Celebrating Pentecost, the Birthday of the Church!

"Pentecost Sunday is the second greatest Feast of the liturgical year -- the first being Easter -- and takes place 50 days (7 weeks) after Easter (the earliest possible date for this Feast is 10 May). This day celebrates the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples and Our Lady and, in a sense, the reversal of the story of the Tower of Babel in that the the Apostles were given the gift of tongues by which they could preach and be understood by anyone in any language -- a demonstration of the Church's true catholicity." Source

Here are a few pictures of what we did at home today, after attending Mass:

~ White Donuts after Mass on "Whitsunday," another name for Pentecost ~

~ Completed our Garden of the Good Shepherd Calendar~

~ A Twelve-Fruit Salad for with Dinner~

Our 12 Fruit Salad (in honor of the 12 fruits of the Holy Ghost) included: Strawberries, Blueberries, Red Grapes, Green Grapes, Kiwi, Pineapple, Mandarin Oranges, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Peaches, and Apples.

It was SO delicious!

~ A Symbolic Cake for Pentecost ~

Our cake is a white cake with white frosting since Pentecost is also known as Whitsunday.

The large candle in center represents Christ our Light, who promised to send the Holy Ghost, and the 12 smaller white candles represent the 12 Apostle and the tongues of fire.

The 7 red hearts represent the 7 gifts of the Holy Ghost:

Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord

We made them from strawberries this year since one of the girls seems to be allergic to red food coloring. However, I should have let them dry out a little since the juices ran down the sides of the cake! Oops!

The 12 strawberries, placed around the cake, represent the 12 fruits of the Holy Ghost:

Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Benignity, Goodness, Longanimity, Mildness, Faith, Modesty, Continency, and Chastity.

After we light the candles we sing Happy Birthday to the Church...

...then the children blow out the candles with a "mighty wind!"

After dinner (which was nothing special, unless you are a pregnant momma craving Albacore Tuna Melts!) the children colored some pictures of the Apostles on Pentecost. The day ended with an amazing thunderstorm (preceded by some more "mighty winds!") while we prayed the rosary on this last day of May, the month of Our Lady!

Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, before ascending into heaven, didst promise to send the Holy Ghost to finish Thy work in the souls of Thy Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me, that He may perfect in my soul the work of Thy grace and Thy love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Thy divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining Heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with Thee, and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God, and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Thy true disciples and animate me in all things with Thy Spirit. Amen.


I hope you all had a very blessed Pentecost Sunday!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my brother-in-law's first anniversary as a priest! The following video was made by a friend of ours using pictures from Father's ordination. I thought I would share it with you all today. Isn't it beautiful!?!

Happy Anniversary Father!!!

Bubble Fun!

This morning I loaded up the stroller and we drove down to our local track so I could walk. As our "special activity" for today, we brought along a fun bubble set that Chiquita was given for her birthday.

While my kiddos were having fun (and after I snapped a few pictures, of course), Snuggles and I were able to make it around the track 8 times!! (That sounds better than I only walked 2 miles, right?!)  It felt so nice to be outside walking once again.  Now, if I could just turn it into a daily habit...


*I also noticed that it looks like our little Chiquita and Karoline have yet another dress in common!   You'd never know that they live on opposite sides of the country... I'm thinking that Karoline's momma has super cute taste in dresses, don't you?! ☺
 

Small Successes: May 28, 2009

1. I cleaned my girls bedroom and packed up all the remaining size 3 clothing and shoes that Chiquita has recently outgrown. It is hard to believe that she is already four, and will be nearly FIVE when this little one arrives! I wonder if our new one is a girl? It would sure be fun to pull out all our little girl stuff once again... Either way I will be thrilled with a healthy baby.
   


2. I finally ordered a tuxedo for Rascal. Sheesh!! What an ORDEAL!! The bridal store that had been chosen, was as far from helpful as they could possibly be, so in the end, I actually just ordered a new tux on eBay. I've had good experiences with eBay in the past, and the seller reviews were great, not to mention it was less than half of the bridal store's price for a tux (which would need to be altered since it was too big and they refused to order me the right size!). I am so glad it is on the way, but I will feel a bit better when it arrives and FITS! =)
   


3. I french braided Chiquita's hair for the first time this morning. She has been asking me to for awhile, but I thought her hair was too fine... Apparently it is not! Chiquita was very excited to finally have braids like her big sister!
   

