Thinking about Celebrating.

Seriously – it’s the end of February already!
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and planning and scheming as of late about celebrating with our family. It’s almost Ayyam-i-ha time which is a 4 day long Baha’i celebration. The great thing about being a Baha’i (ok, not the only great thing) is that we don’t have so many traditions. Sometimes this is a pain in the butt because we don’t have a way already figured out to celebrate things, but this leaves us the freedom to make the celebration what we want. I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this for a while now. I grew up in a Baha’i family and we were pretty haphazard about celebrating. We tried various things from decorating mom’s jade tree to odd stealing gift exchanges.
Now that I’m the matriarch of my own little family (haha) I’m yearning to create some great memories for my family. Here is the product of my brainstorm this year:

4 types of things we’ll do:
Decorate
Celebrate
Community
Family

goals:
anticipate
flexible
fun
creative/ thoughtful
tradition
fresh

not:
consumerism
Christmas (my pet peeve – this is not Baha’i Christmas. Plus we also celebrate Christmas with other family, so it’s a big deal for me that this is distinct from Christmas.)
fussy
difficult
burden/obligation

Ayyam-i-ha is 4 days – why not take advantage of that?
4 Things:
1. fun activity
2. gift
3. service project
4. ?

I found 4 sturdy boxes with lids to decorate - they’ll contain something special for each day – a gift, a clue for a scavenger hunt or where to find something that wouldn’t fit in the boxes, materials to do some activity etc.

So, this year our 4 things are:
1. for A. – craft materials.
2. for A. - letters stamps.
3. community party at our house. this is our service project this year.
4. family trip to a nearby provincial park.

I don’t know why but the gifts are just for the kids so far. This only seems unfair when I think about it too much. I don’t have any gifts for the baby yet because I can’t figure out what to get her – another toy? I wanted to make some new booties for her but I ran out of time.

1 spoon and 1 plate and 1 cup and 1 fork

Kids are so funny with their Christmas requests. Last year A. wanted a dollhouse, and she got it. But the ponies don’t fit on the furniture so this year she is asking for a doll for the dollhouse. Just one. I think she thinks she is more likely to get it if she only asks for one. And she wants 1 spoon and 1 plate and 1 cup and 1 fork. I told her that I had looked in the stores and couldn’t find any of those so she might not get it for Christmas. She told me that was ok, she wanted Santa to get it for her.
Well, I found it today – whole miniature placesettings, and yes, I splurged and got a whole set for 4. (They came in the box together.) There is even a turkey and a cheese tray and a miniature jellyroll. Then I spied the toilet and my heart skipped a beat – a Toilet! I’m not sure who designed the original dollhouse, but they forgot the toilet. It was missed immediately. This is a big deal. Where are the dolls supposed to go to the bathroom? There were three lamps and a wardrobe and even a footstool, but no toilet. Hmmm…..anyone who’s spent any time at all with preschoolers knows that toilets are very important.

Oh, I know all this miniature stuff is bound to be lost in a day or two, and I’m hoping none of it gets ingested by baby sister, but now the dollhouse will be complete – after I finish all the dolls, that is! I’ve come upon a stumbling block with the dolls – teeny tiny clothes are very hard to make. You basically have to sew them on. So I am getting creative and everyone’s wearing wool sweaters and tights. At least the hair is going well except that I don’t have any brown yarn so everyone either has blond, orange or white hair (I’m skipping green). Works for me, my kids have bits of white anyway, so I’m hoping to pretend I meant it that way. They’re an eclectic crew, and I promise to take (and post) a picture when they’re all done - probably Christmas Eve knowing me (pressure-prompted, anyone?).

Now I just have to figure out how to make a princess dress with yarn and embroidery floss. Wish me luck.

Oh, I wish I had time to blog all the stuff I am thinking of!

Christmas is coming and I have, once again, committed to making too many gifts. I just can't stand buying something ho hum when I can make something I'm really happy about giving. Nothing this year is as complicated as the birdhouses we constructed last year. I did learn from that. Of course, I don't think an unplanned birth will mess up the production schedule as it did last year (Can you believe it's almost been a whole year?!). I hope everyone likes what they're getting. Nothing is very big and it's all a little quirky and full of heart. I tried to stick to stuff I know how to do like painting and stuff that doesn't need to be perfect - like ugly dolls.

Also related to Christmas I wanted to post about lessons we're learning about advertising and buying stuff. Being 4 makes one so much more aware of the world. I'll blog about this later. Because it's ongoing and completely appropriate for the upcoming holidays.

Also on the list to blog about:
toothy babies that I miss so much,
a wonderful nanny,
(pink and sparkly) good times shopping with a preschooler,
other blogs I read whose lives I want to copy,
bento goodness,
and a rant asking people to stop asking if I'm glad to be back at work


And since no one in real life seems to be discussing it, what the heck is going on with Canadian politics?? I picked a fine year to start voting, let me tell ya. I can't stand politics at the best of times, and now they're talking about a Frankenstein-type coalition coup. I've heard pretty big rhetoric from both sides and am worried about our politics degenerating to one big squabbling match and power grab. That's certainly not what I voted for. I don't think that's what anybody voted for.

Sock Monkeys!

These seem to be all the rage right now!

I found some fantastic instructions here for making your own sock monkey. Now I just have to find someone to give one to! My sister made a sock dog once and it was absolutely adorable. Eventually the ribbon fell off his neck, but he's still the cutest, and gets played with all the time.

I like all this diy stuff for gifts, but I wonder if anyone else appreciates it. I am planning on making a significant amount of christmas presents this year, and hope that I'm not wasting my time. If someone'd rather get a walmart gift certificate then maybe that's a more thoughtful gift.