Advent has begun! About time too! We dutifully waited to begin our Christmas preparations until Advent arrived, yet there are now only three weeks of preparation. No matter. Let's just enjoy it.

Last night we went out to our usual Saturday night (Sunday) Mass. It started out great, with the entrance hymn being O Come Divine Messiah. It was all downhill from there, unfortunately. We had a deacon and a couple of diocesan employees out for Mass. Mass was centered around a rosary project. You see, 20 parishioners made some 400+ rosaries to be given to the inmates at the P.A. penitentiary. Well done. The unfortunate part is that this chewed up about 20 minutes of the Mass. We had speeches on it. Mentions of the rosaries all throughout Mass. Talks about how this connects with the diocesan programs of restorative justice and forming intentional disciples. There were pictures taken, and many self-pats-on-the-back were had throughout. Somewhere in the mix I believe there was a first Sunday of Advent Mass. But really, what does that matter in comparison to the great job of making rosaries? We should've invited some prisoners to Mass to share in the festivities, such as a certain Bishop of Rome did (never mind they escaped...).

So yeah, a great start to Advent. I didn't dare talk to Becca about it last night. It's too infuriating. This morning we settled down and, with the help of a great Adventcazt by Fr. Z, got our day, and hopefully Advent, started off right.

We started hauling out our Advent decorations out. Emilie was a big help with this.

The boys also set up some items on the window.

And Joseph, ever the creative one, made his own pop up nativity set!

And I was able to set up our little Creche scene which I had lovingly made this fall. The darn thing took a loooong time to make. But it was fun. This is the view from our window.

And it lights up at night!

It was not just Advent preparations we did today. 

First, a little work out. Thumbs, or muscles, up for finally hitting the 300 club with bench pressing!

On to other things. So much to do...

Ahh you can see the relief in this picture...

 ...as I flooded our rink several times. It will be ready soon. 

Hopefully I can get to flooding it this week also.

 Yes, that was a dog you saw in the last picture. We've been dog-sitting my parent's dog Emma the past few weeks while they've been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They take Emma back tomorrow. We'll miss her! She's been showered with attention. We make sure to take her on several walks each day. Today we needed to get some tree branches for our wreath, so we went to "Mama Mary's Park."

Um, Emilie loves to eat snow. So she falls over on her face deliberately and then eats to her heart's content.

The result:

 Emma loved it! Emma loves everything.

The wreath was set up. 

 And we sat down to a yummy supper of biscuits and stew. O Come O Come Emanuel, and ransom captive Israel. Captive as in jail? And rosaries. And pat's on the back. And... let it go. Have a blessed Advent.

Adventing

I love being Catholic! While much of the world is sick of Christmas by the time Christmas begins, we're just getting started. The weeks leading up to Christmas aren't just a huge celebration of Christmas for us, but a preparation for Christmas.

Dan was commenting the other day how a fellow teacher was relieved to say her Christmas tree had been up since the end of November and was coming down December 26. That's it. Christmas is over.

Not so for us. The party is just about to get started. 

Everybody looking at the new baby, except that rebel camel and the Bobcat guy

We are working more and more towards keeping Advent around here. It's been our first year actually doing most of the Liturgical year stuff I ever hope to accomplish. I want to keep things simple, but exciting. 

We have read short Bible excerpts for our Jesse Tree ornaments, lit our Advent wreath, have our Nativity sets up for playing and gazing, and are reading lots of Advent and Christmas books. 

Joseph is daily inspired: "I just want to read the whole Bible, mom!" There are some pretty exciting stories in there. 

A bearded cookie decorator and our Jesse Tree

I have my mom to thank for equipping us with all our Advent and Christmas gear. The old, ugly Advent wreath base we used growing up now adorns our kitchen table (it's not old and ugly once it's covered in evergreens, though). Our beautiful hand-painted Jesse Tree ornaments were also a gift from my mom. And this year, all our kiddos have beautiful new stockings from Grandma!

