A smashing anniversary getaway for the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord...

Happy Monday everyone! I am back and absolutely aglow from my anniversary weekend trip. I hope that you all had a beautiful feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, and last weekend in the Christmas season. We're now back on Ordinary Time until Ash Wednesday in mid-February, but no need to worry about that just yet. ;-)

So, my weekend! Mike and I traveled north to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, and I wanted to describe the highlights, since we had such a sublime time. I realize now that I should have taken more photos, I'm so bad about that. But I was busily enjoying the moments, so I guess I can't be too hard on myself for that. Let's begin at the beginning, and I usually tell you to get your tea for these long posts, which is extremely appropriate given how we started our weekend.

*levitates*

I mean...Oh my. As soon as we checked in (at a quaint inn, our room had a fireplace!) we headed to the historic Prince of Wales hotel and their Drawing Room for afternoon tea. To say that it was magnificent doesn't even come CLOSE to describing it. Mike and I had the place to ourselves, and chose to sit in a cozy nook by the fire. Here's Mike, displaying our table. :)

We each selected a tea, and can I tell you, it's all downhill from here with regard to tea. :0 NOTHING can live up to the tea that we had there, and I would have bought a boatload to bring back if the prices hadn't made one gasp in discreet shock. DIVINE, that's the only way to describe it. We also were brought a tiered platter of tiny sandwiches, warm scones, cookies, macaroons, fruit, quiche, and other pastries, all served with clotted cream, butter and fresh raspberry jam. I mean...

I was so cozy, happy and absolutely contented, I was just beside myself. It was *magnificent*.

Mike: "You're really happy, aren't you?"

Me: "Are these fresh pink roses?! What? Oh my, yes!"

I was beaming the entire day. And our room at the inn was just adorable, I had that fireplace going day and night. And isn't it refreshing to know that even over the course of 10 years, some things never change?

Mike: "Are you warm enough yet, sweetie?" *beads of sweat appear on forehead*

Me: *bundled in fleece from head to toe* "Yes, FINALLY! But don't turn the fire off! I'll get cold again."

Women and the cold body temperature thing, I definitely have that, while Mike is the exact male opposite. :)

It wasn't all my own cold chemistry this weekend though. A cold front had moved in off of Lake Ontario, and hello! There is Niagara-on-the-Lake. We knew it would be cold, and I packed my new giant wool cowl, which I wore constantly:

And we're hearty Western New Yorkers, we're used to cold. Right?

Well. :) There is cold, and there is COLD. This was cold that we're not really used to. We'd get outside, bundled in our wool and fleece accessories, and have this conversation about a half dozen times over the course of the weekend:

"This isn't so bad! I mean, it's cold, but..."

*walk to intersection of street*

BAM!

Wind that felt like icy knives assaulted our faces.

"Oh. We'd better go back inside. Else, we may die."

It as *insane,* everyone was talking about it. I have rarely felt wind chill quite like that. People were *running* from store to store, because being outside, even all bundled up, was just unbearable. We did what we could to see a few sights, but we did stay inside a lot. :)

But our outings did include a vineyard (ice wine season, come to mama!) and a trip to the local fudge shop for the kids. We enjoyed some wonderful meals, including our Saturday night official anniversary dinner at a winery. AND, we went to the vigil Mass at the very cute local parish for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord:

Mike: "Is this Mass going to be any different because we're in Canada?"

Me: "Um, no. There may be a slightly different scripture translation used for the readings...oh HELLO cute Canadian missal!"

Upon entering our pew I espied the hymnal plus a missal that I'd never seen before. It was much smaller and squatter than the missalettes I'm used to at our parish. I liked the way it fit into my hands so easily. Sure enough, when I opened it, I noticed that the reading translations were slightly different than in my Magnificat, and the copyright page noted that this missal was "approved for use in Canada." It included a lovely monthly calendar of saint feast days celebrated in Canada, and each Sunday had a reflection written by a Canadian. I kind of loved it. :0 I immediately bonded with it and placed my prayer cards in it to use as bookmarks for the readings and our place in the Order of Mass. I wished that I could take it home with me. ;-)

And the Mass was lovely. I missed my own parish, but I could tell that this was a close community of members. Loved.

I was sad when Sunday morning rolled around and it was time for us to leave. The wind chill had finally normalized somewhat, so we walked to a breakfast spot, and then were able to take a walk closer to the water before packing up to head home. I miss our little winter oasis. :)

I am SO glad that we went on this trip, and we've vowed to go back to Niagara-on-the-Lake for a weekend, just the two of us, when we get to our 12 year anniversary. The freedom to just spend uninterrupted time together and spontaneously do what we pleased for two days, it was just wonderful.

