COME........

I bought some wooden letters that spell the word COME for our advent this year because that is how I have been feeling lately. I feel like I want HIM to come closer to me. Closer to my children, my husband and closer to this world that I live in. A world that seems, at times, to have completely forgotten HIM. And then I realize as I search for images to Christma-tize my little corner of cyberspace,

that maybe the words are not for HIM, but for me.

They are really from HIM to me, reminding me that HE is the one in the manger, lying there, helpless and cold, that HE wants me to COME to HIM.

So as I begin this advent journey I must remind myself that this is not just any journey where I have to hurry and show-up somewhere haphazardly, hoping that whoever it is will understand that I am a busy mother to 4 children, I homeschool and I have so much to do.....so if I have forgotten to bring something, please understand, etc. etc. because the excuses are there.......

No, I remind myself, this is one journey to take slow, no rushing necessary. But rather prayerfully and quietly, today and for the next 4 weeks I will seek to have the heart and the intentions of another young mother, 2000+ years ago as she made the journey to the place where she would find the Messiah her people had been waiting for . The Messiah she was waiting for to COME. The Messiah she had held within her all along.............

2 days to go & the winner is.........

only

days to go until the first Sunday of

ADVENT

and i am not finished yet.........

remember this lovely little project???

my fingers have been busy hand-sewing all

of the little pockets on using a blanket-stitch

and i still have

11 more to sew.

---------------

and the winner of

my ornament give-away is:

JULI

SHE SHOULD HAVE HER NAME IN LIGHTS,

as she is such a sweetie,

BUT LOOK WHAT TIME IT IS!!!

i do need my beauty sleep after a 6 hr. & 15 min. drive home

with

4 kids, 1 husband and a dog.

goodnight!

no great recipes to share like i wanted. no bread basket liners like jennifer made. just a tired mama. one sick son. a visit to urgent care. lots of rain and mud. a long drive ahead of us and......well, and things could always be worse. luckily my grammie, who we are off to visit, is having most of our thanksgiving meal catered because she doesn't like to cook and we will probably be so glad after the five hour drive with three boys (my daughter left this morning ahead of us with my parents). so here is to you and yours:

may God continue to bless you and together we will strive to make every day one of THANKSGIVING!

the rainbow scarf

she picked this yarn out one day and i thought it was kind of garish.

but i try never to discourage her own sense of "style".

she is not a 30+ year old woman like me!

because it is fat yarn it had to be made into something

that was flattering to the yarn itself,

as well as flattering on her.

hence the rainbow scarf was born.

she loves the warm, itchy thing because it will match with anything and because i told her i would make her different flowers to pin on it.

thank heaven for little girls!

this could be made by the most novice crocheter.


i used:
~fat yarn from joann's.
~an N-9.00MM needle
~wool tapestry yarn
~a tapestry needle
(be careful with those things, they aren't something you want to drop or lose!)
~wool felt and a button of your choice color scheme


i crocheted 8 rows across of single-stitch crochet and kept stitching until i used up the whole ball of yarn. the flower is simply made out of felt and a button with a few stitches around the edges which add the crinkly effect to the petals. i attached it to the scarf with embroidery thread. i used yellow wool tapestry yarn to do some simple stitches on opposite ends of the scarf.
the nice thing about this kind of project is it can be done so quickly. i finished the scarf while watching a movie with my boys and the flower and edging followed later the same evening.
it is easy enough that even kids could try their hand at it.

in fact i remember being in the 4th grade and making a pink and purple striped scarf that looked like something from a dr. seuss cartoon as my very first project.
and as you can see, i have come so far! (please don't laugh.)
so in the spirit of what dr. laura might say if she crocheted ........now go make something!

a peek at the ornaments

here it is so you can see if you'll even like them............

the still: of the night

Tonight we assembled our "Gratitude Tree" and we gathered around it in the stillness of this Monday evening to pray our Rosary.

The meditation came from My Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, this version is translated by the Confraternity of the Precious Blood and I bought it because it is a little easier for my bigger boys to understand.

We prayed for Gratitude for the Grace of God.

We read that "for grace will always be given to him that duly returns thanks and he that desires to retain the grace of God, let him be thankful for grace when it is given, and patient when it is withdrawn: let him pray that it may return, let him be cautious and humble lest he lose it."

I hope your Monday night is filled, not only with a few moments of still, but with God's grace.

For Today........

Outside my window..........there are some birds calling me to take their pictures.

I am thinking................about all of the things I have to do today and this week.

I am thankful for.................a husband who went to work this morning.

From the kitchen..........oatmeal served with cut-up granny smith apples, walnuts, cinnamon

and milk.

I am wearing............red pj pants and a long sleeve red shirt (hey it's still early!)

In our schoolroom.............a "blessings" tree project, lots of good Pilgrim and Thanksgiving stories a little bit of math and dictation.

I am creating......................."St. Nicholas day-in-a-box" for a very special family who is celebrating their FIRST Christmas as Catholics.

I am going.....................to be getting ready to go out of town for the holiday, there is much packing and washing to do.

I am reading...........a Family Circle Magazine and my Magnificat.

I am hoping......................to finish the quilted Advent Calender this week, it is coming along nicely, but I decided to hand stitch all of the little pockets, so it is taking longer than I expected.

I am hearing........................the hum of the computer, everyone is still sleeping!

Around the house.............the usual post-Sunday mess, a lot of dishes left over after a visit from family.

A few plans for the rest of the week.............baking: cranberry muffins and oatmeal rolls, a long trip to my grandmother's house which will mean a break from blogging, lots of family time with my parents, husband and kids, finding and getting all of our Advent things ready for next Sunday, finishing up and sending off my ornaments for the Kids' Ornament Swap, I'd better stop because the list could go on and on............

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you:

This is how seriously we take our math work around here..........

Please visit thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ to join in the fun and see more Daybook entries.