Advent Calender

*JMJ* As all of us Catholics know, it is the First Sunday of Advent. But maybe there is someone visiting my blog who isn't Catholic and is just curious about Advent. Advent begins in the Catholic Church, the fourth Sunday before Christmas. We are waiting for the arrival of baby Jesus to be born as we remember his birth. Since Catholics know that the Lord has already been born, we usually talk about the Lord's second coming and how we are to continually wait for him. And our priest talked about that in his homily today.

"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping."

-Mk 13:35-36

There a four candles in the Advent wreath. They have one in all parishes and Catholic families like to have one in their homes. The first and the second week, you light a purple candle. On the third week of Advent you light the pink one. I always heard that the pink candle is a short little break you can take if you choose from the Advent season. But you should still say or prayers and go to Mass. And the last week of Advent you light another purple candle. So at this time all four candles will be burning.

We are doing something new this year in my household. Last year after Christmas when everything went on sale, I seen this Advent Calender that I purchased. My son is still young enough to enjoy something like that. So the whole family gathered around and he opened up the first door to see what was inside. Every day he will open up the next door until they are all opened. Pst...I only have the calendar half full. I have to get another 14 trinkets, so I have to go hunting around for stuff for the Advent calender tomorrow. Does anyone have any ideas?

Anyway I took some pictures for you all to see.

A little ornament of the nativity that my son had to hang on our Christmas tree. I thought that that would be a nice thing to put inside the first box. We're starting out the Advent season with the Holy Family. I just thought that that would be fitting. Plus, as you know, I love the Holy Family and I dedicated my blog to them.

I love this little saying around this time of year. I don't know who started it but I'm sure some of you have heard it before. 'Jesus is the reason for the season!' Let's not forget that. Or if you weren't aware of that, ponder that. Because it's so true.

P.S. Don't forget to light your Advent wreath tonight.

Our Thanksgiving

*JMJ* My father-in-law was released for the third time today from the hospital. He has only had his heart surgery a month ago. So he is still in need of many prayers. We were planning to have Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year to relieve my in-laws of having to cook for the family. This was the first time in 18 years since I've been married that we did not spend Thanksgiving with my mother and father-in-law. He was released from the hospital today and my Mom had to care for my Dad so they weren't able to attend the dinner. My hubby and I talked about maybe sending food over to them with some pie perhaps. Well after dinner as I was starting to clean up, I just started to make a couple of plates up with everything that I could possibly fit onto them. I forgot the butter pickles though. Wrapped them up and then got out the pumpkin pie. I cut out two slices and wrapped them as well. So what did my family do? What else. We were going to send Mom and Dad Thanksgiving dinner to their door. So this is how we managed it. My hubby got into his car and was going to be the driver.The first plate I gave to my adult daughter and told her to get into Dad's backseat. Then I gave the second plate to my teenage son and told him also to get into the backseat. Now we needed someone to hold the pie and there was only one person left. My daughters hubby. I gave him the plate with the pie slices. Then he tucked the whip cream canister in his coat pocket. Then I asked him if he had room to carry one more thing. He said yes. I gave him a cup with gravy in it. You have to have gravy with mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. And I stayed home to watch the little ones while they transported the food over to there grandparents house. See, it all worked out. We worked as a team, like family should. It was sad that they weren't with us and I even got all teary-eyed at prayer time. But I said during our prayer that I was just glad that Dad (Grandpa to my kids) was still with us. I was so proud of us as a family and especially of my children. This is the stuff that I want them to remember. I want them to remember that they brought over Thanksgiving dinner to there grandparents who are going through a difficult time. I can't take credit for the idea of sending dinner over to my parents. It was my hubby's idea. I'm not looking to get credit for it either. I'm just saying, my kids were shown to take this opportunity to help others in need. That it doesn't have to be a stranger, although that would be great to. But it's good to help out in your own family as well. Wherever the opportunity lies to take care of someone, reach out to them and just show them some love. I'm proud of my family for that. That we worked as a team to help two people whom we dearly love. I want my children to say in the years to come, "Remember when..." That is the stuff that I want them to remember. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Lighting of the Advent Wreath

*JMJ* The other day I got a phone call from my parish asking if my family would be interested in lighting the fourth candle on the Advent Wreath at the beginning of Mass. I said yes! I was so honored that they would think of my family. I'm a little nervous because I am so shy but what the heck. I just felt so touched that my family was thought of.

First Holy Communion

*JMJ* I went to a meeting last Saturday night at my church for my son who will be making his First Holy Communion in the spring of 2009. And the date will be Sunday, May 17, 2009 @ 10:30 Mass. I am so excited and so happy that my little boy will be able to receive the Eucharist soon instead of just walking up with me. This is what I've always wanted for him since he was born. And it's a lot of work and dedication to get your child to this point. I've always told my husband that if I ever died, to make sure that our son gets his First Eucharist and gets confirmed! He promised he would. That is so important to me that all of my children get their sacraments through the church. I know that the Lord wants me to do that. That is my job as a Catholic parent to make sure that they receive there Catholic sacraments. I'm already looking ahead to my son's confirmation. It's like my heart can't rest until he gets confirmed. I don't know what the strong feelings are about, but have always been like that since I became Catholic nine years ago. I've always had this strong feeling that I need to pass along my religion down to my children. Partly because I can just tell and feel that I'm going to be judged for that one day. I know it sounds weird, but I can sense that this is what I have to do for my children. And when it comes to the Lord asking me for something, I'm not taking any chances. :-) I also found out that the boys have to wear dark colored slacks, a white button down shirt with a white tie. Oh I'm getting so excited just thinking about it! I want to get his pictures taken like I did for my other children with him holding a rosary and his little communion book in his little hands. Oh how sweet. He's going to look so cute. I love him so much. God Bless!

Prayer Request

*JMJ* I would like to make two prayer requests. I would like to ask my readers if they could pray for my Father-in-law. He had open heart surgery a few weeks ago and is still in need a prayers. I'll put a icon for my Father-in-law on my sidebar of my blog as he continues to recover. The next prayer request that I'm asking from my readers is to pray for my daughter and her unborn child. Her pregnancy is being threatened by a miscarriage. I will also put a little icon on the side of my blog for her and her unborn child. She has the ultra sound pictures and video up on her blog if you'd like to see it. http://aaydensmommy.blogspot.com/ Thank you.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph Statue

*JMJ* This is my statue I have of the Holy Family. I wanted to have a Holy Family prayer to go along with it but I couldn't find one at the time of this posting.

Yesterday when I was working on my new blog, this little rainbow light was shining onto my keyboard from the window. It was reflecting off of something so I took it as a little sign that God is watching over my little blogging efforts. God bless you!

My First Post!

*JMJ* Welcome all of you to my new blog. This is my second blog. I am also the author of Peek-A-Boo Street. http://peekaboostreet.blogspot.com/ I am so excited about my new blog. I have a devotion to the Holy Family. So I want to dedicate this blog to the Holy Family, JMJ (Jesus, Mary, Joseph.) I even have a statue of the Holy Family in my living room where I can view it easily every day and not tucked into a cabinet somewhere. I am a housewife. So my whole life is dedicated to my family. Plus on a sad note, my parents were divorced when I was a child. So those are the two reasons why I have such a devotion to the Holy Family. I just absolutely love the Holy Family and that is why I want to dedicate my new blog to the Holy Family. So bare with me as I start up my new blog here. But please come back and visit. I would love to hear from you. So please leave comments as I continue on with my new blog. Also that way, I can check out your blog as well. I would love to see them.