We also succeeded in celebrating a few lovely saints days that fall during Advent. We ate lots of white food for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, along with white chocolate chip cookies, and did the cutest colouring of tiny Mary in St Anne's womb (it's up on the wall in the pic below, if you can find it). St Juan Diego's feast found us eating tacos, of course. And for St Lucy's day we made Pillsbury canned cinnamon rolls, lit candles, and listened to a beautiful rendition of Santa Lucia. (We don't do the whole St Nicholas stockings or shoes thing, but I still think it's pretty cute).

A fireman for St Lucy day, of course. And John Paul...um. Whatever.

We put up our tree either when Dan's finished school or on the 4th Sunday of Advent. Thereabouts, anyway. And we like to keep it up until Candlemas, the feast of the Presentation. Our Jesse Tree ornaments move to the Christmas tree. 

Dan's 'ugly' sweater donned for the occasion

We also begin our Christmas baking around this time. At home, we stopped school last Friday and the boys and I have been busy cleaning the house, baking, and decorating. It's a little difficult to snap pictures while baking with three little kids, but for the record we made some tasty little pretzel turtles (awesome for kids to assemble), chocolate covered pretzels, gingerbread (Dan snapped this pic), and lemon bars that are more like a gooy, yummy mess (we forgot the eggs, somehow). 

My little helpers. It's so much easier now that we have a peninsula where our old cupboards were taken down!

One of our favourite things to do during Advent is tour our town looking at the lights. The boys request a little longer drive whenever we are out after dark. A former teacher's "snowman choir" always takes top prize in our books, assembled from various cute, unique little snowman that she has added to over the years. Then there's the BIG Santa John Paul loves, the minion, and the Santas on sleighs. Dan compiled a playlist of classical Christmas greats and other fun songs to keep us cheery.

Dan's biggest extra curricular endeavor, the annual Christmas concert, also falls during this busy season. This means lots of extra hours (!) for him in the preparation and some time away. 

In other areas of preparation... our rink got it's final flood today, so there won't be anymore boot hockey. The boys are ecstatic! 

Joseph has been loving hockey this year and scored his first goal in a real game last Saturday

John Paul offers a helping hand, tackling Dan for Joseph

Earlier in the month, we also took some time to go winter hiking before the weather turned to a bitterly cold spell. Our favourite trails were still passable because we've had minimal snow, so we could take our double jogging stroller along.

Our first picture alone together in years. It's handy that Joseph can wield a camera now!

I'm pretty sure he's licking his runny nose, but don't mind that.

Sometimes it's hard to stop all the productive preparation for the real thing: the spiritual preparation. Having small children underfoot all day (and sometimes all night) means we have very little quiet time in our house. But we are nonetheless trying to instill in our children the awe and joy of waiting for the King of the World to be quietly born in the stable.

We read Isaiah's prophecy of the newborn Christchild for our Jesse Tree last week,

For unto us a Child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I played the song for the boys from Handel's Messiah and they listened to the words in awe. A few days later when we heard the same song in the van, John Paul, who very rarely sits through the whole Bible story, piped up, "This is Isaiah's prophecy of baby Jesus!"

Despite the hustle and bustle, our busy days and nights, the shopping for Christmas presents we had hoped to accomplish before Advent... some things are sinking in and they are in awe of this very special season.

We are so blessed to have these little ones to help prepare us each year with their childlike awe and anticipation, their joy and excitement.

Adventageous Example

Advent. That time for pondering the coming of Christ, all the while fighting the spirit of the world. The spirit of the world is so confused. It demands we celebrate Christmas before Christmas. Parties. Music. Decorations. Lots and lots of present. Yet ironically it refuses to even mention the word "Christmas". As Catholics we, or at least we should, simply do our thing. The worldly spirit doesn't need to tell us how to celebrate Christmas. It's our holiday, thank you very much, and we can celebrate it much better than the spirit of the world. It's advent. We're hopefully busier than ever in preparation, both spiritual and material.

