And just like that...

… Christmas has come and gone, yet again.  I must say, December was a crazy whirlwind, start to finish. I have one more rather epic post for you, and then the Friday posts will be *slightly* less jam-packed.  This is especially true for next week, as I won't even be here to document most of it - tomorrow I'm heading Halifax for a new Year's Eve wedding!

But first, let me wrap up the work of the solstice fairies, and give you at least a little glimpse of our Christmas festivities.

December 20: (Friday)(Solstice Eve):
Today we found our tree!  We went to a big garden centre near Mashpee, called Mahoney's.  They not only had lots of trees to choose from (from little $15 ones to really big, beautiful $70 ones), thy also rather inexplicably had some goats, sheep and a llama to look at.  We let Juniper choose the tree all by herself, and she found the perfect little Charlie Brown tree that was the right price, and the right size for our little house.  Since we were already near Mashpee, we then decided to go to a lovely little Thai restaurant for lunch, and then after naps, we decorated the tree.  All in all, a very busy solstice eve!

Surveying the trees

Juniper was head decorator this year...

… but Linden also had his first go at hanging ornaments

We also got the stockings out, which Linden decided should literally be worn on his feet. They were such a hit, they didn't actually get hung until Christmas Eve!

December 21 (Saturday) (Solstice!):
Naturally, today was a big day. The fairies left a note explaining that this was the last day they would be coming, as they needed to go home for a rest, but that Clark and I would fill in the last three days before Christmas.  They also left a solstice book, and suggested one last activity: making and constructing the gingerbread house.

The solstice book

Rolling the dough and cutting the template

Santa came to the Woods Hole Aquarium today, so of course we had to go.  This is the first time we've taken a "on Santa's lap" shot...

December 22 (Sunday):

As it was now up to Clark and I to fill the rest of the Calendar.  We started with the obvious - the final step in the gingerbread house: decorating it!  This is, of course, the best part of the whole process, and I must say it turned out beautifully. I think my favourite part was Juniper's suggestion to use little graham bears to decorate the yard - they were the perfect size, and made the whole thing come alive.

Hard at work.  Notice the icing on Linden's face? He somehow got icing on his hands every time he put a candy on, and therefore had to lick it off every. single. time.

The finished product!

Close-up: log pile, tree, bears playing ball and ice skating

Welcome!  Come on in through our fabulous gate in the fence!

December 23 (Monday):

Today we did something that the fairies had been meaning to try and get their act together to suggest weeks ago, but Clark and I finally organized ourselves.  The activity of the day was to go somewhere of Juniper's choice, to buy some food and a toys for those who didn't have much this Christmas.  Rather than choosing a local grocery store, Juniper decided we needed to go all the way to Hyanis, and shop at Trader Joe's.  So the activity became more of an adventure than we anticipated, but I'm glad we did it.  We let Juniper do the shopping, and the only difficult part was her coming to grips with why she couldn't also get the tea set that she had picked out.  But really, she was very good about it.

The local food bank was actually closed when we went to drop everything off, but we at least found a toy drop for the tea set.

 December 24 (Tuesday) (Christmas Eve!):
Holy moly.  The big finale. This was one jam-packed day. We left one more book: The Polar Express.  This was a big hit, and got read multiple times throughout the day.  Also, upon Juniper's request, we went on a lovely hike through Bebee woods, with the express purpose of trying to find fairies.  Let me tell you, hiking is a whole different experience when you are specifically on the lookout for all things fairy. We found loads of fairy holes in the trees, and there was much speculation on the uses of various forest items: acorn lids were fairy hats, old man's beard was bedding, leaves had multiple purposes (including boats to cross ponds), fallen logs were dance halls… truly, it was a magical experience.  We didn't actually find any fairies, but i think we'll make it a regular adventure. THEN, after naps, we had to make and decorate gingerbread cookies for Santa.

Reading the Polar Express

Juniper examining a particularly great fairy hole.

"Sally" and "Cookie",  making dough and icing (it's not enough just to bake, we also need to assume different characters, and play "restaurant" while we cook)

Decorating cookies for Santa

Family shot by the Christmas tree!

The kids also opened their one Christmas Eve traditional present - always new PJ's. This year I was ambitious, and decided to make them. There were some mis-steps I was using a vaguely-worded pattern that called for things I had ever done before, like piping and a fancy collar), but I was actually super duper pleased with the results.

Juniper opening her pj's...

… and Linden opening his…

...And Juniper modelling hers right away.  There were also matching pants, but it was the nightie I was so proud of.  Juniper actually said, completely unpromted, "oh, mom - thank you for the lovely pyjamas. They are extra special because you made them".  i'm not even kidding. 

The Christmas Tree and the stockings and all the presents before the craziness of Christmas morning

December 25 (Wednesday) (CHRISTMAS!)

Whoa. Christmas.  What can I say?  It was an emotional day. No one slept much the night before (due to a combo of colds and excitement), and there were a lot of extreme moods - SO HAPPY AND EXCITED!  HOLY CRAP TANTRUMS!  (At one point, Juniper wiped away some tears and said "Sorry.  I was just kidding.  I'm going to improve my attitude now"). But we made it through, and it was mostly pretty fun.  I had worked very hard in the weeks leading up to Christmas to construct a whole lot of wrapping bags… I decided that instead of buying wrapping paper every year, we would start a tradition wherein we wrap our presents in holiday bags.  This will save time, money and resources as the years go by, but it was  WHOLE lot of work this first time around.  I personally think they are lovely to look at as well.

Presents wrapped in bags

Special Christmas breakfast

Clark's gift from Juniper - she chose it out, and actually kept it secret until Christmas morning.  She was SO excited to give it to him.

Juniper got this crayon apron from her grandma and grandpa.  She used it to play "waitress" all morning. 'What would you like today?"

Santa left a Checkers/Chess/Backgammon game for the family.  This is Clark teaching Juniper to play checkers.  She loves it.

Linden works on his "computer".  This is actually the box for his tool kit, but it quickly transformed.

And there you have it, folks!  Happy Solstice!  Merry Christmas!  And an almost happy new year!  I will keep my now faithful Friday posts, but they won't be nearly as comprehensive, I warrant.  But please do keep checking back.  I love to know that people are reading and enjoying this as much as I am.  I do have video footage from Christmas, and if I get my act together, I may post that next week.  Stay tuned! Hey… because I'm going to be gone for most of the week, I may try to convince Clark to do a guest post.  We'll see.  I'm sure he'll have his hands full without me.  I'll leave you with a picture from this morning - Linden after Juniper got her hands on him.  See you next week!

In a fancy dress, and covered in Christmas band-aids.