Advent goodness - Nativity sets abound & calendars that secretly multiply in the off season...

Morning everyone! I hope that your first week of Advent is off to a good start. Did you light your candle this week?

We did. :)

This was the first week of our parish moving from having an 8am, 10am and noon Mass, down to just an 8am and 11am. We attended the 11am, and all went very well. I wasn't quite prepared for the new parking lot situation, but that's all right. We'll all adjust! The liturgy was quietly beautiful and the kids both behaved like angels. I assure you, this is not always the case, it is not due to some special Catholic Mothering Trick that I have patented. I just got lucky this week. :)

Yesterday on December 1st, we started the Advent calendars. The kids each have a chocolate calendar this year, and we have a new wood calendar with magnetic pieces. I have coveted this calendar for years, and finally bought it over the summer. Tip: this calendar often goes on sale during the non-Advent season. :) That's when I snapped mine up. At any rate, Henry LOVES this new calendar, and has been sneakily getting the pieces out and set up before Anne and I come downstairs in the mornings. Anne had a pout face on about that this morning, so I had to secure a promise from Henry that Anne could do tomorrow's piece.

*long suffering sigh*

Speaking of poor Henry, he has whatever Cold From The Very Pits of Hell that Anne and I had recently. He was coughing a lot yesterday and this morning. I could sigh again, but I won't, and instead offer up yet another instance of lost sleep via parental sacrifice. Before I was a parent, I had NO IDEA about the dire nature of the sleep situation. I think that this all should be taken into consideration during our turn at the Last Judgment, don't you agree?

At any rate, the other Advent items proliferating in our house are nativity sets. Henry has a set, Anne has a set, and we have a family set. We also have other random, partial sets in the storage that sometimes intermingle during the off season and result in eclectic family situations come December. As in a wise man is suddenly a member of the Holy Family, or an angel is stepping in for Mary. She deserves a break sometimes, right? Far too often, baby Jesus Himself is missing in action. It is most distressing when this happens. Henry keeps good track of his set, and Anne's is confined to her room, so it's the main downstairs set that sees the confusion each year. I just try and piece together as coherent a representation of the nativity as I can and call it a day.

So, our home traditions are all going well, but I am feeling rather busy these days, which I am decidedly not enjoying. I want things to settle down and all of us just enjoy the season. Oohh, I'll talk about this more in our weekly video chat. *beams*

How is your first week of Advent going? Do write in and tell me all about it. Oh, oh! I almost forgot. If you want to watch or listen to my spell over on the Catholic Mom Hangout podcast, check it out right over here. The topic is Advent, so it's all perfect and everything! :)