Life Lately ~ November 2020

We find ourselves at the eve of another year, and the dawning of a new church year. Despite the trials of the past year, the first Sunday of Advent always fills me with hope and anticipation. Longing to fill my childrens' hearts with similar sentiments overwhelms me, and I resolve to try again the customs that I may have decided against just last week.

I decided not to do an Advent wreath this year for several reasons, which sounds very Grinch-ish. But I didn't get candles ordered in time and I struggled all last year with the Advent wreath...candles tipping, wax dripping. I may have already donated the ring back to the thrift store it came from, I don't remember. But the unseen Hand of God was at work as always and my thoughtful mother-in-law gifted me a beautiful, simple gold Advent wreath--along with candles. It was meant to be, and I'm relieved now that this tradition has not been neglected. 

Gavin put up the Christmas tree today and Liam and he decorated it. I was relieved. (We'll call that the theme of this post.) It's not a pleasant task for me, and if I had my choice it wouldn't go up until Christmas Eve. I'll discreetly straighten a few things out tomorrow, and that will be that.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving is one of the most peaceful of the year for me, in contrast with the busyness and toil of the last few weeks. I always dedicate the month leading up to it to home improvement projects, deep house cleaning, and purging. I never spring clean, but fall cleaning puts summer vibes to sleep and helps launch the household into winter mode. Baskets in the front porch are emptied of sandals and filled with hats and gloves. Snow pants are hung up. Boots set out. Cracks are filled and paint touched up. Appliances are rolled out and dust bunnies harnessed. And then we host Thanksgiving for Eli's family, and it feels a lot like a celebration for the end of project month.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie and coffee are for breakfast and the only things on my schedule are delving into a good book and a nap. The kids raid the fridge, which is deliciously stocked with leftovers, at meal times. Our mission does not have Mass on the 5th Sundays of the month when they happen, and since Addie has been getting car sick I've been avoiding taking her on any lengthy car trips.

I've been reading Let Them Be Kids lately by Jessica Smartt. I love the message driving this book: children need creative play time, love, adventure, lots of nature, and very little, if any, screen time. Too often young children are thrust unnecessarily into adult problems and scenarios and it does so much damage. But the author uses a lot of words to say that and more words to explain why she used the words she chose to use. It's wordy.

In the times between when I can't sit and read I've been working through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy on Audible. It's one of the most pleasant ways to spend an afternoon, folding laundry while feasting with Tom Bombadil, running from orcs in the mines of Moria, lost in the woods of Lothlorien, riding the shoulders of Treebeard with the hobbits, or galloping into battle with Aragorn.

Tomorrow we will start the St. Andrew Christmas novena. We will resume school as well, after the little break we took last week. Christmas preparations are underway, though it feels like a very short time to transition from Thanksgiving prep to Christmas prep. I vote Thanksgiving be officially moved to September! 

A Few of My Favorite Things ~ A Comedy of Errors Version 11.2020

I thought it'd be fun to do a twist on this (hopefully) monthly post that was born of the desire to focus on gratitude. I hope these not so favorite things will give you a chuckle, at the very least.

This adorable line-up of bedraggled snugglies.  Brought to you by a pup with a chewing addiction and abundant drool. Laundry has never been cuter.

When the adorable dog laying on the rug at my feet mistakes my foot for the rawhide bone he was chewing on. Peaceful morning time has nothing on the shock of a good gnawing from puppy's milk teeth. Really, who needs pedicures and ice shock baths?

Children who take the initiative to decorate their rooms for Christmas. In September. With duct tape. Quite artfully. 

That my children are so enthusiastic about going to church. And humming Yankee Doodle Dandy loudly in the quiet before Mass starts. And asking in the loudest whisper what is that smell when someone sits down in front of us. And building bridges from the kneeler to the pew out of hymnals. And asking loudly if we're done yet as everyone gets up for Communion.

My organizational skills. I can't imagine making a single change to my system when it's just so dang satisfying to find the to-do list--the one I had been frantically searching for, and believed to be tossed, for over a week--tucked into a book to mark a page. The same book I had been reading daily for over a week. It's about as satisfying as finding the long-lost phone after I finish talking on it, or finding the bag of chocolate Easter bunnies at the back of the bathroom closet two weeks after Easter (Happy Easter to me!) I don't think it'd even feel like home around here without the basket of homeless socks gracing the dryer top. I can tell you exactly which pile you can find something in, or thereabouts; or exactly where I saw something for the last time. And when all my other systems start sputtering, there is always St. Anthony. Not only has he recovered important paperwork, keys, and tools countless times, he has also returned my wandering children to me more times than I care to admit. Sometimes with the help of the Wal-Mart PA system.

All Saints' Day Costumes

All Saint's Day is one of the kids' favorite holidays, with a lot of imagination, preparation, and creativity poured into their costumes every year. Along with the costumes, they memorize facts about their saints to call out as clues for the other children to try guess their saints during the yearly party at our church. I've hunted down photos of our little saints over the past several years to share with you all.

St. Ignatius Loyola

Blessed Miguel Pro

St. Brigid of Kildare

Pope St. Leo the Great

St. John the Baptist

and St. Lucy--blind, with her eyeballs on a platter.

St. Paul-Apostle of the Gentiles

St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child

St. Raphael the Archangel

Blessed Immelda Lambertini

and St. Charles Borromeo

St. Florian, patron of firefighters

St. Dominic Savio

St. Luke the Evangelist

St. Elizabeth of Hungary

St. Lucia

Moses (Old Testament saint)

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Patrick

St. Isidore the Farmer

St. Joan of Arc

and St. Martin de Porres

St. Nicholas (the REAL Santa)

Blessed Pauline Jaricot

St. William of Rochester

St. James the Greater

St. Maximilian Kolbe

and St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Martin of Tours

Blessed Miguel Pro

St. Peter

and St. Tarcisius with the Blessed Sacrament safely at his heart

St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. Gertrude the Great

Pope St. Pius X

St. Sebastian riddled with arrows

St. Thomas More

and King St. Louis of France

St. Peter with the keys to the Kingdom

St. Michael the Archangel

St. John Vianney

and St. Patrick extending his blessing upon you

St. Michael the Archangel

Daniel and a Lion from the lion's den

and St. John Bosco

King St. Louis of France and St. George of dragon slaying fame (dragon visible in foreground)