What May Be Missing

Today,

I had to keep kicking the homesick monster in the head
but he kept rearing up to take another bite. 

Holidays... he's much stronger this time of year, so sometimes he wins and I'm a miserable cow.
It's the children I worry about. They seem to be doing so well with their transplant here in a new country. Is that normal?

And then...

Miss Ky said, "You know what we haven't had in a long time?"

There it is, she ISN'T fine! She's missing some part of our traditional English lives! A Panto? Mince pies with double creme? Cadbury Advent calendars? Celebrations chocolate? School Nativity play or Christingle? Mounds and mounds of Christmas cards to carry to her school friends?

What could this child be reflecting on that has been ripped from her life in the past 6 months?


"Head lice".



Oh, that. Hmph. Yeah, forgot about those (recurring) traumatizing experiences...
I'm not so homesick now.



What's missing (but maybe not "missed") from your traditional celebration this year?

C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do

If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!

Miss Ky will be caroling tonight with the Girl Scouts. We received the lyrics to one of the songs and it's almost enough to make me keep her home and just bake cookies.

"We wish you a happy holiday, We wish you a happy holiday, We wish you a happy holiday and a happy New Year. Good tidings we'll bring...". Recognize it? It's "We Wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS".  

CHRISTMAS!

WHAT other holiday are they singing about if the words "happy New Year" are included? Hannukah is over, Kwanza? 

And speaking of Kwanza, our family was introduced to the holiday by Steve... or Jo... somebody on Blue's Clues years ago, so I've always respected that there is another holiday to acknowledge in December. 

However, the Wiki definition of the foundation of this relatively new holiday is that it will "give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."

Seems a little misleading. 

Are we saying Blacks couldn't possibly be Christian and have only been practicing Christianity because the dominant society forced it upon them?

Does Jesse Jackson agree with this?

My daughter, whose eyes still sparkle at the mention of anything Christmas, is going caroling tonight. She will sing songs about a neurotic reindeer and a snowman nearing meltdown and belt out a bit of a Brenda Lee favorite, but before she goes, she will learn the lyrics of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and which holiday OUR family is preparing to celebrate this month.

For those of you who are celebrating anything other than Christmas this month, Happy __________ to you. Wishing you peace, good health and happiness. May you always have the freedom to enjoy the things that are dear to you, free from persecution or hostility.

And to the Merry Christmasers,

Bom Natal e Feliz ano novo from our home on this tiny island in the Atlantic.

quiet

Ahhh, quiet.


I have given the gift of silence for the past month. Yeah, that's it.

Strange emotions during the holiday periods. I know everyone's experiences are different.

We've just hit that 6-month mark that supposedly means one is beginning to acclimate to the new surroundings, but with goodbyes to new friends and the uncertainty of when and where we'll go next, I think I need another 6 months.

As we prepare for Christmas in the U.S.A (first time in 8 years), there's no trimming the tree, baking goodies, wrapping gifts (or buying for that matter- airlines restrictions) and no planned holiday meal or Christmas morning waffles on the calendar. It feels really strange.

A Glimpse into the Island Experience

I was hit by the Island crud- a terrible case of flu/cold/ pneumonia that was being passed around. My fault really. Knowing that all of my kids "besties" had it, I dosed them up with all things germ-fighting, but kind of neglected myself. 

The worst part of the illness was being abnormally tired. Three or four naps a day were not enough.

All said, I didn't get it half as bad as most, so no complaining.  

Nothing like a good illness to make you appreciate your health!

We're all better and enjoying the things Terceira has to offer. Rather than rambling any further, I'm just putting a couple of video clips on here instead. Enjoy.

 

Sorry for the poor quality on this one! 

Put Terceira on your bucket list folks.

Boa Viagem!

When Vision and Reality Collide

October is such a wonderful month, isn't it? Beautiful red, orange and gold leaves glitter in the foggy morning, cinnamon and pumpkin goodness-as well as popcorn balls, caramel apples and apple strudels-assault the senses and favorite Fall-themed movies finally exit the cupboard.

That's the vision.

Our reality now consists of an October birthday party for the one girl of five children. Girl parties can zap the life right out of a previously joyful month.
Boys: "Hey, it's your birthday, let's go bowling."
Boys: "Hey, how about three paintball parties in a row?"
Boys: "Oh look, I bought a cake- Happy Birthday Son."

Girls: "If we start now, that gives us 10 months to plan and coordinate..."

Without the England-style disco-complete-with-lights-and-dj option gone, one can really find themselves at a loss for party ideas. October weather here is just bipolar enough not to plan outdoor parties, and filling our house with a bunch of 6-7 year-olds didn't really appeal to me. But we had to do something.

A Tea party seemed like the trick. How easy would that be? I talked the daughter into it (manipulation is my middle name).

So I went onto Pinterest.
Evil, evil Pinterest.

Did you know that there are some really ambitious party-throwers out there?

One idea in particular really caught my attention:

A Cupcake party.

The kids could make and decorate cupcakes! Yes!I can do that. Talked the daughter into a Cupcake party with a Tea party twist.

One Pinterest find was this: 

Taken from A Little Loveliness found HERE

Aren't these awesomesauce-nessly adorable?! 

I could do this too! In pinks and greens and turquoise! The girls would LOVE them. The parents would bow down to my craftiness. The nagging "Ahem, remember that you don't know how to sew?" came to mind, but in my Pinterest-fueled enthusiasm, was quickly brushed aside.

Cue the YouTube videos!
Search: "How to sew an apron when you have no idea how to sew" and come up with Tea Towel Apron demos. Tea Towel Aprons in 30 minutes. I can do that! "Ahem, remember that you don't know how to sew?" 

Off to do some fabric shopping...on a Portuguese island, where everyone speaks a different language than I do.
Still, I managed to bring home meters and meters of ribbon and fabric in beautiful colors; some color coordinated thread and some tea towels."Ahem, remember that you don't know how to sew?"

I envisioned ruffles. Lots of ruffles. 

Cue YouTube videos!
Search: "How to  make ruffles when you don't know how to sew".
Discover this really cool gadget, a gathering foot just for ruffles. Convince the husband that one day, in my future Apron-making stardom, that I may need that.

Out came the sewing machine. I read the manual so that I would know how to turn it on. I Began by cutting super expensive material...

measurements, shmeasurements- they're just ruffles....

More super expensive material was cut, this time in larger strips-and don't worry, the table was already looking bad from previous Air Force moves, so the new rotary cutter slashes will blend right in (note to self: must order a larger cutting pad "Ahem, remember that you don't know how to sew?" )

The husband never even questioned me. Bless him.


Here's the final product. Two weeks later (30-minute aprons my hindquarters).

Feeling empowered by my new-found craftiness, I went back on to Pinterest (evil, evil Pinterest) and found a cute idea for treats to "Boo" some people with.

I saw this:

Found at CrazedPhotoMom HERE

and thought, "That would make adorable cupcakes!"

That's after burning a few batches of cookies.
Martha Stewart's job security is looking better and better. Be glad if you weren't on our Halloween "Booo!" list this year, it wasn't pretty.

I may just stick to sewing. "AHEM!"