Goal setting and checklists for the new year

With today being the first day back from the holidays, I am inspired to write through several goals I've been rolling around in my head.    

I've been very encouraged by Gretchen Rubin's books, and one of her quotations floats to the surface often:

"We manage what we monitor."

Many of the goals I have in mind have been goals in the past, but I am hoping that monitoring them and writing about them publicly will provide the accountability that this Obliger needs to make progress with truly desired goals.  It's easy to forget about these things in the everydayness of mom life.  A checklist in a high traffic area will keep my goals off the back burner!  Hopefully.  I did something similar to this when I was expecting my first child: eat my protein, do my exercises, et cetera, and I am proud to say it worked.

Take a reading break every day after lunch.  I have been doing this more often since it has really started to sink in that I need a break in the afternoon, too.  I may not be able to take a nap, but relaxing into a book is the next best thing.  It should coincide with my oldest's quiet time and the youngest's nap.

Be finished with school before lunch.  The day just flows more peacefully when we've started with school earlier and finish completely before lunch.  It's hard to restart school after a lunch break.  Someday, we will always have to restart after lunch and rest, but right now, the oldest is only in second grade.  Schoolwork can be done in a couple of hours.  If it's not, I need to reexamine what I we are doing.  This goal coincides nicely with the next one.

Start school at 9:00am.  Yeah, I know.  Homeschooling is nice because you don't have to have a schedule.  That's true.  But without outside accountability, I sometimes start later than I'd like.  Do I beat myself up for it?  No.  Do we still get work done?  Yeah.  I'd like a little more routine, and the kids do well with routine.  A few hard stops sprinkled throughout the day will help us out.  This looks like "this before that" not "reading at 9:00, writing at 9:15, math at 9:30."

Write for 30 minutes in the morning.  I don't know how this one's going to go, but I have to try and start somewhere.  I feel like I should say 60 minutes, but that seems like a lot.  Am I going to get up? Is my 2 year old going to get up with me? Anne Lamott wrote that you have to get your tush in the chair and just do it if you want to write; so, let's get this going.

Sit in stillness and pray for at least 5 minutes.  I used to do morning and evening prayer via the magazine Magnificat, but I fell off the wagon when I stopped purchasing the magazine.  I want to build up my intentional prayer life, but I am undecided about how to move forward.  This is a start.

Lights out at 10:00pm.  This means no reading, no iPhone, no laptop, and no Kindle.  No, no, no, no. And yes to more sleep!  I won't be able to get up for writing time if I don't go to bed at a decent time, not to mention I am a better mom when I sleep properly.

Put the iPhone down for the night no later than 9:00pm.  I feel like I should call this one even earlier, but let's be realistic.  If I put it down by 9:00pm, I would still have one hour of book reading before bed, and one hour of bed reading is like an oasis of time, is it not?  It's like time stretches in a thousand ways while my brain is locked into the words.  My being breathes again when I read a good book in bed after the kids are asleep (bless their souls).

Exercise for 30 minutes.  I don't know how to be specific about this one.  Walk outside?  I've tried that in the morning.  After rest time in the afternoon?  With a DVD?  Oh, gosh, I hate even writing about this!  But I know I need to do it for my mood, being inside a lot with the kids, and having the energy to work on these goals.  Still, I groan inwardly....I'll have to put a big star on the monitoring chart next to this one.  And highlight it.

Get at least 15 minutes of fresh air each day. Put on the big ugly coat and get outside! Throw hats and coats on the kids and get outside! Get out there before it gets dark! Game changer.

Wrestle with the middle child at least once a day.  That little dude's love language is physical touch for sure.  He loooooves to wrestle.

Read a book to the youngest child at least once a day.  Keep board books by the bed and read them to her before we nurse to sleep.  It is very easy for my oldest child to receive the most read aloud time with homeschool and all, and the middle child gets read aloud time at bedtime, at the least.  Little Miss Youngest misses out more than I'd like.

There are other things on my goal list, but these are the ones that seem easiest to monitor via the checklist strategy.  (Gretchen has a free blank 31 day printable for your goals, if you're interested. I had to print mine at 90% to get it all on one page.)  I begin today, Monday the 4th.

