Best Christmas Books, Traditions, & Fave Posts

Triage for Christmas Correspondence is my solution to sending everyone we know or have ever known a Christmas card with our names signed at the bottom.

We don't have kids, and neither of us really want photos of us circulating around the country via snail mail.  We are grateful for any cards and/or photos we receive.

Please try not to be offended if you don't fit the qualifications to be on our short list.  Once you read them, you'll be relieved you didn't make the list!

I had fun writing this series, a stroll down memory lane, and one that I could add a lot more to (and probably will, eventually).  

Our Family's Christmas Traditions

It's beginning to look a lot like... 

Niermeyer Noel Niceties 

Other Cherished Traditions

Don't worry, yours isn't the only family who doesn't have anything close to a Hallmark holiday: Christmas Merry-Making Mishaps Series #1 Caroling, #2 Decorating Cookies,  #3 Trees,  #4 Nativity Set, #5 Giving Gifts. 

Something to think about as you're moving the elf from shelf to shelf and trying to get your kids to behave better while hopped up on lots of extra sugar. Santa Claus is Coming?
That Elf Upon the Shelf, I Will Talk to Him Myself

Making the Best of Where You Are and What You Have Now:

Going With or Without at Christmas 

Fall Asleep Counting Your Blessings

Humorous Merrymaking Mishaps, Memories, and Traditions 

Christmas Plays

Christmas Play Spectacular at Little Sisters of the Poor

Rejoice and Be Glad

5 Great Nonfiction Books about the True Meaning and Significance of Christmas:

Joy to the World
Go to Joseph

A Catholic Christmas 

A Mary Christmas
Walking with Mary

Christmas Merry-Making Mishaps Series Entry # 3 Trees

Misfortune Seemed Her Lot

One Thursday two years ago December, my family gathered at my mom’s house to decorate the Christmas tree.  Mom was concerned my sister and I wouldn’t be happy that she and my youngest sister had gotten a different type of tree from the live ones we usually buy, but we were fine with it.  The tree looked pretty, as ours always have in previous years. 

   
It turned out Mom was the only one who had trouble with the tree.  She’s apparently really allergic to Scotch Pines, so Wednesday night we had the second quickest ornament and tree removal ever for our family.    

     
As misfortune would seem her lot, my mom exchanged the Scotch Pine for another tree at the same lot where we’d gone every year we’ve lived in Richmond, put it in the tree stand that evening with some sugar water, and by 1:00am, she was having trouble breathing.  She threw a coat on over her pajamas and dragged the thing out the front door and tossed it on the lawn, where it remained for quite some time.  

     

The next day Mom got an artificial tree, which we would consider almost sacrilegious if my poor mom weren’t so allergic to all of the live ones she’d come across that year.  I hassled my mom, saying that she was going a bit far claiming to be allergic to two different trees, so she could get an artificial one and put all of the decorations on herself.  

     

My mom is all about family togetherness, having fun decorating, and festivity, which of course, meant when we were growing up we were not only allowed, but also encouraged to put all of our homemade decorations wherever we wanted on the tree, so my claim was completely bogus, and we all knew it.  

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 131) The Sounds of Music, Family Traditions, & Advent Advice

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Grace is…looking at someone and having a glimpse of how lovable they are in God’s eyes,  receiving a long-awaited message from a friend, a wonderful surprise that warms your heart, coming home to find an Advent wreath on the table and a little Christmas tree lit on the half-wall, crystal clear reminders that some people still do focus on Jesus as the reason for this season with beautiful results and witness to others, family traditions enjoyed by several generations…  

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The Sound of Music LIVE Unreasonable expectations abound when it comes to the groundbreaking three hour performance of The Sound of Music LIVE on NBC December 5, 2013.  I grew up watching The Sound of Music, and of course Carrie Underwood isn't Julie Andrews, but she and that cast did a decent made-for-TV LIVE version of a classic Broadway musical made movie that can't be matched.  There are a number of reviews floating around, but this is the article that seems most accurate of the ones I’ve read.

     Not even Carrie Underwood thought she could be a modern day Julie Andrews.  One of the qualities of classic, famous films is that the parts are played so well by those chosen for those roles that you can’t imagine anyone else doing it better.  If you tuned in last night to see if Carrie Underwood would put in a performance as perfectly fitting, amazing, and endearing as Julie Andrews did, then in my opinion, you just don’t get it...Read the rest here.

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How Do You Solve a Problem Like…? Last evening when my mom came over to watch The Sound of Music LIVE with Kevin and me, she brought me a wonderful gift.  Without explanation, she handed me a magazine called Religious Life and told me to turn to page 26.  I was delighted when I did as I was told and came upon a photo with my dear friend, Michele Morris, looking radiant in white and brown.  My mom had come across the publication that has a picture of the Discalced Carmelites by the Sea in its November/December 2013 issue and surprised me with it.  Of the ten women in the photo, Michele is by far the youngest, though all of them have a joyful glow about them. 

