solstice greetings!

our winter break begins today

winter began last night officially

yet i c it as the brink of day lengthening

as the sun rises this morning

2 stay out just a few more minutes each day

until june when we cycle through again

in milwaukee last night was long

n 2day the sun fights 2
light up the foggy day ahead

although i don't always trust wikipedia

the entries about the observance of winter solstice r vast

i love 2 c where so many of our

holiday traditions relate back 2

many center around feasts and celebrations of light

so as we feast

n light r home this winter

we think of all who

share n celebrate

r planet and r sun

wishing 4 peace n love throughout the next rotation!

maya's getting crafty....

'cause the best gifts r made w/ LOVE!








this is the week
4 final touches
2 handmade gifts
n gettin' it all under wrap!
here r this year's faves:

• key chains 4 danish friends with school pix

(yes--she wore her defy gravity t-shirt!)

• handezknit hats 4 momz work in progress!

• dream catchers 4 main lot of dd teachers
  

• snowman soup treats 4 secret santas!
  

20 INCH BASE

and it's NOT winter until FRIDAY!

makes me want to ski again...

but perhaps a batch of A-B's chewy chippers

will suffice...

cards r done fun little preview for those of u bloggers not on r snail mail list:

'Tis the gift to be camping,'tis the gift to be roaming the west so free,
'tis the gift to set up a tent where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in Yellowstone just right,
We move to be in the Teton valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,
To breath and to hike we shan't be ashamed.
To elk, moose, bison, bear, and wolf will be our delight,
'Til by turning, hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire come round night
'Tis the gift to love nature and that love to return,
'Tis the gift to be taught to love our earth and a richer gift to learn,
And when we expect of nature what we try to live each day,
Then we'll all live together and we'll all learn to say,

'Tis the gift to have a planet and a home in which to breathe,
'Tis the gift to think of the earth and not to only think of "me",
And when we hear wild creatures we must think of their future and let them be seen,
Then we'll all live together on our planet full of love that is real and green!

Warm wishes from our family to yours,
Peace to ALL in 2008!



PS YES I choose the MARVEL stamps on pagan purpose!

Happy 4th Night of Chanukah!

A very busy non-stop week

movie reviews and local theater reviews coming soooon

st nick breezed by on the 5th and

tonight the wonderful week was capped off with a relaxing evening

of Chanukah celebrating at Maya’s stage buddy’s home.









Maya choose to bring dessert,
so this digimom googled her way to rugelach!
and then searching for tricks and secrets....
I can bake via npr podcasts -woohoo!

honestly I couldn't pronounce the word ru-ga-la until i listened...

really helped to understand the process 2!
Rugelach are pretty and versatile

-one batch can be flavored four different ways...
they seem 2 b a hit

‘cause andrea’s dad discovered them

b4 dinner was done

and he loved ‘em!

This is the recipe I used.

I doubled it but still need 2 make up the second batch...

will do some more tomorrow any suggestions for fillings??
…still four nights left to celebrate!


PS The best part was being able to sample all the

ozzzing goodness

from the parchment ans cooking mats between batches!

I’m not a scrooge…

Thanks in advance to Chris 4 getting me started on this 1!

I’m a secular humanist 100%-see my recent blog belief-o-matic results
r celebrations r eclectic to say the least

a mix of the awfully 2 commercial santa and we even do st. nick 2 on the 5th cuz we love 2 give
and pagan traditions-holly, tree, winter solstice
and yes we celebrate the birthday of jesus on the same level as we do all good world leaders including but not limited 2martin luther king, ghandi and many of the fore fathers/mothers of our country

we will celebrate hanukah with r jewish friends
and at school I try to teach about coexistence by reaching out to all who have celebrations of light and add lessons with a folk art motivation-los posadas, kwanza, ramadan, hanukah, dawhili they all get equal standing to the fat dude in the red suit!

so here are my memories dicken's style:

past: 1971 3AM peeking party with ‘lil bro-two packages bigger than either of us....we dragged sleeping bags down and curled up to those huge boxes...in the am we opened two shiny vinyl beanbag chairs that we slept in for the next two nights!

present: meeting my parents in wdw in 2000, wife's virgin disney trip and dd was in full time magical belief mode i waz there as a kid...cuz paternal grandparent lived an hour away so we saved those E tix and went a few times while growing up

future: 2007 is up in the air dd has show on the 24 and we haven't made any plans to travel YET home 4 now i'm sure there will be some wandering! we do have ticket's to a christmas carol....i'm certain my flickr photos will keep u posted on r celebrations
so stay tuned!