Still it lingers

Christmas came and went quickly. Three days of family fun and feasting interwoven with the golden thread of faith. Four of us found ourselves at FGT for their Christmas morning service. Jenn visited her friend Brad's cantata down the road on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve our immediate family of seven enjoyed an English Christmas dinner replete with turkey and Christmas pudding. Late in the evening we opened gifts and then some stayed up to watch the Brothers Grimm. Christmas Day at 12:30pm we made haste to Gramma and Granpa's for a Mennonite Christmas meal of ham, coteletten, plumi moos, zweiback, potato salad with extended family, seventeen of us this year. We managed to somewhat dent the pile of over 1,000 Christmas cookies gramma made this year while enjoying gramma's favorite movie "It Happens Every Spring." Boxing Day our immediate family went shopping for bargains, found lots, went out to dinner at Kelsey's and then to see Narnia. Tuesday we recuperated from the previous three days! On Wednesday, Paul and I drove Jenn all the way to Toronto to catch her flight to Vancouver. She said she had the best Christmas ever. We miss her already. Graduation can't come soon enough. Jo and Jordan are still here for a few more days. Sadly all the snow has melted except for a remnant where Jenn's snow sofa and snowman were built.

Family fun and glitches

The house is now full. Late Wednesday night Jo arrived, followed by my brother on Thursday. The best part about Christmas is not the gifts but all the time spent visiting, playing games and sometimes playing music together. The piano is getting a good workout. Glitches do happen...late last night we awoke to the insistent ringing of the door bell at 2:45 a.m.! Jo came home from work to find herself locked out--someone else thought they were the last one in. Car time is at a premium as everyone wants to visit friends and shop, and some are working shifts at the local feeding troughs....pizza places. Time to run...off in pursuit of the perfect eating bird. Food, fun, festivity--there is nothing like Christmastime.

Quick as a wink

Last night my music students, plus one support person per student (occasionally two!), came for our annual Christmas Snowsongs recital. Over 20 of us crowded into the music room and the fun began. First up a boys recorder trio performed. As I congratulated them on a job well done, the youngest, a six year old, beamed up at me and winked at me just before he went and sat down. It took all I could muster not to break out laughing....There is nothing like the unexpected things kids do to brighten an evening.

Snowmen!!!!!!!!!!

There is nothing like a sudden foot of snow before Christmas to create snowmen. All over the neighbourhood and along the highway they sprang like mushrooms after the snowstorm...Mohawk Manny is one of my favourites. One can tell the size of the kids in the home by the size of the snowmen. Ours is huge, about 6 foot tall. No, I don't have any 6 foot tall kids, but Jenn's friend Paul is tall enough to build a huge snowman complete with a snow sofa for viewing the said snowman. It sure is great to have nearly everyone home for Christmas.....waiting for you Jo!

Narnian inspirations

A few weeks ago, at the beginning of November, I had the chance to visit "The Kilns" in the area of Oxford, England. This was the home of C.S. Lewis, now restored to his era. The photo shows the back of the house with the living room window on the left and dining room on the right. Out back of the house one can roam through woods, around a pond and up a hill. At the far end of the woods there is a paddock. I must admit I walked through the woods and thought of "Narnia" and wondered if Lewis had been inspired as he walked through the woods. Currently outside my house looks more like Narnia with at least 8 inches of snow. While I have not yet seen the recent "Lion, Witch and Wardrobe" movie, I fully intend to. I was captured by the book as a child and developed a fondness for turkish delight and Aslan. Eventually I read all the chronicles of Narnia. One word of warning, if you visit "The Kilns", the inspiring wardrobe is no longer there, it is in the States at Wheaton! Instead of one imagining travelling through the wardrobe, the wardrobe travelled!

A season of expectancy

Seasons of expectancy trigger joy in our lives. Hope flourishes. Many of us look forward to Christmas, not so much for the gifts (as we did when we were younger), but in terms of family reunions. As many of my children have wandered far across this land, I wait with expectancy for their return over the next two weeks. The tree is ready and the Christmas village nestles on top of the piano once again. Soon I will put up the nativity....anyone want to move camels this year? I plough through my research paper prep trying to free up as much time as I can for... Christmas...a season of fun in the middle of winter....the snow is already here. My students are busy practicing for our recital on the 20th....so much to look forward to: viewing the Narnia movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" together, Boxing Day sales, dinners together, one son recording music with his friends, my daughter's friends dropping by, Christmas Eve service, late night movies in the family room, talking, reconnecting, chatting late at night (if I can stay up!),wondering how long my youngest's goatee has grown (!), playing music together, phone calls from relatives in far off countries, lights on the snow, hugs at the door...anyone want to add to the list?! Oh, probably some will add...cookies...I think gramma has started baking. May this season be a time of joy, family reconnection and spiritual peace for all as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour. Advent is a time of expectancy.

Saskatchewan

You know you are in Saskatchewan when, it is -19C and students still ride their bikes to school!!!
It is 8:00am, I walk to school, the stars are still out and the sunrise is barely beginning.
I am told they do not change time in this province, because it is so flat!