December 2009 Archives
Andrew had a really hard time waiting for this birthday and prayed several times to "please not let me be sad until my Birthday." Two nights ago, he announced that his birthday was so close that he did not need to pray about being sad - the end was in sight!!
Happy Birthday, blue eyes!
2 weeks:
This kid had hair! 4 mos:
Baptism! (Notice, I did trim his bangs!) 5 mos:
Almost 1:
1 yr.:
1.5 yrs:
2 yrs:
Happy Birthday, blue eyes!
2 weeks:
This kid had hair! 4 mos:
Baptism! (Notice, I did trim his bangs!) 5 mos:
Almost 1:
1 yr.:
1.5 yrs:
2 yrs:
3 yrs:
Awaiting 4 yr. old picture!
Awaiting 4 yr. old picture!
After his shower tonight, Matthew came to me with a list of supplies in his head. He needed my help getting everything and then wanted to work privately in the bee room to prepare some presents for Andrew's birthday tomorrow. He spent at least an hour and came back down with these two beauties:
(Judging by the supplies Matthew had me get, Andrew is receiving a box of Origami and electronic parts. He is also getting Matthew's Lowe's semi. I know only because I can tell by the shape of the wrapping paper.)
After he was done, Matthew was really concerned that he had run out of time to make anything for the guys' stockings. Kevin assured him that he would have time in the morning. (Matthew is always awake by 5:30, if not earlier!)
What a beautiful example of generosity from one of God's precious souls!
(Judging by the supplies Matthew had me get, Andrew is receiving a box of Origami and electronic parts. He is also getting Matthew's Lowe's semi. I know only because I can tell by the shape of the wrapping paper.)
After he was done, Matthew was really concerned that he had run out of time to make anything for the guys' stockings. Kevin assured him that he would have time in the morning. (Matthew is always awake by 5:30, if not earlier!)
What a beautiful example of generosity from one of God's precious souls!
....that make it all worthwhile. This year, we are celebrating Christmas in it's fullness - as a season and not just a day. I knew, by the end of Advent, that I wanted to celebrate this way, but I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to do it.
Enter: Matthew. Christmas evening, Matthew secretly put some of his electronics parts (He has a large bucket of these that he has been collecting since summer.) into baggies and slipped them into the guys' stockings. He also prepared a program listing the numbers of the Christmas songs from our Hymnal that we would sing in front of the fire that evening.
Every day, he comes up with new ideas as a way for us to celebrate. He has been making Origami figures (with the paper he received from his Aunt as a birthday present) and slipping them into our stockings. Sometimes, they even have electronic parts hidden in them!
One evening, he spent about an hour making us this beautiful card and many Origami figures:
So, we have followed his lead. Kevin slips candy into the guys' stockings every night before he goes to bed. He also un-sauders a special electronic part to add back to Matthew's collection. Today, I purchased chapstick and watercolor paints to slip in over the next couple of days. Thank you, Matthew, for a great, new tradition!!
Enter: Matthew. Christmas evening, Matthew secretly put some of his electronics parts (He has a large bucket of these that he has been collecting since summer.) into baggies and slipped them into the guys' stockings. He also prepared a program listing the numbers of the Christmas songs from our Hymnal that we would sing in front of the fire that evening.
Every day, he comes up with new ideas as a way for us to celebrate. He has been making Origami figures (with the paper he received from his Aunt as a birthday present) and slipping them into our stockings. Sometimes, they even have electronic parts hidden in them!
One evening, he spent about an hour making us this beautiful card and many Origami figures:
So, we have followed his lead. Kevin slips candy into the guys' stockings every night before he goes to bed. He also un-sauders a special electronic part to add back to Matthew's collection. Today, I purchased chapstick and watercolor paints to slip in over the next couple of days. Thank you, Matthew, for a great, new tradition!!
While researching Advent and Christmas traditions for our family, I came across a lot of wonderful ideas that I absolutely do not want to forget! (Not that I will even attempt to accomplish them all!) So, I am going to compile them all here and, hopefully next Christmas, I'll remember that I even made this post!!
General Ideas
Mantle phrase:
I like the idea of decorating for Advent first, then decorating for Christmas.
