Traditions - In Like a Lion

March is right around the corner, and we want to celebrate this crazy month (which, by the way, holds St. Patrick's Day, Day Light Savings Time, and Easter this year, as well as some crazy weather patterns) by starting with the old adage, "March comes in like a lion, and out like a lamb."  

Lions at the Columbia Zoo

Although I am thoroughly enjoying this "lion-like" blustery, wet, cold-then-hot-then-cold-again weather, I can't help longing for the more lamb-like conditions where we can start planting our vegetable garden.  

I love to play in our garden!  We have a postage-stamp-sized back yard, but I've always wanted to grow my own veggies, so four years ago, my husband and neighbor built me a little raised bed garden.  (You can find similar plans to build your own here.)  Ever since then, we have trying our best to make our little plot of earth produce as much fresh produce as possible.  

For us, gardening is a family affair.  It is a great excuse to let the kids get dirty, learn about plants and growing, sizes, shapes and colors, and create an incentive for them to eat their veggies.  (Kids are much more likely to try a vegetable that they had a hand in growing.)

2 year-old Jesse playing in the dirt

Showing the size difference in the tomato and pumpkin seeds

3 year-old Jesse showing off his first (over-ripe) cucumber.

Hooray for cucumbers!

Every year they boys get more involved.  At 4 years-old Jesse helped plant the herbs, while Micah sat watching in the stroller.  (Notice the chubby baby legs sticking out in the upper left corner.)

We try new vegetables every year, too, although we've had the most luck with tomatoes and herbs.  Sometimes we use mature plants, but mostly we plant from seed.

Last year, I skipped the store-bought seeds starters and made some out of newspaper instead.

Jesse helped pick out and plant all of the vegetable seeds last year, too.

Watering is very important!

Micah (1 year-old), checking out the growing cucumbers and tomatoes.

Jesse stealing snow peas

Gardening has become so much more than a way to provide fresh produce for us, though.  It's a way to connect with my kids, and it's a tradition I hope they continue when they have their own gardens.  

I just ordered all of our seeds for this year's garden - green beans, shelling peas, snow peas, big boy tomatoes, grape tomatoes, green peppers, strawberries, carrots, cucumbers, shallots, and spinach...and I can't wait to get started!!

(((Amy)))

Little Acts of Love - Traditions

   

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries are beautiful to look at and sweet and juicy to eat.  They are very easy to make, and so impressive looking.  I made these for a little treat for Valentine's Day.  At the grocery store each chocolate dipped strawberry delicacy cost $1.00 each.  Instead, a bought a box of 20 strawberries and some dipping chocolate and made the whole box for less than 30 cents each. This has been my Valentine's tradition for many years.

    

But that is not what I was intending to write about today.  In 1992 Dr. Gary Chapman wrote a book called "The Five Love Languages".  According to Dr. Chapman each person has a main way of giving and receiving love.   Here are the five he writes about:

1.  Words of affirmation

     If this is your love language words are more important than actions.  Just saying "I love you" means more than any material thing.  A compliment or spoken words of appreciation will make this person's day.

2.  Quality Time

     The most important thing to this person is spending time together with attention focused completely on each other.  People who value this quality time value listening skills and also feel it's important to be listened to.

3.  Receiving Gifts

     The thought behind the gift is what is most important to this person.  For this person holiday gift giving is very important.  An unexpected gift is appreciated more than anything.

4.  Acts of Service

     If you are this type of person, having a chore taken off of your hands is a more powerful gift that an "I love you".  It has nothing to do with laziness, but an appreciation on the value in another person doing something that the other does not want to do, like doing dishes or laundry, simply out of love.

5.  Physical Touch

     No words or gifts need to be exchanged.  If physical touch is your love language, all you need is a little tenderness.

     Of course the book goes in to much more detail.  

