I'm Blaming it on the Advent Calendar Incident

It's December 18th....

• I haven't unwrapped a single stick of butter (and I bought pounds in anticipation of the usual one zillion holiday cookies we usually bake and share with friends) to make a single holiday cookie.
• I haven't addressed a single holiday card.
• I haven't wrapped a gift. After all, how could I? I don't have them yet.
• I haven't made a single gift and usually I pride myself on making at least some of the gifts we give.
• I/we haven't decorated our house one bit. 
• I haven't organized a single social event for the season.

I've actually been rather sad about this. It's not that I get caught up in the commercial side of Christmas, but it's that I love the traditions I've helped our family create. Decorating our pretty old house - inside and out. Baking up a storm to share with others. Sharing love through photos and news in the mail. Handmade wonderfulness. Pretty packages with surprises.

But, there's a whole lot working against me this year. I'm going to try to blame it on the advent calendar incident. Truth is, we just are exhausted. And busy. A new job. Work travel. A play with a heavy rehearsal and performance schedule. And a ridiculous amount of sickness in our little family.

Given all of this (and an attempt to not beat myself up), I'm trying really hard to focus on what's really important this season. And, it turns out that my 7 year old is helping me keep focused.

The other day amidst a fever and strep throat and packing for a business trip, I told her that I was feeling sad that we hadn't done our usual things...our usual baking, crafting and decorating, etc. She listened really carefully to me and then looked at me and said, "Mom, really all we need is a tree, and we have one."

What do I want for Christmas? I already got it. She is a gift.

The Advent Calendar Incident

Every year I give great thought to advent "calendars" for my family. (I blame it on my mother. She always gave us advent calendars of some sort.)

One year it was a small tree with little ornaments to open and hang each day (my Nana assembled one like this for me when I was little).

One year it was 25 mini galvanized buckets each with a treasure, treat or note.

One year it was a candle that you burn down a little every day until Christmas.

This year my seven year old asked if we could do something different--"like one of those paper ones other people get, sometimes with chocolate in them" (I think she recalled the one her Dad gave her a recent year after returning from Germany--and it was filled with delicious German chocolate.).


I was a little sad. A little disappointed. And, well, frankly a lot relieved. You see, this is an exceptionally busy holiday season given the fact that I've started a new job that involves more hours and travel. One of those pre-made paper ones -- sure!

I left the calendars for the girls to open on the 1st after school. They were waiting for them with their sitter.

When I got home, my 7 year old said with a bit of nastiness in her voice, "Mom, I opened up all the doors."

I stood in shock.

I expected that of the 2 year old, but was shocked that my older, more mature, more patient daughter would do that. I tried really hard to just let it go. Or, maybe I should say I'm still trying (after all I've just written about it on the 15th day of December...), to let it go.

I think this will, however, be the last year of paper advent calendars -- it clearly didn't work for us.

Dreaming of a Snow Globe Christmas (Thanks Sundance)

{Photo via Sundance}

If you've followed me for a while now, you know that last year we had some snowglobe magic

{Photo via MainelyHome December 2010}

and some snowglobe tragedy.

{Photo via MainelyHome December 2010}

I like to focus on the magic -- and, when you can combine that with my MasonJarLove, well, it's super magical.

And, Sundance has done just that.

Mason-Jar-Snow-Globe-Magic.

Sigh.

December: A Planner

December is one of my favorite months. Especially in Maine. Maine is just SO Christmas-y. Even my husband, a die-hard western mountains guy, will agree. Even though we're always trying to simplify and scale back, our December is busy. Really busy. Here are just some of the things we have planned:

