Now that we've hit Advent, all of sudden a bunch of cookie exchanges are gearing up. For those who don't know what a cookie exchange is, let me first say that they are awesome. Not enough info? Fair enough. So basically what happens is a bunch of folks sign up to participate, each offering to make a different kind of cookie. You make a dozen cookies for each other person who will be participating (and a dozen for yourself to if like me, you could never have enough cookies). You get together, and then exchange your dozens of cookies for however many dozen different kinds of cookies from all your exchange buddies. So, if I'm in an exchange with 7 other people, I get to come home with 7 dozen completely unique batches of cookies when I only had to get the ingredients to make 7 dozen of one kind. If you're like me and you've really only perfected one or two kinds of cookies, you come out of this a total winner. It's also really cheap too because you're not buying 7 or 8 different cookies worth of ingredients.
My first exchange is this week, so I'll be sharing the spoils of my labour once they're all in. Suffice is to say I'm over the top with glee. My family is going to have loads of variety snack wise this year, because I'm going to have no less than 10 dozen different cookies in my freezer waiting for their turn to shine. Cookies exchanges can be make even more awesome if you get your friends to include recipes for the cookies too!
Since I can't actually give all my readers a dozen cookies this Advent, let me offer you the recipe for my favourite cookie exchange treat! Straight from my Grammie's cookbook, the ever famous Molasses Crinkles!
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter/margarine
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Cream your butter, then add the sugar and mix that in. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order given and mix them in. Your batter will be a little stiff. Roll pieces of the batter into balls and then flatten them with a fork or cool potato masher that has been dipped in flour (otherwise the fork/masher will stick to your cookie, no fun). Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Don't eat them right away, as they will burn your mouth. True story. Resist, my friends. Resist.
Sunday, 2 December 2012
Baby 5: Week 16
How Far Along: 16 Weeks (24 weeks to go!)
How I'm Feeling: It's blistering cold here, so that's taking some of my energy. Otherwise, I'm feeling really great. All these cookies and pre-Christmas sweets seem rather timely!
What I'm Thinking: I feel like the Church calendar is perfectly expressing my mood these days! Today is the first day of Advent, which kicks off four weeks of joyful anticipation as we await the celebration of Christmas. I'm joining in with greater vigour (as I do every advent when I'm pregnant), trying to re-learn the patient waiting that is the character of both pregnancy and Advent. I'm feeling extra close to Mother Mary, who lived the first Advent in a way so deep and incredible! The whole world waits in Advent again for Christ to enter our lives more deeply here and now, and again when he returns in glory!
What I've Done This Week: We've spent this week trying to get ready for Christmas ahead of Advent. We wanted all our shopping done before we started our real spiritual preparations. Nothing steals the joy of Advent like being stuck in the mall with thousands of desperate shoppers fighting over last minute deals. I wrapped the better part of the gifts we bought. Only a few more to go before we can forget about temporary gifts and get back to focusing on the gift of our family.
What I Hope To Do Next Week: I still haven't got my baking done! I have 8 dozen due this week, and another maybe 5 dozen for next Monday for cookie exchanges. Smartly, I've chosen to do the same recipe for both so that I can really work through them quickly. Between that, wrapping, and making some traditional tourtiere (French meat pies. Yum!), I'm going to have a busy week in the kitchen!
How I'm Feeling: It's blistering cold here, so that's taking some of my energy. Otherwise, I'm feeling really great. All these cookies and pre-Christmas sweets seem rather timely!
What I'm Thinking: I feel like the Church calendar is perfectly expressing my mood these days! Today is the first day of Advent, which kicks off four weeks of joyful anticipation as we await the celebration of Christmas. I'm joining in with greater vigour (as I do every advent when I'm pregnant), trying to re-learn the patient waiting that is the character of both pregnancy and Advent. I'm feeling extra close to Mother Mary, who lived the first Advent in a way so deep and incredible! The whole world waits in Advent again for Christ to enter our lives more deeply here and now, and again when he returns in glory!
