The Donkey's Journey

I woke up and snuck out of the house early this morning to attend a breakfast with all the volunteers at the pregnancy center.  We had a lot of fun just talking about how much God has such a great plan in our lives.  It was really nice to be able to talk about the blessings of our ministry from the last year.

Michael did not have such a fun morning, as he took the two youngest to the dentist for a much overdue check up.  We found out their teeth are so terrible because our amazing water filtration system is taking out the fluoride in our water along with all the other chemicals.  SO...another trip to the dentist is in store for our future.  I guess this is one more way for us to get ready for the new year...healthy dental health is just as important as everything else.

Then we had a fun morning at the library with story hour and learning the letter Mm.  The older boys checked out new books and we all left happy with books in hand for the next two weeks.

We caught up on our LEGO pieces that our Advent Angel guided the children to make.  Due to our busy schedule we did not have time.  The boys made a stable, manger, baby, blankets and a sheep.

We also added a donkey to our nativity scene to show that we need to be strong and faithful.  It was a perfect time to read one of my favorite books of the season...The Donkey's Dream.  It shows the donkey carrying Mary to Bethlehem.  A great way to also start the journey of the Holy Family around our home.

Tonight also begins the mounting of anticipation represented in the calling of the Messiah with the O’ Antiphons.  We are prepared to call for Jesus and ask Him to enter into your heart to stay.  Are you prepared to make him your guiding shepherd?

We ended the evening by adding a wall to show the story of the wall that was built around Jerusalem in order to keep holy the Sabbath day (Nehemiah).

The excitement is mounting as we enter into the last week before Christmas!

Also, we finally decided on our BIG gift for this Christmas!  I can not wait to share but I will wait until we make the delivery later during the Christmas season.

Preparing and Playing

Yesterday was spent cleaning the house.  We really are trying to have everything looking nice before we start decorating on the Sunday before Christmas.  We also have some special guests coming at the end of the week.  This meant preparing a place in the "inn."  We had to clean up the guest room (It had become a storage room.) and also find a bed.  We also did some painting in the guest bathroom.

Needless to say, we were pretty busy yesterday making everything look nice.  We did have our additions to our nativity scene and Jesse Tree as well.  And, Michael continued the Advent story.

One other thing we were able to do today...complete our Christmas outfits.  I love choosing outfits that are special and will make the day special.

The motivation to have everyone working so hard yesterday was to spend today away from the house.  I spent my morning at the pregnancy center.  I had a great morning helping women in need.

Michael and the children headed to our local museum.  They arrived just in time to join a filed trip group.  This meant they were able to use the rock climbing wall.  They spent their entire visit going p and down all the levels.  Even Brendan just made the height/weight requirements to climb.  Unfortunately, Zaira had to watch from the sidelines and cheer the boys to the top.

Then we all met at the park and had lunch.  We had wanted to visit the Sunken Gardens & Tea Garden.  We found out that we could walk through the area but the gardens were drained and were being repaired.  I suppose it is more interesting to visit a garden in the spring.  We will try again later.  However, that did not stop the children from running around the area, and possibly wearing themselves out.

We were able to add our first animal to the nativity scene.  The ox represents the stubbornness that we must shed in our lives as we accept the will of God.  We then added a watchtower ornament to our Jesse Tree to remind us of the story of the prophet Habakkuk.

As I was looking at the Jesse Tree tonight, I thought about the cards we have received from family and friends.  A thought came to me to tuck these cards into the bare branches.  Now we can remember to pray for everyone every time we look at our tree!

As we continue the baking of Christmas goodies, I like to read the book about the traditional candy enjoyed during this time.  The book is The Candymaker's Gift.  A very nice book with wonderful pictures.

Gaudette Sunday

The third week of Advent begins today with Gaudette Sunday!  It is a time to be joyful as the coming of the Lord is drawing near.  The anticipation that is building is a lot like you feel when you are waiting for a special visitor to arrive from out of town or a new baby to be born.  Of course, this is not surprising to most, as this is the time we remember the birth of Jesus.  We often have family who come to visit during this time of year.

