The Feast of St. Andrew/ The Christmas Novena

St. Andrew:
* Original trade was as a fisherman
* First an apostle of St. John the Baptist
* Then  the first of the twelve Apostles of Our Lord and Saviour
* Brother of St. Peter
* Preached in Scythia (including parts of Russia) and Greece
* Tied to a cross, in legend X-shaped, and crucified in Patras near Greece
* Preached for two days as he hung on the cross dying
* Chief relics preserved at the Basilica of St. Andrew in Patras, Greece
* More complete bio of St. Andrew here
* Patron saint of:  Scotland, Ukraine, Russia, Sicily, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Diocese of Parañaque, Philippines, Amalfi, Luqa (Malta) and Prussia; Diocese of Victoria fishermen, fishmongers, rope-makers, golfers and performers

* ALSO, today, on the feast of St. Andrew, we begin the Christmas Novena. All fifteen repetitions of the prayer may be said all together at any time each day for the next twenty-five days -- ending on Christmas Eve. When we're able, though, we say it five times in the morning, five times midday and five times in the evening.  It's a wonderful tool for recollection during Advent! And, heaven knows, there is much to pray for.   Again, here's how it goes: 

Blessed be the hour and the moment

In which the Son of God was born

Of the most pure and blessed Virgin Mary

At midnight
In Bethlehem
In the piercing cold.

In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God,
To hear my prayers and grant my petitions,
Through the merits of Jesus Christ,
Our Lord and Redeemer.  Amen

Long Quiet Afternoons While Daddy Watches the Broncos...

Every Sunday afternoon, Anna and Cathy have a little tea party in their room.  This particular week it came complete with real brewed tea, cream, sugar, sliced pears and crackers -- and Dick Van Dyke tapes on the old VHS Television.

No Boys Are Allowed.

*

  After a few Sunday afternoons of trying to get in on these tea parties by whining and weedling and trying to sneak in -- to no avail -- William and Gabe decided to fight fire with fire.  They decided  they'd have a "Man Party." (Their words, not mine...)

And here it is.  Complete with spiders and spider webs and bats and a couple of rubber rats.

No Girls Allowed.

But, go figure.  The girls were just fine with that. 

Dang it.

In fact, they thought it was high time the little boys came up with something to keep them out of the girls' hair.

Hmph!

Might as well hang out with Daddy and the onion dip and watch football in the living room.

Like.  Hey!  Wait a minute!  Why don't we just hang out with Daddy and the onion dip and watch football in the living room??

Seriously.  Who needs tea parties, anyway?

Makes My Monday

                                          

The First Sunday in Advent

And we actually got the Advent wreath up and ready to go in the nick of time!  Woohoo!

We also got our first Advent Sunday prayers said and our wreath blessed, even though Daddy (That would be my husband, not my father) had to leave on a business trip.  Which is a bummer. =sigh=  And it wasn't the same, but Mommy (That would be me, not my mother.  Ahem.) pinch hit for him this week. 

Now we just need to get our Christmas Novena printed, posted, and started on the Feast of St. Andrew (Nov 20th) and we're on our way with a good foot forward toward Bethlehem!

Check it out.  William, being the youngest, got the great honor of blowing out the candle this week, the Sunday after his birthday.  Next week it'll be Gabe's turn.  I don't know if you can see it, but right behind the wreath (which, incidentally, has one candle holder that's too short and one white candle that needs to be exchanged for a pink one...) you can just barely see the little crib at the Blessed Mother's feet.  It's waiting to be filled, strand by strand, with bits of straw to make a soft bed for the Baby Jesus on Christmas day.  Everyone is vowing to make sweet Jesus' crib cushy and full.  And the Littles are anxious that we should make him a little blanket, too.  So I guess I'll be working on that here soon.  It's going to have to be something mighty special to be good enough for the Infant Saviour, though -- and I am no seamstress...  We need to send some prayers  up for this intention; I need all the help I can get!  Anyone know who the patron saint of seamstresses is?

Oh, and below you'll find the St. Andrew's Christmas Novena if anyone needs a pretty printable copy.  It's not actually a novena, though, you know.  Technically, a novena is said for nine days, and this one's said for twenty-five...   And we say it 15 times a day, which means that we repeat these beautiful words of petition 375 times between St. Andrew's feast and Christmas!  So, if you haven't got this prayer memorized already, it usually doesn't take long! 

Can you believe it's already Advent?!  It gives me a little thrill of anticipation repeating these words again for the first time this season!  Christmas is coming around again! Already!  Goodness, but time passes so quickly -- but, what the hey...  Jesus is coming!  The world may spin  out of control, but the Liturgical Year rolls around so beautifully, so predictably.  And it's all good.  Really, really good. 

