Day 21

(Day 21!?!?!?!! Already?!?!?!)

Put up and decorate your family Christmas tree. Stand back and admire it as you work.

Day 16

Pick a Christmas card you've received this week and pray for the person who sent it.

Supply list for Dec. 12-18

(Ooops -- forgot to do this yesterday!)

Sunday
Advent wreath
Matches

Monday
Christmas cards that have been sent to you

Tuesday
Mary and Joseph figures from your Nativity set

Wednesday
Paper
Pens/Pencils
Envelope(s)

Thursday
Lamp or electric candle to place in a window (we'll need a battery-operated one)

Friday
Christmas Movie (DVD, VHS, Netflix, etc.)  
Popcorn
Bowls

Saturday
Christmas tree
Lights (optional)
Ornaments
Tree-topper
The ability to not freak out when you realize Christmas is only a week away.  

Our Day 15

Well, we forgot to see who sang loudest at Mass, but the kids are looking forward to getting that pink candle lit at dinner time.

We had a lazy day. We took all the kids to see Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader (in 2D, not 3D because 3D costs $3 per person more!), which was met by mixed reviews in our family. We certainly could have done with out the closing song: "We can all be kings and queens of something if we just believe!" Then we cuddled up under afghans and watched George C. Scott's "A Christmas Carol" (tell-tale 80s hair, but mostly very good). Fun to be lazy for a change...

Day 15

Light two purple candles and the pink one for joy. See who can sing loudest at Mass* today.


*Or services at your non-Catholic church

Our Day 14

Even though I had sent five or six boxes and bags of outgrown/unwanted clothes to our local Catholic Social Services gift & thrift store about a week before Thanskgiving, I was able to come up with four more grocery sacks today. Which means that (a) my kids are growth-spurting again and (b) when I was thrift-shopping for winter stuff this past year, I completely underestimated what sizes my oldest and youngest kids would be this year and (c) we have too much stuff in general.

Alas, the one thing I completely forgot to do was take the kids to the local Catholic hospital this morning, where they were having a big Christmas party with free food and crafts and somebody dressed like my middle kid's patron saint. She was pretty upset when she brought it to my attention and I had to tell her that the event had ended 45 minutes earlier. I'm not too happy we missed it, either.

The rest of the day was spent on housework, interviewing somebody for an article I'm writing, making progress on a couple of Christmas presents, and working on my ornaments. I make an angel ornament every year, and this year's is turning out pretty well. It's not as time consuming as some of my previous years, either. I'm about half done, and I've only given it about 4 hours.

The wind is howling outdoors. The children are nestled all snug in their beds, and my husband and I are settling down to watch the Nero Wolf "Christmas Party" episode. Two weeks till Christmas!

Day 14

Clean out your closets of unwanted clothes or toys in good condition. Donate them to a shelter or other charity.

Our Day 13

Well, we missed it again. The youngest and I ran a Christmas-related errand after dinner and didn't get home until bedtime, so there was no time for cards. I still don't have a good photo of the kids yet anyway. Maybe this weekend?

Day 13

Together, write your Christmas cards. Let older kids address the envelopes and younger ones seal them.

Our Day 12

Ummm...okay, three kids still jazzed up from yesterday's excitement, all of whom have mild cases of the sniffles, a mom with a sore throat and a dad out rehearsing and playing in a gig tonight added up to us skipping tonight's activity. We'll have to write out those cards when we do the others.

Day 12

Send Christmas cards to your pastor, priests, and religious or ordained ministers who are important to your family.

Our Day 11

Since the kids didn't have school, we had dental appointments. Yeah, I know -- hardly an activity worthy of a feast day, but it was all good news (except the bill -- yikes!), so that made it okay, right?

After that, Mass celebrated by our bishop, a quick trip to the city's most obscure post office to see if we could still buy Madonna and Child stamps for our Christmas cards (success!), lunch out, and then the Children's Museum for the afternoon.

