“Doing-it-all”: the Bare Minimum Approach

House Sparrows (Restrike Etching)

Today I am baking for my Christmas baby: a cake to celebrate at home, and cupcakes to bring to batting practice and school. With my four-year-old helping, I started pouring the first batch into the pans before realizing I had forgotten to put the eggs in. I went through a dozen eggs trying to make three batches of my egg white cake without getting any yolk in.

I didn’t make my Christmas houses this year – or my gingerbread – or my banana bread. And it’s okay. We finished our Nutcracker story ornaments and have been working on our Jesse tree symbols. Even that is touch-and-go. With sports after school, sometimes I can’t get the whole family together to do that, so on other days we will catch up by doing one scripture and symbol per child.

They also wrote their letters to St. Nicholas, which they put in their stockings on the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6. Finally, we have our advent bead boxes. There are different colors to represent different types of good deeds; the children tell us what they did and they get beads to put in their boxes, which they offer to Jesus by placing them under the tree on Christmas Eve.

The older the kids and I get, the more I realize that you can leave a lot of stuff out – it is in the way that you do things that really matters. I can’t bake for every class party, but if I do I do it out of love. I can’t be at every one of their sporting events – now that they are all at different places doing different things – but they know I do my best to see each of them do their thing, and when I am there I am completely “present”, eating up every pitch, play, or move they make.

It’s also tricky toeing the line on how visible they want me to be, although they all want me there. My four-year-old wants me at the door of her ballet class watching every step, often photographing and videotaping. My nine-year-old is okay if I’m not there, but he prefers knowing that either his dad or I saw it if he had a good hit or pitched a great game. My twelve-year-old won’t admit that she cares if we are there or not, but she does. My fourteen-year-old can now go to sporting events on the school bus, but she begs me to go see her if I can. She smiles when she sees me show up, but then shoos me away, signaling for me to keep my distance.

“Doing it all” suddenly becomes a lot more doable when you aren’t really doing it all – just doing the really essential things right (or as close to right as you can make it).

Luke 12: 25-26
Can any of you by worrying add a moment to your lifespan?
If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest?

A Gingerbread House Making Birthday Party

My daughter's eleventh birthday party was a success! Although we were expecting a blizzard tonight and the snow was just starting to fall as the party started, most of the girls who live close by still came. They had a great time assembling their own mini-heroes, gingerbread houses, and cupcakes, while singing to Christmas and radio music. Then they all bundled up and went out to play in the snow. Please go to my Examiner article for pictures and instructions on how to bake the gingerbread house pieces and set up for a housemaking party.

Why moms should ignore all the dieting articles and enjoy their Christmas cookies

Today's Examiner column is a re-run of a rant I went on last Advent about women's magazines that tell us we can lose five pounds by Christmas. I claim that this is the very worst thing you can do for yourself. We should enjoy our Christmas cookies and start working out in January. Use a little moderation and common sense here. A good friend of mine gained five pounds after following my advice and blaimed it on my article. Please click here to read it.

The Ultimate Wait

It seems I have spent the better part of this month waiting. ..

Waiting for my turn at parent-teacher conferences…

Waiting for my camcorder tape to transcribe to the computer and then write to DVD (15 hours). ..

Waiting for my computer to install Microsoft Office 2007 (4 hours)…

Waiting for the cesspool company to arrive (6 hours)…

Waiting for the cable company to fix a cable cut by road construction so I could recovery my telephone and internet service (4 hours)…

Waiting for General Electric to come repair my oven (3 hours and counting as I write this)…

Waiting for slow-moving cars and people to get out of my way…

Like most humans, I am impatient when my time is in the hands of others. If I don’t get my mind on something else and try to make the best use of my waiting time, it can be truly maddening and I wind up with a big headache. Yet whatever is at the end of my wait – even if it is just getting home or having something work again - is greatly rewarding.

Thinking about my recent frustrations, I realized it is quite fitting that I would be spending so much time waiting this month. After all, it is Advent, and we are waiting for Christmas. A few minutes or hours here or there are just a drop in the bucket compared to the two thousand years we have been waiting for the second coming of Jesus.

