Heard At Mass...

"If you were on trial for being Catholic, would there be enough evidence to convict you?"

I haven't shared our feast day table for May or June-

May is the month of Mary!! 

Those flowers in the top left were given to me by hubby on Mother's day for our feast day table. Very elegant- don't you think?

The adorable flowers on the right were made by my 3yo grandson to add to May's "Mary Table" as well. 

I love the little Holy Spirit picture (shown up close on the top L picture)- I look for little things like that in spring when confirmation gifts are in stores. 

June is a great month for feast days! 

The two pictures across the bottom are from the same holy card- it is one those cards that when you tilt it, it goes from one picture to the next. 

And more flowers!! This time from my 3 yo granddaughter. 

Super duper cute! Made out of plastic cups (I think). 

On the side row- the cross is from an Oriental Trading Co. kit, the Corpus Christi craft is from Seton Art 1, and the Sacred Heart was created using Seton as well. 

One more awesome thing to share: 

My boys made their confirmations on Pentecost Sunday!! 

On the left- 

Paul and his oldest sister, Shauna. 

Shauna is also Paul's Godmom and she takes her job very seriously. 

On the right-

Mark and his brother-in-law, Bob (married to Mark's Godmom, Jessica). 

He and Jessica also take their God-parenting seriously. 

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! 

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Feast Day Table...

to bring you the birthday variation. :)

I have no pictures of the celebration yet (I did not have my camera so I am at the mercy of others who I will bug shortly- after they have fully recovered from the lovely party they threw me.).

I came home with the big "5-0" you see taped on the wall. My daughter, Shauna, put it together for the party (Pinterest inspired). It is just stunning. More so in person. 

 A close up of a few pictures. 

 The table with all of my cards lined up across the back. You can still see a hint of our faith/feast day table- St. Joseph, some purple for lent, Mary, and my lent table runner. 

 Another Pinterest inspiration (I was told). My daughter, Jessica, asked people to give them a word that describes me. She took them all and made this frame with my baby picture in it. I think she asked people for only "nice" words. ;) 

 Flowers from my sweet Goddaughter and family. 

 Erin, daughter #4, was in charge of invites. (As the party was a surprise, I received mine after the party.)

I have honestly never felt as special as I did Saturday night. I was overwhelmed with the effort and love  poured out on my special day. The invitation says 5 p.m.-7 p.m., but my girls planned a little "after party" for when the guests left. Just my kids (kids, son-in-laws, grandkids) played a "who knows the most about mom" game. It was pretty fun! Well, funny. I'll share more when I have some pictures. 

Advent::Week 2

I have been catching up on blog reading- I find it interesting that the holiday blogging theme varies right now between "slow down" and "I'm overwhelmed". (I think I am in the slow down, yet slightly overwhelmed mode!;))

To the moms who are overwhelmed, I want to put my arms around them and tell them it is okay. You don't have to do it all. Your kids will be happy with what you do and what they get. In the years with less, I often find my children appreciate what we do even more. To the moms who are telling us that it is okay to slow down, I say "amen!". But I also know  I say the same thing sometimes yet don't always listen to my own advice. LISTEN!!! :)

I think the key is to choose things that are important to you. One of the things that we do as a family is to make a list. I was so surprised a few years ago when one son said that his most favorite advent tradition ever was going to his sister's house to decorated a gingerbread house. He had only gone once! I never would have known the significance that held had I not asked. Once I gather all the data (input from each family member), I fill out a calendar with the events/tasks we are going to attempt along with our holiday obligations and feast days.

We were off to a slow start, but here is advent in our home so far (and a few other things too...)- 

We have candles! We finally tracked some down at a Catholic gift shop that is a not too far away and Erin happened to be going there anyway. Our little wreath doesn't look so bare anymore. 

December feast day table in progress. St. Nicholas day was a little haphazard. We just happened to have a few monster truck toys (top on Mark and James' wish lists) on hand. I ran out on the 5th picked up some chocolate gold coins and printed some St. Nicholas coin covers from the "Shower of Roses" blog. Whew! 

One of our favorite outings at this time of year is the annual Creche exhibit a few towns away. There are just no words to describe it (no pictures allowed). It was stunning as always. This time we were serenaded with harp music as we wandered the halls looking at nativities from all of the world made from every conceivable material (banana fiber for one). I am always amazed how even my crazy boys just calm down for this event. I wish they had one corner that pictures could be taken, but overall I enjoy the peacefulness of not having everyone vying for camera position. 

In the children's room after, there were crafts and dress up. That's my granddaughter in the middle picture as Mary, and James' big sister (mom of granddaughter) showing him how to make an angel ornament to the right. 

We ended our outing here!! With our new "eat this, not that" mentality, we were able to keep it under control yet still enjoy ourselves.

And finally this last week- our travelers arrived home after almost two weeks (!), Marky had a chance to show me the "kitty condos" where he takes his class at the humane society, and James has taken to drawing elves of all kinds. Many people in our family have received personalized pictures including one of Elf Sandoval for his Giants loving brother-in-law. 

Feast Day of St. Nicholas

We never started any traditions around this wonderful saint when my older children were at home- I think occasionally they left their shoes out for some treats to be placed in them. We still don't have a regular tradition that we have stuck to, but we take time out on this special day to honor this special saint and have some fun. 

 Our feast day table from 2010. 

We also spent some time that same year learning more about this saint. Cousins joined us for a whole day of St. Nicholas fun. 

And here is our table and treats from last year, 2011. 

