The Incarnation of Christ, celebrated in the liturgical season of Christmastide, takes on a richer significance for me with each passing year. The story of the Nativity is fuller, but undeniably more strange. It loses the saccharine quality of greeting cards and becomes complicated. Christmas becomes more intricately connected to Holy Week and I’m reminded that the miracle of the Incarnation … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2012
The 10 Most Popular Carrots Posts of 2012!
Me (at 20 weeks pregnant) with my sweet boy last night sharing the best hot cocoa of my life from my favorite coffee place. Still enjoying the 12 Days of Christmas! :) I was inspired by Mandi's post of her blog's 10 most popular posts of 2012 to do the same for Carrots and list the most popular posts written this year on the blog. Looks like readers were most interested in posts about … [Read more...]
This Week’s Miscellany: Vol. 36
I hope you had a beautiful Christmas Day! Look at this big girl with piggy tails opening her stocking at Daniel's folks house: We still have our tree up, lights shining, and I refuse to stop using our Christmas china cups until Epiphany. Especially since we received this amazing coffee mill from Daniel's family for Christmas. A thing of beauty is a joy forever! In the Liturgical Year: We're … [Read more...]
Merry Christmas from Carrots!
Wishing all of you a wonderful Christmas! We're been having a wonderful day with family (and a special movie date to see Les Mis while sweet grandparents watched the kiddos!). So grateful for each and every one of my faithful readers who make it such a joy to blog in this space! Christus Natus Est! … [Read more...]
Our 12 Days of Christmas!
Contrary to what retailers might have you believe, the 12 Days of Christmas are not the 12 days that precede Christmas. They actually begin on Christmas Day, lasting until the Feast of Epiphany on January 6th. This season, also known as Christmastide, is traditionally when the holiday celebrating starts, but you'd never know it from all the Christmas trees already stripped bare and left by the … [Read more...]
Little HolyDays: Christmas Eve Edition!
The waiting is almost over! Our Lord is almost here! It has been such a joy to observe Advent along with so many of you that participated in this link up. Today I get to "curate" the posts from last week and share my very favorites with you. But I'll be honest, I had a hard time narrowing it down. There were so many beautiful posts. I was inspired by the reflections on Advent and waiting in … [Read more...]
Christmas Tree Joy: A Photo Post
It's been quiet at Carrots this week, friends. I got hit by another bout of serious morning sickness and have been out of commission for a couple of days. Thank heavens for my mom and my in-laws who took care of the kids almost all day yesterday so that I could rest and recover from some fun pregnancy vomiting. I spent the whole day in bed with ginger ale and Harry Potter audiobooks. Anyhow, … [Read more...]
Getting Kids to Sleep Later
So here’s the thing: we did get our kids to sleep later. But I don't want to mislead you. Our kids still wake up way too early. However, the fact that they no longer wake at 4:30am is a huge success. In fact, they now sleep two hours later and get up at 6:30am. So, in comparison it’s a win but let’s not pretend that 6:30am isn’t obscenely early. So we couldn’t cure our kids of the horrid … [Read more...]
Little Holydays: Third Week of Advent
Yesterday was Gaudete Sunday when we are reminded to wait with joy for the coming of Our Lord. In light of the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, it was difficult to do anything but grieve this weekend. I did find joy in the presence of my sweet family and savored each moment with them with a grateful heart. On Saturday I posted this reflection on the darkness of Advent and … [Read more...]
This Week’s Miscellany: Vol. 35
My kind husband watched the kids all last weekend so I could go on an Advent retreat (my first Catholic retreat ever!). It was so refreshing and beautiful. I always get sinus infections right after Thanksgiving or I'm involved in Nutcracker rehearsals, but neither of those things happened this year and it's been quiet and intentional and awesome. I'm starting to think about our plans for the 12 … [Read more...]