Advent Picture Book a Day (2015 edition)

It's that time again!  No, I'm not ready to Mix It Up (you'll only get this if you've read the aforelinked book 3.27 million times like we have). I have read and sorted and analyzed (and over-analyzed), and I believe I have this year's Advent Picture Book a Day titles ready to go! As always, I intend to go all the way through the Christmas season with a picture-book-a-day, but I am still trying to time things with library requests, etc., so for now I will link the 26 titles we will be using from the First Sunday of Advent up until Christmas!  Happy reading!! 

(** denotes new-to-us titles this year)

11/29 This is the Stable (Cotten) - own

11/30 Apple Tree Christmas (Noble) - library

12/1 Christmas in Noisy Village (Lindgren) - library ** (we read the Noisy Village chapter books last year and they are so fun, this is a neat illustrated setting of the chapters on their Christmas celebrations)

12/2 How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Seuss) - own

12/3 An Orange for Frankie (Polacco) - library **

12/4 The Baker's Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale (Shepard) - library **

12/5 St. Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend (Stiegmeyer) - own

12/6 B is for Bethlehem (Wilner) - own

12/7 The Friendly Beasts (McGinley) - own

12/8 Mary (Wildsmith) - own

12/9 The Night of Las Posadas (dePaola) - library

12/10 Petunia's Christmas (Duvoisin) - library **

12/11 The Legend of the Poinsettia (dePaola) - own

12/12 The Lady of Guadalupe (dePaola) - library

12/13 Hanna's Christmas (Peterson) - library

12/14 Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story (Manushkin) - library **

12/15 The Nutcracker (Jeffers) - library

12/16 Great Joy (DiCamillo) - own

12/17 Mousekin's Christmas Eve (Miller) - library **

12/18 The Christmas Cobwebs (Bodkin) - library **

12/19 A Christmas Wish for Corduroy (Freeman) - library **

12/20 The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree (Houston, illustrated by the illustrious Barbara Cooney) - library ** (and how on earth have I not discovered this gem yet?! oh my goodness...)

12/21 Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas (Rawlinson) - library **

12/22 A Gift from St. Francis: The First Creche (Cole) - library

12/23 Christmas in the Barn (Brown) - library

12/24 The Christmas Story (Watson/Wilkin) - own

As far as chapter books go, we are hoping to make it through:

A Certain Small Shepherd (Caudill)

Christmas at Stony Creek (Sheban)

The Story of Holly and Ivy (Godden/Cooney) (this is actually just a longer picture book)

The Family Under the Bridge (Carlson, illustrated by Garth Williams, the same illustrator from the Little House books)

And there you have it!  What are your favorite Christmas picture and chapter books? 

Journal: midway through November

TODAY

Out my window: Cloudy and cool.  We had a nice rain last night and currently it is starting to rain again and there are little ice balls mixed in every now and then.  Weird.  It was sunny for a bit around lunch today, but Sunday and Monday were cloudy as well. Looks like we may have our first freeze of the season later this week.  I hear our weather is marginally better than Denver though.  So my sources say.... 

Around the house: We put the finishing touches on Gemma's upstairs room this past weekend.  I think we will still look for a mirror for above the dresser, but it turned out really nicely and I love having her back upstairs.  It's cozy, and amazingly there is room for the dog (yay?).  If we had it to do over again I suppose we should have just kept her upstairs in the first place, but we really thought we'd have another baby in that room by now. It's funny how things don't always work out how we "plan" them...

The kiddos: Looking forward to the week off school next week! We have a few fun things planned and the more relaxed mornings are always usually nice.  They've been playing a lot of games, their favorites lately are Trouble and Blam-o (which is Aaron's made-up version of war). I am holding my breath though, they've been playing out doors a looooooot and I am curious how things are going to shake out once it's too cold and dark to go out daily....

