How to dry a turkey...

So I never got around to writing how hosting my first Thanksgiving went. Well... no one gagged, no one died and no one complained. So I guess that's a success!

I followed the directions for thawing the turkey... but apparently I still failed at that. The inside of the turkey was still somewhat frozen. We couldn't even get the neck out. So I put it in a sink of cool water. Thankfully it warmed up a bit because my mom got the neck out with no problems after about 15 minutes. But when you have a turkey soaking in water that long... it gets really really really wet.

Everything I read said to make sure the turkey was dried off well after rinsing it. Well, water was just SOPPING out of it and no amount of paper towels was getting it dry. My mom suggested using a hair dryer... only half-way kidding. I poo-poo'd the idea until I realized that it might just work.

So I used a hair dryer to dry the turkey. And it actually turned out OK!

Now begins my favorite time of year. I am one of those annoying people who love Christmas. I actually get teary eyed when I see Joe get excited about Christmas lights. I'm Buddy the Elf in female form. I'm trying hard to celebrate the anticipation of Advent... mainly for Joe's sake. I'm trying to focus on Baby Jesus... but I can't help that I get super excited when Santa comes to feed his reindeer at 10:00 central time on reindeercam.com! SANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. Things will be quiet around here since I'm entering finals week. Happy Advent, y'all!

Joe's Neurology Appointment and Other Tid Bits

Yesterday Joe had his first neurology appointment since his seizures that occurred in October. Thanks be to God his Depakote medicine is working and he hasn't had any episodes. Joe's neurologist is so amazing. She took time to answer our questions and explained things so well. It's been a weird month. My paranoia of Joe having more seizures had kind of faded away until yesterday when we were driving the appointment. But she is very optimistic that he could possibly outgrow this in a few years.

Sam has been having a rough time lately. On Halloween he was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease. His gums were SO swollen AND he was getting his molars at the same time. Poor baby was miserable. He's in occupational therapy for eating issues. I hope to dive more into that issue some other time, but his therapist, who is very very knowledgeable and good at her job, is stumped. Sam just isn't progressing. He's finally eating baby food, but that's a hit or miss sort of deal. His therapist warned us that if things don't progress in the next few months that they might have to put in a feeding tube. I'm still exclusively breast feeding (and yes, I'm exhausted) but his body needs more nutrients now that he's older. I'm hoping that once he gets his last two one-year molars in that it will suddenly click.

I'm making more of my saint dolls. I made a St. Andrew doll for my priest since our parish is called St. Andrew's. I also made one of him. I think he got a kick out of them. I actually have two orders for some dolls which I'm pretty excited about. I have to order the dolls and will be busy working on those before Christmas.

My parish priest. Yes, he's THAT bald. :-)

St. Cecilia

St. Andrew

I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year for my mom and my brother's family. I've cooked a turkey before, but my mom helped me. This year I'll be doing it all on my own. I looked up how to rinse and dry a turkey (DON'T JUDGE!) and I was met with a slew of articles debating on if one should rinse a turkey or leave it alone. I don't remember what I did the last time I cooked a turkey. I probably made my mom do it after I was traumatized after taking out the neck and giblets from the turkey. Hopefully it will all turn out fine... and not like the turkey from Christmas Vacation.

I'm actually looking forward to cooking and hosting. When my mom mentioned me hosting Thanksgiving a few months ago I was all for it. We have a small house, but I can't wait to fill it up with family and the smell of yummy food. Hopefully not burning food....

Good advice.

I job shadowed last Friday at a hospital here in Kansas City. I followed a good friend of mine and was able to get a good feel for nursing. It was really fun! I'm in the process of finishing up my last prerequisite class and setting up more job shadowing hours. I'm excited to get the ball rolling but so nervous that I won't be accepted.

I think that's enough randomness for your day... Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Eat lots of turkey and pumpkin pie!

Why I think 3 will be fun

I just realized that the title of this post may convey why I think three CHILDREN will be fun. While I am sure that is true, this isn't some pregnancy announcement!

