Monday, April 30, 2012

A Mother's Love and Tradition


I began this blog to help me find unique ways to incorporate my Catholic faith in my children's lives. I was inspired by several other blogs that I was reading even before I had my own blog. Lately I have been thinking about what it means to be a good mother, which I guess is appropriate for the upcoming month of May. Mother's Day and Mary are honored during this month. I want to have my children know that I love them with every ounce of life God has given me. I want them to grow into the young gentlemen I see in my dreams. I know God has amazing plans for them to touch people's lives, they have already changed mine. My Baptismal Saint is Saint Anne, the mother of Mary. Recently I have found myself thinking about her and how she must have been such an amazing mother to be able to raise such a wonderful daughter like Mary to become the mother of Jesus. I feel so blessed to have children that are sweet and thoughtful. I can feel God's love when I watch them sleep or when they are playing together. Having children has taught me that I was a very selfish person as a young adult. I always felt that my "stresses" in life were so much larger than they actually were. Having my boys opened my eyes to the real world and popped the bubble I was living inside. When I experienced the unconditional love that comes with having a child I knew I was on the path to become the person I was meant to be.

Little Man has two Baptismal Saints that we gave him when he was born, Saint Michael and Saint Dominic. Saint Michael the Archangel was always special to me because he is my brother's Baptismal Saint as well and the church I spent my young adult years had a special devotion to him. Saint Dominic's mother had a dream about him before he was born and he grew to have a close relationship to Our Lady of the Rosary. I also had dreams about my Little Man before he was born and I knew he was going to be a very special child. Little Man loves when we say our rosaries together and talks about Mary and Jesus all the time. I know he has big things destined in his life.



Squishy's Baptismal Saint is Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary. We chose Saint Joseph because he is the Patron Saint of families. We had a miscarriage just before we found out we were pregnant with Squishy. It was a very difficult time and I was very nervous during my pregnancy with him. We knew he was such a special addition to the family and we have asked Saint Joseph to pray for him as he grows. We prayed for this little boy so hard and we knew he would teach us to embrace all the crosses we have been asked to carry in our lives. Losing our precious baby before him was hard and I will always remember the day we said goodbye but I know we will meet again.

Lately I have been trying to think of some ways to make a special gift for my children that I can give them when they reach special milestones in their life. I think I would like to make them a journal/ scrapbook. On special days like birthdays, anniversaries of their sacraments to document milestones in their lives. I would like to write them letters and place them within the journal with pictures and cards from other family members. I think it could be a humbling gift for them when they reach their adult years. I am learning to find the small pleasures in life and I hope this little gift will illustrate my personal growth as a mother and the special place each of my kids has in my heart.

Until then, I will strive to be the kind of mother God has called me to be and raise my children the best way I can, with God as our center. I hope that the month of May is a time for great spiritual growth. I hope this little journal can become a tradition for my family.

Prayer to St. Anne
With my heart full of the most sincere venerations, I prostrate myself before thee, O glorious Saint Anne. Thou art that creature of privilege and predilection, who by thy extraordinary virtues and holiness didst merit from God the high favor of giving life to her who is the Treasury of all graces, blessed among women, the Mother of the Word Incarnate, the most holy Virgin Mary. By virtue of so lofty a privilege, do thou deign, O most compassionate saint, to receive me into the number of thy true clients, for so I profess myself and so I desire to remain throughout my entire life.

Shield me with thine effectual patronage and obtain for me from God the power to imitate those virtues where with thou wast so plentifully adorned. Grant that I may know and weep over my sins in bitterness of heart. Obtain for me the grace of most active love for Jesus and Mary, and resolution to fulfill the duties of my state of life with faithfulness and constancy. Save me from every danger that confronts me in life, and help me at the hour of death, that so I may come in safety to paradise, there to sing with thee, O most happy mother, the praises of the Word of God made Man in the womb of thy most pure daughter, the Virgin Mary. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be, (three times).

Saturday, April 28, 2012

The March: Team KLAG

Today was the day.... the day of the March of Dimes March for Babies! Squishy and I walked with Team KLAG! It was my first time walking for a cause and it was such a great experience. I know we will be doing it again. Hopefully soon.

What an amazing day! The weather was absolutely gorgeous with brilliant sunlight and a calm cool breeze. Everything was decorated with big purple and white balloons. Bubble blowers were setup at the checkpoints and blew around as you passed. The path set for us to walk was lined with beautiful shady trees and with views of the Gulf of Mexico. If the beautiful weather and gorgeous scenery wasn't enough to get you excited there was a band playing music along the beginning of our walking path. I am honored that Squishy and I were able to attend such a wonderful fundraising event for such a great cause. You could feel the love that everyone participating had for every child we were walking for. I loved watching the enthusiasm and excitement. The pavilion area and several teams held posters decorated in honor of their teams and children that were their team mascots. Every team also had team shirts that were decorated anyway the team designated. Look at the amazing job Mallory did on these shirts. She even had every team members name on the backs.


Look Closely you can see Kai's name within the words on the shirt.

My camera was not wanting to cooperate with me so all the pictures posted are compliments of the team members of KLAG. Thank you everyone for the amazing pictures! As I come across more pictures I will update this post. Please leave me a comment if you have any more you don't mind me borrowing. Thank you in advance and keep checking for updates!


It was so refreshing to see families together and children playing and running down the path. Squishy walked for maybe 100 steps before deciding being carried (not pushed in the stroller) was the best way to finish the race. I definitely got a workout! As you finished the walk and crossed under the purple and white balloon arch they handed out the cutest stickers to every walker and stroller! :o) Take a look at the kids with the stickers on their shirts. I love how Squishy is passed out but the sticker says "I DID IT!" We placed our sticker on our calendar when we got home.




This walk was so much fun. Many of the members of the team were friends from high school, so it was a small reunion for me. It was great to see how everyone is starting families and/or starting careers. It was an awesome feeling. In addition to having an amazing day and getting a chance to catch up with some high school friends, our team won several awards! The March of Dimes hands out the awards after the walk and Team KLAG won Best New Team AND Best Family Team! GO TEAM KLAG!

I love the poster Mallory made to hang from Kai's stroller for the walk. If you can't see through the shadow it says...
My daddy is in Afghanistan. Wish you were here. Love you!
In this area we have many military families. These families deserve so many thanks for the sacrifices they make for everyone's freedom. We all wish you could have come to walk with us today and thank you for your service.


This picture embodies the whole day!
{Perfect}

For those of you interested in joining us next year they will be hosting the March of Dimes March for Babies in Panama City on April 27, 2013. Go ahead and mark your calendars its never too early to start getting ready for this awesome event!



O God, our Heavenly Father, You sent Your Son into this world that He might Bless and Consecrate all life to You.
Your constant Love protected Him as the Ever Virgin Mary bore Him in Her womb for nine months.
In His mission He taught us the Greatness of Your Love and the Sanctity of Life.
We pray that we may always cherish the Life that You give us.
In a special way we ask and pray that You Grace and Protect all unborn children with Your ever caring Love.
We pray this in the Name of Jesus, Who is Lord, Forever and Ever. Amen.
Most Rev. Louis E. Gelineau, D.D.
Bishop of Providence

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Day of the Dragon Slayer

I am still getting use to planning and executing all the plans I have for the liturgical year. I am loving the interaction I get from my children and the excitement that comes with every new feast day. I was unable to make cupcakes with the Cross of Saint George due to a flat tire that kept me from the grocery store {I should have purchased the ingredients prior to the day of the celebration-Lesson learned }Oh well! Practice makes perfect and I know to be more prepared next time. We also did not receive George and the Dragon from Netflix but instead we watched the Disney classic, The Sword in the Stone. All in all, it was still a memorable day with some excited little boys! After seeing the amazing Dragon cake from Waltzing Matilda I will definitely make one next year!.


Here are the pictures from our Saint George Festivities!
Scones...Did I say scones? I mean biscuits {that look similar to scones} for breakfast ;o)


Went perfectly with my Hazelnut coffee! YUM!

Dragon Fruit Smoothies!
Not really made with dragon fruit but definitely made the kids smile
Recipe below (makes about 3)
1 can tropical mixed fruit
1 strawberry banana yogurt
splash of apple juice
ice

English Fish n' Chips!
I think Little Man didn't quite understand why we were calling the french fries chips



Here are the boys being boys playing with the Dragon castle and swords



I hope everyone had a Jolly Good Day! Now to start preparations for tomorrow...and the Feast of Saint Mark!
Saint George, Pray for us!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Knights and Princess


Monday, April 23rd, is the Feast Day of Saint George the Dragon Slayer! April 23rd is also the day William Shakespeare was born and died. So naturally this is a great day to celebrate England and its beautiful culture! Saint George's Day for England is like Saint Patrick's Day for Ireland. I think this Feast Day is going to turn into a favorite for the boys this year. I would like to make them knight costumes out of pillow cases and draw St. George's Cross on to the front of their armor. I still need to find some place to either find a shield, sword and/ or helmet. I am even going to dress up like a princess and let my boys rescue me. :o) In addition to dressing up I already checked out Saint George and the Dragon from the library and I am hoping that the movie I ordered from Netflix, George and the Dragon will arrive on time (fingers crossed). For dinner I am making a British meal of Fish and Chips! I would LOVE to attempt a Dragon cake but I think I would need a practice run first. Instead I am thinking cupcakes with St. George Crosses or Dragon toy figurines as toppers. I really would like to try to make scones and have an afternoon tea as snack during story time but I do have a bunch of boys, I may just have a tea party for one. For more information on how the British celebrate their patron saint check out this website here. Those are my plans and the start of my preparations for this day. Are there any special customs that anyone else may know about that would be fun to incorporate?
Cross of Saint George
I would really like to incorporate Shakespeare into today as well but I don't really know anything besides Gnomeo and Juliet to be an age appropriate version of a Shakespearean play. Well I guess I have a little more planning to do on this subject. Maybe I could continue this celebration into the next day is necessary.

Below are some other days we will be doing special crafts, snacks, stories etc. Although I have not worked out solid plans for any of these days yet. Any Suggestions?
Normally celebrated on April 29th but it falls on a Sunday this year.

The Liturgical Year is so fun to celebrate! Especially since my boys are starting to understand more concepts about their faith. I would really like to get any suggestions or feedback on some good traditions for any of these days.

**On a side note I wish the United States celebrated the Immaculate Conception since Mary is our Patron Saint. People celebrate Saint Patrick's Day and Saint Valentine's Day (most in a commercialised way) but we should embrace our Patron Saint as well.

Soccer Superstar


Little Man and Squishy a year ago during Spring Soccer.

Little Man has been playing soccer with the YMCA for 2 years and I think God has blessed him with athleticism. He loves playing with his friends on his team but has a great sportsman like attitude. If anyone falls, he always helps them up or checks to make sure they are not hurt before taking off after the soccer ball again. He also does an amazing job of playing with his baby brother and teaching him how to pass the ball. It makes my heart melt to see the loving and caring child he has become. I couldn't be more proud of my Little Man. His first game will be this weekend!
As much as he loves soccer we are hoping to have him try many different extra-curricular activities so he can find his true calling from God. I have to admit, If sports is going to be one of his gifts I am glad that he has already started to learn what is most important in sports: Your team and attitude. I am so lucky to be the mom of such sweet boys!

Dear Commander at the Roman Emperor's court, you chose to be a soldier of Christ and dared to spread faith in the King of Kings---for which you were condemned to die. Your body, however, proved athletically strong and the executing arrows extremely weak. So another means to kill you was chosen and you gave your life to the Lord. May athletes be always as strong in their faith as their Patron Saint so clearly has been. Amen.

Prayer of Saint Sebastian, patron saint of athletes

Monday, April 16, 2012

A Special Birthday and Feast Day

First of all let me start by saying...



PRAYERS FOR BENEDICT XVI:
V. Let us pray for Benedict, our Pope.

R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. [Ps 40:3]

Our Father, Hail Mary.

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Benedict, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

— Excerpted from the Roman Missal. A partial indulgence is attached to the versicle and response.~ Catholic Culture

In honor of the Pope's Birthday I discussed his Coat of Arms with the boys. I printed this coloring page but we didn't have time to color them today. We will continue celebrating the Pope's Birthday tomorrow with some cupcakes and  coloring pages. Another great way to make today feel special is to bring yellow roses into your home. I wish I knew where to find some near my home but I am thinking about planting some maybe next year?

In addition to Pope Benedict's Birthday it is also the Feast day of Saint Bernadette Soubirous (My Confirmation Patron Saint) Today is a very special day for our family! There are actual several feast days that commemorate Saint Bernadette but we celebrate them all. Who doesn't love a reason to have a celebration with friends and family? Saint Bernadette has always had a special place in my heart and in my faith as I grew as a young adult. I admired the strength of heart that she possessed although her health and body were weak. I hope that one day every person can feel the love of Jesus and Mary, our blessed Mother the way Bernadette could. I am striving to be more like Saint Bernadette, to offer my sufferings as reparations for my sins and those of the whole world, to love God in such a way that it emits from me and my family and have patience and understandings that this world is not our real home.

You can place your petitions at the Grotto of Lourdes through this website here. The Grotto is where Bernadette dug into the mud and created a spring that is a special place of pilgrimage in Lourdes, France. It is a place that many miracles of healing has occurred.

Some of my most favorite quotes from Saint Bernadette are...

"O Jesus and Mary, let my entire consolation in this world be to love you and to suffer for sinners."
"O Jesus, I would rather die a thousand deaths than be unfaithful to you!"
"I must die to myself continually and accept trials without complaining. I work, I suffer and I love with no other witness than his heart. Anyone who is not prepared to suffer all for the Beloved and to do his will in all things is not worthy of the sweet name of Friend, for here below, Love without suffering does not exist."
"I shall spend every moment loving. One who loves does not notice her trials; or perhaps more accurately, she is able to love them."
"O my Mother, to you I sacrifice all other attachments so that my heart may belong entirely to you and to my Jesus."
"I shall do everything for Heaven, my true home. There I shall find my Mother in all the splendor of her glory. I shall delight with her in the joy of Jesus himself in perfect safety."
"From this moment on, anything concerning me is no longer of any interest to me. I must belong entirely to God and God alone. Never to myself."
"Love overcomes, love delights"
"Those who love the Sacred Heart rejoice."
"Jesus, my God, I love you above all things."
If you are interested in learning more about this special woman you can read A Holy Life: The Writings of St. Bernadette of Lourdes. I have never been able to finish this book but I hope to read it fully very soon. I will be watching The Song of Bernadette tonight with my boys. My husband will even be home in time to join in the showing. We will be praying a Rosary together as a family and hopefully get back into the routine of reciting it together as a family each night. Today was definitely fun and spiritually strengthening!

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us!
Saint Bernadette, Pray for us!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Divine Mercy Sunday

Today was the first time in a VERY LONG time that we missed Mass. Circumstances beyond our control but I am still sad we missed the beautiful Chaplet that is normally said after Mass on this special Feast Day, Divine Mercy Sunday. Today also ends the Divine Mercy Novena that was started on Good Friday.

To celebrate today I had the children color a black and white "Jesus I Trust in You" picture from this link here. And I explained the reason this picture is so important and what the colors of the rays coming from Jesus' side. We didn't get to discuss Sister Faustina as much as I would have liked but I think the boys understood the general concept of the day.

Squishy tried eating more crayons than actually coloring so his picture looks a little incomplete. Little Man decided to color Jesus in a rainbow of colors but did color the rays the appropriate colors. I was quite impressed!






We also created the Divine Mercy Statues from Catholic Icing! Little Man was really excited about displaying this in his room.



Little Man already loves the Chaplet for Kids and the Rosary for Kids that we say together from EWTN but we made lacing chaplets from construction paper as we said the Chaplet of Divine Mercy together. He has one more reason to be more excited to say the Chaplet now.

 For our special Divine Mercy Dinner we ate Lasagna and water :o) Very simple but incorporated the colors of red from the lasagna and blue water that poured from Jesus. I really liked the idea of Divine Mercy Sundaes from Catholic Icing but I only had sherbet :o) We made sundaes anyways and I think it was a perfect ending to the day. Although the day was definitely incomplete without receiving the Eucharist at Mass or the Chaplet sung afterwards it was a good day. I can't wait to receive Reconciliation this Saturday and feel Jesus' Divine Mercy once again.
Here is the completed crafts hung next to our Alleluia Banner in the Dining Room. They add a lot of Easter flair with all the bright colors don't you think?

Jesus I trust in You!
Have a blessed Divine Mercy Sunday!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

March of Dimes March for Babies

I hope everyone is still in full swing of their Easter Celebrations. I know my kids are enjoying the candy and bright colors of the season! I thought I would get some more planning in on the next few weeks, I feel like there is going to be a lot of fun around the corner. One of the more special events we have on our calendar as a family is on Saturday April 28th it is for...

Check out my personal page here

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. I'm walking in March for Babies because I want to do something about this. And I need your help.
Please support my walk. Making a secure donation is easy: just click the 'donate now' button on this page. Thank you for helping me give all babies a healthy start!
The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.

My friend from High School has the most precious baby boy named Kai and we will be walking with her, other friends and family with him as our Team mascot! Both he and his mom are inspirational and although we don't spend a lot of time together, the respect I have for them is immense. Please read this article that was written about this beautiful family in the Northwest Florida Newspaper. God has blessed Mallory with such a special child and you can tell that together they are making big differences in people's lives.

I hope if anyone has the ability to donate their time to walk or donate monitarily to this most worthy cause, I pray that you will.
God Bless!

Prayer of Mothers
Father in heaven, grant me the grace to appreciate the dignity which you have conferred on me. Let me realize that not even the Angels have been blessed with such a privilege—to share in your creative miracle and bring new Saints to heaven. Make me a good mother to all my children after the example of Mary, the Mother of your Son. Through the intercession of Jesus and Mary I ask your continued blessings on my family. Let us all be dedicated to your service on earth and attain the eternal happiness of your kingdom in heaven. Amen.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday

We spent Holy Saturday preparing for Easter Sunday!
I helped Little Man make his first set of Resurrection Eggs!
I bought some plastic eggs at the Dollar Tree and used this link here for some pictures to place inside each egg. Little Man loved coloring the pictures and I allowed him to place each step of the Resurrection into the corresponding egg as we discussed each picture and scripture reading.

We also colored our Easter eggs as a family Saturday night (Daddy actually had the night off with us) before our first attempt at baking Resurrection Cookies.














Here are our beautiful eggs! Everyone had a great time and we have tons of boiled eggs for deviled eggs and egg salad! YUM! We also finished our Holy Road and Lenten Calendar.
I also completed our Easter Calendar today! Its made of 50 plastic eggs that I numbered 1-15. Inside each egg there is a piece of paper with a special activity to help our family celebrate all 50 days of the Easter Season. I got this idea from one of the blogs I came across but I can't find it again to link for people who would be interested in doing a similar version. I believe they placed biblical verses that accompanied another activity their family participated in each Easter. I will update with the link as soon as I can find it again.
You can see where I ran out of the light blue ribbon and finished with purple :o)  
After we placed the baskets on the dinner table, we made our first attempt at Resurrection cookies. All I can say is that you DEFINITELY need a mixer to make these cookies because ours didn't turn out. Thank goodness Easter is a season and we will make them again before Pentecost as soon as we purchase a new mixer of course ;o)

To start our Easter festivities Sunday morning the boys found that the Easter Bunny had come and filled their Easter baskets! They contained chocolate crosses, puzzles, books, toy cars, egg shaped chalk, prayer cards and scapulars and assorted candies.
As you can see from the pictures our sacrifice beans transformed into delicious jelly beans! Our crown of thorns lost all of its thorns and bloomed with Easter lilies as well.
I have to figure out how to download pictures from my phone onto this blog to complete a blog about our Easter Sunday celebration. Until then Happy Easter to your family from ours!
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