The book of Acts tells us about the disciples as they stood watching Jesus be lifted up into the clouds before them. He had told them, “The exact time it is not yours to know. The Father has reserved that to himself.” (Acts 1:7) They kept staring until some angels asked them why they were still standing there. Then they got to work establishing churches throughout the world. They might have thought they would have to wait a few days, weeks, or maybe years. Here we are still waiting, and working for the Lord in the meantime.

Children are just as impatient as us, and their behavior this month can be extremely frustrating. Their actions simply mirror ours, and we can use this time to teach them some lessons about eternity. The four weeks of Advent waiting for Christmas can be treated as a microcosm of the wait for Jesus to return to take his Bride, the Church, home to Heaven forever. As the tale of the seven bridesmaids tells us, we are always to be ready and waiting. How we use this time on earth is of utmost importance.

Making this month a joyful and prayerful time can help keep the children – as well as ourselves - focused on Jesus.

Some activities that can help include:

Making Christmas cookies or chocolates

Keeping a Jesse Tree and reading the daily Advent scriptures for each symbols

Other Advent Calendars with daily activities or stories

All Christmas books

Lighting an Advent wreath

Putting beads for good deeds in an Advent bead box

Letting St. Nicholas come and put small treats in their stockings from Dec. 6 through Dec. 24; if they are naughty the Krumpus comes and leaves a potato instead.

Painting: 38 Scenes from the Life of Christ: 22. Ascension
1304-06 Fresco by Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

Tips for saying sane during Advent

It should be the most joyful time of the year. Yet many of we busy moms are so intent on "doing it right" that we miss out on the "Merry" part of Christmas. The "KISS" (Keep it Simple Stupid) principle will help you to feel blessed in these final days of Advent. Please click here for my article that includes 10 tips for saying sane during this wonderful season.

How to make a Jesse Tree and ornaments for Advent

If you are looking for a new and meaningful tradition to add to your Advent repertoire, you will love making a Jesse Tree. My Examiner article tells you what a Jesse Tree is and lists all of the 28 symbols, along with the complete scriptures from the Revised Standard Version.

Community outreach activities for families during Advent

My sister Joanna Cummings, a youth and children's minister, has guest posted a column for me on community outreach activities that would be great for families to participate in during Advent.

First Sunday of Advent

I was filled with such great joy this morning when I woke up this morning. It is the First Sunday of Advent! Last night I put out some new Advent Bead Boxes for the children, each with one bead to start them off. The beads represent good deeds. On Christmas Eve they will place their boxes under the Christmas Tree as their gift to the Christ Child. Please read my column today, in which I tell about some great Austrian Advent traditions I learned from Maria Augusta Trapp's "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers".

Tips for Staying Sane This Week

I am not sure how much writing I will be able to do this week. On the flip side, my readers may be too busy to read my blog this week! So I will keep my posts short and sweet.

Today I had to go food shopping with several major events in mind, other than our normal meals. My daughter’s tenth birthday, Christmas, class parties, and guests expected to drop in. Today I had to bake cupcakes for two of my children’s classes. (I hear public schools no longer allow sweets of any kind, so I am thankful that I am allowed to send them in!) I still have to go downstairs and ice them and figure out how best to pack them.

We had to get ready all the little cards and (handmade) gifts for all the teachers. Tomorrow I will make my famous Hershey's chocolate cake for our own family to eat on my daughter’s birthday. It takes a bit of time but is outrageous. Then I will do a really good cleaning and waxing of my kitchen floor. That will do it for the week, other than the sweeping that is necessary twice a day.

Tips for Staying Sane Include:

1. Posting detailed lists on the fridge and checking off items when they are done. This gives me a great sense of satisfaction.

