celebrating the season

Winter holiday time is a little nutty for us. Not the kind of nutty that implies a full party schedule and packed shopping malls (shudder, you couldn't pay me to enter a mall this time of year. well any time, but that's a different story) and all night craft-a-thons. It's more the sort of nutty in that neither my husband or I have any strong religious traditions or family ties that bring a sense of consistency to this time of year so we seem to be covering all bases and winging it. We don't want to do nothing, because that would be too ba-humbuggy (is that a word? it is now!) We love an excuse to celebrate. Not party, but celebrate in the sense of making the everyday more sparkly and special and finding ways to spread joy and have fun and savor all that right now has to offer.

So do we play Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer while busting out our menorah and lighting Solstice candles after filling our St. Nicholas shoes and wearing a St. Lucia candelabra on our heads? No. That would be equal parts exhausting and confusing. But I won't deny having tried something like that in the past.  The traditions we are starting carve into the frost of the winter holidays are taking shape though. Once again I find if I listen to my favorite teacher, things tend to fall in to place. My sweet boy is old enough now to be past what one might call the age of believing. And I want to totally honor that and meet him where he is, but he made it clear to me that he is not past the age of having a one month long celebration.

We like to count down the way advent calendars do, but since our focus is not Christmas we do a countdown for all of December right on up to the New Year. Our Tomten friend puts notes in the mailbox with an activity for the day. More often than not the activity is small and something we'd be doing anyhow, but if the old Tomten says to do it, it suddenly becomes that much more joyful.  Things like listen to holiday music, read some winter books, listen to a holiday audiobook, go for a walk in the woods, drive around and see the lights, set up the winter nature table, drink hot cocoa. And then he cues us for the larger celebrations like Hanukkah (thankful for 8 nights so I have time to get my act together!) and Solstice and Christmas and such.

Zach has told me what things we have done in the past are special to him, and I make sure the Tomten knows, and so our traditions are forming. It's not the Waldorf way or the Jewish way or the Christian way or the living in a house way, but it's our way. Small and sparkly and filled with love and chocolate.

GIVEAWAY~ Make Magic! Do Good!

Dallas Clayton is the sort of guy you want to come over and watch your kids while you make dinner. I have never met him, but from reading his books he seems like that fabulous mix of thoughtful and hilarious that seems to work magic on kids.  We love his book An Awesome Book of Thanks equally for the bright, happy illustrations and the simple yet profound message of everyday gratitude. Then when I saw the video about Dallas Clayton's path to publication I was totally smitten.

Recently we had a chance to get our hands on a copy of his newest book of poems for kids called Make Magic! Do Good!  These poems made me giddy because of their positive messages. As I poured over them, all I could think was that these are so many of the things I want to say to Zach and make him understand, but if I say these things they will sound preachy. But when Dallas Clayton writes these amazing ideas and thoughts and messages into these fantastically silly and sweet poems it just clicks with kids.

I put the book in our basket where I knew Zach would pick it up, and I found him pouring over it. He was lapping up page after page getting lost in each poem. And after reading Make Magic! Do Good! for a while, he was so inspired he wrote a few on his own poems. Score! That is some magic in the making for sure!

Many of the poems are simple enough that I was able to read them to Naia as well, and she adored the illustrations. Whimsical and colorful, we spent all kinds of quality mama-toddler time talking about so many of them.

I am thrilled to be able to give away an autographed copy of Make Magic! Do Good! to one lucky reader. Please leave a comment here and I will pick one at random on Friday night, December 14. One comment per person per day is allowed until Friday. Good luck!

Thank you Dallas Clayton and Candlewick Press!

COMMENTS CLOSED. OUR WINNER IS ets. THANK YOU EVERYONE!

the gift of friendship

This weekend was a weekend of friends. Really old friends. I had a very tight group in my high school days and we have all managed to stay close and/ or in touch over all of these years. This week the first of our gang turned 40 and friends traveled from near and far to celebrate with him. Thankfully this first 40 friend happens to live just a few towns over from me so I was able to join in the fun.


I had a plan that I hatched 22 years ago. When we were all 18, I took my little video camera and spent a few weeks forcing all of our friends to sit down and do an interview with me. I asked everyone the same 10 or so questions. As some of the gang grumbled and squirmed at my insistence I always chirped the same line, "You'll thank me when we're 40." Well here we are. The videos are in storage with the birthday boy and are going to be digitized very soon. While I wish we had them for the party this weekend, technology and social media makes it just as easy to share, and I can't wait to see those interviews which none of us have looked at since we made the tapes when we were 18 years old.

Back in Stilwell, Kansas where I went to high school in the early 90's there wasn't much to do. Ok, there wasn't anything at all to do. So the thing our group did the most and did the best was talk. We would meet at a park or in a basement of someone's house or hang out in the school's little theatre and talk and talk and talk and talk. We were on the debate team, most of us after all, so running our mouths all day and night was no stretch.