Starting the Christmas Season with all its tradition and spiritual "bookmarks" totally Makes My Monday!

Click to print.

Run over to Cheryl's for lots of Make My Monday posts!



William's Sixth Birthday Party

So, today is actually William's birthday, but since all our Thanksgiving company is leaving today, we did our celebrating yesterday.

To start the day, the girls (which included my sis, Nina, Michelle, Theresa, Cathy, Anna, and I) all went shopping, while Dan had a boys' day out with sons, Kevvy, Gabe and William, adopted-son, Omar, and our new friend, Brian.  While we were hunting sales in the department stores, the boys were out on the Uncompahgre Plateau hunting out just the right Christmas tree.

  And they found a beauty.  Not as big as last years' tree --  because of the new desk, we have to put it in a different window, closer to the downslope of the ceiling -- but, still, it's a nice, full, pretty tree.  It's become a tradition to cut our Christmas tree on Thanksgiving weekend when we have more man power, though we won't actually decorate it until the week before Christmas. But, bare or not, I love having it next to me as I sit at the computer here; it looks and smells warm and comforting just standing there in its God-given simplicity.   Now, as Advent continues, the kids and I will make ornaments, bit by bit, to hang later.



William's first peeled potato.  He was
very, very proud of it, let me tell you.

 But, anyway -- I digress!  To continue with William's birthday story...  It's also a family tradition to peel way too many potatoes for Thanksgiving mashed potatoes -- for the express reason of having leftovers for potato soup the next day.  So, after we girls got back from shopping, we quick-cleaned the house, and rearranged all the furniture to accomodate the tree the boys had put up while we were gone.  Then we made potato soup, with garlic bread and crackers.  The big brothers and sisters figured out how to personalize the two boughten ice cream cakes for William to have for dessert.  Then around 5:30, we welcomed our friend, Brian, and our two parish priests whom we'd invited to join us. 

We had the soup.  And the soup was good. (How can potato cheese soup not be good?)

And the soup was followed by William's birthday cakes -- with a car ramp arranged between the two of them so that a matchbox car could zoom down between the six flaming candles.  The cakes were good and the stunt was appreciated -- especially by the two little boys.

Then, William opened his presents.

And the games began.


Play dough is always a hit around here. 



But these two dollar-store goofy glasses got some serious bang for the buck.
Here are Gabe and Birthday Boy, William.



Here's Omar.



We all thought Kevvy looked kinda natural.




Even Brian tried them on.



But then there was this gift:  a set of three Nerf guns
with a super pack of extra Nerf "bullets."
And...  Well...  You want to talk about getting some mileage...




Here's that six-year-old William.



Here are a few of the things you can do with Nerf bullets:

Lovely, Michelle.

And, in case anyone thought that having the priests over for dinner necessarily means having a quiet, sedate, and formal evening....  Well....  There was a semi-lull in the middle of the activity for a couple rip-roaring games of Catch Phrase. And some nice interludes of lovely piano playing.  But, the evening was mostly dominated by...

                                  Nerf Wars!



Father B.  is a formidable Nerf war opponent!

 



And Fr. J. is a dead aim!

You should have seen it in the thick of the battle!  Noone was safe: Nerf bullets flying everwhere, children big and small slipping and sliding on the floor, darting behind couches and counters -- challenges, parries, grudge matches...  Fr. B. and Fr. J. both had the kids on the run. Simultaneously, the young adults (with Dan and the Fathers joining in occasionally) held a long-running match to see who was best at throwing the suction-cup bullets clear across the roomwith enough trajectory and aim to make them stick on the big  north window... We are still finding Nerf bullets everywhere.  But it was a hoot!   Our "Fathers" were (not uncustomarily) the life of the party!
I think everyone had a great time.
And I'm pooped.

But William says it was the best birthday party ever --
And that being six years old is pretty much fun so far.
"It's just like being five, but with more toys."

Happy Birthday, Little Guy!
We sure do love you!



Happy Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for:

  Our Faith, Family, and Friends,

And All the Good Things the Heavenly Father Sends,

Like :

My washer and dryer

And coffee by the fire;

Cheese, tapioca, pumpkin pie

Living in a house, not a pig stye;

Bimpslins, and crimpstlins, and painted toes,

Some nice webbed feet and a stuck up nose;

I am thankful for Michelle she is my freind,

together our freindship will never end;

Grass and early morning dew

And a great big sky, clear and blue

Pies, even though there should be more --

And Cathy for doing our  menial chores;

Mops and also soap and bubbles

for cleaning up all Anna's puddles;

For kitty cats and puppy dogs

And brothers who sit on the couch like bumps on logs;

Thankful for acorns and leaves that fall

and the care and love that comes from all;

For, Nina who is the best aunt ever,

the hugs and kisses she gives us -- I will love her forever:

Potato peelers that actually peel

and the awesome amazing Thanksgiving meal!

