Advent
In the Latin Catholic Church, the liturgical calendar begins on the first Sunday of Advent, which means we begin each year with our preparations for the birth of the baby Jesus! Seems very fitting. Advent is traditionally a time of prayer and fasting (it was sometimes called the “little Lent”) during which we prepare our hearts and our homes for the coming of Christ at Christmastime. It’s become more and more countercultural over the past few decades, but in our family we make a point of celebrating Advent during Advent, and Christmas during Christmas, rather than celebrating Christmas during Advent and nothing at all during Christmas. (CAY Compendium)
Blog Posts
Because Sometimes Folks Just Need to Get Punched: 7 Quick Takes XXXVII
--- 1 --- . . . by a Saint Happy St. Nicholas Day! Think Santa is all pipe-smoking and belly-laughs? Think again. Dude totally punched a heretic in the face AT THE COUNCIL OF NICEA! Seriously, you're going to want to read all about it here: When Santa...
Keeping Advent: Our Family’s Traditions
Here's a little glimpse at what the first few days of Advent have looked like at our house . . . Journey to Bethlehem (the board game) It's pretty much the best advent-themed board game ever. But it's a very limited edition, since Jack made it when he was in the first...
Our Favorite Christmas Picture Books
Reading this post from Haley at Carrots for Michaelmas and this post from Charlotte at Waltzing Matilda has made me realize that I really, really, really want our family to have 24 Advent/Christmas picture books that we love. Books that are pretty to look at and fun...
Three Reasons I Love Advent
A few weeks ago, I wrote about our family's advent philosophy, but now that advent is actually upon us, I wanted to share a little more about our three favorite advent family traditions. 1. Little People Nativity We have many nativity sets. We've got a big outdoor...
Handmade Jesse Tree Set Tutorial (in expert, intermediate, and novice versions)
There's still time before Thursday at 9pm Pacific to enter to win the giveaway. (To enter by leaving a comment on the original post go here.) The giveaway is over, thanks to everyone who entered! In case you didn't win, some of you wanted to be able to make your...
Our Favorite Family Read-Alouds for Advent
Advent is fast approaching, preceded by Thanksgiving of course, and (around here anyway) a new baby. Last week, I shared how Advent traditions have changed in our family. We really try to focus on Advent as a time of waiting and preparation. So, rather than watching...
Advent: How We Try to Celebrate Things in Their Proper Season Without Feeling Like Total Jerks
Now that Halloween, All Saints, and All Souls are behind us, I'm going to make like the mall and jump right in to Christmas. Thanksgiving schmanksgiving, amitrie? (I'm kidding, we do celebrate Thanksgiving. In fact this year we'll be having 15-16 family members at our...