Monday, December 01, 2008

Getting Ready

This morning's homily was about being in the "ready" position. (I actually heard the homily since the kids were all at home coughing, Steven and I switched off for mass and I even sat in the front row without having to take a child to the potty!)

I hope this past week of rest and fun and "nesting" has helped to prepare me for the Advent season! I know I need to ready my heart some more...with consistent morning prayer, better attempts at weekday mass, and more frequent confession. I'll be readying the children's hearts by reading lots of good Advent and Christmas stories and starting our Charlotte Mason approach this week with "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Jan Brett and "Country Angel Christmas" by Tomie dePaola, and doing lots of St. Nicholas activities as we get ready for St. Nick's Feast Day on Saturday! They are getting a bit too Santa-obsessed for my liking, so hopefully this focus on St. Nick will help us turn their hearts more towards Christ and Christmas.

Here's how we've been "readying" our house!

We put up the tree while Daddy was on his hunting trip Friday night


And today I decided to follow The Nester's garland tutorial...

Started with a measly garland strand,
then added 2 more at $1.50 each from Michael's!


Bought a few poinsetta stems and
"shopped" around the house for some more greenery...
and VOILA!


I changed around the mantle
and added the new Christmas portrait!


Put all the good Christmas books on the fireplace
and the nativity on the kid table


Bought a new wreath at Michael's ($1.99),
so it will fit on our kitchen table
Put the old purple ribbon around it
and found the old Advent candles from last year
they melted a bit in the Texas attic heat...
oh well, they've got personality!



And readying my tummy...
OH, that's not part of Advent.
The last helping of the apple pie I made for Thanksgiving
Midnight snack for me!


Night night.

11 comments:

veronica said...

The mantle looks lovely, Blair!..oh and that not so adventy apple pie looks yummy!!!

Kimberly said...

Blair, after getting fustrated year after year with thin tapered candles, I bought big thick pillars last year, and just put them in the middle of the wreath. Try it!

And your house looks lovely...we have a kid friendly Nativity too...the kids love playing with it.

Andrea said...

That looks so beautiful! You did such a wonderful job!

Decor To Adore said...

Oh I love your garland. It's so lush and pretty. Will you share the pie?

Jenny said...

Your garland looks great!

The Style Sisters said...

The tree and mantle look so nice! You did a great job.

Ceekay-THINKIN of HOME said...

Good job on the decorating. I put all my candles in a refrigerator drawer - I am in AZ...and they wouldn't even be candles if I didn't!!

Erika said...

Like your step by step and love the books on the hearth!!

The Nester said...

HUGE transformation--it was so worth the effort! To me.

Unknown said...

WOW! Look at the difference! Your garland turned out BEAUTIFUL! GREAT JOB!

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a difference a little fru-fru makes! Great job!

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