A week in pictures!

I finally got the whole picture storage issue with blogger all figured out thanks to a few commenter's (thanks ladies!) on my last post.  As it turns out, you are only given a certain amount of free storage space when you sign up with them.  I purchased a good amount of extra space for a very small fee.  This should last me for several more years and give me more time to figure out what I'm going to do with this blog.  In any event, I was able to upload more pictures...YAY!!!

A great winter dish....homemade sweet potato gnocchi

Sweet potato gnocchi sauteed in sage butter....YUM!!

"Clive" our Elf on the Shelf ended up in the refrigerator one night!!!

The girls made Christmas cards by tracing a wooden Christmas tree.

Sarah the cat decided the pantry was a great place to sleep!

Christmas Eve with my SIL and her crazy husband!

Amelia with her cousins.



Aunt Franny and Olivia!



A Jacksonville tradition....visiting the Kuhn's Flower Shop Christmas window display!

FYI....it was really cold Christmas Eve!

It's a tradition for many Jacksonvillians.

Olivia checking out Santa's elves!

Olivia & Amelia

The Holy Family

Not only did Santa eat his cookies and drink his chocolate milk....he started a fire for us!

Nathan reading Santa's Christmas letter to the family.

Santa brought a family gift this year....a Wii!

The girls and their iCarly stuff!

Amelia opening her presents....LOVE the new slippers!

Little Livy

Nathan got some new shower wash!



This time Sarah decided my legs were the best place to sleep!

SNOW FLURRIES IN JACKSONVILLE ON THE 26th!!!!!!!!!!



Family Traditions

I come from a very large Catholic, Italian family.  My childhood memories of the Christmas holidays are full of special family rituals and traditions. For instance, most of our holiday meals were celebrated at my Nanie and Papa's house and as is the Italian custom, it was always fish on Christmas Eve, usually Dungeness Crab!  Another tradition I remember was being allowed to open one present just before Midnight Mass because it was usually something special to wear to mass!   When Christmas morning finally came, my sister and I would run upstairs at lightning speed to find what Santa had left!  None of Santa's presents were ever wrapped!   His toys were already opened, set up, batteries inserted and turned on just waiting for their new owners to take possession! 

I am trying to instill some of these same traditions in my children while at the same time, coming up with some of our own.  For the purposes of keeping a record here on my blog so that my children will be able to refer to them even after I'm gone, I'd like to share with you some of our "Widener Family Traditions":

The Where and When:  Since none of my family live here in Florida, our holidays are pretty laid back.  There is never a fight over which set of grandparents will get to spend time with the kids!  We always have Christmas Eve dinner at Dan's parents house. As a tribute to my heritage, Dan's mom usually includes a crab casserole so that I can still feel connected to my childhood past.  She is so kind and generous to do that for me.  Unfortunately, you can't get Dungeness Crab here in Florida, so she makes it with Blue Crab which is native to where they are from...Virginia.  Christmas Day is spent here at home with just myself, Dan and the kids.  Occasionally, we will invite friends from Church to join us for dinner, but the morning is our own family time.

The Decorations:  As far as I'm concerned, the Christmas Tree is a must!  It just isn't Christmas without a tree.  Some years we get it the day after Thanksgiving and other years we've not put it up until the week before Christmas.  It all depends on what our financial situation looks like.  Have you noticed that CHRISTMAS TREES ARE REALLY EXPENSIVE!!  But they are oh so worth it!  Our tree is full of hand made ornaments and mementos of our travels.  Each year I buy a personalized ornament from the Christmas made in the South craft show. 

Widener Christmas Tree 2009

2008 Ornament

Advent:  When God blessed us with children that had an obsession with fire, we had to make a drastic change in our Advent Wreath, so, we went with a fabric one for the last several years.  Trust me, this was much safer!  This year, we are going back to real candles!  Wish us luck!  In addition to the wreath, we also enjoy several countdown calendars!  This way there is no fighting over who got to open the window last because each of them have their own!

Fabric Advent Wreath 2009

Advent Wreath 2010

Amelia's Advent Calendar 2010

Olivia's homemade countdown craft 2010

Amelia's countdown craft 2010

Books & Movies:  I love Christmas books!  I mean, seriously, I might need an intervention!  I keep book baskets in the living room all year long.  I periodically change out the books so that the kids don't get bored and I'm always adding new ones to the collection.  Every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, I switch out the Halloween, Fall, Thanksgiving books and trade them for our holiday ones.  It makes me so happy to see these old friends that have been hiding all year long.  This year, we're starting a NEW TRADITION that I found over at The Idea Room.  I picked 23 Christmas books (some new, some old) and wrapped them.  Each night, the kids (taking turns!) get to pick a book for us to read out loud.  The best part is that there is much anticipation as to what book it is!  They spend a good bit of time trying to guess as to what book they've chosen.  On Christmas Eve, we will read the Christmas Story from the Bible (Luke).