     I have a friend whose love language is quality time.  Her husband's love language is acts of service, so a good date for them is to go to Home Depot together, so they can pick out a new thing for their home (a light fixture, a ceiling fan, or 100 other options), and then they go home and he installs it for her.  Everyone wins!  I have another friend who loves giving gifts.  When she gives me something I used to feel guilty because I am not a big gift giver.  Even though she likes to give gifts her love language that she likes to receive is quality time.  It gets complicated.  Sometimes you may just have to have a conversation so you can better understand the people you love and they can better understand you.

     Here is your challenge, in order for our relationships to be as rewarding as possible, think about the people in your life and what their love language is. Try loving someone in their love language and see what happens.  You might be surprised, and it may even spark some new traditions for you and your family.

Traditions: Valentine's Day

Welcome to February, the shortest (and therefore more glorious) of the winter months.  And that means that Valentine's Day is just around the corner!  How did that happen?!?  This week we'll be celebrating a little early with a "Hearts" theme.  Stay tuned all week for an Etsy Shop update and projects and inspirations to get you in the mood for love!

I did a little research to see where Valentine's Day originated.  In around 270 AD, the Roman Empire had expanded to the point where it was no longer feasible to defend its borders or rule over its citizens.  The empire was under attack from all sides, and the emperor needed a strategy to strengthen his army.  He believed that men who are single made better soldiers because they fought like they didn't have anything to lose.  So he outlawed marriage.  Sure...that's logical.  :o/

Along came Saint Valentine.  He saw how distraught young, star-crossed lovers were that they were no longer permitted to marry.  So he started performing wedding ceremonies in secret.  Eventually he was discovered and thrown into prison.  His jailer had a daughter who was blind.  According to legend, Valentine healed the jailer's daughter, and they formed a friendship.  Valentine was sentenced to death, but before he was executed, he wrote a letter to the jailer's daughter and signed it, "From your Valentine."

It wasn't until a few centuries later that Valentine's Day became associated with romance.  Apparently, the impetus was a poem written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1382 that contained the line "For this was on Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate."  Now don't get me wrong...I'm a Chaucer fan.  (I actually started out as an English major in college largely due to Paul Bettany's Chaucer in A Knight's Tale.  Again...very logical.)  But I don't really see how that line fueled a romantic frenzy.  Nevertheless, that's how it happened, or so my sources say.  Young lovers started to use Saint Valentine's Day to send one another gifts and love letters.  By the early 1800s, paper Valentines were being mass-produced in England, and by the 1850s, the industry had expanded to the States.  And it was all downhill from there.

Personally, I've gone through stages when I've said that I hate Valentine's Day...that it is just an excuse for greeting card and candy companies to exploit people who are in love.  But even in my most outwardly cynical state, I have always been a romantic at heart and had great expectations for the day.  This is something that it took my husband, Jason, a few years to figure out.  We had a string of dismal Valentine's Days in our dating years.  But since we've been married, I've tried to be better about making my expectations very clear instead of wanting Jason to be a mind reader.  Our Valentine's Day tradition is now pretty straightforward: Jason and I write each other love letters, and I don't have to make dinner.  And that makes for a lovely day.

I'd love to hear about your Valentine's Day traditions.  Do you exchange gifts?  Do you do something special for your kids?  Do you hide in a closet and wait for February 15th?  How do you let the special people in your life know that they are loved?

Monday Traditions - A Good Book

Neither of my parents were avid book readers when I was younger (mostly because I never saw my mom sit down long enough to read a book, and my dad was always reading stacks and stacks of political meeting minutes for our town), but my sisters and I cannot get enough of a good book.  I will voraciously attack a book series originally intended for middle-to-high-school-aged girls!  (Yes.  I have read the Hunger Games series approximately 6 times.  Yes.  All three books.  Six times each.  Don't judge!!!  I'm a stay-at-home-mom and I don't get out much.)  But in all seriousness, I really do love to read...to get caught up in the characters lives, envision where the story might take them next, and mourn the loss of reading about them when I come to their story.

