Three Amazing Things: The Advent Edition

I actually have four amazing and wonderful Advent traditions to list, though the fourth is not so much a tradition per se' as a fact of life. 

1.  The Advent Wreath

When I'm really on the ball, I actually have our wreath up and ready to go before the first Sunday of Advent.  When I'm really behind, I'll get it up before Advent is half-way through.  This year, I'm not quite on the ball, but not completely off it, either;  I actually found the wreath, got the candles and put  the whole thing together this morning with the candle holders (that I had to buy at Michael's last night because I couldn't find the ones we usually use...). So now we're ready to roll.  We'll light the candle/s for each week at dinner time, and pray these prayers each Sunday of Advent

 2.  The St. Andrew Novena

Every November 30th begins the 26 day Nativity Novena.  Every day, we repeat the following prayer fifteen times.  We do five with our morning prayers, five with our prayers before meals at both lunch and dinner.  The words are lovely, I think, and it keeps us perpetually in mind of "the reason for the season." 

Blessed be the hour and the moment in which the Son of God was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold  At that hour, vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayers and grant my petitions, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.  Amen

 
3.  The Advent Calendar

This is not the Advent calendar I had in mind for this year, but it was left over, unused from last year and turned up in our Christmas bins just when we needed it, so I guess it's the one we'll be using.  It has nice, traditional paintings for each daily window, and a corresponding Bible verse, which is nice.  It will suffice.  (Here's the one I really wanted, but it was a little pricey and we already have one, so... =sigh= we'll do without it this time around.) We also have a Victorian Christmas village, where you add a stick-on house or building for each day of the month.  That one hasn't turned up yet, though...  (See #4 to see why...)

4.  The Mess of Preparation

We have a barn full of bins -- and cows and dust...  Our bins are not arranged as systematically and efficiently as I would wish, but are, how shall we say --  a big, humongous jumble of disorder...  So, it is with satisfaction that I can announce that we have, indeed, found the Nativity Set and most of our other decorations.  But, I have yet to be able to go through them and make sense of any of it.  I only have two weeks to get it all together, though --  (Agh!) -- because I'm going to Virginia on the 12th to stay with Paul and Nicole and my new grandbaby (Gavin James!) for a week before I drive back to Colorado with Paul, arriving home only three days before Christmas!  So, folks, I have to have Christmas completely done and organized in 11 days.  Can I do it??  (I really don't know, but I'm gonna try!)

** More Notes on another important Advent activity -- our Nativity Scene -- when I get a chance...  But you can see by the above picture that it might be a couple days until I can get to it.  Please have patience with me as I may be scarce over here for a bit.  I will continue to post the Spiritual Steps to Christmas, though!  I've committed to that one, and have every intention of finishing it through.  (Pray for me!)

Blessed First Wednesday of Advent, Friends!

Three Amazing Things

The Husband Edition

First, many thanks to Heather over at Faith, Fun, and Family for getting my butt self in high gear.  I appreciate her reminder about the Amazing Things posts -- and her idea for a topic is perfect, and appreciated, since I forgot to post one over the weekend.  Woops.  Sorry.   I've been more-than-usual absent-minded this week, as I'm still trying to fight a flu that seems to have grabbed on and won't let go. To tell you the truth, it's been amazing that the children have somehow managed to be fed, clothed, and to school on time this week. Which segways perfectly into the topic of the day...

Three things I find  amazing about my better half:

1.  Dan has never felt it was beneath him or outside his realm to participate 100% in the raising of our children or in the keeping of our home. Through all ten children he's taken his turn at diaper duty and late night floor-walking with criers.  He cheerfully pitches in to wash dishes and do other housekeeping duties that might need to be done if he's the one available to do it.  He gets a bang outof grocery shopping because he considers the challenge of finding the best deal better than big game hunting, I think.   And, I hate to admit it, but I think he may be a  better cook than I am.  (Just don't tell him I said so.)  The only thing he won't do is choose clothes for the children to wear or brush the little girls' hair.  And we're all good with that.

2.  My husband rubs my back.  Every night. 

3.  The guy is just -- unexpected.  Dan has always reminded me a little of the stories you hear told of St. Thomas Aquinas.  There is way more beneath the surface of the man than anyone would ever guess.  He's not a big talker, and tends to be somewhat slow and methodical in his ways, so if you didn't know better, you'd might think he was dull; you might not expect much.  But, like St. Thomas, he's a man well worth taking the time to know.  Smart.  Oh, my word.  He doesn't broadcast it, but he's got an edge on most anybody in the areas of politics, economics, and Catholic philosophy.  But, what's more important,  I never met anyone as nice as Dan.  He's just plain old good.  He can't help it; it's just in his bones.  I don't believe I've ever heard him badmouth another human being and his first inclination is to give others the benefit of the doubt.  Without a word of complaint, he sacrifices most everything he can give for others, from his time given to teach at the school -- to giving in to the children's choice of movies  to watch -- to giving his best pair of church pants to one of our sons because the son mentioned he needed some.   He is generous to a fault.  And more generous and forgiving with me than he probably should be.

