Family Fun

Wow! What a busy weekend! After our usual Saturday morning cleaning of the house, we went to the local state park again for some fall fun. The park was having a harvest demonstration and many volunteers were dressed in pioneer costumes while doing all sorts of activities. We were able to watch them make apple butter and lye soap, press some sorgum, forge strikers at the black smith shop, make wooden containers at the cooper shop, throw axes, and weave rugs on a loom.

One of the volunteers showed the kids and I how to finger weave. The kids are now hooked and have even shared this skill with some of their friends.
The kids and Dear Hubby enjoyed carving two pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns.
After so much outdoor fun, you'd think we'd head home and relax for the evening, but not us! We went to the Celebrate Life Family Festival at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Dear hubby and I worked a booth which promoted NFP while the kids visited with their friends and had lots of fun at all the other booths.


The kids really enjoyed the animal balloons, face painting, wrapping up little babies, and decorating their own helium balloon. However, the best part of the night was the fireworks display. It was spectacular! They did a wonderful job of timing the explosions and colors to the music. The songs were all very pro-life, life affirming, or celebratory in nature. The kids are already talking about going again next year.

Pilgrimage to The Father's of Mercy Monastery

On Friday the kids and I took a pilgrimage to The Fathers of Mercy Monastery (in Kentucky) with some friends. When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by Father Sullivan. He gave us a tour of their Chapel of Divine Mercy and recounted the history behind their almost miraculous construction. They credit St. Joseph for helping to make their chapel a reality, so they are very grateful and have a devotion to St. Joseph. In one of their hallways was this lovely statue.

After our tour, Father had a special noon Mass for our group. Once Mass had concluded, he then blessed everyone with the oil of St. Padre Pio. We then ate lunch together in the hall that used to be their old chapel.

I was so busy with the little kids that I was unable to take pictures of the chapel during our tour. However, M and her friend Trinity decided to be our photographers for the day and went back in to snap these pictures of a few of the beautiful statues. They did not get a picture of the whole chapel from the back, but I think you can get a sense of the beauty just from the close-up of the alter, statues, and one of the stain glass windows.

Corpus Christi Procession

The girls were honored to help with the Corpus Christi procession at our parish. They each were able to throw flowers on the ground for the priest to walk upon as he processed the Blessed Sacrament around the grounds of the church. It was the first such procession we have been able to attend as a family. T enjoyed singing the Tantum Ergo and joined in nearly all the other songs. It was wonderful and and so reverent. I think we all are looking forward to next year's procession.

Catholic Family Gathering

Four Catholic families were able to get together for a cookout at our dear friend's house in early June. It was so nice to be able to visit and let the kids all play outside together. Since all four families are "larger" than average (between5-7 kids each), it made for quite the sight when we lined up all the kids against the fence in age order. There were 24 kids and they ranged from age 11 to 4 months. The adults were definitely out numbered that day.

Hats off to the dads for grilling!

This last picture is of my twin God-daughters. (Aren't they precious!) Their family hosted the cook-out and did a fantastic job! :)

Catholic Kids Clubs and Camping

We had our final meeting of the school year for Little Flowers Catholic Kids Club and the Blue Knights Catholic Kids Clubs. The three older girls had a wonderful time learning about some of the saints and the virtues they exemplified. T enjoyed hanging with the other boys and learning more about the Holy Trinity and the Scripture Shouts. Our home school group celebrated with a pizza party where all the groups came together to share what they had done and learned throughout the school year. The kids loved doing this to celebrate their accomplishments and have some fun social time with their friends.

After Catholic Kids Clubs, we finished packing up the camper and headed to a nearby State Forest to go camping with Dear Hubby's extended family. We had an enjoyable time cooking, watching the campfire, playing with old friends, new toys, and at the water park. We even saw Smokey the Bear!

Holy Heroes Summer Faith Adventure

In addition to our parish's two-day summer Vacation Bible Study, we tried one here at home.

We used the Holy Heroes Summer Faith Adventure. It was great! The kids had a blast. If you'd like to try it for free go to www.holyheroes.com/

One day, as part of our snack for our VBS, we made these pretzels . This was one of their favorite snacks. The shape of a pretzel reminds us of praying hands. People used to pray with their head bowed and arms crossed over their chest.

