It's beginning to book a lot like Christmas.....or at least like mid-Advent in our home. Last night we went to our Cathedral parish to kick-off our beautiful Christmas novena. This novena, which starts the third Sunday of Advent and goes through Christmas Eve, is by secular standards a real inconvenience. It comes at the busiest time of year, when shopping and last minute Christmas preparations are staring you in the face. But that, in part, is what makes this novena so beautiful. To slow down and walk into a little piece of heaven in our beautiful Cathedral Church is just what we need to prepare for the coming of our Saviour. The novena includes beautiful Advent hymns, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a rosary, The Litany of Saints, and other prayers. The little kids dress up as angels and shepherds. I know it will be impossible for us to attend every night, but we will try to go each night that we can. I will try to post pictures of our little angels and shepherd boy, if I can.
We also picked out our Christmas tree yesterday. For the last few years, we've gone to the same tree farm. At this little farm, the trees all come with their own name, which the kids get a big kick out of. In years past, we've had "Lucy", "Lizzie" and "Rachel". This year we found the most perfect tree, but the tag with its name was missing. So, of course, we were able to name it ourselves. The kids couldn't decide between Jerry or Troy, so it's "Jerry-Troy". (It's a long story, but "Jerry" has become a silly imaginary mascot in our homeschool. Whenever the kids write out sentences for their grammar lessons, either to show the subject, direct or indirect object, object of the preposition, etc..., it has become standard to make up a humorous sentence that in some way or another, includes Crazy Jerry. The kids have gotten very creative with Jerry, while learning their English grammar. I know it sounds silly, but it prevents boredom with our lessons!)
We've also been uncharacteristically crafty around here this Advent season. Eileen and Bridget belong to a little youth group called Saint Camille's. Last week, thanks to an incredibly crafty mom who hosted the group, they made these adorable nativity sets and cards. In addition, they made candles and edible gingerbread houses.
Edible is they key word there, and the reason why I have no pictures of these adorable gingerbread houses. No, they did not eat the candles, just the gingerbread houses. But I failed to get pictures of the candles, too.
We've also been able to visit Santa two times. The first was at our Proud Christmas celebration, a party for families who have a member with Down syndrome. It was a lot of fun, but I forgot my camera. Or I should say my camera girl, Moira, forgot the camera. Come on Moira, you're slacking on the job! Anyway, we met a lot of new families and the kids received a little gift from Santa. Just a week later, Santa came to our very own neighborhood, with two large horses pulling a wagon filled with hay. He drove us all around the neighborhood on a cold afternoon. Here are some of the kids waiting to get on the wagon.
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| Bridget, Colleen, Eileen and Emmett |
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| Molly Grace and Margaret |
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| Aidan |
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| A very cold Erin |