What I've Done This Week: We've spent this week trying to get ready for Christmas ahead of Advent. We wanted all our shopping done before we started our real spiritual preparations. Nothing steals the joy of Advent like being stuck in the mall with thousands of desperate shoppers fighting over last minute deals. I wrapped the better part of the gifts we bought. Only a few more to go before we can forget about temporary gifts and get back to focusing on the gift of our family.
What I Hope To Do Next Week: I still haven't got my baking done! I have 8 dozen due this week, and another maybe 5 dozen for next Monday for cookie exchanges. Smartly, I've chosen to do the same recipe for both so that I can really work through them quickly. Between that, wrapping, and making some traditional tourtiere (French meat pies. Yum!), I'm going to have a busy week in the kitchen!
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Baby 5: Week 15
How Far Along: 15 Weeks 3 Days (24 weeks and 4 days to go!)
How I'm Feeling: A little tired today anyway. We ALL had our flu shots yesterday and now we're all tired, a little cranky, and counting down the minutes to nap time. Or maybe that's just me? Overall I've been feeling good though. My uterus is just the right height for how many weeks I am, which means it's infringing on my bladder. With 2 potty trained (and one more who is daytime trained) kids at my heels, it's the big battle for the bathroom these days!
What I'm Thinking: We heard our baby's heartbeat yesterday for the first time. We'd seen it flickering on the screen during our dating ultrasound, but to really hear our baby's heart beat, was so incredibly beautiful. The biggest kids who are used to this sort of thing were very excited, while our two smaller kids listened with as much interest as confusion I'm sure. I love the way our family is growing. We're getting so close to the half way point!
What I've Done This Week: We had our first regular prenatal appointment (oh the joys of the 5th pregnancy) so I got all weighed (don't ask), measured and like I said we heard the baby's heartbeat. And because no prenatal appointment should end without someone crying, we all got our flu shots. In all seriousness, no one cried, no even the 15 month old. There was a little lip quiver, but she got to smiling when the doc put a smiley face on her bandaid (what a pro!). We also got the date for our next prenatal appointment and our 20 week ultrasound, New Years Eve!
What I Hope To Do Next Week: I'm part of 2 cookie exchanges, so I've got to get to baking. I'm also hoping to clean out all the unwanted toys out of the baby's room so we can start working on the flooring. I'd also like a better place than my closet to hide the Christmas presents. haha
How I'm Feeling: A little tired today anyway. We ALL had our flu shots yesterday and now we're all tired, a little cranky, and counting down the minutes to nap time. Or maybe that's just me? Overall I've been feeling good though. My uterus is just the right height for how many weeks I am, which means it's infringing on my bladder. With 2 potty trained (and one more who is daytime trained) kids at my heels, it's the big battle for the bathroom these days!
What I'm Thinking: We heard our baby's heartbeat yesterday for the first time. We'd seen it flickering on the screen during our dating ultrasound, but to really hear our baby's heart beat, was so incredibly beautiful. The biggest kids who are used to this sort of thing were very excited, while our two smaller kids listened with as much interest as confusion I'm sure. I love the way our family is growing. We're getting so close to the half way point!
What I've Done This Week: We had our first regular prenatal appointment (oh the joys of the 5th pregnancy) so I got all weighed (don't ask), measured and like I said we heard the baby's heartbeat. And because no prenatal appointment should end without someone crying, we all got our flu shots. In all seriousness, no one cried, no even the 15 month old. There was a little lip quiver, but she got to smiling when the doc put a smiley face on her bandaid (what a pro!). We also got the date for our next prenatal appointment and our 20 week ultrasound, New Years Eve!
What I Hope To Do Next Week: I'm part of 2 cookie exchanges, so I've got to get to baking. I'm also hoping to clean out all the unwanted toys out of the baby's room so we can start working on the flooring. I'd also like a better place than my closet to hide the Christmas presents. haha
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Church of Entitlement
I've been reading a lot about the Church lately that has me a little irked. The general reaction reminds me of the old saying "What have you done for ME lately?". The feeling of entitlement is just sickening. The issues spawn from what we think is our right, our due. Changes to the priesthood, change in worship styles, changes in sexual ethics, demanding sacraments on our own terms, viewing the Church as a pretty building for hire at the right price, wanting to have your pastor's personal line on speed dial, etc.
