Third Annual Advent Carnival ...

is up!



Kerry, at A Ten O'Clock Scholar, is hosting The Third Annual Advent Carnival. Please go take a look at some very talented bloggers post about family Advent traditions and insightful essays about the Advent season.

Enjoy!

O Come, O Come Emmanuel (With Computer Graphics)

H/T Anglican Mainstream

Movies for Advent and Christmas

I don’t know if I’ve shared here that I don’t watch TV – other than an occasional show on Food Network and the nightly local news. Most people find me odd but I just can’t get into what the popular culture find amusing or interesting. I know there is still some quality programming out there but I find it much more interesting to lose myself in a good book or read your blogs!

My husband and I do share a passion for movies – especially the old stuff and BBC productions. We find it relaxing to pop in a movie and let go of our day before we begin more intimate conversation beyond the daily necessary communications.

Much of our collection of DVDs revolves around the church year. I thought I would share with you a tradition in our house – our collection of Advent and Christmas movies.

On the more serious side:

The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) with Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman


It’s a Wonderful Life (1947) with James Stewart and Donna Reed

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) with Maureen O’Hara and Edmund Gwenn

The Bishop’s Wife (1948) with Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven

A Christmas Carol (1951) with Alastair Sim

The Twilight Zone TV Episode – The Night of the Meek (1960) with Art Carney

Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999) with Christine Bale and Pernilla August

The Nativity Story (2006) with Keisha Castle-Hughes and Oscar Issac

The Nativity in Movies, a compilation of nine films portraying the birth of Christ

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) with Chris Doran and Ann Altieri

For fun

Holiday Inn (1942) with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire

White Christmas (1954) with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye

The Santa Clause (all three) with Tim Allen

Frosty the Snowman (1969) with Jimmy Durante and Billy DeWolfe

Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) with Burl Ives

Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) with Boris Karloff

Elf (2003) with Will Ferrel and James Caan

Christmas Vacation (1989) with Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo


New for this year

Polar Express with Tom Hanks (2004)

Any suggestions to add to our collection?

Escaping into Advent

Has anybody else noticed that Christmas merchandise has been on display since before Halloween? The stores and streets are decorated for Christmas and we haven’t experienced Advent yet!

Those of us in liturgical denominations are governed by the liturgical calendar. This calendar marks for us the seasons in the church year, days of feasts and fasts, vigils and commemorations, giving us a rhythm to our days and our lives. Those of us who center our lives on the liturgical calendar understand the richness and beauty offered in the depths of observing planned and purposeful seasons of the church year.

Advent marks the beginning of our liturgical year – a period of expectant waiting for the arrival of our Savior. In Advent which begins this Sunday, we wait as the Hebrews waited for the birth of the Messiah while waiting for the second coming of Jesus the Christ.

As we experience Advent in our preparations for the coming of Jesus in the places we offer ourselves to the Lord by saying the Daily Office, participating in the Liturgy, perhaps even going to confession - or experiencing the rich traditions of Advent by lighting the candles on the Advent wreath, opening the little windows on our Advent calendar or decorating the Jesse tree our anticipation builds as we await His coming.

All these things set the season of Advent apart from Christmas. For me, Christmas is trivialized and marginalized without Advent. It seems that Christmas has evolved to something that no longer belongs to God but to a fallen world.

So, I’ll not be participating in the secular extravagance of the holiday that has been hijacked by the commercial sector and much of today's society. Oh, I will have the work of Christmas done but I’m escaping into Advent. You won’t find me at the mall or grand Christmas celebrations this Advent. I hope instead to be sitting quietly with my Advent reading and focusing on His coming, knowing the great joy about to come while so many are waiting in long lines or spending too much time money on things that are only transiently meaningful.

I’ll be spending my time reliving with awe in His Word the powerful unfolding of God’s plan for His creation. Because Jesus came - fully human and fully divine - to redeem us and offer us eternal salvation...and promises to come again, I know hope. Because He came I want to live my life differently. I want my life to reflect Him and I can only do that by knowing Him more intimately so I’ll be better prepared when He comes again.

