Welcome, December

on road trips, audiobooks, amaryllis, read-alouds, and Christmas projects

Advent 2021

We just got home on Monday from a 14-hour road trip to Tennessee to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends. I love road trips, especially on the way there. So much of the country is breathtakingly beautiful, and I had never seen it before we started doing them. On this particular drive, after a storm, the entire atmosphere glowed rosy and hazy as twilight settled with contrasting cool tones against the mossy greens of the farmland. It felt painterly, yet the colors weren’t quite cohesive enough to have been chosen for a painting. I think we will always remember how otherworldly that moment was.

Dan was working, and flew in to join us to save vacation days, so it was just the girls and me. We listened to Anne of Green Gables on Audible (read by Rachel McAdams) and I laughed out loud so many times yet was also deeply moved by the heartfelt passages. “Dear old world, you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”

On the way home, we started The Hobbit. We are listening to the one narrated by Andy Serkis and it is so well done, although I have also heard great things about the version narrated by Rob Inglis. In between chapters, we listened to Christmas music. The girls helped me memorize the intro rap in Justin Bieber’s The Little Drummer Boy. When Dan called to check on us, we answered the phone with it. He asked, “Did you make that up on the drive?” Jude and Indi said it sounded like a choir warm up. “Try to be less sing-songy,” Iris coached.

Last year, I bought an amaryllis bulb from a local nursery and was so amazed by the spectacular 8” blooms.

So this year, I purchased six bulbs as gifts for friends (and kept one for myself). They can be quite expensive, but one local nursery here sells them for around $10 each so I bought three, and then I ordered these from Eden Brothers when they were on sale for 50% off. I planted them in simple terracotta pots and added preserved moss to the top.

We are dedicating the entire month of December to all things Christmas. Last year, we did Sarah Mackenzie’s Christmas School and loved it, so we are doing it again this year. I heard Sarah talk on a podcast once about the value of picture books for all ages. She shared that middle grade biographies tend to have vocabulary and syntax meant for children in the age range they are targeted toward, but picture books are not required to follow those same guidelines. They are created for both children and the adult reader, so they often have beautiful, more complex language. One of our favorites is Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is so magical.

We are excited for our Advent read-alouds and ready for Christmas crafting, sewing, and making. Indi will be home for winter break in less than two weeks, already almost finished with her first semester of college. When I asked if she had any Christmas crafting plans, she said she wants to make cross-stitch ornaments. These are some of her ornaments from Christmases past, and I can’t wait to see what she decides to make this year.

I have a long-standing tradition of sewing Christmas nightgowns for my girls, but Maeve, our youngest, is the only one who still wears them. I haven’t officially decided which pattern to use, but I do love making them. And it brings me joy to see her wear it all year long.

When my children were small, I wanted so much to make the Advent season feel meaningful and special. We are shaping our children’s memories, the ones that live on long after their time in our homes. We can see the goodness in read-alouds, crafts, service opportunities and traditions and many truly are good. I wanted my kids to experience them all.

But these ideas came from many different families, not just one. Attempting to do too many things left us all frazzled. As much as childhood is often described as brief, it is also in some ways long, each season an opportunity to begin anew. You don’t have to do everything you dream of in a single year.

This past weekend, Jude commented on how so many things are vying for our attention, distracting us from contemplating the marvelous wonder of the incarnation. In all the busyness and even the pressure of this season, may you feel God’s love for you through this wonder, a light in the darkest hours for you and for the whole world.

With love,

Rachel