Preparing for the season!

I realize that I will probably be scolded by some of you for starting the Christmas/Advent discussion before Thanksgiving! If I were to be brutally honest right now, I would tell you that I've been listening to Christmas music both at home and at work for several weeks now. It's a weakness of mine. As far as I'm concerned...we could skip right through from December 26 to September 20 every year. I love the sounds, smells and wonderment of late fall and early winter. I think also, this time of year brings up for me the most wonderful memories of my childhood. Sometimes the responsibilities and worries of adulthood can be a total drag!

As a result of my over zealousness, I want to share with you some really fun places to visit. If you find any of these sites helpful to you.....I'm so glad! If you have a place that you visit regularly during this holiday season, please feel free to share them in the comments here and then I will add updates to this post with links! It is my hope that these places bring as much joy to you as they do to me! Enjoy!

1. Our house can't have a holiday season without remembering our dear St. Nicholas. We love St. Nicholas in our house and he stays on my mind all through the year as he is the patron Saint of children! The older my kids get, I try to focus on St. Nicholas' Day as the day for receiving gifts and Christmas as the day we give to others as Christ did for us! We are working slowly towards that goal...and eventually, we will get there. In the meantime, if you have never visited the St. Nicholas Center, you are in for a treat. You will find recipes, prayer cards, cookie cutters, books, movies, banners and tons of other things you can use to celebrate this wonderful saint. Here is how we celebrated this feast day last year! Enjoy!

2. Another wonderful place to visit during this season is O Night Divine! Here you will find Advent/Christmas feast day celebrations, prayers, novenas, music, books, online shopping and tons of other resources! You will never get bored clicking through this site. Please bookmark it and keep it in your electronic library!

3. From the O Night Divine site, I ran across the No Panic Advent Series from Karen Edminsten! This is the real thing! She has done a terrific job of giving you fun yet simple activities to get ready for the season. She has a "favorite advent book" section that I love! You can't miss these great ideas!

4. If it's food and/or menus you are looking for.....I'm going to give you a few suggestions of places to visit.....first up is Foodgawker! Warning: this site is full of scrumptious, delectable photos and I wouldn't visit here unless you have already eaten! There are endless food blogs represented here and I'm sure that with just a smidgen of effort, you can find the exact recipe you are looking for! Incidentally, while drooling over the food photos, you can also find a link to another site called Craftgawker! Enjoy them both!

5. Another great food site is Catholic Cuisine! All of the wonderful women that contribute to this site with their recipes and ideas, wanted a place for the world to be able to celebrate the feasts and the season of the liturgical year! There are many resources on this site as well. I have tried several of these recipes and I was not disappointed.

6. One more cooking/food site that I have found is Mennonite Girls Can Cook! Again, this is a place filled with ideas, photos and resources. They also do giveaways and contests! I am so grateful for woman who are willing to share their ideas with others.

****If you have any ideas or sites of your own, please leave me a message and I'll be happy to post a link to it in an update for this post. In the meantime, enjoy your preparation for our coming Savior!*****