A Blessed Woman's Daybook

Outside my window ~ I'm hearing lots of birds chatting away.  Snuggle Bug and I are using one of her new birthday books to try to identify them.



Around the house ~ I've been up and busy since before six this morning.  The laundry is going, I've got a lot in my "to do" pile.  It would be so easy to get overwhelmed.  Through the grace of God, I'll be at peace with whatever happens today.  He knows best.  May I be the pencil in His hand!



I'm wearing ~ A long sleeved Alabama t-shirt, my brown scapular, black Danskin pull on pants, Asics (my work shoes), my hair in a clip , and of course my reading glasses.

To be fit and healthy ~ Two months down with Weight Watchers - a lifetime to go!  We are really enjoying our "life style" change.  I realy like going to the meetings.  They keep me motivated and I pick up lots of ideas there!  So far I've lost 7 pounds.  Even better than that - I wore a belted skirt to Mass yesterday!  I can't remember the last time I tucked in a shirt and wore a belt! 

Recipe of the week ~

Chili (2 WW points /cup) and yummy!

• 1/2 pound lean ground chuck (85-15), 1 onion, 1 green bellpepper, salt, pepper
• 4 cans Mexican Stewed Tomatoes (chopped up as you like them)
• 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained
• 3 Tlb. chili powder
• 1 & 1/2 Tlb. cumin

Start by browning the meat with the onion, bell pepper, salt and pepper.  Drain fat.  Add canned tomatoes with liquid, beans, and seasoning.  Let simmer at least 2 hours or transfer to a crock pot for the day. 

I'm thinking of ~ Lots of days spent busy with blessings.  Especially the date I had with my honey last night!

I'm praying for ~ friends who have babies on the way and those who have new little saints in heaven.  For Donna's nephew Noah and his family.

One of my favorite things ~ morning hugs from sleepy little ones.

We're listening to ~ Pursue Me, Danielle Rose's last CD.  A birthday gift from the House Cat to her sister. All of the proceeds of this album go to support vocations.  So go buy one - you won't be sorry!

I'm creating ~ Lots of Liturgical Year Notebooks.

I'm enjoying ~ more evening family prayer time.  Including the Jesus Tree Reading, the symbol being placed on the tree and a decade of the Roasry by candlelight.

I'm looking forward to ~ Mass with the Bishop on Sunday.  He's offering a Mass for our homeschool group.  We are blessed to be able to help with the Mass music.

I'm hoping ~ we get go to the Natural History Museum this week with good friends.

My picture thought ~ As still as a statue

Visit Peggy for more daybook inspiration.

Lenten Cleaning Plan 2010 ~Week One

Cleaning out the Cobwebs from the home and the heart,

offering all work in reparation for my sins and the salvation of souls~

Week one ~

• 
  
  Upstairs bathroom and linen closet.  Bleach shower.  New shower liner,curtain, bath mats, towels. 
• 
  
  Remove everything from shelves.  Line with new shelving paper.  Only put back what we actually use.  Give away or throw away the rest. 
• 
  
  Wipe down doors, walls, and molding.  Take down and clean light fixture. 
• 
  
  New flower/vase for counter.
• 
  
  Have upstairs carpet cleaned.
• 
  
  Dad - pressure wash the front of house.

I'm pleased with the outcome.  Where to go next?

Happy Birthday Snuggle Bug!

We are so thankful for you!

Printable Lenten Calendar

I love this great calendar Lacy over at Catholic Icing shared with us!

Thanks Lacy! 

Preparing for Lent 2010 ~ Daybook Entry

Outside my window ~ Snow this morning and again this evening.  Buck wonders if spring will ever come....

For Today ~ I pulled out the Lent - Easter bin.  Boy was this easy!  About a month ago, I made some "liturgical year" bins for things that are only used during certain times of the year.

So, it made getting everything together and ready for Lent wonderfully easy and enjoyable.

I put up the branches to our Jesus Tree,

dusted off the St. Joseph Altar,

and organized some St. Patrick's Day decorations I bought on clearance last year,

(another special day in our home :)

The mat awaits the Lenten centerpiece to be made.

The Passion Play waits to be reassembled on Good Friday.