This weekend was no exception. We stayed up until the wee hours each night here on the boat and out at their hotel talking and talking and talking. And more than that laughing and laughing and laughing until our cheeks ached and tears were rolling and we could barely breathe. Talk of past adventures and innocence lost and vices explored and secrets kept and jokes pulled off. Talk of lessons learned and feelings held and pain experienced and joy shared. Talk of the ones who were not there to be a part of this little rendezvous, some because of distances too far to travel and one in particular who was taken from us tragically by a completely random bullet. The thing about the dynamics in this group is the absolute safety. There is no being careful with words, no questions held back, no feelings bottle up. Refreshingly open. 

The long talks this weekend were surreal. Without our children and spouses around, we were in an alternate universe for a while. We all commented how normally we go around with these tags on us of mom, dad, husband, wife, scientist, writer, Republican, hippie, accountant, homeschooler, suburbanite, and so on. We wear the badge we play the role. But when we were all together engaging in our never ending 22+ year conversation all of those labels melted away. We weren't any of those things, those things didn't even exist, we just were.

(Ironically after being the steadfast shutterbug and documentarian all these 22+ years, I only took a few fuzzy phone photos this weekend. )

Having people who know you that deeply and have stuck with you through so many years and oh-so many changes, who have stuck with you through the awkwardly amazing process of growing up is a true gift.

bubbled in

I was so excited about our lights I almost forgot to mention that the bubble is on!

This is the second year we are wrapping ourselves in shrink wrap for the winter. It's really so wonderful and dry and cozy I still kick myself for all of the winters we have had aboard that we didn't do it. Now we have an extra room during these cold, inside months which is invaluable. And it allows us a closed in space to knock out a few projects this winter as well.

We are having fun decking the halls in the bubble and getting ready for the holidays. We're all sealed in, so let it snow!

lights in the hood

Our whole neighborhood is sparkling. It's just a few days from the annual Parade of Lights in town, a holiday light parade where boats are decked with elaborate light displays and parade around our town's waterways showing off their creative illuminations.  It looks like many boats right here on our creek are getting ready. Unfortunately, we'll be missing this year's show but it's been fun just seeing everyone here in the neighborhood get into the spirit.

We decided to deck some halls here too. Slowly. Tonight we strung our few strands of colorful 12-volt lights in the cockpit. The kids were practically jumping out of their skins with excitement. It's neat seeing Zach be able to really do some work and help in meaningful ways, while Naia takes the role of BabyZilla chewing, stomping, and trying to completely tangle herself in lights.

Now the cockpit is all lit up and ready for St. Nicholas and the rest of the holidays coming down the line.

ROTH Winter

Hi there! Just popping in to say that I am thrilled to once again be a part of the lovely online seasonal magazine Rhythm of the Home. Their Winter 2012 edition is live and you can find me in the Celebration section talking about fabric gift bags and also talking about making chocolate covered orange peels (inspired by my friend Nicole who first got me hooked on these!)

Also my friend Serena wrote a beautiful piece in the Connection section all about finding her family rhythm while sailing.

Check it out!

fly

There is something about sailors and pilots. They tend to be cut from the same cloth. Adventurous, a little nuts, driven yet relaxed. We like those people and we're lucky to have more than a few pilots in our life. Zach is fascinated by airplanes and flight and I feel very fortunate that he gets a first hand insight from our flying friends.

Our buddy Peter flies for a major US commercial airline, but that's not quite enough for him. For the last 6 years he has been building his own plane in a rented workshop at the marina. He is a long time friend and fellow boat dweller and we have been keeping up with his progress as he's pieced together his airplane, from scratch, one little gravity defying jigsaw puzzle piece at a time. Truly, mind boggling.

 We dropped in to check out his progress recently. He has to keep the palne partially disassembled just so it will fit the wee space he's working in. Even in parts, it's starting to look like an airplane now.

He is so generous about answering the thousand little questions Zach has and showing him what's what when we drop in. He even allowed a little personal touch.

Zach has already very clearly made it be known that he would like to be among the first to take this baby for a spin when she's flight ready.

From the DIY'er to the high flier... our dear friend Shanon is a private pilot. Even though they live far away now, our families are very close, Zach adores their son who is the same age. Shanon flies a hedge fund manager around in high style on a private jet. There have been times when circumstances have allowed Shanon to fly in his son to come play with Zach for the day. Don't get used to that kind of play date, we tell the boys! He flew in for a day (without the kids) last week and treated Zach and Naia to a morning on the jet.

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Zach was blissed out as Shanon showed him every detail and how to push buttons and get the plane ready for the day. I thought we were going to have to pry him out of the co-pilot's seat.

Naia, who has never been on a plane, acted like a private jet was the most normal thing in the world. She climbed right on, checked the place out, and then found her seat and kept declaring, "I ready! I ready, we go now." She was truly in her element. Once again all I could think was, don't get used to this kid.

I am so grateful to our pilot friends who are so generous with their time and attention. It's always so remarkable when you have other adults in your life who will share so generously with your kids as if they were their own. Priceless.

hanging on

I always feel a little dizzy when Christmas lights go up while the Thanksgiving dishes are being washed. I adore fall, and I never feel ready to tuck it away for another year just after Thanksgiving. We still have some sunshine. We still have piles of leaves. You can fa-la-la all you want, but it's still fall.

(Thanks to everyone who came by Rhythm Of The Home blog for my posts each Monday. The last one for the month is up now. And be on the look out here for another fun giveaway coming soon!)