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And The Middle Shall Be First
Twas the month of December and the tree was chopped down. No one can find the nativity scene but the tree stand magically reappeared after a two year hiatus. Christmas music blared and we all scrambled through the tissue paper and completely untidy array of ornaments treasured and tarnished and piled high in a less than glamorous Rubbermaid bin. We name every tree we get. I can’t pretend to recall the names of all of those trees but I do remember the first tree I ever decorated the first year I ever spent the holiday as a wife. Herbert. Herbert was a ratty old scrub cedar plucked from his life on a hillside…
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Gnome For The Holidays
We live here. Our children’s grandparents live there. It is sometimes difficult to connect in a daily manner from state to state with one another. This weekend we celebrated an early Christmas at our place with Papaw and Grandma. And we gave them a little gift in an attempt to bridge the gap of all those miles between Ohio and South Carolina. Meet Columbia and Columbus. They’re gnomes. They match one another exactly. (And their names coordinate – get it? The capitals of each state.) We all composed a little rhyme that set up the story of the gnome twins. Then the kids and the grandparents walked along the driveway…
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The Christmas Chain Took Us To Bethlehem
It’s hard to focus on school this month. This Christmas season feels shorter since Thanksgiving landed later in November. The kids and I just want to play and craft and bake and we don’t want to add or memorize or diagram sentences. (And this gloomy cold rain is not helping our (I mean, mine) attitudes either.) But we keep trying to persevere anyway. Only a few days late, we hung up our traditional Christmas chain. And so far we’ve watched a Christmas movie with snacks, decorated our tree (finally!) and this weekend we whipped up those infamous monster cookies and took in a new local event to our family –…
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About Gifts & The Upcoming Christmas Season.
I’m a fan of enjoying the holiday that is nearest. I’m also a fan of planning ahead. Sometimes the balance of the two of those can be a tad bit tricky this time of year. I know some of you are planners too. And I know some of you have already practically finished your Christmas shopping and some are just beginning. I guess this post would be more for those of you who are just beginning. I wrote this post two Christmases ago. We continued to embrace the same philosophy last Christmas as well. And we will be keeping the same spirit of this idea this Christmas too. And so…
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The Day After Christmas, A Catch Up Post
It was good to stay mostly far away from the computer screen for the past several days. This long long weekend has been restful and sweet and full of blog-worthy moments. (Of which perhaps I’ll eventually catch up. Perhaps. Perhaps yes. Perhaps no.) The annual Christmas Eve pajamas were a hit. Bergen has declared that he will no longer refer to pajamas as pjs. Henceforth, he says, he will call sleepwear jjs. He offers no explanation for this name shift. In other news, we Keigleys consumed our annual Christmas traditional dinner of Stone Soup. (Based completely on the book – we make the recipe up as we listen to…
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Happy Weekend Everybody!
Last night Papaw and Grandma arrived. Bearing gifts. So we celebrated Christmas a little early together. The kids’ heads have been spinning. Remote control cars! Snow White costumes! Art supplies! And a Batman three wheeler that Otto cannot seem to remove himself from. He sat in it while watching an entire movie. We’re spending the weekend relaxing together and enjoying our holiday visit. What plans does your weekend hold for your family?
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Christmas Traditions
One small tradition we started a couple of years ago that I thought maybe I’d quietly back my way out of this year is the goofy little Christmas chain. The kids already asked me about this year’s chain before December even hit the calendar. So I coordinated and googled and pinterested (see how I made two words turn into verbs even when no one should do that?) and made a list of plans to write on the paper chains for all of the days leading up to Christmas. Some days were easy to plan – like Mosely’s birthday and the arrival of Papaw and Grandma and the arrival of Oma…
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The Christmas Memories
I’ve never really been one to go overboard on Christmas decorations. It’s hard to know where to store the stuff you pack up to get out all the Christmas goods. But my momma wasn’t like me. Goodness – she loved to decorate for the holiday. All through the house, everything, every room, received a Christmas makeover. This Christmas, living in this Wildwood house, all these wooden floors and extra mantles, a grand foyer and a set of stairs, well – I think it’s tapped into a touch of the Christmas decorating gene I can only assume comes from my mother’s Norton side. What with all the free hemlock branches and…
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All She Wants For Christmas.
Despite the fact that we will only be opening stockings this Christmas weekend, the kids still love to chat about toys they like and items they would wish to acquire. On a recent car ride, the conversation in the backseat broke down a little something like this: “If you could have anything in your stocking, what would it be?” London asked. Normal responses flowed from her siblings. “A pillow pet.” “Nerds!” “Legos.” “Doll clothes.” Piper Finn didn’t offer such a speedy comeback. She sighed. She pondered. She waited until everyone was done sharing. She took a deep breath. Sounding as if she had just…
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This Season at Our House
Celebrating the Christmas season with these guys is always a good time. But this year has been especially pleasant and low-key. I think it’s because we have jumped off the traditional Christmas train entirely. And by “traditional” I am primarily talking about the exchanging and purchasing of gifts. Our tree’s base is not overflowing with presents large and small wrapped in cheerful Christmas attire. Not that there’s a problem with that if the floor surrounding your tree doesn’t look like ours. This isn’t anyone else’s story – it’s our story. We are not giving and receiving regular gifts this year. What we are doing is this: Filling the stockings with…
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the christmas chain
Every family has something like this – don’t they? You know . . . some count-down-the-days-until-Christmas-arrives sort of system. I’ve seen exquisitely decorated ones, numbered do-dads with a series of intricate doors and surprises, and even a chocolate for every day of December one. They all look good to me. But I’m pretty sure the appearance is not the point. Or at least I hope so. Because this year our family took the basic route. The classic old paper chain – one link for every day until Christmas day. (The great thing about having primarily younger children is that even old ideas are new to them. Which is why slap…
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Hello Holidays.
This weekend we finally opened our doors to the season surrounding us. (We’re a little slow like that sometimes.) We dug out the fake tree. Again. This year the result of our Fake Tree vs. Real Tree debate has nothing to do with travel plans. Instead, it has lots more to do with the logic presented by a seven year old. London somehow fell on the Fake Tree side of the argument. And she presented three very reasonable arguments for her cause. She articulately stated . . . 1. We already own a fake tree. It’s in the storage shed. It’s already free. 2. You have to water…
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Just Now . . .
It may be February – but I am just now putting up my Christmas gift. (And by “I” I actually do not mean me. Because “I” am, uh, horrible at hanging items in a secure fashion. Just ask my husband. Or don’t. Please.) As I was saying . . . the Christmas gift is just now being displayed. Because that’s how we roll. I love this shelf. Love it. It was my Christmas present from Jon. (I was lucky enough for him to draw my name in the Christmas framily exchange.) I love it because Jon made it. (And I love homemade, handcrafted. You know.) And I love it because…