This year... well, I can't set it yet! The kids aren't even home from their evening with their sister and brother-in-law. I just hope I can stay awake! 

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!!! 

Feast Day Decorating and Planning

Time to say good-bye to our September feast day table: 

 I am showing it again because Mark rearranged it after dusting. 

I thought he did a nice job! 

Just in case you didn't notice this addition to the table- Paul is preparing to make his Confirmation this year!! 

On to October: 

Something I never thought about- a priest I know said this is not an accurate representation  of guardian angels. There would be two. Still, I love this little picture. 

I couldn't get the glare to cooperate for a picture, but you get the idea. I am sad that I can't find all the guardian angel crafts my boys made (linked in my previous post).  I am usually really good about holding on to those types of things. 

Speaking of decorations and such- 

I know that they are the small things. Not the substantial things of our faith. But I always keep in mind that ours is a visual faith (as well as other senses!) and little reminders around the home are nice. The cherry on top, so to speak. 

We have tried several systems to keep our things organized. None seemed to work. Now we just keep it all in boxes. The general idea is standing things plus twine and clothes pins (for hangers) are in one, flat things and decorative items like fake flowers in another, and March gets its own box. Nothing elaborate and it seems to work just fine. As a matter of fact, the boys kind of have fun digging for the needed items to put on our table. 

Places I go to plan feast day celebrations: 

Catholic Culture calendar

Catholic Icing for crafts and inspiration

Paper Dali for great saints to color

Waltzing Matilda blog for more great saints

Domestic Church for great explanations 

More great crafts and ideas at Catholic Inspired (formerly Crafolic)

The Catholic Bloggers network for a monthly round up from the blogosphere

And, for food, Catholic Cuisine 

 Just thought I'd share. 

Linking with Catholic Bloggers Network for the month of October. 

Text Message Book Review (and Faith Table Decor!)

Hello little blog. It's been a while!! I miss you. 

Good-bye August:

Hello September: 

Exhalation of the Cross (Sept. 14) from Seton Art 1 made a few years ago- I should have 3, but boys would always give them away to sisters and grandma!

Saints for Sept. coloring pages from Waltzing Matilda Blog- colored and laminated a few years ago for our "month of saints" study. 

 Also from Seton Art 1- colored by my boys a few years ago. 

And, for those who might be interested, an impromptu text message "book review" from my 19yo daughter, Erin. You get to read it at your leisure- I think the text came through like at 1 a.m. or something! Either way, I enjoyed reading it. 

First Text From Erin: 

"Hey so I picked up that book you gave me for Easter, "extreme makeover", and so far it's really good. I like it because it doesn't really say "you should do this or that" or "this is bad" -it more speaks in general terms and gives statistics (a lot of references to studies). So things that don't really apply are still interesting."

A While Later: 

"I like how it's a more concrete and logical approach to beauty, chastity, modesty, faith and just living life. It's cool cuz like I said the book is more telling stories, listing statistics, sharing personal experiences, then at the end of every chapter there are a list of more personal questions to ask yourself. So the chapters are good to get you thinking and also helps you see how to kind of defend your view..rather than saying "in this christian book I read",  you can say "well I read that 9/10 women would say..blank" you know?"  

And then: 

"It's less idealistic and abstract and has more real information to help for your conscience. :)"

Finally, a return message in response to a text back from me (that I don't have a record of):

"Ya,  I like it cuz it doesn't feeel like a faith book lol. And also I think it's good to not be reading one about couples. I can just focus on myself."

Weird format, I know, but I thought you could get the full "text message feel" that way! :) 

Good-bye June!

Where did you go?

Our feast day table was a bit hodge podgy this last month.  But here are a few of our decorations.

 We came across this card during an organizing spree- perfect timing. 

When you turn it one way, it is the Sacred Heart.

The other, the Immaculate Heart. (The photo kind of blurs the two hearts)

For the feast of Corpus Christi.

Votive candle holder dollar store find.

However!! Note to self- never ever leave a flame lit near the open door and think it is safe enough. The wind came through and blew this right in to the flame! I really thought I had checked it out, but was obviously mistaken!

Made a few years ago by one of the boys.

A fun June read: 

This book contains snippets from the lives of 115 saints. Some familiar (Bernadette, Jerome), and some not so familiar (Ansgar, Benilde) are included. Each saint gets just a page or so description plus a little "thought for the day". I'll admit that some thoughts are better than others, but we are still enjoying this fun little book that came to us via James' Easter basket. 

Happy Feast Day of Blessed Junipero Serra!! 

A favorite of us Californians- click his name to hear about him. 

Decorations...

Forgot to share this in April- I just think these "Cool Spools" are so fun. I added this recently purchased spool (they come in a set of two for $10) to our feast day table last month. This month it has a pretty picture of Our Lady of Lourdes in it. You can find these spools at Iris Blue Artworks at Etsy. 

photo credit: Jennifer @ St. Anne's Pixies 

Also purchased at Etsy from St. Anne's Pixies shop were some saints dolls as confirmation gifts. I did not take pictures of the dolls before giving them as gifts, so I am hoping that the shop owner will be okay with my sharing this picture of one of her dolls (I am emailing her). Her shop is closed for right now, but I am so happy with the dolls! I hope to purchase a few of our favorite saints when her shop reopens. Visit St. Anne's Pixies on Facebook. 

This picture is very cute, but you really have to see the dolls in person to grasp how truly adorable they are! I purchased St. Cecelia (she looks much like this doll) and Blessed Pope John Paul II.