Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without...

sick on Christmas Eve

1. My dad arriving and then the very next day, one or both of my children getting sick. This year Tea got a nasty case of the stomach flu (maybe rotavirus?). Then Jevon got it the next day.

2. Another round of the Butter Festival food (a.k.a. traditional Thanksgiving style turkey dinner). I can't complain--it did taste good.

3. Tea getting upset about what Santa didn't do. WHAT? This was a new one. Tea told me she wanted purple stars, a panda, and a basket of pacifiers. Santa brought wooden cookie sheets with purple stars and red hearts wooden cookies, a sweet little panda bear with the pacifiers stuck on his hands. Apparently, she wanted purple glowing stars for the ceiling, a panda with a baby attached, and a the basket with the pacifiers. After she saw her presents, I took her potty and she started crying about how Santa messed up. Luckily, she recovered quickly. "Maybe the panda is pregnant," she said. Problem solved.

4. Cookies, and lots of them. And we have to make Papa Larry's favorite kind: snickerdoodles. I think he pretty much ate all of them. The rest of us got one or two!

5. Driving around looking at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve (a tradition since I was little). This year we saw the Magic Tree again. It was wonderful to see how many people were there--that made it even more magical. My dad absolutely loved it.

6. Pictures of me in my pajamas. I think that's just an all the time thing, though. Really, I don't wear pajamas all day (my kids sometimes do), but that's the only time Jevon takes a picture of me. Luckily, he bought me some really nice cream flannel pj's, an organic cotton bathroom, and some wool mule slippers, so at least if I'm caught on camera, my outfit will be better. I was wearing some ratty old pj's and slippers for way too long. And, I bought myself a remote for my camera so I can take pictures of myself at other times of the day when I don't look like you-know-what...

7. Peace that comes after the anticipation of presents. And all of that playing that comes from the joy of new things (and they were nice things and there weren't too many--mostly wooden and handmade).

8. Kai asking for a plastic thing from Santa. He must do that just because he knows I hate plastic (just kidding). This year Santa found the dart shooter at Mommy's favorite store on Christmas Eve--Wal Mart... Lovely. Made in China, purchased at Wal-Mart. Can't win them all...

9. Christmas present opening that lasts for hours, instead of being a flurry of present opening. And speaking of presents, leave it to mommy to forget to buy gifts for the kids from us because I was so busy "writing to Santa" about the kids' gifts and helping my dad shop, and buying gifts with the money from grandparents, and great-grandparents. I gave each child some of the pottery I made this semester, and we are doing the 12 days of Christmas and giving some nice homemade gifts every few days (most of them made by my friend Chris).

10. My dad and Jevon making some grand wooden piece of furniture for the kids. Last year, it was a beautiful pine train/craft table. This year, a gorgeous wooden kitchen for Tea!

Happy Holidays!

35 Candles

Slept in.
Finnish pancake with hot raspberries, peaches, and blackberries for breakfast.
A lovely scrapbook and poem from my mom, along with warm socks and a lavender colored crystal to hang in the window.
Birthday phonecalls from Mom and Grandma.
Played outside in the snow.
Took beautiful pictures.
Ate lunch at Uprise--my favorite.
Divine chocolate cupcake with cream cheese for dessert.
Took the family home.
Tea asked to hear the "old man sitting by the sewing machine song"
translated "old man sitting by the SODA machine.' Sooo cute!
Drove downtown in the rain
by myself!
No money for a meter
but found one with time on it.
Shopped at Peace Nook for a book.
Settled on Wendell Barry's The Art of Commonplace.
Back to the van--distracted by iced over fountain in front of bank.
Grabbed camera and head back for some shots.
Message on cell phone from my sister!
What a surprise.
Headed home to more surprises.
Opened the door to the smells of
roasting chicken,
au gratin potatoes,
and chocolate cake.
A bouquet of deep red roses and red peruvian lilies
on the table from ?????
Jevon wished he had thought of that!
Lovely, lovely card from Kai and Tea.
Jevon ordered my dream camera lens for me
because what he ordered hadn't shown up.
Love that.
Ate the wonderful dinner
and the scrumptious cake.
Tea dressed up as a pirate angel.
Just moments earlier they had been
playing "Heaven and Angels" by themselves
downstairs.
Felt like I was in heaven.

More pictures here.

Playing with light

During this dark time of year, it's fun to play with light--Christmas lights, candles, crystals, and even little sequins in the sun. I created these photos in one of those experimental moments, as I tried to recreate some images from my dreams. I was very sick early this week and was hallucinating all of these lovely photographic images.

Power of a movie

So much to say and I'm so behind on posting. Jevon and I saw Synechdoche, New York on Saturday. Such an amazing movie, even for the second viewing. I came home and created this photo as a response to it. I wanted to find some way to express how this movie really moved me.

Emma's Merry Christmas

The kids broke out into the sweetest little song tonight after dinner. They called their song "Emma's Merry Christmas," named after Kai's little pink beanie baby bear.
Here you go! Enjoy!! (Oh yeah, maybe I should have combed Tea's hair! Oops!!)

The Accidental Photographer

I really don't have much of a clue what I'm doing with my camera. I just put it in "P" mode, focus, and snap some photos. A lot of them don't turn out and some of them do. Some are interesting mistakes that I like but others might not like them. Regardless, I am having fun.

This is such a great time of year. I love the lights everywhere, and especially love my kids' reactions. More importantly, this is a time to reconnect with family and friends. I have recently found many of my old classmates on Facebook and it is so neat to see how their lives turned out. Jevon is completely annoyed with all of my time on there, but he went to a big school and didn't know everybody so well. Many of us in Spearfish High School Class of '92 started out in first grade together. And I must say I went to school with a really nice group of people. It's so good to see them all again.

And, now back to Christmas magic. Enjoy my accidental photos. Many were taken while driving slowly past the lights. We drove by the tree in our front yard several times, much to the bewilderment of our neighbors, I'm sure! You can find more photos on my flickr page...