{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: Ash Wednesday, Physics, and a Piano Recital

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life with Like Mother, Like Daughter. ~

{pretty}

After Mass earlier today. #ashtag #catholic #lent #ashwednesday

Rose is wearing her pretty pink Girl's Kerchief Tie Veil from Modesty Veils... I have a few in white too which our older girls wore for years before they discovered new veils in their Easter baskets a couple years ago. I actually have some new veils from Robin Nest Lane for this year's Easter baskets. One is a little girl's pink veil with tie backs and three darling swirled lace rosettes on one side. It is SO pretty! I actually meant to put it in Rose's Christmas stocking but completely forgot… It will be perfect for Easter!

{happy}

We made it through Mass but the three year old wasn't too happy when we headed to the car instead of the playground! #ashtag #catholic #lent #ashwednesday

I always feel a little funny posting pictures on Ash Wednesday but I did anyway. I also enjoyed reading the thoughts on the popular #ashtag shared by Phil Lawler and Jennifer Gregory Miller. 

{funny}

During the children's Physics Lab on Thursday afternoon I overheard the tutor ask: "What do you think would happen if you threw this ball as hard as you could?"

Ummm…. If you throw that ball in the house, you will have all sorts of forces coming down on you. Not just gravity! ;) 

{real}

The girls had their very first piano recital this afternoon! I completely forgot to take a picture until afterwards, but I was able to take a "screen shot" of the video. They did a lovely job playing their individual pieces and playing together! 

Afterwards we headed to Mass and then out for dinner. 

It was the "Grand Opening" weekend for the first (and only!) fast food restaurant in our little town. I actually haven't eaten at a Subway since I was a teen and ended up with food poisoning… I'm still not much of a Subway fan but it wasn't as bad as I remembered. We enjoyed visiting with my parents and even my sister happened to see us and stop by to visit. It was a really nice way to end the weekend!

A Lenten Calendar for Catholic Children {revised}

Yesterday afternoon I had a little free time, while the older children were working with their math tutor and the three little ones were all napping (a rare occurrence these days!), to make this year's Lenten Calendar.  I used the same documents I created last year, but this year I assembled it a little differently (similar to how I first assembled it back before I was blogging) so that each week could begin with Sunday.

Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week." Because it is the "first day," the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creation. Because it is the "eighth day" following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday: We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead. (CCC 2174)

I love how it turned out this year! With this year's revision our Lent Calendar now ends with Holy Saturday, the final day of the forty days of Lent. I am hoping to create an Easter Calendar on the opposite side of the poster board beginning with Easter Sunday! 

If you are looking for a small printable calendar be sure to visit Pondered In My Heart or Waltzing Matilda. They both offer beautiful calendars which I always print for our older children. JOY{filled}family also offers a printable calendar based on the Traditional Calendar here.

LENTEN CALENDAR

SUPPLIES:

• 1 - 22"x28" White Posterboard
• Purple Marker
• Yard Stick and/or Ruler
• Printed Images and Text (Free Download Here)
• Scissors and Glue Stick
• Purple Card Stock or Construction Paper

DIRECTIONS:

Create seven rows of 3 1/8" x 3 1/8" squares for the 40 days of Lent plus all of the Sundays, with an 1/8" border on each side of the poster board.

Label the Days of the week Sunday through Saturday.

Each day of the week has a special prayer intention for which we pray and fast:

• Sunday - In Thanksgiving for God's Blessings
• Monday - For an End to Abortion
• Tuesday - For Conversions to the True Faith
• Wednesday - For our Holy Father and all Priests
• Thursday - For our Family, Godparents & Godchildren
• Friday - For Forgiveness of Sins in our World
• Saturday - For our Deceased Relatives

Add a Fish Symbol to each Friday representing the days of abstinence.

Title the top of the calendar with LENT: Pray, Fast, Give Alms.

