The boys helped me make Hershey Kiss Peanut Blossoms before Christmas. It was surprising to me how fast it went with four little helpers!

(…an amusing note before I begin…when I was typing in “blogger,” I typed “blooger” instead. Isn’t that funny?! Oh, it’s not? Nevermind.)

As I am working in the kitchen today, I have my CD player to keep me company. Today’s choice is Peter, Paul, and Mary’s A Holiday Celebration. I know, I know. But, like many of you, given my age, and the age of my parents, I grew up listening to Simon and Garfunkel, Peter, Paul, and Mary and John Denver and all the rest.

And truth be told, I still really enjoy this album. I brought it to college with me and got my roommate hooked on it. And now my kids are learning to love it. This afternoon Ben found our copy of Tomie DePaola’s The Friendly Beasts and asked me to sing it with him. After I sang a little for him, I asked him if he’d like to hear it on a CD. So he sat at the table and paged through the story as Peter, Paul, and Mary sang the song. And then he asked to hear it again.

This is a live concert recording that the group did with the New York Choral Society and a full orchestra. The album has “The Friendly Beasts” and many other less well-known carols, like “The Cherry Tree Carol,” “A Soalin’,”and “I Wonder as I Wander.” It also has a rousing version of “Children Go Where I Send Thee,” and a song called “The Magi” that will make your hair stand on end, or if you happen to be driving, your foot will somehow become a bit heavier.

Sadly, I turn in my official “child of a flower child” (grand-flower-child? Flowergrandchild?) card when I skip #12…yup. Every P,P&M concert must end with “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and I usually push my friendly “skip” button…sorry.

Part of the reason why I love this album is that it’s been in my life so long. When I hear it I see visions of my Dad rolling his eyes at the loud Christmas music that inevitably descended on the house on the day after Thanksgiving. I hear my friend Michelle belting out “HOW SHALL I SEND THEE?!!”. And I can see my college roommate Michaelanne doing her best “Mary” cigarette voice, singing “I Wonder As I Wander.”

Plus, it’s just darn fun.

Other obscure albums that help us celebrate the holidays are Ray Charles’ The Spirit of Christmas, Michael Card’s The Promise, and A Very Special Christmas.

What are your favorite obscure Christmas music selections?

It’s been pretty quiet here on the blog lately, I know…we’ve had some colds going around, but mostly it’s been Christmasy fun that’s keeping me busy.

On Wednesday night, we drove to McAdenville — check out their cute website here — to take in the lights.

Now, because any family outing would not be complete without a twenty-minute boring diversion, David and I decided to turn the wrong way after exiting the highway and drive. And drive and drive and drive. And then we stopped for directions at a somewhat scary side-of-the-road place with not four but FIVE cats outside! And that made it very exciting for Mommy and the boys, who were stuck in the van while Daddy went inside to ask for directions and buy the requisite package of cookies to justify our annoying the clerk.

So then, we turned around and got headed in the right direction. Aaaah. Wait, is that it?! The clerk said, “you can’t miss it.” But we were a little gunshy for obvious reasons. Countless times we found ourselves squinting through the darkness, wondering if we were missing it.

But then, there it was: a line of slow-moving cars turning right and a little sign that said “Christmas Lights —->”. And so, feeling a little like cattle, we, too, turned right, switched off our headlights, and joined the slow-moving parade.

Here’s a little of what we saw, but with the scope of it, it’s hard to capture.

This made us laugh…a pickup truck DECORATED WITH LIGHTS. The back was full of kids.

We were waiting with eager anticipation to hear Jonathan’s reaction, since for the first two weeks of December, everywhere we drove in the dark was greeted with a cheer of “MO-MORE MISSMASS!!!”. But apparently by this time in his life, Christmas lights are old news, because he was remarkably silent. I finally turned around and said, “Jonathan, look at that!” when we saw this:

and he said enthusiastically, “THAT ALL MISSMASS!!!”

Which was enough for Daddy and me, thankyouverymuch.

And here is my favorite house, which apparently excited me so much that I started falling over while taking the picture:

The nice thing was that, for the portion of the ride during which my window was rolled down, every single person who walked by our van wished us a Merry Christmas.

Improve your mental dexterity and benefit the world’s hungry population by playing Free Rice!

Yesterday we went to our friends’ home to decorate gingerbread houses.

A lot of eating happened, too.

Last night as I was tucking Ben into bed after the concert, I asked him what his favorite part was. He responded with, “11.”

He meant, of course, number 11 on the CD, which is the culmination of the piece, where all the melodies from each number thus far overlap into a beautiful crescendo. But I had to laugh at the way he just knew it as a number.

For those of you who were unable to attend the “Behold the Lamb of God” concert with us last night, here’s one of my favorite pieces, “Labor of Love,” sung by the lovely Jill Phillips.

My favorite line:
But the baby in her womb/ He was the Maker of the moon/ He was the Author of the faith/ That could make the mountains move

This should successfully shatter any clean, dewy Christmas card images of a nice clean stable with the breath of animals keeping Mary and the baby warm.