February's First Friday Activities

I led the February First Friday activities again this year. We discussed heroes and saints, which are holy heroes of the faith, and emphasized the importance of practicing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The kids did one of each. They decorated Kleenex boxes to give the residents at the nursing home and prayed a decade of the rosary for the living and the deceased residents (spiritual work). Afterward, we delivered the boxes to the residents and visited with them (corporal work). I made sure to emphasize the passage about storing up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21) by doing good works here on earth, just as the saints did.

As a little foretaste of that heavenly reward after performing two works of mercy, I surprised the kids with cookies. Of course, the cookies were part of the lesson, too. As they decorated them, I explained the symbolism of each part. The two connected hearts symbolize our union with God when we reach heaven and that our will should be conformed perfectly to God's Will to ensure entrance into heaven. The three red candies symbolize the Trinity, because if our will is in union with God's Will, He will be with us even here on earth. Last, but not least, they were sugar cookies, which are very sweet. I don't think I even need to say that this was a symbol of life in heaven being "Sweeeeeet!". LOL!

First Friday and Grandpa's Visit

Wow, I've been slacking and slow about getting pictures up. Sorry. Here is one from our First Friday activities for November. We celebrated All Saints Day and All Souls Day by dressing up as saints and having a "Name that Saint" game. It was a lot of fun and everyone learned a thing or two about these holy heroes of the Faith. Don't they all look so cute? I was amazed at some of the great costumes. We also played Saints' Bingo.

The rest of these pictures of Grandpa coming for a visit to celebrate R's 3rd Birthday. She received twin baby dolls and was very happy. It was such a nice day out that we were able to play outside with Grandpa. The kids were all so very happy to have Grandpa come for a visit. B even was able to ride a two-wheeled bike for a little while with the help of Daddy. :)

October's First Friday Activities

For the first Friday activities in October we learned about St. Therese the Little flower and did some activities and simple crafts related to her life story. The older kids did a seperate quiz game where they learned even more about St. Therese. Afterwards, the kids and I went to the Rosary Garden and walked the stations of the cross. It was amazingly warm for October. Everyone had a wonderful time.

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.

March's First Friday Activities

This month we learned about St. Katherine Drexel (Katie). One of the Moms from our home school group, who is also an accomplished author, treated us to a wonderful story about Katie's life as a child, discernment, and great works of charity. Afterwards, the kids split into groups and played a game that reinforced the importance of saving souls over the importance of money. (If you don't know about St. Katherine Drexel, she gave away all 12 million dollars of her inheritance to the poor!) The kids had lots of fun playing the game, but were even happier to receive a traditional Lenten treat: home-made pretzels. Yummy!

As we were leaving, one of the kids said, "I am so glad we came!" All the others chimed in, "Me, too! Thanks, Mommy!" Oh, the joys of the little things in life. :)

February First Friday Activities

On Friday, another Mom and I led the First Friday activities at the nursing home. We discussed the topic of Lent with the kids. We used the book, "Celebrating Lent" by Rev. Jude Winkler O.F.M. Conv. It is one of the St. Joseph Picture Books that my kids own. They are published by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. (I just love that series of books. I think you could teach nearly the whole catechism if you read through the whole series. ) We used the book as an outline to give a brief overview of the history and purpose of Lent.

When we got to the part about doing good deeds (or service projects) for others, we stopped and did a service project. We had the kids decorate Kleenex boxes that had been wrapped in white paper. This was a fun craft that the kids look forward to doing almost as much as the residents look forward to receiving them. After they were decorated, the kid delivered them to the nursing home residents who were very grateful.

Rachel, the other leader of the activities that day, had made a game for the kids to do which would help them review. The group was divided into two teams---blue and orange. Each team received a laminated paper and 20 phrases. The object of the game was to find the 10 phrases that related to Lent and stick them to the paper. The first team done would win. It was really neat to see how well the older kids jumped right in and helped the little ones. I am so grateful for such well-behaved teenagers. They were a real blessing in helping the game go smoothly.

Another big help to me was my mother who was in town for a visit. She accompanied me and most of the kids to the First Friday activities while my Dad stayed home with R. It was nice having my mom there to hold the baby and help clean up. I know the kids really loved having her there, too.

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.

Playing, Portraying Saints, and Painted Fish

We've been really busy doing all sorts of field trips and fun activities. Here are a few pictures from some of them.

This one is of the kids with another homeschooling family after a science field trip. We met them at a local pizza/arcade place. The kids had a good time running around and climbing on everything in sight.

These are some of the kids at our All Saints Day party and First Friday activities. B was St. Bridget of Sweden, and C was St. Cecelia (Though, I don't think they had blue plastic flutes back then, lol.)

This one is of our trip with to Mother of the Redeemer Farm near Bloomington, Indiana. We took the whole family and two of our friends with us. We were able to attend the First Saturday Mass, adoration, and confessions. I think the kids enjoyed the hill and the gift shop the most, though. Thank goodness, it was a very warm fall day and they could run around between activities.

Today we were invited by a homeschooling family that lives near us to meet a master fish printer, Mineo Ryuka Yamamoto from Japan. We went to their home to see some of his work. Mr. Yamamoto also taught us how to print a sea scallop. If you want to see more of his work, check out his site http://www.gyotaku.ca/ It is not everyday that you have an internationally renown advanced gyotaku artist in your neighborhood. It was really neat to see his work! The kids were very impressed and so was I.

To see the other homeschooling family's blog and more pictures of our lesson with Mr. Yamamoto, go to the following site: www.journeytotherese.blogspot.com/