Children who pitch in and help with the cookin --

All of 'em smart and sweet and good lookin;

(And goofy and silly and weird and random --

You have to be mighty open-minded to stand 'em...)

Thankful for all this, true

But also mindful Who we're thankful To!

From the Davises and Extended Family and Friends!

(Mashed Potatos and stuffing

Blueberry and pumpkin pie;

I'm so full and suff'ring

If I eat anymore I'll die!)

(Written by folks here present who happened past the computer and kindly added: Dan and me, Kevvy, Omar, Michelle, Theresa, Cathy, and Anna)

The List + Butter Making 101

* turkey: check
 (Two fourteen pounders instead of one 20-odd pounder, because the price worked out better, and because, even though we have a light crew this year, we LOVE us some leftover turkey!)

* potatoes:  check
 (Russet, ten pound bag.)

* green beans:  check

 (To be made Grandmom style, with a little butter and a dab of beef bouillon added.)

* creamed corn:  check
(Canned, because it's not wildly popular enough to take the time and trouble of "scratch.")

* bread and vegges for stuffing: not quite
(Got bread and onions, but I need to get some more celery.)

* plenty of flour and yeast for rolls: check

* home-churned butter:  check
(The kiddos are really excited about this one; it's a special treat for Thanksgiving this year. See below!)

* Cranberry sauce: check
(Jellied and out of the can because every year I make it from scratch, nobody eats it but me.)

* Sweet potatoes and marshmallows for Fluff: check
(Because some people think Thanksgiving is all about the sweet potato fluff.)

* Spiced apple rings and cream cheese for apple ring treats: not yet
(Can't find the jarred apple rings here on the western slope, so we're making our own today.)

* Pie crusts: check
(Because when you make more than two or three, it's just way too time consuming to roll them all out.)

* Filling ingredients for French silk, pumpkin, apple, butterfinger, and blueberry pies: check

(No more than six this year for goodness sake! We don't have that many people -- and Jon, the pie making machine isn't here... Though he is apparently being utilized by the seminary to supply a Thanksgiving bake sale.)

* All the towels and wascloths washed:  almost
(One more load -- Important because we go through them unbelievably quickly with even only a couple extra teenagers home.)


* Beds and bedding ready for extra bodies:  almost
(Still have to get up in the attic and unpack a couple extra pillows and maybe one blanket)

* Kevin, Michelle, Omar, and Aunt Nina:  On their way!
(Should be here in time for 7:00 Adult Doctrine Class with Fr. Bernard tonight and to help with pies tomorrow!)

Churning Butter 101:



First, add room temperature cream to your butter churn  -- double cream is best .  This is a half gallon, a good amount to start with. We are fortunate to get our cream from the organic dairy up the hill, but grocery store cream will work just fine.  We found the '30s era Dazey butter churn at an antique store some time back, but the same effect can be had using a large jar with a tight lid.  Instead of turning the handle, the cream can be shaken in the jar -- or rolled back and forth by careful hands across a carpeted floor. Or, you can use the blender, but it's not nearly as rewarding as the "hands on" experience!




Now, here comes the fun part!  Start the cranking or shaking or blending at a slow pace until the cream starts to thicken, then pick up the pace.  It took us a about an hour of constant (or well, semi-constant churning) to seperate most of the butter milk from the solid form of the butter.  It takes longer if the milk isn't room temp, or if the "agitation" isn't constant.





If you have a kitty, she will know without being told that something very interesting is going on...





And it won't take long before she is really making life difficult trying to get into the churn.



Once the butter has separated -- and you'll know when it does! -- scoop out as much of it as you can with a ladle.

When you reach the point that the butter looks like this, you will also have a good amount (a couple pints or so) of buttermilk.  After you've ladled as much as you can, carefully pour the last remaining drops of buttermilk carefully into your pitcher and save it all to use later.  Or to drink!

Then, add about a half cup of cold water to the churn/blender/jar and give it some more agitation.  Pour off after a bit and discard.  Repeat this step until the water runs clear.



Here you see the butter and the buttermilk.



