Sweet 16 ~

My Dear House Cat,

 

You are such a blessing to us and all who know you.  We are so proud of you and you are the perfect big sister.  You love God most of all and are such a good example to your siblings and friends.  Thank you for all of your help around the house and with anything I ask of you.  God has given you special talents and I pray you will always use them to bring Him glory! 

 

Dad took the day off and we all went to Mass together. He had bought you a Purity Ring and gave it to you right after Mass in front of The Blessed Sacrament. He asked you to wear it and give it back to him on your wedding day. 

 It has the inscription  Love Waits ~

 

 

I gave you a couple of movies to add to the Jane Austen and Bronte collection. 

Note:  There are some scenes we fast forward through on Jane Eyre.

 

Snuggle Bug gave you Switchfoot live in San Diego and Buck and Honeybee followed that with the first two Brotherband books.

 

 

SB made the Blueberry Cobbler you requested,

 

 

which was served warm with vanilla ice cream.  Yum! 

 

I opted for Bananas and Cool Whip (gluten and dairy free since I've been having so much tummy trouble).

 

 

We all enjoyed our day together although we missed Nae Nae and hope she feels better really soon!

 

Reviewing with The Jesus Tree ~

Yesterday I hung up our Jesus Tree.  In years past we have started this with the beginning of Lent.  That didn't happen this year.  So I had the idea of using it for  a Holy Week  "review!"  Buck, Honeybee and I discussed all of the symbols using the

New Catholic Picture Bible.  I told them the page number, they looked it up, and read aloud the title and the caption under the picture.  They then took turns hanging up the symbols through Palm Sunday.  Aside from hearing them in the daily Mass readings, a lot of these stories are fresh in their minds from watching Jesus of Nazareth our favorite Lenten family movie.

I hope you have a very blessed week!

Mission to Love

It's a great day to begin watching this wonderful movie
and begin praying the Novena for Purification.
(see my sidebar) 

Secretariat

My mama took the kids and I to see Secretariat last Friday.  It is an AWESOME movie!  We can't wait for it to come out on DVD!  This was a treat for Snuggle Bug especially - being that she's the primary horse lover in the family.
It was so nice to have a movie come to the theater that the whole family could go and enjoy.  ( We were careful to wait for the previews to finish before we took our seats.  You just never know what might pop up on the screen..ugh...)

There were a couple of rocky scenes for us personally.  The movie opens with her mother's death and her father dies during the movie.  The hospital scene with her dad was like a knife in the heart to me :(   

All in all, we had a great time and Buck and Honeybee enjoyed their first time at the "picture show" as my daddy called it.  He too would have loved this movie

Winter Geography with Buck and Honeybee

I love the way God works! He put together this wonderfully fun geography study for me. It all started with the thought that I should read Mr. Poppers Penguins to Buck and Honeybee. Then I had an email from CurrClick with this free Kindergarten Mini Study. The first part of it focuses on what else but geography. I also randomly (or so I thought) picked up The March of the Penguins DVD from the library. We also just happened to have a penguin playdough cutter. Hope you enjoy!

Our New Years Eve Plans

Today we celebrate Pope St. Sylvester. He is remembered for baptizing Emperor Constantine,who was cured from leprosy afterwards. He was the first pope to be called a saint who wasn't also a martyr.

Austrians dedicate this day to him and celebrate how he brought about the dawning of a new era for all of Europe. Sylvester Punch is served on this night.

Well, I don't have the ingredients for that and I know my kids wouldn't drink it! So.... instead I think we will have some yummy ice cream punch instead. To make it you let 1/2 gal (box) of vanilla ice cream soften in a punch bowl. Once it is soft you pour Cream Soda in until full. This is my kind of recipe! Quick, Easy, and Delicious! I'm definitely the semi-homemade kinda cook! :)

I started my day off wondering what movie we could watch tonight as a family. After reading about Austria, I'm definitely thinking of The Sound of Music. I'll get my honey to pick up pizza from Sams on his way home. So we'll enjoy pizza and ice cream punch while we watch our movie. We may as well have one last calorie blow out before tomorrow. Yep, 2010 is our year to get in shape :) I know, I know, you've heard me say it before. But, this time I pray God will give us the grace to do it for HIM! Weight Watchers is calling my name and I'm starting back going to the meetings next week. I've already gone online, picked a meeting time, and added it to my calendar. I weighed this morning -OUCH- :( No wonder I'm staying tired all of the time. Please pray for us as we start this new journey towards eating right and exercising. Watch my sidebar for updates on how we are doing.

