Feast of Saint Dominic

Plans for today were rearranged completely since I wrote out a short summary a post or two ago. So far this week both boys have been to the doctor and one has gone to the Emergency Room! Squishy has an ear infection and Little Man has an infection in his gland in his throat. As you can imagine this has obviously created an exciting week of driving to and from summer camp and daycare to doctor to hospital and then to the pharmacy. I have to say my little guys are so resilient, they are both still running around like there is nothing wrong with them :o)

Before I go into detail about our special celebration today I just had to share some adorable pictures of Little Man from today's football practice. It was the first practice the kids have had in full uniforms and they all look so adorable in their little uniforms and football gear! As you can see Little Man was exhausted from such a long practice but he said he really likes his cool practice uniform. While I was trying to entertain Squishy and take pictures during practice I apparently took a video as well?? I have no idea... I guess my phone has a mind of its own at times but I somehow captured Little Man's first tackle attempt. After practice I was told Little Man has a lot of potential and listens well so maybe this will be one of the sports he pursues as he matures in his athleticism.

I love seeing both of my kids blossoming as they grow. I feel so blessed to be their mom. I am hoping we can see a high school or college football game this coming season. Little Man always asks to go watch the "professionals" play. We are big Florida Gator fans! We watch the Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs as well :o)

Getting back on topic... I was able to throw together a nice but simple celebration in honor of Saint Dominic today! I ended up throwing together a couple turkey sandwiches and imprinted them with stars to serve along our chicken and stars soup. I served dinner with some Saint Dominic's Orange Punch, which was the highlight of the meal! I put 2 scoops of Orange flavored sherbet in some glasses and topped it with some ginger ale. I love that the boys were so excited about the bubbly drink. To end our small celebration we had smores! One day I am going to try a flaming dessert but I think the boys my be too little to fully appreciate it and actually may be more afraid than excited, if they saw their food on fire. Plus with all the doctors visits we have had this week I was not willing to try my luck that everyone would keep their little fingers away. 

During dinner I talked to the boys about some cool facts about Saint Dominic. We discussed how he is the patron saint of astronomy (thus all the star symbols in our dinner), his special connection to oranges and the dream that Saint Dominic's mother had about him while she was pregnant. He was a dog carrying a torch and he lit the world on fire. 

We also we unable to do any star gazing or glow in the dark bubbles. After the kids ate and took their baths they literally passed out on the couch together. They are snuggling each other as I sit here typing. I think we will try to move our outdoor activities to tomorrow night.

As promised, I wanted to share my special story about Saint Dominic (Little Man still doesn't know this). When I was pregnant with Little Man, I had planned on giving him a different name than the one he has. One night I had a dream that I was sitting in a church and I was alone in this gorgeous room full of beautiful stained glass. I can see in the middle of this room there is a book lying on the middle of the ground. I hear someone whisper, "Read it". I pick up the book and there was tons of writing but I can only remember seeing the word DOMINIC. All of a sudden the stained glass shatters and I am awaken from my dream. I remember calling my dad the next day and telling him this story and how it touched me. I remember him laughing on the phone and saying he remembers having a dream about having a little girl named Jessica and him telling my mom about it. It is so funny how God's plan is so intricately designed and how it is perfect no matter how much we try to deviate from it. I know that God was talking to me in my dream, just like I think my dad feels the same way about his. And here we are :o) I later learned about the dream that Saint Dominic's mom had about him.

Saint Dominic, pray for us!

Football and Stargazing

Wow! Where has this summer gone?! I have to admit that I love the summer heat and everything that goes along with it. It seems like the school year just ended and we started soccer and summer camp for Little Man.

Well...Soccer officially ended two weeks ago and this is the last week of summer camp. We did end soccer on a great note! Little Man received the award for being "The most Christ-like Player" during the last game because he helped a player from the opposing team up after they fell chasing down the soccer ball. His face lit up when he found out he was being bestowed with such a great honor. In recognition of his achievement, he received a red wrist band that says "Represent". Little Man wore that wristband everyday until it was lost in the abyss that has become his room. I am hoping we can find it because it meant so much to him. We will definitely be having a serious cleaning session very shortly to prepare for the upcoming school year. I am hoping to have clothes and toys to donate to our churches thrift shop.