Every one of these issues find their root in our feeling of entitlement. We want the Church to serve our will, our desire, and our vision. The Church is there to serve us yes, but not because we deserve anything. Christ called us to serve the weak, the unworthy, and the sinners (of which most if not all of us fall into all three categories). The Church's service to us, however, does not mean that She is meant to bow down to our human knowledge, will, and societal demands. The Church is not a teenager bowing down to peer pressure. She is the Bride of Christ, and must, like her Heavenly Spouse, bear witness to the truths God has taught us through Holy Scripture and through our long Tradition. To change Her ways to appeal to current societal appeals is to deny Her dignity. Her duty is now and has always been to present Christ to us, through God's word, through the Sacraments He instituted in Her, especially through the Most Sacred Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Nothing else the world tells us we need can compare to the mystery and glory of the Eucharist.
The fact that I can even dare to approach the altar of God, for which I am eminently unworthy, is a miracle of unending mercy and grace. My worthiness comes not from my good deeds, my own time in devoted prayer, or even by nature of my humanity, even though I was made in God's image. I am fallen, spoiled, and broken. I am a distorted image of God. I can never rise on my own to a level of dignity high enough to deserve to even sit at the foot of the Altar to bask in the wonder of His Presence. The only reason I can even begin to approach the Lord, and even then with soul-rending humility, is because Christ has taken on my sin and allowed me to take upon myself His worthiness. I am alive in God on borrowed grace that I fight to continue to accept every day I live. My baptism has saved me and the Eucharist brings me into the body of Christ and sustains me. Despite my brokenness, Christ has given me mercy.
In that light, the Church owes me nothing. The Church has already given me more than I can ever deserve as She shares with me through Her anointed ministers the Sacraments of Christ. To come to Her with a sense of entitlement and demand She bend to my will is to throw back in Her face and that of Her Spouse the gift of the Cross. How can I say what She offers is too little when She is Christ to me as I await Heaven?
All I can ask of my Church is that Her ministers remain accountable, truthful, and that they do everything they can to maintain Her in the same dignity Christ gave to Her on Calvary. At times we may choose to adorn Her in different ways and delve more deeply into the truths She protects, but we must always strive to protect Her true beauty, which is the Sacraments. We must request them with great discernment and humility and accept them with a bowed heart and not a grasping hand. At times we must step back and realise we still cannot ask for the Sacraments because of our state of sinfulness or even the realisation that not all Sacraments are meant for us individually. Our Church is not a fast food chain. The altar is not a table. The Eucharist is not bread, but the Very Body and Blood of our Saviour, broken and poured out for us as a ransom from death. Let us treat the Church as holy ground, not as a place where we can place our order and expect it to be filled to the letter. Approach the Altar of Christ with sorrow and weeping as you would the Cross, and give thanks for what you have been given in the depths of your sinfulness and leave your self-entitled requests at the door. In doing that and accepting Christ in the Sacraments as God has ordained them for you, you will find great joy, peace, and fulfilment than any plan you could conceive for yourself.
Every one of these issues find their root in our feeling of entitlement. We want the Church to serve our will, our desire, and our vision. The Church is there to serve us yes, but not because we deserve anything. Christ called us to serve the weak, the unworthy, and the sinners (of which most if not all of us fall into all three categories). The Church's service to us, however, does not mean that She is meant to bow down to our human knowledge, will, and societal demands. The Church is not a teenager bowing down to peer pressure. She is the Bride of Christ, and must, like her Heavenly Spouse, bear witness to the truths God has taught us through Holy Scripture and through our long Tradition. To change Her ways to appeal to current societal appeals is to deny Her dignity. Her duty is now and has always been to present Christ to us, through God's word, through the Sacraments He instituted in Her, especially through the Most Sacred Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Nothing else the world tells us we need can compare to the mystery and glory of the Eucharist.
