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.