I am thankful…
for such wonderful holy brother-in-laws, and that got to talk my husband’s youngest brother (Father D.) for a few minutes today, for the last time before he enters a cloistered Benedictine Monastery tomorrow, March 1st. I wasn’t able to talk very long, since tears were streaming down my face and I didn’t want him to hear me start sobbing. He will be missed dearly!
I am thinking…
about raising our children. Father told me yesterday that not only must I raise good and holy children and adults, I must raise them to be good and holy mothers and fathers! I hadn’t thought about it that way before. Thankfully he will be praying for us al!
Learning all the time…
and today we learned all ABOUT time! Beginning with Charlotte’s links, we did a little research on leap day/leap year and the Gregorian Calendar. Did you know that we are also going to have a “leap second” this year too?
Living the Liturgical Year at Home…
It is definitely Lent! We will be making a few plans for some of the March feasts days as well, specifically the feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph. You can find some of our past posts in the Links for March, which I just updated. Additional ideas can be found over at Catholic Cuisine.
From the kitchen…
fun Fruity Frogs for our afternoon snack on Leap Day!
I am creating…
Leap Day Time Capsules with my kiddos. We ran across these free printables and have been having so much fun! We still need to add a photograph to each, as well as a piece of string measuring their height, and then we will put them in an envelope to open on Feb. 29, 2016. I loved seeing how my children choose to answer the questions… Here is a sneak peek at Chiquita’s:
I am working on…
Shaking off the Bonds of Stuff with my children. Someone must have told the mailman that we had just thrown out the old catalogs since he has delivered 12 more that very afternoon… What a waster of paper and postage!
I am going…
to read In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb to my children tomorrow. I happened to run across it at the library the other day and think it is one that I’d like to add to our own collection. So sweet! I think we will read it again at the end of the month as well.
I am hoping…
that someday we will get to travel to Oklahoma. Perhaps for Father’s final vows in 5 years?
I am reading…
a couple books from the library, The Doctor’s Lady and The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming Our Passion, Purpose, and Sanity. They had been on my “wish list” for awhile, and I finally decided to just put in a request for my library to purchase them. I was excited at how easy it was to do, and sure enough they purchased the books and held them for me once they arrived! I need to do that more often.
I am praying…
for Amy’s little boy, who has RSV at just 4 weeks old. Please keep him in your prayers!
Pondering these words…
from St. John Climacus:
I am listening…
to Johnny Tremain again, as we study the American Revolution. This is one of my boys’ favorite audio books.
Around the house…
I have been enjoying those St. Valentine flowers as long as possible. I still have a few left, sitting in our little Babushkups
One of my favorite things…
Making Bud smile, and seeing the adorable little dimples around his mouth.
A few plans for the rest of the week…
We only have a few more weeks of hockey left, and the older boys really want me to come and watch a few of their last games. We’ll see. Since Bud was born, and since he really hates the car, I usually just stay home and snuggle with him on Saturday mornings.
A little peek at my day…
*I fell asleep last night before having a chance to upload pictures to this post, so I am adding it now. 🙂
I like her #2 thing she hopes to do!
And his dimples!
Me too! 🙂
Her #3 is pretty cool too.
Fr. Dennis will be in our prayers. We have niece who feels called to the cloistered life. It's a beautiful calling.
Know you love Matryoshka dolls. Have you seen this Matryoshka Card Set? Too cute! http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/3205/c-matryoshka/index.html
How cute! Thanks!!
Ah, yes, #3… I'm not quite ready for that at the moment… but maybe sometime in the next 4 years. I guess we will have to wait and see what God has planned for us! 🙂
Oh no! Amy's baby! Will be praying for sure. I love those printables- we may do them even though we're late to the leapday game.
Darling picture of Bud.
Love your Daybooks and your pictures! Peace
I don't think I've ever commented before, because your blog used to load very slowly for me for some reason. It loads fine now, and I have no idea what the problem was, or why it got better, but I'm so glad. I love your ideas, and your blog is a peaceful place to visit!
Your little guy is such a beautiful baby!!! His smile melts my heart!
Bud is absolutely precious. Can't get enough of that smile!! Soak up every minute of that delightful soul!!!
The frog snack is so cute! We simply had to try it this afternoon. What a hit! Thanks always for your inspiration and for sharing such fun and wonderful ideas on your blog. –C
Oh my goodness! We know that abby! It is near us, as welive in NWArkansas…popular place to visit with Catholic homeschoolers here. How amazing,small world! We have neverbeen ourselves but alwas have meant to visit.
Chiquita's leap year paper was so sweet! Makes me wish my homeschoolers were little again and we could do the fun stuff. We are now doing high school and 9th grade – groan! After six weeks of Macbeth I would love to make a fruity snack and do a leap year project. Enjoy these golden days!
Really enjoyed this post! Yes, these certainly are the golden years (I've got three little guys). Thank you for the fun ideas! Chiquita writes so well. my oldest will be turning six in two weeks. God bless!
PS. do you do a lot of preparation ahead for these activities or are some spontaneous? (like the frog)
Hi Jessica, I have been reading and enjoying your blog for some time, but haven't commented much. I have always been amazed that you have three brothers-in-law who are priests! With the decline in vocations, what do you think led them there? Something unique about your mother and father-in-law? Even devout families do not seem to have sons (let alone three!) entering the priesthood these days. Your family and your husband's family seems so amazing — you should seriously consider writing a book some day on Catholic parenting. I know, in all your free time! Thanks again for sharing on this blog and God bless! Julie
Fr. Dennis will definitely be in my prayers! My brother is discerning the Benedictines at Clear Creek. I hope you have a holy and restful Lent.
Grace
I'm sorry about that! I did have a couple widgits (Catholic Mothers Online, etc) that I had to delete since they were causing problems for some visitors. It took me a long time to figure it out. I'm glad it is loading better for you now! Thanks for taking a second to say hello! 🙂
Yes, these sorts of things are usually spontaneous. I used what we had to make the frogs (I didn't have any grapes, and substituted mini-marshmallows for the cream cheese) and when I was searching for a leap day printable I ran across the time capsule. There was hardly any planning on my part at all, but we still had a fun day! 🙂
Both of my in-laws are very devout and inspiring Catholics, and have always lived out their love for God and the Catholic Church daily. Even though they sent their kids to Catholic schools, my husband says that every Sunday his father would sit down and instruct them using the Baltimore Catechism, in addition to gathering his family for the daily rosary. The faith was not just taught by their mother (and at school), their father had a very active role in their faith formation as well, educating them and teaching by example. My husband says that seeing his father, on his knees at his bedside, praying frequently left a big impression on him as well. They raised their children to be open to God's will in their life, and ultimately it was God's grace and calling that led them to the priesthood.
Thank you Sarah! They ended up having to admit him to the hospital last night… Please keep praying!
Ok thanks so much Jessica. Phew, makes me feel a lot better! 😉
Thank you for responding Jessica. Very inspirational!
Julie
Thanks for linking up to our Leap Day time capsule! We had fun filling them out with our kids too 🙂 Have a great weekend!