Approaching the fall, we are entering into a whole new world of exciting life changing milestones. For Little Man, football tryouts just ended and we will be finding out more information about his team and the upcoming season tomorrow! Not only that, but he will be starting the 1st grade at a new school, and starting his Catechism for his first Reconciliation! I am so excited for him and to see how he is going to tackle these exciting new adventures in his life.

For Squishy, which may need a new nickname soon, will be moved up into the next class in daycare and we will aggressively start potty training. I can not believe my baby is becoming a big boy already. I received notice of his transition upward this past week and it nearly brought me to tears. I am so proud of both of my boys but I wish they could stay little forever. If you don't mind could you say a small prayer for squishy too.. he is having a hard time with his molars coming in and his congestion has been flaring up even with his nebulizer treatments.

 

Even with all these new and exciting developments for the boys, I am excited to say that I will be finishing my degree and starting classes this month as well! If you think we couldn't add anymore changes and attempting new things this month you were wrong... Eric has accepted a management position and will be starting management training right around the time the new school year starts.

 

God is showering us with so many blessings and our hearts are so full of happiness and appreciation! I have to admit I am a little nervous trying to figure out how we are going to manage all these new schedules changes and additions but God never gives you more than we can handle so I am stepping aside and allowing him to lead the way.

I touched on football a little but I am really excited about star gazing this week! The Feast of Saint Dominic, which is Little Man's Baptismal patron saint, and the Feast of Saint Lawrence are fast approaching! In honor of Saint Dominic I want to throw together a Star gazing party for the boys. Saint Dominic is the patron saint of astronomers. The story is that Saint Dominic's grandmother saw a radiant light that came from Saint Dominic's forehead during his baptism and he had a great love for learning. I think it would be fun to make star headbands for everyone to decorate and wear as we star gaze together in the backyard. Another fun fact about Saint Dominic is that he has an association with orange trees because it is said that he planted an orange tree at the Convent of Saint Sabina in Rome. I was thinking about having either star shaped sandwiches with chicken and stars soup or possible a star shaped pasta dish served with an orange sherbet punch in honor of this amazing saint. I would love some suggestions if anyone has some to give! At the Catholic Culture website they suggest making Cherries Jubilee in honor of the dream Saint Dominic's mother had of a dog holding a torch that lit the world on fire. I actually have my own dream that I had many years ago that has made me have such a strong devotion to this saint but you will have to wait until August 8th! Coincidentally, I was researching some ideas for the Feast of Saint Lawrence and I feel it really is only necessary to have a barbecue in his honor. We will either have cheeseburgers, hot dogs or some sort of kabob.... like I said I am still in the planning stages. In addition to a barbecue, I found that it is a tradition to wish pray upon a star and invoke Saint Lawrence to pray along with you. I think it is pretty awesome that the next two feasts we are celebrating both incorporate the stars. It will be a nice way to help bring our busy summer to s relaxing close.

So that sums it up! I would love some input on anything anyone has to offer as we start down the new path God has brought my family to travel. Thank you for your continued prayers and God Bless!

RE Graduation and Starting a New School Year!

Here is another better late than never post I started and forgot about. It's been so much easier updating my blog from a regular computer versus my phone... I know the new school and religious education years are about to start but oh well!  

 

Little Man and the rest of the family have been attending several different churches over the past year while we have been trying to figure out our new living situation. Well around February/March we finally moved into a beautiful new home and are becoming more active members (aka registered!) in the Catholic Church nearby. I was ecstatic to find that they offered Religious Education classes for Little Man's age group. He was only able to attend for a couple months but he absolutely loved his class and his teacher! He was lucky enough to have a beautiful Graduation ceremony to celebrate his achievement! I can not wait until next year's class... Little Man will be preparing for his First Reconciliation.

I am hoping that there may be a Blue Knights Group started here soon to open more educational opportunities about our faith. Squishy gets super excited when he sees his big brother getting awards and participating in events. I am truly blessed to have two sweet loving children. They are so affectionate to everyone but especially to each other. I love the "hurry up and take my picture mom" smiles I received! These boys have blessed my life in so many ways. I love being their mommy!

 

 

Now its time to get ready for the new chapter of religious education and Little Man starting 1st grade! Squishy still has some time before starting formal classes but I think he is learning a lot from me and his brother at home.

 

In addition to school we also registered Little Man for his first season of football... I am a little nervous but I hope he enjoys it. There are also some exciting new changes coming our way! Keep a look out for updates soon to come! God Bless!

