It's been a week of baking and holiday fun. Kaya has helped make sugar cookies and snickerdoodles. I think the snickerdoodles was the biggest hit. I love to watch her put the sprinkles on the cookies and have fun.
We put a Christmas tree on the front porch (just lights) along with Santa in a wagon. Kaya LOVES it. We've never done a tree on the front porch but it looks really nice. We need to get the lights hung up but the wind and the temps have not played nice with us lol We've got most the inside decorations up and they look really nice. Kaya put the stuffed snowman under the tree and so far Bella has not noticed it.
We swing back and forth between cold weather, super windy and very oddly nice weather for November. Kaya is confused lol and so are the plants! 70 degrees on Turkey day then down to the 30s by the weekend is nuts!
Hoping for a relaxing weekend as the hustle bustle of the holiday season gets fully under way.
Kaya Rain
Our beautiful daughter.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Trips down Memory Lane........
We have been going down and helping my Dad sort out things left in Granny's house, clean up things and make lists of what needs done so he can get moved in there this spring. I waited almost four months before I went back to Granny's after she died.
My first trip back was not easy. My grandparents home was always just ..there. The light on between the rocking chair and Grandpa's recliner, Granny sewing, Grandpa watching the evening farm report. Saturday nights spent sleeping on a pallet of blankets in the living room or in the floor at the foot of my grandparents bed. Popcorn parties on cold nights. Sunday afternoon lunch followed by reading the Sunday paper and laughing at Grandpa arguing with the Sunday political shows. Christmas Eve's crammed in the house with wall to wall people and food. Lots of laughs and even more love.
My first trip back was just a few days before Valentine's Day. I don't know how I expected to feel but the cold of the house sorta matched the way I felt. Kaya asked why Nanny wasn't living there and after explaining she was in Heaven etc she was content. She would go room to room laughing or talking about things her and Nanny did. I walked room to room. No rocking chair rocking. No tv on. A lot of silence. No Granny saying "Shut the light off behind you. Did you shut the cabinet door?" Just...silence. I remember thinking "man I wish I'd get a sign that my grandparents are ok, happy and together..." and then I saw an old yellowed envelope sticking out from some books. Plain, nothing special looking. Probably everyone had walked over it and never even noticed it. But something made me pick it up.
Inside was an OLD cloth valentine card from my Grandpa to my Granny their first Valentines together..when Grandpa was in the service during the war. A simple sweet message..rare because Grandpa was not one to show emotions...stating how he was a soldier away from home hoping that the next Valentines Day he'd be home with his wife. The tears poured out. They had given me my sign that they were happy and together. Their hearts were healed.
A few more trips back to the house have made me think back to alot of child hood memories. From fishing in the pond, to horseback riding, to chasing fireflies in the hay field with my baby brother. Watching the fireworks from my grandparents propane tank( we could see the high up ones in Bedford all the way from downhome).
That's when I realized that the house is just a house. It holds memories and fun times but in my heart is where my grandparents are. I still find myself noticing things not how Granny would want them or snickering to myself how Granny would be pitching a fit to know we are upstairs in the attic lol but...I've found that my heart has begun to heal. Maybe it's watching Kaya laugh and have fun as she goes through the house..how easy she talks about her Nanny and the fun they had reminds me of when I was little. I've yet to go back to my Grandparent Robert's house since my Grandpa has died. Going back to homes that were like your second home isn't as easy as one would think. Maybe at times that old saying you can never go home again is true.....you can go back to a house but it changes.
We have been going down and helping my Dad sort out things left in Granny's house, clean up things and make lists of what needs done so he can get moved in there this spring. I waited almost four months before I went back to Granny's after she died.
My first trip back was not easy. My grandparents home was always just ..there. The light on between the rocking chair and Grandpa's recliner, Granny sewing, Grandpa watching the evening farm report. Saturday nights spent sleeping on a pallet of blankets in the living room or in the floor at the foot of my grandparents bed. Popcorn parties on cold nights. Sunday afternoon lunch followed by reading the Sunday paper and laughing at Grandpa arguing with the Sunday political shows. Christmas Eve's crammed in the house with wall to wall people and food. Lots of laughs and even more love.
