Mama-luia

Here we are in the Octave of Christmas, otherwise known as "I have more free time on my hands with Patrick off work this week AND not using the computer and thus I blog." It's an annual tradition. Advent has come and gone, and Christmas is here to stay for a goodly long time (if you count it until Candlemas, we have Christmas straight until 12 days before Ash Wednesday this year). I'm currently wearing my most festive apron over my boring mom uniform of leggings + tunic top, after having just made shortbreads for the clan for an afternoon snack. Amazon boxes and duct tape to create... something. There is a pleasant holiday feeling in the air, and it is oh-so-welcome. But let's recap the Advent-y-ness first and foremost before getting to Christmas. *** The feast of Martinmas involved our traditional lantern walk. We modpodged some Mason jars the day before and walked around the wooded area by our church singing. It was very touching because one of my ch...

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 ...

Another St. Nicholas Day has come and gone at our home. And oh what an exciting day it was, as always! The two oldest could hardly bear to climb into bed the night before -- they kept getting up to wander downstairs and see if St. Nicholas had arrived yet. It was like a mini-Christmas Eve, the giddiness and joy the day brought out of them. The morning of, we had to hold the boys back until their sister was awake and ready to go downstairs. Then it was a flurry of excitement and activity as candies were discovered, new books leafed through, and obscene amounts of chocolate were eaten in lieu of breakfast before I shuttled them out the door to school. Oops. Engrossed in Kinder egg toy construction This year, we made little treat bags with gold coins for their classmates. Blurry photos I snagged literally right before they left for school Noah's teacher was impressed enough to write a thank-you note in his agenda for us doing that. I was so ple...

How fast time goes in our family! We are already celebrating our third Christmas in Ontario. I find that so strange to think of. It has been a very, very unusual Christmas for us. A freak illness derailed much of our plans and hopes and made it much more a Christmas in the stable than a magazine spread. For that I am very grateful. Also for anyone who was praying, I am much better now. I'll post more about the mysterious happening soon, but first, the preparations. (Is it just me or is the anticipation of a big event just as wonderful, if not more so, than the actual occasion?) Traditional gingerbread-making day on St. Nicholas' feast.  And now Anna is old enough to participate! How quickly life speeds on by from here to here to here .  The boys admiring their new books and treats left by Jolly old St. Nicholas himself. A cranberry-orange coffee cake that Isaiah and I made for the Feast of Christ the King. Please excuse my blurry iphone photos co...

I know, I know, how pathetic to post about Advent and Christmas in Lent! But I forgot I had this post in queue and I couldn't let our Christmas go unnoticed. I check my blog every year just to see what (the heck) we did last Christmas! So, go read something Lent-y if that's your thing. I am posting this firstly for my own enjoyment. :) The beautiful season of waiting. Without the loudness of the malls, or the busy-ness of readying for cookie swaps and kids' Christmas concerts, our Christmas prep is decidedly quiet in comparison to so many families. A few nights scrolling Amazon to order a few carefully chosen toys for our children, and everything else picked up at the Madonna House gift shop. (A wonderful place to shop during Advent. It's so quiet, reverent and simple. I selfishly want to shop there because it's like a little pilgrimage to Bethelehem every time we go.) So we make our Advent traditions.  Now we are in a wonderful stage where the ...