I also keep our holiday movies hidden until Thanksgiving, then I bring them out so they are readily available.  We usually watch ALL of them, at least once during the season.  Some of our favorites are:

It's a Wonderful Life

The Bishop's Wife

The Bells of St. Mary's

One Magic Christmas

Elf

Christmas With the Kranks

The Santa Claus

Rudolph

Frosty

The Grinch

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

A Christmas Story

The Polar Express

And many, many more!

***Some of these are not necessarily "child friendly"***

December 6, St. Nicholas Day:  Our kids leave their shoes out on December 5th!  St. Nicholas always brings them some chocolate coins, new Christmas pajamas and a holy card, rosary or other religious sacramental!  We also make Dutch Spice Cookies and deliver them to friends.  If you are looking for ways to celebrate St. Nicholas Day, please visit The St. Nicholas Center!  You will find everything you need!

St. Nicholas Day 2008

The Elf on the Shelf:  This is a tradition that we just started this year!  If you don't know what it's about, here is a great place to start.  We bought our elf on sale at BooksaMillion and we named him Clive!  Clive will have a very busy job here at the Widener Household!  Santa's in for an earful!

Clive 2010

Even with all of these traditions, the most important thing for me....is family.  Christmas is about gathering with family and friends, spending time with each other and anticipating together the Savior's birth!  For truly, He did change the world!  His birth changed everything!  The Christmas tree in the corner of my living room is a reminder of another tree that will figure prominently later on in the life of Jesus....the one He was nailed to.

While some of these traditions are held to EVERY year, others come and go based on finances, time and energy.  I try very hard not to become overwhelmed with "doing" too much.  I'd rather just "be".  The older I get, the faster the time goes and I want to enjoy the season instead of spending the whole time so busy that I wonder where December went.

As you journey through the season, stop, think, pray, take a breath, slow down....and enjoy!!

Our Fall....so far!

Let me be clear.....we have NOT had much fall weather so I am loosely calling this "Our Fall"! Still, I thought I would share some of what has been going on in our house!

First of all, I wanted to share about Amelia's progress in school! She is doing so well! In her Kindergarten, they have what is called the "Lollipop Club". Each month, they must meet a certain goal. When they meet that goal...they get a lollipop! The first month was color words, the second was number words (1-10) and for this month, it's the first set of 16 Dolch words. Today is November 3rd and Amelia has already made her goal for this month! I keep the words on flash cards and I try to display them somewhere so she can see them often! I am so proud of my little girl!!

I did my November saint/special day calendar (you can find the post about last months calendar here). It turned out ok. There were lots of great Saints to choose from for this month, but I tried to stick to one or two per week. Because tonight was a soccer practice night...and the fact that Dan has class....we didn't do much for St. Martin de Porres. This month, we will focus on praying for all of our deceased relatives and for all of the souls in Purgatory.

Last month, the goal for the kids was to learn the St. Michael the Archangel prayer, by heart! Since we still haven't exactly mastered this yet...I will keep the prayer posted so we can read it daily.

This is our 2009 Thanksgiving Tree (the 2008 tree can be found here). I decided to buy our tree this year, courtesy of Oriental Trading Company (and for only $8.99). I know that this took half of the fun out of it for the kids....but I just didn't feel like cleaning up little pieces of cut construction paper off of the floor for the next 2 months. Besides, now we can really concentrate on our gratitude! (Like craft time with the kids......)!

One other great part of this Thanksgiving Tree kit is that it came with pre-made leaves! Boy am I lazy this year!

This was my first try at carving a pumpkin with a stencil. This was great fun, but I ended up with a blister on my finger!

This one was a lot easier....and a lot more traditional!

Here was our crew of pumpkins (and kids)!

Amelia was Belle!

Olivia was a fairy princess......of some kind!

And Nathan was dear old Harry Potter!

Dan decided it was time to get rid of the little kiddy swings and build a real swing set in the back yard. He did a really good job. I don't have pictures of the finished project as of yet, but here's a shot of Nathan helping his dad. Like father, like son.

Here is the newest member of our family (no, not Olivia). Our Dodge Caravan is pretty much at the end of the road. It has become unreliable...especially driving the kids around. Dan has been looking around for a truck for awhile now and although it doesn't do really great on gas....it will be a big help when Dan does the roof this winter (once the weather actually cools down).

Olivia seemed particularly fond of the new truck. By the way, it has a back seat that fits the three kids (and car seats) really well!

We also celebrated Olivia's 4th birthday! I can't believe she is 4 years old! I've said this before, but I think God should fashion children with "Pause" buttons....so you could slow them down just a bit every now and then to enjoy a particular stage a little longer!

Coming home from running errands one day, Dan and I found this little guy trying to cross the street. We stopped and helped him along....although I can tell you that this Snapping Turtle did NOT want any help!

Doesn't he look prehistoric?

This little critter also decided to pay us a visit recently! What you can't see is the HUGE lizard that was waiting for him. I don't really know who won this battle....but about an hour later, there was no sign of the praying mantis.....but the lizard was licking his lips!

And lastly...Nathan has really been into creating Star Wars vehicles with his Legos. The other night....he fell asleep (in his clothes) with his latest creation in his hand. Isn't he cute?

So, that's what has been going on at my house...what about yours?