My Sunday Best: Divine Mercy Sunday

This post may contain affiliate links that I receive a small commission. It does not change the price for you but it is a small blessing to my family. All opinions are my own.

Today is one of my most favorite days in the Liturgical year! Divine Mercy Sunday. I have always had a deep love of this Feast day, especially after I read Saint Faustina's Diary:Divine Mercy in my Heart. It is one of those books that talks to your soul. As I grew older, I also became attached to the Divine Mercy Chaplet. If you haven't had the pleasure of chanting this mesmerizing prayer, today would be the best day to try it out! 

I especially love that the portrait of Divine Mercy is placed near the altar for all to see. The portrait of Divine Mercy is among my favorite painting of Jesus. The symbolism and simplicity of the portrait speak to my heart. 

“The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls... These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him”. (Diary 299)

I have always struggled with Reconciliation. It scares me. I do not feel I deserve pardon from my sins. I fight myself each time I participate in this Sacrament. I am a sinner. I always will be because I am human but I am so grateful that God has given me a way to clean my soul, even when I don't deserve it. Divine Mercy Sunday is one of the best days to participate in Reconciliation because of the special graces that you can receive today. 

Our Lord Jesus said, "The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet.... Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy." (699) The plenary indulgence that was issued for Divine Mercy Sunday does not change the promises of Our Lord. Rather it provides the Church's highest mark of approval and endorsement and gives souls more time to go to Confession.

Now for some exciting news! For the past few years I have been praying about whether or not to veil. Today I made the jump and wore my first mantilla to Reconciliation, Adoration and Mass. It was an amazing experience. I felt more reverent and I felt a deeper love and connection between myself and Christ today. Do you Veil? Or perhaps know someone who does? If you have been feeling the pull to try out this beautiful and meaningful devotion, I feel you should give it a try. 

The Mantilla I am wearing I purchased from an adorable Catholic shop in Manitou Springs called Windows of Heaven. It is a Mantilla made by Veils by Lily and I think it is gorgeous. I love the design and the contrast of colors. Goalie, my youngest, kept telling me I looked like Mary. That was the biggest compliment he could have ever given me and I'm sure he doesn't understand that looking like Mary... reverent, modest and and all those wholesome things is part of the reason to veil.

Here are some scripture and quotes to consider during your decision about whether or not to veil:

Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.

1 Corinthians 11:4

Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head.

1 Corinthians 11:5

A man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.

1 Corinthians 11:7

The woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.

1 Corinthians 11:10

St. John Chrysostom also spoke both of angels and the veiling of women:

“The angels are present here . . . Open the eyes of faith and look upon this sight. For if the very air is filled with angels, how much more so the Church! . . . Hear the Apostle teaching this, when he bids the women to cover their heads with a veil because of the presence of the angels.”

 Today was an amazing day and I feel blessed that I was able to receive absolution from my sins, receive Communion and pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy with my children. I began a new devotion that makes me grow in my relationship with our Lord and I feel renewed after a hard Lent. I hope the blessings of today have touched you the way they have me. I am linking this with Rosie over at A Blog for my Mom.

If you have a portrait of the Divine Mercy in your home, here is a blessing that you could do to end your Divine Mercy Sunday:

Image Blessing on Mercy Sunday

Almighty and Eternal Father, in your goodness, bless and sanctify this Image of The Divine Mercy, Your dearly beloved Son, which has been fashioned to reveal to us the great love of our Crucified and Risen Savior, The Divine Mercy Personified. Help us recall to our minds the streams of Blood and Water that had gushed forth from His pierced Heart to be for us a continuous fount of mercy.  Grant to all who invoke Your Mercy with this Image before their eyes, the grace of true repentance, pardon and peace.  Shield them from every danger to soul and body in this life.

Jesus, our loving Savior, establish in this Image the Throne of Your Mercy.  Pour out upon all of us, who approach it with faith and trust, the purifying, healing and sanctifying rays of grace ever emanating from it as a blazing star.  Gaze upon us as you did from the Cross with your great love and mercy so that we may be filled with your grace.

Through this Image, may Your Divine Mercy triumph over all the powers of evil.  May all who venerate this Image never perish.  May it be their joy in life, their hope in death, and their glory in eternity for ever and ever.

This we ask through Jesus Christ Our Lord.  Amen!