Jessica's Advent Mantle
Charlotte's
Christmas breakfast:
We had Bohemian Fruit Slices and Homemade Eggnog. It was delicious! And while I love the idea of a birthday cake for Jesus, we decided that with a birthday 6 days before and 6 days after Christmas, it is just too much cake!! Next year, the plan is to stick candles in our Bohemian and sing at breakfast. And the boys want to make sure we also cook some sausage! And eggs would be yummy! So:
Christmas Day breakfast menu:
Cheesy eggs
Sausage
Bohemian Fruit Slices (with candles!)
Homemade Eggnog
Jesse tree:
We just used a small tree and paper ornaments, but I would like to find a banner style (felt or cloth) tree and corresponding ornaments. Here's a different idea for unique ornaments.
I need to develop my own list of readings. I used 3 different sources this year and none of them coordinated with each other. I'll check Jessica's list for help developing mine.
Orthodox religions use a 52-day Jesse Tree. I'd like to read more about that.
Christmas cards:
Write and send them! And here's a beautiful way to display them!
Purging/Cleaning House/Spirits as part of preparation:
I had never heard of this idea before and the realities of life with my boys would probably never allow it, but a girl can dream, right? Here's a sample cleaning schedule from Colleen and a coordinating post about the more important work in Advent - preparing our souls.
Presents for Jesus:
This is an incredible idea, and it seems like a natural extension to what we did this year (only gifts that were for the whole family, such as books, games, etc.) Ann has a list of catalogs her family uses in this post.
Advent Calendar Extension:
I love Advent calendars (especially ours!), but I don't like the way the wise men, sheep, and shepherds all come before baby Jesus. And I really want that multitude of Angels to be present at Jesus' birth!
I'm hoping to find a blank wooden calendar with doors, in order to rearrange and add more figures to have a Christmas season extension to the Advent calendar. Still searching!
(Update: I found some mini wooden figures at Michael's - extra animals, stars, lots of Angels! And Kevin suggested that if I don't find an extra blank calendar, we could just add them back into our Advent calendar for the Christmas Season.)
Advent flow into Christmas Season:
We had three rotations of activities for the boys each night during Advent: hanging the ornament on the Jesse Tree, opening the appropriate door on the Advent Calendar, and blowing out the Advent and mantle candles after our procession.
Next year, during the Christmas Season, I'd like to have three corresponding activities: opening the appropriate door for the Christmas Extension Calendar, blowing out the Christ candle and mantle candles after our procession, and unwrapping a Christmas book to be read in place of the Jesse tree readings. (I know Jessica's idea was to unwrap a book each day of Advent, but by the time Christmas came around, the boys were tired of reading Christmas books!!! We can't have that happen again!)
Christmas Stockings:
Seeing this picture reminds me that I hope to carry on my grandfather's tradition and needlepoint stockings for each my children. (I like this one!) Probably not going to happen in this lifetime, but I am still going to dream about it!
Books:
Books for Advent will focus on the theme of waiting or be attributed to a December Saint's Feast Day. (Obviously need more research in this category!)
Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar (the boys loved this one!)
The Jesse Tree
St. Nicholas books:
The Bakers Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale
St. Lucia books
Christmas cookies:
Make more! Save some and gift some (recycling guys, mailman, Mimi and Poppy's family, friends, family, Father Willie, etc. )
I really like Jessica's idea of "painting" the cookies.
Other gifts:
-Homemade vanilla extract
-Homemade block crayons
-Clove apples (This is the second year we've attempted this and we almost completed one apple! I think 2010 is our year!)
Ideas from Books
The Bakers Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale:
Make St. Nicholas cookies using this recipe and this cookie cutter.
A Gift from Saint Francis: The First Creche
Remember our animal friends at Christmas by making birdseed and other treats.
Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar
Make an Advent calendar by tying little cookies onto cardboard (possibly butter cookies, but try to find an original German recipe).
Calendar-Specific Ideas
Check out Jessica's Advent Schedule.
Feast of St. Nicholas:
Hold a party again for our homeschool group, focusing more on traditional recipes.
'O' Antiphons:
-House:
-Christine's
-Jessica's
-Special activities for each antiphon:
-Jessica's ideas
Feast of St. Lucia:
I didn't know quite what to do with this feast day, since the dog and I are the only females in the house! Apparently, I am not the only one is this situation. So, next year, I can look a liitle more into Dawn's tradition: Star Boys
Feast of the Holy Innocents:
-Bless your children
OK, I've got to stop here and continue researching in November. I told myself (and my husband) that I would publish this post before the end of the Christmas Season. So, here goes!!
Some late notes:
-Order Advent Candles
-Order cloves in bulk
-Stockings, for sure, need to come down on Jan. 6. We can decide if we want everything down then or if we want some things to stay until Feb. 2.
