Ramona on Mary, Mother of God

In talking with Ramona about tomorrow's Solemnity, I said, "It's the celebration of Mary, the Mother of God. We get to go to Mass and we can also thank Mary for cooperating with God's plan!"

Ramona replied, quite matter-of-factly, "Well, of course she cooperated. I mean, she loved Him."

Of course.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas ... (in which she finally talks about the Twelve Days)

We've been "keeping Christmas" here (translate: "keeping too busy to blog") so rather than talk about it, we've been celebrating and visiting friends (with a bit of work sprinkled in, just to keep me from becoming a slug.)

But I wanted to take a moment out to share some ideas on keeping the Twelve Days.

When we first started doing some of these things, my kids noticed that much of the world was dismantling Christmas Joy just as we were picking up speed. I told them (repeatedly, because that's a mother's job), "It's a shame the whole world doesn't realize that the Christmas season is just beginning! They don't know all the fun they're missing!" The harping instruction paid off. They get it. And Ramona, who has never known any other way, is the first to correct one of us if we call Advent "the Christmas season." Which can be kind of irritating, but endearing. Mostly endearing.

Ideas:

• Keep your tree up until the Feast of the Epiphany, of course

• Read with the kids about the twelve days

• Keep watching Christmas shows and movies, continue reading Christmas books

• Post prayers for the season (I put them up on the wall in our kitchen -- our page of prayer intentions for the Christmas season is accented with glitter. One can never have too much glitter)

• Send Christmas greetings during the 12 days ... and don't apologize for it -- it's the Christmas season! Mine went out yesterday and today

• Observe the Epiphany -- have a Twelfth Night party, or make Kings' bread (the St. Lucia bread works well, or perhaps make a "King Cake" -- Google it for endless possibilities. Other ideas are here at Catholic Cuisine)

• Give Epiphany gifts (as large or small as you want them to be)

• Have the wise men from your Nativity set travel through the house during the 12 days, making their way to the stable

• We always make our gingerbread houses (Santa leaves kits) during the Twelve Days

I just found this page at Catholic Culture. You can click on each day of the Twelve Days for a new activity and recipe.

In keeping with the "No Panic" philosophy, don't try to incorporate twenty-seven new things into a twelve day period. Pick a couple, and put the rest in the file.

If you have other ideas to share, please leave them in the comments, and I'll add to them to this post.

12/31/08: Edited to add ideas:

From Sarah, who inspired this post:

I have some friends whose kids open one gift a day for each of the 12 days, some gifts are larger and some are very small like what might be used as a stocking stuffer. We're considering that for next year. We read The Three Wise Kings by Tomie de Paola a few weeks ago and I'm planning to pull it check it out from the library again to read this week.

From Jenn:
We read all our Christmas books and bake a festive cookie every other day or so (instead of all at once like I used to do.) We read The Legend of Old Befana on January 5th and make pizzelles on Epiphany. That's the only thing set in stone. I also finally found the frankincense and myrrh incense I bought last year. Lucy's conveniently learning "We Three Kings" on piano.
Our priest was talking about the peace of Christ on Christmas Eve. I've always hoped for a peaceful Advent and it struck me as very fitting that night that that peace I've longed for arrives the very moment we gather to celebrate Christ's birth and is very tangible throughout the Christmas season.

from Margaret in Minnesota:

We keep the season by talking about the 12 Days of Christmas--specifically, the Christian symbolism of each of the days. And we don't sweat the "small" stuff, like getting cards and presents out "on time". As my dear friend Sarah puts it, we're supposed to be living Christmas every day.

1/5/09 -- More ideas:

My friend, Mary P. writes: "I bought an Advent box at Starbucks. Behind each door was a piece of candy. Why not make one for the 12 days of Christmas? I think I know somebody that would like chocolate each day."

from the comments:

Amy says: "My kids were thrilled to get a little bag with their own kid-friendly versions of gold (chocolate coins), frankincense (scratch-n-sniff stickers), and myrrh (bubble bath)."

Connie's Daughter says: "You know, Karen, the Christmas Season goes until the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, which this year is on Jan. 11th. We usually keep our tree up until then, and we have lots of treats throughout the entire time, ice cream being our favorite. :) And even though the world has moved on, I continue to wear my Christmas sweaters and earrings and socks. Our Nativity set is still being lit each night in our yard, too!"

This Christmas Break Stuff Can Be a Killer

Ramona: Whew! I just finished a very tiring jump on my bed!

On Christmas Day

And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth.

~~ John 1:14






(painting: Adoration of the Shepherds, by Caravaggio, 1609)

A No-Panic Advent, Part Who-Knows?: The Last-minute "To Do" List

Christmas Eve:

• Put Ramona's church bag together (just a couple of extra things for her to do and read while we wait and wait for Mass to begin)

• Bake the birthday cake for Jesus (not done yet, but it will look something like this):

• Make a pie

• Watch in awe as my husband works various other food magic in the kitchen

• Look forward, with increasing anticipation, to the celebration of the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me

Wishing you a blessed, happy and holy Christmas Eve!

