December 1st is here which means Jesus' birthday will be here soon and it means another new month for No Ordinary Blog Hop (NOBH), the blog hop that I co-host with 7 other bloggers.  Click HERE to link up and our monthly theme is "How do you share your gifts with others?"  If you have a post on the monthly theme link it up under the "Monthly Theme" button on the right sidebar at NOBH.

We countdown to Christmas Day in our house with these special Advent calendars:
This is a magnetic calendar with 24 doors.  Each door has a magnet in it to add to the nativity scene with Day 24 holding the Baby Jesus.  My cupcake #1 is placing the first piece which is a yellow star over the stable.  This was given to one of my children several years ago by one of their Godparents.  They love peeking into each door to find the next piece each day!

I received this cloth Advent calendar from my parents when I was pregnant with Cupcake #1, so we have been using it for the past 11 years!  The first piece, the moon, is velcroed into place.  This calendar will also make a Nativity scene, filled with angels, animals, wisemen, and the Holy Family.

Melissa at The Joys of Home Educating also posted today about her Advent Calendars.  You can read her post HERE.  My children would love the LEGO Star Wars one she has...maybe one day we'll be able to add that one to our collection too! :) 

How does your family countdown to Christmas?

May you have a blessed 24 days anticipating the celebration of Jesus' birth!

 

Before I encourage others to pray the Immaculate Conception Novena beginning today, Nov. 29, HERE is information that answers "What are Novenas?" 

Immaculate Conception Novena!
Starting November 29th, I am joining over 6,000 Catholics to pray the Immaculate Conception Novena!
I’m looking forward to the answered prayers from this amazing saint! With so many faithful Catholics around the world praying this novena, I thought I'd invite others to join too!
Do you have any special petitions to bring to Mary?
You can sign up for handy email reminders to get the the novena prayers here: Immaculate Conception Novena
Let’s get as many as we can to pray this novena together for the Immaculate Conception!


Tis the season to see Nativity scenes displayed in homes, yards, businesses, Christmas cards, etc.  But, do you know the history behind the Nativity Scene or Creche (French)?  Believe it or not, the origin of the Christmas Creche dates back to the 1200s with St. Francis of Assisi.  Read more about this beautiful story and tradition HERE.

One tradition our family does during the holy season of Advent is to prepare a soft bed/manger for Baby Jesus.  I saw this idea on Holy Heroes Advent Adventure and thought this would be a fun and simple way to have my children prepare their hearts and souls for the true meaning of the Advent/Christmas season.  So at the beginning of Advent we start with an empty manger (empty basket)  and have a bowl full of "hay" (yellow yarn pieces).

Then as my children make sacrifices for family and friends (doing their chores without complaining, helping a sibling with school work, doing a kind deed for a friend, etc), they can put a piece of yarn in the basket.  So by the end of the Advent season, the basket will be filled with yarn for a soft bed for Baby Jesus (at least that is the goal :) )

On Christmas morning, we will place Jesus in our soft manger built with love and sacrifices and display Him under our Christmas tree.

I love this quote from the article, St. Francis and the Christmas Creche by Fr. William Saunders :


"Although the story is long old, the message is clear for us. Our own Nativity scenes which rest under our Christmas trees are a visible reminder of that night when our Savior was born. May we never forget to see in our hearts the little Babe of Bethlehem, who came to save us from sin. We must never forget that the wood of the manger that held Him so securely would one day give way to the wood of the cross. May we too embrace Him with all of our love as did St. Francis."

Are you looking for affordable Nativity sets for children?  Lacy at Catholic Icing did a post where she listed lots of ideas and I blogged about her post HERE.

Speaking of Nativities, be sure to check out Monica's blog post HERE at Arma Dei Equipping Catholic Families that has photos and links to so many creative handmade nativity sets.  If you have a nativity set to share you can link up your creation to Monica's blog post HERE and grab a button like this:



The world tells us Christmas is here and ends on Dec. 26.  Our family is blessed with our Catholic faith that tells us that Advent is here as we prepare for Christmas.  The Christmas season officially starts on Christmas Day and the 12 days following....More on this on a later post...Stay tuned!

I wanted to help spread the word about all the cute and affordable Nativity Sets that are available.

Lacy at Catholic Icing has this post with lots of sets listed at great prices.  My kids love Nativity sets and they are especially enjoying the Little People set I got for them last year.  I gave the Little People Nativity to our Godchildren last year for Christmas gifts.

As mentioned on Lacy's blog post, I just ordered the Playmobil Nativity Set for $19.95 with Free Shipping until Tuesday, Nov. 29 by using the coupon code 16911.  I can't wait to give this to my children on St. Nicholas' Feast Day on Dec. 6!