We got back Sunday to a happy reunion with the kids, and all is well. How was your weekend, dear reader? Leave me a comment. :)

Book recommendations from our Christmas & Epiphany stash...

Morning all! I had a better overnight and wake up this morning, my second day of being back to work post-holiday break. Sunday night, I woke up every 60 minutes, looking at the clock in a panic. I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS. Last night was much improved, even after staying up a little later than planned with Mike and my glass of wine to catch up on Downton Abbey.

But I digress (no surprise there...) Before I get on with the main topic for today's post, I wanted to mention the lovely write up Cam has over at A Woman's Place for an Epiphany blessing for your home. There is a link for the prayers to bless a piece of chalk with Holy Water and then bless your house with it, and you can do this yourself in the absence of a priest. Today *is* technically the feast of the Epiphany, although the Church observes it on the Sunday following the feast of the Holy Family. I printed all of the prayers, and so long as I can scare up some Holy Water and a piece of chalk tonight, I plan to do this with the kids!

Ok, so books. I wanted to mention some of the books that I received this Christmas, and some that I gifted this Christmas and Epiphany, since I'm so pleased with them. And yes, I did an Epiphany gift for each child this year! We're celebrating all 12 Days of Christmas over here in our efforts toward incorporating the liturgical year into family life more. Fun. :)

Here are the books that I wanted to mention, figuring that one or more of them might capture your attention as well. I'm going to get all librarian on you and organize them into categories, it's a regular Readers' Advisory over here..

*adjusts bun*

Dance 

I love dance memoirs (I absolutely raved about Dancing Through It: My Journey in the Ballet several months back), and my sister gifted me Dancing on Water: A Life in Ballet, from the Kirov to the ABT:

 This one is intriguing enough to warrant including the description from Amazon:

Dancing on Water is both a personal coming-of-age story and a sweeping look at ballet life in Russia and the United States during the golden age of dance. Elena Tchernichova takes us from her childhood during the siege of Leningrad to her mother’s alcoholism and suicide, and from her adoption by Kirov ballerina Tatiana Vecheslova, who entered her into the state ballet school, to her career in the American Ballet Theatre.

As a student and young dancer with the Kirov, she witnessed the company’s achievements as a citadel of classic ballet, home to legendary names—Shelest, Nureyev, Dudinskaya, Baryshnikov—but also a hotbed of intrigue and ambition run amok. As ballet mistress of American Ballet Theatre from 1978 to 1990, Elena was called “the most important behind-the-scenes force for change in ballet today,” by Vogue magazine. She coached stars and corps de ballet alike, and helped mold the careers of some of the great dancers of the age, including Gelsey Kirkland, Cynthia Gregory, Natalia Makarova, and Alexander Godunov. Dancing on Water is a tour de force, exploring the highest levels of the world of dance.

Yes? I can't wait to read it. I also used a gift card to download a book concerning a sub-category of dance fascination to me, Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas Tradition in the New World:

The Nutcracker is the most popular ballet in the world, adopted and adapted by hundreds of communities across the United States and Canada every Christmas season. In this entertainingly informative book, Jennifer Fisher offers new insights into the Nutcracker phenomenon, examining it as a dance scholar and critic, a former participant, an observer of popular culture, and an interviewer of those who dance, present, and watch the beloved ballet.

Fisher traces The Nutcracker’s history from its St. Petersburg premiere in 1892 through its emigration to North America in the mid-twentieth century to the many productions of recent years. She notes that after it was choreographed by another Russian immigrant to the New World, George Balanchine, the ballet began to thrive and variegate: Hawaiians added hula, Canadians added hockey, Mark Morris set it in the swinging sixties, and Donald Byrd placed it in Harlem. The dance world underestimates The Nutcracker at its peril, Fisher suggests, because the ballet is one of its most powerfully resonant traditions. After starting life as a Russian ballet based on a German tale about a little girl’s imagination, The Nutcracker has become a way for Americans to tell a story about their communal values and themselves.

Tradition, dance, Christmas?! *swoons* I'm planning to start this this weekend when Mike and I are away on our second honeymoon trip. :)

Pioneering & Other Historical Classics

I've been into a pioneering theme lately, and Mike bought me the new annotated Laura Ingalls Wilder autobiography, Pioneer Girl:

It's on backorder at Amazon, so I haven't received it yet, but I'm super excited to read this when it comes.

