Preparing for Holy Week and Easter

I can not believe that Lent is almost over! I have so many fun crafts and activities to prepare for the next week but it is really exciting getting closer to Easter! I know these plans are very vague but I will elaborate in upcoming posts, I am using this more to organize my thoughts and to take any suggestions anyone may have on these topics

Palm Sunday:

Cover all Religious items with purple cloth for Passion week

Bake Oatmeal date cookies

Make a hand print palm branch

Start our Holy Week Road

Make a caterpillar

Palm Sundaes for dessert

Light candle on table

Holy Thursday:

Easter Break begins

Buy or make hot cross buns for Good Friday's breakfast

Read story of the Last Supper

Create 3D Last Supper Craft

Lenten Dinner

Washing of feet

Good Friday:

Remember today is a day of fasting

Hot cross buns for breakfast

Carry our wooden crosses all day

Make Resurrection Eggs

Make Resurrection Sets

Stations of the Cross

Blow out candle at 3PM

Watch the Animated Passion with the children and Veggie Tales Jonah

Place caterpillar in cocoon

 

Holy Saturday:

No light or fire today

Make Easter Candles

Decorate Easter Eggs

Prepare Easter Baskets

Hang Easter Egg Calendar

Replace beans from Sacrifice Jar with Jelly Beans

Remove caterpillar from bag and replace with a butterfly

Easter Sunday:

Easter Sunday Mass

Celebrate with Easter baskets

Egg Hunt

"Find" and Hang the Alleluia Banner

Bake Resurrection Rolls

Color Resurrection Banners

Easter Feast

I would love any other suggestions to make this a very memorable Easter Celebration for my family so please, tell me about your family traditions and way to celebrate the holiest day of the year!

The Annunciation

Yesterday we had an amazing evening celebrating the Solemnity of the Annunciation as a family! I had to work most of the day so our celebration wasn't as elaborate as I had originally had planned.

To start the celebration, we created an Annunciation Candle:

We used a white pillar candle (symbolizing the purity of the Virgin Mary) and carved a spot in the middle of the candle large enough to hold a small picture of a baby (symbolizing Baby Jesus in Mary's womb). We then tied a piece of blue ribbon over the opening making it seem as if the baby was hidden, like a baby is hidden within its' mother's body until birth. The really fun thing about making this candle is that you can use it for any Marion Feast Day and on Christmas you can untie the ribbon displaying  Baby Jesus. I am really excited about using the candle throughout the year!

After displaying our beautiful candle on the table in preparation for dinner, the kids and I discussed what the Annunciation is about in the simplest way possible. I told them the Angel Gabriel asked Mary if she would be the mommy of Jesus and she said Yes! At that moment baby Jesus was inside Mary's tummy. I also explained that this is why every baby is special because the moment that they are in their mommy's tummies they are apart of a family and they are special and loved. My husband and I are going to be trying to conceive again soon so I think this is a special lesson for our two boys.

I made an Angel Food cake (Angel Gabriel) and frosted it with whipped topping (Mary's purity) and decorated it with blue sprinkles (Mary's mantle). The whole family loved it!
Did you know...In Sweden today is also known as "Waffle Day"? I was hoping to make blueberry waffles for breakfast but today was the first day back from Spring Break. We all had a hard time starting the day but somehow managed to get everyone to school/work on time. I will certainly make them next year, even if I have to make breakfast for dinner! :o)

There are a few other ideas I wanted to touch on for this feast that I wasn't able to complete fully since I was short on time but sound like too much fun not to mention...
I wanted to purchase some marigolds to plant but was only able to get a sunflower seed. I am waiting until this weekend to have the whole family help with this project and hopefully we will have some beautiful sunflowers in our front yard soon!
I would have liked to be able to color some Annunciation scenes or have the kids draw their own interpretation of the story.
Some other crafts I thought about were hand print angels or using butterfly paperclips to create angels.

If anyone has any suggestions for me to try next year please let me know!

Looking forward to the start of Holy Week and Easter

I hope you had a blessed day!

Lent and Spring Cleaning

Lent is a time for cleansing your soul by fasting, praying and alms giving in preparation for Easter, the greatest celebration of the year! This is why spring cleaning normally falls during this time period. The additional time you take to cleanse your household in preparation can be offered as a sacrifice to God and all your "junk" can be donated (if its in decent condition) for alms giving. Yesterday my boys went for a visit with my in-laws, so I am home alone for a couple days this week. I decided I would use this time to complete all of my Spring Cleaning! I know this makes me seem like such a dork but I honestly couldn't think of much else to do with my free time. Normally Spring Cleaning would take me several weeks but since I don't have my children here I have some extra free time to get these tasks done. Today I am cleaning the down stairs since it is the most "used" part of the house. If anyone would like to use my Spring Cleaning Checklist I will try to convert this into a document for download if anyone is interested in a copy when I am finished with the actual cleaning.

