Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent -- Dec 18th

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent

Each week, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.)  NOTE: next week's link will probably posted on Tuesday.

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

My kitchen arrangement (hides the dishes in the sink) all decked out for
Advent (purple and silver additions).  I have Christmas additions ready to be added.

Christmas is only a week away!  I finally have all my gifts purchased, the house is modestly decorated, and I have purchased the ham for Christmas dinner, but that is about IT!

Faramir expressing his feelings about the frozen food section of Wal-Mart.
His face mirrors my feelings!

The tree is still sitting in three pieces waiting to be assembled, and I am PRAYING that all the lights work, because the entire metro area is completely OUT of lights.  Unless you want pink.  Or blue.

Our Saint Nicholas collection on the family room mantle.

Haven't done cards or even the photo to put on the cards...I'm afraid I'm going to have to do an "e-card" this year.  Which would be a step up from last year, but sadly won't be able to go to the many friends for whom we only have mailing addresses.  I keep tell myself that I do have until Jan 5th to get cards delivered, right?!?!

Found this cute little lantern for $5 at Lowe's.  Added the bow and jingle bells, then
stuffed the Christmas lights inside the lantern, too.   Sadly, no fresh pine garland here.

I still have friends' gifts to deliver (Fig Jam made from our fig tree), grocery shopping to do, and gifts to wrap.  And that doesn't include the fun stuff I want to do (go see lights, etc) or the cleaning we need to do for company.

Fresh pine garland - smells so good! We hung sweet little white lights in the garland
to begin with.  But 1/3 of the strand was out!  These were the ONLY white lights I could find.
They aren't wonderful, but they work!

But more importantly, my heart doesn't feel very prepared for Christmas which will be here regardless of my readiness, won't it?

The kitchen mantle: My crochet garland with traditional Swedish straw ornaments.
 I made one of these in white last year and love the way it looks on the tree. 

What was it the narrator of the "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" says?

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” 

And by all means it does.  Lord, help me live into that meaning this year!

If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts! 

For those submitting links: 

So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent -- Nov 27th

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent

Each Sunday, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.)

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

The first Sunday of Advent, and a new liturgical year, is here!  It came in gray and slightly cool at our home...with a batch of cinnamon rolls to coax the kids from their beds and get them out the door in a pleasant mood.  It is always so hard to get up this first Sunday of Advent after the busy-ness of Thanksgiving.  And we only did a little Black Friday shopping!  (Hubby and I went to a few stores looking at rugs and curtains for our kitchen which desperately needs some noise absorbing textiles.  Didn't buy anything, but probably will this week.)

We said good-bye to our Thanksgiving company: my mom, step-dad, and grandmother on Saturday morning.  There were movies and playdates in the afternoon - and very tired kids last night.

This is the first Advent in a long time when we are not about to or have just recently gone through a major life change: in 2008 it was pending adoption travel, in 2009 it was a newly adopted baby, in 2010 a new home (and the flu)...and now...nothing.  Baby has been home for nearly 3 years...and we've been in our new home for a little over a year.  Wow - normalcy....will we know what to do with it?

If it is any indication, I actually have my Advent box emptied, the wreath assembled and some of my Advent books ready to be used as needed.   So, that bodes well!  You'd think someone who has lots of great ideas to share would be totally ready for Advent, right?   ** sigh **

I have managed to put together a menu plan.  Do you menu plan in advance?   I find it REALLY helpful!  Otherwise I wind up wandering around in my pantry, or worse the grocery store, trying to think of SOMETHING to have for dinner.  The trick, I think, is not being married to the menu plan, just dating it.  LOL!  Seriously, though, I just use it as a helpful tool...not at all written in stone.  You'll notice that I plan breakfast and lunches, too.  Since we are home all week together, I plan these meals for the kids.  Hubby and I tend to eat leftovers for our lunches rather than the "kid" food.

So, today, my contribution to the Nativity Carnival is my Menu plan for the Nativity Season.  If there are any recipes that you'd like me to share, just leave a comment!

If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts!

For those submitting links: So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent -- Nov 20th

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent

Each Sunday, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.)

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Christ the King Sunday, November 20th, 2011

Yesterday was Christ the King Sunday, also known as "Stir Up Sunday".

While I don't have any plans to make a Christmas Pudding, I thought perhaps a recipe that requires some good stirring, but could be made well ahead of Christmas might be in order.  So, I'd like to share with you a recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Bread.  I found this on Food.com, so I can take NO credit for it.  This also freezes up beautifully...and that is one thing I love to do this time of year, make easy sweet breads that can be frozen and then brought back out whenever we have company or I need to take a treat to share to a party, etc.  This would also make a nice baked good gift.