Through prayer, fasting and alms giving, we bring Jesus into our lives, and commit ourselves to being united with him in His suffering, death and resurrection. Through this we also love and serve Him as we love and serve our neighbor.

With this year's revision I had a little extra room at the top of the calendar. I considered adding an image for Shrove Tuesday, but decided on a little pocket made out of card stock to hold the crosses to cover each square.

Cut out, place, and glue all the images for Ash Wednesday, the various feast days, all the Sundays of Lent, and Holy Week.

Our calendar has a square for each day, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Special Feasts and Holy days during that period are decorated to represent that day. For example, we have a picture of St. Patrick on March 17th and St. Joseph on March 19th. These special feasts help break up the long Lenten Season.

Hang somewhere it can easily be seen (and reached) by the children. 

I probably could have gotten a better picture of the calendar hanging in the kitchen, but I got distracted by my two little cuties who looked all cozy on the couch behind the island... 

It looks like they discovered the basket of books for Lent! 

+ + +

PRAY • FAST • GIVE ALMS

PRAY

• Each Morning for the Special Intention of the Day
• Daily Family Rosary
• Stations of the Cross on Friday
• Adoration Hour
• Daily Mass

When the older children were little I made or purchased stickers of rosaries, stations of the cross, churches, etc for them to add to each day we prayed the rosary, stations, or attended Mass.


FAST

• Take one item from the pantry each day for the poor
• Simple Meatless Meals on Fridays
• Personal Sacrifices I'm Offering Up for Lent 

Toddlers don't always understand the concept of giving something up for Lent. Instead of having our youngest children give something up we have them focus on giving away. I stock the bottom shelves of the pantry with appropriate food items that can be donated, and everyday the little ones choose something to place in a box to be donated to a needy person or organization. I fit this extra food into our grocery budget by serving simple meals throughout lent, especially on Fridays.

We are also choosing some things to offer up individually and as a family. I've left it generic on our calendar as "Personal Sacrifices I'm Offering Up for Lent."


GIVE ALMS

• Count the items listed for each Day 
• Put corresponding Number of Pennies in the Rice Bowl

In Guiding Your Catholic Preschooler (affiliate link) the author says: "Playing with pennies is fun, and so is putting them in a piggy bank. So try combining the two... Almost every church has Rice Bowls for lent... Think of items in your home that you can count. Select something different for every day of lent and put this on your calendar. For example, after deciding to count all the doors in your house, take the child and count all the doors. For each item counted, give him a penny to put in the Rice Bowl. There can be forty or forty-five pennies each day. It can add up, especially if you have more than one child! After Easter, bring the Rice Bowl to your church and have your child give it to your priest. Explain that this money will be used to buy food and clothes for people who do not have enough money to buy their own."

Some examples of things that could be counted include: shoes, beds, windows, chairs, tables, pictures on the walls, trees in the yard, rooms, light fixtures, books on the shelf, silverware, stairs, toys, dolls, etc... You can be creative! This is a great opportunity to teach the children to be grateful for all they own. It is also a perfect time to work on filling those 40 bags with items to pass along to someone in need.

Update: Now that we have older children I pick up a few rolls of quarters, dimes, and nickels , in addition to the rolls of pennies for the little ones, that can be earned to donate to the poor by doing extra chores during Lent. 

In the past I would usually write down something for the younger children to count in each square at the beginning of Lent (see Give Alms above). However, I've found it easiest to just assign them each morning (or the night before), that way I can easily incorporate specific areas that I want to work on decluttering.

Once again I created squares with a cross on one side (printed on purple card stock) to cover each calendar square, instead of the cut out crosses we've used in the past. My plan for this year is to write on the back of each square the assignments for the day - what/where we will be praying, a reminder to fast/take an item from the pantry for the poor, something to count for the younger children's "Give Alms" and perhaps the extra chore options for the older children.
At the end of each day - after we complete our prayers, fasting, and alms giving for the day - we will place the purple cross over the square of that particular date on the calendar as we count down the days until Easter Sunday!

