Now that it's three weeks past Christmas I thought I'd get around to posting some of the favourite gifts as Bridget suggested. Since I'm so late I can be sure they are really favorites, see?
Like Bridget, we tend to get practical gifts and I figure that the gifts the kids make each other are the fun stuff. I try to get in some fun stuff too of course, but I can't really compete with their cleverness and creativity and ability to delight and amuse each other. I do almost all of the shopping online and just about everything came from Amazon (books!), Sierra Trading (basics like wool socks) and Dick Blick (art supplies!).
The books are listed in my sidebar on the left and I think they have all been read by now. The color fairy books were a big hit - we've since added The Yellow and The Pink Fairy Books, purchased with Christmas gift money. Definitely a favorite genre around here. I was delighted when I finished writing that post with the fairy books in it I clicked over and saw that Auntie Leila (now Grandma Leila) had just written about the importance of fairy stories. Alas, she has taken the post down for now, but not before I saw her recommendation for some of George MacDonald's fairy stories. We have long been fond of The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie and The Light Princess, but somehow these other books had somehow escaped my radar. You know how it's always so exciting to discover new books by a favorite author - I quickly ordered up The Wise Woman, The Gray Wolf, The Golden Key and The Light Princess. They are really lovely volumes with beautiful type and pleasing covers. I have started reading The Wise Woman aloud to the whole family in the evenings and from the very first sentence it is simply delicious. We are enjoying it immensely.
Mary Rose also bought the BBC Narnia movies with her Christmas money. I realize many people despise these, but we watched them recently for the first time and were very amused. I think after seeing Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the theater we were all delightfully surprised to find Narnia movies that actually follow the stories in the books, and we found them quite entertaining. (Josiah reviews them here.) The Silver Chair is particularly nicely done and Puddleglum is as charming a marshwiggle as you can get on screen. And that eel stew is something to behold. Ew. (It's like the complete opposite of Eowyn's soup.)
I got everyone stainless steel water bottles from Sierra and these have all been in use daily. Jonathan especially likes to have a water bottle when he goes off to college or off to sing in church and he is happy to stop using the crinkly plastic kind. I got mini bottles for the little girls and also one for my purse.
I made these wool covers for the bottles to make them more pleasing to hold and so we could tell whose is whose. Don't laugh at my primitive needlefelting skills - Lydia makes it look so easy (did you see her barn owl?) I thought I would give it a try. ahem. The boys just have their initials (in elvish). (you can't see Mary Rose's apple tree - I had to add apples to the 'tree' because it looked like a haystack...)
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Another practical gift is these hankies I made for the girls. They each got half a dozen in these cheery cherry prints - I just chose some clearance fabrics in thin soft cotton and edged them on the machine. Naturally these are a big hit and in use every day.
Eliza's had to get some new music of course and I was happy to give her Cake for Dinner. I first heard of Scythian on Alice's blog, and then I was delighted to learn that their mother Mrs. Fedoryka (may her soul rest in peace) was a friend of Bridget's, and then I found out that our favorite local musicians have performed with them as well. I love how the internet lets you discover little connections like that. Anyhoo, the little girls absolutely love it and I enjoy the Eastern European flavor to much of the music (being just a bit akin to a gypsy myself). In our quieter moments we are also enjoying Mary Kate's new CD of mostly solo harp, Mirabilis.
And finally, another small sized gift that has been a big hit is the little book of meditations, My Daily Bread. I first learned about this gem from Christine. I started out with two copies that we were sharing, but some children asked for personal copies so I was happy to get two more. The book is arranged into brief but powerful daily reflections, and I find it's just perfect for mid-afternoon when I need a bit of targeted meditation to re-focus. It is very blunt and straightforward and we like it. Example (in the voice of Our Lord):
Knowing all things, I know your most important needs. I want you to gain the perfect and unending joy of Heaven. For this reason I will place you at times in a spiritual darkness of doubts and confusion. Then again I will let you enjoy the light of My truth and joy. One day I will console you, and on the next day you may find life hard and sorrowful. But through all these changing conditions, remember that My hand is leading you on toward Heaven.
Follow My Will in all things. Be just as ready to experience suffering as to have joy, just as glad to be poor and needy as to be well off. If you prefer My Will in all these things, you will be preferring the Perfect Wisdom and the Highest Good.
God made me for the perfect life of Heaven. Whatever He sends me is sent with this goal in view. Some things I can remedy and improve in my daily life, while other things are beyond my control. After I have done my best, I should accept the results as God's Will for me. Be it hard or easy, pleasant or disagreeable, I can always be sure that God knows, wants and permits what is good for my soul.
Goodness, methinks that's quite enough linkiful rambling for one Friday night - from the mundane to the meditative!
