Plan For A Peaceful Advent

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I did this page at the beginning of Advent last year, and then made notes to myself in the purple italic.  I will be revamping it with this year's plans soon.

This year, my heart's desire is for peace to reign in our home and in my heart throughout the Advent season.  I have less time at home than I would like ~ working part-time, running teen-agers and a brother-in-law to and from work ~ as well as having very little extra money.  So, I am trying to really slow down and focus on one thing each day that I can do to keep the spirit of Advent.  What follows is a working list of those daily things.  All of the outside activities are free, so any extra money will be available for the charitable giving that we would like to do.  We already have quite a collection of books and movies that will be interspersed throughout the season as well.

1. Not officially Advent yet, but we will go kick off December by going to see a homeschool production of It's A Wonderful Life.  I will also set up our Advent Tree, which is our Christmas tree with an angel on top, white lights, purple ribbon, and these beautiful ornaments, which will be added each day after reading the appropriate scripture passage during our Morning Time.  We had a hard time keeping up with this.  Next year, I think we will just do the O Antiphons (and sing the appropriate verses of O Come O Come Emmanuel) with the tree. I would like to use the scripture passages listed here for our daily readings.
2. 1st Sunday of Advent!  We will light the first candle of our Advent Wreath.  We are using the prayers and readings found here.  I will make a wreath (bundt) cake for a special dessert.  The wreath cake was a hit!  I am considering using a tweaked version of this Advent Devotional Guide next year.  We have done the previous one for several years now, and the kids seemed somewhat disinterested this year, so it might be time for a change.
3. Mary and Joseph will begin their journey. 
4. I will get out our seasonal books and we will choose one to read each evening that we are home.  Well, they did get put out.
5. Christina Rossetti's Birthday.  We will read some of our favourite seasonal poems.
6. Saint Nicholas Day!  The kids will awaken to new stockings with special treats: a tangerine, a candy cane, a bag of chocolate gold, a pair of Christmas socks. (I would like to give them each a pair of slippers, but I am not sure if I will be able to.)  We will have hot chocolate and orange danish for breakfast.
7. My grown-up-and-out-of-the-house daughters and husband/boyfriend will come over to decorate stockings.
8. Attend a concert at a friend's church.
9. 2nd Sunday of Advent!  Attend a performance of Bach's Magnificat at a local church.  Light the second candle.  Special treat: Mexican Wedding Cookies  Wonderful!  I am so glad i went and that my 13yo son wanted to go with me!  Didn't get cookies made, but we don't really need more anyway.
10. We will be out of the house all day and into the night, so nothing special this day.
11. Take food to our local food pantry.  This and the next did not get done, but I am going to try again for St. Stephen's and Holy Innocents.
12. Take a donation box to the Crisis Pregnancy Center.
13. Take money to the Salvation Army Kettles in our area.
14. Attend a craft fair in our town or our local symphony concert.  Husband and I really enjoyed the symphony, and I hope to be able to attend next year.
15. Visit Bethlehem.  Sang at the Michael W. Smith concert instead!
16. 3rd Sunday of Advent!  Attend a multi-choir concert which takes up a collection for a local senior citizen caregiver ministry.  Light the third candle.  Special dessert: Bethlehem Bread (scroll down)  After attending this concert for the first time last year, it was the one event that was a must do for me this year, and I think it will be for years to come.
17. Dinner with my fellow teachers.
18. Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas on tv.  Got the dates wrong, but we had a fun Grinch party anyway.
19. Make cookies and cards for the garbage collectors and mail carrier.  Still hoping to do it during Christmas.
20. Watch A Charlie Brown Christmas on tv.  Got the dates wrong; we watched it on Tuesday instead of the Grinch.
21. The longest night of the year; put up the outside lights.  15yo son did a great job!
22. Visit the Trail of Lights.  Did it; don't plan to do it again ~ far too crowded!
23. 4th Sunday of Advent and our 24th Wedding Anniversary!  Dinner and then to a downtown coffee shop for a Christmas light show and some jazz!  Hope to take the kids one night this week.
24. Christmas Eve! For the first time ever, we did our gift exchange on Christmas Eve, because my daughter and son-in-law would be spending Christmas morning with his family.  It was different, but we all had a lot of fun.  Dinner was mac & cheese, meatballs, green beans & asparagus, and shortbread for dessert.  We didn't make it to our church's Christmas Eve Service or the Midnight Mass at the Catholic church down the road, but I did watch the Midnight Mass from St. Peter's Basilica on television.  Then we placed Baby Jesus in the manger, undecorated the Advent tree, replaced the angel topper with a star (the angel moved over to the creche) and hung the Christmas ornaments!

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