A year's end

There is a kind of ancient, magical feel to this last day of the year. In Germany it was always referred to by its saint's name, Sylvester. The short days and long nights--but with the knowledge that the shortest day of the year is already past; the cold outside and warm glow of the Christmas lights (still up until at least Epiphany) within; the end of the old and beginning of the new...

It is a time of fresh beginnings and resolutions to improve one's self. It always seems such a daunting task to set out on paper what one hopes to achieve in the coming year. And so often we bite off more than we can chew and by February we are sick of winter and sick of ourselves and our failure to stick to our resolutions. In light of this, I am going to keep my resolutions very simple. Better to make few resolutions and keep them (I hope!) than to make many and fail at most. Here are the ones that come to mind first and foremost:

1) My new schedule for household and school will be structured around times for prayer, however brief, and the children will be included in these with the exception of my early morning and bedtime prayer. I will try to have this schedule worked out by the end of January (this gives me some time to work out the bugs).

2) My husband will not constantly be bumped to the bottom of the list of priorities. It's easy to do; after all, there are all these needy little people around me and Bret can take care of himself pretty well. But we have been passing by one another too often lately and failing to connect. The best thing we can give out kids is to have them see mother and father loving, laughing and interacting with one another (I said this to Bret the other night and he responded by asking, "So we don't lock the door?" Please: Lock the door. )

3) I will try to be more patient and joyful with my children, and when I must discipline, I will try to do so without screaming. That's a tall order, as my boys are rather noisy and rarely hear me unless I scream. And they tend to ignore my pleas for quiet even when they do hear me. But I will try, because my being loud certainly won't make them quiet. I don't know that I can fake patience, but I will try to control my volume at least.

I have other goals, lesser ones. But these first three are for the spiritual and emotional well-being of my family, and any other goals are secondary. The other goals also rely on my coming up with a workable schedule, so really everything depends on this.

When someone sends you yarn...

...make baby things! It's nearly instant gratification, as baby things are so small and quickly made. I love the colors in this wool Elizabeth H. sent me.

I had some left over, so I made my first pair of Mary Janes for Gemma. I had to fiddle with them a bit in the blocking, as I somehow knit one a bit bigger than the other.

First Solids

Gemma had her first taste of rice cereal today. I'd have loved to post a photo of her reaction, but it was so violent that she appeared only as a blur in the picture. This she followed with trying to stuff her bib into her mouth, no doubt trying to wipe the vileness from her tongue.

My girls

Handmade this Christmas

There's nothing like budget constraints to foster creativity! Here are a few of the things that we made this Christmas:

Una's doll bed, which Bret made and for which I made the covered mattress, pillow, fitted sheet and pillow case. I ran out of time and so we still need to make a blanket, comforter or quilt.
My mother received a new Christ Candle, which she hopes to have blessed on the Feast of the Presentation. Ideally, it would then be taken to the Easter Vigil Mass and be lit from the Christ candle there.
I already posted photos of a few of the things Bret and I made for Gemma. The oval with the handle is a rattle filled with some little red beans. It has a nice, mellow sound.
I made each of the children a little felt/wooden bead gnome as a stocking-stuffer. Here are four of them around the wool-roving fire. The idea came from Magic Cabin.
Rice-filled hand-warmers cut from an old felted sweater and decorated with a needle-felted heart by Una. These are for Bret, who can put them in his pockets when he goes out to milk the cow in the morning.
A little Waldorf-inspired baby in a walnut shell. This was pretty easy, and I made several as gifts. I think I will make a lot of these next year for our local craft fairs and swap meets.Maybe after the new year I should begin stockpiling things for Christmas 2010!

Simple Woman's Daybook for 28 December 2009

Outside my window…6:17 and dark. 21 degrees. Nice that we have nowhere we have to go today...

