Advent Planning

Some things need repeating.  This was originally posted last November but has been updated :)

I wanted to share the structure for my Advent plan.

This of course includes weekly Mass, Holy Days of Obligation,

Examination of Conscience, Reconciliation and the Daily Readings.

The First Sunday of Advent began November 29th. So if you don't have everything you need for your Advent Wreath you still have time. My plan for Advent begins the day after Thanksgiving and runs through the Feast of the Epiphany.  (Do you know the 12 days of Christmas?)

Every year I want to squeeze every moment of joy out of the holidays. Is it too much to ask? I want: great food, to create amazing memories, give perfect gifts, make crafts, send cards on time, make all the parish and community events, visit family and friends, take professional quality photos, not gain 10 pounds, sew something special, try those recipes from Southern Living, cut a real tree, decorate it like Better Homes and Gardens, get a decent parking place at the mall, and all while keeping Christ at the very center of the celebration? Yes of course it's a lot to ask, but you know what I want it anyway.

So an Advent plan for me is like any other plan I use. It helps me get the very most from my effort. My plan is more like a plan/calendar/curriculum.

To pull it together I started by pooling the resources. I made a list of books and stories I wanted to read aloud or have the kids read. Jotham's Journey is a Tradition, of course the Birth Story from the Bible.  Dicken's A Christmas Carol is up this year, and three DePaulo books - A Night at Los Posadas, Country Christmas Angel, and Jingle the Christmas Clown.  

As a family we made a list of all the movies we like to watch and we pulled them from shelf, added them to netflix or listed them to pick up from the library. I marked the calendar with events like the Immaculate Conception, Feast Days, Los Posadas, Way of Lights, Choral Concerts, benefit dinners, Chef Ball, etc. I reviewed community calendars and special events, as well as parish events.

Then I made a list of the special things I like to do with the family.
For example:
Crowning gifts: We make a collage from some of the Christmas cards from the previous year and then cut crowns from them. We decorate them with glitter and on the back we write down the gifts we received on Christmas Day, so we can look back the nxt year and remember.

Mary, Queen of Heaven Tree:
Small artificial tree decorated with prayer cards, pictures of the saints in heaven, made into blue and silver ornaments with Mary topping the tree and blue and silver ribbon.  We also make cards for family, or friends that have passed as well.  This is a tree to honor those who finished the race and are now in heaven.

Christmas Light Tour:
We have always made a special evening of bundling up with blankets, warm cookies, fresh donuts and a thermos of hot chocolate, then driving around to look at Christmas lights in our town.  We play Christmas music and sing carols.  It's silly and so much fun.  The best way is to go in ou pajamas with our house slippers and pillow and blankets.

Several baking days:
Cookies, breads, pies

Gifts for the neighbors:
We bake cookies, candy and treats and carry them to the neighbors especially those we know are alone at Christmas.

Paper Crafts:
Snowflakes, paper chains, snowmen, penguins, etc.  Not terribly original but always a favorite.

Birthday Cake for Jesus:
The kids make a cake for Jesus and we enjoy it on Christmas Day

Movie Nights:
We have some 30 favorite movies so evenings after supper, stories, and other events are often spent cozied up with our favorite movies. 

Geography of the Birth:
Fleeing to Egypt, Census, the Astronomy of the Star, the journey of the wisemen there is so much to learn!

Gingerbread Houses:
Everybody likes making a gingerbread house

Angel Tree Shopping:
Giving is the most important lesson and this year, family's are really struggling.  We are sponsoring an Angel again this year, but we have also committed to some secret Santa plans as well as taking a large load of my SimplyFun games and puzzles to the Ronald McDonald Houses this year.  I'll be looking for an angel that shares my uncle Earl's birthday, or his name.  Then I'll give the Angel to my grandma and let her know that the gifts were in his honor.  Each year we do this it is very special.

I'm adding this year - Boxing Day, Christmas Date with my dear husband, & a St. Lucia Breakfast which I am very excited about and we are going to do a Christmas Party with our homeschool group and I might squeeze in a cookie exchange.  I'm hosting a game day as a toy benefit for the Ronald McDonald House and extra discounts can be earned this month by donating cereal which I'm collecting for the food pantry.

I take the business of the season and think it out too.

Snow Fun:
No I am not predicting or scheduling the weather (yet). But when the snow comes we want to enjoy it. We can't enjoy it if we don't have what we need. So I've already purchased the new snow pants/bibs, located & double checked that boots fit, made sure we had coats, gloves, hats, and scarves. We have the sleds, stocked up on hot chocolate and marshmellows. 

Cold Weather Prep:
We are gettng our first load of firewood put up, we've cleaned the chimney, serviced the furnace, and gotten the heating blankets out.  The rock salt is purchased and in a crafty cute bucket by the door with a scoop!  The garage is cleaned so both cars fit comfortably.
Some of the stuff to still do:

I still have food stocking to finish
Cutting the tree
Decorating outside
Decorating inside

The kids are always very excited to see everything in store for them this year. Steve is excited to have so many opportunities for family time doing activities that he sometimes doesn't get to join in during school time.  For me this helps me remain focused and not feel pulled in too many directions.  It helps me no feel guitly when one activity or another doesn't work out.

