31 December 2012

Merry Christmas.



Merry Christmas to you, on the 6th day of Christmastide :) 






In your reality, 
see. 
know. 
feel. 
and live. the Christmas joy.




I'm working on a blog about our Christmas day, but wanted to share a "Merry Christmas" with you right now :) 


Blessings! and Joy!
nIcole mArie

blessed.






23 December 2012

Trimmings and Twinkle Lights


We finished trimming our Christmas tree today. 
It's been up and full of twinkle lights for the last two weeks. (There's 900 little lights. Yes, I have a twinkle light problem)
Now, it's finished. Completed.
It's ready.
We are ready, I hope, for the Christmas miracle.
I hope that you are, too.








Maranatha!
nIcole mArie




...gosh, I had forgotten how many fantastic and beautiful ornaments we have.

18 December 2012

You are not alone in this.



For many reasons close to my heart I post this tonight. 
I hope that these words touch your heart, too. 






blessings, and yes, joy for you.
nIcole mArie

13 December 2012

Angel Kisses and Freckles

This is an actual conversation from 5 minutes ago:

Max: Mama, Mama, why are there dots on us?
Me: What?
Max: Dots, why are there dots on us?
Me: Oh, those are called freckles.
Max: Freckles?
Me: Yeah, freckles.
Max: Okay, but what are they?
Me: They are kisses from angels. (I wait for a reaction from him because it is so very silly, and plan to give him the real reason -- Google, what is the real reason?)
Max: Oh, okay.

Then he walked off to do his next bit of work play.

-------------------------------
I sit her typing out this exchange so that I don't lose it from my mind, and I am marveling at the idea of Angel Kisses :)  Perhaps I won't ask google after all.



Blessings! and Joy!

nIcole mArie

Saint Nicholas Day Cookie Exchange

We celebrate Saint Nicholas on December 6th.  As a kid, he would come and fill our shoes with little candies each year.  We liked Saint Nicholas a lot :)  I wanted to make sure that my little family celebrates Saint Nicholas, too, so these are a few things that we do each year (so far).  



Saint Nicholas brings our children pajamas -- these are their "Christmas Pajamas".  Did you get those when you were a kid?  I did.  I loved them.  I thought that it would be cool for Saint Nicholas to bring the 'jamas the kids get to wear for Christmas.  

 He decorates, too,  and gathers all of the Christmas story books. 
 The kids' nativity gets set up under the little tree
 Chocolate coins, candy canes and a rosary in the shoes!  The boys like the big rosaries.  We've started to say a 1/2 a decade at night with our night prayers and I'll eventually work up to a full decade and move on (and move rosary time to a different point of the day).  Max likes to be able to count and follow the beads.  Benjamin, still not so much. I know that there are families who have their children praying full rosaries at my kids' ages, but we are not those families.  
Slow and steady, a little at a time for us! 
 Stockings get hung by the window with care (as we don't have a chimney)
 And our table got decorated by "The Spirit of Chrismas" statue, and two books.
 There are stickers for the Tree for us to decorate it, and the Nativity story is really awesome.  Both from Usborne Books :)
 Grown up nativity, too! Oh, my kids can play with this one, too.  The statues are made of resin, so they are unbreakable.  (sigh of relief).


I also hold a Cookie Exchange at my house every year.  My friends and I get together on Saint Nicholas Day and exchange cookies and hang out and our children play. Last year I was on top of things and had coloring sheets and a Saint Nicholas movie for the kids.  This year, not so much ;)  but I did bake cookies!! I didn't get around to baking last year, and the dough was sitting out as my friends arrived ;)  Luckily, they we kind enough to count me in the exchange anyway.  I love those girls. 





These are just a few pictures of the exchange...






  

I was giggling about how many vehicles were on my street -- there were 13 or 14 moms + kids at my house -- so I took pictures :D 


 And then Grace stuck both of her hands into carmel dip. She thought it felt amazing. I thought it was gross.

So yeah.  Happy Saint Nicholas Day, all!  It's only taken my an entire week to post this. 
hehehe, I still have posts about my birthday and  Las Vegas in October. One of these days...

For now, I am going to enjoy Advent and the preparations for Christmas Day and feeling the Christmas Joy that comes to us at this time of the year.  I hope that you can find this Christmas Joy in your heart always, and not just at Christmas time.  

(and yes, I know that it is not "Christmas time" on our liturgical calendar yet, but I'm not about to rebel against those who are truly joyful right now and wishing others merry and bright.  They are loving, and living beautifully, let's love and live beautifully, too!)



Blessings! and Joy!
nIcole mArie