Thanksgiving 2016

Welcome to the weekly link-up recently turned Blog-Hop Just Enough Info or just, JEI for short. This lovely Blog-Hop is hosted by The Zelie Group and we would love for you to join us! This week we are discussing Thanksgiving! I'll also be sharing some of our fun activities we have been doing during this fun family holiday! Let's get started with this week's questions:

Do you have to cook for Thanksgiving? If yes, what’s on the menu? If no, high five!

Yes! I always cook for Thanksgiving! I love to do it and I hope I am able to do it for years to come! We were lucky enough to enjoy a Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving feast at the kids' school this past Friday, a Friendsgiving in my cousin's home this past Sunday and an amazing Thanksgiving with new friend's yesterday. We like to cook a lot so we have leftovers to make soup and casserole over the week after Thanksgiving. Here was our menu:

Appetizers:

Crockpot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Meat and Cheese Tray

Vegetable Tray

Dinner:

Turkey

Cranberry Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Macaroni and Cheese

Peas and Onions

Green Bean Casserole

Cranberry Sauce

Gravy

Drinks:

Cranberry Apple Cider Sangria

Sprite

Cranberry Sprite

Sparkling Apple Cider (Non-Alcoholic) 

Desserts:

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Fruit Salad (Brought by our friends)

Pumpkin Roll (Brought by our friends)

Ube Cheesecake 

(I purchased this homemade dessert from a coworker who makes this dessert from scratch!)

I am still in a food coma and exited about leftover meals this week! I am also excited to start my new workouts starting today! I have to get back to where I was so I am healthy for myself and my kids. Want some of my recipes? Just comment below!

What famous person would you like to invite to your family Thanksgiving?

If I could invite any famous person to our family Thanksgiving, I would love to have Pope Francis over! How amazing and life changing of an experience that would be! I could imagine that there would be no better Thanksgiving!

Excluding family, health and basic needs met - what are 3 things that you are thankful for?

Well since I am not suppose to mention my husband, kids, health and my basic needs.. this list may seem weird to some but I am truly thankful for my cats, coffee and time to make memories! These aren't things that I need to survive, unlike my family, health and home, but they definitely make life more amazing!

1. My Cats: Lemon, Shadow and Cloudy

I know that's probably funny to hear but these little fur balls of pure love really keep me sane sometimes. As I am typing this, Lemon is snuggling with me on my heated blanket and purring. It's an amazing feeling feeling of relaxation and love combined into one. You like our holiday accents for our fur babies? 

2. Coffee!

Coffee is a life-saver for me! I live off of it. With juggling the kids crazy schedules (sports, therapy, cub scouts and friends) with my work schedule, household work and the million other things I find myself getting into, the caffeine pickup is a necessity! Plus it tastes amazing! Pumpkin Spice, peppermint mocha, hazelnut flavors ... lattes, cold brew or a cup of french press... so many options and I love them all!

3. Time to Make Memories

Making memories and enjoying experiences are the MOST important to me. I love having time to celebrate things, even if it's not super exciting to anyone else. For example, the boys had a Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving celebration at school and I decided to make Turkey T-shirts and masks. I think the whole family had a blast! All the stuff I needed to make these fun turkey costume pieces I found at the local craft store. Even the shirts the boys are wearing in the first picture at the top of this post. 

For the masks:

Plain white mask

Brown felt (Turkey mask base)

Yellow Felt (Beak)

Red Felt (Wobble)

All I did to make the masks was place the felt over the brown felt and layered it with a second mask to draw the outlines of the mask. I should have drawn the eye outline as well instead of guessing as you can see from the white part of the mask showing through. I hand drew the wobble and beak in the corresponding felt and used fabric glue to stick it all together! If you have elastic, you can skip the white mask all together and  just add the elastic to the felt mask itself. Super easy and super cute. 