 

 

Feast of Saint Anne and Joachim

Friday was the Feast of Saint Anne and Joachim. They are the parents of Mary and the grandparents of Jesus. I have a special devotion to Saint Anne since she was the Baptismal Saint my parents chose for me. This day is a little more special to my parents now because they are now grandparents too.

 

It is customary on this feast to enjoy shellfish and summertime fruits normally in a sort of pastry or tart. As I stated in my previous post, I have really been craving seafood so I decided to try my hand at Lobster Bisque. I was very impressed with myself because I have never made Bisque from scratch (minus making my own stock). The soup was very tasty! I think it was a huge success. I found the recipe on Pintrest not too long ago and saved it just for this celebration. I'm sure many of you have found tons of cute crafts and recipe ideas from this website too. If you haven't, I have to warn you it is utterly addicting, so check it out at your own risk.

In addition to our Lobster Bisque, I made a watermelon cake! Its an actual watermelon cut into the shape of a cake. I used Vanilla Greek yogurt as the "icing" and covered the "cake" with other summertime fruits and some praline pecans. Not too bad for my first try and I will definitely be making it again.  I liked the idea of having a healthier alternative to the many sweet treats I normally make. You know, the usual cupcakes, candies etc.

A few interesting facts I discovered preparing for celebrating Saint Anne is that she is correlated with rain in Germany and Italy. It is said that the rain showers during the month of July are Saint Anne's dowry. I promise it has been raining for almost 3 weeks straight here and I found it so ironic that it did not rain this past Friday in honor of Saint Anne. Oh well, there is always next year! I hope everyone else had an amazing celebration with their families with special recognition of any grandparents.

The next feast we will be celebrating is the Feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on Wednesday! I am hoping to actually have that post completed on Wednesday instead of almost a week later :o) In case anyone was wondering we will be making nachos!!

St Anne Prayer (To Obtain Some Special Favor) Glorious St. Ann, filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present affair which I recommend to you under your special protection.

St. Ann, please, recommend to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue.
St. Ann cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. (Here ask for favor you wish to obtain.)

Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with You and Mary and all the saints, praising and blessing Him through all eternity. Amen.
Good St. Ann, mother of her who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, pray to her for us and obtain our request. (Three times).

 

 

Saint Anne, pray for us!

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

Last Monday was the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene. I have to be real honest, I really wanted to make one of the traditional French pastries that are common to make in honor of Mary Magdalene but since I have never made them before I was afraid I may mess them up. Also I have been extremely crunched for time so I wanted to make sure whatever I attempted to bake or cook would be made in time to still enjoy it before the kids had to get ready for bed. So instead of the traditional Magdalenes, I decided to make "Mary"land crab cakes with grilled zucchini, homemade mash potatoes and corn bread! If you would like the recipe send me a comment or email!

I love the play on words and I have really been craving seafood lately! I have to admit they came out as a huge success and are apparently Little Man's new favorite :o) To finish our meal we also enjoyed a Passion fruit Sparkling drink to represent Mary Magdalene's presence during Our Lord's Passion. Overall I think the small celebration we had was very fun and delicious! Sorry again for the lack of pictures and late update.

 

Saint Mary Magdalene, pray for us!

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

I am so excited to be writing this post about SAINT Kateri! Last year I was writing about Blessed Kateri, what an amazing opportunity to share how this amazing this new saint is and share how she has made an impact in my life in the short time I have been praying for her intercession in my life and my children's. There were a couple fun ideas and crafts I described before but I would love any new suggestions or ideas! Last year we made sand art and colored from Holy Heroes free coloring book they offered. If you have a chance you should check out their website and purchase their Glory Stories CD about Saint Kateri. It is amazing and people of all ages will appreciate it! The CD even includes an interview of the little boy whose miraculous recovery in 2006 helped pave the way to Kateri's sainthood!

My plans for Saint Kateri's first year as a saint were postponed. I really wanted to make a visit to the Indian Temple Mound nearby on Saint Kateri's feast day but they are not open Sundays. Instead, I felt it would be very appropriate to spend some time outdoors with the boys. We are still having some difficult times and I feel so much more at peace hearing the soft sounds of birds, the gentle whisper of the wind and the grand beauty that the world offers us. God has bestowed a vast world for us to enjoy and Saint Kateri was very aware of this. I have started running and praying quite often to help me cope with my current circumstances and I have asked Saint Kateri to intercede and pray for me and my family. I can honestly say that the quite time I spend running and praying has helped me exponentially. I have Saint Kateri to thank for that I am sure. Praying outside is something I think everyone should do. I have fallen in love with the closeness and personal feelings that accompany it. I am thinking of creating a rosary garden including statues of Mary but also Saint Kateri, she is the patroness of ecology after all :o) And she also made her First Communion on the Feast of the Annunciation.

