Christmas Ornament Tradition

My mom started a post Thanksgiving tradition a long, long, long time ago.  After all of the dishes are done and put away and Thanksgiving Day has turned into Thanksgiving Evening, my mom takes out Christmas coloring books, little Christmas art projects and she gives a gift to each of us to get us into the spirit of the season.

The gifts are Christmas ornaments and they always reflect something about our personality or something with which we are interested.  This year was no exception. 

My daughter received a saxophone.  She plays the saxophone for 5th grade band and loves it!

My middle son received Elmo on a snowboard.  Saying he's big into snowboarding is an understatement!

My oldest son received a camera.  He's turning into a fabulous photographer!

My husband received a mini tool box.  He is the best handyman I know!

I received a reindeer painted by my mom's good friend Daneen.  My mom knows how much I love handmade gifts - especially when they come from someone I know!

To keep the ornaments safe year after year, I use apple boxes as storage.  I labeled each one with their names.

 And then keep all of their ornaments in their respective boxes.

This is a tradition that started when my sister and I were little and has continued now that we each have children.  Some day when my children leave home, they will be able to take their boxes of ornaments with them and decorate Christmas trees in their own homes.

"Christmas...is not an external event at all, but a piece of one's home that one carries in one's heart."  -Freya Stark

Remote Tree Waterer

My husband is always coming up with "improvements" on things we use around the house.  The "improvements" are usually modifications that make whatever it is better - usually.  This is one of those cases where his modifications worked out great. 

A number of years ago, I got very frustrated with watering our Christmas tree.  I got tired of crawling underneath it and getting needles stick in my hair and clothes.  I bought a watering can with a long spout but I still couldn't reach the water reservoir.  Chris came up with a new watering system for me and I have loved it since the first time I used it. 

Here are the details in making Chris' Remote Tree Waterer:

It uses a small bucket.

Drill a hole close to the bottom of the bucket and insert a brass hose barb.  Seal the barb in the bucket with silicone. 

Draw a line in the bucket as the maximum limit for the water.  This will take some trial and error to make sure the water you're putting into the bucket doesn't overflow the tree stand.

Drill a hole into the tree stand water reservoir and solder in another brass hose barb.  Use flexible tubing to fit over the barb in the water reservoir and in the bucket.

Move the bucket out from the tree.  You can make the hose as long as you want.  My husband made mine so I can water the tree without even touching one needle!  I camouflage the bucket by putting it towards the back of the tree and putting presents around it.

Kiss your brain Chris!  This is one modification I love!

"Necessity...the mother of invention."  -Plato

After Thanksgiving Puzzle

We have a special after Thanksgiving tradition that my daughter wanted me to share.  The day after Thanksgiving, we start a puzzle.  It's usually a puzzle that takes us until Christmas to finish.  Anyone can work on it and we never put it away.  It just stays out on a card table until it's done. 

It's a relaxing way to end the day - especially after taking part in the Black Friday shopping! 

"I want to make a jigsaw puzzle that's 40,000 pieces .  And when you finish it, it says 'go outside'."  -Demetri Martin

The Five Kernels of Corn

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today at each place setting, we placed 5 kernels of corn.

Before our Thanksgiving prayer and subsequent dinner, one of my sons read the story of 5 kernels of corn.  Here's the story he read:

"The story goes that once Thanksgiving became a holiday, the Pilgrims would start their meal with five kernels of corn on their plate.
These five golden kernels represented all the pilgrims had to eat for the entire day during a difficult winter.  The corn that remained was planted in the spring.
At Thanksgiving the five kernels of corn was a reminder that many had nearly starved because of lack of food.
Each pilgrim would stand up and one by one pick up each kernel of corn and share five things they were thankful for on Thanksgiving.
This tradition has been passed on from the early times.
To this day, many families place five kernels of corn on each plate to honor and remember the suffering and spirit of Thanksgiving of our Pilgrim ancestors.  They also take turns sharing five blessings for which they are grateful."

After the story, my mom said that we didn't need to go around and say five blessings but my brother in law interrupted and said, "we can each look around this table and SEE five blessings".  AMEN! 

