Who says you need to use ALL your Christmas decorations?

No one, that's who. Just because you have a gazillion boxes in the attic filled with Christmas decorations doesn't mean you need to use everything in those gazillion boxes. Be selective. Rotate decorations. Don't overdo it.

This year, keeping it simple meant using what's already there.

Case in point, our kitchen credenza.  In the past I have decorated it with lights, a nativity, international Santas and, once, even a Christmas clock. This year, however, I didn't pull out any of those items and left the credenza as is and simply added some Christmas flowers and greenery.

That's it. Nothing to unpack or put away.

But festive, nonetheless.

The Christmas Flu and Mr. Bubbles

So, I take our little guy to the doctor, and he tests positive for the flu.

"I have the flu," he announces to his brothers when we come home. He almost sounds proud.

His brothers aren't impressed; in fact, they are horrified.

"Look, don't come within five feet of me," orders Nicholas. "I have exams coming up. I just can't get the flu."

I think Timothy looks a little insulted, but it's hard to tell because he looks so pitiful. Anyway, I medicate him, bundle him up in blankets, and within five minutes he's sound asleep on the couch.

I then prepare to do battle which, for me, means a trip to the grocery store to stock our pantry. Everything I don't usually buy, I do. With a sick child who doesn't have an appetite, I don't care what he eats as long as he eats. So things like popsicles, ice cream sandwiches, and Kraft macaroni and cheese (not the regular kind, mind you, but the Sponge Bob kind) make it into my shopping cart along with jello, applesauce, and ingredients for a variety of soups. For good measure, I also pick up a big jug of Mr. Bubbles because nothing is more soothing and relaxing than a good bubble bath (my ultimate secret weapon with all illnesses).

Later that night we're all sitting in the family room watching the season finale of The Amazing Race, and during a commercial Nicholas and Jonathan give Timothy some orders.

"Five feet. That's how far you need to stay away from me," reminds Nicholas.

"Don't get your flu germs all over the Wii," says Jonathan. "Don't use the purple controller. Don't use the black controller."

Well, we only have a purple and black controller, and Timothy opens his mouth to say something. I have a feeling it's not something good, so I intervene.

"Timothy, don't listen to your brothers. You'll be home without them, and you can do whatever you want. You can even go roll around in their beds and breathe on their pillows."

"Mom!" yell the older boys.

But Timothy can hold his own because a few commercials later he stands in front of Nicholas and asks him if this is five feet. When Nicholas says yes, Timothy takes a giant step forward.

"Four feet," he says with a grin. He takes another step. "And now it's three feet."

This time Dad intervenes.

For someone who is supposed to be sick, and who looks like death warmed over, Timothy is not going to let some silly flu bug stop him from having fun. He sets up Star Wars Monopoly on the kitchen table so we can play all day (guess who is included in that we?), he places Scrabble Junior and Guess Who? next to the couch, and the Lego bins are ready and waiting.

Something tells me this is going to be a long week ...

and I am thinking that I just may have to keep Mr. Bubbles for myself.

A Confession

Uhm, I have a confession to make. It's not terribly earth shattering, but ... well, here it is: my Christmas shopping is done ... finished ... complete.

Finito.

Now before you get annoyed with me, allow me give you two things I do which help me stay on top of things:

1. Every year my best friend and I plan an all day Christmas shopping trip, usually during the early part of December. This year, because Thanksgiving was so early, we did it the end of November. Sometimes we go to Atlanta or Columbia, and sometimes (like this year) we stay in town. And when I say all day, I mean all day. As soon as the kids leave for school, off we go. The key to our trips is organization: we have lists, coupons, and we map out our day (which, by the way, always includes a lovely lunch). Not only am I able to finish the bulk of my shopping in one fell swoop, but it is so much fun.

And then there's this:

2. Our family has simplified the gift giving. For example, on my side of the family we draw names, with a drawing for the adults and and one for the kids. This way, everyone gets one gift. After several years of complete bedlam, you can't imagine how nice it has been doing it this way; not only does it keep the excess at bay, but it makes shopping for gifts that much easier.

That's it. An all day shopping trip and fewer gifts ... two things that have worked for me to ensure that Christmas doesn't get so crazy.

And as long as I'm confessing, I might a well tell you that everying is already wrapped and hidden away, which means I can now take the time to watch The Polar Express, sit by the fire and write Christmas cards, bake, pull out my guitar and play Christmas carols, go for nighttime car rides to look at Christmas lights, and read Christmas stories out loud.

In other words, I can now enjoy the season instead of running around trying to get ready for it.

You Got Mail ... An Advent Tradition

This time of year the postman is one of my very favorite people. Call me old fashioned, but receiving real mail delivered to our mailbox – mail in actual envelopes adorned with cursive handwriting and a Christmas stamp --  is nothing short of exciting; in fact, every day around 2 p.m. I am already smiling in anticipation.

