My Birdsong

A New Year of Peace

I wish you all peace as we enter 2008. It will be a year of new beginnings for our family, as we move forward into the first year without our beautiful teenage daughter. I hope you all take time to truly enjoy your families, hug your children and love them as if they will leave tomorrow. Because we don't know what the future holds. All we can do is enjoy the gift of today. I wish you all peace...Iva

"Even through the experience of this pain, I am grateful for the intensity of my love for the one I have lost."
                                       ~ Martha Whitemore Hickman

Light a Candle Dec. 9 to Remember a Child Who Died...

...that their light may always shine.

Tomorrow, December 9, we will be lighting a candle to remember our 17-year-old daughter Brianna who died in June. The Worldwide Candle Lighting is sponsored by The Compassionate Friends (TCF). Bereaved parents, siblings, grandparents, relatives, and friends from across the globe will join together for one day out of the year to remember a child who has died and know that the world remembers with us. I invite you to participate, whether at a formal service, at home with family and friends, or wherever you may be.

While the event is officially observed for one hour at 7 p.m. local time around the world, services, both formal and informal, will be held throughout the day.  More than 435 Worldwide Candle Lighting services are listed on TCF's national website and more are being added every hour. There are listings received and posted from all 50 states plus Washington D.C. and services in 18 countries abroad. In addition, there is a tremendous show of unity as chapters of many allied organizations have joined in the Worldwide Candle Lighting this year including Twinless Twins, MISS, POMC, MADD, and BPUSA. Churches, funeral homes, memorial gardens, hospitals, hospices across the country, local bereavement groups, and informal groups of bereaved families are also participating.

I hope you join John, Trevor and me in remembering Brianna and all children of any age who have died. It is a day when you can light a remembrance candle and know that yours is joining with hundreds of thousands around the world.  If you'd like to find a Worldwide Candle Lighting event near you,  visit Worldwide Candle Lighting Events.

We  miss you  Brianna, and our grief is so great. We know that you would want us to continue on and that your light will shine on.

It's Worldwide St. Nicholas Day!

 

Santa Fest Today

It's time to join the fun of Santa Fest on the web today. I was wandering around the ZNE Network and found this cute little Santa event on Belinda Schneider's blog. This is what I learned.

In many places St. Nicholas is the main gift giver. His feast day, St. Nicholas Day, is December 6, which falls early in the Advent season.

In some countries he comes in the night and finds carrots and hay for his horse or donkey along with children's wish lists. Small treats are left in shoes or stockings so the children will know he has come.

St. Nicholas is prominent not on Christmas, but on his day Dec. 6, which is the primary gift giving day. Parties may be held on the eve of December 5th, and shoes or stockings left for St. Nicholas to fill during the night. Children will find treats of small gifts, fruit or nuts, and special Nicholas candies and cookies. St. Nicholas gifts are meant to be shared, not hoarded for oneself.

St. Nick Puttin on the Ritz

So in the spirit of the big Jolly One's day , I will be attending a cookie/recipe exchange luncheon. I had to make eight dozen cookies, that will be split into 15 bags of six. Well mine are so small, I decided to just make 15 dozen! Whew! And, I only ate one, even though I could have eaten a dozen. After the exchange, I will come home with a basket full of assorted cookies along with the recipes. I wish I  could invite all of you. Maybe we should have our own cookie exchange in blogland?! Has someone already thought of that?

These little white bite-size delights are so easy. And thanks to my dear friend Alissa, I was able to whip them up in a little more than an hour. The hardest part for me was getting the chocolate melted right. I finally got the hang of it.

I don't know the name of these sweet treats, so you'll have to make one up. I think I'll call them St. Nick Puttin' on the Ritz - I don't know, it's original?! Here's the recipe:

1 package Ghiradelli white chocolate morsels

1 box Ritz Bitz peanut butter sandwiches

1. Melt the chocolate according to the package directions.

2. Dip a Ritz Bitz into the chocolate, and place onto wax paper until cool and hardened.

3. Package nicely, and then pop a few in your mouth with a cup of hot tea. Voila!

Easy schmeazy!! Brianna would have loved these. When she was in the hospital, she relied on Ritz Bitz to hold off the nausea from all the drugs she was on. I lit a candle while I made them so she would be with me. I will package these up in little glassine bags, include a card with the recipe, make some swedish turkey meatballs to share with the group and enjoy an afternoon of eating and visiting with many who helped during the past year.

I hope Santa finds you today at peace during this holiday season....Iva

 

Tis the Season for Tea & Swaps

	I don't know what it is about the faces of these little Santa's, but I just think they are adorable. The little elf has a pinecone for a body and is holding a mini bottle brush trees sprinkled with snowy glitter and decorated with candy-cane striped floss. I guess it's his eyes that make me feel like he is so mischevious. I've put together two more of them and will have them available on my website. I was also working on my ornament swaps for two events - a Christmas tea and my PFATT sisters (Primitive Folk Art Tea and Talk) on eBay.  The look of them all lined up, tied up with pretty ribbon and lots of sparkle feel so festive. I'm really trying to stay busy now, because if I stop for too long, the grief just pours out of me. It's a very hard time of year for people like us who are missing one loved so much and so young. I really do hope you take the time to be thankful for your family and the blessings you have. It's difficult for us to think about the good in our lives, because we have lost so much. But we realize there ARE blessings we have been given, like our smart, handsome son Trevor, who just escorted a girl to the high school winter ball. And, our supportive friends, who are there to listen when we are down, and there to help us  laugh. I encourage you all to stop and take stock of the good around you.