Awesome! Will you be using a curriculum? I'm at this point in our life myself. We're likely doing Little Acorn Learning for the Kindy years, and then switching over to Christopherus once she's 6 going on 7 for First grade.

I do hope you'll post more about your homeschooling endeavors! My daughter will be 5 in December, so not far in age from your C. She's also a very sensitive child. I do hope that I can learn some (lots!) from you and your family.

I hope you're well!

Megan

How cute seeing the little ones play together! Such a cherished time indeed.

I was also wondering.. where did you find that shopping cart in stock? It was supposed to be a Christmas gift for our kids.. but we couldn't find it in stock anywhere that ships from the US. Perhaps you can help (yknow.. for next year!)

Hooray for getting back to knitting! Being in a rut is the worst!

I love your Virgen de Guadalupe day celebration! My husband and I are both of a Mexican background, though I was brought up by my Irish mother. We're not religious but I still think it is a beautiful holiday to celebrate. A friend of mine's daughter was actually born on that day 4 years ago- it's her patron saint and she's named after her :) I've never heard of that book before- going to have to check that out! I'm hoping to widely expand our book collection this coming year!

And, just sayin', one day you should post a list of the festivals you all celebrate, with links to past posts. Though I suppose that is kind of time consuming, what with three little ones and all!

Anywho, peace as always, loving your posts, enjoy your holiday!

Looks like tons of fun! That is one gorgeous tree! With our kitty cats I'm too nervous for a real one- one day, I hope!

Posted on Twitter as well (= https://twitter.com/#!/dizzymariposa/status/14488...

That is a wonderful wonderful tradition! I may try to figure out how to work this, really. We are earthy-spiritual-Pagan-esque atheists- and I would love to find a small secular way to celebrate Christmas without putting too much emphasis on gift giving. We celebrate the Solstice, but it is tricky because my 1yo's birthday is on December 22nd. Busy busy!

Thank you for the idea!

It's a bit easier for us because our daughters both have birthdays the week of Christmas- so we have a small birthday party the 27th. The inlaws live near, and they're coming to the party, so they're not able to pull the "we never see them" card.

They know how we feel about commercialism and such (mother in law is insulted that we won't let DD watch Disney movies and Dora the Explorer with her- we're a TV free!) and aren't pleased. I don't feel like I'm making my children miss out on a special tradition- I think that the more commercialized and hectic it is, the more meaning it loses. And we want to keep it simple and meaningful.

As for how we told them? My husband is the one who deals with most of it... He was a little bit too blunt, but got his point across and the in laws have settled with it. If we didn't see the inlaws often, I'd probably have settled with visiting for Christmas- but we see them regularly (though we are greatly thinning out our visits due to some bad influences on our daughters- my sister in law, who is 17, taught my 3yo the "N" word!).

It's not easy, but it is doable.

I often ask myself the same questions! I think that it's more about showing love for one another (and you're not buying toys from Walmart, you're doing things handmade- so you're able to make that justification!) and showing gratitude in return.

I unfortunately made the mistake (in my opinion) of introducing Santa - cookies and apple for the reindeer and everything- when my DD was younger (she's only almost 4, haha). However- when children "wake up" and are more mature, I believe they naturally stop believing in such things (like there being a physical Santa- and start understanding the metaphors in it all). That was the case for me and many of my friends. I think I realized that the whole "Santa" concept was irrational at around 7-8 years of age- and was ok with it.

As far as our Christmas Day tradition- our oldest is only turning 4 this month so take it with a grain of salt! My mother and grandmother passed, so I have no family. Hubby does though, so we've been spending it with them. They're a very commercialized bunch and gifts are an extravaganza (each child gets 10+ gifts!). While I would like for my kids to partake in a special day with their cousins, I feel that the whole meaning has been taken out of it, and am therefore not joining them for Christmas this year.. which is unfortunate. Perhaps we'll do sledding or something after our breakfast. I'll be checking back here for other commenters traditions!

Sorry for the wall of text- I'm a bit overtired, hah.

What a gorgeous tree! I love the simplicity of it.