Gibbie is our cold boy. He likes "coldness". His other favorite qualities include "softness," "coziness," and "loudness."
Man, does he love winter! He makes snow angels, and just stays on the ground, staring at the sky. He loves to throw snowballs, dress up warmly, work on shovelling, get raced around the yard in a sled, just watch the snow fall. I wonder if it's because he's a winter baby? He was early exposed to the cold. I remember that even as a newborn, he liked to be out in the fresh air.
I too love winter. I have fond memories of walking with Paul through sparkling night snow, weighing whether I ought to let myself fall farther in love; later walking hand in mittened hand together, late again because we were so wrapped up in talking. Further back, of playing outside in the deep snow until I couldn't feel my legs, that weightless feeling of lying face up in a snowbank, the squeak of my snowpants as I walked to school, and of course the gleeful anticipation of a potential cocoa-after-sledding-art-on-the-dining-room-table-filled snow day, as the white heaped higher outside the windows.
On the other hand, our little Ezra has always disliked the cold. He likes to be free from the burden of clothing and in Minnesota, in winter, especially with parents like us who keep the house on the chilly side, it's just not possible much. We've had to enact policies in our house requiring mittens, boots, sweaters, scarves, and, yes, even
pants to be worn before walking out the front door. He started pitching fits for almost the first time in his life when forced to bundle up for this new snow.
These pictures are from the first snowstorm of the year, which we watched and delighted in up in Battle Lake, Minnesota--we all watched, at least, and all of us excepting Ezra delighted in it. There was enough snow, for one day, to scrape together a hopeful little snowman. Ezra would have nothing to do with the snowman. Does he look like he's having fun on the little blue sled? Trust me, he wasn't. He tearfully didn't want to wear even a sweater. He wanted to be held, wrapped up in a blanket. Well, really, he wanted just to go back inside.
I think Ezra has had a tiny bit of winter fun since then. But it's been in spite of the cold, in spite of the snow. My theory is that he's just still so little, and sees himself as such, that a little dangerousness, a little adversity, just isn't any fun at all. I bet it will be a whole nother story next winter.
Here we are. Pat and Angela got married on December 12th, and boy was it a great time. They were married in a rural Wisconsin Bar/Polka hall. It was one of the most enjoyable weddings I've ever attended.
The initial cut.
Justin considers the first draft.
He polishes off the sharp edges.
Here's a "before and after" shot.
Finally, we get to pull shots naked!
What man's garment takes a full eight or nine yards of fabric? What requires precise and extensive hand sewing? A traditional dress kilt! What eats up more than three spools of silk buttonhole twist? Six kilts! Current kilt count: two down. Abby has one and is fully taking care of it. That leaves three to go. The wedding is on Friday. Paul made me coffee before he went to bed. I've noticed I only seem to have time to blog when I'm so busy that I'm already a bit crazy.
First, we are doing a little free pen and ink drawing with supplies from Libby's little art-on-the-go kit. (like this Chinese set, a gift or this homemade one.) This takes no planning. Even Ezra can do this.
Small amount of planning: bringing a few choice reads. Lately we've been way into Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Blueberries for Sal, and Henry and Mudge and the Forever Sea.
I truly love reading aloud, and both kids are engaging so deeply with the stories.
I love this last picture because we're all doing the same thing with our faces.
Gibbie and Ezra get out the polishing work, and lay out all the pieces.
They apply polish, rub, buff, spit, and shine, with a small arsenal of brushes and rags. They have thus far been very tidy, with no big shoe polish messes. They pack all the parts of the work neatly back up in the box and close the lid when they are done.
Gibbie has also polished boots and shoes for Mama and Papa.
Our advent wreath turned out so fun this year. All the supplies for this were thrifted or gifted. The colors of the candles are not "proper" at all; I just used what we had. The Christmas candle has little kids playing instruments on one side and ducks on the other. Of course he decided that the ducks will face out. I don't think that the colors of the Advent wreath are ancient tradition. Everyone seems to have their own idea about what each one stands for, so I make free with this tradition. For our Christmas candle, I try to find anything lovely. One year it was a rainbow, another it was covered in green sparkly swirlyques, and this year it's this little volks-art scene.
Gibbie helped me design and make the candle decorations. (they are made with soft colored wax that we cut and press onto the candles) We have a blackbird for peace, a lamb for joy, bunnies for love, and a sunrise for hope, all very personal symbols for us. I think this is the essence of liturgy; using ritual to make real to us spiritual truths that we cannot see.
Last weekend I went on a trip with my best friend Pat who is getting married a week from today. It was a "just the two of us" kind of get away before he becomes one with Angela. On the way back from his cabin we stopped at Racy D'lene's Coffee Lounge in Eau Claire. I've blogged about Racy's previously, but it's worth another mention.
As I mentioned before, the coffee quality at Racy's has been elevated in the last few years. It might be the only shop with a Synesso in western Wisconsin. We had a good time talking with Kyle, the barista pictured below. Baristas have many common experiences: the gripes and joys of the job. He humored us and poured some latte art.
Thanks Kyle.
