ATTENTION!
Due to the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act, I will not be able to offer children's clothing starting February 10th, 2009. In order to continue sewing for children, I would have to send each and every child's outfit to one of twelve approved laboratories in the US to be tested for traces of lead, costing hundreds of dollars per item. I am deeply disappointed about this and hope I will have the chance to sew for little girls again someday.

January 6

Epiphany is a holiday widely celebrated all over the world. It is a day set to remember the Magi who gave gifts to baby Jesus. In Mexico, this day is called, Dia de Reyes. Certain people are chosen to be 'the wise men' and they travel about giving gifts to the children. At Epiphany, gifts are exchanged and children wake up to presents set out on this day, not Christmas day.

It sounds like a good time to do our presents, we could hit all the Christmas sales!

By the way, I've read online that in Spain there is no Santa Clause, it's the Magi who send do all the giving.

Ok, so for the first time ever, our family celebrated Epiphany. During the afternoon, Mexican wedding cakes (also known as Russian tea cakes), gluten free cookies, and origami bowls were made to use as our gifts to give away.

After dinner time, we gathered around our pretty little island and packaged our cookies. One filling the bowls, one fetching the bags, another counting the twist ties, and a little one on his tippy toes to gather in all the excitement with those bright blue eyes. With the cookies wrapped up, ten older children bundled up with a list in hand and prepared ourselves to make a round in the neighborhood.

Representing the Wise Men, we gave out presents (with a short explanation of the holiday Epiphany) and sang, " We wish you a Merry Christmas" in our off key voices.

I hope we have given some people a smile to their face. I don't know if this will become an annual tradition for us, but it sure was fun!

family get together

I don't think anyone didn't have a good time at our family gathering. Our original plan was to get together in Karlstad, but the snow didn't let us get to far! It became more convenient to go to Hallock at our Grandparents church. There was eating, coloring, board games, and gingerbread houses. The helicoptor in the picture was Tristan's christmas present that is quite entertaining. Since it is so little, it is difficult to control. So we just do our best on taking off and landing.

It was fun to lay back and have time for games. Ok, there was monopoly for some ( I think it's to slow), dutch blitz, scrambled states, and pictionary. Well, we had a Pankratz pictionary, the older generation wrote down familiar people, things, or places and we played boys against girls. It was a tie :)

Now that Dad is at home, Mom and I are much more relaxed and I have more spare time. Quite unusual for me. So I sewed SuZenn and Karron (how cool it is to have another toddler in the home!) matching dresses. Very cute indeed.

I finally went outside for the first time this season to go out in the snow. OK, I didn't do much, just watch and take good pictures and cheer them on down our sledding hill.

I made chicken, potatoes, and stuffing for dinner today and I got a couple questions, "What is the occasion?". I just felt ambitious. That's all :)

Tomorrow our plans involve a family gathering at The Heritage school in Karlstad. I hope it goes well! Some of our ideas are games, gingerbread houses, and decorating bags that the moms will fill with treats.

New Years day

Karron is now one year old and she can walk and mumble a few words. In fact, today she signed the word beautiful! Right now almost all the children are playing legos and watching a video for a New years day celebration. Karron is really good at not putting any of the small pieces in her mouth but has somehow optained a plastic tube and found that it can be turned into a whistle.

At first she got attention from those around her but now that the entertainment is dull I was able to make the pipe "disappear":)

Christmas

For Christmas, Vonn gave me a PURPLE tool kit(really good quality!)

and as for the box that the gift was in; Vonn made one out of wood. There was many nails and screws that needed to be pulled out in order to get it open. I had a blast! for a moment it was like I was in the past getting a wood crate in the mail of some sort.

Good-bye!

Good-bye everyone!
I am ending my blog sort of because I no longer have a computer so my access is a little harder than before. But mainly because I am done. I may continue some day but not for the present.
So I am saying good-bye and thank-you for coming, I hope you were blessed!
Joy