Christmas Every Day

We were quite busy with Christmases and family gatherings these past few weeks.    
I was pretty much Christmased out halfway through.   There is only so much sitting, eating, late nights, and time away from home that I can take.    For a few days there we were barely home at all.  We'd drop the presents by the tree, sleep, and head to another Christmas in the morning.

The Saturday before Christmas we went to the Big Martin Christmas (Nathan's second cousins).   It was a full day of the typical Christmas activities, eating singing, and more eating.  

Sunday followed with church and the evening at the Leman's. The Aunt's thought that having a Sunday evening supper and only a partial day on Monday would be easier on everyone, especially grandpa and grandma. But, of course, Grandma wasn't ok with that. :)  So, Monday was returned to a full day of festivities.  

Kacie with Boden and William...sporting green pants :)

Christmas had barely begun! 

Monday morning Breakfast

Red light, green light...

Karen arrived and her grand-kids stormed her. 

All the greats

waiting for presents.

This year I made spoons for each of the ladies. 

playing games

Emmy! 

We were besties :)

Nathan and I kept Tyler and Abby Sunday and Monday nights.  It was fun to have them and Boden. :)  Monday night, Austin and Kray delivered our new living room chairs.  

Tuesday evening, instead of relaxing as we should of, I decided we needed to find the perfect place to put the chairs.  After, drilling a few holes in the wall and repainting a small patch, we finally decided on an arrangement. 

I like them a lot :)

Christmas Eve, Nathan and I had our little Christmas. He got me some books, an adult coloring book, and a sweater. He did good. He even wrapped them in lots of packages, which I love.  

lasagna 

Nathan's favorite and our traditional Christmas dish:)

It's so pretty.

Christmas day, we went to church and after a short stop at home, went to the farm for my family's Christmas. 

packages! 

We gave Emmy an umbrella

My dad used it as a shade...

the aftermath

the boys playing a game

Christmas dinner

Saturday after Christmas, we spent the day with the smaller Martin family(Nathan's cousins). 

The "pound exchange"

Isaiah was the center of attention. 

Apples to Apples. 

Sunday evening, after a small "too much Christmas" meltdown from me, we headed off to Princeville again, for the Braker family Christmas.  

Isaiah wasn't so sure about the hat.

We gave Nathan's dad this plasma ball for his class room.

I think he liked it. :)

Monday, our power went off before we left for work.    Work is really slow around the holidays and so I didn't have much to do to begin with, but after the power started flickering, we lost the intranet (children's home stuff) and then the internet.  Once that went down we really couldn't do any work, so they let us out at 2:00.   Nathan texted me while I was on the road (I didn't look so he ended up calling) his work was going to let him leave at 3:00, so I turned around and picked him up.  The roads weren't too bad but I guess the wind and ice had knocked out power all over.  Our was still out when we got home, so I read a book by candle light. :)

ice covered trees

our tree lost a branch

hot tea, cookies, and a good book by candle light...

:)

We were planning to head out to Gridley for the Schlipf Christmas, but their power had been out all day too.  I felt only slightly guilty that I was relieved. We'll reschedule and I had a much needed break. 

My parents power came on and they willingly had us over for supper. So, I didn't eve have to cook! :)  Our power came back on around 5:00, so we came home to a warm house.

Thankfully, despite all the water, our basement stayed relatively dry.

In the end, we made it to 6 out of 8 Christmases (9 if you count the Drayer Christmas in November) and if you include the pre-Wyss we spent 6 nights away from home (7 with plans) in the past 10 days.  Throw in working every day except for Christmas day, and a few other external stressors, and you'll understand why I am done with Christmases and ready to just stay home. 


There is a Christmas story that is a family favorite called Christmas Every Day.  The little girl wishes for Christmas every day and this is what follows:
"About the beginning of October the little girl took to sitting down on dolls wherever she found them--she hated the sight of them so, and by Thanksgiving she just slammed her presents across the room. By that time people didn't carry presents around nicely anymore. They flung them over the fence or through the window, and, instead of taking great pains to write "For dear Papa," or "Mama " or "Brother," or "Sister," they used to write, "Take it, you horrid old thing!"

:) hehe

In Christ
~Michelle

December

Lena, Jenny and I got together one evening a couple weeks ago to put together college care packages for Kacie and Ned.   The end of the semester at college is always hectic so, we decided to send them some fun goodies. 

The goodies :)

We decorated for Christmas last week.  So now all the house is missing is the wonderful smell of baked goods. :) That will come though.

My manger scene. :) 

I love it. 

   

I had some fun with paint and made my shutter look a little more festive. 

    

The tree! 

I love how cozy it makes the room feel. 

I had an extra canvas from a project gone wrong a couple years back, so I decided to repaint it and turn it into something Christmas-y. 

I'm not completely satisfied with it.  But it works. 

The manger scene at the bottom....I just couldn't figure out what to do with that space. 

And of course, I can't leave out: On December 2nd, I became an aunt for the fourth time. :)   He's the cutest little guy.

Jack

Since I work about two blocks from the hospital I asked Matt and Lena if I could come by to see him They said I could so I got the honor of being the first one to see him! :) (They could have said no)

December 4th,  Nathan had his work Christmas party, so we went.  It was boring. The new CEO talked and I think all CEOs learn the same speech. Just a lot of "this is the group of people that are going to make this company great" and "everyone and every division is the best" blah, blah, blah, money, profit...  

hehe. anyway. It was a free meal. 

Last Sunday, we went Christmas caroling with the church. My favorite part is the meal afterwords. Sloppy Joes.  Something about 20 different recipes mixed together in roasters just makes them the best sloppy joes ever. When I was a kid, I'd eat 2-3 on caroling night. :) I cut down to two this year. 