The next job is to remove as much of the remaining buttermilk as is humanly possible.  This helps keep your butter from going rancid.  The best way we found to do this is to place the blob of butter on a large, sterilized cutting board.  Using a rubber spatula, pat, turn, and fold the butter.  You'll see "beads" and streams of buttermilk rising up and pooling underneath.  Place a rag at one end of your cutting board and tip the board on the opposite end, to allow the buttermilk to roll down into the rag.  Do this often.  It takes a good half hour usually to pat out all the buttermilk.

 When you've gotten out as much as you can, you can add salt if desired, folding and mixing it in thoroughly with your rubber spatula.  We used three teaspoons for this amount of butter.  But it's up to you how salted you like your butter.



After you've got out as much of the liquid as you possibly can, place the butter into molds -- or little tupperware containters with good lids.  To unmold, you may just need to gently squeeze the sides of your container and pop the butter out onto a plate.  If it sticks, wrap a hot rag around the bottom of the container for just a couple seconds, which should loosen it up enough to upturn onto your butter dish for a pretty presentation.  (You can smooth the final product with the back of a spoon if it's a little "messy.")



This is how much we made from a half gallon of cream.

This is how the finished product looks.  And when you taste it, you'll be amazed at how much better  it is than store-boughten!  SO creamy and light!  Worth every crank!

Seven Not-Very-Quick Takes

Gabe, 7

1.  We were watching a movie the other day in which there was considerable drama forced upon the hero by two different girls vying for his hand in marriage.  After the 2nd or 3rd round of the heroe's changing his constantly spinning mind, Gabe, in disgust remarked, "If it were me, I'd just be a priest!"

William agreed enthusiastically and added, "Or a Brother!"  And then, on a half minute's thought, said, "But I don't want to be a Brother!"  We all looked over at him, waiting for the punchline, and got, "Or a Sister! Of course not!  I'm not a girl!" 

He laughed at his own joke there, then commenced pounding his forehead with the heel of his palm. "And I don't want to  be a....  a.... a...."

Guessing where he was going, I said, "A bishop?"

"Yeah, that's it.  I don't want to be a bishop, either."


William, 5



OK, then," we asked, knowing our cue, "What do you want to be?"

"I want to be a...  Ugh!  What's that called?  What's that guy called?"

We were clueless.  "You tell us, William."

And the lightbulb dinged over his head.  "I know! I know!" he said.  "I want to be a pope!"

And there you have it.  Are you starting to get the picture of the kind of kid we have here?  Took twenty years and ten kids to get this one.  And he's a lulu!

2.  One thing that must happen around here.  And soon.  The bucket of peanut  brittle that Dan got Anna for her  birthday must be eaten.  By someone else besides me.  All of it.  Get on it, kids, for heaven's sake.



Anna, 9



3.  Anna (9) has an ardent (if not at all secret) admirer in the 2nd grade (She's in the 3rd).  The sweet little guy gives Anna little homemade cards and notes practically every day.  Last week he found out that her birthday was over the weekend, and got together something extra special to give her on Monday -- and all of us here, who have been hovering between being disconcerted (as former homeschoolers who haven't dealt with this before) and highly amused (because we love the irony of a hopeless romance almost as much as slapstick) find ourselves tipping into the smirking-behind-our-hands camp. 

 Picture this and imagine our bittersweet amusement:  Monday afternoon, Anna brings home a very pretty Christmas card from her admirer with "Christmas" crossed out and "Birthday" written in -- and in the envelope, a little cache of stickers, two pretty rocks, and a little scrap of purple paper upon which was written: " To Anna.  You are Butuflu."  Isn't that so sweet it makes you wanna cry?  Or laugh?  Or both?

How does Anna react to these amorous missives?  She's like, "Eh."  The little guy is in second grade, doncha know.  Seriously.  Everyone likes him; he's a doll.  The cutest, sweetest little guy you've ever seen.  And she wouldn't hurt his feelings for anything, but her instinct is to not encourage it, either. (Applause from the gallery!)

 But, alas....  Since the birthday card episode, poor Anna is has heard more than she might like to hear about the whole silly thing --  what with people telling her how "Butuflu" she is and all.  So I have to call a stop to the teasing. 

Even if she really is Butuflu.

* For enquiring minds...  Anna did graciously give her permission for me to tell this story.  I wouldn't post it if it were a source of embarassment to her or if I thought there was a shadow of a chance her little beau getting wind of it...  Just thought that might be important to disclose. :)


Cathy, 11

4.  For Martinmas last Friday, homeschooler, Cathy, and I sewed up some simple fleece scarves, bought some super cheap gloves (four pairs for $6) and little winter beanies ($2 and $3 a piece), then took out all the buttons and trims and "findings" we could dig up in our sewing and craft bins (which was a lot, since -- as Dan will tell you, while shaking his head and rolling his eyes -- I never throw anything away) -- and set the girls to decorating their own winter sets. Since I'm not ready to trust the little boys with an instrument as sharp as a needle, I did theirs myself --  with snowflakes and snowmen -- with a pack of alligators attacking Williams' because it seemed somehow appropriate on a scarf for William...  And, anyway, a week after the fact, here they all are:



And you can see them around the necks of the youngins above and below, too.



