Sunday, December 13, 2009

St. Lucia Day


"How special to be the beautiful Saint Lucia! In Sweden, the Christmas season begins on December 13, the feast of Saint Lucia, when the eldest daughter in each family poses as the fourth-century Sicilian martyr. Clothed in a red-sashed white dress, an evergreen wreath with seven lighted candles perched upon her head, the young Swedish girl begins the day by carefully carrying coffee and buns to family members in their rooms. That day, schools, offices, and communities sponsor Lucia processions in which everyone thanks the Queen of Light for bringing hope during the darkest time of the year."
~from Believe: A Christmas Treasury illustrated by Mary Engelbreit (98).

After receiving a lovely email from aslaug who lives in Norway, I decided to honor my Scandinavian roots (I'm half Norwegian) and celebrate St. Lucia Day in my own Pom Pom-ish way. So, I stopped at the store last night to pick up my favorite crazy candles, and today I made real buns (with YEAST and kneading involved!) and since it is my sister's birthday, too, I felt all happy inside (and Norwegian!) as I lit the candles and took the picture! What do you think? We had warm chili, too. The wind is blowing so hard that I'm looking for Mary Poppins!






Here are our little Nativity people that I bought twenty years ago. I found them at a little Hallmark store and even though they are tiny, they were a little more than I should have spent for a nonpresent during an expensive time of year. I'm so glad I did. Yesterday, CB came over for a while and she was enjoying them. She'd say, "You say, Mary. I'll say, WHAT?"



These funny crazy hairs come out every Christmas!











Little creches like this one were always the "gift" after singing in the church Christmas program at the Lutheran church I attended with my family. I was thrilled. I still am.



Here's my little drummer boy, Finnegan.


It's time to write the cards for my students. I have grading to do, too. Hmmmmm. That's a little more on the "to do" list than I'm happy with. Oh well. Five more days and my Christmas break begins! Yahooo!



And Sam is growing! I enjoyed cuddles with her yesterday. She smells delicious, peers at us with her lovely blue eyes, and adores her mama.
Have a wonderful week! I'm thinking about all of you! I am ultra-thankful for your kind words and connections! If I could call you right now, I'd sing you the "Carol of the Bells" and you'd be nice enough to listen. (BIG HUGE CHRISTMAS HUG!)

14 comments:

GretchenJoanna said...

That Santa Lucia cake looks good enough to--EAT! And I love looking at all your decorations, humans included. ;-)
Some time when you are commenting to Angela at Tracing Rainbows, will you tell her that I can never comment on her blogs--unless she will change the comment format to pop-up. Some of us seem to be on limited power somehow.

The dB family said...

Happy St. Lucia Day to you too, Pom Pom!! I know I've read about this lovely celebration somewhere before. Wouldn't it be wonderful to wear a white dress with a red satin sash!?

Love the photos too!

Praying you have a great final week before the Christmas break!

Blessings!
Deborah

Leslie said...

Oh yum. What wonderful looking buns. And grandchildren! And nativity. I love a nativity that is child friendly. And we heard Carol of the Bells in church today. It was a beautiful!

Bradley W. Maston said...

How many of those Norwegian girls burst into flames? Thank you for having us over this saturday, it was a joy to see you, and Cadence and Finn had boat loads of fun. I love you!

Michela said...

Such beautiful Christmas bit and bobs in this post! And sweet grandchildren!
We have an old proverb here, which says "Saint Lucia..the shortest day of the year!"
Enjoy your last week at work!

Anonymous said...

Lovely interesting post as always...thank you for sharing dear pom pom! :)

Angela said...

Oh, I had tiny little creche like that once. Wonder where it went!! happy childhood memories
bless you xx

Lisa Richards said...

Love your little creches! My hubby is Norwegian, so it was fun to read about St. Lucia Day!

Scrappy quilter said...

Oh how I love reading your blog. I love the little creche too. Wishing you a wonderful week. Hugs

Sara Padrusch said...

Hi Pom Pom!

What a great post about Saint Lucia! I love hearing about old traditions. Have you ever read the Tasha Tudor book "A Time to Keep"? You would love it! All about how each month was "kept" long ago.

You know that I swooned over those baby pictures! So, so, sweet! Thank you so much for sharing your treasures!

Gumbo Lily said...

Sweet post. The Santa mug is just like the ones I remember my grandparents bringing out each Christmas for Santa. Happy St. Lucia Day!

Jody

Kerri said...

I love the new look of your blog! Your babies are so cute! How lovely to see them so often. Sam looks bigger already!

Sue McPeak said...

Loved your St. Lucia celebration and story! I can see your Norwegian heritage...Queen of Light! Your SantaTrolls made me laugh! And lookie at Sam...she is soooo cute and sweet. Our Baby Bubba is sure getting big and recognizing his Nana! Pics coming soon on SKW!

Gigi said...

It's so great that you have this charming holiday tradition. Only, I always wondered how the girls keep from catching their hair on fire ;-).
I found the loveliest Carl Larsen painting of St. Lucia day when I was trolling around the internet the other day. Here it is:

http://www.holidayforeveryday.com/wp-content/400px-lucia_1908_by_carl_larsson.jpg

I love your adorable Christmas decorations -- so sweet! Those little trolls are a scream.

And that baby -- such a sweet little bundle of squishy love!

Bless you Miss Pom!

G

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