gaudete

rejoice in the Lord always!

Joy is the theme of this Sunday's Holy Mass.

Hope you have a joy-filled day!

around the world with Our Lady and the Child Jesus

we are kind of going along with Catholic Mosaic and their around the world with our Lady theme, but without the lesson plans because we just can't afford them right now. we read the story from the book about the Child Jesus and then we read corresponding pages in the atlas which pertain to the particular country we are studying, the apparitions of our Lady in said country and the kids do notebook pages on the patron saint, various facts, plants, animals and flowers native to the country.

we have started and are almost finished with our flags of Ireland.

little boy sewing is always intense, but immensely rewarding.

we also read this story:



this has been really fun. well, at least for those of us who could stay awake! i guess there is just something so soothing about stories on cold, cloudy lazy days......this was saturday.






this has been perfect advent "school".

it requires a lot of one on one time,

snuggling on the couch and the main focus is on Jesus and Mary.

jesse tree pillow top

it is sew nice to have a project handy for the cold and gloomy school days.

this jesse tree pillow top idea was hatched out of the pages of my missal on Sunday at Mass.

i loved the intricate look of the root and the beauty of the verse from Isaiah and since i don't have my jesse tree out this year, but still wanted something reminiscent of it, here is my no fuss jesse tree. if my fingers don't fall of the pillows will be done by Saturday. the fabric for the covers is a vintage berry fabric i found at my favorite thrift store.

i also found some black dotted swiss, which i have had such a hard time finding.

this fabric is so pretty, but this picture does not do it proper justice.

some yarn for a "boy" hat

a little crochet book and some vintage trimmings

please take a little inspiration from this post and make a little something today.

you will be sew glad you did!

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.............

The Quilted Advent Calender

Anne at http://acupofteawithanne.blogspot.com/ asked to see how the quilted Advent Calender is going. So here is a peek at what is turning out to be one of the most difficult little projects of the season.

I started with some sew in printer fabric. It is the kind that you :copy images from your computer, print them onto the fabric and then insert into your project. The picture of baby Jesus is from a really old book that was a gift a few years ago from my parents. I sewed strips of fabric together, cut them up, turned them around and then sewed them together again onto the sides and top and bottom of the panel. It just so happened that there are twelve rectangles on each side of the image, which, if you know anything about sewing, is something I should've made sure of before I even started this endeavor. The strips of white fabric for the pockets are cut from an old linen tablecloth and will each be embroidered with numbers 1~24 and the 25th pocket will be sewn on the middle panel just below the picture. The picture panel is backed with a square of cotton batting for embroidering and I will use cream colored cotton flannel for the back of the quilt. The sequins are to embellish the night sky and will be hand sewn into place and finally the blue rick-rack is for loops that will be sewn on the top for hanging.

When (or rather if) I (ever) finish the pockets, I intend to print out scripture verses onto card stock and insert them in each little pocket for our daily Advent readings. Hopefully you get the gist of what my plans are from the pictures above and I am not babbling too much!

One way to make this project a little easier would be to sew 12 pockets for the Twelve Days of Christmas, perhaps even just for the O Antiphons.............It's not always good to be too ambitious! I tend to think "big" and then wonder what have I gotten myself in to! If you don't hear from me for a while you'll know it is because my fingers fell off from embroidering all of those numbers onto the little pockets!