I tried to find traditional foods for the feast, but all I could find was a general recommendation to serve all white foods to represent purity. Suggestions included chicken alfredo over rice or tilapia served with new white potatoes and creamed cauliflower. Well, there was no way I was going to get my family to consider that kind of menu a feast, so I resorted to an old favorite, chicken marsala with orzo and sugar snap peas. The kids chose dessert: peppermint stick ice cream with crushed oreos. What was lacking in symbolism was made up for in enthusiastic consumption.

Bing Crosby singing "O Sanctissima"

We sang "O Sanctissima" at church today, and just a night or two ago, I watched "The Bells of St. Mary's," in which Bing Crosby sang the second verse so very beautifully. I had to post it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZIlgmcrDFE

Day 11

In honor of the Immaculate Conception, attend Mass and pray a family Rosary tonight.

(Non-Catholics can attend the Wednesday night services at their churches, or if there are none, they can watch a movie about the nativity together.)

Our Day 10

We read the story of the Annunciation out of the children's Bible at bedtime. The kids came up with different ways to say "yes" to God, each at their own level of understanding.

We let them stay up later because there's no school tomorrow in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Alas, the kids have dental appointments in the morning, but then we'll head over to the Bishop's Mass at noon, eat out for lunch (it is a feast day after all!), and head over to the Children's Museum, since we have two free tickets that must be used up by the end of the year.

Day 10

Read about the angel's visit to Mary in Luke 1:26-38. Talk about ways we can also say "Yes" to God.

Our Day 9

Yesterday, we (well, mostly I) made little paper shoes to hold chocolate coins, which the kids were eager to deposit on the doorsteps of their neighborhood pals this morning. Alas, the shoes were a wee bit small for our local store's chocolate coins -- or maybe our coins were too big. So, we threw a few extra coins into the bags when we wrapped them up.

Here they are:

And here they are with the wrappings:

Day 9

Show love on St. Nicholas Day by filling an old shoe with treats and leaving it outside someone's door.

Our Day 8

Well, we weren't able to get to the Advent event at the seminary, because our oldest was feverish in the morning and headache-y all day. He perked up after dinner, thankfully. We lit our two candles but saved singing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" for bedtime...because if I didn't have a "no singing at the table" rule, I'd have at least two kids belting out tunes at every meal.

We also prepped for Monday's feast of Saint Nicholas, but that's another post.

Day 8

Light two candles on your advent wreath. Sing, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."

Our Day 7

It was a good day of preparation around here. While the boy was at taekwondo, I help the girls work on their gifts for him. I love that my kids are old enough to think of gifts to make for each other. They're also pretty good about paying attention to what the sibling would like, instead of focusing on what they'd like themselves. 

We all went to confession together this afternoon, followed by cupcakes at Thé Cup (which is a super great local café, for all you Lincolnites out there). Then we had a light dinner at home before the Big 12 Championship game  -- what can I say? This is Nebraska.

Tomorrow is full of fun plans, including lunch after Mass with a favorite former teacher from our parish school, prepping for Saint Nicholas' feast day on Monday, and an evening at Saint Gregory the Great Seminary, where the Schola is going to sing Advent songs. If we can go, that is -- the boy went to bed with a slight fever and an upset stomach, so I'm hoping it's a fluke and not the flu.

Supply list for Dec. 5-11

Sunday
Advent wreath with candles
Matches
Lyrics to "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"

Monday
*You may want to prepare these on Sunday so that you can leave them on doorsteps first thing in the morning on Monday.
Old shoes (or paper shoes...we're following these instructions)
Chocolate coins or other treats
Saint Nicholas prayer cards (optional) to add to the treats
Copies of Saint Nicholas story (optional) to add to the treats
Cellophane, ribbon, labels (optional) to wrap the shoes and treats

Tuesday
 Bible (Children's Bible if your kids are small)

Wednesday
Mass schedule
Rosaries
(Non-Catholics should attend their own church's Wednesday night services, or if there are none, the family can watch a movie about the Nativity together.)

