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: 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!