General Ideas
Mantle phrase:
I like the idea of decorating for Advent first, then decorating for Christmas.
Jessica's Advent Mantle
Charlotte's
Christmas breakfast:
We had Bohemian Fruit Slices and Homemade Eggnog. It was delicious! And while I love the idea of a birthday cake for Jesus, we decided that with a birthday 6 days before and 6 days after Christmas, it is just too much cake!! Next year, the plan is to stick candles in our Bohemian and sing at breakfast. And the boys want to make sure we also cook some sausage! And eggs would be yummy! So:
Christmas Day breakfast menu:
Cheesy eggs
Sausage
Bohemian Fruit Slices (with candles!)
Homemade Eggnog
Jesse tree:
We just used a small tree and paper ornaments, but I would like to find a banner style (felt or cloth) tree and corresponding ornaments. Here's a different idea for unique ornaments.
I need to develop my own list of readings. I used 3 different sources this year and none of them coordinated with each other. I'll check Jessica's list for help developing mine.
Orthodox religions use a 52-day Jesse Tree. I'd like to read more about that.
Christmas cards:
Write and send them! And here's a beautiful way to display them!
Purging/Cleaning House/Spirits as part of preparation:
I had never heard of this idea before and the realities of life with my boys would probably never allow it, but a girl can dream, right? Here's a sample cleaning schedule from Colleen and a coordinating post about the more important work in Advent - preparing our souls.
Presents for Jesus:
This is an incredible idea, and it seems like a natural extension to what we did this year (only gifts that were for the whole family, such as books, games, etc.) Ann has a list of catalogs her family uses in this post.
Advent Calendar Extension:
I love Advent calendars (especially ours!), but I don't like the way the wise men, sheep, and shepherds all come before baby Jesus. And I really want that multitude of Angels to be present at Jesus' birth!
I'm hoping to find a blank wooden calendar with doors, in order to rearrange and add more figures to have a Christmas season extension to the Advent calendar. Still searching!
(Update: I found some mini wooden figures at Michael's - extra animals, stars, lots of Angels! And Kevin suggested that if I don't find an extra blank calendar, we could just add them back into our Advent calendar for the Christmas Season.)
Advent flow into Christmas Season:
We had three rotations of activities for the boys each night during Advent: hanging the ornament on the Jesse Tree, opening the appropriate door on the Advent Calendar, and blowing out the Advent and mantle candles after our procession.
Next year, during the Christmas Season, I'd like to have three corresponding activities: opening the appropriate door for the Christmas Extension Calendar, blowing out the Christ candle and mantle candles after our procession, and unwrapping a Christmas book to be read in place of the Jesse tree readings. (I know Jessica's idea was to unwrap a book each day of Advent, but by the time Christmas came around, the boys were tired of reading Christmas books!!! We can't have that happen again!)
Christmas Stockings:
Seeing this picture reminds me that I hope to carry on my grandfather's tradition and needlepoint stockings for each my children. (I like this one!) Probably not going to happen in this lifetime, but I am still going to dream about it!
Books:
Books for Advent will focus on the theme of waiting or be attributed to a December Saint's Feast Day. (Obviously need more research in this category!)
Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar (the boys loved this one!)
The Jesse Tree
St. Nicholas books:
The Bakers Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale
St. Lucia books
Christmas cookies:
Make more! Save some and gift some (recycling guys, mailman, Mimi and Poppy's family, friends, family, Father Willie, etc. )
I really like Jessica's idea of "painting" the cookies.
Other gifts:
-Homemade vanilla extract
-Homemade block crayons
-Clove apples (This is the second year we've attempted this and we almost completed one apple! I think 2010 is our year!)
Ideas from Books
The Bakers Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale:
Make St. Nicholas cookies using this recipe and this cookie cutter.
A Gift from Saint Francis: The First Creche
Remember our animal friends at Christmas by making birdseed and other treats.
Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar
Make an Advent calendar by tying little cookies onto cardboard (possibly butter cookies, but try to find an original German recipe).
Calendar-Specific Ideas
Check out Jessica's Advent Schedule.
Feast of St. Nicholas:
Hold a party again for our homeschool group, focusing more on traditional recipes.
