{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

I hadn't intended to pretty much stop blogging this past week, but I've been a little busy.   I made the decision to start spending an hour on the treadmill each day, which has all but eliminated my computer time.   I've successfully walked an hour a day for the past 9 days - for a total of 32.7 miles.   

Other than the walking, we have been staying busy with a number of outings, schoolwork, preparing our garden for planting, and planting some seeds.  

If time allows I will be back soon with more pictures from a couple recent field trips, the girls' latest State-by-State Baking project, and an overview of the last History Unit we completed.  Oh, and hopefully another Garden Party!   Today we are headed to a Garden Show at the fairgrounds to purchase seedlings, then to confession, and perhaps out to dinner at a Mexican Restaurant for Cinco de Mayo.   Hope you all have a great weekend! 

{pretty}

When it isn't cloudy and raining, it is so pretty here in the Spring!   Now if we can just get our actual garden (and not just the view from the gate) to look pretty and be productive this year! 

{happy}

The kids have been all very happy to see the peas they planted growing!  

{funny}

Boy, is this little girl's temperament different from the rest of our children.  She can be extremely sweet, but also extremely stubborn!   She is very particular and insistent when it comes to what she will wear.   

While getting ready to do some gardening this last Wednesday she put on her sister's old snow hat, her brother's boots (on the wrong) feet, and her latest favorite thing is the pacifier she happened to find.   I've never really used pacifiers with my children.   I tried with Rose, back when she needed to have all of those echos, and she hated it then.  

{real}

Last year was our first year attempting a Garden and it was pretty much a flop due to us building our fence and getting started late in the season, combined with a very short growing season.   We hope to do a little better this year!

Thankfully, the teacher I have come once a week loves to Garden and we spent this Wednesday having a "Science" class as we began to prepare our garden and plant some seeds.   At the very least it will be a great learning experience for the children!

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May :: Month Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Month Dedication ~ The Blessed Virgin Mary:

• A Marian Titles May Crowning Luncheon (2011)
• Mum Cupcakes (2011)
• An Alphabet of Mary (2012)
• May Crowning Garden Party (2012)
• If Only (2013 - prayer)
• The May Magnificat (2013 - prayer)
• The Catholic Child and the Blessed Virgin (2013)
• Madonna and Child Cards (2014)
• Art for Our Lady {Marian ATC Swap} (2014)

May 1st ~ St. Joseph the Workman, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pt. of Carpenters (New, Trad.):

• see various St. Joseph's Day ideas in my March post or scroll through the label for St. Joseph. 

May 5th ~ Cinco de Mayo:

• Cinco de Mayo (2009)

May 12th ~ Blessed Imelda Lambertini, Pt. of First Communicants (Hist.):
*And other ideas for those celebrating their First Holy Communion

• Preparing for First Holy Communion (2008)
• "My First Holy Communion" Party Favors (2012)
• First Holy Communion Gift Ideas (2012)
• Scroll through all posts labeled First Communion. 

May 13th ~ Our Lady of Fatima (New):

• In Honor of Our Lady of Fatima (2009)

May 18th ~ Pope John Paul II's Birthday:

• Celebrating the Beatification of John Paul II (2011 - Cake and Cookies)

May 22, St. Rita of Cascia, Pt. of "impossible" cases (New; Trad./some places):

• On the Feast of St. Rita (2010)
• Happy Anniversary! (2008)

May 30th ~ St. Joan of Arc (New, Trad.):

• Summer with the Saints :: St. Joan of Arc (2009)
• Little Flowers Girls' Club ~ Wreath I, Obedience, St. Joan of Arc (2009)
• Little Flowers Girls' Club ~ The Gift of Fortitude (2012 - Little Flowers)

May 31, Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Elizabeth (New) and Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Trad.) :

• May Crowning Garden Party (2012)
• A Marian Titles May Crowning Luncheon (2011)
• Honoring Our Lady (2009)
• Our Cookie Crown Cake (2008)

Catholic Cuisine:  Recipes for May - Month Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Little Flowers Girls' Club ~ The Gift of Fortitude

Last Thursday afternoon we had our 5th Little Flowers Girls' Club meeting for Wreath IV, and first meeting since December!