Living Room

1. Dust: All pictures, frames, fan, light fixtures and artifacts on the wall.
2. Clean window and French Doors
3. Polish furniture: TV stand, side table, desk
4. Clean couch: Sweep out under cushions and wipe down with furniture polish
5. Organize Desk
6. Vacuum
7. Clean walls
8. Make note of things that are in need of repair or replacing: new light bulbs, candles, window blinds etc.
9. Pack anything that is no longer needed in a bag to donate

Dining Room

1. Dust: All pictures, frames, fan, light fixtures and artifacts on the wall.
2. Clean window
3. Polish furniture: Table, chairs, water font, wine rack and home altar
4. Clean Booster seat
5. Vacuum
6. Clean Walls
7. Make note of things that are in need of repair or replacing: candles, window blinds, etc.
8. Pack anything that is no longer needed in a bag to donate

Kitchen

1. Dust: greenery, clock and artifacts on the wall.
2. Clean out refrigerator inside and out
3. Clean oven inside and out
4. clean microwave inside and out
5. Clean dishwasher inside and out
6. Clean all cabinets and polish with cleaner
7. Clean coffee machine
8. Clean trash can
9. Wipe all counters and surfaces
10. Organize pantry closet
11. Sweep the floor thoroughly
12. Mop with sanitizer
13. Make note of things that are in need of repair or replacing: light bulbs, shelving, cooking utensils, etc.
14. Pack anything that is no longer needed in a bag to donate

Half Bathroom

1. Dust: Pictures and artifacts on the walls
2. Clean mirror
3. Clean sink and toiletries
4. Polish shelf and restock toiletries
5. Clean toilet inside and out
6. Wash rugs and towels
7. Sweep the floor thoroughly
8. mop with sanitizer
9. Make note of things that are in need of repair or replacing: light bulbs, toiletries, towels, etc.
10. Pack anything that is no longer needed in a bag to donate

Linen Closet

1. Remove old shoes and products to trash
2. Organize shoes, vacuum, carpet cleaner
3. Make note of things that are in need of repair or replacing: shelving, linen, etc.
4. Pack anything that is no longer needed in a bag to donate

Steam Clean Carpets and Allow to dry overnight

Well the list for my downstairs area sounds pretty redundant doesn't it? Dusting, Organizing and Sanitizing! Cleaning the upstairs will take much longer! I'm going to get started while I'm feeling inspired and I will elaborate on the other half of the house soon.  The other rooms upstairs include...

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom
Laundry Room

Squishy's Bedroom #1

Little Man's Bedroom #2

Kids Bathroom

I hope every one's Lenten Season is progressing well! Good luck to all who are undertaking their Spring Cleaning too!

Becoming Beach Bums

We moved closer to the beach about 2 years ago and we still had never gone to the beach together. Yesterday before my boys left for vacation we had our FIRST family trip to the beach. Although it took us a long time to go together as a family...it was an AMAZING DAY!

 The kids were super excited to get going on our beach adventure....

 They passed out 10 minutes into the trip :o)

I am such a lucky lady with these little men to love!

Squishy wasn't really interested in the water but the sand was absolutely amazing

Celebrating All Day

Today we are celebrating Saint Joseph and my Dad's 50th Birthday!

Did you know that in Europe it is custom to wear red in honor of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph just like it is to wear green on Saint Patrick's Day?
We had plans to make our first Saint Joseph Altar but time got away from us while we celebrated at my Grandfather's farm. We were able to color a few pictures of Saint Joseph and enjoy some Minestrone soup with Italian bread for dinner.
I need to start preparations for the Feast of the Annunciation, Holy Week and the Easter Season! I was thinking sometime this week would be an awesome time to complete my Spring Cleaning since my kids will be visiting the in-laws and donate everything we no longer need. I hope to keep everyone posted.
Any suggestions? I am all ears!

Saint Patrick's Day 2012!

I hope everyone had a blessed Saint Patrick's Day!

We had a AMAZING day!

Everyone decided to wear green of course! Anyway, surprisingly enough everything went according to my plans except I made Shepherds Pie for dinner. I forgot to pick up Guinness for the Irish Beef Guinness Stew. The boys were able to enjoy the beautiful weather outside and had a great sleepover with their friend!

 The cupcakes were a favorite

We got an unexpected surprise to see the water was turned on for Spring Break!

As you can see the kids played without their swim trunks.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me,Christ to comfort and restore me.Christ beneath me, Christ above me,Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Saint Patrick Pray for us!