To Santa or Not to Santa?

There are always Santa conversations at this time of year.

We're all busy, so I'll make this quick.

We do "No-Panic Santa."

I don't worry about it. Honestly, I don't. When Anne-with-an-e was a baby, I worried (a lot) that lying about Santa would mean that one day she'd think I'd lied about God, too. When she was two years old, people would ask her what Santa was going to bring, and she'd stare blankly at them, wondering who in the world they were talking about.

But then, my own past Santa fun crept into our Christmas traditions, and so, yes, we started "doing" Santa. (Why does this blog always sound slightly confessional? "Hi, I'm Karen. And I lie about Santa.")

Well, I don't out and out lie. I imply. I play a game. We get a visit from St. Nicholas on his feast day ... we have presents from him on Christmas morning ... We wink, we leave cookies, we love the magic.

And, although I completely respect the many different ways that good Catholic parents handle this question, here's the reason I don't worry that "the Santa lie" will lead to atheism:

God is real.

My children will know, see, and feel His fingerprints on their lives. We have seen God at work, and we know He isn't the stuff of toyshops and flying reindeer.

Yes, Ramona will learn that Santa was just a lot of fun pretending. But, she'll also know that Jesus is a powerful King.

Feelings on Santa vs. no-Santa are subjective and personal, and I would never say that my way is universally the best. I can understand the other side. I'm just saying that personally I no longer fret over it. And, since there's no doctrine of the Church that says we must not do Santa, I think I'm in faithful territory.

And, sometimes, even the most roundabout of ways of celebrating things can have lovely, unexpected, faith-filled results. I thought of that when I reread this old post on Santa, at The Wine Dark Sea.

Melanie writes,

"The Santa myth can be in our secular world a sort of pre-gospel."

I completely agree. As someone who grew up with Santa, but without religion in Christmas, I can say that Santa was indeed pre-Gospel for me. Santa was unconditional love. The times I was bad? He never left me a lump of coal. Not once. (Thanks, Mom and Dad.)

And Santa was magic.

God is the ultimate Unconditional Love and the True Magic.

I know that somewhere, deep down, the child who loved Santa was yearning for Christ.

And He came to me. Just as Santa did. But when He came, the Magic was bigger, and powerful.

And when He came, the Magic was here to stay.

******************************************

12/24/08 Edited to add this great bit of G.K. Chesterton, courtesy of Chris in the comments:

On Christmas morning, he [Chesterton] remembered, his stockings were filled with things he had not worked for, or made, or even been good for.

The only explanation people had was that a being called Santa Claus was somehow kindly disposed toward him. “We believed,” he wrote, that a certain benevolent person “did give us those toys for nothing. And ... I believe it still. I have merely extended the idea.

“Then I only wondered who put the toys in the stocking; now I wonder who put the stocking by the bed, and the bed in the room, and the room in the house, and the house on the planet, and the great planet in the void.

“Once I only thanked Santa Claus for a few dolls and crackers, now I thank him for stars and street faces and wine and the great sea. Once I thought it delightful and astonishing to find a present so big that it only went halfway into the stocking.

“Now I am delighted and astonished every morning to find a present so big that it takes two stockings to hold it, and then leaves a great deal outside; it is the large and preposterous present of myself, as to the origin of which I can offer no suggestion except that Santa Claus gave it to me in a fit of peculiarly fantastic good will.”

********************************************

Aaahhh ... no one can say it quite like G.K. Thank you, Chris.

"Father, how do I pray?"

Words of wisdom from the comment box on this post.

Thank you, Father.

People often ask me, "Father, how do I pray?" We have this strange notion that we can only approach Our Lord with perfect composure, as if we were speaking at afternoon tea. He made us with all our emotions, quiet and loud, frantic and calm. He knows what we need and where we are and what is best for us before we even approach Him. So then, approach Him with tears. Approach Him with a deep gratitude. It would be a lie to approach Him any other way. Show Him the depth and dynamism of your joy with tears.

Jesus says, "There is more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not have need of repentance." That means all of us. We so often think that He refers to everyone except us. We could not be further from the truth. Thanks be to God for the, "Then something happened. I became a Christian...Then I became a Catholic." What generosity and mercy there are in this most wondrous God!

How a secular Christmas song became "our song" (or, gifts from the heart are still the best)

We hadn't been married very long and we didn't have much money. It was almost Christmas and although we weren't Christians we always gave each other gifts. The pickings would be slim this year, though, as the budget for presents was non-existent.

Atticus knew that I loved Nat King Cole's smoky voice crooning The Christmas Song. I had described it as "almost perfect." But this was in the days before digital music and mp3 players. I could hear my favorite song of the season only if it happened to come on the radio, as I didn't own the album. Atticus wanted to buy it for me, but our budget was so tight that even a new cassette tape (remember cassette tapes?) wasn't a possibility that year.

It was Christmas Eve, and I had to work. Feeling a little disheartened that we didn't have much to give one another, I was nevertheless looking forward to the meal that Atticus would no doubt have ready when I got home.

