Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A Poem From My Sis

My little sister is always writing beautiful poems. On Thanksgiving she gave my husband and I a poem that she had written for us.

Thank you Mary!


Christ is Always There

Who knows what God above has planned?
Holding the world in the palm of his hand.
Creator of all we touch, hear, and see.
Creator of all life, love, and beauty.
Knowing all things and to where they will lead.
Knowing our wants but granting our needs.
Though at times it’s hard for us to understand
Why God allows such things under His command.
We must keep in mind that despite how we feel,
Our God is all knowing with a love that can heal.
No matter our state in mind, soul, or heart.
The good Lord above is there from the start.
He knows all our thoughts and sees every tear.
He knows all our joys and our every fear.
God is all loving, all knowing, and all good.
He understands all that we never could.
Everyday we wish that we could have control,
But God alone can lead us to our ever-lasting goal.
Everyday we wish that we could change the past,
But God knows what He’s doing, that pain inside won't last.
Too often we forget Him, when dealing with a loss.
So often we forget our Lord who died upon the cross.
So much pain we go through, sometimes it’s hard to bare,
But we must not forget the crown of thorns he had to wear.
We fall into depressions and can’t see past the hurt,
But Christ is falling with us, three times he hit the dirt.
Sometimes life can deal such tragedy seeming so unfair.
But it always helps to know that Christ will never fail to care.




Monday, December 8, 2008

My Daybook ~ December 8th

It has been awhile since I have posted my daybook... Three weeks to be exact. Little did I know then, how hard that week (and the weeks following) would end up being. Anyhow, I've missed my daybook posts, and so I am going to give it a shot once again...

FOR TODAY:
December 8th, 2008
~ The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Outside my Window... it is dark now, but I can see the glow of our Christmas lights. We always wait till Christmas Eve to turn our lights on, but this year we have been in need of the extra cheer and so we turned them on even before Advent started. We will wait till Christmas Eve to decorate our tree but in the meantime we have Purple lights on it for Advent, and it looks so pretty!



I am thinking... about so many things, and yet trying not to think at the same time.

From the school room... Since we no longer need to rush to finish by June, I have cut back on the assignments for the month of December so we can celebrate Advent and Christmas more fully. I am hoping to spend the rest of the month reading lots of books, making lots of crafts, doing lots of baking, and incorporating lots of prayer into each day. I also purchased an Advent Lapbook for my boys which is awesome!


I am thankful... for my Catholic faith. With out faith, I don't know how one would be able to cope with the loss of a child.

From the kitchen... lots of yummy treats, the latest being Bumble Bee Cookies in honor of St. Ambrose.


I am creating... our Christ Candle. This year it will be white with just a gold wax Chi Rho added. Simple, but beautiful!

I am going... to really miss my sister and her family. It was nice having them in town for a couple weeks, but it was so hard to see them leave this past Thursday since we rarely ever get to see them.

(All of my parents grandchildren, together!)

I am wearing... a light gray sweater, a long dark gray skirt, black boots and scarf, and dangling gray pearl earrings.

I am reading... The Practice of the Presence of God which Father N. gave me this past Friday when I met with him.

I am hoping... that no one else asks me if I am over my morning sickness yet. I feel horrible when I respond with a tidal wave of tears...

I am also hoping to catch up on my correspondence. There are a few of you that I am sure are waiting to hear back from me, and for some reason I am having the hardest time writing letters. Lately, it has been so much easier to talk on the phone... Nevertheless, I want you all to know how much your prayers and encouragement have meant to me. Thank you!

I am hearing... the heater click on and off every now and then. We have a fire in the fireplace, but it is still super cold! I guess there may actually be snow this weekend?!? Weird!

Around the house...there are lots of signs that Christmas is coming: Advent Calendars; our Jesse Tree; the Advent wreath; baskets of picture books; and the beginnings of our Nativity, to name a few! Even with the ridiculous amount of laundry that has been piling up, I just love how cozy our home feels.

One of my favorite things... is watching my boys "play Mass"!



