1st Sunday of Advent - 2012

I've put my Sunday Fun Links on hold until after Christmas!  I wanted to spend the next few Sundays sharing with you the traditions and activities that we are doing as a family for Advent.  None of these things are earth shattering...or new.  These are just ordinary ways of celebrating this season of anticipation with an "extra-ordinary" Widener spin!

Last year was the first year since Nathan was a baby that we've had an Advent Wreath using real candles.  I thought we ready.  I thought wrong.  It's too much stress for me worrying about who is touching the candle...who is sticking their fingers in hot wax....or who is blowing them out too hard and blowing wax all over the place!  Real candles are still too much of a temptation for my kids.  So, with the help of some wonderful ideas on Pinterest....I found one that we could make.  It was fun and easy.

I started by making the wreath itself.  I traced the girls hands 4 times each using two different shades of green.

 

I cut them out and then glued them together in a circle. 



 

 

 

I had been saving up my toilet paper rolls for just this occasion!

 

A little glue...

 

A little purple/pink/white scrapbook paper....

 

Roll it on up.

I measured the paper slightly longer than the tube.  I don't really know why.  I suppose they could have been exact and it would have worked fine too.  I just thought the edges were cleaner this way.

 

Slit the excess paper with scissors and then fold and glue them down.

I cut out a circle of paper for the tops...made a slit in the middle of the circle and then inserted a "flame" that I traced and cut out.

 

I think it turned out cute.

 

Now I don't have to worry about little burned fingers or scraping wax off of my dining room table!

Enjoy your first week of Advent!  Happy New Year!

Advent: The "Little Lent"

While reading through some of my favorite blogs this morning, I came across this post from Elizabeth Foss:  What are you giving up for Advent?

Advent is time of preparation....just like Lent.  When thinking about this, I am reminded of the song lyrics..."Prepare ye the way of the Lord".  The word Advent comes from the Latin advenio which means "to come to" which refers to the coming of Christ.  In Advent as in Lent, we should be preparing our souls to receive Jesus Christ.

So, I'm curious, what are you doing to prepare?  I mean, I know what most of us do physically to prepare for Advent.  But, what are you doing Spiritually?

More to come on this subject.

Unintentional Blogging Break

It seems I've somehow stumbled into an Advent blogging break.  To tell you the truth, I don't really know what's going on with me.  I'm having a hard time finding the Spirit of Christmas.  Each year it comes and goes faster and faster!  Frankly, I'm still stuck somewhere between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

I feel depressed and somewhat overwhelmed.  Everything seems to be a chore.  Every morning when I wake up, I try to think of something to blog about...but nothing comes. I thought putting up the tree would bring that festive feeling....nope.  I didn't feel much like decorating the rest of the house like I usually do.  But, I did it anyway.  Mostly for the kids but also in hopes that it would bring a better mood....nope.  Even the creche (although empty) brings me no solace right now.

There is no joy in my house.  That is really a tragedy given the circumstances.  Three years ago, I was begging God for my life.  Today, I have my life, but I'm not satisfied.  How's that for ungratefulness?  I feel like such a sorry excuse for a human being...a wife...and mother.  I have so much, yet I'm not happy.

I'm dreading the Christmas program at school tomorrow night.  I had to search the local Kmart with a fine toothed comb looking for a red top and black bottoms for Amelia.  You'd think there would be tons of red at Christmas...right?  Wrong!  Apparently the colors this year are pink, black, and purple.  I managed to dig out a red sweater (this is Florida....no need for sweaters) out of the sale bin...and some black leggings.  She still needs shoes but we don't get paid until Friday and the funds have dried up.  So, I guess I'll stuff her size 13 feet into a size 12 shoe.

Olivia is covered...I've got her dress and some shoes.  She really needs a pair of red socks....but again...NO RED at Kmart.  I'll try Walmart in the morning.

Nathan....well, his part of the program calls for a costume that his teachers described as a "military angel"!  Yes, you read that right.  A military angel.  I'm at a total loss with this one.  A friend has an army jacket that we can borrow....but I have no idea how to make him an angel.  He refuses to wear his sister's fairy wings.  I don't blame him.