I am thinking…about the whole crazy, busy, joyful Christmas weekend! Although there were a few failures (I didn't get half of my Christmas cards out this year, and I would have liked to have my house clean for Christmas, and I wish the boys had all had fresh haircuts and shined shoes for Mass), there were successes as well (a single neighbor invited for dinner obviously enjoyed himself and stayed until bedtime; the games I purchased for the kids have been very popular; we talked to my dad in NC over the webcam using Skype, and even though I didn't get two last varieties of cookies done, we still had more than enough to give away and many left for ourselves as well).

I am thankful for…Faith, Friends and Family. Those are the big ones. Health pretty much tops the list, too. I always fear that Christmas will fall short of everyone's expectations, and without fail it always exceeds our expectations. That is Christ's birthday gift to us...

From the kitchen...I'm not sure yet. We have these confused chickens who were laying only 2-3 eggs a day during the summer and now, with the shorter daylight hours, are suddenly putting out 5-7 eggs a day. Suddenly I have dozens of eggs...and the kids don't even really like eggs!

I am creating…I'm sewing up Gemma's longies today, and yesterday I made a pair of booties. The girl has such dainty feet that even the size 1 shoes are still too big on her.

I am reading ...A Mother's Rule of Life is one of the gifts I received from my mother, and I have to begin reading it this week. I think it is just the book I need right now.

I am hoping...to have a relaxing week in spite of several things that must get done.

I am hearing…quiet children. Several are drawing in the living room right now.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I really need to get a goal plan in place for the next six weeks of school, and an updated menu plan in place for myself. I need to write a little "newsletter" for those friends who didn't get Christmas cards. I have to come up with what we will serve on New Year's Eve, since my sister's family and my mother will be coming over.

I am praying...for our family. I always do, of course, but I want to pray more specifically for all the various needs of each member of the family. I want to make a special point of praying with the children, and it gets harder as they get older--harder just to get everyone in one place. We do pray the Rosary each evening, but I really want to have a time at the beginning of each day.

Picture Thought: I love being the first one up in the house and doing my morning prayers and having my coffee by the light of the Christmas tree. Like a child, I would like to have the tree up all year 'round, but I know that in doing so it would lose all of its magic...Visit Peggy at Simple Woman's Daybook for more entries.

Christmas 2009

"...But peaceful was the night
Wherein the Prince of Light
His reign of peace upon the earth began..."

--On the Morning of Christ's Nativity, John Milton

Expectation

I'm pretty well done for today. Too little sleep and a cold, but it could be worse. At least I have most things squared away. The last of the cookies are baked, the gifts are all purchased/made/wrapped. The tree is up and decorated. The cards didn't all get out, but I won't beat myself up too much over that. Nor have I the strength to fret over cleaning oversights.

For tomorrow's dinner I'm making this clam chowder with fresh, whole-grain bread and a few little finger-food appetizers.

And now to bed. Tomorrow still has its chores--getting everyone bathed, making mini portobello mushroom quiches, hanging the stockings--but most of the real work is done, and I will look forward now to the moment when I lift my feet off the ground and coast into Christmas. As always, I wish I was more ready for the Divine Infant's coming than I am (I mean, shouldn't I be absolutely awestruck and bowled over by the reality of the Incarnation? And yet I can still get caught up in a million mundane temporal details instead...), but I suppose that as long as I know how ridiculous and petty I am, there is some hope for my salvation.

I'd best be off to bed now...I am yawning several times a minute. Good night, all!

Prayers needed immediately

After just recently dealing with her daughter's brain surgery (originally deemed inoperable, but nevertheless successful, thanks be to God Almighty), Julie's large, home-schooled family now has to deal with Child Protective Services wanting to "investigate" on the 23rd (tomorrow). The reason? A large family. Read Julie's post here, and pray for her family, and for all homeschoolers.

Soft

Dawn breaking the morning after the longest night of the year...

Make a virtual snowflake!

I have this in my sidebar under "Just for Fun" year 'round, but this is really the season for it. If you are lucky enough to have time to waste, give it a try!

Simple Woman's Daybook for 21 December 2009

Outside my window…6:13. There's a glittering frost on the yard. Can't wait for the sun to come up so I can see it sparkle.

I am thinking…what everyone else is: only a few days left until Christmas! Can one think of anything else?