I pray you all have a wonderful last day of 2009. May God Bless You All Richly in 2010!

My Daybook ~ 2nd Week of Advent

For Today ~ Monday, December, 7th 2009.

Outside my window ~ Cloudly. The snow has melted. The kids were soooo excited to see it on the ground Saturday morning. I can't remember the last time it snowed here in Alabama in early December!

I'm thinking of ~ How wonderful life is when you live the liturgical year. There's Always something to look forward to. Always something to help you grow to be the person God has created you to be. We are definitely back to staying "Busy With Our Blessings!" Thank you Jesus for that!

~Liturgical Year Living ~

Sunday Dec 6th - The Second Sunday of Advent and The Feast of St. Nicholas.

The kids slippers were still like new from last year so I had them put them outside their bedroom doors before bed. The "spirit" of St. Nick was in the house last night leaving coins and goodies in their slippers. Just like St. Nicholas used to do to help those in need. His coins were real - ours were chocolate :) Each child also had a book placed under their shoes :

I just LOVE this book that we use in the atrium! I'm so glad to have added a copy of it to our library. Buck likes his "Battle for Heaven" book and we all enjoyed the new Veggie Tales DVD. We had a little family movie time watching it and Nicholas: The Boy Who Became Santa. Another of our favorites. The Housecat and Snuggle Bug got these beautiful books I found at Dollar Tree with these beautiful Christian notepads.

Monday Dec 7 ~ Saint Ambrose ~

St. Ambrose is also known as the "Honey-Tongued Doctor," a pun on the saint's
name (the word for honey in Latin is ambrosia); his preaching was said to be
mellifluous, as sweet as flowing honey. Also according to legend, when Ambrose
was a baby, a swarm of bees settled on his mouth, an omen that he would be a
great orator. St. Ambrose is the patron of bee keepers, bees, candlemakers,
domestic animals, learning, Milan Italy, and students. He is often depicted with
a beehive or bees in his iconography, symbols which also indicate wisdom. (Taken from Catholic Culture)

We'll read the story from Once upon a time Saints about Saint Ambrose. You could also make ambrosia fruit salad today. My mom made some for Thanksgiving and it was so yummy :)

Many people make a Christ Candle today. Jessica has a great post on this. You could also try your hand at candle making.

I haven't gotten our Christmas Candle yet. There are soooo many things to learn about living the liturgical year! I don't mind though - I love to learn. I hope I'm instilling this in our children as well.

Tuesday Dec 8 ~ Feast of The Immaculate Conception ~

We celebrate the sublime privilege by which Mary, alone among all human beings
and in virtue of the future merits of Christ, was preserved at the very first
moment of conception from the stain of original sin. It is true, of course, that
in origin and in principle this great feast does not have any relationship with
the time of Advent. It was fixed on December 8 in order to separate the feast by
nine months from the date of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin on September 8.
However, in celebrating this feast we may easily enter into the spirit of
Christmastide, for the feast is like the dawn of the Sun of Christmas. Mary is
our hope, guide, and mother along the path of salvation. (Catholic Culture)

Cover your Christ Candle with a blue cloth today. Leave it covered until Christmas Eve. Go to Mass if not on the vigil.

Wednesday, Dec. 9 ~ Saint Juan Diego ~

I'll pull out these tilmas the kids made last year and we'll watch this video about him. I also hope to start making a pinata to have for our mexican celebration on Saturday.

Thursday, Dec. 10 ~ Our Lady of Loreto~

Sweet were the days the Blessed Virgin Mary spent with Saint
Joseph and the Holy Child in their modest little home. Their life within the
clay walls was affluent with poverty, resonant with silence, and illustrious in
humility. "Her actual life, both at Nazareth and later, must have been a very
ordinary one..." said Saint Therése, the Little Flower of Jesus, who once
visited the Holy House. "She should be shown to us as someone who can be
imitated, someone who lived a life of hidden virtue, and who lived by faith as
we must." This beautiful and much needed lesson of extraordinary sanctity in
very ordinary circumstances, is precisely what the humble and Holy House of
Loreto bespeaks to us.

A Year With God has a wonderful activity to accompany The Litany of Loreto.

Saturday, Dec.12 ~ Our Lady of Guadalupe~

How about a fiesta? Enchiladas, tacos, Mexican wedding cookies (a fav.of my honey) and a pinata for the kids. One day I hope to see Saint Juan Diego's tilma.