Along this theme, I have become obsessed with a series I discovered in early December for children ages 4-8. They are the My First Little House books, and I absolutely LOVE reading these to Anne. I got her several for both Christmas and Epiphany, including Winter Days in the Big Woods:

I plan to add to her collection at Easter. I think Anne looks a lot like the illustrations of Laura, and she agrees. *heart*

My sister Shauna'h bought Anne Ox-Cart Man, an absolutely charming story about a year in the life of a farming family:

And at the last minute, I ended up purchasing  A Little Women Christmas for Anne, and I am SO glad that I did:

The illustrations are absolutely breathtaking, and the story heartwarming. Every morning I find this book in Anne's bed, as she wanted to look through it via her nightlight before falling asleep. :)

Cozy Fiction

This is always a favorite category of mine, and I can't wait to read the new Mitford novel, Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good, which my in-laws gave me:

For those who haven't read this series:

           After five hectic years of retirement from Lord’s Chapel, Father Tim Kavanagh returns with his wife, Cynthia, from a so-called pleasure trip to the land of his Irish ancestors.

            While glad to be at home in Mitford, something is definitely missing: a pulpit. But when he’s offered one, he decides he doesn’t want it. Maybe he’s lost his passion.

            His adopted son, Dooley, wrestles with his own passion—for the beautiful and gifted Lace Turner, and his vision to become a successful country vet. Dooley’s brother, Sammy, still enraged by his mother’s abandonment, destroys one of Father Tim’s prized possessions. And Hope Murphy, owner of Happy Endings bookstore, struggles with the potential loss of her unborn child and her hard-won business.

            All this as Wanda’s Feel Good Café opens, a romance catches fire through an Internet word game, their former mayor hatches a reelection campaign to throw the bums out, and the weekly Muse poses a probing inquiry: Does Mitford still take care of its own?

As well, I received as a gift Last Wool and Testament: A Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery:

AND I'm going to be reviewing it tomorrow as part of a new series!

Catholic Young Adult Fiction

You all know that I'm a big fan of Catholic YA books, and my in-laws gave me Olivia's Gift to add to my collection:

You may remember that I reviewed Nancy Carabio Belanger's The Gate back in July and just loved it.  I'm very excited to read one of her other books.

Relatedly, I heard about the latest John Paul 2 High book, Near Occasions (John Paul 2 High Book 5), the other day and immediately used my gift card to download it:

I've written about these books before, I just adore them. I'm looking forward to diving into the latest installment.

Dot-to-Dot Books

For Henry, he's been really into challenging dot-to-dot books, so I picked up several for him including The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Adventure Book 1:

These are perfect for kids his age and he's working his way through them at an alarming clip. :0 I have two more on order for him as a late Epiphany gift from the Greatest Dot-to-Dot Book in the World series. 

And lest you think dot-to-dot puzzles are just for kids, 1000 Dot-to-Dot: Cities,was one of Mike's gifts:

 ...and he LOVES it! Each one takes him days to do, so challenging they are indeed.

Saints for Middle Readers

Henry is a huge saint story fan, and he has several books that I've bought him over the years. He had a few books in the St. Joseph Picture Books series, and he told me that those were his favorites. Thus, I decided to complete his collection so that he now has all 12 books:

We read a story each night before he goes to bed, it's become a lovely tradition.

Well. This post certainly got longer than I intended, but I hope it was helpful and gave you some ideas for yourself or your kids! Did you get any new books for Christmas? Do let me know in the comments. :)

I'm back, and I don't even know where to start!!

:0

A blogging hiatus is necessary for me each year during the Christmas season, but I tell you, it throws me off. I feel all weird when I don't blog. And there was so much that happened that I am certain much of it will get glossed over due to sheer overwhelment (is that a word? it is now :)) but hey, one does what one can. ;-) I will summarize all of the family and liturgical goings on as best I can and call it My Very First Post of 2015!

*streamers!*

I hope that you all had a beautiful and blessed Christmas season, ALTHOUGH aforementioned season technically extends until Sunday, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. So we're still celebrating! I really, really focused on that this year, the fact that Christmas is a season and not just a single day. I think I felt it so deeply this year in particular because with small kids, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day take on a chaotic quality. But beginning with the feast of St. Stephen on December 26th, my Christmas season was absolutely sublime. :) I kept mentioning this to Mike and the kids ("Christmas is a season, we should still be playing Christmas music!!") and they humored me very nicely. 

Ok, so! Last we spoke it was Christmas Eve. We spend Christmas Eve with my family, which is much larger than Mike's, hence the chaos. Earlier that day I wanted to go to Adoration to maintain a serene and sacred feel to the day, and Henry actually wanted to go with me. We made the journey out to one of the two parishes in the area that has a Perpetual Adoration chapel and...