Even though my parents didn't read a lot of books themselves, they made a huge effort to read to us every night before tucking us into bed, and both were amazing story tellers.  That's how they met, really.  Both worked at a historical village where my mom was a weaver and spinner and my dad carved decoys.  Both could tell a story, complete with character voices, that would have every member of the audience completely captivated.  My dad loved, in particular, to retell the old Brer Rabbit stories, and my mom would spend an entire 1 1/2 hour car ride to see our grandparents regaling us with the epic Wizard of Oz.

A few years ago my dad started writing down stories about his grandfather, Alonzo.  Alonzo was dead long before my sisters and I came into this world, but I now have an account of his life seen through my father's eyes.  My dad then went on to write a book on his father, and is working on one about himself.    

The cover of Alonzo and Me, complete with "limited edition" sticker.  

Alonzo's book is filled with pictures of important places and events in the Gibersons' history.

My mom followed suite with a book called Traditions, where she assembled all of our favorite family recipes and added some of the best stories from her childhood and ours, all in a binder where we can add our own recipes and stories.

You've seen this before here.

An excerpt from "Easter" from Traditions.

I treasure both with all my heart!  It is such a huge gift to be able to see a glimpse into my family's history, written down, with the characters expanding past the pages they are written on.  It's almost magical, and my favorite kind of book.

Whatever your choice of literature is, whether it's historical, fiction, or inspirational... I think it's really important to read something.  Something that expands your mind, makes your heart swell, or challenges you to become a better you.  And I hope to pass this love of reading on to my boys.  I want them to be able to imagine a better tomorrow because they've read about the past.  I want them to love the written word, and make up their own stories, too.

What kind of books inspire you?

Monday Traditions: How to Enjoy A Warm Cup....and a MUG SWAP!

I read an article a few months ago, and instead of paraphrasing, I'm going to post the first couple of paragraphs.  If you find this as interesting as I did, you can read the rest of the article here.

"I recently asked a friend of mine who had just returned from Spain what the best part of her trip was, and her answer surprised me. She said she had seen the most amazing thing in Spain. No one in Spain walks down the street holding a cup of coffee. 

Spain has a real coffee culture. In other words, not only is the coffee good and varied, but people sit in cafes and enjoy it. Sitting and enjoying is so much a part of the experience that it is fairly difficult to even find disposable cups at a coffee place. In America, it is exactly the opposite. It would be hard to find a regular porcelain cup at most coffee places in the United States. In fact, when I recounted this story to another friend, he wondered what they drink their coffee out of in Spain without disposable cups." ~ Rabbi Davie Kalb (The 3,000 year old secret to switching off in a switched-on world.)

I was discussing this with a friend of mine (who has been a missionary to various parts of the world) what her experiences with the coffee cup have been.  (Hi Elise!!!!) :o)  She now resides in Latvia, and says that only very recently, disposable cups are being offered at coffee shops, but not for the purpose of on-the-go guzzling. "If you drank coffee on a bus, people would give you strange looks," she said,  "Instead, people will take their coffee to the park, sit down on a bench, and drink it there."

Really?  Are we Americans missing something here?  I rarely think of my cup of hot tea as something to "enjoy."  Okay, maybe the first few sips...the rest might as well be administered intravenously for the sole objective of caffeine intake.  And honestly, I usually have to reheat my beverage about 4 times before I even get a chance to experience the last sip (which, more often than not, is lukewarm at best).  What about you?  Do you use your time to drink your warm cup of coffee or tea to relax, reflect, and enjoy life?  Or do you gulp it on the go, hoping for the sweet relief of caffeine to acquiesce your mind and body into alertness?