Anyway...to me, this is all nonsense. I wish I could just go to sleep and wake up in January.  Just two more days and the kids are out until January 3rd.  I'm not even excited for that. 

Have you every wanted to just get in the car and drive....anywhere?  Have you ever wanted to just disappear...to a place where no one knows you...where you can be alone with your own thoughts and have no one bugging you?  Have you ever wanted to be left alone.....for there to be no expectations of you?

I'm tired.  Going to bed.

Our Advent

I should be more prepared for it.  It comes at the same time every year, but it always takes me by surprise!  It's as if I go to bed on Halloween....and the next thing I know, I wake up and it's Advent already!  How does that happen?  Didn't we just do this?

Oh well.  I love this time of year and I'm just glad it's here.  I was somewhat ahead of the game this time, though.  I actually didn't pack away the advent wreath like usual.  Every single year I say to myself, "Nancy, DON'T pack away the Advent Wreath...you'll need that sooner than any of the other decorations".  And every single year, I pack it away.  Then, I have to go digging through all six boxes and it's always in the last one I try!  Not this time.  Haha!....I just put on the shelf in my closet and was able to go right to it!  Whew!  That was a load off my mind.

There are so many wonderful ways to celebrate the season of Advent.  I've spent hours reading blogs and visiting special websites.  I've copied, bookmarked, and printed tons of ideas.  I wish I had the time and money to try them all.  The thing is, if I did try them all...or...did more than I do....I might miss the meaning of these special activities.  It's taken me many years to realize that I can't do everything!  I want our family to grow in faith and love as we anticipate the birth of the Savior!

 As my kids get older, it's harder to keep them focused on anything but what's under the tree on Christmas morning.  They are kids that live in a world that is very "me" focused and full of all the material things you could possibly dream of.  As Catholics, it's my job to understand and teach my children that while we live "in" the world, we are not "of" it.  Setting limits and making decisions ahead of time really helps.

Even as an adult, I can easily become overwhelmed. When I take my focus off of Christ, my 3 page list of things to get done...remains just that...things to be done.  When I focus on EMMANUEL, God WITH us....I can then enjoy the preparation and the traditions.  I still have my list of things to do, but I can do them with a sense of anticipation and a sense of  purpose.

We do very few things for Advent...but they are meaningful and the kids love them.  We added one new thing this year and the jury is still out on whether or not we will make it an annual part of our season.  Here's what we do:

1.  Advent Wreath:  This is the second year in a row we are using real candles for our wreath.  In the past, we've used a fabric one that worked just fine.  We light the candle each night and read a short meditation.  We've allowed Nathan the privilege of lighting it!  It allows him to feel important as an up and coming "man" of the house and the girls look at him in "awe" as he maneuvers the lighter. 

2.  Advent Calendar:  It's tradition in our family that my mother-in-law bring us an Advent Calendar.
While we love to open the window and see the symbol or read the scripture passage...there was always a fight as to which one of the kids was going to open the door.  You've got to know that in my house EVERYTHING is a competition!  So, to combat the arguing, I found these calendars on sale at Hobby Lobby!  I bought 3 so that everybody had there own.  As a matter of fact, these actually have pieces of chocolate behind the doors!  I also bought one without the chocolate....just because I thought the picture was gorgeous!

3.  Jesse Tree:  This is the one thing that we added this year!  I've always wanted to have a Jesse Tree but I've just never taken the time.  About two weeks ago, I found a pattern for the ornaments that really looked easy and doable for me!  Once I printed them out, added the backing, colored them and then got the laminated, it was easy.  I found the pattern here.  Since these pictures were taken, I've also punched holes at the top and used ribbon for hanging.  I've decided not to have a separate tree....we'll just hang them on our Christmas tree.

4.  Christmas Countdowns:  Although the following little activities are technically "Advent Calendars", I call them countdowns because there is no scripture reading involved.  These are just a couple of fun things that I've found through the years that make it exciting for the kids.  The first picture is of a freebie from Simple Schooling.  They are currently doing a series called "The 12 Days of Freebies".   The second photo is of a magnet nativity scene.  Each day you put out a new piece.