My Sunday Best: Parish Faith Night Edition

It is so amazing to be back! Our computer gave out a couple weeks ago and my cousin came to the rescue. Now to catch up with some great posts because it always happens that you are inspired while unable to share right?

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time and also a Parish Faith Night for our Church. Parish Faith Night is a special event that we host to help share information, fun crafts and fellowship. This particular Parish Faith Night was all about Saints and Feast Days. I was really excited that we were able to attend Parish Faith Night because we missed Mass this morning. My youngest son has been having an extremely difficult time with his emotional outbursts this week and this morning was rough to say the least. We have routines for everything to help our transitions and nothing seemed to keep Goalie in a calm disposition. We had a small talk after he completed Tiny Turtle. We came to the agreement that the wiggles and nervous feelings he was having this morning were very hard to control so we would not attend Mass but we would attend Parish Faith Night. It is sometimes very difficult to make choices like this because it does change our routine but it is better than keeping Goalie in his downward spiral of emotions he finds himself at times. He is formally diagnosed with ADHD but he is currently undergoing testing for an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) because his school and behavioral therapist both have noted concerns that he may have Aspergers, which is a high functioning Autistic diagnosis.

In case you haven't heard of Tiny Turtle before, it is a new anger management skill we have been practicing for Goalie. If you are interested in trying out "Tiny Turtle"check out these simple steps:

First, form an imaginary turtle shell by curling into a little ball.
Second, take at least three deep breaths.
Third, say "I can do it, I can calm down" until you feel better and then you can emerge from your tiny turtle shell and move forward with your activity.

After a rough morning, I am happy to say that we really turned around the day and Parish Faith Night was a success! Our night was centered around the Saints and the Feast Days. To kick things off we started with an enormous pot luck dinner to start our fellowship. We had an abundance of many food, dessert and drinks. After everyone had eaten, we began a discussion with the children about Saints: What makes a Saint a Saint? Who can become a Saint? Who decides who is a Saint? Name some Saints and Feast Days. You know the saying "Kids say the darnedest things?" Well tonight was no different! So many laughs and great memories.

After the discussion we went into our Saint Parade! Here are my two little Saints below: Saint Dominic and Saint Joseph!

In addition to all of our fun events we also incorporated some printables for the families present to work on together. Check out Catholic Icing has an amazing Family Litany of Saints Worksheet that we discussed and there were also All Saints coloring pages. You can check out my Pinterest page if you are looking for some great Catholic coloring pages.

I think that my most favorite part of the evening was being able to sing The Litany of Saints with my two little saints and just be in the moment of peace and fellowship with my parish. I am so glad that the evening was a success and I am looking forward to the next Parish Faith Night in March!

Now that the night is over, I am enjoying a glass of wine with my husband! I am linking this post to My Sunday Best

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: Epiphany Edition

Three Kings Day! The Epiphany! Theophany! The Twelfth Night! Little Christmas! 

No matter what you call it, it is indeed a feast that needs to be celebrated in style. It is the night that the Three Kings found the Christ Child lying in a manger beneath the star of Bethlehem. We display of entire Nativity scene on our home altar and light our Christ Candle all day to honor this amazing day.

This was our first Mass of the New Year. We have been fighting some nasty stomach bugs, coughs, ear infections and sore throats over our Christmas break so it was an awesome way to start our Epiphany celebration at Mass. As you can see from the picture above, the boys rocked their new outfits they received for Christmas again. They love their ties, new shoes and the whole ensemble so who am I to say no to kids that want to wear their very best? I on the other hand, did not have my Sunday Best on... I am still not feeling so well so I wore more comfortable clothes: A huge sweater and jeans with nice boots. Therefore, I did not honor this outfit with a picture.

After Faith Formation and Mass I headed straight to the grocery store to get some special Epiphany donuts and the ingredients for our special dinner. If you checkout out my Menu Plan Monday Post from earlier in the week, I had something else listed as our dinner for the Epiphany but I came up with a neat idea that incorporated the Three Kings and the Star of Bethlehem. I made Chicken A La King with Star of Bethlehem Biscuits!

We enjoyed an orange juice toast with some yummy donuts before throwing together dinner in the crock pot and enjoying a Family Epiphany nap. When we woke up I got started on those Star of Bethlehem Biscuits! All I did was take a can of Buttermilk biscuits and stretch them out so I could use our Christmas Star cookie cutter to make these festive biscuits for dinner.