My husband amazes me.  He humbles me.  I don't deserve this man.

(I love you, Dan.)

If you'd like to join in, please feel free!  No linky, but I'll add you here

next to:

Heather at Faith Fun and Family

Three Amazing Things... In My Kitchen



1. Cast Iron Cookware is Amazing.

Our grandmothers knew what they were doing depending on these babies.  Yes, these pots and skillets are heavy; you don't do any flipping of pancakes with them, and they would make an effective weapon against a rhinoceros, but they last literally forever. Cast iron is awesome. Without adding cooking spray or grease, a fried egg slides right out of a well-seasoned frying pan.  There are never mystery flakes of non-stick coating peppering your food and there is no worry about the ill effects of aluminum or other alloys.  Good, old fashioned iron is just about as safe as you can get, and even adds the health benefit of extra iron to our diets.  Because the iron is so thick throughout, food cooks more evenly;  it takes a particularly ditzy cook to burn the bottom of the stew in a cast iron dutch oven.  Nothing works as well for "blackening" a roast, and

once something has heated through, you can turn off the heat, cover the pot or pan with a heavy lid and the food will stay good and warm for a remarkably long time.  And, what's best is that, relatively speaking, quality cast iron cookware is inexpensive.  I don't think I could cook without mine. I love my pots and pans.  Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em.

2.  This Unassuming Bit of Plastic Is Amazing.

Can you guess what it is?  It's a pot scraper!  It cost me all of .99 at a cooking store in a mall and I would not be without it.  The two corners have different shapes to fit into the curves of different pots or pans and the plastic doesn't scratch, but gets out almost anything that's stuck on.  The thin edge also works for peeling off stickers, scraping windshields, and scratching backs.  Of all the silly, goofy, dumb little things I've bought on a whim, this little gadget is the most amazing. Especially for less than a buck.

See, this is how it works:



Check it out.  It's the perfect paring for my cast iron frying pan.
Like comb for curly head or a  remora to a shark -- or something like that.


 And Last But Not Least...
3. My Cuisinart Coffee Pot Is an Amazing Thing.

  I love coffee.  And I love my coffee pot.  It has an automatic coffee bean grinder for fresh-ground coffee whenever we want it.  It's programmable.  It has a carafe that keeps the coffee hot for an amazingly long time.   And in a household of somewhat technologically incompetent early-morning fumblers, this is a machine that our nine-year-old can easily set up to brew.

 And it makes a very good cup of coffee. 

It is amazing. 



* Do you have any favorite amazing kitchen doodads you'd like to share? 

Three Amazing Things, November 3rd

It's time to list out some wonders!  Following is a little handful of amazing things I've noticed in our little corner of the world.   If you'd like to come along and share some amazing things from your little corner, too, you are so welcome! I'll post the category for the 3 Amazing Things for the week at the top of my sidebar over the weekend and post my list on Wednesday. If you'd like to join in, grab the button for your post, leave a note in my combox on Wednesday with the link to your Amazing post, and link back here.


The category this week for

is...

"The Children"



 Since we have more than the average number of youngins to brag on, ;) I'll only list one amazing thing per child.  (Not like y'all don't have more than one thing each, though, kids, really...)  But, feel free to post three amazing things about each of the children you profile.  More is always better in my book!

Paul:  Published author by the time he was seven.  (USA Weekend magazine, spring 1995

Kevin:  Caught a homerun ball hit by the Rockies' Matt Holliday... with his bare hands. (Summer, 2008)

Jon:  Made 31 Thanksgiving pies (with some helpers, November, 2009)

 

Dominic:  Single-handedly dismantled his entire crib before the age of two -- without tools.

 

Michelle:  Turned the key to open Disneyland (June, 2002)

Theresa:  Was speaking in complete, perfectly enunciated sentences by the time she was two. (One memorable utterance when stuck under a chair as a wee toddler: "Get me out of this entrapment!")

Cathy:  Can do fifteen one-armed push ups. (Did 'em just now.)

Anna:  Defines tough cookie.  Got stitches for a split forehead at Girls' Camp two summers ago and didn't utter a peep through the whole ordeal.  The Sisters said they were more upset than Anna seemed to be.  

Gabriel:  Laughed out loud (not gas) in the NICU as a six-week-premature newborn.  (Is still laughing)

William:  Conquered the world before the age of two (If you don't believe it, just ask him.)