For His Glory

Pumpkin's Baptism

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

Our boys and our niece.

Wonder what they were talking about...

Gratuitous Baby photos :)

2012-01-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Well...maybe they aren't ALL baby photos ;)

Can you believe he is lifting his head already??? He's only 11 days old in these 2 photos! He really has great control over his head, especially for only 5 weeks old.

Christmas Day 2011

2012-01-28T18:52:00.000-08:00

UPS plane and Buzz Lightyear "blaster"

Buzz Lightyear wings (one of the hits of the day)

Tiger cub shirt. He loves being a cub scout!

Lego ideas book

K'Nex roller coaster

Tired momma with a cute baby :)

Gotcha!

Christmas Eve 2011

2012-01-20T18:27:00.000-08:00

MIL & FIL

6 kids opening 1 present :)

Have you ever seen a kid so excited over play-doh?


tired Momma

4 generations

There's a family tradition here: my MIL gives each new member of the family a "name" ornament on their first Christmas as part of the family. This is pumpkin's. Hard to tell, but it's a very pretty shade of blue with his birthstone on it.

my dad

Around the house

2012-01-18T14:22:00.000-08:00

Just some gratuitous baby shots ;)

Daddy, Doodlebug and Pumpkin

As you can see, he's a bit yellow. That has since faded.

My niece.

Velcro Boy

Such a loving brother :)

On the occasion of his birth...

2012-01-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would get out some (ridiculously) late pictures of our newest blessing.

For now we're calling him pumpkin :)

The Professor

Velcro Boy

Doodlebug

My guys :)

My MIL

Last morning in the hospital

Going home!

Announcing...

2011-12-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

The arrival of William Frederick !

I was totally amazed at:

10 pounds 4 oz.

21 inches long

born 7:57 am.

December 20, 2011

Welcome to the world Will! I'm still trying to decide on a blog nick name.

Tomorrow!

2011-12-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Tomorrow's the big day when we welcome our newest baby boy into the family. The C-section is scheduled for 7:30 am (Eastern time). If anyone's awake at that time, I would greatly appreciate your prayers. This is my 4th and I'm a bit, OK a lot, nervous about it. The last one wasn't all that much fun.
In Christ,
Kelly

I'll try to get pictures and stats updated ASAP, but I don't know if the hospital has wifi and I don't have an iphone.

9 more days!!!!

2011-12-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, time to drive everyone crazy :) We have our C-section scheduled for the morning of the 20th. So, I only have 9 more days to go. Actually 8 1/2 since it's getting later now. Part of me is hugely relieved. Part of me is a it sad.

I can't wait to hold and snuggle and see this newest little one. I'm sure he looks just like his brothers. They're all clones of each other practically. I'm anxious to move past the adhesion pain. The hips, lower back, leg and sciatica pains have been driving me crazy lately. And don't get me started with the bathroom trips ;)

And the questions!!! "oh you must be having a girl" (as I go walking past with 3 boys). "no?, well maybe the next one." Are you going to have more? You're having another one (complete with look of horror)? You do know what causes that, right? You sure have your hands full! So annoying, makes me want to hide until I give birth.

A part of me will really miss all the bumps, kicks, hiccups and rolls he's doing in me now. I think this may be the last one (seriously this time), so I may never get to experience these feelings again. I'm going to miss that. I've even been able to feel something new with this one that I don't remember from the others. I think I've been able to feel him "breathing". When I'm really still and he's in a certain position, I can feel this fairly fast, rhythmical movement that really reminds me of breathing. I know he's practicing, but it's strange being able to feel it.

Either way, time marches on and there's nothing I can do to stop it even if I want to. We're pretty much ready for his arrival. I got the diapers and wipes the other day. The clothes are washed. The car seat, bouncy seats, swing and toys are all washed. I even washed the bottles and nipples, though I hope and pray I don't need them. I've started putting together a diaper bag for him and I guess now I need a list of what to bring to the hospital with me. Coverage for the boys is lined up and we pretty much have Christmas figured out. Everything is ordered or bought and should all be here this week. I think hubby is going to do the wrapping this year, or we'll use the huge supply of gift bags we have :) I just wish I could get rid of this sneaking suspicion that I've forgotten something...

Novermber 2011 Pack meeting

2011-12-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Our Tiger den led the flag ceremony at this month's pack meeting. The boys did very well carrying those heavy flags :) (that's Velcro Boy with the American Flag. Look how proud he is...)

The Tigers also did a presentation about the Thanksgiving craft that they made. The kids brought handprints from their family members and wrote what they were thankful for.

Cubmaster had hiking beltloops to hand out as well as several others.

We also installed a few new denners...

The little things

2011-12-04T12:05:00.000-08:00

Every since I started learning about Catholicism (~2007), I've always thought that God could be found best in the little things in life. A baby's smile, a flower, the right parking space ;) Well, you get the idea. Then I found the saints. Especially St. Therese de Lisieux. She's "all about" the little stuff. So much so, that I picked her to be my patron saint at Confirmation. Or maybe she picked me...

