Yes! Yes! Yes!

Yes! is what I thought when I read this post: 

http://designsbybirgit.blogspot.com/2013/12/sanctity-of-life-sunday-emulate-holy.html?m=1

(this is a short two paragraphs but a must read!!)

Since early Christmas morning, my mind has been whirling about something... I'll back track a bit first.

When our oldest three daughters (all born within less than three years) were babies, my husband and I attended mass (if somewhat less than regularly).

One Sunday, I had dressed my three little girls up in their very best for mass. As we climbed over a few people to get to the middle of the pew and settle in with our family, a few those around us were clearly not impressed.

I remember that mass and how hot the back of neck was as I felt those behind me glare... I remember the horrible flustered feeling of embarrassment.

Were the people around us actually that bad? I am guessing not. I was young and new at this. I allowed those few to make me unwelcome.  I bet many people actually thought my girls were as adorable as I did.

The good news is we are still here (after a brief detour)!

But then I wonder how many are not.

Okay- back to Christmas morning.

My daughter joined us at 7:30 a.m. mass with her two adorable boys. We marched ourselves right up to the front pews of the church so that the boys could see their uncles alter serving and the manger with baby Jesus all set up.

The boys were so excited in those few moments before mass began. There were happy whispers about "baby Jesus" being there, some "hushes" from mom and grandma, and lots of pointing and excitement!!

What more joyous occasion is there than Christmas morn?

Until.

The lady in front of me turned around and very sternly told me that "you need to take those kids to the crying room".

I was stunned.

When I did not instantly comply, I was treated to several glares. Mass began and we opted to move a few rows back where the lady continued to crane her neck in order to glare at us.

Of course, there comes a time to take a two year old out, and, at the appropriate moment, we did.

I am not going to be chased away from the Catholic church- nor is my daughter.

But I can't help thinking about two things this week-

What if that was a young mom going to Christmas mass with her little ones, but was not a regular church attendee being glared at- would she come back?

And I have thought about that lady as well. I can only imagine what sort of day she was in for. It could not have been a happy one. Who could sit in front of the baby Jesus in the manger "born at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold" and then turn around and glare at a slightly disruptive chubby cheeked toddler?

I am not sure how this all works- but are married Catholics the only ones who are suppose to be open to life? Aren't we all? What if my grandson had actually been being very annoying- does that mean that we should glare at him? I know and I am sure most of us know when its time to give a child attending mass a break. But what are we gaining by acting unkindly to those who don't? I would venture to say that we should be even more kind to those who don't know better- we want them to keep coming back and learn!! 

I often think of the wonderful priest who announced that we are to welcome the little ones and be thankful to the parents who bring them to mass.  I am sure no one realized that he was talking about my son who, before my very pregnant self could stop him, had gotten down on all fours in the aisle and started to bark very loudly! ;)

I have seen several posts on this topic of children at mass and whether or not they are welcome, and I just don't think it is a negotiable point. Have you seen the statistics on mass attendance among young people? We need them there. They need us. They need God in their families!

I want to smile at as many little ones in mass as I can, and I want to thank each and every one of the parents who brings their beautiful noisy disruptive adorable children to mass!!  

From the above linked post-

"let's resolve to welcome all children"

Merry 5th Day of Christmas! 

Christmas Card Fun!

Taking a break from my scheduled blogging hiatus to bring you this Christmas card update...  actually, I promised my lovely daughter that I would share some pics to show what I am talking about. So, for you Shauna. ;)

I have always wanted a Christmas card system. I love the cards that we receive and think saving them in an album is a great idea.

My first attempt at Christmas card album, from years ago, is the small red book in the front. One photo or card is featured on each page. I managed to fit two years in this book- I think they discontinued the album.

page from the small red album

Next attempt- years later. I thought I would fit two year's worth of cards in this album, but never got around to the doing a second year.

my second go around with Christmas card albums

 Now, thank you very much Pinterest!!

 Three years bundled in one evening.

And plopped in a basket that I plan on adding to next year!!

