twenty ten

:::fare thee well two thousand nine:::

december flew by me. i had grand visions of blogging about all of the fun crafts and goodies we made but in reality, finding pockets of time to simply do a few of those things with my girls was hard enough. we baked, we wrapped, we sang a lot! we didn't really craft much...i did throw together my annual "recipes & tidbits" book though. here is this year's as a pdf.  i sincerely enjoy gathering and trying new recips throughout the year to put into this tiny book. i also collect little quotes and tidbits about our family that i add in. (if you want to take a peek or if you misplaced the previous years, i have posted all four on the sidebar.) this year's cover has illustrations from one of our favorite winter tales, "the mitten" by alvin tresselt.

parties, dinners, caroling, christmas play! and then christmas day arrived and it was a beautiful day and night. it was a small cozy gathering where we thanked god that we were all there together and where we sang all night around the tree with a guitar, a kazoo, a slide whistle and some maracas! good times.

we were blessed with many wonderful gifts this year as well. to my surprise, i opened a brand new sewing machine! that means i actually have to learn how to sew now. no excuses. so i am going to sign up for a beginner class downtown in nyack. very excited. santa brought me wii fit - and i must say i am very sore! a few handmade and natural gifts were instant favorites.

raggety anns

irish wool hats

fun play food - all natural, wooden and non toxic

so now that all the christmas excitement and dreaminess has faded i have to do the ultimate chore - take down the tree and the rest. booooo. not fun at all. i guess i will do it this weekend. i like to leave the tree up until january 6th which is the epiphany or as we call it in my family, "little christmas." everyone usually gets one more little gift and then it's all over.

january brings its own style - resolutions, down comforters, snowmen... 

i must admit that i do go through the winter seasonal slump every year. it's so hard for me to get movin'. so at this time i usually try to envision what it is i want for this year. i try to dig deep to see what i truly wish for. for instance, i used to just set silly fitness or diet goals that i never kept up with but i have learned over the last few years that simply visualizing a healthy, happy me helps me to eat cleaner, move more and stay conscious of my choices which is what i continually wish for. i also wish to "get clear" about my career. this is always a fuzzy thing which results in working too much and spreading myself thin. then there's the ever present dilemma of balance. so as i wrap up those ornaments and vacuum up a trillion pine needles, i will try to create a picture in my mind of what it is i want for my life. i know that sounds easy but it really isn't. to really get specific about what we want or wish for takes a little meditation. think about it...