On this Monday morning, I would like to offer a little challenge.  Can you sit for ten minutes and enjoy a warm cup of coffee or tea without any distractions?
No computer.
No newspaper.
No book.
Stare out the window if you must.
Resist the urge to put on music or the television.
Put your feet up, let your fingers intertwine around your mug, watch the steam send swirling bits of magic into the air, breathe in the fragrance of sweetness, and sip.
Feel the hot ceramic on your lips.
Breathe.  Sip. and Breathe again.
And if you find your mind wandering to the busyness of your day, try thinking of one thing you're thankful for for every sip you take.
Repeat until the cup is completely empty.  And you are joyously full.
This is how to enjoy a warm cup, my friends.  Let's try this together, shall we?   

And to offer a little bit more inspiration, we will be hosting a MUG SWAP!!!  For me, my mid-afternoon treat is getting out a pretty mug and filling it with something piping hot.  So why not share some mug love and inspire someone to ditch the styrofoam cup and experience the joy of a hot beverage on one of these chilly winter mornings?

Here's how it works:

 The Swan Bay Family Mug Swap

1.  Shoot us an email (swanbayfamily(at)gmail(dot) com) with your name and address....and while you're at it, leave a comment below to say, "I'm in!" (I think if people see there are lots of people who join in, they will be more likely to participate.)
    
2.  Spread the word!  The more people who participate, the more fun it will be!  Share this post on facebook, instagram, and twitter! 

3.  On Friday (the 25th) , I will be facebooking or emailing you your assignment (the name and address of someone else you will be sending a mug to.)     

4.  On or before Friday, February 1st you must find and mail your mug.  It can range from $0 (Hey!  I found a fun mug that I never use in the back of my cabinet) to $20 (let's not go too crazy, people.)  It can be from Etsy, Target, a thrift store, the dollar store...there are so many fun, creative, funky, and pretty mugs out there!  If you want to save yourself a step, you can order your mug online and ship it directly to your recipient.

And don't worry...I'll have the master list.  I will harass anyone I need to until all mugs are delivered safely to their new homes. 

I hope this will inspire us to start the tradition to ditch at least one disposable cup a week and cozy up to a warm beverage.  Let the mugging begin!   



***The Mug Swap is now Closed.  Thank you so much to all who participated! ***

Monday Traditions- Bundle up

This week's subject is Bundle Up!  When I think of this phrase I immediately think of Randy from the Christmas Story stuffed into his red wool snow suit like a sausage, unable to put his arms down or  walk.  Not very comfortable or appealing.

For me, the best way to bundle up and stay cozy warm is in a quilt.  Quilting has been traced back as far as ancient Egypt.  In the Middle Ages quilted garments became popular among knights who wore them under their armor.  In America in the 18th and 19th century quilts provided great insulation against the cold, especially to the colonists as clothing was sparse, and making fabric was very labor intensive.   A mother's apron, a brother's shirt, a sister's pajamas could all be cut into pieces and made into a very functional piece of art and became a very important part of life.

Quilts not only would keep you warm but became a social event.  It was not uncommon to find groups of women gathered around a quilting frame solving the world's problems as they worked on each other's quilts.

Quilting has become so much more than just piecing together old pieces of fabric.  Local quilt stores sell fabric that can be mixed and matched for as many patterns as there are stars in the sky.  One of our favorite places to shop for fabric is in Haddonfield, NJ at a place called The Little Shop.  (It feels like a candy shop for the eyes when you walk in!)  One morning, the day after we had visited The Little Shop, my daughter Amy got up and informed me that she could not sleep the night before.  I asked her why she did not try counting sheep, and she said she tried, but that gave her a stomach ache.  Her next method was to count bolts of fabric while she lay there.  It worked.  I may have to try it sometime.

My neighbor Denise and I started quilting  over 15 years ago, never realizing that we began with one of the most difficult quilts.  I ended up using batting made from my own sheep's wool, which gives the quilt a great feel and is really warm.

Want to start your own quilting tradition?  I suggest you start with an Eleanor Burn's Book, "Quilt in a Day Log Cabin Pattern".  All of her books can be found here.  As long as you remember that a "day" is 24 hours you will not become frustrated by the amount of time it takes.  You will be able to create a family heirloom that will be cherished for generations.  I just want to warn you that quilting can become addicting and you may have to make more than one once you get started.