Download my Lent Calendar Documents Here

You can read more about how our family has observed Lent in the past here:

The Lenten Season In Our Catholic Home

Our Lent & Easter Book Baskets

Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.

Lenten Dinner for our Children on Good Friday

Every year our children look forward to our Lenten Dinners which were originally inspired Alice's Lenten Teas. I've already shared pictures from our Holy Thursday Dinner, but I still haven't had a chance to share the pictures from this year's simple dinner for the children on Good Friday.

We spent the afternoon in town attending the Veneration of the Cross at 3pm and then came home and served a simple dinner for our children while their Dad read to them from the Holy Bible and My Catholic Faith (affiliate link). You can find the pictures from our 2009, 2010, and 2011 Good Friday dinners in the archives for Good Friday. I didn't have the time to post the pictures from this year during Holy Week but still wanted to post them here on the blog:

~ Water ~

Glasses of Water to drink and a bowl of water for washing hands... 

"Pilate took water and washed his hands before the crowd saying, "I am innocent of this righteous man's blood." Matthew 27: 24

~ The King's Crown ~

A Small Bean, Cheese and Chip Crown... 

"And Pilate asked Him, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' And He answered him, 'You have said so.'" Mark 15: 2

~ Out of Envy ~

Chunky Guacamole is Green for "envy"

"[H]e perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered Him up." Mark 15: 10

~ The Purple Cloak ~

Once again Grape Fruit Leather was served for the Purple Cloak.

"And they clothed Him in a purple cloak . . . ." Mark 15: 17

~ The Crown of Thorns ~

The Crown of Thorns were made by my the children with Ritz Crackers, Peanut Butter, and Pretzels.

". . . and, plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him." Mark 15: 17

~ Golgotha Eggs ~

My husband drew skulls on the Golgotha Egg this year using Food Decorating Pens.

"And they brought Him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of the skull)" Mark 15: 22

~ The Seamless Garment ~

Using my kitchen scissors, I quickly cut the tortillas to look like a seamless garment and sliced a couple of cheese sticks for the dice used to cast lots. 

"But the tunic was without seam, woven from top to bottom; so they said to one another, 'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.'" John 19: 23-24

~ The Two Robbers ~

This year I picked up a Basil Plant at the store to plant in the garden and pulled some leaves off to serve with our Good Friday dinner. The two fresh sprigs of Basil are used to represent the two robbers. Alice originally suggested using Basil since "According to The Herb Society of America, legend has it that the Basil plant grew around the site of Christ's crucifixion. The Victorian Language of Flowers lists Basil as symbolic of both hatred and best wishes. The taunting thief and the good thief come to mind."

And with Him they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left." Mark 15: 27

~ Vinegar to Drink ~

"And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying 'Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.'" Mark 15: 36

~ The Temple Curtain ~

Bud wasn't too happy when his big brother helped him tear his Temple Curtain (aka Napkin) in half...

"And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom." Mark 15: 38

~ The Roman Centurion ~

100 Cherry Tomatoes represent the 100 Roman Centurion.

"And when the centurion, who stood facing Him, saw that He thus breathed His last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God.'" Mark 15: 39

~ Laid in the Tomb ~

I skipped the menu item for "Laid in the Tomb" this year and the boys came up with a Lego Version instead! 

"And he brought a linen shroud, and taking Him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb."

The Bible readings, recipes and shopping list can be found at Cottage Blessings. We didn't use them this year but you can find the small card stock signs I created at Scribd.

Now to sort through the pictures from Easter Sunday and our daughter's birthday! :) 

*The image at the top of this post is a photo I took and posted to Instagram while reading Easter by Fiona French (affiliate link). 

