Busy Elves Tour

Advent starts out fairly slow and simple around here, then ramps up like crazy the last week or so. We do just a bit of decorating the first couple of weeks -- and do a good bit of preliminary behind-the-scenes planning (i.e., shopping).  Early hang a wreath with purple ribbon on our front door, trim our bulletin board in purple, and set up our Advent wreath and our little manger with the straw-incentive devotion for the children...

Our Advent calendar this year is a simple map of the Holy Land.
We've been moving a little image of the Holy Family, step
by step across the landscape to Bethlehem.  The first child up
and about gets to make the move.  (That's almost always William.)

Our manger with the straw is just out of the picture on a little
shelf just beneath the purple topper on the table beneath the
Blessed Mother and the Advent wreath... It's good and full
of soft hay, I'm happy to report!

But, now here we are -- less than a week to Christmas, and we have to scurry to get everything ready for Jesus' Birthday!  The children and I started the bare bones of the Nativity scene this past week, but Dominic is really the master of this art.  We were so relieved when he got the day off the work and could come help us finish it off in grand style!  

Dominic at the good ole' chop saw.
(The children decided today was "hat day."I don't know why; 
they just do that sort of thing sometimes.  Thus the chapeaus.
In case you wondered.)

 Come this way now, into the living room.  See what's going up on the venerable old green cabinet?

Starry sky installed, Dominic and company have begun working on the vertical "layers," here.
Since our house is so --
How shall I say?  Quaint?  Cute?  Compact?  Lacking horizontal space? 
-- we had to get creative and work up the wall for the Nativity scene...

Smile, William.  Thanks.

In the interest of full disclosure:  the house is a complete disaster today.  This small
sample of disarray doesn't do justice to the bedlam everywhere.

We think it's coming along amazingly -- but Dominic's not satisfied....  (We're
so not worried, though...  He always comes up with something spectacular.)

Meanwhile...  In the dining room, the girls are sharpening saw blades...

Because we have to be able to cut the Yule logs -- which mainly means the wood
that will keep us all from freezing this Christmas season...

...and because every girl should have "saw blade sharpening" in her repertoire of skills.

A little bit of holly and ivy on the book case -- and our old Franciscan monk
and nun that Gabriel found rummaging around out in storage bins today...

Everything, including the kitchen sink is starting to look Christmas-y.
(Check it out: more clean dishes on the drainboard than dirty dishes
in the sink. A miracle. Or beautifully efficient girls working behind the
scenes. Thanks, girls!)

The hand-carved Nativity Dan's parents brought us back from Bethlehem
a few years back.

Even a wreath on the bathroom door...

 And now, if you'd like, follow me outside, to the head elf's workshop...

Consider this an official pass to come in and have a look around.
Welcome!

Here we are, you see, at gift wrap central.

Got a nice snuggly fire going in Miss Hottentot.
(Need it, too; it's cold outside!)

Little wreath and candle over in the corner. (I love candles!)

My little Hummel, reading girl.  I've had her forever, but haven't
had a good place for her.  She seems very happy right here, though.

The daybed is hard to resist sometimes...  but too much work to do
to test it out just now...

Been drinking chai tea, using my early Christmas gift from Dan,
my electric kettle.  That drawer right there is full of tea.  :)

And my little cabinet.  My uncle's collection of little lead
Christmas skaters and a happy antique store find,
 our vintage sparkly Christmas town, seem made to
go in here.

The bulletin board above my desk we made from an old screen door
 with cork behind it. Isn't the original red paint awesome? 

And this is my favorite seat in my favorite place in the whole world.
How 'bout you snuggle in on the daybed and we'll have a cuppa
tea and a chat?

Oh, did you spy my little mouse house?  You have to get
a closer look.  This was so much fun to "build."  The children
built me my little summer kitchen hide-away -- and all I
constructed was this little hole in the wall.  But it makes me
smile.  Climb down there and have a look.

See?  That's Mr. and Mrs. Mouze.  (They're the mousie equivalent
of me and Dan.  See Mr. Mouze's glasses -- just like Dan's.)

Yes, see?  There's a light in there -- another couple mice, a rug,
 and an indoor Christmas tree.  

Got a little better view from here. Don't tell the Mouzes, but I'm
working on a welcome mat for them for Christmas --  and
maybe a covered porch.  Still working out the details...

 But now -- I guess I'd better get busy.  Have to go make some dinner. (Have no idea what!) and then have a slew more gifts to wrap!  So, yeah...  I'll spare you -- for now anyway.