Sunday Dec.13 ~Third Sunday of Advent and Saint Lucy ~

Make St. Lucia crowns. Here's a picture from Shower of Roses celebration. If time permits Saturday, we'll try making this beautiful braided bread crown for Sunday breakfast. Maybe we'll even wake the troops with the candlelight:)

We are reading ~ Lots of great books from Christmas Mosaic. Also, The House Cat, Snuggle Bug and I are reading Beautiful Girlhood together. We are thankful to have been asked to be a part of this bible study. We met yesterday and had a wonderful time! I was surprised and blesssed by the girls sharing.

May we all be blessed abundantly as we live the week for God!

Visit Peggy for daybook inspiration.

My Thanksgiving Week Daybook Entry

For Today ~ Monday, November 23, 2009

Outside my window ~ The sky is grey and the ground is covered with a beautiful blanket of colorful leaves. Only a few pretty red leaves are left hanging onto the top of our Sugar Maple in the front yard.


I am hoping ~ To get outside with the kids and collect some of these beautiful leaves before they are all gone. I have this wonderful book checked out from the library. I hope to be able to do a little something from it. It's very informative. It tells you how to clean and prepare the leaves you bring in. I also read an article on decorating your home with them. It said to press them in a book and display in small glass beakers and vases. Very Beautiful :)

I am hearing ~ More stuffy nose sniffles and coughs :( We all just finished a round of antibiotics for strep throat and sinus infections. I sure was hoping that would get us through the end of the year.

I am praying for ~ The House Cat's nerve conduction study to go well tomorrow. I'm hoping it will give us the answers to why her arm is still bothering her after all this time. I'm also keeping a dear friend and her family in my prayers as she takes care of her aged father who was just diagnosed with pneumonia and 4th stage lung cancer.

I am thinking of ~ My time spent in our Good Shepherd Atrium yesterday. I just love working with little children. Seeing the wonder in their eyes as they listen to a lesson on The Land of Israel or The Annunciation is just so enduring. I tried to be a good girl and sit in a chair for my lessons... At one point I found myself down on a mat with a child helping them to paste the symbols on the land of Israel map. A sweet brown eyed 4 year old placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "Mrs. Lori, You're not supposed to be on the floor!" :) Too cute!

The House Cat came in and shared Advent songs with us at the end of class. I am so glad she's able to play her guitar again. The 3 year olds enjoyed learning these new songs and the 4 and 5 year olds picked right up on them from last year. I think their favorite was the Advent Wreath Song....Sitting with my brothers, sitting with my sisters, sitting by the advent wreath. Waiting with my brothers, waiting with my sisters, waiting by the advent wreath. Why are we waiting boys? Why are we waiting girls? Who are we waiting for? Stand up and sing. HE is the KING! He is the Lord of Lords! That's who we're waiting for, that's who we're waiting for!

Preparing for Thanksgiving ~ We are enjoying Reading ~Cranberry Thanksgiving, P is for Pilgrim, One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, and Watching Mouse on the Mayflower, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving,and William Bradford and The First Thanksgiving.


I'm also making our Thanksgiving shopping list. I'll share more on that later :) We will celebrate with my parent's this year. I'm so thankful to have them so close now.

I am planning on perusing Enchanted Learning's Site for activities for Buck and Honeybee. Last year we had fun with this.

Living the Liturgical Year ~ Today we celebrate St. Clement and Bl. Miguel Pro. We read a wonderful poem on Miguel Pro this morning from Cloud of Witnesses II. Once Upon a Time Saints had a great story on St. Clement, the second bishop of Rome. Tomorrow we remember St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions. Wednesday, it's Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Thursday - St. John Berchmans. Saturday we celebrate Saint Catherine Laboure. This will be a great day for a craft on The Miraculous Medal!

Then on Sunday ADVENT begins!

One of my favorite things ~ Music. All kinds. As long as God likes the message :) Right now I'm listening to I'd Need A Savior by Among the Thirsty.

I actually Enjoy ~ Clothing my family. Yes, that includes doing the laundry! I'm so thankful to be back in action there!

May God Bless You and Your Family This Week :) Love, Lori

Visit Peggy for more daybook fun!

St. Edward the Confessor and a History Lesson

There is a wonderful story about Saint Edward the Confessor in Once Upon a time Saints from Bethlehem Books. (I just love their books! They are such treasures.)

The story tells us of a wonderful king who loved and served his people for Christ. God healed the sick through his touch. St. John the Evangelist visited him and asked for money to buy sandals. King Edward gave him the only thing he had, a gold ring. Years later this ring was returned to him with the message of his approaching death. Before being taken to his eternal reward, King Edward finished building Westminster Abbey and was the first to be buried there.