Thursday
Christmas cards for each of the pastors, priests, ministers, etc. who are important to your family
Copies of family photo - or just your kids if you're like me (optional)
Gift cards to a religious bookstore, gas station, etc. (optional) 
Stamps
Pen


Friday
Christmas cards
Your address book or mailing list
Stamps
Pen
Copies of family photo - or just your kids if you're like me (optional)
Annual letter about your family (optional)

Saturday
Boxes
The will power to clean out your closets and/or basement/attic storage areas


(Yikes! I need to buy Christmas stamps and take a photo of the kids so I can have copies made!!!)

Day 7

Attend confession as a family and go out for a treat afterward to celebrate forgiveness.

(Non-Catholic families can follow James 5:16 and confess to one another.)

Our Day 6

Well, we didn't follow the calendar last night. It had been a long, busy week for my husband and I. We went to eat at a fish fry hosted by our local Catholic Social Services to benefit a shelter they are building for women who are threatened by domestic abuse and/or abortion, and that was the sum total of our altruism.

After dinner, it was late and we had an "event" at home that took up all our attention until well after the kids' bedtime. So, we'll try to fit in our project for the local nursing home today.

Day 6

Cut and paste pictures from old Christmas cards into ornaments for this year's tree.

Our Day 5

As previously noted, we don't have time for cookie baking or anything that extensive on Thursday evenings, so we switched today's activity for Friday's. Luckily, I still had a pile of cards from last year sitting in my home office, so I pulled those out with some scissors, glue and red ribbon and let the kids choose which ones to use. We traced circles using different sized drinking glasses, and my 8-yr-old cleverly figured out that she could make ovals using a die-cut card. They turned out pretty well, but the best part is that it was fun and the kids are proud of their results.

I'll post a photo tomorrow if I find the time.

(Well, a few days later than "tomorrow", but here it is:)

Waiting for Christmas

The bishop of Salt Lake is urging Catholics to wait until Christmas to celebrate Christmas.

Well, we've all been seeing the Christmas decoration in the stores (and sometimes in our neighborhoods) and hearing the Christmas carols since Halloween, so the bishop does have a point. With my crew of youngsters, though, I don't know how I could hold them off. They begged us to put up the tree on the day after Thanksgiving. Initially, I was only going to put the lights on, but the following Saturday, we went ahead and got out the ornaments.

Saying "no" to decorating for Christmas just seems awfully Scrooge-y to me. What do you think?

Day 5

Make cookies to bring to a nearby nursing home.

Our Day 4

So, the Nativity set.

The thing of it is, I've longed for a really beautiful set, but we just haven't had the dollars to justify it. We have a small set -- the tallest figure is maybe 6 inches tall. I can't remember where we got it, but I think my mother-in-law gave each of her kids one of these. Individual figures that you set on a small wooden oval. It's attractive, and it's worked just fine.

Until tonight, when my youngest was going to set out just the sheep and shepherds, saving the Holy Family for the 14th, like the calendar says, and saving the Magi for the Feast of the Epiphany. And that's when we realized: no shepherds, no sheep.

All we have is Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus in a manger, and three Magi. I don't know why I didn't think of it before tonight!

This provoked some whining, a few tears and quite a bit of consternation. But what can we do? I suggested that she color a picture of a shepherd and some sheep instead and was met with grumbling.

Well, there's always tomorrow. Except we're doing Friday's activity (turning old Christmas cards into ornaments) tomorrow because we dont have time for Thursday's.

Not quite a fail tonight, but close...

Avent hymns

Over at the Faith & Family blog, they are discussing Advent hymns.

There are some Christians who try to hold off on the Christmas carols until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Instead, they listen to songs that are more aligned with this season of expectation.

I don't know about you, but I might as well try to stop a runaway train as keep my family from listening to Christmas carols. It was hard enough to hold them off until Thanksgiving week.

Anyway, if you're up for it, here's one list of Advent songs from churchyear.net, and here's a list of Advent songs from fullhomelydivinity.org (an Anglican site). Can you think of any others to add?

Day 4

Set up your family Nativity scene, but leave out the Holy Family.

