Advent

But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,

and from his roots a bud shall blossom.

 The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:

a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

A spirit of counsel and of strength,

a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD.

Advent Mayhem

 Every year I ask the boys if they want me to put up the Advent Calender with the Nativity. I keep expecting them to say they are too old for it. Nathan hasn't had much interest in it these past two years but Nolan always responds with a resounding "yes!"

What I know is that Nolan enjoys making his own Nativity scenes. He has done this since he was young. It used to bug Nathan something awful which also added to the charm, I'm sure. Now, many parents would be upset that their teenage son was setting up scenes in which Mary was throwing Joseph into the fire and the angel Gabriel was being munched on by some hoofed animals. I know that boy's heart and it's all in good fun. 


So, enjoy your Advent traditions, whatever they may be!

Best Intentions

Our read aloud, prayer cards, Nolan's rosary and Advent candle (getting low).

I had the best intentions of blogging more this Advent season. Time has a way of getting the best of us. Our lives have been full and busy. Here we are a week before Christmas. I decided to give the boys a few extra days off school this year. I've never done that before but we are just shy of 90 days of school (which is half way finished) so I think we have plenty of wiggle room to take a well deserved break. To be honest, I think I'm more excited about the extra time than are the boys!

More on the mantle. The boys like to rearrange the nativity each day. Sometimes it gets pretty wild.

I wanted to share a little of what we've been doing. This year I changed our Advent tradition just a little bit. For many years now, I've had Advent boxes for the boys to open. Each box contains one piece of their nativity. There's plenty of days that also include a little candy. We also usually read The Jesse Tree each day and for many years put up the homemade ornaments the boys created many years ago.

Here is Mary peeking in her basket at a little kitty. Can't you just imagine her really doing this 2000 years ago?

This year I made advent houses that adorn our mantle. I'm really pleased with how much better they look than the boxes did. They don't hide the contents quite as well, though. The boys don't seem to mind. This year I also bought the boys each an advent candle. This is our second year doing this and it is a BIG hit. You know how boys love fire. I changed up our reading this year a little. If the day included a saint's feast, I read the boys a story about that particular saint. If the day did not, I read a story from our St. Nicholas book. Starting on the 16th, I began reading One Wintery Night. I've had this book since the boys were toddlers but sort of forgot about it. It is a longer picture book with beautiful illustrations and tells the story of Christmas from Creation to the Cross.

More of the mantle. St. Nicholas made by Nathan so many years ago and his candle. The snowmen were gifts from my nieces and sister-in law over the years.

I feel fortunate that my boys still love a simple story read to them. They love all of these little traditions that we include in our day. I didn't grow up with the Liturgical Year and as a family we didn't really have many traditions. Perhaps that is why I love them so much now. I would love to hear about your traditions. Leave me a comment or send me a link. And have a wonderful Saturday.

Feast of St. Andrew

Today is St. Andrew's day. It is also the 3rd day of Advent. Tomorrow we will be able to start using our advent house/calendar. Till then we've burned down our advent candles to the number 1.


I learned something new that I didn't realize before concerning St. Andrew. I knew that he was the brother of Peter and that they were fisherman called to be disciples by Jesus. What I didn't realize was the timeline of events that occur when you put several gospels together. I was always a little amazed that the two just left to follow this poor carpenter without a whole lot of information. Today I realized that when they were called, they had already spent time with Jesus. In John 1, Andrew was introduced to our Lord by John the Baptist. Andrew spent the day with Jesus. After this,he told his brother, Simon (Peter) about Jesus. It was after this that Jesus called them to follow him and become fishers of men (which was the reading for today in Matthew). 


Why I never put these two gospel passages together in such a way, I don't know. I've always wanted to read the four gospels to put them together chronologically, historically and spiritually. 


Well, the boys and I read the passage in John about Andrew and then set out to memorize the 12 disciples. I used the book Memorize the Faith! by Kevin Vost to help us. His method works like a charm. We still remembered them all by lunch. 


Speaking of lunch, since St. Andrew was a fisherman I thought it would be fitting to have fish. So, a greasy breaded fish and french fry lunch was enjoyed by all. 

1st Day of Advent

image taken from Salford Office for Liturgy

Happy 1st day of Advent everyone. I just wanted to share a few links to help you if you haven't made any plans for the season. Because we homeschool we do a little more here than I would if my kids were in school. I've also learned that my boys (almost 13 and 14) love a good story, enjoy cooking and baking and hate crafting. I also know that they aren't too old for the traditions of their childhood, even if those traditions involve Playmobile. So, think about what your family enjoys and pick one or two things to do with them this Advent season as you anticipate the celebration of the birth of our Lord.

