Thursday, March 31, 2016

New Workout, New Menu, New Me!


At the beginning of the week I began a new workout routine similar to the routine I used 4 years ago to lose 30 pounds. I am sad to say that I have regained that weight back due to my inability  lack of desire to run in cold weather and being terified of driving in snow and not to mention I have been slacking enormously in my diet throughout Advent until now. When I am healthier, I am happier and more productive. I am all about working as a group and encouraging each other to make good decisions on workouts and family menus! Please join me on my journey back to a healthier lifestyle!

Here are the workout guidelines I intend to follow to achieve a healthier me:

*Workouts will last at least an hour and will include stretching, warm ups and cool downs.
* I will utilize my Nike plus, iFit and myPATH apps to track and motivate me in my progress.
* I will workout 6 times a week
*Register for some family 5Ks and other events.


 I actually just registered the WHOLE family for the 5K listed above! It will be the first time we've run a 5K as a family :) Little Man ran in a Color Run with me about a year ago and he was ready to try another. You can't beat $10 adult tickets and children 12 and under are FREE!

Monday: Cardio training
Tuesday: Chest and Tricept workout with light Cardio
Wednesday: Cardio training
Thursday: Back and Bicept workout with light Cardio
Friday: Cardio training
Saturday: Leg and shoulder workout and NO CARDIO
Sunday: REST

In my efforts to be organized and frugal, I plan our family dinners a week at a time. I have revamped our dinners this week to be more clean eating. I have written an example of a weekly menu below:



Monday: Italian Spaghetti Squash: Turkey sausage links with onion, red pepper, green pepper, onion and mushrooms tossed in spaghetti squash and tomato basil sauce.

Tuesday: Healthy Ham Casserole: Diced Ham (Leftover from Easter), green beans, celery, onion and potato drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning (garlic and pepper).

Wednesday: Grilled Chicken Salad.. NO Dressing

Thursday: Leftover Night!

Friday: Fresh Veggie Pizza with thin crust

Saturday: Ground Turkey Fried Rice

Sunday: Paleo Shepherd's Pie: I use ground turkey and sweet potato to make it more healthy.

In addition to making our meals with more clean eating foods, I will be following the guidelines below to help me stay on track dietarily.

*Drink only water! With all the cardio workouts (that stimulate metabolism and forces you to eliminate water from the body) you need it and it is NEVER a good idea to drink your calories often. Plus fruit infused water tastes so good :)
* Eat smaller portion sizes but more often throughout the day.

My husband and I are even considering trying out a challenge to be Vegan for a week!


My whole family is always up to a challenge and we love to try new things. If you have ideas, comments or suggestions I would LOVE to hear them!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}


~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life 
Every Thursday Like Mother Like Daughter ~


{pretty}


I love how pretty Little Man's brand new football uniform looks... Bright Red and crisp! I know it won't look or smell this amazing for long since our first game is Saturday. 

{happy}


Both my boys love the outdoors and love sports. They have been so happy that spring football and soccer are in full swing and will be having their first games this upcoming week.

{funny}



It is officially Spring now and Colorado has decided to have some fun with these Floridian natives by dumping snow on his several times this past week. We are really missing the beaches and the warm sun on our faces. I have been told by several people that this has been the snowiest winter this area has seen in years... Go figure.

{real}


I don't know if videos are suppose to be included in the {pretty, happy, funny, real} linkup but this is as real as it gets! Goalie is really into music. He always has loved to sing at church and he decided to write a song about Jesus. I love how real his desire to love God has led him to this moment. This video both melts my heart and makes me so proud to have such amazing little blessings I call children. I am going to apologize in advance if the video won't play... I am working on it but my internet is having a difficult time staying connected tonight.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Resurrection Party 2016


The newness of Easter and Spring are so refreshing and motivating! Thanks to some great spring cleaning during Lent, my house is feeling less cluttered and more open. In our house we also do the Easter Bunny thing but we have him hang our Alleluia banner that has been "buried" throughout Lent and exchanges the beans from our sacrifice jar into jelly beans (he always includes the jelly bean prayer too ). The Easter Bunny also brings other religious treats and gifts. In the past he has brought saint metals, rosaries, bibles and saint cards. This year he brought chocolate crosses, religious pencils and biblical books for the boys this year.


