is THIS my baby????

Where oh where did my baby go?

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Christmas Baking

Are you looking for some new ideas, tired of baking the same cookies every Christmas? Well this year we decided to buy a magazine for the price of a book! Not something I often do but I really wanted to try some new recipes this year. It is fun perusing the pages - but sitting here bored... drinking herbal teas and taking herbal tinctures to stop early labour... I started googling and came up with a really nice site. I am still exploring the site but thought I would share it so that others who might be looking for new ideas could have some fun too.

If you like to bake and want to try something new, or are just looking for some tips on how to make some of your traditional cookies look a little more professional - click here and have fun!

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A complete week of giveaways at Scribbit's place.

Scribbit is having a weeks worth of giveaways so jump on over to her place and try your luck! I put my name down for a nursing camisole. Can't wait to see what else she has to give away!

Best of luck to you all! Oh and she also has a link on the left side called the Message Board where you can see other giveaway blogging events that are going on. So check that out too.

Keep in mind that in a few days I will have Decembers giveaway up and running. This time it is a hand crafted gift - just ideal for that little girl on your Christmas list.

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We were privileged to enjoy...

...THIS tonight as we drove home from Raleigh. It was an awesome thing to see - even though we were not too sure exactly what was happening. It was clear though that some astronomical phenomenon was happening. However, not all of the family was with us - and it is possible that tomorrow another view, though not as clear as tonights, will occur. So perhaps we will take an after dinner drive tomorrow and like the bear who went over the mountain - see what we can see. After all, this will not occur again for another 247 years.

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Chef and Music critic...

Elsa appears to be both master chef and music critic at the ripe old age of 3 as determined by the following observation she made while deftly mixing up pumpkin bread while I added in the ingredients. We had Christmas music playing in the background and a particularly pretty piece had just finished playing when Frosty the Snowman came on. Within seconds Elsa sagely stated as she solemnly stirred without spilling a fleck of flour:

"That is not a beautiful song, Mummy."

"Well - it is a happy song, even if a little noisy, isn't it?" I asked her.

She nodded her agreement as she continued to studiously and carefully mix the flour into the wet ingredients.




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Following our Advent progress...

Well - we squeezed it all in today. Hugo left for a business trip with Nathaniel this after noon and we baked pies and then some gingerbread forms for 2 churches we hope to build. Then after a quick supper - we cleaned and tidied and did our advent readings, got the Jesse tree ornaments pasted on trees and each child broke a link off of his or her Advent chain.

I will include pictures as we progress in these projects! The first batch is of some of our chains which we constructed yesterday and of our Advent wreath, before the candles fell in. Tuesday I will head out and buy some candle holders. This happens EVERY year - my candles collapse. It is time to for some solid candle holders! Move over playdough... you are about to be replaced.

(These are two chains attached at the red links - which is for Christmas Eve. I attached them with a straight pin, simply to make them look more decorative in the windows where we hung them. I will continue to post pictures of this pair so you can watch them grow shorter!)
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The wreath... before the calamity hit....

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Playing with Static...

E L E C T R I C I T Y!

(I never know just what I am going to find when I check the gallery of photos on my cell phone!)

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Thank you notes...

I am at the beginning of a search for the perfect set of thank you notes to send out to the various people who have surprised with us with lovely gifts for the baby, and my search brought me to this little article on do's and don'ts of thank you notes. In this article the reader is asking about a wedding shower, but it was the last line of the answer that had me chuckling. CLICK here, if you would like to enjoy a light smile as well. Read more!

An answer for a comment ...

...that was left today below the Jesse Tree Reminder post by CP. CP pointed out that there are more ornaments/symbols to be put on the Jesse Tree than there are days in Advent this year and she wondered how best to handle that. I had noticed that as well. Originally I had decided to drop a few, picking the ones that are most relevant to the fast approaching nativity from the last 5 or 6 symbols.

Then as I contemplated my answer to CP's query, it struck me that this was a good teaching moment as to how the number of days in Advent change from year to year and that this 'calendar' of dates is based on starting the Advent season the fourth Sunday before Christmas and hence the difference in the number of days.