Another tradition we have is that we purchase a new family ornament every year!  I usually get them at large annual Christmas craft show called Christmas Made in the South!  This is the ornament that I chose for 2011:

We also love handmade ornaments.  I made this cross several years ago.  I bought a kit and as it turned out, these ornaments were much harder to make than I thought.  So a dear friend finished them for me.  This is the only one I made!  And this year I found a coloring book with these stained glass looking pages.  We used markers instead of crayons.  I think they turned out nice!

Happy 2nd week of Advent, my friends!

Gaudete Sunday

2nd Week of Advent

We have been moving very slowly at our house lately (Thank you, Barbara & Judy!). Although we've had a lot to do, we've tried not to tire ourselves out by doing it all at once! For instance, we bought our tree the day after Thanksgiving. It lived in our backyard for two days, until we had time to bring it inside. Then, to slow things down even further, we didn't decorate it at all for over a week! We just let it deliver that glorious smell that I love so much! We finally got around to putting the lights and decorations on it this past Sunday.

St. Nicholas visited our house on Saturday night! He always brings new Christmas pajamas and some chocolate gold coins! Here is a photo of the kids in there new pj's....

We had our annual St. Nicholas/gingerbread decorating party over the weekend! It is always a real hit with the kids! We start off by praying the Rosary, which moves right into the potluck and then the decorating. This year, my kids barely had the gingerbread house decorated when they began eating it! The good news....I don't have that sugar-filled, gloppy, messy, sticky thing hanging around until I have to throw it away!

Sunday night, we were treated to a call from the North Pole! Santa called to talk with each of the kids. I think Nathan was the most excited of all of them! If you're interested in having Santa call your children, you can make those arrangements at http://www.santaspeaks.com/!

We don't have a lot going on this week....except Olivia is home from school today (and I'm home from work) with an earache. I can't call the doctor until 8:30am. We just can't seem to get well around here. I'm starting to tire of the constant co-pays, the antibiotics, the making up homework issue...and.....I guess knowing there are little germs living in this house that I can't seem to get rid of! Waaa, waaaa, waaaa....whine, whine, whine!

As I look back over the last year...I'm amazed that it's gone by so quickly! At this time last year, I had just finished my last chemo and was walking around....bald! I have much to be thankful for this year...and although it might not seem like it, I am extremely thankful to God for my health, for my husband and children, for my job and health care! We have a roof over our heads and food in the pantry. I am also thankful that we can afford medicine when we are sick!

So, as we celebrate this beautiful Feast of the Immaculate Conception, let us be ever more thankful to God and to our Blessed Mother for all that we have.

Advent: Week One

Why do I always pack away my Advent Wreath with all of the Christmas decorations? I usually need it sooner than I need the decorations! Naturally, it was in the last box I pulled down from the shelf! This may be our last year with the fabric wreath...but I'm not sure. I still don't completely trust them around a lit candle. Anyway, we are looking forward to our St. Nicholas celebrations. Nathan and Amelia both have parties at school this Friday! Each class will make a St. Nicholas ornament and I'll be baking special Dutch Spice cookies (in the shape of St. Nick's miter) for the treats! Oh, and yes, I realize that the Christ candle goes in the middle of the wreath....I just don't have one at the moment.

Nathan's class made Advent Wreaths of their own! I thought this was a great idea for kids! Just pop up a candle each week! This is an excellent craft for the younger ones!

For their class projects on Friday, they're going to make St. Nicholas ornaments. Rather than have the students trace the patterns and then cut them out....I did all of that for them to save time. All they will have to do is glue it all together. It will start out looking like this.....

And end up looking like this! You can find this pattern as well as lots of other St. Nicholas information at the St. Nicholas Center! Enjoy!

The start of the new liturgical year is always exciting. And, since Nathan will begin training for altar serving in the next few months, I purchased this Liturgical Wheel from Aquinas & More! He's very interested in why Father's vestments change colors and I thought this might help him with understanding the changes.

