Babylon: Daniel's Courage in Captivity {Day 3, 4 & 5}

I am sorry I wasn't able to keep up with the daily updates. Working extra shifts is starting to catch up to me and my schedule feels completely jumbled. Here is a small overview of the past three days at VBS. On Wednesday I did manage to get an adorable picture of Little Man in the lion cut out on my cell phone but I am still searching for the USB cord to download it onto the computer. I did get a cute magnet to add to the refrigerator that just so happens to have a picture of Little Man in the lion cut out! 

The pictures around him are foam stickers of lions, angels and a sign that says "The God We Serve is Able to Save Us". The picture is up close because it also has Little Man's name across the top of the magnet with foam letter stickers! Its absolutely adorable and looks amazing next to the magnet he made last year. My favorite new magnet was the only thing that was brought home this week. We had several coloring sheets portraying different parts of the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den. Little Man also made several finger puppets and a jewelry box. The jewels that adorn the box have already been sprinkled all over the carpet and on random objects but for one whole day it was Little Man's prized possession. He even asked me if I had any diamonds and gold that I needed him to keep safe. He was really disappointed I said I didn't have any diamonds or gold but offered my watch (which wasn't good enough for the jewelry box lol) but was happy when I told him he could use it as a treasure chest instead. 

I think the plant project completed on the last day of VBS is Little Man's most favorite. The jar is decorated with a lion and Daniel is on the other side. The paper on the side says "Please water me so I can grow big & strong like Daniel". We need to find a safe spot that little fingers or crazy cats can't reach our special plant this weekend. We may have to leave the little guy outside on the patio, at least until we get the house a little more organized. I wonder what kind of plant it could be?

During the week there have been several feast days I have yet to post about. Wednesday was the Feast of Saint Anthony of Padua and Today is The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Sunday is Father's Day.

Above are the only pictures I have from Wednesday during our small celebration of Saint Anthony of Padua. We enjoyed some delicious spaghetti and meatballs. I know Saint Anthony is mostly known for his time in Portugal but he also ministered in Italy. We needed something easy and quick and who doesn't love spaghetti night? As you can see by the pictures... Spaghetti night is always accompanied with a long bath :o) I am planning to incorporate the Feast of the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart on Sunday.

 Another craft that Little Man is extremely proud of was his lion hat which he shared with Squishy after his delicious pizza party. We are having a great start to the summer and have many more fun activities coming up including Squishy's first haircut tomorrow along with a friend's birthday party and an outside movie for the boys! Little Man's 5th Birthday and Going Away Party is also coming up next weekend! Please keep us in your prayers while we try to get this move underway.

The Divine Mercy Chaplet for Kids {Movie Review}

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I love that this movie makes it fun to pray! Check it out!

The Divine Mercy Chaplet for Kids is a beautiful depiction the Chaplet for the entire family. Sister Faustina is the host of this illustrated Divine Mercy Chaplet. Along with Sister Faustina is a group of young children that learning to say the Chaplet. Sister Faustina explains the way to properly pray the Chaplet and explains when to meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries. The Sorrowful Mysteries are accurately portrayed and but is still sensitive to the eyes of the youngest viewers. The reactions of the children with Sister Faustina help children viewers to understand the overwhelming love that Jesus has for us and the importance of his sacrifice he made for us all. The children characters are easy to relate to and are shown participating in activities such as studying, playing with friends and receiving Reconciliation. I love how all of these daily activities are tied back to the Catholic Faith and the importance of how Jesus wants us to be self-sacrificing and forgiving people.

There are several learning tools utilized in this DVD that make a profound impact on children's ability to retain the prayers and how to use your rosary. The Chaplet is said out loud with Sister Faustina as the lead but it is also captioned below in an easy to follow format. The rosary is also shown along the bottom and lights each bead as the corresponding prayer in the Chaplet is said. In addition to the teaching of this important prayer, I love the music that corresponds with the illustrated story. My oldest son, who is only four, knows the Chaplet by heart thanks to this DVD and very often sings the "Thank you, my dear Jesus" song.  This DVD is the best way to make learning the Chaplet for children of any age easy and fun! 

I wrote this review of The Divine Mercy Chaplet for Kids for the free Catholic Book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Baptism Gifts and First Communion Gifts. Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases. I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River. Since writing this review the link to Aquinas no longer provides information on this product. Please use the link within the review to find the product on Amazon.

