Glad Tidings

Gloria in excelsis! Oh Blessed Birth! Oh Wondrous Incarnation! Deus factum caro est! Or, if you prefer a more popular exhortation, Merry Christmas!  Where do I begin? Let us begin at the beginning.
But first, a word from our sponsor: I am an avid list maker.  In addition to my daily To-Do List, I have lists for a plentitude of other things: groceries, kitchen tools and wares I should like to have, baby girls names, and baby boys names. In addition to this,  I have mental lists of favorite saints, movies, books and places I would like to visit.  Then there are the favorite recipes I keep neatly organized in a binder, along with clippings from various magazines of a mutlititude of other favorite things: outfits, kitchens, homes, landscaping. No joke, I find it very satisfying looking at a picture of something beautiful and thinking I should like to have that one day, and then continue on with  my mug of green tea and life in general.
With that being said, and without further adieu, I bring to you a very special list: I would like to present to you this year's official Top Ten List of Nominations for the 2013 MCP Awards (Meloche Christmas Photo)!

Drumroll please...

#10. Best Ornament in the Homemade Category:

(Note: I made this for our godson's first Christmas last year and plan on making one for our little guy this year.)

 #9. Best Shot of Initiating the Tree Trimming Festivities:

  #8. Best Picture of Father in a Supporting Role:

 #7. Best Picture of a Christmas Tree with a lot of Heart:

                                     

    

#6. Best Impersonation of We Three Kings:

#5. Best Photo of Homemade Baked Goods:

(Jam Thumbprints, Peacn Snowballs, Iced Sugar Cookies, Peanut Blossoms, Chocolate Walnut Biscotti with White Chocolate Drizzle,  Almond Biscotti with Milk Chocolate Drizzle, and Rugalachs)

  #4. Best Fireside Shot of Children having Cookies and Warm Apple Cider:

#3. Best Picture in the Familial Category:

 #2. Best Picture of Total Progeny:

#1. And for the FIRST time in history, we have a tie for Best Photo in the Individual Category.  Send in your vote today!

Here are some honorable mentions:

                                          

                                           

                                       
                                          

                         

CATEGORY: BOOKS

Moving on to books.  Here are this year's top qulaifiers:

Holly and Ivy  Written by Rumer Godden and illustrated by none other than Barbara Cooney (we adore her illustrations!).

For Ezra ( no photo) The Dangerous Book for Boys by Hal Iggulden.  Richard was so interested in it that I am beginning to think I should have gotten him one too!

For Simon, The Squire and the Scroll by Jennie Bishop.  Talk about a book that calls a boy to the moral and virtuous life, all with a backdrop of charming illustrations and a dangerous dragon, a necessary book for all boys!

And for Augustin, On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman.  Such a sweet book.

CATEGORY: VICTUALS

And to top off my Christmas List, here are the dishes we enjoyed:  

Christmas Eve:

Coconut Shrimp

Thai Ginger Rice

Maple Glazed Salmon 

Broccoli

(I grew up enjoying loads of fish on Christmas Eve, so I am carrying on the tradition...)

Christmas Day

Italian Wedding Soup

Ricotta and Ham Manicotti

Garlic Butter Sirloin Steak

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Roasted Asparagus

and for dessert:

Upside Down Cranberry Cake...DELISH!

All in all, a most joyful and beautiful Christmas was had by the Meloche family, indeed.

 Happy Birthday Infant Savior, Lord Jesus!