Here are some of my favorite quilts that I have made over the years.

A pieced pumpkin quilt

The snowman is made with three crazy quilt squares, a piecing method made popular in the Victorian Era.

This quilt is made with all hand dyed fabric that I experimented with and pieced together.  It loosely depicts a waterfall at Letchworth State Park near where daughter Megan went to college in Upstate New York.

This was my first quilt, a lone star quilt. Crazy!

This is a cathedral window quilt made by daughter, Robin.  It is incredibly labor intensive and I cherish it.

This wreath quilt is made with 9 log cabin squares.

In the next week or so we will be posting our new Hands On History website where we will be offering ladies Saturday retreats, where you can get away for a productive and creative day, and make something that will become a treasured family heirloom.  Snacks and lunch will be provided.  I am so excited to share more details very soon!  (We'll let you know when our new website is up and running.)  In the mean time....

 

I hope you will all take some time this chilly January to cozy up with the ones you love under a nice warm quilt!

And check back with us a little later today (9:00 AM) so see the winner of the giveaway!!!

Monday Traditions: Let It Snow!

Now that the Christmas tree needles and New Year's Eve confetti have settled, we find ourselves in the middle of plain old winter.  I know that a lot of people love this time of year...the skiing, the snow angels, the special stillness that comes with a freshly fallen snow.  I've got to admit--it's not my favorite.  I hate being cold.  No really...I hate it.  It's on my list of the top three things that I hate: going to the dentist, having hiccups, and being cold.

This is me...disgruntledly bundled in my husband's 13 pairs of pajama pants in an effort to get warm.
This 2 bedroom apartment had 18 inches of heating coils.  Total.
Result: much grumping from Robin.

Nevertheless, winter does have its advantages.  My favorite part of winter is the possibility of snow days.  Those glorious days when you wake up to find that school (or work) has been canceled, and you have all day to stay home without the inconvenience of having to stay in bed with some ailment or another.  You can just play.

Another bit that I love about winter is when the power goes out.  Now, I understand the dangers of power outages.  And I know that when big storms come, people can lose their homes and even their lives.  But what I'm talking about is the little power outages: a fallen tree, ice on the lines, those sorts of things.  The power goes out for a few hours, and the world stops.  I remember when we lost power once in college.  It was a winter miracle.  We all turned off our computers and wandered into the dorm lobbies as if awakening from a dream.  We brought out guitars and board games.  We stopped stressing over papers and projects and looked one another in the face.  It was magical.

Growing up in the Giberson household, power outages brought a different sort of magic.  I'll give you the basic rundown.  My dad has been the mayor of our town for as long as I can remember.  He is also the emergency management coordinator.  And he grew up in a time when every power outage lasted at least two weeks.  So when the lights went out, he kicked it into high gear.  He frantically ran around the house telling us to fill the bathtubs up with water, collect buckets of snow, find the flashlights and the candles, dig out extra blankets.  It was an emergency, and it was a serious matter.  I can appreciate that.  It's his job.  But after the preparations were made, and my dad was busy tracking down the electric company, the governor, the national guard, etc., my mom, my sisters, and I would light a candle and gather around the dining room table with a deck of cards.  We would play rummy and crazy eights, and we would laugh and enjoy the opportunity to spend time together.

I remember one night in particular, we were hit in the dead of winter with a nasty storm.  This time, the power really was likely to be out for quite a while.  It was cold, and my dad was particularly frantic.  We Giberson girls were unfazed; we commenced our normal ritual of card playing and simple silliness.  In the midst of our game, we asked each other "Would you rather..." questions.  For example, "Would you rather be a princess, a mermaid, or the manager of a Dairy Queen?"  And we told jokes.  On this particular night, the joke that made us all laugh the hardest was: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one's around, and it lands on a mime, does anybody care?"

The Far Side comic where the joke originated.

