Preparing for Christ's Coming

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I love that God, in His wisdom, gave different seasons and feasts to the Church.  Right now we are in the midst of Advent.  A special time when we not only prepare for the celebration of Christ's birth, but continue to prepare our hearts and minds for when He comes again (which we should be doing all the time, but these four weeks are a extra reminder).

Some of our families' Advent traditions that we are trying to establish are using the Jesse Tree (placing ornaments on a tree that correspond to biblical readings outlining salvation history), use of the Advent wreath (candles and toddlers are an interesting combination), reading from our Advent story book, playing with the children's nativity set, St. Nicholas' Feast Day activities, etc.  As Monica (and her brother) get older, it will be fun to dive into these with more depth.   

Checking out the Reindeer.

Not quite tall enough.  Maybe next year.

That's right, pants-less tree decorating.  Classy stuff.

While I was pregnant with Monica, there was a lot of discussion and thought given to whether to believe in Santa or not.  Thanks to the wisdom and experience of other friends' families to come before me, my final conclusion is as follows.  In families where parents are super concerned about our children knowing the real meaning and importance of Advent and Christmas, they will!  Santa/ St. Nicholas are part of the joy and generosity of the season and therefore will be included.  We are not going to push believing in Santa, but not discourage it either.  That being said, Monica wants nothing to do with him right now.

Monica calls all trees "Christmas Trees" now.  Including the palm tree in her Nativity Set.

We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with my folks, Uncle and local friends.

Monica checking out our first snow.  It lasted a day.  None since.

In front of the Jesse Tree. 

We have/ get to redecorate the bottom half of the tree every couple days. :)

We broke her already!

I know everyone was hoping that I would regale you with detailed and witty descriptions of recent life events, but I am down to bare minimum functions as a tired incubator and somehow blogging doesn't make the list. 

Splint and sling she got from the ER.

 The biggest news would be our little monkey's buckle fracture.  Yep, we broke her already.  And somehow God is trusting us with another child!  She was bouncing around on a chair at a friend's house and when I told her to sit down she sat with excited defiance on the arm and her momentum took her over the edge.  She fell just right (or wrong) to cause a green stick fracture (bending a new twig in the spring: the bark breaks, but not the fresh green part in the middle).  Since kids this little really do have soft bones, her bone just bent.  She has a cast for three weeks to protect it, but should be just fine.  She has been a champ the whole time and hasn't let the cast slow her down at all.  I don't think this will be the last ER visit with our energizer bunny.

Stylish purple cast to sport for three weeks.

In other Monica news, her vocabulary and mental abilities continue to amaze us.  Right now she is obsessed with belly buttons, puzzles, Curious George (hey, this pregnant mamma needs a distraction), singing songs and saying no.  We've tried several times to capture her genius on video, but surprise surprise, she doesn't do everything we tell her to.  She must think she's her own person.  One of us is in for a rude awakening . . . unfortunately, it's starting to look like it will be me.

5 Reasons I'm Grateful . . .

To Be an American.

Blogging has been at the bottom of a long list of to dos and since life has been busy lately I haven't made any progress on said list.  A while ago I said I was going to post about being thankful.  Clearly that didn't stick.  But since Facebook has been alive with what everyone is thankful for I was reminded that I intended to post about thankfulness regularly. 

1.  I am grateful for this country that is "of the people, by the people, for the people."

2.   Even though my opinions rarely match the popular ones, I am grateful to live in a country where we choose our future through a free vote.

3.  I am grateful for all of the brave men and women who have given their lives in service for this country.

4.  I am grateful that we have an all volunteer military.  Because of the freedom to say no, their yes means so much more.

5. I am grateful that the American dream is still a reality.  Hard work and perseverance can bring you to your goals.  We are limited only by ourselves. 

It's not a complete blog post without a picture.  My little patriot and future veteran.

Pumpkin Patch

While Uncle Chris was visiting we did our traditional trip to the Pumpkin patch/ Apple Orchard.  You know, because we've done it twice, it's a tradition. This year we skipped the apple picking part because after we were done with all the pumpkin patch fun the temperature had dropped and someone was ready for a nap.  Monica actually wore her wings and antenna headband (oh the ridiculous things we do to our kids) for most of the outing.  Despite not picking apples we still bought traditional apple swag like apple cider, pie and donuts.  Yum yum. 

Pony ride!  Her third one, and the first time she didn't fuss when we first put her on.  She even road without an adult holding onto her.

 

Tony and Chris raced peddle carts.  Here is the end of their race.  Ignore my silly comments.

Electric fence when you know kids are going to be trying to reach in and pet the pigs?  Not a good idea!

Trying to keep her from the fence.

Ah, an animal I can pet without risk of electrocution.

Searching for the perfect pumpkin.

Monica choosing the perfect pumpkin.  I wasn't thinking and changed the camera angle halfway through so you'll have to turn your head sideways at the end.

Vistor and 'Ventures

Uncle Chris came to visit us last weekend after a work trip to NYC.  As usual, we packed the time with fun adventures.  Saturday, Tony and Chris did a high ropes/challenge course called Adirondack Extreme.  For whatever reason they wouldn't let a pregnant woman or toddler participate. :)  Saturday afternoon we hung out around the house, played games, played with Monica, watched a movie- you know, good family stuff.

Sunday we went with our parish for a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs (about 45 minutes away).  Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha will be canonized at the end of this month and the Mass was a celebration of her upcoming canonization. It was pretty chilly and windy so we just explored close to the church building on the expansive property, celebrated Mass, had lunch and heard a talk about the martyrs and Blessed Kateri.  We are looking forward to going back when it is warmer. 