The fact that I can even dare to approach the altar of God, for which I am eminently unworthy, is a miracle of unending mercy and grace. My worthiness comes not from my good deeds, my own time in devoted prayer, or even by nature of my humanity, even though I was made in God's image. I am fallen, spoiled, and broken. I am a distorted image of God. I can never rise on my own to a level of dignity high enough to deserve to even sit at the foot of the Altar to bask in the wonder of His Presence. The only reason I can even begin to approach the Lord, and even then with soul-rending humility, is because Christ has taken on my sin and allowed me to take upon myself His worthiness. I am alive in God on borrowed grace that I fight to continue to accept every day I live. My baptism has saved me and the Eucharist brings me into the body of Christ and sustains me. Despite my brokenness, Christ has given me mercy.
In that light, the Church owes me nothing. The Church has already given me more than I can ever deserve as She shares with me through Her anointed ministers the Sacraments of Christ. To come to Her with a sense of entitlement and demand She bend to my will is to throw back in Her face and that of Her Spouse the gift of the Cross. How can I say what She offers is too little when She is Christ to me as I await Heaven?
All I can ask of my Church is that Her ministers remain accountable, truthful, and that they do everything they can to maintain Her in the same dignity Christ gave to Her on Calvary. At times we may choose to adorn Her in different ways and delve more deeply into the truths She protects, but we must always strive to protect Her true beauty, which is the Sacraments. We must request them with great discernment and humility and accept them with a bowed heart and not a grasping hand. At times we must step back and realise we still cannot ask for the Sacraments because of our state of sinfulness or even the realisation that not all Sacraments are meant for us individually. Our Church is not a fast food chain. The altar is not a table. The Eucharist is not bread, but the Very Body and Blood of our Saviour, broken and poured out for us as a ransom from death. Let us treat the Church as holy ground, not as a place where we can place our order and expect it to be filled to the letter. Approach the Altar of Christ with sorrow and weeping as you would the Cross, and give thanks for what you have been given in the depths of your sinfulness and leave your self-entitled requests at the door. In doing that and accepting Christ in the Sacraments as God has ordained them for you, you will find great joy, peace, and fulfilment than any plan you could conceive for yourself.
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Baby 5: Week 14
How Far Along: 14 Weeks (26 weeks to go!)
How I'm Feeling: I am feeling energetic! The nausea is gone now. I've been busy getting ready for Christmas, cleaning up the house (a bit...), and doing some baking!
What I'm Thinking: I'm starting show. More than just muffin top here, actual uterus pop in my belly zone. I've obviously hit the 2nd trimester, because I'm starting to think less about surviving, more about getting ready. I'm starting to dream about prepping the nursery and meeting this little one!
What I've Done This Week: Now that we know it's only one baby, we were able to ask the couple we had in mind to be Baby 5's Godparents. They're friends from our Church who we find really inspiring but also very real. I know that this is a couple we can grow in faith with, and who will delight in helping us bring up our new baby in Faith!
What I Hope To Do Next Week: This week I'm going to concentrate on some Christmas baking, and making meals for some Mama friends who are about to have their babies!
How I'm Feeling: I am feeling energetic! The nausea is gone now. I've been busy getting ready for Christmas, cleaning up the house (a bit...), and doing some baking!
What I'm Thinking: I'm starting show. More than just muffin top here, actual uterus pop in my belly zone. I've obviously hit the 2nd trimester, because I'm starting to think less about surviving, more about getting ready. I'm starting to dream about prepping the nursery and meeting this little one!
What I've Done This Week: Now that we know it's only one baby, we were able to ask the couple we had in mind to be Baby 5's Godparents. They're friends from our Church who we find really inspiring but also very real. I know that this is a couple we can grow in faith with, and who will delight in helping us bring up our new baby in Faith!
What I Hope To Do Next Week: This week I'm going to concentrate on some Christmas baking, and making meals for some Mama friends who are about to have their babies!
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
They're Watching
For anyone who's ever tried to sneak a snack or take a bathroom break, this will come as no surprise: Your kids, both big, small, and tiny, they're watching you. All the time. And listening too. Heaven help us. Don't believe me, watch their pretend games. How often have I seen my sons pretend to be cabinetmakers, or my daughters pretend to be cooking, and vice versa. Or less pleasant mimicking like... sitting on their behinds watching TV eating popcorn, repeating less than pleasant phrases, or whatnot.
