On Saturday Bracken and I met some friends (which made it even more fun for us) and went to the Winter Light Faire at the Eugene Waldorf School. We went for the first time last year and we missed the candle dipping, so Bracken wanted to be sure we did that this year. Candle dipping was the first place we headed. Outside the room, they had wicks that had already been dipped a few times to make the process a bit easier. Bracken wanted me to dip our candles in the wax and then sometimes he wanted to dip it in the water afterwards to cool it down for the next dipping. He’d say “mama hot part, me water part!” On the way out the door, they wrapped our candles up all pretty and Bracken was so excited to show Jeff his candles later. This year they had a box tunnel, which was a hit. (Bracken came home and started constructing his own in our living room with a cardboard box and some tape.) I’d say the favorite room was the ice fishing, though. (You take your fishing pole and hook a prize.) It was loved so much, we went back a second time. I found it adorable the way the children would ooh and ahh over each others’ prizes, looking at them with wide eyes. The weather was so beautiful, we had a picnic and then played on the playground afterwards. What a fun day!

We were inspired by cutting Christmas trees while we were in Wyoming and last week we cut our own here in Oregon, in our own backyard. It was the perfect small size for us and it smells wonderful. It’s the earliest in the season that we’ve ever set up our tree before and I want to do that from now on. There is something so incredibly cozy about being tucked inside on a cold night, looking over at the tree all covered in lights. And the ornaments always bring back memories. Do they do that for you? I attached loops on our stockings this year so we can hang them up, rather than just having them sit under the tree like years past. I strung up a piece of yarn and some paper clips and have been hanging our holiday cards up where we can see and enjoy them. We’ve been listening to Christmas music and I’ve been feeling more in the holiday spirit this year because I got to have that time with family for Thanksgiving and we started getting excited about decorating while we were there. Then the Winter Light Faire added to our holiday cheer. We have some decorations up and now it’s time to get going on presents! We keep them simple, but I still have a lot to do. How about you? Decorating for the holidays? How’s it coming on your gifts?