Do you have plans for Advent?

Okay, I will admit I do not like to get the Christmas ball rolling until after Thanksgiving. I refuse to purchase or set out any decorations until after the turkey is put away. Why in the world am I asking you about Advent, which is still a few weeks away?

I want to share with you two great books that make Advent such a special time.

First there is this one,We read this as a family two years ago. It was by far our favorite part of Advent, and the Christmas season. Arnold Ytreeide does such a great job with these books. You read a chapter each night, with the end of the book culminating on Christmas. Although these books have been around awhile, until last year they were out of print. You had to rely on eBay or Amazon, and let me tell you the old supply and demand economics was definitely at work.

You can imagine my joy when they announced the reprint. Although we had to take last year off, I just couldn't justify $100 for a book I knew I could get for less than $15 in a year. I was chomping at the bit to get our copy of Bartholomew's Passage for this season's Advent. I'm happy to announce our copy has safely made it to the Nomad Pad, and is patiently waiting for the first day of Advent to bring us great joy.

**Note to parents: The opinions about this book are mine, and mine alone. I first heard about these books on the SL-Catholic forum, where people were praising them. HOWEVER, as with everything, not everyone shares the same opinions. After I purchased the first book, I was scared stiff. One woman came out of her blog silence, and railed on and on about how terrible and awful the book was. She felt it was too dark and scary. Now when we read the first one, The General was 10 and Princess was 7 going on 8. My kiddos are pretty sensitive, and we had no problems. Please do read other reviews if you have concerns. End of warning.

Good luck planning your Advent season. If you do decide to go with Jotham's Journey, the first of the trilogy, you can find them here. Let me know what you think.

Thank you for your service. . .

Though it is not a common greeting, I have heard these kind words from strangers. Mostly when we are moving. It is very apparent by our loaded down vehicles, we are in the middle of a PCS. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I say thank you, climbing back into my car filled with pride. You see, when I really think about those who have sacrificed so much more, I am stopped dead in my tracks. Overcome by tears. I am so incredibly grateful God has not asked that ultimate sacrifice of my family. Although we've been separated, our Daddy has come home to us. Every time. It is our prayer every night he is away, "God, please bring Daddy home, safely and quickly." A prayer He has answered so many, many times over the years.
Others have said those same prayers For some reason, we have no way of understanding, those prayers have not been answered. At least not in a way we, as mere humans would like. So today we took the kiddos to mass, to pray for those veterans and their families. Those who have died, so that I may enjoy the many freedoms too many in our country take for granted. For those who are left behind, trying to fill a hole in their hearts that only God can mend. For those who only know a photo as their parent. My heart aches for each and every one of them.
To all of them I say, "Thank you for your service. I have not forgotten you."

Remember the Sabbath, and Keep it Holy. . .

This is a question I am currently wrangling with. I am continually awed by God's power to speak to us through his word. I've known the Ten Commandments since I was a child. Though I wasn't raised Catholic, I was introduced to the laws of God at VBS so long ago. What strikes me is this, all of a sudden this portion of the word is tugging at my heart.
The kiddos and I have been studying The Two Great Commandments that Jesus gave. First: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. Second: Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself. (Found in The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism circa 1964.) Jesus didn't just throw out the old law that was given to Moses. He said we must keep those commands, IN ADDITION we are to love thy neighbor (Oh, that is a hard one. But not the one God has for me to ponder this day.)
This lesson brought about a deeper discussion of what keeping the Ten Commandments means. Which in turn began my questioning, "Am I remembering the sabbath? Am I teaching my children to keep this day holy for our Lord?" Hmmm. . . My answer came to me. We are not in a Sunday groove.
Since moving back to WA, our Sunday groove is a mess. Mr. Nomad and I have always been Sunday morning mass people. Sure, there are those times when we need to go to the Saturday evening mass, but we really don't feel like it is Sunday without starting the day with mass. Our current schedule is requiring us to attend the LifeTeen mass which is 5pm Sundays, so I'm struggling to organize our Sunday in such a way to bring glory to our Lord.
Please, help me out folks. What are some things your families do to keep the sabbath holy?