For the shirts:

Plain T-shirt (I wanted to find brown shirts but could only find black shirts)

Red, orange, yellow felt (feathers but you can use any colors!)
White Felt (Eyeballs)
Black Sharpie

Yellow Felt (Beak)

Red Felt (Wobble)

Draw some feathers in the colored felt, cut them out and fabric glue them on the back of your shirt to be able to make the 'Shake Your Tail-feather" Shirt. If you like the one pictured at the top too you could add it to your tail feather shirt or by itself! Just cut some white felt circles for the eyes (Sharpie to make the pupils). Yellow felt for a beak and red felt for the wobble. 

You have all week to answer this week's questions all about Thanksgiving:

1. Do you have to cook for Thanksgiving?  If yes, what’s on the menu?  If no, high five!

2. What famous person would you like to invite to your family Thanksgiving?

3. Excluding family, health and basic needs met - what are 3 things that you are thankful for?

Next week we will be discussing all about Holiday Get-Togethers:

1. What's your go-to "someone's coming over" recipe? 

2. You have 5 minutes to tidy before guest arrive. What are your tidying shortcuts? 

3. What sort of music sets the mood for the perfect gathering?

The Zelie Group has some fun questions coming up in the next few weeks so make sure to follow us on Facebook and we would love to hear what you are interested in! What are you looking to learn about? Do you have questions about the Faith? Questions about the Liturgical Year? We want to help and learn and grow with you and your families!

Also stop by the new Page I created on my blog for new information concerning The Zelie Group. It is a work in progress but it has a good start!

God Bless!

{JEI}:Time Spent with Cats is Never Wasted

Welcome to the weekly link-up recently turned Blog-Hop Just Enough Info: JEI for short. This lovely Blog-Hop is hosted by The Zelie Group and we would love for you to join us! This week we are discussing Pets! Those adorable little creatures that steal our hearts and make us more human. The quote in my title is a quote taken from Sigmund Freud and think it suits this week's topic! Let's get started with this week's questions:

1. Did you have a favorite pet when you were younger? 

Yes, I did have a favorite pet when I was younger. When I was 16 my parent's got me a kitten for my birthday. My first pet to take care of myself. She was the runt of the littler and was a Calico Bobtail meaning she had a mixture of beautiful colors in her fur and a little nubby for a tail. I named her Scooter but always called her Ms. Kitty because she always acted so "fancy". She would eat her food one piece at a time and shake her paws after exiting the litter box and had the tiniest little meow you have ever heard. She had tummy issues from being born early and remaining little but I loved her so much and my heart still aches from when I had to give her away. 

I had Ms. Kitty until I was 24. That is when I left the abusive relationship I was in and I took my cat and my kids from a very bad situation. At the time I was struggling to pay my bills, provide for my kids and we were essentially homeless. My sister took care of Ms. Kitty for me for a while but I couldn't afford her food, cat litter or other necessities. I'll never forget the day I asked my sister to help me find someone that would love Ms. Kitty the way that I did. We were lucky enough to find an older woman who needed a cat for her barn to help capture mice. I didn't have the heart to take Ms. Kitty to the farm so I said my good byes at my sister's house and a piece of my heart was taken away. 

There is a quote by Anatole France that says,“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.” I believe this to be a completely accurate statement. I became more human from the love that I shared with Ms. Kitty. 

2. Do you have pets now? If so, what? 

Yes! Obviously I am a cat person but I also love dogs and other animals as well. Right now we have three cats: Lemon, Cloudy and Shadow. My husband bought me Lemon a few years ago because he knew about the story with Ms. Kitty. Although Lemon is not Ms. Kitty, she has really made me so happy. All three of our cats are little lovers that love to be pet and are constantly playing and purring. It's amazing how something so small can bring so much happiness.

I really struggle with depression and anxiety from a lot of things but I have also been diagnosed with PTSD due to the abuse I endured. This means I have a lot of sleepless nights, I am constantly tired and I would rather do nothing some days. My therapist had suggested getting a cat could help ease some anxiety symptoms because she said it was a great therapy to have pets. Cats are nocturnal and since I don't sleep well they are a great option for me. She was so right! When I am going through a bad spell, all of my kitties will sit in bed with me and let me pet them and when they purr it really does calm me. If you are on the fence about whether you want a pet, I suggest going to a local shelter. Cloudy and Shadow we got at a shelter for free because they were older (6 and 10) but they are just as rambunctious and loving as Lemon who is 2!

