Waiting on Advent

I'm more than ready for Advent... well, not in the sense of being 'ready' like the physical preparations have been made, but boy, I am relieved to move onto a new liturgical season! And a new liturgical year! November has been a dreary month, as is her unwelcome but predictable pattern, so the lights of our Advent wreath and the soul-stirring hymns that I have loved since I was a child are a welcome change to the bleak nothingness of the November we are just about to wave farewell to.

Isaiah and I put up our December saint calendar yesterday after dinner. No, it's not December until Friday, but I just squeezed the last few days of November on the top row, and moved everything up. Seeing a visual of all the beautiful feast days approaching already filled me with excitement and awe. The kids can hardly believe how soon St. Nicholas day is, which they dearly love.

I can hardly believe how soon Christmas is... so much yet to do.

But Advent... I love it as a season unto itself. I love, love LOVE the seasonal books we have collected over the years, and I love getting to read them to the children. When I dragged out that basket from the attic yesterday, I was so pleased to field a thousand requests for me to read to them. I had leftovers planned already for dinner anyway, so it worked.

Yes, dear ones. This is a season of coziness, and reading you my favourite picture books is a delight I can't even adequately express. It's as much for you as it is for me.

Of course it's a wonder and a delight to see them pouring of the books by themselves, too, especially now that Noah is a voracious reader. How touching to see him reading to himself the books that formed the warp and woof of our days in years gone past.

"The Miracle of Saint Nicholas" is almost like a prayer but with such a gripping story, too. "Mr. Willoby's Christmas Tree" is like a party; such a delight to read out loud with the cadence of the rhyme. And my new favourite? "Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins." Gorgeous iconography on every page and a beautifully edifying story of Nicholas not as a bishop, but as a youth, choosing to follow the Gospel witness given to him by his uncle. What a perfect story to read to a child -- where they see how even someone so young can make a courageous choice for their faith.

This sweet picture was of Noah's decorating and excitable pre-Christmas play. It seems like it was from only a year or two ago, 

but was actually taken in Advent of 2012, in our old house. 

I won't say "where does the time go?"; I'll let you ponder that instead.

How lovely to hear so many readings from Isaiah at Mass in the next while, and remember that I chose his name at a Sunday Mass during Advent; a sweet little baby would not stop moving during the reading that says "does a mother forget her baby?" and it became quite clear it was the perfect name for him.

What a joy to have Anna bring her favourite Christmas books to school yesterday and have her ECE read them aloud to the whole room. He told me he found her curled up on a cosy chair gazing at her picture book later. She comes by it honestly.

And Elijah, how excited I am to witness him decorating a tree for the first time, UNdecorating the tree (over and over), unwrapping presents and laughing with joy over the simple little gifts we have bought for him. There's nothing more joyful than a tiny child experiencing these things for the first time (or at least the first time they are able to participate).


I ordered myself Rooted in Hope and I am just itching to get started. (I also have the Stories of Grace devotional from these women which I enjoyed immensely).

More waxing nostalgic through photos. 

That chubby-cheeked cherub is in grade one now, 

but I thought it was his baby brother at first glance.

I loved that when I asked Noah what his favourite Advent traditions were, he said "oh, probably Saint Nicholas Day and Saint Lucy Day." And when I said, "What about your favourite Christmas traditions?" his voice hushed into reflective thought and he said "all of them."

Even though I like to observe lots of feast days and try and maintain our family traditions, I still am pleased to say that Advent never fills especially "rushed" or busy. We hardly have an extracurricular activities, and the absence of rushing out the door to hockey and so on is a gift because it allows for time for the Jesse tree, time for a shared meal with our Advent wreath... things I take for granted that are just normal parts of daily life. Well, to many, they aren't. So I guard them zealously. Family time after school and the evenings around the table are our only real time to exercise our ability (and desire!) to act as the primary educators. 

And most of the time I do that with books.

And decently often, cookies.

NB: I apologize for any rambling, weirdness or over sentimentality. I started this entry at 4:45 (I believe?) after far too little sleep and you all know how well I cope with that.