It's interesting that we just finished watching A Man For All Seasons. With King Henry VIII's divorce and separation from the church, Westminster Abbey has become more of a historical place than religious.

Westminster Cathedral is the Roman Catholic Church. As I looked around this morning, I found a couple of interesting articles.

• On Monday evening of this week (6.30pm 12 October) the long awaited Relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux arrive at the Cathedral for the completion of their nationwide tour.
• In recent years, the relations between the churches in this country have become closer and warmer than perhaps ever before. The fact that the Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishops in England have been able to meet more than once for prayer and reflection, as well as for discussion of the challenges we share in witnessing to the Christian faith in our nation, is a welcome development, and a sign that we all recognise common challenges and a need to pray and act together. (May 2009)

Visit Waltzing Matilda for a coloring sheet of St. Edward.

Columbus Day-Book Entry

Captain Christopher Columbus' ensign (banner) pictured a cross and the crown-topped initials F (for King Ferdinand of Spain) and Y (for Queen Isabella of Spain).

For today ~

Monday October 12, 2009

Outside my window ~

The rain is trickling from the roof. My poor honey had to head out in a downpour this morning.

Around the house ~

The House Cat's sleeping in. I remember vividly not wanting to get up and head out to school on a rainy Monday morning. I am so thankful my kids don't have to! My other three blessings are watching Peep and giggling :)

Celebrating Columbus Day ~

Enchanted Learning and Apples For the Teacher have some fun activities for the kids. I printed out some mini-book work for Buck. They've already had fun coloring these pics online this morning. I also requested some books and a DVD from the library (this morning -better late than never.) I also found a poem we will read and I'll either have my big girls copy it or we'll do some dictation. I hope I didn't pack these lap books from last year away :/

To Live the Liturgy ~

This week we celebrate two great saints - Teresa of Avila and Ignatius of Antioch.

I requested St. Teresa's Interior Castle also this morning. I need to check EWTN's program guide to see if they will be airing St. Teresa of Avila this week.

How I'm Doing ~

So far I've only been out of the house once, for my two week follow up. Oh, how I miss Mass and our church family. I had hoped to be able to go yesterday but, I'm still too sore. I have had a lot of ups and downs over the past 3 1/2 weeks. The pain and soreness have been more than I was expecting. My sweet husband continues to remind me, "This was your 6th surgery in that same area and it's tired of being messed with!" I am improving daily - very slowly- at God's pace - not mine. I have had a new sense of peace these last few days. I am resolved to His time table and not my own. I'm feeling remarkably peaceful. I know a huge part of this has come from your prayers. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you and pray for God's peace and blessings upon you.

Looking ahead~

I'm afforded the opportunity to practice patience and self-discipline. We've already missed seeing the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Little Children's Theater. I should call and see if I can transfer the tickets to sometime next year. I guess it couldn't hurt to try. Did you notice I said next year? Our home school group has gym day this week. Buck loves it so I'd better not mention it! I'd really love a family outing to the pumpkin patch. Maybe in a couple of weeks? I really want us to try our hand at Saint-O-Lanterns this year. On Nov.1 we have our home school faculty meeting followed by our All Saint's Party. The kids always have a blast at this! Lord willing, I'll be there!

Have a Blessed Week!

Visit Peggy for more daybook entries.

Our Plans for Celebrating the Triduum & Easter

The Easter Triduum begins tomorrow. We've been doing our best to get things ready. Although I still feel as though I could use another week of planning :) Here are a few of our plans to celebrate this most holy time of the year.

Holy Thursday

The Messianic Seder Supper (here) ,or hereMass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday

Fast (bread and water) for adults, abstain for kids,

Confession, Stations of the Cross,
maybe - Passion & Veneration of the Cross
Watch The Passion of the Christ in the evening after the little ones are in bed.

Holy Saturday

Hot Cross Buns for Breakfast,

Resurrection Rolls and Easter Story Eggs.

Die Easter Eggs,

Decorate Paschal Candle,

Bandaids For Christ's wounds(Crown of Thorns). My plan for this to melt crayon wax over Our Lord's Wound's (the empty holes on our Crown ofThorns). This will serve as bandaids for Christ's wounds. Prepare as much of our Easter meal as possible.

Mass

Prepare Easter baskets

Easter Sunday

8:30 am Mass (My honey has the honor of lectoring :)

Brunch at home, while the kids enjoy their baskets.

Have my parents over for an early Easter supper. Enjoy our time together celebrating this AWESOME HOLYDAY!!

Thank you Jesus for loving us so much!!!! Help us to love others as you have loved us!