It was closed. :0

Not so perpetual, but understandably, they had a hard time finding enough adorers to fill the slots over the holidays so they closed it for a few days. The church itself was open, with the organist practicing for the Vigil Mass that evening, so Henry and I went and prayed in there for a few minutes. Well, I prayed, and Henry prowled around :) but I thought that was just fine. He was all excited to be in the darkened church and able to find fascinating saint-related hidey holes, and he brought me over to a nook with a St. Therese statue and a candle stand. He expressed interest in going to Adoration with me again when the chapel re-opens, and I couldn't be more pleased.

So, the morning and afternoon went well. While Henry and I were on our Adoration Adventure, Mike texted me to pitch the idea that instead of our traditional pilgrimage to a Christmas Vigil Mass, in which we need to arrive 30 minutes early to get a seat and are smashed into a pew for about an hour and a half with a wiggly Anne, maybe we could consider attending Christmas Day Mass? I was skeptical at first, but he talked me into it. And how did that go? Read on, kind visitors.

So, no Vigil Mass meant that getting ready for our family dinner was easier, and Anne napped right up until we left anyway. She predictably woke up on the wrong side of her little stuffed animal infested bed, and then refused to wear the Christmas Eve dress my mom bought for her. She left the house with a pouty face. Henry was in good spirits, but you know, this is Henry's excited face:

Looks like he's about to undergo involuntary medical testing :0

For my part, I was wearing a black velvet dress and a snowflake necklace that I made just for the occasion:

No photo of me *in* said items, Anne was making me too stressed for selfies. :0 But off we went, and dinner was lovely. I got to see all four of my nephews, including the 2 year old twins, who are so cute you could just kiss their little faces off. I'm certain that they wouldn't appreciate an effort in that regard, so I restrained myself.

Christmas morning found us opening gifts, and then headed to 10 am Mass, and can I just say, Christmas Day Mass =

*Hallelujah!*

I couldn't believe it when we walked in. As opposed to the Vigil Mass, which is beautiful, but suffocating, this Mass didn't even have as many people as a Sunday during Ordinary Time. And we went to our home parish, so it was just SUBLIME. Anne immediately gravitated to the large nativity set, and we went up before Mass started to adore the Newborn King. :)

Lovely, lovely, lovely. Lots of family visiting followed that afternoon and evening, and we were all a bit exhausted by the end of the day.

The kids, of course, were very happy with their gifts, as was I. I received a lot of great books, and I plan to spotlight those tomorrow. But I also received some beautiful new Catholic gifts. Shauna'h gave me this St. Kateri rosary:

I squealed when I saw it. :0 Such fabulousness (another word I just made up...) Anne received another saint softie to add to her collection, and here she is showing off St. Therese now joined in prayer power with Our Lady Star of the Sea:

On the feast of St. Stephen, we got together with my parents to exchange gifts, and they gave me a gorgeous new iPod Nano, which I really needed, since my old one is showing major signs of wear and tear, and I rely on it so heavily for my large music collection and Catholic podcasts. She's purple, and I've named her Cecelia :0

Also on that day, we have Anne posing with our dog nephew, Roscoe:

Cuteness. She's modeling her new Elsa necklace, crafted by my sister Shauna'h. We spent some more time that weekend (Holy Family weekend, appropriately :)) visiting with my sisters and nephews before everyone headed home.

On New Year's Eve we went to the vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God amid a winter storm blowing into Western New York, and coziness was experienced by all. :) I used a new cookbook that I received for Christmas to prepare potato soup in the crock pot, and we also had a shrimp/cheese/olives/bread combo spread after we returned. And on New Year's Day, Mike and Henry finished a 3D puzzle of St. Basil's Cathedral that had been one of his gifts, and just in time for St. Basil's feast day January 2nd :0

In honor of the 2015 patron of this blog!

 Impressive, yes? It was an absolutely wonderful week, and now here I am, back at work.

*sniffle*

But I'm hanging in there, getting back into my routine. And can I say that I am SO excited for 2015? I have never in my (very good and happy) life felt so optimistic about a new year before. Life is good, my friends. I'm looking forward to all of the spiritual opportunities the new liturgical year has to offer, to celebrating 10 years of marriage to Mike this weekend (post on that coming Thursday!), to spending time with my family, to hopefully attending the Catholic New Media Conference in June...There is so much to look forward to. And I look forward to experiencing and sharing it all with YOU, dear reader!