My first trip back was just a few days before Valentine's Day. I don't know how I expected to feel but the cold of the house sorta matched the way I felt. Kaya asked why Nanny wasn't living there and after explaining she was in Heaven etc she was content. She would go room to room laughing or talking about things her and Nanny did. I walked room to room. No rocking chair rocking. No tv on. A lot of silence. No Granny saying "Shut the light off behind you. Did you shut the cabinet door?" Just...silence. I remember thinking "man I wish I'd get a sign that my grandparents are ok, happy and together..." and then I saw an old yellowed envelope sticking out from some books. Plain, nothing special looking. Probably everyone had walked over it and never even noticed it. But something made me pick it up.
Inside was an OLD cloth valentine card from my Grandpa to my Granny their first Valentines together..when Grandpa was in the service during the war. A simple sweet message..rare because Grandpa was not one to show emotions...stating how he was a soldier away from home hoping that the next Valentines Day he'd be home with his wife. The tears poured out. They had given me my sign that they were happy and together. Their hearts were healed.
A few more trips back to the house have made me think back to alot of child hood memories. From fishing in the pond, to horseback riding, to chasing fireflies in the hay field with my baby brother. Watching the fireworks from my grandparents propane tank( we could see the high up ones in Bedford all the way from downhome).
That's when I realized that the house is just a house. It holds memories and fun times but in my heart is where my grandparents are. I still find myself noticing things not how Granny would want them or snickering to myself how Granny would be pitching a fit to know we are upstairs in the attic lol but...I've found that my heart has begun to heal. Maybe it's watching Kaya laugh and have fun as she goes through the house..how easy she talks about her Nanny and the fun they had reminds me of when I was little. I've yet to go back to my Grandparent Robert's house since my Grandpa has died. Going back to homes that were like your second home isn't as easy as one would think. Maybe at times that old saying you can never go home again is true.....you can go back to a house but it changes.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
To say we are getting in the holiday mood is an understatement :)
We started with our family tradition of putting the Christmas tree up the weekend after Turkey Day (I grew up with our tree being put up the week of Cmas (sometimes even on Cmas EVE!!!) and then down the weekend after ...decided when I had a family I'd enjoy the tree and lights for awhile longer!)
We've made our first small wreath of the season. Kaya picked the ribbon and decorations for it and we hung it on the door going to the garage.
First batch of homemade Christmas cookies has been made and Frosty has kicked off the movie season (I can almost recite it and Rudolph by heart as Kaya last year watched them so often..even during the summer! LOL).
We try very hard to incorporate my traditions I grew up with , things Steve has always done as well new things that are just "our little family". We also talk about other cultures holiday events and Kaya loves the story of how Hanukkah came to be, the magic of the oil and the dreidel song. She knows the story of the Three Wise men and Jesus. We try hard to focus on the feeling of Christmas and less on the materialistic aspect of the holiday. We encourage her to be involved in charitable things and she's manned food drive bins etc.
I've worked retail for 19 yrs and many would think that the Scrooge feeling would push me over the edge. I do find myself aggravated at how many focus on checking ITEMS off the list instead of adding people they love to a different kind of list...fed up with how people treat each other while shopping etc. I am also lucky that my job doesn't require as much time face to face with people on the floor (my job now). But I've also learned that when I clock out my real day begins at home. That holiday cheer is great and that seeing my 4 yr old's eyes sparkle over the tree lights etc is what keeps me happy.
Wishing everyone a great time preparing for the holiday, the ability to slow down and enjoy each moment, and to repeat family traditions and make a few of their own :)
We started with our family tradition of putting the Christmas tree up the weekend after Turkey Day (I grew up with our tree being put up the week of Cmas (sometimes even on Cmas EVE!!!) and then down the weekend after ...decided when I had a family I'd enjoy the tree and lights for awhile longer!)
We've made our first small wreath of the season. Kaya picked the ribbon and decorations for it and we hung it on the door going to the garage.
