Simple Christmas: Three Gifts

This isn't something we're doing this year, but I do like the idea. I know families who do it every year, and while I don't think we will ever be that family, I would like to do this with our family ever 5 years or so...

If you're tired of the stress and expense commonly associated with the holidays, consider the idea that less can be more...
So, Jesus got three presents, right? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. So just have three presents for each family member.
Some families even take it an extra step and make the presents fit into categories:

1. Something for self--this is what most people do--something intended for the recipient alone
   
2. Something to share--games or movies for example
3. Something for Jesus (or to remind them of Jesus)--scripture books or movies, uplifting music CD, etc

I think this idea is a great way to simplify Christmas and help our kids (and ourselves) focus on the less-materialistic side of things. ☺

Santa Lucia Day

"During the cold months of winter in the far northern countries of Scandinavia, the light and warmth of the sun are felt and seen only a few hours each day, if at all. Through those cold, dark days candles glow in the village windows, reminding all that the light kindled in homes and hearts cannot be darkened. Over the centuries the source of this light has been commemorated in a beloved Christmas tradition: the procession of Santa Lucia, queen of lights.
"On the 13th of December, a young woman dressed in a white gown and wearing a crown of lingonberry twigs and blazing candles, would carry a torch from farmhouse to farmhouse. To each family she would bring baked goods and warm conversation, before returning home by break of day. Every village had it's own Lucia.
In Norway and Sweden it is still the custom on December 13th for a young girl wearing candles on her head to lead the Santa Lucia procession of lights through the village. The light and hope she brings symbolizes a greater Light: the Light of Life, whose coming we celebrate this Christmas."

~~read by Sissel (famous Norwegian singer) at the 2006 Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert (where she was the guest artist)


While some villages celebrate Santa Lucia day on a grander scale, many scandinavian families celebrate privately. The oldest daughter in the family would dress up early in the morning and bring saffron buns and coffee to the rest of the family as they awoke. I am the oldest daughter in a family of Scandinavian heritage, but I'm sorry to say we never did this tradition...I suspect it has to do with the fact that I was never the early riser of the family. ☺
Incidentally, most celebrators now use electric candles or even paper crowns (with paper candles) rather than actual flames...there were a few too many cases of girls catching their hair on fire!

Frugal Friday: Mail

At this time of year many of us are sending letters, cards, and packages. With letters at 42cents each, it's an expensive proposition! Here are a few ideas that can help you save your pennies.

Letters/Cards

• Consider sending a digital (email) Christmas letter. You can make it as long as you want, include photos, and even music or recorded voice messages!
• If you like mailing (and receiving) cards that can go on the wall, consider postcards, which are much cheaper to mail. You can have photo postcards printed, or print your own images and text on cardstock and then cut them apart.
• If you prefer to send traditional cards, choose them thoughtfully--remember that oversize cards cost extra postage.
  

Packages

• The US Postal Service is typically cheaper than FedEx or UPS
• Recycle your packaging--wrap packages in brown packing paper, black-out or cover-up prior labeling and re-use envelopes or boxes that you've received. It not only saves you money on supplies, it's good for the planet too. ☺
• Remember that you are paying by the ounce, so if you can make a lighter package, it is cheaper to mail.
  
• Use envelopes instead of boxes if you can. If you don't have one the right size, cut down a bigger one and tape it. Packing tape is your friend! One roll will pay for itself after just a few recycled packages
  
• If you need a box, try to find a lightweight one (cereal boxes can be split on the seam, turned insideout, and taped...it's a nice lightweight box and hey, you probably already had it sitting around!)
• Ship via first class if your package is under 1lb--it's much cheaper than priority, and nearly as fast.
• For heavier packages (over 1lb) send them early and use parcel post--it's MUCH cheaper than priority or express.
• If you are sending something heavy, consider the flat rate priority mail boxes (the boxes are free, and are the same price no matter how heavy they are). By the way, while flat-rate boxes are convenient, they are usually NOT cheaper than sending the same items via regular priority mail...Flat rate boxes are good for heavy things, but otherwise they are popular for the convenience, not because they are actually a good deal.
  