I did not realize until I began to write all our traditions down how much there really is to do - no wonder it's so busy.
I'll be posting pics and sharing as I go - I am having SO much fun doing this, the kids are thrilled, and I am looking forward to every single day of Advent.

In Joyful Hope,
Robin

Pleasing to God

Sometimes when people learn that I am a homeschooling mom of 11 years they comment, "I could never homeschool."

Today, I did 3rd grade, 9th grade and College work (English 101 specifically).  I've done everything from explain capitalism and a free market economy in my own words, to scrubbing out my trash cans and brushing the dogs.  We read some C.S. Lewis, Emily Dickinson and the Bible (Nehemiah).  We are about to do some art, then science and writing. Mondays we don't start till noon. (yes, it's very nice)

I still have to decide what we are having for supper and do not say turkey! 

I really impressed myself today.  Is that prideful?  Sorry.  I think I've been doing all this for so long, that I have taken myself for granted.  I realized today what a really intense, demanding job I have.  It's not for noodle women. 

Our break is over and I need to get back on task, but I wanted to take a moment, to take a deep breath and and feel good about my efforts. 

I think it's very pleasing to God.  I think I am pleasing to Him.

~Robin
Housewife

Preparing for rain

I haven't visited this journal in awhile, because I haven't been the most extraordinary housewife lately.  I've been on my "Soapbox", on my Facebook, and on my Website but not terribly devoted to the first role in my life, being a housewife.

As I prepare my heart and home this Advent Season, I am trembling with anticipation of the birth of Jesus.  A rebirth in my faith, a deeper commitment, a renewed love for the man who gave His life for me, Jesus and for the man who devoted his life to me, Steve.

Just as during Lent, I am making preparations.  The external ones are time consuming and can even be a bit distracting for me.  I would love nothing more than to go on retreat until Christmas Eve.  Spend all my days praising and thanking Him, falling in love with Him anew, but that is not my vocation.  So I must revisit the habits that once so enriched my duties and filled them with praise.

This Advent above all else I need love.  I want to fall in love in a new way with my life, with my husband, my children, family, friends, my home, my homeschooling role, my work, my duties, my dogs, all my blessings.

I believe God has planned enormous blessings for me.  But I have not prepared my heart to receive them recently.  I have not prepared for the lifegiving water, the rain.  I have waited but did not prepare.  There is so much to do to prepare to hve your prayers answered, to have your life transformed!  It is not idle work! Now is the time to prepare.

Advent is about preparation for the coming and so I find it no accident that God gave me this wonderful season as an opportunity.  Week by week, I will follow His bright and shining star never losing my focus.  Knowing it will lead my Lord and King. 

This is the time! I love an awesome God.  Taylor said it yesterday, for no particular reason, "Mom isn't God awesome?"  Yes, He is.  I must prepare.

I hope to visit the housewife journal regularly again.  Clearly my inattention to this is a reflection of how little I have tended this area of my life recently. 


Pray for me?  As I prepare, that I will focus on those preparations only that are pleasing to Him.

As we wait in joyful hope,

Robin

Interruptions - A "Question of the Week" from a group I enjoy

I know this is a week old but my delay in responding illustrates my point :)

I have spent all my years, until the last one, not having to cope with scatterbrainitis - a common irritation of SAHM's caused by lack of sleep, too much caffeine and cartoons. Last year I was diagnosed with MS in addition to some other health problems and between this and medication I began to find it difficult to concentrate or remember and I began to sympathize with my scatterbrained sisters more frequently.

Next to the fatigue this was easily the worst symptom for me. Focus, discipline and efficiency are my strong suits, usually. To be distracted by interruptions and forget what I was doing was/is exhausting. I have a whole new sympathy for anyone whose brain works this way all the time.

Interruptions are just going to happen. Coping is the issue of course. So speaking logistically more than philosophically I think it is really a matter of discipline.

Some interruptions call for immediate attention - like the dog throwing up, or a child throwing up, an escaping hamster or small fires. Others like email, phone calls, errands, and tv, yeah, not so much. So if it's bleeding, vomiting, flooding, burning, crying, involves shards of glass, or plutonium it gets immediate attention. For all else it is submitted to two tests: Is it a pressing matter of faith, family, school or my business? and Is this the time to handle it or should I work it in at a better time?

Even important matters like prayer requests can be managed. If I take a phone calls from friends when I really am busy, I could be 45 minutes and my day can go sideways. If they text me their specific prayer request they can rely on me to stop what I am doing and go to my kneeler and pray immediately. They also know that I will call and make uninterrupted time with them when it is best for my family in the afternoon, or evening. Sometimes it's a message that is urgent and of course then I call. But the machine screens the calls during work or school time. I take lots of grief from my mom about not answering my phone but I would accomplis nothing all day.