And lastly...I didn't feel like doing a monthly calendar for December....just too tired and too much other stuff to do. I think the liturgical wheel will suffice for helping us with saint feast days and holy days as well as the Advent Calendar that Grandma brings us. They take turns opening the little doors. Amelia did bring home this calendar from school. I went ahead and put it up so that they have a visual.

What have you guys been up to? I'd love to see pictures of your activities! Thanks for allowing me to share our family with you!

Christmas 2009

Each month, when my new issue of Magnificat shows up in the mail, I can barely contain my excitement! Today, it was finally time to open the plastic and take both booklets out to enjoy! Right away, I was stopped dead in my tracks while reading the first paragraph:

In the Revelations of Saint Bridget of Sweden, the Blessed Virgin Mary says, "When I was nursing my Son, he was endowed with such great beauty that whoever looked upon him was consoled and relieved of any sorrow he may have had in his heart. And so, many people said to one another, 'Let us go to see Mary's Son, that we may be consoled.'"

So, let us all go to see Mary's Son this Christmas...and may we all be consoled.

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!*****

It is an honor to serve!!!

I belong to a ministry at our parish called the Altar Rosary Society. I think in some circles it is also called the Altar Rosary Guild. This is a ministry dedicated to prayer, service, education and social activities. We pray the Rosary every day and we serve our our Lord, our parish and our pastor by cleaning and maintaining the sanctuary (and other areas) on a weekly basis. Our pastor commissioned this ministry specifically because he did not really want a "cleaning service" dusting the Tabernacle. I couldn't agree more. To me, it is a privilege to clean our church and take care of decorating as well as the maintaining the altar linens. I clean on the 3rd Saturday of the month....today was my day. Along with the regular cleaning, today we did the BIG cleaning for Christmas. We do two BIG cleanings a year...Christmas and Easter. I wanted to share with you some pictures of our girls at work...

This is Terry working hard to dust the candlesticks on the back altar. What an honor it is to be this close to the Blessed Sacrament! We all feel a peacefulness when working near the Tabernacle. It can be a time of quiet reflection while you work.

There was someone straightening up the Advent Wreath, but, she ducked out before I took the picture....camera shy.

The statue of Our Lady is up too high to do any real cleaning, although I should have gotten a picture of Anne up there with the vacuum! I think Fr. Fred would have had a heart attack! Isn't she lovely? She watches over us as we do our cleaning!

This is the statue on the opposite side. Our Lord watches over us as well. Sometimes, when praying during mass, I imagine Him speaking directly to me. Silly, I know, but He has such a loving expression on His face.

One of the things that I helped work on today was removing all of the cushions from the pews and dusting them. I hit "pay dirt" today...look what was under one cushion!!! Brand spanking new crayons and tons of Cheerios! Mommy's and Daddy's, if you're going to bring food into church for your young ones....please remember to look around a little before you leave to make sure you haven't forgotten anything!!!!!

This is Maryann patiently changing the belt on the vacuum! Our vacuum's take a lickin but they keep on tickin!!
This is Diane, one of my very best friends in the world! As I cleaned the pews, she vacuumed the cushions. This is a hard and sweaty job, but as you can see, we work with a smile on our faces!

Our cleaning supplies

Here's Terry, cleaning under the cushions on the altar rail. You know, when I was a kid, there were no cushions on the altar rail...you had to kneel on the hard marble!!!

Trying to scrape off the wax from the bottom of the Easter candle.

These are our lists that we work from. Each sheet has a different area of the church (main vestibule, adoration chapel, choir loft, etc...) with a list of each job that needs to be done in that area. When you decide what you want to do...you initial it so a job doesn't get done twice. We had a lot of work to do today!!

Maryann vacuuming the pew cushions....notice the smile!!!

We sweep all the dirt and garbage (yes, we find garbage in the pews....among other very gross things) out to the center aisle and then vacuum it all up.

Although this picture does NOT do it justice, this wood carving on the front of the main altar is gorgeous! It is three dimensional and is very striking when the lighting is just right.

Very simple decorations for Advent.

This is one of two beautiful (but subtle) guardian angels that adorn each side of the tabernacle. It's like they are silently keeping watch over us.

