It's officially Christmas in July, how does the Catholic Librarian celebrate?

Well, hello there to you all! It finally feels like July here in WNY, the temperatures and humidity have both been elevated. For my freakish part, I've been happily crafting away, and secretly wanting to watch the Hallmark Channel's Christmas in July movie marathon, but I don't, since I don't want Mike and Henry to move out. ;-) So what have I been doing with my Christmas in July energy?

(1) Knitting and crocheting Christmas gifts 

I mentioned this before, but I've been a busy bee with my Christmas crafting list. I've made a little bit of progress on projects from this list, as well as other items for the cooler weather that I'd like to make for myself. I did add to the list *groans* but that's typical. I do that every year, I just try not to let it get out of hand.

*ominous music plays over these famous last words*

I added a shawl for my sister and a stuffed cat for Anne. And possibly a pair of socks for Mike, we'll see. He's already getting a sweater, we can't get too carried away for love here.

For a fall birthday project, I'm crocheting hats for my twin nephews, and I finished the second one last night:

Soon to appear on a cute little head.

I was highly motivated to finish this because I became sick of the pattern after the first hat. This fickleness of my part makes it challenging to have four nephews, two of them twins. ;-)

Now it's back to socks. SO MANY SOCKS. And why does everyone need to have TWO OF THEM?! The nerve!

(2) Adding to Henry's nativity set

It has become an annual tradition to add to Henry's Fontanini nativity set and Bethlehem village, and the online Fontanini store has a Christmas in July sale every year. Nativity frenzy, everyone!!

Henry's set, sans the village

At this point, he has all of the main nativity pieces, including the 3 Kings and assorted animals and shepherds. So, each year he picks a new village piece (like the carpenter's shop, the well, etc.) and associated villager and we add on. It is true that the Fontanini store has this sale going all the time, they just change the name of it to coordinate with the month/season, so there's no rush to acquire pieces right now. But I like the Christmas in July symbolism and tend to order around this time of year, so that I have the pieces for Henry's birthday in early November. :)

(3) Ordering the Magnificat Advent Companion

I received my August edition of Magnificat magazine in yesterday's mail, and included with it was a lovely ad for the 2015 Advent Companion, and even the 2016 Lenten Companion. I always enjoy having these little booklets during those special liturgical seasons. You can get them for your Kindle for 99 cents, which I sometimes do, and often they run out of the print copies, so you have no choice but to use the digital copy if you wait too long to order. But I do enjoy the tangible print copies for these specific publications, so my pre-order is about to go in! We're a long way out from Advent, I will grant, but it's pleasant to contemplate.

Those are my Christmas in July thoughts for the morning! Do any of you have any other pre-Advent/holidays planning that you do over the summer? If you don't, you can also write in to tell me how nuts I am. ;-) Do tell me all about it in the comments!

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. :)

Second Sunday of Advent - Ours was fun, how was yours?

Hello all! I'm coming off of a super nice weekend. Of course, I will detail everything for you. :) I had a *fantastic* time at our dance performance on Saturday, I'll write about that tomorrow. Also, just a quick note that Karen from Silver Hill Treasures is hosting a giveaway for a Spanish lace mantilla through Thursday, and the winner gets to pick the color of her choice! This is a gorgeous style of veil, enter today! 

Ok, so the Second Sunday of Advent. Here is mine:

All purpled up and ready for Mass!

I took the kids to Mass for the 10 am family liturgy. Anne had been cranky, so I was praying that she wouldn't embarrass me too badly. Away we went!

The Mass itself was lovely. Two purple candles were lit up on the altar Advent wreath. Anne seemed particularly taken with this factoid. I love the special Prefaces for Advent that we're currently using during the Sunday liturgies. I noted that we're still using Preface I of Advent. Next week we may move to Preface II!

Yesterday's reflection in Magnificat was from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, talking about the tradition of the Christmas Crib during this season of Advent, how one can set it up following the feast of the Immaculate Conception to share with Mary the immediate trepidation leading up to Jesus' birth. Love.