I have certain days and times I respond to emails. Some are immediate, some are flagged and others need no response.

I am a planner. I love menu plans but find myself resisting being a slave to an overstructured schedule and opting for a written rhythm instead and a general plan for the day, week, and month.

When my children were small I used a plan of centers, special toy boxes or treasure chests in each room so as I cleaned they came along and explored something that they could only enjoy in that room.

I came to accept early on that this job was not for the weak hearted, disorganized or the lazy. If you are weak hearted,disorganized or lazy God has given you children to help you overcome it! He has a wonderful sense of humor.

On a spiritual note, distractions and interruptions can be the work of the enemy. Not everything that is good, is best for us. Keeping our eyes on the Lord, our mind on our mission and listening to the leading (and even the complaints of our husbands) will often keep us on track. We cannot be everything to everyone, God is, not us. This has been tough for me to learn and I am still working through it.

Blessings,

Robin

Today was another best day

Taylor Swift is awesome, not quite as beautiful or talented as MY Taylor, but a sure second. Watching this video is like hearing the story every mothers and daughters. I am so overwhelmed each time I hear it. It moves me to tears remembering my own pretty, stay-at-home mommy and all our best days and then looking around my amazing little girl. There is no greater gift than being a woman and a mommy. I hope this video makes you smile and cry. Love these days friends, they are the best.

stretch

Stretch, move, just a little.

I may not get in the high result cardio workout I want, but every morning, without fail I stretch from head to toe - kind of like a cat when it wakes up. 

I have a long road to to a healthier version of myself but it has to start with moving a little.  I have a lot to do every day but I have 2-3 minutes to stretch.

Faith, Hope and Love

I am quiet and busy today, moving from task to task with my old efficiency.  For two days I have felt 100% like me.  It's like seeing an old friend and not realizing until that moment how empty your life seemed without her.  At the same time I am thankful for the visit and trying not to think about her departure.

It is so strange for me to blog, and share myself.  As much as I share I hold back so much more.  There are so many needs infinitely greater than my own. 

I am thoughtful, and concerned about many things.  I'm in a good mood, please don't misunderstand, but just below the surface there is sadness with even a bit of desperation right now. There is so very much weighing on me this day, in this time.  I cannot pour my heart to you, though I long to do so, even to my closest sisters.

I've been lead in prayer to ponder all these things quietly in my heart, to take them only to my Father. 

I can ask only for your purposeful prayers for intercession and for miracles.  I need your understanding when I explain I cannot share at this time.  My Father in heaven knows all I need.  I believe my Father can do all things great and small which is fortunate because my needs are both great and small.

I find myself in an almost constant state of prayer and pleading.  These times are difficult for so many, and my prayer list seems neverending. 

I am thankful eternally for the peace that fills me even in times like these.  Faith, hope, and love - all I need and all I have.

Prayers please

Coveting your prayers tonight. This afternoon I began to have some serious weakness and pain in my right arm. I decided to go to bed, and rest. When I went to get up this afternoon, my right side was extremely weak, I fell. I've been in bed the rest of the day and I am going stir crazy.

My whole right side feels weak and I'm having considerable pain which is unusual for me.

The doctor will be ordering a seat/walker for me tomorrow. I really don't like the wheelchair and as much as I have tried to avoid this, I think it's time to at least have it.

I'm not sure how long it will take to have it delivered but it shouldn't be long. Is there a chance though that anyone has one I could borrow?

Please, please don't worry about me. This is just a temporary thing, it may pass by morning or I may need the walker for a bit. Not sure but it's not a big deal I promise.

I would ask that you pray specifically for the healing of my body, for patience, and for my family who has to help in ways they aren't always prepared for.

Oh and since I'm confined I might as well polish up that Kennedy thing ;)

Homeschool vs. Public School???

It's great to really see the pro's and cons of homeschooling in a real family.

bwhahahhahaha I love Dot!

Greatest Show

I have three beautiful children, 5 years apart. What many people do not know is that I also had three miscarriages. I have always wanted a large family.

I am so sad when people scoff, huff and shreik when I say I want another baby. In fact with each pregnancy people would comment, "why do you want to start all over?"

I'll tell you why...

Last night I watched a wonderful teen movie with my 14 yr old daughter, I sang my 8 yr old to sleep as I do almost every night with his three favorite songs - Pooh, Puff and Sunshine. Then my oldest came in from his first day of college and sat on the bed to tell me about it. I can think of nothing I would love more than nursing a baby while I plan a wedding.

I can't even begin to express to you how much I love motherhood. I love pregnancy, I love childbirth, I love nursing, and cuddles. I loved every single age without exception. In the terrible two's I saw my children grow strong and assertive, my teenagers have been amazing, not perfect but perfectly amazing. Sure I lost sleep, gained weight, and have gray hair but wow, as a full time, stay at home, homeschooling mom, I have had a front row seat in the greatest show on earth - Co-Creating life with my God.

It's my favorite show and I just want to play it again, and again.