Advent Calendar...

It's coming along.  I've been working on it every time Rosalia goes for a nap today.  I had some helpers in the process.

Advent Planning 2012 - Part 2

December 6th - St Nicholas:  this is a favorite feast day for all of us.  On the 5th we'll watch the movie Nicholas, the Boy Who Became Santa and spend some time working on crafts.  The St. Nicholas Center has some great readings, crafts, recipies and other ideas.  There is so much stuff on this site, almost too much to sort through, but it is a site that is definitely worth spending some time looking through.  I may pick a few new things to do this year.  The kids will also leave their shoes on the steps the night of the 5th and St. Nicholas will fill them with an apple, an orange, a small statue and a couple family books about St. Nicholas or Christmas.

December 7th - St. Ambrose: a couple years ago we made beeswax ornaments.  They were fun to make. I'm going to get them out and we'll look into coloring/painting some of them.

December 8th - Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary:   I've talked for years about making a Christ Candle and it's something that never gets done, but this year I am planning on doing this even if I just do a very simple one on my own.  Catholic Culture has a great article on making a Christ Candle.  They also have a great resource page for all kinds of Advent and Christmas activities that would be worth spending time reading through.   This feast falls on a Saturday and that means we are generally busy with a lot of other stuff, so we will make our ginger snap cookies the day before.  I discovered in my reading a few years ago that making ginger cookies or spice cookies is traditional on this day; they are traditionally mixed the day before and baked on the 8th to remind us of the passage in the Book of Sirach (24:20-21) that describes Mary smelling like spices. 

December 9th - St Juan Diego: This feast day is on a Sunday this year and we already have plans, so we are going to celebrate on December 10th.  We will have Mexican food for dinner (tacos most likely since they are a favorite) and we'll make our Mexican Wedding Cake cookies.

December 12th - Our Lady Of Guadalupe: we'll celebrate by reading a story of Our Lady and seeing if we can find the CCC kids movie about this feast.  For dinner we'll have enchiladas and I found a Mexican Chocolate Cake that sounds wonderful.  Catholic Cuisine has some great recipe ideas.

 

December 20th - Jesse Tree "Tea": we did this a few years ago and it is so much fun.  Check out the link from our last one.  It was such a fun way to really get the kids involved and make the Jesse Tree more alive for them.  This year the little ones are all older and will have even more fun with this.

December 24th - Christmas Eve: we'll finish up any baking, cooking and preparations we need to make.  We will go to Mass in the evening and the boys will probably participate in the Christmas Pageant.  After Mass we'll go to Brad's parents for dinner.  After the boys all go to bed Brad and I will fill their stockings in preparation for the next morning.

December 25th - Christmas Day: finally Christmas Day, we can all rejoice and celebrate.  The boys will get up and check out their stockings and then we'll have a nice and easy breakfast of orange juice and and sweet rolls.  The day will then be filled with quiet time at home with Christmas music, movies and gifts.

 

One afternoon in the week after Christmas we will be doing a Twelve Days of Christmas tea/feast.  Like the Jesse Tree "tea" mentioned above, this idea was found on Cottage Blessings and will be so much fun for the kids.  Check out the tea she does.

Advent Planning 2012 - Part 1

It seems we have a new baby in the house again this year, but we're not going to let that slow us down.  We'll slow down on school as we do every December and focus on Christmas.  We'll bake, do crafts, wrap gifts, watch Christmas movies and listen to Christmas music.  Lots of fun as we anticipate the joy of Christmas.

Baking
This never seems to change, I bake the same things every year, but I like it that way.  There is something comforting to me about baking the same cookies and breads every year.  They bring back memories of baking with my mom year after year while staying up late and watching Christmas movies.  It really didn't get much better than that.  Even though I tend to do most of the baking with the boys during the day, since we're home we will turn on a movie or music and have a wonderful time.  I hope that when they are older and have families of their own, they will look back on those days baking with me in the kitchen and they will bring back wonderful memories of happy times together. 

Pumpkin Bread
Cranberry Bread

Sugar Cookies
Thumbprint Cookies
Ginger Snaps
Snickerdoodles
Mexican Wedding Cake
Fudge

The boys would love if we did candy cane cookies, but they are such a pain that I may skip them.