Coca-Cola and the Sweet Life

I always knew there was a reason I prefer Coco-Cola to any other soft drink in the whole wide world and after watching this video I know why. Get ready to smile people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sNlcwAh83Y

Veni, Veni Emmanuel

“...In their magnificent yet simple beauty the Great O’s are the quintessence of the Advent liturgy. Their language bears the weight of God’s eternity and mercy. They are a poignant cry of the soul of the people of Advent; they address God by the most compelling and tender of divine names, and they always end with an intense COME, VENI. All have the same structure, the O of apostrophe, and imperative of appeal. And while the imperatives of the season are often joyous and clamorous, these last appeals to God seem to read as if the iron of our misery is in our very blood. For though even in other parts of the liturgy of the last week our optimism continues and our hope is bright, in the solemn ceremonial of the evening Magnificat we are soberly acknowledging that our dire wretchedness can be remedied only by omnipotent mercifulness.
Only one of the Great O’s is read each day of our approach to Christmas. The effect of this is noticeable, for we definitely feel a growing tensity as each evening passes. We seem to be making a forward step and to be covering infinite distances from eternity to Bethlehem. There is a climatic order in these antiphons. In the first, O Sapientia, we take a backward flight into the recesses of eternity to address Wisdom, the Word of God. In the second, O Adonai, we have leaped from eternity to the time of Moses and the Law of Moses (about 1400 B.C.). In the third, O Radix Jesse, we have come to the time when God was preparing the line of David (about 1100 B.C.). In the fourth, O Clavis David, we have come to the year 1000. In the fifth, O Oriens we see that the line of David is elevated so that the peoples may look on a rising star in the east, and hence in the sixth, O Rex Gentium, we know that He is king of all the world of man. This brings us to the evening before the vigil, and before coming to the town limits of Bethlehem, we salute Him with the last Great O, O Emmanuel, God-with-us. We have traveled a long distance and have waited long, but at Bethlehem we are to find the Little One who is Emmanuel, God of God and Light of Light, and yet God with us.” (He Comethby William J. McGarry, S.J.)

Ditto.

Today marks the beginning of my favorite time in the Advent season: the O Antiphons.  I see the O Antiphons as a kind of spiritual 'hunkering down' if you will. To help make this idea more tangible to the kids, last year we made an O Antiphon house (idea from Shower of Roses) and, voila, it is now a bona fide tradition here in the Meloche household.   I also printed up the Great "O" Antiphon Prayer Companion by Jennifer Gregory Miller and plan on using these wonderful coloring pages for the kids.

Here it is (not exactly finished though):

In addition to prayers, hymns and coloring pages for each Antiphon, I plan on doing something special for each day (again, thank you Shower of Roses). Here is the breakdown:

O SAPIENTA - O WISDOM

We have this game called Divinity, it is a trivia game based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  It is a really fun game and one everyone can play because there are three levels of trivia questions: easy, moderate and difficult.  The kids and I enjoy it...of course, I would enjoy it even MORE if I didn't play it with someone who has his PhD in Theology. Nevertheless, we will sit down as a family and the rest of us will grow in 'wisdom'.

O ADONAI - O LORD AND RULER

I had a hard time with this one.  I wanted to make 'house-shaped' pancakes for supper to emphasize the 'Ruler of the house of Israel' but that's just more work for me. Silly me.   Then I remembered we have this house Lego set that I hid on the boys that would be perfect. Done.

O RADIX JESSE - O ROOT OF JESSE

This is the easiest one: Root Beer Floats.  THOSE I will happily make. The only problem I ran into was in finding all-natural preservative-free root beer here in the middle of Oklahoma...What? What's so funny about that? 

O CLAVIS DAVID - O KEY OF DAVID

Have you heard of Jim Weiss, the well-known storyteller? Anyway, I was able to get one of his audio recordings called Tales from the Old Testament.  So we will listen to two stories: David and Goliath and David's Dance.  I wanted to buy Sour Keys candy too, remember those? Maybe they're just a Canadian thing because I couldn't find those either. 

O ORIENS - O RISING DAWN

We will 'light' a candle and read the book "Lucia Saint of Light" by Katherine Bolger Hyde.

O REX GENTIUM - O KING OF THE NATION

I bought some crowns from the dollar store. The kids should have fun with them. Richard can juggle so he can play the court jester.