Monica blessing herself for the 10th time.

Monday we went to the pumpkin patch, but more on that in another post . . .

Uncle Chris wins hands down for Monica's favorite person.  She wanted to be in his presence constantly, asked for him if she couldn't see him and cried if he left without her.

 

The Year of Faith

 The following is an excerpt from the US Council of Catholic Bishops website:

"With his Apostolic Letter of October 11, 2011, Porta Fidei. . . , Pope Benedict XVI declared that a "Year of Faith" will begin on October 11, 2012 and conclude on November 24, 2013. October 11, 2012, the first day of the Year of Faith, is the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and also the twentieth anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  During the Year of Faith, Catholics are asked to study and reflect on the documents of Vatican II and the catechism so that they may deepen their knowledge of the faith.

"The 'door of faith' (Acts14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church."---Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei for the Indiction of the Year of Faith.

The upcoming Year of Faith is a “summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the One Savior of the world” (Porta Fidei 6). In other words, the Year of Faith is an opportunity for Catholics to experience a conversion – to turn back to Jesus and enter into a deeper relationship with him."

I am super excited about this!  A global call to Catholics to fall more in love with Christ and his Church!  At a time in our world where cultures are so off track of Christ's message, where most Catholics do not know the Truth of the teachings of Christ's Church, and hope for a more Christlike world can seem dim; this is a beautiful opportunity to be renewed and effect change where it is most needed: in ourselves!   

A friend posted this great aid on their facebook page: Read the Catechism in a Year.  They will email you a daily link to a small portion of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and by the end of the Year of Faith, you will have read the whole thing!  I confess I have not read the entirety of the Catechism, but I'm up to the challenge this year. 

"There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Thanks Cheri for the correct quote).  Can you imagine if every Catholic joined in this Year of Faith to spend more time in prayer and communion with Christ and his Church?  The world would look very different.

I pray that all Christians grow in love and knowledge in the way that God is calling them.  Happy Year of Faith!

Around the House

1st time since she was a baby that she fell asleep playing.

Reading books with Daddy.  In her top three favorite things to do.

Daddy's bath time hair styling.

Helping for family pizza night.

Pizza making is so much fun!

Come on Dover, come on Dover . . .!

Our annual day at the races was a blast!  This year we tried breakfast at the track.  Long before the races begin, you can enjoy a breakfast buffet in the club house while watching the horses warm up.  It's the best deal because you don't have to pay for parking that early, the buffet is much cheaper than buying lunch or drinks later (4.50 for bottled water or soda- I don't think so!), and Monica could actually see the horses up close.  After a morning walk/nap in the stroller, the track opened for racing and we received the souvenir of the day.  Blankets. People were lining up to purchase more for $3.00 a piece, but if you want one, you can buy one on ebay for $7.00 and up!  While waiting for the races to start we fed the baby goats (I know they are called kids, but if I had written that, you would have thought we were feeding stray children) and Monica road a pony.  She wasn't happy when we first put her on it, but cheered up real quick when it started moving.  We stayed for the first four races, only winning once.  $2.80 win on our $2 bet.  Yea, we've got skills.  After that it was mid afternoon and, considering we had been there since breakfast, it was time to go home.  It was a beautiful family day with the "neigh neighs."  Unfortunately I didn't check the camera settings or look at the pictures I took until part of the way through the day so the first ones are bright and blurry.  Now I know what people must have felt getting a roll of film back only to discover their pictures didn't turn out the way they wanted. :)

She wanted us to let her out of the gate with the "neigh neighs."

Getting a better view.

Who needs horse races when there are stairs?

The kind stranger noticed the camera problem and so we fixed it for our family photo in front of dirt.  The one  in front of the flowers didn't come out. :(

The kids.  She kept saying, "Baa."  It's a hard distinction.

She loved feeding them and would have stayed there all day if we let her.

Camping 2012

I remember camping a lot as a kid.  So much that I'm sure we must have gone more than once a summer- mom? dad?  Now as an adult, the prep and energy it takes to go camping makes me think we will just do it once a summer.  That being said, we really enjoy it when we go.  Last year Monica was not mobile and I thought it was going to be hard.  It wasn't.  Perspective always changes what is "hard" when it comes to kids.  This year I was worried it was going to be "hard" with mobile Monica.  So I schemed, what would make camping with a 1 1/2 year old easier? . . . distractions!  That's right, we invited friends with a child Monica's age.  It worked pretty well.  There were no burns, not even a cut.  That's a success, right?  In addition, we "adults" enjoyed the time with friends too.  We fit in all the good camping traditions- sleeping in tents, foil dinners, hiking, swimming, napping, games, reading, s'mores and scotch and cigars (what?, that's not a traditional camping activity, well, don't tell Tony).  Our camping trip for the 2012 summer was a great success, already looking forward to next year.

Daddy building the fire, Monica lending support by snacking.

We brought Monica's portable seat to strap her down if need be, unfortunately I forgot the tray.

First foil dinner attempt, second attempt looked and tasted much better.

Monica and her friend, Isabella, in their big kid camping chairs.

Lining up for breakfast.

Hiking is so exhausting.

The girls were obsessed with the cars, inside and out.  That, or they really wanted to go home.

Playing at the beach.

Kabobs for dinner night two.  Yum!

Singing songs around the campfire, well, in the same campsite as the fire.

Good morning!  Monica treated the tent as a giant bouncy house, I think it was only thanks to exhaustion that she slept.

Monica "helping" Daddy take down the tent.

Family photo at the end of our trip.  Dirty, smelly, tired and happy.