#WorthRevisit: Easter Calendar Craft

The Easter season is underway and there are so many fun and exciting things to do with your families to bring it to life! How are you celebrating the 50 days leading up to Pentacost?

Here is my #WorthRevisit with Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb.

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 :)

Sunday, March 27, 2016
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 :)

The Lenten Season and the Five Senses

If you read my previous post on Ash Wednesday then you already know that I am feeling behind on my Lenten preparations. Today is the First Sunday of Lent and I have challenged myself to get my home and plans solidified by the end of the day. I am feeling pretty confident that I will have everything accomplished but I am trying not to count my chickens before they hatch too. It is time to dive into the Lenten Season head first and be engulfed by the beautiful simplicity and meaningful moments that can come from fully participating.

First things first. How do you create an atmosphere for Lent? With Decorations? Music? Changing up your Family Meal Plans? I dapple in each of these areas since I like to immerse my family in the season and I have a sensory child that enjoys and understands the concepts more with his environment being overtaken with sights, sounds, touches, scents and tastes. What could be better than finding a way to entice your senses while on your journey to a closer relationship to God. After all, he created us with these senses, he surely wants us to use them!

SIGHT

Let's start with the sense of sight. The breathtaking colors of Violet and Purple and the rustic accents of branches, thorns and wilderness really make Lent come to life. Simplicity is key. So far I have adorned our fireplace mantle with a DIY board I created of the Stations of the Cross and flame-less votive candles. The twinkling flames against our Stations as they each go out one by one as we pray the Stations on Fridays, create a nice prayerful ambiance. I also have plain branches in a vase that is tied with a violet ribbon on our dining room table and a beautiful picture that represents Lent to my family on display. I also tied a grapevine wreath with the same purple ribbon as the vase on our front door. Our home altar has been cleaned and looks very simple with a purple cover, crown of thorns, sacrifice bean jar, our operation rice bowl and a beautiful purple rosary I won in a giveaway hosted by Mrs. Andy Anchored by Faith. This is one of the areas I just completed today and I am feeling quite proud of the Lenten feel that is in my home.

SOUND

Sounds are a little more difficult for me to chose during this season. When I think of a prayerful place, I think of quite, which is not something you will find in our crazy little home. So to embrace both Lent and the crazy that is happening in my home at all times, I thought some nice background music would be good or some nice calm prayers. My children and I are huge fans of Holy Heroes line of audio CDs. They offer the Stations of the Cross, the Rosary and Glory Stories about the Saints! and I was also given a great review about Music for Children's Liturgy of the Word by Christopher Walker that I purchased to add to our collection. I would love to hear what you consider a "sound of the season" for Lent.

TOUCH

The most difficult sense for me to decide on is always Touch. To satisfy the sense of touch, I have collected a nice amount of coloring pages. Once again, I have to mention Holy Heroes. They offer a FREE Lenten Adventure that send you coloring pages, word searches, cross words and much more that is relevant to the season of Lent. I also would like you to check out Life, Love and Sacred Art for some great coloring pages. In addition to coloring, there are some great crafts to have readily available. Burying the "ALLELUIA" is one of my children's absolute favorite crafts. We will also be creating a Resurrection Garden that you start during Lent so it is in bloom for Easter. Making Sacrifice Beads, Rosaries and Lenten Trees are also some fun and simple crafts you could do as a family.

Books are another touch that would be great to dive into during Lent. Devotionals and stories that explain the Lenten season and some of the feast days we celebrate during the 40 days. I was struggling with a Lenten devotional I wanted to focus on since I had already read a Walk in Her Sandals, I knew I would reread that during Holy Week but I was stumped about what to do the rest of the season. I decided I would read Rediscover Jesus: An Invitation and Resisting Happiness both written by Matthew Kelly. I am excited about these National Best-Sellers because there are questions in each section that allow me to ponder what I have read and how it relates to me so I can write in my prayer journal.

