Merry Christmas!

This is our Christmas tree with traditional Swedish decorations made out of straw. These pictures were taken on Christmas Eve 2007, two years ago.

For those of you who would like to see what I look like, I am making an exception and showing a photo of our whole family, including me. (Except for the cats, but someone has to press the shutter-button. Thank you Calle Cat!)

Regular visiters can see how much the children have grown and changed since then. From left to right we are little then three-year-old Elisabet, yours truly, "Anna", a then six-year-old Erik and Torbjorn, father, husband and head of household.

I had just taken ill with a bad stomach virus just two days before, and had not quite recovered. (You may notice that the glands in my throat are swollen.) I was feeling poorly the rest of that winter, and vowed to take any vaccinations against the flu that is ever offered. I've been much healthier since then.

We had a lovely Christmas tree from our own forest that year. I have just gotten word that there will be no Christmas tree this year, which is a pity. The children are still children, even if they are five and eight years old this Christmas. It seems ironic, because we own a whole forest of fir-trees! You would think that a little seedling of a tree that happened to be growing in the wrong place, like a ditch, would be alright to take. But it is not for me to decide.

I hope and wish that everyone who visits this page, has a blessed Christmas with lots of good cheer and love, and that the new year, 2010, brings happiness and good health.

Anna
with Elisabet, Erik, Torbjorn, Cajsa Cat, Sara Cat and Calle Cat

FirstCommenter: Beaded Tail

Wordless Wednesday: Lucia

(A not so) Wordless Wednesday: Lucia.

Lucia-day is always celebrated on the 13th of December in Sweden. Contests are held in every town and city to elect each year's Lucia, who traditionally, is a very fair-haired girl dressed in a white gown with a blood-red sash and a crown of lit candles, to commemorate the original Saint Lucia, who died a martyr approximately 305 A.D. According to legend, she was burned at the stake, but had to be stabbed in the throat because she would not die.

We who live in the North and long for light, use this maiden from Syracuse, as our symbol of light and hope in the darkest hour of winter. But this year, since the thirteenth of December was on a Sunday, all the school children had their Lucia-pagent on Monday the fourteen, either very early in the morning, when it is still dark, or in the late afternoon, when it gets dark again. Here are some shots from Elisabet's pre-school.

Elisabet is the short blond girl with the Lucia-crown made of fabric that is looking down. If anyone of you thought that she is an out-going little girl, judging from the many smiling photos on this blog, you will see another side of her now. She is actually very shy.

You may wonder why the children don't look so typically "Swedish", with blond hair and blue eyes.

We live in a middle-sized city where there are many families from countries where conflicts or repression have made them flee. Not all Swedish schools are like this, but many schools in cities are. These girls probably look more like the original Saint Lucia from Sicily, than our blond and blue-eyed Elisabet.

A happy (and almost never) Wordless Wednesday!

Anna

Sunday thoughts: "Look, a squirrel!" (Spiritual Sundays)

Yesterday we walked along the promenade to the local music school to go to Elisabet's weekly violin lesson-group.

On our way home Elisabet happened to see a squirrel jumping from tree to tree. These are not very good pictures - too grey. But I thought I would share the children's enthusism for this one small observation of the natural world. To be a child and embrace everything that is new!

Why post this? I happened to have my camera with me when we went out. Ninety-five percent of these small everyday discoveries never get documented in any way at all. Suddenly the children have grown some more and moved on from one stage of development to another. Yes, sometimes, I am a frustrated mother. Time flies. I can't do everything. I don't see everything. But I am happy and grateful for what I do see and for what I have.

Happy Sunday!

Anna

("Sunday thoughts" is not an established meme. It is simply my own category for random thoughts that don't fit in anywhere else. But if you have something you would like to add, you are welcome to comment.//Later:// I've decided to let this post join "Spiritual Sundays" if they think it's alright. )