"When we had our children, our ideas changed somewhat. Thenceforward we lived only for them; they made all our happiness and we would never have found it save in them. In fact, nothing any longer cost us anything; the world was no longer a burden to us. As for me, my children were my great compensation, so that I wished to have many in order to bring them up for Heaven" -- Saint Zelie Martin, mother of St. Therese of Lisieux, canonized October 18, 2015 along with her husband St. Louis Martin.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

All Saints' Day Party!!

Despite two families (10 children combined) missing from our numbers due to illness, we had an amazing All Saints' Day party at our parish gym today.  It was so much fun, and so easy with each mom contributing to just part of the celebration!

Arwen and I put this banner together at the last minute:


Thank you, Jessica, for this amazing banner download and tutorial!
(You'll recognize the characters from the Alphabet of Saints book- so cute!)

We were able to hang it using baker's twine and it sure added a fun accent to the festivities.

"Happy Feast of All Saints"! (That was a long banner! I couldn't get a good picture of al of it:))

I didn't get a picture of all of the treats (I took this picture as the moms were still arriving), but I didn't bake a thing! Thank you so much to the moms who did!
The kids were asked to dress as a favorite or patron saint, but since I did NOT want to make any moms turn a party into a stressful day, I said that name tags were just fine!

I don't blog other people's children without permission, so I have little to show you.  Almost all of the children were in darling costumes...this homemade costume was UNbelievably CUTE!

Our Lady of Lourdes, of course:


And when you closed the cape, the yellow "roses" over each foot!


Decor, food, costumes...on to the games!

Each of the following games were provided by my good friend, and I am missing pictures of one or two more.   There was "St. Peter's Fishing", "St. Therese's rose petal drop," and "Francis Xavier 'Around the World' over at the gym's basketball hoop!:)

"Cannonize the Saint" (by tossing a "halo" over their heads!).

glow necklaces, what else?!

 "Sin no more": knock down the sins, bowling!


St. Anthony's "Lost and Found": dig for hidden sacramentals! See if you can find all 7!:) (For some reason, this one was a BIG hit! I'd recommend it for a wide array of ages).


We ended with a "Litany of Saints" where each child was able to walk across the stage (that is at one end of the gym) as one of the mothers who is gifted with a beautiful voice sang "Saint fill-in-the-blank" and we all responded "Pray for us".

It was a wonderful and fun afternoon.  With Trick-or-Treating this weekend, I love to make sure my kids remember that All Saint's Day is the feast that we're celebrating.  It's so much richer, more colorful, and delightful than tired cobwebs and blow up lawn pumpkins.  We've got family, heroes, and patrons to celebrate and sing about!  It's not too late to host your own party this weekend or next week! Do it! I promise you'll be glad you did!

Happy Feast Day on November 1st!!

{PFHR} Mid October

{Pretty}

It was a late fall this year, and the color is still with us! 

(**update: I started this post a few days back...it's been raining and our leaves aren't quite this splendid as of today.)





This means I had extra weeks to do my annual wax paper and leaves project with the kids!  Love this project. My mom did it with us when we were kids...and we weren't home schooled.  My mom was just that sweet.


{Happy}

And of course, the fun that comes with leaves:




The kids did their own carving this year.  I love that the big ones are old enough to man the job! Makes it so much nicer for me:).


{Funny}

My crew passed hunter's safety this Monday.  They are very excited to get out and hunt!  Yesterday morning we saw this handsome fellow and his two doe in our forest:



I find it ironic that people will drive for hours and sit in the freezing cold in hopes of spotting just one of these guys...and here they are in our cozy little suburb, safe, fat and happy!  I'm glad we can't hunt them here--they're too beautiful!

{Real}

The invitations are out for our Second Annual Martinmas Celebration!! Our pastor is the BEST! He is leading the lantern procession and doing a special Benediction, just for us!

I first learned about Martinmas here (thank you again, Auntie Leila!  If you're a reader of LMLD, you're probably way ahead of me):

http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org/2014/11/a-little-procession-for-the-feast-of-st-martin-or-building-the-culture-with-celebration/

Here are the pcitures from last year's posts of the lantern we tried to make (it failed, but the Ball Jar ones always turn out beautifully!


















                          Ah yes, and the upside down picture of the feast at the celebration:


This year, it's the same thing, but we're hoping for double the numbers!  If we make it to our "Third Annual" I think we might have to put an announcement in the bulletin and open it up to the whole parish!