Brown Cows

No we haven't moved to the farm. No Bessies or Bossies here at the Nomad Pad. Instead I have a little family tradition to share.

It started when Mr. Nomad was a small boy. His parents used to get the kiddos in their jammies, load them into the station wagon, then drive to the local ice cream place. There they would be treated to the delicious Brown Cow.

What in the world is a Brown Cow? I'm so glad you asked. A Brown Cow is one of the yummiest shakes you could ever ask for. You take a few scoops of chocolate ice cream, pour root beer over it, and stir it all together. Yep, a root beer float with chocolate ice cream. Though not good for your waistline, or any other part of your body for that matter, they are YUM-MEE!!

The tradition of the Brown Cow is carried on with the next generation. Only now we don't load the kiddos up, Grandma & Grandpa make them at home. Here are the kiddos enjoying Brown Cows with Grandpa. I love the memories and traditions my children have with their grandparents. It is such a special relationship. Now we just need to make it until Christmas. . . Grandma & Grandpa will be back, and you can bet this Momma will have the freezer stocked.

Hopefully Bubby will learn how to smile by then. Oh this bad smile phase is so painful. I'm beginning to resort to, "No, no Bubby. You don't need to smile. Just look at Mommy-PLEASE!"

A shameless plug for Foothill Reflections.

My friend Lorri is blessed with a wonderful husband, he's blessed to have her as well. During our time in DC our families spent a lot of time together, many times discussing various issues regarding our Catholic faith. Since moving last April, I've really missed those in depth talks. Which made it so wonderful when Phil began his blog.

Although I can't walk across the street and chit chat with Lorri & Phil, I can visit his blog Foothill Reflections and get a little of that in depth thought I so greatly miss. I realize you don't know Phil, but if you are interested in reading about our Catholic faith, the church's daily readings and how they relate to our lives, stop by and check it out.

End of shameless plug.

I QUIT!

A conversation with my three year old.

Mommy: Bubby, no more wrestling with your brother! (Said with a stern voice and a pop on the hiney.)

Bubby: That's it! I quit this Nomad Family Game. I'm not playing any more. I'm going to my room. And babysitting myself. And playing by. my.self! (Said with an equally stern, frustrated voice.)

Mommy: Sorry, you don't get to quit the Nomad Family Game. (Under her breath says, I feel your pain Bub. Even you they make you crazy you don't get to quit the Nomads.)

2 hours later. . .

Mommy: Bubby, do you still want to quit the family?

Bubby: What?

Mommy: Do you still want to quit the family?

Bubby: No, I don't want to.

Mommy: Why not?

Bubby: I don't like to quit. Then I'd be sad, like when I get in trouble.

Mommy: I'm glad you changed your mind. I love you Bubby.

Bubby: Thank you.

That Bubby, he's so cute.

Resurrection. . .

Remember when my in-laws visited last month? I told you of all the projects we tackled. My sister keeps pestering me to post some pictures, so here they are Jody. This armoir has been used in The General's room since he was a baby. With the big move we have given him our furniture, so this needed a new home. Mr. Nomad & I needed a piece for my TV (I say my because he hates having a TV in the bedroom). The only problem was the color didn't jive with our new bedroom set. Then there was this cute little wash stand. I found it in an antique shop one time. I don't know why, but I just love it. Sadly though, Mr. Nomad hated it. (Notice I used hate in the past tense.)

Mr. Nomad's mom, brother and Princess went to town sanding and staining these sorry, worn pieces of furniture.

After staining, there were several coats of poly.

Then we added new hardware.

Viola, some old tired pieces have been resurrected. We now have two beautiful pieces of furniture that were relatively inexpensive. The stain and poly were left over from a previous project my mother-in-law did, and the hardware was only around $50.

Now Mr. Nomad loves my old washstand.

Thank you family for all of your hard work. I love you so much, and am so appreciative of all you do for us.