Advent-preparing the way

 We have been preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ's birth in many ways. We've been baking, reading Bible stories, opening our Advent calendar, talking about St. Nicholas and overall enjoying the feelings the this time of year brings.

 Baking gingerbread with the boys! Raphael really wanted to eat a gingerbread boy.

 Once a week we've been having movie night, which includes all you can eat popcorn. Here are the boys watching "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." This is a must see for any family with a dentist!

 We made reindeer hats and used Christmas cookie cutters with playdough.

 We have been playing with friends! Here is Theo with Marisol (7 1/2 months) and Elisa. Marisol is our god-daughter.

 Decorating the tree was lots of fun this year. The boys each have their own ornament box and love remembering who gave them what ornament. Oh the memories.

 Raphael needed some help putting the ornaments up.

 An attempt at some photos under the tree. Raphael kept running away.

 The finished tree.

Just being silly....Happy Gaudete Sunday!

All things Advent

This Advent has been full of joy and new discoveries for the boys! Jay has been busy gearing up for Part I of the Medical Boards (which I convinced him to take on the 23rd instead of the 30th, yeah!), but we have still managed to have some fun.  This year, our church has really been emphasizing the importance of celebrating Advent prior to Christmas. This is no easy feat, but how else can we properly prepare our hearts for Christ's birth? Jacob and I visited a local church, where over 300 nativities from around the world were on display! It was awesome. They even had a children's corner where the children could play with a nativity set. 

This set was made in Tanzania, Maria, you'll have to bring us one back someday!

 German nutcrackers! I love it!

 Isn't this a gorgeous nativity? I'm partial to purple!

So simple, yet beautiful.

This was Jacob's favorite nativity! It made music and moved.

Jacob loves the tree wise men!

Baking/eating sugar cookies! Yum!

I've been baking up a storm so that I can give away lots of yummy treats to neighbors, friends and family! I love doing this every year. I make some of my standbys and try out some new recipes every year. Jay gave me two new cookie cookbooks for my birthday, so I have tons of recipes to choose from. Here's what I've made this year:

-Grasshopper squares (the best chocolate/mint bars of all time)

-Chocolate chai snickerdoodles

-Sugar cookie cutouts

-Linzer bars

-Lemon bars

-Peanut butter thumbprints

-Chocolate peppermint balls

-Gingerbread

-Spicy pecans

Today (Dec. 13), on the feast of St. Lucy we planted some wheat. This wheat will be ready on Christmas, when we will cut it and place it in the manger with baby Jesus. We've been reading a lot of Christmas stories, talking about Jesus' birth and our Advent wreath and candles have really intrigued Jacob this year.

This weekend we put up our tree for YOU. It was a lot of fun to decorate!

 This is our mini tree in the dining room.

I'm still in search of the perfect angel for the top of our tree!

Our nativity (minus baby Jesus, who will make His appearance on Christmas)! It was given to us by one of my Grandmother's friends. I love it. It's made in Italy and quite old. This is our first real nativity and will be a family treasure for years to come.



May the joy of Advent be in your heart always.