Merry Christmas!

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

And you thought my last few posts were short?  Watch this... all done!

This one is a poster available here.

With Wondering Awe

Here is my homage to the carol about the wise men.  I guess I could do "We Three Kings" since I remember my brothers and boy cousins singing it every year at my mother's family's annual Christmas nativity production while they shuffle in with aluminum-foil crowns and holding my mother's fancy vase she got in Europe.  I was Mary for a long time, since I was one of very few grand-daughters.  I grew up with 23 boys on that side of the family, but I only had 6 cousins of the feminine persuasion. I do admit to being a little bit miffed when the next girl cousin got old enough for her turn as Mary.  I thought I should continue in a role where I did so well.  Besides, I was too big for the angel choir.  Wasn't I?

Kimberly sells this lovely green printable over at etsy.

Hark, Harold!

As a kid, I always clalled this carol, "Hark, Harold!"  ...and unfortunately I've never quite gotten over it.  So hey, Harold, and everyone else, listen up!  Because the angels are singing.  They really did, and I believe they still do.

Thanks to The Moody Side of Life for this lovely red rendition.

If yellow is more your thing, try this one from Club Narwhal:

Yeah, the carol posts are getting shorter.  Deal with it.  I'm busy Christmasing with my family!  :-)

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

The twins love for me to tell the story of the nativity.  For the last few weeks, they beg me to tell (over and over again) the story of the angels and shepherds.  Lately however, they are stuck on the King Herod aspect.  Ha!  I found this little printable for the whole scene, and I think I'll print it out for them to color and play with.  I'm even tempted to glue the figures onto wooden blocks so they are a little more than a "one-day-toy" if you know what I mean, mothers.

Oh Bethlehem.  What a lovely little story.  I hope we can keep our lights shining in the dark streets of our time.

Thanks to Gina for the printable!  Also, click over to Truth in Tinsel for a nice little discussion on this carol.

Happy Anniversary to Me

21 years since Jay and I got married.  I am celebrating the day by I am not celebrating.  I just don't feel like it today.  I've been missing him in a bad way.  Sometimes I just wonder if it will ever get any easier, or if the tears will stop coming.  And sometimes I don't care.

We will have a family birthday party on Saturday, though, with white grape juice and pizza on our fancy dishes.  And maybe, if I'm feeling festive by then, I'll even make Jay's cheesecake.  Maybe.

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

I didn't know that this carol had five verses.  I've only been familiar with three: 1, 2, and 5 here.  Verses 3 and 4 are not as cheerful, but I think we can all relate to feeling "life's crushing load."

It came upon the midnight clear,

That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth,

To touch their harps of gold;

“Peace on the earth, good will to men,

From Heaven’s all gracious King.”

The world in solemn stillness lay,

To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come

With peaceful wings unfurled,

And still their heavenly music floats

O’er all the weary world;

Above its sad and lowly plains,

They bend on hovering wing,

And ever over its Babel sounds

The blessèd angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife

The world has suffered long;

Beneath the angel strain have rolled

Two thousand years of wrong;

And man, at war with man, hears not

The love-song which they bring;

O hush the noise, ye men of strife

And hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow,

Look now! for glad and golden hours

Come swiftly on the wing.

O rest beside the weary road,

And hear the angels sing!

For lo! the days are hastening on,

By prophet-bards foretold,

When with the ever circling years

Comes round the age of gold;

When peace shall over all the earth

Its ancient splendors fling,

And the whole world send back the song

Which now the angels sing.

The references to "angels bending near the earth" remind me of my mom.  I'm sure she is "bending near" us as much as she can, and that thought is certainly comforting to me.  And she'd be playing a "harp of gold" too - she always wanted to learn the harp!  Harp or no, I hope that we can one day "send back the song" that we hear from Heaven.

You can get this wall art here.

Away In a Manger

I just sold the twins' crib.  It wasn't too nostalgic, as it has been kicking around in the garage long enough to become a nuisance.  But as the man loaded it into his vehicle to take home for his coming grandchild, I though of how many happy memories I have with that crib.  I loved seeing our little babies grow into toddlers.  I loved watching them snuggle up together and keep each other warm.  I loved the safe rails on the sides that wouldn't let them tumble out.

My new babies have slept in a lovely little bassinet, an heirloom cradle that my husband slept in as a baby, and a portable playpen.  I really wanted to get a Moses basket, but never did.  Sigh.  Once I thought I would need to use a dresser drawer for a newborn, but things worked out.  I can't imagine not having a safe and snuggly place for a new baby to sleep.

I like this song because it paints such a pretty picture.  The manger, the hay, the cattle...  it all seems more peaceful than I suppose reality was.  I do have a small issue with "The cattle are lowing / the poor baby wakes / but little Lord Jesus / no crying He makes."  I think He was a fairly normal baby, and I personally think that He cried.  Anyway...

I have a favorite memory of this song.  One year I was teaching my children the Christmastime songs.  It was just the older three boys then, and they loved singing the chorus: "Asleep!  Asleep!  Asleep!  Asleep!"  Then it was bedtime, and they had a hard time settling down.  Jay went to check on little Chris, who jumped into his bed when he heard his daddy coming down the hall.  He quickly pulled up his covers and screwed his eyes shut.  When Jay leaned close to check, little Chris wanted to make sure Daddy knew he was beoing good and going to sleep, so he whispered, "Asleep!  Asleep!  Asleep!  Asleep!"  It's been a fun story in our family.