Unfortunately, our laughter was too raucous for such a serious emergency, and my dad insisted that we all go right to sleep.  My mom was still laughing when she climbed into bed, and my dad demanded to know what was so funny.  She told him the joke, and he answered with a disgruntled harrumph and rolled over.  A few minutes later, the bed started to shake.  My dad battled to maintain his serious demeanor, but in the end, the laughter won out.  He just couldn't help himself.

That night has become iconic to me.  I think of it every time the power goes out.  It reminds me not to panic.  It reminds me not to take myself or life's little emergencies too seriously.  And most of all, it reminds me to relish the simple pleasures of time spent unplugged in the company of my family.  Isn't that what we all really need?  A little time away from a screen, engaged face-to-face over a candle and a deck of playing cards?  It's become a fundamental ritual and honored tradition that I have continued into my married life.  Whenever the power goes out, it's time to reconnect over a game of rummy.  And no matter how cold I am, the light of the candle dancing on my cards and the faces around the table reminds me that I am home, and life is good.

So as you are preparing for the next big storm, saving water in milk jugs and battling crowds for batteries and non-perishable food, remember to include a candle and a pack of cards in your emergency kit.  And if all else fails, allow yourself some simple silliness.  What do you think?  Would you rather be a princess, a mermaid, or the manager of a Dairy Queen?

Beginning Traditions

     They say that everyone is three generations away from being forgotten.  I would like to make sure that that does not happen by building traditions that will hopefully last long after we're gone.  I never met my Grandmother but as her story goes, she was a Russian peasant who was married at 14 and had her first child at 15.  Shortly after the birth of their first child, Monya's husband was shot.  Monya pulled the bullet out with her teeth and wrapped his wounds with her petty coat.  They decided that they were not safe in Russia so Monya's husband went to America to start a new life for the young couple.  When the time was right, my Grandmother walked from Russia to Belgium with her infant son at night to board a boat to America.  How people even found each other in America is beyond my comprehension, but they did reunite and eventually had three more children.  Her husband had a bad heart, and to help support the family, my Grandmother opened a Russian tea house in Princeton.  Shortly after, her husband died, and she later married her egg delivery man (my Grandfather) with whom she had a daughter (my mother).
     All that said, I have often wished that I had even one of Monya's recipes as I have been told that she was a very generous, charming women who was also an amazing cook and baker.
     About 5 years ago I decided that I did not want to be one of those forgotten generations and that our family traditions should be documented.  It took me two years to complete it.  Anyone who knows me will tell you that it is very difficult for me to sit still.   So to sit at a computer and type recipes and quirky family happenings over the past many holidays is not easy for me.  Each recipe was put into plastic pages.   I made an index by holiday and put all the pages in a binder for easy use in the kitchen.

     On December 21, 2009, I put the last pages into 4 copies of our Traditions Cookbook and wrapped them with Christmas paper, ready ahead of time (which never happens) for Christmas present opening by my three daughters (and me).  On December 22 I was rushed to the hospital with a stroke.  I remember laying in the hospital bed thinking that I was so glad that I wrote this book, so it will be ok for me to go.  But God had other plans.  I did not die, (or I would not be sharing this with you right now).  I had no residual effects from the stroke, and now I can keep adding to our book and building more family traditions with my grandchildren and more generations to come.

Here is one of the recipes that  I would like to share with all of you that I have been making for my last forty one New Year's Eves:

Chocolate Fondue 

6 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup light cream

1/2 cup buttter

1/8 tsp salt

Fruit for dipping: bananas, apples pears, mandarin orangers, peaches, blueberries, strawberries

You can also use pound cake or marshmallows

Melt all ingredients together in a pot, stirring to prevent sticking.  Transfer to a fondue pot to keep warm.  Give each person their own fork or skewer for stabbing the fruit and dipping into the warm chocolate.

P.S.  Don't forget to leave a comment on our first post for your chance to win an awesome gift basket from us!