The church ladies and I enjoyed a fun afternoon making our own wreaths. The results were the one I made for our front door and the two for church. They turned out lovely!
I was really sick the day of Advent by Candlelight so I missed attending, setting my table, and having a lovely evening focused on Christ's coming. However, I managed to make it to the funeral of one of our dear members the day before. There's nothing like having the opportunity to see the results of Christ's coming in the stark reality of death and the comfort found in knowing without a doubt that our salvation is found in the life, death and resurrection of that baby we are waiting for in the season of Advent.
We had the privilege of knowing Bruce after he had experienced a health scare so extreme a few years back that they thought he wouldn't make it out alive. God had other plans for him though and extended his life here on earth by another 5 years or so. The man we knew had a new lease on life and the gift of clarity to know what was really important in light of eternity. He sat behind me in choir, he was one of my regular clients who let me cut his hair (or what was left of it!), and was a father/grandfather figure to me. I will miss him dearly and look forward to our reunion in heaven.
We celebrate Advent in our home a number of ways. I always give the kids an Advent calendar, we have our Advent wreath and nightly devotions, and the nativity manger is up but baby Jesus hasn't arrived yet! This year I splurged a little on myself and decided mama needs an Advent calendar too. So Hosanna got a Lego friends, Will and his Prep roommate each got a Kinder surprise, and I got a David's Tea calendar. Every day is a different flavour of tea. I think I might be on to something!
Yes, there should be purple and a pink candle in there. But I ran out and only had white. It's not liturgically correct and frankly, embarrassing;)
Lights have plagued me this season. Lights at church, lights at home, lights outside, other people's lights. I think it was last year I wrote about my extreme hatred for LED lights. It makes me angry. There's nothing warm and cozy about them and they hurt my eyes. So why on earth would I want them on my Christmas tree? I don't.
Last year I purchased boxes and boxes of bulb lights from Target. Wayne was confused as to why I felt I needed ten boxes of lights on our regular sized tree. But really, the only thing worse than a tree with LED lights is a tree with not enough lights. That sweet man still does what I ask even when he may not understand. Last year we had a lot burn out which doesn't bode well for the future. One strand was on the fritz. So I bought two more backup boxes. This year he even verbalized that all those lights look beautiful ... until they all went out.
There's my tree all lit up with hundreds of ornaments looking practically perfect - until I walked by and not one single bulb was working. Long story short, Wayne saved the day and fixed it without having to completely undress the tree. Thank goodness! But boy those bulbs have been trouble.
Oh! And not that I want to turn this into a commercial or anything but at Thanksgiving my Mom gave me Mrs. Meyer's Iowa Pine Hand Soap and Dishwashing liquid. It is so Christmasy and I love it! I'm so sad I can't get it in Canada but at least it should last me into Christmas. I'll be stocking up next year for sure!
I bought this three tiered basket from IKEA last February. I've only seen it that one time and I wasn't even sure I wanted it. I'm so glad I picked it up when I did! I've had a blast changing it up for the seasons. For winter it's full of hot chocolate and varieties of tea, tins of cinnamon sticks and marshmallows, and winter produce.
Hosanna and I have been practicing some violin pieces to play over Christmas and the next few Sundays. I love playing with my kids! She's been plowing through her Grade 6 studies and is looking forward to a well deserved break!
Will's last day of school is today! Tis the season where I chew my nails and pray to God (literally) that he makes it home without too much trouble. Between weather and the craziness of the travel season, it's always a sigh of relief when he arrives safely home. I also include in my prayers all the kids travelling home for Christmas. I used to be one of them! I can't wait for Will to get home so I can cut his hair the way I want to hug him to pieces!!
Also on the Will front, it's official that he's been accepted to Martin Luther College! He plans on pursuing the Bachelor of Arts pre-seminary degree. We are excited to see what plans the Lord has in store for him.
What's really crazy is that the last time we were on MLC's campus, Wayne graduated. So that was spring of 1998. We were married that summer. Little did we ever dream that 20 years later, our son would start in the fall of 2018!
On the baking front, there are the yearly treats that all hell would break loose if I didn't make them. That includes wreath cookies and Carmel corn which are both Grandma Nork's recipes. This year I added a crockpot Christmas Crack that sounds horrible (why name a treat after additive drugs?) but the point is that it's addicting. I get it. I also made Nanaimo Balls inspired by the popular and in my opinion one of the yummiest Canadian delicacies - Nanaimo Bars.
Tonight it's off to Costco for one more pre-Christmas trip. There's a few more gifts to be wrapped. I need some rum. Yes, need. (How else am I going to make Rum Cake and drink eggnog?). I also need to figure what I'm doing for Jesus' birthday cake.
A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