Today we went to a different parish for Mass, hubby had to be at work early so we needed an earlier Mass. So St. Therese de Lisieux church it was. Being that the snowbirds are returning from the north, the churches are getting rather full lately and finding a "good" (non-crowded) seat is getting more difficult. We ended up grabbing a more crowded pew than I would have liked and made the best of it.

Given that I'm 2 weeks (!!!!) away from my due date, temperature has been an issue lately. Too warm and I feel like I'm going to pass out. It was warm in the church today... But just when I started to get that I'm-going-to-pass-out feeling, on comes the air conditioning. Somehow I had ended up in the spot that the a/c blows on! It got me through the rest of Mass fairly comfortably.

It struck me while I was sitting there that it had to be divine providence that put me in that exact spot and the air conditioning to top it all off. So, the question becomes, was it God "showing off", or St. Therese "showering down blessings". Either way, thanksgiving was offered up for the wonderful blessing and it reminded me to notice the little things in life.

Pack meeting ~ 10/29/11

2011-11-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

They had a great pack meeting tonight. Each of the dens had to do a presentation of some kind.

My Bear brought some of his models to ~~show off~~ "show and tell"

My Tiger did a presentation on the food pyramid


Velcro Boy is farthest to the left


The Tigers recently took a trip to tour a fire station. Cubmaster had a patch ready to present to each of them.

That's me! One of a very few rare belly shots that anyone has captured.

Cub scout update

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

We had a semi-informal pack meeting on September 22nd. my boys had already been busy completing their requirements...

Velcro Boy is a Tiger this year since he's "in" 1st grade.

The Tiger has to complete 15 requirements (5 in each of 3 categories) to earn their Tiger badge. They receive a bead for each requirement they complete, here he is receiving some of his beads. VB and I were busy over the summer, since I'm going to be pretty busy later this year and early next year, and he has so far earned 12 of his requirements.

The Wolves and Bears also earn beads for the requirements they complete. When The Professor earned his Wolf badge earlier this year, he finished earning his yellow beads. They earn 1 bead for every 3 requirements, for a total of 12 requirements. He and I were also busy this summer and he has completed 9 of his 12 requirements, so he now has 3 red beads earned toward his Bear badge.

AAA Choo!

2011-10-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry, everyone! Just had to blow the dust of my blog. Sorry for my long absence :( Things have been crazy busy around here, and yet I have little to show for it. Very few pictures and a to-do list the length of my arm. How is it that you can work like crazy and not get anything done???

Well, I guess I *have* been doing something...gestating a baby! The pregnancy is going great. Healthy, active, growing baby and a healthy mom. Three older kids that haven't killed each other or torn the house down and are generally happy and excited about their baby brother. I guess that is a lot to show for the past several months ;)

The pregnancy has been going well. All tests are normal, I even passed the glucose screening! I've been having normal pregnancy "discomforts". Frequent trips to the bathroom, lower back ache, hip ache, etc. The biggest complaint this time around would be the nearly excruciating pain near my ribs and the corresponding location on my back. After a very long discussion with my doctor, we've come to the conclusion that it's adhesions from prior surgery and 3 other c-sections. Which means that there's nothing wrong. Which also means that there's nothing he can do :( I have to muddle through as best I can until Tiny is ready to come out. This means lots of time resting on my left side (the only position to offer total relief) or sitting with my feet up . Maybe that's why I'm not getting anything done!

Fortunately I only have 9 weeks and 5 days to go! We have a c-section scheduled for December 20th, so at least I have an end-point to keep my eye on. And I have a lot to offer up for the poor souls :)

I have a schooling update to post, hopefully I can get that up soon as well as a scouting update.

Giveaway!

2011-10-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

They're hosting a great giveaway at Freely Educate http://www.freelyeducate.com/2011/10/giveaway-500-worth-of-science-ambooks-to-ten-winners-50-value-for-each-winner.html#comment-6a00e55098fdaf8833015435f816a4970c. They're offering a great science program for a $50 value. Check it out.

It's a ......

2011-07-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if you can't tell, I'm over-the-moon happy about this!!! All along I've thought this little one was a boy. I already have been blessed with 3 others, what else could it possibly be?!? :)

Some pics...

This a cute little profile...

His perfect little foot! You can even count the toes :) With all of the ultrasounds I've had with each of the boys, this is the first time I've gotten one of these shots!

Adorable little hand...again, you can count the fingers.