We made it through Mass with both children behaving well. I was grateful. Our parish sponsors a Giving Tree for families in need during the season and those gifts are due back next Sunday. Henry reminded me of that before we left. :)

Back at home, my battle with Anne to keep the Fisher Price nativity set set up nicely finally wrapped up. Anne: 1, Mommy: 0. She just wasn't really into playing with it and wanted her princess castle back downstairs, but nor would she leave the figures set up in an understandable fashion. Lots of nativity scene marauding went on while Mommy wasn't looking. I think if we had freshened up the batteries so that "Away in the Manger" could have successfully played when you pushed down on the angel that would have increased her interest in it. However, the "Away in the Manger" situation with working batteries quickly loses its charm and becomes a Near Occasion of I May Lose My Mind. Ask me how I know this.

In light of this, I crept back up into our storage because I know I had come across approximately four nativity sets when we were putting out the Christmas decorations. I thought I'd set up a nicer one beneath the tree since that is the reason we are doing all of this, no? There needs to be a nativity set up for Advent and Christmas.

Going through all of the stacked boxes in the storage was about as much fun as you would expect. The first nativity-related bag I came to I snatched up and headed back downstairs.

It quickly became apparent that I had never seen this nativity set before. I did remember both grandmothers saying they had given me nativity sets recently, none of which I remembered, so maybe this was one of those? I carefully dumped the bag out and found a motley assortment of characters. A lone evergreen tree, unlikely to be present in the ancient Middle East. A shepherd carrying a lamb across his shoulders who appeared to be made of a completely different material than his colleagues. A few sad looking sheep. *Two* cribs containing a baby Jesus. Mary. And...two other men.

*eyebrow furrow*

In no interpretation of the nativity scene would we have only two men, neither of whom appeared to be Joseph. Hum. Contender #1:

Who the heck is *this* guy?

One of the three Kings? I don't know, questionable. He's kind of tall, if that means anything. He *is* carrying something, but it's of indescernible significance. Of the two, I thought he had the most promise to be a Joseph stand-in.

"Hank, come look at the nativity. Does that look like Joseph?"

"No way, Mommy."

Mew.

I had been holding out hope for Contender #1, because Contender #2:

CLEARLY *not* Joseph

And there were no other guys in the bag. None. I had put the shepherd out but then tucked him back into the bag when it became obvious that he was way out of his element with this crew. Ultimately, this set didn't last an hour under the tree. Too weird. I need to go back through the storage.

#longsufferingsigh

After our morning adventures, I had tickets to take Henry to see a local production of The Nutcracker. I had taken him last year and he loved it. There is always a beautiful display of nutcrackers and other trinkets for sale outside the theater, and as expected, Henry and I had a blast with that. I was very easily talked into purchasing a nutcracker to display for the season, and we picked out two ornaments to bring back to Anne, who had cried when we left without her. One of the ornaments is a beautifully decorated lollipop, and when I tried to put it on the tree Anne burst into tears. She loves it so much she's insisting on carrying it around with her. I drew the line at taking it to bed with her like she requested, it had to wait on her dresser for her to wake up. I'm thinking the decorative sprinkles are not long for this world. She did try to eat them, but that's not the full reason for why a bunch have fallen off. :0

The show was just beautiful. I have a tradition with my mom of attending every year, and it's just so lovely. The mood is always so festive, and I love watching dancing. I can't wait until Anne is old enough for us to bring her.

After we got back and put the kids to bed, Mike and I made a fire and watched The Thin Man with Myrna Loy and William Powell. It's set at Christmas, so it feels seasonal. It was a perfectly sublime day.

So now you know about my Second Sunday of Advent! Would you like to share yours? Linkup below! I'll have another of these weekly posts up next Monday for the Third Sunday of Advent. Isn't Advent life grand?

Catholic Art. Or, maybe Nativity Art. Is that right?!

I like to think about what my blog topic will be on any given day in the morning, since I often find inspiration in my daily preparations and commute. So. What happened in Tiffany's morning today to form a theme?

Exhibit A: Anne's Subtle Musings

"Mommy, where is the princess castle?"


"Upstairs, Honey. We needed to make room for the nativity set."

"Mommy, who are...THOSE PEOPLE?!"

Thankfully, she wasn't talking about the Holy Family. She was pointing accusingly to a gaggle of shepherds. I don't know how, but we would up with more shepherds than sheep in our nativity set.