2. Lighting my Advent Candles every night at dinner. It makes the mood festive and peaceful.

3. Keeping reasonable expectations of myself and my children.

4. Getting enough sleep.

5. Eating enough fruits and veggies.

6. Taking a B-complex vitamin for energy.

7. Having stuff done ahead of time, as much as possible. If you didn’t do that this year, vow to do it next year.

8. Saying no to unreasonable requests.

9. Rewarding the kids for being good. If they have been good and have cleaned their rooms, St. Nick leaves candy canes or chocolates in their stockings that night.

10. Taking time for yourself at the end of the day. Do whatever makes you feel relaxed.

God bless you as you enter the final days of preparation!

Christmas Scene, 1820, Franz Xaver Frh vom Paumgartten

Griping

Last night we were up to the Cross and Snake symbol on our Jesse Tree. That was to represent the story about God’s sending vipers to punish His people for complaining. I remembered writing about that same story last December.

Complaining is one of my biggest vices. Today I continually saw that Cross and Snake symbol in my mind as I griped. The kids were outside having a splendid time and I was moaning and groaning about having to mop the floor every time they came inside, dropping gobs of snow through the kitchen, to get new gloves. I was running to the dryer with armfuls of wet hats and gloves every fifteen minutes.

Meanwhile, I was missing out on enjoying the beauty of the ever-falling snow. The sweetness of my two-year-old getting rides on a sled from her older siblings. The cute little voice that came into the backdoor every five minutes holding out wet gloves, her pink little face saying, “It’s too wet.”

Okay, so I didn’t totally miss these things, but I could have gotten more out of it without my dissatisfaction.

I think they included that story in the Jesse Tree because it is part of the human condition to complain, to never be satisfied, to yearn for something better. And it is exactly at this time of year that we mothers are pulled by all the demands of preparing for Christmas, while the Christmas songs tell us to be “jolly”. It is God who tells us 800 times in the Bible to “be glad”. To be thankful is to be happy.

This is my sister’s favorite scripture:

"Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens.
This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live." -1 Thes. 5:16-18

The picture above is of the trees in my backyard Saturday at 1:00; compare to Friday's at 1:00 (yesterday's post).

For Goodness Sake, Enjoy Those Christmas Cookies!

One of our favorite pastimes in December is the making and eating of cookies. We have been making batches of cookies daily this week, a different type each day; and I keep meaning to make some dishes for the neighbors. After dinner the entire plate disappears like magic. “Oh well,” I say, “I guess we’ll have to make more tomorrow!”

I went food shopping this afternoon and became very angry when I saw the headlines on almost every one of the women’s magazines featured at the checkout line. “Lose 10 pounds by Christmas, Is Stress Making You Fat?, New Miracle Fat-Burning Food, Eat More and Lose Weight, What Happened to Oprah?”

It seems very strange that these titles would be so heavily featured between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the time that most adults tend to gain a few pounds. Women are stressed out, trying to prepare a nice Christmas for their families. This stress is increasing their cortisol levels, which causes them to gain weight. It is making them tired, which causes them to gain weight. Then they see these titles, which increases their guilt at eating delicious food, which increases their stress while eating, which causes them to gain weight.

Dieting right now can actually be dangerous. Cut out the carbohydrates that your brain needs and you will suffer headaches; the hormones needed to keep your mood stabilized will be short-changed, making you irritable or depressed. Resetting your metabolism to using less calories now will cause you to retain the calories when you do let yourself eat at a party.

Most of the editors of these magazines are women, and I am quite surprised that they can purposely do this to other women. I don’t know how they can sleep at night.

Advent is supposed to be a time of feasting and joy. We are supposed to sit by a fire, or on the couch under blankets, enjoying the warmth and the plenty of our tables. Our bodies are made to naturally conserve a little fat over the winter, to keep us warm. I say, enjoy those Christmas cookies, and forget about your weight until New Year’s.

“Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Psalms 103:5

Today we light the pink candle for the third week of Advent.

Ode to an Old Wreath

The first thing I hang the day after Thanksgiving is this old wreath. Now that I see it in the picture, I think it is looking a bit asymmetrical. It needs to be turned a bit; the poinsettias and leaves need to be more properly placed. But I love it.