And I’ll be praying about how to make some more changes in what I can do to make my Advent experience deeper and more profound. Do you feel a need to make some changes this year? Take a look at Christmas Change "to reject a culture of consumerism and self indulgence, that yes, has even permeated the Christian community. To incarnate Christ in the everyday. To love lavishly the unlovable, in heart first, then in word and deed."

My Advent reading this year

Daily Reflections for Advent and Christmas, Waiting in Joyful Hope 2009-2010 by Robert Morneau

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas published by Plough Publishing House

Christmastide: Prayers for Advent through Epiphany from The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle

Thank you Kerry, at A Ten O'Clock Scholar for hosting The Carnival of Anglican Advent Traditions - a part of Carnivals of the Church Year hosted by Homemaking Through the Church Year and A Ten O'Clock Scholar

The Coming of the Lord is Near - Advent Devotion

From Christine Sine of Godspace



Because our hope in not in our earthly circumstances but in the One who came to save us...

Third Annual Anglican Advent Carnival

On Saturday, November 28th, Kerry at A Ten O'Clock Scholar, will host the Third Annual Anglican Advent Traditions Carnival. It will feature posts from Anglican and other liturgical-minded bloggers with ideas, links, resources, thoughts, and more for Advent.

See Kerry's blog, A Ten O'Clock Scholar, for more information on submissions!

Growing Up Flashcards

If you have a child with Down syndrome, you know most are primarily visual learners. During the early years, flashcards as visual cues are a blessing. As a teen, Reagan is not as dependent on visual aides as she was during our early schooling years but they still prove to be valuable learning aides.

Fandex Family Field Guides from Workman Publishing are a resource for the older child with special needs who happens to be a visual learner. I love these sturdy, die-cut aides that we can carry around on our nature walks. Here is some of yesterday's loot:



And a somewhat better picture of the die-cut nature of the field guide:



The content below the visual (also on the back of the card) is not without substance. In fact, I do have to modify the content to simplify it a bit for Reagan. As with many other resources, I usually build upon what she knows and give her more information to build on as time goes by. These field guides are a resource that can be used for many years.

Fandex Field Guides cover many topics - from nature, mythology, historical figures, composers, to Old Testament Stories. There is even a Star Wars Field Guide!

Once a Year Treat...

My family can't get enough of these:



I was dismayed at the price of pumpkins this year in our area. I could not find pumpkins for under $6.00 a piece - shocking! Especially when we live near the pumpkin capital of the world. So, I settled for only two pie pumpkins this year - just enough for the holiday pies at $1.50 a piece.

After roasting the pumpkins, I salvage the seeds for our special yearly treat. Yes, its messy and time consuming but everyone looks forward to roasted pumpkin seeds. After cleaning the pulp off the seeds, I soak them in salt solution for an hour or so. Next drain, add a tiny bit of oil and seasonings. This year I used salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Into a 325 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.

My family couldn't be happier!

Never Thought the Day Would Come....

And neither did Reagan.



Hanging on for dear life because Kiera is driving!



Kiera is an interesting young lady for many reasons - one of which is her lack of desire to obtain a driver's license. Living in two states for a few years has meant that we put off finding a program to teach her to drive. The time has finally come - doesn't she look confident behind the wheel?

Now, to work on Reagan's anxiety. We'll talk about my feelings of impending doom as a passenger in the car anxiety another day...

Model Me Kids

Does your child with special needs have difficulty initiating and maintaining conversations? Does he misread the social cues of others? Does she have difficulty developing and maintaining friendships? I've run across a new (to me) resource that teaches children with special needs those unwritten rules we all use in social situations. Model Me Kids has social skills training on DVD. Model Me Kids was developed for children with autism, nonverbal learning disorders, social anxiety, learning disabilities and delays.

I know I'm sounding almost like a salesman here. Actually, I met with a group of local homeschooling moms with children with special needs and tried to call up from memory the name of these DVDs to no avail so I'm blogging about them.

Reagan loves these DVDs. The lessons are short, easy to understand and target her strength - visual learning. She is using what she learns and generalizes the rules to real life encounters with others. Its very exciting to see!