What are your Small Successes this week?

Stop by Faith and Family Live to read more of this week's Small Successes.

Ideas for Celebrating Pentecost Sunday

* I just updated and revised my post from last year, adding a few new ideas and fixing some of the links... Here is the updated version!


The feast of Pentecost, also known as Whitsunday, ranks among the great feasts of Christianity. "It commemorates not only the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Disciples, but also the fruits and effects of that event: the completion of the work of redemption, the fullness of grace for the Church and its children, and the gift of faith for all nations."

Here is a list of ideas that could be done for this day!

(Disclaimer: We will not get to all of these (more like just a few!), but I thought I would share the ideas with you just the same!)

Prayer:

• Pentecost Sunday Mass.
• Sing Veni Creator Spiritus (aka: Come Holy Ghost).
• Say some of these Prayers for Pentecost.

Come Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Ghost, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Ghost we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

Food/Snacks:

• You can find a list of ideas I posted last year over at Catholic Cuisine.
• Since Pentecost is also known as "Whitsunday," and one tradition is to serve white foods, we will be having powdered sugar doughnuts and white hot chocolate with breakfast and an afternoon snack of milk and Macaroons.
• Amy's family always enjoys Holy Ghost Sopas.
• Set the table with a red tablecloth and white plates.
• Another dinner suggestion is to serve Cornish Game Hens (representing the Dove), Pasta Alfredo (white), and Cauliflower (white).
• Here is a link to all the posts at Catholic Cuisine labeled Pentecost.
• Cornish game hens sound like too much work, so I think I am going to go with the "Red-Hot Theme" for dinner this year. Maybe some grilled shrimp (it's red!) and veggies? That way hubby can cook! ;)
• I've really been craving fruit all week, so I definitely plan on making a Twelve-Fruit Salad this year!
• For dessert, A Cake for Pentecost, complete with the mighty wind to blow out the candles. This was a hit last year, and I plan on making it again!

Reading:

• Read Song of Songs 2:8-17 for the Garden of the Good Shepherd theme of the day: The Dove.
• Read about The Descent of the Holy Spirit pages 226-227 in the New Catholic Picture Bible.
• Read The Very First Christians.
• Read I Believe: The Nicene Creed.
• ReadThe Twelve Apostles by Marianna Mayer.
• Read Apostles of Jesus by Father Lovasik.

Copy work:

My Lord and My God!

--traditional Eucharistic exclamation.

Craft:

• Make a centerpiece. Cut out seven flame shapes from either felt or construction paper and label them with the names of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost.
• Make the Pentecost kite found in The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions.
• Make Dawn's Pentecost Windsock!
• Here is a cute Holy Spirit Mobile. (pdf)
• This Pentecost Spinner looks like fun!

Activities:

• Do a Pentecost Cross Word Puzzle, Decoder, Word Jumble, Word Search, or a Twelve Disciples Word Search.
• Color this Pentecost Coloring Page, or any of these.
• Don't forget the beautiful Pentecost coloring page to be found in Fenestrae Fidei: A Coloring Companion for Catholic Mosaic!
• Even more great resources for Pentecost can be found here!
• Go fly a kite! Wind is one of the symbols of Pentecost, so what better way to experience the wind than to fly a kite? If a kite is too much work, Pinwheels would be fun too!
• Play "Who Has the Fire?"

Who Has The Fire?

Introduce game: What flickered around the disciple’s heads, but didn’t burn them? Fiery flames.
Need: Orange construction paper balled up to be the fire.
Directions: The children sit in a circle close together. The child who is “It” stands away from the circle and hides their eyes while the fire is passed around. When “It” says "STOP!", the child holding the fire hides it (under their leg, up their sleeve, etc.). The child who is “It” guesses who has the fire. The child who had the fire is now “It”.

What are your plans for Pentecost? I would love to hear any ideas that you all have as well!

I hope you have a blessed Pentecost Sunday!

