~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~
It has been a busy week, including a trip to the pediatricians following a little accident involving Hockey Sticks and Chiquita’s thumb, but the good news is that she is feeling much better, it doesn’t seem to be broken or fractured, and the weekend is finally here! Who else is ready for summer? 😉
{pretty}
The feast of the Ascension has been transferred to Sunday in our diocese, but we attended Mass anyways. It was a bit of a challenge to get myself and all seven kids to an early Mass, but I am so glad we made the effort. After Mass we came home and enjoyed
Ascension Pancakes for brunch.
The Pancakes represent the earth on which Jesus walked, fresh strawberries represent the blood Jesus shed, chocolate syrup represents the roads Jesus traveled, whipped cream represents the clouds into which Our Lord ascended, and sprinkles represent the sweetness of life in heaven!
This year I just used a pancake mix along with homemade whip cream.
(I still love my ISI Easy Whip just as much as ever. I didn’t add any sweetener to the cream this time, since we already had the chocolate syrup and strawberries, and it was still so delicious!){happy}
It was so much fun to watch Bud enjoy Ascension Pancakes for the first time!
Of course, the big kids all still enjoy them too.
We are also very happy that our school year is coming to an end, and we’ve already completed a few subjects. This week it was “Teacher Appreciation Week.” As part of our homeschool charter school we have had a “teacher” (my Catholic friend Kathleen!) tutoring the 5 oldest for 5 hours on Thursdays. (We just had another friend start tutoring the older boys for Math on Tuesdays as well. Hopefully they will both be able to continue next year.) It has been an incredible blessing!
{funny}
Chiquita loves All About Spelling. She is getting close to completing the 2nd level and will move on to Level 3 and most likely Level 4, before switching to The Phonetic Zoo like the older children. Recently she has been practicing segmenting words and labeling whether the segments are closed or open syllables.
She has been our most self-motivated child when it comes to her school work and writing. I am always finding little letters, cards, and stories she has written around the house and she is constantly journaling. One night this week we had a little “Spelling Bee” with the older children just for fun and Rascal won. Chiquita included that in the card she made for Kathleen, who also does a spelling lesson with her each Thursday. She was very proud of it and wanted me to take a picture. Looks like we need to add the words “won/win/winner” to her spelling list. 😉
{real}
Please tell me I’m not the only mom who stands there in the toy isle and tries to figure out what is inside those ridiculous
blind bags of Lego Minifigures! I always feel so silly!! At least I’m getting better at identifying them through the packaging… I actually came home with the
Revolutionary Soldier and
Roman Commander minifigures I was hoping to find from the newest series, and not a
Rocker Girl and
Hippie like last time.
The boys were so excited to discover that there was already another new series out, and it was just the bribe motivation they needed to go back and finally complete their Civil War Lap Books. 😉 I’ll try and post pictures of the completed Lap Books soon. They turned out great!
Prayer of Mothers
Father in heaven, grant me the grace to appreciate the dignity which you have conferred on me. Let me realize that not even the Angels have been blessed with such a privilege—to share in your creative miracle and bring new Saints to heaven. Make me a good mother to all my children after the example of Mary, the Mother of your Son. Through the intercession of Jesus and Mary I ask your continued blessings on my family. Let us all be dedicated to your service on earth and attain the eternal happiness of your kingdom in heaven. Amen.
Our Rose, possibly Cecilia, is starting All About Spelling this fall. I'm hoping it'll be the answer to some prayers this school year.
Oh yes, summer can't come soon enough!
I love that pancake eating boy! Looks like he kept them out of his hair this time! 🙂
Yup, I was feeling the minifigure bags at Christmas time for a stocking stuffer!
I just received some Lego sets in the mail today and there was the promotion for the latest mini figure series out now and the two that popped out at me where those two that you have in the picture! LOL! I didn't know that you can get the separately?!?!!? I thought you have to buy the bag with all of them… There is no LEGO shop here, so I have to order online. There is also "Medusa" which m daughter would love since she's been studying Ancient Civilizations this year and enjoys all the gods, goddesses and myths!
Okay, I am new to the world of legos. Do you have to buy each minifigure separately or can you purchase the entire set in one bag?
Yes, the collectible Lego Minifigures for each series (the ones pictured in my post are from Series 10) are purchased separately and individually. Only 1 of 16 individual minifigures is in each 'mystery' bag. You can not purchase the whole series together or request specific minifigures, however I have found them individually on Amazon or Ebay, though with shipping they are usually more expensive than the $2.99 MSRP.
The only way to make sure you get what you are looking for is to feel through the bag and try to indentify which minifigure it contains. Some minifigures are much more difficult to find than others. When my boys end up with duplicates they trade with each other or with friends.
We have never been to a Lego store either, and usually purchase most of our legos online, but I have been able to find the minifigures at Toys R Us, Target, Walmart, and a number of other local stores.
I just found this article which should be pretty helpful in finding a few more of the minifigures the boys would like to find from this series: Guide to feeling for Lego Minifigs Series 10
And I am glad to hear I'm not the only mom standing there feeling through the bags. The questioning looks I received last time had me feeling extra self conscious about it! lol
looks like fun.
Thanks for giving me an idea for end-of-year teacher gifts! Being that my girls attend Catholic school, and one of them even has a Sister for her teacher, I think that new CD would be lovely! BTW, I got my copy in the mail Saturday. It is BEAUTIFUL! Happy (belated) Mother's Day, Jessica! You are an amazing mom!
Your Ascension pancakes look delicious — thanks for sharing! Where did you purchase the darling "mosaic" dishes?
Kathy
Thanks Kathy! The dishes are from the Pampered Chef Simple Additions dinnerware. They are no longer sold from Pampered Chef, however you can still find them here (they may be available on ebay too).