'O' Antiphons:
-House:
-Christine's
-Jessica's
-Special activities for each antiphon:
-Jessica's ideas
Feast of St. Lucia:
I didn't know quite what to do with this feast day, since the dog and I are the only females in the house! Apparently, I am not the only one is this situation. So, next year, I can look a liitle more into Dawn's tradition: Star Boys
Feast of the Holy Innocents:
-Bless your children
OK, I've got to stop here and continue researching in November. I told myself (and my husband) that I would publish this post before the end of the Christmas Season. So, here goes!!
Some late notes:
-Order Advent Candles
-Order cloves in bulk
-Stockings, for sure, need to come down on Jan. 6. We can decide if we want everything down then or if we want some things to stay until Feb. 2.
Matthew asked why we had to go to church every Sunday.
"Why couldn't we go every other Sunday?" he wanted to know.
I asked him to think about it in a different way.
"What if Grandma and G-daddy lived close by, would you want them to visit every week or every other week?" I asked.
He replied, "Every week! No, I would want them to visit every day!"
Exactly. I told him God would love it if we visited Him every day or at least as often as we could.
And he said, "Why do we need to visit Him? He's all around us, everywhere."
That is so true. We talked about how church is like God's home and its the one place we can actually see Him. In the Eucharist.
(Danielle Rose wrote an incredible song called "See You in the Eucharist." In her explanation about the song, she talks about how humble Jesus is to come to us in a piece of bread, knowing that we would be terrified otherwise.)
We talked about how the angels would always tell people not to be afraid as part of their greeting and how if people were that afraid of angels, they would be so much more afraid of seeing God. But no one would be scared of a piece of bread.
We talked a bit more about why people would be afraid of God (they would be ashamed at unloving things they had done) and how children wouldn't be as afraid of God as adults.
Matthew and I both felt really satisfied about the conversation and had a good chuckle over the thought of people being afraid of bread. (I really hope it was a good explanation, but I wanted to document it anyway because I know I'll forget it otherwise!)
"Why couldn't we go every other Sunday?" he wanted to know.
I asked him to think about it in a different way.
"What if Grandma and G-daddy lived close by, would you want them to visit every week or every other week?" I asked.
He replied, "Every week! No, I would want them to visit every day!"
Exactly. I told him God would love it if we visited Him every day or at least as often as we could.
And he said, "Why do we need to visit Him? He's all around us, everywhere."
That is so true. We talked about how church is like God's home and its the one place we can actually see Him. In the Eucharist.
(Danielle Rose wrote an incredible song called "See You in the Eucharist." In her explanation about the song, she talks about how humble Jesus is to come to us in a piece of bread, knowing that we would be terrified otherwise.)
We talked about how the angels would always tell people not to be afraid as part of their greeting and how if people were that afraid of angels, they would be so much more afraid of seeing God. But no one would be scared of a piece of bread.
We talked a bit more about why people would be afraid of God (they would be ashamed at unloving things they had done) and how children wouldn't be as afraid of God as adults.
Matthew and I both felt really satisfied about the conversation and had a good chuckle over the thought of people being afraid of bread. (I really hope it was a good explanation, but I wanted to document it anyway because I know I'll forget it otherwise!)
Matthew turned six yesterday!! It's just hard to believe. Indulge me for a moment while I take a little photo journey.
One week:
2 months:
Baptism! 4 months:
Around 9 months (?):
1 year:
18 months:
2 years:
3 years:
(I know you can't see his face on this one, but I just had to include it. This was his first climbing experience and the army guy said he'd never seen a kid climb so high.) 3.5 years:
4 years:
5 years:
One week:
2 months:
Baptism! 4 months:
Around 9 months (?):
1 year:
18 months:
2 years:
3 years:
(I know you can't see his face on this one, but I just had to include it. This was his first climbing experience and the army guy said he'd never seen a kid climb so high.) 3.5 years:
4 years:
5 years:
And as soon as we figure out the downolad process of our new camera, I can post his 6 year old photo!
I've had this song in my head ever since I heard it over at Colleen's blog. I just wanted to add it here, so I would have an easy place to find it for next year.
At supper tonight -
Matthew: I don't want any cheese. I'm getting tired of cheese.
Andrew: I'm getting tired of cheese, too.
Matthew (excitedly): Andrew, I could eat your cheese for you! Wow! Wasn't that generous of Andrew to give me all of his cheese?
(Parents are too perplexed to respond.)
Matthew: I don't want any cheese. I'm getting tired of cheese.
Andrew: I'm getting tired of cheese, too.
Matthew (excitedly): Andrew, I could eat your cheese for you! Wow! Wasn't that generous of Andrew to give me all of his cheese?
(Parents are too perplexed to respond.)
And what a feast it was!!
The kids woke up to new jammies, a matchbox car, and (of course!) candy in their shoes. (It took us until today to finally "convince" Mr. I-Don't-Wear-Anything-New to try on his new jammies!) They all look so adorable!!
I was planning to make Jessica's Candy Cane Coffecake as a treat for breakfast, but I completely spaced it on Saturday because we were so busy making final preparations for our St. Nicholas party! Oh, well. I'll have to remember it for next year.
Our St. Nicholas party was so fun!! Thanks to all the resources available at the St. Nicholas Center, planning was fairly easy. (The hard part was running around getting supplies with the 4 boys in tow!) My intention was to entertain the kids for an hour and let the adults visit, but our homeschool families are so great that everyone came upstairs and helped out. We completely forgot to even try to take pictures during the party, but I did get a few shots of the boys playing the games before we cleaned up.
We opened with a brief reading from The Legend of St. Nicholas. Then, the kids made Origami Miters (out of wrapping paper) and St. Nicholas figures. We also had two carnival-style games for them to play. For one of the games, Kevin and Matthew painted a fireplace scene and the kids had to try and throw a small sack of coins "through the window" into a stocking (or through a square hole or even over the mantle - whatever it took to win!) The prize for this game was a St. Nicholas prayer card.
Here are some pictures of the setup:
Here's a slight action shot:
The next game was inspired by my parents' parish's annual picnic (which coincidentally is St. Nicholas parish!) Again, the kids had to toss coins "through the window." This time they had to try to get the coin into a mug or glass, which they then won as a prize!
(Next year, we hope to build a little stand for the cups, so Matthew doesn't have to maneuver around them on the stairs!)
Here's Andrew trying his luck:
After the games and crafts, we ended our activity time with The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale (the boys' love this one!) and then had a short blessing and delicious potluck dinner!! The kids ate first and then the adults, miraculously, were able to sit around the dinner table and enjoy some conversation while the kids played. Thank you St. Nicholas!
(btw: This post took me 3 days to type! Granted, I'm typing one-handed with babe in arms. But even so, I've got to get more efficient at this!)
The kids woke up to new jammies, a matchbox car, and (of course!) candy in their shoes. (It took us until today to finally "convince" Mr. I-Don't-Wear-Anything-New to try on his new jammies!) They all look so adorable!!
I was planning to make Jessica's Candy Cane Coffecake as a treat for breakfast, but I completely spaced it on Saturday because we were so busy making final preparations for our St. Nicholas party! Oh, well. I'll have to remember it for next year.
Our St. Nicholas party was so fun!! Thanks to all the resources available at the St. Nicholas Center, planning was fairly easy. (The hard part was running around getting supplies with the 4 boys in tow!) My intention was to entertain the kids for an hour and let the adults visit, but our homeschool families are so great that everyone came upstairs and helped out. We completely forgot to even try to take pictures during the party, but I did get a few shots of the boys playing the games before we cleaned up.
We opened with a brief reading from The Legend of St. Nicholas. Then, the kids made Origami Miters (out of wrapping paper) and St. Nicholas figures. We also had two carnival-style games for them to play. For one of the games, Kevin and Matthew painted a fireplace scene and the kids had to try and throw a small sack of coins "through the window" into a stocking (or through a square hole or even over the mantle - whatever it took to win!) The prize for this game was a St. Nicholas prayer card.
Here are some pictures of the setup:
Here's a slight action shot:
The next game was inspired by my parents' parish's annual picnic (which coincidentally is St. Nicholas parish!) Again, the kids had to toss coins "through the window." This time they had to try to get the coin into a mug or glass, which they then won as a prize!
(Next year, we hope to build a little stand for the cups, so Matthew doesn't have to maneuver around them on the stairs!)
Here's Andrew trying his luck:
After the games and crafts, we ended our activity time with The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale (the boys' love this one!) and then had a short blessing and delicious potluck dinner!! The kids ate first and then the adults, miraculously, were able to sit around the dinner table and enjoy some conversation while the kids played. Thank you St. Nicholas!
(btw: This post took me 3 days to type! Granted, I'm typing one-handed with babe in arms. But even so, I've got to get more efficient at this!)
About
Melissa Foote
melissa -at- footefamily.net
Catholic,Homeschooler,Mom to four boys (and one big one)