happy girl!

Jace got Legos. He got other things too...books he's started to read, clothes he's already set out for the first day back to school...but he got a lot of very cool Legos! He now has a bin to store all his new and old blocks in. It's big and he can sort through it and he can't wait to play with it! I just shooed him outside, though, so he'll have to wait! However, that is today's major project...getting all the Legos in one place and keeping them in the office, which is going to be where Jace plays with Legos. In the past he's moved his Legos out of the boys' bedroom so that Tyler could nap, but this way they'll already be out. Another bonus is that he can create and leave things set up and I won't step on them in the middle of the night when responding to Tyler's cries or checking on the tooth fairy. (By the way, Jace lost his 4th tooth last Tuesday...he's quite cute with his missing teeth!)

While we're discussing Legos, though, I feel I should let you all know something. In an effort to get more for less I bought Jace a set of Lego-knock offs. They were about half the price and instead off getting him just a truck and trailer I was able to get him a set with all the makings for both fire and police stations, a helicopter, a plane, and four other trucks. It seemed like such a great idea! Alas, they're not as good. Most of them stick together but some of them don't. Scott was not impressed. In the future, I'll surely stick to the real thing!

And Tyler...he got lots of things he loves. Tractors. Trains. Cars. He wasn't so interested in actually unwrapping the gifts, but once he saw what each new present was he couldn't wait for Dada wot get it out for him!

Jace summed up the gift opening well. "It was a Lego, Barbie, and wheels included Christmas!"

The kids were thrilled, and two days later still are. Scott and I enjoyed the excitement in their eyes and have eaten our share of cookies, even frosted a few! It's been a great few days! I do have one question, though, how is it that after spending a few days in pajamas I have so much laundry to do? Oh, well, I guess the World's Greatest Mom (that's me...Jace got me a magnet that says so!) better get her basket and start sorting! We might want clean clothes for New Year's!

Christmas Is In The Air...

This is our third Christmas here, in Georgia, and although we enjoy our holidays, they don't always feel quite right. Part of that is the lack of family get togethers. The other part is the weather.

Scott and I are accustomed to two sorts of family gatherings. One is big, one bigger. What I mean by bigger is "so many people that the family function can no longer be held in someone's living room." On two sides of our family local fire halls are reserved for a day and aunts, uncles, and cousins file in to sit in folding chairs and enjoy feasts of dish-to-pass favorites. Gifts are exchanged and stories shared. Young couples introduce new babies. Younger family members bashfully introduce new girlfriends or boyfriends. It's how we host a family get together!

The other sides of our family still crowd into an Aunt's or Grandma's living room. The same traditions take place...food, fun, family. Cards are pulled out and serious games of Euchre or Shoot the Moon ensue. Football, along with cheers and disappointment, provides background noise on the television. That's a family get together too!

And whichever I'm part of, it feels like home, like the holidays. And this year, we're not part of either...big or small. We're sticking close to our home, in Georgia, and enjoying our little branch of the family tree. The kids are excited. Scott and I are too, and we're hoping Santa brings a buyer for our house. Aside from that nagging concern in the back of our brains, we're happy to have three beautiful, happy, and healthy kids who can't wait to scatter reindeer food on the lawn and chose the perfect cookies for Santa himself.

And there's some good news regarding the reindeer food...they won't have to dig in the snow for it! Last week I wore shorts. Today I pulled weeds. Tomorrow we're going on a family bike ride. It feels nothing like Christmas to a couple of Yankees who keep hearing stories about all the snow that's fallen back home in New York! But we'll manage. I try to enjoy the holidays sans snow because I know there will come a time when I'll be longing for shorts in December.

For now, though, extended family and snow are in our hearts and our thoughts...and Christmas is in the air.