How was your Christmas season so far? Do leave a comment to share it with me!

I'm on holy season hiatus until January 5th! :) Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I wanted to pen a quick note to let you know that I'm taking a brief blogging hiatus from Christmas Day until Monday January, 5th. I figure all of you will be too busy hanging with family and eating cookies to read blog entries during this spell anyway ;-) but I will look forward to being with you again in the new year!

And we have lots to look forward to. My ten year wedding anniversary is in early January *feels old* and for the first time, Mike and I will be going away for the weekend together without the children.

*sniffle!*

 But it should be fun, and I'll post a fun wedding revisit from all those years ago. :) There will be lots of dance posts in the new year, as we're preparing some new choreographies for winter and spring performances. Those are always amusing. What else, let's see... crafts. :) I have a new shawl that is soon to be off the needles that I am super excited about, in "Frozen" inspired colors, and I'll write all about that. Plus an intarsia Christmas stocking (Frosty face on the front :0) that I got roped into agreeing to, a multitude of baby sweaters, and somehow, in a moment of weakness, I told Mike that I'd knit a huge blanket to cover the new bed we're hoping to acquire next year. I must have been drinking when we had that conversation. Oh, and a MYSTERY KNIT-ALONG!! Oh my, I'm excited about that. Details coming in January!

*squeals*

I also have an, ah HEM, milestone birthday coming up during Lent, so you'll hear lots of whining about THAT. But anyway, LENT! Always lots of fodder to discuss there. I have a three month list of books for the Catholic Book Club on the right margin, read along with me in the new year! I'm going to be alternating Catholic non-fiction and fiction coming up here, so it's always an adventure.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas my friends! I'm very grateful that you all navigate here each day to read what I have to say, it means more to me than you could ever know. Just be grateful that you don't know me in real life, because if you did, you'd have to put up with my holiday "baking." And this is what happens when I bake - these are what chocolate clusters (fillings whatever you like: nuts, raisins, marshmallows, combination) are supposed to look like:

And this is what they look like when I make them, with peanuts and marshmallows that are far too large to do anything with but roast over an open fire, because that's what we had in the cupboard:

:0

My poor, long-suffering family. I'm certain that I will have amusing holiday tales when I return, and you can rest assured that I will write all about them. Until then, Merry Christmas and happy New Year! Talk to you on January 5th. :)

The Catholic Nook: Our Lady of the Snows & the Christmas Novena...

Happy Tuesday everybody! I'm so excited about our post for today. Before I talk about Our Lady of the Snows, it seemed perfect that today is day 1 of the Christmas Novena. I have a page at the top of the blog for those of you interested in praying along with me. There is a link to sign up for the daily email reminders. The Christmas Novena begins each year on December 16th and runs through Christmas Eve as a spiritual preparation for the big day. So get your intentions squared away and get started!

Ok, so Our Lady of the Snows. This has become my new obsession. :) And the image in this post? I LOVE IT. I've been searching for a similar prayer card, but no luck so far. At any rate, let's learn more about her, shall we?

This title for Mary developed from a tradition involving a Roman couple in the year 352. Both husband and wife had a dream in which Mary appeared to them and told them that she wanted a church built in a place on which snow would fall to mark the spot. Given that they lived in Rome, you can imagine that the couple was a bit curious. :) Snow doesn't fall all that often there, especially in August. :0 Well, sure enough, on August 5th snow covered Esquiline Hill in Rome. All of Rome proclaimed this a miracle, and a church was built on the hill in 358. Through the years, the church has undergone a lot of restoring and refurbishing, and is the modern day Basilica of St. Mary Major. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who honor Our Lady of the Snows as their patroness, run an American shrine to Mary under this title in Belleville, Illinois, which features a Way of Light at Advent and Christmas and multiple small shrines to Mary under her various titles (Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes). Her feast is celebrated on August 5th. A special prayer for her intercession is below:

Our Lady of the Snows, Immaculate Queen of the Universe, from this privileged sanctuary, Thou has bestowed so many countless graces and pledges of love upon the hearts and souls of millions. O Mother, from this cradle of Christianity, this Mother Church of all churches, deign to shower forth the graces of thine Immaculate Heart upon the remnant Faithful throughout the world, wherever they may be, and grant them the graces of a childlike love and unwavering fidelity to the holy truths of our Faith. Grant, good Mother, to the faithful Bishops of the Church the grace to defend Her Sacred Teachings, and to persevere courageously against all the enemies of the Holy Church. Amen.

 Cool, huh?

