Emily M. DeArdo's Blog, page 9

Blogmas '22 Day 3: Family Christmas!

Our family Christmas celebrations have varied wildly over the years. When we were little (we meaning my brother and I—this was before my sister was born), we spent Christmas in Pittsburgh with my parents’ families. Christmas Eve we usually spent with my dad’s family, and Christmas Day with my mom’s family. (Back then my mom still had siblings living at home—she’s the third of eight kids. Dad is the youngest of three.)

The big special thing, though, was that Santa came early to our house. We did Christmas at home before we left for Pittsburgh. And yes, I really did love telling my classmates that. :)

Once my sister was born, the celebrations became different. One year my Grandma D came down ,but most years we were at home. Mom sang in the choir and played the flute for Midnight Mass, so we went to an earlier Mass, then came home, then mom left for midnight Mass. Once I was old enough to help dad (er, “Santa”) set out toys, that was my job, and Bryan had to keep Melanie from trying to get downstairs! After college, I sang in the church choir at Midnight Mass.

When I was in junior high, we started a family reunion on my mom’s side a few days after Christmas, which took place in various hotels. For the past 10 years or so it’s been here in town, but we haven’t rescheduled it since the pandemic—but there have also been weddings and graduations, so we’ve been able to see each other outside of the holidays, which is nice. There are so many of us that we don’t fit in anyone’s house anymore!

So Christmas at home now looks like this: we go to 4:00 Mass, have dinner after, and then exchange gifts with my brother and sister-in-law at their house. This year, the best gift was baby Hailey—their daughter! She was due to arrive in early January ut she decided she just had to spend Christmas with us, so I spent most of Christmas Eve this year with a newborn sleeping on my chest.

That’s a pretty good way to spend Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day is very relaxed—I spend the day with my parents. We open gifts and have food and generally hang out all day, usually with some football or A Christmas Story thrown in. This year was Madeleine’s first Christmas, so we FaceTimed with them a few times. It was so cute to see Maddie celebrate her first Christmas!

How does your family celebrate Christmas? Tell me about it!

My parents love Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, and “Winter Was Warm” is one of my mom’s favorite songs from it, so….here you go!

Blogmas Day 2: Christmas Food!

The two recipes I make every year for Christmas, without fail, are these two recipes from Ina Garten:

Hermit Bars (like gingerbread) : I don’t do the glaze on them, to cut down on unnecessary carbs. :) Feel free to try it at your house if you like! (For sixteen bars, they’re 20.6 carbs each—that’s without the glaze.)

Hermit bars with tea, December 23. It was -5 that day! (And that was up from -8!)

Blueberry (at our house!) crumble bars (47 g of carbs per bar (if you make 12)). I leave out the almonds because the granola I use has almonds in it, and I also leave out the confectioner’s sugar.

Blueberry crumble bars

I’m including the carb count for my fellow folks-who-need-to-know-that :)

For today’s music, it’s music AND video! Enjoy the dancing Candy Canes of New York City Ballet while you have some treats!

Blogmas '22 Day 1: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family have a wonderful day and celebration! I’m so grateful for all of you!

Maddie: Eleven months!

In less than a month, Madeleine will be a YEAR OLD! In the words of Mr. Mom, “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!”

She’s had a big month! She’s had her first Thanksgiving….

She clearly loved it all.

She wondered at her parents bringing a tree into the house…including a little one for her!

And she has her own Advent/Christmas corner—she loves playing with the Advent calendar characters in each day’s slot!

She and Duke the Dog weren’t too sure about this light up, dancing Santa that Daddy gave them…

She met Santa….

And saw Christmas lights…

So basically it’s been a huge month for Maddie.

She’s been crawling like crazy, pulling herself up, and growing by leaps and bounds. I cannot wait to see her next month for her first birthday party! And most likely, by then, she’ll have a cousin! (My brother and SIL are having their first baby basically anytime now. :)) In one year, my niece quotient has doubled, and I am pretty darn happy about that.

Mommy and Maddie at the doctor’s :) Maddie is, as usual, cheesing. :)

Monthly photo gallery:

Second Week of Advent: The Immaculate Conception

One of the most confusing Catholic beliefs, I think, is that of today’s solemnity.

The Immaculate Conception doesn’t refer to Jesus—it refers to Mary. It means that Mary was conceived with original sin in the womb of her mother, Ann, as a singular grace. It doesn’t mean she’s a goddess. It means she was special prepared to be the mother of God. In Mother Mary Francis’ words, Mary was “pre-cleaned.”

(For more on the Church’s Marian doctrine, check out this Catholic 101 post I wrote.)

“She did not have that downward pull that we have, but she still had choices, and she could have wrong ones or right ones. She could have insisted after the finding in the temple that Jesus explain what he meant. She could have said, ‘I am your Mother, and I have got to get this straight. I don’t understand what you are talking about.’ But she preferred, she chose, to accept what was to her not understandable, and to return to her humble home and to go about her duties and to ponder these things in her heart…She chose the will of God and she chose is freely—again, we say, unencumbered by the downward pull of concupiscence that we know so well, but still a woman quite capable of doing right or wrong, or doing good or better or best.

