Tag Archives: magic

The Magic of the First Snowfall

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IMG_2343The first snowfall of the season is such a magical time. I love waking up to the snowy morning, seeing the world blanketed in snow. It makes it feel like Christmas and I want to run downstairs and put on the Christmas music, regardless of the date.

Now I know for those of us who have to get up, scrape the car and venture onto the road to go to work, the first snowfall of the season may not seem like so much fun. There’s no magic in people seemingly forgetting how to navigate in the stuff (cause don’t we all have short term memories and have to relearn how to drive in it). It’s stressful, it’s slippery and you’re wondering what idiot is going to come out too soon, or too fast and cause an accident.

But I invite you to see (and remember) through the eyes of a child, what that first snowfall feels like. The excitement and wonder of the snow coming down. Itching to get out to play and enjoy it.

IMG_2341Our first snowfall this year was on a Sunday, which is a little easier on many of us. We did not have to get up and go anywhere. We took pleasure in the white stuff. I did run downstairs and turn on the Christmas music, dancing around the kitchen with the kids. Luke’s eyes glowing as I spun him around. Luke and Chloe rushed through breakfast and then scrabbled to get their coats and boots on to go outside. Happily chattering about how maybe they could make a snowman and snowballs.

IMG_2344They shoveled it, they laid in it, they wanted us to get out there with them and play in it. And we did, we got out there and helped them make the first snowman of the season, adding the traditional carrot nose and rocks for eyes. Using big sticks for hands. We threw snowballs and made paths through the snow, playing and enjoying the wintery wonderland.

Once we were tired and cold we came in to enjoy hot chocolate, one of those wonderful treats that is so loved and enjoyed on a cold snowy day after playing in the snow. The kids loved it! We loved it! and that feeling of coziness and warmth carried on with us throughout the day, as the big fluffy snowflakes continued to fall to the ground.IMG_2347

I even ventured out to do some errands in the afternoon and found the roads to be not bad at all. Yes I know not everyone is a lover of snow, and it does have its drawbacks when you have to travel, but maybe just maybe if we all looked at it through the eyes of a child, and took a moment to remember those feelings of fun, play and laughter. All the good times we had in it, that might be enough for us to drive to work feeling more at peace with the snowfall, giving that extra space to the car ahead, feeling content and happy with where we are and the feelings of joy that this wonderful white stuff can bring! I know it may sound a little hokey, but it’s true 🙂 And this morning when the kids got up they wanted to head out and play in the snow once again.IMG_2349

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Playing with the Fairies

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As a child, growing up fairies were not uncommon. They were in our books and stories and parents would often refer to them as helpers of some kind or another. Magical, whimsical creatures that are playful and fun, yet can also be mischievous.

As I grew up I never thought much about it until I embarked on my spiritual path and started learning more about Angels, Fairies and other realms. It’s all pretty fascinating and if you choose to believe and work with them, can be quite magical.

Fairies are the protectors of animals and the environment. They are wonderful healers, helpers and help us to remember the importance of play. Though they are the most abundant outside they can also reside inside as well. They love lush, wild and natural gardens and will help you create a beautiful garden if you wish (among many other things).

Children especially can relate to and connect with the Fairies. Because they are so open, creative, imaginative and accepting with pure hearts full of love, the fairies often easily connect with children.

A great way to welcome fairies to your garden or home is to create fairy houses – and whether you choose to believe in them or not, this is a great craft for the kids that is lots of fun and can add wonderful decor to your garden.

In fact I taught a class a number of years ago with children about fairies and we made our own fairy houses. In a class full of only boys, they were so focused and engaged for 45 minutes! making their houses with great attention and detail. I was also so excited about it I started my own fairy house.

You can make your house out of pretty much anything but here’s what you need to get started:

popsicle sticks

white glue

glue gun (kids use with adult supervision)

small glass beads – clear or colored 

twigs

leaves

acorns or pinecones

play doh or clay

small pieces of bark

small stones

tin foil

For the base you can either make four walls out of popsicle sticks or you can take twigs and glue crossing over each other, log cabin style. This is how I started my house and then made a popsicle stick roof. Basically what you want to do is create a base for your house, four walls and a roof and then decorate it adding in things like a stone chimney (toilet paper roll with small stone glued to it and put on the roof), glass beads to outline doors and windows, clay to cover the roof and give it texture, etc. Get creative!

 

You can either have the kids sit down and design their house first on paper or if they like to create as they go along that works too. What I did was take the kids outside to create their design and then gather materials to make their house. They gathered things like leaves, twigs and small stones – I had brought old branches from my raspberry bush – to make their houses. The more natural materials you can use the better as the fairies will appreciate it! Also ensure that you are not picking live things to create your house, gather things that are already on the ground.

Whatever the kids come up with will be beautiful and appreciated. You can also make a house within your garden by building around existing trees and bushes, setting up paths, etc. And the fun part is putting it in your garden and then watching for signs of the fairies coming there!

