Thanksgiving

Only a few more weeks till Baby. Meantime, Happy Thanksgiving.

Mary's Ultrasound

source

Happy New Year!

We're having friends over for dinner tonight. They are bringing baked beans and a salad. I'm providing the following:

Pork Roast with grainy mustard and chives
Baked potatoes
Jellied cranberry - I love this stuff
maybe some Green Bean Casserole
Cherry Cheesecake - homemade!
Ranch Cheeseball with sun-dried tomato or rosemary olive oil crackers

And did I tell you it's been snowing pretty steady for about 24 hours? Driving the kid scraping the walk crazy!

I hope that your twenty-ten is awesome!

Welcome 2009!

O God of new beginnings and wonderful surprises, thank you for the gift of a new year.

May it be a time of grace for me, a time to grow in faith and love, a time to renew my commitment to following Your Son, Jesus.

May it be a year of blessing for me, a time to cherish my family and friends, a time to renew my efforts at work, a time to embrace my faith more fully.

Walk with me, please, in every day and every hour of this new year, that the light of Christ might shine through me, in spite of my weaknesses and failings.

Above all, may I remember this year that I am a pilgrim on the sacred path to You.

Amen

4th Sunday of Advent 2008

Gospel Reading Lk 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my own doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out -- over several Christmases.

Since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles; and who knows when I'll find any more free time in the next 18 years, so now - -

*** Here are my Christmas wishes ***

* I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (-in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

* I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

* If you're hauling big-ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

* On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes, Mommy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

* I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, 'Don't eat in the living room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

* If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

*If you don't mind, I could also use a few miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

*It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing, and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his red crayon back. Have a safe trip Santa, and remember to leave your wet boots by the door, and come in and dry off, so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours always with love and appreciation,

- A Mom

P.S. One more thing . . You can cancel all my requests, if you can keep my children 'young' enough to believe in Santa.

7 Days...

7 Days until Christmas.


7 Days until the Savior is born.


Enjoy your holiday season and remember that

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Happy Beautiful Fourth!

It's hot here today, cloudy but not humid, thankfully. We'll do fireworks as a family tonight and enjoy each other. I very much like the giant ones that look like a flower!


Bratwurst, salad, chips for dinner tonight with leftover birthday cake for dessert. Hubbers is off playing with a buddy - how they can play Halo for hours in a row, I just don't know. But he deserved a day off, didn't he?

So, just rambling on now, nothing much I feel like doing. I did come to a decision about the baby, though. His health is so much more important than my comfort. Should he not make his appearance before my Dr appointment on Monday, we'll schedule the induction for Wednesday. Please continue to pray for me, for us. Every prayer is a comforting hug.



image: Morgue File

Uh... Camping?

I went camping once as a Girl Scout. I went once before I married up with Hubbers. I have successfully avoided sleeping on the ground and cooking over the flames in the dark for 12 years now. Until my buddy invited us camping this Memorial Day weekend.

Hubbers thinks it's an awesome idea and we're going! I'm excited to see this friend, who moved away from our town 2 years ago, and for our kids to hang out together, but not so excited to be 32 weeks pregnant and sleeping on the ground and peeing, well... every half hour. They're taking their 30 foot camper, but we're tenting it!

Yes, I do think it will be fun and it's only 13 miles from "civilization" if I need to bug out. What I'm really worried about is camp cooking. What do I make for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Helps me, internets!! Send me your best basic camping recipes or we'll be eating peanut butter for EVERY meal...

The Holy Father!

Thank you to Barb for pointing this out and Esther for creating it!

Also this from Christine:

"The Pope in America 2008"

Thank you to the children's choir director at Holy Family in Seattle for sharing the above link which has "free reproducibles to use with children of many ages in celebration of our Holy Father's visit."

Come on, you KNOW you LOVE her!

It's Mother's Day on Sunday - do you have your appropriate love ready?

Hubbers never remembers this day, but the kids are making things at school, I already know. Here's some ideas for the kids to do for Gramma, Auntie, or you.

Dine Without Whine has a Mother's Day booklet for download. It offers cards to make, poems, crafts and recipes. FREE!

Kinder Art offers a flower craft for your little one to make - looks very cute! We all know that nothing is better than hand-made loveys from the babies.

I very much like DLTK's site for learning at my pre-schooler and kindergartener levels. Never one to disappoint, there's a wonderful section here!

