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Ever since we have had our Christmas tree up, we have had an ongoing battle of the wills. On one side we have Brendan, the resident 16month old, who wants to pull every ornament off the tree in a relentless all day long attack. On the other side we have Mommy, who has to be in defensive mode all day long and often deep into the evening. The offense seems to be tiring, though, and we may have a victory in this battle by around Epiphany, in other words, around the time we take the tree down.-2-
So, as of 2:30 today, we are officially on Christmas break. Whew! I am so ready for it! As usual, I welcome the break in the hectic schedule for the next two weeks! At least at this point in my life, I can't imagine being one of those moms who dread school holidays because then they have to deal with their kids being home all day with them. I just can't relate because the level of activity/homework seems to be much higher when they are in school!-3-
I have done quite a bit of late night shopping this week. I have finished shopping for the older kids. The good news is that Andrew and Brendan are the ones who have the least idea of what is supposed to happen. I could wrap up the remote control for Brendan and he would have a field day. Andrew would be happy if I wrapped up one if his trucks from the playroom. I am not sure he gets the whole "Santa thing".-4-
I attended my parish’s Advent Penance Service last week. What a gift! It was a beautiful service. I took along Alexander, Matthew and Catherine. Our amazing Pastor, Father Dillon, gave a beautiful sermon on how confession is giving God the message that we love him. That we love him so much, we want to repent and to turn back to him and to grow closer. And God rejoices! Like the father of the Prodigal Son, He cant wait til we turn to come home!-5-
We love getting Christmas cards. We hang them up on our refrigerator (the only time of the year I allow anything to be hung on the front of my fridge). Catherine thinks that checking the mail is the best thing during Christmas.-6-
I have a good friend who had her 3rd baby about 6 weeks after Brendan was born. She also has a 11 yr and 12 yr old. Before have #3 she was a teacher at our local parish school. After having her son, she made the decision to stay home and not return to teaching. For extra money she has been doing some tutoring in the afternoon and evenings. She just told me the other day that one her her students just stopped coming to her tutoring lessons. The student cancelled one time and then never called back to reschedule. She thought this was odd as this student had really been doing well and making progress. My girlfriend came to find out (from the child's teacher), that the parents of the student could not longer have their child tutored by her because she voted for Barack Obama and had a sticker on her car !!! I was floored. Even though Barack Obama was not my choice, I am always shocked when I hear such intolerance for someone else's view. My friend and I discussed our political views 
and we don't agree on every political issue. I’m not petty enough to end friendships over that, though. As a parent, I do however understand it is our job to protect our children from those things which we deem harmful. However, my girlfriend is far from harmful and one of the most kind and open minded people I know. It would be interesting for the parents of this said student to come to find out the political affiliations/religions/beliefs of some the the actual teacher at her Catholic school. Wonder what they would do then?-7-
The big talk around my house lately is whether or not the New England Patriots are going to make it to the "playoffs". Matthew and Alexander are thinking, talking and analyzing the possibilities for this on a daily basis. Their ticked-off because two so-called ESPN football stars/talking heads (Marcellus Wiley and Mark Schlereth) have said that the Patriots are not going to make the playoffs. However, Mike's prediction is that the Ravens will lose this Sunday against the Cowboys and the Jets will beat the Dolphins in the final week...the Patriots will win their remaining two games, therefore making it to the play-offs. He then predicts that the Pats will beat the Jets in the first round. From there, he thinks that injuries will catch up with the team and they will lose (but don't tell Matthew and Alexander!!). We will have to see how it all turns out. For my sake...I hope they go as far as they can. You have to remember that Alexander and Matthew are just 10 years old. In their short 10 years they have seen their favorite sports teams do amazing things. The Patriots have gone to 4 Superbowls and won 3 of them They have seen the Boston Red Sox win 2 World Series and the Boston Celtics win the NBA Championship just last year. It is kind of hard for them to understand that Mike's dad never even saw the Red Sox's win a World Series in his lifetime (he passed away in 2005).!
GO PATRIOTS!!
Christmas will be here in less than a week, whether I am ready or not. And thank God for that.
Enjoy the weekend, my friends
