Novena to St. Andrew

Today is the feast of St. Andrew, Apostle.

From Catholic Culture:

Today's feast traditionally marks the end of the Church year and beginning of Advent. Advent always begins on the Sunday closest to November 30, with this day being the last possible day of the old Liturgical Year. Christmas is right around the corner. An old saying reflected this:

St Andrew the King
Three weeks and three days
before Christmas begins.

St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland (home of my father's family).

Christmas Anticipatory Prayer

Christmas Anticipation Prayer

Beginning on St. Andrew the Apostle's feast day, November 30, the following beautiful prayer is traditionally recited fifteen times a day until Christmas. This is a very meditative prayer that helps us increase our awareness of the real focus of Christmas and helps us prepare ourselves spiritually for His coming.

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

I have also added this prayer to my sidebar for the season of Advent.

Why am I Catholic?

As we begin a new liturgical year this weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to post this video again.

In the interest of full disclosure...

Kat with a K commented after this post:

I think that's a great idea! I should do that with MY clothes!

I did.

Not with all my clothes, but some. I like to wear layers and the combinations I have that only work one way, I hung together. Call me whatever you like (it's probably true), but I feel so free and organized. No more wondering where that periwinkle shirt is anymore. It's right with the periwinkle-accented flowered button-down hanging in a cute little package.

Obsessed? Perhaps.

I know I'm risking sounding like a huge control freak here, but I'm going to admit this anyway: last week I organized the little guy's closet into outfits.

(Far left are church/dressy clothes, middle is "everyday" and the right are sweatshirts that are multi-outfit appropriate.)

I was out shopping (the same time I picked up the curtains), and as often happens to me, I drew I total blank on what I needed for DS. "Make a list!" you say. Well, yes, sometimes I do, but I always forgot to write down exactly what he needs and (more importantly) in what colors. So standing in Old Navy, staring at toddler boys' sweatpants, I vowed to go home and organize his closet into outfits and his drawers into "extras" for those inevitable times that he spills water, or plays outside, or wipes sauce on himself. I did just that, and on my next trip out, I was able to pick up a few extra pants and shirts (in several different color schemes) to match everything in his "every day" rotation. Whew.

I feel so much better now and dressing him has become much easier. The bonus is that now DH can dress him without worrying about putting clothes together. I imagine this system will be even more helpful in the future should we have more children. Oh, and from now on, I'm only buying clothes in pairs. Same rule applies to hand-me-downs. If we don't have shirt or pants to match the item, it goes.

Oh, as I was editing this post, he just dripped most of his water bottle down his sweatshirt. Sigh. Good thing I know exactly what I have on hand (and clean) that he can wear next! And I took the water away!

New Curtains

Last week in my Commitment to Loveliness I mentioned choosing and buying curtains for the kitchen. Mission accomplished thanks to J.C. Penny's and a phenomenal sale!

(Note: I didn't iron until after I took these pictures. I wanted to make sure they would work before I made the effort!)

I feel so much better, especially with the curtains on the door. We felt so exposed, and now our privacy is restored!

Menu Plan Monday, November 26

Monday: Slow Cooked Chicken and Dumplings

Tuesday: Enchiladas

Wednesday: Grandma's Choice

Thursday: Turkey Soup

Friday: Vegetarian Pizza

Saturday: Eat Out

Sunday: Chili