Holy Thursday Lenten Dinner

Every year our children look forward to our Lenten Dinners which were originally inspired Alice's Lenten Teas. These have become much loved traditions in our home over the past six years.  It really isn't very hard to pull together and can be modified in so many ways, as you can see from the changes I've made from year to year. Here are the pictures from this year's Lenten Dinner on Holy Thursday:

Removing a thorn from our Lenten Crown of Thorns 

Note: This Post Contains Affiliate Links

~ Palm on the Road ~

Like I did a couple years ago, I decided to add another book to our collection for this menu item. When I ran across a bargain priced version of The Donkey and the Golden Light I thought it would be perfect for this year.

"And many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields." Mk. 11:8

~ Costly Oil ~

One of the boys made a salad and I pulled out the vinegar and some "costly oil" to use as dressing. 

"And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her." Mk. 14:9

~ Thirty Pieces of Silver ~

I happened to have 30 Chocolate Coins left over from St. Patrick's Day so I used these for our "silver" this year.  Only a few of the children gave up candy this year so those few are saving their few coins (and Hershey Kiss) for Easter and put another sacrifice bean in the jar. 

"Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What will you give me if I deliver him to you?' And they paid him thirty pieces of silver." Mt. 25: 14-15

~ Unleavened Bread ~

I kept it extra simple this year and picked up a package of Naan since my husband loves it, although technically it is a leavened bread...  Don't tell the kids! 
It was perfect for with either the Chicken Curry Soup or the Fig Butter. 

"And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to Him, 'Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?'" Mk. 14:12

~ The Mount of Olives ~

This year's Mount of Olives was a mix of Black Olives and Garlic/Jalapeño stuffed Green Olives

"And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." Mk. 14:26

~ The Cock Crows Twice ~

This year we had Chicken Curry Soup and Baked Chicken.

"Mom, did you just put the chicken in the baking pan so that it looks like it is homemade?!  Genius!!" 

Um, no.  I put it in the pan so that I could heat it up! ;)  And I should have washed and dried my hands before touching the little sign with my greasy fingers... The Chicken Curry Soup was homemade though, using my mom's recipe. YUM!!! 

"And Jesus said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.'" Mk. 14:30

~ Gethsemane Figs ~

Fig Butter representing Gethsemane Figs to spread on the "unleavened bread." 

"And they went to a place which was called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here, while I pray.'" Mk. 14:32

~ Sleepy Apostles ~ 

Not all of the children like herbal tea, but a few of us enjoyed some Sleepytime Tea after dinner. Thanks again Jennifer for the suggestion!

"And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep?  Could you not watch one hour?" Mk. 14:37

~ Judas' Kiss ~

One Hershey Kiss each to represent Judas' Kiss. 

"And when he came, he went up to him at once, and said, 'Master!' And he kissed him." Mk. 14:45

~ The Clouds of Heaven ~

Since we were traveling on the solemnity of St. Joseph this year I still had a package of Cream Puffs in the freezer that I had purchased for our annual feast day celebration.  They made perfect little "Clouds of Heaven" for our Holy Thursday Dinner. 

"And Jesus said, 'I am; and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.'" Mk. 14:62

~ Peter's Tears ~

Roasted and Salted Almonds were perfect for Peter's Salty Tears.

"And immediately the cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, 'Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.' And he broke down and wept." Mk. 14:72

I'm adding this last picture to give you a peek at the supplies for this year's dinner. (The soup and salad are not pictured, and we ended up not using the Fig Bars.)  It really isn't that difficult at all to pull together these symbolic meals!  The girls set the table, the boys helped prepare the soup and salad, and I printed off some new little card stock signs. (You can still download my document over at Scribd.)  

The baked chicken and a small pot of Annie's Macaroni and Cheese were last minute additions for the youngest three, who I knew wouldn't eat the Chicken Curry Soup.  

Unfortunately we weren't able to make it to the Holy Thursday Mass... The only Holy Week Service our local parish has this week is on Easter Sunday, but the children and I will be driving to town for the Good Friday Service. 

I hope you all had a very blessed Holy Thursday!

For more Lenten posts:
The Lenten Season In Our Catholic Home