Royal David's City

I found this lovely card which looks to me like Bethlehem.  I like the stained-glass look.  You can buy it if you are in the UK.  The best part about buying these kinds of cards is that they support several charities and help people who could use a hand up.

This is a lesser-known hymn, but I do like the poetry:

Once in royal David's city

Stood a lowly cattle shed,

Where a mother laid her Baby

In a manger for His bed:

Mary was that mother mild,

Jesus Christ her little Child.

He came down to earth from heaven,

Who is God and Lord of all,

And His shelter was a stable,

And His cradle was a stall;

With the poor, and mean, and lowly,

Lived on earth our Savior holy.

And through all His wondrous childhood

He would honor and obey,

Love and watch the lowly maiden,

In whose gentle arms He lay:

Christian children all must be

Mild, obedient, good as He.

For he is our childhood's pattern;

Day by day, like us He grew;

He was little, weak and helpless,

Tears and smiles like us He knew;

And He feeleth for our sadness,

And He shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,

Through His own redeeming love;

For that Child so dear and gentle

Is our Lord in heaven above,

And He leads His children on

To the place where He is gone.

Silent Night

Silent Night.  One of my favorite hymns, and one of the most popular.  It's the only one I can sing in three languages: English, ASL, and the original German.  I love the story of the song's genesis.  You can watch the whole story, filmed in Austria! - here, or get just a taste by watching this trailer:

I love the story of the WWI Christmas truce of 1914.  I know that such truces were not entirely uncommon in those days of trench warfare, but I can believe that the general goodwill of Christmastime, combined with the singing of Silent Night could invoke cherished feelings of peace.  Beautiful music can work miracles.

My favorite version of Silent Night is an instrumental one that begins with wind chimes and men's voices along the melody line in a mellow "ooh."   We played it in wind ensemble in high school, and I awoke to the magic of this beloved carol.  It makes my heart feel three sizes bigger every time I hear it, and then sad because I don't know the name of the arranger.  One day I'll find it again.

You can get this subway art here.

Thanks to SecondChanceToDream for this printable.

And tonight, "schlaf in himmlischer Ruh."

Angels We Have Heard

Today we are singing "Angels We Have Heard on High."  This is my favorite Christmas carol to sing.  Not necessarily my favorite to listen to, but it is hand-down the best one to sing.  And that favor probably comes from the fact that I sing alto and this song has a very fun alto descant during the "gloria" part.  It's just beautiful and nice to be out from under the soprano's shadow every now and then.  If I could sing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus more often, I would, for the same reason.  Oh, and more - Handel's Messiah is just stunning.  But I digress.

See what a lovely little question and answer session the sopranos and altos are having?  Fun to sing, and I can imagine being in an angel chorus.  Almost.

Let It Snow

Nope, not a Christmas carol post, just a comment about the suddenly-winter we have.  This fall has been gloriously autumny.  The leaves have turned brilliant shades and clung to their branches long enough to really take a good breath of the gorgeous.  Our miniature maple turned crimson, and the contrast with the green and the yellow of our honey locust was lovely.  I love watching golden leaves dance on a tree with the sunlight shining through them.  Quaking aspens in the canyon are some of my all-time favorite things to see.  This was one of our super-tall cottonwoods, which are a close enough relative to the aspens to take care of my yearly quakie longings.

I know I posted this before, but it was so golden and happy!

Some years the leaves just turn brown, then fall into soggy heaps in the yard that need to be scraped off before they kill the grass.  This year the weather was crisp and dry, with lots of crunchy leaves for kicking and raking into mammoth piles and dumping into the chicken run where they can scratch through them.  It really was a beautiful autumn, all the way through Thanksgiving weekend.

And now this.

Overnight, winter was coming.  I got a weather alert early Monday morning and Trent took the day off work to winterize the chicken coop and button up the yard.  He worked hard.  What a great man he is.  The storm rolled in with wind and snow and the little ones spent the day in and out of coats and mittens.  They couldn't get enough of the snow.

The storm blew away but left the cold.  We haven't been above freezing since, and the nighttime lows are in the single digits.  The biting air takes your breath away.  We'll be cold, cold, cold baby for another week at least.  We stay inside and drink herbal tea.  I think it's casserole night - again.  Or maybe hot soup and scones.  Do I have time to make chili?

And in all the bitter cold, there is so much to be thankful for.  Freddie and Georgie have taken to saying gratitude prayers.  Hemmy Fader, dank you for mine socks and bweakwast, and dank you for this and this and those and these and that over there... as they point to different things in the room.  The other morning Trent and I endured a particularly long breakfast prayer when there happened to be a grocery store ad on the counter and they had to point to every. single.  item and express thanks for it.  The twin not praying helped the prayer to not forget anything.  It took a long time!  But Trent and I were stifling laughter because it was so cute.

How often do we look around and say THANKS! for every single thing we see?  Made me think that maybe we ought to take a moment every now and then to do it.  Warms your heart.  And keep your toes warm too, willya?

Come, All Ye Faithful

Joyful!  And triumphant!  Don't remember when I last felt like that.  But I can come and see Him.  I can.

And I can print this one out to remind myself.

Thanks, AKAdesign!

Joy to the World!

I love Christmas songs.  Maybe it's because I know all the words and can sing along.  Maybe it's because everyone sings so joyously (so they can't hear me singing).  So here is the song for today... sing along (loudly please)!

Thanks for the printable, SimplyAlbany!