Since Lent is a season of fasting, we had to start our Easter season with a BANG! We are huge donut lovers and we always make sure to have some special donuts for breakfast on Easter Sunday morning. If we buy a dozen that allows everyone to have 3.... which is 3 more than I need but they are so yummy looking and tasting!!!


Even though we have the Easter Bunny bring our boys baskets, we don't take them to any Easter egg hunts or to visit with the Easter Bunny until Easter Sunday. I think Little Man may be growing out of visiting with our fuzzy friend but he was still cooperative for his little brother's sake. This was the first year Goalie wasn't afraid to be near the Easter Bunny! I was so proud of my big boy!


Bass Pro is such a nice company for giving a free photo to families for coming to visit the Easter Bunny. I really think it is awful that Malls charge such high amounts for holiday photos and I am glad for this alternative. The boys also enjoyed the enormous fish tank they have at Bass Pro and because Goalie was such a brave boy with the Easter Bunny this year, they picked some apple flavored licorice. And for some reason they also wanted to take a picture with this moose that was near the waiting area for pictures. My boys crack me up!


After our trip to the Bunny, it was time to head home and enjoy the rest of our first White Easter in Colorado with some quiet time, movies and of course, FOOD! I made a smaller Easter meal than usual but for lunch we had egg salad... thanks to the many Star Wars decorated eggs sitting in the refrigerator... we may be having egg salad for the next week for lunch. 


I was unable to get pictures of the Spiral Ham and sides I made because we ate most of it. Only a little ham was left over. We also gorged ourselves on licorice, jelly beans, peeps and chocolate. My stomach is still hurting its so full from our Resurrection Party. I will leave you to enjoy the rest of your Easter Sunday with two more pictures of my family. Looks like we need to invest in a "selfie stick" so we can get pictures of the whole family at home :) I never thought I would say or even think those words HAHA. 


Happy Easter!

Good Friday and Holy Saturday


As Lent comes to a close, the weather in our area has become quite chilly! There is another winter storm on the way! Looks like we will be having our first White Easter in Colorado :) Here's a quick snapshot of my families Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Around the holidays I tend to take many many many pictures, I hope you are ready to get a good look at my hilarious family!


Good Friday:

Tomato soup and grilled cheese is my families' traditional Good Friday dinner. I love having symbolic meals during our Liturgical Celebrations. The boys always seem to remember the food more than any other memory. We watched first part of The Animated Passion of the Christ with the family and I also was lucky enough to be able to watch The Passion of the Christ with my husband. We were so blessed that the boys Spring Break fell during Holy Week this year. It is really important to me that the boys are able to fully grasp the importance of the Holy Tridium. I don't normally take many pictures on Good Friday because it is a day of prayer and preparation. In all honesty, I was just too busy doing my last minute cleaning, cooking and organizing our Easter Celebration. Also I started our Divine Mercy Novena.


Holy Saturday:


Similar to Good Friday, Holy Saturday is another day of prayer and preparation and during the day we completed the rest of our to dos. The boys were most excited about the plans for the evening when we get to start having some fun when the Easter Vigil begins. We were going to attend the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday but my husband found out he was going to have to work early Sunday morning. We decided to go to Mass Sunday morning without my husband instead. His job requires him to work a lot of weekends but we normally have more time to organize our daily schedules without interrupting his sleep schedule to compensate for his long work hours.

Easter egg decorating is always a main event on Holy Saturday night. We started the evening with a crock pot dinner of BBQ Chicken and rice and started on the main event...