Spiced Pumpkin Bread
Makes 2 loaves.

3 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
3 lg eggs
1 can or pumpkin (16 oz)
3 c all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 c coarsely chopped nuts (recipe recommended walnuts, I've used pecans.  But I've also omitted these altogether.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour 2 9x5x3 loaf pans.  Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. (I didn't pull out my mixer for this, just used a spoon to mix energetically.)  Mix in eggs and pumpkin.  Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder into another large bowl.  Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions.  Mix in nuts, if desired.  Divide batter equally between two prepared pans. Bake until knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Transfer pans to racks and cool 10 minutes.  Using a knife, gently release bread from side of pan.  Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.


Some feast days coming up in the next couple of weeks:

:-: Saint Clement's feast (November 23rd) - stock up and feast on clementine oranges!  (I wonder if that is why they got this name?  Anyone know?)  He's also the patron saint of blacksmiths and metal workers.  It is the day before Thanksgiving, so I'll be polishing silver.

:-: Saint Andrew's feast (November 30th) - Andrew is a patron of many localities and countries (Scotland, Greece, diocese of Constantinople, Germany), so you have your pick of foods to choose from.  Since we have Scottish roots, we'll probably have something from this tradition.  Might also make some felt "thistles" to pin to our lapels.

:-: And Saint Nicholas Day is only 2 weeks away (Dec 6th)!  Will you be celebrating?  This is a special feast day in our home!


***And finally, I want to point you to a lovely and simple Jesse Tree resource.  I love that these readings are only enough for us to have to do a few nights a week to keep up.  With four children, there was always someone going somewhere...or something coming up that kept us from staying caught up with other Jesse Tree readings.***

If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts!

For those submitting links: So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent -- Nov 13th

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent

Each Sunday, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.)

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Oh, my have I been grouchy this week.  Every day it seems I notice more and more Christmas decorations going up in grocery stores, department stores, and neighborhoods.  All I can think is, "We've still got eleven days before Thanksgiving, people!"  And in my book, even THAT is too early.  But two weeks before Christmas?  And some stores have been setting out holiday displays for nearly a month now!  It is hard to take.

Our Advent wreath from last year.  Very simple.  Glass taper holders on a cake stand with clear
and purple flat marbles and greenery.

However, did you know that some Christians are just about to begin their preparations for Christmas?  No?  Neither did I until recently.  But these Christians do it right...they actually FAST during Advent.  Imagine that...while the rest of the world "parties on" (with excesses of food, decorations, and activities), these Christians quietly prepare to receive the Incarnation, the Christ Child.  Who are these Christians?  The Eastern Orthodox.  Their Nativity Fast begins on Tuesday, November 15th.  Depending on the church (Greek, Russian, Antiochian, etc) some will fast very strictly (no meat, animal products, or oil) and others allow some animal products to varying degrees.  And even with these restrictions, practices vary based on personal abilities. (You Orthodox out there, please correct me if I get any of this wrong.)

Those of us in the west, particularly we Protestants, could learn a valuable lesson here.  I am finding more and more the truth in the vacuum theory.  Nature abhors a vacuum...and this is true in human nature as well.  When we remove something (fasting before feasting, in this case), our natural tendency is to fill it with something else and of course that would be more feasting!  Protestants (especially American Protestants), in their zeal to "de-Catholicize" their faith, have removed from their practices so many of the traditions of the Church that these vacuums are then filled with junk from the secular culture.  

Kalliope in the very dim light of our Advent devotions. 

God established His Church.  He led the Church Fathers to build a carefully balanced annual cycle of fasting and feasting, and we, in our modern attempts to "correct" those who've gone before, now have a very out-of-balance faith.  It makes you wonder how that has affected us spiritually. 

Advent offers us a chance to regain some of that balance.  I plan to take the time this year to prepare my heart and my home for the Christ Child.  How about you?

If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts!

For those submitting links: So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Shrove Tuesday 2011

Welcome to Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras!  

We have a big, festive church pot luck tonight so who knows what we'll be enjoying for dinner....but it will be good!  We are getting ready for Lent in our home by spending some time the past few days discussing what we'll fast from for Lent.  Hubby and I both have some other Lenten plans.  For me just some focused reading and additional prayer time.

Here are some links to help you along this Lent:

:-: Starting off Lent with a Good Confession.  A great guide to self-examination (with or without a priest or spiritual mentor).  This makes for a good Ash Wednesday meditation or something to work on through out Lent.