Has the new year inspired you to zone in on your goals?  Please share in the comments on the what and the how!  Happy 2016!

2 books to add to your kid's Advent book list

Happy first week of Advent to you!

Before I publish this year's Advent Book Countdown list (check out the 2014, 2013, and 2012 lists), I wanted to share two books that I decided to add to our collection.

I used to buy less cautiously.  I got excited by all the book lists online and bought picture books at full price.  Now, I interlibrary loan books and try them out for a season before committing.  And if I commit to buying the book, I search for it in used condition first.  

Brigid's Cloak: An Ancient Irish Story by Bryce Milligan was suggested by Catholic Mosaic author, Cay Gibson for St. Brigid's feast day (February 1), and I quickly realized it needed to be added to our Advent selections.  The illustrations are beautiful.  I was unfamiliar with this story prior to Brigid's feast day; so, I was pleased to find another book of such quality to add happily to our Advent collection.

Saint Francis Celebrates Christmas by Mary Caswell Walsh was discovered after a friend named her Advent baby after St. Francis in an effort to honor what season she was born.  Did you know St. Francis created the first (live!) Christmas manger scene and is the inspiration for the ones we put in our homes and churches?  I didn't until a few years ago.  This book is a keeper and a terrific addition to an Advent book list.  It costs a small fortune used and new on Amazon right now, but you might find it in bookstores.  I unexpectedly found my brand new copy at my local Catholic goods store.  




I also bought a new book about Our Lady of Guadalupe and another one about St. Francis and the nativity scene, but they aren't vetted yet.  Next, I need to sift through the St. Stephen/King Wencelas books.  We've enjoyed many of them, but we haven't purchased any yet!

Did you add any new books to your Advent collection this year?

What I've been reading (November 2015)

It's a short list this month, folks, but the books that I did read packed a punch. First, I finished:

Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather.  This novel, creating a year in the life of 17th century French settlers in Quebec City, was the first selection in Well-Read Mom's The Year of the Worker.  I tell you:  I would not have picked this out to read if I hadn't been pushed to do so by the reading group, but I am so glad I did.  It's quiet fortitude reminded me of last year's first book in The Year of the Spouse: Hannah Coulter.  Solid, charitable, and admirable characters and evocative writing, beautifully washed in a reverence for Catholicism, encouraged me to select another Cather novel to read.  (I was especially taken by the story of the recluse Jeanne Le Ber and how she lived behind the high altar of her church, with her bed pillow just inches from the Blessed Sacrament on the other side of a partition.)  An autumn read, for sure.

Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus by Sherry A. Weddell  This pick from my Spiritual Reading Plan was chock full of the bad news (the true state of mostly lay discipleship in the Roman Catholic church) and the good news (how to change things).  I was struck by so many figures (around 70% of people who join the church via RCIA leave after a year!), stories (someone looking for the horns on a Catholic's head!), and what we can do to drop our nets.  Honestly, I am still digesting this one, and if you're at all interested in the state of discipleship in Catholic churches, this book will be enlightening.




That's it for this month.  The only book I abandoned was All the Light We Cannot See, and I only abandoned it because I had to prioritize these two books.  I will try it again: don't fret!  Linking up, as always, with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit.  Click over to see what all sorts of people are reading.

What are you reading?  Have you read either of these books?

What's missing from my list of books-read-in-2015

It was fun to put my thoughts together recently about the books I've read so far this year.  I noticed one large concern during the process:

I was struck by how little spiritual reading I'd done this year.  Granted, there are still six or so months left to 2015, but it was convicting to see so little related to my faith on the list.

Now, I've read some edifying online articles during this time but not enough books.  Fr. Roderick's Geekpriest was a sincerely enthusiastic memoir about his journey to the priesthood, use of new media, and Church teaching, wrapped up in geekery.  I also dipped my toe into The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur: The Woman Whose Goodness Changed Her Husband from Atheist to Priest by Elisabeth Leseur.

But any books on deepening prayer? Scriptural study? Apologetics? (At least not straight up apologetics- lots of the memoirs have apologetics in them by way of explaining conversion stories.) Church history? Life of a saint?  No.