Happy Birthday Snuggle Bug!

We had a great day today celebrating the gift of our snuggle bug. It's hard to believe she's now double digits! She is such a joy!

I hope to get back to posting soon. I haven't been feeling too well since our trip.

I'll have to take a rain check on WoW this week. I'm not sure I want to know the tale of the tape

We picked up The Passion of Bernadette. I'd better get the little ones ready for bed so when can check it out. God Bless.

WoW - Week 1

Well, I'm very pleased with my first weeks results. I know every week won't be this drastic. I'm feeling sooo much better having cut way back on the sugar and white, processed foods. I love Walk Away the Pounds and look forward to it each day. I feel so much more energized!!



So..... here are the results from week one:

weight: -5 lbs.

inches: -2" (waist)
-1 1/2" (chest)
-1 1/2" (hips)
-1 1/2" (thigh)
-1 1/2" (arm)
Grand Total =
8 inches!!!!!! WOW. I do give myself a +/- 3 margin of error since I measured myself the first time. I had help today :)


Plans for the week:

' Continue to Walk Away the Pounds with my family
' Continue to research low glycemic foods and make good eating choices.

Visit Regina's blog for more WoW results.

Another Post on the Jesus Tree...

Hi everyone. Well I'm still trying to figure out why my PCs not reading my digital camera. So, until I do I won't be able to share the beautiful work the kids have been doing, :(

However, I am keeping busy with organizing our books and all that seems to fall into disarray during the holidays. I'm half way through with our progress reports and have ordered some new books/DVDs. I'm especially excited to have the DVD, St. John Bosco: Mission to Love on it's way. I'm hoping to have it by his feast day on Jan 31.

Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be writing about the Jesus Tree. We received the box last week, only a couple of days after I ordered it! I'm dying to open it - BUT- I'm determined to finish up my reports and organizing first. Boy, self-discipline doesn't come easy! I'm sure once I open it, I'm not going to want to put it down. Especially since I have two big helpers who love this kind of thing.
Jessica has an awesome post on this with all the info you need if you want to try to get one before they sell out.

Today is my grandfather's eternal birthday. I pray he is resting at peace with our Lord. I miss you Pap-Paw.

Crown Cake for Ephiphany

We had a great time making this fun cake!

Happy Epiphany Sunday everyone!

The Crippled Lamb

The Crippled Lamb is a WONDERFUL video for Christmas! It's definitely worthily of belonging to your Christmas movie collection.

Today we put the straw shredded paper in our stable with the sheep crippled lamb and the shepherd boy.

Mary, Joseph, and the donkey are traveling towards the stable in Bethlehem.

I'd post some pics but I'm having trouble downloading my pictures? Have a blessed day.

O Come Emmanuel!

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Tomorrow is one of our favorite Marian feast days of the year. During his 1999 visit to Mexico, Pope John Paul II declared Our Lady to be the Patroness of the Americas.

Older children can look up Our Lady of Guadalupe, and then share what they learned to their siblings. A couple of great books to read are The Legend of the Poinsettia
by Tomie dePaola and Our Lady of Guadalupe
by Francisco Serrano. The CCC video on Juan Diego is also a wonderful visual of this. Go here for a free activity on how to draw Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In Our Lady's honor, bake: Mexican Wedding Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
8 Tablespoons of powdered sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk

(Bag of powdered sugar to roll cookies in after baked.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray sheets with non-stick spray. Mix all the ingredients togetherwith a mixer. Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and place on cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 min, Cool then shake in a plastic bag of powdered sugar.

We will also make a batch without nuts.

We may try our hand at a couple of activities. Go here and here for a couple of great ideas. We'll definitely be coloring this awesome sheet from Waltzing Matilda. Thanks so much for sharing these with us all!

If Honeybee's feeling better, we'll go out and buy a poinsettia.

Happy Feast Day, everyone. God bless you and your families!

New Thanksgiving Favorites

The Pilgrims' Thanksgiving From A To Z is a book I'll be adding to our library. A must have for Thanksgiving reading!












I just had to share this adorable video. Mouse on the Mayflower is so cute and informative about the pilgrims journey and the first Thanksgiving! We borrowed ours from the library but, I'll definitely be on the look out for a copy to buy.

I want to wish everyone a very Blessed Thanksgiving and share this acrostic poem written by The House Cat. (Sorry I don't have time to work on making it look better. Hope you can click on it and read it. Our children are such an inspiration!)



oops. I noticed after posting this that she had whited out a word on V. the missing word is raised. God Bless :)