Have you ever heard of Chicken a La King? It is similar to a Chicken and Dumplings recipe but instead of dumplings, the Chicken and veggie mixture is served over a puff pastry. I just tweaked the recipe and pour our Chicken and vegetables over biscuits shaped liked stars. Can you see the hiding stars?

After Dinner we did the traditional Chalking of the Door! Have you done it before? If not, it is a great tradition to start with your family! Here is how you do it:

Write the inscription below on your entrance to your home with blessed chalk. The blessings are listed below as well. I wrote the inscription on the doorway while Little Man and Goalie wrote it all over the sidewalk. 

20 + C + M + B + 17

While you write this above your doorway remember to recite:

The three Wise Men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar followed the star of God’s Son who became human two thousand and fifteen years ago. May Christ bless our home and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen.

The letters C, M, B have two meanings. They are the initials of the traditional names of the three Magi: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. They also abbreviate the Latin words Christus Mansionem Benedicat, “May Christ bless the house.” The “+” signs represent the cross and 17 represents the year. 

To bless the chalk prior to "Chalking the Door" recite the following prayer and sprinkle holy water on the chalk:

Loving God, bless this chalk which you have created, that it may be helpful to your people; and grant that through the invocation of your most Holy Name that we who use it in faith to write upon the door of our home the names of your holy ones Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, may receive health of body and protection of soul for all who dwell in or visit our home; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

If you did a Chalking of the Door please find me and the Zelie Group on Instagram and share your pictures! It's not to late to do this fun activity with your family... especially if you still have your Christmas decorations still up! Looking for more fun ways to celebrate the Epiphany checkout Seven Activities to Celebrate the Epiphany.

During dinner and our Epiphany activities, we listened to our Christmas music one last time. It was a sad moment when I told the boys I would be putting away the Christmas decor, music and movies. They begged for one last movie so we decided to watch The Little Drummer Boy and snuggled up with some hot chocolate on the couch before we called it a night and headed to bed. How was your Epiphany celebration? Do you take down your decorations? Or do you leave them up until Candlemas? I am sharing this with My Sunday Best.

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: Christmas Eve Edition

Christmas is the second most important day of the year! Easter being the first because it is the day that we were given everlasting life thanks to our Savior, Jesus Christ. But without his birth on Christmas there could be no death or Resurrection. I love the Christmas season so much! The catching melodies of carols, the gorgeous lights, the happiness that is emitted from everyone you come across. It is purely magical, possibly a small heaven on Earth experience. 

We attended the Christmas Eve Mass at our Parish this year to celebrate the birth of Jesus because our boys were singing in the Christmas Eve Children's Choir. We were all dressed in our Sunday Best and wish big smiles! Goalie was the most excited about being part of the choir. He feels a little left out since Little Man gets to altar serve frequently and he isn't old enough to really participate in the Mass except from the pews with me. He is always upset during Communion too because yet again it's just something he can't do. His attitude toward Mass was completely different this night. I'm sure you can feel his excitement from his huge smile! These amazing outfits were gifts from family and the boys opened them up during the O Antiphon celebration on December 22nd to celebrate O Rex Gentium or O King of the nations. They get new outfits "fit for a king".... at least that's how we have explained it. The boys normally get a nice outfit for the Christmas season on this night but they were also lucky enough to get brand new shoes too! I think it's funny but the boys were a little disappointed they didn't get haircuts before their big debut, they normally don't like getting haircuts but I love that they wanted to look their absolute best for Jesus on his special night. 

Upon entering our church, I was so excited to see how beautifully the place was decorated. Filled with beautiful Christmas trees lit up with classic white lights, poinsettias everywhere and a gorgeous Nativity with an eye-catching star hanging above it. It's not pictured but there where teardrop wreaths at the end of every other pew and beautiful evergreen wreaths along the stations of the cross as you walked into the church as well. Just a picture perfect adoration of the church to honor Jesus and the Christmas season.

One of my most favorite part of the Vigil Mass is when they Bless the Nativity. I love the aroma of the incense and the reverence that is shown while it is being blessed by the altar servers. It's just a beautiful tradition that I look forward to each and every Christmas Eve. What is your favorite part? The songs? The prayers? The addition friends and family joining us in celebrating? There is just so much to this feast day that it is hard to choose the best parts!

