Welcome Winter

Today's view of the same spot where the kids posed in front of fall trees the other week.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Some ways that we are preparing in the first week of Advent:

*Finishing shopping for Christmas presents (3 left!) and ship the last few
*Lighting the advent wreath each night. This nativity advent wreath was a gift from my friend Heather last year.
*Packing away all the regular books and "strewing" the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany books
*Requesting as many books as possible from MacBeth's Fall, Winter and Christmas Opinions
*Singing Veni, Veni Emmanuel accompanied by me on the piano after lighting the wreath. I'm hoping we'll learn all the O Anitphons by the time they arrive
*Celebrating St. Nicholas' feast day--clogs out the night before!
*Daily Mass on Wednesday with an Advent lunch and reflection after at the post chapel
*Celebrating a soon-to-be-born (with any more complications very soon) and much prayed for and anticipated new baby boy expected by a dear friend
*Continuing to pray for our deployed and deploying friends and their families and friends...the Talbots, the Manrys, the LaTerzas, Fr. Albertson, Fr. Hubbs, and Fr. Wood and his family
*No red poinsettias this year since the major supplier is also a major donor to Planned Parenthood. Tomorrow we're planting some paper white narcissus in our bulb container gardens that we started last week.

Belly shot--20 something weeks

The baby is growing in grace and beauty, and my body is growing apace.
Based on where my body is growing, I still think she's a girl.

Tonight's baby food is Cowboy Chili (no beans) and Thomas' homemade cornbread. Anthony, Thomas, and I all had chili as a snack too since we couldn't wait for dinner. It is soooooooo yummy.

Did I mention I love Fall?

THE good thing about Virginia--Fall

And Fall trees and Fall weather. Tonight's menu:

Gypsy Soup and

Mary G.'s Fastest Wheat Bread Ever

(1)Preheat oven to 400F.

(2)Warm 1C milk and 1 C plain yogurt tobody temp.

(3)Proof yeast by putting 1 Tbsp yeast and 1 tsp sugar in 1/2C very warm water for 10 min.

(4)Combine 1 & 2 with 2 C Whole Wheat Flour and 1 Tbsp Honey. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes.

(5)Add 1 Tbsp oil.

(6)Sift together 1tsp baking soda, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 4 C all purpose flour. Add to liquid 1 C at a time until firm.

(7)Knead into 2 stumpy ovals. Place on a baking sheet & slash. Let rise 10 min.

(8)Bake @ 400F for 25 min.

If desired, brush with butter when fresh from the oven.

This bread is very forgiving as I have made a bunch of mistakes with it including using vanilla yogurt, forgotten to add 1C of flour and not letting it rise. Every time the result has been delicious!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Thursday morning we celebrated Thanksgiving (and the feast of St. Cecilia) by going to Mass as a family. I especially enjoyed it since last year I snuck off to Mass alone and was late.

Immediately after, we drove to Philly to celebrate and be thankful (and eat and be even more thankful) at Uncle Jesse and Aunt Shirley and "little" Jess' house. With so much family and good food, we were all able to relax and have a great time.

The next morning, we took a quick trip to see the Liberty Bell, and then headed back to Uncle Jesse's to spend a little more time together before we had to head home. Thankfully, James decided to warm up to Mama and let me get this great picture of the two of them together.

Playdough Morning

Ingredients:

1 package cookie dough playdough

Eager little hands (6 sets work well)

Imagination

Saliva

Cook at 350 F for 10-12 minutes







ENJOY!

National Shrine

Today we took a family trip to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. I chose the mosaic art study because since the kids went to the Basilica 2 years ago, they have wanted to go back, and much of the Basilica is covered in amazing mosaics. The delay worked in our favor, though, because last March we studied Vietnam when Bill went on a week-long trip there with his MBA program, and a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of La Vang (scroll down for the story of this vision) was recently completed at the Basilica. This chapel is just outside the Crypt Church.

The first picture is taken outside the chapel while Anthony (left) and Thomas pose inside. Maria is inside in front of the altar, and Cecilia wanted to show off the decorative floor. (Charles isn't anywhere near the chapel; insead he wanted his picture near an angel outside the men's room.) The mosaic on the right depicts the Mary comforting the people suffering and hiding in the wild jungle of La Vang. Anthony is praying near the mosaic on the left showing the 118 Vietnamese Martyrs. I'm sorry that you can not see the beautiful bright blue ceiling with lighted stars. The entire chapel is breathtaking.