What I Loved About Last Week (11th Ed.)

1. Monday and Tuesday I had class for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd all day. It was great to sit and talk with other people about the education of children all day. On Monday, Second Son's godparents were gracious enough to watch all four of my children while I was at class and Kansas Dad was at work. I am so very thankful for their good care, and particularly his godmother, who spent at least part of the day alone with seven kids seven and under. (Good gracious!) Second Son is so blessed to have them as godparents, and even more blessed to have the opportunity to really know them. I am so blessed that they live just down the road from us!

2. Story hour recipes for How to Cook a Turkey. Our story hour teacher asked each child how to cook a turkey and then printed recipe cards to share at the Thanksgiving celebration. I didn'thave time to write them up last week, but I did want to share. (It astounds me how often I can bake with the children and yet they have no concept of how to use an oven or how it works. Sigh. At least the recipes are amusing.)

First Son (a month shy of 8):

1. Set the oven for 20 degrees.

2. Then grab a turkey.

3. Make it die.

4. Take out the stuffings.

5. Then take all the feathers off.

6. Then go and cook it.

7. Then eat.

First Daughter (5):

1. Well, first you can take all the meat out.

2. Then you can, let's see, take out all the stuffing if there's some stuck to the meat.

3. Then cook the meat.

4. Then eat.

5. Set the oven at 53 degrees.

6. Cook it for 20 minutes.

Second Daughter (3):

1. Turn on the oven to 2 degrees.

2. Cook it for 3 days.

Pretty drawers

3. On Tuesday, I stopped at Hobby Lobby to pick up supplies for our annual Christmas ornament. While there, I spotted a cardboard Advent calendar of drawers for 50% off and couldn't resist. I spent Tuesday night cutting and gluing scrapbook paper on it to make it beautiful and eagerly anticipate opening the first drawer on December 1st. Of course...I'm not entirely sure what will be in the drawers. So far I have the little pieces of our magnetic Nativity set and will also probably write a special Advent activity for each day on a folded piece of paper.

Reading for filling

4. I also bought a white candle for the center of our Advent wreath. It, and the small mirrored candle stand were also 50% off. We set out the wreath just before Thanksgiving, because it's pretty and because it was in front of the box of Advent books I needed to pull out anyway. The children were intrigued by all the pictures "carved" around the bottom. Each week has a different set of four images to remind us of something. A pamphlet in the box explains each of the images (and gives Scripture suggestions as well). I bought ours at a local Catholic bookstore, but you can find it online as well. (Here's one.)

Images for the First Week

5. On Wednesday the kids and I cleaned, which is to say I cleaned while the kids complained. I finally figured out how to get my floorboards as clean as I like in the kitchen. (It involves hands and knees scrubbing with an actual scrub brush, which was not so fun, but they were clean!) I was so pleased with my progress I took a two hour break to take Second Son outside (with his older siblings, of course) to play on the swings and run around in the yard.

6. Thanksgiving - wonderful wonderful! Kansas Dad's parents came for the day. Kansas Dad made a fabulous meal. They brought four desserts including a homemade apple pie! At the end of the day, my house was still remarkably clean, which is really saying something considering the dishwasher is temporarily out of order.

7. On the day after Thanksgiving, we did nothing. Well, Kansas Dad worked and the kids and I did little at home. I had considered a trip to a museum or something but decided in the end to just relax. (Isn't it great to be a homeschooling mom?) I did a little Black Friday shopping online at some Catholic stores and (dare I say it?) have almost finished shopping for the kids. We only buy one thing for Christmas (generally a toy, though I tend to the educational ones), but we have stockings to fill for St. Nicholas's feast day and small faith-filled gifts for Epiphany...not to mention First Son's birthday and baptism anniversary.

8. First Daughter and Second Daughter drew some amazing portraits this week. (See how hard Second Daughter is working above. She insisted on finishing before she could eat her dinner.) First, we have Second Daughter's portraits - that's First Daughter on the left and me on the right. She told me I'd have to draw in my own arms. (Was she tired? Or just hungry for dinner?)

Below we have First Daughter's portrait of Second Daughter. Kansas Dad is impressed with how First Daughter's pictures look like whatever she says she's drawing now.

6. The Catechesis children processed into Mass with the new Missal this weekend. I love how our priest always thinks of the children and how to involve them in our parish life.

7. First Daughter, talking to Second Daughter at the dinner table, after Kansas Dad had made a remark to me, "We need a you-know-what tonight; that means we're going to have a bath."

Blessed Advent!