Another amazing moment from the Christmas Eve Vigil was when Monsignor invited all the children to sit with him while he read Santa and the Christ Child. As you can see, the children all sat so still to listen to this beautiful story and one of the younger children crawled into Monsignor's lap. I think this will be a purchase for next year to add to our Christmas Book Collection!

Don't think I forgot about video taping some of the Children Choir! If you are interested in hearing the beautifully sang song, Rise Up Shepherds and Follow, by the Children's Christmas Choir, please checkout my Instagram page! It should be one of my most recent posts, as I have been taking a small hiatus from social media to really enjoy this season with my family!

After Mass, the boys were full of energy! We headed home and finally got to open that special Christmas Eve gift they had been dying to rip apart all day! The gift was from Buddy the Elf since it was  his last night with us until next year and it included Star Wars Christmas pajamas, popcorn and the movie Risen! After baking Santa's cookies we enjoyed some hot chocolate and snuggled while we watched our movie before heading to bed. I mean the kids went to bed... my husband and I had to stay up for Santa duties (making sure he enjoyed the cookies and cocoa of course) and watched Scrooged. I hope you had an amazing Advent season and are enjoying this truly magical season of Christmas. I am sharing this with A Blog for my Mom for her fun My Sunday Best linkup.

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: All Saints' Edition

This Tuesday is All Saints' Day and there are only 4 more Sundays until Advent begins! I am also ashamed to say that we have missed Mass the past two weeks due to not feeling well, having one car working properly and just playing catch up. Goalie was actually upset when we were leaving after CCD today but we should be on track soon. Praying and fingers crossed!

I am also disappointed that I did not get a picture of myself and Goalie before I changed into my "I'm in a rut" clothes and got comfy on the couch with a blanket. These past few weeks have been super hard. Broken down car, being sick and fighting the depression and anxiety that become so much harder to deal with in difficult situations. I can share a cute picture of Little Man though. 

Here is Little Man's Sunday Best, he is dressed as Saint Dominic. The Black cape was suppose to be connected at the neck but I could not find a safety pin to keep it together this morning. He is wearing a large white shirt (suppose to look like a tunic) with black pants and a black "cape" which looks more like a veil from this picture. He has a rosary and was pretty pleased with his 1 minute costume. Little Man was dressed as Saint Dominic to do a presentation on him during CCD today.

I had asked the children in my CCD class to pick and research a saint they would like to learn about. Well, I only had three children dress up but I was very impressed with the amount of effort the kids put into their research and saints. I am hoping to share the other costumes on this post later after I have permission from the children's parents. 

After the saint presentations, I discussed some old Christian Halloween traditions and how they have evolved into the modern Halloween we know nowadays. The kids were really interested in the Soul Cakes and story of the Jack O' Lantern. You can find more information on those topics and more on my Seven Ways to Have a Very Catholic Halloween and {JEI}: All Saints' Day. Overall, I think having a small break from our books and getting some hands on learning was fun, exciting and the kids learned a lot about some of their favorite saints. I even shared information about my Confirmation Saint (Saint Bernadette) and encouraged them to keep learning about the saints because they also get to pick a saint in their Confirmation. 

Remember All Saints' Day is Tuesady! My boys will be dressed up as Saint Dominic and Saint Joseph so make sure to come checkout my pictures on Instagram later in the week!

This was my Sunday Best but I'll try to update with a picture from our All Saints' Day Mass!

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: Politics and Catechist Fun!

Well today was a little insane! I'm not sure whether I have shared that I work in hospitality or not but I work in a restaurant. My certification for Serve Safe Alcohol just expired so I had to retake the class this morning at 7am. To make things super exciting, my husband also works in the hospitality industry and he didn't get home until 4am from work and couldn't possibly get the boys ready for CCD and Mass. So I had to bring my children along with me! It was just as stressful as it sounds and I honestly felt a little rushed taking the test because I was so nervous that the boys would bother someone while they were taking their test. I would appreciate some prayers that I passed the test because I REALLY don't want to have to do it again so soon.

This was my Sunday Best: White Blouse with black pencil skirt and black heels. I rocked my glasses because I've been struggling with headaches and the glasses seem to help some. Might be time for a new prescription.