When I reached our apartment, I put my key in the lock and thought, "It's awfully quiet in there." I opened the door and found a candlelit room, heard a click, and then Nat's smooth voice. Atticus took my hand and we danced.

My dear, sweet husband had scrounged around our apartment, found a blank tape, and then waited. He had vigilantly stationed himself by the radio all day long as he cooked, waiting to hear and capture that song. He waited and waited some more, and finally hit the "record" button when the coveted song made its appearance.

He captured it; he captured me again. And ever since, when Nat starts to sing, we dance.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”

~~ Luke 1:38

from the archives: I'm So Predictable

I wrote this in '05, my first year of blogging, and have rerun it each December since then.

I'm rerunning it again, because that's part of what makes me so predictable. And, it's all still true, except that Anne-with-an-e is now old enough to babysit, and Ramona gets easily through the Mass. And, this year, though our date night may not happen, since Atticus and I indulged in an overnight getaway last weekend, we'll still have the same conversations. And the ending?

Predictable and true.


**********************************************************

My husband and I have a holiday tradition. Every year, close to Christmas, we get a babysitter, go out for Chinese food, buy all the last-minute ...

** (WARNING: Santa spoiler ahead) **

... stocking stuffers and generally fall in love all over again -- with each other, with our children, and with the magic of Christmas. We talk about our days, about my parents and his, about holiday travel plans, about how we'll keep the youngest child happy and calm during the long Christmas Eve Mass. And we talk about how we can't believe how drastically our Christmases have changed over the years.

You see, when we married, we didn't want children. Children were nice enough for other people, but not for us. We didn't want the mess, the commitment, the responsibility. We were happy to be "child free" as opposed to "childless."

Then something happened. I became a Christian.

Oops. Short-circuit in the selfishness department. I began to long for a child. Soon, Atticus's heart caught up with mine in the procreation department, and we set forth to create a family. After some heartbreaking miscarriages, we had Anne. But only one child, Atticus said. One child is enough.

Then I became a Catholic.

Oops. Short-circuit in the openness to life department. We had Betsy. Several more heartbreaking miscarriages later, God awarded us with Ramona, and here we are. Falling in love again at Christmas time, and crazy, head-over-heels in love with our children.

And all because of of a Child born in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. Had Mary said, "No, thank you, I'd like to remain child-free," I would be childless. There would have been no conversion, no short-circuit, and most certainly, no joy. How does one thank God for that?

I always seem to do it in the same old, tired way.

I cry.

May you, too, shed some tears of ineffable gratitude this Christmas.

Poetry Friday bonus: Bruce and Santa

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better not pout
I'm tellin' you why:
Santa Claus is comin' to town ....

And Ramona and I are repeatedly listening to Bruce sing about it:

Poetry Friday: Snow Day

Billy Collins, of course.


Snow Day
by Billy Collins

Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,
its white flag waving over everything,
the landscape vanished,
not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,
and beyond these windows

(Read the rest here at the Poetry Foundation.)


The Poetry Friday roundup can be found today at Author Amok.

A No-Panic Advent, Part XIV: A Week Before Christmas -- Do You Know Where Your Daughter's Tights Are?

One week until Christmas!

What do I still need to make? Buy? Wrap?

Who has a birthday in December that I've completely forgotten? (I'll remember Jesus, of course, but others? Friends? Family? Who needs a birthday card?)

Have I thought about those stockings that will soon hang over the fireplace, and about what will go in them?

Speaking of stockings, when Christmas Mass rolls around will all of my children have tights/socks without holes/hose without runs? Clothes that fit? Shoes that won't send them into last-minute snits? Some mothers might buy festive new clothes each Christmas, but others do a little jig of joy when everything from last year (or in Ramona's case, the most current Christmas hand-me-down) fits. Yes. That'd be me.

And, let's be totally honest here. The problem with writing and running a "No-Panic Advent" series is that at some point any sane, normal, writer-mom will panic.

I did. I have panicked.

"Hi, my name is Karen, and I'm a fake."

Well, not really. I haven't had any cataclysmic meltdowns, haven't taken anyone's head off (well, not completely, and I did tell Anne-with-an-e that I was sorry for being snippy), and I haven't run from the house, ripping my hair out and screeching, "I thought I had more gift bags!" (No, I calmly drove to the store, and merely felt like screeching when the check-out clerk insisted that the "50% off all Christmas wrap" sign directly above the gift bags was not misleading because the bags were not, and have never been, on sale. Okay.)

But I've had my moments. Suddenly, it seems, Christmas is almost here, and there are things I've forgotten, things on which I fell behind, things I haven't gotten around to (and actually, for you sticklers, that should be, "things to which I haven't gotten around," but as Winston Churchill said of preposition placement, "There are some things up with which I will not put.")

Last night, when I went to have coffee with two friends, I practically threw their Christmas gifts at them and said, "Now I can cross you off my list." I was kidding, of course, but there is something to that awful, "Must ... Do ... During ... Advent .... " spell under which we all fall.