:-: Reading through Lent with the Church Fathers - this is what I'll be reading through this Lent.  (Updated to add: Jessica has asked for anyone interested in reading through Dante's "Purgatory" for Lent.  I may ditch the Church Fathers, saving those for Easter or Pentecost - wouldn't that be appropriate, and join her in this.  I've been trying to read it on my own for a while now and got derailed with our move.  In addition there is a blog devoted entirely to this exact pursuit: Daily Dante.  They are looking for some lady bloggers to join them.  I'm a little intimidated to officially join them, but I will be reading and maybe commenting.)

:-: Family Fasting in Lent

:-: Focus, Spirit, Discipline: A Lenten Series

:-: Lots of great reading from the 2008 Anglican Lenten carnival: An Anglican Family Lent

:-: Jessica also has a link post up for Lent.  You can always count on great links from her!

:-: and one of my new favorite blogs, Like Mother, Like Daughter has a truly wonderful and encouraging post up for those of us , especially those with many children, needing some simple and gentle Lent guidance.  Lenten Preparations.


I pray you each have a blessed Shrove Tuesday and entry into Lent tomorrow on Ash Wednesday.

Welcome 2011!

In it came whether rung in wildly with gaiety and glee or welcomed quietly with gentleness and joy.  However you saw it come in, aren't you glad it is here?  Of course we should welcome everyday with a sense of newness and excitement, but a new year feels so clean, so unused, and, well, so new!

At our house, we'll clean the house a bit (I'm sure the kids will be over-joyed) and then make a trip to IKEA Charlotte to look at lighting and enjoy a Swedish Meatball lunch.  Then we'll come home to a dinner with black-eyed peas (cooked simply with Ro-Tel tomatoes and some bacon) and dessert of bread pudding - see the bottom of this post for the recipe.   It is a simple celebration for our family - in keeping with yesterday's post.

My planner is just about all prepared for the new year.   Fresh calendar pages (in Franklin Covey's pretty "Blooms").  New tabs (Avery has printable ones, if these aren't new, they are new to me!).  And some page protectors for frequently used pages.


Today is also the Feast of the Holy Name.  Being the 8th day after Jesus' birth, this is the day on which he'd have been circumcised and officially named - a great day of celebration for his mother and father.  Now, if you are on top of things, you might consider making initial-shaped cookies for your family (IHS for Jesus and your kids' initials).


Old-fashioned Bread Pudding from Southern Living, Nov 2001

1 16 oz day old French bread loaf, cubed
2 12 oz cans of evaporated milk
1 c water
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1 large apple (Red Delicious recommended), grated
1 c raisins
1 1/2 c sugar
5 T vanilla extract
1/4 c butter, cut up and softened
and a batch of Bourbon Sauce (see below)

Combine first 3 ingredients; stir in eggs, blending well. Stir in pineapple and next 4 ingredients.  Stir in butter, blending well.  Pour mixture into a greased 13X9 inch baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 35- 45 minutes or until set.  Serve with Bourbon Sauce.

Bourbon Sauce
3 T butter
1 T all-purpose flour
1/2 c sugar
1 c whipping cream
2 T bourbon
1 T vanilla extract
1 tsp nutmeg

Melt butter in a small saucepan; whisk in flour, and cool 5 minutes.  Stir in sugar and whipping cream; cook 3 minutes.  Stir in bourbon, vanilla, nutmeg and simmer 5 minutes.


Happy New Year!

A limping celebration

The Twelve days of Christmas are here - in fact today is the 6th day, if you are keeping track - and my hopes for a full celebration are lying sick in bed coughing and sputtering like the rest of the family, yours truly included.  Yeah, this year, it's not happening.

A couple of weeks before Christmas I heard an announcer on a local Christian radio station proclaim about Christmas, "Well, in two weeks it is all over."  What?!?!  The driver in the car behind me must have worried as my van made a sudden veer toward and correction away from the roadside ditch.  Can you you hear me muttering, "It isn't all over - it has JUST BEGUN!"

What's the big deal you ask?  Am I just being a liturgical snob?  Well, maybe, but I sure hope not.  I really do think it matters.

When we celebrate the church year, we learn through story, image, and repetition not only the stories of our heritage, but the truths of our faith.  Take Advent, for example.  We keep Advent and we are reminded of preparing our hearts for the arrival of the King, Jesus.  Not only the remembrance of his first arrival, but the reminder of his future arrival - the Second Coming.  We are reminded to prepare our hearts like the wise virgins prepared their lamps.

But when He comes that second time, is that it?  Is it "all over" like the radio announcer thinks?  Of course not...it has just begun!  Keeping a full Christmas reminds us of this truth.  It won't end with the return of Christ, it will BEGIN.