It's not news that our kids are little sponges. We rely on that when we're trying to teach them new words, how to walk, and how to act. The tricky thing is that they're sponges even when we're not in teaching mode. That time you road raged. Yeah, they saw that. That time you only brushed your teeth for 2 seconds before walking out the door. Their eyes were glued to you. When you wore the same outfit for an entire week because you didn't want to do laundry. They noticed. They may have been grossed out. That book you were reading. They're going to check it out when you're not looking. When you turned on Dr. Phil and stared with rapt attention regardless of what was going on. They watched you. Then they watched him. When you complained about your friend/parent/spouse/in-law/stranger to a friend over coffee while you had that playdate. They stored up those words, that facial expression, and your feelings.
If you're like me, the very thought of this makes you want to run in terror, and go buy your kids some industrial quality earmuffs and blinders. Just a tip, that would be weird looking, and probably still wouldn't work. So, while I'm busy sheltering my kids from all the evils of the world, I'm sitting here pounding my head on the desk remembering that I can't shelter them from me. The truth is that I shouldn't have to shelter them from who I am. They're going to see the cracks in my Momhood if there's a different me for when I'm talking just to them and this other, strange woman I show the rest of the world. Or maybe like me you're nicer out in public than you are behind closed doors. You know what I mean. We all have that super sweet way of dealing with the usual insanity of toddlers when we're out. When we're home, they're right in time out, no nice voice, not much patience, and more than a few heavy sighs.
So what can I do with these thinking, feeling, loving little sponges? I can use them as inspiration to be a better person, when I think no one's looking and when everyone's looking. Because if you have kids, they're always watching, listening and learning. They're the same wherever they are, so maybe I can be too. Maybe I can learn to be a woman I'd be proud to call my friend all the time. I want to give my kids the best model I can so that they don't have to ever hear me say "do as I say, not as I do". Some day they're going to leave my house, and I don't have to just pray they'll be good, responsible people, I can teach them through my daily example.
It's not news that our kids are little sponges. We rely on that when we're trying to teach them new words, how to walk, and how to act. The tricky thing is that they're sponges even when we're not in teaching mode. That time you road raged. Yeah, they saw that. That time you only brushed your teeth for 2 seconds before walking out the door. Their eyes were glued to you. When you wore the same outfit for an entire week because you didn't want to do laundry. They noticed. They may have been grossed out. That book you were reading. They're going to check it out when you're not looking. When you turned on Dr. Phil and stared with rapt attention regardless of what was going on. They watched you. Then they watched him. When you complained about your friend/parent/spouse/in-law/stranger to a friend over coffee while you had that playdate. They stored up those words, that facial expression, and your feelings.
If you're like me, the very thought of this makes you want to run in terror, and go buy your kids some industrial quality earmuffs and blinders. Just a tip, that would be weird looking, and probably still wouldn't work. So, while I'm busy sheltering my kids from all the evils of the world, I'm sitting here pounding my head on the desk remembering that I can't shelter them from me. The truth is that I shouldn't have to shelter them from who I am. They're going to see the cracks in my Momhood if there's a different me for when I'm talking just to them and this other, strange woman I show the rest of the world. Or maybe like me you're nicer out in public than you are behind closed doors. You know what I mean. We all have that super sweet way of dealing with the usual insanity of toddlers when we're out. When we're home, they're right in time out, no nice voice, not much patience, and more than a few heavy sighs.
So what can I do with these thinking, feeling, loving little sponges? I can use them as inspiration to be a better person, when I think no one's looking and when everyone's looking. Because if you have kids, they're always watching, listening and learning. They're the same wherever they are, so maybe I can be too. Maybe I can learn to be a woman I'd be proud to call my friend all the time. I want to give my kids the best model I can so that they don't have to ever hear me say "do as I say, not as I do". Some day they're going to leave my house, and I don't have to just pray they'll be good, responsible people, I can teach them through my daily example.
