Faith,Hope, and Love

Our nephew is visiting this month

2010-06-30T08:04:00.001-07:00

I'm so happy our nephew gets to spend a month with us. The girls are so excited to have their cousin here with them. They made these cute signs for them to welcome him when we picked him up at the airport.

We have so many fun plans for him are so excited to have him. Let's pray for a safe summer for all.

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party Week Seven: The Heavenly Zoo

2010-05-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

In the final week of the Easter season the theme was The Heavenly Zoo and we looked at the animals in God's garden. We had our garden party on Sunday. We had deer carrots , lion pizza, beehive cupcakes, phoenix eggs, and palomitas with dove candy.

Here's our garden!

Blessing over the Food
Loving Lord, we belong to you. Bless our efforts to be
a family of faith, bless our efforts to love as you love.
Bless this food to strengthen us to live as one. Amen

The Water

Revelation 7:13-17

We decorated with this water fountain and a few zoo animals the girls have.

The Deer

Psalm 42:1-5

Carrot deer

The Lion

Daniel 6:14-23

We each made our own lion pizzas. We all had fun making these.

The Beehive

Judges 14:5-9

Beehive cupcakes

The Pelican

Genesis 1:20-23

I printed up a pelican picture and leaned it on a bowl of fish crackers

The Phoenix

Job 29:14-20 Phoenix eggs

The Dove

Song of Songs 2:8-17

In Spanish we call popcorn palomitas, which means little doves. We had palomitas and Dove candy.

Faith finished off our Easter season celebration with her performance of "At the Zoo". We have really been blessed this Easter season. Thanks again to Jessica and Charlotte for these great ideas. Happy Pentecost Sunday to everyone.

Don't forget to see other garden parties at Catholic Cuisine.

Our Nephew's Debate Team

2010-05-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

Our nephew's picture was in the HUDL summer newsletter! Go JR!

What a wonderful opportunity The Houston Urban Debate League offers these students! He's going to be doing a debate camp in August at the University of Houston and I'm so proud of him. God bless you JR.

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party Week Six: Oh, What a Beautiful City!

2010-05-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

This week's theme "Oh, What a Beautiful City!" taught us about heaven's holy city. We had some fun songs this week. We sang The Apostles Song, Building Up the Temple, There's a River of Life Flowing Out of Me, Alleluia. I'm tapping my feet as I right this! Our symbols this week were The City Gate, The Temple, Hallelujah!, The Thrones, The Bride, The Groom, The Crowns.

We did word search and maze activities for The New Jerusalem, The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and The River of Life.
On Ascension Thursday we attended Mass and came home to look at our wedding album. The girls played with Brides From Around the World Paper Dolls. We ended with a picnic meal on a hillside on our property. Hopefully this will be our new tradition.

Our Saturday was very busy, so we had our party as a dinner meal.

We served Pretzels and cheese city gates, Shirley Temples, Bride and Groom Strawberries, Mini Turkey "Crowns", and a wedding cake.

We decorated the table with our wedding decorations. The girls have seen our wedding pictures and video several times, but they've never actually seen the decorations before. They thought they were so pretty and loved holding them and asked us all about where the decorations were on the tables. It was really cute.

Meal Blessing

Holy God, your Spirit brings light to our world. Your Spirit renews and energizes us to carry on the work of your son in our family, in our neighborhood and in our world. Bless us as we gather to share food and companionship. Bless us for the work we continue to do in our faithfulness to your Son, Jesus. Amen.

The City Gates

Cheese and Pretzel gates

Revelation 21:9-14

The Temple

Shirley Temple

Revelation 21:22-25

Hallelujah!

The girls painted these beautiful rocks.

Revelation 19:6-9

The Thrones

We used the colors of our wedding for decorations.

Revelation 22:1-5

The Bride and The Groom

Hosea 2:18-20

Revelation 19:6-9

The Crowns

mini turkey "crown" puffs
Isaiah 62:3-5

We ended our party with some wedding cake with our cake topper on it. We used our cake knife and server and brought out the program for our ceremony. The girls really liked that!

Don't forget to go over to Catholic Cuisine to see other garden parties.

Pentecost Sunday

2010-05-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Pentecost Sunday this year will be May 23rd. This is when we remember the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles Acts 2:1-13.

