Advent With the Fairies

My sister bought our girl a fairy door this fall with promises of fairy visits at night. Well, the fairies have been silent since the night they magically put up their own door. So, I thought Advent would be a great time to let them make their presence known.

I also want to have a way for my daughter to count down the days until Christmas or the solstice without relying on chocolate. Last year we did an advent spiral out of salt dough. This year we are celebrating with the fairies. 😀

They showed up on the afternoon of December first and left a gift outside the fairy door along with a verse we are using in our Waldorf homeschool curriculum. I'm glad they showed up in the afternoon that first day, because it set the precedent that fairies don't operate on a set schedule everyday. 😉

I have included below what we have done so far and a few days ahead if you're looking for inspiration. I used the Zapfino font in pages, because it looked handwritten and lovely. I searched google images for coloring pages corresponding with the activity or gift of the day and pasted the image to the doc before printing, so that it would give her a clue as to what is written, since she's not yet reading. The Sundays won't line up exactly in future years, so some days may need to be tweaked.

I will write up some posts describing the activities, and I will make sure to post the links here. I will also edit as I come up with the rest of the final week's activities to include those here.

December 1-3 (stones)
The first light of Advent, it is the light of stones.
Stones that live in crystals and sea shells and bones.

December 1 (leave gift of a stone)
December 2 (leave gift of a sea shell)
December 3 (leave gift of a crystal)



December 4-10 (plants)
The first light of Advent, it is the light of stones.
Stones that live in crystals and sea shells and bones.
The second light of Advent, it is the light of plants.
Plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.

December 4 (leave gift of the second candle for the advent wreath)
December 5 (leave greenery to decorate advent wreath)
December 6 (leave gift of holly leaves for the advent wreath and the words of the song “Deck the Halls with boughs of Holly” for circle time)
December 7 (leave gift of ivy for the advent wreath)
December 8 (leave gift of acorns or acorn caps for the advent wreath)
December 9 (leave greenery and floral wire or twine with instructions to make a wreath for the door)
December 10 (leave pine cones for the advent wreath)

December 11-17 (animals)
The first light of Advent, it is the light of stones.
Stones that live in crystals and sea shells and bones.
The second light of Advent, it is the light of plants.
Plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.
The third light of Advent, it is the light of beasts.
The light of hope that we see in the greatest and in the least.

December 11 (leave gift of the third candle for the advent wreath)
December 12 (gift of feathers for the advent wreath)
December 13 (gift of wool roving and instructions to make a pre-needle felted ornament)
Sheep provide us with wool for our coats, hats, and scarves. Wool helps to keep us warm and dry. Today, make an ornament using wool, water, soap, a chopstick, and an animal shaped cookie cutter. Say thank you to the sheep for providing such a wonderful material for us to use.

December 14 (pine cones and instructions to make bird feeders)
Birds give us feathers for decoration, beautiful songs to hear, and even help pollinate our plants!Use these pine cones, peanut butter, and bird seed to feed your backyard birds. Tell the birds thank you for all they give us.

December 15 (modeling wax with instructions for making an animal for the advent wreath)
Bees give us honey to flavor our foods and help us feel better if we are sick. They help us by pollinating many of the plants that give us food to eat. They give us beeswax for candles, crayons, cosmetics, and even modeling wax. Use some beeswax to shape an animal for your advent wreath.

December 16 (instructions to play with and make gifts for pets)
Cats offer companionship and bring much joy. Take some time to play with your cats today. Maybe even make them a gift for the holidays!

December 17 (instructions to make a brush pile for small animals in yard)
Wild animals need a warm place to shelter in the winter. Use your wreath clippings from last year and any other branches in your yard to build a small brush pile for small animals and insects to use during the cold.

December 18-24 (humankind)
The first light of Advent, it is the light of stones.
Stones that live in crystals and sea shells and bones.
The second light of Advent, it is the light of plants.
Plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.
The third light of Advent, it is the light of beasts.
The light of hope that we see in the greatest and in the least.
The fourth light of Advent, is the light of humankind.
The light of love, the light of thought, to give and to understand.

December 18(leave fourth candle for advent wreath)
December 19(leave instructions to make gifts for friends and family)
December 20 (instructions to clean the house for the holidays)
A clean house is a festive house! Take some time today to pick up your clothes and toys and help your parents clean the house. When it’s clean, it will be inviting to your guests and you will be able to enjoy the holidays and have places to put any gifts you receive.

