Links for Advent Week 3

Oh, my - busy week!  The Nutcracker (Kalliope's first!) is one for the books.  She did great - as did all the young dancers. So - anyway - very quick on the links today.


How to wrap gifts like a Japanese professional.

Making traditional mincemeat pies - I do LOVE mincemeat!

You know, the Advent and Christmas season can positively buzz with activity making it difficult to provide healthy home-cooked meals.  And right at a time when you are trying to spend more time as a family...and less money at restaurants!  Once a Month Meals is a like the honey in that wild buzzing beehive of the holiday season.  Check it out - great resource for quick fix and make ahead meals.

Do you, like me, seem to wind up every year with some oddly-shaped gift that absolutely defies wrapping?  Oh, sure you can just get an enormous gift bag...but then the gift just sort of knocks around in there always tipping over.  Check out this helpful idea!

Links for Advent Week 2

The parade coming down Main Street.

Good Sunday evening, friends!  Our little Kalliope is going to be in the county youth ballet's production of The Nutcracker...and today all the cast members got to participate in our small town Christmas Parade!  She was so excited to ride the float and feel like a "star".

There is something so comforting and lovely about a small town at Christmas, especially: walking the town today, seeing some familiar faces, hearing greetings of "Merry Christmas" yelled back and forth.  Love it!

Here's the float - I marked Kalliope with a yellow arrow.

On Saturday, we had a very low-key St. Nicholas feast day.  Shoes by the fireplace and gingerbread for breakfast.  The weather was awful, so we ditched some outdoor plans and opted instead to drive to a local house that does an amazing light show.  Then we came home and watched "Rudolph".


Here are some links from the last week:

Anne Kennedy at Preventing Grace with a funny and heart-rending post about Advent.

Faramir, Erik, and Artemisia

An Advent calendar from The Economist - not at all "Advent-y", but interesting!

This is an older post, but I just love the humility and grace she expresses as she shares with us her desire to incorporate Advent into her life.   (Becoming Peculiar)

Christmas Trivia Game - One is more secular, the other has more religious-oriented questions.  I'm going to combine the two to use with my classes for a fun game on their last day before break (Dec 4th)...and then again with my family!

More serious: Ferguson in the Shadow of Advent

Artemisia and I enjoying some Peppermint Mocha
from our awesome coffee shop.

This one isn't particularly Advent-ish, other than that I've put this book on my list to Santa...wonder if he'll bring it?  Marilynne Robinson's "Gilead" books, now a trilogy, are by far my most favorite pieces of contemporary literature.  Some people find them too slow...I adore them for their slow, careful pace.  I haven't read Lila, yet, but I can recommend it highly based on the previous books. And I think it would make exceptional, if un-orthodox, Advent reading. A good review by Amy Frykholm.

Saint Nicholas Feast is nearly upon us!

Jan Steen - The Feast of Saint Nicholas - 1663
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Today I had to run a couple of errands, and so that means, as is almost always the case, a child or two is with me.  This makes shopping for Christmas tricky.  But I'm good at distraction and subterfuge.  Which is good, because I had a couple more things to pick up for St. Nicholas' feast day.

Are you celebrating?  It doesn't have to be a fancy celebration...shoes by the fireplace with a bit of chocolate and maybe a very small gift is certainly in the spirit!  Sometimes we do a lot, sometimes we only do a little.

This year it will be a little feast as we have a busy Saturday.  Some goodies in the shoes and a breakfast of freshly made gingerbread.


Here are some posts to get you started:

• So why Saint Nicholas?

• Santa, santa everywhere....how to turn those Santas into a Saint!

• My own past posts about St Nicholas

• And, if you homeschool, perhaps a little Picture Study using Jan Steen's Feast of St Nicholas (that's the image above).  Here's a little background from the Rijksmuseum where this painting is housed.

I'd love to hear how you celebrate!  Please share in the comments - and link to your blog if you have a post about your celebration!  I'll update here!

Links for Advent Week 1

Welcome to Advent week 1!  