Tomorrow begins the Novena to the Holy Spirit that ends Saturday before Pentecost Sunday. I found a Novena To The Holy Spirit at E Catholic 2000.

I hope you have had a wonderful Easter Season and have a blessed Pentecost Sunday.

Ascension Thursday

2010-05-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

The fortieth day after Easter Sunday, commemorating the Ascension of Christ into heaven, according to Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, and Acts 1:2. (New Advent)

We celebrated this beautiful feast with Mass this morning and after I read about the tradition to picnic on a hilltop, we decided to have a picnic meal on the hill behind our house.

We had curried chicken salad sandwiches, bell pepper slices, cherry limeade, and "Ascension clouds". We read The Ascension from The Catholic Children's Bible and the girls played after we ate while we sat and watched the sky.

Our "Ascension Clouds"

We were blessed with this beautiful view for our picnic

Let us pray [on this day of Ascension as we watch and wait for Jesus' return]
Father in heaven, our minds were prepared for the coming of your kingdom when you took Christ beyond our sight so that we might seek him in glory. May we follow where he has led and find our hope in his glory, for he is Lord forever. Amen

Tomorrow we will begin the novena to the Holy Spirit.

Happy Feast of the Ascension to everyone!

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party Week Five: The Gardner Plants Paradise

2010-05-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Our fifth garden party!! Can't believe we are on our fifth week. So much fun. This week we celebrated The Gardener Plants Paradise.
For Sunday's symbol of leaves, we gathered leaves for rubbing. But we never did the rubbing. Well, gathering the leaves was lots of fun. LOL
For Monday's symbol of flowers, we made ring bouquets. We picked flowers too and pressed them for making book marks, but that also didn't happen this week. Time's flying by, good thing we're having fun.

Tuesday we we started a strawberry hanging basket and I surprised the girls with fruit mentos! The girls are so easy to impress. Oh, if it could always stay that way. The girls did this Fruit of the Spirit Maze , colored this Prayer to the Holy Spirit coloring page, and wrote out the Fruits of the Holy Spirit on this tree. I really enjoyed this special day. After dinner we went to Sonic for limeade chillers, yum.

Wednesday, the girls made an owl craft.

Saturday afternoon we enjoyed our garden party! The girls definitely look forward to this meal.

Dear Jesus, you say that if we have faith in you we will
do the same things that you do. You forgave, you
reached out to the lonely, the poor, the forgotten, the
hungry. You brought peace to people’s lives. Bless us
that we too may do as you do. Bless this food that it
strengthen us to be your presence in the world.
Amen.

Tree of Life’s Leaves “Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 22: 1-5

We made flower sandwiches with green frill picks for the palm tree.

The Tree of Life's Flowers

"For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off.” Isaiah 55: 12-13

The Palm Tree

“The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; as it is written, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on an ass's colt!" His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Laz'arus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness.” John 12: 12-17

We had strawberries and grapes and I cut the strawberries into roses.

The girls wanted to have these pineapple straws for their drinks!

The Tree of Life's Fruit

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another.” Galatians 5: 22-26
The Roses and Lilies

“I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens. As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am sick with love. O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me! I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or the hinds of the field, that you stir not up nor awaken love until it please.” Song of Songs 2: 1-7

The Owl

“I am like a vulture of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places; I lie awake, I am like a lonely bird on the housetop. All the day my enemies taunt me, those who deride me use my name for a curse. For I eat ashes like bread, and mingle tears with my drink, because of thy indignation and anger; for thou hast taken me up and thrown me away. My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. But thou, O LORD, art enthroned for ever; thy name endures to all generations.” Psalm 102: 6-12

The Olive Tree
At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; but the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came back to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.” Genesis 8: 6-11

We're having lots of fun celebrating the Easter Season and I can't wait to see what others have done this week. Thanks again to Jessica and Charlotte for their great ideas. To see other parties visit Catholic Cuisine!

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party Week Four: The Wind and Sea Obey HIm

2010-05-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

This week's garden party theme was "The Wind and Sea Obey Him". Since I was going out of town at the end of the week, we had our party early and did just a couple of crafts. The girls are loving the calendar and stickers and are adding lots of singing every day. We did some painting on these stained glass coloring pages and made this yarn octopus.

