Our new niece and soon-to-be God daughter, Grace Marie, was born this morning at 1:18 a.m. We can’t wait to meet you Grace! Congratulations Marc and Misty! Way to go, Misty, on having a natural birth! We love you and are praying for you.
It appears as if all the Gretencord grandchildren are Texans so far! 
heehee
My Grandmother Mary is suffering from alzheimers. As her memories continue to fade I more frequently recall the ones we shared.
One Christmas memory I hold dear were the moments her grandkids would gather at her house at some point before Christmas day and decorate dozens of sugar cookies. The general idea was to ice the cookies; however the reality was that icing was placed mostly everywhere except the cookies (table, floor, hair, our mouths) and the cookies ended up in Grandpa’s stomach. But it was great fun regardless.
Another Christmas memory with Grandmother Mary was her Santa-themed “Electronic Musical Battery Operated Train Set.” This was one toy we were only privileged to play with once a year. Boy if only I had a nickel for every time an adult would exclaim from the dinner table “Would you kids give that thing a rest!” I would be spending Christmas somewhere in the Caribbean. So you may all share in the experience, I present to you the following…
That’s right. How can anyone ever tire of this! And now I have the honor of hosting this heirloom on my own dining table and provide my own children with yet another opportunity to er.. ah.. “share their seasonal joy” with their parents.
And yes, that is an over-sized rooster nestled within the manger scene. But you have to know my grandmother to understand. Thanks Duane and Kim!
And thank you Grandmother Mary. We love you deeply.
We’ve had a fun couple of days this week preparing our homes and hearts for Jesus’ birthday.
Yesterday we made popcorn/cranberry garland. Anything that incorporates snack time, math, and fine motor skills is bound to be a hit, right? Gianna started eating the popcorn from the tree so we had to move it out of her reach… Our tree is becoming a little top heavy these days.
Today our Goddaughter, Miss Lindsey, came over for a visit bearing gifts–the greatest of which was her own presence.
Her favorite past time is loading up kids with sugar and then leaving…so she helped us make our gingerbread house. It’s truly evil that Wonka puts a pound of candy into their gingerbread house kit…but they obviously know that most of it will be eaten before it makes it on the house. But it’s probably more evil that Costco put these on sale at an irresistible price that I couldn’t pass up.
Finally this evening we had our Family Posadas. It ended up being just us, which was a fun trial run for next year when we’ll invite more people over. I only know of a couple of parishes in Austin that actually do Las Posadas. Ours is not one of them. I came across a guide to do it as family in your home. So we did it all in one night and instead of traveling from house to house I took the kids from room to room. I whipped out some of our All Saints Day costumes from years past and here we have Mary and Joseph:
Adam played (read the part of) the Inn Keepers.
And afterwards we read the book The Christmas Pageant which tells the nativity story complete with music that Adam played on the piano.
Afterward we feasted on a traditional Mexican dinner complete with tamales and pan dulce (sweet bread). Hopefully next year we can share in the blessing of this day!
I know, Advent is almost over.
My creative outlet this year was making our Jesse Tree ornaments. For the past 3 years we’ve done a Jesse tree in some fashion with paper ornaments. And I still let Therese color the paper pictures for our school prayer. But I decided this year I wanted to make something more permanent. I found some oval wooden disc, paint, and time in the evenings when Adam was working or at Church. With some help from the kids painting the solid colors, I finally finished these last week:
There are a total of 28–for the 4 weeks of Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. They each have a symbol painted on the front and the scripture reading on the back. The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots.” It is a way to tell the Story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across 4,000 years of history.
Last week we also started the O Antiphons. And we made this O Antiphon house:
The “O Antiphons” refer to the seven antiphons that are recited before the Magnificat during Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours. They cover the special period of Advent preparation of the Octave before Christmas, Dec. 17-23. Each O Antiphon highlights a title for the Messiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel. Also, each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah. This is where we get the lyrics to O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Since this hymn is one of the favorites of the mine and the kids, we’ve enjoyed reading the O Antiphons and singing O Come, O Come Emmanuel after dinner. In addition, there’s a “tradition” of giving a small treat after dinner for each day of the O Antiphons–the kids have really enjoyed this part of course. I only learned about the O Antiphons last year and have really enjoyed teaching the kids about them.
We’re taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather here in Texas by heading out outside and washing the cars!
Gianna and Fulton washing the cars
Our Lord came to his earth to experience
What it is like when we are disappointed…
At not getting a hotel reservation;
At having to bump up against so many stupid asses and dumb oxen on our way through life;
For not getting the Birthday gifts we expect..
BUT, He also came to teach us we could never
Be disappointed…
If we found that love which falls short in all other loves
If we learn to see that next to His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, our neighbor is the most Christ-like object we will ever know
And if we learn to admit the dirt in the stable of our own lives
We will have found the first sign of His Presence in us…
Then we will understand that if He relieved us of every disappointment;
If He gave us only, nice new things;
We might forget HIM
And that would rob us of the joy of wishing one another
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
–Fulton J. Sheen
This was the opening piece in the newsletter of The Archbishop Fulton John Sheen Foundation.
It’s inevitable when someone asks, “Oh, how’s Fulton doing with his potty training,” if the answer is, “He’s been doing quite well actually and hasn’t had an accident in a couple of months now,” that VERY DAY he’ll have an accident! Not only will he have an accident, it will be at a store. And not only will it be at the store–it’ll be a #2 accident! And not only will it be a #2 accident but of course he won’t be in pull-ups.
But thanks be to God!
If your child is going to have a potty accident, the absolute best place to have it is at Terra Toys. I know they don’t want to be known for that, but their bathroom is well stocked with diapers, wipes and ziplock baggies. It was quite an humbling experience. But God’s grace is abundant. And wouldn’t you know that one of St. Paul’s readings around that time was to give thanks in everything. Ha! Thanks Lord!
So if you’re ever interested in how potty training is going in our house…don’t ask.
You are such a sweet blessing in our lives! I love your morning visits and outgoing little self.
Can you guess what the theme of party was?
Adam and I made our “usual” pinata a few days ago and Therese and Fulton helped decorate it.
The kids always enjoy trying to knock the goodies out of it. Thanks to Lucas’ strong arm the kid got to enjoy those goodies.
But the secret hit of the party was the blanket of leaves in the back yard! Thanks for the idea Teresa.
Therese LOVES to draw and she loves her little brother. So she made him the birthday card below of “lightning mcqueen.” I was moved at how touched Fulton was with his card.
Upon receiving his card, in a very slow gentle voice he says, “Oh Theresey, this is so BEAUTY-FULL.” And as I upload this picture he said, “There’s Theresey loving Fulton.”
I’m a little tardy in posting our trip to Burnet for the Main Street Bethlehem. We had a great time and got to experience the waiting and joy of Advent. We took the Hill Country Flyer out there and it arrived at 4 p.m. in Burnet (a two hour trip). Main Street Bethlehem opened up at dusk (around 5:30 p.m.) and we got in line when we arrived. By the time the doors opened, the line to get in was already two blocks long and by the time we got out, it was already 5-6 blocks long. So we were able to get in within 5 minutes from where we were in line and the best part is when we got in, we weren’t packed in like sardines.
Ready to board the train.
Getting some bread…Fulton’s ALWAYS hungry.
Fulton in time-out.
On the chariot!
And here are all the pictures of our Feast of St. Nicholas.
