Our Christmas 2008: Christmas Eve
I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas break! I 
to post a bit about our Christmas.It seems that no matter how much I prepare, Christmas usually never does go quite as planned. Packages that were “guaranteed” to arrive by Christmas never did get here (in fact they STILL are stuck somewhere in WA) and a Christmas Eve Hazardous weather warning kept us from making the trip to town to our friends Christmas Eve Party. However, everything worked out and it was perfect just the same.
On Christmas Eve we saw that the storm was on its way so after we finished making our Starlight Cookies, I made a quick trip to town for Papa Murphy’s and a couple last minutes gifts to replace those that are still on their way… (Maybe they will arrive by Epiphany?!) I also picked up a couple
movies
for hubby and I. Even though we were not able to get together with all our friends, we had such a nice, peaceful, RELAXING, evening at home with our family.After dinner the children decided they wanted to put on a nativity play for hubby and I. It was so sweet. Rascal was St. Joseph, Twinkle Toes was Mary, Chiquita was an angel, and Captain was a shepherd as well as the innkeeper.
Before bed, the children each received our traditional Christmas Eve gift of new pajamas! Of course Snuggles preferred the box to the jammies!
Snuggles eventually got tired of playing with the box and let us put his pajamas on him so we could pray the rosary before bedtime.
I had pre-wrapped most of their gifts so it didn’t take long for hubby and I to place them under the tree, fill the stockings, decorate their rooms, and then eat the cookies that Rascal insisted on leaving out. 😉 It was a rather quiet Christmas Eve, but I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed it!!! Staying home also made it so much easier to get up and dressed for Mass in the morning. (The was weather was awful and the roads were just too icy to attempt Mass at midnight.)
As you can probably tell from the picture, by Christmas Eve our tree was not looking so good. The branches were having a hard time holding the ornaments, and for safety we only hung one strand of lights. We rarely ever get our tree before the last week of Advent, and then we usually cut it down ourselves, so it lasts well into January. At least it made it through Christmas Day, barely! Our nativity is up in a prominent place and we it will remain up for the remainder of the Christmas season… (Yes, the Wise Men are still on their way.)
To be continued… I am off to start dinner and prepare some wine. We have a nameday to celebrate!!
Wishing you all a very…
The Flower by St. Therese
Handpainted with Love
Well, I was hoping to finish up my Alphabet of Saints today and give the completed set to my girls for Christmas. I tried, honestly I did, but either some of the saints are just plain harder to paint than others, or I am just too tired. I still have 10 left to do, and each one I have attempted tonight has turned out awful. Anyhow, since tomorrow it is already Christmas Eve I changed plans and will not pressure myself into finishing our collection. Instead I decided to keep it simple and just paint them each two dollies in the same colors as the wooden castle
Picture Perfect
We all really enjoyed having my sister Julianna over today! When she first arrived, we spent a few hours in the kitchen baking Lemon Bars, Key Lime Bars and Raspberry Bars. (We cheated and used these mixes, but they turned out great!) Then we made a couple batches of Rocky Road Fudge using Sarah’s Never Fail Fudge Recipe with walnuts, and then adding a cup of mini marshmallows just before pouring it into the pan to cool— oohhhh, it turned out SO good!! Each batch yielded two pounds of fudge.
When we were all done baking, and waiting for everything to cool, Julianna read about a whole stack of picture books to her nieces and nephews. While she was reading I was playing around with the settings on my camera and snapped these pictures. I can’t seem to figure out how to capture the natural light without making the picture too blurry. I need to find my manual… (any suggestions?) Blurry and all, I still thought they turned out precious.
Julianna will be moving away next month. We sure will miss her !
*And my boys are getting their hair cut right now!! It really needed to be done!
My Daybook ~ December 23rd
Yesterday was such a busy day that I just didn’t have time to post my daybook, so I am going to post it today!
FOR TODAY: December 23rd, 2008
Outside my Window… the snow is just about melted, just in time for the next snow storm that is coming in tonight! The forecast is showing a 90% chance of snow for Christmas day, so it looks like we are going to have a White Christmas this year!!
I am thinking… about all our friends and family! I just love hearing from you all, and recieveing your Christmas Cards, Letters and Photos in the mail (or email!).
From the school room… We have the next couple weeks “off.” Nevertheless, our Jesse Tree is filling up, we are celebrating the O Antiphons (even though I haven’t had time to post about them the last couple days), we are still reading lots of pictures books, baking lots of cookies, and the boys are checking off all sorts of good deeds in their Advent Lapbooks, which are almost complete.