Even though we have a lot of family coming and going to celebrate, we should not forget that the most important visitor we will have in our home should be Jesus!  Many times that means sharing the story of Jesus with the people who come to your home as well.  Remember to make way for the Lord.

Today we arrived at our religious education classroom for a celebration for Gaudette Sunday.  We served snacks and made special crafts to take home.  It was a lot of fun for everyone involved.

Then we went to Mass...the deacon said something about the season that I really appreciated.  "We need to remember that joy is something we can all have if we remember that all of our joy is centered around Jesus being born so we could have salvation."  It is easy to fall into the trap that there is not enough and we lose sight of the joy that the season should really bring to us.

We then rushed home to grab a bite to eat before going to a caroling event with our 4-H group.  Read more about that on my 4-H blog.

We ended to day by FINALLY watching the end to Tora! Tora! Tora! and then off to bed.  Of course, we added our ornament to the Jesse Tree and a figure to the nativity scene.  Michael was also able to read some more of our Advent story.

A full day and it was nice to go to bed by the time we were done!

The Feast of St. Lucy

Today we were awakened by the sound of the prophets…Make way for the Lord!  We also enjoyed the special breakfast that St. Lucy brought to us this morning.  Our Advent Angel reminded us to not forget to heed her words…Make way for the Lord!

We were to take some time today to think about what you were told by St. Nicholas earlier this month and try to think about how we will be a better person for the new year…Make way for the Lord!  However, Michael spent most of the morning completing a bathroom remodel...yes we did this in the middle of all this rush of preparation!  Then he was off to work.  SO...we decided we would work on this tomorrow when we had more time to focus on our resolutions.

After our morning visitor who brought us breakfast we set in to cleaning house.  We were surprised to hear a loud sirens coming into our neighborhood.  We all rushed out the door to see what was happening.  It was our local fire department making their rounds to tell us Merry Christmas!  They did a good job of surprising us, and we will not forget them on Christmas Eve when we make our annual trip to see them with a special surprise from our family.

We added a supply of food to the nativity scene to remind us that we should nourish our souls with God's Word.  We also added a tent ornament to our Jesse tree to remind us of King Hezekiah who trusted God to find his enemy vanquished leaving only their empty tents behind (2 Kings 19).

Lost Days Recorded

Well, I lost a few days due to some technical difficulties but also because we have just been so busy!  So here are a few of the highlights from the last four days.

On Monday, Sean and I left the house early for a full day of testing at the doctor's office.  The other children were asked to start our Christmas baking by making cookies.  They made a new recipe...Chocolate Crinkles...we look forward to enjoying these during the Christmas season.  We also started a batch of Anise Cookies but the process is a multiple day event so we did not complete these until the end of the week.

We did not have a lot of time for our Advent Adventures that day...we discussed the importance of the symbol of light during the Christmas season.  This theme will come up again at the end of the week (and of course on Christmas day!).  Our family saves the lighting of our tree for Christmas Eve after we return from Mass.  

The Advent Angel was found throughout the week, and we discussed the importance of Joseph in the Christmas story.  This theme would continue for the next two days as well as we learned about his obedience, righteousness, and dedication.  We should also seek these virtues in our lives and Joseph makes a good role model.

Tuesday our morning was spent celebrating St. Nicholas with an event I organized with our local home school group.  We went to a nursing home to carol for the residents.  We also served cookies and wassail, gave out Christmas cards and read different Christmas books.  This was so much fun and the activities director was enthusiastic about our visit.  By the time we left we were talking about planning our next visit.  I hope we can go there more often in the new year.