     I couldn’t resist laughing at the irony of my mom giving me this publication with a picture of Michele in it on the very evening when The Sound of Music LIVE aired.  Back in July, when Michele’s mother and I were helping her get the props out of her vehicle for her final performance of her original play “Teresita,” Michele was off greeting people who had come for the show.  Looking at the social butterfly making her rounds, Michele’s mom and I suddenly burst into a fitting song for the occasion: “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?”

     Michele is indeed well-suited to the contemplative life, a true prayer warrior, obedient to God's Will though she’s also been great center-stage as an actress and the life of the party.  It warms my heart to see her so joyful where God has called her to be.  

     We miss you, think of you often, and pray for you always, Michele!

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7 Tips for an Excellent Advent I wrote this series of Advent posts inspired by seven brief suggestions for how to observe this holy season a couple years ago when my grandmother was still living and our dear friends/siblings in Christ John and Michele were residing in Richmond.  (My grandmother passed away January 31 of this year.  John is in his second year of seminary at St. Mary's in Baltimore, Maryland, and Michele entered the Carmelite Sisters by the Sea this past August).  

     The same lessons apply this year as they have in the past.  

1.      Stay Awake

2.      Seek Him Who Seeks You

3.      Hold on to Hope

4.      Celebrate the Season

5.      Rejoice and Be Glad

6.      Give the Gift of Quality Time

7.      Wait Patiently

What has been the hardest of the above 7 tips for you to follow this Advent?  Has that been true in the past as well.  How is God nudging you to a deeper understanding of this season and Christ’s Incarnation?

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Fresh Bread The whole grain taste of Fresh Bread is certainly one that can provide ample food for thought and considerable spiritual nourishment throughout the year.  Fresh Bread and Other Gifts of Spiritual Nourishment by Joyce Rupp, OSM is beautifully written, engaging, intimate, vulnerable, and honest.  From a place of humility and brokenness, the beauty of God’s love shines through her poetry, prose, prayers, and provocative questions with a quiet, gentle intensity that seeps into the soul…Read the complete review here.

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Here We Come A’Caroling A neighborhood friend and I decided one year when we were around eleven years old, that we were going to practice singing some Christmas carols, then take our show on the road, or more realistically around our cul-de-sac off of River Road in Richmond.  Our confidence and jubilation wavered considerably when the first woman whose doorbell we rang heard us start singing.  She gave us a very strange look and tried to close the door before we were through one verse of our well-rehearsed repertoire of songs.  

     It wasn’t until later that my friend and I found out that the neighbor is Jewish, and therefore not as likely to enjoy our impromptu Christmas caroling performance on her steps.  For all she knew, someone had put us up to it, knowing she was Jewish.  I doubt it occurred to her that we were just unlucky enough that we would pick her house to start with.  But the truth is, we were that unfortunate.  

     Stay-tuned, I will soon be posting more Christmas merry-making mishaps in days to come.  Shocking though it may be, we’ve managed to rack up quite a few.

    

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Cherished Family Christmas Traditions We’ve created and maintained a number of traditions over the years that we continue to uphold today.  I take comfort in the traditions to keep us connected to family members who are no longer with us (namely my dad and Grandma) and in an effort to welcome and induct the youngest, cutest members of the clan (our nine month old nephew).  Here’s the first round of what we do, and here’s the second list. 

     What are your family's favorite Christmas traditions? 

                  

Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary.  

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 81)

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Christmas Card Cop-out I would like to say a sincere thanks to all of you who sent us Christmas cards! You didn't receive one from us this year not because we don't love you, but because I decided to try and maintain my sanity and a prayerful spirit while Kevin and I have lot going on right now. In other words consider yourself, loved, hugged, and prayed for!   

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Traditions from the Niermeyers There are three pieces that make up the holiday tradition must-do things for our family: 1.) certain Christmas music 2.) decorating the family Tree 3.) making Christmas cookies.  We really get into these three traditions every year, click here for details and a few photos.

           

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Wisdom from White Christmas which it’s our family’s tradition to watch each year.  I wrote this reflection Fall Asleep Counting Your Blessings a few years ago when we didn’t do many of our usual traditions and how they played out for us that Advent season.   

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Teeth R Movin’ This has been an interesting couple of weeks for teeth in the under 3 age bracket of the household where I nanny.  The twins both have their two front bottom teeth starting to peek through their gums the same week when their older sister had to have her top two front teeth removed.  Though it’s made me think of the song “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,” I’m not sure it actually applies to any of them at the moment.  Cutting teeth is painful, but having them pulled is not too fun either.  Hopefully the tooth fairy will also bring something nice for the girls’ mommy and daddy this weekend.       