There is a Nation Shrine in Saint Kateri's name that I hope to one day visit! Until then I will continue with my small outdoor prayer time in her honor. Below is a picture of me and my children enjoying homemade lunchables and praying the Litany of Kateri and the rosary this past Sunday. It was so peaceful and I think the boys enjoyed it too.

St. Kateri, Star of Native People and Bright Light for all! We thank God for your heroic courage, constant perseverance and deep love of the Cross. Pray for us that our love for Christ may deepen. And may we imitate you in following God's Will even when difficulties arise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen

Saint Kateri, pray for us!

The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Tuesday was the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I absolutely love all the special celebration I have with my children but the ones we have honoring Mary are my favorite!

To start the day we had some Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins. I think we always end up having some kind of blueberry something in honor of Mary. Little Man told me that we have to have blueberries for Mary because they are her favorite. Stuff like that makes my heart and soul soar :o) Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of those beautiful muffins... I did get a picture of the delicious Mount Carmel Meatball Subs we had topped with "carmel"ized onions. This dish was inspired from Catholic Cuisine. They always have so many creative and yummy ideas to bake! One day I will be way more organized and I will make one of the beautiful Our Lady of Mount Carmel Crown Cakes. I purchased a pound cake with icing to symbolize our crown cake as a substitute.

Last year I posted some information about the Brown Scapulars if you wanted to know how to enroll your scapulars on this special feast day. This Feast day would also be a good time to make a family tradition of praying the Rosary daily. I try to do it with my children often but I need to make it part of our daily routine.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!

Saint Bonaventure

I wanted to update everyone about the amazing time me and my children had celebrating the Feast of Saint Bonaventure this past Monday! I actually wasn't able to take many pictures because the boys devoured dinner and everything else before I could snap any. Oh well, such is the life of a mommy with growing boys... very hungry growing boys :)

Saint Bonaventure is a quite famous Italian Saint. He is known as the Doctor of the Church and renowned for his amazing writings. I thought it would be fun to have some pasta (Italian) so I made Cheese tortellini with zucchini, squash and cherry tomatoes tossed in a sun dried tomato alfredo. I chose tortellini because it looks like the Franciscan's style of hair, a tonsure.

In honor of Saint Bonaventure, I bought the children and I journals so we could write just like this amazing saint. Here is the one picture I was able to get of Little Man's journal. I think it says it all!

 

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

Saint Bonaventure, pray for us!

Feast of Saint Benedict

 

The boys and I had a blast celebrating Saint Benedict! Its been hard planning and executing our special feasts but I am extremely happy with the way everything turned out the other night. You will have to forgive me because I have several posts that I am going to bombard you with because I have gotten so far behind on my posts. To get things started I printed off this coloring sheet for the boys from Equipping Catholic Families

  Little Man wanted to use as many colors as possible and Squishy wanted to be just like brother! I love watching them play and color together, it is so sweet and heart warming. While they colored, I read what each part of the medal symbolized and it was exciting to see Little Man retain a lot of the information. For the most part Little Man just colored and didn't really seem interested as to the "why" we are coloring and eating specific meals. Lately he has been asking many questions and I feel like it help Squishy have another reason to be excited too. Since Squishy is only 2, the feast days are just fun activities and he doesn't understand much more than this is fun!

Moving forward... I saw this idea on a blog somewhere and I can't remember where so if you know which great blog this idea came from, please help me out! We made Saint Benedict Medals out of pepperonis and black olives on a personal sized frozen cheese pizza. I believe the family that originally did this made their pizza homemade! I wish I could have done that but our summer schedule has been crazy so to save some time frozen pizza it was! As you can see from the pictures Little Man tried very hard to make his "perfect" while Squishy tried eating his pizza frozen. He had eaten most of the pepperonis and olives off the pizza before the oven was ready.