• Catholic Cuisine
• Catholic Culture
• St. Nicholas Center
• By Sun and Candlelight (search for advent)

These are just a few places to get ideas. The web is full of many more. Don't overdo it. Keep it simple. Have a peace filled Sunday.

Advent Decorations

Every year at Advent I like to stick with old traditions and make new ones. We've had advent boxes filled with candy and the Playmobile nativity for probably over 7 years. This year I made some advent houses from a pattern I found in Quilting Arts magazine. I was able to use my stash except for the ribbon and the beads.

 

The pattern called for the numbers to be put on the pocket which is on the back of the houses. I prefer the numbers to be on the front, so I bought wood beads and wrote the numbers 1-24 which I then sewed onto the doors of each house. Sort of a door knob of sorts. I filled the pockets with the nativity, candy and a few messages. I've got a few other fun or educational pieces up my sleeve for the holiday season. I hope to keep you informed of them as the days go by. Have a great start to the advent season tomorrow.

Advent lesson plans

I realized the other day that Advent was just around the corner. I can't believe how quickly this year is flying by. I bet if you talk to me in February I may feel differently!

I created our Advent lesson plans from two books. The first is The Real St. Nicholas. I bought this book last year but it arrived after the feast of St. Nicholas and so we really didn't use it. I'm excited to use it as our spine "reader" for Advent.

Yesterday I bought the book And What About Christmas by Amanda Bennett when I was scouring the used homeschool book box at a nearby homeschool store. I took the rest of our lessons from ideas I found in this book. As with everything I do, I pick and choose, make the lessons my own considering what I want the boys to learn and what they are capable of accomplishing.

Week 1: The story of Elizabeth and Zachariah.

• Read Luke 1: 1-25
• Write a short story (using dialogue) about Zachariah's visit from the angel.
• Map work: using an outline map of the "old world" outline the boundaries of the Roman Empire at the time of Christ's birth.
• Questions to answer: Who was Caesar Augustus and how did he impact Jesus' childhood? How does John fulfill Isaiah's prophecy? (see Isaiah 40)

St. Nicholas study: Read one story per day: Anticipation--A Memory of st. Nicholas Day, The Legend of the Three Daughters, The Nicholas Ship, St. Nicholas Buys a young man his Freedom.

Week 2: Mary, Joseph and the Annunciation (Dec. 8, Feast of Immaculate Conception)

• Read Luke 1:26-56 and Matthew 1:18-25
• (Nathan) write a narrative using dialogue describing the Annunciation.
  
• (Nolan) write a narrative using dialogue describing what you think may have happened when Mary told Joseph about her experience (and pregnancy).
• Map work: Draw a map of Palestine at the time of Jesus' birth including Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, Galilee, Samaria and Judea.
• Question to answer: What is the difference between the seasons of Advent and Christmas?

St. Nicholas Study: read one story per day: The Legend of the Three Stratilates, The Legend of Stilling the Tempest, St. Nicholas Finds the Path, St. Nicholas Retrieves the Ball. **Dec. 6th Feast of St. Nicholas. Put out shoes and fill with socks. My boys are always excited to get new socks on this day!

Week 3: Journey to Bethlehem and the birth of Christ

• Read Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 1:18-25
• Questions to answer: What is the Shepherd's Field? What is it like and where is it? What would an inn have been like in Jesus' day? What is the weather like in Bethlehem this time of year? Find 6 other names for Jesus as mentioned in the Bible.

St. Nicholas Study. Read the play on page 117, The Baker's Dozen. Figure out a way to video tape your own version of this play and post it on Youtube (and Mom's blog).

Week 4: Christmas Week

• Finish up anything from the prior three weeks. This week will be dedicated to some fun activities.
  
• Watch a movie depicting the birth of Jesus.

St. Nicholas Study. Read one story per day: The Legend of the Healing Myrrh, The Sick King and the Simpleton, St. Nicholas and the Ant.

Week 5: Epiphany (the week back to school in January)

• Read Matthew 2:1-12
• (Nolan) write a play about the Magi and Herod
• (Nathan) research and write about Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Why did the Magi give these things to Jesus and what are they used for?
• Map work: using an outline map of Eurasia, outline the possible route of the Magi.
• Questions to answer: Who was Herod and how did he affect the childhood of Jesus? Who was Rachel and how was she related to the story of Jesus? See Matthew 2:18, Jeremiah 31: 15 and Genesis 30:22-24.

We will, of course, read The Jesse Tree and add our Jesse Tree ornaments one by one as always. I bought the boys each an advent candle to burn while we read. This will be an evening activity vs. a school activity. Other web sites to visit include O Night Divine, Catholic Culture, Catholic Cuisine and In the Heart of my Home.

Of course, Advent and Christmas wouldn't be complete without music. May I suggest you check out the lovely CD available by a good friend for your listening pleasure?

What are you planning this season?