Gloria in Excelsis Deo: Feast of St. Nicholas

1. Family Visit Concludes

We had such a blessed week of my aunt and cousin visiting! On Saturday, everyone raced to do their morning chores and music practice in order to be ready for our afternoon family movie ("The Fighting Sullivans"--highly recommended for ages zero to 100+, bring Kleenex) with popcorn. We played war board games, and the children climbed trees outdoors and then measured their progress using my landscaping measuring tape ("Hey, Mama, I beat so-and-so's record by climbing 40 feet high!").

After dinner, we drove to look at Christmas lights and prayed our family rosary on the drive to Dairy Queen to celebrate Mary's baptismal anniversary. Such a fun, simple outing!

2. Advent Decorations

To my mom friends in the early years . . . just keep doing your traditions and trust that the tremendous effort you are putting in (with no big helpers yet) is so well worth it. Now that I have 11- and 13-year-olds, I can say, "Honey, please go up to the attic and get the Advent box. Then set everything up. You know how I do it."

And they love doing it! (Also, my decorations have become very simplified over the years.)

3. Scottish Ceilidh for the Feast of St. Andrew

Our Charlotte Latin Mass Community sponsored a Scottish ceilidh dance to celebrate the feast of St. Andrew. It was a delight to see all ages dancing together!

Mary got to wear a vintage crocheted blouse that was her grandmother's when she was a girl, making this darling piece about 80 years old!

4. John's 13th Birthday

We have our first teenager in the house!

5. Feast of St. Nicholas

My 11-year-old baked gingerbread cookies last Saturday and froze them for the following Friday because I don't have time to bake during the school week.

While it may look like I then allowed my four-year-old to decorate said cookies--what are they? happy ghosts and rocket ships?--I have to take all the credit.

I also ruined the entire batch of fun pancakes on the morning of St. Nicholas (with unblended and too much baking powder, causing numerous of us almost to vomit), such that I had to throw the batch away and have everyone eat cold cereal.

Morning fire and discovery of shoes

6. Zeppelin the Bird

On Wednesday, John noticed throughout the afternoon a tiny bird hopping around our yard and remarked several times that there was a bird who could not fly. So, when he showed up with a bird in his hand, we were not entirely surprised.

Indeed, the bird's right wing was injured, so we kept it safe in a little bird house we made for three days while trying to figure out how to help it.

Identifying the bird

Contacting two wildlife rehabilitation centers and awaiting slow responses, we finally learned that we were to drive it to safety at the rehab location in Indian Land.

Returning Zeppelin

7. Miscellaneous Moments

Alternative to 6:00 a.m. cartoons to allow Mama some time to drink coffee and do morning chores in peace: allow the little boys to tie butcher's string all over like a spider web! They had so much fun.

I love this age of almost 7 when the child begs to be allowed to do the weekly chores independently just like the big siblings. It will be a while yet before the seemingly inevitable collapsing with 'broken legs' and whining about chores begins, and then my tactics will have to change. For now, I celebrate!

When I asked David (28 months) which stuffed animals he wanted to sleep with at naptime, he filled his arms with all five, staggering into the bed while exclaiming, "Dee-Dee's favorites!"

Thomas (4): "I'm not tired, Mama! I'm going to stay awake and build Lincoln Logs during Quiet Time!"

Little guy didn't even last long enough to build one cabin . . . and we'll always wonder how that one Lincoln Log landed on his face.

An eight-year-old lovely girl knitting with her doll while snuggled under quilts on a chilly winter day.

We made the Bill of Rights lapbook for TAN's Story of Civilization this week, but I simplified the instructions even more than for a true lapbook.

On the night I had to stay up late and place my grocery order, I was falling fast asleep by eight o'clock, so I asked the two girls if they wanted to keep me company and help me do the meal planning. They were thrilled and said, "Just wait here and take a nap for ten minutes! Then we will come get you!" I came downstairs to hot tea waiting for me and decorations of Our Lady's statue surrounded by candles in the shape of a rosary. That was a pick-me-up!

For more 7 Quick Takes Friday, check out This Ain't the Lyceum.

1. Concerto Competition

Congratulations to John for earning a Superior performing the Concerto in C Major by Haydn at the CPTF Concerto Competition last Saturday! We are so proud of his dedicating daily work to this for six months.

Lunch out with Dad afterward

2. Advent 2018

Advent and Lent have gotten simpler and simpler each year in our home as I have more children to care for and more grades to teach. We have a few sacrifices we are making. We switched the songs we're learning during home choir time to "Veni, Veni Emanuel" (learning it in Latin this year). We have the candle to light and Advent calendar to open. I set out the nativity scene and the Christmas books selection and just hope for the best, like setting out bird seed and hay in snowy winter for the animals to forage themselves.