O EMMANUEL

And for la-piece-de-resistance, I found this lovely ornament at the dollar store and when I first looked at it I immediately thought of the monstrance.  Right? So it will serve as a beautiful reminder of Jesus in the Eucharist on our Christmas tree. 

(Note to self: get a Christmas tree).

Have a wonderful time "acknowledging that our dire wretchedness can be remedied only by omnipotent mercifulness". Love that.

Meet Bella

So, we have a bunny.  Correction: Mila has said bunny.  We have had her for almost two weeks and she is still alive. So that's good.  It is a Dutch rabbit named Bella.  She is, in fact,  very pretty, in a fluffy  Oreo cookie sort of way.  The kids say she is very soft.  I wouldn't know, I don't touch animals as a general rule. . She lives in a cage in our garage.  Animals INSIDE my house? Not happenin' cap'n.
Although, I admit, I do have to get over my widespread aversion towards animals, especially since we want to own a farm one day, replete with chickens and goats et al.  Not an easy task, since I've been operating on the premise that 'if animals don't touch me and I don't absolutely have to touch them - then we are good' for the last 8 or 9 years.
Once, a friend asked me to watch her family's bird while she went out of town.  I said yes because I wanted to be nice and I knew I wouldn't have to touch the thing.
I guess I should work on that. Maybe I'll touch Bella tomorrow.  Maybe.

At any rate, with Bella here now we hope Mila will:
a. get a real taste of 'responsibility'
b. understand the ins and outs of animal care
c. not kill it.

Sky High

Well, didn't we have a productive and eventful day today!  Honestly, I didn't think I would get a lick of schooling done with the kids, it being Simon's 4th birthday and all; but I sometimes surprise myself.  The Good Lord must have heard the cries of His anxious daughter, begging Him for patience and speed of mind and hand because, miraculously,  I was able to accomplish all the major tasks of the day:
1. Wash face - check
2. Read to children ( more on that later) - check
3. Bake cake - super check
4. Complain to Amazon for not delivering Simon's gifts on time!! - check (got a sweet refund out of it, thank you very much. I still love you Amazon).
5. Make dinner (who says Cape Cod Waffle Chips aren't a side dish?) - check

Sheesh, I am pooped.  The idea of baking Christmas cookies right now is sitting at a firm numero zero on the Motivation-o-Meter of my life. No, right now, I just want to sit by the fire next to my hubbie and watch a movie.

Nice thought...  Upward and onward we go!  Okay, so first let's discuss books; two books to be precise. The first book is one of my FAVORITE Dr. Seuss books called Happy Birthday to You!

We bought this book for Simon's 3rd birthday last year and thought it would be fun to read to each of the kids on their birthday.  What a delightful and entertaining book!  I literally laugh out loud when I read it.  It is a crazy and fun book. I especially like the part when Dr. Seuss gushes over the joy of being alive and remarks on the dreadful prospect of not being you, or worse than that, an 'ISN'T' or a 'WASN'T':

"You might be a doorknob! Or three baked potatoes!

You might be a bag of hard green tomatoes.

Or worse than all that...Why you might be a WASN'T!

A Wasn't has no fun at all.  No, he doesn't.

A Wasn't just isn't.  He just isn't present.

But you...You ARE YOU! And, now isn't that pleasant!"

Love this silly book for so many reasons, not least of which is the inadvertent emphasis on the beauty of choosing life!

The second book to which I'd like to call your attention is A Day on Skates by Hilda van Stockum. It was written in 1934 (this can only add to the charm of this book) and the illustrations are as sweet and endearing as the story itself. I intend on getting my hands on all things Hilda.  Highly recommended! 

Now, let's move on to the big birthday event.  First, the apparel:

Nothing but a Number 4 shirt would do.

Next the cake:

 And we...

have...

lift off!