Blessing over the Food
Wondrous God, you guide us always in the ways of
love. You gently care for us and encourage us to
follow your son, Jesus. Bless those who gather
around our table. Help each one of us hear your voice
and follow you. Help us too, to hear your voice in the
hungry people of our community and world, and to
reach out to them in love and service. Bring us all to
new life. Amen.

Hope was excited to use one of her favorite recipes to make and eat,"egg boats". We used pretzels and cheese for the mast and sail.

The Boat

“And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him.” Matthew 8: 23-27

The Mast

“Your borders are in the heart of the seas; your builders made perfect your beauty. They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir; they took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you. Of oaks of Bashan they made your oars; they made your deck of pines from the coasts of Cyprus, inlaid with ivory. Of fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail, serving as your ensign; blue and purple from the coasts of Eli'shah was your awning.” Ezekiel 27: 4-7

The Sail

“As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. Therefore I urge you to take some food; it will give you strength, since not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you." And when he had said this, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. (We were in all two hundred and seventy-six persons in the ship.) And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to bring the ship ashore. So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders; then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. But striking a shoal they ran the vessel aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was broken up by the surf. The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape; but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their purpose. He ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and make for the land, and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all escaped to land.” Acts 27: 33-44

The Net

“And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zeb'edee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him..” Mark 1: 16-20

The Fishes

“Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.” John 21: 4-8

This is how the girls arranged theirs.

The yellow zucchini is supposed to be the sand.

The Barbecue

“When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.” John 21: 9-14

The Leviathan
“O LORD, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy creatures. Yonder is the sea, great and wide, which teems with things innumerable, living things both small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan which thou didst form to sport in it. These all look to thee, to give them their food in due season. When thou givest to them, they gather it up; when thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good things. When thou hidest thy face, they are dismayed; when thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground.” Psalm 104: 24-30

Since they were feeling tropical, the girls decorated their glasses with umbrellas.

Thanks Jessica and Charlotte for all the great ideas. God bless you. For other garden party celebrations go to Catholic Cuisine!

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party Week Three: The Heavens Tell God's Glory

2010-04-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

We had another fun week celebrating the 50 days of Easter. This week we got to make some crafts and play some fun games. Every day we sang "The canticle of the Sun" and used our "rain" instruments when we read the scriptures and put up a sticker.

Sunday we had Sun tostadas .

On Monday we made cloud shapes and played a blowing clouds game and looked for shapes in the clouds.

On Thursday we made snow cones for the hail.

Friday we played outside with our pinwheels and scarfs for the wind and sang "Rock-A-Bye Baby".

We enjoyed our party on Saturday after Faith's soccer game.

The Sun (Psalm 19: 1-6) and The Wind (Ezekiel 37:7-10)
We made "sun"and "wind" cupcakes and while we were at it we made "rainbow" ones too. We ended our meal with these treats and the crowd went silent.

The Cloud (1Kings 8:2-11)

Cool Whip topping on rainbow sherbet

The Rain ( Matthew 5:43-48)

Talking Rain Sparkling Water. The girls liked listening to the water more than drinking it.

The Lightening (Job 38:20-26)

Lightening hot dogs

The Hail (Job:28-30)

The Rainbow (Genesis 9:12-15)
Rainbow salad

Our family is really enjoying the joy of the Easter Season and these lovely parties. You can see other celebrations at Catholic Cuisine.

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party Week Two: Welcome to the Lord's Table

2010-04-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

Oh, I'm so glad our family is celebrating the Easter Season this year. It is so much more meaningful to me to be able to read the scriptures and do an activity with the girls. I found some coloring pages for Joseph, Abraham, and Ruth. Faith really likes coloring while we read. That's of course after she's been able to put the sticker on the calendar. Hope really likes reading about Ruth and so she was really excited to read that scripture. We watched Animated Stories from the Bible: Ruth that day! I magically sliced a banana for the girls. We looked forward to our garden party all week. We had ours on Friday at dinner time.

Thanks again to Jessica and Charlotte for all the ideas.

The Table and The Chairs: Genesis 43: 26-34,Genesis 18:1-8

I saw Jessica's idea she used last year and since I've been teaching the girls to set the table, we worked on a couple of extra pieces that we don't usually set out. Our meals are usually very informal so pretty much just plates, glasses, silverware, and napkins are set out. We decorated our chairs with bows.

