December

[wayfaringwordhack]

I had great plans and intentions for the month of December, including doing Advent activities with Sprout every day. Bronchitis laid me low, though, for the first two weeks (Sprout as well, and then J got the flu). The month did not go to plan and we did not do all of the activities, but I just decided to go with the flow and not worry over anything.



This what I had planned:

- Make an advent wreathe - check!  Sprout and I gathered greenery from trees along the street and we decorated it with fruit we had on hand.

- Go through toys and clothes and donate gently used items to charity - did this, but the bag of stuff still hasn't been gifted

- Make Christmas ornaments - Did this but not all that we had planned. It is not always easy to find needed (wanted) supplies here in Egypt.

- Decorate tree and eat raclette -  Check! But I was too sick to help. I sat in a chair and watched and clicked a few photos

- Unwrap and read a Christmas book - check

- Cut out snowflakes - nope

- Attend Christmas pageant - I took Sprout, but J was too sick to come with us

- Have a Christmas music dance party - nope, everyone was too under the weather

- Set up and play with nativity scene - yep.

- Take a bubble bath and play with holiday-colored shaving cream - Sprout was very sick this day :(

- Take a family photo - nope. Everyone felt too yucky

- Unwrap and read a Christmas story - Yep! This was a great thing to do because the only planning/set up involved was a) buying the books and b) wrapping them.

- Christmas caroling - cancelled the first time due to freak cold weather and insistent rain. Some people even reported seeing snow (no one that I know). However! We did do this on a different day

- Slumber party "under" the tree - yep. This was fun with Sprout. She enjoyed the novelty. I was fine with it, too, since we dragged the mattress from our bed into the living room. :P No simple pallets for pregnant ol' me.

- Make a gingerbread house - we kind of did this one. The activity was very time-consuming (days) and not easy with a kid who only wanted to eat the candy.  We ran out of pretzels for the roof and by time we bought more, I wasn't in the mood to continue: too close to Christmas, too not-pretty the house. :P And the not-prettiness was sadly not due to having a three-year-old helping me because, she wasn't much help (read above comment about being only interested in eating the candy).

- Make tea and cookies for our bawab and friends downstairs - I let J and Sprout do this one while I stayed in bed.

- read about and make a Christmas spider - not this year, but I definitely want to do it next Christmas. I have a whole year to track down supplies to make one.

- Picnic at Dashour Pyramids - yes!  Will do again soon!

- Make a Love and Appreciation list - No :(
-  Unwrap and read a Christmas book - Yep, did this several times as you might have noticed. :P

- Take a felucca ride with hot cocoa, apple cider, mulled wine, and friends - Yes :D

-  Unwrap and read a Christmas book - check

- Christmas movie night with popcorn - yes but with chestnuts instead of popcorn (A Muppet Christmas Carol was too advanced for Sprout)

-  Unwrap and read a Christmas book - check

- Have Christmas dinner with friends - yes

A few photos. Unfortunately, I wasn't very inspired to have a camera in hand most days, what with the ick and all.

If anyone is interested and to give credit to the pattern-maker, I crocheted that reindeer hat for Sprout using this tutorial.

Comments

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Looks like you managed to have a lovely time despite the ick. Sprout has grown so much! And look at how long her hair got! :)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

She really is growing. It is amazing how quickly time passes.

[mindseas.livejournal.com]

Whoo-hoo for Sprout at the Pyramids! I especially love the last photo.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

That was definitely one of our best days, not just in December but since we've been here. It doesn't look like much from a "nature" point of view, but it was so lovely to have grass--even as goat-and-sheep-grazed-as-it-was--shrubs, and trees around. There was very little garbage, and the air was slightly cleaner... We hope to go back at least once a month.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, how she is going to treasure those photos by the pyramids later in life! And how big she is now!

You do so much--if you could only see it the way I see it!

I am happy to think of you unwrapping and reading Christmas books--those lines made me smile.

Praying that 2014 is a healthier year for you all.

A much needed and appreciated prayer

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I found a book-a-day-for-Advent idea online and wanted to do it, but it is quite an investment (not to mention difficult here in Egypt) to find 24-25 Christmas books. I didn't want just any ol' book, but we ended up with some anyhow, given the constraints of what was available without ordering online and trusting the postal service. So the plan is to build up the collection over a couple of years. :) I think start soon for next by ordering some books to be delivered to my mother-in-law's house this summer. :)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Picnic by the pyramids? Felucca ride with mulled wine? And such great photos! Sounds like a very fine December to me...

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

We were definitely able to redeem it, but here is hoping for a sick-free 2014 holiday season. Er, would it be too much to wish for a sick-free 2014? Probably... :P