Candy for Christmas
This past weekend the girls and I made Chocolate Covered Rice Krispie Peanut Butter Balls to save for Christmas. They were SO easy to make and turned out delicious. Here is the recipe we used:
- 2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 Tbs. butter, melted
- 4 cups rice krispies
- 1 bag (16 oz) of chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
My Advent Daybook ~ December 14th
Outside my window… the ice has melted!! I ended up being very worried this past weekend that I would go into labor since our driveway, and whole yard, was a sheet of ice… Not to mention all the roads leading to the hospital, which is a 40 minute drive with good weather and no traffic!!
playing on our stereo and the children playing with our various Nativity play sets in the living room. It’s so nice and peaceful for the moment!
I am thinking… about how much easier cut-out cookies are to make with a nice heavy marble rolling pin
I am thankful for… for the Christmas/Baby break that my hubby is going to be able to take! He usually takes two weeks off for Christmas and New Years, but this year was able to take the week before and the week after off as well, for a total of FOUR WEEKS! He did end up going into work today, since the baby hasn’t arrived yet and there were a few things left for him to finish up before January 1st, but he should be off as of tomorrow! Hopefully we don’t drive each other crazy! 😉
Living the Liturgical Year at Home… Three candles have been lit on our Advent Wreath, our Advent
I am going… to try and find just two more gifts for Christmas. My parents decided to have everyone over this year on Christmas Eve for a family gift exchange and so now Hubby & I each need to find a gift for the name we drew. (On a side note DrawNames.com is SUCH a great site to set up a gift exchange!) The grandchildren will also exchange gifts — which is really easy since it is just my own children this year!
I am reading… lots of picture books to my children. I also just received The Christmas Secret
I am hoping… that this baby will turn. I’ve been trying a number of different things, but she seems to be pretty stubborn.
Noticing that… my “Mii” keeps growing wider every time I step onto the Wii Balance Board
Around the house… lots of hidden Christmas gifts, all wrapped and ready for Christmas. It has been so nice to have almost all of it taken care of before Advent began!
A few plans for the rest of the week:
Ummmm… If it was up to me, I’d be having a baby… I guess we will see! I do have my next appointment late tomorrow afternoon. I’m very curious to see if I’ve made any more progress since last week.
Other than that, I am also hoping that we can get our Christmas tree and do a bit more Christmas baking. It might not be a good idea to put it off much longer!
A Picture thought I am sharing:
The girls kneading the dough for their Santa Lucia Bread.
The St. Therese bows in their hair were a gift from Cecilia at Hair Bows for Life! Thank you so much Cecilia, we love them!!
Santa Lucia Day
The Christmas Rose Novena
Last year, just weeks after having miscarried, I prayed this novena “asking God for a Christmas Rose for me in these my urgent needs, that I may experience an increase in faith, hope and confidence,” particularly regarding my fears of another pregnancy… Little did I know that this year I would anxiously be awaiting the birth of our little “Christmas Rose!”
Remember, O Gracious Little Rose Queen, your promise to spend your heaven in doing good on earth and even, if necessary, to come down to help those who ask your aid. If it is God’s Holy Will, and my dispositions are pleasing to Him by their honesty and true desire for goodness, keep your promise to shower roses and send me some visible sign of your heavenly friendship for me and for those I love. In memory of the great interior enlightenment you received on a certain Christmas of your early life, ask God for a “Christmas Rose” for me in these my urgent needs, that I may experience an increase in faith, hope and confidence. (Meditate, here upon your petitions so that St. Therese can understand why your are asking her to assist you.) I desire to know and to accept real objective truth about life and death. Give me assurance that you understand and will remain my heavenly friend, so that one day we may be together with God. Keep your promise to give some answer! Amen.
A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Inspired, once again, by Alice’s amazing Liturgical Teas, we enjoyed A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe this past Wednesday evening, on the feast of St. Juan Diego.
Mexican Hot Cocoa with Mini Marshmallows, while praying for the many innocent lives that were sacrificed by the Aztecs.
~ St. Juan Diego’s Sombrero ~
Pringles with a little round of string cheese
My children LOVED these and they were so easy!
~ Tepayac Hill ~
I forgot to pick up Guacamole or Potato Salad as suggested and so I resorted to using a package of Idahoan Instant Baby Red Mashed Potatoes. It worked. 🙂
~ A Woman Clothed with the Sun ~
Instead of Alice’s Recipe, I made Pampered Chef’s Touchdown Taco Dip:
1 can refried beans, topped with 1 package cream cheese mixed with 1 cup of sour cream and 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning, and then topped with cheddar cheese.
(The recipe calls for green onions, diced tomatoes, and olives on the very top after it bakes, but I omitted them for the “Sun”)
~ A Mantle of Stars ~
46 stars to represent the 46 constellations that would have appeared in the sky on the night of Our Lady’s December 12th apparition to St. Juan Diego.
I found these star cookies at Target. I also ran across Star Marshmallows, Star Candies, and even Star shaped Baby Food Puffs, so there were lots of options!
Also, this was A LOT of Cookies — almost all went back in the package to save for Christmas. Next year I think I will serve only 12 for Our Lady’s “Crown of 12 Stars.”
~ Crescent Moons ~
Crescent shaped biscotti!
If I make this tea again, I would probably substitute these for small crescent shaped croissants filled with chicken salad or something, though the biscotti was perfect for dipping into that hot cocoa!