*Note: if you are putting your homemade fairy house outside you’ll need to use a sealer once you are done building to make it waterproof, so that it is protected in the rain.

Would you like to learn more about the Fairies? Join me live on April 14th for a free workshop all about the Fairies!

 

For more information and ideas on how to make a fairy house check out these websites http://www.fairyhouses.com/about-fairy-houses/how-to-build/ http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Fairy-House

Learn more about the Fairies in Fairies 101 by Doreen Virtue. This is a very easy read and a great introduction to them and what they are all about.

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Getting Ready for Christmas

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Over the past couple of weeks I have started to get ready for Christmas, decorating the house, baking, and creating Christmas lists. It is a great time of year as I start right after Halloween, breaking out the Christmas music and Christmas movies and start transforming the house.

I clean as I go, so the house gets a thorough clean, even if it is only once a year (ha ha! -seriously I do clean a little more often). But often this is the time when I get into some of those nooks and crannies that get missed in the regular cleaning. It gives the house such a nice fresh, warm, cozy feeling.

Gingerbread House

I always wonder why the house feels so nice around Christmas time, all decorated and warm, I can just sit there for hours and gaze at the lights or watch the fire. I don’t know if its the anticipation of the coming holiday and events, or if it is simply a cleaner, less cluttered house (as I put away a lot of the extra things that are around); or simply the feeling of love and acceptance that permeates the world at this time of year. I often wonder, as I am sure many of us do, why cannot we not experience this feeling throughout the whole year?

One of the things that is the most fun about Christmas is watching the kids reactions to things, especially the little ones. This year Luke and Chloe being almost 3, are very aware of what’s going on and are constantly expressing their excitement and delight in what’s going on. So each day when I put up something new, Luke and Chloe are there oohing and awing. Because for them it is like they are experiencing it for the first time. Even though they have had 2 Christmases already they don’t really remember or get what it was about.

And it makes it so fun for me to introduce something new and make it special. When I put up the garland in the living room, I made sure the lights were plugged in the next morning so that they could see it when they came downstairs. “Oh Mommy look lights!” they run to tell me in delight; and then we had to leave the lights on all day.

When I put up the snowman shower curtain in the bathroom they started jumping up and down and clapping “Oh look snowman! Penguins!” Then they wanted to touch it and look at it and hang out in the bathroom for awhile.

Snowman & Penguin Shower Curtain

Chloe helped me one day take out some of the Christmas Party Lite candle holders I had. Her eyes lit up each time I brought out a new box and she delicately helped me open and unwrap them. She put snowflakes in the bathroom, and thoroughly examined the gingerbread house.

Both Luke and Chloe love the outdoor lights on everyone’s houses, especially the snowman across the street, that Luke diligently goes and checks on after supper each night. They love the nutcracker on top of the tv and talk about Santa Claus every day, not because he brings them presents but because they know and recognize him, but that he is a part of Christmas. Even when we are shopping in the store, Chloe is oohing and awing and pointing out the Christmas decorations.

It is going to be a wonderful Christmas this year as I continue to watch Luke and Chloe discover it. Everything is new, everything is exciting, a wonder and delight to look at and discover. Matthew enjoys and gets excited for Christmas as well but now that he is older it is for different reasons and some of the wonder and delight he experienced as a young child is not as present as it used to be. It makes me a little bit sad to realize this, not only for him, but for us adults as well. Why not experience the pure joy and delight of the season not only this year, but every year. What if we were to approach it as if it was our first Christmas, something to delight in and discover, share the joy and excitement? Imagine what Christmas would be like for all of us, experiencing the joy of a Christmas decoration, seeing things through the eyes of a child. What a magical, wonderful season it would be for us all, each and every year. If we allow ourselves to enjoy the little things, the joy in the lights and decorations, regardless of the amount of presents under the tree, our hearts will be full and the magic of the season will truly be upon us.

Party Lite Snowflake Candle Holders

And why not apply this throughout the entire year? Find the joy and excitement in everything in our lives, big and small, especially small, because sometimes even the smallest things bring us the greatest joy. Many of us say that it would be nice if the feeling of Christmas lasted all year, well it can, we just need to be grateful and appreciate what we see and do each day. Because there is love and beauty in everything and if we approach each day like a 3 year old with the attitude of what delights am I going to discover today, jump up and down and clap our hands, ooh and awe, what a delightful existence and world we will have!

So this Christmas (and after that as well) as you prepare for the season, decorating and doing all the things you usually do, pretend you are like a young child experiencing it for the first time, seeing life through their eyes, where every day is a discovery, an adventure, a wonderment of looking around the corner to find out what’s new. You’ll discover very quickly what a wonderful space this is to be in and it will become easier and easier to do so. Like anything it may take practice as some of us adults can be pretty stubborn and set in our ways, but the results of this shift will make such a difference in our life and the world. How can you resist such a wonderful and easy solution? If we live from our hearts with love we can never go wrong, just like a child, watch the world of wonder unfold around us.

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