Meal Blessing

Loving God, bless us that we may recognize you.
Bless too, this food that it may nourish us to
recognize you in the stranger, in the lonely, in the
forgotten. May we reach out to them in love and
service. Amen.

Our Main Dish:Fireside Beef Stew

The Bread: Ruth 2:8-14

Lamb of God Rolls

The Wine: Isaiah 55:1-2

We had Hope's favorite Martinelli's Sparkling Cider for the little kids and wine for the big kids.

The Pot of Honey: Mark 1:4-6Honey Butter

The Fruit: Song of Solomon 4:16

Faith's Famous Fruit Salad
Faith's favorite dish to prepare is a fruit salad. It's good anytime and she always uses it to cheer us up.

The Milk : Deuteronomy 26:8-10

Sundae Bar

The girls want to have sundaes every Sunday of Easter!

We had a great week and party and I can't wait to see the other parties of the week at Catholic Cuisine. I hope everyone has a blessed week.

Divine Mercy Sunday

2010-04-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

The message of mercy is that God loves us — all of us —
no matter how great our sins. He wants us to recognize that
His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon
Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to
others. Thus, all will come to share His joy. It is a message
we can call to mind simply by remembering ABC.
A — Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach
Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and
asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon
the whole world.
B — Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy
and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to
extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does
to us.
C — Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know
that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our
trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will
receive.(EWTN- Divine Mercy Devotion)
Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

Cascarones: A Mexican tradition

2010-04-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

I grew up with the tradition of Easter Cascarones. I'm the youngest 11 siblings and so we had a lot of fun with cascarones, but I think the boys had way more fun with this than we girls did. Or maybe it's just that I'm the youngest and never really was quick enough to catch anybody by surprise. I had wanted to have these for our family this year, but we didn't get around to filling the eggs. We did dye some when we dyed our boiled eggs. I'm planning on filling them for our next Spanish class since we are also studying Mexican history with this session. We always saved the eggs during lent by cracking the egg just a little bit at the top and emptying the egg into a bowl. After we dyed them, we filled them with confetti and covered them with tissue that we glued on over the opening. I never heard about the "good luck" part, obviously, I don't believe that. Well anyway, they were a lot of fun. Our family only did this at Easter time, but I remember once when we were in Mexico in the summer and a little girl came up to me and cracked an egg over my head and ran off, we never figured out why she did it, we just assumed there was a celebration going on. Great memories!!

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party Week One: The Good Shepherd's Pasture

2010-04-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed our first week of Easter and our first Good Shepherd's Garden Party! We made a few changes to make a dinner out of it. The girls had so much fun helping to make the cupcakes and cookies. We made roasted cauliflower for the "Sheepfold" and served a garden salad in a covered dish for the "Gate of the Sheepfold". I printed the scriptures and matted them so we could read what each food symbolized. We are praying this Table Prayer for the Easter Season.

Mini Shepherd's Pies and Shepherd's Crooks

Roasted Cauliflower and Garden Salad

Ewe and Ram Cupcakes and Wolf Paw Cookies

We also made the Lamb's wool which was very yummy! Forgot to get a picture. I was able to serve it in a punch bowl my mom gave us when we got married. As many of you know, my mom has gone to heaven and I really love honoring her in our celebrations.

During the week we used Charlotte's Good Shepherd Printables and made a poster and symbols. We read a scripture and colored the symbols because I didn't have the poster up and ready. We finally caught up over the weekend! On Monday we enjoyed hot cocoa with candy canes and the girls chose to watch The Day the Sun Danced since the children where shepherds too, Tuesday we had popcorn, Wednesday we watched The Secret Garden, and on the other days we just worked on coloring the symbols. Of course Mom loves to color so I had to get in on that one!

Thank you so much Charlotte

We loved all the ideas and are so thankful to Charlotte and Jessica. I really like the ideas for snacks which I feel like I'm constantly trying to come up with, on the day of, as the kids are begging for something to munch on.

Well, we had lots of fun and can't wait for more fun this week. You can see other Garden Party celebrations at Catholic Cuisine!

Faith's first soccer game!!