And the Easter Story Eggs, The Garden of the Good Shepherd, a couple of movies, and our Pentecost decorations are ready to help us celebrate the Feast of All Feasts!

For tomorrow ~ Pancake Tuesday.  We'll try to make these point friendly pancakes.

Ash Wednesday ~ We'll make the crown of thorns and I'm planning on making this for our meal before we head out to Mass.  Honeybee was so sweet tonight when she realized this Wednesday was Ash Wednesday.  She said, "Oh yeah, I love that day!"  I wish I could say that I've always felt that way!  However, Father gave me a new way of looking at it at Mass this past weekend.  He said, "Lent is not our gift to God but, God's gift to us!"  How true that is.  He loves us so much and gives us this time to come back to Him with all our hearts.

Visit Peggy for more daybook inspirtaion

Beatitude Hearts for Valentine's Day

A friend of mine had these hanging on her wall many years ago. The image has stuck with me. I picked up these paper heart doilies the other day when I was at the store. The House Cat helped me write the Beatitudes on them this morning 

. 

It was my honey's idea to hang them in the shape of a cross.  "Since the cross is the sign of love," he said.

And St. Valentine was a martyr.

"Today is a great day to pray for our future spouse," said The House Cat.  "And purity before marriage." 

From the mouths of babes!

2010 Winter Olympics

Our Olympic Book Basket - Full of books from the library shelf.

Buck's man is ready for the downhill!  Notice the skies and ski poles?  :)

Yes, those are nail files and toothpicks - our little engineer.

We were all so saddened at the tragic death of this athelete. 

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithfully departed, to the mercy of God, rest in peace.

We pray for God to watch over and protect all of the atheletes.  May His Holy Will be done.
 

Snow Ice Cream

If you didn't have the weather man telling you snow was coming, you wouldn't have know it the way it looked here in Alabama this morning.  Buck was bummed out and wondered where the snow was.  Well, it finally started falling around 10 this morning and hasn't stopped yet. 

Here's a before and after pic ~

Here's our little Carolina Wren (Amigo)

A new visitor

And Max (Our male Cardinal)

I can't remember the last time I watched it snow all day!  It's beautiful but, I'm so ready for the sun to shine and warm temps to return.  What can I say?  I'm a southern girl - accent and all :)

Honeybee has a cold so she didn't get to go out and play today :( 

Snuggle Bug built a little snow man

And Buck had fun with snow balls

I couldn't leave Honeybee out of the fun.  I had read about people making snow ice cream so I did a quick google search and found this quick, easy, and delicious recipe.

8 cups of snow, 1 can sweetend condensed milk and 1tsp of vanilla.

Stir it all together

And Enjoy!

Celebrating ~Our Lady of Lourdes ~

Today we celebrate Our Lady's first apparition to St. Bernadette at Lourdes France. We began our day watching Bernadette Princess of Lourdes. I just love these videos! We have several of them but not all yet :)

We celebrate a name day today so it's an extra special day here.

I was reading CHC's A Year With God this morning and was inpsired to try again with the family rosary in the evening. At least a decade. The living area needed a good straightening so I took the time to make sure we had rosaries and candles. I also copied the rosary books (From A Year With God) for the kids to make. I hope to work on those over the next few days.

I had the girls add Our Lady of Lourdes to their Book of Centuries.

We'll have a special French meal (American style) tonight.

Pure Potato Soup, Ham Steak, and French Rolls :)

(By the way the potato soup is only 2 pts a cup - if your counting :)

Pure Potato Soup in honor of Our Lady

Ingredients:

1 small onion

Bag of shredded potatoes

Packet of White Gravy Mix.

Broth  1 - 26oz box plus about a half of an addition can.

Saute the onion in a little of the broth from the box.  Once the onion is translucent, add remaining stock from the box and the bag of shredded potatoes.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the packet of white gravy mix with about half of the can of broth.  Once this is mixed well, add to the soup.  Bring up to temp. then reduce and simmer about 30 to 45 min. or until your potatoes are soft.

The white gravy mix makes the soup a little on the peppery side (which I really liked)!  The specks of pepper in the soup can remind us of our sins and how we are to pray to Our Lady asking her to help us to be good.

And here's a beautiful prayer from Catholic Culture to pray before tonights meal.

