Wordless Wednesday

My Daybook :: February 22, 2011

Outside my window... the weather has been so interesting this past week.  Snow, Rain, Sun, Sleet - we have had it all!  Yesterday it was so warm and sunny, and today is is back to freezing and even snowing at the moment.   Here is the picture I took from the couch the other morning.  Our children were so excited that the snow stuck around for a few hours.

I am listening to... Teaching Textbooks.  It's Rascal's turn on the lap top. . .  Usually the boys wear the ear buds while they are doing their math, but for some reason he isn't today.   Teaching Textbooks has been my favorite change in curriculum this past year!

I am thinking... about my remaining Little Flowers meetings for the year and planning out the notebook pages, crafts and snacks.   I still haven't decided on a craft for patience (perhaps an embroidery project?) or fortitude.  Any ideas?

I am thankful for... Four day weekends!  Hubby had Friday-Monday off and was able to paint the doors and some of the trim in our remodel and I was able to clean and organize a couple of my "hot spots."

I am hoping and praying... for my Father-in-law.  The recovery from his operation has been very challenging for him, and he will be needing radiation after all.  Please remember him in your prayers!

From the kitchen... Edible Chairs for the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter!  I still haven't made plans for dinner, but since we are heading to town this afternoon, I think I will just pick up a Baked Chicken and Salad mix while we are at Costco.

From the learning rooms... These pictures were from a couple weeks ago - you can tell, since my boys still needed haircuts badly!  The kids had so much fun "Pollinating Donuts" as an extra activity for Botany...

... a little too much fun! 

Living the Liturgical Year at Home... Last week we really enjoyed celebrating St. Valentine's Day and attending the Valentine's Day Brunch following Mass at our parish.   I brought a Cherry Cheese Coffee Cake to share and even remembered to bring a wedding photo!  It was so fun to see all the wedding pictures and  Father even gave a blessing to all of the married couples, Hubby & I included.

I am creating... a compilation of all my past Lenten Posts.   I started working on updating my Feast Day Plans and Celebrations post, but decided to break it up into monthly posts (with the additions of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter) like I've done over at Catholic Cuisine.   I'm hoping that it will make it a little easier to keep updated this way. . . I guess we will see.

I am Snuggles is wearing... new Buzz and Woody underwear!   Yesterday he finally had his very first potty training success, thanks to Buzz and Woody and the promise of a M&M for each successful attempt.  I learned with my older boys that it just isn't worth the fight and they will potty train easily when they are ready, but I was starting to think that Rose might be potty trained before Snuggles! He had two successes (It was so cute when he said "I'm doing it!!!!"), followed by a couple accidents, and today isn't going that great, but at least it is a start!

I am reading... the same stack of books is still sitting on my nightstand, with the addition of The Gift of Summer Snow: A Tale from the Garden of Mysteries.  I just haven't had much time for reading lately. Hopefully I can get back to them soon, since I have a couple other books I'd like to read this Lent.

On my iTouch... Words with Friends.  I think it has become an addiction. . . Not really, but it sure is fun!  My brother just added it to his iPhone as well, so I have another new opponent.   Yay!

Pondering these words... from Chapter 15 of The Cure Of Ars.  This is really such a great little book.  Hubby read it to us, a chapter or two each night at dinnertime, and we recently finished reading it before moving on to a short book about St. Therese.

To a mother of a large family who was expecting another child, he said with fatherly kindness and consideration: "Be comforted, my child.  If you only knew the women who will go to Hell because they did not bring into the world the children they should have given to it!"

Noticing that... I am not "expecting another child", but that 42 day cycle sure made me start thinking otherwise and spend way too much money on tests.   ;)

Towards personal care... I haven't decided yet, but I am thinking about joining Lena's team for a Nun Run on March 12th.

Around the house... lots of little projects that need to be completed in the next week.  Father will be coming over this Friday for dinner and then next Tuesday we are having a little get together, so I am hoping to finish them soon!


One of my favorite things.. Celebrating my children's birthdays!  Our children just love having themed birthday parties, regardless of whether it is celebrated with friends (certain years) or with just our family. They are already talking about which "theme" will be next.  :)    We also just celebrated my brother Scott's 21st birthday and my Dad's 56th birthday this past week.  Happy birthday to you both!!

A few plans for the week:

Monday ::  President's Day
Tuesday ::  Birthday Party and Errands
Friday :: Mass, Little Flowers and Father coming over for Dinner
Saturday :: Baseball Evaluations

A Picture thought I am sharing:

Our newest Flapper Hat Girl

In the Woods Today. . .

Hubby just sent me this picture that he took while he was working in the woods this afternoon.  Isn't it beautiful!?!