Babylon: Daniel's Courage in Captivity {Day 2}

 Today was the second day of VBS. Little Man had another amazing day with great stories and crafts.  It is so adorable to listen to him sing the songs he learned on the car ride home. I am pretty sure he makes up most of the words since he is still learning them but it makes it even more cute.

Crafts today included creating a stamp and picture from your unique stamp and a collar decorated rhinestones. It looks like the stamp was made my using a plastic lid from a peanut butter or mayonnaise jar that had foam cut out stickers on the top. The stamp was brought home with Little Man but when I tried to clean the ink off the stickers fell off as well. I had to throw away the wet project while no one was looking. The stamp craft seems like something that would be a great way to decorate handmade cards or scrapbook and I will be trying them out sometime too!

Here are the pictures of Little Man's prized artwork that will adorn the refrigerator until August. A color page of Daniel in Babylon to the left and his stamp artwork created from his homemade stamp to the right. I noticed today  that there is the cutest lion backdrop for people to take pictures with at Little Man's classroom. I didn't have my camera on me today but you better believe I will get a picture of Little Man with the lion tomorrow! Maybe even a picture of Squishy... I don't know if he will be tall enough but its worth a try!

Little Man wearing his decorated collar

Does anyone have any fun ideas to incorporate in Summer Learning? I have found a Book Adventure by the Sylvan Learning Center and The Summer Faith Adventure by Holy Heroes. We completed the Lenten Adventure with Holy Heroes for the first time this past Lent and it was an awesome experience for the whole family! I think I am just as excited as the kids about the Summer Adventure starting. This is our first time participating in the Book Adventure but Little Man is having fun creating a book list and reading some of the books we all ready own to get more reading points. I would really like to try a few more programs out if anyone has any suggestions... I would greatly appreciate it!

Time to make some coffee and get started on some cleaning and preparations for the Feast of Saint Anthony of Padua tomorrow. If you are looking for some quick ideas check out Catholic Cuisine! They have some wonderful recipes... some of which I will be trying out tomorrow! Pain Perdue (Lost Bread) and possibly the Multitude of Fish Trail Mix.... God Bless!

Babylon: Daniel's Courage in Captivity {Day 1}

Vacation Bible School started today and Little Man was excited to have something to do for the entire week! As I mentioned in an earlier post, it has been raining non-stop this past week (there is a town not too far away that has declared a local state of emergency, so please keep the Gulf Coast in your prayers). I am so thrilled that our church is continuing with their lesson plans from last year's VBS. Last years the theme was Hometown Nazareth: Where Jesus was a Kid and this years theme is Babylon: Daniel's Courage in Captivity. Hometown Nazareth was an eye-opening experience for Little Man. He knows many stories about Jesus and his life but the idea that "Jesus was a kid like me"was a concept that had never entered his mind before. I was relieved Little Man remembered the amazing experience he had last year woke up excited, knowing he had a great day ahead of him. Another reason I really enjoy the depiction of these Vacation Bible Studies is because it incorporates an abundance of arts and crafts while exposing the children to new songs and music.We still have several refrigerator magnets from last year and I hope we have more to add by the end of the week. I wish Squishy was old enough to participate in this religious program, he gets lonely without his big brother around the house for several hours.

I love that Little Man can describe his entire experience and relates it to how we try to live our lives. The first thing he asked me after his first day at VBS was, "Mommy, did you know when things change, God is always with us?!" I thought this was a great lesson for him to be learning at this particular time in his life. I felt like God was truly speaking to him (and our family) because Little Man has expressed some concern about our move. I have to admit I was raised a military brat and this move is already making me a nervous wreck. Finding a new home, school and church from such a long distance with little time... not exactly my idea of fun. Although, the excitement of a new adventure in a new place with new experiences and knowing God has a plan for us helps calm and reassures me that this is the best thing for our family.

Here are a few crafts and original artwork from Little Man today! As you can see... he loves color! I hope he is ready to help create our front door wreath and some Sacred and Immaculate Heart T-shirts sometime this week. We are also attending story time at our local library and picking up some books from our book list. There will also be a celebration in the evening for the library celebrating its 10 year anniversary! I will have some more on those activities tomorrow.I am going to wrap this up so I can get back to snuggle time with Squishy. We are watching The Little Engine that Could, his absolute favorite movie! Little Man is in bed early in preparation of Day 2 of VBS. I hope everyone is finding some great adventures to have with your families during this summer. Please check out our Book Adventure! I will leave you with a cute snuggle picture of me and my Squishy baby. God Bless!

