Happy Birthday Ray!

My dear Ray Ray,

I can't believe you're turning six today! I have loved you since the moment I found out you were growing inside me. The day you were born was one of the happiest days of my life. I thank God every day for the privilege of being your mom.... even on the hard days, even when you're not perfectly behaved. We grow and learn so much together. I am proud of you! I love your enthusiasm and analytical mind. I love watching you grow and become your own person. I hope you have a fantastic birthday and a wonderful seventh year of life!

All my love,
Mommy

Advent Adventures

Happy Advent!

We are off to a great start here. It seems like we are doing a ton of different Advent activities, but that is going to be the main focus of our studies and activities this month (in addition to Math and Reading and Writing of course). I apologize for not getting this post out in ADVANCE of Advent for those of you who may want to use some of these ideas.... but it's still early!


We kicked off Advent on Sunday with a little "Happy New Year Breakfast Party" inspired by one of my favorite bloggers at http://catholicicing.blogspot.com/.



We are using the traditional Advent wreath at dinnertime and also in our room at our family prayer time at night. When we light the candle we sing one verse of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and the week's appropriate verses of a song called, "Light One Candle." We also pray this simple little Advent prayer I used to pray with my second graders when I taught school: "Come Lord Jesus. We are waiting for you. Each day we try more and more to get our hearts ready. Thank you for coming to us again this Christmas. Amen."

The Jesse Tree is the "family tree" of Jesus. It tells the story of God in the Old Testament. Jesse was the Father of David who was anointed to establish a royal family. A thousand years later Jesus was bron in this royal line. I have always wanted to start the Jesse Tree tradition with my family. I was so excited several weeks ago when my friend Ginny invited me to be part of a Jesse Tree Ornament exchange.

I was assigned the story of Isaiah's Call to Holiness (Is 1:10-20, 6:1-13, 8:11-9:7). I had to make tongs holding a hot coal! So I made 15 of these:

I also had the story of Jeremiah and the Exile (Jer 1:4-10, 2:4-13, 7:1-15, 8:22-9:11). I made 15 sets of these tears:A few weeks ago all of the ladies in the exchange brought their ornaments to a party. It was so fun to see all of the creative ways people made their ornaments.

Now I have this basket of ornaments to use on our Jesse Tree:

Here's a picture of the boys looking at out the first flakes of snow this morning. The little tree next to them is our Jesse Tree. Each morning at the beginning of our school time we are reading the appropriate Bible story and placing the ornament on the tree. So far we've done a dove for Creation, an apple for Adam and Eve, and a sparkly rainbow for Noah's Ark.Here's a link for another way of doing the Jesse Tree. It includes Scripture passages and coloring pages:
http://showerofroses.blogspot.com/2010/11/jesse-tree-readings-coloring-pages-for.html

Of course we're also reading lots and lots of Advent and Christmas stories and we're learning some new holiday songs. Check out another link from my FAVORITE blog (Shower of Roses). She wrapped up a book for each day of the Advent and Christmas Seasons. Each day the family opens a book and reads it together.
http://showerofroses.blogspot.com/2010/11/this-years-advent-and-christmas-book.html

At breakfast each morning the boys are taking turns putting stickers on our Advent Calendar and then we are reading a page out of this little book:It's from Creative Communications for the Parish (http://www.creativecommunications.com/) . Each day's readings focus on Advent/Christmas traditions in a different country. We are reading the passage and the prayer, locating the country on a world map, and adding a piece to this corresponding mobile:I am attempting to also teach the boys a bit more about each country each day and/or do a related craft and/or try a food from the country. Today was the first day. We learned about Argentina. The reading said that the children often put cotton on their Christmas trees to look like snow, so we made this:

Here's the corner in our kitchen where we've got these activities posted:



Also from Creative Communications for the Parish, we are reading and coloring the pages in this book:

Beginning on the 17th we will be praying the O Antiphons with the help of this O Antiphon House I made with some other homeschool moms. More on that when we get to it!

There are so many wonderful Feasts to celebrate and lessons to learn in the next few weeks: Saint Nicholas, Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Saint Lucy....

Here are a few more awesome links with great ideas for celebrating the Advent and Christmas seasons:

http://showerofroses.blogspot.com/2010/11/links-for-advent-planning-from-archives.html

http://www.elizabethfoss.com/reallearning/2010/11/advent-and-christmas-clicking.html#tp

It's so easy to get so busy this season. Let's pray for and encourage one another. May we carve out time each day to be still and prepare our hearts for true celebration that comes with the Birth of Jesus.

Another Day, Another Tooth Gone!

Four days before his sixth birthday, Ray lost his sixth baby tooth! Yikes! He is looking quite "holey." I'm just glad it came out after Daddy got home. (I am NOT good with teeth.)
His cousin Carter also has a very loose tooth. A few days ago Ray matter-of-factly told me that the "Tooth Fairy" would visit our house before Carter's because our house is closer to heaven. Upon further inquiry, I discovered that (according to Ray) the "Tooth Fairy" is an angel from heaven AND our house is closer to heaven because it is closer to (our) church. OK. Makes perfect sense.... I guess.

Black Friday - Part Two

(Sorry... no poem this time. My brain just can't do it tonight!)

After the exciting morning at our local Holiday Festival and Character Breakfast, we needed a nap. Especially since we had more big plans for that night!

Jon's boss has generously purchased a series of Blue Jackets (hockey) tickets for the firm employees to use. Since Jon is a big Red Wings fan, we HAD to go to Friday's Blue Jackets / Red Wings game.

As the boys napped, I snuck out on a few errands. When I returned at dinnertime, this is what I saw:

FACE-OFF!

There were two very eager (and fancily-clad) hockey fans facing off in our school room! They were chanting, "Let's go Jackets!" ..... "Let's Go Red Wings!"

After dinner there was much debate about who would be cheering for which team and what outfits everyone was going to wear. I safely settled on my OSU sweater. Jon and Ray chose Red Wings. Adam adamantly insisted on wearing JON'S Blue Jacket jersey and hat.... and taking TWO foam fingers to cheer for his team.

Yes, we got a lot a lot of funny looks and chuckles as we walked through the arena. It was so precious, though, because he was SO proud of how he looked. He made me carry his coat and he was puffing out his chest as he walked.

The boys loved the hockey game and they lasted through the whole thing! They loved the zambonis and the cheering and even the loud cannon (which they were terrified by last year). It was a great evening, even though the Jackets lost.

I just had to include this last picture because I think it's so funny that Adam has on this huge jersey over top of a pair of way-too-small pajamas that he refuses to give up. Check out the toe poking through the foot! He's quite the fashion enigma!

Black Friday - Part One

A day of thanks, food, and laughter.

What to do the morning after?

We did not spend it at the mall.

We did not go near there at all.

We did not lay around in bed.

We had a lot of fun instead.

Off to the local holiday fest.

MaMaw and Carter were our guests.

First was breakfast, yummy and sweet.

Sausage, pancakes, a special treat.

Cat in the Hat, Thing One, Thing Two

The Grinch and Lorax were there too!

The grown-ups even had some fun.

Dr. Seuss is for everyone!

A visit with a dear old friend.

Long lists of things for him to send.

He said he'd bring us what he could.

If we promised to be so good.

So much to see, so much to do.

Songs, treats, and crafts, silly hats too!

Cold and so tired, home we went.

Only half of our day was spent.

What we did later you must guess.

Until next post, good night, God bless.

Perfect Vision!

Thank you God for four "perfectly working" eyes! Last week we spent a very long afternoon visiting the Opthamologist at our Children's Hospital. The boys had their first eye exam. (The glasses in the pictures above were a "souvenir" that they got to wear home because their eyes were dilated.)

The good news was that both boys have great eyesight. (Our pediatrician wanted to have them checked partly because their dad got glasses at an early age.)

The bad news is that it was a very long afternoon. (And I felt bad because I even had my mom come with us in case we needed "one-on-one coverage." Thanks Mom!)

It was a wonderful opportunity for me to practice patience. Even though I was thinking of the 1,367,320 things I needed to do, I calmly (well, pretty calmly) waited. Also, it was a great experience of putting things in perspective. So many of the families at the hospital are there for incredibly horrible and challenging illnesses and accidents. I've been giving thanks for healthy children who can see really well! And I've been reminded to pray for sick children and their families.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Litany of Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to the Lord,

for he satisfies the thirsty,

he fills the hungry with good things,

and he heals the afflicted.

Let us celebrate his abundant goodness.

We thank you, gracious Father,

that you provide for all our needs,

for food on our tables,

for the clothes on our bodies,

for the beds we sleep in,

for the dwellings that shelter us.

We praise you, Lord,

for all your gifts that go beyond our basic needs,

for the things that make our work easier,

for the conveniences of modern life,

for the beauty and pleasure that you bring into our lives.

Thanks be to God!

Let's pray today for one another, our families, and our country.

May you enjoy a wonderful day of prayer, rest, fun, and feasting.

God Bless!