today with daddy

today was a day with daddy.  he finished his fourth block exams of his fourth semester and has one week of school left until finals.  we usually spend the day together once every four weeks.  this has become our routine.  we anxiously await his return upon which he anxiously awaits his scores from the exams.  everything went exceedingly well and we had a spectacular day at fort louis, otherwise known as, ezra's castle, followed by a necessary stop at la patisserie on the way home.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

with the sunsets coming earlier each evening, we have said goodnight to more suns from our kitchen together this year than ever before.  ezra is more aware this year on the month of his fourth birthday to note, "it's getting darker.  let's watch the sunset."  with the wispy clouds up above and the last warm glow of sunshine sinking into the cool blue ocean below, i now know the way a winter should look in the caribbean and i like it.  it looks like christmas is on its way outside as well as inside our home.

ezra has lovingly set up his little crèche by playmobil

i knit this santa set that is on display from a pattern in itty bitty toys.

our little tree is on the table as well as an advent wreath i was able to put together from a store i found on the island that has holiday decorations.  these last two christmases will hopefully be the last that we ever have a fake tree or wreath.  i want the smell of pine, the beauty and soul of truly bringing nature into the home.  i have never liked fake plants.  

but it was important to me to carry on the tradition of lighting the advent candles that my parents shared with me.  we are following the waldorf tradition of celebrating different aspects of the natural kingdom each week.  the first week is the mineral kingdom, then follow plants, animals, and finally humans.  

"the first light of advent is the light of stone.  

stones that live in crystals, seashells, and bones."

words by rudolph steiner

i am grateful for the jar full of beautiful shells that we have collected on our many days at the beach.    

most of all i am grateful for being in a place to watch the sunset with michael and ezra every night whilst enjoying this wonderful season of light, love, creating, and giving.

happy birthday michael!

dear michael, 

looking back on the year i have so many sweet moments to share.

you are such a sweet and loving man.

you build the best sand play lands for ezra to play in

we love going to the beach with you

ezra is always happy when he is with you

i love being on this path of parenting together with you

you are a great playmobil truck assembler 

bike tire fixer

kite flier

pumpkin carver

and hand painter

i love your face

and ezra does too

*nose kiss*

i am so happy to have created a little family with you

you are a wonderful man, husband, and father.

we hope all of your dreams come true.

we love you!

thank you for coming out of  your office to kill cockroaches, mosquitos...

and capture crabs crawling in the closet.  you are my hero.  

the countdown...

we are counting the days until christmas this year with these advent 

bags i made inspired by the lovely blog moment to moment

ezra helped to hang each of them up.

he likes to count them and when he gets to 14 he says 14, 16, 14, 16, 14, 16... etc.  

he will tell you this is when santa comes

and that this is daddy's birthday

(cousin) luke and gigi's birthday (my mom)

when matthew and eva come to st. maarten

matthew and eva's birthday

uncle matt's birthday

and ezra's birthday!!!

as you can see we have a lot to count down to this month...  inside each bag is a small gift and/or craft, activity, or project we will be doing that day.  the first day he got red glitter and we made white play-dough with red glitter from it.  the second day he got the materials to build our advent wreath, and today he got a kinderschokolade ueberaschungs ei - aka - a chocolate surprise egg.  

i have seen a few other really cute advent calendars this year in blog land.  andrea, tara, and this blog have some beautiful ones they made as well.  i'm going to make something more permanent when we move back to the states.  i am so inspired and love this idea!  but, this year being our last christmas on the island, i just used the things i had on hand - lunch bags, wrapping paper, a string of yarn and clothespins - oh and my own little drawings of all the sagitarians and capricorns in our family!

this moment

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.   inspired by soulemama

yarn along

i'm a day late for ginny's yarn along.  i just could not get on the computer yesterday long enough to accomplish this task.  here are my completed projects and current read and projects...

one fingerless glove that i lost the link to on ravelry

here's one of the pair of slippers i made for E from this free pattern on ravelry

i finished this slouchy hat for my little sister (she's turning 10)

i love the way it turned out and want to make one for myself one day

here's the free pattern

i am close to being finished with the zebra puppet.  i finished the green koigu rocky hat for my brother (who is also turning 10 - they're twins) and am reading the "busy book" for craft ideas to do with ezra and "playful parenting" which is something i read bits and pieces of here and there.  by the way...  to those of you who were excited about the book i posted last week, "confessions from a jane austen addict," well...  it started off well but really fizzled out for me.  i have a hard time not finishing a book.  something within me likes to finish things, but this book could not be finished.  so, i skipped ahead to the last pages and do not recommend it to anyone.  don't buy it!  thankfully i didn't.