The tech almost wasn't able to tell the gender :( Tiny just wouldn't cooperate, I guess he's just stubborn. Must run in the family :) She finally got a great shot of his you-know-what, but I'm going to respect his privacy (he he)

We got to see lots of this little guy. At one point he even had his hand up behind his head, a familiar trademark of ALL of my guys :)

Cub Scout Camp 2011

2011-06-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, The Professor went to a cub scout day camp. Aside from the heat (80-90+ every day), he had a great time. They made lots of projects, of course I only got pictures of a few things. They did lots of activities, marshmallow guns through targets, water guns at each other, etc. They even had a station called "concoctions". They made slime, homemade pasta (red), scrambled eggs (green) and ice cream! Here are some of the projects he came home with...

Windchimes!

They decorated a canvas bag, his is a plane, of course. :)

a pinwheel...

Believe it or not, this is a kite! Also decorated with planes :)

The green strings are the kite strings.

Overall he had lots of fun. This was followed up with a ballgame, movie and sleepover at the local minor league baseball ballpark. He did this with his dad, I'm so not a sleep-on-the-ground person :)

The Professor's First Communion Part 2

2011-06-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

After the Mass, we had family back to the house. Unfortunately, some were not able to make it due to illness and others were out of town, so it ended up being a small gathering.

The cake...

The Professor's Nana made him a bagful of stuff. She typed up and framed his favorite scripture and his favorite Psalm.

I was looking around for cake ideas, and I came across a link to an Etsy shop that sells Lego Rosaries! I *knew* he would love one, and I was right!!!! He really looks forward to prayer-time now.

My favorite gift of all (even better than the reaction to the Rosary), was a spiritual bouquet my MIL gave him from her lay Carmelite community. Those wonderful people have offered so many Masses, holy hours, Chaplets, Rosaries, etc I couldn't believe it. When I asked her when all of these had started being offered, she said "about a month ago". I was flabbergasted! The conversion in his attitude and some things that had been happening around here that just stopped out of the clear blue was amazing. It was an incredible witness to the power of prayer that continues to move me to this day.

It was such a blessed day. It's wonderful to see the changes that have come to The Professor in just the short time since he began to receive Jesus.

The Professor's First Communion

2011-06-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

In a beautiful Mass (what Mass isn't beautiful???) about 6 weeks ago The Professor received his First Communion. We've been rather busy since then, so I apologize for not getting pictures up sooner.

He's in the second row, second from the end. As you can see, the church (huge, BTW) was overpacked. The pews were shoulder to shoulder with kids on laps. People were standing two or three deep. More were there for this than Midnight Mass or the Easter Vigil!

Just HAD to fix his jacket during the homily!!!!!!!!!!!

Second row, the one with the glasses :)

I believe the question was :Who wants to go to Heaven?

Not mine, but I thought this was funny. Mom came chasing this kid down for across the church and the look says, "Awww, mom. This is so not cool!" ha ha!

He's on the right.

These photos were all taken by the parish's photographer, so I hold no claim to them at all.

Introducing....

2011-06-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

Tiny!!!! We still don't know the gender, nor do we have a name picked out, but we do have a nickname :) I had an ultrasound last week and thought I would share!

In this one you can see his hand up near his face toward the left and the legs are toward the right.

In about the same position, his hand is toward mid-body.

Back in May, when I was 7 weeks along I had another ultrasound done and forgot to post the pictures. After this ultrasound we were calling the baby "dot".

Pentacost Sunday

2011-06-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
V. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Week 11.5 (ish) check-up

2011-06-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

I had my 11/12 week check-up today. All went well. Now I get to go have 50 tubes of blood drawn :( Probably Friday... Doctor's happy with my progress and on a very positive and totally unexpected note....we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really wasn't expecting it for a number of reasons:
1. It's still early, being only 11 weeks and 2 days.
2. We weren't able to get The Professor's or Doodlebug's heartbeats at the 12 week check-up.
3. Big belly.

But the doctor was persistent, and through some manipulation of my uterus, we were able to briefly hear it. He didn't hold it for too long (didn't want to hurt me), so no count, but long enough to hear it!

BTW...he's performed several successful forth C-sections lately.

AND...he was happy to hear about the queasiness! Said it's a sign of a strong pregnancy. (I didn't really have any with the other pregnancies)

The Ascention of Our Lord

2011-06-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God,
that we who believe
Thine only-begotten Son our Redeemer,
to have ascended this day into heaven,
may ourselves dwell in spirit amid heavenly things.
Roman Missal, 6th-8th Century

New video

2011-04-29T18:31:00.001-07:00

Is everyone videoed out, yet ? ;) Here's one of the kids playing. Just some random stuff, but it end with them launching water rockets with their grandpa. Lots of fun!

Easter morning

2011-04-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

I got some video of the boys on their egg hunt. They had fun :)

Kid's rooms

2011-04-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

We recently redid the kids rooms (prior to finding out about our new little bundle), so, yes these will change but it works well for now. Seems like just when I get everything settled, something changes. Sigh... Oh well, it's worth it!

This is The Professor's Room (it WAS the nursery, hence the teddy bear border)

Doodlebug's bed.

