MOVIE REVIEW MONDAY...

Haven't been watching too many movies lately...I am not bed ridden anymore and I discovered the Hallmark channel!!!

What are your favorite Christmas movies? Ours are the typical:
White Christmas
Elf
The Santa Clause
Grinch (s)

WOW-GO HERE FOR A GREAT LIST+++

THY WILL BE DONE!!! +JMJ+

CHRISTMAS GLUTTONY:

It is hard to be simple in our house this time of year. I try to hold back on the junk, but we have seven winter birthdays and I don't want the birthday kids to feel like they got jipped due to having a birthday near Christmas.

I just surveyed the loot to wrap for 12 kids to make sure all is even, and it sums up to a pile full of stuff...I even got sensible gifts this year...but, all in all, it is still more stuff!!! Then I head to check on the sleeping babes and kick the piles of junk off the floor. (where are we going to put the new junk?)

I head to bed only to read this meditation:

Live simply, so that others can simply live.

THY WILL BE DONE!!! +JMJ+

FAVORITE STORY FRIDAY:

SANTA'S FAVORITE STORY
We usually like books that tell the true Christmas story. This is the best book for kids with great pictures and under $6 bucks!!!



JESUS' CHRISTMAS PARTY
This is a hysterical book, but hard to find. Some places sell it for $10, amazon had it for $140? (not sure why-my kids want to sell ours now!!!) Must have a sense of humor and be able to read books with lots of verbal excitement!!!

THY WILL BE DONE!!! +JMJ+

TOY REVIEW TUESDAY:

MODEL MAGIC CLAY

My kids used to always play with SCULPEY CLAY and we still love it, just like I said here.
We also have really enjoyed the Model Magic clay. No cooking necessary and if you roll it into a ball it can bounce when dry. It comes in small packs for stocking suffers too!!!

THY WILL BE DONE!!! +JMJ+

Feast of the Immaculate Conception...

Found all this great info here.

The Immaculate Conception of Mary represents God's saving grace at work, in recognition of Mary's complete submission to His Will.

Misconceptions About the Immaculate Conception:

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is the subject of a lot of misconceptions (so to speak). Perhaps the most common one, held even by many Catholics, is that it celebrates the conception of Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That the feast occurs only 17 days before Christmas should make the error obvious! We celebrate another feast—the Annunciation of the Lord—on March 25, exactly nine months before Christmas. It was at the Annunciation, when the Blessed Virgin Mary humbly accepted the honor bestowed on her by God and announced by the angel Gabriel, that the conception of Christ took place.
History of the Feast:

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, in its oldest form, goes back to the seventh century, when churches in the East began celebrating the Feast of the Conception of Saint Anne. In other words, this feast celebrates the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of Saint Anne; and nine months later, on September 8, we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

For the rest of the history go here.

FAITH AND FAMILY MAGAZINE

If you are looking for a great magazine for someone you just don't know what to get...try Faith and Family. I have gotten it for my kids Godmothers and love the great articles and ideas.

If you like free giveaways go check this out.

THY WILL BE DONE!!! +JMJ+

IMITATION OF CHRIST: meditation of the day...

The Fifty-Eighth Chapter
High Matters and the Hidden Judgments of God Are Not to Be Scrutinized
(part two)

The Voice of Christ

Some are drawn by the ardor of their love with greater affection to these saints or to those, but this affection is human and not divine. I am He who made all the saints. I gave them grace: I brought them to glory. I know the merits of each of them. I came before them in the blessings of My sweetness. I knew My beloved ones before the ages. I chose them out of the world—they did not choose Me. I called them by grace, I drew them on by mercy. I led them safely through various temptations. I poured into them glorious consolations. I gave them perseverance and I crowned their patience. I know the first and the last. I embrace them all with love inestimable. I am to be praised in all My saints. I am to be blessed above all things, and honored in each of those whom I have exalted and predestined so gloriously without any previous merits of their own.

He who despises one of the least of mine, therefore, does no honor to the greatest, for both the small and the great I made. And he who disparages one of the saints disparages Me also and all others in the kingdom of heaven. They are all one through the bond of charity. They have the same thought and the same will, and they mutually love one another; but, what is a much greater thing, they love Me more than themselves or their own merits. Rapt above themselves, and drawn beyond love of self, they are entirely absorbed in love of Me, in Whom they rest. There is nothing that can draw them away or depress them, for they who are filled with eternal truth burn with the fire of unquenchable love.

The past two days I have tried to figure out what I am to learn from these meditations. Some days seem so relevant and others I can't figure out what they are saying. This time I think the Lord is trying to remind me that we are all called to be saints. He will give us the grace to persevere through any temptation and we should start living like saints here on earth. Loving one another in great charity...now, that is something to meditate on!!!

THY WILL BE DONE!!! +JMJ+