"No more pictures!"

I'll update with some shots of the finished Nativity when Dominic gives me the thumbs up!

Thanks for coming by for a visit!  Blessings in the last week of preparation!

Starlight Cookies for the Last Week of Advent

We found this recipe for a gift mix online a couple years ago and adapted it to use as special Advent cookies. They would make lovely pre-Christmas gifts, made into mix kits, with the following instructions printed out and tied on with a ribbon. You could also commemorate the journey of St. Joseph and Mary with your own family by making these the last week of Advent.

* To print out for the tags:

Starlight Cookies

To be made on or for Christmas Eve

in Honor of our Blessed Mother's and St. Joseph's

Journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem

Contained in this jar:

Chopped Walnuts to represent the rocky road the little family traveled on

White chocolate chips for the stars in the sky

Dried cranberries whose tartness symbolize the doors shut to Mary and Joseph

Sugar to represent the snow

Brown sugar for the brown hills of Bethlehem

Rolled oats to symbolize the animals in the stable where they found shelter

Flour for the simple goodness of the shepherds in the fields they passed

To make the cookies:

Think of the preparation St. Joseph and Our Blessed Mother must have made for this journey to Bethlehem: Heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.

For the light of Heaven that shined down on them: In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg, and 1 tsp of vanilla until fluffy.

Consider the difficulties of the journey: Add the entire jar of ingredients, and mix until well blended. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets

Imagine the long trek across the barren desert: Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until edges brown.

Remember the Holy Family's arrival at the stable; anticipate Jesus' coming: Cool on baking sheets or remove to cool on wire racks.

Appreciate the joy and promise of His birth: Enjoy eating them!

Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas!

(Makes app. 18 cookies.)

* To prepare the jar ingredients:

layer the following..

1 C plus 2 T all-purpose flour

mixed thoroughly with

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

*followed by*

1/2 C rolled oats

1/3 C packed brown sugar

1/3 C sugar1/2 C dried cranberries

1/2 C white chocolate chips

1/2 C chopped pecans

Here's how they looked when we were all done. We capped with a square of Christmas fabric and tied with a bit of ribbon and a scrap of garland, then added our instruction card, like so:

But the possibilities for decorating are only limited by your imagination!

Happy last week of Advent!  May all your preparations for the birth of our Savior be filled with the sweetness of that starlit night.

A Christmas Tour of the White Board

Welcome to Davis command central: the white board.  It takes up half of one wall in the kitchen, right by the door to the dining room, and since pretty much everyone comes into the house through the kitchen door, it's practically impossible to miss it.

See Stan Laurel there?  Dominic drew that for us right after he helped mount the white board, shortly after we moved here in September.  Since no one can bear to erase Stanley, we've turned him into an ever-changing Ollie and Stanley quote billboard, and as the kids have pretty much memorized every one of their films, the quotes are endless.   

Over here in the bottom corner we have the inevitable Christmas countdown.  Theresa lettered this for us -- and found the perfect little magnet to add. (This is from yesterday; today finds us at only 15 more days to go!)

Then there's this:

The last one was:"Don't be a cotton headed Ninny Muggins!"
We're doing Christmas-themed advice right now...

And, last but not least, we have our lists -- the white board's chief composition, the content which holds it together and gives it meaning.  First, there's the general shopping list:

Followed by more specific Christmas baking lists, like this one for Magi Bread:

We've been building a "movies-we-want-to-buy" list for a while now:

But this is my favorite list:

Because the sole of Gabe's sneaker has come loose -- and guess what he couldn't find to fix it himself?  Such a guy.

"No duct tape in this house? What the heck?"

(Possibly the best thing Gabe could find in his stocking Christmas morning?)

Examples of Love and Kindness

Best pals: Penny, the kitties' "stepmom" snuggling into a corner of the woodpile outside our dining room window this morning. (No worries; when it's really cold, they're all piled up in the mudroom!) See the little white kitten, closest to Penny's nose? That's Jeeves; he's a deaf white kitten, which is usually a death sentence for a barn cat -- but not for this one. See how Jeeves' ear looks all wet and slobbery? That's where Penny has been kissing him.  He has a particular Guardian Angel in our St. Bernard. Pretty neat. We get a big kick out of the sweetness of this gentle giantess.