Moving forward welcome to the Catechist Corner:

I mentioned in my last post that I would be sharing some Catechist ideas and tips during My Sunday Best so I decided I had a few ideas to toss around to my fellow Catechists today. First, do you remember your most favorite CCD teacher? I do! Well, I actually was very blessed to have several teachers that had great impacts on my life. One of them is even the Godmother to my children, if that tells you anything! When I think of the most fun I had during CCD, I think about my 5th or 6th grade year when my teacher would create these amazing PowerPoint presentations that looked like a Jeopardy Game! We would read each lesson out loud as a class and he would sometimes have a coloring page or fun activity for us but we ALWAYS got to play "Jeopardy" at the end of class. Really it was him quizzing us but is was so much fun to answer in the form of a question and the anticipation of being called upon to answer questions. He even had Double Jeopardy questions for us and everything!

Here is what I am doing to make my class entertaining. The class is divided into four different teams. Throughout the class each team can win points for participation, answering questions correctly and being the first team to complete tasks. I have even assigned "bonus" points as homework. For example, Last week I asked the kids to find out what the name of our Bishop is and to discuss it with their parents and tell me today. Only 2 kids remembered to do it (besides my son) but let me tell you the teams they were on were super excited to get that extra bonus point today! I am keeping a running tally of the points until Christmas break and then I will restart the point system new with the New Year. Whichever team has the greatest number of points will receive a reward.

I also discusses All Saint's Day with the children and asked them to pick a saint to learn about. I also gave them the option of dressing up on our class Oct 30th if they wished (I'll be giving out bonus points for the dressed up kids but they don't know that yet). I am also hoping to purchase some Saint metals to hand out to the class as a reward for completing the assignment and putting some real effort into it. I am also emailing the parents so they are aware of what is happening in the class in regards to the Saint Project we started, how the teams work and to invite back students that I haven't seen in awhile. I believe communication is key! Plus it gives families something to talk about that can grow their families together in faith. I am so enjoying this group of children I am working with right now. They are all so entertaining and they all are trying and eager to learn!

Here is a list of the Saints that the class has chosen so far to learn about for All Saint's Day:

Saint Joan of Arc

Saint Thomas Becket

Saint Rose of Lima

Saint Valentine

Saint Nicholas

Saint Dominic

Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Saint Paul

As you can see I also have some research to complete so I am able to share as much information with the kids as possible! If you have posts, crafts or other neat ideas surrounding these saints please let me know so I can make them available as resources for my class.

I am also collecting resources for Advent! It's almost here so start planning your families and classes activities soon!

Fellow Catechists, what are you doing to make your Religious Education fun for your children? I would love to hear all about it! Maybe if I get enough interest we could start a link up? Let me know!

After CCD we headed straight to Mass today because Little Man was Altar Serving. Mass was really good and informative today! We discussed the upcoming election and why it is important to vote. Voting is one of the things we can do to help others that don't have a voice so it is our duty as Christians to vote and to vote for the better good. Included in the bulletin were several materials to explain about the issues that will be voted on this election year and they included several prayers to help our Nation. I really liked that they included the picture of Mary Untier of Knots as this prayer card. 

After the exciting Sunday we have had, I am so glad to be home! I plan to enjoy another cup of coffee (or four) and relaxing some before getting the house in order for the week and completing the two or three other posts I am hoping to share!

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: Zombies and Guitar Solos

Wow it has been awhile since I have had the time to linkup with My Sunday Best! I have missed this great linkup so much. It is always nice to reminisce on a great Sunday, especially like the one we had today! Religious education, a great homily about ZOMBIES (yes, you read that correctly, I'll share more later in this post) and Goalie rocking solos with his mini guitar he bought at the Dollar Tree. 

Here is a picture of what I wore today. Its not a great picture because I couldn't find the selfie-stick in the messy house so this was the best I could do today. White blouse, black leggings with a black skirt and black boots. It's been chilly in the mornings lately so I was bundled up!

I have volunteered to be a Catechist at our church and today was my second Sunday teaching Little Man's class. We are having a great time and I have some great ideas to really get the kids involved in their faith. As of right now, I have separated the class into teams and as we progress through lessons each team can earn points and I am keeping a running tally until the end of the religious education school year and the winning team will get a prize! Obviously I will be gifting all the kids something but the team with the most points will get something a little extra. If you are a fellow Catechist keep a look out for the upcoming My Sunday Best posts that I will try to share some ideas and teaching ideas that we can use throughout the year. I also wouldn't mind if you all have ideas or suggestions you would like to share with me!

