Easter Blessings!

My blogging days seem to be coming to an end, but I can't help coming by to update now and then.

Life being as crazy as it is, we did not all attend all events this year for Easter.

Paul served the whole Triduum at our church, Our Lady of Peace.

Frank took the younger boys to Holy Thursday mass that Paul served at while I stayed home (I was a bit under the weather).

Friday, Frank and I took the younger two boys (Paul served at church) and one of our daughters and her three children to the Stations of the Cross at a local monastery. Frank gets bonus points for pushing the double stroller with three little ones in it up the hill.

The stations at the Carmelite Monastery are a favorite tradition.

Saturday, Paul served at the vigil mass.

Grandpa and Grandma (that's me and hubby) spent some time getting prepped for the big day.

My prep- I have not figured out what our "tradition" is going to be regarding Easter baskets for grandkids and such, but this year each basket had a saints movie or a book plus a small toy. The older kids got a bag of goldfish and a sticker book too. The babies baskets each had a bib. The "girl" toy was a small princess doll, but it is not shown in the picture.

Frank's prep was to work on pre-cooking many pounds of bacon and sausage for Easter breakfast with all the kids (7), kids' spouses (3), fiance (1), and grandkids (8). To be fair, the youngest 4 grandkids don't really eat yet.

Sunday morning, bright and early (7 a.m.) we took the two younger boys to Easter mass. Paul did not get home from the vigil until after midnight, so he was out!

It always feels like we completed a marathon when Lent ends and Easter arrives!!

On to the big day! 

I think our family gets bonus points for major cuteness around here. We had four first Easter babies.

With all that baby cuteness, lots of cameras were clicking, but I'll refrain from posting hundreds of pics!

A few moments caught-

Paul lovin' his little nephew, dad with Erin, Erin finding her basket, Paul with his sister/Godmom.

Speaking of Easter baskets, I am not sure when it started, but we hide baskets around here. And it has turned in to quite a sport.

As the kids get older, they get to be "bunny helpers". This was Mark's first year and he had a blast hiding baskets.

He actually stumped Paul. Paul is used to people putting his in crazy places like on the roof or stringing it up in a tree. Mark was much more subtle and it worked- he was very pleased with himself.

All outdoor areas are fair game for hiding- Paul's basket was in our construction yard. 

Sadly, Mark did not know the bucket he hid it under is used for potting soil that has manure in it! All the loose candy had to be tossed. Paul was a good sport about it. 

Next Up: 

Easter Egg Hunt

Wishing you all a Happy and Blessed Easter!! 

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1073

Anatomy of an Egg Hunt

As Easter lasts for 40 50 days, we are actually doing our hunt this Friday evening. 

The way we used to do it: 

The most often used method was to count up the eggs and divide them by the number of kids present. Each child can find the assigned number of eggs. When a child has found their number of eggs, they move on to help those who did not move quite so fast (the big kids actually love helping the littles). I leave some wiggle room so a couple of lucky egg hunters will usually find an extra. 

A Few Rules: 

1. The kids all get their baskets and line up. 

2. The youngest children get a head start (10 seconds or so). We usually start with those who are five and under. 

3. The next older kids count to a given number and that group goes. 

4. The oldest group waits a few more seconds and then go. 

5. AND, anyone over a certain age is not allowed to pick up any eggs that are not hidden above waist level.

I know this sounds a bit intense, but my family (my kids and their cousins) has got some crazy enthusiastic egg hunters!!

The Grandkid Egg Hunt: 

To keep it super low key for the grandchildren (who are all 4 and under), I devised a different method last year. 

1. Each grandchild is assigned a color and that child's eggs are hidden in his/her own area. It overlaps a little, but when you have a 2 year old finding eggs, you can actually leave them right on the lawn and have them missed! This way it does not take too long to find all the eggs. 

2. Each child has 7 eggs to find this year (last was 6). 

3. Each little kid finds a big kid/uncle's hand to hold and the hunt begins! 

The eggs are filled with little toys, stickers, and wash off tattoos (dinosaurs for boys/butterflies for my girly girl granddaughter). Last year we had larger eggs to hold objects that are not choking hazards. This year the youngest hunters are well versed in small parts! :) 

Happy Egg Hunting! 

Wrapping It Up::Holy Week and The First Sunday of Easter

Last scheduled prayer day for the "40 Days for Life"

Feast Day Table 

Stations on Friday

Paul served for the Triduum 

Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday- He Is Risen!!!

Alleluia! 

Got Sharpies?