I am thankful for…diminishing colds in our family; the fact that my kids are still children and all living at home; friends--my gosh, I haven't a huge circle of friends, but the ones I have are priceless. (Cindy V., I don't know what good I've done in my life to deserve you as a friend, but I am indeed thankful!)

From the kitchen...Who knows? They can eat sugar out of the sugar bin with a spoon, as long as they let me get things done around here! Okay, I'm just kidding...

I am creating…Can you believe I still have a few presents to make? I am putting Gemma's second pair of longies on hold until after the 25th.

I am reading ...lots and lots of Christmas and winter-themed books.

I am hoping...to have a clean house for Christmas. My kids groan and tell me that since we aren't having company other than family, it isn't important. I tell them that the Divine Infant is coming, and we should make our home ready to receive Him.

I am hearing…nothing. Not a thing. The calm before the storm, no doubt.

A few plans for the rest of the week: baking three types of cookies so that I can be done with it and start making up bags and trays to give as gifts. I have three gifts to make if I can. I want to get my workroom cleaned up, because it looks like a hurricane struck it. I am still trying to get some cards mailed out. I am wondering what the kids will wear for Mass...

I am praying...for my friends, those near and those I've made through blogging, and for their families. For my dad, and for a year of hope for all those who have suffered tragedies or hardship in their families in 2009. Less importantly, I am praying that Gemma will get days and nights straightened out. She's 5 months old, for crying' out loud! I'm still nursing her nearly every two hours at night because she only sleeps attached to my bosom, although she can go for 5 or 6 without nursing during the day! Consequently, like the mother of a newborn, I am getting very little sleep...

Picture Thought: Click on the snowflake poster below to see an enlarged image. How can anyone not believe in God? I mean, these are ice crystals which live for only a moment and for the most part are seen by no one but their Creator. What perfection! I frequently am in disbelief over the fact that I am 46 years old, as nature has lost none of it's wonder for me, and my heart still leaps at the thrill of a lit up, decorated Christmas tree. May you all be filled with child-like wonder, too, this Christmas.There are more Daybook entries to be read at Peggy's. Enjoy!

7 (really) Quick Takes Friday--volume 62

One.
Gemma and I slept out in the livingroom again. She wouldn't sleep until after 10, but slept fairly soundly. I did nurse her three times last night, but she was less restless in between nursing. She has a stuffy nose, but thankfully didn't have too much trouble nursing.

Two.
I am really late with the Christmas cards this year. Friends in Europe (the couple I've left there after twenty-odd years over here) will likely get my cards after the 25th. A number of people will have to be satisfied with an email greeting (I know, you can't display those, so they aren't as nice as a card in the mail!) Those friends and family who celebrate Hanukkah...? Well, I blew it this year. It came early and caught me off guard. Oops. Sorry!

Three.
Thanks to a friend who is making runs to a Food Co-Op in Nashville, we will be expecting a bushel of Fuji apples and 88 navel oranges tomorrow! A bushel! I had to look that one up, but apparently there's about 42 lbs. of apples in a bushel basket! That is about what my two youngest kids weigh together!

Four.
Back to work today after a marvelously lazy day yesterday. I did nothing (well, one small load of laundry which I haven't even folded yet). We watched Polar Express and A Christmas Story, we drank hot cocoa with marshmallows and ate spekulatius, we cut paper snowflakes. And I nursed and held a sick baby. I really enjoyed being an underachiever for a change. But now I'm another day behind, and I guess I'll have to march double-time to catch up...

Five.
I'm hoping we will get our Christmas tree today or tomorrow. I want to go with Bret this year. Last year my brother-in-law chose a perfectly beautiful tree for us, but Bret? My sister's theory about Bret is that he picks trees based on compassion. He always seems to find the most pathetic tree with some gaping hole somewhere that needs to be filled in with our largest ornaments. True, by the time it's all dressed up, any tree looks fairly good. But dressing it up is more pleasant when the tree doesn't look like a Dr. Seuss creation...or Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.
Six.
So, generally we get a tree a bit before Christmas and then keep it at least until Epiphany if not longer. Here in the South, it seems most people put them up the day after Thanksgiving and then the trees, minus any needles, are on the curb the day after Christmas. What are your thoughts on this?