"They're shepherds Sweetie. And the 3 Kings. Don't worry, the castle is upstairs all safe and sound."

"Want the castle, Mommy."

:0

At any rate, this tied nicely into:

Exhibit B: The Advent Joy That Is Shepherd's Abiding

I just finished re-reading Jan Karon's Shepherd's Abiding, a lovely Advent story. And in that story, Fr. Tim decides to refurbish an heirloom nativity set for his wife as a surprise Christmas gift. In the course of his work, he seeks out a book of artistic renderings of the nativity, as a way of guiding his painting and plaster work. This notion has fascinated me every time I read the book. I want a book of images of the nativity! Doesn't that sound sublime?

And so, THEN:

Exhibit C: The Wonderful Deacon Tom & Dee Fox of Catholic Vitamins

I've started listening to the Catholic Vitamins podcast, and I'm so glad that I did. This week, their vitamin is I for Icons, and the interview they are doing with an icon writer (this is the proper term for iconographers) is absolutely fascinating, how prayer is instrumental throughout the process and how intricate it is to create an icon. I highly recommend listening to this episode if this topic is of interest to you. As I listened on my commute in, I thought back on that nativity book I was pondering, since all of this has me in a distinctive art kind of mood...

I know nothing about art. As in, seriously. My art teachers always gave me that placating smile they come up with for a child who has zero artistic ability but they don't want to make you feel bad. It's never been my gift. And so I really appreciate it when I see someone's work who DOES have this gift. All of these musings led me to do some searching on Amazon while I sat at a quiet reference shift. And I currently have a trial of Amazon Prime, so I'm drunk with power at the thought of ordering a single book, and not having to pay shipping, each day until the end of the year. :0 At any rate, I found this book, which looks kind of fascinating.

I figure there must be other contenders out there for art relating to the nativity. Does anyone have any titles to suggest?

I am at your command in the combox. :)

Henry's 7th birthday

Henry's birthday is tomorrow (election day!) but somehow he's wound up with a week-long birthday celebration this year. Saturday, we invited all the boys from his class to our local bowling alley for a little shindig.

*hair turns gray*

I mean, they were very good. :) But being responsible for 9 rambunctious boys running around was no walk in the park. I think some people are naturally more gifted at dealing with loud herds of children. I love children, I really do, but I am not one of aforementioned gifted people. :) At any rate we survived. And stopped off at the liquor store on the way home. And the boys had a great time.

Sunday we had family over for a small pizza and cake party. More Legos were celebrated by Henry. Fun was had by all, especially Anne, who positively basks in extra attention. And so we finally unveiled Henry's big birthday gift for the year - A Fontanini nativity set, complete with the Holy Family, some sheep, an angel, the 3 kings, and a 3 kings tent.

It's *lovely*. When we plugged it in and turned on the lighted stable, Henry gasped. :) I promised him that this set was *his* and he could keep it in his room and we would add to it every year. Last year, he about keeled over from the stress of Anne messing with the Christmas decorations, including his old Fisher Price nativity set. Btw, they have a really nice combo pack now for the Fisher Price set that comes with the original nativity, the 3 kings set, and a possy of shepherds. I see a tent for the wise men in there now, along with an extra angel and a cute camel. Anyway, I digress.

Henry's new Fontanini set is beautiful. He set up the tent with the wise men lounging inside separate from the stable and the Holy Family. The next time I went into his room, the 3 kings had migrated over to the stable and were adoring the Child. :) The angel had joined them in what appeared to be a party-like atmosphere.

Precious.

The week in review...

"Hey Honey! Did you know that that cute young swimmer, Missy Franklin, goes to a Catholic school and is thinking about becoming Catholic? And that there is a Catholic from the U.S. team in the judo competition?"

"How do you always know all these cute Catholic news items and facts?"

"From my Facebook news feed. I subscribe to the Catholic News Service and our diocese. Plus, I'm friends with a couple of priests."  *beams*

"Why am I not surprised?"

So, I've been doing lots of knitting and watching of the Olympics. My sweater is still just a giant seafoam-colored tube, but I'm within a single inch of the armhole shaping. I'm really getting there! In mitten world, mitten #1 is mercifully complete. I'll cast on for #2 today.

