We finally finished our last bit of Christmas un-decorating today. The lights came down from gutters and the Christmas tree got some Sawz-all attention.
Afterward, instead of destroying trees, the Boy decided he wanted to try climbing one — a magnolia in the backyard that was just a little sapling when we bought the house.
And what better way to end this day off of school than with a little bonfire, burning the tree that was just in our living room.
Wigilia 2001
Wigilia 2002
Wigilia 2003
Wigilia 2004
Wigilia 2005
Wigilia 2006
Wigilia 2007
Wigilia 2008
Wigilia 2009
https://matchingtracksuits.com/2010/12/25/wigilia-2010/
Wigilia 2011
Wigilia 2012
Wigilia 2013
Wigilia 2014
Wigilia 2015
Wigilia 2016
Wigilia 2017
Wigilia 2018
Wigilia 2019
Wigilia 2020
The girls did some baking — peppermint chocolate chip cookies, which are absolutely amazing.
The neighbors did some caroling.
And I did some Photoshopping.
It was to be his biggest performance yet: the Boy was set to play “Przybieżeli do Betlejem” on his guitar for this year’s jasełka performance.
His guitar teacher had been working with him on the piece; he’d been practicing it at home (with some encouragement, it must be admitted); he was ready.
And then the amp would not cooperate. No sound. At all. The adults thought fast, put a mic in front of the guitar, and the Boy was off. He was disappointed, but pleased with not giving up.
“It’s what Tommy would have done,” I reminded him, referring to our hero Tommy Emmanuel, who plays no matter what. Technical difficulties? Guitar issues? Venue problems? Nothing stops Tommy.
“Yeah, I guess.”
Jaselka 2019
Jase?ka 2017
Jase?ka 2016
Jase?ka 2015
Six and Jaselka
Jase?ka 2013
Jase?ka
Performance
Jase?ka
The beets are starting to work their fermentation magic for barszcz z uszkami. And the first baking (though not strictly for Christmas) is done.
K wouldn’t let me publish it until we had sent out some of the cards.
It’s been a few years since we put up any lights for Christmas. I really can’t remember the last time we did it — three years ago? Four?
We put the lights around the crape myrtles a couple of years ago, but that was a bad idea — we never took them down, and the year’s worth of sun and heat and rain predictably destroyed them.
I think last year we just kept putting it off, and before we knew it, it was too close to Christmas to make it worth our time.
“This one works…this one works…oh here’s one that’s out…”
But this year we got the tree up earlier than ever, so what were we to do on a cloudy Sunday afternoon?
Of course, the Boy was eager to help. He loves going into the crawl space with me, but the roof?
Are you kidding? What more could a nine-year-old boy want than to spend some time on the roof?
And a little bit of football time with Mama to boot? What a perfect afternoon!
The earliest we’ve ever gotten a tree.
We slide out of the Thanksgiving season right into Christmas.