Finally, I have found my go-to Birthday Cake Recipe.  This, my friends, is a keeper.  Now, granted, it isn't your standard white birthday cake or your respectable chocolate layer cake, no.  Yet, I assure you, this cake will win over die-hard fans of either cake camp.  To bring home the point, I used Cooks Illustrated (of course) recipe for their Rich and Tender Yellow Layer cake.  Ohhh, recipe, where have you been all my life??  Rich and tender indeed.  This cake is everything you want in a cake: moist, dense, and not too sweet that it overpowers the cake.  To top it off, literally, I used their ingenious Vanilla Buttercream Frosting recipe. Go big or go home, that's what I always say. Not really.  Anyway, this recipe is the cat's pajamas.

Me and my co-pilot.

Maintaining stable oxygen levels.

The crew.

The gifts:  Sadly, there weren't too many of these  (ref. #4 on above list) but Simon enjoyed the Nerf gun (those darts mean business!), sleeping bag and Playmobil carrying case.

All this, AND I didn't have to neglect the baby, yay!  In the end, it was a beautiful birthday for a beautiful boy. A success in more ways than one. So blessed our Simon didn't turn out to be a WASN'T.

O Mary, Conceived without Sin...

So, today we celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We colored pictures from Holy Heroes, I made yummy Vanilla Cupcakes and we went to Mass.  It's funny, but, whenever I think of the term "Immaculate Conception" my mind always cuts to the scene in the movie  Song of Bernadette when Bernadette is interrogated by the priest for calling 'the lady' the "Immaculate Conception". It is a powerful scene and one I remember well, both for the contrast between the cold, gruff priest and the soft and humble Bernadette; as well as for the introduction of this mysterious and beautiful title. It brings home the point that Our Lady, unlike any other human that was or will be, was privileged by God. She was preserved from the stain of sin from the very moment she came to be in order for her to be the Mother of God the Son.
Speaking of  'Mother', Richard read to me a very salient definition of the term 'matrimony' this afternoon.  Of course, no other definition save for one from Aquinas' Summa Theologica would suffice:

"Three things may be considered in matrimony.  First, its essence, which is a joining together, and in reference to this it is called the conjugal union; secondly, its cause, which is the wedding, and in reference to this it is called the nuptial union...thirdly, the effect, which is the offspring, and in reference to this it is called matrimony, as Augustine says... because a woman's sole purpose in marrying should be motherhood...since the duty of bringing up the children chiefly devolves on the woman...Although the father ranks above the mother, the mother has more to do with the offspring than the father has. Or we may say that woman was made chiefly in order to be man's helpmate in relation to the offspring, whereas the man was not made for this purpose.  Wherefore the mother has a closer relation to the nature of marriage than the father has." Q.44 Article 2

Isn't that powerful? "The mother has a closer relation to the nature of marriage than the father has"? Wow.  That whole revelation and understanding just blew me away.  Truth be told, I never really gave the nature of marriage an in depth examination.  The roles of husband and wife and mother and father, yes.  But this.  This is beautiful ...and scary.  Beautiful because it makes sense, especially when you look at it through the lens of the Holy Family. Joseph played a small yet important role as Jesus' adoptive father but Mary IS the Mother of God. Her whole life and marriage pointed to and centered on being Jesus' mother.
This beautiful revelation is also scary when you apply it to one's own life:  I may be solely responsible for the kind of people my children become.  That the duty of bringing up the children chiefly devolves on the woman!, who knew?  Aquinas did.
 Oh Lord, help me to be a good and patient mama.  Help me to be kind and gentle and humble.  See my weaknesses and grant me the grace and strength to raise these children to be virtuous and good. Our Lady, intercede for us and keep us under Your mantle of protection.  O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!

Failing that, at least my kids like my cooking.

