Merry Yule and Good-bye 2009

I think this year was the most exciting Yule since Freyja was born!

Although last year she seemed interested in what was going on and had fun doing it, this year she was completely aware of so many more things, and that made it so much more fun!

Beginning in early December, Freyja was already chatting away about Santa bringing toys and talked about Santa's sleigh and reindeer, she asked if we could make a snowman every single day, and tried to grab presents from under the tree and open them when no one was looking! She was in complete awe over the decorations, and would stand in front of the tree looking at all the ornaments. She loved listening to Christmas carols and would twirl around the room when they were on. She wanted to help everyone wrap presents, and was a complete maniac when unwrapping them, throwing paper and ribbon all over the place! When we went to a grocery or department store, Freyja would ask if we could "look at Christmas stuff?" She was really into it, and it was not only cute, but hilarious! It made things even more festive!

Because I was still involved in classwork until the week before, there was no Yule baking this year, but I'm hoping that with some better planning on my part, we can do some next year!

Our family tradition involves opening gifts on Christmas Eve, after a big dinner. Then, we get small gifts and candy in our stockings the next morning, after breakfast.

A neat magnetic board with "a large boat and lots of animals"

Our Yule Log

Alphabet board books that double as blocks

A wooden train with removable blocks

Our Yule Tree

A book, passed down from mommy to Freyja. The inside reads "To Adrienne's Birthday 1981 from Nana and Klaus"

Freyja checking out the tree. Those little shoes were actually mine too!

This doctor kit was by far the most-loved gift that night. She was playing doctor with other random things from around the house before, so she's well acquainted with the words otoscope, stethoscope, tongue depressor, and thermometer, and phrases like "open your mouth and say aaah!" So, all of her animals and baby dolls have had multiple check-ups by now!

This is the wooden kitchen Freyja was given the next morning (made by PaPa), complete with wood and fabric food, pots and pans, and other kitchen things. She loves it, and I'm already getting requests for other fabric food. "Mommy! Make pastas? How 'bout pancakes and eggs?!" I have a stash of felt waiting, and some plans...

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How things change: All the plastic cups and plates, that little plastic toaster and blender...were mine...all the metal, fabric, and wood items...Freyja's.

So, this Yule was great, because Freyja was so happy, so excited, and looked forward to every moment! That makes me enthusiastic about everything we do together.

Happy New Year!

A (Not So) Good Yule...But We Really Tried!

Yule this year was...different.

Although the house was decorated in it's usual festive splendor...and we had all the most fantastic seasonal foods, as always...and the Yule gifts were spectacular...and we were surrounded by friends and family who are definitely awesome...things just didn't turn out as planned.

We had two friends fly in from Maryland on the 2oth, and due to some complications with the giant quilt order I had been working on, I had to employ mom to help me complete it, which caused us to be doing last-minute cleaning and grocery shopping until moments before their arrival.

Things were hectic.

Once they arrived, and all the pandemonium had settled, I thought we were going to have an excellent Yule, as always...but after one day...the sickness began. Somehow, the entire household caught a vicious intestinal flu, and people started dropping like flies. Although I can't prove it, I think Freyja brought it home with her when she went to the pediatrician, only a couple of days beforehand. The first person to show symptoms was Freyja, then me, then our friend John, and then mom. The last two people came down with it after they'd already left the house. It literally got to everyone. John actually became so ill while he was here that he had to be taken to the hospital. The next couple of days were spent with a house full of sick people, all trying to take care of each other. It was a mess.

Our friends left on the 23rd, and by Christmas Eve, Freyja and I felt much better, but mom was still in bad shape. Somehow we were able to get moving and have our usual gift opening and a light dinner. The huge dinner we would normally have was out of the question, since everyone had such sensitive tummies. Even so, it was fun to see Freyja tear madly at paper, giggle, and get generally overstimulated from unwrapping presents. She really was a NUTBALL! I was somehow able to get some photos, although all the movement made for some blurry moments. I could not get her to sit still, whatsoever! For a couple of hours, depsite not feeling so hot, we had some fun!

Freyja did get some great new toys, which she was amped about. She ended up with some new books and a set of finger puppets, a soft bowling set, a new baby doll and stroller, a peg and hammer set, two different shape sorters, a Mr. Potato Head, a puzzle, a couple of pull-toys, some soft animals, a See and Say, and a new outfit. Wow! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Our Christmas Day tradition, which is to have a big breakfast and open the gifts which have been left in our stockings from the Tomten, was a bit altered too. Instead, we all crawled into mom's bed and opened them while munching on some Kringle in our pajamas. It was pretty funny...

Yule this year wasn't exactly the most rockin'...but I think we tried to make the best of it. I'm looking forward to next year...when things will hopefully be more like their usual festive selves, with everyone happy and healthy.

I hope your holidays were excellent!