After classes we headed straight to Mass. It came to my attention that Goalie snuck in his toy guitar he purchased at the Dollar Tree yesterday. When I say he snuck in his toy... he really did. My son put his toy inside his jacket and zipped it up and didn't unzip it until after Mass had started. I honestly didn't know what to do when I saw the guitar. I tried to get him to give it to me but then I triggered an emotional response of anger. Goalie struggles with his emotions so the only thing I could do was compromise. He could play the guitar while the songs were played but when it was "listening" time he had to put it in my purse. It worked pretty well and Goalie rocked out during the songs. He sang, dance and played his little guitar. Several people thought it was cute but I was on pins and needles all Mass hoping he wasn't disturbing anyone. 

To make Mass even more more exciting, our priest gave an amazing Homily today! He pulled the congregation into it by talking about Zombies. He explained that zombies are humans that have contracted a disease that makes their bodies numb. Numb to pain and possible loss of limbs (that was a joke). The body itself cannot work the way that it once had worked before. He then explained that this "zombie" virus works much like leprosy. One of the readings and the Gospel today discussed this disease. 

First Reading: Second Kings 5:14-17

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

The boys actually listened really well today... for obvious reasons. Zombies and Leprosy actually both spiked their interest because my boys like creepy things, like zombies and leprosy intrigues them because their Papa D's (Grandpa) name day saint is Saint Damien of Molokai.

I hope you all are enjoying this amazing day the Lord has made with your families! Time to clean and get ready for work for me tonight. I am enjoying the smell of chili in the slow cooker filling my home. 

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: Selfie Sticks & Donuts

I have a confession to make... and it is a big one. We bought a Selfie Stick! I never in a million years would dream that I would purchase one of these little things but the impossible has happened. We tried it out today before heading to Mass. The picture came out better than I thought it would. Sorry about the glare and slight blurriness. I washed our curtains yesterday and have not put them back up yet and WOW! The light just pours through our front window. I am hoping to use it to help take our Sunday Best pictures and bring it along on our hikes!

We are enjoying some slightly cooler weather so I pulled out a bright colored three-quarter sleeve shirt with my longer khaki colored skirt. This particular skirt is one of Goalie's favorites because it can swish when I turn. Little Man and Goalie decided to rock their cute little polo shirts and some khaki pants as well. I wish I would have gotten a picture of my husband with us. He joined us at Mass after his workout and went straight to bed when we got home, while I bought donuts! He has been working the late shift so he needs naps before heading out to work. 

I wish I had a cute little story or saying from Mass today but I think we were all recuperating from the past week. Goalie had a hard time sitting still but he didn't say much... just random noises like he sometimes does. My kids are the source of all my entertainment and today we were all just tired!. Little Man was able to sit with us today and he had fun watching the other altar servers helping the priests. 

Remember those donuts I mentioned earlier? Well, we have been doing a much better job sticking to our healthier eating plan this past week so we decided to buy some delicious donuts as a reward! Here are the two I devoured after returning home from Mass. A lemon creme and raspberry filled donut. They were amazing and I enjoyed another cup of pumpkin spice coffee in my favorite coffee cup. It says "To everything there is a SEASON... and a time to every purpose under the HEAVENS" Ecclesiastes 3:1. My husband bought me this cup when we had a brunch right before we moved away from Florida. This is one of my favorite lines from the bible and the painting of trees on the cup is beautiful.

This little cutie joined me as I enjoyed my after Mass treat because the boys grabbed their donuts and ran out the door to go play with their friends. I think my sweet little Lemon has been a little jealous of our new additions to the family this past week so I will enjoy the extra snuggles while I can get them. Saint Francis of Assisi said, "A cat purring on your lap is more healing than any drug in the world, as the vibrations you are receiving are of pure love and contentment." This is so true. Lemon's purring is making me so calm, I might be ready to take a nap too!

Both my husband and I work tonight so I am going to enjoy the quiet for a bit before I start preparations for the babysitter tonight. I still have to make dinner, organize the boys clothes for the following school week and make sure their bags are fully packed for school tomorrow. How do people figure out how to spend their Sundays peacefully the way God intended? I need some suggestions because I feel like I am insanely busy everyday no matter how I complete my household chores and work.

I am linking this to My Sunday Best, Good Morning Mondays at Darling Downs Diaries and Modest Monday at The Modest Mom Blog

God Bless!

My Sunday Best: I Want to be the Boss!