The inside of their closet. I moved the toys in here.

Velcro Boy's side of the room.

Came out pretty well, I think.

pinewood Derby 2011

2011-04-26T09:14:00.001-07:00

Finally, some much awaited video. It's about 8 1/2 minutes long, but the awards are the last 4 minutes or so.

soccer

2011-04-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to editing and uploading video from the kids' soccer games 2 months ago (insert sheepish grin). Enjoy

This is Velcro Boy (he's #5 with the sunglasses)

This is The Professor (he's #4 with the sunglasses)

And here are some pictures:

Since I was The Professor's Team Manager, I got a photo with him.

Velcro Boy in his uniform.

Alleluia!!!!

2011-04-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!!!!

2011-04-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

...on Earth as it is in Heaven.

2011-04-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

O blood and water, which gushed forth from the heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, I trust in You.

Thy will be done...

2011-04-21T17:54:00.000-07:00

"My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. " (Matt 26:39)

Did He know how bad it was going to be? I think He did. I mean, He IS God and all. And yet. He still did it. He loves us THAT much. Totally incomprehensible. Incredibly amazing. Completely wonderful.

We watched the Passion of the Christ the other night. Actually we split it between 2 nights, it was so hard to watch. According to hubby, the damage inflicted is realistic given what we know of Roman methods of torture. This just bowls me away. It gave me a whole new view of just how bad sin truly is.

body, blood, soul and divinity

2011-04-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Lord, for the immense gift you give us each and every day. Totally undeserved. Totally amazing.

Hosanna!!!

2011-04-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the Highest!

"Happy" Palm Sunday Everyone!

news

2011-04-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

As you can tell my the "new" look to the blog, there have been some changes around here. If you're reading this in your reader, please click over to the blog.

We just found out that we're expecting baby #4!!!!! We're a bit surprised (not really), and totally thrilled. The real surprise is the due date. Christmas Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since this will be (another) C-section, it will most likely be a few days before Christmas, but still! I remember being pregnant with Doodlebug at Christmas (about a month before he was born) and feeling such a kinship with Our Blessed Mother. I can only imagine what it will be like this time.

Good news: no fasting on Good Friday!!!!! I will abstain though ;)

Please keep me and this little one in your prayers. Since I'm "getting up there" in maternal age (39 later this year), and the 3 prior C-sections, this one could get tricky later on.

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-04-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of February we made a trip to Rhode Island to see my grandparents. The area had just had a major snow storm and the airports were closed. While the circumstances weren't the best (grandpa was very sick), it was great to see snow again. I moved to sunnier parts many years ago and I miss snow :( The boys had never seen it and they were besides themselves to see, feel, play, jump, etc in it. Here are some shots I got.

These are views from our hotel room window. The foreground is the snow bank across the parking lot. The middle ground is the roof of a nearby building. It was snowing at the time, though you can't see it too well.

The Professor and Doodlebug sitting on the window sill watching the snow/rain mixture. As you can tell it was early morning, and it was more rain than snow, so we didn't go outside. We only had one other opportunity to see it snowing, and that was at 11:00 at night in Maryland on our way home :( Only Velcro Boy, hubby and I got to see it. I was tempted to wake the other boys, but didn't (cold, wearing pajamas, didn't want them to stay awake instead of sleeping on the road later...). In hindsight, I regret not waking them up. It was a nice snow fall too. VB and I got out of the car at the rest stop and caught snow with our tongues.


It was snowing, you can see some accumulation on this car (not ours). Amazingly, when we went out later, there was no snow on our car.

On the way, we stopped at a park in Connecticut to let the boys run a bit. They were tired after being cooped up in the car for two straight (long) days. They had a blast.

Here's some video!

Pinewood Derby

2011-04-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me that I am WAY behind on my posting (again). Trying to catch up.

Here are some pictures of The Professor's Pinewood Derby stuff.

His car

He was a bit disappointed that he came in 4th, but we were happy he wasn't last :)

The can opener he won for "Most Aerodynamic"

The flashlight he won for Fourth Place.

Some of the other cars that were there...

Video to follow soon...I promise :)

Cute kid stuff...

2011-04-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

I got you!

Peek-a-boo Daddy!

What?!? Can't EVERYONE read like this?!?

My little stairsteps :)

The Professor builds...

2011-04-13T12:07:00.000-07:00

Lots of things...


A vacuum cleaner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it really works!

He tested it out on the grains of salt from our salt grinder.

The back is covered with tape. If you look closely, some of the "dirt" gets stuck to the tape.

In his chapter on Venus, the project was to learn how radar works (remember he's 7!!!). The parent was to build the surface of Venus without the student seeing it. This box was covered with a graph (see below) that he had to check each grid square to map the surface.

This is his "measuring stick". Each color marks an inch.