Sometimes things providentially pop up, things that help us rearrange our priorities. For example, although we always celebrate St. Lucia Day, this year was different. Some friends were available at the last minute and able to have our kids overnight while Atticus and I ran away for a one-night vacation. We've never left all three of our girls before, so it was the proverbial big deal. We jumped on it and were thrilled we did. We had a great time, and Ramona survived the separation (although, after our reunion she noted, "I did miss you more than I can say. And I love you dearly.") We missed doing our traditional St. Lucia activities (the bread, however, had been consumed and eaten two days prior), but when I felt a pang about that, I reminded myself that "no panic" means accepting what God allows.

Sometimes it's a refreshing one-night vacation.

Other times, it means someone is throwing up on Christmas Eve.

Whatever happens, we can rest assured that He knows about it. And He'll get us through.

So, when I start to panic, I go back to my prayer. It grounds me. It reminds me that Christmas is not about shopping and doing, and not about presents (with the exception of the Ultimate Gift.) Rather, it is about sin and redemption, about panic and apologies.

And, it will come, as the Grinch learned, whether it is surrounded by all our cultural, habitual trappings or not. It will come to our sloppy, imperfect selves, and when it does, I need only ask myself, "Is Jesus pleased with what I've given Him this Advent, and in this Christmas season, or is He wagging His finger at me?"

If I sense any Divine finger-wagging, then I can get a head-start on the next to-do list: spiritual resolutions for the new year.

Because He's all about beginnings, this God of ours.

Now, I'm off to cross "tights" off my shopping list.

Christmas Every Day

(This essay first appeared several years ago, in Our Sunday Visitor's New Covenant magazine. It later morphed into the longer piece, Easter Every Week, for Catholic Exchange.)


Christmas Every Day

We hear it all around us: “I love this time of year! People are so generous! Why can’t every day be like Christmas ?”

I asked the same question before I became a Christian. For me, Christmas time began right after Thanksgiving, when I started shopping, baking and getting caught up in “the Christmas Spirit.” It held no religious meaning for me, but there was something so attractive about the time of year ... something warm and glowing, something that whispered "community" and "love." Whatever the something was that made people feel so good -- and in my unbelieving days I wanted to think it was nothing more than a good story by Charles Dickens -- I wanted a little piece of it.

After I was baptized, I fell in love with that “something” -- Jesus Christ. I finally knew the Source of all that community and love, and I wanted to share the good news. When people wondered why every day couldn’t be Christmas I would say, “It can! Become a Christian!” Jesus was the wellspring of the generosity, the love, the desire to give. He was the very definition of Christmas that I had been missing all those years.

I started to see everything about Christmas in a new way. When the Christmas season ended and people complained of how dull and gray January can be, I thought about how we can carry Christmas into every day of the year, because Jesus is always with us. The things that make Christmas special are the things we are called to do in our daily Christian life: to love, give of ourselves, share with the poor, and celebrate our Lord. However, though I tried to keep “that Christmas spirit” every day, I instinctively knew that real life wasn’t like that. “All good things must come to an end,” and so it seemed with the joys of the Christmas season.

Five years after my baptism, I was received into the Catholic Church, and I learned that we can live our Christian lives even more fully than “trying to see every day as Christmas” (which wasn’t quite working for me anyway.) Through the liturgical year, we enter deeply into every aspect of Jesus’s life. We wait with anticipation through Advent, live with joy through Christmas, fast in the days of Lent, and rejoice again in the Easter season. We experience the joy of our Savior’s birth, and we feel the desert of life without Him, the suffering of His passion and death, and the joy of His resurrection more deeply when we live our lives in rhythm with the Church’s liturgy.

The Church, our earthly mother left to us by our Lord, knows what we need. In giving us a liturgical calendar she has given us a prescription for how to live each and every day. Are we getting dry in our prayer, losing touch with God? She gives us Lent, to help us examine our lives, make a new sacrifice, renew a promise. Are we struggling through the desert? Just in time to save us, the beauty of Easter arrives, with the joy of delighting in what was “lost” during Lent. Easter is celebrated for a full week on the church calendar, an “octave”, because one day is not enough to contain this great feast.

Are we caught up in the “commercialism” of Christmas? Mother Church gives us Advent, to slow us down and teach us to patiently watch and wait. She then gives us twelve days of Christmas -- again, the joy of the celebration cannot be contained in one day! Then there is the Twelfth Night, the feast of the Epiphany -- we get to celebrate again, and observe the day that the Magi brought gifts to Jesus. Even in “ordinary time” there are feasts, memorials, and observances of saints’ days that help to remind us of our vocation, the state of our relationship with God, the depth of our prayer lives.

As a new Christian, I was on the right track when I discovered that every day could, in some way, be Christmas. But I was missing a big part of the puzzle. The liturgical calendar supplied the last of the missing pieces. I have delighted in the ways living the liturgical year deepens and revitalizes my spiritual life, including my prayer life.