If you checked out my recent {pretty, happy, funny, real} post, you already know that my boys are in a big Star Wars phase. We had to get the egg coloring kit with Star Wars stickers and shrink wraps. It was also my husbands first time coloring Easter eggs with us :)


I love that my husband enjoys doing these activities as much as the kids. He was so excited that he was able to do all the "shrink wrapped" eggs. I don't really trust the boys around boiling water with a metal utensil to scoop eggs so... it made everyone happy that daddy was able to help!


The boys were able to recycle the empty cartons from our eggs used in our Star Wars coloring to create Resurrection Eggs too. I feel bad that I wasn't able to get any good pictures of the boys symbols before they "played" with them until they disintegrated into confetti on the floor. Goalie is still learning how to use his scissors and cut most of his into tiny pieces before Little Man joined in to help and his also ended in pieces. I am glad Little Man wanted to help his little brother though.


During our Saint Patrick celebration, (that I was never able to write a blog about...oops) we watched our Saint Patrick movie and they remembered that in honor of Holy Saturday, Saint Patrick lit a huge bonfire. They really wanted a bonfire but I convinced them that the fireplace was just as good! It was actually very relaxing and helped the boys calm down from our egg decorating extravaganza. I would like for this to become a new tradition we can add to our families Holy Saturday activities.


There are so many activities I enjoy completing during Holy Week but I decided to make it super simple this year so we could enjoy the moment a little more. I hope that the end of the Lenten season has been prayerful and meaningful for everyone and their families as much as it was for me and mine.

Easter Calendar Craft

Decorating my home with the colors and smells of the season make me so happy! Easter is definitely one of my favorites because it symbolizes a renewal and cleanness that extends throughout the house. I also love that we have 40 days of fasting, praying and alms giving that ends with 50 days of Easter celebrations! To aid in our celebrating I created an Easter calendar that has something fun for the family to do everyday during the Easter Season.

Here are the 50 ideas I came up with for this Easter Season, Day 1 starts on Sunday, March 27, 2016:

1. Easter: Hang the Alleluia Banner and have a Resurrection Party

2. Dyngus Day: Slovakian tradition on Easter Monday to celebrate with a water fight (snowball fight here because it is still SNOWING!)

3. Make some White Hot Chocolate

4. National Take a Walk in a Park Day: Let's go to a local park we have never been to before

5. National Agricultural Day: Let's checkout a local farmer's market today

6. April Fools Day: Dress up in something silly

7. International Childrens' Book Day: Go to the Library and find some good books to read together

8. Divine Mercy Sunday: Celebrate with the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3pm and color a Divine Mercy Coloring page

9. Annunciation of the Lord: also known as "Waffle Day"! Have a Blueberry Waffle breakfast

10. Feast of Vincent Ferrer and National Deep Dish Pizza Day: St. Vincent is the patron saint of brick makers and construction workers so let's build something with Legos and enjoy some pizza!

11. Family Game Night

12. Feast of Saint John the Baptist de la Salle and National Beer Day: Bring your teacher a special treat and drink a Root beer in honor of today

13. No School Today! Mommy and Sons Date :) 

14. National Chicken Little Awareness Day: Read and watch the story of Chicken Little

15. National Siblings Day: Do something EXTRA nice for your siblings!

16. National Pet Day: Get Lemon and Felix a special treat like catnip to celebrate them today

17. Scrabble Day: Tomorrow is actually National Scrabble Day but we have something extra special planned for tomorrow, so lets play it today.

18. Friends and Family Night at Daddy's Restaurant

19. National Pecan Day: Enjoy some pecan ice cream 

20. Movie Night complete with candy, popcorn and soda

21. Historical Feast of Saint Bernadette: Watch Saint Bernadette cartoon and enjoy a jello "spring" snack 

22. National Haiku Poetry Day: Let's write a beautiful poem together

23. The Boston Marathon is today! Go on a Family Run

24. Breakfast for Dinner tonight

25. Feast of Saint Bueno: He is the patron saint of sick children. Let's bring a special treat to the children at Memorial Hospital