A Swarm of Bees

"... and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey."
~ Judges 14:8

Bee Cookies for Garden of the Good Shepherd Day 46

My Daybook ~ May 26, 2009

FOR TODAY: May 26th, 2009

Outside my Window... (or rather my front door!) their is now an abandoned nest. All five of the little birdies learned how to fly this weekend, much to the excitement of my children! They were able to peek through the window panes and watch them take off. I still can't get over HOW FAST they grew! It seems like just yesterday I was lifting a little one back into the next, and now they, all five of them, are so big!

My youngest brother is in this picture too...

He spent the night this weekend.

I am thinking... that I wish I would have been able to get a couple good pictures of the baby birds (We figured out that they are House Finches.) in their nest... It was just not meant to be. I was able to get a couple pictures of the daddy and momma birds, while perched at the top of a nearby tree.

I am thankful... that, even though one of the gifts I ordered for my soon to be sister-in-law's Bridal Shower Saturday night didn't arrive on time, I was able to find some cute bowls off her registry and a darling apron (my brother suggested an apron! lol!) at the last second.


From the kitchen... On Sunday morning, before heading to Mass for the Ascension, we had Ascension Pancakes for breakfast. The Pancake represents the earth Jesus walked on; the fresh strawberries represent the blood Jesus shed; the chocolate syrup represents the roads Jesus traveled; The whipped cream represents the clouds our Lord ascended into; and the sprinkles represent the sweetness of life in Heaven. They were SO yummy!

From the school room... The boys will hopefully finish up their Language Arts workbooks this week... We'll see! However, we will definitely be doing Math all summer. I keep telling myself that just one lesson, 4 times per week, won't be too bad at all. Right?! While we are finishing up, I am hoping to organize and declutter the school room to make some room for all the new books that are on the way. :)


Living the Liturgical year at Home... We are still celebrating the Easter season using The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the Fifty Days of Easter. This week I am just drawing from last year's plans, and adding in a few unrelated activities. It counts! This coming Sunday is Pentecost... Here are some ideas for celebrating that I posted last year.


I am creating... a blog post!! Can you believe it?? I just haven't had the motivation lately for blogging, and I do apologize to those of you who keep checking in and are wondering if I'm ok... I've had plenty of things to blog about, but, by the time my children go to bed and I usually sit down at the computer, I've been wanting to either go to bed myself, read a book, or watch a movie.


I am going... to be so happy to finish Garden of the Good Shepherd this coming weekend!!! WAHOO!!! Seven weeks is a LONG TIME!!!!


I am wearing... Caladryl on my feet, legs, stomach, and neck. Ugh! Have you ever had poison oak?? It is miserable!


I am reading...the Spring 2009 issue of Mater et Magistra. I was so excited to see that one of the articles was written by my brother-in-law!


I am hoping... to find a Tux for Rascal this week. I am starting to run out of time!


I am hearing... lots of questions from my boys, while they work on their English, and the girls singing songs from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the living room.


Around the house... lots of projects. I spent yesterday deep cleaning my girls room, yet again... A project that needs to be done every couple months in seems. Hubby spent the day working on stripping the old paint off the deck railing so it can be repainted. It's a big project, but it needed to be done and will look so nice once it is painted!


One of my favorite things... is the new sofa on the porch! (The one we got last month.) I LOVE IT!!! This past weekend we ordered a side table and another chair/ottoman to go with it. I've really enjoy sitting out there reading while the children play in the yard, or during nap time, or really ANYTIME!

A Few Plans For This Week...

• Baseball practice tonight and a game on Friday.
• Friday morning will we be attending Mass and Benediction.
  
• My boys opted to miss their game on Saturday for a Young Hunters Day, which they've attended in the past and really enjoyed.
  
• We also will have a few little friends spending the night on Friday, while their parents celebrate their 10th Anniversary!! My children are SO excited!
  
• Mass again on Sunday... and I think that is it, so far!
  

A picture thought I am sharing:

~ Meagan's Bridal Shower ~

The tables all looked so pretty!

JoAnn, Mary, Meagan, and Me

The rest of my sisters--Jennifer, Jamie, and Julianna--couldn't make it to Meagan's shower since they all live out of state.

To see more Daybook's visit Peggy!