Our Solstice Celebration...

The past few weeks, there have been more rainy, dreary, gray days than I care to count. I do love the sound of the rain, and how alive it makes the earth feel, but I could really feel it starting to affect my mood. So, it felt great waking up yesterday to bright sunbeams streaming through the windows. How perfectly fitting for Winter Solstice!

I made pumpkin muffins for breakfast, and then we all bundled up and headed outside, despite the temperatures being in the low 30s. We were only out briefly (especially since their coats were actually still in the wash, due to a juice accident the night before), but it was a very welcomed change of scenery from being stuck inside. We ran around in circles, just enjoying the sunshine, then gathered up a few nature items for our Yule candle.

I let Abbie and Isaiah each pick out a small stick, and tied these around a bayberry candle that I carved a sun on, along with a bunch of evergreen trimmings from our tree. I then explained to the kidlets how the sun is really small right now, but every day, it will get a little bigger. We also spent a minute talking about seasons- winter vs. summer, and how the sun makes things light and warm, and helps the plants grow. The kids colored both a small sun and a bigger sun, which we tied on the sticks to represent the sun growing.

We also made wishes that were rolled up, tied, and tucked into the trimmings. Abbie insisted on writing her own (consisting of a line of A's). She said her wish was "for everybody to be fwiends", which brought tears to my eyes. (Hey, honestly, I was expecting something along the lines of lots of candy, or for Dora to come visit!)

I used the Birthday Ritual found in the current issue of the e-zine of Pooka's Sandbox. We lit the candle, Abbie and I sang Happy Birthday, and then Isaiah blew out the candle. (I later moved it to the mantle, where I left it burning the rest of the day/evening.) We celebrated by having sugar cookies that we made and some eggnog.

It was an absolutely wonderful and magical day, and it left me feeling very re-energized! I'm sending love, light, and brightest blessings to all of you.