Wednesday was filled with our routine visit to the library.  We always enjoy this visit with our friendly librarian.  We then joined some friends at the local park near our home.  We had just completed our Joseph study.  The suggestion for an obstacle course to reenact the story sounded like a great idea fora larger group.  Thankfully this work out with a impromptu set up with five stations around the playground.  Here are the events we highlighted:

• Betrothal to Mary-show love by hugging your mom!
• Dream from the Angel-lay on the rocker bench and count to ten
• Journey to Bethlehem-weave through the swings and pay tax by slapping your hand on picnic table
• Rock the Baby Jesus-rock the bouncy ride 
• Dream to Escape Herod-lay on the baby gym and run to the fallen log

The children loved the relay so much that they raced through it twice!  It was also nice to see the older ones helping the younger ones!

Another round at the doctor's office kept us buy on Thursday along with a little bit more drama then I care to share with the world.  Oy!

Then today we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I am sure there were celebrations with traditional dances and performances somewhere in San Antonio.  We will need to be more vigilant about finding these events for next year.  We stayed home and listened to the story from one of our favorites...Glory Stories.

We also added to our nativity scene and Jesse Tree throughout the week.  We need to bake more and prepare for a special visitor.  We have a special trio arriving next week.  I also just invited my mom and brother to our house for next week.  I think our house is in need of a deeper cleaning for many reasons!

A full week and in spite of the outside events I think we were able to keep our Advent focus.

Remembering with Peace

It is hard not to think about the history of this day for our country, especially as a military family..."a date which will live in infamy."  I think we feel even closer to this historical event after our visit three years ago, along with meeting some of the survivors.  Pearl Harbor is just a special place...if you have never made the journey, then I encourage it because it was almost like a pilgrimage...I was surprised that a place that was such a tragedy was actually very peaceful.  

Remembering this experience really is a great way to enter into the second week of Advent.  Each week of Advent has a traditional theme and this week it is the desire for peace.  In this case, we are talking about the peace that only God can bring to our lives.

The children got a funny note from Sariel  this morning.  The Advent Angel had to apologize for not being ready with new activities for the day!  LOL...that is right...I did not get it ready last night...I fell asleep after an exhausting couple of days.  It all worked out because we had to race out the door for religious education classes (We waited to go to Mass with Michael this evening.).  Sean has been going to a class to discuss the references to the Bible for the Mass.  Henry is in a class that has great teachers that really get the teenagers discussing their faith.  Brendan loves his male teacher who always has lots of fun...today they discussed John the Baptist because of the Gospel reading for the day.  And, Edward... well he got a surprise...ME!  I got to sub in his class so we talked about prayer...and the model of prayer given to us by Jesus...the Our Father.  Zaira tagged along and enjoyed a snack while I was teaching.

We returned home and watched the first half of Tora! Tora! Tora! (It is a very LONG movie but very accurate and worth it to see.).  Then with the Advent Angel hidden (clever, right?), we had fun discussing the readings for Mass and thinking of a way to represent music for our mantel piece. Today Sariel asked us to think about Mary's response to Elizabeth.  This is often referred to as Mary's Song or the Magnificat.  

Michael arrived home from his Army training soon after we completed the activities.  We hopped in the van and listened to worship music as we headed to Mass.  Then we enjoyed a rare dinner at a restaurant before heading home.

We added straw to the manger in the nativity scene (We will add more throughout the season.).  Then an ornament with the Ten Commandments to the Jesse Tree.  Then off to bed for the children.  Snuggled under their covers, Michael was able to read more of the Advent story.  After we listened to a song about the day both sides of a war stopped to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  We do not have a children's book for this story but I have found two versions to add to our collection soon...Christmas in the Trenches and War Game.

We had another late night but it was a full day of learning.

St. Nicholas Boot Exchange

Our family set aside Santa fairly quickly on our journey to place Jesus at the center of our celebration.  He just did not fit in to the big picture.  It always amazes me to hear school children are supposed to believe in this fantasy figure with flying reindeer who can deliver Christmas presents around the world in the twinkle of an eye.  However, to ask them to believe that a young virgin gave birth to our Messiah should not be mentioned in our classrooms.  Well, we never had our children in public school for any long period of time but you still hear about these things happening.  And more important, my children hear about these things happening.