I hadn't intended on taking such a long baby break - just January and February - but March and April were filled with sickness for half the girls in my group, so our meeting kept getting postponed.

My girls (and their momma!) were so excited to finally have friends over again.   The meeting began at 3:30, but we happily visited with guests until about 9pm, long after the meeting had ended.  It was so nice!

This meeting focused on the gift of Fortitude and St. Joan of Arc.  Despite the months I had to prepare, by Thursday morning I hadn't done a thing to get ready, but thankfully everything fell into place.  Here are a few highlights from our meeting:

~ Coloring Pages ~

St. Joan of Arc from CHC

St. Joan of Arc 2 from CHC

St. Joan of Arc from St. John's

St. Joan of Arc from St. Anne's Helper

My mother-in-law also sent each of the girls in my group a copy of The Way of the Cross Coloring Book which was recently published by Aquinas Kids.   Even though I wasn't able to get them to the girls during Lent they were all very excited and loved looking through the beautiful pages.  

~ Wreath IV Lap Book ~

We had a short lesson on the gift of Fortitude and St. Joan of Arc, and then continued our lesson by reviewing our Lap Book mini-books from our last meeting, and then working on the new additions for the gift of Fortitude.

Here is an overview of what was completed (*some are taken home to complete):

• Review last month's gift and add Mini Books that were completed at home
• Add Definition and Motto for the Gift of Fortitude
• Add the correct Jewel to the Treasure Box
• Complete the Saint Profile*
• Complete the Convert Profile*
• Research and Complete the Mini Book "Church Struggles from History that required Fortitude" to share at the next meeting*

 

Additional Resources:

Joan of Arc Resource and Activity Book (pdf)

Glory Stories Volume 6: The Story of Saint Joan of Arc

The Story of Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc

Saint Joan of Arc: God's Soldier (Encounter the Saints)

Joan of Arc: The Lily Maid

St. Joan of Arc Paper Dolls

The Young People's Book of Saints

Golden Legend of Young Saints

Movie Suggestion from Member's Guide:
The Scarlet and the Black

~ Notebook Pages ~

For the notebook pages, I used the motto for fortitude, a quote from St. Joan of Arc, an image (in the public domain) of St. Joan of Arc, a definition on the gift of Fortitude from My Catholic Faith, along with a short prayer for Fortitude (St. Augustine) with an invocation to St. Joan of Arc.

You can download my document here.

Here is a picture of the sample page I (very quickly) created
(and cropped from the picture above):

Here are a the girls' completed notebook pages:

~ Craft ~

Last summer, I had planned to order the Banner and Woven Cross Kits from Illuminated Ink for St. Joan of Arc and the Gift of Fortitude... Lena also shared an excellent craft for the gift of Fortitude, that I would have loved to try had our meeting taken place during Lent as we had originally planned.   Instead I ended up using a craft that I purchased a few years ago, having the girls paint Stained Glass Cross Suncatchers.  I'm pretty sure that I had purchased these at Walmart, but you can find a similar kit here.

We hung them on the window to see how they'd look:

*my girls' are missing from this picture, and currently hanging on their bedroom window.

We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
Because by Thy holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.

~ Snack Time ~

Saintly Symbols Cupcakes :: St. Joan of Arc

One of the symbols for St. Joan of Arc is the Fleur-di-lis. 

White Cupcakes (baked in Yellow Cupcake Liners), topped with some homemade frosting, gold sprinkles, and a chocolate fleur de lis (made with this Candy Mold). 

The feast of St. Joan of Arc is celebrated on May 30th. 

~ Group Photo ~ 

Grant me the Gift of Fortitude, so that I may overcome courageously all the assaults of the devil, and all the dangers of this world which threaten the salvation of my soul.

St. Joan of Arc, pray for us! 

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party :: Week Three

The Heavens Tell God's Glory!

