Growing up I thought it was about waiting patiently, or pining away rather impatiently, for your prince-charming to come by on a white horse with chocolates in a red-heart-shaped cardboard box (the bigger the better) and cut long-stem roses to sweep you off your feet in love, admiration, and fantastic fantasy. *blink, blink* back to reality…I don’t like horses, have been afraid of them since I was 5 years old and watched the movie The Black Stallion, most drugstore chocolates are wrapped in not-so-eco-friendly packaging, contain tons of preservatives and artificial colors and flavors, and those cut long-stemmed roses, I’d rather have a couple lovely rose bushes out back, thank you.

February 14th is actually the Roman Catholic feast day to celebrate the Saint Valentine(s), neither of whom were linked to anything romantic. So, we are Catholic, but where does that leave me, a non-cradle Catholic, and our family? What am I going to do this Valentine’s day with my family? What do I want my children to come away from this holiday learning, feeling, and doing? Well, perhaps we can adopt some of the soul-ful elements about connecting with those you love from the commercial holiday and start to build some of new family traditions unique to our family.

If you have been reading here for a bit, you know I am most certainly a planner…so, in the planning mode, I plan to make this February 14th about sweetness just like this:

• send snail-mail hand-written notes to those we love and admire and tell them why we do
• document what we love and admire about these special people so we can remember these wonderful bits for years to come
• create a few heart-themed surprises like heart-shaped gluten-free cookies and stuffed heart pockets filled with sweet treats and trinkets we can keep close to our hearts when we are remembering who loves us

What do you think about Valentine’s day? What do you do with your family to make it a special time.

P.S. These little hearts are inspired by SouleMama’s The Family Heart idea in Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures. Read about the book in her words at her blog. Can you tell she is one of my favorite crafters?

We went to NJ this weekend for my brother-in-law’s wedding. It was a wonderful event filled with friends and family, food and drink, and God and warm welcome. I am so happy for the wedding couple, and I can’t wait to see what life has in store for all of us as extended family.

My little ones served as ring bearer and flower girl, although neither of them walked down the aisle without me. (Actually the flower girl had to be carried.) But needless to say, as you can see in our pics, both had a wonderful time when not in the spotlight.

Kam. Persimmon in English that is. This time of year is when we get beautifully ripe, sweet, soft fruit from the Asian market. This persimmon you eat, peeled with a fork if it is soft. Or you can also eat it dried. There is another variety of Kam that gets so soft you have to eat it like a soft boiled egg. I turn it upside down on its head, score the skin with a knife and peel it back, and take a spoon and enjoy.

On our fall season honeymoon to Korea we saw tons of persimmon trees just loaded with fruit. And we also saw the traditional way Korean people dry persimmons hanging outdoors.

The other thing I am loving about winter, is that I am finally well enough to finish our handmade Christmas presents. Socks anyone? This bricker pattern you can find here.

What are you loving about the winter season?

Whew, what Korean Krazyness this weekend. My husband has a very large family whose Korean tradition it is to gather on New Years day. We dress in traditional Korean hanbok, bow to elders, receive and give gifts of money, and eat a beef broth soup with meat dumplings and white rice cakes to symbolize a “clean new year.” With a home filled with so many people ranging in age from 13 months to 82 years, huge steamer pots on the stove filled with 300 dumplings made by halmony (grandmother, and many toddlers running under-foot, things get confusing and fun.

To top it off, my BIL is getting married this weekend and chose to have his Paebaek ceremony the same day. This means more elaborate traditional Korean wedding hanbok, a traditional table set with food symbolizing good luck, fertility, and infidelity, more bowing, and gift giving.

How lucky we are to have so many family members close by (50+) and traditions that have been celebrated for hundreds of generations. I am happy that my in-laws choose to keep these New Year practices alive and that my children and I are able to partake!

Seh-heh bokmahnee bahdeuhsaeyo! May you have good fortune in the new year.

Tyler can recognize his written name and knows that his sister’s name begins with letter “S”. I proudly watched my 3 1/2 year old tell his sister which gifts were hers and which were his. Sydney loves to rip the paper. (I wasn’t going to use wrapping paper this year, but my husband graciously took on the responsibility as head-gift-wrapper, and decided to use paper. Next year perhaps we will add a bit less to the landfills and stick to crafted ornaments and luxurious woven ribbons.) Nevertheless, Sydney is a ripper. Tyler-second-name-is-perfectionist, likes the paper off with no tearing whatsoever. Slightly impossible, but almost doable.