In the kitchen: Holy moly, I cooked up a storm yesterday.  Beef stew, chicken chili, chicken parmesan, focaccia bread, a white chocolate cheesecake (I actually made that on Sunday), spaghetti in red sauce and some steamed carrots.  I think that's all...  (this was for us and for my job, we don't eat THAT much around here).  We are going to work on some leftovers, since Aaron also had a big smoking project over the weekend.  On the menu for the rest of the week are tacos and my take on Alton's Baked Stuffed Flounder.  Starting to think about menu-planning for next week.  Broccoli salad for one of our get-togethers is the only thing I've got as of now.

Learning:  I have a whole stack of Christmas books from the library, and another one coming in a few days, so I'm looking forward to working on this year's Picture Book a Day plans. I found some new-to-us titles in this post that I'm excited about!

Reading: 

Some fun ones we've read of-late that aren't in this stack:
The Gift of Nothing
Exclamation Mark

The Quiltmaker's Gift 

and of course Turkey Trouble 

Clement was also very excited to learn there is a whole series of Mousekin books.

I've been working on Theology for Beginners; The Imitation of Christ; Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer; Introduction to the Devout Life; and Searching for and Maintaining Peace.  Links can be found over on my Bookshelf tab.

As far as chapter book read-alouds with the kids go, working on The Moffat Museum with all three and First Farm in the Valley with G.

Watching: Some Gold Rush, Booze Traveler, a bit of Bourdain and Zimmern here and there.  Nothing much of note.

Bringing me joy: Books. Prayer. November. Family. The kids. "Dates" with Aaron after the kids are in bed.

Thinking about: Inner peace.

Pictures to share:  

I got nothin' aside from what I shared above. 
PAX!

Our 2015 Jesse Tree

We have done a Jesse Tree -- in one way or another -- for a number of years now, but it has never been terribly organized.  I really really like our Lenten Cross readings (see bottom of linked post) every year and have known for a few years now that I should be more intentional about our Jesse Tree readings/symbols.  We've done the Holy Heroes DVD once? twice?, and while I like it a lot, to be honest I really like just reading straight from the Bible with the kids as much as possible.  The fact that Advent is not a set length was somehow stressful to me when it came to planning, so this year I found a Biblical reading list from Catholic Culture that simply starts on December 1st.  It is obviously not as all-inclusive as the ones that start on the First Sunday of Advent, but it is going to work for us.  I also like that it ties the O Antiphons in starting on December 17th.  Two for one!!  We will use my RSV and our Children's Bible (which is NRSV text with beautiful illustrations and a few extras) as our sources.  I actually used the printable ornaments that are on the Holy Heroes DVD and correlated them with my set of readings, colored them (that took awhile!), laminated them, and rather than hanging them on a tree, we will actually just hang them on our pantry door in the shape of a Christmas tree.  I have seriously oogled over some of the felt ornament sets out there, but I am simply not that crafty and refuse to spend that much, so what we have will work.  And I am excited about delving in this year!!  What are some of your favorite Advent traditions and prayers?

Journal: yep, it's been two weeks

TODAY

Out my window: Clear, crisp, cool.  It looks like November.  We've had some pretty picturesque days around here.

 

Around the house: Getting Gemma's upstairs room put together the rest of the way.  She's not moving back downstairs anytime even relatively soon, I am certain of this.  And I'm cool with that.  The basement worked, but it's nice (and convenient) having her back upstairs.  I like it.  A lot.  We have a mattress and box springs in there now (!!!!) with her owl bedding from when she and Kolbe shared a room, and the head/foot board and bed frame should be in next week.  Crazy story on those, we decided to shop and I had a little bit of sticker shock at the price of a twin bed.  Um, holy moly.  Well, we were at a particular store that was having some pretty good sales (especially in comparison to the previous store we'd been at) and the sale price of the twin bed that we liked (we are getting one to match(ish) the baby furniture since that is the dresser she is using) was pretty good.  BUT, the actual non-sale price was considerably LESS than the "HOT DEAL" price.  Odd, but we didn't want to press a lot about the difference and they were willing to give it to us for the insanely low price, so we felt pretty good about that purchase.  (So good that Aaron wouldn't even use the coupon we had.)  Because seriously, after looking at the prices of simple beds, I was ready to just have her sleep on a mattress and box springs.  I mean, she has been happy with a sleeping bag for the past six weeks!!  We moved the desk that our neighbor so generously handed on to us under the window and it can double as a night-stand.  And that will leave room for the dog box (grumble) on the other wall all winter.  And all's well that ends well.  If I would just listen to my husband who tells me to quit sweating things....

