7QT: St. Nicholas Edition

Phoning these in like Jen, because it is 2:02 on a Friday afternoon, Birdie is upstairs yelling in her crib, and most definitely not napping, the baby is sleeping on my lap, I'm STILL sick, and well, it is Friday.

--1--

My small table topper tree, since we can't manage a full-size one with the kids just yet.

Thursday was St. Nicholas Day, so I put up our Christmas decorations on Wednesday, as planned.  I scaled back my decorations this year, and didn't put up our ornament garland, which is usually the majority of my decorating effort.  I did get the Nativities up, and my tiny table-topper tree is on my craft desk, plus a few other touches here and there.  So it feels festive, but wasn't too much work.  

Coins in shoes, gifts from St. Nicholas!

A book each, and a Fireman Sam shirt

--2--

So this year is set to be the Fireman Sam Christmas, as both boys are super into Fireman Sam.  Haven't you heard of it?  I'm sure not.  It is a little Welsh cartoon that Netflix started offering to stream sometime this summer.  It is cute, and not too annoying, and has inspired hours of pretend fireman-play this fall.  I bought the boys some Fireman Sam story books earlier this fall and those have been almost nightly requests.

--3--

Station Officer Steele

The funny part is that my husband has never seen the show, and has the Station Officer Steele accent down pat.  Thursday morning, after the boys had put on their new shirts and eaten breakfast, as my very serious husband was trying to clean them up after breakfast, he broke into accent, saying, "Cridlington, Cridlington!  We must wipe off the mustard!"  He does a fair Cridlington impression too.

--4--

The downside to having your kids get into imported cartoons is that the merchandise has to come from overseas and is ruddy expensive!  But I know the action figures and fire engine and helicopter will get a lot of play, so I don't mind too much (plus the grandparents were good about getting some of it!)  There was a bit of a to-do with the shirts as I ordered two from a UK-based amazon seller, and only one arrived!  Ebay to the rescue, although I admit to a tense 30 minutes while I sorted it out.

--5--

Jesse Tree on the left, vintage Nativity on the right (waiting for Baby Jesus)

By the way, we are still mid-Advent, so miles to go before we sleep.  We started our Jesse Tree ornaments and readings last Saturday, and the boys seem to be enjoying it, although I think some of it is going over their heads.  They also enjoy our ritual of singing O Come O Come Emmanuel while we light the Advent wreath candles.  I'm thinking about how to carry it forward into Lent, since it does give a framework to the season.

These are Nativity icon cards we received in years past, and I just love them. Each one is unique, and I thought this was a good way to display them.

--6--

I've been working my Sherry Turkle reflection for the last three days and I think I'm to the point of having to put my hands in the air and walk away from the keyboard.  I have the post scheduled to go live tomorrow; hopefully it makes some sense.

--7--

Birdie.  Because, well, she's a force of nature.

Go see Jen for more quick takes!