When I got home from church today...there was a small package waiting for me! It was from a wonderful online friend! She sent me the cutest Rudolph bell ornament! I know it's hard to see but he's right in the middle of the picture with the bright red nose! He has gold, sparkling antlers! I absolutely love him! Thank you Therese!!

Well, I know this was a long post but I wanted to share with you this ministry that I love so very much. Since chemo started in September, I have not been doing any cleaning because my wonderful friend Jane said she would take my week while I'm recovering. As a matter of fact, today was my first day back....and I must say....it kicked my behind! Thank you Jane for taking my cleaning day. I love and appreciate you!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Prayer to St. Nicholas

O good St. Nicholas, you who are

the joy of the children, put in my

heart the spirit of childhood, which

the gospel speaks, and teach me to

seed happiness around me. You,

whose feast prepares us for Christmas,

open my faith

to the mystery of Godmade man.

You, good bishop and shepherd, help

me to find my place in the Church and

inspire the church to be faithful

to the gospel.

O good Saint Nicholas,

patron of children,

sailors and the helpless,

watch over those who pray to Jesus,

your Lord and theirs,

as well as over those who humble

themselves before you.

Bring us all in reverence

to the Holy Child of Bethelehem,

when true joy and peace are found.

Amen.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

This was certainly not the week I had planned. Although I knew that I would be out of commission because of the chemo, I hadn't anticipated Amelia getting the stomach flu or Nathan ending up with a pretty serious cold. There are extra MD appts during chemo weeks and just more time management involved. There was just no way to get everything done and in some ways, I think this has been a good thing. For one thing, instead of the St. Nicholas Party that we had planned, we have focused more on Nathan's First Confession that happens tomorrow morning. I can tell that he is slightly anxious (weren't we all) about it and so the extra time talking about it has helped him.

Still, tonight as a family, we watched the St. Nicholas movie and talked about who he was and what his mission was. Once everyone was in bed (and asleep), I crawled out of my fetal position and got their treats ready. All three of them set out their shoes in front of the fireplace tonight.

Their St. Nicholas treats are usually very simple....new Christmas pj's and some chocolate coins. This year, I added some St. Nicholas Holy Cards and a Children's Brown Scapular.

Let me just take a moment to mention the "fake" log (duraflame box) over there on the right. First of all....this is FLORIDA! It might be December 5th and wintry to some of you out there in blogging land, however, it is currently 60 degrees here at this very moment!!! In order to start the fire, Dan had to lower the air conditioner so that we all didn't sweat to death! Here are some other photos:
Olivia got the snowman pajamas. She'll be so excited when she sees them!

Amelia got penguins (***I stand corrected...these apparently are "MONKEYS" and I must be blind!) this year...and unfortunately, Nathan got the short end of the stick!! It appears at this one particular large supermarket...they don't really carry "Christmas" PJ's for boys by the time they reach size 8. I knew I should have tried Target, but, Walmart is closer. So, he ended up with blue and green plaid pj bottoms and I just bought him a matching shirt.

It wasn't until I was getting the pictures ready for this post that I noticed a white piece of paper to the upper left of their shoes on the hearth. When I pulled it closer, I saw this drawing. Nathan has drawn the Nativity. When I opened the card....I saw this note:

It's probably a little hard to read, but his note says, "St. Nicolis, give this moeny to people who need it. love Nathan." To the right of the photo, there is about $2.00 in change that he had obviously taken out of his wallet and put inside the card. Dan and I just sat in amazement that he had done this. It seems that sometimes, he can be very self-centered and spoiled...so much so that I wonder what it is that I am doing wrong to have such a selfish child. And then, he can do things like this that totally blow my mind!

I think the day really wasn't a bust after all! Even through the routine of a typical post chemo day for me, God still brings blessings to our family. Tonight he brought it in the form of a special 8 year old boy who really does have a heart for God and others, even if it stays hidden a lot of the time.

Tomorrow we have Nathan's First Confession and his first basketball game.....it will be busy and I will be doing my best to keep up...but, I will be one proud mom!!