There is a story that is told of Saint Benedict about an attempt to kill him with poison wine. While Saint Benedict blessed the food and drink, his glass shattered. This caused the poison wine to be spilled and saved Saint Benedict's life. The boys love their plastic wine glasses I bought at the Dollar Tree so we decided to have "poison wine" with our meals aka Dr. Pepper :o) It was nice having several stories to incorporate into our talks about Saint Benedict. Obviously the boys were very excited to have soda, it is a luxury in our household, and their special glasses I think made it taste even a little sweeter. Speaking of sweet! There is another custom where Benedict metals are hung from beehives and blessed on Saint Benedict's feast day. I do not have any bee hives and even if I did I would be way to afraid to approach one. I thought having some Sleepy time tea with honey would be a nice substitute. It was a nice relaxing way to end the evening but I think I may get Honey buns or something similar to enjoy as an after dinner treat for next year!

NOVENA TO SAINT BENEDICT

Glorious St. Benedict who taught us the way to religious perfection by the practice of self-conquest, mortification, humility, obedience, prayer, silence, retirement and detachment from the world, I kneel at your feet and humbly beg you to take my present need under your special protection (mention here). Vouchsafe to recommend it to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for me the grace to one day meet God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the angels and saints to praise Him through all eternity. O most powerful Saint Benedict, do not let me lose my soul, but obtain for me the grace of winning my way to heaven, there to worship and enjoy the most holy and adorable Trinity forever and ever. Amen.

Pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, and 1 Glory Be.

I hope everyone else had an awesome time celebrating with the ones they love. These traditions are so much fun and getting everyone involved is so easy! 

Saint Benedict, pray for us!

Happy 4th of July!

This post is a little late :o) But I hope everyone had an amazing Fourth of July! I had an amazing time and was blessed to spend the day having fun with my boys! It was very rainy and cloudy where we live so we drove to another town about an hour away to enjoy there firework display... our town did fireworks yesterday, which was still fun but it was weird too because it was the 7th of July!

God Bless America! 

I also wanted to add a few notes here to give everyone a small update to what's to come for me and the boys. I will be sharing our new Saint Apollonia tooth tradition in more detail, planning for the end of Soccer season and preparing for our first season playing Football, Celebrating Saint Benedict this Thursday! I also have Field Day posts and a few other end of the school year things I have been working on and some pictures from Little Man's 6th Birthday. There is so much happiness and new adventures coming our way and we are happier than I ever knew was possible!

Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement! It means more than you know.

Saint Apollonia: Tooth Fairy Traditions

Saint Apollonia is the Patron Saint of dentistry and tooth problems. I have seen so many cute ideas where parents have made dolls in the likeness of Saint Apollonia to hold their children's babyteeth until the "tooth fairy" comes and replaces it with a dollar or two. I hope one day I will be blessed with a little girl so I can make a Saint Apollonia doll one day but for now I have two boys that were not excited about making a doll. I decided to make our own unique tradition. I, of course, took a picture of Little Man's smile with his missing tooth and wrote a cute prayer that I found at Crafty in Coffeeland. I will place the picture next to his Guardian Angel Candle and we will recite the prayer and put his tooth on the picture. Maybe I will be a little more creative with the next tooth... until then...

Saint Apollonia, pray for us!

Last day of Kindergarten

My baby boy will always be my baby but according to him he is a big boy now. Today was Little Man's official last day of kindergarten. I wonder if every accomplishment is going to get me so choked up. Looking back on this past year I am even more proud of what he has accomplished because if all the additional obstacles he had in his path. I know most know that I am currently going through a really rough divorce and it has been equally hard on my children. We have had to be uprooted several times, change our schedules around and deal with the emotional trauma while continuing our daily lives. Little Man actually started school a couple weeks late because I did not have copies of his birth certificate and other important information to have him registered. I do not want anyone to feel sorry for us though because me and my boys are happier, stronger and have grown exponentially in our faith though this experience. God never gives you more than you can handle and he will never leave your side.
Here is a picture of Little Man with the beautiful Stargazer lilies he bought for his amazing teacher, Mrs. Guy. After the exciting school year he had in her classroom she sent such a sweet letter home in his folder saying she would love to hear how he continues to learn and grow. It really touched my heart and Little Man just smiled as I read it to him.

I am truly blessed and seeing the blessings that my sons will bring to the people we cross in our paths makes my heart soar.
Now on to the next adventures... summer camp and 1st grade!

Saint Boniface

You will have to forgive me for the lack of pictures I have to offer on the next few posts. I am using the blogger app on my phone and it isn't exactly picture friendly. Anyway...