The big kids will remember another deaf white barn cat (Felix) that lived to a venerable old age because of a guardian doggy --, Anthony (of sainted memory)... I think the heavenly appointed Guardian Angel of the cats and dogs pairs up animals like this sometimes. 

A Mom's Advent Meditations: the Immaculate Conception

Today's feast is a special one for me.  Because Bernadette is my middle name, I've always had a particular fondness for anything relating to the maiden of Lourdes. She was always my saint and I was her little girl -- and wise and loving patron that she is, she took my hand when I was a child and through the years has led me to the beautiful Lady in the Grotto, to Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception.  As an adult I consecrated myself in St. Lous de Montfort's Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary under the title of  the Immaculate Conception, an association that glows with meaning, especially in the Advent season; Lourdes and Bethlehem are connected by heavenly bonds.

Most of us, I think, imagine Bethlehem in sparkling starlight, ringing with the song of angels, warm in the love of the Holy Family.  Likewise, everything about Lourdes is beautiful and magical, tingling with the music of heaven: the beauty of the image of Our Lady of Lourdes, the yellow roses under her feet, the blooming of the rectory's roses in winter, the miraculous spring bubbling up under the hands of St. Bernadette -- but, most importantly, Our Lady's message there at the grotto, her affirmation that she is -- and always has been - the Immaculate Conception.  That she was conceived without the stain of sin.  That she remained always perfect and pure, as the Mother of God must be and is -- there at the side of the manger in Bethlehem, here with us, the Universal Church, our Mediatrix of All Grace.  The thought transports my soul.  

But, then there are the other sides of the stories, the pictures that ground them in earthly reality:  the abject poverty of Bernadette's family; the derision she received for being the recipient of such a divine gift, an ignorant, backward, and unhealthy child of no obvious merit; the lowly place the Queen of Heaven chose to be seen -- literally the town dump.  Such contradictions: the glory of heaven, the grittiness of earth. The scene mirrors Bethlehem and the lowly stable where the King of Heaven chose to be born... The glow of heaven in the most unlikely places.

It's a wondrous thing to know, isn't it?  That God can appear anywhere -- in the most unlikely of places.  That He actually seems to seek these places out -- like the Good Shepherd climbing down the cliff, hunting out His stray lambs.  He comes to dwell in the hearts that are prepared and beautiful in their love for Him, but He also comes into the poorest and most unprepared of hearts, seeking a place for Himself. 

In my best days and my worst, Christ seeks to dwell in my soul and His Mother's only interest is to help me make this soul of mine a good place for Him to be.  On this feast honoring the perfect purity of the Mother of God, I hope and pray that I can always keep Mary, the Immaculate Conception, my close companion, that I can manage to make her a comfortable and constant place in my heart.  Where she is, He is; Jesus is always at home where His Mother is staying.

  Mother Immaculate, make my heart a Bethlehem!

Know Mary; Know Jesus
No Mary; No Jesus

*  Story of St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes, here.

*  History of the feast the Immaculate Conception here.

*  A wonderful prayer for the day, one of those recommended for those consecrated to Our Blessed Mother, but a beautiful devotion for anyone anywhere:  The Prayers of the Little Crown of Mary

*  The Catholic Toolbox has a slew of links to activities, coloring pages, and recipes, here.

*  As always, Catholic Cuisine shares some wonderful recipe ideas for today's feast: look here.

*  Charlotte's (Waltzing Matilda's) lovely coloring page here.

* More beautiful coloring page links for the day here, many specifically for the Immaculate Conception (others for the Annunciation, etc.) -- we printed off this one:

Our Best Wishes for a Happy, Holy

Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

On this Holy Day of Obligation
  we unite our prayers with our friends and family at  holy Mass...

The ideal way to be close, even when we're far away!

The Feast of St. Barbara!

St. Barbara is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, one of the early martyrs of the Church, famed for her legendary courage, and her unusual patronage.  Her life story is one of those recorded in the Golden Legend, but here it is in a nutshell:  St. Barbara, the daughter of a rich man, lived some time during the fourth century. Though her father was a heathen -- and determinedly so -- Barbara learned of the Faith and adopted it secretly.  When her father (surely of choleric temperament) discovered her, he, himself, turned his daughter over to the Roman authorities, and it was at his hands that she was martyred -- by beheading. (Can you imagine?) On his way home after this cruel act, her father was struck by lightning and his body completely consumed by fire.  Barbara, in the meantime, enjoyed the beatific vision and eternal happiness in Heaven.  Her intercession was immediately accompanied by miracles and her fame and expample spread thoughout Christendom. 