2010-04-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Faith started soccer practice this week and today was her first game. She was so excited and nervous at the same time. She did great!! They didn't win this one, but they worked really hard. She did a great job as goalie. Good job Faith!!

First week of Easter

2010-04-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

The girls and I have been following along with the Garden of the Good Shepherd calendar this week. We do not have the actual calendar so we have downloaded the symbols fromWaltzing Matilda and are making a poster to put our stickers on. I am a bit behind, but they are still enjoying the scripture readings and the activities we've done.

Hot cocoa with candy canes for The Shepherd's Crook

They are also having fun coloring all the symbols. The girls and I will be cooking up a meal with symbols of this week's scriptures. We will be saying this meal blessing through the Easter season. I'm so excited to be doing these activities with the girls and living the celebration of this Easter Season. I am so thankful for all the work that Charlotte and Jessica have done and shared.

I hope you are having a blessed Easter season.

Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday

2010-04-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful time over Holy Week. On Wednesday the girls painted crosses and decorated tulips to remind us of the sacrifice our Lord made for us and the new life we have in Him.
On Holy Thursday, we read scripture and our lenten book for the family and the girls colored some pages. We attended Holy Thursday Mass to remember the Lord's last supper and His instruction to love and serve one another. We were blessed with a beautiful service that really represented the community of our church family. I was glad our daughters got to see that. Father Bill dared us to come home and wash each other's feet and remember to be of service to one another. I thought it would be neat to do that, but we were just too tired by the time we got home.

On Good Friday we listened to the Stations of the Cross on EWTN Radio and prayed the Novena of Divine Mercy. We also watched the animated Passion of our Lord. Mass was so beautiful also. It is just so exciting to see my children be able to celebrate our faith and understand our Lord's love for us.

Holy Saturday was a really busy day for our family. We started with an Egg Hunt at our friend's house. Then went to Seusical the Musical, which the whole family enjoyed. We ran to a birthday party for Faith's best friend. We then came home to prepare for Easter Vigil Mass.

This year lent has been such a time of reflection and healing for me and I was so excited to see the baptisms at Mass.

Alleluia, He is risen!!

For our Easter meal Dad and I prepared some foods following ideas from Catholic Cuisine by Alice Gunther on her blog Cottage Blessings. We changed some of the suggestions that we knew our girls wouldn't eat or that we didn't have on hand. The menu is based on chapter 20 of the Gospel of John. I wrote out the scriptures on a card and we took turns reading what the food symbolized.

"Stone Cookies"(instead of scones)

"Linen Cloth and Napkin"

I didn't have any white napkins so I tore a paper towel into strips of linen and put them under the "stones" to be found when the cookies were eaten.

(John 20:1) "Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb."

(John 20:6-7) "Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself."

"Two Angels"

We made mashed potatoes to symbolize the angels

(John 20:12) "(S)he saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet"

"The Gardener"

(John 20:15-16)"Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her,'Mary.' She turned and said to him in Hebrew, 'Rabboni!' (which means Teacher)

"Peace be with You"

(John 20:19-21) "It is impossible to imagine how this divinely reassuring greeting must have calmed and heartened the anguished apostles."

"Receive the Holy Spirit"

(John 20:22-23) "Having soothed them with His peace, Jesus next told the apostles, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'

"The Twin"

(John 20:24)"Now Thomas, on of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came."

Dad made a pineapple-glazed baked ham and he and the girls spread the cream cheese and olives on crackers and made the shape of a flame with white and yellow cheese to put on crackers.

"Many Signs and Wonders"

The girls and I made this cute "bunny" bread and dyed eggs. We also had some yummy candies we like and our jelly bean jar from our sacrifice beans from lent.

Our family had so much fun preparing and sharing this meal. Thank you to all the ladies that come up with and share these beautiful ideas. Happy Resurrection Day to everyone!

RESUCITO!!, ALELUIA!!

Our Holy Thursday dinner

2010-04-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Holy Thursday with a dinner of fish, bread and wine to remember Our Lord's Last Supper. The girls wanted Dad to break the bread and Faith said "and He broke the bread, gave it to His disciples and said 'Take this all of you and eat it, this is my body which will be given up for you'." She does listen!!