Yesterday was the Feast of Saint Boniface and in honor of the patron saint of Germany I made German Goulash served on noodles and sourdough bread. I have to admit that the Goulash recipe I used was not amazing but everyone ate it with no complaints. Next year we will find a new recipe or try a different dish all together. We also made German cut out cookies. They are very similar to sugar cookies and of course were a huge hit with the kids. They didn't even mind they were a tad bit burnt on the bottom.

Saint Boniface is an awe inspiring saint who spent his life converting pagans. In one story Saint Boniface saved a boy from becoming a sacrifice by destroying the Oak tree the pagans used in their ritual with one hit with his staff. The instance the tree was hit a huge wind blew the Oak tree over and its wood was used to build a chapel. Saint Boniface then told the pagans to use a Fir Tree as a symbol of Christ. Its evergreen leaves point to heaven and it should a symbol of love and gifts of kindness.

I am still working a lot and I need to get more organized for these feast days to include more coloring pages and crafts. I was brainstorming about a few traditions that would be fun to incorporate on this day, such as picking out the new Christmas ornament that will adorn our Christmas tree this year. I thought it would be great to incorporate a tradition to tie into the Christmas tree story. What are your thoughts?

You can also check out my previous post on Saint Boniface from last year. We made a delicious German chocolate cake that I wish I would have made it again this year! It was amazing. Also adding a bottle of German wine would have completed the celebration.

Saint Boniface, pray for us!

Mud Run 2013

Wow! It has been so long since I have been able to take a look at my life and know that I am on the path God created for me. I am happier now than I have ever been. As a family we are still struggling through some big bumps in the road but me and my boys are strong and God has continued to provide for us. We were rock bottom. No home, no money and only our faith, family and friends to help us. And we are doing it! More on that later but I did want everyone to know that God truly provides in any and every circumstance and you will NEVER be alone!

Now... on to some blogging! I have so much to write about and its going to be a jumbled mess but its going to be fun. I thought I would start writing about the Mud Run I ran with my coworkers from Ruby Tuesday.

The Emerald Coast Mud Run is an annual 5K obstacle course done to help raise money for orphans. They have several different options for this run. There is a kids run, which Little Man really wants to try next year, the Warrior version which is longer and the obstacles are more difficult than the normal 5K I ran. If you go to their website I did see some pictures of me and my team so take a look around and you will see the awesome obstacles and the huge amounts of mud they had ready for us to tackle. I will admit I fell face first into the mud during the up and over obstacle and my fellow teammate, Jeff had to carry myself and our other runner across the monkey bars! Our hands were so slippery I would fly off 2 bars before the end of the monkey bar set. It was a great cause to participate in and was an amazing experience. I think I want to try a half marathon next! What do you think? I feel like I am ready. Take a look at our before and after. Come join us next time!

Nemo and Little Man's Adventures

Nemo is Little Man's class pet from school. I think this idea is so incredibly cute. Nemo came home with Little Man this past Thursday. Nemo came in a travel bag with a Journal to record all the adventures he goes on with our family. It is encouraged that the kids take photos along the journey and draw pictures in the journal for them to discuss with the class. I will also write a brief description of our fun filled weekend for the teacher to read to the class. To be honest, I had no clue that Nemo would be coming until Little Man was attempting to bring an extra backpack home from school. Thankfully I was able to throw together a special "Welcome Nemo" dinner complete with Sparkling apple juice. I love how the little things can make my boys so happy. Little Man had a blast making sure Nemo had a wonderful dinner and making sure our dinner guest was comfortable. We ended our night by watching The Lorax together snuggled on the couch.

On Friday, Little Man was invited to a sleepover at his friends house all by himself! I think it was the first time he has stayed the night at anyone.s house without me or Squishy and he was thrilled. Little Man's friend doesn't attend the same school as Little Man but had also completed a weekend with his class pet, Buddy the Beaver, just a few weeks ago and welcomed Nemo with open arms. Both boys are the biggest Scooby Doo fans of their generation, so they had a Scooby Doo party with cartoons, pajamas and Scooby snacks. Nemo loved cuddling with the Mystery Machine pillows and blankets. I wasn't there to witness the craziness that evening but I heard everyone passed out from all the singing and dancing. 