As spring from winter does succeed, and leaves the naked trees do dress:
The earth, once dead, is clothed in green, in sunshine each their joy express.
My sun's returned with healing wings, my soul and body do rejoice.
My heart exults and praises sings to God who hears my joyous voice.
~ The Garden of the Good Shepherd

There must be something about this third week of Easter... Once again, just like last year, we had crazy weather this past week!  Sunshine, Clouds, Rain, a Rainbow, and an intense storm last Monday that brought strong Winds, Hail, Thunder and Lightning - we had one of those lightning bolts actually strike one of the trees on the mountain behind our home, lighting it on fire!  On Tuesday the kids told me there was a fire helicopter with a bucket flying over our home... I heard it, but didn't look outside, telling them that it wasn't fire season yet, and they are probably just getting ready.  I was wrong!   A neighbor passing by let my husband know about the "big tree on fire" behind our home.  It's too early to be worrying about forest fires!

Speaking of fires, we were very blessed that the fire in our own "backyard" this past Tuesday wasn't serious, but Elizabeth's sister-in-law and her family (another family with seven children) could really use your prayers.   In a matter of minutes, this homeschooling family lost their home and all of their belongings to another fire.   You can read more here.  Please remember them in your prayers!

Today we are back to some nice, mild, sunny, spring weather.  The kids are all playing outside after our yummy meal based on "The Heaven's Tell Gods Glory."  I love finding new ways to change our original menu, and this week we used the rainbow fruit platter from last year, but everything else was new, trying to create a Sunday Brunch.

Twinkle Toes set the table with our "Heavenly" tablecloth, covered with angels and roses, and Chiquita added a few play silks like every year. . . Here are a few pictures from our party:                 

~ The Sun ~

There are lots of ways to tie in the "Sun" to a brunch - Orange Halves, Sunny D, Eggs - sunny side up or down! - and even mini quiches would be great.   I ended up using our favorite Frittata recipe, renaming it Sunshine Frittata!  I layered the veggies - zucchini on the bottom, then the Sweet Potatoes, and topping it with some slices of orange and yellow bell peppers - to create a Sun!   Originally I didn't bake it long enough - trying to do too many things at once - but after I popped it back in the pan for a few more minutes and it was delicious.  

~ The Clouds ~

While I was making the Frittata and Pastries, Hubby made pancakes and turkey bacon, an idea shared by Angie for the Clouds and Lightning. 

~ The Rain ~

For the rain we had some After the Rain Mud Puddles... Hot Cocoa! 

~ The Lightning ~

Since I had an extra sheet of puff pastry from our Pinwheels (see below) I decided to make theseSugar & S pice Pastry Straws, baking some of them as additional Lightning Bolts.

~ The Wind ~

The much-loved Bugles mini Tornadoes from last year really didn't go with the rest of the meal, so I decided to make Windy Day Pinwheels  (aka: Cherry Pinwheel Pastries).   

I used this recipe as a guide, substituting cherry jam for the apricot, and egg wash and icing for the cinnamon and sugar.  These were really fun to make and turned out great.   

~ The Rainbow ~

I love Rainbow Fruit Platters!   I just think they look so pretty.  This year, fresh blueberries were too expensive so I opted for some more grapes.   

~ The Hail ~

Mini Marshmallows worked perfect to represent "Hail" and top the cocoa.  

I was amazed that even with all the Eggs, Veggies, Bacon, Pancakes, Pastries, Fruit and Cocoa, we hardly had any leftovers.   Everyone really enjoyed our Brunch!   

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's Garden Parties over at Catholic Cuisine.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A single photo, capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. To see more visit Soule Mama. 

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}

This was one of my favorite pictures of my pretty girl, taken during her Early American Pioneer Party, on her birthday. 

{happy}

Our boys were very happy and excited to dress up for their sister's birthday party.   Especially when they got to wear their Daddy's old cowboy hats from his Rodeo Days.  

{funny}

I know I already posted this picture a couple days ago, but take a closer look at it...  
Notice anything that doesn't belong? 

Now?  If not, don't feel bad, I sure didn't... 
I was focused on the birthday girl, not that mischievous little 2 year old of ours.

It took me a few hours, and quite a few pictures, to finally find that missing nursing pad I had lost that afternoon when feeding the baby!  She refused to give it back, shoving it further down her shirt.

That little one of ours always loves "her" accessories!

{real}

Too much fun for this little cowboy, who rarely naps anymore.  

He sure looked cute passed out on the couch! 

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