A wise mother knows that her children can’t celebrate all the time -- every party has an end. Can every day be Christmas? No, but every day can be Christ-filled, imbued with spiritual meaning as we follow, re-enact and celebrate the events of our Lord’s earthly life. We can thank our wise mother, the church, for the wisdom of such a gift, at Christmas and always.

The Meme for a day in Advent when I had time for nothing else but knew I could do boldface quickly

I cannot remember where I got it!
You're supposed to boldface anything you've actually done! (Wow! It would appear, at a glance, that I'm very un-bold!)

I'm not panicking, people!

It's Advent!

I'm just busy!


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (no, but I was asked to be in one once, but it didn't really count as they were just some guys I knew in college)
4. Visited Hawaii (no, but my parents did ... I had to stay in Florida at the time)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (DisneyWorld)
8. Climbed a mountain (does it count if I was in a car?)
9. Held a praying mantis (eeewwww. Sorry, Alice.)
10. Sang a solo (everyone's glad I haven't done this. I wasn't asked to join the band for my voice -- they just wanted a girl)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (no, but have been at the top of the World Trade Center)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (no, but Atticus used to)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (this was in my pre-Christian days. Now I would feel too guilty to do this)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (Atticus runs six or seven or eight miles at a time ... talk to him .... )
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (This would be baseball, right? That's a sport. I don't do sports.)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (in general)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain (my children have gotten lots of saliva on me as they've kissed me over the years, but I don't think it's quite the same thing.)
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China (Yes! Great food! I don't think that restaurant is still there, however.)
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (No ... I've had plenty of paper cuts, though, and lemme tell you -- they hurt. I'm every bit as pitiable as if I've had broken bones.)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (it might not have been actually speeding. It was my father's, and he was middle-aged.)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (just a few more months .... )
81. Visited the Vatican (in my dreams)
82. Bought a brand new car (we don't do this. To do so would mean living in an alternate universe)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (over the course of years, not all in one sitting. And don't quiz me.)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (No, I was excused for being a nursing mother)
91. Met someone famous (Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford -- Atticus ate his heart out -- stood in an elevator with Kareem Abdul-Jabar. Yes, he's very tall.)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

It's eight below here

That would be eight degrees.

Below zero.

Anyone know of any teaching jobs open in Florida? Atticus is wondering.

Bits and Pieces of Our Days

What we've been up to ....

I broke these:

Fortunately, I still have lots of these:

We had to say good-bye to this little guy, Ralph, who died peacefully in his sleep:

So we said hello to this new member of the family, Blanche, named after a character in Regina Doman's fairy tale novels:

Ramona has been reading to an assembly of dolls:

And assembling the Christmas books that didn't make the literary cut into Mommy's blog post:

Betsy has been making castles out of homemade clay:

And Anne-with-an-e has been working on her photography skills, trying to capture the Christmas tree from the inside:

Betsy was sick yesterday, but today we seem to be back to normal.

Today holds in store much wrapping, boxing and shipping.

And no panic.

Really.

(All photos are ours, except the contact lens, which came from Stock.Xchng)

Please pray for these FOCUS missionaries

Five young women, all FOCUS missionaries, were in a horrible car accident on Friday. Some details are here. The latest report I've heard said that one of the women was still in critical condition. Thanks for your prayers.

Rejoice! (Part XIII of a No-Panic Advent)

It is Gaudete Sunday! Rejoice!

We are more than halfway through Advent, and the celebration of the birth of our Savior will soon arrive.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!" ~~ Philippians 4:4

And, do not panic! I know that Christmas is only, oh, say, tennish days away. But, again, I say: do not panic!

Unless you're Jennifer, and you also have your daughter's First Holy Communion approaching. Jennifer has free reign to panic.

But, the rest of us are called to remember that even though we're headed down the path of busy-ness, if some of that busywork falls by the wayside, or is someone gets the flu and all your plans are for naught, or if something this year just isn't quite right, isn't the perfection you had hoped for, it's okay. Christ will still come. He came two thousand years ago, He is here now, He will arrive for Christmas, and He will remain with us always.

Again I say, rejoice!

"Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." ~~ 1Thess. 5:16-18

Poetry Friday

In a no-panic break from my no-panic Advent, I am spending a few quiet moments with Billy Collins.

This poem is not related to winter, December, Advent, Christmas, or any current theme or obsession of mine. It's just a lovely little piece that says so much, in very few words.

The last line is perfection. The poem is short, but stay with it -- it's not about the suburbs.

It's about her.


Her
by Billy Collins

There is no noisier place than the suburbs,
someone once said to me
as we were walking along a fairway,
and every day is delighted to offer fresh evidence:

the chainsaw, the leaf-blower blowing
one leaf around an enormous house with columns,

(read the rest of it here.)

The whole Poetry Friday round-up is at Wild Rose Reader.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! I haven't done a lot in the past with the kids to celebrate this feast, but this year they are learning more about Juan Diego, and the miraculous appearance of the Blessed Mother. And, I hope to reinforce the idea that Catholics throw great parties -- our parish is throwing a big one to celebrate this day, and great friends of ours are planning a fiesta tonight.