Today is the Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary time and we started our day bright and early! Little Man was Altar Serving at the 8am mass and it was a bit of a struggle to get going this morning. We normally attend the 10:30am mass so as you could imagine everyone was a little grumpy. My poor husband had to close at his job last night and did not get home until after 3am so I didn't wake him for church this morning but I am sure he heard all of us rummaging through the house.

My boys were looking so handsome this morning! They got fresh new hair styles yesterday and they are rocking them! My Little Man is growing up way to fast... while we were school shopping and getting ready for Back-to-School he requested I buy him some deodorant, a comb and gel for his hair. I thought I was going to burst into tears.. how can my Little Man be growing so fast?! Well as you can imagine he fixed his hair with gel this morning and has that fresh scent of a young man's deodorant. Goalie requested some gel for his hair too. He wants to be just like his big brother!

I was very proud of the boys behavior today. Little Man was more confident in his Altar Serving Duties and dressed up nicely. Goalie wore a similar outfit but decided to wear his ninja turtle belt and a tie (not pictured above) and sat relatively quiet too. Today was a win!

To make things even better Goalie expressed a desire to be a priest today. It made me giggle because I asked him what makes him feel that way and he said, "I want to be the Boss!" Apparently he thinks the priest is the "Boss" of the congregation and tells his brother what to do while Altar Serving. When I explained that the priest is not a "boss" that does not tell people what to do but is a person God has given a special job to help guide people in their faith and teach them what is right. I also explained that Little Man is not "bossed" around by the priest but he is the priest's helper. Goalie said, "that sounds too hard, I'll just do what brother does and help." Oh Goalie how you keep me on my toes! So who knows if Goalie will be a priest but apparently God is speaking to him.

Included in the bulletin there was this great insert about the Keys to Keeping Kid's Catholic. I thought I would add it here because it has some great suggestions.

Now that I am home and still attempting to wake up. I am going to enjoy another cup of coffee and relax before I have to go to work tonight. Since it is the last Sunday before school begins I have included a prayer to say to begin a school year. I hope that everyone enjoys this beautiful Sunday and ready to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption tomorrow. 

Linking up with A Blog for my Mom at My Sunday Best,  Good Morning Mondays at Darling Downs Diaries, The Mommy Monday Blog Hop and Modest Monday at The Modest Mom Blog

Prayer to Begin a School Year:

God of wisdom and might,

we praise you for the wonder of our being,

for mind, body and spirit.

Be with our children as they begin

a new school year.

Bless them and their teachers and staff.

Give the strength and grace as their bodies grow;

wisdom and knowledge to their minds

as they search for understanding;

and peace and zeal to their hearts.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

My Sunday Best: God Loves My Clothes

August is in full swing. Today is Sunday and officially ends the amazing relaxing summer for me. I am going to do my best to enjoy lots of coffee, reading, my children, a nice long nap and at least one glass of wine! Tomorrow will be the first day of the normally crazy life I live and love. I'll share more on that crazy life later but for now, I am forcing myself to live in the present and enjoy the day. 

So far today I have enjoyed a nice hot cup of white chocolate coffee. Its a fancy coffee my husband makes for me that is super simple to make. Its just a plain black coffee (I prefer Kona Coffee) with a tablespoon or two of white hot chocolate powder mixed into it. It's not the healthiest but it tastes so good and I am going to celebrate Sunday the way it should be. 

After my delicious cup of caffeine, I prepared the boys for Mass. It was a difficult morning to say the least. Goalie wanted to wear everything except something that looked presentable. While I was getting ready, he put on a pair of his brother's pants that were WAY TO BIG and were camouflage with a neon lime green dry fit soccer shirt. When I explained he needed to wear his "nicer" church clothes he proceeded to pout his lips and say "God loves my clothes" as he marched away. I should have known getting him dressed was not going to be easy after that. He came running back to me to show me his new outfit. The same neon lime green soccer shirt with a pair of jeans riddled with holes. All I could do was smile because I knew that Goalie was not in his normal cheery mood. I finally had to ask for Little Man's assistance with Goalie's wardrobe. He picked out an orange polo shirt with a descent pair of khaki shorts: I prefer for the boys to wear dress pants but I was willing to make the compromise today considering the mood of the morning. Thank goodness Little Man was already dressed and brushed his teeth so we could hit the road on time, even after all the fun wardrobe changes for Goalie. We have days like this ever so often. You can check out 5 Tips to Help Your ADHD Child During Mass if you struggle with similar issues. 