In a move that has endeared this yarn shop to my very heart, Jimmy Beans Wool came out with a limited edition Olympics colorway for 3 weights of the Lorna's Laces yarn that they carry: fingering/sock, worsted, and DK. The promotion is called "Medal Madness" and for each medal that Team USA wins, they lower the price of the yarn. Obviously, it won't ship until after the Olympics are complete, but you can pre-order now. I mean, how fun! The yarn is, well, let's just say a *hair* more expensive than what I usually pay for a single skein, but this seemed like an exception. One skein will make a pair of socks, and I figured I could make myself a commemorative pair of socks for my first Ravellenic Games. I excitedly pre-ordered a skein of the sock weight and I can't wait to receive it.

Hence, I am now obsessed with Jimmy Beans. My heart still belongs to Knit Picks, but Jimmy and I have started meeting on the side. I have a feeling that our illicit relationship will reignite on the first of each month when he releases the next new limited edition colorway in the Lorna's Laces yarn. It feels a bit scandalous, but it's just between you and me, ok? I *heart* you, Jimmy.

In news of people who are not feeling so sunny, Anne decidedly woke up on the wrong side of the Pack 'n Play this morning. She whined around the house while we ate breakfast and when I offered to pick her up, she came next to me only to throw herself to the ground and attempt to yank the tablecloth clear off the dining room table. When I held out her bottle to her, which almost always soothes her, she walked from clear across the room to *slap it*. She also roughed up her poor little barking puppy dog when he didn't respond to her demands. I think somebody is getting yet another new tooth. Sigh.

Henry's Fontanini nativity set finally came. If you ever order Fontanini stuff, use the main web site for the company, rather than any other small distributor. The set I ordered for Hank took forever to arrive, and when it did, the company I purchased it from had stuffed the boxes into a shipping box that they barely fit in, so they were damaged. The products are fine, thankfully, but the boxes look like somebody beat them up. And you want the boxes to store the stuff in each year. I was a bit disappointed about that. The main Fontanini store that I linked to is awesome. I helped my mother-in-law order some additional stuff for Henry from them (some shepherds and camels that she wanted to get him) and she received her items within 5 days and in tip top packaging.

At any rate, I did get a good price, and the set is beautiful. I also got him the 3 kings and their "tent." The company gave me a free angel because of the lengthy delay in shipping, which is actually quite nice. So, he's going to have a beautiful set this year. I can't wait to give it to him in November.

I hope that everybody has a great weekend. :) It's August, which I much prefer over July. The anticipation of fall is in the air, no?

Christmas in July, literally

Naturally, my poking around yesterday regarding the Fontanini nativity sets revealed a heretofore unknown fact about Christmas and Advent items: Christmas in July sales.

Who knew? Apparently this is the best possible time to buy your Christmas collectibles. My mother-in-law collects ceramic Christmas village pieces (can't remember the collection name offhand) and when I spoke with her yesterday she said that she would always add to her collection in July in anticipation of December since that was when you could get the best deal.

My glee was apparent as I trolled the Internet on my lunch hour. I found a Fontanini set that is slightly different from the one we saw in the Christian gift store, but still lights up and is much less expensive. AND THEN the Christmas in July sale knocked an additional 20% off the price. It comes with a stable including lit hearth, the holy family, and 2 sheep. Given how good the discount was, I was also able to procure the 3 kings and their kingly tent that Henry admired in the store. And the whole shebang included free shipping and a free angel. I'm going to tuck it away and then give it to Henry for his birthday in early November, perfect timing for Advent, and I'm *so* excited. SO EXCITED.

Henry actually brought up the nativity again last night, saying how he wants to collect all the pieces, but his favorite are the 3 kings.

*beams*

I can't wait to give it to him. It hasn't shipped yet, not that I'm in any hurry. I'm a bit of a stalker when I order things online though, I'm always dying for them to come. :)

But all of this nativity shopping got me into the Advent spirit, and before I knew it, I was on Christianbook.com's Advent page looking at Advent wreaths, since we desperately need a new one. Henry and I were discussing those as well. I could see Mike arching an amused brow as we excitedly discussed what type of Advent calendar we wanted for this year and what other devotions we should look into. I'M SO EXCITED.

