On the Feast of St. Joseph

We didn't do too much today (sorry it's taken so long to post).  We had a nice family morning, I'm sure St. Joseph would have approved.  We went to a local Marine life center with my sister-in-law and my two nieces.  Hubby had the day off (rare for a Friday), so we really enjoyed ourselves.  The kids had a blast with each other.

Then we went to Jo-Ann fabrics to pick up fabric to make new altar cloths (the old ones are stained for some reason) and purple to drape the statues, etc.  While we were there I "just happened" to come across the perfect lace to make a new mantilla!  I have a beautiful one now, but packing it up to go to Mass and unpacking it for home prayer time has gotten to be a nuisance.  Plus, I've recently managed to carve out time for daily Mass 3 times per week (yippee!!!!), so I know I'll forget it if it doesn't stay in my purse.  So, I decided (quite spur of the moment) to make a new one.  

Hubby and I went out to dinner and a movie that night while my mother-in-law came to stay with the kids.  We're hoping to make it a regular monthly thing.  He and I get so little time together.

We colored pictures:

The Professor's

Velcro Boy's:

And we read a few books:

Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi
Father and Son a Nativity Story by Geraldine McCaughrean
Good Saint Joseph by Fr. Lovasik

I had planned to do a 3D Cut & color Virtual St. Joseph Altar as well, but we ran out of time.  Maybe for St. Joseph the Worker on May 1st.

Veils

In keeping with the older traditions of the church, we've covered all the crucifixes, statues and religious art with purple drapes that were thrown together at the last minute painstakingly made.  The effect is quite somber.  The kids are all sad to see, or not see, them covered.  Doodlebug actually cried!

Our home altar.  Behind the cloths:

The crucifix, flanked by rosary holder of Mary and St. Therese.  

There are images of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus hanging behind the altar.

(aka the reclaimed space from the old t.v.)

Jesus tree week 4

Day 22 ~ Return of the Prodigal Son

Ring

Lk 15:11-32

Day 23 ~ The Rich Man and Lazarus

Angel

Lk 16:19-31

Day 24 ~ The Call of Matthew

Money Bag

Mt 9:9-13

Day 25 ~ The Blind Man

(eye popping...isn't it ;)

Eye

Jn 9:1-41

Day 26 ~ The Man with the Withered Hand

Hand

Mt 12:9-13

Day 27 ~ The Centurion's Servant

Roman Helmet

Mt 8:5-13

Day 28 ~ Zacchaeus the Publican

Tree

Lk 19:1-10

All the decorations are finished!!!!  I'm so thrilled.  It was a lot of painstaking work, but it was worth it.

St. Patrick's Day

Garland...

Cookies...

Yummy, homemade cream cheese sugar cookies!

and more cookies...

candy coated Oreos!  

We also read...

1.  Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola

2. The St. Patrick's Day Shillelagh by Janet Nolan

We had some more requested from the library, but they haven't come in yet (this seems to be a recurring problem lately)...

  1.  Saint Patrick by Ann Tompert

  2.  St. Patrick's Day by Gail Gibbons

More great ideas can be found at this wonderful blog...

Erin go Bragh!  (Ireland Forever)

Jesus tree week 3

The next installment..sorry it's so late :)

Day 15 ~ Jesus Walks on Water

Footprints on Water

Mt 14:22-33

Day 16 ~ Promise of the Eucharist

Chalice w/Host

Jn 6:22-59

Day 17 ~ Lost Sheep/Good Shepherd

Sheep

Lk 15:1-7

Day 18 ~ Jesus Feeds 5000

Loaf of Bread w/ Fish

Mt 14:13-21

Day 19 ~ Samaritan Woman at the Well

Well

Jn 4:4-42

Day 20 ~ The Cripple at the Pool

Mat

Jn 5:1-15

Day 21 ~ Nicodemus Comes to Jesus

Dove on Water Drop

Jn 3:1-15

Small Successes

"It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that."

I just realized I haven't done this since the end of January!  Too long.

1.

I just finished updating our family albums!  I had to get prints made going back to last September!

Not only did I get caught up, I ran out of album :(  So I picked one up today while we were at Wal-Mart.

2.

After a run of sickness, we're finally back on track for school.  

As much as the kids refuse to cooperate with school when they're sick...

...they also get into a funk when we get off schedule.  Go figure...

3.

I figured out our crafts for the rest of Lent and some for Easter, including the upcoming feast days for St. Patrick, St. Joseph and the Annunciation.  We also have several things planned for the Tridium.

Now I'm off to finish putting together the timeline notebook for my son's world history.

What are your Small Successes this week?

Stop by Faith and Family Live to read more of this week's Small Successes.

As luck would have it...

As luck would have it...

After posting about my 5 favorites, I go out to the mailbox and find a few more!!!

 

Does this box look familiar?!? :)

Of course, it's filled with more of my favorite things ~ 

BOOKS!

(what homeschooling mom doesn't love books ?!?)

 

 

We have:

Loyola Kid's Book of Saints

Usborne Time Traveler

F is for First State

G is for Garden State

Old Testament Days : An Activity Guide (this and the other ones in the series are fantastic!)

An Alphabet of Catholic Saints

K is for Keystone

New Catholic Picture Bible

You Can Understand the Bible:A Practical and Illuminating Guide (for me)

I've recently been doing some thinking about our curriculum and decided we needed some overhauling.  We're adding on some Geography, covering a state about every other week, so I'm slowly acquiring the Discover America State By State Series.  I purchased the first 4 states already, the rest I'll keep an eye on through Amazon.  When I find a good deal (probably used), I'll grab it.  Going through roughly 2 states per month will take us a while to finish. There are study guides for each book here.

We also added World History with RC History.  That's what most of the rest of the books are for.  It looks like I'm going to have to buy more for this program though.  I went through the book list from the publishers' website and found most of the books at the library.  Great, but when requesting them, it is taking the library forever (longer than usual) to get the books.  To guard against not having access when needed (especially since I'll be doing this with 3 kids), I'll probably buy the books.  They're a good investment.

We'll also be working on the Alphabet Path using the ideas found here.  Jessica has some fantastic ideas!  Since I don't have nearly her energy, I don't think we'll be doing everything, but we will do what is good for our family.