“It is very important that we do not allow our Lady to be distanced from us by her Immaculate Conception, but to be brought closer to us. She is the one to teach us poor sinners because she is called the Refuge of Sinners. Our Lord did not give her to St. John and say, ‘Now I am giving her to you, and she is the Mother of all the flawlessly holy ones.’ But he gave her to be the Mother of all persons, of all men and he knew what was in them, what is in each one of us, our weaknesses as well as our strengths.”

—Mother Mary Francis, PCC, Come Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Art of Waiting

First Week of Advent: Light

The readings for last Sunday hit me with their mention, over and over, of light—walking in the light, putting on the armor of light. Connected to that, we have the gospel, where Jesus talks about staying awake, because we don’t know when He will come.

In her book, Come, Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Art of Waiting,* Mother Mary Francis, PCC, talks about our works of light and works of darkness. What are our individual works of light? Where are our works of darkness? What do we hide? What don’t we want people to see? How attached are we to these “works of darkness”? Mother Mary Francis uses the image of our works of darkness tucked around us like a shawl—and I think that’s a vibrant image. We can see a woman wrapped in a shawl, tugging it around her even more tightly to keep out the cold—but in this case, it can be keeping out the light of grace.

Can we try this Advent to walk in the light of the Lord, to make crooked ways straight, and to put off our works of darkness, as St. Paul talks about?

What do we need to do to be ready for the Lord’s coming? Where does light need to shine? What can be straightened out—or started to be straightened out, during this season of waiting?

Happy Thanksgiving! (And a book sale!)

I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of yummy food and time with family and friends! I am thankful for all of you—you readers are really the ones who keep the lights on over here and allowed me to reach my goal of having my story published. I am so thankful that you keep reading! :) You are in my prayers!

That’s a nice segue into….

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale at Ave Maria Press!

Use the code BFCM22 at Ave Maria Press and get 30% off plus free shipping! My book will cost you seven bucks. That’s it! $7! (With this deal, that is.) So if you need more copies because you gave yours away to friends, if you think it would make a good gift (it would), or you just want to Lent prep early, this is the sale for you. Go get it!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great weekend!

Daybook: Pre-thanksgiving, pre-Advent!

November sunset

I thought it was time for a little daybook!

Outside my window::

41 and sort of cloudy. We had snow on Saturday—didn’t stick around, but we had it.

Wearing::

black leggings and a very cozy navy sweatshirt my sister in law got me. :)

Reading::

—The notes to Paradiso* —I re-read the Divine Comedy last week, after not having read it for awhile. Anthony Esolen’s notes are fabulous and he does a beautiful job with the translation. (Here’s his Inferno* and Purgatory*)

—The third volume of the Summa Domestica. This would make a great Christmas present! (As would the three Dante books above.) It is sadly NOT AVAILABLE right now but it is been RE-PRINTED and I will let you know when it’s back! In the meantime you can check out Leila’s blog!

Cooking::

Beer bread! Also I am sort of in charge of Thanksgiving this year. I’ve made a plan, we’re getting a smoked turkey breast (YUM) and the only recipe I really have to worry about is the creamed corn recipe because I’ve never made it before, but it’s an Ina recipe so I’m sure it will be fine. I mean it’s cream and corn, it can’t be bad!

Living the Liturgy::

Christ the King Sunday is this week!

As I wrote last week, let’s remember Advent. That doesn’t mean we don’t do any Christmas prep during Advent. Heavens, no. My Christmas cards are all written out already! But it does mean, as I talk about in that post, that we use Advent as a season to prepare for the Incarnation—for Christmas! Christmas is its own incredibly delightful season, and let’s not rush to it! Let’s prepare! Let’s “wait on tip toe” as Mother Mary Francis writes!*

Let’s remember what Advent is about, and what Christmas is about.

So in the pre-Advent prep department, I am clearing off the space where my nativity will live.

Normally, this area is given over to books:

And photos of the “little girls”—Patty, Madeleine, and my new niece, Hailey, who is still cooking. :) (I have an ultrasound photo of her in a frame that my brother and SIL gave me here.)

I have removed the photos. Now I am going to start removing these books, and then I will give this are a good dusting and polishing before the nativity (I have a Fontanini set) comes to live here!

These are divided into pretty books and knitting books, and also books I need to read or shelve. It is, as you can see, a lot. :) (And yes, normally boxes do not live here, but this is my real life! Boxes are there right now from the porch! This is how it looks RIGHT THIS SECOND!)

So it will be cleared off and my nativity will eventually take up its place here. I’ve also replaced some of the fake plants I have around with new Christmas/winter-ish plants—firs and spruces with some red berries for winter and Advent/Christmas.

