Good morning! Or afternoon or evening or whenever you are reading this! I am embracing my inner goblin this morning, drinking my coffee in bed while writing this. I just read this morning that the Oxford word for the year is “goblin mode” (although isn’t this two words?) and it is the anti-becoming a better person movement. Like instead of waking at 5 am and drinking a green smoothie, you would sleep in and have heaps of black coffee. I never get to sleep in, which should be a perk of homeschooling, but no matter how many times I explain that to Wyatt, he is an early bird. So heaps of coffee for me please, and goblin mode I guess.
Anyway, today I am drinking the Aldi Fair Trade Columbian because it has cute little turtles on the packaging. I am a sucker for packaging darn it. It’s not bad though so my impulsivity worked out.
Looking back over my weekend, it was apparently all about trees. I had no idea. I guess our conifers unit study seeped into my subconscious!
I made a little tree pillow! I think it turned out super cute. And jeesh, why is one pillowcase so wrinkly? Lol. Don’t look over there. That must be the goblin side of the bed. I like my little tree pillow though! I also attempted to make shower steamers. You are supposed to be able to throw them in the shower where they melt, releasing a scent like mint or evergreen, which will help if you are congested. They did turn out, just a bit roughly. I put them in a jar in my bathroom, where we can access them as needed. Tomorrow I plan on making tree soap, to continue my tree related projects.
And the most important tree of all! The Christmas tree is up! I love sitting in the den in the evening by the light of the tree. This year no matter how hard we tried we could not get Faye (the tree’s name) to stand up straight! So we have a bit of a tipsy tree this year. I think the Faye that we named the tree after would approve. She was a fun loving woman with a big quick laugh and an even bigger smile. She would definitely have had a good laugh watching us try to straighten it. Despite its lean though, it is covered in ornaments that are special to us. You know those ornaments. The ones you exclaim over as you take them out. “Oh look, the ornament we got in New Orleans on our honeymoon!” and “Aww, this is from when I was a little girl”. Or, “Wyatt, we got this ornament the year you were born, our little blue jay!” Ornaments we bought on a family excursion to Bronner’s in Frankenmuth. Ornaments that Wyatt has made. The ornaments that are really just memories of moments and Christmases past.
We put the tree up Sunday, listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, and afterwards made homemade pizza. Or rather, Billy did. It was so good y’all. So good. We followed that up by bundling up in heavy clothes and trundling out to the porch, where we covered up with blankets and drank cocoa enjoying the cold evening. We didn’t stay out too long, before heading in and changing into pajamas and tried movie night with Wyatt take two. This time we watched Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas and he LOVED it. So success! It is so far safe to say that it is his favorite Christmas movie of the season. We will see if Mickey gets dethroned – my bet is no though.
It was a pretty low key weekend, but a very very good one.
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
Great looking pizza! Yum!!
I also love looking at ornaments and remembering the moments. I don’t have any now, as when my daughter moved me to a studio apartment in 2019, I didn’t have space. Now I could manage them, but they are gone, sigh. I have a miniature tree I use every year, though.
I never get to sleep in, either, and it’s not because I have a kid who wakes me…no, my body clock seems to think I should get up at the same time I did all those years, with work and parenting. LOL
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It was so good!
It is always a trip down memory lane, that makes me laugh and sometimes cry a little too.
And oh no!!! I miss sleeping in so much! Lol.
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Wabi-sabi. The beauty of the imperfect.
Lovely little post.
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Thank you Deb. 🙂 And I love the whole Wabi-sabi way of thinking.
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It sounds wonderful, Erin. I’m so glad your tree is up — I LOVE that she has a name! And beautiful, too. How lovely to sit in the glow of the lights. The pizza looks good. I’m ready for some!
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Thanks Jeanie. 🙂 She is named after the woman who bought it for us the year Wyatt was born; we were struggling and she surprised us with a very generous gift. Faye had known me since I was born and was the nicest woman ever.
That pizza was awesome! And we are still using Rick’s recipe that he recommended for the dough!
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Oh, Faye may be tipsy, but she sure is beautiful! I gave my kids their ornaments a few years ago. This year, my trees are not really decorated at all. One is covered in paper chains. The other just has beaded sprigs sticking out. I decided I didn’t want to put the other ornaments on…I get frustrated because the tree never looks like I want it to. I should just give up on that and enjoy the moment, right? Maybe that’s the goblin mode in me! We got our nativity scene in 1976 at Bronner’s! It’s a little bare after all the years, and Mary is quite gnawed on by various dogs! But, I always put it out!
I hope you’ll visit on the 10th for a link party!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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Aw thanks Marsha! My mom gave us all of our old ornaments too. I only put a few up as we are collecting new ones for Wyatt.
I get trapped in that too sometimes! I want things to look a certain way, be a certain way – my husband says I am like Chevy Chase in Christmas vacation. Lol. I usually end up laughing though when things don’t work out that way. Bronner’s is wild isn’t it! I love going and it is so over the top Christmas but still so fun. Lol.
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Goblin mode?? Who comes up with this stuff, LOL! I do feel like some days, though. Especially these winter (or almost-winter) mornings when it’s still dark when we get up. Love your tree and all your ornaments! We are debating on getting a tree. When it was just the two of us, it didn’t seem important, but we think Henry will enjoy it! Although I do foresee him destroying it…
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Lol!! I know it made me laugh!! It is weirdly fun to say though.
Thank you! We did not have a tree before Wyatt either. When he was born we got one – we just kept a gate around it for a few years. Lol.
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Oh yes, I love looking at each of our ornaments each year and remembering too; my boys are all much older so our collection is HUGE! We bought them one each year they were growing up and I’m sort of dreading the day they move out an take a good 3/4 of my ornaments with them.
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I love it too. So many memories just right there.
Awww! We buy one for Wyatt every year too, and now I am thinking about that day as well!
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