(Many families just put out the shepherds, sheep and other animals at this time, adding Mary and Joseph some time later, Baby Jesus on Christmas morning, and the Magi on the Feast of the Epiphany.)

Our Day 3

Asking somebody for forgiveness face to face is always very meaningful. The kids needed very little coaching on this, thanks be to God. I asked each of them (privately) to forgive the short fuse I've had lately (lots of stress at work, very little sleep). It was a good experience.

I'm heading to be earlier than usual (hurrah!) but not before I load the #1 window on our wooden Advent "calendar" with three Hershey dark chocolate kissed. They're wrapped in purple foil, so I thought that would be appropriate. We won't do candy every day -- coins will work once in a while. Not sure what else will fit, so I'll have to do some experimenting.

This isn't the Advent calendar I intended to get. I was looking for something like this but wound up getting a slamming good deal on something like this ($11!). Not sure how I feel about it just yet.

Inspiring words from the pope

Pope Benedict XVI spoke about Advent on Monday.

Day 3

Ask a family member you have hurt in the past year for forgiveness. Offer it to one who hurt you.

Our Day 2

Busy day for my husband and I. In fact, he didn't get home until the kids' bedtime, so we'd already read Luke 1:5-25 out of the children's Bible. Looking back, I wish I would have talked to the kids a little more about anticipation -- Zechariah and Elizabeth didn't have proof that the angel was correct right away. They had to wait some time before they had evidence. And that's what our faith in Jesus is like. We live our life based on His promises. Sometimes we get proof in the form of "little miracles" along the way. But most of the time, we're just going on faith. During Advent, the promise of Christmas is still up ahead and now is the time to prepare for Jesus -- just as John the Baptist prepared the way for Him, and just as John's parents prepared for John's birth.

Awakening our hibernating souls

I was listening to KVSS on my way into work this morning, and they were interviewing Mark Hart from LifeTeen International. He said that Advent is a season for our souls like winter is a season for nature. Paraphrasing (since I couldn't write while I was driving):

"Advent is an opportunity to think about where we've grown spiritually cold and dark...If you've been hibernating, it's time to wake up."

Day 2

Read about Elizabeth and Zechariah's special blessing in Luke 1:5-25.

Our Day 1

So far, so good. We went to Mass this morning and celebrated the first day of Advent with donuts afterwards. I wasn't planning on that, but it was funny to watch the kids coerce my husband with the justification: "It is too a special occasion -- it's the first day of Advent!"

We did a little preparation for Christmas this afternoon. I took the 6-yr-old to a fabric store to buy fleece for a "tied blanket" for her big brother and started the 8-yr-old on her project for Dad. As a family, we stretched the net lights over the bushes and got those plugged in. Each of the kids had to put new lights on their mini-trees. The boy has his in his bedroom and the two little girls keep theirs in the attic windows.

While I roasted a chicken and mashed potatoes for supper, the kids set the table as extravagantly as they could and set up the Advent wreath. My husband led the prayers and the youngest one lit the first candle. After dinner, the middle kid blew it out (oh, what lengths we go in the name of fairness!).

The children are all brimming over with anticipation. They're all big enough to make gifts for each other and keep secrets, so that's pretty cool.

I'm finishing up a project that's due tomorrow and then I'll have some private time for prayer and thanksgiving before bed. Last year, I prayed for a number of families who have left the Church every night during Advent. It's kind of funny to look back on the "progress" these families have made -- if you could call it out. It was mostly "no change," but one mother is showing a renewed interest in religion. Buddhism, actually, but it's a start. One of the other couples has had a really bad year and are tottering on the edge of divorce, which is horrible. Then again, sometimes we have to hit rock bottom to allow ourselves to reach out to God.

When I first became a Christian, having been raised atheist, it was hard for me to develop a habit of prayer. I still can get quite discouraged if I don't see the "answer" I want in a short amount of time. But the Lord has been very patient, and I really have learned that prayer always leads to something positive, even if I can't see it straight away. And when He takes us through a journey that seems to be counterproductive, we've always had it come out better than expected. Seriously.