Jesse Tree
We've been doing a Jesse Tree for quite a few years now.  At the beginning of Advent I schedule each one of the kids days on a rotating basis and every night someone gets to hang an ornament on the tree and we read the corresponding scripture to go with it.  We use the small artificial tree (table top size) that I bought years ago and the same ornaments that Grant and Parker colored the year we started the Jesse Tree.  I am still trying to decide if I'm going to have the boys color new ones.  I've thought about this for a few years, but there is something nice about using the original ornaments. The ornaments we're using I got here and when backed on construction paper they've held up very well.

This year I also bought this "Study Guide" to go with our Jesse Tree.  I found it on Sanctus Simplicitus and can't wait to use it.

Manger
My father made us a small doll sized manger several years at Parker's request.  Every day the kids then fill the manger with a couple pieces of straw/hay for good deeds done and sacrifices made and by Christmas Day the manger is full and we put baby Jesus in his warm, soft bed.

Jotham's Journey
We've been reading this story for many years now and the boys just love this and look forward to it all year.  There are now three stories in the series.  We read Bartholomew's Passage two years ago and while it was good, it wasn't as good as the original one.  Parker really wants to get Tabitha's Travels which I didn't end up getting last year.  I think I'll pick it up this year and we can read that.  You can find the stories at places like Amazon and Christian Book Distributors.

Advent Wreath
I still haven't made a new wreath out of greens, so we're going to use our pewter one again this year.  It's one of those things I say I'm going to do every year and haven't quite gotten to.  So we'll light the wreath every night and wait excitedly for each new candle to be lit knowing we're getting that much closer to Christmas Day.

Advent Calendar
When Grant and Parker were little I purchased a magnetic calendar that hangs on the fridge.  I'm so happy I did, it's held up very well and the kids enjoy building the nativity scene on the fridge each year.

Growing Up

Rosalia has started sitting in the Bumbo seat and likes it for about 7.5 minutes before she wants to be picked back up.

First time in the Bumbo being entertained by Veronica

Sitting on the couch next to Mommy while she works.  

Snowbot Jammies

It's a busy blogging morning for me as I try to catch up.  Rosalia is sleeping in...can you tell?

Samuel got these cute Snowbot jammies for his birthday and he LOVES them.  He wants to wear them every night.  They came with little slippers that he also loves.  He calls them his "pajama flip flops".

He had put a different pair of jammies on the other night and then suddenly went to change.  Brad asked him why he changed and his response was, "I wanted an army of snowbots". 

If you are wondering what a snowbot is...it's a robot with a Santa hat on!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Veronica

Two birthdays in one week, we aren't used to that.  Samuel and Veronica not only have a birthday in the same month,  but 3 days a part.  That is not the norm around here.  So add Thanksgiving in and that makes it a busy week. 

Veronica is 2 already which seems hard to believe.  We never thought we'd have a girl and now she's 2 and getting girlier and prettier by the day I think.  Gone is the baby girl and she really is changing and looking more and more like a little girl. 

She loves all things girl too...dresses, shoes, hairspray, purses, dolls.  Don't worry, she is also into doing what it takes to keep up with her brothers.  She is out there in dresses and cute shoes running around with them and I'm sure that will turn into tree climbing and hiking through the woods in the next couple of years.

She really is a joy to have around.  She has those typical "terrible 2" tantrums when she doesn't get her way, but they never last long.  She is loving and happy, loves to snuggle and take care of her babies.  She doesn't say much...yes and no are about the extent, but like Augustin she understands everything.  Here is her birthday picture....she LOVES this cow night gown and would wear it day and night. She loves to scrunch up her nose when i take her picture...this was as good as it got to get her eyes open.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a very nice Thanksgiving.  We spent a quiet morning at home getting a few things done before heading to Brad's parents for the afternoon. 

Everyone but the sleeping Rosalia

Happy and rested and ready for her first Thanksgiving.  2 months old too!!!

 Some sister time at Grandma and Grandpa's...and when did Veronica get so grown-up looking?

 Aunt Carly is in town, so we got to spend some time with her

Veronica was STARVING and couldn't wait to eat.  She sat at the table and played with the dishes at her place

We also celebrated Samuel and Veronica's birthdays.  Present opening is always fun.  They got some great new clothes from Grandma and Grandpa

Samuel turns 4!!!

I am not sure how it happened...4 years have gone by since this adorable red head entered the world and our family.  It's been a very fast 4 years, in fact I posted on Facebook that he was 5 years old.  Oops. 