26. Ice Cream Sundays for dessert tonight

27. Earth Day: Let's plant some flowers on our patio and watch the Lorax!

28. Feast of Saint George the Dragon Slayer: Enjoy some fish and chips while we learn about this really amazing Saint

29. Let's go to the zoo today. Don't forget your zoo passports!

30. Feast of Saint Mark: Enjoy a bowl of cherries like Saint Gregory the Great and read about Saint Mark and the legend of the cherries

31. Our Lady of Good Counsel: Learn about the Battle of Lepanto today 

32. Feast of Saint Zita "The Little Cook": Let's bake some bread in honor of this little saint

33. Feast of Saint Gianna: Let's have an Italian dinner in honor of this Italian mother

34. Feast of Saint Catherine of Siena: Saint Catherine had her hair cut for respecting her chastity. Today is a good day to honor her with some new haircuts

35. Feast of Saint Walburga: Celebrate Walpurgis Night with a fire, sparkling juice and prayers for the summer season to come

36. Saint Joseph the Workman: Let's do something special for daddy today

37. Send letters/ cards to friends and family! Remember Mother's Day is coming too!

38. Saint James: Saint James is the patron saint of hat makers! Its the perfect day to create our Kentucky Derby Hats and chose our bowties for this Saturday

39. Star Wars Day: May the 4th be with you and watch some Star Wars Shows

40. Ascension Thursday: Enjoy an Ascension Picnic Dinner

41. Cinco de mayo was yesterday but let's have a Mexican Fiesta for dinner tonight

42. Kentucky Derby: Ladies wear your big hats and boys your bows! Time for a Derby Party!

43. Mother's Day: Let's have a May Crowning Celebration in honor of our Blessed Mother

44. Celebrate this beautiful spring day with a delicious smoothie 

45. Blessed Damien of Moloka'i: Have a Hawaiian Luau and call Papa D today because Saint Damien is one of his patron saints

46. Start writing a summer bucket list in preparation for the end of the Easter Season

47. Blessed Imelda Lambertini: Listen to the Holy Heroes Blessed Imelda CD and reminisce about our family's First Holy Communion

48. Feast of Our Lady of Fatima and Friday the 13th: Pray a rosary together as a family and watch a Tim Burton Movie for a movie night

49. Letter Carriers Food Drive Day: Donate canned goods through this food drive or at a shelter

50. Pentecost: Celebrate the Church's Birthday with a party



I wrote all these ideas on individual blank egg shaped paper I found at coloring-page-art.blogspot.com  and I am going to cut them out and decorate a white poster board throughout Easter. It is still a work in progress so I will post about the final product later :)

Friday, March 25, 2016

Holy Thursday Dinner

I am a HUGE fan of Jessica's blog at Shower of Roses and a couple years ago I ran across her idea for a Holy Thursday Lenten Tea. She also writes about her many Liturgical Teas at Catholic Cuisine (another blog I frequently visit). I began doing a special dinner for my family on Holy Thursday but it varies just a little than the Lenten Tea Jessica writes about. Little Man and Goalie normally do better listening and retaining information if they can physically touch things.... so I incorporated building our dinner with symbols according to the story of the Last Supper.  There are so many ways to involve your family in Holy Thursday celebrations, I love Holy Week. I have attempted to do feet washing too but Goalie gets way too excited and we all end up drenched :)

Back on track now...

We start our dinner with a clean table that has no cups, plates, bowls or silverware. The table will be filled with dinner by the end of the story. I normally start with the Anointing of Jesus at Bethany:

Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of costly perfumed oil, and poured it on his head while he was reclining at table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and said, “Why this waste?
It could have been sold for much, and the money given to the poor. 
Since Jesus knew this, he said to them, “Why do you make trouble for the woman? 
She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you; but you will not always have me.
In pouring this perfumed oil upon my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.
Amen, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be spoken of, in memory of her.”
Mathew 26:6-13

I allow the boys to bring over the plates, bowls, glasses and silverware. They also place the salad dressing (made with olive oil) on the table. When everyone has been seated again the story continues.