The final surface map :)


A Camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Modeled to look like my Rebel 2000, complete with flash and telephoto lens :)

A compass!!! We followed the instructions in Exploring Creation With Astronomy and it worked perfectly. We actually tried this once before and it flopped royally :)

Pointing north!

Doodlebug is 3!!!

2011-03-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

and 6 weeks later...I'm finally posting pictures & video!!! My only defense is a trip out of town, soccer games and unavailable guests delayed his party (by 3 weeks).


The new favorite toy. Toy Story Memory game from Aunt & Uncle.


Thomas bubble set!


Of course, big brother HAS to explain how it works ;)


street sweeper truck


fire truck, And he's wearing a new shirt (as if the tag didn't give it away). It says goal all over the front with pictures of soccer balls.

The Lion Country Safari Cake!!!!

Blowing out candles...

please forgive the singing...we're a bit tone deaf ;)

Cub Scouts Blue & Gold Banquet 2011

2011-03-11T18:08:00.000-08:00

We had our annual Blue & Gold Banquet recently, and it was a great success. Once a year the pack gets together for a banquet. This is when the boys usually get most/all of the awards/badges/ranks that they have earned through the year. They do get stuff at each monthly pack meeting, but the month or 2 before the banquet there are no pack meetings. Our cubmaster likes to save it all up :) If the boys haven't completed all the requirements for their rank badges (as most haven't), they are on an honor system to get their requirements completed. The Professor is just two sub-requirements away from being done. He needs to fold an American flag and participate in a flag raising/lowering ceremony. Due to circumstances, we haven't been able to come across a flagpole in time. We will have access to one and should get these completed in the next month or so.

So...The Professor is now a Wolf!!!


This is the banquet hall. It's actually an American Legion post.

The boys all getting their badges for the Pinewood Derby.

The Professor getting his Wolf rank.

The Professor getting one of his beltloops.


Most of the pack. There are 2 boys that weren't there. (The pack photographer also isn't shown, she's behind the camera ;)

Lent traditions

2011-03-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

Since what we're doing this year is basically that same as last year (I guess that's why they're called traditions...), most of this is from last year...

Our countdown calendar...

The Crown of Thorns...

How would you like one of these shoved into your head?!?

OUCH!!!

They are actually only toothpicks painted black and glued in place, but you get the point

(he he ~ no pun intended)

Our food for thought is now on the crown molding over our back room

And of course we have our Jesus tree too!

We completed the Lenten lapbook that I meant to do last year. I'll post pictures soon.

We've decided to give up a few things for this Lent. Crazy bread and sweets (except for Sundays, holidays and Feast Days). The money that we save will go into our Rice Bowl for Catholic Relief Services. We'll also be in front of the local abortion clinic each week (Tuesdays mostly, since it's a busy day) to support 40 Days for Life. I'll also be adding some Lenten spiritual reading, and trying to restart our prayer times with Rosary, Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Liturgy of the Hours. This rededication of time will have to come from somewhere else, so the looser will have to be the computer. I won't disappear completely :), but will be pulling back a bit. I have some posts to catch up on though.

This to this

2011-02-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

We've been making some changes to the house recently and just now gotten to the kids' rooms. We decided to sell the glider since we're running out of room. When posting the pics to Craig's list, the boys wanted to get in on the action. It reminded me of an older picture we have...

This was taken Jan 2007, when The Professor was 3 1/2 and Velcro Boy was 1 1/2.

This was taken last month, so The Professor was 7 1/2 and Velcro Boy was 5 1/2. What a difference 4 years makes...

So much difference in fact...

That Doodlebug was almost 3 in this shot :)

Candlemas Tea Party

2011-02-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Jessica (inspired by Alice), we had a tea party in honor of the Purification of Mary. The kids love these tea parties.

~ White Cocoa with Pure Hearts ~

The whiteness reminds us of her purity. Out of obedience and humility, she went to the Temple for the ritual of Purification, but she was at all times sinless and spotless from the moment of her conception.

Serve White Cocoa topped with Whipped Cream and Strawberry Marshmallow hearts, representing the purity of both Mary and St. Joseph.

~ Piercing Swords ~

Cubes of cheese pierced with cocktail swords.

~Pure Hearts~

Heart shaped marshmallows with fresh whipped cream to represent Our Lady's pure and innocent heart. Each heart has been pierced with a sword for added significance.

~ Anna the Prophetess ~

Mallomars. They are perfect for Anna. The black outer shell shows that she is a widow, but inside you will see the purity and goodness of her devout heart represented in the white center. Note that the marshmallow stands on top of a graham cracker, remindingus that this good woman never left the floor of the Temple day or night.

We had some Mallomars left over, so when Doodlebug had one days after the party, he remembered that the Mallomar stood for something and he wanted me to retell the symbolism :)

~ Holy Simeon's Arms ~

Mini pretzel's symbolize arms folded in prayer.

