I might have missed out on a morning surprise: heart-shaped pancakes made by seven-year-old Hannah who smuggled her Little House on the Prairie cookbook to bed the night before to plan. Oh , how I don't miss those rushed mornings getting everyone out to the schoolbus! It's been over nine years and I haven't looked back!
This fall has been one of our busiest I can remember. Yet in spite of the plethora of activities, it has all been pretty mundane kinds of things... so I won't bother listing the details.
Halloween was yesterday and it was lots of fun! Lots of candy, kids and noise..just the way Halloween should be. My favorite costume of the day was my daughter Becky's rendition of Audrey Hepburn. It was a group effort, with older sisters Jessie and Kate providing the clothes and accessories. (Don't worry the "cigarette" is actually a white crayon) Kate did a great job on the make-up, and my years of experience doing ballet up-dos came in handy. Of course Becky's hamming it up for the camera helped, too!
When it is two days before the Feast of the Archangels, and your friend, Father Angelus, is visiting from England, and he would like to do a teaching to a group of homeschooled children, what is a mom to do?
Well, I gathered a few of our homeschool friends, planned a quick lunch after attending noon Mass celebrated Fr. Angelus, conjured up a St. Michael craft and left the talk to Father. I suggested the topic of angels would be appropriate given the Feast of the Archangels is tomorrow... and let's not forget the Feast of the Guardian Angels coming up on October 2.
Since I am not very artistically gifted, I needed a craft that did not require me drawing anything. I lean toward crafts of the paper plate variety. This is what I came up with:
Materials needed: paper plates (one per child), red and yellow tissue paper for the fires of hell, silver paper (could be aluminum foil) for the sword, white feathers, glue, copies of the Prayer to St. Michael, a little smaller than a small index card (I mounted them on colored paper), string for hanging.
First we cut the paper plates into quarters and glued two quarters together at the points, to resemble wings.
I cut the border of the plate into a semi-circle. This is what the pieces looked like:
We glued white feathers to the wings, and the red and yellow tissue paper, cut into random flame shapes, to the semi-circle and glued it to the wings.
The silver paper was cut into sword shapes and glued onto the feathers above the flames. The prayer card got a hole punched into the top and was glued to the top of the wings. String was strung through the hole and knotted so the decoration could be hung.
This is the finished product:
The children
talked about the symbolism on the decoration... feathers for the archangel Michael; colored tissue paper for the "fires of hell"; and the sword for St. Michael, defending us in battle.
Here is Fr. Angelus after talking with the children about all things angel.
A fun afternoon for all!
Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael... pray for us!
At a family party this weekend, my great-niece Jordyn was sporting these Baby Ugg boots. I couldn't resist those adorable little feet in those boots! And I can't resist playing with my pictures on Photobucket ! You should try it sometime.
For comparison, I posted the original pictures with the new version immediately following:
Have fun getting creative with your own pictures!
And have a great week.
Today is our daughter Becky's fifteenth birthday! Oh my goodness... you have no idea how quickly fifteen years can fly by until you've had children.
On each of their birthdays, Dan and I will reminisce with the children about the day they were born. Becky's labor and delivery were pretty much textbook. But, the one memory we always share is how, as I was being wheeled to my room after recovery, one of the interns who was present at the delivery stopped us and said..." I remember your daughter... forte!" as he pumped his fist in the air. The dictionary meaning of the word forte is a person's strong point or often in music it means played loudly or with strength. Rebecca was strong, right from the start. Not just physically ( yes, she could beat all the boys in her 2nd grade class at arm wrestling!), but strength of character. As I watch her grow into a beautiful young lady, those words spoken in the maternity ward fifteen yers ago seem prophetic to me. Becky is steadfast in her convictions; she is honest; a loyal friend; strong in her faith; and all around the kind of friend most moms would want their own daughters to have. She has such a gentle and sweet spirit and that is the strength we love most about her. She lights up our home and our family is blessed and lives richer because of having her!
We love you, Becky! (That's her on the right, with her cousin/Godmother)
Have a blessed day!
Enjoying Ben's Christmas Eve birthday dinner. Every year he chooses twice baked potatoes and meat... this year we slow-roasted yummy ribs in the oven for about five hours. Delicioius! Happy 17th, Ben!
Dan spent a good part of the week in the garage buliding this hope chest for Kate's Christmas gift. It turned out beautiful! I stocked it with some Christmas movies no home should be without; a starter Willow Creek Natvity; a sewing basket; and a book on home organization ( I could use one, myself!)
Not ten minutes after Hannah opened her American Girl doll, she was asking if she could give her a haircut! I realized that it wasn't necessarily the doll's hair that was at issue... she just wanted the same haircut as the doll. So I gave her bangs, just like Ivy's the next day! Now I need to find a 12-step program for moms who insist on cutting their own kid's hair when they have no idea how to do it!
OK, so this would have been the family picture on our Christmas card , had we sent Christmas cards this year. A little mix-up with the CVS website where we planned on having them printed in one hour... one hour became 5-7 business days, and we have yet to get the cards! Good thing there are twelve days of Christmas!
Kate and Matt in front of our tree. Next year they will be posing in front of their first tree as a married couple!
Last week I saw an article in our local paper saying that the VFW Post in our town would be collecting items and packing up care packages to send to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for Christmas. I thought this would be an excellent cause for the kids to get involved with. Plus, having our very own Iraq veteran living in our house has made me much more aware of the sacrifices the men and women of our armed services (and their families) choose to make for our country.
On Friday morning, five homeschooling families gathered at the Bonny Blue House to craft Christmas cards. Remember, these are homeschooling families, so that amounted to about 26 children! It was a great activity and other than the setup and cleanup, the moms were able to have coffee and chat while the children got their creative juices flowing. Paper, glue, glitter, old Christmas cards, markers, trimmings and stickers were provided and then we just turned them loose to create. Some of the results were beautiful. Some were pretty sticky and messy! All were made with love.
Early Saturday morning I packed up the cards, Thomas, Hannah and soon-to-be son-in-law, Matt and we shopped for a few useful items to add to the care packages. I'm told that nice tp is in demand, as well packages of drink mixes which are pre-measured for bottled water.
Then off to the VFW, where we were amazed at the amount of men, women, and children who got out of bed early on a cold Saturday morning during the busiest season of the year to send some love overseas. I definitely need to do more of this. Sometimes, when homeschooling, even though we do gather regularly with other families, we tend to be isolated in our own communities. This is something I am hoping to change in the new year.
Here are some pictures of our card-making party:
Ready and waiting for the mess to begin
Cards packed and ready to ship
My nine-year-old Thomas took this Wordless Wednesday photo today on a nature walk leading up to the bay. Just sharing it because I like how he captured the lighthouse at the head of the path.
Have a great day!
