Valley Mama

Yule Elf Mission #14: Carols to Sing

"When voices join together in song, magic fills the air.
Your heart is filled with warmth and love when Christmas carols you share.
Call someone who lives far away and sing them a Christmas song.
Then take your family and join with friends in a community sing-a-long!"

For the last several years we have participated in what, to me, is one of the sweetest community events of the entire holiday season...the Milagros Christmas Carol Sing-a-long.  One of our favorite places, filled with many of our favorite people, singing carols together.  Add some Christmas cookies and cocoa and really, what could be better?  It is an event where you can truly feel the love and warmth of our community. Somehow, the Yule Elf knew about this, ("Mama, that Yule Elf just knows about everything!") and gave us a mission of singing carols for day number fourteen.

There was actually quite a bit of caroling to be done that day.  We sang songs around the house and in the car.  Aaron recited a line from the movie Elf...something like, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loudly for the world to hear."    

In the afternoon we went to visit a dear friend who lives in an assisted living facility close by.  They were having a Christmas party and family and friends were invited.  We sat around and traded stories of Christmas's past, sang carols to the piano, and had a few treats.  I wish I had a photo of Mason's face when he saw the food table, but some days are just not camera days for me, and this was one of them. River walked around the room visiting people, checking everything out, and bringing smiles to more than a few faces.  

That evening after dinner we headed over to Milagros for the sing-a-long.  I was a little sad that the amazing Don Richmond was not there to lead the caroling this year...it is in part his sweet spirit and sincere, humble way of being that makes the event so special, and something we return to every year.  Even so, we had a great time with wonderful friends and Christmas cheer all around.

Mason had a wonderful time with his friend Jonah.  They might have spent more time building spaceships than singing songs, but I'm sure they absorbed it just the same.  Mason has not stopped singing since, and neither have I, for that matter.  If singing does truly spread Christmas cheer, (and I'm pretty sure it does), we have certainly done our share around here.   

(Also, if you look closely to the right of Mason's head in the photo, you'll see one of his stars in the window!)

   

 Visit our Magical Advent post to learn more about what we're doing this year.

Yule Elf Mission #9: Clothing/Toy Donations

"With so many things to play with and wear,
Time to go through and choose which things to share.
Into a box place some books, clothes and toys,
Perhaps to become another child's Christmas joy."

I admit I did not think Mason would be super-excited about this Elf Mission...and I was completely wrong! Upon hearing the card read, he said, "Oh great!  Let's go get started," then he headed to the playroom and began going through his things.  It did not take long at all for the two of us to fill up a box with toys, books, and some clothes.  

The most interesting part of this process was that when he was on the fence about a whether a toy should stay or go, he was often concerned about other kids who enjoyed playing with it.  He would say, "Bella really likes playing with that one," or "Those are Simon's favorites."  He did not want his friends to be sad about not having their favorite things to play with when they are here.

This is something we do fairly regularly, so we don't have an over-abundance of toys we don't play with, but we still managed to find enough to fill up this box...

Then we took the box to Rainbow's End, a community thrift store that sells low-cost goods, and whose profits go to La Puente Home.  Mason was very excited to take his box in...

We started the Yule Elf to bring the spirit of giving to life in our home, and it has been wonderful to watch Mason embody this.  He has hardly even mentioned presents for himself this year, and really gets excited about these "missions" of giving.  I hope the Yule Elf becomes a holiday tradition for years to come.

 

Visit our Magical Advent post to learn more about what we're doing this year.

 

 

Planetarium Fridays

We live in a small town, in a very rural area.  At first glance it may seem like there is not much "to do" here, but that could not be farther from the truth.  True, we don't have city things like museums, aquariums, zoos, fancy parks, etc., but if you look closer, there are many awesome opportunities just waiting to be discovered.  

About a year ago I discovered that the small university here, Adams State University, has a little planetarium, and they offer free shows to the community.  We have been regulars ever since!  We are regulars at the Friday afternoon showings of short movies, and sometimes go to Thursday evening shows when they have telescopes available for viewing the night sky.  

This past Friday we went to see "Oasis in Space", "A startling and beautiful voyage through our universe, galaxy, and solar system in search of liquid water, a key ingredient for life on Earth."

We usually go a little early to play around in the grass...(not something we have at our house!)

Heading up the stairs.  Mason loves the staircase with glow-in-the-dark stars and paintings of planets. 

The moon was up when we came out.

Mason wears his "space hoodie" everytime we go.  Ok, he wears his space hoodie nearly every day.  

I made his "space hoodie" from the Luka Hoodie pattern in Sewing for Boys (an awesome book!).

For local people, here is the link to the blog for Zacheis Planetarium, where you can find a schedule of movies and events, and more information about the movies.

Aaron (the Valley Papa) happens to work at Adams State, so we usually stay informed about concerts, events and other fun opportunities, and take advantage of all the wonderful things the campus has to offer our community.