Christmanukkah

My dad's wife is Jewish, as are her children. My dad, my brother, and I are all not Jewish, but rather varying degrees of Catholicism. It hasn't been an issue at all in the whole family dynamic until the holiday season.

The girls are young (5 and 7), and there were worries that they would get all swept up in the Christmas celebration and Santa and everything that they would forget about Hanukkah and their faith. I didn't really think that would happen. After all, just because they're kids doesn't mean they'll forsake their religion for a fat man in red. Anyway, I digress. We finally figured out what we would do for Christmanukkah- since Boo got home from college on the 14th, and I wasn't done til the 20th but had the weekend free, and since Boo and I are spending REAL Christmas in Nashville with our mom, the Old Man and Co. decided we would celebrate and exchange gifts on the 15th.

We chopped down a tree together, which was my Jewish Mother's first "holiday" tree.

After bringing it home, Dad, Tiny Person #1, and I decorated the tree while everyone else was at birthday parties and shopping and whatnot. Once Tiny Person #2 returned home, she and TP1 and I took Sassy the Santa dog out for a walk. We headed down to the park and back home, and GUESS WHO VISITED US WHILE WE WERE OUT.

Santa must've heard that there were a couple very good Jewish girls who he hadn't ever visited, and their step siblings who were only in town for a couple of days, so he stopped by early to bring some holiday cheer. 

Sassy the Santa dog, wearing reindeer antlers and a festive yarmulke. 

Santa must've been following my facebook posts, because I got a LOT of presents that I had my eye on. Some Lord of the Rings legos, comfy socks, chocolates and beef jerky, Moonrise Kingdom, a journal for my European travels next fall, a gift card to my local quilting shop, other bits and bobs, and a polaroid camera and some quilty things!

I'm very excited for the shenanigans that this bad boy is going to see.

 

I've seen blocks from many bloggers from the Simply Sensational 9-Patch Stars book, and I am SO EXCITED to be able to make them now! And the Fat Quarters are from Carolyn Friedlander's Architextures line. I'm so excited! I found these fabrics online like a week ago while I was in studio making architecture work, and i got a huge kick out of them. Topography lines, trees in plan view, blueprints, crosshatching, and even architectural notes are all over these fabrics, which is highly appropriate for the work I do in school. Who knows, maybe for my final project I'll design a building out of fabric!