~ Edible Candles ~

Pirouette cookies dipped in melted white chocolate.

Additionally, we "should" have served :

~ Water ~

A pitcher of water for purification.

~ A Pair of Turtledoves ~

To represent the tax paid at the temple.

Using a Dove Cookie Cutter, make Dove Shaped PB&J Sandwiches. Or PB & Fluff

The kids had a blast!

Funny stuff

2011-01-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

Some miscellaneous pictures of the boys...

Doodlebug has graduated from a 5 point restraint "baby" seat to a real big-boy belt positioning booster!!!! So much easier

My mom recently knitted the boys some hats. You know, for when it gets "cold" :) They took to wearing them pulled down ~~over~~ to their eyes and I commented that they look like "gangsta rappers".

Like all hoodlums they had to lean as well :)

12 Days of Christmas lapbook

2011-01-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

Last year I picked up a lapbook for the 12 Days of Christmas from Faith Folders for Catholics (great company BTW), but we never had the chance to get to it. This year we did manage it ! Did I also mention that I got the Advent lapbook too? Got it printed and cut apart, but we never got around to assembling. Oh well, now I have a jump for next year :)

Here are some pictures from the 12 Days of Christmas...

front cover

inside left ~ the top book is "The History of the Song", then "The Meaning of the Song" and "How strong is My Faith". The last book gives a challenge to "test" how strong their faith is.

inside center ~ inside each matchbook, there is the "gift" given and the hidden meaning of each symbol.

front of inside flap


back of the inside flap ~ the can come up with their own clues for each of the 12 days on the catechism books. The other two pockets are matching games ~ an excellent catechism in themselves!

right flap

back cover ~ these are the words to the song

State by State Scrapbook ~ Maryland

2011-01-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Whew...almost done (catching up that it :) )

We completed our Maryland scrapbook pages...

state flag

state information

USA location map

state map

state flower

state bird

Christmas Day

2011-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

Just a "few" pictures from Christmas ;)

Our usual Christmas morning shot at the top of the stairs. The kids are getting too big!

can the eyes get any bigger?!?

Where to start?

cap guns!

all set for soccer

he was so thrilled to be getting another pair of brown gloves (for playtime)

inchworm...remember these????

The Professor's new bike

His favorite new book! Yes, he loves to read about the elements.

Thomas...

and more Thomas!

power screwdriver and a 5 year old...hmmm...this can't be good...

playing Chinese checkers with Nana and Uncle Phil

Part of the family...There were a few more toward the bottom of the shot.

Yes...he ate ALL.that.food!

Doodlebug and Greatgrandpa. The oldest and the youngest in one shot. Good shot honey!

(There are actually 2 younger grandchildren in the family. One was at my SIL's family's house and the other had not arrived at our house yet.)

Hope everyone has a blessed, safe and Merry Christmas!!!

+JMJ+

December Feast Days

2011-01-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

Though we didn't do everything I would have liked to do, we did manage to celebrate a few of the many special feast days during Advent.

Starting with the Feast of St. Andrew...

Fishers of ...goldfish! :) Pretzel stick fishing rods and goldfish!

Due to a peanut allergy, the Professor was using cream cheese, but the other boys used peanut butter.

They had a blast!

Then...Feast of St. Nicholas...

We don't have much need for slippers here in the south, so I just used their shoes.

These coins were such a fantastic idea Jessica came up with. I have gotten so many wonderful ideas from her!!!! She was so very generous and shared her documents with the rest of us. She also provides links for Christmas coins that I made for our nieces. So cute!

Of course, the boys all received books :)

They really liked this tradition and I think it's a keeper.

Advent Happenings

2011-01-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

Making our Christ candle. Very simple rub-ons that I picked up at Michael's at last year's post Christmas sale.

Inspired by Jessica's post from last year, I created an O'Antiphon's house of our own. She so very sweetly shared the document she used for her house and I was well on my way :)

Some purple spray paint left from Lent, some gold from Easter and a trip to Michael's and I was all set. They didn't have any blocks in the size I needed, so we got one large block and hubby cut them down to size for me.

Also inspired by Jessica, we celebrated the O'Antiphon days with their own special activity. Each day was a hit and the kids were so excited about the next day. This is definitely a tradition that we'll be keeping around here!

December 17th ~ O Wisdom ~ We gave the kids each a book. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to catch them...but they got books about Epiphany

December 18th~O Adonai~ Gingerbread house kit! The boys and their daddy had a blast putting it together. I think they did a rather nice job for their first time :)

December 19th~O Root of Jesse~ I had planned on making a stew or soup of some kind including root veggies, but I ran out of time. So I settled with reading The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola. BTW...did you hear his good news??? Another good idea would be these cupcakes.

December 20th ~ O Key of David ~ Key lime pie, of course! I think I may need to find something else because the boys weren't too into this pie. :(

December 21st ~ O Dayspring ~ We went for a Christmas light drive. Other ideas.