A Few Plans For This Week...
  • Today we attended Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. After Mass we went over to some friends for an all white lunch. Marci & I had a nice time visiting (and playing with her new toy) while the children all watched Bernadette: the Princess of Lourdes!
  • The tutor came today, and will be working with the boys tomorrow and Wednesday as well.
  • Tomorrow I have my follow-up appointment with the doctor. After that I will be taking dinner to a dear friend who just delivered her adorable baby boy. And after that, it is Bunco time!
  • Later this week the girls and I have Little Flowers, for which I need to prepare at some point. The theme is Love of God and Roses, so I plan on making Rose Shaped Cupcakes for our snack time! Yum!
  • There are also the feasts of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Lucy to prepare for, and celebrate, as well!
  • Whew! It looks like it is going to be another busy week!
A picture thought I am sharing:

Thank you Josh and Sandra for the beautiful roses!

To view more Daybooks visit Peggy here.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Celebrating the Feast of St. Nicholas

We always have such fun celebrating the feast of St. Nicholas... This year was no different!

The children woke up a very tired momma who stayed up way too late bright and early to see just what St. Nick had left for them this year.

As usual they each found a new pair of slippers (except for Snuggles who refuses to keep any form of shoes on his feet) and a new Christmas picture book to add to our collection. It brought tears to my eyes when Captain left the living room and came back from his bedroom with one more picture book to add to the lineup. He said that it was for Gabriel up in heaven, and that he would read it to him.


Hubby led the blessing for the day and then read a story about St. Nicholas while we enjoyed our St. Nicholas Hot Cocoa and Candy Cane Coffee Cake (which I completely forgot to glaze due to the fact that I was half asleep while making it at 2am). It was delicious just the same, and probably a bit healthier. ;)






For lunch we had St. Nicholas Pizza. (I meant to take a picture after it came out of the oven, but I completely forgot!) This was a hit, and I am sure we will be making it again.


Throughout the day we read picture books about St. Nicholas and colored a few pictures. I loved it when the boys pulled out the dress up clothes, so they could dress as St. Nicholas too.



God, we pray that through the intercessions of St. Nicholas you will guide and protect our children.

Keep them safe from all harm and help them grow to become loving disciples of Jesus in your sight.

Give them strength to always mature into deeper faith in you, and to keep alive joy in your creation.

Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.


St. Nicholas ~ Pray for us!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

St. Nicholas Hot Cocoa

Last night the children and I made our St. Nicholas Hot Cocoa!

We had so much fun!!




After I printed out the tags, I was wishing I would have used an image of St. Nicholas, but I was out of time so I left it as it was... Next time. Oh, and now we know that a single batch of the recipe makes 5 jars of the mix... And it is even yummier than I remembered! :)

UPDATE: I too had a hard time finding more jars and lids locally, but I was able to find them online at Amazon. Here is a link to the lids, and here is the link to some wide mouth jars (mine were a variety of brands -- both Ball and Kerr). I hope that helps!

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas to you all!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Counting down the days...

... till the Feast of St. Nicholas!

For the past year I have had a screensaver on my computer, counting down the days, hours, and minutes till this favorite feast day of ours! I can't believe that it is almost here again... It seems as though I just posted Happy Feast of St. Nicholas And What a Feast it Was!

Are you ready?? I'm not... But thankfully we have a couple more days to prepare! :)

We will definitley be making our Candy Cane Coffee Cake once again for breakfast, and I am hoping to make our Saint Nicholas Cocoa Mix as well!

A few years back the children and I made our Saint Nicholas Cocoa Mix to give as gifts to some of our friends. We packaged the mix in Mason jars with decorated lids. With red and white ribbon, we attached the directions, along with candy canes to be used to stir the cocoa mix. It was so much fun to make, delicious, and a perfect treat for the feast of St. Nicholas and/or for Christmas morning!

I think it would be adorable to make gift baskets with the Cocoa Mix. We could package up a jar of the mix, possibly a couple mugs, and a bunch of candy canes, and then...

...For a Christmas Gift Basket we could add a copy of The Legend of the Candy Cane or maybe the DVD instead, and then throw in some Candy Cane Kisses.

...OR, for a Saint Nicholas Gift Basket we could include one of the great picture books about St. Nicholas, or maybe the movie Nicholas, The Boy who became Santa, and then finish it off with a bunch of chocolate gold coins!