I can't say enough good things about this program. The family that produces these videos inspires me! The crafts were great, the coloring pages interesting (and informative), and the videos about Bible history were very well presented.

In the past we've tried the Holy Heroes Advent Adventures and Holy Heroes Lenten Adventures. I love this company and my kids have learned so much about Christ, Catholic Culture, and Bible history. Holy Heroes is definitely one of the best things that I've found out there on the Internet that is solidly Catholic, educational, wholesome, and FREE!

Cute Misunderstanding

Today, February 3rd, was the feast of St. Blase. He is the patron saint of diseases of the throat. We attended Mass this morning to celebrate his feast day. After Mass, Father stood at the front of church, blessed candles in hand, waiting to bless throats. I quietly whispered to my 6 year old, "Let's go up and get our throats blessed." She gave me a very puzzled look and asked, "Why do we need our coats blessed?"

Candlemas Day 2010

Here are the few little activities we did today to celebrate Candlemas Day, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (which is also the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary). We started last night making our royal icing "flames" for our edible candles. Here is the royal icing recipe I used:

2 egg whites

2 tsp. lemon juice

3 cups powdered sugar

food coloring

When the "flames" were hardened and dry this morning, we assembled our "candles" using Little Debbie's Strawberry shortcake rolls (yummy!). We cut the snack cakes in half because they were too tall to stand up by themselves. Using the remaining royal icing, I made the snack cakes look like they were dripping wax and then inserted the frosting "flame". The kids seemed to enjoy these "candles" better than last year's treats. We will probably do this one again next year.

Our home school group was invited to attend a neighboring parish's celebration of Candlemas. First, Father blessed the candles, then we processed to the church. Along the way, the kids held candles. We stopped to pray and recite a psalm response at each corner of the church. The older kids did great. However, things went terribly wrong with the little ones. R singed her eye brows and dripped hot wax on herself repeatedly, while B started to burn the pew in front of us once we got into the church. At that moment, the baby started to cry, needing to nurse, and my cell phone rang! Note to self: Do NOT let anyone under age 6 hold their own candle next year and remember to turn off the cell phone!

Despite the difficulties initially, the rest of Mass went much better (once the candles were extinguished). Father's homily was great. He did a wonderful job speaking to the kids about the importance of this feast and the reasons for the use of candles throughout the Christmas season and as a powerful symbol for Christ. Father also spoke about other culture's traditions related to Candlemas. Though, it didn't go as smoothly as I'd like, we probably will do it again next year. After all, I am a glutton for punishment. Only during times of trial, do we fully rely on God . I know that I never would have made it through that Mass without some Divine Assistance.

When we arrived home, we prayed our Chaplet of Divine Mercy and then made more edible candles. This time out of Starburst candies. Once you get the candies warm enough, they become similar to play dough. It was a very good lesson in following directions and sculpting. Overall they did very well at listening to my instructions. This was the one time I didn't mind them playing with their food.

I hope you enjoyed our pictures. God bless.

Excellent Explanation on "Mass" Entertainment

Ever feel like Mass is boring? Are Catholics missing something that Protestants have to offer? Why is the liturgy so blah? Check out my friend's blog response to this issue. It is a very insightful and articulate response to these questions.

http://faithandreasonblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/question-and-answer.html

Part 4 of 4 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlbhd-DLb9k

Part 2 of 4 Pro-Life Advent Reflections with Fr. Thomas Euteneuer

Here is the link to the second Advent Reflection. See my earlier post to go directly to part 1, if you missed it. These are well worth your time and a great way to reflect on the Scriptures this Advent season. Have a blessed Advent season.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqHjIfjSNx8

December's First Friday Activities

We focussed on learning more about Our Lady of Guadalupe for our December first Friday activities. Though we weren't able to stay the entire time, we were able to hear more about St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. The kids made roses out of tissue paper and decorated cup "vases" to give to the residents at the nursing home. It was great to see the older kids helping the little ones. Everyone did a great job. I am sure the residents are very happy to recieve these winter roses.