Kid's Domain has some different crafts on offer - pin cushions, bath salts, and so on.

Enchanted Learning has interesting shaped cards, and coupons for your favorite mom.


It's probably not "kosher" to have my kids make crafts for me upon my demand, but they might like to make some for their grandparents. And maybe they'll sneak one in for me?

All things Cinco de Mayo - Festival!

In case you ever wondered, Cinco de Mayo is The Fifth of May in Spanish. It commemorates the victory of Mexican forces led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin over the French occupational forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. This is not Mexican Independence day, however, just a national (not federal) holiday. The MID is Sept 16.

Just like St Patrick's Day, you don't have to be Mexican to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Most celebrations are centered around music, food, drink and dance. So maybe you've seen the displays at your local StuffMart and wondered what all those peppers and margarita glasses are about. Lucky for you, I am ALL OVER the info.

Here are some lovely links about Cinco de Mayo:

Courtesy Dine Without Whine, a report on Cinco de Mayo (in PDF format) which includes history, crafts, songs and recipes!

Easy recipes, including a good margarita mix recipe, for your celebration from Kraft!

Easy activities you already know about adapted for this festival from Kids Domain.

One more activity site, Apples 4 the Teacher, with lots of other Mexican themed activities, including coloring pages, word searches, Spanish alphabet and numbers, and a talking Mexican eBook in the "Read to Me" style.

My baby girl will be turning 8 on Cinco de Mayo. She was a large baby, born at 9 lbs 3 oz, and it was joked that she was ready for a taco when she came out. It's our family tradition to let the child choose dinner on his/her birthday, and did my sweet CurlyGirl choose tacos? enchiladas? burritos? my favorite Mexican restaurant?

No. She. Did. Not.

She chose PIZZA. Pizza? I am seriously going to have to rethink my birthday strategies...

I am still going to force some stylized fun on my monkeys!

Ole!

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

I am delving deeper into my faith every day and encourage you do to the same. Here are some snips of information about today's feast:

http://www.udayton.edu/mary/questions/yq2/yq263.html
http://www.wf-f.org/SolemnityMary.html
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/010107.shtml

Thought for the Day:

Most people have seen worse things in private than they pretend to be shocked at in public.

- Edgar Watson Howe

US journalist (1853 - 1937)

Kind of makes the whole year take on a different look, doesn't it?

Happy 2007!

Blessing the Advent Wreath

What is an Advent Wreath?

A special wreath containing 5 candles and used as a reminder of the 4 Sundays before Christmas. Four of the candles are arranged in a circle and the fifth (a white candle) is placed in the center. Each Sunday and perhaps at each nightly family dinner, one candle is lit. On the 4th Sunday, all 4 candles are lighted. On Christmas, the 5th candle - the Christ candle - is lit.

What does it symbolize?

The Circle of the Wreath: God Himself, His eternity and His endless mercy, without beginning or end.

The Green of the Wreath: Our hope of newness, renewal and eternal life.

Light of the Candles: The Light of God that came into the world through Christ to bring newness, life and hope.

Lighting the Candles: The progressive departure of darkness from the world as more and more light is shed by the candles.

Four Candles: The four weeks of Advent, representing the four centuries between the time of he Prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ.

Three Colored (purple or blue) Candles: A period of waiting, expectation and preparation.

The First Candle: A time of expectation and hope.

The Second Candle: The peace that is to come.

The Pink (or Rose) Candle for the Third Week: It symbolizes joy for the promise is almost fulfilled.

The Fourth Candle: The love of God for mankind.

The Fifth White Candle: Called the Center Candle or Christ Candle, it is lit on Christmas Eve or Day to display that the light of Christ has come into the world in fulfillment of the scriptures.

What blessing do you say for your Advent Wreath?

Leader: Our help is in the Name of the Lord

All: Who has made Heaven and earth.

Leader: Let us pray: O God, by whose Word all things are made holy, pour forth Your blessing upon this wreath, and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ.

All: Amen

Preparing for Advent

Did you realize that Advent starts in just a few days? December 3rd, to be exact. Check this out! It's an online Advent Calendar.



It provides some thought provoking questions and readings for Advent. I'm going to make this my homepage for the next few weeks so I can keep the thoughts of what Christmas is really about in the forefront of my mind.



Who couldn't use a little more Jesus?