Holidays 2014 - Part One

I would like to say that I did not post about our holiday season until now, because it was a period of rest and time to walk life slowly.  Although there were moments throughout the season to breathe deeply and reflect, it did not happen as much as I would have liked.  As a family we did find that daily breath and reflection time in our observation of Advent.  The kids get so excited each year for our daily readings and ornaments to hang.  This year we enjoyed Ann Voskamp's new release Unwrapping the Greatest Gift in the evenings in addition to selected scripture readings in the mornings.  Although we already had two previous sets of ornaments from her prior publications, I couldn't help but print out the free printable ornaments to match the book.  The kids jumped right in and colored them beautifully which we then put on a wall calendar in our kitchen.  I am so thankful for this family tradition and for the deeper understanding our children are gaining from year to year of the significance of Christ's coming to be with us. 

Building a gingerbread house (thanks to IKEA) was also a repeat activity for us this year.

Non-stop Christmas baking seemed to encompass the entire month.  Baking for neighbors, Caritas volunteers and friends, in addition to what I bake weekly for those who attend Caritas plus for our own family meant that I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  Oh and my dishwasher decided to die on me the beginning of the month and did not get fixed until just this week.  I had an ornament hanging near my sink that simply said "joy" which I needed as a reminder when the sink was an overflowing mess! The kids helped as they could but school kept them busy all the way until the 23rd.

Tray of cookies for a friend who had cancer surgery right before Christmas. She was overjoyed since she was not able to bake herself.

For our neighbors, we gifted them my homemade grape jelly from our fall harvest, a jar of cookies and Jonathan's CD. Our gift deliveries to our six neighbors took less than 3 hours this year, but still we had some time with each of them and are thankful for this time of year when hearts and homes are more open.

Ten plates of cookies for those that volunteer weekly at the local charity.

I was tired even before we hit Christmas day but it is always worth it to give and bless others in the name of Jesus.

Kleis Family Singers

We had the privilege of singing together as a family for the Christmas service on December 28th at the church in Torino that we are attending.  Jonathan of course insisted on composing a song and finished it with just a couple of days to learn and rehearse as a family.  Surprisingly this is the first time that we have all sung together.  Thanks to our Christmas guests, we had someone to take a video for you to see.  We are a small community and no one runs the sound system apart from turning it on, so therefore you get to hear mostly Jonathan's amazing voice instead of all of us, but the kids were singing even though you may not hear them.

Here is Jonathan's version of Psalm 98 put to music...

As another side note in the music department, Noella has been singing on the worship team and Emma even sang one Sunday with her.  Not necessarily considered the musical one of the family, however when you can count the number of regular women attendees in church on one hand, they will take any voice. ;)

Reading by Luca

So proud of Luca and his growing confidence in Italian and for his desire to read the scripture reading in church today before Jonathan's sermon.  (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

Birthday Time

Turning another year older isn't so bad especially when surrounded and loved upon by my precious family.  For the busy time of year that it is, I have to give great credit to my husband who always finds ways to celebrate my birthday amidst the holiday hustle.  This year, my actual birthday was a busy day of baking for our weekly ministry to the poor, then spending all afternoon with those needing assistance at Caritas, and concluding with some parent-teacher conference meetings.  Well, the later my husband offered to attend while I cooked dinner.  (Great reports by the way from Samuel's professors)  Jonathan made me a fantastic cheesecake again this year.

Wednesday was a lighter day for us so we extended the celebrations and even took Emma and Luca out of school for the afternoon so we could do something fun as a family. Seeing as they have to go to school up through the 23rd, we had no problem playing hooky for an afternoon. Jonathan started out the day by taking me up to the Superga that overlooks Torino.  It is a landmark church that is visible from all across the valley and a sight you see from an airplane view as you descent into Torino.  Unfortunately, we have not been the best tourists to our own area and are determined to change that in 2015.  This was a good start and a gorgeous view of the Alps and valley.  There are hiking trails all around the hilltop and we hope to take the kids for a sunrise view on a clear winter day.  If the mountains are breathtaking from down here below one can only imagine what they look like from this view on a clear day. And unfortunately, these pictures don't do the view any justice.

For the afternoon we headed out to see a movie followed by dinner.  Bonuses included free popcorn at the theater, no cooking for dinner and ICE SKATING for FREE! It is rare to come across freebies in Italy and we hit two in one day! The kids were elated to try ice skating for the first time.  This particular outdoor mall had a rink set up where you could use skates at no cost (okay, well you had to show a receipt that you bought something at the mall--but a coffee would have counted).  It was an unexpected surprise to us and so much fun! And it worked out well since we had a half hour to spare before the restaurant opened up.

I couldn't tell if Luca was struggling to skate or if he just found it fun to fall and roll on the ice. By the end of the half hour, he was so freezing cold and could not wait for dinner to be over so he could go home and change out of his wet clothes.  A special birthday filled with fun memories...

Strike Day

Strikes in Italy are generally communicated well in advance whether that be for a bus strike, train strike, gas strike or teacher strike.  There is usually enough time for you to make the appropriate adjustments even though highly inconvenient.

Strike notifications come frequently for the schools, but rarely do they actually follow through.  This week only Samuel and Luca received a notice of a teacher strike for Friday.  Emma did not, because well her teacher never misses a day or opportunity to more forward with her lesson plans, thus she NEVER strikes. It is communicated to you that you need to bring your child to school and verify whether or not the teacher is present before leaving your child.

Today Samuel arrived at school to find out that the professors for the first four hours of the day were on strike, and to return at noon for the final two hours since those professors were not on strike.  Each class section was different as some resumed classes as normal and some were off for the full day.  Like a studious and obedient student Samuel returned at noon to discover that he was the only one from his class that actually came back. I guess the students struck back. Instead of sitting in on the 8th grade English class and providing conversation for the students between he and the professor for two hours he called me to request I come pick him up. Go figure.  At least it was a productive morning for him here at home to get ahead on homework for the weekend.

Luca ended up having classes which is what we expected.

Emma's "Mega" Animals

I can hardly believe that I have not posted anything yet on Emma's obsession with the rainbow loom. She discovered at the end of the summer that in addition to making bracelets on the loom you can also make animals. With that discovery she was hooked (no pun intended) and has since gone from easy to extreme levels of difficulty on her projects. She has the patience to watch video tutorials on YouTube and if she gets bored she'll just invent the rest of the animal on her own. It is amazing to me the projects she has created without instructions.

For her birthday she got over 20,000 bands and she is plowing right through them! She even got Nano hooked on the craziness and they enjoy sharing new projects with each other every week on webcam.

Anyways here is a look at her "Mega" animals that I would estimate took her anywhere between 4-10 hours each, depending on the difficulty.

But first here is where she started...

Her most recent project: a Phoenix

It is hard to see in the picture, but there are two layers of feathers for the wings.

Wolf...

Tiger...

Pegasus...

Her invented reindeer complete with Santa hat...

And nativity scene...

November Wrap-up

It was a busy month that passed all too quickly, but here is a look at some happenings in November.  Yes, we did carve our pumpkin a day late, but the traditional still held, so better late than never.  As our family in Michigan received record levels of snow this month, we have been enjoying our temps in the 50s and are still waiting for the first freeze of the season.  I have enjoyed my roses into the fall which makes me happy.  Our fall colors reached their peak mid-November.  Thankful for it all!