I have had this same wreath for ever so long, and like it much better than the standard green wreath that must be purchased new each year. I like it because it is old, and because it says so much about us.

It says, hello, greetings, and Merry Christmas! We love teddy bears because we are friendly and snuggly and loveable. We were recycling way before it was popular because our great-grandparents lived through the Great Depression, reused things out of necessity, and passed on their stories through oral tradition.

My great-grandfather used to go to the dump three times a day to pick up re-usable items. My favorite thing in his house was a tarnish brass frog with a wide open mouth that served as a pencil holder. That came from the dump. I would love to have it on my desk top to remind me of him.

The doorknocker, inscribed MILLER, was a gift from the real estate agent (who also was a family friend) who helped us find our house. We moved in one month before the birth of our firstborn. The gold wreath used to hang on my parents’ front door before they moved off Long Island, the same year we married. The ribbons came off of gifts that were given to us. The poinsettias were left over from a Christmas project my mom and I did when I was a teenager. The bear was a gift topper from way back when.

The little bears were purchased from a little boy named Kevin. Kevin came knocking at our door the first year we lived in this house. He was selling Christmas ornaments as a fundraiser for school. We were the first door he had knocked on. He wore glasses and was so shy that he did not know what to say. I took the brochure from him and picked out the set of miniature teddy bear ornaments. Kevin joined the Marines this fall.

They repeatedly say on all the purging and organization shows that you don’t need things to bring back memories. They say you can take a picture of the item if necessary, and it will serve the same purpose. I have plenty of pictures of my Christmas trees in photo albums, but nothing is so powerful as opening up the boxes of ornaments and holding something you have not seen for eleven months. On the bottom of these boxes I have handmade ornaments that have long ago fallen apart. I do not hang them – I glance at them once when taking out ornaments and once more when putting them back. I wouldn’t throw them out for anything.

Eve of the First Sunday of Advent

Tonight is the eve of the First Sunday of Advent! Tonight my children are writing their letters to the Christ Child. They will promise to be good and ask for five of their Christmas wishes. He will leave a special Advent Bead Box, in which they will deposit beads every time they do a good deed. On Christmas Eve they will put the box under the tree as a gift to the Christ Child.

Here is a list of posts I have written in the past on Advent traditions we celebrate.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
This is one of my favorites, as it details many of the traditions Europeans used to celebrate during Advent. We have adopted many of these as our own.

Kicking Off Advent: Our Christmas and Jesse Trees

O Little Chocolate House
I have been making this little chocolate house for a few special people every year since I was little.

The Miller Family Spreadsheet
(about how I organize all the Christmas-related tasks on paper)

Christmas Greetings
What do you do with your Christmas cards? This is what we do.

Complaining at Christmas Time
We are all guilty of it – and then we feel guilty.

100
My 100th post – a brief description of a typical night during Advent.

Holiday Decorating on a Dime (or Less)

For Goodness Sake, Shop these Real Christmas Stores
The top eight retailers that are using the word Christmas this year.

Painting by Piero di Cosimo
The Visitation with Saint Nicholas and Saint Anthony Abbot, c. 1490
Samuel H. Kress Collection

Holiday Decorating on a Dime (Or Less!)

I have to put on blinders as I walk past the Christmas displays already up in department stores. It is too early for me to consider Christmas shopping.

Not that there is anything wrong with shopping early, especially if the intent is to make Advent a holier and more peaceful time. I used to do that until more recent years. Now, if I buy something really special for one of my kids it is too difficult for me to hold onto it, and will find some reason to give it as a reward. I also have no room to store gifts long-term. Finally, I have too many other responsibilities at the time and think my brain cannot handle the organizational energy it takes to shop for four children meaningfully, fairly, and equitably.

However, for those of us who like to give homemade gifts or make homemade decorations, preparing for Christmas can be a yearlong process. Therefore I am going to start putting up some homemade ideas from time to time.

You can use these decorating ideas for any holiday throughout the year – just change the colors to match the season!