• Cutting winterberry so I can make wreaths, fill baskets, etc. My husband hates this tradition as it involves making him trudge (usually when he's not prepared) into marshy areas to snip many, many branches. For extra fun, I make him hold the winterberry as I make wreaths.
• Heading to Wolfe's Neck Farm for their annual Night Tree Event. It's a wonderful event that includes hanging out in a barn listening to a reading of Eve Bunting's Night Tree, making animal-friendly ornaments and then taking a short hike into the woods to hang the ornaments and enjoy cocoa and cookies around a bonfire. Good old fashioned fun, if you ask me. Last year I missed this event - a real favorite - and, instead, we organized one of our own. It was a dreamy evening in the snowy woods, decorating ornaments for the animals, standing around a fire eating nuts, date rolls and homemade bread.
• Cutting our own Christmas tree. If you have never cut your own, try it. It's a great tradition. This site will help you find Christmas Tree Farms in Maine (and I'm certain other states offer similar resources) if you don't have your patch of evergreens to peruse.
• Christmas Carolling on The Bath Trolley. Yup. It's true, in this little town of ours, you can go carolling on the trolley (our public transportation). Every Friday night between now and Christmas.
• Planting Paperwhite and Amarylis bulbs so I'll have something to enjoy come January. How-to in days to come!
• Shopping. I don't have a huge list because we have scaled back giving -- and sought out alternatives to gift giving - in recent years. But, still there is shopping to be done. I hope to include an Old Port Portland shopping trip in the mix -- and maybe even use my daughters as an excuse to ride the horse drawn carriages around the holiday lit streets.
• Decorating. Greens. Winterberry. Candles. Cranberries. Simple and festive.
• Riding the Candy Cane Train. A benefit for Tri-County Literacy, this train ride from Bath to Wiscasset is about as charming as can be. Carolers. Santa. Storytelling. Hot cocoa and cookies. And, a view to boot. 
• Making cinnamon ornaments with my girls. How-to will follow in the days to come.
• Sing! One of our favorite events in Bath, Sing! is a free community sing at the Chocolate Church for Performing Arts.
• Baking cookies. Oh, how I'd hoped (could I still pull it off?) to host a cookie exchange with girlfriends.
• Addressing holiday cards.
• Celebrating the Solistice. Not sure how yet. But, I'm thinking of creating a new tradition for my family.
• Making cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. I love the King Arthur Flour dough mix. And, it is super cute to make it one of their paper forms.
• Creating simple Christmas magic.
• Spending lots of time with friends and family.
• Drinking prosecco with pomagranate seeds and juice. That was oddly (?) placed after spending time with friends and family.

What do you have planned!?!

Signs of Christmas Maine Style

This time of year in Maine (am I being narrow minded here -- does this tradition happen elsewhere?) one finds evergreen wreaths placed in many unexpected places. And, I'm so glad. It is such a wonderful thing to be caught off-guard by an unexpected evergreen wreath--it instills an instant sense of joy and wonder. Truly.

Today, I saw this one and just had to share. Now, this is "so Maine".

By now, many (but certainly not all!) lobstermen and women have pulled their boats (and traps) out of the harbors until warmer days when flocks of tourists come back to this great state. It's a familiar scene to see boats jacked up, resting. Peaceful, yet a tad bit sad. Well, not the Westside (the name of this lobster boat) -- she looks mighty cheery and in-season.

Keep me posted on evergreen wreaths you find in mysterious locations.

December- John Updike's Take

In keeping with tradition here at Maine-ly Home, here is John Updike's poem "December". If you haven't already purchased a copy of this book, I highly recommend A Child's Calendar. The book is filled with lovely illustrations and a John Updike Poem for every month of the year.


December

First snow! The flakes,
So few, so light,
Remake the world
In solid white.

All bundled up,
We feel as if
We were fat penguins,
Warm and stiff.

The toy-packed shops
Half split their sides,
And Mother brings home
Things she hides.

Old carols peal.
The dusk is dense.
There is a mood
Of sweet suspense.

The shepherds wait,
The kings, the tree--
All wait for something
Yet to be,

Some miracle.
And then it's here,
Wrapped up in hope--
Another year!

So Behind Already

Holy smokes, it is November 30th, and I've just returned from a long vacation with my family. That's the good news - vacation with my family.

The bad news? It's November 30th and that means tomorrow is December 1st which means things are about to get really busy. It also means it's time to dazzle my family with the latest advent calendar inspiration. Every year it's a bit different.

Last year, I numbered little galvanized pails and hung them on a clothesline filled with little trinkets and messages. Kind of like this one from Garnet Hill which is SO on sale, I just ordered one. Just because. I know, that seems silly, since I have one already. Shoot. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. Oh well.

Via Here

One of my traditions is to have more than one advent "calendar". I know, it is wrong. It's like having multiple planning calendars. But, I can't help it. My love for advent calendars is genetic -- just ask LoveVermont. (And, while you are there, check out the amazing advent finds she has spotted!).

This year I'm resorting to my old standby (which is still going to require some work between now and the morning)--a little Christmas tree with tiny decorations to add each day. It is super nostalgic for me, as my Nana made one of these for us when we were kids). In year's past I've wrapped tiny little boxes and put little miniature gift tags on each. This year, since I'm out of time, I'm going to use this cute little advent wagon I picked up a few years back (I told you, advent calendars are an obsession) to hold a little ornament for the day. I'll try to post a photo tomorrow.

And, as our second advent calendar, we'll be using the German one my husband picked up on a recent business trip there. It's filled with chocolate. Good chocolate.

Now, my big worry is little Baby R. The rascal, as she is so fondly nicknamed. Neither of these are appropriate for her -- and, yet she will surely want to join in the counting fun. Hmmm. Can I come up with something before dawn?

Do you count the days til Christmas with an advent calendar? What's your tradition?