I am always amazed at not only how different all the kids look, but also how different their personalities are.  Samuel is one of a kind with his "orange" hair, amazing vocabulary and hysterical sense of humor.  He is one of those kids you could write a book that is filled with the crazy and funny things they say.  He is very protective of Veronica, always making sure she is safe when we are out running errands and tells me that she is his best buddy.

I can't wait to see what the next year is like, I am sure it's going to go just as quickly as the past year and will be filled with many memorable moments.

Check out those great looking cupcakes!!!!

Singing Happy Birthday

It's that time of year...Advent Planning

Yes folks, it's that time of year again...the time I look forward to all year...the time I pull out the binder of plans and projects from previous years and decide what we are going to do this year to celebrate Advent and Christmas.

There must be something about November 14th and Advent for me.  It appears I made my plans on the 14th last year and yesterday I talked to Beth about planning things together. 

http://our-domestic-church-rachel.blogspot.com/2011/11/advent-planning-2011-part-1.html
http://our-domestic-church-rachel.blogspot.com/2011/11/advent-plans-2011-part-2.html

So now I just need to go through our plans from last year and see what we'll do again and what we'll add.  Beth and I are going to try to coordinate our daily activities and post about them.  Maybe we can feel like we're celebrating Advent together even though we are miles away.

Growing up so quickly

Every time we have a new baby in the house I'm amazed at how quickly they start to grow up.  They don't stay that "sleep all the time" newborn for long.  Their personalities start to come out and you start to get a glimpse into who they are.

Rosalia looks almost just like Samuel.  She is the first baby to actually look like another sibling.  Some of them have bits and pieces that remind us of one of the other kids from time to time, but Dad is right when he says, "They look like themselves."  Well this time that isn't the case.  Rosalia is a girl version of Samuel.  If I don't have her dressed in pink and flowers she looks just like him.  It is really strange for me since I've never had this before.

So she looks like Samuel, but her personality appears to be Augustin's.  Easy going, doesn't cry often (unless you put her down) and smiles all the time.  Augustin has to be the most easy going and happy kid around.  Not much phases him, he's always got a smile and I can honestly say he never has a bad day. 

Almost 2 months has gone by since Rosalia was welcomed into the family with lots of love from everyone.  And here she is today...full of smiles that warm my heart.  I could stare at her all day.

First Snow of the Season

We made it into November this year before getting snow. Last year's Halloween Blizzard really surprised everyone.  It wasn't much snow, but the kids were thrilled, even if it did catch me unprepared.  No snow pants for anyone and of course I was up in the storage digging for boots that would fit everyone...all at 7am because they HAD to get outside.

They dragged the sleds out and even though you could still see the grass they had fun.  It was perfect snow man making snow so that was the activity of the day for them.  Ultimately there were 4 snowmen in the back yard.  It took most of the snow to create them, but no one cared.  They came in for the snow man "clothes" and went to work.

Snowman #1 - pre-clothing.  Very proud of their work

Even Little Kitty was out enjoying herself

Veronica stayed inside.  Two-year olds and snow aren't always a good combo.  And this mom didn't want to mess with getting her dressed to go out.  She happily watched the boys play outside.

Snowman #1 dressed

Snowman #2 - complete with a snow nose.  Augustin decided to do this and Matthias thought it was a great idea; he made sure he shared it with me.

The 2 snowman builders showing off their hard work

Samuel off gathering snow...he probably ate more than he collected for snowmen

His hair is looking really orange today.  And he is obviously having fun

Snowman #1

Augustin working very hard.  He stayed out well after the other 2 came inside to warm up.  He made huge snowballs and then let them roll down the hill and smash at the bottom.

Rosalia outside with mom getting pictures.  She wasn't too thrilled to be out, but it was better than leaving her to scream in the bouncy seat inside

Much happier inside

Snowman #3

The guy who loves snow

Warming up and bouncing his sister

Check out the hat hair on Augustin

Romney/Ryan Rally

On the night before the big election Mitt Romney was coming to NH and was going to hold a rally at the Verizon arena in Manchester.  My parents got tickets to go and when Parker heard about it he asked to go.  Thankfully they were able to get him a ticket.  It's all he talked about for the next 24 hours until it was time to leave.  He was so excited.  He didn't even care that it was in the mid-40s and cold.  They ended up waiting in line to get in until 10pm...2 hours outside and everyone was freezing.  Finally inside though and ready for fun.