1. Gather acorns.
Put them in a decorative bowl unadorned; or have your kids paint them first.

2. Make popcorn strings.
You can use food dye to make them more colorful. Add cranberries for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
For instructions see Wikihow.

3. Create pinecone animals.
Glue googly eyes and pipecleaners on pinecones to make your own pinecone critters. Spray silver or gold, or glue on multi-colored glitter; use string to make into an ornament for the Christmas tree, or hang from the ceiling for a festive look.
For instructions see Enchanted Learning.

4. Make cookie cutouts.
Use a recipe using basically flour and water – no butter or sugar. These are not meant to be eaten. Cut shapes to fit the holiday, paint with tempera paints or permanent markers, and put on a clear protective coat. These can be personalized to give as a gift. (My sister Joanna makes really cute ones every Christmas!)

5. Make construction paper cutouts.
This is so cheap but is quite effective when seen from the street. Make a series of uniform-looking cutouts in the same colors – hearts for Valentine’s Day, pumpkins for Autumn, trees for Christmas, snowflakes for Winter – and tape them up in all the windows facing the street. When I first drove up to this house while seven months pregnant with my first child, the pink hearts in the light-blue trimmed windows of the all-white house combined with the snow-covered ground to charm the socks off both of us. They will fade from the sun, so throw them out after the holiday season is over. Snowflake cutouts work well on the Christmas tree as well.

6. Make macaroni strings.
Drop food coloring into the water while cooking to color the pasta. Try different shapes – as long as they can be strung.

7. Gather your own fir.
Use a branch from a pine tree to make into a garland for your front door, Advent wreath, Jesse tree, or Advent tree. Use pieces of any evergreen to decorate railings, mantel pieces, or tops of picture frames.

8. Use your button collection.
Make a string of buttons in various shapes and colors. Hang in doorways, around lamps, or on a tree.

9. Make use of your half-completed projects.
A square of crocheted yarn can be hung from a tree, or placed under a decorative vase. No one will be the wiser.

10. Make use of your baby socks-without-a-partner.
These can be hung from the tree, or from an Advent tree, where your loved ones can find small surprises waiting in the morning.

Christmas Greetings

I love getting the mail this time of year. Even if I rarely hear from someone, I always love to receive their wishes for a Merry Christmas. I always say a prayer for them. What do I do with my Christmas cards? I hang a long string between two ceiling hooks and put the bifolding cards over the string.

I tape up the picture postcards on the sides of a cabinet. Those cards will stay there all year long. Friends like to peruse the pictures and ask who so-and-so’s kids belong to. Many of the friends who send me cards have large families. Typically they will take a picture at home, where everyone looks happy and natural, rather than posed. The pictures bear witness all year to a culture of life. On the First Sunday of Advent, I take down the old pictures to make room for the new. The pictures will ultimately wind up in our family photo albums.

After January 6, I will take down the greeting cards, wrap them in a string, and put them away. One day I will do something with them. Perhaps I will make myself a Christmas craft room, collaged with Christmas cards. I can take my grandchildren in there and talk about all the traditions we have built for Advent and Christmas.

Now it is time for me to wish my readers a Merry Christmas. I am taking a break from the computer while the children are on vacation from school. Thank you for reading, and please come back in the New Year!

“For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord…
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”Luke 2:11,14

Pictured above:
"Annunciation, Birth of Jesus and Adoration of the Shepherds"
Nicola Pisano, 1260, Marble
Baptistry, Pisa

100

Tonight I reach a bloggers’ milestone: 100 posts. As I keep to a simple theme and yet try not to be redundant, it is always a challenge to try to see and say things from a different perspective. And yet every day is new, with its share of blessings and challenges as we walk the pilgrim’s walk toward salvation. The mothers’ tasks are at once the same and ever-changing, like a river. With Christ in our hearts we can take advantage of every moment to live for Him, and to teach our children to do the same.