3. Have your kids eaten dog or cat food (either at your house or someone else’s)?

This question made me laugh so hard! Little Man ate some of those dog treats that look like "bacon" when he was a couple years old at my parent's house and he cried so hard when I caught him and took them away. Now Goalie is a whole other story! This kid put anything and everything in his month for years and still does it today! I have caught him eating dog food at my friend's and families' houses, he has stolen food from our cats and picked up random treats he has found at dog parks when we would go with friends and family. I think Goalie has eaten just as much dog and cat food as any other animal which is funny and sad at the same time! 

Thank you for joining me for another week of Just Enough Info!

You have all week to answer this week's questions about pets:

1. Did you have a favorite pet when you were younger? 

2. Do you have pets now? If so, what? 

3. Have your kids eaten dog or cat food (either at your house or someone else’s)?
 Next week we will be discussing All Saint's Day:

1. How do you celebrate the All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day feasts? 

2. What was your favorite costume as a kid growing up? 

3.What candy are you most likely to “test for safety” from the kiddo’s loot?

The Zelie Group has some fun questions coming up in the next few weeks so make sure to follow us on Facebook and we would love to hear what you are interested in! What are you looking to learn about? Do you have questions about the Faith? Questions about the Liturgical Year? We want to help and learn and grow with you and your families!

{SQT}: Hello October

This is the first week of October and man it has been an immeasurable amount of amazing and that's why I am a day late sharing. Here are my Seven Quick Takes of the Week! 

{ONE}

Goalie was Superhero of the Week at school! I am so beyond proud. Goalie really struggles with his ability to stay focused and sit still during class. We even had to add some behavioral goals to his IEP to help him work on these areas so him receiving something like this made me cry happy tears! The principal hand picks the students based on their effort and willingness to do what's right. Goalie had such an amazing week being line leader, getting to share special things about himself to his class and having an extra special treat with his principal. 

{TWO}

Soccer season has finally ended! Monday was our last game. Goalie was really sad because he loves having a team and getting to run, run, and run some more. Cupcakes always make things better and as you can see by the huge smile on his face, the cupcake certainly cut the sting of sadness away. He is also excited that he is almost old enough to start Football though so we will see how things go there. 

{THREE}

October 4th was the Feast of Saint Francis and we did a Blessing of the Animals together. We have three cats and let me tell you: Holy water, kids and cats do not mix! The kids were so excited to "bless" the animals because they knew cats don't like water. Granted my husband only sprinkled the holy water but all three cats flew out of their spots into different rooms. I almost felt bad allowing the blessing to happen but the kitties also received a brand new scratching post, catnip and soft food for dinner. They will forgive us one day... hopefully. 

{FOUR}

October has officially begun and it is a month full of meaning. October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary, Respecting Life, Breast Cancer Awareness, ADHD Awareness, Spina Bifida Awareness and many other things. All of these causes have an impact on me and my life and we are attempting to find ways to acknowledge all this in our family. What do you celebrate this month? Anything that has a special place in your heart? How do you make it special to your family?

{FIVE}

I received my first Little Catholic Box this month!!! I am in love! My dad purchased the subscription for me as a gift and I was blown away by the awesomeness that was packed into this box! I am so excited to see what is to come and to share all the goodies with my family. How many of you have this great subscription? It is definitely worth giving a try!

{SIX}

We are really getting into the Autumn Spirit! To start things off we attended the Apple Day hosted in Penrose, Colorado. It was a great experience! We have two fall festivals this weekend and we have so much more planned before the end of this season. 