Perhaps you've heard of the Advent Conspiracy campaign?   An even more important and counter-cultural campaign would be a Christmas Conspiracy.  Instead of celebrating for one day, we'd blow the world away by celebrating a full 12-Day Christmas season!  Can you imagine it:  Keeping a real preparatory Advent and then letting Christmas burst forth on the 25th...and burn bright for 12 whole days of delight and merriment!  Sharing our tables and homes with all those we can.  Give gifts from the heart to those we love and those we don't even know.  Serving our families and communities.   A celebration conspiracy!

Oh, I could get really carried away in the romance of that idea.

But this year our little Christmas is limping along.  The tree is still up.  And we are burning the Christmas lights all over the house each night.  It is still Christmas in our hearts at least.

And maybe that the most important thing of all.

Christmas Eve 2010

May your Christmas Eve be filled with lovely delights and the warmth of family and friends. 

CHRISTMAS hath darkness

Brighter than the blazing noon,

Christmas hath a chillness

Warmer than the heat of June,

Christmas hath a beauty

Lovelier than the world can show:

For Christmas bringeth Jesus,

Brought for us so low.

Earth, strike up your music,

Birds that sing and bells that ring;

Heaven hath answering music

For all Angels soon to sing:

Earth, put on your whitest

Bridal robe of spotless snow:

For Christmas bringeth Jesus,

Brought for us so low.

C. Rosetti

Advent in our home - weeks 3 and 4

Busyness kept me from posting this last week.  Not that I am not busy now, but I've got a little time in the early morning...

Gum drop and toothpick structures - a favorite crafty activity

Our eldest, 14, enjoying a little Christmas humor.

A Saint Nicholas waits quietly on the mantle.

Handmade replicas of family landmarks (Aland, Finland).  Front: a typical Swedish cottage (Aland is owned by Finland, but is Swedish in heritage.  Both languages are spoken. Middle: Christiansund the family home (c. 1932 ) where my M-i-L was born.  Back: Eckero church the family church. (c. early 1200s ).

One of our favorite play nativity sets.  (I know, I know, shoot me - the baby Jesus is already in the manger. )

Baking, baking, baking.  I'm discovering that despite the larger kitchen, I seem to have less working space.  Hmmm....

Farmor, E, and L enjoy a Christmas story.

We wait all year for this delight: Svenska Glogg (Swedish Glogg).  It is sort of like mulled wine, but the only wine in it is port (the rest is more port, brandy and vodka).  A warmed mug is the perfect nightcap on a cold winter's evening.

The Christmas Craft Box

The days leading up to Christmas can be full of excited, overly rambunctious, and nosey children.  I don't know about you, but I find it hard to get much done in those last few days unless I have a good way of keeping them happily and productively occupied.  They are great helps with wrapping, cleaning, and baking, but some things a mama needs to do unaccompanied by little hands.

Of course plopping them down in front of a Christmas movie is an option, and sometimes that is a nice quiet thing for them to enjoy, but I'd rather keep the movies for special family snuggle time.  This calls for something that is on-hand and ready to be used anytime it is needed.  One Advent season a few years ago, I began collecting easy, fairly non-messy craft supplies.  I don't mind a little mess as long as it is easy to clean up.  I organized all the crafts into a large box, "The Christmas Craft Box".  We all love to pull it out when the need arises!

Here are some of the sorts of things I've used:

:-: perler bead sets - save the pattern instructions that come with any kits and these can be made again and again.  These would make cute gifts, just add a hanger so they can be hung on the tree.  The only worry here is that careless hand will knock them over before they can be ironed and all that hard work is lost.  You could let the kids work on these while you are ironing Christmas tablecloths and napkins and clothes near by then you could quickly iron them as they make them.

:-: foam sticker sets - The gingerbread sets are particularly fun.  Watch Michael's for super sales on these - don't pay full price!  The small "drums" come with hundreds of stickers and seem to last forever.  We are still using stickers from drums we bought a couple of years ago.  These can be used to make cards, decorate gifts, or just to make fun pictures with.

:-: glittery and Christmas colored pipe cleaners - These can be used for so many fun things.  One year my kids used these to make a huge glittery garland to decorate our tree.  We still use it!   (Take a pipe cleaner, bend the ends together, then gently shape into and oval, do the same with the next pipe cleaner, but loop it through the first "link" before bending the ends together - keep going!)

:-: gum drops and toothpicks - My kids have had more fun making crazy creations with these. Use them like you would tinker toys (gum drops are the round "joints" and the toothpicks are the long sticks).

