I’m so pleased to visit Annalea today and to share a bit my heart and home a bit with you. Advent is a treasured time of year for our family and our traditions are both old and new. From the time my oldest son was a very little boy (about 23 years ago), picture books have been the pegs upon which we’ve hung our advent celebrations. Those baskets of books have grown through the years and now, my littlest girl, just three years old, listens to the same stories and celebrates with many of the same traditions. Every year, I think I can just add Advent to our regular routine. And every year, within a few days, I recognize that living Advent all day, every day, suits our family best. Over the years I’ve written several homeschool lesson plans, incorporating typical school subjects with our every day Advent life. And every year, our traditions change just a little bit as our family changes.
We usually begin our Advent celebrations the first weekend after Thanksgiving. We bring out the Advent wreath and other reminders that this is the season to prepare. Purple letters propped on the mantel are visual reminders that it is a season of getting ready—it’s not yet Christmas. Our favorite books for the first weekend are whimsical works of Tomie de Paola. We read all about Strega Nona’s preparation in Italy in
Merry, Christmas, Strega Nona and
Strega Nona’s Gift. And then, we read about the angels getting ready for a celebration in heaven in
Country Angel Christmas. I always resolve to make sure that the Advent wreath is lit each night, which is really my resolution not to let Christmas preparations get so crazy that we don’t make time for quiet family meals. Sometimes, however, it really must feel like a
crazy mess!
Light one candle for hope, one bright candle for hope, He brings hope to everyone. He comes! He comes!
Light one candle for peace, one bright candle for peace, He brings hope to everyone. He comes! He comes!
Light one candle for joy, one bright candle for joy, He brings hope to everyone. He comes! He comes! {Here we switch out the mantel letters for pink ones that spell “Joy” and we light the glass luminaria on the front porch which spell “Joy” also. The children know we’re getting very close.}
Light one candle for love, one bright candle for love, He brings hope to everyone. He comes! He comes!
Around December first, we trim our tree, placing it in a front window to light the evening and bear witness to our waiting. We read
The Legend of the Christmas Tree. We also begin our Jesse Tree devotions. We’ve much enjoyed
Ann Voskamp’s meditations for several years now. We also place several manger scenes around the house. A favorite book to celebrate the appearance of the crèche in every nook and cranny here and there is
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey,
Christmas in the Barn, and
Who's Coming to Our House?. There is a little bit of a war in our house about whether baby Jesus should be in the manger or whether he should be hidden until Christmas Eve. Some of the children think that he should be hidden since we’re waiting. But the wee ones want to re-enact the nativity again and again, so they need the Baby. My compromise is to ensure that the scenes which are safe for playing hands have Jesus to hold all through Advent..
On December 6
th, we read
The Miracle of St. Nicholas and
The Baker’s Dozen. The children are treated to stuffed stockings in the morning and we begin cookie baking that day. Clearly, my children understand that Santa Claus is a legend that began with a real man who served the poor. Because our stockings come early, they aren’t filled by Santa. They each will find, among other things, an ornament in their stockings. When they are grown and have Christmas trees of their own, their ornaments will go with them.
On December 12
th, we read
The Lady of Guadalupe and enjoy Mexican hot chocolate. We share a traditional blessing with one another:
May God be as good to you as He was to Juan Diego. Then, we usually have tacos for dinner.
My children love the Feast of St. Lucia, on December 13
th. We read
Hanna’s Christmas, a darling little story about a Swedish girl who is homesick in America. We talk about St. Lucy and we think it’s pretty cool that she’s an Italian saint who is beloved by Scandinavian countries. Since I am Italian and my husband is Scandinavian, she’s the perfect saint for our family! The girls awaken early and dress and make cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for all the men in the house. They wear fabric crowns of holly and candles and delight in serving breakfast in bed. Because St. Lucy is the patron of light, that evening is the perfect one to drive around the neighborhood and admire Christmas lights.
Lucia, Saint of Light is the preferred evening reading.
On December 17th, we begin to sing the O Antiphons. You might recognize them in the verses of O Come, O Come Emmanuel. My children know that Christmas is close indeed when we get our little Antiphon house out and begin to fill the rooms with golden cubes. Each Antiphon begins with "O" and addresses Jesus with a unique title which comes from the prophecies and whose initials, when read backwards, form an acrostic for the Latin "Ero Cras" which means "Tomorrow I come."
For some reason I cannot remember, this is also time for Peppermint Day. We make peppermint marshmallows and peppermint cocoa, peppermint bark and peppermint crackle cookies. We read
The Legend of the Candy Cane. And we begin to get really ready for the twelve days of Christmas which will begin on the 25
th.
This year, my oldest son took to heart the dictionary definition of Advent: onset, beginning, commencement, start.
And, he kept to the tradition of celebrating all the little advent feasts with a picture book. He wrote and illustrated a picture book for his girlfriend. At the book’s end, he asked her to marry him. Advent: the beginning of a new family in our family.
Our Christmas celebration begins on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, my husband has taken my children to the wharf to buy seafood for our feast. My grandmother used to do this when I was a child. While I have scaled down the traditional Italian Christmas Eve of seven fishes, I do still cook whatever ocean treasures they find and bring home. We go to Mass as a family and come home to open presents. Then, my children sleep well and linger long in their pajamas Christmas morning. The celebration has just begun.
