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. 

A Lenten Hodgepodge

I have been sort of tongue tied here this Lent. Really, here and on my other blog. I hit Lent with enthusiasm. But it has not been the Lent that I planned.

One of the things that happened this Lent was facing the loss of my unborn (aborted) niece or nephew that I mentioned in an earlier post. This was the first time that I have talked about it except to a very few close friends. Getting it out here was sort of a warm up for me. I have since been able to bring it up in other settings.

Going to the abortion clinic to pray has been an experience. I have renewed awe for those who do this regularly. I know that there are those fighting on the front lines day in and day out, rain or shine. I saw them there each time we went to pray, and I know they will continue to be there after the 40 Days for Life campaign ends. I confess that I will not. I don't see this being where we are called right now, but I know that we will be doing something. I don't know how our prayers may or may not change those who enter the clinic, but they changed me (us).

This last time at the clinic, James walked over to me with an odd expression on his face. "Mom", he said in serious tone. "I think they just need to go back to the way it was and make this illegal." I nodded. He began again in a more urgent tone. "Can't the President just do something about this?" Oh, how I wish.

One of the most interesting encounters we had was with a very angry young man. He walked through our little group and I could see the growing animosity on his face. He stopped in a driveway off to the side and called someone on the phone- perhaps the police as they passed two or three times after his phone call. He seemed agitated and angry and kept looking at our group. He decided to walk back by. He spat on the ground, let go of a few choice expletives, and walked right up to my son and another teen boy and heatedly asked what they were doing there and why they were not in school. Included in his" inquiry" was the "F" word among others.

This incident has been revisited a few times around here. My 11yo continues to include the "angry man at the clinic" in our morning prayers. I actually think about him often- it is so hard to understand the depth of anger that he showed. I can only imagine how he must be hurting. We were blessed with the opportunity through this short encounter to be "persecuted for Him". It has brought to life how Jesus must have felt to stand there in the face of that mob of angry people! This was a very small droplet in a vast ocean compared to that, but is been a wonderful illustration for my boys to hold on to.

On the calmer side of things, we joined a group of homeschool children and their moms to pray the stations of the cross at a local church last Friday. At first the children were shy to take a turn reading the stations, but as soon as one child stepped up, the rest were ready to go! It is so nice to pray the stations this way with all the little ones able to roll around at our feet and not have to be very quiet. Very children friendly!

Inspired by Tiffany's post about Lenten decor:

I found this table runner at a local craft boutique. I love it.

And purchased this little cross set. (linked on Tiffany's blog)

My granddaughter sweetly picked these little purple flowers for my birthday. It is the perfect Lent decoration. Beautiful and simple.

Our Lent "fortunes" sitting out.

I found a pretty purple ribbon to hang our banner with.

The boys colored some cross ornaments last year (or the year before) that we just hung up this week. .

There you go- I did say hodgepodge, right? On to Holy Week! Blessings to all! I will see you after Easter. 

Christ with me, Christ within me...

St. Patrick "Breastplate" Prayer. 

Mark in 2008 with his St. Patrick's Breastplate! 

Christ with me, Christ within me, 

Christ behind me, Christ before me, 

Christ beside me, Christ to win me, 

Christ to comfort and restore me, 

Christ beneath me, Christ above me, 

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in the hearts of all that love me, 

Christ in the mouth of friend and stranger.

See the whole prayer here. 

Slightly different words. 

Credit for this craft to goes to one of the many wonderful homeschooling moms that I know. When I find out which one (or remember), I will give credit where it is due! 

March Feast Day Decorations

Taking a lighthearted turn here to show off our 

St. Patrick's feast day table. 

 It is hard to see in this picture, but the light through the door was 

casting rainbows on the wall! 

 In case everyone has not colored their own "Paper Dali", you can print your 

St. Patrick here. 

 I purchased this super adorable "cool spool" from the Iris Blue Artworks store at Etsy.

 We made these shamrock rosaries last year using an idea posted on Catholic Icing. 

And more... 

 We did bump St. Joseph from the feast day table- not very nice considering this is his month! But he has a very prominent spot in our kitchen, and I added a purple cloth (in honor of lent) that I think makes him stand out nicely.

 A little more St. Patty's bling. 

Thanks to Tiffany's inspiring post, I am adding a little purple to our decor.  

Some more St. Patrick's day books and the smaller "cool spool" 

that came in a set with the one above. 

Blessings to you during this Lenten season! 

Sharing...

Okay- deep breath. I am going to share something very personal. Not many people read this blog, but it is still it is difficult to share in this public way. But I feel moved to. Isn't it interesting how God works in our lives?  We were moving toward a happy go-lucky Lent (as much as Lent can be). Happy craft projects, maybe a few good works of mercy, but then God gives you (or rather me) a good swift kick in the tush.

I am going to begin with the most difficult part of this post: I have a precious nephew or niece who was aborted. It breaks my heart. It broke my brother's heart. He was the dad, and after he made that one fatal decision (his choice!) to be with the mom of this little life, there was no more "choice". At least not for him. It is harsh, but it is the truth.

So, here I sit with my growing boys. It was easy, for whatever reason, for me to talk to my girls about these things. I wanted them to have knowledge. I always knew that they could make poor decisions even if they were armed with that knowledge, but I wanted them to have an honest chance (one that I truly did not have) to make fully informed decisions for their life. Talking to my boys about these things has not taken the same natural course. Which brings me to this Lent.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I knew God would provide the perfect Work of Mercy for us this Lent- one that would be far superior to anything I could plan. Our homeschool group signed up with the 40 Days for Life campaign to pray weekly for one hour at a local Planned Parenthood that provides abortion services. Being the reserved person that I am (really- despite blogging, I am an introvert), this is not a natural fit for me. But I felt moved to participate.

There are so many reasons- for those sweet babies, for those dear moms who are so scared that they choose death over life, and for my boys. I need to open the lines of communication with my guys. They need to see that they can make a difference. I also pray that God grants them graces for joining in with such great enthusiasm. I so desperately don't want them to be one of those men who give up their "choice".

The experience, so far, has been... interesting. My boys are little confused. Mind you, we pray peacefully. The signs we hold are gentle signs. Nothing gruesome. Today, a women screamed from her mini van (with her own children in it) that "you children should be in school" and then added a few swear words in. There were several other incidents like this one. My boys can't understand why anyone who feel anger toward what they are doing.

Thankfully, there was also a young construction worker (guessing from truck and dress) that gave the nicest toot, a big smile, and a thumbs up to the boys. I should mention that the boys want to be right out there with their signs. A few times, I thought my 8yo looked on the verge of tears. I tried to talk to him- he said that "it is okay mom, I am okay". Good enough.

One of the dear ladies who was with us today took a moment to talk to my boys after. I don't remember all the details, but she explained how she prays for those people who are so angry at us. She really spent a few minutes talking to them and I could tell it took the edge off for Mark and James.

So, here we are. Fully into Lent. It is just once a week, but I feel like this is our Lent. Praying for those babies. Learning to put ourselves out there. For those who are on the front lines, I know this is just a baby step, but it is a step.

I had a thought today as we were driving home. My brother passed away about 8 years ago. I just realized he must have met (in some way even though I know we can't understand it) his precious little one. It does not make what happen to his baby any less horrific, but I can't help but to be comforted by this!

I feel ever so less-than-articulate (even less so than usual!) in this post, but truly felt the need to write this down.

God Bless You during this very special Lenten season!!

St. Patick's Day At Our House

We love St. Patrick's Day around here- my grandmother, Mary Agnes Sweeney, was Irish and fiercely proud of it. She loved to tell about her big Irish Catholic family and their antics. I just wish I had been old enough to understand how valuable it would have to been really listen and remember the stories that she shared.

Life has been cr-aaaa-zy around here, so there has been little time to prep for any big celebrations. We did set out our decorations, read a few books, and make a few projects

(St. Patrick Spoon Saints were made last week). James, who was home alone with me

today, made this just for fun mobile to help liven up the decor. :)

In his school box- all the fixins. The weird goopy stuff to the left is glitter glue- James would have preferred to use the sprinkle kind (it is more fun), but all we had on hand was an old bottle of gold glitter glue- it all glopped out of the bottle, so I scooped it up with a shell that was sitting on the shelf- so, note to self- buy new glitter. . .
James hard at work on his mobile. He could have done the cutting- he actually loves to cut, but I don't think he would have finished it in one day if I did not pre cut the pieces. The project, printed from The Knack, is labeled for ages 9-12. After completing the project with James (6yo), I think it is the assembly that bumps the age range up- if a child has mom or an older sibling to help, age 4 and up would work.

The completed project hanging in the kitchen over the table.

A cute project from last year, ordered from the Oriental Trading Company.

Our St. Patrick's Day books.
And, our table. My daughter suggested putting green Easter grass in the vase (super cute, I thought!)- I looked for a week for some, but no one had green Easter grass!! Go figure. Next year...

St. Patrick Spoon Saint

I have seen these little saints on several Catholic blogs, but I believe they originated here at Cottage Blessings. These have been on my to do list for a long time. Today, we finally made some!!

The supplies:
We used printer paper (green and yellow), felt tip markers, scissors, hole punch (for detail on staff), pencils, glitter glue, glue, wooden craft spoons, and a pattern (below) for the St. Patrick's vestments. James (6yo) working on his spoon saint. We put magnets on the back of the saint so that they could be put on the fridge or, in this case, our message board.

Julia with her adorable saint. :)The magnet strip:

For the older kids, I gave the pattern and materials to them and they went for it. For a few, I traced the pattern and they cut. I cut everything out for the 6yo- he could have done it, but I don't think he would have been as enthusiastic (he made two).