St. Barbara is the patron saint of artillerymen, military engineers, gunsmiths, and miners, and is invoked against lightning storms and sudden, violent death in the workplace.  Her cultus exists today in an unusual way through her particular patronage in the military:

St. Barbara's Day is celebrated by the British Royal Artillery, the Australian RAAF Armourers, the Royal Canadian Artillery, the New Zealand RNZAF Armourers, the Irish Defence Forces Artillery Regiments.  The American Third Texas Light Artillery celebrates the Feast of St. Barbara in a special way with a traditional punch, called Chatham Artillery Punch -- and it'll treat you to a punch, let me tell you!  Check out their website for the recipe and for some great history and information on how St. Barbara's Day is celebrated in beautiful Southeast Texas! It isn't only the Texans who honor St. Barbara, though, as the Order of Saint Barbara is a military honor society in the US Army and Marine Corps Artillery.

In the country of Georgia, St. Barbara's Day is celebrated as Barbaroba (on December 17th, which is December 3rd in the old style calendar).  They serve the traditional lobiani, a bread baked with bean stuffing.

Saint Barbara's day, kinown as Eid il-Burbara  in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine among Arab Christians is celebrated much like North American Halloween. The traditional food is Burbara, a bowl of boiled barley, pomegranate seeds, raisins, anise and sugar offered to children parading from door to door in costume. It is believed by Lebanese Christians that Saint Barbara disguised herself in numerous characters to elude the Romans who were persecuting her.

In Greece, the feast day is celebrated by the Artillery Corps of the Greeg Army and the Cypriot National Guard.  The traditional fare for the day is Loukoumades, canonball-shaped pastry confections, made with cinnamon and honey.  (I think we'll try these for dessert tonight, after some meatless lobiani!)

G.K. Chesterton wrote the Ballad of St. Barbara, a poem that tells the story of the artillery barages that turned the First Battle of the Marne, in WWI.
The legend goes that after surviving a violent storm on the eve of the Feast of St. Barbara in 1602, Spanish explorer, Juan Cabrillo, docked along a beautiful coastline in the newly discovered land of California, and in thanksgiving for his safe journey named the area in honor of St. Barbara:  Santa Barbara, CA.

For beautiful images of St. Barbara, you can go here.
For a coloring page you can click and print on the picture below.

Prayer on the Feast of St. Barbara

Oh God, who among the other miracles of Your power, have given the victory of martyrdom, grant, we beseech You, that we, who are celebrating the heavenly Blessed Barbara, Your Virgin and Martyr, may by her example draw nearer to you.



Amen.

St. Barbara, pray for us!

Ireland Dreams, Wedding Rings, Christmas Bling

Ben and Michelle

This may be the most challenging Christmas for us yet. Oh my stars! Things are tight to begin with, having endured the cost of an expensive move in September -- and just the fact of living seems to suck money out of the bank account... Everyone we know is struggling this way! But on top of the daily-daily, we're looking forward to Dan's and my trip to Ireland in April (the airline tickets were my birthday present from my family, but the rest of the trip is on Dan, bless him!) -- and now we're also anticipating Michelle and Ben's wedding in June!

No need for a convertible, then, right?

Not like I'm complaining, mind you!  But, my eyes are bigger than my wallet.  (Or, er, Dan's wallet...)  Planning an itinerary for a trip to Ireland, you can't help but run into the most amazing (and pricey) B&Bs... And imagine renting a convertible to drive around the Irish countryside! (=sigh=)

 And, then there's the wedding coming up -- and Pintrest wedding boards!  Oh my goodness, the beautiful venues, the fabulous decorations, the spectacular wedding dresses we could buy...  (=sigh=)  Not to mention the ideas I keep having for gifts to give the happy couple...  I could spend millions!

But, truly.  I am tying my expectations down with my shoestrings. I know that the happiness in our Ireland trip and Shell's wedding have nothing to do with bling --  money isn't going to make them special.  The very fact of them is special.  Beyond special.  And so exciting!  And Christmas is joy and beauty all by itself.  The birth of Christ doesn't need bling!

But, fair warning, kids...  You've heard of skinny jeans?  You may be getting some skinny stockings this year. Like these.  Aren't they cute?

Thanks for taking one for the team,

Paul and Nicole, Kevvy, Frater, Dominic, and Michelle.

We love you so much!