Advent is upon us! I invite you to join me this December in reclaiming Advent. Don’t give in to the busy-ness that steamrolls right over the holy hush of this beautiful season…the materialism that turns off the Christmas carols on December 26th, when Christmas has only, finally, just arrived. Here’s a video I recorded for…
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Nothing Says “Christmas” like a Gingerbread House
It’s one of the critical memories of my childhood. No year went by without gingerbread–it was the single indispensable Christmas cookie. And not very many went by without some sort of gingerbread construction. Well, last Saturday, our daily Advent activity was…making a gingerbread house with Grandma! Sorry you can’t smell it (or taste it. But the…
Read MoreFriday Advent Adventures: Kids, Service, and the Season
One of the fundamental underpinnings of everything I’m trying to get at during Advent is that it’s not all about us. But it’s a tricky thing to find the right balance of service, spiritual growth, and fun. Service, as I’ve noted in the past, can actually be really fun, but only if you don’t overdo…
Read MoreMotherhood Moments in Pictures
One thing about Advent activities: it translates to a lot of “moments” with your children. Moments like feeding goats, camels, and a wildebeest (I kid you not): Moments like watching my son ride a camel: Or how about getting to share a brand new baby cousin with them? Then there are the ubiquitous pictures with…
Read MoreConfessions of an Advent Zombie
It seems ironic to me that in this season of Advent—the Advent I’ve spent two years preparing for, the one in which I’m doing four radio interviews, four periodical interviews, countless blog entries, and five book signings to help families move toward a less crazed, more relaxing, and holy Advent season—that in this season, it…
Read MoreFriday Advent Adventures: Chrismon
I thought by the time I’d done enough research to write a book, a dozen or two blog posts, and a research-heavy article, I’d know about everything there is to know about Advent and Christmas. Well, guess what? Thanksgiving weekend, I learned something new, and very cool. My mother-in-law and I were looking at Christmas…
Read MoreThe First Week of Advent in Pictures
Here are some pictures from our first week of Advent. For discussion of Advent topics, see my post from earlier this morning.
Read MoreFriday Advent Adventures: The Advent calendar
Welcome to Friday Advent Adventures! For the next three Fridays, we’re going to break open a topic and compare notes from our experiences in reclaiming Advent. (The fourth Friday is Christmas Eve, and even I’m not bigheaded enough to think you all want to talk Advent with me on Christmas Eve.) This week, let’s talk…Advent calendars! As…
Read MoreCheck out the interactive Advent calendar each day beginning November 28th to see what goodies await!
Read MoreBlog Tour!
It’s Blog Tour day for Joy to the World: Advent Activities for Your Family, hosted by FIRST Wild Card Tours. This is a new experience for me, and I hope you’ll check out some of the sites that have posted reviews: Ruth at This That & The Other Thing Creative Madness Mama ElCloud Homeschool Adventures…
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Kathleen M. Basi 