Even though Friday was full of adventure, Saturday was even better! I met Little Man and his friend at the local skating rink. This was the first time I have skated since Middle School and a first for both of the kids! I have to admit I was impressed with how quickly the kids caught on to skating. I consider my boys to be quite clumsy, just like their mother, but they had amazing coordination on the roller skates. They used the side walls at the beginning but after 30 minutes Little Man was skating around the rink all by himself! Squishy was chasing after his big brother too! It was so adorable and we didn't forget Nemo either! He was a natural at skating too :)


We skated for a couple hours and then loaded everyone in the car to take a quick nap. We didn't drive out of the parking lot before everyone was fast asleep. We stopped by the house and packed their overnight bag before heading off to take the boys to my sister's house for their sleepover with her. I have been trying to work a couple evening shifts on the weekends and the boys love getting special time with their Aunt! I snapped a quick pick of the kids asleep on the couch and the dog watching Nemo while they were sleeping.

Sunday we picked up the boys and went to Mass. We did not bring Nemo to church because the boys do not like to be quiet when they have distractions with them. Instead we took Nemo on one last adventure at Turkey Creek and showed him the beautiful nature trail. It was an extremely busy weekend! Now I am printing pictures from the computer to add to Nemo's travel journal and preparing a short summary of the weekend. I wonder if it would be acceptable to just a copy a link to my blog? :)

Little Man was so glad that he was able to take Nemo to meet his friends and family and have some amazing adventures everyday. I am so grateful he has a great teacher that makes learning and experiencing life fun. We are still experiencing a lot of changes in our daily lives and it looks like we are getting back into a good routine and possibly moving into a larger place. Yay! Please keep us in your prayers as we continue on our journey.

Christmas Pictures

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

Sorry I have not been blogging much lately but thank you for the kind emails asking how myself and my children are doing. Your prayers have touched our hearts! I am finally getting settled into a new routine with my kids. I am hoping to incorporate blogging more but since it has been such a long time here is a summary of our Advent and Christmas preparations and celebrations.

God truly provides. My kids and I have been blessed with my friends and family members coming to aid us during our greatest life change. At times it's hard to imagine what plan God has for us but I am beginning to see that his plans are more amazing than anything I could plan for myself and my family. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue down our new path.

Since I have not been blogging consistently there is so much I would like to share so I will apologize in advance because the rest of this is going to look like a mini scrapbook with random thoughts and pictures. I will try to keep everything short and sweet :)

Picking the Perfect Christmas Tree
We decided to purchase a real tree this year and the kids were so excited running through the forest or trees on display. It was a beautiful night and the smell of the Christmas trees and wreaths was amazing. I hope one day I can take the kids to actually cut down a Christmas Tree. 

Decorating the Tree
We were going to wait to decorate our beautiful tree but the boys were so excited after buying ornaments and lights that we couldn't say no. I think putting our gorgeous Star on the top was their favorite part of the entire experience.

Feast of Saint Nicholas

I absolutely love reading Jessica from Shower of Roses blog on all her traditions with her family. I wanted to write letters to the boys from Saint Nick but I had been working extra shifts due to the seasonal rush this time of year and starting a second job.

This year Saint Nicholas brought the boys some Christmas books, The Legend of the Candy Cane and A Christmas Prayer. There was also chocolate coins and candy canes with Christmas socks filled with several real gold $1 coins.

Squishy's Holiday Program

Squishy had the cutest holiday program at his daycare for the children ages 3 and under.

His class sang Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Although none of the children really sang, it was more the parents in the audience since the children were overwhelmed. Squishy was sitting next to a little boy wearing a Rudolph nose and stared at the blinking light on the little boys face until half way though the song he decided to poke the poor kid on the nose. It was hilarious! I will always remember this production and I am so excited to see Squishy participate in more programs like this soon.

Baking Gingerbread Cookies
Decorating cookies has always been a favorite activity for Little Man during the holidays. This time Squishy was able to participate but he chose to eat the cookie decorations instead of decorating his cookies.

I am hoping to post about Christmas Day soon... I have until Candlemas though right? In addition to the activities above we also decorated gingerbread houses and went for a walk through Christmas Reflections. I tried my best to incorporate our normal traditions but this Christmas was a very simple one due to lack of time and money. I think it actually made it one of the most meaningful Christmases we have shared as a family. I also have some ideas about celebrating The Baptism of the Lord this upcoming Sunday I would like to share along with a review of The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their friends and families!
God Bless!