Seven.
I would love to hear about other families Christmas Eve traditions. We've been fiddling about with ours the last few years, and I am eager to have a "tradition" in this house. I liked having an easy buffet of finger foods and such for Christmas Eve, since we generally feast on the 25th. But the vigil of a Feast is generally a day of abstinence, and I was thinking about a simple meal of Clam Chowder and homemade bread this year (not that that would go over well with the kids...)

Anyway, this still took me longer than I'd hoped. I need to put a couple of cards in the mail and knit a bit before Dominic awakens and the house is subsequently thrown into chaos!

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen over at Conversion Diary. And have a happy "Last Sunday of Advent Weekend"!

Maybe not a "miracle"...

...but Sebastian would declare it such.

We almost never get snow, at least nothing more than a little flurry. If we get anything that sticks to the ground, it is usually in February. Not in December. Certainly not on Christmas. As Sebastian said a week or so ago when we were talking about snowmen, "It would be a miracle if it snowed on Christmas!"

Right now the forecast is showing a very good chance of snow for the 24th-26th of December. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I want Sebastian to have his "miracle"...

Sick baby

The plan was for me to take the baby and go to bed early last night, as I've been averaging less than 6.5 hours a night and am feeling it keenly. That was the plan, anyway, but in the evening Gemma began to feel warm, and by bedtime she had a 101.2 temperature. And she didn't want to sleep. At 10:30, with her still up, I made up the sofa bed in the living room and she and I moved out there. More room in that bed for us, and she was "talking" loudly enough that she'd have awakened everyone else in the house. She finally dozed off. At 12:30 I changed a dirty diaper, and at 3:00 when she woke me, I took her temperature again. 102.8. She didn't get back to sleep until 4:45. At that point I couldn't get back to sleep.

I hate having sick children, especially babies. I just want the world to stop turning so that I can do nothing but hold and nurse and watch the baby all day.

Okay, so the butter, the baking and the gift wrapping will not get done today. On today's revised schedule: lots of read-alouds, Christmas coloring sheets and maybe watching The Polar Express.

More baking...and recipes

Mocha-Chip Pinwheels about 7 dozen

1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 3/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon powdered instant coffee (rub granules through a fine sieve)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4-1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Beat butter and sugar together in a large mixer bowl at high speed until fluffy. Add the egg and blend in. In a medium blow, combine flour, baking soda and salt and mix well. At low speed, beat the flour mixture, one half at a time, into the butter mixture until just blended.
Divide dough in half and place in separate bowls. Add the powdered coffee to one and the cocoa to the other. Mix well (I usually knead it in by hand).
With nonstick cooking spray, lightly grease a 13" x 9" pan. Line with plastic wrap, extending the wrap beyond the ends of the pan. Press the coffee dough into the pan, covering the bottom evenly and chill 10 minutes. Pat the cocoa dough over the top to cover (I do a small area at a time, pressing it with my finger tips). Sprinkle the mini chips on top and lightly press into the dough.
Using the plastic wrap, lift the dough out of the pan onto a work surface. Roll tightly, jelly-roll fashion, from one long side. On a floured surface, roll and press the dough until it is 24" long. Cut in half and wrap each log in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 3 hours or freeze.
Slice with a sharp knife 1/4" thick and place on greased or parchment-lined sheets 2" apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes.


Maple Pecan Refrigerator Cookies makes about 3 dozen--I double it!

• 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
  
• 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1-1/4 cups finely chopped pecans

With a standing mixer, beat butter until creamy (about 3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat sugar in gradually. Add the egg and the extracts. Blend in flour. Divide dough in half. Place one half on a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Shape into a log about 2 inches in diameter, and roll in the chopped pecans to cover. Wrap the log and refrigerate for at least two hours, or freeze. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice dough into 1/4 -inch rounds. Bake on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheets until they start to get a bit golden (about 10 minutes).

