Nativity

Today the Elves left us instructions to set up our Nativity scene, although our little seasonal table was too small so our Wise Men had to go on a shelf above. 

 The three kings or wise men are my favorite characters in "Birth of Christ" story, I always envisioned them as the priests, the magicians if you will, of the old religion, peacefully coming to acknowledge that times are changing and the birth of Christ marks the shift from the old ways to the new.

Blowing Glass

Today our elves sent us off to blow our own glass ornaments at a local glass studio.  The artists were really wonderful with the kids, but Kiera was too afraid of the fire to actually blow, she did choose her own colors though and at least was able to watch me blow it for her.  Eoghan was a bit braver he came back to the work space with me and helped roll the glass.

Elf Bark

Today our elves brought us a recipe to make raw vanilla orange pomegranate cacao bark and all the ingredients.   You pour 2/3 of a cup of cacao powder into a bowl, and a 1.2 cup of something sweet, we used maple syrup but you could use honey, agave etc too, then 1/3 cup of warmed coconut oil ( I just ran the jar under hot water).  Add any additional flavors you might enjoy I added a bit of vanilla extract and a drop or wild orange essential oil.  Then pour into your pan, I lined ours with parchment paper for easier removal. sprinkled pomegranate seeds and a bit of sea salt on top then placed it in the freezer to harden.  It makes a delicious mostly healthy snack. 

Festival of Stones

Today we celebrated our Festival of Stones with the Knight's of King's Crossing Parent Child Class.  We heard a story about the elemental traveling from the four directions to bring their gifting stones to the festival ( based on Reg Down's story Festival of Stones from his collection of stories of the same title) then  the children presented their gifting stones, and did a magical dance in the woods and shared a little feast.  You can read Reg Down's story here.

The First Week of Advent

 The first light of Advent is the light of stones. 

Stones that live in crystals, seashells, and bones.

We give thanks to the stones. 

To the shells and the sand,

 To the crystals and bones. 

Bless the strength and support they provide,

 Holding us steady on our foundation outside. 

Bless their beauty,

 And inner light.

 Illuminating our lives,

 In the darkest of nights.

This year the holidays are a little more special as the wee folk have more understanding about what it is we are celebrating and more excitement as the festivities unfold.  Sunday marked the first week of advent.  It also brought the appearance of our "Holiday Elves", our version of the elf on the shelf.  The first adventure our elves sent us on was to choose our Yule Tree, after a few rather intense discussions between a three and four year old, it was decided "Phillip Henry" or just Henry was the very best tree on the lot, and suited to join our family for our celebrations this year.