December 21
Today is the Winter Solstice! Take some time today to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and nature. Who knows? You may even spot signs of us fairies!

Our First Yule In Our New House

Last year was a big year for us: lots of changes and more "firsts" that all culminated in celebrating our first Yule in our very own house! Like 2010, when we celebrated our first Yule as a married couple, we bought a Fraser Fir tree from Whole Foods. We decided to put it in our upstairs nook, where we could see it outside and enjoy its fragrance wafting through the whole house.

Exterior View of Yule Tree

Interior View of Yule Tree

We had many new ornaments to decorate the tree with this year.

Knitted cap ornaments from Robert's maternal grandmother.

My Flower Fairy Collection

We were also fortunate to be able to decorate with Robert's late maternal grandmother's Santa collection.

Christmas Eve day, we spent with Robert's side of our family. We had lots of fun with our nephews and all the grown ups. I prepared a fruit platter, to complement his sister's wonderful brunch of homemade waffles, scrambled eggs,  and sausage.

Yummy Brunch!

Their dog, Mattie, in deep thought

Christmas night, Robert and I went out to the movies to see New Year's Eve. We returned home to some very cute and hungry animals.

Albert and Jak on the stairs, waiting to be fed and given much attention since we went to the movies without them.

We're enjoying an after movie snack of holiday ham. Benny and Jak wanted us to share.

Albert being cute.

It was the Tenth Day of Christmas that we finally built a fire in our new fire place. It was so cozy, especially with the decorations still on the mantel.

Benny enjoying the fire after a cold walk outside.

So Cozy!

Yay! Our first fire in our very own fireplace!

Our First Yule Tree

The Decision

After much discussion about the environmental impact of different kinds of trees and how to handle the cats and a tree, we finally decided to go with a fresh cut tree. We knew we needed something large and stable enough to handle either of our jungle cats going for a climb. We also knew we wanted to go with a tree that was as environmentally friendly as possible. We ruled out an artificial tree for two very important reasons: 1) the cats eat them despite the fact that they cannot digest them and 2) that’s a lot of plastic for an all natural woman like me to have to handle.

The Tree

One day, Robert was stopping by Whole Foods on his way home and gave me a call to see what I needed from the grocery. I replied, “milk and a Christmas tree.” He purchased a Fraser Fir, which smells heavenly, and a stand that would stabilize it well for possible cat climbers. Also, the tag on the tree said that the farm where it is from plants two new trees for each tree that is cut down. The tag mentioned more about the origins of the tree and the farm, but, sadly, I cannot find it right now. I will add to the post if I find it, but there is a blog post about trees from Whole Foods that can give you more information.

 

The Snafu

A few days later, I was very concerned that the tree wouldn’t soak up the water it needed if we didn’t cut off the bottom part of the trunk as advised on the tag. I took the ornaments down, bought a saw (and led lights), clipped the lowest boughs, and sawed off the very bottom. I sat it back in its stand and stabilized it with the screw thingys and was very proud of my initiative…until I looked at the tree. It was very, very crooked. Fortunately, Robert came home from work early that day and straightened out the…ahem…situation. That evening, we decorated the tree together, complete with lights and beaded garland. It was a fun tradition to start and the tree looked beautiful.

Our Cozy Fire and Mantel Decor

The Holiday

For our first Christmas together, we stayed home and had a nice quiet holiday. It snowed almost all day. There was no accumulation, but it was beautiful to watch. We built a beautiful fire and opened our gifts in front of it. Benny even scored big with his holiday gift…perhaps too big.

The bone that was bigger than Benny.

Benny enjoying his bone by the fire.

Thanksgiving

Yes, it's a little late, but I wanted to post about our first Thanksgiving together. We stayed home and my youngest sister came to visit. Robert worked so hard to make us a wonderfully delicious turkey (seriously, it was that good). He also made yummy mashed potatoes and stuffing. I made green beans and that pretty salad. We had all kinds of fun watching Finding Nemo and playing Uno and Scattergories. Shannon was a super helper-she washed all of the dishes!!! Sorry folks, we have dibs on her for all Thanksgivings henceforth. As you can see, we used our new dishes. These are our everyday dishes. Unfortunately, we only have enough of our formal ware for tea and biscuits. As you know, Thanksgiving calls for a more filling feast. :)