And, if I come across Christmas cards from years gone by (that I have saved somewhere!), I have undated covers printed and ready to go. 


Not bad for an evening's work! :)

The printable covers and instructions for these card books are from here @ eighteen25 blog.

Update: Shauna had as much fun making hers as I did- and even had a cute twist on the idea.

Advent Week 3

Tomorrow we light our fourth candle. We have been blessed this advent to have most evenings at home, so I feel like we have been able savor our time together. We are missing our daughter (Erin, 18yo) most nights as she is very busy and often at school. I am hoping that we can have her join us more frequently during this final stretch of advent.

 Tonight, Saturday, is the first night of the "O" Antiphons.

We are enjoying learning about this lovely tradition.

(coins)

All four candles will be lit tomorrow!

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was Monday. Is there anyone who does not absolutely love this day? So sweet. While I thought I might be done adding to our picture book collection, this one, added for this special day, arrived this week:

It's a pop up book! I just love it. I guess I bought it more for me than the kids.

We were also blessed to have a priest say mass especially for our little homeschool group. It was wonderful! Father sat down and talked to all the children about this special day and gifted each of them with a little book about their faith. James was also seriously excited as Father let him serve at mass (the age at this church is 10+).

At home, we enjoyed some Mexican Wedding Cakes as a treat in honor of this feast day. 

To top the day off, hubby and kiddos went to Bethlehem. Yes, just down the street from us is a live nativity that is just awe inspiring. An amazing act of generosity is in each night of this performance. We have gone in years past (these pictures are from a few years ago), and it is always incredibly moving. 

 It's hard to tell in this picture, but that is an angel at the top of the building
announcing the birth of our savior to the shepherds. 

Tuesday was, of course, another special day- St. Lucia's Feast Day. Having no girl to wake everyone in the morning with special treats (well, I have one, but she would have not been happy to wake up early when she did not have to be to school until 1!), we don't have the traditional morning that some do. We did, however, endeavor (still not quite done) to put up Christmas lights on our house. I had thought we would go look at lights in honor of this special day, but I think this was a good trade-off. We might have created a new tradition.

Can you see Paul up there?

Wednesday was a big day of preparation. As this is our only whole day home that I can see in the near future, I wanted to get as much cleaning caught up on as possible. At one point I told the boys that they were complaining just like Big Anthony in Merry Christmas, Strega Nona. Their response was was- "yah! why can't you just use your magic to get this done!". :) Well, if I had some, I'd probably have used it.

An early Christmas present arrived at my house this afternoon. It is a bit big for our little dwelling, but I love it! I have wanted a table to set up for the special feast days and seasonal displays.

 Isn't it pretty?! 

My husband's customer just happened to be giving it away! Since moving our bookshelf to another room, we have no surface to set our advent candles and Jesse tree on. Each night they get shuffled back and forth from kitchen counter to table and back. Now they have a home. :)

Thursday was ortho appointment day. There is nothing that makes my son grouchier than having wires tightened, but his mouth really truly needed help!

We also managed to continue our advent purging and cleaning. It feels so good. Although... at the end of the day, just when I was ready to give myself a good pat on the back, someone (who shall remain nameless for the sake of this blog) tracked dog doo through the WHOLE HOUSE!!! Sigh. The upside is that hubby wiped down the entire kitchen floor while I spot cleaned the rest of the mess on the carpet. Grrrrrr. :)

Friday held a sweet morning of babysitting my 4 week old grandson and having Spanish class. In the afternoon, I took my 13 yo clothes shopping. What do you do when what your 13yo wants most for Christmas is clothes? I cannot pick them out myself. Size and style would be impossible to guess. We had a great time, found some pretty good deals, and Paul is happy with our finds. I just hope he is happy on Christmas morning when he knows (mostly) what he is getting.

I am also holding tight to my cleaning and purging theme- some time is spent each day working on this. Today (Saturday) was general cleaning and some clothes drawer purging.