To rectify this, I've made a Spiritual Reading Plan.  (And it's not even Lent!)  I am going to:

purchase the latest Magnificat and begin morning and evening prayer with it. For the unfamiliar, morning and evening prayer isn't just one prayer in the morning and one in the evening.  It's a grouping of sacred hymns, Psalms, Scripture, and Canticles.  I'll read the other readings and offerings in the magazine as desired. (Try Magnificat for free!)  I could pray morning and evening prayer directly out of the Divine Office or find it online, but this is screen-free and seems more doable.

read Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus by Sherry A. Weddell.  Nancy at Reading Catholic named it the best book she'd read in 2013.  I've always remembered her review, and I'm ready to dive in.  This book has been talked about quite a bit in the Catholic world for the last couple of years.

read Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? by Guy Consolmagno, SJ and Paul Mueller, SJ.  When I heard about this book on The Jennifer Fulwiler Show, I made a mental note of it and picked it up at the bookstore.  I've already started it, and it's very accessible.  I just have to choose to read something besides the fiction I've been escaping to while we prepare our house for market.  The authors' backgrounds are admirable: Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ is a graduate of MIT, a Vatican astronomer, and a Jesuit brother.  Paul Mueller, SJ is a graduate of the University of Chicago, a Vatican Observatory research staff member, and a Jesuit priest.  I know I will finish this book wishing I'd read the rest of it sooner because faith and the cosmos is a subject I am currently nerding out on.

read Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic Prayers That Even I Can Offer by Leah Libresco.  I'm not a regular reader of Libresco's blog, Unequally Yoked, but I poked around it a little bit after I heard about her atheist-to-Catholic conversion in 2012.  (Her conversion was even featured on CNN!)  I found her so fascinating because it sounded like she thought her way to Catholicism.  That's a subject I'd like to read more about: if I went back to school, I'd study philosophy and theology.  This book is supposed to cover her conversion, as well as be an exploration of prayer from her unique perspective.

reread The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth by Scott Hahn.  I've read this book and want to revisit it to deepen my appreciation for the Eucharist and the Mass. Hahn's memoir Rome Sweet Home (co-written by his wife, Kimberly) was instrumental in my massive reversion to the Church several years ago.  After my reversion, I looked up what else Hahn had written and read this book.I'm looking forward to reexamining the link between Scripture and the Mass.

read Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future by Elizabeth Esther.  I read about this book at Modern Mrs. Darcy, and I've been wanting to read it ever since.  I find memoirs so helpful in understanding people from different backgrounds. I'm also choosing this book because I understand Esther converted to Catholicism, and as a Catholic, I enjoy learning about how people walk toward the faith.  I love conversion stories.  Looking forward.

Perhaps a little too low in the stack

Anything missing from your list of books read this year? What do you wish you'd read by now? Do you need a spiritual reading plan?  What are you reading for your faith right now?

On encouraging creativity in your husband (or wife)

A Mother's Day treat to myself: new art supplies!

I have been feeling the pull (the very need, it seems) towards creative outlets for over a year now. I am creeping slowly towards more actual writing, reading encouraging books and blogs about creativity, and dreaming a little bigger.

I've always been creative.  I loved dramatic play and the arty extracurriculars as a kid.  I really loved the old, light blue typewriter I had as an older elementary student.  It was delightful hearing the click-clack of the keys as I typed.  Naming my characters was very nearly the best part of writing.

I lost sight of some of that creativity as I got older, figuring things out, being angsty in my twenties. (Wink.) Motherhood in my thirties, with all its beautiful, messy glory, has helped zero back in on what energizes me.

My husband is an artist.  He is trained in fine art and graphic design but seems to enjoy digital art and making costumes the most lately.  (Did you know people sculpt amazing costume pieces out of EVA foam?) He also sings really well.

We met at a community theater.  He was the main Nazi in Cabaret.  I was a Cabaret Patron, a fancy title for extra.  It has been easier for him to stay involved in theater as our children were born, and I have been okay with that thus far.

Nowadays, I'm at home, facilitating our homeschool and volunteering at church, and my husband works in design.