Homeschooling vindicated--again!

Have you seen this article from the HSLDA? Seems we're not raising a bunch of social misfits after all (surprise, surprise!).

Let the baking begin!

A dog-eared, stained composition book, a stack of recipes printed off from the internet, loads of stockpiled ingredients and the weapons with which I do battle each year, and I am ready to begin the holiday baking. The madness in my kitchen is thankfully only an annual malady, but it is such that the kids may end up eating cereal for dinner if I'm in a frenzy...

Simple Woman's Daybook for 14 December 2009

Outside my window…5:24 and dark. A mild 54 degrees, and expected to get up to 60 today.

I am thinking…of this last busy week of Advent. Schooling will consist of just the basics this week so that we have plenty of time (uh...wait, is there ever plenty of time???) to bake and decorate. We don't put up our tree until just before Christmas generally, but we keep it at least through epiphany and often beyond.

I am thankful for…our colds. Yes, for all the Swine Flu hype this year, you'd think that half the country would have already been hospitalized by now. We have stuffy noses here.

From the kitchen...There will be a lot of cereal, oatmeal and defrosted banana or pumpkin bread this and next week, as mama will be very busy!

I am creating…another pair of longies for Gemma, knit from the lovely wool Elizabeth sent me. It is good to have several pairs of longies if one uses them as diaper covers, so that one can dry or be washed as another is worn. The first pair, knit from this pattern, turned out very well, and looks so cozy! I also finished another hat like the first I made Gemma, this one a bit larger so that it fits better. I love that pattern--one can knit it up in a few hours and it only takes a couple of ounces of yarn.

I am reading ...lots and lots of Christmas and winter-themed books.

I am hoping...to get a lot of baking done this week, and to get at least a little school done as well!
I am hearing…nothing. Not a thing.

A few plans for the rest of the week: baking, baking, baking. Wrapping presents. Decorating. Picking up a tree with the kids. Watching holiday movies and reading Christmas stories.

I am praying...not nearly enough as I ought. I'm praying a lot for my dad, who can't make it out here for Christmas, and who may end up spending Christmas alone. I have suggested that rather than be alone, to volunteer to serve meals at a shelter or deliver to shut-ins. Doing something kind for others has a way of taking us out of our own miseries.

Picture Thought: because I can't get enough of this baby girl...

You can read more Daybook entries here at Peggy's.

Finally done!

Today I finally completed Una's sweater, which I knit from this pattern. It was really easy, even for an "intermediate beginner" like myself. What took so long was getting the nerve up to seam it. I have never been good at seaming, but this book, a birthday gift from my sister, really helped. I wish I'd had some gorgeous yarn to use for it, but it looks like she will probably outgrow it by next year anyway.

Seven Quick Takes Friday--volume 61

One.
Two weeks until Christmas, and here is the short list of what I have not yet done: baked, decorated, wrapped gifts or mailed cards. What on earth, you might ask, have you been doing, Nadja? Good question. It deserves an answer.

Two.
I've been making stuff. I am finally down to one sleeve seam and three buttons to complete Una's sweater. I have a pair of long soakers knitted up for Gemma, but they were curling too much to sew up, so I blocked them yesterday. I made a few more gifts and ornaments, and I have written out and addressed the first of my cards this morning. Why does it take so much time to get so little done? I think it must have something to do with all these little people who keep interrupting my various activities with demands for food and attention.

Three.
I need to be very efficient and to try to squeeze in an extra hour early in the morning and late in the evening so that I can get everything done in the next seven days. I am hoping to spend at least the last week of Advent doing things with the kids. Baking up all the frozen cookie dough, making ornaments and cards for neighbors, watching movies and reading stories. And drinking lots and lots of hot cocoa!

Four.
Every year I aim for The Perfect Advent--or at least something more akin to Marilyn's Advent with her family. And every year I get lost in the same blizzard of activity. And every year I say, "I will do better next year."