December 22nd ~ O King ~ the plan was to make crowns or crown shaped sugar cookies. Notice I said "the plan"...

December 23rd ~ O Emmanuel ~ We didn't really do anything for this. But I'm in love with this chocolate Nativity set Jessica made. Of course she has other wonderful ideas to go along with O Antiphons too :)

Of course we had our Advent wreath, Jesse Tree, and other countdown calendars as well as our Nativity set. (I see that I neglected to post pictures of the completed donkey...)

When we rearranged the house we neglected to leave space for the Christmas tree :( So we searched and procrastinated. Finally we decided to put it in the corner of the dining area. You can see a bit of it in the picture above. There was no room for the angel though, so she resided on top of one of the bookcases looking over the whole room.

December Pack Meeting

2011-01-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Since we were so close to Christmas, not too many people showed up. The Professor was the only one that earned anything. He has continued in his progress toward ranks and has earned another bead. In fact, he's only 2 activities short of earning his 4th and last bead and getting his wolf badge!!! I'm so proud of him. He's worked hard.

Veteran's Day parade

2011-01-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Another event I neglected to post about (insert sheepish grin here) :)

The Professor's the one in sunglasses.

Of course Doodlebug couldn't be left out ;)

November Pack Meeting

2011-01-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

It's come to my attention that I have horribly neglected this blog. :( Sorry everyone! Things got pretty busy around here...I'm sure you can all empathize :)

Going back a while, I'll attempt to catch you up, without overwhelming you :)

At the November cub scouts pack meeting The Professor earned...

his first 2 beads! To earn their wolf badges, they must complete 12 requirements. For every 3 requirements they complete, they earn a bead to go on a "progress toward ranks" cord.

He also got his soapbox derby "license". Super excited!!

On Veterans Day his pack was in a parade (did I post about this????). Cubmaster put a patches for the parade in some balloons. The only way the boys could get the patch was to pop the balloon. I totally did not expect The Professor to get up there and pop one, but he did!!!!

Halloween ~ 2010

2010-11-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Professor...Firefighter

Velcro Boy...dinosaur

Doodlebug...The cutest candy corn you ever saw :)

I made each of them a bag for trick or treating. There are ghosts on the ones on either end.

The one in the middle has a bat on the front.

Cub Scouts October pack meeting

2010-11-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

Hangin' with the guys. They were supposed to make a picture with scraps of paper, he made a dinosaur :)

Getting his kickball beltloop.

Pinewood Derby car kit! He already has his sketched out. He wanted to start cutting it, but we don't have the tools :)

Computers beltloop.

Putting on his denner cords.

The kids in each den will take turns being the "denner". They will take attendance at each meeting, relay any information from the cubmaster to the kids, etc. It's a leadership position that's meant to encourage independence, leadership skills as well as improving relating to others.

Home Makeover...the school room edition~completed!!!!!

2010-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

It's done, it's done, it's really, really done!!!!! Insert happy dance here :)

I'm soooooo glad to have this project done.

Doodlebug's area. The cards on top of the bookcase aren't normally there. *Someone* just had a birthday!

Velcro Boy's area. We refer to them as cubicles :) The small bookcase on the right holds my lesson plan book with my scheduling calendars, etc hung over it.

The Professor's with our "altar" on the left

The new table and chair. They look really tiny in the pictures, they really are bigger :)

Our t.v. area. On the right is our "tv" (actually an "old" computer monitor). We can also connect the laptop to watch DVD's back here. Excellent lighting for reading, painting, sewing, etc back here!

Not sure how long the play kitchen will stay here. Maybe Doodlebug's room, maybe elsewhere...

This is the corner where the bookcases used to be! This desk is huge!!! Almost triple the space we used to have.

The Professor made this decoration all.by.himself.!!! (It's a stand up skeleton and black cat on a fence.)

So, that's our makeover! Now on to the next BIG project.

Planning curriculum for Velcro Boy (and overhauling the schedules and plans for the rest of the house). Having him in school wasn't working out. They weren't giving him the speech therapy he needs, so Friday was his last day! I've ordered a few things and I have a bunch of workbooks to go through, but we'll take it easy the first week or two. I also have to find some speech exercises that I can do with him here at home.

After that we need to go through everything in the attic and purge some things. I also need to go through the kids clothes for winter stuff. The Professor is all set for winter, but I realized yesterday afternoon that he needs new shirts for church. His current ones are about as tight as they should get and still look OK. He can't grow more then 1/2 an inch or so this winter, or his pants will be too short :) These kids need to stop growing :)

Blue Knights ~ Arrow of the Love of God

2010-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

This was our October meeting. Another great time! Doodlebug was a bit more of a handful than last time, but I think it's important for him to get out too and make friends with these kids. Did I mention that we're doing this with 2 other families from our homeschool group???

