Advent chain

I didn't get around to ordering an Advent Calendar, so we settled on old-fashioned paper chains. They tear off a link each day. Oh, and I couldn't find purple paper anywhere in my house, so we used blue. I'm letting go of my perfectionism, day by day!

And a story from today: I overheard my 3yo talking to a friend and he said, "I can't wait until Christmas because we will have lots and lots and lots of..." [I'm holding my breath, praying he doesn't say presents] "...snow!" [Phew!]

Advent ideas

(sara): Advent begins in 2 days. It's such a great day to make "new year's" resolutions.

I am resolving to do more catechesis, the Good Shepherd way. Very soon I will have 2 kiddos who are 4 & 6, perfect ages for this type of learning. Here and here are the posts from last year describing the first week of Advent activities. Here's the post that contains beautiful clip-art images which can be used with the weekly presentations. And here's the post descibing the figurines Amy & Anne made last year.

The ideas for making Advent meaningful are limitless; you just have to decide what excites you, what you have time & energy for, and what will work for your particular family. For dozens of other ideas and inspirations on Advent, here's a lovely collection by blogger Jennifer Miller, well worth reading.

Here are some conversations about using a Jesse Tree.
Here are some conversations about using O Antiphon meditations.

This blog post shows a beautiful Advent wreath, and also has links to a nice liturgical calendar poster. And finally, the awesome-as-ever collection of Advent & Christmas posts by Elizabeth Foss here.

Saint Nicholas Day

(sara): I have most decidedly been away from this blog & just trying to stay afloat in my home!! This year has been so crazy for me. The past few days I've been trying to take some deeep breaths and motivate myself to get ready for the upcoming new church year.

With children in my life, celebrating the Liturgical year is no longer something to do, just when I feel like it. Some years we will do more, and some less, but celebrate we must!

Thankfully we put in some time last year preparing for Advent, so that box will come out of the storage room, mostly ready to go. This week I am attempting to purchase on-line the gifts we will give our children for St. Nicholas Day, Christmas Day, and Epiphany. (One gift each per day, or one larger gift to share.) Because we didn't celebrate St. Nick's Day (Dec. 6th) as a child, I have researched this tradition the past few years, and am trying to establish our own traditions for my children. This website is a good place to start.

Blessings out to all of you who, like me, are trying to get motivated to start a new year with our families!!

annunciation

(Sara:) Hi, all! Anyone else feeling the hours ticking away too quickly?! Just a note to check in before I head out of town for the holidays. The Annunciation presentation went over fine here, and then yesterday I let the boys set up the Nativity set and I talked to my oldest child about the Visitation - didn't present it, but of course he wanted to cut out the small image and paste it on his Advent wreath. We always travel for Christmas (unless I'm 9 months pregnant, which has happened twice!) so I either have to take Catechesis on the road with me, or do it ahead of time.

We also plan on baking Jesus a birthday cake on Christmas Eve, something we did the past 2 years. All things considered, it has been a good Advent. My prayers are with you and your families as you finish your preparations for this joyous celebration. Also asking for prayers for our parish priest back home, who has been hospitalized - past 2 weeks couldn't keep any food down - they are suspecting cancer. He's a young, humble, devout man. I am trying to offer up my own discomforts for him...

Micah...

(Sara:) Here are some of the materials for Advent, Week 2, the reading of Micah 5. (I also set out our large bible on a beautiful wooden bible stand.) Micah 5, by the way, is one of the most amazing passages in the OT, if you ask me. When I first "discovered" it a few years ago, it blew me away, and I had to read it over & over... So, although it will be many years before it begins to sink into our children in much depth, I was very happy to proclaim it's words this past week! It just so happened to work out to bake petit breads the same day. (I didn't really plan that!) But just to note, the meaning of Bethlehem "house of bread" is just one of many possible readings of that name. It is a very beautiful meaning that I love, but I'm quick to acknowledge that it isn't definitive by any means...