Catholic Culture : Liturgical Year : Table Blessing for the Feasts of the Mother of God (Prayer): "Blessing II

We praise and magnify you, O Lord, the most high, for in the fullness of time you chose the humble virgin of Nazareth as the mother of your only begotten Son. By the intercession of her prayers we beg your blessing upon our daily food and drink. May they sustain us in our journey until you bring us to the eternal joy of heaven, where Jesus is king forever and ever. Amen"

I'd better get to cooking... I'll try to pop back in and add a picture of the meal. Tonight is the Confraternity of Christian Mothers monthly meeting. The House Cat and Snuggle Bug are coming with me. How blessed I am!

Coloring/Activity Sheets ~ Corresponding to the Daily Mass Readings 2011

April 28 ~ Jesus appears to His Disciples
April 27 ~ They knew Him in the breaking of the bread
April 26 ~ He is risen!  Mary Magdalene and the angels
April 13 ~ Moses and the Bronze Snake
Mar 27 ~ Jesus and the Samaritan woman
Mar 21 ~ Love your enemies - activity sheet
Mar 17  ~Ask, seek, knock (sheet at bottom)
Mar 17 ~ Gospel print copy work
Mar 17~ Gospel cursive copy work
Mar 16 ~ Jonah - activity sheet
Mar 15~ Our Father - Girl
Mar 15~ Our Father - Boy
Mar 9 ~  Ash Wednesday
Mar 8 ~  Render to Caesar what is Caesers
Mar 7 ~  Workers in the vineyard
Mar 6 ~  Build your house on rock
Mar 4 ~  Jesus cleanses the Temple area
Mar 4 ~   Jesus withers the fig tree
Mar 3 ~   Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus
Mar 2 ~   James and John with Jesus
Feb 28 ~ Rich young man crossword
Feb 28 ~ word search
Feb 25 ~ Sirach 6:14 ~ tracing ~ thanks Jessica!
Feb 22 ~ Chair of  Saint Peter
Feb 22 ~ Saint Peter's shield
Feb 17 ~ God's rainbow
Feb 16 ~ Jesus can make blind eyes see
Feb 16 ~ Jesus heals a blind man
Feb 15 ~ The Flood
Feb 13 ~ Gospel Activities ~ Catholic Mom
Feb 12 ~ An angel drives Adam and Eve from the Garden
Feb 12 ~ Expelled from Paradise
Feb11 ~ The serpent lies to Eve
Feb 9  ~ The Garden of Eden
Feb 8 ~  In the Beginning sheet
Feb 7 ~  Days of Creation mini-book
Feb 4 ~  Herodias dances for the head of John the Baptist
Feb 3 ~  Jesus sends out the twelve ~ wordsearch
Feb 2 ~  The Presentation ( Luke 2: 22-40) ~ Joyful Mysteries coloring book
Feb 1  ~ Jesus heals Jauris' daughter and hemorrhaging woman
Jan 31 ~ Jesus heals a possesed man
Jan 28 ~ Parable of the mustard seed
Jan 26 ~ Parable of the sower

Jan 25 ~ Saint Paul coloring book

Jan 25 ~ Symbols of Saint Paul
Jan 24 ~ Sing to the Lord a new song
Jan 21 ~ Jesus and the 12 Apostles

Jan 19 ~ Jesus heals the man with the withered hand

Jan 14 ~ Jesus heals the paralytic
Jan 14 ~ Jesus heals the paralytic 2
Jan 13 ~ The leper thanks Jesus
Jan 12 ~ Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law

Jan 11 - Jesus Teaching in the Synagogue

Jan 10 ~ Fishers of Men

Jan 9  ~ Baptism of the Lord

Jan 7  ~ Jesus heals the leper
Jan 6  ~ Crossword Puzzle

Jan 5    Jesus Walking on the water

Jan 4  ~ Miracle of Loaves and Fishes

Snuggle Bug's Zoology Lapbook

Snuggle Bug just finished up making the lapbook that goes along with the first half of Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. If you've read much of my blog you know she is a nature lover. Well mostly- bugs aren't her thing. So we've decided to continue studying birds and leave the insect section of the book for Buck :)

She put a lot of time into this work and did a great job!

I'm so proud of her hard work!