In less than a week Joe will turn three years old. Ryan and I have said for a couple months now that we think Joe might have the "terrible threes" rather than the "terrible twos." Our personalities are really clashing now that he's becoming more and more independent. There are more many, many, many, many more tantrums now than when he was two. Maybe they are more infuriating because we can't use the "oh we just can't communicate" excuse. There are days I want to pull my hair out and start hitting the wine bottle because maybe that would make the "I'M AWAKE! I'M AWAKE, MOMMY! I'M AWAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!" coming from his bedroom as soon as I put him down for a nap a little more bearable.

But as much as there are times I feel like my brain is going to explode there are those times that my face hurts from smiling so much. Joe has matured so much in the last few months. It seems like in lightning speed he's gone from a bumbling toddler to a little social human being.

I realized on Sam's birthday just how much fun Joe's birthday will be. Joe enthusiastically opened all Sam's presents and even started the chorus of Happy Birthday without being prompted. I think this is the first birthday he actually understands the concept of birthday. I'm so excited for him to see his party guests.  I can't wait for the excited happy look on his face when he opens presents. I wonder how he'll react to everyone singing to him. At least I know he can blow out his candles. Last year he just kind of blew raspberries at them. We're planning on decorating for the party the night before while he's asleep to surprise him the next morning. It's going to be a dinosaur theme. And we are so doing this for the party:

Don't judge us cuz we're awesome.

Thinking about how Joe is more aware of what's going on makes me excited for this upcoming holiday season. Each fall we go to Vala's Pumpkin Patch in Gretna, NE. We've gone the last two years with a group of my cousins. The first year, when he was one, he had a blast. Last year.. he had just turned two... and the terribleness was coming out. But this year I think will be fun. He won't be so afraid of the petting zoo and he'll probably want to do more the activities. Or he could be a holy hell terror... but I prefer to keep an open mind!

Joe when he was 13 months old

The one thing I am hesitant on is Halloween. I've seen the fear factor creep into his eyes these last few weeks. Just a couple weeks ago we were all sleeping in bed and he woke up saying there was a bear in the bed. He was pointing to Sam. I turned on the light to show him it was his brother. He said, "Oh." then looked a little closer to be sure, and then he really figured it out and said, "OOOOH!!!" An hour later he woke up saying there was another bear, but it was just a shirt hanging by our closet. Just this week he tells me he doesn't want to watch certain movies because they are "'cary" and has insisted I remove Buzz, Woody and Jesse from his bed at night. Just today he said the crack between the bed and the wall was scary. I think we are entering the realm of fear. I've written about my thoughts about the scariness on Halloween before, but this year I think we're going to have to be extra cautious. I do think he'll be excited to dress up and get candy. I'm sure he'll ask to watch The Great Pumpkin fifty times a day, but judging by the worried look on his face while looking at the inflatable Halloween decorations at Wal-Mart... this may be a tricky holiday.

I don't blame Joe for being freaked out.

Joe at 13 months helping us carve a pumpkin

I can't wait for fall and to show him how the season is changing. I can't wait to rake up leaves and have him jump in them. I can't wait to fix yummy crock pot meals and watch the Chiefs play when we get back from Mass. I can't wait to teach him about Thanksgiving and how we should count our blessings.

Don't EVEN get me started on Christmas. Oh, Lawdy. I revert into a seven year old at Christmastime... always have. But now that Joe will be a little more aware of what's going on... I'm going to go all Buddy the Elf. I will be just as excited as he will to see Santa and all the lights and presents because I will get to see that magic and wonderment in his eyes. So often I feel like I fail in teaching Joe about God, but I think Advent will be a perfect opportunity to start. Maybe, just maybe.... I can finally start doing all those Catholic liturgical crafts because Joe might understand it now!

Joe at 15 months being amazed at the Christmas village at Crown Center

I have always loved this time of year. It's magical to me. Even my melancholic personality seems to fizzle away in the months of September, October, November and December.

I really do think three will be a fun year. Sam is starting to walk all over the place and he laughs hysterically at Joe all the time. Joe often encorages Sam to walk and says, "Good walkin'!" I know there will be those maddening times when they start to fight over stuff, but absolutley cannot wait to see how their relationship develops.

