40 Bags of Stuff ~ Update

Speaking of weight, I wonder just how many pounds my home has shed this past week?! Here's the breakdown so far:

12 Bags of Stuff to St. Vincents
1 Bag of Stuff to a friend
5 Bags of Stuff thrown away
Large Items (which count as 1 bag each):
1 Doll Cradle
1 Television Set
1 Microwave (Do you think I can live without one?!)

Only 19 "Bags of Stuff" left to go to accomplish the 40 Bags of Stuff Challenge!!

This has really been a nice addition to my Lenten Cleaning schedule. I have found it quite helpful to have a preset goal for the quantity of stuff I need to get out of our home, especially since I have a tendency to hang on to things that we really don't need, and definitely *don't* have the room for! As I tackle each daily project, I am trying to set a goal of how many bags to fill, and it has been working. I'm going to have a little catch up to do next week, but that's ok... We're making progress!

So, how is your Lenten (or Spring) Cleaning going?

WoW ~ Week 10

This Wednesday I actually have another loss to report! I am down another 1 1/2 pounds!! =) I was actually surprised, since I haven't really been "trying" since Sunday, but I think it has become a habit to watch my portion sizes and avoid over eating... Combined with a bit of exercise, it seems to be working!

My Summary:

• Week Ten Weight Loss/Gain: -1.5 pounds
  
• Inches Loss/Gain: -1.25 inches
  
• Overall Results: -10.5 pounds and -10 inches

Head on over to Regina's to see everyone's stats.

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day

With getting ready to leave for my Grandfather's funeral, and the downpour we had the past few days, I ended up canceling our plans for "St. Patrick's Day at the Park." Wouldn't you know that the sun would finally come out, just as we all were to have met?? Anyhow, I just couldn't pull it off this year. My children still had a nice St. Patrick's Day at home, and we will head to the park another time, hopefully soon!

Here are a few pictures from our day...

We read lots of picture books and had Shamrock Mint Cupcakes. The cupcakes were very easy to make and looked so cute!

We colored a couple pictures of St. Patrick.

My friend Marci put together a cute little Shamrock craft, which she shared with us.

The boys St. Patrick and St. Joseph Lap books are coming along nicely. I'm sure I will post pictures when they are done!

My girls had a blast making their dipped Oreos, despite how serious they looked in the pictures! lol!! They were determined to get the sprinkle on "just perfectly!"


I finished painting St. Patrick to add to our Alphabet of Saints...

Rascal decided to make an appearance as "St. Patrick!"


Snack time was so much fun with our Oreos, Cupcakes, Green M&M's and Irish Floats (limeade over a scoop of lime sherbet).

For Dinner we had our Irish Beef and Guinness Stew with delicious Irish Soda Bread, followed by green Pistachio Mallow Salad.

It was a nice day, despite our sadness over losing Grandpa (aka Great-Grandpa)... The day ended with a phone call from my brother asking Rascal and Chiquita to be Ring bearer and Flower Girl for his upcoming wedding in June. He also asked Captain to be one of the Altar boys, serving with my youngest brother. Exciting!

St. Patrick's Day Treats

Since we had so much fun last month decorating Oreos, we decided (back then) to decorate more for St. Patrick's day. This time my girls used green sprinkles and (I used) green glitter gel to make Shamrock Oreos.

"Good St. Patrick traveled far, to teach God's Holy Word and when he came to Erin's sod, a wondrous thing occurred. He plucked a shamrock from the earth and held it in His hand to symbolize the Trinity that all might understand. The first leaf for the Father, and the second for the Son, the third leaf for the Holy Spirit, all three of them in one."

I hope you all had a blessed St. Patrick's Day!! I have a few more pictures I'd love to share, but it is going to have to wait... I just realized it is 2am, and I need to get some sleep!

Lá breithe mhaith agat!

Today is my dear Irish Father-in-law's Birthday!!

(I just love this picture of my hubby and father-in-law.
It was taken back in 2000 at the 4Ps in Va.)

Slainte!

Speaking of birthdays... Today is ALSO one of brother-in-law's birthdays!

Happy Birthday to you both!

An Irish Blessing...

...to you on this Saint Patrick's Day!

I hope you all have a happy and blessed day!

My Daybook ~ March 16, 2009

FOR TODAY: March 16, 2009

Outside my Window... it is a misty, cold, rainy day. It seems sort of fitting, since tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day.

I am thankful... for all of your prayers for my Grandpa and family!! THANK YOU!! I took the news of his death much harder than I thought I would... (He had been real sick for a few years.) Even though we will miss him dearly, I know he was prepared to go. I am also thankful that my mom was able to make it in time to see him again on Saturday, and that I was able to have a nice visit with him on the phone, less than two weeks ago, and told him how much I love him!

From the kitchen... another hot sugar-free chai tea. Yuuummmm!! Later today I am planning on letting the girls dip some Oreo's and I will bake our cupcakes for tomorrow. For dinner we will be having Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole.

From the learning room... lots of Lap Books! The boys continue to work on their Lenten Lap books a bit each day -- Particularly filling in the boxes on the charts with the sacrifices they are making and things they are thankful for. They also are each working on a Lap book for the special saints of this week. Captain is working on the St. Patrick Lap book, and Rascal really wanted to make one on St. Joseph. (I stayed up most of the night way too late trying to put resources together for him!)

