Moments of Gratitude…

Today I am especially thankful for

• A bit of a respite after a busy week(s)
• All the recent rain.
• Having 75% of my gift wrapping done.
• Finally finishing and mailing out our Christmas cards and family letter.
• Christmas vacation
• For one more week of Advent. (May I make the most of it!)
• For 15 years of marriage with the man of my dreams. (Actually he is above and beyond my dreams!)

Beauty in the Ordinary…

After a day of stormy weather, that moment when the sun comes out and everything looks fresh and clean.

Raindrops everywhere.

 In the Kitchen…

The kitchen smells of the yummy goodness of coconut granola to be given as gifts.

S – Roasted turkey breast, corn bread stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans. (Since I had an extra turkey I popped it in the oven today so we’d have plenty of leftovers for the next couple of days.

M – Turkey sandwiches.

T –  Turkey enchiladas & salad.

W – Minestrone soup and grilled cheese. (A quick dinner since we are going to Christmas Eve Mass.)

Th  – Christmas dinner at my in-laws.

F – Leftovers.

S – Date Night/ Eat Out.

S – Anniversary Dinner (Haven’t decided yet. 🙂 )

Praying…

• For my single friends looking for a holy spouse.
• For all those suffering from troubled marriages.
• For those suffering from loss, depression and loneliness during the holidays.
• For those separated from their loved ones, especially for the military and their families.
• For the victims of violence and all those affected by it.
• For peace within the hearts of all people.

On the homefront……

This past week was so crazy. It was packed with school events and being Andrew’s first grade room mom, I also had some special school projects to complete. Friday was my busiest day and I left the house in a whirlwind – the kitchen looked like it exploded. I got everything done but you know how you can go, go, go, go, go and then when you are done you just break down. Yeah, well that was me. On a normal day, the hundred little things that go wrong are expected and dealt with but my nerves were so fried that I couldn’t take it anymore and when Brian got home I handed him the reigns and went to the bathroom for a good cry. Thankfully, that’s all I really needed and I was back to normal.

The next day, the first day of our vacation, I just stood home and turned on the Christmas music and finished my Christmas cards and the last of my packages. The kids worked on their Christmas gifts and the house felt peaceful once again.

Pondering…

The best moments this Advent have been the simple and unexpected things such as…

Unexpectedly joining Bella to sing Christmas carols with her youth group at a local convalescent home.

Or making smores on a cold and rainy day. Matthew was amazed we could have a beach bonfire in our home. (We haven’t used our fireplace much.)

I’m glad we still have one more week of Advent. No matter how good (or bad) the past three weeks have been, we still have the home stretch to refocus our eyes on the Christ Child and make the most of our days before Christmas. 😉

Around the house…

Twinkling lights and Christmas smells. (Unless you go into the boys room or the family room. Then it is just mess, mess, mess. Seriously, I have to do another quick charity bin collection before Christmas morning comes!)

Reading…

I haven’t been reading much lately but the two that are on my nightstand (or in my kindle) are…

The Grace of Yes: Eight Virtues for Generous Living by Lisa Hendey

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Listening to…

Christmas at Downton Abbey

Normally, I am a hot cocoa and Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole Christmas music type of person but today I was feeling like tea and biscuits with a lovely Christmas choir. Not to mention that Julian Ovenden, who sings a couple of songs, has an amazing voice! He is the actor that plays Mary’s suitor Charles Blake. (#teamblake) I’ve been a fangirl since he was on Foyle’s War and played Foyle’s son Andrew. (I was watching a lot of Foyle’s War when I chose the name of my first born son. ;-)) Cora also sings a couple songs and Carson reads Twas the Night before Christmas. Fun!

Watching…

(At the Movies)

Tonight we will start watching The Hobbit in preparation for our movie night next weekend to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.  Although I go to the movies alone regularly (after the kids are asleep), movies out with my sweetie seem to happen only once a year!

(On TV)

Now that our regular shows are on Christmas hiatus we are catching up with past seasons of Downton Abbey in preparation for Season 5, which starts Jan 4th.

(On Youtube)

When Bella and I need a laugh we watch this together.

On the blog…

It’s been quiet with the holidays. 🙂

In the blogosphere…

I haven’t had time to read any of my favorite blogs but since we’re on Christmas vacation now I am hoping to catch up!

Photo Credit: Blessed Is She.net

However, I do know that over at Blessed Is She.net Monday is my day to share my thoughts on the day’s Scripture readings. Here is a snippet…

In a few short days, Christmas will be here. Every year I resolve to make this a holy Advent and not to get wrapped up in the commercialism or the busyness of the season and really prepare my heart to receive the Christ Child. Inevitably, I reach a point where I am stressing out over everything that I have to finish. My tendency, besides skipping prayer all together, is to rush through my daily devotional so I can check “prayer” off the To Do list and get back to my stressful day.

Today’s Gospel is challenging me to look at this day in a different way by focusing on Mary’s attitude. Today’s Gospel is challenging me to look at this day in a different way by focusing on Mary’s attitude. Here she was newly pregnant and in a situation that was less than ideal—how is she going to explain this to Joseph? What will other people think? What will this mean for her future life? However, instead of stressing, she responds with humility and docility to God’s will.

Continue reading here.

Pinned…

I am going to make this to go with our Christmas brunch – Christmas Tree Fruit Platter: 🙂

Photo credit: The First Year Blog.com

Plans for the Week…

The obvious things – finish our last minute Christmas prep, Christmas Eve Mass, Christmas/ Jesus’ birthdya party in the morning, Christmas dinner at my in-laws and on the weekend Brian and I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. We debated whether or not to do a fancy dinner but we opted for dinner and a movie instead.It’s more “us.”  😉

Captured…

The joy of jumping in puddles in the rain.

The kids had their Christmas performances this week and I forgot to bring my “real” camera!

If I don’t leave a note on the door, I tend to forget. Sigh.

So I snapped a few pics on my camera instead so my mom and dad could see them. 🙂

Have a blessed Christmas!! 🙂

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