:-: brown paper bags - lunch size and grocery size.  The kids can make puppets, vests, masks, or decorate and use for gift bags.

:-: pom-poms - all sizes!  Add some googly-eyes and they can make little puff-ball creatures.  Pom-poms are fun to ad to anything: gifts, cards, or just a Christmas drawing.

:-: styrofoam balls - again, all sizes!  Paint, glue together, or just play with.  With some adult supervision, you could hot glue little things to these and make fun decorations.

:-: Christmas stamps - You'll have to decide how independent your kids can be with paint.  My older kids are fine using these on there own (with me keeping an ear and an occasional eye on them), but of course the 2 year-old needs me right with her. 

:-: Christmas stickers - I'm sure your kids can think of some fun uses for these.

:-: paper, coloring books, markers, crayons - It helps to keep it all handy in one place.

:-: Christmas-themed activity books - like madlibs, highlights, etc.  

:-: small, inexpensive craft kits - some require quite a bit of adult help, so consider how much you can help at a given time.  I only get the easiest ones.  There are so many to choose from: pom-pom creatures, felt ornaments, beaded ornaments, etc.  Watch for sales, because these can get pricey when you are buying for a few kids.  

Any other craft supply ideas you would like to share?  How do you keep your kids occupied when you need some work time during the Advent season?

Happy Feast of Saint Nicholas!

This is an updated post from last year. . .

Do you celebrate St. Nicholas Day? Wonder how or why someone celebrates St. Nicholas Day? Would you like to? It's not too late to put together a nice celebration, you could really celebrate anytime this week! 

In many countries, St. Nicholas Day is the day on which children get their gifts, while Christmas is reserved for church services and family get-togethers. We've begun celebrating St. Nicholas instead of mingling Santa and Jesus on Christmas day. This allows us the fun of "Santa" without it getting confused with the Birth of Christ. Not that you can't enjoy "Santa" on Christmas, but for us it was getting hard to keep our kids focused on Christ on Christmas. And the whole Santa kneeling at the manger - bleh, no, not for me.

Here is how we've celebrated in years past:

On St. Nicholas Eve, the children excitedly and carefully lay out their shoes by the fireplace for St. Nick to fill. And they leave out a small plate of cookies and crackers, also. I've heard that in some countries they leave St Nick a nice beer (I think Belgium is where this is done) - doesn't that sound fun?

In the morning they found their shoes filled with a couple small gifts, sweet treats, and a chocolate santa (you can make these into Bishops with the directions from the Saint Nicholas Center). Even DH and I found our shoes had been laid out for us (by an elf, I presume) and filled with goodies and gifts!

Our favorite tradition is a true "feast" breakfast! We eat in the dining room with candles and special plates. The kids especially love the hot cocoa with a peppermint stick and whipped creme! Who wouldn't love that? This year we have one child who is attending school, so we will celebrate with a nice dinner at the dining room table.  If I can find the box with the Christmas china, I might even pull that out.  For dessert, we'll enjoy hot cocoa with a peppermint stick.

We have a small collection of Santa items that I put out as a display. This is the first of the real Christmas decorating we do. There are also some extra goodies from Mom and Dad waiting for the kids on the table, usually chocolate coins and fun Christmas pencils.

At each place, there is also a nice little postcard with a vintage Santa image. These are our "secret santa" good deed cards. A good deed is done and the postcard left behind. The card recipient then does a good deed for someone else and leaves a card behind. You could use any card - homemade or otherwise. And, it wouldn't even have to be a Santa postcard - anything seasonal you like would do well! We continue these for a day or so.  I'm thinking of hanging these on a garland at the mantel - wouldn't that make a sweet decoration?

Later we snuggle up on the couch and read about Saint Nicholas. I especially love Ann Tompert's Saint Nicholas book. This year I've added a new book: Santa's Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki (found in on the shelf at Barnes and Noble). This would be especially appropriate for a family that wants to continue celebrating Santa Claus on Christmas. It is a sweetly illustrated book. Santa shares his favorite story - of the First Christmas - with the woodland animals who respond by saying, "How silly we have been,' said the fox, 'to think that Christmas was only about presents." Then all the animals go back to Santa's house to help him finish his Christmas work.

Do you celebrate St. Nicholas Day? I'd love to hear about it! If you blog it, let me know and I'll link to your post.

Poem for Advent 2

Another Rosetti Advent poem...

This Advent moon shines cold and clear,
These Advent nights are long;
Our lamps have burned year after year
And still their flame is strong.
'Watchman, what of the night?' we cry,
Heart-sick with hope deferred:
'No speaking signs are in the sky,'
Is still the watchman's word.