I just absolutely love the image of Mary under this title, it just gives me such a cozy feeling. Our Lady of the Snows isn't a very well known title for her, and finding gift items bearing this image are difficult to come by.  I had her in mind when I recently asked the fabulous Allison to craft matching rosaries for me (for me and Anne) with a Frozen colorway theme. Our Lady of the Snows rosary centers are nonexistent as far as I know, so I asked her to use Our Lady of Lourdes:

Isn't it stunning? The colors are just so evocative to me of Our Lady of the Snows. The bead mix is called "Glacier," and has sparkly blue shades and Aurora Borealis crystal. The Paters are silver pearls. I LOVE IT. It's a perfect winter rosary. :) And she'll custom make you one too if you ask her!

I also see that Our Lady of the Snows has a novena that you can pray each year from July 27th through August 4th, leading to her feast day, so let's do that in 2015, yes? I'll create a page with the prayers so that we can pray along together for her intercession.

Does anybody else have familiarity with Our Lady of the Snows? I'd love to hear from you!

P.S., don't forget that book club is tomorrow! We'll be talking about Advent of a Mystery. See you then!

Seasonal arts traditions - The Nutcracker...

Ahhhh, seasonal festivities. Don't you just love those? I wouldn't call this an Advent tradition per se, but it's certainly a lovely event to get into the spirit of the coming Christmas season. Every year for quite some time now, I've gone to see The Nutcracker with my mom. Through the years we've seen a number of different ballets perform the piece, but we often seek out a local company who performs it each year in the Center for the Arts at the university for which I work. They do a really nice job with it, and keep the locations of the magical places Clara visits in Act II slightly different each time. I like the unpredictability of it all. :)

For the past two years, we've brought Henry along with us. So far, he sees The Nutcracker as "a play," hence it's OK for boys to attend, in his opinion. As if boys couldn't also enjoy watching ballet, but you know how these thought processes can work, sigh. At any rate, he really loves going, and I think part of the appeal is the lobby outside the theater, where collectible nutcrackers and all sorts of beautiful ornaments are on display and for sale. Each year he and I pick out a new nutcracker to bring home and add to our own collection, and usually an ornament for our tree as well. And we go out to dinner afterwards too, food always sweetens the pot. ;-)

This year, I decided to also bring Anne. At three and a half, it was a bold choice, but I figured: life is short. Why wait to start building those beautiful memories with her? Granted, I risk being in the ladies room for half the performance while Anne oohs and ahhs over the decor in there and/or throws herself to the ground in protest of heaven knows what, but I decided to live dangerously. We all got dressed up (Henry somewhat against his will) and headed out Sunday afternoon for the matinee performance.

It went pretty well. We got there *right* before start time (my mom drives sort of slow, but don't tell her I said that :0) and found our seats up in the front of the balcony. Anne seemed to find it pretty amazing that we were "up real high!" and I love sitting up there. So much easier to see well.

And Act I is my very favorite part of the show. I love the opening sequence set on Christmas Eve in the beautiful old house. The children dancing and the happy, festive music. The dramatic Mouse King segment. And finally the dancing snowflakes. Sublime! That part of the show is also shorter, and so it's also easier for the kids to sit through. There's a lot of action going on to keep them entertained, and the narrator explains everything. It's all very lovely. Anne was bouncing up and down in her seat, and kept asking "whispered" questions, so I had to field that and ask her to be quiet, oh, I don't know, 150 times maybe?

!

But, really, that's to be expected. And the matinee was packed full of other children, so I think the people around us understood. During intermission, my mom took Anne to see Santa and Mrs. Claus, and Henry and I shopped for a new nutcracker. We chose one adorned in red velvet, who is skiing. :)

Back for Act II, things was a hair dicier, but still manageable. Anne was now tired, and wanted to sit in my lap. She also wanted something to eat, and it took some convincing to settle her down out of that little situation, but all was well. The changing locations in Act II kept the kids interested for a spell, but I knew the Sugar Plum sequence at the end would be a problem, it is every year. :0

"Mommy. Are they ALMOST DONE?!"

She goes on a bit long, that Sugar Plum Fairy. And there isn't really a story anymore in Act II, we're just watching the dances set around the world, and the kids aren't as into that. Unsurprisingly, the Arabian dancer is always my favorite.

:0

We had lots of bored fidgetiness to contend with near the end, but we got through it. We went out for an early dinner afterward, and they both ate like they hadn't seen food in days. Typical. :)

Has anybody else seen The Nutcracker this year, or going to see it before Christmas? Do chime in in the comments. :)

Favorite Christmas gift ideas?