 That's all you need to make these lovely eggs. :)

And if you have some colored crafting floss and yarn...

You can make these awesome eggs...

Fun- huh? You run the floss through some "stiffy glue" and wrap it around a blown up water balloon (we used a pump- blowing in a water balloon is totally not cool!). Let it dry. We must have used a lot of glue as ours needed to dry overnight. Pop the balloon and you have a floss egg. Pretty cute! 

This post gives credit where due and shows pictures of my crafters making their eggs:

http://tribeof11.blogspot.com/2012/03/homeschool-mothers-journalmarch-12-16.html

And this sweet butterfly...

We made this with directions from this Valentine's craft- 

http://spoonful.com/crafts/sticky-hands-warm-hearts

You can also see the above link for how this worked for us.

Happy Crafting.  

Eastertide::Celebrating the Season

I am joining in with Jen @ Forever, For Always, No Matter What and Tiffany @ Family at the Foot of the Cross to do a bit of Easter sharing. I know their posts will be amazing... well, because they are amazing bloggers. Please stop by and take a look. 


"I admit that we have not hit the first week of Easter with the zeal that I would like- we are pooped."

Those were my sentiments as Lent came to a close last year and Easter sprung forth. I think it can be that way. You kind of want to take a big sigh and say "we did it!". But it is not over yet. The church year, in it's infinite beauty, keeps going. 

The understanding that Easter is a season and not just one day was a slow dawning for our family. I vividly remember our first Lent- the one where our family realized that that there is a Lent after all! We dove in with all the enthusiasm and effort our limited understanding allowed. And then it was over. We went to dawn mass, feasted on jelly beans, and called it a day. I don't mean to be flippant, but that is where our faith formation and our understanding of the liturgical year was. 

As part of the "great untaught" (a phrase from Mary Reed Newland in her book "The Year and Our Children), I did not have much to go on. I realize now that the information was there for the taking. But, as part of the above mentioned group, it took me a while to figure out the right questions to ask of the right people so that I could become an enthusiastic participate in this beautiful faith of ours. 

Now there is this wonderful online community of Catholic publications and bloggers who share their knowledge and inspiration. 

This article, Catholic Activity: The Time of Easter or Eastertide, from CatholicCulture.org gives a simple explanation of the season:

"The fifty days from Easter to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful exultation as one feast day, or better as one "Great Sunday"." 

Taking more inspiration from Mary Reed Newland's book "The Year and Our Children", this is a great season to dive in and learn and pray together. Our first and most important job as parents, according to Mrs. Newland (and I think most would agree), is to form our children in Christ. Because this is our most important job, we ought to lavish our time on it. She further exhorts us to take time to be with our children, do a daily examine of conscience, prayers, reading... how often we are so tired come evening, yet Easter seems like a perfect season to make a renewed commitment to that time together. 

Right out of the gate, the Sunday after Easter (the second Sunday of Easter), is Divine Mercy Sunday. Could there be a more fitting time for this feast day? "Jesus, I Trust in You"  Celebrating it is a great way to keep the momentum of the season going.  This is a fairly new addition to our year (added on the 2nd Sunday of Easter in the Jubilee year). And the Divine Mercy novena is a beautiful prayer. 

There is more! So much more! If you are like me, and getting your "Catholic On" a little later in life, go slowly. Choose one or two things that sound really doable. Then have fun and learn about the season. 

Resources for Divine Mercy:
Divine Mercy DVD  (you can also order worksheets on CD-rom) 
Holy Heroes Glory Stories of St. Faustina (awesome story)   
Catholic Icing Divine Mercy Standing Imagine (this link also has resources for Sister Faustina and the Divine Mercy). 
Divine Mercy Novena Prayer Rings (we made them last year- free printable)

Resources For the Season: 
Catholic Icing  (crafts and more)
Family at the Foot of the Cross (inspiration galore!)
Menus to celebrate the 50 days of Easter!  (food is a great way to gain your kiddos' enthusiasm.) 
The YEAR and Our CHILDREN by Mary Reed Newland
Children's Books for Easter at Shower of Roses blog
Lent and Easter in the DOMESTIC CHURCH





I encourage you to have a blessed Eastertide!! 

It's Easter!!

Are mine the only kids running around the house singing repeatedly, in the their best (very dramatic) opera voice, "horse and chariots, horse and chariots, were cast into the sea!!"? 