Lately, we've been having an ongoing discussion about how to encourage each other creatively.  We ask questions like this:

• Could I get away to write once a week?
• Should I blog more?
• Shouldn't our next house have an art studio for you and an office for me?
• What are our long-term creative goals?
• What could we be doing every day to reach those?
• How can we make sure we talk about this regularly?  (I think this might involve an early Friday evening happy hour and a snack.)
• How can we make more time for you to work on costume pieces?
• How can we meet our family's growing needs (and some wants) while leaving room for creative outlets?  
• How can we observe and gently encourage our kids' emerging talents?
• How can we discern for and allow the Holy Spirit to breathe life into our pursuits?  
• Could we work on something together?

Considering these possibilities has been invigorating and exciting.  I am curious what other couples do to encourage each other creatively, in a large and everyday sense.  Big dreams and practicalities.  Share in the comments, if you'd like!

What I've been reading (Quick Lit - April 2015)

Happy Easter, friends!  And welcome to another month rounding up what I've been reading and when I link up with the lovely Anne Bogel over at Modern Mrs. Darcy.  Some great reads this month!

Scary Close by Donald Miller.    This is full of short essays revolving around searching and taking the risk for true intimacy.  I appreciated Miller's honesty, insight, and how he sought out the advice of men he respected.

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin.  I've really grown to enjoy Rubin's writing, and once I started my pre-ordered copy, I went right through, except for the part where I stopped and shouted with glee. Rubin (I really want to call her Gretchen since I'm so familiar with her work) conceptualized a nice framework to elucidate those notions about habits that you've sorta kinda noticed but hadn't fully sank in yet.  I imagine I will be writing more about this book.

Geekpriest: Confessions of a New Media Pioneer by Fr. Roderick Vonhogen (with the umlaut over the second o, I have to figure this out, will update).  It was so fun to read about the life of this priest after years of hearing about his podcast from my husband.  If you like new media, Hobbits, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Catholicism, and memoir, this book is for you.  If you like only one of those things, this book is still for you.  Fr. Roderick's winning personality comes shining through this book. Check it out.

What have you read lately?  Any of these?

An Advent Countdown with Books: 2014 Edition

It is satisfying to have this be our third Advent countdown with books!  What fun to look back at previous years.  We started this tradition in 2012, and we enjoyed it once again in 2013.

I love a lot of the titles on these lists, but if one thing haunts me a little, it's that the books are so serious- and I've already held back on including some of the more popular make-you-weep books in the past.  My oldest is almost seven; I haven't wanted to overwhelm him with themes that are too heavy.

The only paper I had in large supply was a roll of easel paper.  I punched out 1" holes with a hole punch in both purple and pink, representing the weeks of Advent.  This year, I labeled starting with the 30th of November.

So, this year, we will make sure to balance things out with a little fun (though, where there is Tomie dePaola there is almost always fun).

Here we go with this year's list:

Sun 30: The Very First Christmas (audio book recorded by husband's parents)
Mon 1: The Legend of the Candy Cane (Walburg & Bernardin) New!
Tue 2: The First Christmas (a book of biblical text and puzzles) New!
Wed 3: Tomie's Little Christmas Pageant (dePaola)
Thu 4: A Christmas Carol (Boddy) New!
Fri 5:  Saint Nicholas: the story of the real Santa Claus (Joslin & Cann)
Sat 6: Saint Nicholas: the real story of the Christmas legend (Stiegmeyer & Ellison)
Sun 7: Immaculate Conception (booklet - Winkler)
Mon 8: Our Lady of Guadalupe (pop-up - Serrano, Davalos, & Guzman)
Tue 9: St. Joseph's Story - (Guadagno & Lo Cascio)
Wed 10: Who is Coming to Our House? (Slate & Wolff)  New!
Thu 11: Our Lady of Guadalupe (Bernier-Grand & Engel)
Fri 12: The Nativity Play (Butterworth & Inkpen) New!
Sat 13: An Angel Came to Nazareth (Kneen)
Sun 14: Bambinelli Sunday (Wellborn & Engelhart)
Mon 15: Great Joy (DiCamillo & Ibatoulline)
Tue 16: The Night of Las Posadas (dePaola)
Wed 17: My First Book of Christmas Prayers (Roche)
Thu 18: Good King Wenceslas (Neale & Henterly)
Fri 19: Uno, Dos, Tres, Posada! (Kroll) New!
Sat 20: The Clown of God (dePaola)
Sun 21: The Story of Christmas (Pingry & Thornburgh)
Mon 22: Room for a Little One (Waddell & Cockcroft)
Tue 23: The Legend of the Poinsettia (dePaola)
Wed 24: The Nativity (Sanderson)

I traditionally end with the nativity reading from Luke out of our New American Bible (NAB), but I decided to go for a book as well this year.  We will be sure to use the Bible, too.

