Instagram post late on the feast of Santa Lucia Day 2023:
This morning I woke up to “Mommy, where is the bread?!” ❤️
With our ‘Lucia’ off at college this year, mom down in bed for days recovering from shingles + virus, and the other older girls focusing on our OLG feast…. Well, no one stayed up late baking and there were some disappointed little girls… (They know all too well when favorite feasts days are thanks to a certain calendar I need to remember to take down the next time I am sick! Just kidding, sort of 😅)
I seemed to have finally turned a corner (thank you for the prayers!) and was able to do a little baking tonight. So grateful for a bit of regained energy and looking forward to the joy that the Santa Lucia Braided Bread will bring my little girls when they wake up in the morning! 🕯️✨
Hope you all had a lovely Santa Lucia Day! ❤️
… and the next morning:
“Mommy, where are the small breads?! . . . I can’t carry the big one!”
She had a point and I guess her older sister had been baking Lussekatter (Lucia Buns) for years now while I baked Saint Lucia’s Braided Bread. I told her not to worry, we could just cut pieces and she could deliver slices to her dad and brothers. 🙂
Meanwhile “Rose” decided she wanted to try her older sister’s crown this year too. So much fun! And no fire alarms were set off this year, which was the reason we ended up with all those beautiful snow pictures last year! 😉
Santa Lucia, ora pro nobis!
Love the beautiful crown! Is it homemade?
Jessica, dear – you’ve had SHINGLES?! And you’ve managed to bake bread and post and take photos and do anything at all?! Even after ‘turning a corner’, shingles seems to have an impact (at least it did for me). I am so sorry to hear you’ve been ill – I must have missed a post about it – and I’ll be praying for increased strength and your continued recovery. You are such a trooper! Your recent posts have re-energized our ideas and plans in celebrating the season. We are all so grateful to you. May Christ bless you SO MUCH for all you do for others!
Thank you, Karen! I only briefly mentioned it in an Instagram story on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – that I was “sick in bed” and the older girls took on making our usual “brunch” – but hadn’t mentioned shingles until this post so you didn’t miss much. Yes, it really has left an impact and I’m still dealing with it… but at least I am able to function again! It knocked me down and I didn’t leave bed other than to see a doctor for a solid five days. Until then I kept telling Sean I felt like I had broken my tailbone again plus sciatica! Even now, standing for any length of time is difficult (gravity seems to make the nerve pain worse). Before seeing the doctor (the first 4-5 days of the rash) I really thought I was dealing with an extra bad case of my autoimmune skin rash but then the pain got unbearable by last Saturday and I saw a doctor on Sunday. Anyway, I’m grateful it’s not as bad as it was and that I’m somewhat better in time for our December birthdays! 😅
Thank you for another chance to win. I hope you Jessica and your family are having a great advent. I am happy to hear you are feeling better. What a time of year to be sick!
I am so happy you are feeling better, what a time of year to be sick! Thank you for another chance to win. Happy Advent to you and your whole family.