What a difference from the last picture he sent! 

Celebrating St. Valentine's Day

~ St. Valentine Cupcakes ~ 

I raided my tub of sprinkles and pulled out all the ones that were pink, red or white.  I had no idea I had so many!

We made cupcake toppers using a picture of St. Valentine and attaching them to some heart picks. 

~ Valentine Dots ~ 

My children had so much fun making heart shaped Valentine Dots.

Snuggles had a hard time keeping his finger out of his mouth!

You can find the directions here.   They turned out pretty good, but I didn't like them as much as our Candy Cane Dots.   Next time we are going to try Peanut Butter M&M's!  YUM! 

~ More Treats ~

Chocolate-Walnut Heart Shaped Brownie

Popcorn Bags

Conversation Hearts 

(I loved Lena's idea for these!) 

~ Activities ~ 

Worksheets to go along with our Saint Valentine picture book...

... in addition to coloring pages!

I made heart shaped bean bags for a "Sending Love" tossing game.

And of course, exchanging Valentines!  

Snuggles smelling his "flower"

I loved when Snuggles picked up this "flower" Valentine and then smelled it while saying "Ooohhh!  This flower smells YUMMY!"  I just wanted to squeeze this sweet little lovable boy of ours! 

You can see the proof of the "Strawberry Crush" soda around my children's mouths.   

I never did get around to making Snuggles a St. Valentine's Day Mailbox, but he loved the little foam mailbox I picked up on clearance at Michaels.   

Hope you all had a very happy St. Valentine's Day! 

St. Valentine's Day Printables

I wasn't having much luck finding St. Valentine (emphasis on Saint) printables that I was interested in using today, so I ended up making a couple of my own.   Drawing from the picture book Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda, and adapting some of the vocabulary and discussion questions to go along with it (found in Catholic Mosaic), I created a Word Search and Crossword Puzzle for my children to complete after we read the book.

I thought I would share my documents here in case any of you will be reading this book with your children and would like to use them as well:

Saint Valentine Crossword Puzzle

Saint Valentine Word Search

Also, here are also a few sources for some great St. Valentine Coloring Pages:

St. Valentine at Waltzing Matilda

St. Valentine at Good Shepherd Online

And don't forget the beautiful picture of St. Valentine in Fenestrae Fidei!

Update:  St. Valentine from Catholic Playground

Happy St. Valentine's Day!! 

St. Valentine's Day Mailboxes

St. Valentine's Day is coming up tomorrow, and we are finally starting to get ready!  With a birthday just one week before Valentine's Day, I never seem to have the time to do all the things I would like to do, to get ready for this fun feast day.

Every year we have wanted to make "Valentine Mailboxes" and just never have had the opportunity. . . (My kids always end up using a shoe box or paper/gift bag for the cards they receive.)   This year, inspired by the darling Pottery Barn Kids Valentine Chair Backer and a number of crafty versions on Etsy, we decided to make our own using some empty cereal boxes, scrapbook paper, images of St. Valentine and ribbon.

First I cut the box, measuring 7" from the bottom to form the base for our mail box.  I cut down the side of the box first - saving the front and back to make the top flap. 

Next I put Mod Podge all over the front to attach the scrap book paper.   I cut it slightly larger than the front and then trimmed where/when necessary.  I then continued to attach the paper to all the sides and bottom of the box.

After that I took the remaining cereal box and made a flap.  I used double sided tape to stick the two pieces together, as shown in the picture above, before covering both sides with scrapbook paper.  

Next I burned the heck out of my finger hot glued a ribbon around the top of the box... Note the bowl of ice/water in the picture! ;)  Now you all know why I prefer to "craft" with food and melted chocolate!

We added a little more ribbon to the front flap, strategically covering up a little tear in the paper with our "bow" and adding a loop to the back for hanging the box. 

We also cut out the birds and clouds from the leftover scraps of paper and glued them onto the back. 

I thought it turned out darling! 

After Twinkle Toes' Princess Mailbox was finished, Rascal and I started on his.   Quite appropriately, he opted for a real Saint Valentine Mailbox.

Rascal still is trying to decide on a quote to add to the right side of the box.  

Next up was Chiquita's mailbox.  

 She also really enjoyed picking out her scrapbook paper.   

She was very happy that we were able to line up the butterfly to fit on the top flap... 

... and she loved the cheery flowers for the back. 

Captain also decided to use a picture of St. Valentine, along with some "camouflage" looking paper with fleur-de-lis, a symbol for Our Lady.  He was very pleased with the results.   Like Rascal, he too is trying to decide on a quote to add to the front.

Now if we could just finish up the actual cards, and make one or two more mailboxes for Snuggles and Rose... we will be almost ready for tomorrow!