I lined up some feasts again this year: St. Nick (6th), St. Juan Diego (9th), Our Lady of Guadalupe (12th), but I let go of the other feasts (St. Lucy, St. Stephen).  I thought about trying to line up the O Antiphons with books, but I let that go, too.  Last year, I tried to assigned books to the days after Christmas- the 12 days of Christmas!  We read the books from those 12 days (some great books on St. Stephen, King Wenceslas, and the Wise Men!), but we didn't always read them when I had assigned them.  We were juggling post-Christmas burnout (including recovering from a bad bug), buying a new van, last minute baby prep, and a New Year's birthday for our oldest during that time.  This year, we are sticking to the 30th through the 24th because that's what we got done!

What's left of the countdown and what's already been read

This Christmas, I've been trying to really crystallize what Advent and Christmas traditions serve my family.  Unlike other things, the Advent Countdown with Books did not fall away!  I used what I had, grabbed some new-to-us books from the library, and got them wrapped up.  Not much different this year, but it doesn't have to be different to be good.

The book countdown utilizes what we already do (read books at bedtime), keeps focus on the reason for the season, and adds an element of fun to our anticipation of Christmas.

What about you?  Do you do a bookish countdown?  Do you love Tomie dePaola like me?  How do you countdown to Christmas, if you even do?

I want to organize a big, Catholic parade.

My dear, fellow Catholics:

Remember how I told you I like big, bold moves?  Dramatic things?

For quite some time now, I have wanted to organize a big, Catholic parade.  I am talking floats, bands, fellow Catholics cheering on the sides.  Wouldn't it be awesome?

Picture...

....floats depicting the Joyful Mysteries.  (I call dibs on the Annunciation.)

....school children wearing their Catholic school colors and plaids.

....a floating balloon rosary!

(Reuters)

....someone dressed up as the patron saint of the parade.

....our favorite saints represented in costume.  St. Nicholas!  St. Patrick!  St. Gianna Molla!

....floats celebrating our seven sacraments.

....a big flatbed of homeschoolers gently (not hurling!) tossing candy!!!  Yeah!

(Marching dot com)

....the marching bands of local area Catholic high schools.

....beautiful pictures or statues of Our Lady and the Good Shepherd, Himself.

....prints of the only piece of stained glass in the entirety of St. Peter's:

(Andrew Gilbey)

Some of you are saying: but what about St. Patrick's Day?

Sure, that's a good day for celebrating our Catholicism.  It's a little (a lot?) about drinking in some cities.  Do we try anyway though?  Add a little (or a lot) more of our faith?  One could always apply to be in the parade!

Some of you are saying: but what about processions?

Sure.  Actually, I should attend more processions.  They already exist in my community.  Some of them are Eucharistic and require reverence and caution due to the Blessed Sacrament being present.  

What I'm thinking of can be found at time marker 2:53 and beyond in the dramatic, moving trailer of Fr. Barron's inspiring Catholicism series:

What I am thinking of is enthusiastic.  Bold.  Unafraid of being Catholic in a time where Catholicism is reviled.

What I am thinking of is joyful.

"The sure sign that God is alive in you is joy."

- Fr. Robert Barron

(source)

Archbishop Fulton Sheen is on his way to sainthood.  When it happens, that deserves a parade, right?

Call me.

Do you like big, bold events?  Would you enjoy such a parade?  Tell me your thoughts in the comments.

Confession

So,  I got up in the wee hours of the morning for these two:

but not these two:

Bad Catholic.

But you know, it doesn't mean that I won't (or haven't) read more about them lately.  I am far more familiar with JPII, and I continue to enjoy learning about him.  I have loved learning about his Theology of the Body.  As for John XXIII, I look forward to learning more about him, especially after I heard that he would leave the Vatican in the middle of the night like Pope Francis to visit people who were homeless.  I am fairly certain I saw his tomb at St. Peter's.

I liked Reading Catholic's 7 Quick Takes on the two new saints.

Pope St. John Paul II, pray for us!

Pope St. John XXIII, pray for us!


Did you rise early for the canonizations?  Learn anything new about the popes?

An Advent Countdown with Books: 2013 Edition

It's that time of year again!  A little pre-Advent planning for this booklist helps get the season off to a terrific start.  I am revisiting last year's booklist for this year's tweaking.  I am also hoping to purchase a few of these books, especially the Tomie dePaola books, for our collection.  I have been blessed to find books used; so, I am hoping that will be the case this year, too!

Sunday, December 1st is the first day of Advent this year.  I will need 24 books, 1 Bible for the 25th, and possibly 12 books leading up to Epiphany on January 6th.  I have no leftover wrapping paper that will really work for this project, but I will just purchase some inexpensive paper for the 24 books, wrap the Bible in some pretty gold paper I still have and tie it with a gold ribbon (also already have), and maybe have enough for the final 12 books.

I will also split the content of the books up into Advent and Christmas, with the 24 books being focused on feast days and preparation for Christ's birth and the final 12 books being about celebrating Christmas and Epiphany (lots of books on the 3 wise men we haven't not read yet, not to mention St. Wencelas and St. Stephen).  Books will be scheduled for the night before a feast.  So, I will begin reading about St. Nicholas the night before St. Nicholas's Feast Day (December 6th).  Though, St. Nicholas is so fun that we will read about him more than one night.  Last year, we read the books right before bed.

Here's the list:

Sun, Dec 1: The Story of Christmas - Pingry & Thornburgh
Mon, Dec 2: An Early American Christmas - dePaola
Tues, Dec 3: St. Joseph's Story - Guadagno & Lo Cascio
Wed, Dec 4: Saint Nicholas: The Story of the Real Santa Claus - Joslin & Cann
Thurs, Dec 5: Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend - Stiegmeyer & Ellison
Fri, Dec 6:  The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving - Mackall & Porfirio
Sat, Dec 7: Immaculate Conception (booklet) - Winkler
Sun, Dec 8:  Our Lady of Guadalupe (pop up) - Serrano, Davano, & Guzman
Mon, Dec 9: Tony's Bread - dePaola
Tues, Dec 10: The Candle in the Window - Johnson & Elliott
Wed, Dec 11: Our Lady of Guadalupe - Bernier-Grand & Engel  
Thurs, Dec 12: The Birds of Bethlehem - dePaola
Fri, Dec 13: Tomie's Little Christmas Pageant - dePaola
Sat, Dec 14: The Little Fir Tree - Brown & LaMarche
Sun, Dec 15: Bambinelli Sunday - Welborn & Engelhart
Mon, Dec 16: The Night of Las Posadas - dePaola
Tues, Dec 17: Bear Stays Up for Christmas - Wilson & Chapman
Wed, Dec 18: The Gift of the Christmas Cookie - Mackall & Chabrian
Thurs, Dec 19: The Very First Christmas (a Hallmark book recorded by hubby's parents in 2010)
Fri, Dec 20: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell! - Colandro & Lee
Sat, Dec 21: A Gift from Saint Francis: The First Creche - Cole & Lemieux
Sun, Dec 22: Room for a Little One - Waddell & Cockcroft
Mon, Dec 23: The Legend of the Poinsettia - dePaola
Tues, Dec 24: Gospel of Luke 2:1-14  Family Bible, NAB -  (can find online at USCCB)

Wed, Dec 25:  Stephen's Feast - Richardson

Thurs, Dec 26: Good King Wenceslas - Henterly
Fri, Dec 27: The Twelve Days of Christmas - Long
Sat, Dec 28: An Angel Came to Nazareth - Knott & Kneen
Sun, Dec 29: The Nativity - Sanderson
Mon, Dec 30: The Friendly Beasts - dePaola
Tues, Dec 31: The Clown of God - dePaola
Wed, Jan 1: Mary, the Mother of Jesus - dePaola
Thurs, Jan 2: O Holy Night - Christmas with the Boys Choir of Harlem - Ringgold
Fri, Jan 3: The Last Straw - Thury & van Kampen
Sat, Jan 4: Humphrey's First Christmas - Heyer
Sun, Jan 5: We Three Kings - Spirin
Mon, Jan 6: Baboushka and The Three Kings - Robbins

A blessed Advent to you!  What's on your reading list this Advent?