Now for my advent faux pas (I figure this is a violation of accepted norms!)-

So this is how it happened- for his birthday, Marky got tickets to go see his favorite football team play. All of his brother-in-laws, his dad, his brother (Paul), and a good family friend are going. Way back when is September (when tickets were given), Mark asked if he could get a mo-hawk for the occasion. Being the super fantastic mom that I am (insert wink), I said sure- do whatever you want in your hair! Then he got it done. I had an appointment for him to get it shaved even on Monday, the day after the game. I am thinking there is nothing that is going to make this even. I am going to have Christmas pictures with this!!! (insert capital letters and bold type!!) I am half laughing and half crying.

God bless you on this final week of advent!

*On my daughter's camera, I have pictures of James serving mass that I hope to get and add.

Christmas Shopping And Gift Ideas

Oh that I was one of those people that had Christmas shopping complete before the beginning of advent! My daughter is. Sadly, she did not learn it from me. I picture how much more relaxed this season would be if only...

But here I am.

Years ago, when my adult daughters were children, we had a 3 gift rule (+stockings). I figured it was good enough for the wise man to bring to baby Jesus, it should be good enough for them.

It also left flexibility. When we could afford it, the gifts could be a bit more expensive. During lean years, the girl's sights were already set on 3 gifts. Less expensive gifts don't look like less to a child.

Which leads us to today. I read this gift giving formula on a homeschool board:

Something they want

Something they need

Something to play with and

Something to read.

I liked it, so that it was we have gone with the last several years. This is how I break it down-

Want -This can be anything. Watches might be it this year for the younger two. My oldest son wants art supplies.

Need - Often a clothing item.

Play with - For my boys, Legos usually top the list. This year maybe Transformer toys.

Read - I go with audio books. My boys love to listen to these at night. 

We love games in our house, so, along with some fun seasonal candies, stockings often have games in them.

Some of our favorites of Christmases past are: 

                           

                                            

A dear friend of ours created this game!

The above are all Gamewright games- no gain for me, we just really enjoy their games. I also like the convenience of card games. We can easily take them with us on the road.

The game SET is a favorite around here too- the picture link seems to broken, but you can view it here:

http://www.setgame.com/set 

                       

This is one that was being reviewed by many bloggers last year- we purchased it and love it! 

I also love including gifts that encourage our faith for my children and Godchildren. 

From Catholic Child Catalog, I am purchasing these gifts this year: 

For my youngest Goddaughter who is an amazing baker. 

For my grandson, Nicolas. 

For my nephews. 

For my Goddaughter who is away at college. 

Just thought I'd take a break from online shopping 

and share! 

Advent/12 Days of Christmas Wrap-Up

Taking a break from my Advent/Christmas blogging break to post this. :)

November 2010-January 2011

Tried and True Advent Traditions:

Advent Wreath- prayers and lighting. Advent would not be complete without it.

Jesse Tree- I am amazed how much more "sinks in" each year. This year we expanded our readings using the bible. In past years, when the boys were younger, we read a short explanation from a book or a leaflet that we had with explanations of each ornament. This year, the longer readings were not a problem. We also have many more ornaments than this tree from a few years ago.

Nativity Countdown Calendar- always a favorite. The boys add a piece of the nativity each day leading up to Christmas.

New to 2010:

O Antiphons- We made our start using posts at Waltzing Matilda and  O Night Divine. I also looked up the word "Antiphon" because I had no idea what it meant! We never did make any ornaments (I did print them) and we just did a few of the suggestions from Waltzing Matilda. We did read the antiphons each night and sang (or read) "O Come, O Come Emmanuel". I am looking forward to building on this.

Candy Kiss Countdown- Nothing particular to do with our faith except that it makes the anticipation of advent tangible. Watching the string shorten builds the excitement leading to Christmas day. Plus, giving each child a "kiss" or a "hug" is a nice way to begin the day. ;)

Reading:
Bartholomew's Passage- We enjoyed journeying with Bartholomew this advent. Even dad got in to this and was quite upset if he missed hearing the story at night (the boys would tell him all about it!).

In the past, we have read Jotham's Journey (part of the same series) and Destination Bethlehem (a different, yet equally enjoyable story by Catholic authors).