The Global Village
While I was up late (for me) last night after a nightmare from the big boy, I turned to twitter to relax my mind. I would've turned to a book I've been dying to read, but after 10.5 hour days hubby was fast asleep. I didn't dare turn on my light lest I wake him up from what looked to be peaceful slumber. I know he wouldn't have minded, but I would have felt terrible. So there I was, reading by the dull glow of my old iPhone, refreshing my feed. I came to two realisations last night about twitter, and in turn the global village that I've become a part of via social media.
One, I really don't care for Twilight. There was a twitter party going on for the red carpet premiere of what I believe is the final movie (Thank God). I have high standards for books. I get that. As my friend over at Wiccan to Catholic pointed out quite astutely, Vampires are meant to be a cautionary tale about the emptiness and darkness of a life where we choose to seek out eternal life without God. That is a terrible, broken, half-life in the early tales of Dracula. So when I read about sparkly vampires falling in love and making babies, my eye starts twitching.
Anyway, for the few of you still reading after my not so mini Twilight rant, I learned something else WAY better about twitter, and social media in general last night. Twitter is my village. When our Great-Grandmothers were having babies, they use to gather around their tables for tea, or knitting circles, or kitchen parties (can you tell I'm a Nova Scotian that these are the three things I picked?) and talk about everything going on in their families. They're share tips, advice, or simply nod sagely when they were in the same boat. That's not so different from what we're doing through social media. Be it through our FB group or on our Twitter feeds, many of us are seeking out the companionship our modern cities and lifestyles deny us. The great bonus of it all is that in the whole world of social media, there's at least one other Mom who is experiencing the exact same problem as you. I've found homeschooling Mamas, Moms kept up all night by newborns (#zombiemoms), Moms who love to cloth diaper, Moms with lots of kids, Moms of Faith, Moms who challenge me, Moms who entertain me, Moms who inspire me. I can't find that in any one Mom in my own town (though I have a few that meet all those qualifications together), but the fact is that when the lights go out and they're all in bed, sometimes I still need community so I'm not battling through parenthood alone.
If it takes a village to raise a child, my village is here in my own city, but also all across the world, as part of the global village. If you take a few days to speak to Moms across the world, you'll see that motherhood is as universal as it is unique, and that there's always something to be learned from the friend waiting on the other side of 140 characters.
One, I really don't care for Twilight. There was a twitter party going on for the red carpet premiere of what I believe is the final movie (Thank God). I have high standards for books. I get that. As my friend over at Wiccan to Catholic pointed out quite astutely, Vampires are meant to be a cautionary tale about the emptiness and darkness of a life where we choose to seek out eternal life without God. That is a terrible, broken, half-life in the early tales of Dracula. So when I read about sparkly vampires falling in love and making babies, my eye starts twitching.
Anyway, for the few of you still reading after my not so mini Twilight rant, I learned something else WAY better about twitter, and social media in general last night. Twitter is my village. When our Great-Grandmothers were having babies, they use to gather around their tables for tea, or knitting circles, or kitchen parties (can you tell I'm a Nova Scotian that these are the three things I picked?) and talk about everything going on in their families. They're share tips, advice, or simply nod sagely when they were in the same boat. That's not so different from what we're doing through social media. Be it through our FB group or on our Twitter feeds, many of us are seeking out the companionship our modern cities and lifestyles deny us. The great bonus of it all is that in the whole world of social media, there's at least one other Mom who is experiencing the exact same problem as you. I've found homeschooling Mamas, Moms kept up all night by newborns (#zombiemoms), Moms who love to cloth diaper, Moms with lots of kids, Moms of Faith, Moms who challenge me, Moms who entertain me, Moms who inspire me. I can't find that in any one Mom in my own town (though I have a few that meet all those qualifications together), but the fact is that when the lights go out and they're all in bed, sometimes I still need community so I'm not battling through parenthood alone.
If it takes a village to raise a child, my village is here in my own city, but also all across the world, as part of the global village. If you take a few days to speak to Moms across the world, you'll see that motherhood is as universal as it is unique, and that there's always something to be learned from the friend waiting on the other side of 140 characters.
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