The Vigil mass on Saturday was... I almost can't explain it. The mass began at 8:30 and ended around 11:30, and it really seemed to me that it went by in the blink of an eye! And, the most amazing thing, 11yo Marky, who had struggled (really struggled) through serving on Holy Thursday and Good Friday, made it through- no problem!! While we have attended all three services before, never has our whole family attended all three in the same year. It was pretty awesome.

This is one of my favorites moments of Easter day. No Easter attire, no Easter decorations. Just my motley little crew after finding Easter baskets, and dad working on the bacon and sausage (4 pounds!). I am sitting on the step by the back door taking the picture.-

There were many magical moments to follow.-

I admit that we have not hit the first week of Easter with the zeal that I would like- we are pooped. My oldest daughter and I were comparing our Holy Weeks and came to the conclusion that those last three days are perhaps suppose to be a bit grueling. It seems only fitting.

Now, time to rejoice! Or, in our case, rejoice and sleep!

We did add this adorable printable to our Easter/Divine Mercy table-

The black and white version is available to print here- the color version comes if you subscribe by email to Catholic Icing.

We printed several copies of this Divine Mercy Novena and Chaplet from Diary of a Sower blog. It is shown with a ring through the top- I think it looks better that way, but I just quickly stapled ours.

Happy Easter!! 

Holy Saturday!

I said I would see you after Easter, but here I am...

My boys were blessed with the opportunity to serve at our local church for the Easter Triduum (I hope I am spelling that right- spell check does not approve!). We are so honored! I missed all these faith-filled services growing up. As an adult, I am wowed by their beauty and reverence.

So, the action began in earnest around here on Thursday evening as we headed out to mass.  As we followed the alter servers (carrying the candles, incense, and cross) to the side hall, Father Mark followed with Our Lord to place Him in the alter of repose. The whole mass, the washing of the feet, and then this, brings all the happenings of Holy Week to life. And then walking by the barren tabernacle as we leave the church is such an empty feeling!! Can you only imagine how Jesus' followers must have felt on that night as Jesus was led away?!

On Good Friday we attended the Stations of the Cross at the Carmalite Monastery near us. We have been attending this for about 14 years. Can you see all the wonderful families trudging up the hill with their little ones in tow? I wish I had known to do that when my big kids were that little! I would love to share a picture of the stunning view, but I was silly and accidently recorded instead of snapping pictures the rest of the time.

*I know I said trudging *up* the hill- it looks like everyone is heading down only because they are turned around to hear the station!

Good Friday service. I sniped a few pictures. I hope that wasn't too irreverent. That is my big boy, Paul, up there setting the alter.

Mark processing in with another alter server. This is not the best picture, but I don't want to post a clear picture of a another's child without permission. I am so proud of Mark, but boy has this been tough on him. I know some 11 year-old boys could handle it, but he is just so wiggly when he is tired. Even so, he has given it his best!

 At the end of service, after the veneration of the cross.

                                                      At home:

We switched out our table decor today. The boys made the standing Divine Mercy images last year using a printable from Catholic Icing. They used different mediums (watercolors, watercolor pencils, prisma color pencils with "people crayons")- declared the most successful were watercolor pencils.

The boys found this at a local craft shop. It is funny that the "JESUS" shows so clearly in the picture- in real life, it is not as easy to see. I have seen directions for making these using Popsicle sticks also at Catholic Icing if you are interested. For a $1.25, I am happy to support a local vendor.

I found this little holy card. Not much, but better than nothing. 

And I think it looks pretty on the vase.

I wanted to wait until tomorrow, but with grand-babies coming over bright and early, 

I had to put a few Easter decorations up.

I left our Lent decorations up too, so for one day, we are going to be a mix of both.

Blessed Holy Saturday!! 

Spring Crafts...

I know it is summer!

 These painted suncatchers are from Oriental Trading Co. I confess that they are still hanging in our window 'cause they look so dang cute. I might take them down this week.

 Another one from a kit from the Oriental Trading Company.

And, the Divine Mercy printable from Catholic Icing. To make this more interesting to the boys, I got out the watercolor pencils and the watercolor paints. Paul used the paints but thought that the pencils would have worked better for this project- the detail was difficult with a brush. It seemed to me that the pencils did work well.

Sharpie Markers + White Plastic Eggs = Super Cute Craft

My friend brought over sharpie markers and white plastic eggs for the kids to color. It is so simple, yet the kids had a great time coloring them.

These are the eggs that my kids colored- they are adorable, but I wish I had pics of all the eggs colored. Each child had his/her own twist on coloring the eggs- one young lady made hers like a basket with chicks in it, another made the face of Jesus... they were all so creative!!