♥ May is for Mary ♥ (UPDATE)

UPDATE:
Boy, when I say that my head is split in a zillion ways I MEAN it!  

Kimberlee in NOT hosting an ATC swap this May.  When I went to Kimberlee's blog to check if she was hosting the Marian ATC swap; I didn't look closely at the dates.  Sorry folks, my apologies for those who saw my blunder.  

Still, I'll leave this up for the pictures of the girls.  And, have it too provide a good laugh at myself when my head gets too big.  {{insert BLUSH here}}.

I hosted our Little Flowers group last Friday; at the end of a very busy week.

Hasn't this word, busy, become a theme of this blog.  Any who...

So, since it was busy, I was less then ready eagerly prepared for the girls to show up.  Luckily, Jessica's idea for her own girls gave me an added project (and lift) to have for my young flock.

~ Cheerfulness ~

We started with a prayer and a discussion of this month's virtue; we also did a recap of all the virtues we've worked on this year.  On a side note; there is something quite wonderful when little girls tell you how each virtue has effected them.  All of the girls had a least one virtue that has been a little cross for her to bear.  They shared how in these months after our meetings they've tried their hardest to do better and sought out examples among the saints to help them.  How sweet these little girls!

~ Crafts ~

Now, what I had wanted to do with our extended Catholic home school co-op in the past, is join the Marian ATC Swap; hosted by Kimberly of Pondered in my Heart.  

What is an ATC swap?  Art trading cards that can be traded among each artist who joins the swap.  This is a whole family affair that is awesome.  Each card is an individual expression of our love and devotion to Our Blessed Momma!  And the kids get 'down' in their mini masterpieces.

We've joined in her Saints ATC Swap a couple of times (here and here) as a family.  But, the timing with the other families never quite seemed to come together in the past.  May is the (here's that word again) busiest time of the year for the co-op.

So!!! What a cool treat it was for our LF girls to join this time.  I didn't even know if Kimberly was hosting a swap this year, luckily for us... she IS!

This is a little peek into what our little ladies began working on last Friday...

I'm always excited to see what Rose comes up with.  

She is the 'artist' of the family.

 Our Cecilia fretted a bit about how to draw Momma Mary's eyes, 

but she got it together to produce a lovely card.

My niece's creation was equally as charming and she took care in creating her piece.

In addition to the ATC cards the girls completed their little gifts they started last month.  Little painted flower pots for their mommies this Mother's Day.  A gift of patience practiced by each girl.

I also made prayer cards for each girl to have and use this entire month of May.  I used the image of the Most Holy Name of Mary that Charolotte used on this post on her blog.

On the back of each card I printed the following prayer that Jessica mentioned and used from the Mondays With Mary A Celebration of Marian Feasts Throughout the Year:

“My Queen, My Mother, I give myself entirely to Thee, and to show my devotion to Thee, I consecrate to thee this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my entire self, without reserve. Wherefore, good Mother, as I am Thine own, keep me, defend me as Thy property and possession. Amen.”

Our families have been through the preparation prayer using the Total Consecration to Mary by Fr. Louis-Marie De Montfort.  It was a blessed 33 days of devotion and self giving.  But how much of that stays with a young child?  Rose and Cecilia didn't really go through the preparation like Lucy and myself did; the focus was really for Lucy.  

So using this beautiful prayer of consecration, shared by Jessica, was perfect!  The younger girls can totally use this short prayer.  And it's easy enough for them to get the meaning of what they are saying to Our Blessed Mother. 

"I give myself entirely to Thee"

I've asked them to pray this each morning for the entire month of May.  When we gather together again, in June, we hope to talk a bit on what differences they saw in giving themselves to Momma Mary each and every day.

We hope a big difference was noticed by both the girls and their families.  I'm personally hoping to see many fruits from their efforts :-)

You may use the document I made by clicking onto this site

(Download Consecration Prayer Card HERE)

Art for Our Lady

Kimberlee from

Pondered in my Heart

  

is once again hosting this month long project, ATC Swap for

Our Lady. 

 The guidelines are simple and all are invited to participate, even us mommies.  Our family has participated in both the Marian ATC Swap and the All Saints swap that occurred in November. 

All Saints ATC swap 2010

I don't know which part made my family the most excited; creating their cards or the receiving cards.  All I know is that once they mailed out their own cards, our mail carrier was never more popular or her arrival more anticipated.

Please visit Kimberlee's site for the complete details and most importantly her address. 

Keep in mind the ATC card should be postmarked by

May 28th

Enjoy :)

ATC for the saints ~ update

I have a list of posts that are piling up on me in the drafts.  We've been out of town a lot in the last 2 weeks and blogging just wasn't possible.  Ummm it's still rather difficult to set aside time to blog.  But instead of posting the recent events... like our San Francisco trip, I thought it best to start with what we completed in November.

It feels odd to post the pictures of something we did almost a month ago.  But they are worth the post and the kids really did some beautiful cards.  I did notice that I sent out Rose's cards before I could take a picture of them...  Too bad!  They were so pretty :(

We had an assortment of art supplies to choose from

And the rest was inspiration 

Max struggled with drawing out the figures and choosing who he wanted to sketch.  I kept seeing him erase what he was doing.  Truthfully, one of his creations lacked a neck until he saw the odd formed shape of poor St. Nicholas...LOL.  He caught it though.

Ultimately, he did a great job.  He just had to trust himself and create what was in his heart.

Rose has an eye for details in her art.  I loved her cards!!! 

 

Each child's personality came out during our art sessions.  Lucy was thoughtful and mechanical about her art.  Taking her time with each card.  I was happy Kimberlee extended the deadline.  This put  Lucy's nerves at ease...:)

Her completed work

 

All the cards were lovely and I'm thankful to Kimberlee for hosting this event.

* update

~ THEY ARRIVED ~

We were treated to a mail delivery treat on Friday

The kids ATC Swap letters came in.  Sadly, I didn't have the camera on hand to take the pictures of the kids when I gave them their letters.  They looked so cute, even my 13 ever-so-cool eldest didn't hide her excitement.

Thank you children for such lovely cards...you are all so very gifted! 

Each of your names have been placed on a letter to baby Jesus, via Lucy, along with a prayer.    

Lucy's cards received

St. Anne, St. Martin of Toures, St. Catherine, St. Rose of Lima, & St. Mungo

Max's cards

St. Aquinas, St. George, St. George, St. Joan of Arc, & St. Nicholas of Myra

Rose's cards

St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ann, St. Lucy, St. Elizabeth & St.Theodore Guerin

These are very talented children and you may see more from Pondered in My Heart.  Click on over and see the work of 1,460 cards!

Thank you Kimberlee for hosting this!

for All the Saints

It's a artist card swap for All the Saints!

Kimberlee hosted a Marian ATC Swap last may and most of my kids really got into it.  Kimberlee had stated then, that perhaps she would host this again in November; in celebration of All Saint's Day.  Well she is doing it.  All the details are over at her blog; Pondered in my Heart.

This is a great way to get to know the Church Triumphant and have some fun while celebrating.

All forms of media are welcomed from crayons to acrylics or any combination you'd like to try.  

This is for all ages too, from adults to the youngest in your house. 

 ATC'sTh ( 7gypsies 17635 Artist Trading Card Card Pack) are about the same size as a baseball trading card.  Last year we didn't buy the pre cut sized cards but, used sturdy cardstock cut to size instead.

So now, choose a few of your favorite saints.  Get to drawing, painting, or sketching.  Click on to Pondered in my Heart for the details and her address (for mailing them in).  Then be prepared for the gifts in return as you receive 5 beautifully made cards from around the U.S.A.

Have fun!