The Porter watches at the gate,
The servants watch within;
The watch is long betimes and late,
The prize is slow to win.
'Watchman, what of the night?' But still
His answer sounds the same:
'No daybreak tops the utmost hill,
Nor pale our lamps of flame.'

One to another hear them speak
The patient virgins wise:
'Surely He is not far to seek' –
'All night we watch and rise.'
'The days are evil looking back,
The coming days are dim;
Yet count we not His promise slack,
But watch and wait for Him.'

One with another, soul with soul,
They kindle fire from fire:
'Friends watch us who have touched the goal.'
'They urge us, come up higher.'
'With them shall rest our waysore feet,
With them is built our home,
With Christ.' – 'They sweet, but He most sweet,
Sweeter than honeycomb.'

There no more parting, no more pain,
The distant ones brought near,
The lost so long are found again,
Long lost but longer dear:
Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard,
Nor heart conceived that rest,
With them our good things long deferred,
With Jesus Christ our Best.

We weep because the night is long,
We laugh for day shall rise,
We sing a slow contented song
And knock at Paradise.
Weeping we hold Him fast Who wept
For us, we hold Him fast;
And will not let Him go except
He bless us first or last.

Weeping we hold Him fast to-night;
We will not let Him go
Till daybreak smite our wearied sight
And summer smite the snow:
Then figs shall bud, and dove with dove
Shall coo the livelong day;
Then He shall say, 'Arise, My love,
My fair one, come away.'

Links for Advent - Dec 4th

Good Morning!  It is dawning a little gray and frigid around here, but I have the promise of some warm fellowship later this morning with the ladies of my church.  Need to get my pasta salad finished here shortly.

But before I do, I thought I'd share a couple of  links I've enjoyed this week:

:-: Grace at a lovely blog called Uncommon Grace has a series of posts about the Advent calendar (I've not read through the other 2).  Her list of things to be used in an Advent calendar is nearly exhaustive!  It is a great list you could use for an Advent calendar, craft ideas, stocking stuffers, mini-celebrations like St Nicholas Day, or just some ideas for fun during the Christmas and winter season.   HT: to someone, but I can't remember who!  if it was you that linked to this page recently, leave a comment!

:-: My Christmas Poet from Internet Monk (one of the blogs whose nearly every post I star in my google reader).  I'd been listening to a slightly kooky radio show about the healing power of poetry and it got me thinking that while I don't agree with *why* they think  poetry heals (even poor poetry), I do think they are on to something about good poetry being emotionally healing.  So, when this post popped up in my google reader, I was intrigued.  I'll be posting some of the poetry I've collected in the past couple of years for Advent and Christmas, in the hopes I'll remember to read it more.

Music for Advent

Oh, how I love Christmas music, and still I can't help but to turn on the jaunty, mostly-secular carols in the car on errands, but I'm trying really hard to focus on Advent music around the house.  Here's my updated Advent music playlist.  I hope you enjoy it...and if you make one, please share it with me!




Blessed Advent to you!

Advent in our home this week

 Enjoy some photos from our first week of Advent.

The first candle.

E enjoys and afternoon of painting the pale orange leaves
that remain clinging to the tree out the kitchen window.

Time to stock up on sugar for Christmas baking.

And to enjoy citrus fruits and the remaining apples.

The family altar dressed for Advent.

The Jesse Tree begun.

The Advent/Christmas/Epiphany Binder - in 5 easy steps

Did I sound all uber-organized when I mentioned the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany binder?  Hmm.  Let's correct that....because I'm really not *that* organized.

Over the past few years I've been collecting resources for the holiday season.  I have a great make-ahead Thanksgiving menu that I clipped out of the newspaper in 2007 and have used ever since with a few adjustments to suit my family.  A Santa Lucia bread recipe.  Several cookie recipes.  Lists of books and movies we own (so I won't forget them).  A large stack of activity pages I found on various websites to keep the kids occupied while I wrap gifts.  Lots of scraps of ideas scribbled down. A plan for an Epiphany house blessing.

I bet you have some of this bits and pieces, too.

Mine were all stuffed in a folder and dropped in the Advent box.  It was good to have them in one place, but they got pretty mussed up in that folder.  Last year, I decided they needed to be organized so that they would be more useful.  It was easy and certainly has made this Advent start off more organized.

Here's how you can have a binder, too:

Step 1.  Gather all your bits of paper, clippings, print-outs, inspirational photos, recipes, etc.  Sort them into piles that make sense to you.  (Mine are: the current year's calendar, activity sheets, special instructions (wreath, jesse tree, etc), TV/events, Recipes, previous years' ideas/plans, lesson plan ideas, and poetry - see the bottom of this post for some links.)