I was so filled with joy when I saw T & S smile broadly at my handmade creations. When Tyler saw his felt applique playmat lovingly named “Tyler Town” he immediately fetched his bin of cars to line up on the “race track road.” Trains also soon were running on the railroad past trees and the police station, and cars were lining up for a fill-up at the gas station.

Sydney hugged her stuffed flannel ladybugs close, squishing them with all her little might. And she even tried to feed her “baby” doll a felted strawberry from her new felt food collection.

One of the two gifts I purchased was for my husband. His gift was a certificate for a 90 minute professional massage and a coffee-shop gift card for a bit more relaxation and indulgence, free from the stress of kids, work, and chores. He is so wonderful to me, helping me get out the house for my own bit of peaceful-time-away, but he seldom gets the opportunity to just get-away. I believe everyone needs a bit of their own time, just for themselves.

He purchased for me just the thing I had been wanting for months now. I am wearing my new sporty, low-cost, kid-proof, watch as I am typing this. I am sure to be on time more often now that I have a timepiece again. Knowing the time is something I can’t live without.

I gave “rainchecks” to a few people whose gifts aren’t yet finished. As I sit on the sofa, with a box of tissues with lotion and a cup of hot tea, I am knitting that second sock in blue alpaca wool, and needle felting the last of my pine tree/chickadee design on that cashmere throw blanket, and tucking in those ends on the many mittens I knit for those who have grown close to our family this year.

As this year draws to a close I am reflecting on what I have learned, and what I am looking forward to in the new year. Blogging this year has taught me so much. Other bloggers have taught me how to feel, how to write, how to connect with others, how to explore many passions and avenues of creativity, how to remember others in this world, and how to live in the moment. I have learned that stress is my drug. I have learned perfection isn’t who I want to be. I have learned that as a parent I am still a student. I have learned that passion and enthusiasm are wonderful. And I have learned to reevaluate daily what I am putting first in my life.

I hope to continue writing in this space for me, and for you reading. I hope to share with you my travels as I organize what is meaningful in my life by exploring creativity, craftiness, nature, soulful living, and family life. We here at the Park household wish those of you reading a very happy, joyous, and prosperous new year. Keep Creating.

Photo by allerleirau

I think the last time I hand-made my holiday gifts I was a child. I remember crayon drawn pennants of the New York Giants NFL logo (my dad is a huge fan), sewn pouches, coupon booklets for extra hugs, and decorated paper boxes of treasures collected. As an adult, with many more relatives to give to, I can certainly see why so many shop for already made gifts. Although I have to say, finding the “right gift” in the sea of commercial excess isn’t always easy either.

I didn’t always celebrate Christmas. I am adopted and my parents are of different religions, and didn’t practice when I was a child. To spread the commercial-gift-giving-cheer, our family exchanged presents on New Years day. (It was great to always catch the after-Christmas-store sales for purchased gifts.) My mom took extra time to make her special meatballs, cardamon spiced sticky buns, and home-made egg-nog. My dad’s culinary specialties were cole-slaw and fruit cup salad.

I remember the night before my dad would tuck me in and say “see you next year.” I’d panic until I realized that was only tomorrow, a few hours away. I’d awake early of course, excited to add my presents to the pile of gifts in our living room next to the antique steamer trunk. My parents’ home is solar heated in part, so holes cut in the floor are covered with antique floor iron grates with vent panels that open and shut. When I opened my grate I could take a peek and see the pile of wrapped gifts just waiting to be opened.

I had to wait until 8 am (although when I was younger I suspect the hour was a bit earlier) to wake the parents to go downstairs and open gifts. I remember my mom would wear her fuzzy robe and slippers, and my dad, an early riser, would already be dressed for the day.

We’d head downstairs, and marvel with excitement and anticipation at the stack of presents on the floor. Somehow the dog was never interested in the gifts. We’d open presents, call far-away relatives on the phone, play with our new toys, and eat wonderful foods. I always loved jig-saw puzzles, so there was always one to piece together with my dad. I think we also watched football since it was New Years day. The Giants of course.

As I grew older, traditions changed. By the time I was in college, my family started to exchange gifts on Christmas, although we didn’t attend church. When I moved to Washington, D.C. for my first professional job, I returned home for Christmas vacation.

But after meeting my husband, and joining the Catholic faith, I now celebrate Christmas with my young family.

I hope to start many traditions my children will remember (and blog about) when they are older. I am eager to make gifts along side them, decorate cookies with them, and reach out to those less fortunate with them. My rediscovered passion for hand-making gifts is definitely from my childhood. I am lucky to have had parents who encouraged personal creativity, who grew value in natural awareness, and who nurtured a sense of organic generosity.