Five.
One thing I am doing this morning is looking at the Crafty Crow for some easy crafts the kids can do. For the last couple of days they have been taking advantage of my busyness and talking me into videos and computer games when schoolwork is done. I know that Una at least has been wanting to "make something". The boys would rather whine for videos and computer games, but maybe I can get them doing something more constructive for an hour or so today.

Six.
My sister has just moved into her new home. It's only 15 minutes away, but after having her only a minute away for the last 7 years, it seems far. We are supposed to build on the property adjoining hers, but have to get this place fixed up and sold before we can afford to build. Sometimes it seems like it will never happen, but I am looking forward to it, whenever it finally does happen.

Seven.
Please say an Ave for my dad, who is going through a particularly rough spot right now.

For more Seven Quick Takes, visit Jennifer's Conversion Diary. And have a great Advent weekend!

Christmas came a bit early...!

Once again I am struck by the thoughtful generosity of women I've never met but over the internet.

A little over a week ago I made a comment about loving those big, beautiful liturgical calenders that show the entire cycle of the year, but with Christmas and all it wasn't in the budget. Well, someone with an extra calender was reading my blog. Elizabeth, who lives in my former home-city, sent me a laminated calender and, as she is a fellow knitaholic, some beautiful hanks of wool yarn!

You're a sweetie, Elizabeth. You remain in my prayers.

The Immaculate Conception

Honestly, we have a hard enough time getting out of the house by 8:20 on Sundays to make it to Mass in time for Rosary. Leaving at 7:20 this morning was a real challenge, and we left the kitchen looking like a demilitarized zone. I didn't have time to eat, but I started to get low blood sugar and consequent shakes before leaving the house, so I grabbed a piece of bread and a to-go mug of orange juice as we left.

I had hoped to get home by 9:30, but no such luck. Bret wanted to stop at Goodwill to look for pants. Then there was a trip to a pawn shop to ask about getting a gun repaired, then a peek into an appliance shop to look at freezers, then we stopped for gas, then to pick up rabbit chow, then to pay the electric bill (which besides Mass was the only scheduled stop) and we finally made it home by lunch, all of us ravenous and Gemma soaked through her diaper and clothes. When you live in the sticks, you make the most of trips into town.

Well, we will be taking the rest of the day off. I think I will work a bit on knitting projects and then read to the boys and cut out some more snowflakes.

Have a blessed feast day!

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee, and for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially the enemies of Holy Mother Church and those recommended to your care.

Simple Woman's Daybook for 7 December 2009

Outside my window…6:10 and dark; 36 degrees. Bret is already out milking this morning.

I am thinking… of the days left until Christmas--so much to make and do; so little time! And of our Advent celebration last night. I'm a little sad that my CD player is broken--my favorite holiday music is all on CD.

I am thankful for…the fact that my struggles and challenges are so small compared to those given to some people. God has been so very gentle with me, knowing, I suppose, that I have such difficulty with trust.

From the kitchen...I keep forgetting to take pumpkin bread out of the freezer the night before! Maybe I'll do muffins this morning. Or a peach crumble...I also have to make butter, as the cream jars are piling up in the fridge. I'm using all the extra butter in my holiday baking.

I am creating…a pair of longies for Gemma, who has very few pants for winter. I also cut another pair of pants for her from the sleeves of a knit top, but ran out of white thread. Hope to sew them up today. Bret finished another teether for Gemma, this one a shameless rip-off of this one from Nova Naturals.

I am reading ...craft and knitting blogs and books, and The Liturgical Year.

I am hoping...to continue making and baking, and still get some schooling done this week!

I am hearing…Gabriel playing quietly in the living room and Bret washing the milking equipment in the kitchen.

A few plans for the rest of the week: making more paper snowflakes for the windows with the children; finishing Gemma's longies and pants and seaming Una's sweater; getting started on the wrapping of gifts and mailing of cards.

I am praying...in gratitude for Kimberly's happy news! And for my pregnant sister, who just moved to her new home this weekend, and for Cindy, making another trip to AL this morning.

