christmas magic is here

(Sorry it's been so long, I won't dwell on it, all of us are crazy busy rite, just how it is.)

When I was little my mom ( in top photo) made us feel that winter was the most magical season of all. With St. Nick arriving early in December and St. Lucia Day beginning on the night of December twelfth.
As a family we would bake the sacred saffron cream rolls on the eve of the twelfth, recipe here. We would make wreaths of juniper boughs and make ready all of our white dresses for our early morning journey. Even though it was hard to sleep that night our mother would wake us by candlelight at 5am to begin our tradition. We would put our white embroidered dresses on top of our pjs, put a wreath on our sleepy heads and grab a large basket of rolls or orange slices.
We would make our way, by candlelight, to many neighbors homes, good friends who knew we were coming too. We would wake them by their bedside, in a halo of candlelight giving them a few rolls and oranges. And than we would quietly walk out and onto the next home. The five children and one weary mother would tromp back home rite around daybreak, where my father would make hot chocolate, scrambled eggs and we would all choke down a few more rolls. We would nap on couches until it was ready to go to school. It brought magic to us, bring back the light to our neighbors and good friends, that Christmas was coming.
This year we switched things round a bit. My mom came over during nap time and woke my boys by candlelight to help us make St. Lucia rolls. Sleepy boys at the table making aliens and bears and the traditional shapes out of the dough. We spent time together in front of the Christmas tree, eating our prizes. Thinking about my siblings(1,2,3,4) and my mom and what a perfect way to begin the Christmas magic.