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.)