all I want for Christmas

Along with the excitement and joys of the holidays, a lump of sadness has firmly placed itself in my heart. Today, when the house was silent and I sat alone, that lump moved up into my throat and I began to cry. I cannot hear a Christmas song without hearing his voice singing loudly, in his own special way. I cannot shop, without passing by the gadget sections and thinking of him. Who will open their presents with the enthusiasm that he did. He would always say, "man, I love my family." Who will eat the tins of cookies? Who will tell the Christmas story like he did, on Christmas Eve? With all the lights out he would pass us each a candle and tell how Jesus was the light of the earth and slowly light all our candles till the room was aglow. Who will tease me about the funny gifts I give? Who will even notice? Who will help the kids get their toys working and gladly watch them when they say, "look grandpa, look!" Today I made one Christmas request...to see my father for just five minutes. To hear his voice and put my hand in his. That's all I want for Christmas.

yummy goodness

This girl loves her green smoothies!

Sincerly, Pollywog

Dear Birdies, How are you? I think about you a lot, especially with it being so cold outside. I hope that you are enjoying all the yummy seeds I put out for you each day. I try and put them in all of the flower pots so that you can rest there while you eat. I also like to throw the seed, ever so carefully, on the ground and deck, because I like you so much. I get so excited when all of you fly around waiting for me to finish putting the seed out. My bubbie made you a nice feeder with scraps of wood, I hope you like it- I sure do! Aside from feeding you, my favorite thing to do is look out the window and watch you eat. I am getting good at making birdy sounds. That's all for now. Stay warm. Sincerely, Pollywog

simple traditions

"It is better to give, then to receive" Each year, I am still surprised with how this time of year becomes more, and more complicated- and even more about, "buy buy buy". Thankfully my husband and I don't come from upbringings of excess and consumerism, so it is easy to continue the time honored traditions of making heartfelt gifts and continuing simple traditions. It's not always easy to maintain this frame of mind. One is easily bombarded when entering the stores during Christmas time. Suddenly, one can feel that they "need more"... and with a teenager(s) in the house and two birthday's a week before Christmas, well, one can forget that gifts of love can come in many forms, not only via Ipods and cell phones :) Sometimes it seems that the days of small Christmas trees with home-made decorations warm kitchens and happy bakers singing Christmas carols- and counters full of fresh baked goodies and decorated cookies ...are long gone. So it is with much thoughtfulness that we remind our children and ourselves that the holidays are a time to reflect on how blessed we are, to share traditions and make new ones that bind us together, to share stories and laughter around the table while making home-made decorations a time to acknowledge one another and offer gifts of our time and consideration-not an amount of money spent on one another, a recognition of our faith...deep and grounding, and... a time to give.

I'm back...and it's snowing!

I took a bit of a break. No reason really, I just didn't feel like writing. Lately, I have been inward, so I haven't been in a place where I have felt like sharing. It's been nice having this season of reflection. Thinking about my place in life, goals for the person I am always striving to be, new directions in parenting as my children grow and enter their own new stages in life...and taking the time to admire my husband and the man he has become. It's nice to be able to take a step back and look at your life and the people in it. I feel truly blessed and ready for some changes. Nothing dramatic, just getting motivated to accomplish some goals that have been tucked away on the shelf. We had a quiet and peaceful Thanksgiving holiday. I am not too big on this holiday, but we try and make special traditions. CJ accompanied his grandma this year, to her families' home. We really missed him, but knew that this would probably be our last Thanksgiving living so close to my mom so we were happy for him to get to go. Me, B and pollywog went on an awesome day hike. The sun was shining and the weather was sweet! Then we ate a yummy, vegetarian meal...and took a nap...(just to keep with tradition) This morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground. This winter has so many wonderful moments in store. This will be the first winter that pollywog will really be excited about Christmas, sledding, making snowmen...Her innocent joys quickly spread to all of us and we are given the gift of new eyes to look at this beautiful earth. Our camera has officially gone capoot...so until then my pics will be from my phone, sorry. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Here are some goals that I am dusting off: - get back to clearing out the house- Everytime I go into my closet, or look around the house I see clothes, and junk that are never touched...it's time to clear that out! - get back on my raw journey (I do plan to share more about this. It's something that I have been researching obsessively and playing around with) - reasearch my fitness certification...I am finally pursuing something I have wanted to for so long. Becoming a certified personal trainer. As well as being certified, I plan to specialize in fitness helping folks with chronic illness (diabetis, fibromaylagia, etc...),obesity, and those who have specific diets such as vegetarians, vegans, raw foodist, etc. I am really excited to begin this journey! - I am still working on CJ's afghan...my first one! - and some fun stuff we will be doing with school this month! Making a bird sanctuary, making a cold box to grow greens (a bit late on this, but should be fun), and CJ has really been interested in baking (he loves the show Ace of Cakes), so he want's to design some cakes. It will be fun to play in the warm kitchen! I can't wait to see what wonderful things he comes up with! - oh, and I will be getting back to my Moments of Gratitude! Thats all for now!