The Triduum

2010-04-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

Holy Thursday marks the beginning of the Triduum, the holiest days of the liturgical year.
On Holy Thursday we remember the Last Supper and how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. We are taught that we should love and serve others. We also remember Jesus' agony in the garden and his arrest after being betrayed by Judas. We will be reading from the Catholic Children's Bible and A Family Journey with Jesus through Lent.

Lord, help me live by Your example

On Good Friday we remember Jesus' crucifixion and death on the cross. The greatest love we have ever known. He gave up His life that we could be free from our sins. We will be meditating on the Stations of the Cross and completing our Lent Lapbook. EWTN radio will have the Holy Heroes Stations of the Cross for at 1:3o ET. We will also begin the Divine Mercy Novena

Thank you Lord for your gift of love,help us show you our love

On Holy Saturday we think of Jesus in the tomb and how the disciples must have felt not knowing what would happen next. We will be attending Easter Vigil Mass for the first time with the kids. We'll see how that goes.

Thank you Lord for your gift of eternal life through your Resurrection

Solemnity of the Annunciation

2010-03-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the Solemnity of the Annunciation. It is the day that Christ took on a human nature inside the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the very instant that He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not only a great day to talk to our children about the value of life, but also about the value of following God’s Will, like the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is because of her “yes” that we have a Savior.
Thank you Blessed Mother for saying "yes"!

A nine month novena to Our Blessed Mother to begin on the Feast of the Annunciation I found at Holy Heroes

Today's Day Trip

2010-03-24T09:12:00.000-07:00

Today we are going to Kid Time! We went there once in the summer and the girls have been begging to return since. We hope to make it in time for the Bugs R Us show 11-12. Hopefully the kids will stop "bugging" us, for a little bit atleast. We are so happy that Dad can join us today. Wishing you a blessed day. Have fun

Preparing for Holy Week and Easter

2010-03-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

We are taking a break this week from our school schedule since most of the other activities we do follow the public school schedule.
The girls are enjoying the Lenten Adventure activities we have been doing and also a Lenten Lapbook we've been working on. We are just getting to know about lapbooks and are enjoying them very much.
We are doing a little spring cleaning and getting some things together to donate to a yard sale for our sweet friend McKenna.
As I was doing some reading for ideas for Holy Week and Easter celebrations, I found a wonderful idea at Shower of Roses for a Tomie de Paola Garden of the Good Shepherd sticker calendar to count the fifty days of Easter. Jessica and Charlotte are putting together a project using this calenadar where the kids can put a sticker on the poster and read a bible verse daily and at the end of the week they can have a garden party of coordinating activites and recipes. They have come up with some weekly themes:
1. The Good Shepherd's Pasture
2. Welcome to the Lord's Table
3. The Heavens Tell God's Glory
4. The Wind and Sea Obey Him
5. The Gardener Plants Paradise
6. Oh! What a Beautiful City
7. The Heavenly Zoo
I'm excited to join them and hope that we will celebrate the Easter season more fully this year.

I was also excited to find out of the opportuntity to enter to win a Garden of the Good Shepherd Sticker Calendar at Become What You Are.
It is so kind of these ladies to put all this work together and offer such an opportunity for us all. God bless them and our Lenten and Easter seasons.

2010-03-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

Solemnity of St. Joseph

2010-03-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

My daughters and I made an altar to St. Joseph. This is the first time I make one too. I followed other moms' ideas. We were going to make a paper one at first, but my girls got really excited to have an alter when i showed them some on line. We stacked up some boxes and covered them with a folded table cloth. I read that traditionally you put bread, pastries, fish, lilies, roses, candles, wine, all kinds of fruit, fava beans, and symbols of St. Joseph (like sawdust) on your altar. We used a picture I have with a prayer of the holy family. We added fruit, flowers (my daughters had fun adding lots of flowers) and candles. I made saw and staff shaped bread for symbols of St. Joseph. We also included pictures of us as we are asking St. Joseph to pray for our family's safety and unity.

In honor of the Feast of St. Joseph, The Virtual St. Joseph's Altar is hosting the first annual blog fest.

Happy St. Joseph's Day to everyone.

A beginning

2010-03-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well, today I started a blog. I can't believe it!! I hope to post about our family's journey through homeschooling and our faith.