A Christmas card is, afer all, a mini present. Inside may be blessings, good wishes, photos, news, shared memories, or even funny jokes. One time we received a card that someone forgot to sign, and we had ever so much fun trying to guess who sent the card with the red cardinal on the holly branch. Was it Patty out in Missouri? Aunt Ann? Our realtor? It was a Christmas mystery.

What I find beautiful is that, behind every card, someone out there was thinking of us at a given moment when they wrote our name on the envelope and signed the card.

It's wonderful, this exchanging of Christmas cards, and to ensure my rough and tumble boys learn to go beyond the picture on the front of the card and appreciate the well wishes and blessings that are being sent, we have an Advent tradition that, when we sit around the dinner table, we take a few moments to pass around any Christmas cards that came in the mail that day.

We read each card out loud. We comment on which ones are beautiful. We share stories about the people who sent them (this is from Aunt Clare, the one who made that beautiful quilt when you were born, or Bill is Dad’s old roommate from college). Then, when we say grace, we offer up a special prayer for those who sent the card.  

And this way, at some time at any given moment, our family is thinking and praying for someone out there.

Christmas blessings, airmail style.

 

 

 

Advent Idea

Old Christmas cards? Cut out vignettes and frame them. These framed Advent scenes are leftover from last year's Advent wreath, and this year they adorn a shelf in my kitchen.

 

My Kind of Math

Over Thanksgiving our oldest was playing football with my brother on the beach and somehow -- details are sketchy -- Nicholas caught a pass, tripped, and landed in the ocean. Guess who had his cell phone in his pocket?

Rice! everyone said. Sure, I know, but our beach house pantry was packed with everything except rice. So I did the next best thing: I disassembled the phone and used my hair dryer.

Yeah! the phone still worked! Then it didn't. The next day it resurrected! Then it died.

One dead phone, for sure.

So, last Friday Joe took Nicholas' phone, went to to the Verizon store, spent an hour wheeling and dealing, and once the dust settled ... I had a new iPhone.

Huh?

Evidently, Nicholas was due for a free upgrade next month, so until then Joe transferred Nicholas' number to my very basic cell phone and (unbeknownst to me) used the opportunity to get me an iPhone 5 for Christmas.

Friday night during dinner my Christmas stocking (hung by the chimney with care) started ringing. And kept ringing until I figured out what was going on.

Merry Christmas to me!

Funny how things work out sometimes. Beach football + Nicholas and his cell phone landing in the Atlantic Ocean = new iPhone 5 for me.

Funny math, to be sure, but I like it.

P.S. And just so you don't think poor, poor Nicholas was cheated out of a new cell phone, he will get his free upgrade next month.

First Sunday of Advent (and introducing our Advent wreath 2012)

The Advent wreath is an important part of our family's celebration of Advent, and every Sunday we gather for prayers and the lighting of a candle.

It's a beautiful tradition which brings together the family in an act of faith, and for me it's also a chance to create a new wreath every year. In the past I have used bedspring coils, a section of a corncrib, a piece of driftwood, baskets, platters, and framed art to create Advent wreaths which are unique in appearance, but true to the meaning behind the tradition.

This year my inspiration was a vintage tray, so I started with that. While I usually incoporate the pink and purple colors with ribbons instead of candles, this year I decided not to include those colors at all. Instead, I focused on some of the other symbolic elements of the Advent wreath, which I underlined in the list below:

THE SYMBOLISM BEHIND THE ADVENT WREATH:

evergreens = everlasting life
holly = crown of thorns
pine cones/nuts/pods = life and resurrection
four candles = four weeks of Advent
color purple = prayer, penance, preparatory sacrifices, royalty
color pink = rejoicing
circle = eternity of God; God's never ending love
wood = the manger; the cross
Progressive lighting of candles = expection and hope surrounding Christ's birth

 

Advent Wreath 2012 (w/ vintage tray)

 

 

 

Some past Advent wreaths ...

 

Advent Wreath 2011 (beach driftwood and framed scenes of Advent)

 

 



Advent wreath 2010 (w/ wooden candlebra found in an antique store)

Advent wreath 2007 (corncrib and bedspring coils)

 

One of the wreaths I made for a talk I gave on Advent and the tradition of the Advent wreath 

(Part of the talk included how to make an Advent wreath from things around the house. For a demonstration, I constructed five different wreaths during my talk.)

 

 

So, tonight we'll light our first candle and begin the Advent season with this blessing.

There is beauty and solemnity in the lighting of a candle, and when we gather as a family around our Advent wreath to pray, we become part of a ritual as old as time itself.