And that spiritual preparation is key. It's not the coming of Christ we're looking forward to. It's the second coming of Christ. Don't get the two confused. We don't prepare, confess, pray, and read simply to have a warm fuzzy feeling at Midnight Mass, as if God were saying: "Good job, here's your reward, a heart full of holly... and a candy cane which will be handed out after Mass." And then boxing day it's back to the usual sinful ways. Sorry, there's an eschatological work going on with advent. Prepare for Christmas, yes. Prepare for Christ again, double yes. The preparation for Christmas helps with the preparation for the second coming.

Take the baby in the manger. This, undoubtedly is the central aspect of Christmas. God, so very very humble, comes down to us as a baby that will eventually save us. A baby! You know those little creatures who burp and poop and drool and eat constantly? The ones that sleep all day and are up all night, just because it's fun? The ones that are unable to survive beyond a few minutes without the care of someone? Those helpless babies. The least of all. God becomes one. And anyone who does not see the need to be humble in order to prepare for Christ's coming surely does not see the point of Christmas.

Yet my life right now is mesmerized by not so much the baby age, but more little people. Joseph and John Paul. In them, and their goofy antics, they teach me just how humble, yet mighty, baby Jesus is. Take our last Mass. It was nearing the time for the collection. The time when all properly raised boys get excited. Money at Mass! What an important thing! Time to stop fooling around and "pay" attention! So the person was coming with the collection basket. I placed money in John Paul's hands. I sent him to the edge of the pew. I then sent Joseph with John Paul, but only after seemingly an hour of instruction to Joseph: "Help him give the money. Go with your brother. Help him put the money in the basket... and whatever you do, don't let him leave." With those words Joseph stood up, watched John Paul for several moments, and then turned back and looked at me as John Paul made a break out of the pew. He walked to the back of the church. I got out of the pew to go after him. There was a crowd in my way, so I never made it. Eventually the person taking the collection arrived at the back, and John Paul amazingly slam dunked the money into the basket. He then started wandering back to the pew. Satisfied that no harm had been done, I also started back. But John Paul just kept walking. Apparently our priest made the mistake of saying his name when he saw him. John Paul walked right to father up at the front. Father kindly picked up John Paul and said hi. John Paul then loudly, and aided by father's lapel microphone, started explaining to father (and the entire congregation): "Money! Money!" John Paul eventually came back to the pew, and Mass carried on.

Little boys are mysterious. On one hand they have all the humility in the world. I mean, what any adult would find embarrassing, for a little boy it's perfectly fine. It's ok to be small. Helpless. Even dare I say not that bright. On the other hand, they have all the power in the world. We eat out of their hands. They can say "money" to everyone at Mass and suddenly there's a room full of adults in awe. Humble. Powerful. Just a hint of a glimpse at baby Jesus, the perfectly humble yet all-powerful child.

Advent preparation demands humility. Sometimes when the world demands we sit in our proverbial pew and do as expected, sometimes we need to stand up, and walk against the flow. Sometimes that upteenth Christmas party (in November, no less) can be skipped. Or someone's "Happy Holidays" greeting can be returned with "Merry Christmas". Or the poor can be helped without anyone knowing about it. Or even we can dare to survive without blowing the bank on presents. Think of the child in the manger. Don't forget Him.

Tonight, as Becca and I were praying our rosary, we were serenaded by Joseph and John Paul. They were holding holy books and rosaries and calmly walking around the house singing carols. They didn't know the words. But they sang, ever so sweetly. Those crazy boys. Their hearts ready to welcome another little boy, who is named Jesus. A true display of preparation. Of humility. And yes, of power.

A child will be born. And He will come again.

Are we ready for that?

Imaginary Friends, Lego Inventions, & The Good Apples

I don't remember having imaginary friends, but I sure remember my brother Blaise's. Doyo and Datya lived around our house for a long time. Whether it was Blaise's own perseverance that kept them around or the fact that the rest of us thought it was pretty funny and encouraged it, I don't know, but they sure stuck in my memory.

Enter Joseph, some 17 years later. He has three imaginary friends: Bob (presumably from Bob the Builder books), Dina (from the song "I've been working on the railroad" - "Dina won't you blow your horn"), and Siri (presumably named for the iPhone voice). Sometimes they sleep in our basement, sometimes they sleep through supper and we have to be very quiet, sometimes they drive their truck with us to the grocery store. They hang out here a lot!

"Shhh! My friends are sleeping," Joseph told us again and again at supper last night. He has the gall to tell us to be quiet because, of course, that's just what we tell him when his brother is sleeping. "Why are they sleeping? It's supper time," Dan asked. "Because they're really tired. They'll wake up later. Bob and Siri are waking up a little bit now. But Dina can't wake up."

Joseph simply refers to them as "my friends." He will carry on entire conversations with them, often as we're going out the door and I'm giving him instructions for getting ready to go. And we have entire conversations about them, as if they exist and are hanging out at our house.

"Siri, are you going to drive the police motorcycle?" he asked as we left for the grocery store. "Mom, Siri is going to drive the motorcycle and we'll go in the police car. Bob and Dina are coming in their truck." "Ok. Joseph, did you put on your toque and mittens yet?" "Siri, you have to go carefully so you don't crash." "Joseph, your toque and mittens!" "My friends are going to come, Mom!"

His REAL friend!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------We're at the point (already) where we think we have about as many toys as we want! Ha. I say that in the face of Christmas in just a few weeks. But, really, we like the different "sets" we have and like the idea of just adding to them if need be. 

Like Lego. Can you ever really have too much Lego?

Joseph loves Lego. I can't even begin to describe how much he loves Lego. He plays Lego ALL day, EVERY day. Not only do I think it's especially great for him and his imagination and learning to invent stuff or rebuild sets, but it's very welcome for me when all my attention is taken up with John Paul (all day, every day). 

Often he can be found pouring over directions booklets, looking for that one little piece he needs, and, of course, making anything and everything that runs on wheels. Sometimes we think it would be worthwhile to just buy a whole bag of Lego wheels off Ebay. 

The only problem, of course, is when John Paul decides he really likes the Lego that Joseph's carrying around with him everywhere. "JOHN PAUL! No, you can't have Lego. You're too little. Mom, John Paul wants to choke the Lego!" are things I regularly hear from the other room. Despite the fact that we've moved the Lego to Joseph's bedroom, bits and pieces always find their way out because Lego creations are amazing and the proud little builder wants to share his creation.

He asked me to take a picture of one:

Daddy helped him build this helicopter

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Our Advent is low-key as far as Advent traditions, so far. We don't have an Advent wreath yet, which is something I'd like to begin doing each year. But this year, thanks to my mom, we have a Jesse Tree for the first time. It's a beautifully hand-painted wooden set.

I pruned some wild Saskatoon berry branches in Nipawin last weekend and stuck them in a pot of dirt for our "tree". We discovered Holy Heroes (Seriously, moms, if you aren't already aware of all their cool stuff, you have to go check it out!) this year and although many of the activities are a little old for Joseph, we've been doing their Advent Adventure. Each day Joseph and I watch the little video that tells the Bible story for the new ornament and hang the ornament up! Joseph loves it and asks me all day long if we can watch more "Jesse Tree movies."

After reading, watching, and talking about Adam and Eve and the Fall we put up our ornament with the apple and a serpent. Joseph was intrigued. God said they couldn't eat that apple, but what about ours? I told him ours were okay to eat because they didn't come from the tree in that garden.

The rest of the week Joseph kept telling us, while eating his apples: "God said we can eat these apples" and "God told me to eat this apple."