So, we set the record straight about Santa Claus long ago.  St. Nicholas was a 4th century bishop who carried about his spiritual flock so much that he worked miracles through the grace given to him by God.  There are many examples of these miracles told throughout the ages.  We read two books that give some of these stories...The Legend of St. Nicholas and A Place for Santa.  The boys especially love the story about the boys St. Nicholas saved that were discovered in the pickling barrels.  Sometimes this story becomes a gruesome legend and I have to remind the boys about how stories can be exaggerated over a long period of time.  I always think it is funny that a great story has to be stretched to get attention...the original story was a miracle without the need of imaginative flourishes.

OK...off my soapbox so I can dive into our St. Nicholas feast day fun!

Last night, Michael and I stayed up late after the children were all in bed.  Each year we write the children a note from St. Nicholas.  No letters to Santa around here!  In the notes, we try to encourage the children in what they are doing that is "nice" and to avoid the things that are "naughty."  Yesterday, I even sang the song "St. Nicholas is Coming to Town" with the lyrics changed to emphasize that the list that he is making and checking twice is not about the gifts that he will bring but the things we need to improve upon in our lives.  It is just not good enough to know if you are naughty or nice, but to find a way to be the best for the coming Messiah.  The notes always end with "Remember to make your self ready for the Lord."


The idea of the notes is to get the children thinking about how they are going to be better in the next year.  Yep...This leads right into the idea of new year's resolutions!  The children are guided to pray about the changes that need to be made throughout the remainder of the Advent season.  This idea will come up again later in the season.

Along with the notes, the children are asked to set out their shoes or stockings the night before to see what else St. Nicholas might bring them.  This changes from year to year...some times we give fruit or candy....St. Nicholas coins....or a little gift.  However, the main focus is always on the personal message in the notes.

Well, last night the children put out their cowboy boots.  Most of them were battered and worn out...and also too small (for those who still have growing feet!).  SO...I replaced them with new boots!  It think we have started a new tradition...I wonder now why I had never thought of this before!  

We also had our message from Sariel, which was focused on the continued story from Luke.  This time we learn how Mary and Elizabeth meet.  When I think of this part of the story, I always think about Mary's virtuous life.  She had just found out the plans God had for her.  However, she was also told about her cousin Elizabeth, and Mary immediately left to help her in her time of need.  AND...what was Elizabeth's response when Mary arrived?

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." (Luke 1: 42-45) 

The presence of the Messiah was already evident.  We often talk about the glow a woman has during pregnancy...Mary must have been brilliant!  Edward added his version of a LEGO Elizabeth to our mantel.  The boys acted out the full story with their LEGO figures.  So much fun!

Then the oldest two boys were off to a St. Nicholas party.  They had such a great time...roasting hot dogs and making s'mores.  They also played some fun games.  One game was to hunt for letters around the property and unscramble the letters into words.  They were divided into two teams.  Once the letter was unscrambled, it spelled out "Star of David."  The teams were then to hunt for the star hidden around the area.

While they were at their party, the rest of us went to our favorite spot...our local library.  There was a class on the essential oils in the Bible.  It was very interesting (although the children decided to play in the puzzle room instead) and I am hoping to find out more about the use of oils soon.  The oils we discussed were:

• Frankincense
• Myrrh
• Onycha
• Myrtle
• Rose of Sharon
• Spikenard
• Hyssop
• Galbanum
• Sandlewood
• Cassia
• Cypresswood
• Cedarwood

We came home and made Greek-style pizza for our special Greek saint.  We also had fun change Santa candy into St. Nicholas candy.  We will be giving these out next week when we go caroling with our home school group.

We added our St. Nicholas to our nativity scene along with an empty manger.  We will add straw to the manger each time we do a good deed throughout the remaining days of Advent.  This will make a soft bed for baby Jesus.  Our Jesse Tree was given a new ornament...a lamb...to represent the Exodus.  God saved the Israelites from the Pharaoh by having them sacrifice a lamb.  The first Passover must have been very stressful and fearful, but they trusted in God and followed the way.  We are also given a sacrificial lamb to save us.

What a full day!  I look forward to a good night rest!