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I cannot believe there are only 3 weeks left in this year. Preparations for winter holidays are well on their way. We will mostly be celebrating the winter solstice this year (that's when Santa will come as well), but we will also open some presents from our more Christian family members on Christmas. We are trying to find and incorporate traditions this holiday season that capture the magic and that we specially value as a family, but that are honest with respect to our roots and histories. We are lucky to be surrounded with people celebrating Hannukah, Diwali, Solstice and New Years this holiday season so the kids are not inundated with a single view of what the season is about. There has been lots of preparations and we are doing a holiday activity everyday in our "countdown/advent" calendar. Some days, like yesterday, it was a donation to Oxfam, other days it is a little craft, like making watercolor lanterns for our upcoming winter lantern walk or making clove-spiked oranges and yet other days we go to an event or a show- tonight it is the Nutcracker…there are many more shows to come given that Siena has a very talented set of friends, who dance, play cello and do ballet (this includes two of her own holiday concerts).

This is the kids putting up the holiday decorations, and more love…