Advent has arrived and December is moments away. Tomorrow we will get out our candle wreath and move Mary-on-the-donkey one step closer to the stable each day. We'll do a reading and light the candle as many nights as we can, as we anticipate Christmas, remembering the birth of Jesus and being thankful for His daily presence.
I neither grew up in or am part of a church that follows the church calendar but I appreciate the depth of meaning these historic traditions can bring, helping to move my eyes from my long December to-do list to what really matters. Our wonderful Children's Pastor provides Advent activities for families.
Speaking of the to-do list, I have had a lot of screen time lately. In addition to ordering Christmas cards and formatting photo calendars online, I have also had to research stoves. I've been okay with the wire hanger that kept the front glass of the stove from falling off but when elements start making noise and getting a little warm on their own, we draw the line. Looking at reviews was a little stressful. It seemed like every stove I looked at was a lemon for someone. Anyway, we ordered one and it sounds like it might arrive before Christmas. In the meantime, our 17-and-a-half year old stove works well, I just unplug two elements when they are not in use.
The kids are still eating from their Hallowe'en stash, though it is hopefully soon coming to an end ... just in time for birthday party and Christmas treats. Isaac turns 11 in less than two weeks.
We were able to clean the garage out this month so we can park the van. I don't like brushing off snow or scraping ice from the windshield. The boys have helped on those days when I've forgotten to put the van away but they need to be a little taller to reach the roof. I'm thankful for their help and will always be thankful for a garage. It's a tight fit and it sometimes takes me more than one try to reverse without hitting the side mirror but it saves me time and cold in the morning. I'm not a fan of feeling cold.
Lily-Anna has transitioned to three full days at school and two half days. At first she was all half days and then just full day on Fridays but one of her lovely brothers keeps telling her that she is missing out on lots of fun and that she should go to school all day every day. She likes patterns so she chose to go every other day. It's actually a good balance, especially for a busy month like December. I appreciate even more the one-on-one time we have together for baking and crafting, reading, tickling and laughing, airplane rides, bubbles, etc. We made a fun car out of a box, some Christmas decorations and an experimental cake with her additions of Nutella, coconut, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. It was yummy. She said her favourite part of baking is making experiments.
Lily-Anna is also preparing for her first piano recital. She is playing Go Tell It On a Mountain and Kohen is playing The Little Drummer Boy. Unfortunately, due to Covid, their grandparents can't be in the audience but hopefully we can record it.
We wanted a family photo for our Christmas card so we are thankful God sent some snow. Graham and the boys raked the last of the leaves from our yard on Saturday and then the snow came. We took our tripod to the cemetery and you can see the results in this post.
Lily-Anna had her third Covid test of this school year on Saturday. This was the first time she had a fever. I picked her up from school and she came home and went straight to her bed and fell asleep. I'm thankful that she could have a test the very next day, that the test for kids does not hurt or go far up the nose, that the results were available the following morning and that she bounced back right away and didn't have to miss any school, though she and I had church at home on Sunday.
It's time for me to get to bed so I'll say goodnight. Tomorrow night is our annual Christmas memorial at the Coping Centre where we will hang an ornament with Josiah's name on a tree outside. The following night I have an outside social with my Bible study small group. We've been looking at a book about forgiveness and it has been a very fruitful time to meet together with these wonderful women to learn, grow, and pray for each other.
Blessings,
Isaiah 9:6