Saving Time
If you're concerned about waiting in lines (hey, this is being frugal with your time, right?!)

• Go to the post office in the morning on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday (Mondays, weekends, lunch breaks, and afternoons/evenings are busiest)
• Use flat rate boxes (ordered here and delivered to your home) you can buy and print off the flat rate postage here.

O Christmas Tree

Today at Internet Cafe Devotions it's the Christmas tour of homes...in other words, showing off our Christmas decorations!

Now, for starters, you really should pop over here and see this fabulous tree setup. It made me giggle, and giggles are good. ☺

So, if you missed the story about how we got our tree, you really should click over and read it. It's very exciting (and involves me being both Burly and Alaskan!)

We live in extremely rural Alaska (for a clearer understanding of what I mean by 'rural' you should read this or this). All our Christmas stuff is in boxes in my in laws garage 2000 miles away. Last year we spent Christmas with my family, so we didn't need any of our stuff...and this year it just wasn't high enough on the priority list to bring it. So we're having a very homemade Christmas! I did order a couple of strings of twinkle lights, but we've been without a mail plane for a week now, and so the lights have not arrived. So we have just our tree:

(Remember the grand question of how to stand it up without a stand? Enter big bucket with some rocks!) (The presents are in the box for now...it keeps the kiddos and the doggie out of them)

Our trees here have to survive Alaskan winters, so they are pretty sparce as far as branches go. Our tree happened to be growing right next to another one, so it's flat. I'm not joking, here is a side view:
Our tree has homemade strings of popcorn and cranberries (actually craisins); oranges sliced, sprinkled with cloves, then dehydrated in the oven (they smell SO good); and woven paper danish baskets (I made a tutorial about them here). That's it. We do have a paper advent chain next to the tree where we tear off one loop each day...but that's it for the decor this year. Keepin it simple. ☺

Even though I can't really show them to you, I do want to share about a tradition we have for ornaments (I mentioned it in my traditions post)
1--each member of the family has a personalized ornament. Those of you who know me know that I have lost three babies to miscarriage--I have an angel ornament for each of them. All our ornaments are different--mine I have had since childhood, Hubby's is a little viking, Wolf has an angel with his birthstone on it, Bear has (what else) a bear! We also have a crystal heart with "our first christmas" that we were given as a wedding gift--our wedding was a mere 5 days before Christmas, so that worked out well. ☺
2--I am slowly collecting one ornament from each country where our ancestors are from. (I have been buying one each year.) To date I have:

• a wooden version of the woven heart baskets (Denmark)
• a straw goat (Sweden or Finland)
• a viking (Norway)
• delicate curled wood-shaving stars (Germany)
• a silver thistle snowflake (Scotland) (we got this just last year, so I actually have it here, and it is serving as our 'star' on top of the tree this year) ------>

I still need Finland/Sweden (whichever one I can find, then the goat will be for the other LOL!), Poland, France, and England...

Favorite Christmas Movies

Every year there is a new holiday movie (or two or three). I enjoy these movies, but not all of them. I've been thinking this week about the ones I like, and the ones I don't, and why... I guess it would be fair to say that I'm a movie snob to some degree--I can be hard to impress (with my theatre/acting training background and all that), but really it's not about the quality of the acting so much as the quality of the message.

I LIKE

1. Scrooge (with Albert Finney). It's an awesome rendition of "A Christmas Carol" in fact, it's the first version of that story that I ever liked. I also happen to enjoy all the songs--so far as I can recall, I like every single one. That's pretty rare for me!
   
2. The Santa Clause. It's cute, it's fun, and it puts the magic in Christmas. The sequels are pretty silly, but I really like the original one.
   
3. It's a Wonderful Life. It's a little bit cheesy, but such a good message...and frankly it's become a piece of our culture's history, so you need to see it if you want to be culturally literate.
   