I am thankful… that one of our Godsons was able to recieve his First Communion this past Sunday, just in time for Christmas!!
From the kitchen… lots and lots of Christmas Cookies and treats. I am also planning on making another batch of Hot Cocoa for Christmas, since I am drinking our last cup of St. Nicholas Cocoa right now. I am also going to put together a jar of Starlight Cookie Mix to make with my children tomorrow. OOOohhhhh!! And my sister *just* called and she is coming over to join me in the kitchen. She’s bringing the ingredients to bake some lemon bars too! Yum!
I am creating… ugh…. I am still working on finishing the Wooden Saints for the girls, and I’m taking FOR.EV.ER!! I have been having a very hard time being creative this past month. I think I have 10 more that I am hoping to finish today. Maybe I can get my sister to help me with that while she is here! =)
I am going… to stay home ALL day today! (At least, I hope so!)
I am wearing… a knee length jean skirt, tan turtleneck sweater, brown tights, and my new brown boots
I am reading…my newest issue of Faith and Family
I am hoping… that a few gifts I ordered from Amazon arrive on time! :S
I am hearing… Josh Groban
Around the house… I have a few more loads of laundry to catch up and Christmas Clothes to iron. I had my vaccuum fixed yesterday, so finally my carpets are clean! YAY!!
One of my favorite things… The Chocolate Coconut Balls that I made on Saturday. They are heavenly! I am pretty sure that these are going to end up being a new tradition around here. Thank you Sarah!
Let’s see, first lots of baking and cleaning today. We will probably be headed to a friend’s Christmas Eve Party tomorrow night. Christmas morning we will get up early and head to Mass. (Midnight Mass has been too hard the past couple years — hopefully we can try it again when the children are a bit older.) After Mass we will head home for a Christmas brunch and let the children open their gifts. And sometime after that we will get together with my family, though we haven’t finalizd those plans yet. I am hoping they will come HERE! We’ll see!
A picture thought I am sharing:
It’s hard to see since I was taking this photo from outside, and through the glass, but I was trying to capture Snuggles expression when he saw the snow for the first time this past week. It was so cute!
To view more Daybooks visit Peggy here.
A Child’s Comparison
The other day we were watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Afterwards, Captain turned to hubby and said:
“Dad, the Grinch is like Barack Obama, and we are like the Whos’!”
Who’d got out of bed for a cold cup of water.
She stared at the Grinch and said, “Santy Claus, why,
“Why are you taking our Christmas tree? WHY?”
But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick.
He thought up a lie, he thought it up quick!
“Why, my sweet little tot,” the fake Santy Claus lied,
“There’s a light on this tree that won’t light on one side.”
I’ll fix it up there. Then I’ll bring it back here.”
And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted her head
and he got her a drink and he sent her to bed.
He went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up!
Then the last thing he took was the log for their fire!
Then he went up the chimney, himself, the old liar.
On their walls he left nothing but hooks and some wire.
was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse.
Then He did the same thing to the other Whos’ houses.
Leaving crumbs much too small For the other Whos’ mouses!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Somebody was sneaking into the cookies…
O Clavis David ~ O Key of David (Dec 20th)
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
The plans for tonight are the same as last year:
Since this is initially a monastic tradition, and on this night, the monk in charge of the wine cellar would provide a special bottle of wine. We will be having some special drinks with dinner! If I can get to the store we may even have a key lime pie!
I picked up some special sparkling non-alcoholic drinks and a Marie Calendar’s Key Lime Pie! There are so many simple treats that you can incorporate into the O Antiphons! Isn’t it fun?!?
Okay, time for me to get back to my Cookies… I hope you are all having a great weekend!
O Radix Jesse ~ O Root of Jesse (Dec 19th)
O Root of Jesse, you stand for the ensign of all mankind; before you kings shall keep silence and to you all nations shall have recourse. Come, save us, and do not delay.
A peek at our plans for today:
Hubby and I are hoping that, despite the snowstorm, we can make it to town, since the boys tutor has bravely offered to babysit all of our children so we can finish up our shopping and go out to lunch! Since the symbol for today is the flower, our surprise for the children will be to pick up our first Poinsettia. Our Costco has some beautiful ones that the kiddos were eying the other day and begging me to buy!
Once we are back home, I am hoping that we will have enough time to make these Poinsettia napkin rings for with dinner. Our side dishes will be steamed carrots and garlic roasted potato wedges, both root vegetables! After our dinner we will read The Legend of the Poinsettia. Hope you all are having a great day!! God Bless!
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