Here are some links I've collected in the last week for you.  Just a few this week to whet your appetite.

• Lent and Beyond is an amazing and extensive resource for Anglicans and other liturgical-minded Christians.  Loads of Advent links!

• Christmas Movies - I love to record them and have some to watch during the 12 Days.  This website has a very complete listing, and very easy to copy and paste into a document for printing. The bold ones are this blogger's top picks (classic movies and such).

Yesterday, I let the girls dig through the Christmas crafts box.
Oh, they had fun, which is obvious from the mess they made!

• The Celebration Project - my IRL friend Amy (and a friend of hers, Deb) are blogging their way through the Church Year - a project near and dear to my heart!  Be sure to subscribe to this blog if you also love the Church Year.  And don't miss her guest posts on St Nicholas from Anne Kennedy (of Preventing Grace) and yours truly.  (I'm so honored that she even asked!)

• Preparing for the New Church Year - from Internet Monk.  This is an exceptionally-complete introduction to the Church Year.  If you are new to this whole concept, this is a great place to start.  But even if you are quite familiar with the Church year, you can find some very helpful resources.  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

• A grown up's Advent calendar - Professor Carol puts out a fascinating email-based Advent calendar.  Lots of interesting historical and cultural tidbits!  

Daybook - Monday, Dec 1st

outside my window . . .  the leaves are falling as fast at I can pay my kids to clear them.  I'm torn between trying to keep a cleared driveway and yard and just waiting until they ALL FALL.

listening to . . . Kalliope's spoon scraping the bottom of the bowl of her favorite breakfast: Cream of Wheat.  She's the only child who really likes Cream of Wheat, which makes me quite satisfied.  I've passed on the love of creamy wheatiness to another generation, as well as the jingle my Dad always sang when he served it to me, "Cream of Wheat, Good to eat, Makes the Baby fat and sweet!"

wearing . . .  Oh, heavens - I'm still in my PJs.  At 9:45.

so grateful for . . .  really good friends.

pondering . . .  see below

reading . . .  finishing up the last couple of chapters of  The Litte Way of Ruthie Lemming by Rod Dreher, which has made me want to really put down some roots in this little town of mine, but also it has made me want to move home to Va Beach.  Dreher's writing about his sister's illness has helped me understand more clearly the purpose of suffering in this life.

creating . . . Russian Tea Mix for gifts this week.  I'm not sure this really counts as "creating" since it is really only mixing and dumping.

around the house . . . Plotting and planning rearranging my den and sun room.  Maybe pictures to follow!  We have a nice sized den, but with two full-sized couches (which we need with 6 of us - and four of them full-sized humans) it is cramped.  I'm thinking a slight rearrangement just might work.

from the kitchen . . . Ok - I posted this on Facebook, so disregard if you are a FB friend and have already seen this.  Made a most-delicious pie for Thanksgiving: Buttered-Maple Black Walnut Pie.  NO corn syrup!  Made the old-fashioned way with maple syrup and butter.  Really, really lovely - custardy and delectable!  That website is all "old" recipes - so a great resource.

real education in our home . . .  We always break for the holiday season.  This will be our last week of school.  Instead, we'll focus on Advent, puzzles, playing checkers (a new favorite thing), learning some kitchen skills, and preparing for Christmas.

My new-to-me teapot.

the church year in our home . . . Thanksgiving and Advent falling on the same weekend always means I don't quite get my Advent act together.

one of my favorite things . . .  Just bought this lovely little teapot at a local consignment store.  It is perfect for our school morning tea.

recent milestones . . . My eldest is just about to complete his first semester of college.  He's attending my (and my husband's) Alma Mater: James Madison University.

the week ahead . . . Last day of classes (I teach 2 classes on Thursdays to homeschoolers), last day of Classical Conversations, getting ready for Saint Nicholas Day (more posts about this very soon), and putting Advent up.

picture thoughts . . .

Girls and I spent a morning at a local park.  This heron, cautiously hunting
his breakfast, is a resident of the pond.  He is reamarkable.

A weekly feature hosted at The Simple Woman's Blog.