Any old binder will do, no need
 for a new one! Save your money
for those stocking stuffers.

Step 2. Find a binder and binder dividers.  If you are like me, you have plenty of these around the house.  They just need to be gathered and cleaned out.  Label your dividers to match your piles.

Step 3. Hole punch your pages.  If you have something smaller than a full page, you can paste it onto a piece of paper.

Step 4.  Make a calendar for this year: Nov 30 - Jan 6.  Donna Young has tons of blank calendars.  This year I'm using her one-page month calendar (full-sized).   Mark your calendar with important dates (parties, local events, feast days, etc).

Step 5. Use it and then don't forget to store it in your Advent box for next year, or whatever box will be the first you open to get ready for Christmas.

Some links to things we have in our binder:

:-: Turn a chocolate Santa into St. Nicholas

:-: Lots of St. Nicholas coloring pages

:-: St Lucia of Syracuse  Santa Lucia and the Star Boy (coloring pages)

:-: Highlights Kids has fun winter and Christmas Hidden Pictures (you'll have to search a bit through the 2 pages of pictures, but there are a good number of them for this season!)

:-: JanBrett.com has lots of coloring and activity pages to go along with her books, many of which are perfect for winter and Christmas.

I just love the old claymation TV specials!

:-: A Jesse Tree coloring page

:-: "Company is Coming" crossword puzzle  (there are probably updated files for this year - dig around there are many more resources here!)

:-: TV listings for Christmas specials

:-: Rosetti's seasonal poems




See, wasn't that easy?

Repost: The Advent that Almost Wasn't

In November of 2008 we were at the tail-end of our adoption.   Each day brought new forms to complete and our to-do list was growing exponentially.  We expected to get the call to travel on any day.  It was a very busy and hectic season and it was also almost Christmas.  I'm sure many of you have found yourselves in a busy season and wonder how to add "Advent" to it.  I sure did...

Advent almost got put by the wayside this year for my family. Me, a die-hard devotee of all things liturgical, almost said, "Advent is just too much for me this year."

I almost let it slip away....

Yesterday we pulled out the Advent box and spent
some time deciding what we'll do this year.

It has been a very wild year for our family - but especially so this Fall. The thought of pulling out all the Advent items, thoughtfully planning our Advent activities, and keeping up with our various Advent celebrations...well, it all just seemed too much. We needed low-key, we needed normalcy, we needed quiet. Advent was too much work - or so I thought.

What our December would look like - would it be devoid of all things Christmas, sort of a non-Advent Advent? Or would it, as so often happens when something is removed, just fill up with what our pop-culture considers an appropriate pre-Christams hysteria? That doesn't sound too low-key, or normal, or quiet.

Then, it hit me...Advent is low-key, it is normal, and it is quiet. It is exactly what we need.

That is one thing I adore about the Liturgical year - when it becomes a part of your family culture, it can have a stabilizing affect. As life swirls around us, we have the familiarity of the same activities, traditions, smells, sounds, words to keep us anchored. And what better to be anchored to than the Church - the Bride of Christ and, as the Bride of Christ, Christ himself?

My eldest daughter delivering
St. Lucia buns early in the morning.

We will have a beautiful, low-key, normal and quiet Advent this year - with it's bright spots of St. Nicholas Day, St. Lucia Day, Gaudete Sunday, and other pre-Christmas planning. It will probably be a little less planned out than previous Advents in our family, but that is one of the joys of the liturgical year in the home - the more you do it, the less pre-planning it takes!

I encourage you - if you think Advent is just too much, reconsider! If you've never celebrated or kept Advent before, start simply. If you've done it for many years, scale down if you must. But don't miss it. It is a season of quiet joy and expectation. You'll find that it properly places Christmas at the pinnacle of the season, rather than on a precipice.

Need some ideas for keeping a simple Advent (whether it is your first or fortieth?) Read on.

How do you plan a simple Advent? What are the essentials? Well, there are as many different traditions of Christian worship as there are "essentials" of Advent. But, since you are here, I'll share my family's essentials.




:-: Using an Advent Wreath - Some families are diligent to use their Advent Wreath every day, we are not so diligent...and to be honest, even some Sundays we find ourselves a bit worn out from a full day with our Church family. But pick a night of the week, Wednesdays or Fridays might be logical, to do your Advent Wreath lighting and devotional. There are many suggested devotionals online.



:-: Celebrating St. Nicholas Day - If you have children, I highly encourage you to celebrate St. Nicholas Day. Even if you still have "Santa" on Christmas Eve, you can have a celebration on his feast day and let St. Nick come fill up stockings or shoes with some little treats.

