Mama-luia

I share this story today not to give the impression that I think we have an especially "holy" family or anything. I am decidedly average, and really, so are my children. The reason I chose to share this event is to help cement a memory that I hope to hold onto as my children get older. As it is, I love looking at old posts on my own blog and recalling how we lived out our days when they were just babies. I'm sure in three or four years I'll look back on this fondly, now that I have made a record of it. **** The Feast of Christ the King has always been one of my favourites. I love the music – some of the best hymns are almost always sung at this Mass – and I love that it precedes Advent, my favourite season in the Church calendar. For years I have tried to make it special, in simple ways, for my children, so to communicate the beauty of this feast day, and to create fond memories for them. This year I was pretty disorganized in the days preceding – I hadn’t o...

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...

Advent is upon us. I am determined to make my heart ready. (Was this really only a year ago?  What sweet faces! And, my, how much these children have changed. How much our family has changed since then! A whole new unrepeatable soul has joined our quartet since last Advent.  Amazing .) So where was I? Oh yes, Advent. Well this year, Advent will be a lot more like this: A bit of a hazy blur, for mom at least. But still contentedly chugging along. Because there's this: Mild mayhem: broken sink and dishwasher. Yet the sight of Patrick spending his Sunday trying to fix them made me feel loved.  I am in love with such a boring man (who had to call a plumber, but I digress again). But there's also this: Having fun making crowns for the feast of Christ the King. And doing a little procession while singing "Crown Him with Many Crowns."  I made this silly banner for the piano which sparked the kids...