Picture Thought: Nothing too interesting...just this year's Advent calender. We can no longer afford to get each child his or her own, and so the kids take turns opening windows, and then everyone gets a chocolate, which sweetens the disappointment for those who must wait for their turns.Visit Peggy's Simple Woman's Daybook for more entries.

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

Adventures in Felting

Emphasis on the Advent.
Nicole, of Frontier Dreams, had this wonderful idea for an ornamental Advent wreath with felted wool candles. Every year I decorate a large wreath of real greenery for our Sundays of Advent, but I wanted one to hang in the school room above the table. This one was perfect. It's my first wet-felting attempt, hence the uneven, lumpy candles, and yet I'm still pretty pleased with the result.

Seven Quick Takes Friday--volume 60

One.
We have a sudden temperature drop, and it finally is beginning to feel a bit wintery around here. This morning, as I turned up the heat and poured myself a cup of hot coffee, I thought, as I periodically do, about how terrible it must be to be cold and hungry and to be unable to do anything about it. Even worse to be old and poor and hungry. I thank God for food and shelter, and beg him to grant my family at least these most basic things for the remainder of our lives.

Two.
I just purchased a needle felting starter kit for myself and for the kids (the younger ones can try wet-felting), and I am very excited about trying it out, and I just want to say here that I NEED ANOTHER HOBBY LIKE I NEED MORE DEAD APPLIANCES!

Three.
I haven't lived in Germany since 1986 (omigosh, has it really been that long?), but I get homesick for Europe--and Munich in particular-- just about ever year around this time. I miss the Christkindlmarkt all lit up at night beneath the Gothic town hall, the steaming mulled wine, the hot sugared almonds and roasted chestnuts.

Four.
It is amazingly hard to find the perfect alarm clock. The night-time light-up feature went out on mine (yes, add that to the ever-growing list of things that are biting the dust around here), and I have yet to find the perfect one. It must be affordable, have batteries or at least a battery backup (we have frequent power outages), light up at night, not tip over too easily, be easy to set, not have to have the alarm reset every night and not have an obnoxious alarm nor be too loud. Tall order, eh? Wish me luck in my quest. I'll probably come across the Holy Grail first.

Five.
Along with the cold weather comes the inevitable bane of the homeschooling mother: the dreaded increase in indoor time and the consequent increase in bickering. I have asked my children to be aware of what it is they are giving Jesus for His birthday this year, and since Our Lord has no need of "stuff", to perhaps consider working on their patience and good will this Advent to make Him a worthy gift. I, of course, am working on that myself...

Six.
Let it be noted, in the cause of anthropological study, that it is much easier for the kids and me to appear patient and of good will when they spend more time in front of videos and computer games. This is, of course, a sham and not at all the genuine article. I'm working on that as well...

Seven.
Seven Quick Takes takes me longer than just about any other post. I am off to make beds and start school for the day.

See some more Quick--or Not-So-Quick--Takes at Jennifer's Conversion Diary. And have a great weekend!

Small Successes --Volume 45

1) Advent preparations: I took down the two creches (one for the dining room and another for the "altar" in my bedroom) from the attic crawlspace, put up our German Advent calender, and created a snowstorm of bits of white paper making paper snowflakes with the kids to put in the windows, which is a tradition in this house, and I found images on Google of all the significant saints and feasts in December, printed them out and posted them on our bulletin board. We have been praying a novena for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception after our rosary each evening and I have added the St. Andrew chaplet to my bedtime prayers.

2) I am on the second half of a knit pair of longies for Gemma. I also took a long-sleeved T-shirt which Una had outgrown and sewed up a quick pair of pants for her yesterday.

3) I ordered a steam mop! I have been griping about my horrible floors forever (they look like they need mopping just about every other day!), and my mom did the research, found the best price for the highest rated steam mop, and then gave me money for my birthday to cover it. It should arrive sometime in the next few days. Marilyn swears by hers, so I am hoping it will prove to be a boon to my housekeeping arsenal.

Now, head over to Faith and Family Live, and enjoy some more small successes, or share your own!