Going Under.

Hi friends,

It is time for me to step back from some things and step towards others. I will be back come New Years with lots to share.

Merry Christmas to you and yours! Soak it all up.

If you need me, give me a call or pop me an email. I'd love to hear how you are celebrating. See you in 2011 - new things await.






"O come to us, abide with us, our Lord - Emmanuel."

**

I've had this hymn in my head for awhile. As much as I'm not a fan of the superfluous verses (google it, oh you'll find them), some of the verses are quite fitting for this season. I took the liberty to change a word or two (in the 3rd verse - from 'race' to 'world'). I love the chant-like nature of the melody and how each verse concludes with a declarative voice of gratitude.

For The Beauty of the Earth


For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thyself, best gift divine,
To our world so freely given,
For the great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.


Hallelujah!

Christmas Coldplay

I know not everyone is a Coldplay fan, but the ending of this song just makes me weep.

The beginning is kind of a soppy lament over a lost love... just wait for the end, and maybe have a Kleenex handy.



"Oh Christmas lights, light up the street, light up the fireworks in me. May all your troubles soon be gone. Those Christmas lights, keep shining on."

Home-made Christmas (ideas #3 & 4)

My tree is glorious. Just, glorious!

These days, the incessant crafting has continued in the evenings once brain and go-power for other tasks cease. Or, like last night, crafting gallops off into the sunset when the giddiness of a real tree in my house grabs me by the reins.

This is my take on some ornaments that caught my eye earlier this season.


supplies:
Felt: White, Grey, and Red-$4 at Michaels
Needle and Thread
Black and White ribbon-$1 at Dollorama

For these, I really just used this picture as my guide and made up my own template for the bird cut outs. A pretty quick and pretty easy way to spend a Saturday afternoon.




The home-made garland was a must last night. The tree just had to be bedazzled.

supplies:
Wrapping paper: I used left over Ikea stuff from last year
Stapler
A long strand of bright colored wool

Cut the paper of your choice into long strips approximately 1" thick each. Fold over into triangles and cut away. Staple the folded triangle over the strand of wool about 1/2 inch apart.

I like how it turned out, but I must say, I cut out a bazillion squares.

Hey you, have you played the Sufjan Stevens Christmas video game yet? Oh boy, oh boy! Go here. It is a laugh and a decent get-away when you are one click/type away from insanity.

There is much to get done on the school-front before Christmas can bust out. There is also a Christmas recital on the horizon for my violin kiddos. My extreme love and admiration goes out to elementary school teachers and their ability to coordinate trillions of kids in Christmas pageants. How do they do it??? Seriously. Combine nerves with cabin fever with sugar with a violin with the joyful and sometimes terrifying spontaneity of children and you have my life.

Looks like, that's it for now.
In all your comings and goings, be well out there.