Isaiah prophecy

(Sara:) I was asked which verses of Isaiah 9 I read to the children when introducing Week 1 of our Advent voyage. I read several of the verses of the whole chapter, as it's one of my favorite prophecies in the entire OT! I think it's a careful balance to not give the children too many words, but enough to get a "flavor" for the particular Scripture passage. I read maybe 8 verses total - the ones I thought were most understandable.

In "real" atrium presentations I have seen, the children were read surprisingly lengthy passages of Scripture; however, they are first introduced in a general way, so the children know what basic message to listen for, and then summarized again afterwards. I picked the "main passage" of Isaiah 9 to print on cardstock, along with a visual picture. (I'm going to use Anne's clip art instead of Moira's!) C. wants to use tracing paper to trace the calligraphy. Also, we have been reciting this verse together every night after we say our usual meal prayer. C. loves doing things like that! (If he couldn't read, maybe I wouldn't do it.)

Finally, as a way to prepare C. for this particular passage, we spent about 10 minutes in complete darkness before beginning the presentation!! We called it "experiencing living in darkness." We were waiting for daddy to come home from work, and the boys thought it was pretty neat. It's hard to see where you're going! You might bump into something and get hurt! It's lonely! What a perfectly sad symbol for the life that so many people are living today!

Advent, Week 1

Except for the figure of Isaiah, which is baking, here are my materials for reflection during week 1 of Advent. The meditation is Isaiah's prophecy of a great light to come to those who live in darkness.

artwork for Advent presentations

(Anne:) I found the clipart in Moira's album for the Advent presentations....a little lacking. They were hard to see, not very good representations of the event and as Maria Montessori says, you need to give the children things that are beautiful. So with that in mind, I looked for artwork to replace them. Here is what we found. I printed the large size for the cards (on white cardstock) and shrunk it mini to glue on their candles of the Advent wreath. (So they won't be able to color them but as Amy said, they'll get more out of seeing a picture that is meaningful and beautiful than coloring something that isn't. Well said, Amy!)

the Final Countdown...

Advent beings in just 4 days! I'm planning on doing the first presentation Sunday evening before dinner, and the second one on Monday. Am I ready yet? After all my planning ahead, no, I am not, but getting closer! One hang-up I've had is with the Sculpey I bought a while back. Unlike previous Sculpey I've bought, these packs have been hard & brittle - exactly what it says it's NOT supposed to be on the wrapping! But I did dig out our Advent wreath last night. Each year after Christmas is over, I put everything away in the far back corner of our storage room. After all, I won't be needing those things for a whole year, right? And each year in December I wonder, why did I store it all the way in the back, where it is now hidden by tons of other stuff?

Perhaps the thing I love best about having a dedicated class-room is that the "older" boys can do things in there while not being bothered by the baby, or that involve things that are not baby-proof. We have been emptying out the classroom this week and today the older boys get to put up their own small tree and other decorations. They don't have to worry about T. tearing it all down, and they are SO excited. Let's see if Mommy can get motivated, too!

Advent materials

(Amy:) My friend Anne and I made these last Saturday with fabric scraps and glue guns. They are the two prophets, Gabriel, Mary, and an expectant Elizabether (see the tummy shot below).

We bought enough of the wood figures for all of Moira's presentations and each paid less than $12. The twine belts are hemp from Hobby Lobby's beads aisle. These apostles were our inspiration.

Advent materials

Okay, I'm going to start off with a post on my Advent presentation materials. Lynnette requested a pic of the little angels I got at HobbyLobby. One is for the Annunciation presentation, and one for the Stable. They were $2, plastic, small, and have beautiful details.

Next, pictures of my stack of as-yet-unformed Sculpey, and a little wooden chair I found @ HobbyLobby. I have 2 chairs & 2 tables, for decorations for the homes of Mary & Elizabeth. I look forward to putting these 7 presentations together! Materials for CGS are supposed to be very simple.