I've also got some Christmas crafting planned for gifts that I'll share at a later date (needless to say, they're cute) and I'm on an email list to be notified when the Advent wreath that I've got my eye on becomes available for the year.

I'm insane.

Heat, nativity sets, and knitting abound

Bet you missed me. ;-) And so I return from my long weekend home. And doing so makes me appreciate my wonderful husband all the more. Our children are a handful, and he has them all day every day. Add to that the fact that we're finally experiencing some summer weather, and being home during the day can be a bit of a challenge.

It doesn't matter how hot Anne is, she does NOT slow down. She has *so* much hair, and she gets totally sweaty because she does nothing but run around and get into things. She also climbs on things. opens drawers and cupboards, and throws her baby dolls around when she's mad. Those long suffering baby dolls. But we're hanging in there.

Despite the heat, I've been knitting like an old lady with a lot of time on her hands. My sister is having twins, and this has sent my knitting into overdrive. It's hard to keep up with this demand! :) But I finally finished the baby knitting (well, almost) and so I moved onto some gift dishcloths. Dishcloths are wonderful summer knits. The cotton doesn't get all sticky when your hands sweat (I know, lovely) and it doesn't stick to my wood needles. I whipped out two this weekend, and am moving on to some new ones for our kitchen. Some of our old dishcloths have seen better days:

"Sweetie, I think there's something terribly wrong with that dishcloth you made."

"What do you mean?"

"Well. Just go into the kitchen."

"Oh, oh my."

Granted, it's the summer, so even the more heroic of dishcloths will start to stink after a time. But this is that the dishcloth is pressed into service for a mere 12 hours and the kitchen smells like someone died in there. Good Lord. I've switched yarn, and the yarn that I use now is much superior in this regard: Knit Picks Dishie. I'm currently knitting this lovely set of reversible dishcloths, and the designer has a free pattern available from this collection. They turn out very pretty and scrubby.

Anyway, I did take Henry to the Christian gift store last week, and we ogled the nativity sets. Naturally, his favorite was the lighted stable with 5" nativity figurines. At the store it was $175, but I see on the Fontanini site that it's $135 (and it includes 2 sheep!). At any rate, expensive. :) I did have a fun time shopping with him in there. He picked out a few of those little St. Joseph booklets and a St. Michael prayer card and we left the $175 nativity set in the store. I would like to explore getting him a set for Christmas. We'll see...

Oh, lol. Poking around on the Fontanini site is very cute and fun. "5" Three Kings Accessories Set: Camels not included."

*snort*

Christmas in July

Last time we were at our local Christian book/goods store (one of Henry's favorite places; he's a total knickknack fan), Hank expressed an interest in the large display of Fontanini nativity sets. I'm sure some of you are familiar with them. The figurines are quite beautiful, but also quite expensive. This is coming from the household wherein the featured nativity set is made by Fisher Price, so you can see where I'm coming from on this. I told him that we could explore maybe getting the Holy Family starter set if he promised to take really good care of them. I mean, I think just Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus are upwards of $50, so this is a much swankier set than we're used to. But I thought maybe it would be good for him to have a nice set that he could care for and take with him when he has his own home someday. And this is a set that you can build on each year. I mean, if you take a look at the sheer volume of figures they have available, with new ones coming out every year, it's mind boggling. You can have the entire ancient Middle East partying at your nativity set.

Anyway, I read something the other day about having the family nativity set be "interactive," such as by not putting Jesus in the manger until Christmas day (something to look forward to) and having the three wise men travel across the living room slowly building up to the epiphany. I thought this was a great idea and suggested it when Hank asked after the nativity set idea yesterday (because yes, he'd like to put the nativity set out now).

"How about during Advent, we put out Mary and Joseph, but keep baby Jesus hidden until Christmas eve..."

...as I turn around, I can already see Hank shaking his head, "no."

"Oh no, Mommy. I don't want to do that. Not put out baby Jesus?! No, we couldn't possibly do that."

He was quite scandalized. But very excited that I'm willing to explore getting him a nice nativity set that he can keep in his room ("We don't want Anne getting into it and breaking anything," he says with a Very Serious Expression).

Super cute.