4. Miracle on 34th Street (the old black & white one...I've never seen the new one, so I can't say if it's any good or not) Answers some age-old questions about Kris Kringle (yes, he speaks Danish), Let's just say, "I believe!"
   
5. Dr Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the old animated one of course) How could anyone not love Boris Karloff's singing and the Dr's original art?!
6. Muppet Christmas Carol. Because Kermit Cratchet sings the coolest syncopated song ever, and it's funny when the little peons in Scrooge's office bust out a luau.
   

I DON'T LIKE
(as in, I will go to some length to avoid seeing it)

1. A Charlie Brown Christmas. This is because I don't like Charlie Brown. I think he's depressing
2. A Christmas Story. Can we just say dysfunctional family? How can this be considered a classic? Again, depressing.
3. The Grinch (Jim Carrey). Rude, crude, and just really really pathetic. I was excitedly hoping for something that would live up to the first movie...this didn't live up to anything.
   
4. White Christmas. I was really really bored
5. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (the stop-animation one with Burl Ives). Um, I just think it's annoying from one end to the other.
6. The Nightmare Before Christmas. I didn't even make it to the end. Dark, depressing, creepy...oh wait, it was Tim Burton. No wonder I hated it.
   
7. Elf. I had hoped it would be nice--the premise was cute...but EWWWWW. I should know better than to think that Will Farrell would make a clean or quality movie.
   

What Christmas movies do you love?
Which ones do you not love?
Why?

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but those are the first ones I thought of (I reserve the right to edit the list a bit if someone comments about a movie I have strong feelings about!!)
This year I want to see Fred Claus. I'm prepared for it to be pretty dumb, but ya always gotta see the new one, you know?

The Very Best Christmas Present Ever

My dad has been a school teacher for the last 20 years. On the first day of school after Christmas break, all the kids would come in comparing notes of what they got for Christmas. Dad would quiet them down, and say "I only want to hear one thing--what was the best present that you GAVE?"
This attitude is one I maintain. If course it's nice to receive some nice things, but if it is better to give than to receive (and I hope by now you know that I truly believe that it is!), then the focus should not be on how much I've spent or whether I have x number of presents for this person or that, but rather on the quality and sentiment of the gifts I give.

So what is the best present you have given?



I will share mine:

My parents live on a single income (that of a school teacher). There are 9 kids in the family, so the budget is often tight. Once a year (and only once--on Mom's birthday) my parents go out for a nice dinner. Last Christmas, for the first time in 4 years, all of us kids were going to be back home for Christmas. Hubby and I were talking about could we get together to do something nice for my parents, and we had the idea of everybody putting in however much they could afford--even just $1--toward a gift certificate to send Mom and Dad out to dinner someplace nice. So I talked with all my siblings...college students, young parents, jobless teenagers, and one 6 year old (yup, he's a caboose)...some had bigger budgets than others, but everyone (even the 6 year old) contributed a little. When it came down to it, we had come up with more than I had anticipated. So we sent them to the Space Needle. They have lived in the Seattle area for over 20 years, and never been to that iconic rotating restaurant in the sky.
I will never forget the looks on their faces when they opened the envelope and saw the card, and saw that it was literally from ALL of us. Mom cried. Dad sat in silence for a bit, and then said quietly "wow."

Christmas Canon (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

I love these guys, and this is beautiful.

In the Middle of a Miracle

God does notice us, and he watches over us.
But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.
~Spencer W Kimball, 1974

This year I had the opportunity to be a part of a miracle.
I had this little scrap of pretty blue fabric with the Star of David on it. It had been tucked away for a couple of years, with the thought that maybe I could make some beanbags or something with it. This year I dug it out and did just that, thinking that beanbags might sell in my etsy shop. I made a little trio of beanbags, took photos, and made the listing...
And then I was reading along in the MDC thread about the Holiday Helpers. I have mentioned before how I like to help with HH. The coordinator mentioned that many people were supplying clothing and gift cards, but they really wanted to try to provide at least one toy for each child on the list, and did anyone have toys they could contribute. I had the immediate urging to ask if there were any Jewish families in need. Why yes, family #63 was Jewish. So I went and read their profile. They have a toddler who is just a few months younger than Bear, and they actually had beanbags specifically on their list of hoped-for items!