Anyhow, here is the recipe in case you'd like to try it out as well:

Saint Nicholas Cocoa Mix

INGREDIENTS:

8 cups powdered milk

1 (16-ounce) package instant cocoa
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
10-ounces powdered non-dairy creamer
8-ounces miniature marshmallows
6-ounces finely crushed peppermint candy

DIRECTIONS:

Combine powdered milk, cocoa, powdered sugar, creamer, marshmallows and peppermint candy; mix well. Store in an airtight container.

RECIPE TO ATTACH:

For each serving, mix 1/2 cup of mix with 1 cup boiling water; mix well with candy cane. ENJOY!!



Oh, and before I go... You can find tons of other ideas including fun crafts, recipes, and much more, over at The St. Nicholas Center. We have enjoyed many of their coloring pages and have made a few of their crafts in the past. In fact, we made one of the crafts during our Christmas in July!

UPDATES:


O good holy Nicholas, you who brought joy to children, put in my heart the spirit of childhood about which the Gospel speaks. Teach me how to sow happiness around me. Amen. —Prayer to St. Nicholas

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

For the Feast of St. Francis Xavier


PRAY the Litany of St. Francis Xavier

READ about St. Francis in More Saints Lives and Illuminations (Pg 20)

WATCH Francis Xavier and the Samurai's Lost Treasure

MAKE St. Francis Xavier Ornaments

EAT Xaver Soup or Polla a la Vasca


St. Francis Xavier ~ Pray for us!

Look Who's Walking

Snuggles, at 17 months, finally decided he was ready to walk! Hubby had caught him trying to take a few steps here and there, but, until now, he had refused to even stand for me. Now he is walking all over the place.

Here are a couple short videos from last Saturday night:



Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A New Arrival!

Well, I just couldn't wait any longer, so I called Amy's mother-in-law... From what she said, Amy just delivered her little baby boy about an hour and a half ago! She did not end up needing a c-section after all, and both baby and momma are doing well. I am DYING to meet the little guy and see if he still looks as much like his older brother as he did in his ultrasound.


Congratulations Amy!!

May God bless you, your new little one,
and the rest of your beautiful family!

Bargain Books

I am always on the lookout for bargain priced books to add to our collection... I absolutely *LOVE* Amazon, but my second favorite place is BookCloseouts.com. Book Closeouts is constantly offering millions of titles in new condition at *amazing* blowout prices, many under $5.00 with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Over the past couple years I've been able to find quite a few titles off of Cay's book lists!!

In fact, right now ALL their Christmas titles are an additional 50% off until December 10th, AND they are offering free shipping with a $35.00 purchase. To activate the Free Shipping, the following coupon number and password must be entered on the shopping cart page.
  • Coupon Number: freeshipping
  • Coupon Password: bookcloseouts.com

My latest favorite find was Angela and the Baby Jesus. Cay recommended this book last year and they have over 200 hardcovers available for only $3.99 each! I ordered two copies... One for us, and one to give as a gift. (I tried to order more, but they are only letting you purchase a max of two copies of the Christmas Promotion titles.)

Let's see... My latest order included twelve books (mostly hardcovers, with a few board books and a couple paperbacks) for a total of $35.63 -- with a savings of $140.17 off the retail price! Not bad huh?! I was excited!

Some of the books I noticed they have right now include:
  • Pascual and the Kitchen Angels (featured in Catholic Mosaic)
  • The Crippled Lamb (featured in Catholic Mosaic)
  • Christmas in the Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
  • Christmas in the Manger (Only .99 cents right now for this Board book!)
  • Inside Noah's Ark (Another great Board Book)
  • Tomie DePaola's Make your Own Christmas Cards (this sounded fun)
  • Betty Crocker's Christmas Cookbook
  • and tons more...
Anyhow, I just wanted to let you all know about this site (as well as the fact that I rarely ever pay full price--or even close--for our books!). Oh and for all you other bloggers, they also offer an associates program which gives a 20% commission towards future purchases!! So... if any of you head over there, I'd love it if you clicked my link first, or use the search box below! ;)










SEARCH for the best book prices online

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