This was an easy but very pretty Advent
centerpiece. 

:-: Limiting Christmas decorations - There are many schools of thought about decorating for Christmas, but if you are going to truly put Christmas at the absolute pinnacle of the season rather than the precipice, I recommend finding some way to limit your decorations. The goal being to save the most flamboyant decorations for Christmas Eve, Day, and the Twelve Days. Some people hold off on any decorations until Christmas Eve, while others bring out certain items on certain days slowly decorating the home over the Advent Season. (We bring out St. Nick decorations, the Scandinavian ones on St. Lucia Day, we light the tree on St. Lucia Day - but no ornaments, and then on Christmas Eve we decorate the tree and put out the rest of our fun decorations.)

My messy kitchen in the middle of making yummy
Christmas treats.

:-: Special Advent Family Reading - Find a lovely story or devotional that you might read together as a family during Advent. There are some nice devotional stories that you might use...or even something classic like "A Christmas Carol", "The Gift of the Magi", or books with wonderful Christmas scenes in them like "Little House on the Prairie", "Wind in the Willows", "The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew", or "Little Women". What I love about these types of books is that the story can be timed to reach the Christmas scene just before Christmas arrives - or just after. Here are some other book suggestions for Advent reading.

However you choose to celebrate or keep Advent, I pray it will be a truly blessed one for you and your family! 

A Poem for Advent 1

Sunday before Advent
by Christina Rossetti

The end of all things is at hand.  We all
Stand in the balance trembling as we stand;
Of if not trembling, tottering to a fall.
The end of all things is at hand.

O hearts of men, covet the unending land!
O hearts of men, covet the musical,
Sweet, never-ending waters of that strand!

While Earth shows poor, a slippery rolling ball,
And Hell looms vast, a gulf unplumbed, unspanned
And Heaven flings wide its gates to great and small,
The end of all things is at hand.

Behind on Advent already

A very late arrival home from Thanksgiving travels (midnight last night) has me catching up on Advent preparations today.  Sweet hubby dug out the Advent box this afternoon just before he hustled a car-load of children out the door (all ours, minus the baby, and two neighbors) to a church dinner and bonfire at a friend's farm near by.  So, Baby L (who slept for nearly 15 hours!) is enjoying, I'm not exaggerating, a very late breakfast (yes, it is 4pm)/early dinner (what do you call that, brinner?), while I dig through the Advent box.

I was happy to discover a bit of unremembered organization: Somehow last year I made an Advent/Christmas/Epiphany binder.  How do I not remember doing such a wise thing?  And then I even remembered to put it in the Advent box so I'd find it first thing this year?  My, my!  I was an organized thing last year.  And to top it off, I still have perfectly good candles for my advent wreath.  Which is good, because I suspect that there will be a scarcity of pink and purple candles at Michael's and Hobby Lobby this week.  And if I don't start something on time, I'm unlikely to try to catch up.  Which is silly, because "better late than never" is not always true, but in the case of Advent I believe it is!

So, if you are a bit behind, like me, it really isn't too late!  

Here are some ideas and links to get you started:

Leila, at Like Mother, Like Daughter, has begun blogging about her Advent, but I found this delightful introduction to decorating for Advent in her archives.  I really love her suggestion to decorate with bits of nature that seem to express an expectancy!

Ann Voskamp has created a lovely devotional for use with a Jesse Tree.  We've not done a Jesse Tree before, but I think this might be the year we do.  The devotional is free and it is a treasure!  And you don't need to search for the Jesse Tree ornaments, just print and cut out the ones included with the ebook.

Do you need "baby steps" for celebrating Advent?  Check out Jennifer Fulwiler's post on just that.


Blessings to you tonight!

Christ the King Sunday - November 22, 2010

Much like our desire to ring out the old (calendar year), Christ the King Sunday is a great way to celebrate out the old liturgical year and look forward to the new one beginning on the first Sunday of Advent: November 28th.

We've yet to pull off a celebration of Christ the King Sunday, and this year will most likely not be different,   but it isn't too late if you've got a mind to do it!


Here are some links:

:-: It might be a little late to plan a full parish celebration (but what a great idea to tuck away for next year), but you could take some of the craft and activity ideas and scale them down for a family celebration.

:-: And updated coloring page from the new Catholic Mom website.

:-: Proclaiming Faith has readings and activity suggestions - a wealth of information.


This Sunday would also be a great Sunday to talk as a family about your Advent plans and start your own Advent countdown!   Before Thanksgiving, I'll post some links and ideas to get your Advent appetite whet.