Apparently taking pictures made Goalie feel better so we had to take a couple. This one was his favorite. I can't wait to get Goalie new glasses. his bit the dust last week and he just looks so handsome with them.

At Mass, everyone behaved for the most part. Goalie had the wiggles towards the end and was singing EXTRA loud today but I have to say I was quite impressed with how he held his composure today. Little Man has been acting so grown up at Mass. He is quiet, prayerful and respectful the entire time. He said he is more excited about going to Mass next week because he gets to Altar Serve. My babies know how to make a mama feel proud!

Linking up with A Blog for my Mom at My Sunday Best,  Good Morning Mondays at Darling Downs Diaries, The Mommy Monday Blog Hop and Modest Monday at The Modest Mom Blog

God Bless!

Christmas in July Celebration

Does the hot rainy weather of the summer ever make you miss the cool crisp winter air of Christmas? I LOVE the Christmas season. The music, food, smells, movies and sweaters! It has become tradition in our household to have a Christmas in July Celebration to help us all beat the heat and get into the Christmas spirit!

We started the day out at Mass. It was Little Man's first time altar serving at our new parish. He did amazing and I love how prayerful he looks. Goalie really wants to be an altar server but he is too young and I am afraid that his ADHD will inhibit him from doing altar server duties for awhile. Checkout 5 Tips to Help Your ADHD Child During Mass.

I am linking this at My Sunday Best at A Blog For My Mom.

After Mass, we headed to the pool! It is still summer time and it is hot outside. We have been experiencing rain quite often in the afternoon so we decided to head out early. It was a little too chilly for me to jump in the water but the boys had a great time.

While I prepare our yummy Christmas Feast, the boys will be able to read some Christmas books, color  and learn about Saint Nicholas all while listening to Christmas music. I think that the music is my favorite, honestly I could listen to Christmas music all year long.

Checkout the St. Nicholas Center, they celebrate Christmas in July too.

This year I decided (last minute) to keep our celebration pretty simple. I made a Christmas Pork Roast and Christmas Cookies!

Here are some more classic Christmas foods you can enjoy with a summertime twist for a Christmas in July Celebration! I have done all of these at one time or another but I just did not have time to incorporate them this year.

Smithfield Pecan Praline Spiral Sliced Ham

You can purchase this at any large grocery store chain. It's wrapped in a bright blue colored foil too! What I love about this ham is it is packed with a pecan praline sauce that is more summery and gives the ham amazing flavor.

Christmas Watermelon

Slice your watermelon into medium slices and use christmas cookie cutters to cut the watermelon.

Frozen Hot Chocolate (1 serving)

6 fluid ounces vanilla coffee creamer (I use creamer made with almond milk)
1/2 cup hot cocoa mix (2 packets)
1/2-2 cups ice
whipped cream (optional)
cinnamon sticks (optional)
shaved chocolate (optional)
sprinkles (optional)

Pour Creamer into the blender. Add cocoa mix and ice with the creamer. Blend until ice is crushed and drink is at a slushy consistency. Don't be afraid to add a splash of peppermint extract while you are blending if you like peppermint cocoa. Pour into a mug or glass and garnish with whipped cream, cinnamon sticks and sprinkle with shaved chocolate and/or sprinkles if you wish. Enjoy!

**This can be made into an adult beverage if you add 2 oz of Baileys and/or Peppermint Liquor**

So last minute I did make some frozen hot chocolate! We will end the day with a Christmas Movie Marathon that will include the classics! Polar Express, A Christmas Story, Silent Night and A Christmas Carol. My most favorite Christmas movies are White Christmas and It's A Wonderful Life. I force my hubby to watch them with me quite often.

A Movie Marathon would not be complete without popcorn and frozen hot chocolate for the boys and a nice big glass of wine for me and my husband. Now to be patient... just another 5 months until the real Christmas season begins. I am sharing this at Talk it Up Thursday.

Children's Prayer to Saint Nicholas:

God Our Father we pray,

That through the intercession of St. Nicholas,You will protect our children.Keep them safe from harm,And help them grow,And become worthy of Your sight.

To keep their Faith in You,

And to keep alive their joy,

In Your creation.

Through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Give them strength,

Amen.

St. Nicholas, pray for us!