{SEVEN}

This is our family's first year joining the Boy Scouts of America and becoming a scouting family. Little Man and Goalie have both earned their first badge! The Bobcat Badge. I am in pursuit of some Scouting uniforms and in the process of creating a binder for the boys to keep their badges together so they have something to look back on if they decide to stick with the Boy Scouts. We just signed up for our first outdoor event for next weekend too! This October and Autumn season is turning out to be a very memorable one!

God Bless!

Saint Francis of Assisi and the Blessing of Animals

I am a Cradle Catholic otherwise known as someone who was born into the faith and raised within the Catholic teachings. One of my most fondest memories as a child was the Blessing of the Animals. It was always so exciting to have the parish bring all their pets out to the church. Goldfish, ferrets, snakes, spiders, cats, dogs and so much more! The priest would say a beautiful blessing near the statue of Saint Francis and would end would the main event... sprinkling the animals with holy water for their blessing. 

Saint Francis is the patron of animals and a very popular saint. There are some great stories attributed to Saint Francis. First of all, he was born into a wealthy family and was known for being a great fighter on the battlefield. His father was angry at Saint Francis because he returned home before entering into battle after he had a vision that he was to return home to fulfill God's plan for him. There are famous stories about Saint Francis and his intercession with the and the Wolf of Gubbio, rebuilding the church of San Damiano and even stories that he had received the Stigmata.

Today is that special day we celebrate our pets and animal friends! It is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi and I was disappointed to learn our parish would not be able to host a Blessing of the Animals today so we decided to do one at home. 

As you can see we have three cats and the inclusion of holy water made the boys giggle because as everyone knows... cats HATE water. We have had Lemon since she was a baby and we recently got Shadow and Cloudy for free at a pet store because they were old and the store was told they must be adopted together. They are our sweet little fur babies and we love them all. We found a cute little Blessing online that we used. It was short and sweet and the whole family had a blast... except the cats. After our blessing, they took off running in all directions and I am sure they will be in hiding for the rest of the night. 

In addition to completing a Blessing of the Animals there are some other great ways to celebrate this feast day. We decided to watch The Knight of Assisi: The Story of Saint Francis. It is a great cartoon that illustrates some of the important milestones in Saint Francis's journey to sainthood. It even mentions the prayer that Saint Francis is most known for and I have included it at the bottom of this post. 

There are also several different meals that would be fun to make in honor of Saint Francis. There is some debate whether Saint Francis was vegetarian or vegan but he was neither. He speaks about eating meat for celebrations, especially during the Nativity of Jesus:

“I would like that on Christmas even the walls could eat meat.”

I brought this fact up just to broaden your options to celebrate this special day. I came across a neat idea to make a Tomato Basil Chicken for dinner. You use Grape tomatoes to make them look like lady bugs! Cute idea right? Well I really need to go grocery shopping this week still so I had to use what I had available for dinner. We decided on Turkey Burgers!

I have also seen some cute snack and dessert ideas utilizing animal crackers or teddy grams. We decided to not only treat ourselves but to spoil our fur babies with a new scratching post covered in catnip and a special dinner of soft food. Hopefully the treats will help them forgive us for sprinkling holy water on them earlier in the evening. I hope that you and your families have a great time celebrating the feast of Saint Francis!

Saint Francis Prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us!

{SQT}: Date Your Mate & Loving Family

Life is really never predictable and mine is no different. We have had so many different things going on this week, I don't even know where to begin! Here are my Seven Quick Takes I am sharing at This Ain't The Lyceum for this week.

{ONE}

We have two new additions to the family! Shadow and Cloudy are two cats we adopted earlier in the week. We did not plan on adopting these cats but we saw them at a pet shop and we couldn't resist. I am proud to say neither of these cats are kittens. They are 6 and 10 years old. We learned from the pet shop owner that because of their age and the fact that they were taken into the shelter due to a hoarding situation that they assumed the cats would never be adopted. They have a strong bond so they had to be adopted together, which caused additional placement issues. These two fur babies are the most loving creatures we have ever come across. They are always purring and following everyone around and are always ready to sit in your lap. Lemon, our first kitten is about 2 and is still transitioning but I know they will all love each other soon enough. 

