Christmas and Winter Posts

Get Ready for Lots of Christmas Celebrating

I love Christmas enough to think about it in June... or July ... or just about anytime. Complain about Christmas starting too soon? Not me.

Every year I promise - and my husband with me, that we will start early to keep from getting caught up in the rush, but I think October is just not early enough.

So I am collecting the new Christmas lenses that I want to develop right here all in one place. No losing posts, the way I lose those early Christmas purchases.

Ever done that? Collections of Christmas cookies, Advent traditions, Christmas menus.... they will all find a home on this index, right at my fingertips. I can't stand how organized I feel right now! And it is all shared with you, my friends. How cool is that? With occasional puns, too...

My Christmas Tradition Pages - ...out on the web...

• Advent Blog
  Every year I make daily devotionals for Advent
• Loving Christmas
  My portal to the Christmas site
• Christmas in Ohio
  How we celebrate Christmas in the Heartland
• Christmas Traditions
  My original pages of a cozy Christmas celebration

Swedish candles brighten the dark nights

Småland Böna IKEA - JUBLA Chandelier candle, white (20) They are the best quality, and that makes such a difference in how they burn. "They use stearin which has a vegetable base and produces an extremely clean and slow burning candle. In addition, these are totally dripless because of the built-in drain channels that reuse and burn the stearin."

Advent Calenders - A funfamily Christmas tradition

My Christmas Table

Celebrating Advent can keep you and your family centered in what is often a melee of busy schedules.

My grandmother always sent us a beautiful German made paper Advent calendar every year. In recent years my family has had fun with a little Advent "village" with little doors that open up to reveal a secret treat. The kids take turns opening "their" door on rotating days. And they are all teens and young adults now!
 At Christmas we all become little children- or should!

Christmas Foods

Including Christmas cookies

What do you love about Christmas? 

 Food has to be near the top of our list- delectable cookies, special family traditional foods, gingerbread confections, and all that Christmas candy! I absolutely love Christmas foods. Too much! They are full of sugar and butter, and spices, they are rich and luxurious. Found within every store, on magazine pages, and on practically every media outlet. Blogs overflow with posts about them.

Don't even mention Pinterest pictures! Our dieting doesn't stand a chance.

 Advent was for fasting 

 However, did you know that Advent season, the one leading up to the Christmas feast, was one of fasting, much like Lenten season? Yes, it is true and we would gain much less weight over the month of December if we observed it that way. But I doubt if any of us will go quite that far in our Advent observances. Here are lenses on all that wonderful Christmas food. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming features. Yum!

Yes, Christmas cookies count as "food", they have fruit and nuts in them, don't they?

Gingerbread House - Need a Quick, Fun Idea?

My children and I had fun putting together a quick gingerbread house from a kit. It was a quick project and looked festive- plus we all had lots of fun! Years later (last year) I repeated the experience with my grandkids. We were messy and slapdash, but it was fun and the house turned out pretty good! There were plenty of decorative candies and icing.

Christmas Traditions

all about celebrating Christmas

All over the world, people are celebrating Christmas with their many customs and traditions. Don't you love to see what other countries do to celebrate this holiday we hold in common? I do.
  A Hungarian Christmas
 German Brides Tree
  A Swedish Christmas
  Swedish Wheat Weaving
  I Love Winter
...and part of the reason is because that is when we have the Christmas holiday. There are other reasons to love this season, as well.

 Grandma Moses was known for her many winter scene paintings. You might enjoy both her folk style and her Yankee attitude. Grandma Moses and Success, and I Love Winter

New Traditions?

King of the Ugly Sweaters Holiday Button by kat_parrella

How about Ugly Christmas Sweaters? What do you think about those and the parties surrounding them? About those sweaters, yeah...

Some fun family games, carry on the ones that we played during our gatherings around the firepit: Conversation starters