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Holiday time to me is family time. I grew up enjoying our advent Sundays together with songs, cookies and just celebrating the holidays together. It still has the same feel to me. We enjoy spending time together as a family. We get a tree, put it up and decorate it. We make a beautiful gingerbread house together and light a new candle on every Sunday until Christmas is here. We read stories and sing songs, and all that brings me to dearly miss my family back in Germany, at this time especially. (more…)
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Michael and I started talking about teaching our kids about money. It is said that it is never too early to teach them about money. So, naturally the question of an allowance came up.
A few questions arose: What is the right age to start? How much? When to start? (more…)
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Finally, the holiday break has started. Today was the last day of school. Emily had been home for two days already, because she has been sick with a head cold, including a fever. But what I gather, she has not really been missing anything. Anna acted like a zombie this afternoon after watching TV all day. (more…)
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Christmas, classical conditioning, Emily, Pavlov, Saint Nicholas, Santa Clause, Watson
Last night, almost asleep Emily tells me: “Mom, you have to remember not to make a fire in the fireplace on Christmas eve!!!”
me: “Why?”
Emily: “Because Santa would get hurt. He would burn himself or maybe even be burnt. Then he could not bring presents.”
I know, what an observation … Thanksgiving has come and gone, and tomorrow is December 1st. Traditionally, Christmas time starts the day after Thanksgiving with Black Friday, the major shopping day of the year. Well, right after Halloween was over Christmas merchandise was appearing on the special item shelves in all the stores already. Thanksgiving just does not bring in enough cash. I know times are tough and stores are just trying to make as much money for as long as they can with Christmas being the most lucrative season for retail.
So, the week before Thanksgiving I baked a Stollen – a German Christmas bread with candied orange rind, lemon rind, almonds, raisins, you get the drift and packed it away for today. Today is the 1st advent. In Germany the tradition is to have an advent wreath at home also, not just in church. We have four candles and four Sundays before Christmas, we light the first candle to start the Christmas season. Every following Sunday, we light an additional candle. Christmas comes after the forth candle is lit.
The weather is yucky – rainy and cold, freezing most nights – so that it is perfect Christmas season weather. In years past, it has been warm, T-Shirt and long pants season, when it feels odd to have hot cocoa, stollen, mulled wine and the Christmas scents all around.
We baked the first cookies today together – Ginger Cookies, which we all love. There are lots more to come in the next few weeks!
Christmas music, Stollen, advent candles, the kids all wrapped up in the coming of Christmas, all cozy in the house, cookie baking, and …
I am just not feeling it!!! … yet …
I guess, we have been too busy lately, everything is getting too scheduled. We will get a tree on Tuesday, decorate it on Thursday and have Christmas galore next weekend with the Christmas market and making Ginger bread houses with friends here. Do you see what I mean? I am glad Anna and Emily have less going on during the week now, but our weekends are still wreaking havoc.
We are sure to celebrate this great season with family and friends dear to us making it the most wonderful season of the year …
