Kentucky "Holy Lands" Tour

This first group of pictures is from the proto-cathedral in Bardstown. We visited there on our tour of the "Kentucky Holy Lands" tour with our home school group. Near the cathedral they had a museum commemorating the surrounding area's history, including the whiskey businesses. It was a really neat museum, minus all the alcohol, of course.

The second group of pictures is of the abbey at Gethsemany, KY. It is a monastery for Trappist monks. It seemed peaceful until we arrived. B was a holy terror and would not remain silent as all the signs suggested. The monks live a life of constant prayer and silent meditation. I was rather embarrassed when B kept making noise and talking during the 12:15 prayer. I was glad when it was finally time to go into the surrounding areas where we could talk and have a picnic lunch. I think I've learned my lesson that B is incapable of being quiet. I hope I'm not banned from ever coming back. If I do go back, it will be without young children. I am sure that will make the monks happy, too.

The final stop (for me and the kids) was in New Hope, KY to a lay third order Dominican community. ( Some families in our home school group went on to visit two more sites.) We enjoyed the tour of the Dominican's chapel. It was simple and humble, yet beautiful. I especially liked some of the stained glass windows. My favorites ones were the Blessed Margaret of Castello, St. Martin De Porres, and a very beautiful Mother of Dolores round window. The Dominican community also runs a publishing company. They print many wonderful Catholic books and pamphlets. It made for a very long day, but it was worth it to see so many holy places in Kentucky.

Science Club Fieldtrip

Our final science club fieldtrip was to a wetlands. It was a very interesting hike. A local man who knows quite a bit about plants and trees gave us a guided tour. The kids were able to learn about many of the native and invasive plant species, wild life, erosion, and history of the wetlands. As we were leaving, they asked when we could come back again. I always take that as confirmation that they had a good time. I am glad that they see that learning can be fun.

Baby E is So Easy Going

I guess when you have four older sisters who are constantly messing with your head, you don't mind a stuffed animal on your head. Baby E left this little stuffed dog on his head for about 10 minutes while he played happily with some toys. Only after he leaned over too far, did the toy topple off his head. It was a really funny scene to behold. I thought I'd share it with you, too.

Friday Homeschooling Activities

Our homeschool group did some Easter related activities this month. We did a cute paper plate craft that illustrated the empty tomb, a jelly bean prayer (where each color is to remind us of something God has given us), and an Easter egg hunt. The kids had a great time, as always. I am so grateful to the moms who plan these gatherings.

6 Months Old

Okay, so I am a little slow about posting these pictures (since he is now 7 mo. old). But I thought they were worth posting. He was really hamming it up at times during this photo shoot. I just picked some random ones that I thought were cute. Some aren't the best of the bunch but show his active personality and cute, unique expressions. Thanks again to my friend, Gina. She did a great job, like always.

More Easter Photos

We had a very nice lunch at Ma and Pa's house along with a lively Easter egg hunt. The kids had lots of fun, and in the end came away with a boat load of candy.

On Easter evening, we celebrated a friend's Birthday at our house. (Appearantly my kids are the founding members of his fan club!) Everytime he enters the house, a loud uproarious "JOE!" can be heard for miles around. They constantly fight over who gets to sit next to him at dinner and who gets to sit on his lap when we sit around to talk. We jokingly say that our kids are his "peeps". It was only fitting that I make a cake to reflect this little saying of ours.

Easter Pictures

We are loving our new parish! The Triduum was so reverent and holy. The church was decorated beautifully for Easter! The kids were amazed at how different the church looked Easter morning compared to Good Friday.

This year again, I decided to take an Easter picture of each of the kids. In comparing them to last year's, my what a difference a year makes! Dear hubby and I did not get a picture of us, but oh well. No one wants to see a picture of us anyway. The kids are always the main attraction in our three ring circus.

Here is a picture of our "Easter Bunny". He was delicious.

I hope everyone is having a very blessed Easter season. God bless.

Holy Thursday Art Class

For our Holy Thursday art class we created a last supper craft using the template from Catholic Icing's blog and two egg cartons. The kids each colored a few apostles and we discussed the importance of symbolism in both art and at the last supper. The kids really enjoyed this craft and thought it turned out really well. I did too. I was very proud of the way they worked together to accomplish this craft.

Here is the link to the craft at Catholic Icing: http://catholicicing.blogspot.com/2010/03/holy-thursday-last-supper-craft.html