Yule Baking

I planned on posting this awhile ago, but completely forgot! But, at least now I know I won't be spoiling any surprises!

About a week before Christmas, mom and I baked several different cookies, and then put together some holiday gift bags for friends...made up of all the goodies we made...

We had a lot of cute cookie cutters, but not a very good collection of recipes to use them with, so we had to do quite a bit of research. We found several recipes for rolled cookies, and chose the ones we thought would be the most yummy. Then, we threw in my famous peppermint bark, I made up an impromtu bark to use up some chocolate, and we made a regular cookie that we couldn't resist...even though it couldn't be made with a cookie-cutter.

Here are the highlights:

Julbock-shaped Rolled Honey Carrot Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting and Walnuts:

Dala Horse-shaped Rolled Dutch Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Frosting and Chocolate Sprinkles:

White Chocolate Peppermint Bark:

White Chocolate Bark with Dark Chocolate Chips:

Snowflake-shaped Sugar Cookies, Dipped in White Chocolate with Almonds:

Leaf-shaped Peanut Butter Gingerbread Cookies:

Pineapple Cookies with Lemon Glaze and Walnuts: (My Favorite!)

Tree-shaped Traditional Shortbread:

And here are the cookie piles each person was given, ready to be packed up:


The results? Well, I have to admit...while the cookies were pretty good, they weren't as fantastic as I thought they would be. Maybe my expectations were too high! Ha! Even so, I'll be doing some more research for the next Yule bake-a-thon...so we can make some even more spectacular rolled cookies. Yummy!

P.S. I'm sure some people are wondering...what is a Julbock and what does it, and a Dala Horse, for that matter, have to do with Yule? Well, according to the Swedish tradition, a Julbock (or Yule Goat) brings the holiday gifts, and a Dala Horse has been used as a Christmas symbol since the time of the Vikings. Images of both are below...

Yule Happenings

Christmas this year was a new and exciting experience, because it was my first one as a mom! There are all sorts of things for little children to do around here during the holidays, but since Freyja is still so little, we had to hold off on those. So, it was a low-key Christmas...but great all the same...

Really, the best part for me was watching her look at everything with such an innocent sense of wonder and excitement. She loved looking at all the twinkling lights and the Christmas decorations. She wanted to touch the cottony snow, small wooden nutcrackers, and the ornaments on the tree. I really enjoyed seeing her take it all in, and thought that it must be so amazing to be her...trying to figure out what it was all about...

One of the things I really had fun doing was having Freyja's pictures taken a few weeks before Christmas...

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I was so sure that I would get her all dressed up and looking adorable...and then she would totally freak out and cry when the photographer tried to get her to smile and then the whole situation would be a complete disaster. She's been going through a little "stranger anxiety" phase lately, which usually results in her crying or doing some lip quivering at people who try to smile at her or talk to her who aren't in her usual cast of characters. But, it turned out that Freyja absolutely loved the photographer. It suddenly struck me that this lady was an old pro at this kind of thing. She had probably seen her fair share of children with all sorts of personalities...and she knew just what to do to keep Freyja smiling and happy throughout the whole shoot. It was great! We even had a chance to take a couple of pictures together...

A few days later I took her to the mall, where they have an absolutely beautiful old-fashioned children's carousel, and put her on one of the smaller horses. Well, it was really a rabbit! Since she's still so little and can't support herself yet, I had to kneel down next to her and help her hold on! I felt like an idiot, but I didn't care! I guess it's just proof that you'll do anything for your kids. She laughed and giggled the whole time...she was just so cute...and I'm so glad I took her. It's one of those things that I'm sure she'll grow to love more and more as she gets older...

On Christmas Eve, we had a nice family dinner. Freyja sat at the table with us in her festive "Santa Loves Me!" bib and enjoyed her own yummy dinner of peas, apples, and rice cereal. She seemed to love the fact that she was sitting with everyone...

We opened gifts after dinner on Christmas Eve, which is our usual tradition. I didn't think Freyja was really going to be into the whole unwrapping part of things, but she figured it out pretty quickly and was yanking and tugging at paper like mad! She absolutely loves tearing up paper. I think that amused her more than the actual gifts...



Freyja actually received quite a few things...two wooden rattles, a soft doll, a set of wooden stacking rings, a soft ABC's book, and a knitted horse.

On Christmas morning we had a nice breakfast, and then opened up small presents and candy from our stockings. Freyja enjoyed playing on her rocking giraffe (a cute variation of the rocking horse), which was from Santa, even though her little feet don't quite touch the foot-rests yet!

Overall, I think it was a great first Yule for Freyja, and next year will be even better, I'm sure. For her second Christmas, I'd like to take her to see the reindeer at the zoo, to holiday story-hour at the children's museum, and to see the Christmas parade...but we'll see what happens!