Although I haven't previously taught the kids a lot about this feast, I have a personal devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. You can read more about that here.

Helping Another in Need

Margot Davidson, of Hillside Education, has begun a new "help corner" designed to raise funds to help those in need. Margot writes:

Please consider purchasing an item from this page, perhaps as a Christmas gift, and help this family in need. Items will be added daily, so keep checking back. You may also simply make a donation. If you'd like to donate something to the sale, we'd welcome your contributions. Please contact us at sales@hillsideeducation.com.

Read more here at Hillside.

Margot says of this month's featured family:

We are now accepting donations and contributing money from sales these pages for the Stephens family. Mandy is a homeschooling mother whose husband has been diagnosed with a neurological disease that has been rapidly deteriorating. Mandy says that he has embraced his faith in an inspiring way -- as never before -- as he struggles with the disease. He is in incredible pain. You can well imagine the strain that dealing with this has put on their family this last year, but things are at a critical point now. The donations from our website will go to cover mortgage payment, car, and insurance. If you are unable to donate at this time of the year, please include the family in your prayers.

Please pray for this family, and prayerfully consider buying a gift or making a donation to help them out.

A No-Panic Advent, Part XII: A Prayer

Dear Lord,

When I become harried
and impatient,
when I think I have too much to do
and not enough time,
when I feel burdened
by obligations,
responsibilities,
activities and
busy-ness,
please, Lord,
give me the grace to remember,
always to remember,
that my obligations,
responsibilities,
activities and busy-ness
spring from
an abundance of blessings.
Enormous, ineffable blessings.
Help me to see my busy days
and busy ways
as the privilege and the gift
that they are.

Help me to remember, pray for,
and tangibly support
those who are not "burdened"
by too much to eat,
too much to bake,
too much to decorate,
too many books to read.

Help me, Lord, to see the Advent of Your birth
as a time to remember all of these things,
to drop to my knees and thank You,
always to thank You,
for so much undeserved Love.

A No-Panic Advent, Part XI: Upcoming Feasts and St. Lucia Bread

Friday is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Catholic Cuisine has easy, doable ideas for "Rosy Treats" here and other festive foods here.

We haven't gone all out for this feast day in the past, because I've always been overwhelmed busy, but not panicked, by other observances. But, this year, I added Tomie de Paola's The Lady of Guadalupe to our book collection. I won't get any special baking done for this feast, but I'll gather a few other resources from the web to share with the girls about Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Saturday is the feast of St. Lucia, and with it comes the Lucia bread:

Do not be intimidated by this yeast bread recipe!

If I can make this bread (and make it look beautiful), anyone can. Really. Trust me on this. This bread is easy. A little time-consuming (for a woman who, when left on her own, could easily eat tuna out of a can and call it a meal) but easy.

And, as I mentioned in this post, if you don't have time to make it this weekend, save the recipe and make it another day. It makes a great King's Bread for the Epiphany, too.

Here's the recipe, which came from my friend, Holly, via Family Fun:

Braided St. Lucia Bread

Dough:
1 1/2 cups milk
2 (1/4 oz.) pkgs. active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1 T. sugar
6 T. butter, cut in pieces
2 large eggs
1/4 cup orange juice
1 T. finely grated orange rind
1 t. salt
5 1/2 - 6 1/2 cups flour

Glaze and garnish:
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
2-4 T. orange juice
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Warm the milk in a small saucepan, then pour 1/2 cup of it into a large bowl. Add the yeast and 1 T. of the sugar and let it sit for 5 min.

Melt the butter in the remaining milk. Add butter/milk mixture to the yeast mixture. Whisk in the eggs, juice, 1/4 cup sugar, orange rind, and salt. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough can be gathered into a ball. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 min., adding more flour until the dough is smooth and elastic and doesn't stick to your hands. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turning it once to coat it. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down the dough and divide it into 3 equal parts. Roll each part into a 30-inch rope and braid the ropes together. Transfer the braid to a greased baking sheet, pinch together the ends to form a circle and let it rise until doubled in size, about 45 min. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 min., or until golden brown, then let cool on a wire rack about 30 min.

For the glaze, stir together the confectioner's sugar and orange juice until smooth. Drizzle over the bread, then garnish with cranberries. Add candles for "wreath."

And here are some things we've done in the past to celebrate St. Lucia:

Made wreaths for daughters and dolls

Found something (anything white) for the girls to wear for a St. Lucia procession through the house, and read Hanna's Christmas.

Employed "flexible homeschooling" in an off-year (i.e., when Ramona was still keeping me up every night, for the third year in a row of her fabulous life), and didn't sweat the imperfection known as "not doing it all" and also known as "moving St. Lucia day to a Saturday," which is not necessary this year, as it conveniently falls on a Saturday.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

See the excellent Catholic Encyclopedia entry here, and visit Women for Faith and Family for a great entry here.

Visit Catholic Culture for more information here, and Catholic Cuisine here.

Whether you have a picture-perfect day for the memory book, or one like this, I pray that you have a blessed feast day.