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. I'm a busy bee today cocooned happily in my office working on some projects, totally uninterrupted by meetings.

#Amen

Aside from Blackboard giving me a few troubles (which I solved by changing browsers, take that!) it's been a pleasant day. I have lots of interesting blog fodder swirling around in my little head (fascinating developments with my current read, fun dance events coming together) but I'm saving those for later in the week.

I was listening to Catholic Weekend this morning on my commute to work, and one of the panelists mentioned Mystic Monk coffee as their Pick of the Week. I was instantly intrigued, and thought their store would be a great place to shop for a few family gifts.

Well. :) Yes, I shopped, order placed! I loved being able to procure a few Christmas gifts while also supporting a religious community, and thought I'd give them a little plug here. They have a great selection of specialty coffee and tea, and also have a bunch of other gifts for sale: religious items, coffee mugs, a chant CD, chocolates, you name it. Go check it out.

I'm awaiting the last of the saint dolls I ordered for the kids' stockings (John Paul II for Henry, and St. Therese for Anne, and both shops are officially no longer taking orders for Christmas, saints are popular gifts apparently :)), and I have several beautiful rosaries from Rosaries by Allison that I'll giving as gifts this year as well. I'm also making some things, as you all know, because I like to solidify my place as a Crafty Overachiever. ;-)

I need to settle on some other gifts for the kids and Mike, mostly consisting of books and a few movies. We're a book nerd kind of a household. I have some puzzles and baby doll supplies in mind for Anne, and a Kindle Fire for Henry. I'm very excited to see everyone open everything on Christmas morning.

So, dear reader, what are your favorite and/or new gift supply stores and general ideas for Christmas 2014. Big bonus for you if it's an online store that you provide to the introverted Catholic Librarian. :0 Chime in in the comments!

Christmas crafting in October - oh yes I am!!

Good morning everyone! My mind has been very distracted this week with work tasks, but I always like to still blog because it's such a creative outlet for me. Unless something comes up or I'm on vacation, I try to write at least something short each day Monday through Friday. And so here I am with you, during a quiet stretch on the reference desk. :)

So yay! On to the topic at hand. I wrote several months ago about my annual Christmas in July craziness, and since I didn't have anything else in mind to write about today, I thought it was a good day to revisit my plans and see how everything is going. Because I've been knitting. A LOT.

*halo*

I'm going to duplicate the list I proposed back in July, with updates noted in red. #TypeA

________________________________________

"Mike - Socks. He picked out some brown tweed yarn (men, I tell you, no boldness when it comes to color) and we're good to go. No sweaters this year. AMEN."

Ok, sooooooo. Poor Mike doesn't have any socks yet. :0 The brown tweed just isn't exactly exciting, and I haven't been motivated enough to get to them yet, because they'll be a bit of a grind to knit. They are, however, for my sweetheart, so that certainly provides a lot of impetus. Going to try and knit these in November. And I've decided that he has been so thoughtful and wonderful of late (not that he usually isn't, he's just really stepped up his husbandly game when I needed it the most, he earns much gold star-age here) that he's getting a new sweater next year. I know that knitting a men's sweater will inevitably lead to swearing and gnashing of teeth, but I'm forging ahead anyway and shopping for the yarn this coming Cyber Monday. I'm very excited. :0

"Henry - Colorful socks (good boy). Chocolate brown scarf that I have the yarn for in my stash. Score."

Socks are done, and adorn Henry's feet weekly the instant they're out of the wash. He earns child bonus points for this one. Chocolate brown scarf? I'm not sure about this anymore. :) I've used some of the yarn for another project, and I just don't think he'll wear a scarf with any regularity. This may get excised.

"Anne - Finding Nemo socks (leftover yarn from when I made Henry the same socks). Colorful cardigan made from stash yarn, I make her one every year. Special request for watermelon mittens. I also have the yarn for those."

Henry outgrew his Nemo socks and they're still in good shape, so voila! I transferred them to Anne's sock drawer, and thus those are done. :0 #genius I also knit her the cardigan, which she refuses to wear, saying it's "itchy," for which she gets child bonus points *deducted*. I made her not only watermelon mittens but also a matching hat, and she seems to dig them, so hopefully she'll wear them once the weather changes. 

*glares* 

"Mother-in-law - Dishcloths. 2 or 3?"

Just started a batch of Christmas dishcloths/pot holders, so these are currently in the works.

"Assorted Christmas Eve gifts for relatives we see on that day - 6 dishcloths."

See above. :)
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I think it's worth mentioning that after I posted this list, it was added to, and I have completed all of those projects.