Therefore I have decided that on the last days of Advent, I will double up the symbols that we place on our tree each day so that we end up with the nativity symbol being placed on the tree on Christmas Eve. Part of my reasoning was that since this is a "family tree' it was not right to drop any of the family off of it. This decision will also be reflected in my daily postings so that the symbol, its brief explanation and the accompanying reading will be doubled those last exciting days as we await the rebirth of our Saviour and Lord - the precious Baby Jesus.

I hope some of you will join us as we travel through the centuries reflected through this family tree that represents the original period of Advent - or waiting of the Messiah. And whether you join us or not - I have an important question - do you have your candles yet? I also have good news - I found my wreath! My regular readers know I have to hunt for it every year!


(Jesse tree picture was found here.) Read more!

Christmas Tree Poll

When do you typically put up your Christmas tree?

• Thanksgiving weekend
• Christmas Eve
• Second week in Advent
• First week in Advent
• Fourth week in Advent
• Third week in Advent

Created on Nov 4, 2008

View Results

poll by twiigs.com

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Introducing a website...

...that I recently discovered. Brimful of Curiosities, I discovered it when we had our first giveaway on our blog for the book and Brimful of Curiosities uncovered our little event and posted it on her weekly announcements of free giveaways. But the author of this blog also writes book reviews. This week she reviewed a new book by Margaret Wise Brown (author of the famous Good Night Moon!) I am adding her to my side bar - just need to figure out what category to put her in - fabourite blogs & links I guess. At any rate, I have subscribed so I get an email announcing anything new on her blog so I can stay up to date on any new contests she is announcing - and did I already mention that all of them are free! A good place to hang out through out the week and see if I can win something! Check it out! Oh - and click here to read her review of M. W. Brown's new book and maybe even win a copy as she has three to giveaway! Good luck and may the best reader win! Read more!

Christmas is coming...

... and is clearly on Elsa's mind as evidenced by the following conversation between Elsa (3) and her older sister Bethany who is 10.

Elsa: Is Christmas everyone's birthday?

Bethany: No - it is just Jesus' birthday.

Elsa - sounding and looking rather distressed "Oh no - does that mean only He gets all the presents?"



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A poll just for fun.

When do you turn on the Christmas music?

• All year!
• We start Thanksgiving weekend.
• Whenever the radio starts playing it.
• Not until Christmas Eve.
• Sometime during Advent.
• Not sure, it's different every year.

Created on Nov 24, 2008

View Results

poll by twiigs.com

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GASP! Its how many days to # 13?

FOURTY SIX days... yes, that is D A Y S!!! The other evening, I glanced at my igoogle home page and thought 'wow only 46 days to Christmas' but then caught the actual title of the time ticker I had chosen and it was 46 days until baby to be!! (It was 36 days to Christmas.)

I almost fell off my chair - which in my condition would not be the smartest thing I could do right now. Fourty six DAYS??? Now of course - that is assuming she will be on time - which she most likely will not be, so I am trying to focus on mid January as the due date - but still.

You see, here is my to do list:

• Set up baby hammock...... check
• Find cartons of new born clothes .... check
• Go through and pull out OODLES of new born baby girl jammies and church outfits..... half a check.(Last two babies were born in Spring and early Fall -which down here means very warm to almost hot temperatures - so there was little fit for the winter season.)
  

• Return cartons to storage......
• Buy diapers.......
• Prepare changing area.....
• Buy baby laundry supplies......
• Buy baby bathing supplies.....
• Locate stroller and clean up......
• Locate baby swing and test that it still works....
• Buy Mylicon drops because ALL of my babies suffer from reflux varying from mild to severe....

Now ask me about my Advent and Christmas list and you get a very different story. I am almost completely ready for this upcoming joyous season, but clearly I am in denial about a new baby about to arrive on the scene.

FOURTY SIX DAYS???


UPDATE: I have tried THREE times to correct boen to born (hope it shows with an "r" and not an e here!). However blogger has decided it will not allow me to write newborn above.... Argh!
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Now you see her and...

NOW YOU DON'T!!

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A little Canadian Humour...

A Little Canadian Humor,
Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Canucks.
(To be honest I had never heard of this comedian until one of my daughters forwarded this to me.)