In the Nick of Time

Yesterday we celebrated the feast day of St. Nicholas and, as excited as the kids were (cut to Mimi waking up at 1:39 am and then waking the boys up to sit in front of the remaining fire and eat their chocolate coins etc.), I was more excited to have an excuse to use my brand new 4-square Belgian waffle maker! Seriously. Bye-bye pancakes and the whole one. pancake. at. a. time. process. Let me tell you: it works like a dream! Not only that, the waffles look pretty too.  Now, that is a win win situation.
But, I digress.  St. Nicholas day was celebrated with chocolate coins (idea from the blog Shower of Roses), fabric-wrapped gifts, a note from St. Nicholas encouraging each child to love God, pray and work on certain...character flaws.  For example: talking too much, whining and complaining, being contradictory etc.
Well, as the song goes: these are a few of my favorite things:

Saint Nicholas sugar cookies that take too long to make but sure look cute.  I really don't mind, the children only get one and the rest they give to their friends.

Here are the St. Nicholas coins I was telling you about.  Aren't they charming?

Brunch is served. See the waffles? That is what I'm talking about.

                           

Since I didn't post an entry from last year's St. Nicholas celebration, I thought I'd insert a couple of pictures from 2012. This year I forgot to make the sugar 'staff' cookies. It's a pity because they add height to the overall look of the table; not only that, they are GREAT for dunking in tea!

While I'm Here

I'm already at the computer and I've already posted a blog entry, so...what the heck? Why not post ANOTHER one? Now that is what I call good time management.  Okay, 2013 will now and forever hold a warm place in my heart as the year I canned.  I've always wanted to can something and something I did, more specifically: salsa.  I wanted to make a reasonable amount to give away as Christmas gifts. It turned out so wonderfully fresh and tasty!  Poor salsa, it never had a chance. This picture is the only remaining evidence:

Playing Catch Up

I believe God has His ways of entertaining Himself.  Take, for example, Time.  It comes and goes and comes and goes again and we humans are always chasing after it, trying to catch up with it.  In many ways it isn't unlike a puppy whose master teases it by pretending to throw a fastball and the puppy turns around looking for it: "Where did it go?"  The master gets a kick out of it EVERY time.
Yes, I am convinced the key to a well-run home is good time management.  It only took me 36 years to figure it out. But, boy, once you get that and you're taking charge of the hours God grants you by filling it with useful and necessary tasks, then Time becomes a fast friend.
With that said, as I strive to get this clunking blog into a well-oiled and well-run machine I will have to carve out time more regularly to contribute to our wavering blog.  So, in the mean time, here I am, and here are some pictures from this years' All Saints Day party.  They're late.  Give me some time to catch up.

Can you guess who's who?  No? Okay, Simon is St. George ( see the little dragon hanging by his side?) Ezra is a spitting image of St. Dominic Savio, if I do say so myself, and Mila is St. Kateri.  I was actually St. Gianna Molla and Augustin was the baby she holds in her iconic pose but in all the hustle and bustle we forgot to take the picture.  He looked something like this:

I should probably include some pictures from Halloween as well.  I like this one:

Here's my little squatting turtle:

Lalaloopsy

To kick start Mila's 8th birthday party I made "Sew Cute" Lalaloopsy  invitations. 
 I was so pleased with the way they turned out I snapped a picture of them.

I used store-bought Starbucks cappuccino bottles to get the 
sweet effect of old world milk-bottle jars.

Truth be told, Richard handcrafted the oversized number "8",
 all I did was weave the ribbon through; 
and all Mila did was stand by and look cute! 

Sugar love.

I made "Cute as a Button" cookies to add to the Laloopsy theme.

This Button Banner has to be one of my favorite decorations, it just screamed 
Lalaloopsy!
 I took pink paper plates and glued white paper circles on them;
 then I tied old remnant strips in between, it was adorable!

Making our own Laloopsy paper dolls with remnants and ribbon and yarn... "sew fun!"

                                                                       

The day after her birthday, we took our girl to get her ears pierced.  
She is hiding her fear very well...

Ta-daaaa!

Thanks to my Nonno and Nonna for my new ride!