Remember that He is with us in sickness and health, crankiness and cheerful days, in plans and in the ruin of plans. And, our Blessed Mother is praying for us through it all!


Painting by Bartolome Esteban Murillo.

A No-Panic Advent, Part X: Don't forget

It's the second Sunday of Advent. We've begun our preparations for Christmas, our favorite Advent observations are in place or are unfolding, and if they're not, we're not panicking.

We're savoring the liturgical season, we're reading beautiful (and sometimes goofy, as Atticus reminded me in this comment) books with the kids, and we're teaching them about watching, waiting, and preparing for the Lord.

But, what are we doing for ourselves?

I will grant you that all of the things we do for our children during Advent are done for us, too. We can benefit enormously from the books we read, the talks we have, the thought and consideration we give to our preparation. But, sometimes, it isn't enough, or it isn't exactly what we need. God wants not only for our children to be prepared but for us mothers to be ready, too.

During these weeks before Christmas, don't forget to do something for your own spiritual growth.

What do you want to do?

What do you need to do?

It doesn't have to be monumental. It just needs to draw you closer to the One who came for you, lived and died for you, and wants you to be with Him for all eternity.

What might help?

• A book you've been meaning to read
• More time with Scripture
• A single Scripture verse on which to meditate ("The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name," from Luke 1:49 can lead to endless, grateful meditation ....)
• A saint's biography or a collection of quotes from the saints
• An extra five or ten minutes of prayer a day
• A promise to give up complaining
• A promise to give up something else until the joy of Christmas arrives
• Daily devotional readings for the season

Something.

You know what it is for you, and I know what it is for me.

Remember: not only are we awaiting His arrival ....

He's waiting for us.


(The painting: The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1859-1937.)

Second Sunday of a No-Panic Advent

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!

~~ Isaiah 40:3



And this is what he proclaimed:
“One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

~~ Mark 1: 7-8

Poetry Friday: Ramona and the Tooth Fairy

Ramona just lost
her very first tooth
In the midst of a whine
the thing just broke looth.



She looked up at me.
So shocking! Amazed!
And onto this treasure
she focused her gaze.

I asked her big sister
what the tooth fairy pays.
Is that going rate still
a dollar these days?

As I write this, she's sleeping
still one dollar poorer
But on her awaking
She'll find that she's surer

Of magical visits
And sprites bearing money,
of holes in the mouth
that will make you talk funny.

It's wondrous, you know
how the simplest stuff
can feel iridescent.
Can feel like enough.



The Poetry Friday round up this week is at Mommy's Favorite Children's Books.

It's St. Nicholas Eve!

We love to celebrate this feast day!

Tonight, the girls will leave their shoes outside their bedroom doors. It's highly likely that in the morning they'll find chocolate coins, and a few small gifts ( a craft, an ornament, or an ornament-craft ... something like that. I'm guessing.)

There are lots of activities centered on the saint and on his connection to Christ and Christmas.

My favorite St. Nicholas resource is the St. Nicholas Center, loaded with fun ideas, activities and recipes. They even have instructions for a St. Nicholas spoon saint, ala Alice Gunther, from Cottage Blessings.

And, for us, it's a tradition to watch Nicholas:The Boy Who Became Santa.

Visit Mary Ellen at O Night Divine for more information.

And, go to Catholic Cuisine for a St. Nicholas fair.

Panic Warning:

Too! Many! Good! Ideas! Keep the files handy, people. There's always next year.




(Clip art above courtesy of Two Hearts Design.)

A No-Panic Advent, Part IX: Favorite Advent and Christmas Books

In December, our favorite Advent and Christmas books sit under our Jesse Tree, like the gifts that they are.

Here, in no particular order (and with links to past posts that contain more detail, in some cases) are some of our favorite books.

And, here's the "no panic" part: Although we own many of these, we certainly don't own them all. I make generous use of the library and then every year, I purchase one or two new books to add to our collection.

Here' s the other "no panic" part: We don't read all of these every year. We'll definitely read our dearest favorites, but other books will rotate. For example, one year, we really focused on all of the American Girl Christmas stories, and we baked related treats, learned more about Christmas in other times and places, etc. But, we don't always get back to those books every year. Read and do what works for you.



The Donkey's Dream (which unfortunately appears to be out of print) is a gorgeous book, and a perennial favorite.

In this post, I talked about it, and about "how literature teaches us beautiful things."








The first time we read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, I cried a bucket. What a touching story about love and patience, healing and Christmas. Recommended with vigorous shaking of the head and tears in my eyes.

The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas.
A very sweet story by Madeleine L'Engle about the Austin family.










The Tale of the Three Trees can be read anytime, but is especially good for Advent and Lent.

It's a simple, beautifully illustrated book that helps children to see that God will answer our prayers, but not always in ways we can foresee.









The feast of St. Nicholas has us reading The Miracle of Saint Nicholas and The Real Santa Claus: Legends of St. Nicholas.