Tonight we went to the Sat. evening mass, as we are expecting a big snowstorm tonight. Later, after dinner, we waited outside as the local fire department sent round its Santa Claus parade. Then, with candy canes in hand, we read Isaiah 11 as part of our Jesse Tree tradition for Advent. One of the most beautiful images of the Bible is contained therein:
“The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.”(verse 6b)

Pictured above: “A Jesse Tree”, by Girolamo Genga, c. 1535, National Gallery, London.

How do I find appropriate art to go with the Bible verses I quote?
I recommend the web site “Bible Art: Resources for Catholic Educators”.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

Before my review I must make a confession. I purchased “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers”, by Maria Augusta Trapp, for my ten-year-old daughter as a Christmas present. My two older daughters are going to be in our church production of “The Sound of Music”, so I thought the story as well as some original recordings from the family would inspire them.

My friend Leticia Velasquez raved about the book, saying it had served as a great inspiration in her own writing career. (I suspect we can look to her for even more insight into this book if she reviews it on one of her blogs.) So as I was about to wrap the book, I opened up to “The Chapter Before the First”, and by the end of the first paragraph I knew I had to read this book myself before Christmas.

First I must say that readers will be surprised by the creative liberties taken in the making of the movie “The Sound of Music”. Maria never really runs away, for example; nor did she dress the children in curtain material. I always wonder why truth must be taken liberties with, to be made more interesting. There is enough in the family’s true drama to fill more volumes than the 312 pages of carefully chosen moments in Maria’s written memoire.

The Story embodies so much that this blog is about. The Divine Gift of Motherhood was one that Maria was at first afraid to choose. But, like the Holy Mother Mary (how aptly named is Maria!), once she discovered that this is God’s Will, she humbly accepts and embraces this calling.

The children and captain captured her heart, and her theirs. Life is made up of Saints’ Feast Days, Birthdays, and Advent, with some normal days in-between. Maria brings the beauty and wonder back into these celebrations for a family that has recently been made motherless. The descriptions of the European Catholic traditions of Advent alone make this book a must-read for those mothers who wish to keep Christ in Christmas.

The once well-to-do family loses everything when they choose following principles over serving Hitler’s Regime. Thus their poor condition as refugees literally forces them into singing for the public, the gift that ultimately made them famous. How concert after concert came at the last minute to keep them out of debt is a tale of faith lived and rewarded.

Maria’s determination to learn the English language is a story in itself. She copies the Americans on the boat and in consequence misuses idiomatic speech in hilarious ways.

The miracle of a baby born despite Maria’s bad kidneys (and a doctor’s stern warning) comes shortly after the family lands in America. She writes the baby “had not been exactly planned for that very moment, and as far as being wanted is concerned, I would have gladly said many times, ‘Oh, won’t you please be so kind as to wait for just six months.’ Yes, many times on the flight, on the boat, on the bus, on the stage. But thousands of years ago God assured us – it’s in the Book – ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways My ways.’ So if there is any planning to be done, why don’t we let Him do it?”

The Trapp Family truly is a light shining on a hill. They show us how it is truly possible to “live in the world, not of the world”, as the Gospel calls us to do. Despite the American music managers’ original rejection of the Trapp Family due to Maria’s lack of “sex appeal”, she (after a trip to the book store in search of the definition) wins their backing. The family insists on keeping to their costume dress, which is both economical and practical.

A family lodge is built in Vermont, and a Trapp Family Music Camp set up in summertime. The little girls are taken out of boarding school and homeschooled, giving them the precious time needed to sing, practice their musical instruments, and enjoy the outdoors. The family takes on a huge effort to collect and bring food, clothing, and other necessities to their fellow suffering Austrians.

A nice section talks about how courtship could and should be; and even this is managed despite the American way of “going steady”. Nice families flock to the Trapp Family Music Camp, and the children make friends with those who share their values; some find their soul mates as well.

The last section is a moving tribute to the family as they were and have become. You will have to read it to see how it turns out.