Read about the Preparations of the Passover:

"On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?” He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, "The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house." So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
Mathew 26:17-25


I allow the boys to bring out our "Unleavened Bread" and bring it over to the table. They cut it in portions in preparation of our dinner.

then the story of the Last Supper:

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Mathew 26:26-29

At this point, the bread is passed out and we normally buy some sort of sparking juice that we pass around the table to fill our cups. then we pass around some water as well because water is very symbolic. It represents when Jesus washes he disciples feet and Pilot washing his hands of Jesus's death. 

Then we continue the reading:

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Mathew 26:30


The boys bring over the plate of "Mount Olive" that is encircled with 30 cucumber slices that as you've probably already guessed symbolize the 30 pieces of silver Judas will receive for betraying Jesus.

Then Jesus said to them, “This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written:
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed’;
but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.”
Peter said to him in reply, “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.”
Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.”
Peter said to him, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples spoke likewise.

Mathew 26:31-35


Since Peter's betrayal has been discussed, I fill everyone's bowl with some sort of chicken soup. The boys had their go-to Chicken Noodle and I enjoyed some Chicken and rice. The soup is normally very hot because its been in the crock pot or simmering on the stove while we read so it has time to cool while we finish our story.  I forgot to get a picture of the bowls alone so they are pictured with a plate of "leafy greens" that symbolizes the palm branches that were laid down for Jesus earlier on Palm Sunday and the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress.
Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.”
He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.”
When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour?
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!”
Then he returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open.
He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again.
Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.
Get up, let us go. Look, my betrayer is at hand.”
Mathew 26:35-46


Since Jesus is now in the Garden praying, I have the boys bring over our "garden vegetables" which normally consist of tomatoes and carrots and our plates of leafy greens.

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests and the elders of the people.
His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying, “The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him.”
Immediately he went over to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and he kissed him.
Jesus answered him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.
And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear.
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels?
But then how would the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?”
At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to seize me? Day after day I sat teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me.
But all this has come to pass that the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.
Mathew 26: 47-56

When I think of being betrayed by a friend with a kiss there are many different symbols I have used in the past. I have used dill pickles because they are bitter, I have also incorporated vinegar. This year I forgot I was out of both so we had nothing for this part of the story this year. We continue to hear about how Jesus is brought before the Sanhedrin:

Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.
Peter was following him at a distance as far as the high priest’s courtyard, and going inside he sat down with the servants to see the outcome.
The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward who stated, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the temple of God and within three days rebuild it.’”
The high priest rose and addressed him, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?”
But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so. But I tell you:
From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’”
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; what is your opinion?” They said in reply, “He deserves to die!”
Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy for us, Messiah: who is it that struck you?”
Mathew 26:57-68

To symbolize the three days that it would take to rebuild the Temple and the Holy Trinity, we bring a bowl of three cheese blend. Sometimes we add ice to our water and sparkling juice to represent the clouds of heaven too. We didn't do that this year because we had just returned home from football practice and we were all still freezing!! Sorry no picture again. And to finish our story we read of Peter's denial:

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”
But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about!”
As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazorean.”
Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man!”
A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away.”
At that he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately a cock crowed.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the cock crows you will deny me three times.” He went out and began to weep bitterly.
Mathew 26:69-75

Roasted and salted sunflower seeds are what we use to symbolize Peter's salty tears. at the end of this reading we say Grace and we begin to build our salads from the symbols used to illustrate our story. Then we enjoy our cooled soup and yummy salad. The kids always really enjoy this Holy Thursday tradition. 


 I love feeling like my children fully grasp the emotions and events that occurred during the Last Supper and onwards. After dinner we normally watch The Animated Passion but the boys were exhausted from our crazy day so we decided to watch it on Good Friday. I wish I would have finished this post last night too but I think I need to get a little more organized in my picture taking. I hope you all had a blessed Holy Thursday and are enjoying a prayerful Good Friday! Remember you Divine Mercy Novena starts today!
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