Welcome to the family, Shadow and Cloudy!

{TWO}

This past Tuesday was the first day of school! Little Man started 4th grade and Goalie started Kindergarten. We love the boys teachers and they are enjoying the routine that the school year brings. Both boys have friends from their classes last year and because they are at the same school this year, they are both excited to walk together. We also have a sweet little bot that lives in the complex and he joins us on our walks everyday. 

The only hiccup we are experiencing from the start of the school year is Goalie being super tired in the afternoon. He was taking naps all the way up to the start of the school year and not having one during the day while at school is really been difficult on my sweet boy. I am hoping we can find a way to calm the sensory breaks we are having in the afternoon due to his afternoon exhaustion. Goalie gets home from school in great spirits and then as the afternoon progresses I start to see a steady decline in his attitude, patience and irritability until he breaks. My poor baby will cry and be miserable until bedtime. Prayers for my Goalie while we figure out a healthy solution to keep him happy and focused throughout the day.

{THREE}

This week was the first week of the Date Your Mate Challenge! My hubby and I thought this challenge would be fun and put a focus on us growing our marriage stronger. For our first date this week we had a sushi date! It was nice because it was the first time we have had some quiet time to have adult conversations. We want to set an example for our children about what a happy and healthy relationship looks like and the only way to make that possible is to make sure it is strong in faith and love. This date was an amazing break from our daily routine and was so much fun. We have two more dates, a nature date and an adrenaline date, we are suppose to accomplish plus some additional challenges, writing a love letter to our spouse,  for the week. I'll keep everyone updated with all of our fun activities! 

{FOUR}

As much as I love football season, I am so glad we won't be having practices 4 times a week anymore this season. I am so exhausted from running around. I have been waking up early to help the boys get ready for school, working out, going to work, picking up the kids from school and heading straight over to the football field for two hour long practices. After practice, we rush to get everyone fed dinner and ready for bed. Then I do all the really fun stuff like completing the laundry and dishes. This week has been brutal. At least today there is no practice so I will probably have a movie night with the boys to relax and celebrate the end of a very busy and productive week. Next week we have practices 3 days a week and it's not 3 days in a row! YAY!!

I still haven't heard any news about soccer and Goalie is getting super anxious so I will try to make a call down to the sports office to figure out what is going on and whether we can expect to have a season or not. If there will be no season, I might sign Goalie up for some karate again. 

{FIVE}

I decided that since I am doing all this extra walking from taking the boys to and from school, working as a server and after school extracurricular activities that I needed to up the amount of steps I would attempt to reach each day. My goal was 10,000 steps during the summer and now my goal is 20,000. It's only been a couple days but I am feeling the burn! I am still searching for a new fitness challenge so if you have a suggestion, I would love to hear it! Maybe you would be interested in joining me? We could create an accountability group on Facebook. 

{SIX}

I am starting to stock up on all the yummy fall goodies that are being released. Pumpkin spice coffee and pumpkin spiced chai tea are the first of many delicious concoctions I will be sampling throughout autumn. I couldn't wait to enjoy the delicious coffee my husband got me so I am enjoying my second cup this morning. It's so delicious! I might enjoy a nice cup of tea after work for an afternoon pick me up out on the patio before the boys get home from school.

What other beverages do you drink during this season of spiced beverages? 

{SEVEN}

Last but not least, I completed our Autumn Bucket List. I always find moe things to add to our list throughout the season but we have a very long and exciting list of activities and adventures I can't wait to explore. Today I woke up and it is a crisp 60 degrees F and the high isn't suppose to go higher than 73 degrees! Its suppose to be even cooler tomorrow, however it is suppose to be warming up after this weekend so I will enjoy my little taste of Fall while I can.

What are traditions you do throughout the Autumn season? Are there any things that you think I should add to my families list?

I am excited for the weekend and I hope every one else had an amazing week with their families. Just a short work shift stands between me and my Saturday off to celebrate Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.