5.  Due to circumstance beyond my control (because, believe me, if it were in my control, I would just spend, spend, spend, spend spend.... ), it's going to be a lean Christmas this year.  But, no really...  It's fine.  I'm going to be OK.  Christmas is going to be OK.  The kids are going to survive. It's not about the presents.  It's about Jesus.   And, anyway, last year's was an out-of-the-ordinary exuberant Christmas, so it's all in the balance.  And, in the spirit of "we really don't have it bad in the big picture, and we've never been rich, anyway" perspective,  I'm really looking forward to simplifying this year. 

Advent we hope to spend looking inward and heavenward, preparing for our Total Consecration on December 8th. All of us, Anna and up, are working toward this great grace and honor. Then in the two weeks leading up to Christmas, we'll work on homemade gifts, baking, and planning family get-together fun  for the week between Christmas and New Year when the whole gang will be home.  (We're cooking up some doozy party themes that I'll fill you in on as things come together.) 
But on the gifting thing, because there will be a little of that  -- Those few things we purchase need to have special punch -- at a reasonable price.  In my wanderings for just. thee. perfect. gifts for each of the kids, I've stumbled into some super fun online stores.  Here are a couple: 



Gratuituous photo of Theresa, 12



*  For teenage boys and young men, ya gotta take a look at the Perpetual Kid site and then run over and take a look at their coupons!  Think Geek has big boy stuff, too, that will tickle their funny bones and then run over and take a look at their coupons!

 *  For kids of all ages, categorized, in fact, by ages, you have to check out Fat Brain's toy shop.  And for some cool stuff, it's fun poking around the Cool Stuff Express website.  And you know you gotta go check it out if the site is called "Cool Stuff Cheap."  But for real toys (not like we really need any more toys around here, mind you),  you can find lots of good stuff at discount school supply sources and museum catalogues.

*  For clothes that we don't get at thrift stores or garage sales, we love L.L. Bean.  Just love 'em.  And they have coupons, too!

6.  For the past month or so we've been having fun with an incentive chart based on our little "hiding" squirrel, Chippy.  It looks like this:

Here's the deal:

For the Christmas season, we'll change the theme, but I haven't figured out yet what I'll change it to.  And then we always have the Christmas crib and the straws devotion that we'll pull out.  I found a beautiful new little baby Jesus for the crib, too, that we're excited about!  I'll take a pic of him when I pull him out after Thanksgiving.
*  Here's a question for the siblings and aunts who are far away: Can you guess who's won the Chippy Count every Sunday so far?

7. I've been having to stop myself from being tidy-obsessed lately. Not that I'm OCD, mind you -- I mean, you should see the inside of my pantry and the back fridge.  No, actually, you shouldn't.  But, especially if I'm tired or stressed,  I can't relax if the room I'm in is not at least picked up.  Which, as you might guess, in a house with five kids at home (at the moment) and a husband who just doesn't much care God bless him, is maybe not a reasonable expectation?  Is it?

No, really.  Is it unreasonable?  I mean, not all the rooms have to be clean -- just the room I'm in.  So, as long as the kids stay one step ahead of me, anticipating my migration through the house, everything will be good.  And I won't have to nag. 

That's not asking too much, is it?

Ok, yeah.  I guess it is.

It's going to get crazy messy pretty fast around here though, regardless.  The troops will be arriving on Tuesday for Thanksgiving -- at least those troops that have gotten passes to come home (so to speak), which ==heavy sigh== is not very many of them.  But, you can count on it looking like we've been overrun by the whole Marine First Division, anyway.  No matter how many kids show up. 

The count so far: We'll have Kevvy and Michelle and adopted son, Omar, and my sis, Nina, is coming.  But no Paul and Nicole and baby Gavin; no Jon or Br. Pio; no Mom or Dad or any other sibs of mine. 

There will be only eleven of us here eating turkey next Thursday.  Weird.

Anybody wanna come and fill out our numbers?  I can't cook for less than twenty people on Turkey Day.

Really.

I won't even make you clean house.

Jennifer' is the place for more Quick Takes (probably quicker Quick Takes than these were...)