~ Supporting Angels ~
Since I used the Lindt Angels for our Jesse Tea, I purchased these for this one. Aren’t they so cute! My girls were especially thrilled and have been “saving” theirs! 😉
~ Praying Hands ~
Praying Hand shaped tea sandwiches, pointing towards the baby Jesus!
~ The Tilma of Roses ~
My children *LOVED* these!!
I did fold them up after taking photos and before serving, and let the children unfold them to find the “roses.”
~ Bishop Zumarraga’s Miter ~
These miter cookies were leftover from the feast of St. Nicholas and made such a great little addition to the tea!
~ Crushed Serpents ~
~ “Build Me a Church” ~
~ Roses from Heaven Punch ~
For the punch I just used a bottle of Raspberry Spritzer
There were quite a few sweets included in this tea, so I postponed serving the “Build me a Church” and the Roses from Heaven Punch until the next day, which ended up being the perfect time to read The Lady of Guadalupe
Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, intercede for the Church, protect the Holy Father, help all who invoke you in their necessities. Since you are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from your most holy Son the Grace of a firm faith and sure hope amid the bitterness of life, as well as an ardent love and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.
A Manger for Baby Jesus
Last Friday our homeschool group had an Advent Craft Fair, after First Friday Mass. Each mom was asked to bring a craft for about 25 children based on Advent, Christmas, or one of the December Saints. Since I had spent Wednesday night and most of Thursday contracting, and wasn’t sure we would even be able to make it, I hadn’t spent any time thinking about what I would bring.
So, early that morning, I was trying to come up with a craft QUICKLY!! I was so thankful to have Catholic Artwork’s Teacher’s Helper CD’s to turn to. (When I ordered CD’s from Catholic Artworks, I purchased the whole set of 21 Teacher’s Helper CD’s and the Faith Keepers Combo. With the complete set discount and the 50% off for Homeschooling Parents, they were only about $5 each.) Anyhow, on CD #2 I found the cutest little craft for making a 3-D Manger. Within minutes I had 25 copies printed out on to card stock and yellow construction paper for the children to make “hay.” I grabbed a basket of scissors and glue sticks and was ready to go!
The children all loved the idea too and mine have been very busy coming up with little sacrifices so they can fill their mangers for baby Jesus!
Small Successes :: December 10, 2009
I baked cookies, with my friend Marci, for St. Nicholas Day and Honey-Curry Chicken for St. Ambrose. I ended up not being home much at all on Tuesday, but the children still got to decorate a Gingerbread Nativity (as planned!) at a friends home while I was making multiple trips up and down the freeway! Last night, for the feast of St. Juan Diego, I served Alice’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Tea. Since it had so many sweets, I saved the “Build Me a Church” and Rose Punch for today! It’s been a fun week for celebrating the saints!!
This one was actually from the week before last, but because I really want to share it with you all, and I haven’t posted my “Small Successes” in awhile, I’ll add it! 😉
I got out the paint and touched up the walls in the baby’s room!!! It looks so much brighter and cheerier! I also washed all the lovely “Lady Rose” bedding and it is now ready and waiting for our little one to make her arrival!
What are your Small Successes this week?
I’m Still Here…
… and thought I would hop online and give you all a quick update since I haven’t had much time for blogging this week. Thank you all for your prayers and emails!!
Yesterday, after Mass, I had my weekly check-up with my midwife. The baby is measuring right on schedule, the contractions I had this past week have made a bit of progress (I am at 3cm), and her heart sounded wonderful once we were able to locate it due to her position.
Speaking of her position, the baby is currently posterior, or as my midwife said, “sunny-side up.” I’ve never had a baby in this position before, and it explains the extra awful back pain and sciatica/trouble walking I’ve been having. It is also probably contributing to why my contractions are making such slow progress over such long periods of time.
My midwife and a couple friends have given me suggestions for encouraging the baby to rotate, so that is what I’ll be working on this week… Starting now!
I hope you are all having a wonderful week (I can’t believe it is already WEDNESDAY!) and I’ll try and post again soon.
In Honor of St. Nicholas
O Antiphon House
I have been meaning to post a picture of our finished O Antiphon House all week, but haven’t had a chance until this morning. (I contracted for about 12 hours most of Thursday, from about 3 am until just before dinner, and then fell asleep right after dinner, exhausted! Thankfully I am still pregnant since I was NOT quite ready to deliver yet… On the plus side, it did get me to finally pack a bag for the hospital! Though I am now horribly behind on emails, etc…)
Anyway, I am excited to add this little O Antiphon House to our traditions this year. In the past we have just hung an ornament on our Jesse Tree representing each of the O Antiphons and then presented the family with a special gift or activity each evening.
I was inspired to make this last year, from a thread on the 4 Real Forums. The girls helped me spray paint the house and blocks during “H” Week and I finally finished it up in time for Advent.
I ended up keeping it very simple, but am happy with how it turned out. I only wanted to have 7 empty slots for the 7 blocks (representing each of the O Antiphons), so I filled in the two side boxes with 7 painted wooden stars and the top with the words “Ero Cras” which means “Tomorrow, I will come!”
The Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one – Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai,Sapientia – the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, “Tomorrow, I will come.” So the “O Antiphons” not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.
For the blocks, I printed out an image of the O Antiphons reduced to 45% on Gold paper and (very carefully using Mod Podge) glued them to the blocks.
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