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more.  If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."  -Oprah Winfrey

Cold Vegetable Salad

My mom and I busy getting the food prepared for our Thanksgiving dinner.  We try to do as much as we can the night before so we're not stuck in the kitchen for hours on Thanksgiving Day.  One of my favorite dishes is also one of the easiest to put together and it needs to be done the night before so that makes it even better!  We just call it Vegetable Salad.  Here is the recipe:

The ingredients are:  1 small can of peas, 1 small can of white corn, 1 can of French style beans, 1 cup finely cut celery, 1 cup carrots (grated or sliced), 1 can of 3 bean salad, 1 small jar diced pimentos and 1 green pepper (chopped).

At the last minute I also decided to add some shallots from my parents' garden.

Drain the vegetables and then put them in a large bowl.

The ingredients needed for the dressing are:  1/2 cup salad oil (I use olive oil), 3/4 cup red wine vinegar, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon celery seed.

Boil these together for one minute.

Let cool slightly then pour over vegetables.

Mix gently.

Tomorrow before I serve this salad, I will drain it little then put it in a "fancy dish" to serve!

"Food is an important part of a balanced diet."  -Fran Lebowitz

All About Yarn - My Favorite Local Yarn Shop

Yarn, knitting needles, patterns for hats, scarves, fingerless mittens, cowls, blankets, sweaters, vests, shawls.......... There is only one place I go for all of these things and that place is All About Yarn.

It's located at 455 99th Avenue NW, Suite 180, Coon Rapids, MN (in the strip mall at the corner of 99th and Foley Boulevard).  The link to their website is www.allaboutyarn.biz.  This is also the place I like to go for fellowship with other women who like to read, who are fabulous cooks, who are politically active, who are doting grandmas, who are loyal friends - on yeah - and who love to knit.

I knit at the shop every Tuesday from 11am to 1pm.  It's called a "Pick A Project Class".  Everyone in the class is knitting something different and shop staff is on hand to answer any questions, rip out and help correct mistakes.  I've been knitting in this group for about five years.  We've laughed, cried, given advice and support, watched one in our group succumb to cancer, cheered each other on and made many a knitted project in the process!

All About Yarn offers lots of classes for beginners to advanced - making scarves, fingerless mittens, felted flip flops, shawls, Fiddlehead mittens, socks - just to name a few.  They also offer specialty classes like knitting with beads, wet felting, dying silk scarves - many more fun classes.

Here's a look inside to this fabulous local yarn shop.

It's my daughter's favorite place too.  She's been to a few "Pick A Project" Tuesday morning classes with me.  She adores the women in my group too!  She has knit American Girl Doll dresses, scarves, bags and doll blankets.  (The yarn on the left is for a patterned scarf she is starting and the one on the left will be a lacy scarf for a friend.)  I love that it's something we can do together!

The next time you're in the Coon Rapids, MN area, stop in.  Roxanne and her staff are fabulous!  The only drawback.......so many projects and yarn to choose from; it's hard to choose just one!

"I make a habit of setting aside some time each evening to take out my knitting and work quietly on it happily relaxing.  I believe that it prepares me for sleep and washes away the cares of my day."  -Stephanie Pearl McPhee

Photo Gift Idea

If you're looking for a unique and personal gift this holiday season, here's one that might be fun to put together.  Find pictures of yourself, your spouse, your parents, your spouses' parents, great grandparents...... as a child and put them together with a similar pose that you've taken of your children or grandchildren.  For instance, the top picture in this frame is of my children building a snowman.  The bottom left is me as a child with my snowman and the one on the right is of my husband with his snowman.

I'm hoping to find a frame for these two pictures.  The one on the left is my husband as a little boy with a sunflower he grew.  The one on the right is of my oldest son from quite a few years ago with a sunflower he grew. 

My children are always looking for a connection from their childhood to our childhood.  These photographs are a visual reminder that we were once children too!

"How many times do I have to repeat this:  my childhood was fantastic."  -Vanessa Paradis