TASTE

When I think of tastes, the first thing that comes to mind is food and drink! The whole premise of the Lenten season is simplicity so simple meals, snacks and drinks are what I consider to captivate my family's sense of taste. I love baking pretzels and special meatless meals each Friday. The Crock pot is my lifeline during the incredibly busy season of Lent so it makes my home smell delicious and gets our taste-buds ready for our tasty meals. Here is a short list of Lenten recipe ideas below:

Shrimp Pasta

Shrimp Tacos

Tuna Sandwich

Vegetable Soups

Simple Salads

Spaghetti Squash and Marinara

Fruit Salad

Three Bean Salad

Homemade Pretzels

Macaroni and Cheese

Breakfast Bread

What are some of your go-to recipes? Do you prefer to cook out or go out? Are you active in the Knights of Columbus Spaghetti Dinners and Fish Frys? We are going to a Knights of Columbus Fish Fry this upcoming Friday!

Scents

What other scents do you think of for the Lenten Season? I think there could be an argument for incense and essential oils as an important aspect of your Lenten experience as well. Frankincense is a great option. Maybe purchase some candles made by monks or nun to keep in your home during seasons on extra prayer!

Let's also not forget the smells of Spring Cleaning! We use organic products in my home called Legacy of Clean and they smell amazing!

Still need more ideas to tingle your senses? Check out the CWBN Blog Hop! So many wonderful ideas and suggestions to bring the full season of Lent to your families with sacrifice, prayers and alms-giving.

It is important to remember that Lent is what you make it. You can make it simple or as complicated as you like and just like anything else in life, you will get out of it what you put into it.

Happy Lent and God Bless!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} Independence Day Edition

~Captuing the context of contentment in everyday life

every Thursday Like Mother Like Daughter~

This Independence Day was our 240th Celebration. That means parades, picnics and fireworks for all! My husband is an Army Veteran and he loves quizzing the children on the meaning of Independence Day, the symbolism or our flags and our American traditions in general. How does your family get into Independence Day?

This summer has been filled with so many great memories and this Independence Day was no different. The boys were so ready for this Independence Day! Wearing their homemade shirts and red and white sunglasses. The link to the instructions for our DIY shirts is listed at the bottom of the post. We had also purchased some little flags to bring during the fireworks display but we forgot them in the car. This picture was right before we arrived at my cousin's house for a potluck and relaxing day at the pool. 

This picture makes me laugh because Goalie would't take off dad's jacket and Little Man is still holding our trash from our snacks while attempting to hide them. Little Man's eyes are closed again too! This poor kid was so confused with the extra flashes on the camera because it was so dark on the Golf Course!

The boys were laying on the picnic blanket and snuggling while patiently waiting on the fireworks. I thought Goalie was going to fall asleep because we stick to a routine when we are home at the boys are in bed no later than 9pm normally. The firework show didn't even start until 9:30pm and you can see the sleepiness in both of the kids faces.

This is such a bad quality picture but it was one of the only pictures we were able to take together as a family. We took this picture as we arrived at the golf course from my cousins house to enjoy the Louisville, CO fireworks. As we waited for the patriotic display, there was a band playing beautiful music and vendors selling food, drinks and tickets for games. Goalie really enjoyed the music because he is a huge fan of Curious George and there is an episode where they make a "wind symphony". He kept telling us that he was waiting for Curious George to arrive!

As you can see from our pictures, we made our own patriotic star shirts for our 4th of July Celebration. We found this neat shirt on Pinterest. Everyone had a blast making these shirts... including my husband! My husbands shirt is pictured above and mine is below. The kids shirts came out unique as well as you can see from the other pictures throughout the post. The shirts were super easy to make. All you need are some plain white t-shirts, pencils with nice erasers and paint. It's a little difficult to see in the pictures but I purchased metallic paints so they would sparkle.

The fireworks show we watched was the best we have ever experienced! The weather was perfect: No humidity, rain or bugs! Louisville did such a great job creating a family fun atmosphere with the bouncy house, music and food vendors. We were able to lay on our blanket and look up at the display and enjoy the whole show.

Here is that amazing band I spoke about earlier. They were amazing! They played such a great assortment of songs including patriotic and musicals. The background music really set the mood and they continued to play music until after the fireworks started. Goalie was in awe! I think I must have a musician on my hands. 

The only thing I wish I could have changed about our 4TH of July Celebration is that I would have taken more pictures! I realized I didn't take any pictures of our potluck or while we were at the pool when I started this post yesterday. 

I hope you all enjoyed Independence Day as much as we did and that your summer continues to be amazing.

God Bless America!

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 :)