I cleared a few bags of donations out this week and have sold a few toys on FB.

 

The kiddos:  Our dear friend from church passed away this past week.  He was an older gentleman who had befriended us (the kids particularly) back when Kolbe was a toddler and we have grown to love him over the past few years.  If we were at the same Mass (he often attended more than one Mass a weekend) he would always be sitting in the pew directly across from us.  When Kolbe was smaller he would go sit with him through most of Mass.  He always gave the kids dollars after Mass and they have done many neat things with their Larry-dollars.  Larry was the first person close to our kids that they have lost, so it has been a process for them.  We attended the Rosary as a family and Gemma requested to attend the funeral so she came with Clement and me.  It was a beautiful tribute to one of the most interesting people I've known, and a good opportunity to say farewell and have some closure.  It has also prompted some really great conversations about this life and the afterlife with the kids.  God is good.  All the time.  Even amidst grief.

In the kitchen: 

This week we've had:

lasagna with steamed veggies and focaccia bread

stuffed green peppers (I used the filling to make super nachos for the kids and they hated them, so that was kind of a bummer)

pesto chicken with lentils and steamed green beans

salads 

smothered cod

Up next week:

a big 'ole November pot of chili

chicken parmesan with spaghetti and steamed carrots and fresh green beans (which were on sale at Aldi for cheaper than the frozen ones!!)

salads

some other stuff     

Learning:  the usual.  I really love keeping up with what the kids are doing at school and supplementing at home as I'm able.  Talking a lot about stewardship and Gemma had a neat Veteran's Day project and a patron saint one as well that we've enjoyed working on this week.  Kolbe's handwriting has improved by leaps and bounds the last few months, despite his continued abysmal grip.  And his reading!  Oh my!!!  It is so exciting watching him learn to read, and he is just loving it.

Reading: Of course the illustrious In November (since I haven't linked it enough times in this post).  Today the boys and I shared two of my fave picture books, May I Bring a Friend and A Sick Day for Amos McGee.  I didn't even think when I grabbed them how nicely they both fit together.  We've had some pumpkin books, and some stewardship books, (and then there was Pumpkins: A Story for a Field that worked for pumpkins AND stewardship) and I have stacks of gratitude and Thanksgiving books from the library ready to go. Getting ready to request our Advent/Christmas books (HOLY MOLY!), although as we grow our home library there are less and less that I find myself needing to request seasonally. For myself I am getting back into Introduction to the Devout Life and Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer and Theology for Beginners.

Watching: The World Series of course (hey, I am less than a week belated).  Those were quite the exciting games and we are pretty jazzed around here!!!  Keeping up with Gold Rush and I think Survivorman starts a new season and there is this new show called Mysteries at the National Parks, and as much as I like Mysteries at the Museum, I really despise the National Parks one.  They go out of their way to make it too creepy and just... I don't know.  It weirds me out and I certainly wouldn't want my kids watching it.  For all the education value in the Museum edition (which I would watch with my kids when they are a bit older), sadly the Nat'l Parks one is completely lacking.

Bringing me joy: The opportunity to reflect on life and death, on my own and with my kids.  Prayer.  The saints.  Beautiful November.  There really is something magical about November I think.  A World Series WIN!

Thinking about: Life and death.

Pictures to share: (picmonkey is cool. yes i am slow)

Professional pictures.

Halloween.