(Jenny, I know you think they are gross, but you are wrong :)) 

Wednesday night, Ed and Barb got married.  The church was packed, which was odd for a Wednesday night. It was such a sweet wedding. 

Last night, Nathan had the Body Builders (5th-8th grade Sunday School boys) over for a game night. I hid upstairs most of the night but they seemed to have a good time. At least from the volume level. :)

Today is one of the last quiet days before the holiday madness begins. I'm soaking it in. 

In Christ

~Michelle

Christmas Music

December first marked the first day that I allow myself to listen to Christmas music. :)
 I am extremely opinionated when it comes to Christmas music. 
My criteria is as follows:
1. Must be in some way directly discussing the birth of Christ
2. Must be sung/played in a manner consistent with the original context of the song
3. Must show a depth more than "oh yay! it's Jesus's birthday"

Violation of #1- While I enjoy songs from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, in moderation, most are not Christmas songs in the purest sense. These include: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride," "Let it Snow,"  "Chestnuts Roasting," etc.   I actually really dislike these songs, mainly because they are over played and not really Christmas-y, and I get frustrated every time I hear them. 
And, don't get me started on "I saw Santa kissing mommy" or "all I want for Christmas is you" *gag*

Violation of #2 - Jazzed up, rocked up, popped up, versions of any song written in a different style. For example "Joy to the World" should be sung as a choral piece, not as a pop song by a male with a nasally voice and background bass.  See how quick I will switch that song.

Violation of #3-  Sadly, there are a lot that violate #3. 

Given these criteria, I strongly dislike much of the music played on the radio, in stores, and other public places.   

Why am I so particular? 

I was raised to love music and  I know good music when I hear it. And, I know poor music when I hear it too.   
Music and emotion are strongly linked and the music dedicated to the season should evoke emotion consistent with  Christ's birth (Joy, Hope, Peace, Awe, and Wonder, with a dash of Triumph and Holiness.) Far too many "Christmas" songs lack emotion or display the weak version of the emotions. ( Joy- temporary happiness, Hope- party-like excitement, Awe- "Aww it's a baby")  The melody and words should match in depth and beauty.  Which is my primary frustration with newer versions of old hymns.  The very popular "O Holy Night" loses so much when sung in a modern style.  
The third verse reads:

Truly He taught us to love one another

His law is love and His gospel is peace

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His name all oppression shall cease

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name

There is so much more to this song than the fact that it is a good song for belting.  
(compare this version to this.)

The style of newer songs doesn't bother me but much of today's Christmas music feels like a quickly thrown together song in an attempt to fill a Christmas CD. 

I know most of this is musical preference, and purely my opinion, however, there is a part of all of this that I think is truly concerning. The definition of what is considered Christmas music has broadened to include anything remotely related to winter. Also, the songs seem to portray such a lighthearted, bland version of the birth of Christ  that they lose the deep spiritual significance of our God coming as man for the purpose of redeeming us all through his death.  I know there is no way we can really capture that in words or song, but I prefer to listen to what I consider "good" music. :)

Good (by my definition) Music:
Handel's Messiah (though technically not Christmas music, includes some wonderful pieces about Christ's Birth)
Traditional hymns and carols sung or played by Orchestras, choirs, boys choirs etc
Old English and Celtic Carols
Madrigal 
Instrumental  (Canadian Brass is a favorite)


So, enjoy your listening. Merry Christmas and all that. But, please, don't make me listen to "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" ever again.

~Michelle

Thanksgiving, Family, and Thanksmas

I got a bit crafty the other week and made a Fall/Thanksgiving painting.  I had fun. 

I think it looks quite nice.:)

 Wednesday evening, I did some baking for Thanksgiving. 

Apple pie.:)

Two pumpkin pies.  :)

The leftovers made small pies. 

The apple pies ended up boiling over into the oven.  I put a cookie sheet down, which didn't hold the juice, which ran over and down into the oven. The house filled with smoke and the smoke alarms went off. The joys of a gas oven with actual flames. 

We went to the Braker's (Martin's) for Thanksgiving day.  We went with them to church and then back to their house for the day. There was more than enough really good food. :) 

Turkey, stuffing, squash casserole, potatoes....

Pie!

Mr. Isaiah was also present.

 He enjoyed accidentally taking selfies with my phone. 

Friday, I spent the day cleaning and baking some more.  
I stepped out on to the porch and heard a crash. I looked over and this guy was sitting in my yard:

He stuck around for a bit, but ran off when I tried to catch him. 

Apple cider doughnut cake. 

Attemp #1 flopped. 

I didn't dust the pan in flour first. 

Attempt #2 was much better. 

And I got to eat attempt #1.  :)

Friday evening, Nathan's siblings came over for the night as a midway point for Saturday's Thanksgiving/Christmas Drayer reunion. 

Nathan read children's books to his siblings...:) like the old days. lol

They all spent the night.  We don't have enough beds so some slept on the floors. Ten people in the house, is not quiet either.  There was plenty of piano playing and other noisy activities. It was quite the house party.  :)

Saturday, all ten of us loaded up and headed to the reunion.  There was once again tons of food that stayed out all day. The main meal was lunch and the rest of the day everyone just scavenged. 
We played a long game of bingo with tons of prices for the winners. Every one one at least once. I think I got a lucky card because I got 4 Bingos.

The awesome old fashioned bingo card. 

After the reunion, Nathan and I went home and crashed. I think I had met my limit of socializing. :)

It was nice to have a long weekend away from work, but I'm wishing I had another day or two. Or maybe a whole week. :)

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

In Christ
~Michelle