To make a long story short, I am not going to be able to finish every gift I set out to make this Christmas. Everyone will eventually receive their intended hand-made gift, but maybe this year a little after the celebration of Christ. Nevertheless, I am ever so thankful this year we will gather together in warmth, love, hope, and prosperity. We all wish you and your family a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year.

Photo by Brian Indrelunas

I took a trip to one of those big-box stores today. The first trip in a long time…and I was saddened by selection of the toys I saw.

My children were hanging out of the cart on both sides, admiring the figures behind plastic, stuck still in their awkward upright positions. I heard a lot of “wooooow mom” and “looooook” and “I want that!” I think I too was a bit dazzled at first by the collect-the-set kinds of plastic toys in rainbows of bright colors. But then I took a step back as I was looking for some “real” toys for the Toys for Tots charity, and then I couldn’t find many.  

Where were the wooden building blocks? Where were the wooden jigsaw puzzles? I did find crayon sets, picture books, and a few real die-cast metal toy cars. Where are the baby dolls you dress in your own hand-sewn clothing designs? Where are the chemistry sets that help you make sugar rock-candy? Are the days of real wood, paper, and metal gone?

As I was walking in the aisles filled with plastic, I saw a shadow of me of the person I once was and the life I chose not very long ago. It was a life of the newest, shiniest, and the most technologically advanced and more is better. Maybe I picked up this attitude from shopping at stores like this one, or reading popular magazines, or watching popular TV, or going to trendy spots. After reading around the blogosphere a lot this year, I have changed my life quite a bit. Well, a lot. Remembering the way I was brought up in the rural country, living a slower, simpler, more organic life got me thinking about what I really want to have in my life and incorporate into my family’s life, and what I really want to eliminate.

I want to eliminate excess and waste. I want to incorporate real materials, love, and feeling. I feel a little re-born, and I feel a bit more “grown up.” But I feel lucky to be turning this corner of life’s journey.

Reflection is an interesting thing, reminding you how far you have come. Now, off to find those wooden building blocks.

In the past we really have gone over-the-top. With a several thousand dollar budget, I catered his first birthday in a private party room.Baby jungle animal themed decorations included 100 balloons (some larger than the birthday boy), coordinated table cloths, paper and plastic-ware, ceiling hangings, stationary, and a custom printed banner and stickers. I baked a two tiered carrot cake complete with fondant baby jungle animals and we invited more than 100 friends and family. I also rented the traditional Korean first birthday decorations for the Tol ceremony. The child sits at a table and is offered many symbolic items that tell his or her future. Our son grabbed the pencil to be a scholar first and then stuck both of his little fat hands in the rice bowl, which symbolizes that he will never go hungry.

At two years old, I pulled back a bit with a budget of several hundred dollars in coordinated decorations. I prepared tater-tots, chicken nuggets, juice and fruit at home. A cake the shape and color of the Lighting McQueen car from Disney topped it off and the kids ran outside to play in the kiddie pools, blow bubbles, and run under the sprinklers.

This year, I decided to do even better with activities that are meaningful to our family, presents that he can actually enjoy, and fun he will remember. For birthday number 3:

• Frugal: I used what we already had. We ate our barbeque from Lighting McQueen plates I forgot I had and leftover red plastic-ware.
• Simple: The focus is on fun. We plan to play outside with his playgroup buddies and the minor side story will be cupcakes and balloons. We asked that no one bring presents because we want the focus to be on fun, not stuff.
• Meaningful: We focused on family. We invited only immediate family (and a few out-of-town cousins) to celebrate with us so that there was a manageable amount to take in.
• The focus is not on “what do I get.” My son has never been all about, “give me, give me.” But this year we decided to give him one bigger present: a model car he put together with daddy, and just a few creativity presents: paints and paper. He plays with this car more than the 30 smaller cars from past birthdays, and his paints are consumable so after they are finished they don’t equal clutter.

Throwing kids birthday parties doesn’t have to be about impressing other parents.It can be about giving your child a day of simple fun. Giving your child stuff may cultivate a reliance on things to demonstrate their self-worth. It is hard for me to not give him everything. I want to really badly. But I know possessions aren’t going to teach him the value of self, only that possessions are valuable. Maybe the reason I still want to give him everything is because I still haven’t totally grasped the value of self?

How have you created birthdays for your child that are simple, frugal, and meaningful? Leave a comment here and share your party planning ideas with others. Also, check out my printable party planner pages here to help you organize your next event! Happy Organizing.