Kicking Off Advent: Our Christmas and Jesse Trees

Today being the first Sunday of Advent, we had an activity-filled weekend kicking off this wonderful season. My husband went out for a freshly cut fir tree while I took out all the boxes of ornaments from the garage. I had de-cluttered and polished the furniture right before Thanksgiving so that all wooden surfaces would be prepared for decorating.

It is always great fun for the children to look out the living room window and see the minivan pull into the driveway with a tree tied to the top. This year we had the added wonder of our toddler, who took a while to get used to the idea of a tree’s being inside the house. The dog has been through ten years of this, and makes herself quite at home under the tree as soon as it is up.

It is always aggravating trying to get the tree into the stand, and several attempts are usually required before the screws are in at the right angles all around. This time, we had trouble getting the trunk to touch the bottom of the base because there were very low branches in the way. We got out the tree saw and my husband took off several small boughs that were impeding our progress.

Not wanting to waste any of this quality fir, I had my ten-year-old put the loose branches into a large vase. They were enough to form their own little tree, and we put it in a separate room as our very first Jesse Tree.

The Jesse Tree represents the Family Tree of Jesus. Starting with the first Sunday of December, each day has a symbol representing an important event from the Fall to the Incarnation. There is a scripture to meditate on each day in preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas.This year, we have been invited to join some homeschooling friends in an Advent Jesse Tree Ornament Swap. There are a total of 28 symbols, the maximum number of days in Advent. This year there are only 23 days; so only 23 symbols will be used. Ideally, 28 families would pick one symbol and make 28 of one ornament. They get together, also bringing desserts to share, and swap ornaments so that each family goes home with a complete set of ornaments for their Jesse Tree. I thought this was a wonderful idea, which can easily be adapted for use in schools, churches, and other groups. (For instructions on making a Jesse Tree, go to this article in The Catholic Register.)

It snowed this morning, the first of the season, so the children had a wonderful time frolicking outside. The baby quickly tired out, and during her nap my husband and I got the outdoor lights up. We also discovered that we had forgotten to turn the tree to show its “good side”; so all the ornaments were removed and replaced after we were happy with the new placement of the tree.

We finished making our ornaments for the swap, and turned to making Christmas cutout cookies. Meanwhile a beef rump round was roasting for a lovely dinner to celebrate this first Sunday of Advent.

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned…
For to us a child is born,
To us a Son is given,
And the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:2-6

We are currently reading "Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration", by James C. Dobson, Charles R. Swindoll, James Montgomery Boice, and R.C. Sproul

The Miller Christmas Spreadsheet

Since childhood, I have always been a list maker. I have always had so many projects in my head, with all the mini-steps leading to completion. In college I would take my deadlines, write them on my calendar, and work my way backwards from that date to set mini-goals toward the end result. I always tried to get things done a few days early in case of unforeseeable circumstances. (I remember one year in high school, having trouble with the dot-matrix printer at 2:00 in the morning when a paper was due in the morning. My father was not happy! It never happened again.)

Now with four children, I would truly feel lost if I did not get it all down on paper. Tomorrow ends the cross-country season, which will allow me more time to prepare for Christmas. I am presently getting my spreadsheets ready for all the holiday preparations. This really helps me to organize myself with all the multitasking required. The major tasks are in bold, with all the mini-steps listed underneath.

For example, for Christmas cards, I need to (1) buy cards, (2) find Christmas outfits for the children, (3) buy a tree, (4) put up the tree, (5) decorate the tree, (6) dress the children for a picture, (7) take a picture, (8) print out wallets, (9) write out the cards, (10) buy stamps, (11) put the cards in the mail, and finally (12) record changes of address and new family members as cards from others come in.

When I see my spreadsheet printed out on my refrigerator, I derive a real sense of satisfaction from seeing little checkmarks next to the various and sundry tasks. Hence Christmas does not become this big, overwhelming monster that takes over the month of December. Rather, Advent is a time in which little goals can be accomplished - and enjoyed - in spare moments that can be found, leaving me with a sense of peace so spiritually I can prepare myself and my family for the celebration of the birth of Christ.

“A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the Lord!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!”
Isaiah 40:3

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