Tonight we learned about St. Sebastian. They colored, had a talk, a bible verse, then they decorated arrows! Then they went outside for an arrow toss (foam arrows!), then had a snack and free play.

These are the arrows that they made

We all decided to go ahead and get the breastplate, capes and badges that go with the program. We just decided recently to do this, so we're still working on last month's badge requirements. Those should be done in the next week and we'll get started on this month's requirements. I even got one for Doodlebug. I figured he would feel a bit ~~majorly~~ left out if he didn't have one :)

The patches will be added as in the top picture. There's a different set of patches for each year. They recently added year 5.

These are the patches for year 1.

We host the meeting next month here! Our theme ~ The Spear of the Fear of God!

Flag ceremony & campout

2010-10-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Professor has really been having a lot of fun with cub scouts! Recently they practiced an outdoor flag ceremony and had a campout (for the day).

They have to practice because their pack is marching in the Veteran's Day parade on Nov 7th!!!!!!!!!!!

They also went out for a day campout :)

hanging out with a friend

Cubmaster starting a fire the old-fashioned way!

"Fishing"

Blue Knights Meeting ~ The Shield of Faith

2010-10-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

I've had the pictures of this meeting in the camera for a while. So, I finally decided to get them put up :)

The boys had a great time at their first Blue Knights meeting! I KNEW that if I left Doodlebug home and took the older boys with me he would pitch the biggest fit, so I took him. Didn't regret it a bit! He had a blast. Our hosts were nice enough to make him his own coloring page (St. Peter, the saint selected for this meeting) and got him something to paint while the others were painting their shields.

They started out coloring, them moved onto scripture and prayers and a discussion of faith. They demonstrated faith (in another person) by falling backward and being caught (by one of the dads, not each other :). Then they painted their shields, did an outside activity, had a snack and played for a while. They had so much fun!!!!

The shields needed a second coat when we got home. It took us a while with Velcro Boy's crazy schedule, but we finally got them done!

Velcro Boy...

The Professor

They're really looking forward to the next meeting...The Arrow of the Love of God!

Cub Scouts September pack meeting

2010-10-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Professor had his first pack meeting last week. Sorry it's been so long in getting this posted...busy, busy, busy :)

He received several badges. He earned his bobcat badge...

This will become a "collector's item" since it's dated. This is the 100 year anniversary of scouting, so most items are dated when they usually aren't.

Last year his pack earned a quality patch, it was awarded this night.

The parents even earned a pin!

Bobcat head and it says bobcat under it.


His handbook.

He also received the certificate for the kickball beltloop, but the scout shop was out of them

so he'll get it later.

He is really enjoying scouting!

Tonight they practiced a flag ceremony. He had a lot of fun!

State by State Scrapbook ~ Connecticut

2010-10-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

~First Page~

State Flower


State Facts

~Second Page~

I guess I forgot to get a shot of the whole page :(

State Flag

State Bird

~Third Page~

Where in the country is it?

State map

State by State Scrapbook ~ Georgia

2010-10-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

It recently occurred to me that I never got around to posting about Georgia... Oops!

~First Page~

State flower


State map

~Second page~

State Flag

State Bird

State Facts

Our Lady of the Rosary

2010-10-07T18:45:00.000-07:00

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae,

vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.

ad te clamamus

exsules filii Evae,

ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes

in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos

misericordes oculos ad nos converte;

et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,

nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

Ora pro nobis sancta Dei Genetrix.

Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

For our celebration of this day, I "made" ~~threw together~~ a rosary inspired by Jessica.

Hop on over to Catholic Cuisine to see other wonderful ideas...

engine

2010-10-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hubby found the COOLEST thing!!!!!

A see through engine!

they have so many cool things at this site!

Hubby and my father-in-law "worked with" ~~built it for~~ The Professor.

check out these instructions!!!

even has itty bitty spark plug wires :)

The Man team :)

And it counts as school work!!!!

Donkey and goat

2010-10-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Two more figures for our Nativity...

donkey

goat

The set is really coming together. My goal is to get the other 2 wise men done before Christmas. I would also like to get the cow and any other animals done before we put the set out. I forget how many others there are.

Who says kids don't understand???

2010-10-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

For each of the Saints' feast days, I *try* to honor them in some way. A book, craft, snack, meal, etc. Today, being the Feast of St. Francis of Assissi, I went with animal crackers. St. Francis is, of course, known for his love of animals.

After explaining the reason why were having animal crackers, we ate. Doodlebug (so very cutely!) says "thank you animal man!"

After Mass on Sunday, he pulls his hand from mine and goes running (to my horror) across the rear of the church to a side alcove we have. What was he so interested in? A statue of Jesus' Sacred Heart. I follow him in and hear him muttering to the statue. When I ask him what he was saying, he says "Jesus, help me to be good and to be a priest". I nearly burst into tears!

It's so encouraging to see the kids really absorbing their faith!