First batch of homemade Christmas cookies has been made and Frosty has kicked off the movie season (I can almost recite it and Rudolph by heart as Kaya last year watched them so often..even during the summer! LOL).
We try very hard to incorporate my traditions I grew up with , things Steve has always done as well new things that are just "our little family". We also talk about other cultures holiday events and Kaya loves the story of how Hanukkah came to be, the magic of the oil and the dreidel song. She knows the story of the Three Wise men and Jesus. We try hard to focus on the feeling of Christmas and less on the materialistic aspect of the holiday. We encourage her to be involved in charitable things and she's manned food drive bins etc.
I've worked retail for 19 yrs and many would think that the Scrooge feeling would push me over the edge. I do find myself aggravated at how many focus on checking ITEMS off the list instead of adding people they love to a different kind of list...fed up with how people treat each other while shopping etc. I am also lucky that my job doesn't require as much time face to face with people on the floor (my job now). But I've also learned that when I clock out my real day begins at home. That holiday cheer is great and that seeing my 4 yr old's eyes sparkle over the tree lights etc is what keeps me happy.
Wishing everyone a great time preparing for the holiday, the ability to slow down and enjoy each moment, and to repeat family traditions and make a few of their own :)
Angel Trees and giving at Christmas
We try every year to pick a child off the angel tree that is the same age as Kaya. We feel that teaches her how it is to be a child and not have certain things, that not all little ones have everything, that sometimes just receiving clothes is a blessing, and that life is much bigger than her Christmas List.
We found a 4 yr old little girl that wants babies, girl things and under one of her special gifts she listed...Dora Panties. I teared up. Here my child has two dressers of clothes and this small child was asking for panties as one of her special gifts. I will admit I teared up reading the card.
I grew up far from rich, a farm kid that was thankful for a Mom and Grandmas that gardened and canned, a Dad and Grandpas that raised pigs and cows and butchered. The guys hunted and put up deer. We raised rabbits to eat. I never knew a day without a meal and I never knew that our Christmas by many would be considered "lean" mainly because we were happy, we got some toys and we got clothes. Steve had far less than I had and Christmas was not always a happy time. So we have always made Kaya a priority but we have tried hard to also make her realize how very blessed she is.
I know there are some rotten apples out there that spoil the bunch. People get turned off of Angel Tree, Shop with a Cop, alot of charitable events because so many parents that put their children last and abuse the system use it either as a way to get their kids Cmas with no expense to themselves or they sell the kids stuff. But..I always think..what if the one name left on the tree is the one that truly needs it and noone would take it for fear of those abusing the system? No child should suffer for the sins of their father so I feel alot of times people should find a good cuase that their heart is into and do it..as a family.
Some very neat ideas this season (and any time...need doesn't have a holiday or a time..it's everyday):
1.make homemade caps and toboggans and give to the local cancer ward
2.donate a magazine subscription to the kids wing of a hospital
3.donate to Toys for Tots, Shop with a Cop, Clothe a Child, the Salvation Army or Santa's helpers
4.donate to a military family aid (it's not just the soldiers sometimes stationed far from home..but their families too)
5.Adopt a deployed soldier. A card or a carepackage can mean the world to a soldier
6.donate to a food pantry
7.Spur your church congregation to do a food drive for the local pantry or a cap/gloves/coat drive for a kid's group
8.Spur your church or your family to do a houseslipper/robe drive for a local nursing home. Go there caroling or offer to spend some time there....the elderly often suffer from depression at the holidays
9.Pick an American Indian reservation and donate Cmas stockings filled with goodies or even basics/clothes...those needs are year round
10.donate your time or needed items to a shelter (many shelters have women and kids that are escaping a violent situation...brighten their day)
11.Pay forward your blessings and give a free cup of coffee/cocoa to the bell ringer
12.Pick up the tab when you have the extra for someone behind you in line at the drive through or the tab of an elderly person getting a few basic groceries
Showing kindness at Christmas and all year long not only makes someone else smile but it enlarges your heart.