But first, our All Saints' Day party is today!! Check back later for a report on the party!:)  

Thursday, October 22, 2015

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} Octobering

{Pretty}

While the homeschool room is still unfinished (although the painting  plans are in the works!), the fall sunlight has been breathtaking in our peaceful learning space.  Peaceful, that is, before we enter it in the morning! haha



a little french? oui? non?

Aragorn made this poster for the Pro-life poster contest at our parish.  He abandoned it and made a different entry.  I thought it was so beautiful I just couldn't toss it...so it's adorning a window in the school room for a while.

{Happy}


Someone got an early birthday present from her "Nanny" (that's grandma for us!)


Somebody is obsessed with babies these days!  "Nanny's baby" never leaves her side, but sometimes, just Nanny's baby isn't enough:



Two, no, make that three! is better than one!



Maybe still a little obsessed with her curls...wondering how long they'll last...
And...I need a new cell phone.  My camera on my cell phone is totally breaking down.  It takes really dark pictures (maybe you've noticed) and it's absolutely terrible in bad lighting.  Well, if you'll be patient, I have a few from the rehearsal dinner for my brother's wedding last week.  


It was magical.


I love my new sister-in-law.  I love my brother, too, for that matter!  Happy couple!:)


We were blessed to have no less than three priests as wedding guests, as well as my brother, a deacon and monk (to be ordained soon, God-willing!)

{Funny}

Who needs a black cat?


"Zorro" is a black miniature holland lop doe (despite her name).

She is our most shy bunny, but despite that, she is not aggressive.  She is sweet, and in the sun, I think she is very beautiful.
 


{Real}

I'm working on finding a way to post the actual wedding photos that I have on flickr.  I abandoned my efforts of taking pictures with my phone when my sweet little Eowyn decided to be a little terror, um, active and verbal at the wedding.  I was in the very front of church because I was a reader.
So, no beautiful photos yet.  However, I have a great story!  A construction crew hit a gas main and the fire department cut energy to a 6-city-block area just moments before the wedding was to begin.  The upshot? The church had NO POWER: no heat, no light...no electric organ.



The secretary rummaged up every last candelabra in the parish and we had a wedding by candlelight! Ruined? Not a chance. It was dramatic, peaceful, and very very memorable! (I've got to get pictures of this up--if only of the fall leaves that blew in through the front doors, which needed to stay open to let in light in order for the photographer to work at all).

Thank you for stopping by this week! I've been soooo busy, my blogging has taken a big hit.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

My Daybook::October 2015

Outside my window:  The weather has been so incredibly beautiful and perfect!  The leaves are in their full glory and there's just no capturing it on film--especially when the sun shines through the leaves and they look like they're lit up and all aglow from within.



Breath-taking!!
And, this guy is back: 

I just learned that he is a red-tailed hawk.  Arwen took this picture last fall.  This year I am much more alert when it comes to hawks--with all of the outdoor time I like to give my bunnies, I'm paranoid that one of them is going to get carried away!


I am listening to: Voices outside--which is why I can take this moment to blog a little!:)

Catching up:  I had many more updates on our labradoodle puppy over the summer.  Reina is 6 months old now!  For those of you who were enjoying watching her grow, here's a big photo dump to catch us up!






This is about where we're at...and yes, Miss Reina does need a session at the groomers.  However, there is a strong contingent who love the "mop" look.  So, we'll get her trimmed soon-ish.

And here is Eowyn teaching her how to "shake" with her back leg.
  

Hoping for more enthusiasm from the front:

 

Pretty chillaxed, this labradoodle.  

Celebrating: 

"Claimed by Christ!"


My sister-in-law to be was welcomed into the Catholic Church two weekends ago.  My boys were able to serve and my brother (the deacon) was in town to help attend:

So so special.  

And then this past weekend, a wedding shower!


I think weddings and showers are more special the longer I am married.  All of the joy and promise and hope of a beautiful future...sigh.

Plans for the week:

Yes, the wedding is impending.  Yes, I am finalizing the outfits for ALL ten of us!  Arwen and I have a date for shoe-shopping tomorrow afternoon when my boys are at a friend's birthday party.

Columbus weekend...all of the local school kids are off of school.  The deal is my kids get to finish by noon and then they can play.  These holidays are the home schooler's opportunity to catch up!!  I'm feeling better about our rocky September every day!:)

Rehearsal dinner Thursday, Wedding Friday!!  We'll get to make gymnastics and ballet Tuesday and Wednesday, but Arwen's gonna miss volleyball practice for the wedding and she and the boys will have to make up some hunter's safety time--totally worth it!

Is it bad if I'm partly thrilled about the rehearsal and wedding because it means I'm off the hook for making dinner twice this week? lol