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Remembering Loved Ones Lost I’ve had some dreams about my dad this week.  In one of them, there was a period of time within the dream that I thought my dad was still alive, though he had already died even (in the dream).  Thinking of him along with family and friends who have lost loved ones more recently always reminds me to pray extra for those mourning those dear to them, especially this time of year.  Of course, all of those affected by the recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, will be in our hearts and prayers this year.    

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No Family, No Celebration A Christian friend texted me this week to check in and see how Kevin and I were doing.  Talk about a humbling experience, this busy single mom (of a 14 month old little boy who’s super cute!) works full-time and lives a few hours away from us, and she's the one who takes the time to reach out to us to see how things are going.  (Major guilt enter stage right and left.) I asked her what she was doing for Christmas.  She said she has to work Christmas day, and that since she has no family in this country, she usually doesn’t do anything special to celebrate.  How sad is that.  Not sure if Kevin and I will be able to go see them sometime soon, but we’ll certainly be sending something to help them celebrate Christ’s birth and God’s love!  If you know someone without family nearby, try to include them in what you're doing and/or do something special with them between now and New Year's.

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My Audition Piece Over the past eleven days, when I haven’t been chasing little ones or running errands, I’ve been feverishly rereading, taking notes, on the first four books in a YA series, and working on an audition piece I will be sending within the week to a group of authors who are actively seeking a fourth writer for their series of Young Adult novels.  The cool thing is that I’ll be working with them either way as a copy editor (though I’d really love to be the fourth writer, too!)  Your prayers would be much appreciated please and thanks!   

  

Head over to Conversion Diary, to read Jen Fulwiler's wonderful tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 10)

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Calling all altar servers! Kevin and I got to serve on the altar at Holy Cross this past week—something we certainly didn’t foresee happening.  There was a 3:30pm wedding last Friday, and the altar needed to be completely rearranged before 5:20pm daily Mass.  We arrived at 5:00pm as did Rosemary, the parishioner who is apparently in charge of set-up and cleanup of the worship space.  She hadn’t anticipated that they would have left everything after the ceremony as it was: white cloth going from the back of the church to the altar, rose petals scattered about, the furniture on the altar moved to accommodate the wedding couple, nuptial candles, etc. 

When we saw her looking a bit overwhelmed and trying to move large pieces of furniture back to their appropriate positions, Kevin and I both went up to help.  We introduced ourselves to Rosemary, who we have seen each day when we’ve gone to daily Mass at Holy Cross, and she thanked us up, down, and sideways for our help.  She’s still come up to us before Mass a couple days this week to express her undying gratitude that we pitched in when she was in a pinch.  How humbling that we could assist this woman and have the opportunity to serve on the altar, even if it wasn’t in the traditional sense, at the Church that’s been our by the beach haven for daily Mass while in Rochester this summer. 

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Men, Mechanics, and Motorcycles…For a number of years, my husband has really regretted that he sold his Honda Nighthawk 650 motorcycle.  He misses those days dearly and has been talking about how much fun he had.  Last night his cousin Rob came by to visit and shared some more stories of full-throttle speed, and testosterone tempered fun he remembers from when he and Kevin were growing up.  Rob shared some stories I’d heard from Kevin, and other ones that were new to me.  The prevailing theme of their race down memory lane can best be summed up by a physics tidbit and macho-motorhead philosophy my husband still reminds me of today: “It’s not speed that kills; it’s sudden deceleration.”        

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Friday Fish Fry.  Another tradition in Rochester that revolves around food is the Friday evening fish fry.  Several restaurants in the area offer a fish fry on Fridays which, I’m guessing, began a number of years ago when restaurants were trying to appeal to a large Catholic population observing the Lenten fast of no meat on Fridays.  A while back, Catholics weren’t supposed to eat any meat on Fridays throughout the year as a way of fasting on the day of the week when Christ’s Passion led to His Crucifixion and Death.  Some people still refrain from eating meat on Fridays by continuing to observe this fast year-round.  Though there are lots more Catholic Churches per capita in Rochester than in any of the other places my family and I have lived, the fish fry tradition has likely remained due to its continued culinary popularity in these parts more than its original religious fast observance dictated by Catholicism.  Kevin and I are looking forward to getting a fish fry out with family this Friday after we go to daily Mass.     

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Guess what?! It’s playtime!  Family friends of ours introduced us to a fantastically entertaining game called Catchphrase, which is a contest between two teams competing to produce quick answers using a combination of word clues, charades, guessing, and high speed.  We played Catchphrase at their house as part of a birthday celebration, and it was quite amusing. 