And I can't wait to see how Joe's relationship develops with Ryan and me. He's talking so much now and we actually have conversations. Sometimes Ryan and I will be talking in the car and Joe will just butt in with some story about a lion and a dinosaur. We can actually sit down and watch a movie together and talk about it. He asks me to sing songs and how things work and what is the monkey's name and it. is. so. fun.

Seeing him run around in super hero underwear instead of diapers makes me realize just how fast he is growing up. So much has changed in a year and I know more changes are coming in leaps and bounds!

Happy almost 3rd birthday to my Joe. Words cannot express the love and joy I have in my heart because you are in my life!

Turning 2... he still looks so babyish!

Almost 3... my little hero!

New Year, New Plans!

I had big plans to write an end-of-the-year post about all my goals and plans for 2013, but Bejeweled Blitz got in the way. So here is a mishmash, random post.

More Reading, Less Social Media

My awesome brother got me the Liturgy of the Hours for Christmas. I really plan on getting serious about my prayer life. If I do pray, I get so zoned out. 'Dear God, thank you for the blessings of today. Forgive me of my sins. I can hear my neighbors up there. I can't wait to move to a new house. I remember the house I grew up in. I had a cat named Demi. I'm hungry. I need to lose weight. I have to pee but I'm too warm in my blankies. Ohmygosh is that a ghost? Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be praying! OK, God, I'm seriously going to start talking to you. Please watch ov----- ZzzzzZZ ZzzZZzZzzzzz....."

I also plan on reading up on how to potty train. I am soooo not looking forward to that. Sigh...

In the picture underneath the potty training book is a notebook. It is for my chemistry class. I have a feeling I'll be doing A LOT of reading this coming year. I forgot how fun it is to shop for school supplies. The newness and the excitement of learning!

I want to try to limit my time on social media. I spend waaaay too much time on Facebook, sometimes just perusing through things I've already read. I'll be busy with school, so those free moments I need to spend with my boys.  

TV!!! YAY!!!  

I'm not giving up my TV though! I'm a TV junkie and I just started watching Dr. Who. After I got over the first episode that was pure corniness, I am starting to LOVE it. I WANT TO WATCH ALL THE DR. WHOS NOOOOOOOOW!!!

Losing weight... you knew I'd write this...

Speaking of Dr. Who, you know in the first season when the Slitheen are introduced and they struggle to put on their human suits? That's how I totally feel when I get dressed in the morning. I pretty much look like one of the Slitheen, except with bigger boobs and more hair. 

 
I am going back to Weight Watchers. I tried doing it on my own and that was a failure. A big FAT failure. I'm going to spend these last few days before starting EATING ALL THE FOOD!

Changes for Joe

We took Joe's binky away a few days ago. He only used it at nap time and bed time, but we still felt it was time to get rid of it. We did something special and went to Build a Bear and had him place his very last binky into his very own Buzz Lightyear bear. He gave it up willingly, even though his lower lip quivered a little bit. He has been doing pretty good without it! (Thank you, Baby Jesus!)

Getting in a few more sucks!

Putting the binky in his bear

Joe with his Binky Buzz Bear!

 
I'm hoping to find a cheap day care/preschool type place I can take Joe toonce or twice a week to get him used to playing with other kids. It will be a tough transition for me... but more on that later...



I don't want to go overboard with goals and plans, because I am a master Jedi procrastinator, and don't want to set myself up for disappointment.


I'm just gonna go for it. Strengthen my relationship with God, strengthen my vocation as wife and mother, strengthen my mind and body, and strengthen my Whovian awesomeness. 

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year! 

See y'all next year!

  

 

Obligatory After Christmas Day Post

Well by golly, our Christmas was wonderful, beautiful and chaotic! 

Here are a few snapshots from the 500 zillion we took. 

Starting the sugar early.

Just kidding! The wrapper was still on.

I'm way too lazy to take off the wrapper.

Brotherly love!

EGGNOG! 

"It would taste better with rum."

 Last, but certainly not least, our Christmas family photo. 

As you can see from our Christmas card, we are soooooo awesome at taking family photos. 

Nailed it!

Hope you and yours continue to have a wonderful Christmas season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had a nice long Thanksgiving post planned, but Joe has been extra clingy lately. When he shuts my computer lid, pulls at my hand and says, "Come on, Mommy!" I have to go. Playing with blocks and reading books are more important than blogging. That being said, how on EARTH do moms with lots of littles find time to blog?!?!?

Tomorrow we're going to sleep in, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade (SANTA!!!!!!!!!) and go to Ryan's big family dinner later that evening. The next day we'll be traveling to my mom's to have dinner with my side of the family. Even though I am a Christmas nut, I really do love Thanksgiving. I love food, family and traditions!

I have so much to be thankful for this year. Words cannot express how God has blessed me.

I hope you and your families have a wonderful, turkey coma inducing, fun, joyful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Thinking about the Scary...

***This is a thinking-out-loud post. So please bear with me while I ramble.***

A few weekends ago we went into a Spirit Halloween store. We were wanting to look for a costume for Joe. It didn't cross my mind that the contents of this store might scare the living bejesus out of our innocent two-year old.

We walked in the door and a ginormous animatronic spider jumped out at us. Joe Spider-Manned his way up Ryan's legs and clutched onto him in pure terror. We tried to comfort him while we were walking through the store, but it was extremely difficult with creepy Halloween music infused with anguished screams and moans, costumes with bloody axes and decorations like this hanging all around. This is really a decoration from their store.

I bet the factory workers who make this crap have some freaky nightmares. 

We finally found the children's section, but Joe was still pale-white scared and I admit I was a little uneasy as well. After a minute or two of browsing, we quickly left, making sure we ran past the scary jumping spider and sang, "LA LA LA LA LA LA!!!" to distract Joe.

We went to Target which was right next to the Spirit store and Joe quickly resumed his normal happy toddler self. Still, I couldn't shake the heartbreaking and unsettling feeling I had when I saw the look of fear on Joe's face. For the first time ever I somewhat understood why some parents don't allow their children to celebrate Halloween.

Now, don't worry. I'm not going to ban my children from dressing up and trick or treating. I won't raise them to believe they are worshiping the devil and only let them partake in Harvest Festivals. I will allow and encourage them believe in fairies, unicorns, Santa Claus and make-believe worlds. I will let them have fun with their imagination.

Here I am, glorifying Satan.

I don't think there is anything wrong with fantasy, fun, and a little bit of fright. But Halloween can be so... overly-scary.

It doesn't help that I was very sensitive and easily frightened as a child. I had a love/hate relationship with Halloween. I loved the pumpkins, the candy, the frivolity. Trick or treating was fun... until I reached a house that had a bunch of scary crap on the porch. Screw the candy, let's move on. It's pretty inronic I was like that since my mom was one of those enthusiastic Halloween decorators and had bats, spider webs, spooky music and this on our front porch that scared the ever living crap out of me each year:

Obviously not too scared to get my picture taken with this unfortunate woman. 

I remember other things that used to terrify me as a child. My cousin had a cassette tape of scary stories. The one I remember the most was about old widow Clamsey and her cat that strangled people. I remember going to a friend's house and she and her older sister insisted on playing vampire. I was the unwilling victim and I remember it feeling so real and scary. There was one time I went to a birthday party sleepover and the birthday girl rented Halloween. Yeah, I spent most of the time pretending to be asleep. Don't even get me started about Jurassic Park. These things didn't just scare me... they stayed with me. I would dwell on them and they would haunt me. Maybe because I was practically an only child and only lived with my mother did it seem that I was all alone and vulnerable.

Fast forward to high school and I wasn't afraid of ANYTHING. Fear turned into brass balls as I frequently went on joy rides with my friends around town all Dukes of Hazzard style. Movies like The Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw Massacre didn't scare me. And my favorite activity? Ghost hunting. My senior year my best friend and I looked up ghost stories on the internet when we were supposed to be working on the school yearbook. After our football pep rally bonfire a bunch of us got together to go explore abandoned houses. (Yes, I know this sounds like a plot of a horror movie. Or just really really redneck-ish.)

Three of my closest friends and I really got into ghost hunting and paranormal investigating. We spent our weekend nights driving around the country, snapping photos in delapitated houses and spooky old graveyards.We tried to talk to the spirits and use Ouija boards, which I know is just asking for trouble. However, we did start and end each ghost hunting session with a prayer, so hopefully that protected us. I was fascinated with EVPs and ghost stories and all that jazz. We never encountered anything paranormal. The scariest thing we experienced was walking upstairs of an old house and coming face to face with a giant raccoon, which we were pretty sure had rabies.

But once I hit my spiritual growth spurt, fear started to creep in. Watching The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Paranormal Activity scared the living poop out of me. Some of my friends and I went to a major haunted house in the Kansas City area. When we were waiting in line I was filled with dread. When we started walking through and a huge Satan popped out of a mirror I was terrified. It wasn't a fun-type of scared... I wanted to get out of there. The thought of hell and evil became much more "real" to me when I became closer to God.

So I've gone from cowering in fear to giving fear the middle finger. Where am I now in regards to fear and Halloween?

I'm still a fan of spooky, creepy things. I still love a good ghost story. I love Tim Burton's eerie weirdness. I find the old-school macabre fascinating. And, hello, I'm Catholic! We have all sorts of weird stuff. We have relics. We have All Souls Day, a day for honoring dead people. We have saints like St. Lucy who had her eyes torn out and St. Denis who was beheaded but didn't die and traveled around awhile carrying around his head preaching.

St. Denis- Bad. Ass.

EYE BALLS!!!!

Catholics have all sorts of other saint stories involving dragons (Satan), saints getting their boobies cut off (St. Agatha of Sicily) and war and blood and guts. And many of the aspects of Halloween that we treasure are not from the hands of Satan, but from Catholicism. (You're welcome, candy companies.)

But then there is the other end of the scary spectrum. Are there some things we do around Halloween that delight Satan? We dress up as serial killers carrying around bloody butcher knives and axes. Women objectify themselves by dressing up as slutty nurses and slutty Big Birds. (What the hell is that all about?!) We focus on the dark and the horrible.

Aren't there enough scary things in our world? We have people shooting up movie theaters. We have 17 year old kids kidnapping children and dismembering their bodies. We have nannies allegedly stabbing children. We have parents beating their 3 week old babies to death. 

Just turn on the news and we see real-life horror stories. There have been real screams of terror and pleadings for help. Do we really need that in CD format to play on our front porches for trick or treaters? There has been precious, innocent blood spilled. Do we need the fake blood and the fake knives? There are so many souls being tormented by real-life demons every day. Do we really need to decorate our houses with them or dress up like them? Do we really need another slasher movie? This is where I can see why some parents don't allow Halloween for their children.

I don't really know the answer to those questions. Still, I do see some value in the scariness of life. After so much dark and terrible we really find joy in the goodness of life. We breathe a sigh of relief when we see the sun rise in a horror movie, because the scary part is usually over. We are delighted when we see that helicopter come and save the people from the dinosaur-infested island. We wipe away our tears and cast our burdens aside when we see Jesus Christ has defeated Satan and death and Hell, and the glorious, light-filled and joyous Heaven is opened to us- where there is only love and no fear. With out all the scary stuff in our lives we don't see just how good the Good is. The scary stuff can be fun at times, but too much of it will cause us to hope in something with a little more happiness and light.

I will let my children trick or treat. We'll put up scary black cats and witches and goblins. I'll let them be spooked. I will let them become lost in the adventure of their imaginations. But I am still trying to figure out that balance of protecting them from scary things and letting them gain courage on their own. I am still trying to figure out how much scary I can handle.

What are your thoughts on scary stuff and Halloween? 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Joe wants to say, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"

This is St. Patrick's Breastplate... these words are so beautiful!

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.
I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.
I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

OK.. so this isn't St. Patty's Day related... but I have to share. It says "Bald is Beautiful"

Hehehehe!

Christmas, Christmas Time is Here!

*That bald-headed babe is me on my first Christmas being held by my loving big brother, Roman Catholic Cop. Looks like I'm trying to punch him...even then I was trying to defend myself!

I should be packing my suitcase because tomorrow we leave for Kansas City to spend one Christmas with Ryan's family and then off to Tarkio to spend another Christmas with my family. I should be baking sheet after sheet of cookies. So what am I doing instead? Trying to write this blog post while being distracted by home videos that I burned to DVD last night.

A couple weeks ago I had big plans to dive deep into all my favorite Christmas memories and put them in blog form. And even though I am unemployed, I got too busy to organize my Christmas memory thoughts.

So here is a shorter version of my favorite Christmas memories.

Childhood

When I was growing up we didn't have a lot of money. We didn't have a telephone or a car. It was because of the generosity of family and of strangers that made my Christmases a wonderful childhood memory.

I'm not sure how old I was- maybe four or five years old, when one day we came home to find a box on our front porch. In it was a few toys for me (one was a big moose stuffed animal named Mooseltoe that I still have to do this day), a winter coat and a few groceries. My mom had no clue who it came from.

Thanks to my Uncle Steve and Aunt Betty and my Mom and I actually got a good Christmas. Without them my Chrismases would have been pretty bleak. Every Christmas until I was about eight years old Steve drove the two hours from Kansas City to Tarkio to pick us up and take us back to his house. He, his wife, and my mom pitched in for wonderful presents and goodies. His wife always cooked an amazing Christmas dinner. One year I was supposed to say grace before dinner and I stood up and said the "Pledge of Allegiance" like Aunt Bethany does on the movie "Christmas Vacation." (In my defense my older cousin convinced me to do it. I sure hope God has a sense of humor!) One time we drove to another uncle's house and sang Christmas carols in his front yard. We'd always go look at Christmas lights on the beautiful big homes on Ward Parkway and the Plaza Christmas lights. It wasn't anything too spectacular, but for this small-town girl I was awe-struck.

My mom and Steve used to take me to see Santa Clause at the Ward Parkway mall. Now here's the funny thing: while I was little I never knew the street with all the big homes was Ward Parkway or knew that all the shops lit up were called the Plaza. The only thing I was familiar with about Kansas City in my later years was Barry Road and North Oak Trafficway since my brother lived in that area. We never went south of the Missouri River. But when Ryan and I started dating I went south of the river a lot because his parents live there. They live just a few blocks from the Plaza and Ward Parkway. So when Christmas came and I begged Ryan to take me out to look at all the Christmas lights I was almost in tears because I was looking at the same houses and buildings I had ooo'ed and aahhh'ed at when I was a little kid! I never made the connection that these were the same areas! And it made me wonder....Like me, Ryan always went to see Santa at Ward Parkway mall. Maybe I was standing next to my future husband in line to see Santa when we were six years old! (I've scoured all my mom's photos and Ryan's mom's photos to see if that was the case...I don't have any hard evidence, but I'd like to think we did stand next to each other!)

Oh I have so many more memories to share of my childhood, but that will have to wait until next year. BUT- there is one commercial that always stands out to me and I swear it's been on for years:

Christmas Through a Child's Eyes

It is this time of year that gets me SO excited to have children someday. As adults we stress during this joyous holiday season. A lot of times we see no joy at all. We see expenses, budgets, event after event, time constraints, and pressure to make everything look holly jolly. But if you look at a child and see how excited they are, how pure their happiness is that Christmas is coming soon, the season takes on a whole new meaning.

I remember when my nephew Max was about three years old. I was helping him with his stocking and his joyful reactions to each thing pulled out brought tears to my eyes. When he pulled out a bottle of Elmo bubble bath you'd think he pulled out the Holy Grail he was so excited and happy!

That is a memory I will cherish and I cannot wait to see that same look of happiness and excitement on my own child's face someday.

Yay Mass!

I just love, love, LOVE Midnight Mass. Before Mass begins all the lights are off except for the lights in the back choir loft. The rest of the church is lit by candle light and Christmas lights. There are tons of sparkling poinsettias around and a large and beautiful nativity scene. While all the world is either asleep or doing their own holiday shin-dig, I am there with my family celebrating the birth of Christ by receiving His True Presence in the Eucharist. It truly is a silent night before Midnight Mass. I sing in the choir and we're pretty good (I think so anyway!)

It is so quiet and peaceful before Mass but once Mass begins it's an all out celebration! The lights turn on, the procession starts and the birth of Jesus is proclaimed! Our priest uses incense and all the High Mass goodies that is only used for Easter and funerals.

The church is usually packed. On any other Sunday many pews are left empty, but at Midnight mass even the much-avoided front row is filled. Sure they are not all St. Paul parishioners; many are family members of parishioners and CEO Catholics (Christmas, Easter and Other Occasions) but I'm sure a full church pleases the Lord.

Well I've already spent way too much time blogging away. I need to pack and bake! I'm taking a blogging break to spend time with family and friends. I wish all of you a very happy and blessed Christmas. May God bless each of you and your families!

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred,

and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit,

become a child again at Christmas-time.

-Laura Ingalls Wilder

A Newlywed Tale of Christmas Decorating

This weekend my husband and I decorated our apartment for Advent and Christmas. This is a special time for us since this is our first holiday season as a married couple. No children, tiny apartment, living in a town where the number of bodies laid to rest in the cemetery far outnumber the number of living residents. We're not completely happy with this arrangement. We'd much rather have a little one to dote one, live in a happy, cozy house and reside in a town that resembles civilization. (Maybe next year!)

Instead of focusing on the negative, we're choosing to look at the positive. This is time for us to really learn about each other's holiday traditions and favorite memories. This is a time for us to dream about what our future Christmasses will be like. A time for us to bond. A time for us to fall in love all over again.

Also a time to argue...playfully of course! We've come to a point where each of our family traditions differ. But this is also a time to work on building our marriage. Compromise, communication, sacrifice- all important tools for a good marriage.

Our fully decorated tree. Pretty isn't it? One of the points of disagreement was the use of sparkly garland. My mom and I have always used it. Ryan informed me that his family doesn't. But my dear husband, after seeing what the garland looked like, gave in.

Now don't get me wrong- I love Star Wars. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a huge fan. However, I didn't want the whole galactic gang on the tree. There's only so much room!

Good ol' George Brett. Hero of the Kansas City Royals. But look at my poor angel in the bottom right-hand corner. So little room for my ornaments!

Here is my very first "Mary's Angels" Hallmark ornament. It is #9 in the series. I have bought one every year since then. This year's angel is #22. That's a lot of angels to put on the tree. Ryan graciously let me put up all of my angels. Sigh....so I let him put up the Millennium Falcon, Satchel Paige, Cal Ripkin Jr., and Batman ornaments. It might not look "pretty" but it sure gives the tree character. I realize I need to stop being so selfish. And I think my angels like having Han Solo as company on the tree.

Perhaps one of my favorite memories of decorating this year's tree was the ornaments we bought together. Here is the ornament we bought at Mount Rushmore during our honeymoon.

This is the ornament we will always remember. When we're old and grey we'll remember this was the ornament we bought for our first Christmas together at the very first town we lived in as a married couple!

Another point of disagreement. This nativity scene is from the Holy Land. Ryan's uncle bought it while he was a seminary student. Ryan made the box holding the nativity scene when he was around 10 years old. He was bugging his mom (I can't imagine that!) so she told him to go down to his dad's shop and build a house for Baby Jesus. This was the result. I wanted to put it underneath the tree so it didn't look so bare. Ryan was worried that our dog Chandler would a) pee on the nativity scene b) eat one of the sheep or c) gnaw on one of the wise men. Seeing how Chandler kept wanting to sniff the tree and walk behind it, I put my pride in my back pocket, admitted to Ryan that he was right and put the nativity scene on one of our book shelves.

After a few days of disagreements and compromises, we ended up having a very blessed weekend. We watched the movie The Nativity Story. We lit the first candle of our Advent wreath, read a meditation and prayed a decade of the rosary. (We're taking Advent seriously this year!) We were safe and warm in our beautifully decorated home after a fun few days spend with our families.

Our disagreements were all in fun and I am thankful that Ryan takes traditions just as seriously as I do. I can't wait to make new traditions with him. I can't wait to see his mannerisms and characteristics in our future children and how he will make Christmas special for them.

But for now, our little family consists of him, Chandler and myself. Last night we used the self-timer on our camera to capture a family portrait in front of the Christmas tree. The dog wouldn't cooperate.

Finally we captured a decent pose, but Ryan had to hold a doggie toy off the the side to get Chandler to sit still!

"Is your house on fire, Clark?"

"No, Aunt Bethany. Those are the Christmas lights."

-Christmas Vacation