You can check out the following information on the rest of Vacation Bible School:
Babylon: Daniel's Courage in Captivity {Day 2}
Babylon: Daniel's Courage in Captivity {Day 3, 4, 5}

Corpus Christi

Today is celebration of Corpus Christi! In Europe and Catholic dominant nations,there is a beautiful Eucharistic Procession that the is done in honor of this holy feast day.To honor the Blessed Sacrament, the people carrying the Eucharist are adorned with flowers and greenery as well as the homes that the Procession passes. I hope to one day be able to participate or watch one of these professions with my family in person but until then EWTN will be showing them online and on television throughout the day.

I thought that today would be a great day to create a Spring time wreath to hang on our front door, as if we were one of the home that the Holy Eucharist would pass on its journey. Unfortunately, the whole family has caught a summer cold and we have had extremely heavy rain and wind for the past week. I have been too nervous to travel to the store to purchase the rest of the materials needed for our wreath. I really would like to complete this project before Friday. I am looking for ways to decorate my house in accordance to the liturgical year and I think this idea is a step toward reaching my goal. Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter and easy to figure out but Ordinary time has been difficult for me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

As you have probably assumed; Since I am too afraid to travel in this weather, I also have not completed any grocery shopping either. Therefore, there will not be a huge celebration feast tonight. I was able to find the ingredients to make a banana pudding pie (which looks like a large sized Eucharist). We will be enjoying left overs for dinner and for dessert banana pudding pie with a cup of strawberry Kool-Aid :o) Sorry no pictures today... Lightning and Tornado warnings going on :o(

Today would be a good day to be starting or ending the following Novena:

O Lord Jesus Christ, You who have given us Your precious Body and Blood to be our meat and drink, grant that through frequent reception of You in the Holy Eucharist, I may be strengthened in mind and body to do Your holy will. Amen.

Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, have mercy on us.

Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle {Movie Review}

Here is a movie review on a movie I have spoken about several times before. My family and I love it and I know yours will too!

Patrick: Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle is an awesome movie that portrays the amazing life of Saint Patrick. The fascinating story of Celtic pirates, flourishing friendships and unfaltering faith is something that will entertain the entire family. The depiction of Saint Patrick's life is easy for children to understand and they are taught about the Holy Trinity and the importance of prayer in everyday life. Another important lesson learned is about having a complete faith in God and his plan, especially while in circumstances that seem impossible to overcome or endure. Although Patrick is kidnapped away from his home and brought to the pagan filled land of Ireland, he feels God all around him and continues to tell everyone he meets about God. In his struggles he relies on his faith and prevails. This is a beautiful story of a child who becomes a man and from a man transforms into a saint.

I purchased this movie especially for our annual celebration on the Feast of Saint Patrick but this movie was so entertaining it could be watched and enjoyed at any time during the year. I was impressed with the balance of fact and fiction in this movie. There were historical milestones but they were intermingled with the famous legends that go along with Saint Patrick and his evangelization of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Breastplate prayer and the story of the snakes in Ireland are included among Saint Patrick's adventures. I have two younger children and they both wanted to watch this movie over and over again. I am thrilled that inspiring and uplifting movies like these exist and help my children want to learn more about their faith and share it with the world. This movie will be an important addition into your family movie library; I promise you will not be disappointed.

I wrote this review of Patrick for the free Catholic Book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods, your source for Baptism Gifts and First Communion Gifts. Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases. I receive free product samples as compensation for writing reviews for Tiber River.

I Copy Cat

I am completely a copy cat!

I saw the beautiful end of school year portfolios that Sarah made from her blog Amongst Lovely Things. I thought they were so cute and a great way to get organized after our first year at school. I had to jump on the bandwagon. I don't home school but I supplement a lot of learning with my boys after school during our Liturgical Celebrations and Family Trips. I thought these portfolios would be a great way to start a scrapbook for my boys and see their progress through the year. Thank you Sarah for the amazing idea!

Here is the cover I made for Little Man.

I had never known about the Picmonkey website but now that I do... I am in love! There are so many unique ways to add personality to your pictures and you can even create Facebook covers! :o) It truly is the little things in life that make it so amazing.  I had so much fun playing around with the website I made one for Squishy too!

I think that I will do something similar for our family's New Year Resolutions. We usually display our Resolutions in the Kitchen or Dining Room so we can see how well we are doing at accomplishing each one. I think having a picture of our family and the resolutions blended into the picture would look so much more appealing to the eye. I love how much the creative world blooms in the blogger universe! Excited to see what everyone else does with this very useful and creative idea!