I am very excited to begin Advent.

(Do you have your candles?)

Knitting::

I wore my Rolling Pastures shawl to Mass on Saturday!

Isn’t it pretty? I think it will also be taken out to Mass for Gaudete Sunday in a few weeks because it’s ROSE. :)

I am working on Hailey’s blanket for Christmas and also another Christmas present, and then I’ll move onto scarves for Madeleine’s first birthday party in January!

Around the house::

See living the liturgy, but also just general tidying up and I need to take a load of books to the used bookstore to sell them. The book purge is constant. Books come in, books come out! The circle of life!

Fitness::

Just made my peloton schedule for the next two weeks. Walking, strength training, stretching…all the good stuff.

Maddie: TEN MONTHS!

I cannot believe we are INTO THE DOUBLE DIGITS with Miss Maddie.

(Yes that deserves all caps.)

Cheesing at Target.

A big event in her life this past month was a visit from my parents—her Grammy and Poppy!

There was much reading of Five Little Pumpkins!*

And snuggles and kisses in general….

This is Good Morning God!*

We also celebrated our first Halloween! Maddie was a little Hermione, and they went to Trunk or Treat at their parish.

Here’s the update!

Maddie is/can:

-fit in 18 month clothes

-growing lots of hair

-has a “cheesy” smile (her new nickname is Cheese)—see top photo :)

-still 6 teeth

-climbs on blocks!

-pulls to stand

-got her first flu shot and doing well

LIKES:

-her blocks

-moving in general

-her crib; she’ll chill in there for an hour after waking before whining

-the Command Center!

She likes food and she cannot lie.

-eating (she LOVES chili and hummus)

-any toys that spin

-Doggie and Kitty (Kitty is more active so Maddie likes that)

-going outside for walks

-going out to eat

-going out in general

-facetimes

FaceTime with Auntie Em :)

-reading (especially “good morning God” and “five little pumpkins”)

HATES:

-changing table

-being left alone

-being tired

-sitting in the car/ stroller and not moving

Books are good!

Photo gallery:

newborn

One month

Two months

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months!

Don't Forget About Advent

Botticelli, “The Annunciation”

Lately there’s been a whole cascade of encounters that have made me think that we need to talk more about Advent.

People saying Christmas ends on the 26th; people being burnt out on Christmas by Christmas Day; and housekeeping plans that tell you to take the tree and decorations down starting the 26th so you can have a “clean house” by January First are all a part of this.

We have forgotten about Advent.

Now, I’m guilty of wanting to play Christmas music in December. :) (This is because there is SO MUCH GOODNESS of it that it takes months to listen to fully!) I put my tree up after Thanksgiving. It’s true. My grandparents put their tree up on Christmas Eve. So I realize that it may not seem like I’m big into Advent.

But I love Advent. I love keeping the baby Jesus out of the crib until Christmas Eve. I love the readings of Advent, and the music of Advent. I love the delicious waiting, as Mother Mary Francis says. * (Link goes to my all time favorite Advent book!)

We need to re-adjust. We can decorate slowly. We can save the parties for the actual Christmas season, which begins Christmas Day and goes for at least twelve days! In the old church calendar, Christmas was a forty day season that ended on Candlemas! (February 2) Yes, you can keep your nativity up that long (and your tree if you’re like me and have a fake one that won’t catch fire!)

Are there things we can do during advent to prepare for Christmas? Of course. We celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. We light the candles on the Advent wreath. We leave shoes out for St. Nicholas. St. Lucy’s Day is a great day to celebrate the coming of the Light of the World and to make St. Lucia Buns!

But the solemnity, the season, of Christmas begins December 25. It’s not over December 26. It’s a season. It’s a big old period for joy.

And likewise, Advent is a season—in preparing for that joy. For making our houses “fair as you are able” (People Look East)

Leila has a wonderful post about this, and it’s a great idea to incorporate some of these into your Christmas. I’ve tried to do this as well—I love the cocoa party idea, for example. Even if you’re single like I am, you can still celebrate the 12 days! I used to love taking time off after Christmas not just for our family reunion but for unwinding around the house and reading all my Christmas books!

If you’d like to celebrate Advent this year, just a note: Advent doesn’t start December 1 and go through the 24th. (I see this a lot.) It properly starts four Sundays before Christmas—this year it starts November 27. It’s movable, just like Lent’s start date is movable. So the first Sunday of Advent is November 27, the second is December 4, the third is December 11, and the fourth is December 18. Yes, we have the longest Advent possible this year, because it’s four full weeks! Sometimes the “fourth week” is really just a few hours, since the fourth Sunday of Advent can also be Christmas Eve.

If you need candles for your wreath, you can check here and here.

Living the season liturgically gives us time to prepare, and time to enjoy. It’s not all crammed together in a stress ball of madness!

BONUS: Here’s my favorite version of Veni, Veni (O Come, O Come Emmanuel):