Each book has a short chapter to read each night of advent journeying toward the birth of our Savior.

Just for Fun:
Mad Libs! These are just plain silly fun and a nice way to sit around and spend time together as a family. I particularly appreciate, having adult children and younger children, that this type of activity can involve all. This Christmas Mad Lib book was an impulse buy on my part, but it has turned out to be a lot of fun. And, I can tell that the parts of speech are really sticking in my boys' heads- Christmas fun and learning too!

New Additions for the Christmas Season:

The 12 Days of Christmas!

We are working on extending our celebration over the 12 days of Christmas. After a full advent season of anticipation, it seems like everything comes to a screeching halt right on the 25th. All that build up and then thud.

Gift Giving:
I sorted through my boys gifts and pulled out some to give during the 12 days of Christmas. I had a few gifts- like card games and audio books that were well suited for this.

The boys will not each get a gift each day, but they receive one gift that all three of them share. They were short a bit on their stockings, but I think, in the end, they are happy with this plan.

In addition to the gift extension, a dear friend gave me this list of things her family is doing during this season:

The 25th - Mass and big Christmas Day dinner with family


The 26th- Feast of the Holy Family (our patron saints) - prayer of consecration to the Holy Family. I thought I would spend time going through our family history in the faith.
                                                                                                                                                                    
The 27th- On St. John's Day - the blessing of Red Wine or Wine we will use (sips) during special occasions throughout the year. If I have energy, make Beef Burgundy for the family. It was a custom in both our families when we were young that on special occasions the kids had a sip of wine (eyebrows raised when we came to those occasions). The wine was not blessed then, but today we can have it blessed and when we sip it orient ourselves to Heaven and say: "I drink to you in the love of Saint John"

On the 28th- On the Feast of the Holy Innocents - Dress the children fancy, my husband and I pray the Blessing of the Children

On Dec. 29 to 31- family outing - we will squeeze in the feast of St. Stephen one day in here: the girls paint the boxes which will serve as their piggy bank for the next year - streak it with red or place a red bow on it for St. Stephen. Following the example of charity of St. Stephen, the girls will use the box for collecting/saving for charity for next Advent/Christmas season.

January 1 - Mary Mother of God - Renew our consecration to Mary, decorate Mary candle to be used on all Marian Feast Days for the year.

January 2 - Epiphany - blessing of the home, crib enthroned, magi arrive, rosca de reyes (King's Cake) (Epiphany Sunday falls on January 8 in 2011)

January 3 - Most Holy Name of Jesus - say the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus/practice bowing heads at the name of Jesus throughout the day.

January 4 - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and the blessing of our homeschool (begin ramping up on lessons)

January 6- breath

January 7 - first Friday (January 6 in 2011)

January 9- Baptism of Jesus -light our baptism candles, deliver gifts to Godparents

Great list!

You Shall Find the Babe Wrapped in Swaddling Clothes and Lying in a Manger...

I am going to take some time off of blogging until after the New Year. We have lots to celebrate around here. To add to our normal festivites, our 3rd daughter will be getting married shortly after Christmas! So, until 2011, have a blessed Advent, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

"How To" Candy Kiss Countdown

I had this craft bookmarked for a few years and we finally made them. It is a bit late for this year, but a fun one to keep in mind for next, or it could also be made for the 12 days of Christmas!


Step 1: Supplies

Step 2: Open Cling Wrap

Step 3: Line up 25 Hershey Kisses (and Hershey Hugs if you would like)

Step 4: Roll Kisses in Cling Wrap

In this picture we cut the cling wrap in half the long way- we don't do it that way anymore. It is much, much easier to just wrap the kisses in the whole piece of wrap. We were just trying to stretch our materials- not worth it.

Step 5: Cut Ribbon

Step 6: Tie Ribbon

Step 7: Curl the Ribbon

Step 8: Tie any type of hanger on top. We made a loop with the ribbon and tied it on with ribbon.

 Countdown Kisses and Hugs Complete: