Poor Souls Novena

I received this from a friend whose sister, Helen, died yesterday morning.  Please join me in praying this novena, and in praying for the repose of Helen's soul and my friend's entire family.

Today is the day to start your Poor Souls (in purgatory) novena (9 days before Christmas): Our Lord told St. Gertrude the Great that the following prayer would release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners, which would alleviate the indebtedness accrued to them during their lives. Please remember my sister, Helen, deceased, in this prayer:

"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the World today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family, Amen."

Homemade Christmas Tree Ornaments

Please don't tell my children. On Friday, we are going to make some delicious smelling Christmas tree ornaments, using our Nativity Cookie Cutter Set that my parents gave us the year we moved into our house. We still have some of the figures that we made that year and a couple of years later, but I know that the children will delight in making more. Plus, they make our house smell so good. Hopefully, the ornaments will be fully dry just in time to hang them on our Christmas tree on December 24.

Applesauce and Cinnamon CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENTS

Ingredients and Materials:

• 1 ½ cups ground cinnamon
  
• 1 cup applesauce
  
• ¼ cup white non-toxic school glue (optional; if you decide not to use glue, then increase the applesauce by ¼ cup)
  
• Bowl
  
• Saran wrap
  
• Rolling pins
  
• Wax paper
  
• Nativity Cookie cutters
  
• Ribbon, fishing line, thread, etc. for hanging
  
• Straws
  

Directions:

1. Mix cinnamon, applesauce, and glue together in a bowl. The dough should be as thick as cookie dough. If the dough isn’t thick enough, add a little more cinnamon. If it is too stiff, add a little water.
   
2. Remove dough from bowl and knead. Put it back in the bowl, cover with saran wrap and let it sit for a half hour.
   
3. Remove the dough, knead again until it is smooth (the smoother the dough, the better the ornaments look). Roll the dough between wax paper so that it is ¼ to ⅛ inch thick.
   
4. Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters. Use a straw to punch a hole for the ribbon to hang.
   
5. Carefully place the shapes on a piece of clean wax paper. Turn the ornaments over regularly in order to prevent the ends from curling up and help them dry evenly. They will take about 5 days to dry.
   

Notes:

The ornaments will get smaller during the drying process.

Once the ornaments are dry, acrylic or fabric paints may be applied, if desired. We leave our ornaments plain.

I am sorry that I don't have photos, but all of our ornaments are still packed away.  I will try to add some next week.

Teacher In-Service Day

My husband gave me a much needed teacher in-service day, today.  Our six oldest have accompanied him to the Museum of Flight, taking advantage of the "Free Youth Days" which run through December 20.  The children were looking forward to going on the flight simulator. I am looking forward to hearing what they thought about their excursion and seeing the video that my husband is taking.  Hopefully, they are all enjoying themselves and my two youngest sons aren't wandering off to look at things.

While they are having fun, I am getting some very necessary December things accomplished on my day off.  I have gotten so much finished that I might even be able to join my family on their annual Christmas light car tour this month.  I hope that I find a "Family Day at the Museum of Flight" video under the Christmas tree this year (it would be the next best thing to having a Mass said for me).  Yes, those are hints for my husband who already gave me a much needed gift today, a quiet, productive day at home.

Breakfast in Bed

Our eldest daughter surprised us this morning with breakfast in bed.  She came up with the delicious menu on her own, making scrambled egg, french toast, and orange juice.  Our St. Lucia even took the time to decorate the trays.  It was a wonderful and relaxing way to begin a Sunday morning.  She is such a blessing to us.

Happy Feast of St. Lucia!

Christmas, Feast Day, and Winter Books

One of the things that I like about this time of year is snuggling up with my children and reading picture books.  Each year, we read a lot of Christmas, Feast Day, and winter books. This year, some of the books are new to us, but most of them are old favorites. The books that we have read so far are:

The Animals Christmas Carol by Helen Ward
Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett

The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard (December 6)

The Christmas Bird by Bernadette Watts
The Christmas Coat by Clyde Robert Bulla
The Christmas Donkey by Gillian McClure
This is a beautiful story about a proud and stubborn donkey who learns a very valuable lesson from the Holy Family.
Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren*
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski*
Christmas in the Stable by Astid Lindgren

Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett

Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel by Shirley Climo
The Donkey's Dream by Barbara Helen Berger*
Father and Son: A Nativity Story by Geraldine Mccaughrean

The Fir Tree by Hans Christian Andersen, adapted and illustrated by Bernadette Watts
Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett

Good King Wenceslas by John M. Neale (December 26)*
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss*
The Huron Carol by Frances Tyrell*
Jingle the Christmas Clown by Tomie dePaola

The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie de Paola (December 12)*
The Legend of the Christmas Rose by William H. Hooks

The Legend of Old Befana: An Italian Christmas Story by Tomie de Paola (January 6)

The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi (December 6)
Little Boys Christmas Gift by John Spiers*
The Little Donkey: A Christmas Story by Gerda Marie Scheidl, illustrated by Bernadette Watts

The Little Drummer Boy illustrated by Kristina Rodanas*
We really like the illustrations in this book.
The Little Drummer Mouse by Mercer Mayer

Mary: The Mother of Jesus by Tomie de Paola (December 8)*

The Miracle of Saint Nicholas (Golden Key Books) by Gloria Whalen (December 6)*

The Mitten by Jan Brett*
Mousekin's Christmas Eve by Edna Miller

Night Tree by Eve Bunting

An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco*
Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale by Martin Waddell
My children (ages 6 and under) really like this book and will often ask for me to reread it.

Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey by Robert Byrd
Saint Nicholas by Ann Tompert (December 6)

Silent Night: The Song and Its Story by Margaret Hodges
A Small Miracle by Peter Collington
This is a beautiful, wordles picture book.
The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden*

Take Joy! The Tasha Tudor Christmas Book by Tasha Tudor*
This Is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten
Cynthia Cotten uses lyrical verses to tell the story of the first Christmas.  The illustrations add to the beauty of the story.

The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren
The Tomten and the Fox by Astrid Lindgren

Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett
We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin

Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? by Jan Brett
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story by Gloria Houston

Books that we own are marked with an asterisk*.

Dates indicate Feast Days when we make a point of reading or rereading a book.

As we read more books from our home library and from the library, this Advent and Christmas season, I will try to remember to update this list.

Thank you to Jenn Miller for sharing The Cobweb Christmas and The Christmas Bird with us via her blog.

Originally Posted: December 8, The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Updated: December 12, The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe