Last Day of K4

Oh my goodness! How time flies.... I feel like the school year just began and Little Man was getting ready for preschool. It was so adorable how super excited he was about his Spider Man backpack and lunch box. Looking back at the pictures I took on the first day of school make me a little teary-eyed. He looks so grown up, its hard to believe it was taken almost 10 months ago.


Now his first school year is officially done and I am a proud mom for sure! It was the most amazing school year and I know that Little Man is very sad that school is out for summer break. I can't say I blame him! He had the most amazing teachers ever! God has truly blessed Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Monica with an incredible ability to touch children's hearts and minds. I am so thankful that my son was able to be taught by these amazing women because I know he is set for success. Little Man wants to practice his letters, counting and asks me tons of intelligent questions all the time now. He is so interested in his surroundings and loves to experiment (thanks to the hands-on-learning techniques of his teachers). I am sad that Little Man will not be attending the same school next year since we will be in another state, but I pray that his kindergarten teacher is half as good as his K4 teachers!

The class pulled together to get the teachers an end of year gift but Little Man wanted to make something special for Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Monica. He made them personalized coffee cups. He told me he wanted them to use them everyday. He made sure to color each cup just a little differently so Mrs. Monica and Mrs. Evans would know which cup was which. I thought it was a sweet gesture and very thoughtful. He even made his Daddy and I some special cups to use on our way to work.

Little Man received 2 new books as an end of year gift from his teachers too: It's Hard to be Five and If You Give A Cat A Cupcake. Both of these books are amazing. Little Man has had me read them several times since he received them. I think what makes these most special for Little Man is that they are signed with a little note of encouragement for the upcoming school year from his teachers.

I am ready for an exciting summer with my family and to start our new chapter in South Carolina!

Summer Vacation has officially commenced!

Prayer for Teachers 

Great is the wisdom of the Lord!
God Almighty, Your Wisdom includes
An understanding of what is fair,
What is logical, what is true,
What is right and what is lasting.
It mirrors Your pure intellect!
I entreat You to grant me such Wisdom,
That my labours may reflect Your insight.
Your Wisdom expands in Your creations,
Displaying complexity and multiplicity.
Your Wisdom is an eternity ahead of man.
May Your wisdom flourish forever!

In Honor

Memorial Day is such an emotional day for so many people especially around here. There are 3 military bases nearby and many families have a family member or close friend that serves.  I am so glad that we honor those who have given their lives for us to enjoy the freedoms that so many of us take for granted. In the past few months there have been news of several soldiers from our surrounding towns that will not be coming home, you can read an article here.
For me personally, my dad was in the Air Force for 28 years before retiring just a few years ago. My dad was deployed in several different countries to participate in Iraqi Freedom, the Ceasefire in Korea, Kuwait, Desert Storm- Desert Shield and several other places and missions. When I was younger, my dad never spoke about his experiences overseas. Now that I am older, he talks about his scary experiences seldom and how lucky we are to live in a country that allows us so many freedoms.

My grandfather joined the Navy when he was only 16 (during WWII) completed several terms of service. He later joined retired from the Air Force.  My grandfather is such an admirable man and he is a Veteran of WWII, Vietnam and the Korean War. He was standing on the battleship Missouri during the formal surrender ceremony for Japan during WWII. My grandfather loves his country and I know he lost many friends during his time in the military. Now that he is growing older in age, his memories haunt him at times.

Here are a few people me and my family knew personally that we will remember today

Josh Born

I graduated from Niceville High School with Josh Born but I had known him since Elementary School. We had several classes together and had several mutual friends. We hung out when he came to visit our next door neighbors and I will always remember him as a great friend. He was killed just a month ago. Pray for his family, especially his wife Megan who I am sure needs to feels God's love and strength in her life.

Vanessa Pitts

Vanessa was a running companion of mine during Track and Field during High School. I participated in a Volleyball Camp with her during Middle School. She was a sweet girl who always had something nice to say. It has been just over 2 years since Vanessa became an angel. Pray that her family and fiance' are staying strong and know we will never forget their amazing Vanessa.

Patrick Griffin

My dad asked me to write a special note for one of his lost friends. I didn't know him personally but I know his family still misses him years later. Pray for his children that are growing up so fast and his wife.

Brent Marthaler*

* I put an asterisk next to Brent because he was 1 of 19 killed at the Khobar Towers.

I wanted to make special mention of him because he was my Sunday School teacher and he had a great impact on my life. I remember after the bombing his Fiance' came and took his entire class to a room to celebrate the life of Mr. Brent. She brought us teddy bears and gifts and I remember feeling a deep sorrow and loss. I was only 9 when the bombing occurred. This June 25th marks the 16th Anniversary of his death. I am planning on visiting the beautiful Memorial they have in place for the young men that lost their lives in that bombing. I know that there is a special place in heaven for the mean and women that lay down their lives in service of others. They are now blessed to guard the golden gates to heaven. Please keep his family and friends in your prayers, I know he is still greatly missed, even 16 years later.

These are a few of many that deserve to be remembered today. There will be more to join them in the upcoming years as well. I have such a strong patriotic heart. I was planning on joining the Air Force during college. Then I had Little Man and I have such an enormous respect for those who suffer the heartbreak of leaving their loved ones to fight for our great nation. I am raising my children to respect those in uniform because FREEDOM IS NOT FREE! I hope everyone takes time today to pray for those that gave their lives, their families that are still on Earth and cherish the gift they have given us all.

We walked among the crosses

Where our fallen soldiers lay.

And listened to the bugle

As taps began to play.

The Chaplin led a prayer

We stood with heads bowed low.

And I thought of fallen comrades

I had known so long ago.

They came from every city

Across this fertile land.

That we might live in freedom.

They lie here 'neath the sand.

I felt a little guilty

My sacrifice was small.

I only lost a little time

But these men lost their all.

Now the services are over

For this Memorial Day.

To the names upon these crosses

I just want to say,

Thanks for what you've given

No one could ask for more.

May you rest with God in heaven

From now through evermore.    

Prayer for Fallen Soldiers

Dear Lord Jesus and Mary, Mother of God,
Hold all these brave souls in the palm of your hand, comfort them and their families.

Send angels of protection, love, and comfort to all the service men and women still at war,
bring them home safely and comfort their families.

We ask all our prayers in Jesus' name. Amen.

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Prayers/Catholic/Holidays/Prayer-For-Fallen-Soldiers.aspx#ixzz1vz1iauJD

Pentecost Sunday

Happy Birthday to the Catholic Church!

Today is Pentecost also known as "Whitsunday" one of the most Blessed Feast Days of the Year! Its traditional to wear red today to symbolize the "tongues of fire" that came upon the Apostles. This is our first time having a party in celebration but I found there are so many fun ways to celebrate this Feast Day.

A tradition I am starting is one I saw on Catholic Culture. I modified their tradition a little but I think the end result was cute! You write the Gifts of the Holy Spirit on paper that has been cut into the shape of a dove with red ribbon (used to hang it within your house). Each family member draws a dove to see what gift from the Holy Spirit you need to work on for the year. The doves are then left on display as a reminder to everyone to focus on their gift throughout the year. Below are the results!

Myself: Counsel

Little Man: Fear of the Lord

Squishy: Knowledge

We allowed Little Man to draw Squishy's gift because he was COVERED in red velvet cake...

As a craft the boys and I made headbands with flames attached to look like the Holy Spirit was falling upon us before dinner. It was so fun and I hope the kids remember these fun activities.

The food we eat on Feast Days is the most exciting part for my children. Today we had donuts and water (My husband and I enjoyed coffee with cream) as our before Mass snack. For lunch we ate chicken strips and potato wedges to continue with the "white" theme and for dinner I was planning on making a Seven Layer Casserole in the crock pot. I had to modify the recipe because I forgot to buy chicken and red potatoes. Instead I made everything separately but I think the meal still turned out quite nice. We served everything on our red plates and used red cups. If you would like to try out the original recipe I was going to use, check out the recipe below:

Seven Layer Casserole

Red potatoes  thinly sliced

Chopped Onion

Frozen Carrots

Frozen Peas

Rice

Chicken Breast

Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup

Milk

Salt and pepper

Put all ingredients except rice in crock pot on Low for 8 hours

Add Rice 3 hours before casserole is finished

You could always add cumin or chili seasoning to add some kick for the tongues of fire!

The kids and I baked a red velvet Pentecost Birthday cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to the Church. I couldn't help but decorate our cake like Jessica's from Shower of Roses. It is gorgeous and has so much symbolism! We topped our cake with 1 large candle (Christ: the light of the world) and topped with 12 small candles (the 12 Apostles) and Seven Dove chocolates (7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit). It is also surrounded by 12 strawberries (12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit).

I have to admit I did not think about how close I placed all the candles together before we lit them... Well let's just say LESSON LEARNED :o) It looked like the cake was going to go up in flames!!!

Little Man was laughing so hard while we sang Happy Birthday because the middle candle melted completely while we were singing. Although everything did not go as planned this will become a treasured tradition for our family and now we have a silly story to share with anyone who is willing to listen.

After an entire day of celebration we decided to end the night with a movie. I rented a movie for us from Netflix called Bedbug Bible Gang: Pentecost Party. I have never seen it or know anyone who has seen it. It looks interesting and I hope the kids like it. I will update with my opinion after tonight. I hope everyone had a Blessed Pentecost!

National Wine Day!

Today is National Wine Day! I love to have wine to celebrate our Liturgical Feast Days and I think today would be a great day to try a wine you've never tried. I am ending the night with a glass of Lucky Duck Riesling!

Blessing of the Wine

*Normally used on the Feast of St John on December 28th*

Graciously bless and sanctify, O Lord God, this wine and this drink with Thy right hand, and grant that by the merits of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, all who believe in Thee and partake of this wine may be blessed and protected. And as Saint John drank poison from a cup and was unharmed, so may all those who this day drink of this cup in honor of Saint John be preserved from all poisoning and other harmful things, and as they offer themselves to Thee in body and soul may they be free of all guilt. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Bless, O Lord, this drink which Thou hast created, that it may be a salutary remedy for all who partake of it, and grant that all who taste of it may, by invoking Thy holy name, receive health for body and soul. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

And may the blessing of Almighty God, of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, come down upon this wine and any other drink, and remain forever. Amen.

Have a Blessed Night!

Soccer Banquet

I absolutely love this picture. All the kids were suppose to make funny faces but some just look confused (Look at Little Man LOL). We had an amazing group of children this Spring Soccer.

Tonight ended Little Man's Spring Soccer Season with the Blue Dinos. I am so proud of the great sportsmanship he showed this season and his enthusiasm to learn the sport. Today was definitely his BEST game ever! He only score once but he didn't give up and continued to dribble the ball although the opposing team was stealing the ball and blocking his shots. I was totally having a *Proud Mama* experience. I am sad to say that this will be his last extra-curricular activity until we get settled in our new home in South Carolina. Although, Dominic had a blast eating pizza and playing at the park until bedtime! We even passed out invitations to his Birthday/ Going Away Party in June. Here is a collage of several games throughout their season and pictures from the banquet at the park.

Feast of Saint Rita

Today is the Feast day of Saint Rita of Cascia. She is the patron of impossible cases. I find the stories associated with this saint so compelling and beautiful. Most people know the story about her asking for figs and rose during the winter and when her relative went to see about her requests found a rose in bloom and two ripe figs. Another story not commonly spoke about are "Saint Rita's Bees".

My son is a self proclaimed "buggie-ologist" since an insect month in his K4 class, so I decided to do a craft with the miraculous white bees of Saint Rita. I used this Bumblebee 3D Craft and modified it.

The children made a bee two bees each. Remember in legend that Saint Rita's bees are white but I allowed the boys to color their bees however they wanted and sprinkle glitter on their finished bee to make them look more special.

Bees are done starting from left: Squishy, Little Man and me

After they completed decorating their pictures we attached the bees with ribbon and placed them among the roses in our vase to create a beautiful centerpiece. It looks like the bees are flying around the flowers just like the Saint Rita bees fly around her former convent. Here is the finished result:

In addition to our Saint Rita craft I purchased some red roses for a Blessing of the Roses that is held in honor of Saint Rita. I am hoping that they will stay beautiful for our Pentecost: Birthday for the Church Celebration on Sunday.

Blessing of the Roses in Honor of Saint Rita

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made heaven and earth.

O God, whose word sanctifies all things,
pour forth your blessing + upon these roses
that we present to you in memory of Saint Rita,
and grant that whosoever makes use of them with devotion,
may by the merits of the passion and resurrection of your Son,
receive from your goodness
comfort and health in sickness,
and constancy in following your Son
with gratitude along the way of the Cross.
Through Christ our Lord.

The roses are sprinkled with Holy Water.

After our Blessing of the Roses we had a nice snack of fig newtons and ICE: pomegranate berry. I then started making our special dinner of enchiladas with beans and rice. I love that for each feast day you can incorporate special meals. It really helps me make a variety of food for my family and it makes it so much easier to make my dinner menus for the week.

Dear Rita, model wife and widow, you yourself suffered in a long illness showing patience out of love for God. Teach us to pray as you did. Many invoke you for help, full of confidence in your intercession. Deign to come now to our aid for the relief and cure of (Damien Padilla). To God all things are possible; may this healing give glory to the Lord. Amen.

There are many beautiful prayers and Novenas to Saint Rita. You can find some here . I added my father's name in this prayer, I hope Saint Rita can intercede for him and relieve his suffering.  

To conclude the evening I will hopefully be watching Rita with a nice cup of tea after the kids are asleep in bed.

Saint Rita, pray for us!

Science Center

Little Man had his last Field Trip of the year at the Science Center and Landing Park. I was blessed to be able to participate and bring my Squishy along for the ride. It seems like I have been working so much lately it is really nice to be able to enjoy a day with my boys and just have fun. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if my husband could have been there with us. We had never been to this park or museum before so it was a treat for everyone! The weather was gorgeous! I am glad we were able to visit some of the sites in the area since we will be leaving in the next two months.

Mother's Day Living Room Camp Out

I know this post is a week late but I am trying to get caught up after a long work week.

I am trying to get creative with my pictures :o) How do you like the collage of our Mother's Day Living Room Camp Out?  We had the camp out Saturday night into Mother's Day. We all had such a great time with mini strawberry shortcakes and s'mores!

Mother's Day this year actually fell on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima as well. We were planning a nice May Crowning Luncheon but Squishy had an asthma attack that night so our plans were put on hold. I hope to do something special for Mary before the end of the month.

In honor of of Lady of the Rosary we watched The Day the Sun Danced: The True Story of Fatima. The boys really liked the movie and so did I. I am working on building up our movie gallery with more movies like this from CCC of America

It is a great Feast Day to start a daily Rosary.

I hope everyone had an amazing Mother's Day and Feast of Our Lady of Fatima!

Prayer to Our Lady of Fatima

Dearest Mother, Queen of the Holy Rosary, who came to Fatima to reveal to all mankind the Divine plan for true Christian peace, of prayer, penance, and consecration, grant an abundance of grace, strength, and guidance to the members of Thy Fatima Crusade, here present and throughout the world. Inspire us to great zeal, oh great Mediatrix of All Graces, that we may be effective instruments in spreading devotion to Thy Rosary; that we may be faithful in wearing Thy scapular; that we may inspire our brothers in Christ to a life of sacrifice, penance, and modesty, and finally, that we may help to bring about that wonderful day when all men, through consecration to Thy Immaculate Heart, shall be one in Christ. Amen.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

The Ascension

This past Thursday was Ascension Thursday. The Feast day is actually moved to the following Sunday in the United States. There are so many wonderful ways to celebrate this special day. We were planning to have our First Annual Ascension Picnic inspired by Jessica from Shower of Roses at the park but we had to move the location inside this year due to Squishy's breathing problems. He is doing fine just still wheezing quite a bit from his episode last weekend and has a small rash from the Albuterol (That's why he has no shirt on at the table).
For our picnic lunch we had...

Fried Chicken: Symbolizing that Jesus "flew" into Heaven.

Marconi n' Cheese: Symbolizing the Gate to Heaven that was opened by Jesus (My husband actually came up with this idea! The boys and I were quite impressed!)

Fruit: Symbolizing Jesus, the first fruit of mankind.(we ate strawberries, they are the boys favorite)

Root beer Floats: Symbolizing Jesus rising to the clouds in Heaven

We had such an amazing time and this will definitely become a new family tradition! I also really liked the Ascension pancakes, I will be trying them out next year.  Are there any good books or movies for families that are about the Ascension?




Now is a great time to start your preparations for Pentecost... its next Sunday!  I hope everyone had an amazing Ascension Celebration.

Hawaiian Luau

Today has been such a busy day! We started out with our first May Crowning and went to the Science Center for Little Man's last Field Trip of the school year. To end the day we had a Family Hawaiian Luau in honor of Saint Damien of Molokai, which is my one of my dad's Patron Saints. Saint Damien is such an admirable saint. He endured physical and mental sufferings in order to bring the lepers closer to God. In the end, he contradicted the painful disease and died.

Today's feast is a little more special for my dad because he is suffering from physical ailments at this particular time. For those of you who don't know my family personally, my father was in a motorcycle accident in June of 2011. A truck hit him from the side and he was not wearing his helmet and was life flighted to Sacred Heart Hospital. By God's grace, he survived with a serious head injury broken hip and he tore his heel from his foot. Extreme road rash covered the left side of his body and was skin-graphed. We are so grateful that my father is still here with us and I will always remember when I received the call about his accident. It was the scariest moment of my life. Even though it has almost been a year, he is unable to walk without the assistance of a walker and is in extreme pain. I ask anyone who reads this post to please pray for him and his recovery. In addition for prayers to my father, I ask that you also pray for the man who hit my dad while he was driving his truck. We have never heard from him since the accident, but I am sure that the guilt he must carry with him is heavy on his heart and it must be unbearable at times. Pray that he can forgive himself and feels God's forgiveness. If you are interested in learning some prayers to Saint Damien, you can find them here and below.Tomorrow EWTN will be praying for my father as well, so please keep on your mind and say a few more prayers for his recovery please and thank you in advance.