Living the Liturgical year at Home... in addition to the lap books, we will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day at the Park and doing a few other activities tomorrow. On Thursday, the feast of St. Joseph, we will bake St. Joseph Sfinge (Cream Puffs) in the afternoon, and then have an Italian Spagetti Dinner with St. Joseph's Rocky Road Cake for dessert.

I am creating.. a Mini 3-D St. Joseph Altar with Rascal to go along with his Lap Book on St. Joseph. I also started painting my St. Patrick Wooden Saint, but I still need to finish him. I am also working on a little project with my friend Marci... I'll share more on that later!

I am going... to start making plans to head to California later this week for my Grandfather's funeral.

I am reading... "The Shack" which was recommended to me recently by one of our local priests. I had not heard of it previously. I, on the other hand, don't recommend it. After feeling really uneasy about it, I searched online to see what other Catholics were saying and found this article. Interesting! On a positive note, I also just received the books Golden Legend of Young Saints and Olivia and the Little Way to review. They both look wonderful!

I am hoping... (and praying!) that my Grandpa's wishes are honored and he is able to have a Latin Mass for his funeral.

I am listening... to a mixture of Celtic Woman, The Clancey Brothers, and Rifles of the I.R.A.. Nothing like good Irish Music to cheer you up! lol!

Around the house... Why does my house always seem to get messier when I spend so much time cleaning?? And where did ALL this STUFF come from?? I thought I had gotten rid of a lot LAST YEAR!

One of my favorite things... is looking through our family photo albums. ♥

A Few Plans For This Week...

Still working on the my Lenten Cleaning schedule and I have filled 13 bags for the 40 bag Challenge. I still have LOTS to do! I am hoping I can get a lot done in the next couple days since we are going to be heading out of town at the end of the week.


A picture thought I am sharing:

My Grandpa and I at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in 2006.

Be sure to visit Peggy for links to other daybooks!

In loving memory...

Francis Aloysius

June 5, 1920 - March 14, 2009

I just found out that my Grandpa died last night... Oh, I am going to miss him soooooo much! I would love to tell you all about him, but I just can't right now. It's all I can do to get on here and ask if you could please say a prayer for the repose of his soul, as well as one for my sweet grandmother, their 13 children, and countless* grandchildren and great-grandchildren. (*My Grandpa could always tell you exactly how many of us there are... All together he has over 100 descendants!)

I love you Grandpa!

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him.
May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

40 Bags of Stuff

I just ran across this idea, and it sounds great!!! Here are the details:

Every day during Lent this year, empty one bag of 'stuff' that is no longer needed from your house, totaling a loss of forty bags of stuff!

1.) Taking a look at the size of your family and household, with an acknowledgement of how much 'stuff' is present, make a prudential choice on the size of bag to be employed during this challenge. Bag size should be small enough that the goal of 40 bags during the season of Lent is able to be accomplished, while not being too big that you are left with nothing. We must still live in the world, after all!

2.) If smaller children are a part of your family, a 'gauge' may be helpful to keep them engaged and help them keep track of progress. As part of your preparations, make a 'paper chain' of forty numbered links. As each new bag is started, place a new link in the bottom of the bag. This way, as the chain gets smaller, there is a greater sense of accomplishment.

3.) This challenge necessarily involves sacrifice. Each member of the family should be encouraged to give something to each bag, or there could be designated bags for each member of the family.

4.) Instead of just throwing things away, recycling is a great way to encourage good stewardship of the gifts we have been given, as it symbolizes that we are passing along our gifts to others. Families with children are encouraged to pass along clothes that no longer fit or toys that sit dormant in a closet to families in need instead of just throwing them away.

5.) Units of count need not necessarily be trash bags, either; however they should be equivalent. For example, a box of gently used toys or clothes could equate one bag off the chain. A stack of books donated to the parish library is another easy equivalent.

As the family accepts this challenge together, bonds will be created that will last a lifetime. Lessons are also learned not just by saying, but by putting it into practice. Here, the simple lesson will last throughout life that having fewer things can lead to a greater contentment in life.

(Credit due to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for this handout on vocations and family faith formation)

For more inspiration visit Simply Catholic, who did the challenge last year, and is doing it again this year.

I've decided for our home, I am going to use brown grocery bags. Not too big, not too small... Since we are already a couple weeks into lent, I am not going to aim for a bag a day, rather a total of 40 by Holy Week. I should have a good start with what I've decluttered this past week, since I wasn't able to get to St. Vincent's today. I am no where near done with what I had planned to accomplish this week, but I have made quite a bit of progress... Hopefully I will be able to "catch up" this coming week.

A wee bit o' Irish art...

Rascal loves to draw... he loves scissors... and he *loves* tape...

He also loves celebrating feast days, and is busy getting ready for the upcoming feast of St. Patrick.

The other morning he was up early (before everyone else), and made himself an Irish flag with some construction paper, tape, and a long stick. He was so excited!

( I decided to wait and tell him later that he has it upside down! ;) Oops!)

After lunch he decided to decorate the driveway with a lovely picture of St. Patrick!

Didn't he do a great job?!?!

Looks like I really didn't need to plan any crafts after all! ;)