If your local Dairy Queen is closed from
September through May,
You may live in Canada

If someone in a Home Depot store
Offers you assistance and they don't work there,
You may live in Canada.

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time,
You may live in Canada.

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation
With someone who dialed a wrong number,
You may live in Canada.

If 'Vacation' means going anywhere
South of Detroit for the weekend,
You may live in Canada .

If you measure distance in hours,
You may live in Canada

If you know several people
Who have hit a deer more than once,
You may live in Canada .

If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C'
In the same day and back again,
You may live in Canada .

If you can drive 90 km/hr through 2 feet of snow
During a raging blizzard without flinching,
You may live in Canada .

If you install security lights on your house and garage,
But leave both unlocked,
You may live in Canada .

If you carry jumpers in your car
And your wife knows how to use them,

You may live in Canada .

If you design your kid's Halloween costume
To fit over a snowsuit,
You may live in Canada .

If the speed limit on the highway is 80 km --
You're going 90 and everybody is passing you,
You may live in Canada .

If driving is better in the winter
Because the potholes are filled with snow,
You may live in Canada .

If you know all 4 seasons:
Almost winter, winter, still winter,
And road construction,
You may live in Canada .

If you have more miles
On your snow blower than your car,
You may live in Canada .

If you find 2 degrees 'a little chilly',
You may live in Canada .

If you actually understand these jokes,
And forward them to all
Your Canadian friends & others,
You definitely live(or have lived) in Canada .

And to these I need to add my own:

If someone stepped on your foot

And you apologized because after all

Your foot was obviously in the way...

Then you are a Canadian or, as we are sometimes called,

A Cannuck!

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And the winnah is....

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first of my monthly giveaway contests and without further delay I am happy to announce that the winner of Hear My Voice, A Children’s Translation of Gospel Readings of the Catholic Mass for 2009 , is ..... drum roll please...

Cathy of Virginia

If you were not lucky enough to win the book - please feel free to click on the advertisement on the left sidebar and you will be taken directly to the site where it can be purchased. I do earn a small percentage for each sale made from my site, so in purchasing this book you are not only getting a lovely book to help you prepare your children for Sunday Mass, but you are also supporting two small Catholic family business ventures!
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Listening...

'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him." Mathew 25:28-29

This Sunday in Mass the gospel was Mt 25:14-30 and as our Deacon began to expound on this idea of talents and possible of loss through miss use or lack of use of them.

Emma sat up straight and I heard a little gasp from her. My head swiveled in her direction to see what ailed her and her eyes looking like a little owls were wide and clapped on my face.

"Did he mean that Mummy? Was he joking?"

"The Deacon? I asked. "Did he mean we can lose our talents if we don't use them?" is that what you mean?

"Yes!" she whispered back

"Yes he did mean that, if we don't use the gifts God gives us - we will lose them."

Her breath drew in sharply and her face grew more anxious. "But Mummy, I am too young! I don't know my talents yet!"

I smothered my smile and settled down to an act of mental bi-location while I kept one ear on Deacon's solid homily and at the same time tried to quietly whisper to Emma what it means for a six year old to use her talents. I was not too successful at the bi-location part but while I missed a good deal of Deacon's homily, I was able to make use of a great teaching moment and best of all, I learned that my six year old is actually listening to the homily - at least some of the time!
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An awesome giveaway on another blog!

PEGGY! My dear friend Peggy F. here in NC - this post is dedicated to you and Holly because the items featured in this giveaway at the Dirty Shirt seems like the perfect gift for YOU and Holly - 'cause if Holly could fall asleep and stay asleep all night - I know that would be the best gift you could get this Christmas. Am I right or am I right?

So whether you are my good friend Peggy F. or another reader with a sleepless baby - get yourself over to the Dirty Shirt and check out her review and giveaway contest for one of Cloud B's products.

And to be honest - if I do not win one of the items, I am going to buy of the night lights for my 10 year old daughter who has a very hard time quieting all her thoughts once she snuggles down into bed. I think that watching the changing constellations would be a great distractions. Heck - I could use one of those some nights! Read more!