Re: Advent Calendars.

There's an online one from Veggie Tales at their site, and it usually starts December 1. Each day, Larry gives you another silly saying. (Big Idea has a new Christmas Veggie DVD about St. Nicholas, by the way! I'm so excited, and I don't even know if my girls would be.)

I'm doing my Jesse Tree stuff again (just set it up to go every day at midnight, beginning Dec. 1), but it's not interactive unless you make ornaments and hang them up yourself. I did paper ones our first year, by the way, and we started using our Christmas tree as our Jesse Tree last year, which works better than the stupid stick in cement in a pot setup I tried two years ago.

Finally, if you're looking for some activities for Advent, Catholic Mom and Domestic Church have some really good stuff, too. (At Domestic Church, look for "Fridge Art" for various activities, categorized into age groups! I love catagories!!)

God bless, Jen, and have a blessed Advent!

http://www.myubam.com/ecommerce/details.asp?sid=W2190&gid=88763467&title=Advent+Nativity+Book&sqlwhere=submit%3Dsearch%26search%3Dadvent

Hope that's helpful!

I have to say that this position is full of misinformation and based on pseudoscience. Here are the facts:

The body breaks a portion of aspartaMe consumed into aspartaTe, which is another word for aspartic acid. Aspartic acid is one of the 20 amino acids used by the body to build proteins, and it literally is present in every cell of the body. In a stroke, glutamic acid and aspartic acid already in the brain play a role in further brain cell death, and this is what is meant by the term "excitotoxin." There are several key facts that explain why this is not a concern with aspartame consumption:

First, aspartate (aspartic acid) does not cross the blood-brain barrier uncontrollably. It has to be brought in via "active transport," which means that cells have to actively spend energy to bring it in.

Second, the problems experienced by some people due to aspartame sensitivity are not due to aspartate excitotoxicity. The methanol in aspartame is a more likely culprit. (Aspartame is a compound made of methanol, phenylalanine, and aspartic acid.)

By no means am I declaring aspartame "safe." It's the subject of ongoing scientific research, with some (but by no means all) experts suspecting it plays a role in certain neurological problems, at least in some people. But as I said before, the dose makes the poison. Just because a substance is toxic at a certain dose does not mean it is dangerous at a lower dose. Here is one journal article that is an example of how the dose matters with aspartame: In a study on toxicity in red blood cells, "low concentrations" had no effect, but "high or abuse concentrations" had a negative effect.

http://www.angeluspress.org/oscatalog/advanced_search_result2.php?PHPSESSID=&keywords=advent+calendar&x=0&y=0

Highly recommended for Advent meditations

Liturgy of the Hours

http://www.leafletonline.com/catalog/ProductDetails/ProductDetails.aspx?pid={99fba255-c7ac-49aa-81c6-f91c41c6267f}&pname=Jesse+Tree+Banner+Kit&Referer=QUICK_SEARCH&Alias=jesse%20tree&ptct=BS-SR&CTitle=&