Kevin and I purchased a completely electronic version of Catchphrase and pulled it out last Sunday when his three sisters, (Deb, Wendy, and Chari) along with their two husbands (Bob and Pete), and one’s boyfriend (Jim), came to the cottage for the long-time tradition of a Sunday evening family dinner at the Lake.  Once we’d eaten some of the rather messy, very unique main dish created with the enormous zucchinis from Chari and Pete’s garden as part of our meal and had some chocolate walnut zucchini cake with chocolate frosting for dessert, I pulled out Catchphrase.  All of us were sitting outside in lawn chairs.  As in the past, we decided to play guys versus girls.  The game was definitely a hit.  We were laughing so hard, at times, that it was hard to breathe both before, during, and after the game.  Kevin’s stomach actually hurt from laughing so much that evening. 

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Simply Sinfully Scrumptious.  Yes, I realize that food has often been highlighted in recent posts and quick takes, but this, I feel, ought to be included.  Wegmans family owned grocery stores makes incredible baked goods among many other things.  Their chocolate chip cookies and coconut donuts have been part of our summer splurges ever since I was little.  The other day, I asked Kevin if he would get me a coconut donut and some chocolate milk while I got some work done on our computer in the Wegmans café.  They didn’t have any coconut donuts out, so the woman offered to make some fresh.  My mom’s already exceedingly jealous that Kevin and I are getting so much time on what she refers to as “[her] lake,” but I think she just might have lost it if she’d found out that I had the delectable privilege of eating a coconut donut  fresh from the Wegmans bakery. 

Kevin and I took Wegmans peanut butter fudge brownies and a small chocolate cheesecake to my uncle Rob and aunt Diane’s house the other evening, and both were also very well received.    

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Just dazzling, darling!  Over the past couple weeks, we’ve been in a really nice family-owned jewelry shop called Trilliant Jewelers.  Kevin needed to have his wedding band resized and took my rings to be cleaned.  The owners of Trilliant Jewelers, our niece Andrea and her husband George, have a number of beautiful, hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind pieces of fine jewelry to offer.  Kevin’s excited that he can now put his wedding band on first thing in the morning now since it’s been properly resized, and I’m amazed at how sparklingly brilliant my wedding rings and the one from my great grandmother are now that they’ve been cleaned and polished.     
    Wednesday my necklace broke, so we headed back there for a repair.  Check back later to check out the impressive array of offerings at Trilliant Jewelers.        

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Durand Eastman Park.  Kevin has enjoyed spending some of his time as a beach bum over at Durand-Eastman Park, a place which holds a number of memories for my parents as well as Kevin and his friends.   My parents used to go to Durand-Eastman Park to sled in the winter.  They often drove through the winding roads on their way to Don and Bob’s for ground rounds, hot dogs, and fries.  Kevin loved going as fast as he could in whatever motor vehicle he happened to have at the time around the curves and over the hills. 

Over the past couple weeks, Kevin’s headed down to a section of beach in Durand-Eastman Park that’s got some shade, a nice breeze coming in over the Lake, and some friendly beach sentries who he’s chatted with while chilling in his chair in the shade.     

 

     Check out Jennifer Fulwiler’s 7 Quick Takes Friday series and her high-traffic for good reason blog Conversion Diary.

Abbott's: A Blast from the Past That’s MmmMmm…Good!

Our family has certain traditions when we come to Rochester.  Some of the most significant ones involve food.  In all of the places we’ve lived, we’ve never found a grocery store quite like the local, family owned Wegman’s.  People actually come here from around the world to see how their stores are set-up and run.  Our favorite items to buy when we’re in town are their chocolate chip cookies, coconut donuts, bulk foods, and Dinosaur BBQ sauce. 
     
Don’s Original, formerly known as Don and Bob’s, is one burger joint we go to at least once during our trips here, at least any that have been with my mom.  Last night I was talking with her, and she asked me if we’d been to Don and Bob’s yet.  I told her we hadn’t gone there or gotten chocolate almond custard from Abbott’s. 
     
“I don’t understand,” she said, in all honesty.
    
I just laughed. 

My mom has been known on occasion to drive directly to Wegman’s, Don and Bob’s, or Abbott’s as soon as we get into town, so, of course, she’d find it hard to believe that we hadn’t gone to all of those hotspots in the past week.  Actually, we did go to Wegman’s in the first couple days we were here.  Today we had lunch at Don and Bob’s and this afternoon we’re planning on having custard from Abbott’s. 
     
Though I have many fond memories over the years that involve Abbott’s, the most loving one the comes to mind was when my cousin Cathy, who lives in California, ordered some Abbott’s and had it shipped to my dad when he was homebound.  He was so excited to get a taste of Rochester from such a thoughtful niece