Angel Chimes

It feels like the weeks leading up to Christmas are flying by and filled to the brim (woah, mixed metaphors).  The last several days we've had fun things going on every day and evening.  We were all pretty exhausted this evening so I'm leaving some chores undone while I take a few minutes to blog, relax...and then review my calendar and make lists to I can try and squeeze in all the special activities we have planned while keeping up with our regular activities and chores.  I've been tempted to schedule even more Christmas activities, but I know we're precariously close to being so Christmasy that we completely miss the point of Christmas (and also fall over from exhaustion) so I've resisted the temptation for the most part. 

With all the comings and goings of the season, it's been nice to have some quiet times.  The other day Maddie and I had a nice time setting up the Swedish Angel Chimes that we bought when at a Scandinavian Festival with my Aunt Karen recently.  (I never blogged about that but it was a few weeks ago.  Aunt Karen goes every year and since I'm trying to learn more about my Scandinavian heritage, Maddie and I joined her for a special girls' outing.  It was fun to see the Scandinavian wares and Maddie got such a kick out having such a grown up outing.)  Once we set up the chimes, Maddie loved watching the candles flicker and the angels spin and chime.  I remember my mom setting up our angel chimes when I was a child so to do the same with Maddie made me a bit nostalgic.

In case you've never seen these chimes before, the heat from the candles causes the angels to spin and chime.  Despite my explanation, Madeleine preferred to believe it was some sort of magic and who am I to try and convince her otherwise.