Alas, we do not own Hanna's Christmas, but must request it via inter-library loan each year. Used copies of this book, written once-upon-a-time by Little House author Melissa Wiley,  are hard to find, and so we must be happy with our annual library check-out.

Our must-read on St. Lucia day, along with saint books that tell us more about St. Lucy.






We love Tomie de Paola's The Legend of the Poinsettia and The Night of Los Posadas. And, don't forget An Early American Christmas.

Country Angel Christmas is a sweet one, too. And anything else by Tomie de Paola that we can find.



My sister gave The Legend of the Candy Cane to Anne-with-an-e when she was very little. It's become a tradition that both it and Jan Brett's The Night Before Christmas must be read by Atticus on Christmas Eve.



















Gennady Spirin's rendering of The Christmas Story is gorgeously illustrated. I think I bought this one for me.










Okay, so I cry a lot. Yes, I cried at this one, too. A lot. Love this book. Silver Packages is beloved by all the females in the house. Atticus has probably never read it, but then, he doesn't love to cry.




More and more:

The Legend of the Christmas Rose by William Hooks
Bright Christmas : An Angel Remembers by Andrew Clements
This Is the Star by Joyce Dunbar
Jesus by Brian Wildsmith
A Christmas Story by Brian Wildsmith
The Gift of the Magi
Hark! A Christmas Sampler by Jane Yolen
This Is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten
The Story of Christmas by Jane Ray
Jacob's Gift by Max Lucado
Christmas with Anne and Other Holiday Stories by L.M. Montgomery
The Christmas Story by Kay Chorao
A Little House Christmas Treasury: Festive Holiday Stories by Laura Ingalls Wilder
American Girl Christmas Books

And, of course:

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
and
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Secular, Meet Sacred

A No-Panic Advent, Part VIII: Why We Read Advent Books (or, "In Which I Am Imogene Herdman")

(I originally wrote this essay for Cay Gibson's book, Christmas Mosaic, An Illustrated Book Study for Advent and Christmas,which is a wonderful resource for books, activities and recipes to use throughout Advent and the entire Christmas season.)



The Nativity

I remember when I first met Him – that Child who was born in Bethlehem. I didn’t bump into Him in my childhood (though I now know He was there all along.) No, our first encounter -- the one in which I was really a participant -- came when I was older. I was a twenty-something atheist, and a Catholic friend recommended C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to me. “Pay special attention,” he suggested, “to the character of Aslan.”

My friend had a way of recommending things that dramatically changed my life, so I read the book. As urged, I “paid special attention” to Aslan, and I fell in love with him. And I fell in love with Him, though I still didn’t fully understand Who it was that I loved. But I knew I wanted to hold Aslan forever, in my arms and in my heart. Like Susan and Lucy, I wanted to bury my face in His mane, inhale His sweetness, and never let go.

A few years later, the same friend gave me Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, in which “awful old” Imogene Herdman (while playing Mary in the Christmas pageant) is walloped with the story of Jesus for the first time in her short, rough life. She can hardly bear the weight of the irony and the beauty. And as I read about little Imogene bawling her eyes out, I began to sob. I loved Imogene fiercely, and realized that I loved her because I was Imogene: I was that sad little girl who’d never known Jesus, but who one day collided headlong with the reality and power of Him. The God of the universe had bowled Imogene over and she would never be the same. Neither would I.

What changed the Herdmans, the Pevensies, and me? That child born in Bethlehem two millennia ago.

That child. It’s hard to fathom, isn’t it? A child, born in a stable, in poverty, to a virgin. A child raised by a foster-father in relative obscurity. A child who for many years was nothing more than a carpenter’s son. A child.

The Christ Child set a Herdman sobbing, made perfectly sensible little British girls follow a lion for the rest of their lives, and He crumbled my unbelief.

Such is the power of our precious Jesus, and of the books written about Him. Although I wasn’t raised on beautiful tales of our Lord, I know the compelling power of books. I want to share with my own children everything I can about Him. I want to give them the gifts of picture books, chapter books, the Bible. I want to give them storytelling, fine art and great music. I hope to introduce them, through these things, to the Source of all that is good, and true and beautiful. I pray my daughters will remember countless, sublime meetings with Him, and will yearn to inhale His sweetness, the sweetness of that baby in a manger.

That baby was born for us. He lived and died for us.

He loves us so much.

Let’s pay special attention.

You know Ramona has seen too much Food Network when she says ...

that she will describe to you that thing she ate at McDonald's, and she says:

"First, there's the surprise of the sausage. Then, there's the fluffy lightness of the pancake, and then the sweetness of that syrup. Ooooh, it's delicious!"

I do tend to think, though, that the Food Network stars would be a wee bit put off by the food at McDonald's. Except maybe Sandra Lee, who would sprinkle powdered sugar on top and call it close enough.

You know you're an old, married, homeschooling mom when ...

... you see a headline about "quirky chemistry facts" and you immediately think of science and your kids and wonder if this is something they'd be interested in, rather than thinking of that mysterious thing between a man and a woman known as chemistry, which, of course, is what the article was about.