*angels sing*

Shauna'h requested mittens and boot toppers, both of which I made and delivered to her in Maine this past weekend. I made hats for my twin nephews, and gave those to them as well. I also made a few new winter accessories for myself, since my old ones were looking a bit worn. So I have a new cowl and hat. I do have to also craft a Secret Santa gift for someone in my knitting group, and that is also in progress, so seriously? I think I am doing pretty darn well with my list.

*sniffs happily*

 I do feel a bit like I can't skip an evening of knitting lest I fall behind, but besides that (*snorts*) I think things are going well and I will finish everything that I want to prior to Christmas. I like the way I approached things this year, which is that I planned projects back in June, started knitting and crocheting in July, and kept the goals manageable. I'm not going to knock out multiple sweaters even in 6 months, you know? Just not happening.

So, that's that. Does anyone else have holiday crafting plans? If so, please do detail in the comments. :)

I'll post some pictures of the completed projects I mentioned above in 7 Quick Takes tomorrow. I have a bit of a miserable day at work tomorrow, *feels sorry for self* but I am committed to squeezing this post in between classes and meetings. It might not be as detailed as usual, but I'll do what I can. Talk to you all then!

Christmas in July - 2014 edition...

I do this every year:

June - Christmas? Who's thinking about *that*?

July 1st - Hark. Do we have all of the Advent supplies that we need?! These things sell out long before the season starts. I better get on this!!

And let's not even go there with the Christmas gift knitting list. I already started that, July instigates that as well. And we know how that THAT usually ends up. (ill fated Navy Blue Cardigan - I'm looking at you, MISTER).

But yet - every year I'm game again. CHRISTMAS.IN.JULY.SALES.BABY!

Despite the fact that we have so many family nativity sets the nativity people seem to be migrating from set to set and we can't keep track of them all, every year I want to add more nativity fodder to our collection. I do keep good track of Henry's set, because he loves it and I invested in a very nice Fontanini set for him to keep in his bedroom that I add to every year. I want to keep it in good condition and he can take it with him when he's grown and share it with his own children. He has a stable with all of the important people, plus assorted sheep with their own corral, and a few pieces of the Bethlehem Village. Each year, I buy a few more pieces for him and it's become a lovely tradition. Fontanini has a Christmas in July sale every year, and so I take advantage to pick out some pieces, order them, and then tuck them away until his birthday in November. This year I may get him the well, an associated villager, and maybe the barnyard animal set he requested. So, I'm already on top of this order and plotting it out.

Then I had another idea, and it's always dangerous when this happens. :) Anne doesn't have her own set. She doesn't have as much space in her room to display things the way Henry does, and plus Henry has an established love for religious tchotchkes. His set is a very nice 5" version. I was thinking though that I could get her a starter set and see how she likes it. Fontanini has a 3.5" set, and they have expanded the village pieces available in that size. It's more affordable and will be easier for her to handle and display in her bedroom. I espied the "My First Nativity Set" that Fontanini offers in this size, and I was all over it. It is currently residing happily in my cart. :0 It includes a small stable, the Holy Family, and a sheep. No 3 Kings, but we can add them next year. When you place an order online with Fontanini, you almost certainly qualify for free shipping and a discount to your total depending on how much you spend.

So, I'm excited. :) That will make a nice Advent gift for her. I know that she'll like it.

And so, the part you've all been waiting for...CHRISTMAS KNITTING LIST!! We can revisit this in the fall and see how well (or not, snort) I'm doing with this. Since there are no adult-sized sweaters on the list this year, I'm hoping it'll go smoothly, but you know what they say about the best laid plans... We have:

Mike - Socks. He picked out some brown tweed yarn (men, I tell you, no boldness when it comes to color) and we're good to go. No sweaters this year. AMEN.

Henry - Colorful socks (good boy). Chocolate brown scarf that I have the yarn for in my stash. Score.

Anne - Finding Nemo socks (leftover yarn from when I made Henry the same socks). Colorful cardigan made from stash yarn, I make her one every year. Special request for watermelon mittens. I also have the yarn for those.

Mother-in-law - Dishcloths. 2 or 3?

Assorted Christmas Eve gifts for relatives we see on that day - 6 dishcloths


It feels much more manageable this year. Hope springs eternal. If you are a family member and want something added to this list, please let me know. ;-)

Other than that, I've been thinking about a new Advent calendar, but have made no decision on that yet. Any recommendations? Is anybody else thinking about getting Advent items prepared already? Bueller?

I would be thrilled if you would leave me a comment. :)