Thursday, December 22, 2011

Winter Solstice!

The official first day of winter could not have been more beautiful around here as we welcomed in possibly our biggest snowstorm so far this year.  Zoe went out into it this morning and took a few pictures and it still continued to snow through to the afternoon...
Zoe and I spent some time making our solstice cupcakes (we got this idea from a great children's book that we checked out from the library this year titled The Shortest Day) and decided to give some to our friends the Rech's and the Smith's.  We love them so much and wanted to share this beautiful day with them.  It was fun getting bundled up to deliver our goodies to our wonderful friends on such a quiet, peaceful day. We had our cupcakes after dinner...lit the candles, sang the following song to the tune of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and then blew the candles out, making a wish for the coming year:
We wish you a happy solstice
We wish you a happy solstice
We wish you a happy solstice
and a happy winter!


Headed out to make our deliveries..Zoe is holding a hat I made for Gretchen's cutie pie baby girl and a picture she made for the family.
For dinner we made our own pizzas...as we ate we talked a little bit about the cycle of the seasons going around and around like a circle...

Our finished "Thankfulness Stars" countdown to the solstice.  We each took a turn every day this month to write something we are thankful for on a star and hung it up.  Today, we all wrote something on a sun and hung it on the last pin...this is my favorite window this time of year...looking at it at night from both inside and out makes me feel really peaceful and happy....


The first light of solstice is the light of stones
Light that lives in crystals in seashells and in bones,
The second light of solstice is the light of plants
Plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance
The third light of solstice is the light of beasts
Light of hope that shines in the greatest and the least
The fourth light of solstice is the light of you and I
Light of hope and love and peace and harmony
I'm so happy to have had my interest in Winter Solstice sparked randomly last year.  It has inspired us to add so many wonderful new traditions to a time of year that we already cherished more than any other.  I hope you all had a wonderful day!

3 comments:

  1. fun, Sarah! I love your window too :)

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  2. Sarah-what a beautiful way to celebrate the Winter Solstice! Your children will have some incredible memories to carry with them throughout life!
    The "Thankfulness Stars" are just lovely and an amazing way to awaken the spirit of your children. I love the candles, poetry, cupcakes and am impressed with your creativity. Everything you've written in this speaks of peace, reflection and caring-ideas foreign to many people during this time of year with all of the excessive commercialism.

    You are a terrific mom and, having known your family for probably thirty years, I know you come from a pretty incredible family!I love reading your blog and am so proud of you!!
    All the best to you during these holidays-
    Irena

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