Here are some pictures from our Hawaiian Luau in honor of Saint Damien of Molokai and my dad.

I love how Squishy looks likes hes doing the Hula in this picture! Little Man was super excited to wear his authentic Hawaiian shirt from our close family friend, Donna and her mother. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends in the lives of our children.

We bought these beautiful leis from the Dollar Tree to finish our outfits.

Our Hawaiian Luau consisted of Brown-sugar glazed ham cooked in the crock pot, Sweet potatoes with cinnamon and nutmeg, fresh garden salad, pineapple upside-down cake and virgin pina coladas (not pictured because I forgot). I think it turned out pretty well, no one left hungry. I am planning on making a traditional Hawaiian breakfast next year (time did not allow this year) called Loco Moco. I would make it more a country twist with grits instead of rice, sausage/turkey patties instead of a hamburger and country gray not brown. I might try it out tomorrow and see how it turns out.  

This was the first pineapple upside-down cake I have ever baked and I am proud of how great it turned out. I let my parents take home half because there is no way we could eat all this cake and be able to have room for more this Sunday during our celebration for Mather's Day, our May Crowning and Our Lady of Fatima :o) Well I hope everyone enjoyed today and remember to tell your loved ones you love them. You never know what plans are in store for you and your family.

God Bless! 

St. Damien, brother on the journey,
Happy and generous missionary,
who loved the Gospel more than your life,
who for love of Jesus left your family,
your homeland, your security, your dreams,

Teach us to give our lives
with a joy like yours,
to be in solidarity with the outcasts of the world,
to celebrate and contemplate the Eucharist
as the source of our commitment.

Help us to love to the very end
and, in the strength of the Spirit,
to persevere in compassion
for the poor and forgotten
so that we might be
good disciples of Jesus and Mary.

Amen

Saint Damien, pray for us!

Parish May Crowning

I know this is going to sound outrageous but even though I was raised Catholic, I have only been to one May Crowning, and unfortunately I don't even remember it. I was talking to my parents about the ceremony and my mom mentioned my sister and I had participated in one during the year of our First Communion. I thought I had never been to one before, well today my boys and I experienced our first ceremony together! The ceremony was at Little Man's School and it was absolutely amazing, very simple and meaningful.

It so happens that today was also Little Man's last Field Trip so we didn't get dressed up for the Crowning. Next year I hope the timing works out better because I love getting the boys dressed in their Sunday best. The school attends mass Thursday mornings and the Crowning was scheduled to follow mass in the school courtyard. I brought Little Man to school and Squishy did not want to leave him in class so the teacher allowed us to stay and participate in snack and coloring while the courtyard was being set up for the May Crowning ceremony.

 Its the quiet moments like this that make my heart feel so full. I am so blessed with these children. Loving them makes me a better person

Squishy wants to be just like his big brother. He kept "helping" Little Man color his paper too.

Here is a picture of the courtyard while they setup everything. Below is a picture of the bells used to go along with the procession of the First Communion classes. I do not know the name of the song that was sang as the children processed in but it was beautiful... Maybe it was Salve Regina? I'm not sure so please don't quote me. The jingling of the bells complimented the song so well and it caused all the small children to fall into a silent stare, especially Squishy. He was quite restless because he missed his morning nap and was overwhelmed by all the activity but the beautiful colors and sounds of the bells calmed him. I was also quite impressed with the way they executed the performance of the song. There was an older woman holding up cards that had the corresponding colors to the bells pictured to signal the children to ring the bell of the appropriate color. I can still hear the sounds of the bells as I hum the melody to the song.

The children looked so adorable in their First Communion outfits.

Squishy was impressed with beautiful clothes too be cause he kept saying "Wow" and "Ooo" as the children walked by, I tried to take a picture with him but he was not paying me any attention. :o)

Little Man was very attentive and was excited to say a decade of the rosary with his class. We also made a Consecration to Mary.

My Queen and my Mother, I give myself entirely to you; and to show my devotion to you, I consecrate to you this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being without reserve. Wherefore, good Mother, as I am your own, keep me, guard me, as your property and possession. Amen.

 I was so pleased I was able to get a picture of the chosen girl placing the crown upon Mary's head. It was such a beautiful ceremony.

I will definitely be holding a casual May Crowning for our family at home this Sunday, on Mother's Day. What would be a better day to do it? It is also the Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima!