4th Sunday of Advent

When was the last time you read the book of Micah? Years ago I went through a plan to read the entire bible so I know that
I have read it before, but that was probably the only time.

On constant replay in our van right now is a children’s Christmas CD that is songs of just scripture. One of the songs comes
from this first reading. I love that from a young age my children will hear these words of prophecy dozens of times more than
I ever did.  I also love how the church fathers organize the readings throughout the liturgical year to teach us about God and
how the Bible is truly a story about His Son. A cross reference to the reading from Micah is Isaiah chapter 7, which was
another reading earlier this week prophesying the coming of Christ.

A theme of Christmas that has stood out to me in the last few years was Christ’s humility. My last three babies were all born
in the fall so I’ve had wee ones at Christmas multiple times, my son only being 6 weeks old. I think of how helpless and tiny
these newborns are and am amazed that the savior of the world came into the world to live among us the same way the rest of
us do. In the reading from Micah Bethlehem is the least in the lands of Judah. It’s where King David came from, and he was the
youngest and least among his own brothers. (So was Joseph in the book of Genesis.) God frequently uses those who appear to
be weak to do great things.

How does that apply to my own life? God has convicted me this year to grow in humility and uses my children to teach me
this often. I’ve worked with children for 25 years and have a two education degrees but that goes out the window trying to
raise my own.  The hours that I spend cleaning, cooking, and running errands feels mundane and unimportant, but keeping
our home running in a godly way is building up the domestic church. I see former colleagues advance in their careers while
I returned to the classroom, but just this week I received notes from former students thanking me for teaching them last year,
and I remember why I wanted to work directly with kids again.

At the end of the passage in Micah in verse 4 it says, “he shall be peace.” Instead of reacting to each unexpected situation
throughout the day, I am challenged to live as Mary and Elizabeth did, with joy and humility knowing that our Savior will
bring everlasting peace in any circumstance. One way that helps me is praying the Litany of Humility.

New Year's Resolution?

So I haven't posted to this blog in two years.  In that time I've changed jobs and had another baby, so I've been a little busy.  That new job is teaching at a Catholic school again.  For Advent this year different staff members signed up to write reflections on the daily Mass readings for everyone.  I jumped at the chance and really enjoyed the opportunity to dig into the same passage of Scripture repeatedly, meditate on it throughout the week and already be familiar with it on Sunday, especially since I am distracted by my kids most of the time.  While at Mass I was convicted to make this a weekly habit.  I know that life is going to get in the way sometimes (currently my bedroom is covered in a mountain of laundry and Christmas cards that need to get sent out) but I am going to try to make the time.  And if I use this blog as a way to post them, maybe I'll have a little bit of accountability to post them.  I'm already behind because I didn't post the reflections for Gaudete Sunday yesterday (a day that went very differently from what we originally planned earlier in the week) but the message of a rejoicing still applies as Christmas gets closer.

Today is also referred to as Gaudete Sunday, which comes from a Latin word meaning rejoice. You’ll notice this theme repeated in the first and second readings and responsorial psalm. We are just over a week away from Christmas and the time for celebrating Our Lord’s arrival is near.

But this doesn’t always feel like a joyful time. To do lists at work are long as we finish out the semester, there are extra financial burdens, and social media can put unrealistic expectations on creating the best memories, decorations, and meals. The holiday season can be a painful reminder of the loved ones who are no longer here to celebrate with us and hopes for 2018 that were unfulfilled.

Today’s second reading from Philippians is popular for good reason. No matter our circumstances we have reason to rejoice, because the Lord is near to us.  St. Paul knew this better than anyone, as he was in prison when he wrote this letter. For us, every time we pray, sing hymns, and read His Word, Christ is there.  We encounter Him every time we receive the Eucharist and worship in adoration. And He is present within all the people we encounter as we live out the words of today’s gospel and share the blessings we have with those in need.  I love that as a member of the POP community I have these opportunities with my co-workers and students all the time!

In the midst of this particularly busy time of year I am trying to remember to view this season of anticipation with joy as my young children and our students do. While they are more excited about presents and Santa (though I am trying to teach them otherwise!) I can rejoice knowing that my mighty savior is here.  One of my favorite ways to worship during Advent and Christmas is with the music of Chris Tomlin.  Take a few minutes today to listen and rejoice!

And now to get started for the 4th Sunday of Advent! 

Almost one year later...

Look at that!  The last time I wrote anything was for Bubba's first birthday.  Over the weekend we celebrated his second birthday.  It was a couple weeks early because we had family in town to meet his new baby sister.  Because I am on leave with a newborn I was limited with time and money but was still able to out together a cute little construction themed party since he is all about anything that has wheels. Here's the Pinterest board that was my inspiration.

These are the signs that were scattered all over the house.

I was too cheap to buy caution tape but I found yellow streamers at home.  

I used trucks he had around the house for decoration. I bought the banner at Hobby Lobby.

My mom made a pumpkin pie.  She used dyed coconut for the grass.

The utensils were a big hit with the birthday boy!  I stacked 2 round chocolate cakes and used chocolate icing and crushed Oreos.

 Here are the treat bags. My hubby let me borrow a toolbox.

I found the hard hat at Hobby Lobby and made his dump truck shirt using iron transfer paper.

The weather was great and the kids had a blast playing outside.  Grateful for our birthday boy and all the friends and family that celebrated with us.

Dino-mite Birthday

We celebrated Bubba's birthday last weekend!  We were blessed with perfect weather.  Thanks to inspiration from Pinterest I was able to put together a nice dinosaur themed party with not a lot of effor or money.

I cut out some tracks leading up to the front door.  See the pumpkin we never carved from Halloween?

My wonderfully creative friend took care of the cake.  I made 2 chocolate round cakes. She used chocolate frosting and crushed chocolate chip cookies.  I bought the dinosaurs from Dollar Tree.

My sweet sister-in-law made cupcakes and we added dino tracks to them.

Lime sherbet and 7up for the Prehistoric Punch.

I bought dino-shaped chicken nuggets and the Bugles were a big hit!

The herbivores had a veggie tray.

My husband's aunt used the Cricut to make the dinosaurs and my friend drew the landscape..  About a year ago we took down the mirror that was in dining room and covered the area with chalkboard paint.

I used free dino themed printables.

It was the perfect day to play outside.  Poppa kept the kiddos entertained. 

Store-bought sugar cookies.  Right after I took them out of the oven Big Sis used a toy dinosaur to make fossil cookies for the treat bags.

Instead of gifts we asked for donations of diapers that we donated to a ministry for women in crisis pregnancies.  Our friends and family were very generous.  The best gift was being together to celebrate our sweet boy!  Next post will be an update on all the fun things the kiddos are learning.

Three years and four months

These kiddos are growing so fast.  Here's what they've been doing lately:

First the munchkin-
Through a friend's post on Instagram, I've discovered the term threenager.  That is the perfect word for her.  Check out this blog for a description.  There are times every day when the hubby look at each other, shake our heads, and ask each other, "Where on earth did she learn that?" We still have the occasional accident, usually overnight, but I feel safe in saying she's potty trained.

Current loves-
Strawberry Shortcake (Is the Daniel Tiger phase over?)
Riding her tricycle
Reading books in bed
Wearing her dressup high heels around the house and her Spiderman boots everywhere else
Kissing her baby brother
Stalling going to sleep
Art projects
Playing with her doctor kit
Goldfish crackers

She weighs about 35 pounds but is still on the short side for length.  Her confidence makes up for her size!

Now for bubba!  He has been just the best addition to our family, full of smiles, and getting bigger by the minute. He's in a pretty consistent routine of eat, play, and sleep and generally easy to please. Not really interested in rolling yet but he can sit in his Bumbo well.

Current loves-
Milk-bottle or nursing, formula or breastmilk, he drinks it all
Snuggling-he always sleeps longer when he's held
Being swaddled at night
Watching his sister
Putting things in his mouth-paci, fingers, toys
Playing in the bouncer

At his last checkup he was just under 16 pounds and in the 99%ile for length.  We just did a big reorganization of clothes and he's can already wear some size 6 and 9 months, especially with the cloth diapers.  He's paying attention when we eat, and given his appetite, solids are coming soon.

Tigertastic!

We celebrated the munchkin's third birthday recently. She has been obsessed with Daniel Tiger for the last 9 months so when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she said a tiger cake. For her first birthday the weather was cool & damp; last year it was sunny and 70.  We decided to take a chance and have the party at a nearby park. But it rained most of the day so we had to cram about 45 people in our house. It was crowded and chaotic but everyone had fun, and it forced us to clean our house...twice.


Here is the cake my wonderful friend decorated.  I made 2 round cakes and 2 cupcakes and she did the rest.  It was chocolate with cream cheese frosting and crushed Butterfingers between the layers.

The treat bags were "tiger tails"-Cheetos in a zebra print bag.  I got the tag from this blog. I've finally learned the lesson to make enough bags for each family that attends, not each guest.  I did not want extras in the house!

My amazing sister-in-law made tiger striped cupcakes.

Because we were planning on having the party at park I wasn't going to do much for decorations.  I got printables from the pbs website and the balloons were from Party City for like $5. I also used the site for her invitations and thank you cards.  I used the images and iron transfer paper to make shirts for the kids-Katerina for munchkin and Daniel Tiger for baby brother.

Because the girl has more than enough toys we suggested guests to help us build a collection of board games.  I think she's set for awhile.

Because of the new baby and working full time I had to scale back my party planning more than I would like but she had a great time, and that's what matters.

One month old!

The little guy is now a month old, although it feels like he's always been a part of our family.  It's been interesting to see the similarities and differences so far between him and his big sister.

How they are alike-
The face!  Everyone keeps remarking how much he resembles L as a newborn.  My friend LEBean says that she and I are just able to make the same kind of baby.

Nursing has been easy and so far, both have been fine taking a bottle.  Since I'll be going back to work in a month, I'm praying this will continue.

If we're out, he'll be asleep most of the time, except when he's hungry (about every 2 and a half hours).  He's definitely the easier child to take out in public right now.

They both are good escape artists with the swaddle blankets, although L was able to get out of them a little earlier on.

Loves the ceiling fan, even if it isn't moving.

How they are different-
At night L slept in the swing from about day 3; her little brother prefers to snuggle and sleep with us, but we're transitioning to the vibrating chair and he's been sleeping for longer stretches at night in it. He tolerates the swing off and on during the day.  Big sis likes to adjust the speed and music for him,

He spits up more.  It doesn't seem to bother him, but I have to keep the burp cloths accessible all the time to save our clothes.  His eyes are bigger than his stomach, like his father.

He is taking a pacifier a lot earlier, although he does like the same kind big sis did.  He's also a big fan of his fingers.  He was actually born with a callus from sucking on them in utero.

We think his eyes are turning blue, and his hair is coming in blonde!  L's hair didn't lighten until after a year.

Overall I'd say our family of 4 is adjusting well.  Things take a lot longer to get done around the house with 2 munchkins to feed, keep in clean diapers/Pull-ups, clothes and also happy.  This post, for example, was started 2 and a half days ago, and Christmas decorations took a few days to get put up and then a week for the storage boxes to be put away.  I've gotten lucky and both will occasionally be napping at the same time; then it's the big decision-do I sleep/relax or try to get a task completed? About half the time, dozing on the couch while Property Brothers plays in the background wins.