Friday, November 1, 2013

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 34)

-1-

Happy All Saints Day!  Once again, I procrastinated about preparing anything for an important feast day.  It  didn't even really hit me that this feast was coming until I realized with inappropriate glee that we could actually eat MEAT on a FRIDAY this week (our family abstains from meat all Fridays of the year, unless it's a major feast day).  I found this cute idea on Catholic Icing that would be easy to do with little kids.  I don't really have any pictures at the moment that I'm willing to let Sly cut up, but I might let him pick some Saints from our enormous stack of laminated holy cards, and tape some of them onto a paper representation of Heaven...


-2-

This morning, I asked Sly what Saints he could name.  He said St. Therese and St. George (every little boy's favorite, especially since Sly is recently into dragons and slaying things - mostly Stella), and he got St. Joseph and St. Sylvester after a bit of prompting.  It's a start!


-3-  

I finished my Jesse Tree ornaments for the exchange.  I did red felt hearts with the Marian "M" symbol from the back of the miraculous medal.  I think they came out pretty well.  I can't wait to get my whole set back in the mail!  


 Does anyone have a good book or resource suggestion for actually *using* the Jesse Tree during Advent, though?


-4-

Dragon and ladybug...and a hairy guy and a cat bum

Trick-or-treating last night was a bit miserable.  It was wet and rainy.  Both Tom and I decided to go out with the kids, since we never get any kids at our door anyways (I left a bowl of candy out in case, but it wasn't touched). 

Every year, the local bureaucrats decide to step in and make Halloween a little less fun for the kids.  Last year, they *moved* Halloween to a Saturday, because they worried about a forecasted storm which never came.  You can't just do that!  It falls on a specific day each year.   This year, the official trick-or-treating hours ran from 5:30-7:30.  So ridiculous!  Most adults (both those with little kids to take out, or those who might want to hand out candy at home) aren't even home from work by 5:30.  And 7:30 is barely even nighttime!  When I was a kid, I don't think we even left the house until 7:30.  Why do they have to take all the fun out of everything? 


-5-

There was one event from last night which was pretty memorable, though.  At one candy stop (a.k.a. a house that actually had it's light on, which in our lame city neighborhood is about 1 out of 10), we noticed a praying mantis sitting on the outside of the house.  We talked about how it was an uncommon site for October, the kids got some treats, and then we moved on.  About 20 minutes and a number of houses later, we found ourselves inside a beautiful old funeral home (their door was open and the porch lights on, tricking us into thinking they were offering candy.  They weren't, but the owners were very nice, and invited us inside to gawk over their amazingly ornate and beautiful old building).  Inside, Sly remarked, "there's a praying mantis in my candy!"  And sure enough, there it was, sitting right on top of the pile of candy in his pumpkin bucket!  The poor thing must have had several handfuls of candy thrown on top of him! 

A couple of people have mentioned, though, that praying mantis' bring good luck.  So I guess Sly has some luck coming his way.


-6-

I have an update on the ongoing - yet still mostly casual - search for a house of our own: we found one that we loved, and we actually put an offer on it last week.  Our realtor and the seller's realtor both expressed their belief that we should probably get the house, as it was a good offer and we had no competitors.  But sadly, it wasn't to be.  The seller's realtor sat down with them to go over the deal and their closing costs, and they expressed complete shock and surprise.  They didn't have nearly enough money to sell the place!  Their realtor insists that he had explained the finances to them several times, but apparently, they weren't paying attention.  They have to take the house off the market for an indeterminate amount of time.  I don't even know what their reason for selling was in the first place, so there's no reason to expect it to go back on the market soon.  It's pretty disappointing.  The worst part is, Tom and I had finally narrowed down just what we were looking for (in terms of neighborhood, number of bedrooms, price, etc.), and right now there's nothing else on the market that fits all of it.  So I think we'll continue to wait and pray.


 -7-

Now that I know that our new baby is a boy, I want to get to work on knitting him a baby blanket, which I did for the other two while I was pregnant.  Does anyone have suggestions for a nice - but not too time-consuming - pattern for baby blankets?  (I'm on Ravelry as christinewin, if you want to add me!)




Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary

16 comments:

  1. That is so disappointing about the house!! What a random reason, too. :(

    I know a lot of people use branches in a pot or a mini Christmas tree for their Jesse trees. Growing up my mom hand an mini tree quilt with beads on it that we hung the ornaments from, and beneath it there were pockets numbered 1-24 where the ornaments were tucked away.

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    1. Ours was kind of like this: http://stayathomemyheart.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/one-familys-jesse-tree/

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    2. Thanks, I was more looking for a resource for what Bible passages/prayers to use each day, though!

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  2. I have never head of a Jessee tree until recently so I am no help. I also agree that moving of Halloween trick or treating is insane. My husband cancelled his class so he would be there and then they cancelled (for imagined or perceived poor weather?) it until tonight but I am planning on attending mass so....my co-workers had our son trick or teat yesterday afternoon on my floor.

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    1. Aw that stinks - moving it to a holy day makes it even worse!

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  3. How wonderful for Sly to have a new brother coming- they will still be close enough in age to be good buddies and share common interests at the same time.

    I remember having a Jesse tree growing up and I would love one for our family but I'm pretty sure I won't get around to making one this year (again). I have bookmarked this for when we do have one:
    http://www.amazon.com/Shoot-Stump-Jesse-Sarah-Park/dp/1300165200/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383337682&sr=1-2
    I'm not sure that it's any good because I haven't seen it but it caught my eye because of the Catholic perspective. I would be interested to know what you find because I would love something that's free (and I know you're good at finding bargains).

    I am always so excited about Friday Solemnities. I love love love going out for a Friday night burger. Celebrating the end of the work week with a burger just feels so nostalgic (from my early, 'working as a single gal' days, I didn't know about the Friday penance then). It's not to be tonight but I'm starting on one of our easy go-to 'festive' meals for the occasion.

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    1. Thanks for the book suggestion! This one looks nice - I just wish their were more reviews to go by.

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  4. #4: Cat bums appear in lots of pictures in our house. (We have 4 cats.)

    Ohio was weird about trick-or-treating. They scheduled "Beggars Night" at different times for every town and it usually wasn't Halloween night which made it hard for those of us not in the know.

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    1. "Beggars Night"? Just a new name for Halloween? Nice to hear you are a fellow "cat person" :-)

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  5. Here's what we've been doing regarding a Jesse tree (there's a link to the nightly reflections we use in the post)-- http://michaelandkellieryan.blogspot.com/2011/11/advent-jesse-tree.html

    The reflections are short, which are nice for younger kids, but as they've gotten older, we've been reading the suggested Bible readings, as well.

    That's frustrating about the house. But I'm sure God has something else even better in store for you. I often find God's timing frustrating :) Things like that kept happening throughout our house search, but I'm certain now that this was where God intended us to be all along. And now I'm glad we didn't end up getting those places I'd fallen in love with earlier.

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    1. Thanks for your reflections about our disappointment with the house. I'm sure you're right. It's just hard to be patient and understand that it will all work out as it should in the end!

      I'll check out your link when I have more time - thanks!

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  6. What a bummer about the house :-(

    If you haven't already, you should say a St. Joseph novena. (We say this one--http://www.stjosephsite.com/SJS_Ninedays.htm) We said it for my dad to get his current job, and to find both houses we've rented (both of which we've loved), so we have had a lot of "success"!

    Interesting about praying mantises being good luck (although I feel like thats one of those things that are good luck" just to make you feel better... like its raining on your wedding day? that's good luck! A bird pooped on your head? That's good luck! lol) We had one sitting on our doorstep/doorframe a few times last week. I hate insects--I had to go around and use the back door.

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    1. I've been "informally" praying to St. Joseph, but a novena is a good idea!

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  7. Your Jesse Tree ornaments are super cute! I love the Marian symbol.

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  8. Just saw this --http://everydaysnapshots.blogspot.com/search/label/Living%20Liturgy-- and it made me think of you. Not sure if printables/written schedules like that are your thing but it could help you get more organized with the liturgical year :-)
    (I don't actually read that blog, found it through one of my favorites, http://www.amongstlovelythings.com/)

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