Christmas 2022

Chickadee Thursday

On Sunday, we attended a German Christmas service. It was the perfect accompaniment to our our “Christmas in Germany”-themed Christmas school (full details on that to come!).

Luciamorgon

Happy Santa Lucia Day!

As always, we started the day with lussekattes, served by our little Lucia.

We had stroganoff for dinner again this year. I’m not really sure why, but it makes for a very nice dinner on Santa Lucia Day.

For dessert, I made a cranberry cake with cream cheese frosting. This is the third year in a row I’ve made a cranberry cake for Santa Lucia Day (I really like the way the red fruit against white frosting reflects the colors of the holiday), so I guess it’s a family tradition now. I’ve never made the same cake twice, though!

This was another nice Advent day!

Nikolaustag

Happy Nikolaustag!

We started the day as we start every St. Nick’s Day…with stockings. The children always receive a new ornament, and this year, the ornaments came from our trip to Disney World. I had such a fun time picking them out at Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe the Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square back in June!

We always decorate the tree on December 6th…in addition to our Mickey Ears ornaments (and the final installation of the “12 Days of Christmas”), we also added an ornament made from marble from the steps of the US Capitol that we picked up when we toured the building over the summer:

For dinner, as I did last year, I made Döner Kebab. One more year, and it will be a full-fledged tradition!

For dessert, I stuck with the Disney theme and made Mini Gingerbread Bundt Cakes with Orange-Vanilla Sauce from a recipe on the Disney Parks Blog:

We always have wassail on Nikolaustag, too:

Now I feel like the Christmas season has really begun!

Twelve Drummers Drumming

The day I have been low-key dreading since since 2011 is finally here…I have completed my Hallmark “12 Days of Christmas” ornament collection.

Back then, I wrote:

“What I wasn’t expecting, however, was to realize just how old my children will be by the time I get to the drummers drumming! Turkey will be 19–almost 20! And that means Bunny will be 18, Moose 17, and Ladybug 15. And I’m not even going to think about how old the unborn Chickadee will be–I refuse to think of her as anything other than a tiny baby!”

And yet, here we are. Turkey will indeed be 20 in a couple of months. Bunny is 18, Moose is 17, and Ladybug is 15. And even if I didn’t want to think about it then, the fact of the matter is, the baby with whom I was pregnant in 2011 is now 10, almost 11 years old.

Time marches on. And while I hoped then that my children would slow down growing up a bit, as we all know, it doesn’t really work that way. And so, one short year at a time, I finished my collection, all while my children grew up right before my eyes.

Christmas Traditions

Last year, we made a somewhat tentative return to St. Charles, MO, for Christmas Traditions; this year, we returned in full force!

We made sure that we were there for the Santa Parade. Actually, we were there way earlier than we needed to be, but at least we got a good parking spot!

I truly believe Main Street in St. Charles in one of the prettiest streets in the entire St. Louis metro, and never more so than at Christmas!

We did a pretty good job of finding characters…I think we ended up with 26 of 33 cards. The important thing, though, is that we found both Jack Frost and the Master of Revels, our two favorites! We were impressed by how many characters they have added representing different world cultures…it gave us an opportunity to learn something new!

Jack Frost even gave Bunny a “Blue Crew” pin, which made her day!

I had to stop and take a picture with the Mistletoe Misses, because I looked like I could join their lovely, mid-century group in the outfit I was wearing!

And, as always, I took a photo of the Fab Five by the gazebo. Not in quite the same location as usual, because one of the singing groups was performing in it, but close enough:

Sometimes, I can’t believe just how long this has been a part of our Christmas traditions…it’s definitely one of the things I look forward to the most in December!

The 10th Anniversary of Garden Glow

Can you believe that this year marks the 10 year anniversary of Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden?!? We attended the Member Preview night on Friday, and it was, as always, a great time!

I think it’s especially fitting that such a significant anniversary is taking place the same year the new Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center was opened to the public…it’s a beautiful space!

While there were some familiar displays, there was a lot that was new this year, and I thought it was really well done:

There was also a new photo spot, and I really liked it as a backdrop for a picture of the Fab Five!

It was a cold but beautiful night!

This is always one of my favorite Christmas activities, and now I’m really in the holiday spirit!

Sartorial Saturday–A Mid-Century Modern Christmas

I’m so excited about this year’s holiday collection from Erstwilder!

“Modern Holiday” is a mid-century take on traditional holiday symbols. There were so many choices, from Christmas trees and snow globes to pieces appropriate for Hanukkah. They all have a bright color palette and geometric shapes in common, and that just screams “mid-century modern!” I had a hard time narrowing my options down, but in the end, I chose my very favorite piece from the collection, “Jingle Bell Rock,” as well as “Make My Wish Come True,” a stained-glass star. I love that these pieces are so unique and frankly somewhat unexpected compared to more traditional Christmas pieces, and I’m looking forward to wearing them all season!