Only one family (of over 200) was Jewish.

Only one family had beanbags on their list.

It was the same family.

And I had a trio of perfect Chanukah beanbags sitting in a box under my sewing desk.

I had sewn a set of beanbags with the thought that they might earn me a little money. I didn't know at the time that God was going to use me to bless a family in need. When I learned the truth, I was overwhelmed. Truly, God's tender mercies made a little miracle for this family, and I was just blessed enough to get to be in the middle of it.

One King

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs. It's by Point of Grace, but I wasn't able to find a youtube of them that I could embed here. (I have their album "A Christmas Story" which is where the song is from, and I heartily recommend it.)
Anyway, this is a rendition done by some sisters in a church...I don't know who they are or where they're from, but they do the song justice.

One king held the frankincense
One king held the myrrh
One king held the purest gold...
and
One King held the hope of the world

In Which I am a Burly Alaskan Woman

My facebook status as of 4:03pm

I just got back from some SERIOUS BACKWOODS BUSHWHACKING to get a Christmas tree. With a 30lb toddler on my back no less.

CB at 4:05pm December 6

You are a burly Alaskan woman! Nice work!

GC at 4:18pm December 6

You ARE the WOMAN!!!

BN at 4:18pm December 6

That's so traditional Christmas of you! Even if it was tough, I bet it makes for a nice memory. :)

So, we live in a rural area...so rural in fact, that the official policy of the national forest (yes, you got that, federally protected wild forest) is that everyone who lives here is welcome to hike on up and cut themselves a Christmas tree. No charge. I suspect that deer take out more trees annually than Christmas-Tree-hunters.
This morning we bundled everybody up and headed up the mountain. When I say 'up' you should understand that I mean that in a most literal sense...several portions of the 'trail' are 70-80% grade (in other words, you climb up with your hands and feet). Please keep in mind that I did this with a 30 lb toddler on my back...a toddler who kept saying "walk, mommy, I walk!"
The 'trail' is narrow, and substantial portions of it are a stream bed. In other words, when you take a step, you may put your foot into 3 inches of snow; OR you may put your foot into 3 inches of snow AND 3-12 inches of very soft very wet mud; OR you may put your foot into 3 inches of snow, 1/4 inch of slushy ice, and 3-? inches of water. Really really cold water. Walking up this trail is not for the faint of heart--there's a reason I've never gone up it before in the 15 months we've lived here!
I did a lot of holding onto branches of the shrubs and trees we passed...they were wet, they soaked my gloves, but they helped me keep my balance on the steep, wet, slippery, muddy, slushy, unpredictable ground! A few times Bear hollered "ow!" as cold water or a slippery branch flew at him, but for the most part he had the easy part of the trip. I got my pants wet halfway to my knees (but not inside my boots!) and I fell on my tooshie once...not to shabby, all things considered.
Wolf, on the other hand, felt the need to investigate nearly every pond we passed...these are places where the stream pools up...keep in mind that we do live in a rainforest, so there are LOTS of these pools. This pool was frozen over. I watched him poke at it with his stick, then step onto it, then step out toward the middle...then just stand there as the cracking sounds echoed beneath him...then as he fell through he whooped and hopped off. (Of course, he subsequently waded back in...)
Wolf got wet and cold nearly up to his waist.
Hubby, with the tree (which he then carried back down that same precarious trail)
Upon arriving home, I stripped everybody down and threw all the cold, wet, muddy clothes into the washing machine, and stuck both kids in the shower to warm up. Hubby put the kettle on and we all had some hot cocoa.
The tree is relaxing downstairs in a tub of water while we try to figure out how to put it up without a tree stand (since our stand is in a box in storage in Utah).