An Advent Countdown with Books

I created a list of books I wanted to introduce to the boys during Advent 2012.  I drew inspiration from a couple of places, and I was excited to try out unwrapping a book each night.  It ended up being a lot of fun, a great way to use up some wrapping paper, a good introduction for each feast day, and a fantastic way to keep the focus on the meaning of the season.  For example, we read Saint Nicholas, the story of the real Santa Claus the night before St. Nicholas Day, and because we love him so much, we read another book about him the next night. I linked to books that we particularly enjoyed.  I don't know what we read the first of December.  Wait, maybe that's when Advent began?  I already don't remember!  

Staring at this list more and more, I don't believe this is the most updated list.  I feel as though I moved the books around a little more than this.  Oh, well......at least I have these titles.  Some books we already had, some we got through interlibrary loan, and some we purchased.  We will probably be purchasing a few of the Tomie dePaola books, though I was glad to peruse them via library loan first.  

All I did was wrap each book at lightening speed during quiet time with my husband's help and label them with the correct calendar day on a back corner of the wrapping.  I set them all aside in a canvas bin and placed it in our bay window.  I did not wrap the family Bible until later in the month, in order to have access to it.  When I did wrap it, I used a shiny gold paper to get the boys' attention that this book was a very special book compared to the selections that came before it.

2: Merry Christmas, Strega Nona

3: The Story of Christmas

4: A Stocking for Jesus

5: Saint Nicholas, The story of the real Santa Claus

6: Saint Nicholas, The Real Story of the Christmas Legend 

7: Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

8: Immaculate Conception  (booklet) 

9: Our Lady of Guadalupe by Bernier-Grand & Engel  

10: An Angel Came to Nazareth

11: Our Lady of Guadalupe (pop up)

12: Lucia and the Light

13: The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story

14: The Very First Christmas (a Hallmark book recorded by hubby's parents in 2010)

15: The Night of Las Posadas

16: The Nativity

17: Great Joy

18: St. Joseph's Story

19: Bear Stays Up for Christmas

20: Who is Coming to Our House

21: An Early American Christmas

22: Little Star

23: Room for a Little One

24: Gospel of Luke, family Bible (wrap in gold, very special wrapping) Luke 2:1-14

Off the top of my head, highlights of the collection included our new Our Lady of Guadalupe books (so nice to have books about her!), The Night of Las Posadas, Bear Stays Up for Christmas, Who is Coming to Our House, and An Early American Christmas.  We also enjoyed reading the dePaola book about the poinsettia, but I don't remember when we read it.  It either made its way into the wrapped collection without an edit to the list, or we read it after Christmas.  Room for a Little One is awfully sweet, as well, setting a quiet and hushed scene for the arrival of a special little one.  Bear Stays Up for Christmas is secular but very sweet.  Its illustrations are lovely, and the friendships depicted are charming.  An Early American Christmas, a piece of historical fiction, depicted what it might have been like in colonial New England when a family moves to town that celebrates Christmas more demonstrably.

I did not enjoy the Rudolph book, which was a shame because it was the old, Montgomery Ward version that is attached to memories for my husband's side of the family.  It was terrible.  I don't even think my sons enjoyed it.  It will not make it into next year's collection.  I was surprised to find the addition of magic in the Strega Nona books (one was read after Christmas Day), but I did like them.  Little Star was also a little disappointing.  Too wordy.  Lucia and the Light scared my almost-five-year-old a bit too much right before falling asleep.

I was also going to prepare some wrapped books for at least the first eight days of Christmas, but I let go of that thought after a while.  Maybe next year.  One of the books I received via library loan was The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola, and I really enjoyed it because of how it mentions Christmas reverently in the story.  I think I will have to add that one to our collection.  

What about you?  Did you create an Advent book countdown?  Any favorites you'd like to share?