Pentecost Sunday

Pentecost Sunday

Fr. K gave a beautiful homily!  He spoke of the great wind and the change that came upon each apostle...each disciple present.  The very fruits that grow from the Holy Spirit when we allow Him to work through us.  The gifts that are bestowed on each soul. Such beauty!  The church was adorned with red drapes, images of the Holy Spirit, beautiful red arrangements around the altar.  It was a feast for the eyes.   Even Rose took notice that something was a bit different and special.   When Fr. K came up the procession Rose couldn't help but say "He's dressed in red!  Something is going to happen".  She wasn't too quiet either.  But something was going to happen and it did and does happen every time we celebrate the Mass. 

We have been talking about what Pentecost Sunday meant all week.  Starting with a lesson we had and were able to include some of the cousins that were over.  I gathered the supplies to make Dawn's example of the 'Gifts of the Holy Spirit Windsock'.  Then we gathered together around our table and created our own great wind.  Luckily, it was a windy day outside too.  So off we went to see the wind blow our gifts around us...

On Pentecost Sunday, I had out some powered donuts as suggested by Jessica.  We served them in the morning with milk for the kids and coffee for Papi and I.  I intended to bake a cake after Mass but, we opted to take the kids to the park.  It was still pretty windy outside and Papi thought it would be nicer to fly our kites and spend the time outdoors. 

He was right of course!  We celebrated the birth of our Church outside in the sun.  Enjoying the Holy Spirit in His glory.  Then we returned home for some left over treats with our very own windsock hanging above.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy Faithful; and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party ~week 7

~ The Heavenly Zoo ~

week 7

Our last week!  Wow, so yes there were weeks that I thought, there would be no way I could pull this off.  But, they came together through busy schedules of softball games, ballet rehearsals, birthdays and the daily ins and outs of a family.  I'm glad we did it and now I have notes for next year too!

Thank you Jessica and Charlotte for your outlines, recipes, and

ideas!

~ The Water ~

Revelation 7: 13-17

Simple.  We served water during dinner.  I didn't think of taking out our nice pitcher until after we already started to eat. 

~ The Deer ~

Psalm 42: 1-5

We made the deer cupcakes but I didn't have the right pretzels for the antlers.  Oops!  So I improvised with what I had...pretzel sticks.  The antlers looked more like antennas.  There wasn't a picture for this either.  I was slow on the picture taking this time around.

~ The Lion ~

Daniel 6: 14-23

Sorry!  We just didn't get this done.  I had thought we would do it during lunch but, that didn't happen either.  We ended up taking the kids to the animal shelter for a look around.  It's a regular outing for us.  Lucy is hoping for a dog very soon.

~ The Beehive ~

Judges 14: 5-9

I ended up adapting this recipe to fit our families taste buds.  We kept the pears whole and baked them for 20 minutes.  Then I used regular Pillsbury pie crust, cut into strips, to wrap the pears and baked them just until the crust looked crispy.  Bummer part is that I burnt the syrup that was supposed to drizzle beautifully around the pears.  It still tasted really good.  I mean really good.  This got a unanimous vote to have again.

~ The Peacock ~

1 Kings 10: 21-25

I wasn't sure how to do the feathers or the face of the peacock but, he still came out cute. 

~ The Pelican ~

Genesis 1: 20-23

We served these in the morning as toast.  Not all my kids like cheese on their bread so I just went ahead and used jam.  Too bad I didn't have any orange marmalade on hand...it would've made for a more convincing pelican I think.

~ The Phoenix ~

Job 29: 14-20

Some breaded jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce.  Simple and tasty...Princess couldn't make out what she was eating.  She kept trying to munch on the tails.  We pulled them off for her but she was really interested in them.  It was a funny/odd kind of thing to watch her.

~ The Dove ~

Song of Songs 2: 8-17

I picked up some of these for a lunch dessert.  Who can say no to chocolate miniature ice cream.  Not my kids...

For more ideas and parties link to Catholic Cuisine!

Morning Funnies

Lucy:  "What did the porcupine say to the cactus?"
Me:  "What?"
Lucy:  "Are you my mother?"

Lucy:  "What is as big as an elephant but, doesn't weigh anything?"
Me:  "Uh what?"
Lucy:  "An elephant's shadow"

Lucy:  "When the biggest elephant in the world falls into a well...how does it get out?'
Me:   "How?"
Lucy:  "Wet"

Papi:  "Why do bees hum?"
Kids:  "Why?"
Papi:  "Because they don't know the words"

Papi:  "What did the mother worm say to the little worm who was late?"
Kids:  "What?"
Papi:  "Where in earth have you been"

Papi:  "What did one termite say to the other termite when he saw a house burning?"
Kids:  "What?"
Papi:   "Bar-be-que tonight!"

Backyard Fun

in pictures

The Good Shepherd Garden Party ~week 6

~ Oh! What a Beautiful City ~

week 6

Nearing the end of the Easter Season; celebrating along with The Good Shepherd's Garden  sticker book and using the outlines set up by both Jessica & Charlotte.  It has been a fun few weeks no doubt and our family is all about the fun.  But, I am so pleased at these daily/weekly opportunities I've had in sharing scripture with my kids in a way they they can really connect with.  Specifically with the young ones.  They love the stickers, the readings, and then look forward to our weekly parties.  

~ The City Gates ~

Revelation 21: 9-14

Using pretzel twists and cheese the kids built their gates in various ways.  We had 3-pillars creations like Max's to small little fortresses like Rose's (not pictured).   The trick was making their gates B4 Princess was able to nab the cheese to eat it.

~ The Temple ~

Revelation 21:22-25

We didn't make Shirley Temples but Rose and Max came up with an alternative.  I stayed out of the way as these two inspired chefs began to mix a little of this and a little of that into a pitcher until their taste buds approved.  It was really funny to watch them.  The only thing they did add from the recipe was a cherry in each cup.

~ Hallelujah! ~

"Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure" -- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God." Revelation 19: 6-9

 I look forward to one day sing these very words in the presence of God among my family and all the angels and saints!

~ The Thrones ~

Revelation 22: 1-5

Poor Lucy.  She was so tired today.  But, she graciously put her best foot forward to decorate two chairs for the thrones.  After a nice lunch her spirit and energy returned.

~ The Groom & The Bride ~

Hosea 2: 18-20

Revelation 19: 6-9

helping to make the groom and bride

~ The Crowns ~

Isaiah 62: 3-

We made a version of this crown cake using a lemon cake recipe and some chocolate frosting.  The kids were looking forward to eating this late evening treat.

more pictures of the fun

(For more Good Shepherd's Parties go to Catholic Cuisine)

God Bless!!

Garden for Mary

Our co-op's May Crowning was today.  We, unfortunately, had to miss it due to a graduation.  The graduation was wonderful and we were honored to have been a part of this special day for a "special" friend.  My kids though had thought we could still have our own May Crowning on a more initmate level.  Here at home just us.

The kids had already worked on Mary's garden.  They finished some more clean up (we had some winds this past week) of the area and planted her flowers.  We also moved the squash/watermelon that was growing by Mary.  There is a great debate on what that plant really is.

Her garden was completed

It's going to look so pretty once the flowers begin to grow out and spread

Lucy then made a small crown for Mary and Rose crowned Our Lady

We ended our evening with a few flower shaped cookies and the Rosary by candle light

The young ones

Hail Holy Queen

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy,

Our life, our sweetness and our hope.

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve,

To thee do we send up our sighs,

Mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us,

And after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Amen.

Lap Books for Catholics

FAITH FOLDERS FOR CATHOLICS

I ran across a little note that the web site Lap Books for Catholics will be celebrating it's 2 year anniversary of service.  Lindy Meyer is the creator of these awesome templates and has generously shared her gifts with many families for a really great LOW COST.

What are lapbooks?  Well for a home schooling family it's a series of templates showcasing topics that are either being studied or in need of review.  These "folders" are a gold mine.  Fun, easy to use, and the kids love them.

Faith Folders work the same way but, are used for faith formation and these are Catholic.  I can't say enough good things about Lindy Meyer's Lap Books (with a Catholic twist).  She has made these so affordable.  We have used them for Holy Communion preparation and to celebrate the year of our priest.

Currently, Lindy is donating 50% of the proceeds from the faith folder "Year of the Priest" to charities chosen by the Barrett Family.  In honor of their son, Ryan Barrett.  This particular folder is wonderful...truly a great project for the whole family.

Please visit her site and take a look. 

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party ~week 5

~ The Gardener Plants Paradise ~

(Please visit Jessica or Charlotte's blog for details)

Our garden party was dinner tonight.  At first it was just the six of us but, my SIL and family came over to join us.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with them but I am so glad they were able hang out with us for some owl cupcakes and tea.

Side note:  My SIL is my husband's one and only sibling.  The two of them are quite close.  We home school our kids together, hang out together, and have taken a few vacations together.  It's lovely.  All 10 kids get along very well and act more like siblings themselves rather than cousins.  Now, my SIL is preggie with baby #7 so we are extra glad to have them come over to watch her tummy grow and wait for this new little one to join our fun.

Now off to the pictures:

~ Tree of Life's Leaves & Flowers ~

Revelation 22: 1-5

Isaiah 55: 12-13

We served Dare cookies both the Maple Leaf and Lemon Cremes.  I thought the Lemon Cremes were delicious, especially with tea.  We were having dinner so I also served a batch of Spinach Filled Ravioli.  I thought they looked like flowers and so did Rose.  The sauce was a simple white Alfredo and I had strips of roasted chicken in the mix too.  It was warm (the weather was a bit chilly) and good!

~ The Tree of Life's Fruit ~

Galatians 5: 22-2

My husband's sweet Nina (Godmother) sent me this basket of Edible Arrangements today in honor of Mother's Day in Mexico.  Nina Mary is a beloved lady, her generosity is unlimited.  Our family is very grateful and blessed for by her love. 

I was so excited to get these too.  It fit so perfectly for our party.

~ The Owl ~

Psalm 102: 6-12

These guys were a bit harder to do than I thought they would be.  I baked the cupcakes on Friday and thought the set up would be a breeze.  Maybe it was the little hands around me, over me, and under me that kept trying to lick the chocolate that made it harder...huh...could be.  Either way they turned out cute and I will be finding any reason I can to do them again.  The only thing I did different here was use a yellow icing I had on hand rather than a Reese's candy.

~ The Olive Tree ~

Genesis 8: 6-11

I didn't get the pictures of the Triscut Pepper & Olive crackers.  I intended to serve these crackers with Trader Joe's Kalamata Olive Hummus; my new favorite.  Time wasn't on my side for a trip to the store though.

~ The Palm Tree ~

John 12: 12-17

I used Jessica's palms taped to toothpicks and inserted into some sourdough bread

~ Roses and Lilies ~

Song of Songs 2: 1-7

Lucy made these.  She added different spices to the cream cheese, omitted the stems and made some peanut butter versions for Princess.  She did good.

These owls were probably the hit of the night.  When the cousin came over we had made extras in the hopes they would join us.  We were so happy they did!

Rose set the table for us tonight too

~ Our Garden ~

We started to work on our garden this past week too.  The plans are drawn and each child has their own idea of what they want to plant and where.  Rose requested to be in charge of Mary's Garden.  She has specific colors in mind and has put some thought into it.  Really cute!  Last week I took her to the nursery and she picked out a few flowers for Our Lady...

This is our before shot.  Sadly, I don't have the after yet.  We lost the sun and there was to much catching up to do inside.  Sorry.  I'll get the picture up in another post.

There is a squash growing by Mary that has sprouted and is growing to the surprise of the kids and myself.  No one remembers "planting" anything there.  It'll need to be transplanted though.

Have a blessed week everyone!

(Please check Catholic Cuisine for a look at more ideas and inspirations)