The list of all the Advent activities we have cut due to an overwhelming lack of time since the earlier years would make for a more lengthy paragraph. I hear so many of my large-family friends talking about what holy books they've chosen to read over Advent in order to nourish their souls while I haven't picked anything because I haven't had time to read a book in months and months, says the woman who read a fat book per week for most of her life.

Mama is filled with self-doubt about it all.

Thomas is enjoying climbing up onto this ledge (with his healed collar bone!) to 'read' the Christmas books I set there for the season. He does not want the books to be brought down so he can sit in a chair or on the floor!

2. John Turns 12!

Happy twelfth birthday to our firstborn!

We had a small, family celebration this year, as we tend to limit Birthday Party Propers to the "big" numbers (e.g., 5, double-digits 10, 13 teenager . . .).

John is a cause of much frivolity and joy. He takes things in stride and one of his favorite pastimes is making interesting conversation with people of all ages, especially adults. This year in school, he has been making great strides in learning much more serious study habits, time management, and being able to carry a heavier workload, and we are proud of his efforts.

4. Christmas Caroling

On Monday night, our parish Fraternus (boys) and Fidelis (girls) groups went Christmas caroling, apparently for the fourth year in the row. This was our first year eligible to join and a record-breaking crowd of 60 young people (grades 6-12) showed up! It was heartwarming to see. (Families of the students were allowed to join in, but mostly it was just the students, not people with little kids like mine. Ours was the only stroller there.)

No one will be surprised that our Mary made sure she was the one to go ring the doorbell at each house to announce our arrival.

My little boys hung in well until about 8:00 when they could no longer hold in their wailing and tears at being out so late. We were done caroling by then, but I pulled my older kids early from extended time eating treats, drinking cocoa, and generally socializing. There was some upset reaction, but this gave us all an opportunity to practice gratitude that we got to go caroling at all since Daddy was out of town on business and unable to be the "nighttime outing parent" as usual, and that I sacrificed my littles being out past bedtime for the sake of the olders: and now the olders have to sacrifice a little for their younger sibs by going home early.

It had actually been a humorously frenetic afternoon with Mama doing it all in Chris' absence.

I taught a full school day up till the last minute we had to depart
Having laid the boys down a bit early for nap, I woke them after only a short time, which would be especially tough knowing that they'd be awake two hours late due to the caroling
2:45 I delivered John to CCE school at our parish
Dropped off at Goodwill and drove home
4:45 I delivered Mary to girls' choir practice at our parish
I unloaded all the children and went inside to sign some mandatory paperwork for the next semester
I visited our friends for a play date, as they live right near the parish
6:15 I returned to the parish to pick up John and Mary
I drove us all to Chik-Fil-A for dinner
7:00 We returned to the parish just in the nick of time for Christmas caroling
9:00 Tired, crying children home and tucked into bed

5. St. Nicholas Day

My two girls baked gingerbread cake for us the day prior, and made an extra large batch so we could freeze some extra cakes for the Christmas season.

On the eve of St. Nicholas, I was just about to read aloud about the saintly bishop to our younger children when the baby broke a Corele plate: they're durable until they finally break and then they shatter into approximately ten thousand pieces which bounce into every conceivable corner of the kitchen, including around corners and into other rooms and upward to land on counter-tops. So, while I spent a lengthy time sweeping, I assigned Mary to read aloud to the boys.

We were handed down these little kid ski goggles and our three-year-old has been wearing them much of the time, including that night when he said he wanted to sit on the ledge (as usual) and "read mine own books."

After the littles were tucked in, I filled their shoes with chocolate coins, oranges, candy canes, and I set out our family presents.

The girls and boys each received a beautiful new crucifix for their bedrooms and they were truly actually quite excited by that gift, about which I'm so grateful. We also gave three new books: "An Orange for Frankie," "Candy Bomber" (about WWII), and a collection of Charles Dickens' five Christmas tales, as I want to read aloud "The Cricket on the Hearth" this season. Lastly, a new figurine of St. Nicholas joined our crew.

There have been fancier breakfasts over the years, but this tired mama is flagging, especially when one's husband is gone two weeks in a row, so I served pancakes (made in a double batch last weekend and frozen for this purpose) with sausages and homemade whipped cream (that was the fancy part), around which I wrapped Christmas ribbon. Not quite "Martha Stewart."

6. Profound Thoughts

I haven't written anything deep, no essays, nothing thought-provoking on this blog for what seems like months, maybe this whole school year. I really do have numerous essays in my head running. I have blog drafts of a couple of big topics I've been researching to share. Every week, I have deep meditations I want to share.

But there is never time to get back to my computer and dash them out, and come early Friday morning when I try to get out a Seven Quick Takes, they're all gone.

7. Miscellaneous

For the last two weeks, my Margaret and Joseph have been the only ones to show up for tennis class, so the coach has happily let our three-year-old be involved, too. Then when my John and Mary show up an hour later for their class, all the Lauer kids join together for a game of "Happy Feet" before I take the younger set home, and that's very fun.

A game of Happy Feet at tennis class