Remind me sometime to tell you about the morning my husband prayed for guidance with our finances and then was hit by an armored truck full of money as he walked to work. As horrible as that part was, the long run has been exceptional.

How was your first day of Advent? Please let me know!

"Spend less on presents...more on presence"

Father S.C. linked to this video on Facebook -- I thought it was a great reminder.

Advent Conspiracy

Day 1

Make and bless an Advent wreath. Light the first purple candle tonight and each night this week. 

(The first purple candle is the one opposite of the pink one.)

Supply List for Nov 28-Dec 4

Sunday
Advent wreath
3 purple candles
1 pink candle
Matches
Prayer to bless Advent wreath
Bottle of Holy Water

Monday
Bible (Children's Bible if your kids are small)

Tuesday
Nothing but forgiving hearts

Wednesday
Nativity set (one that uses multiple pieces instead of an all-in-one)

Thursday
Before you get supplies for this activity, contact the nursing home you intend to bless to make sure it's all right to bring cookies. The nursing home down the street from us takes high-needs patients, some of whom can't chew and some of whom have serious health issues, so my family is making Christmas ornaments for each resident instead of cookies.

Either:

Ingredients for making cookies OR refrigerated dough
Cookie cutters (if you're making rolled cookies)
Cookie decorating materials (optional)

Or:

Supplies to make Christmas ornaments/decorations

Friday
Old Christmas cards
Scissors
Hole punch
Ribbon or ornament hooks
Glue sticks, small red and gold doilies or scraps of Christmas wrapping paper to use as backing (optional)

Saturday
Local confession time schedule
(Non-Catholics can follow James 5:16b and have a time of confession to one another within the family.)

 

How to Make an Advent Wreath

Our first advent wreath was basically four small candle holders buried into an artificial wreath and set on a wooden disk. Then one July, I found a small brass advent candle holder on clearance at Yankee Candle for $6, so I nabbed it. Now we simply set that in the middle of the wreath -- super easy.

Here are some instructions for making Advent wreaths.

General instructions from Our Sunday Visitor
Kid-friendly version at Amazing Moms
One using natural greenery at About.com
Here's one to make out of paper or felt with preschoolers at First-School.com
...and another cleverly made of a paper plate, toilet paper tubes and tissue paper by blogger Karen

Advent candles can be hard to come by. I purchased one of the last three sets available at the Hallmark store near my office on Wednesday. I usually shop at our local Catholic Bookstore, Gloria Deo, but I didn't have time these past few weeks, and I was afraid they might have run out. You can also go to a candle shop or craft store and buy individually wrapped candles, but it's been difficult for me to find pink and purple candles these days.

Welcome to Family Advent 2010

It's like this.

My husband and I are converts to the Catholic faith, and we're still trying to get the hang of Advent. We want to make it meaningful and spiritually enriching for our whole family.

Every year, the kids bring home a Family Advent calendar like the one I've linked to on the left (the 2010 edition provided by our parish school). This year, we're really going to do it.

Frankly, I'm a little nervous. I'm a busy working mom, and sometimes, I make great plans and never have the time to follow through. But most of these things are really easy to do, and my kids really want to follow the calendar this year, so we're going to try it. I may have to switch some days -- for example, they have us baking cookies for a nursing home on a Thursday, which will be impossible with our schedule, so we'll do that the next day and move Friday's activity to Thursday.

Every Saturday, I'll post the list of materials we'll need to complete the calendar during the week. I will also note any changes that we might have to make.

Every day beginning this Sunday, Nov. 28, I'll post the day's activity from our calendar in the morning. Please feel free to post your activities at any time during the day. I'll post ours after the kids go to bed (which is usually my first opportunity to sit down in front of the computer). 

Please chime in and let me know what you're doing with your family each day. Recipes, crafts, devotions, prayers -- it's all good. And by the way, ALL Christians are welcome to participate -- Advent isn't a Catholic-only thing.

May God bless us all this Advent!