We try every year to pick a child off the angel tree that is the same age as Kaya. We feel that teaches her how it is to be a child and not have certain things, that not all little ones have everything, that sometimes just receiving clothes is a blessing, and that life is much bigger than her Christmas List.
We found a 4 yr old little girl that wants babies, girl things and under one of her special gifts she listed...Dora Panties. I teared up. Here my child has two dressers of clothes and this small child was asking for panties as one of her special gifts. I will admit I teared up reading the card.
I grew up far from rich, a farm kid that was thankful for a Mom and Grandmas that gardened and canned, a Dad and Grandpas that raised pigs and cows and butchered. The guys hunted and put up deer. We raised rabbits to eat. I never knew a day without a meal and I never knew that our Christmas by many would be considered "lean" mainly because we were happy, we got some toys and we got clothes. Steve had far less than I had and Christmas was not always a happy time. So we have always made Kaya a priority but we have tried hard to also make her realize how very blessed she is.
I know there are some rotten apples out there that spoil the bunch. People get turned off of Angel Tree, Shop with a Cop, alot of charitable events because so many parents that put their children last and abuse the system use it either as a way to get their kids Cmas with no expense to themselves or they sell the kids stuff. But..I always think..what if the one name left on the tree is the one that truly needs it and noone would take it for fear of those abusing the system? No child should suffer for the sins of their father so I feel alot of times people should find a good cuase that their heart is into and do it..as a family.
Some very neat ideas this season (and any time...need doesn't have a holiday or a time..it's everyday):
1.make homemade caps and toboggans and give to the local cancer ward
2.donate a magazine subscription to the kids wing of a hospital
3.donate to Toys for Tots, Shop with a Cop, Clothe a Child, the Salvation Army or Santa's helpers
4.donate to a military family aid (it's not just the soldiers sometimes stationed far from home..but their families too)
5.Adopt a deployed soldier. A card or a carepackage can mean the world to a soldier
6.donate to a food pantry
7.Spur your church congregation to do a food drive for the local pantry or a cap/gloves/coat drive for a kid's group
8.Spur your church or your family to do a houseslipper/robe drive for a local nursing home. Go there caroling or offer to spend some time there....the elderly often suffer from depression at the holidays
9.Pick an American Indian reservation and donate Cmas stockings filled with goodies or even basics/clothes...those needs are year round
10.donate your time or needed items to a shelter (many shelters have women and kids that are escaping a violent situation...brighten their day)
11.Pay forward your blessings and give a free cup of coffee/cocoa to the bell ringer
12.Pick up the tab when you have the extra for someone behind you in line at the drive through or the tab of an elderly person getting a few basic groceries
Showing kindness at Christmas and all year long not only makes someone else smile but it enlarges your heart.
Ahhhh the sweet sound of giggles, the anxiety of waiting for the timer, and the homey smell of homemade white chocolate/chocolate chip cookies! Just one of the ways we love to kick off the holiday season at the Henderson Hacienda!
I'll admit I'm a cookie dough addict and I love homemade cookies but I'm nowhere near the cookie baker that Steve is. The man was made to make cookies lol From gourmet recipes to plain ole chocolate chip. He often assists Kaya in baking me a sweet for Valentines Day and for my bday as well as just baking together with her (LOVE that there is that bond for them).
I've always said I wanted Kaya to have the traditions that I had growing up. Learning math while giggling and measuring flour. Sneaking a chocolate chip while chatting. I grew up with some awesome cooks/bakers and some of my fondest memories is learning a recipe at my Mom's shirttail or one of my Grandma's apron strings.
I love to bake with Kaya. This year Steve treated me to two new cookie/cake pans and they work really well and have my creative ideas running! Kaya cracks me up because she knows once we have all the cookies done that I'll let her sneak a spoonful of dough (a big no no with Daddy...he's very precise on how he does things).
Love seeing her so excited and ready for the holiday. We also made a small wreath...Kaya picked the ribbon and the ornaments (santa,snowman,cmas tree and reindeer). It came out really cute and she had a blast.
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