On Easter Morning {Our 2013 Easter Baskets!}
This year they were blessed with baskets full of books, thanks to the incredible generosity of so many! I feel so very blessed! Since we were all are still fighting the cough from that last cold I didn’t include very much candy – there was still plenty with all those filled eggs – but the baskets did include some other religious items, something for their patron saint, a mini puppet (representing new life), and a small toy, along with a few other random items. I always have so much fun filling the baskets!
Since some of you have been asking, in our family the children do know that the baskets are filled by their Dad and I… We’ve never incorporated the “Easter Bunny” into our celebrations. We do have a great out of print book that ties the Easter Bunny into the real reason for Easter though!
Anyways, even though I already shared my plans for the baskets with lots of links I will list them here as well noting the various changes and additions. The five oldest, and my husband as well, all received beautiful handpainted bookmarks of their Patron Saints from The Fig and Thimble. All of the children, except for Bud, received a Rosary Case (purchased with credit from Apron sales at Catholic Cuisine!), and a new beautifully embroidered Scapular.
Captain’s basket included the following six books/DVD: Ablaze, A Soldier Surrenders, Giant of the Western Trail, Crusader King, Outcast, and The War of the Vendee (DVD). He also received a Cardinal mini puppet, the Lego Architecture Space Needle, a few lego minifigures, a bag of jelly bellys, some chewing gum, and a chocolate egg.
She also found the Calico Critters Koala Family, a Sheep mini puppet, and a box with the beginnings of her Alphabet of Saints Blocks… Perhaps we can finish them together! 😉
Bud had fun digging though his Easter basket this year, even though he wasn’t feeling well, and of course he went right to the board books, particularly the touch and feel books!
This year’s Family Easter Symbols Basket was also a hit! It’s always so much fun to have the children figure out which gift item matches each symbol. This year we had a A Cross Shaped Puzzle for “Cross.” In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb – since Easter fell on the last day of March this year – for “Lamb.” The “Lily” was represented by a copy of The Lily Cupboard to be used for history. the Spring Angel Egg completed our collection of these beautiful eggs for the “Egg” symbol. We also had a box of Godiva Butterfly Truffles (from Target) and a Butterfly Cookie Cutter (Walmart Clearance) for “Butterfly.”Super cute peacock stacking blocks for “Peacock.” And a 3-D St. Peter’s Basilica Puzzle, which was the most difficult to guess since I incorporated “the Bells fly to Rome until Easter” for this symbol!
I think this post wraps up all the pictures I had hoped to share from our Easter celebration. Click here to see pictures from this year’s Family Picture, Easter Egg Hunt, Decorating our Easter Cakes, and Seven Quick Easter Takes!
A Couple More Bargain Priced Books
I noticed that many of you seemed interested in my last Bargain Book post, at least according to all the copies of Saint Louis and the Last Crusade purchased through my link – thanks! Our copy already arrived! Originally published in 1958, it looks wonderful! The old re-published books are almost always my favorites… Anyways, I thought I’d share a couple more book deals I ran across this past week. I’m always watching for the extra great sales to stretch my homeschool book budget as far as possible! 😉
Alexander the Great by Demi is currently 75% off and is one of the recommended titles for our Ancient History Study next year!
Joan of Arc (also just $5 for the hardcover with prime!) is also on it’s way to our home and will eventually find a place on the shelf (after Chiquita’s birthday) with all of our other saint themed picture books.
We already own The Legend of St. Nicholas, Mother Teresa, Mary and The Empty Pot by Demi, and we all love the beautiful illustrations in these books, so I think these will make a nice addition to our collection! (Note: These are not currently discounted to 75% off.)
I know it’s Friday, but we are still Celebrating the Octave of Easter after all!
Have a great weekend!
Seven Quick Easter Takes
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Thanks, Jennifer, for hosting… Praying for you!!!
{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: Easter Edition
Lots of pretty Easter Eggs, even if they are plastic! Bud enjoyed helping me fill them the weekend before Easter, just before we headed over to the coast, when I probably should have been getting our Easter clothes together. At least the Eggs were all ready for our Easter Sunday Egg Hunt!
Our Annual Easter Sunday Egg Hunt
We never know what to expect from this little one… She can be as sweet as can be, but also has a temper to match! I’ve never had a child throw temper tantrums like she can, just like the dear saint she is named after. Wow! Anyways, after an intense and emotional Holy Week, she was in such a fun and happy mood on Sunday.
FYI: A Great Price on a Brand New Book!
Just popping in real quick to let you all know that the 30th title in the Vision Books series was just released on March 31st and is available at 45% off with Amazon Prime right now for only $5.45! I just ordered a couple copies to give as gifts. Here is the link in case anyone is interested:
An Eastertide Daybook: Christus Resurrexit!
Happy Easter!
Outside my window…
After a sunny and gorgeous week the thunderclouds and rain arrived on Saturday night… I was so glad it cleared up long enough to hide eggs outside for our annual Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday! Of course I made them all put on rain boots before letting them off the porch. It was/is muddy out there!
I am thinking…
as much as I loved (and needed) our little vacation to the coast, it really threw me off for Easter, not having last weekend to prepare. Of course at the last minute the dress I had bought was too short (I had returned it and ordered another online for less – same dress, but apparently quite a bit shorter) and I had to scramble to figure out something else to wear, and I could not find that adorable bow tie I had bought for Bud… Where did it go?! Oh well… Also, spending all that time baking bread, followed by Captain’s allergic reaction left me fairly unmotivated for Saturday. I did get to the store, make a butter lamb, Pascha for with the Paska, bake a couple simple oval cakes for the girls to decorate Sunday after Mass, fill the baskets, set the table, and the girls made the birds’ nest cookies, but that was it (though still plenty, right?). We did not dye eggs, make resurrection cookies or rolls, bake a lamb cake, or anything else for Easter. Thankfully Easter is a season and we still have time to do those things sometime soon!
I am thankful…
that Captain is doing much better! Thank you all for your prayers… He is still on Benadryl, for the allergic reaction to the Amoxicillin, but his hives and swelling have gone down and he is feeling a little better each day. I’m also thankful that he did get enough of the antibiotics to clear up the staph infection and won’t be needing anymore. As for me, I too, had another allergic reaction last night that nearly put me in the ER. So thankful for Zyrtec! I have got to find a way to get these allergies under control…
Learning all the time…
As much as I would love to take this week off, we do have some school work that needs to be completed to wrap up our 3rd quarter this week. I’m so proud of how hard my children are working to check off those boxes!
Celebrating the liturgical year…
I love that Easter is a season! We still have lots of time to celebrate and do all those things we weren’t able to fit in over the weekend (i.e. dying eggs, etc). We did take a break from the Lenten Teas this year and we are also going to be taking a break from our Garden of the Good Shepherd Garden Parties. The children are actually excited to try a few new things (starting with the Paska) this year! You can only add so many new things, before having to that a break from some of the old traditions… at least for a year or two to switch things up a bit, right?
From the kitchen…
toasted Paska (Sweet Bread) with Pascha (Sweet Cheese Spread) and coffee. I’m very much enjoying Easter and this little break from trying to lose weight. Mmmmmmmmm…. so yummy!
I am working on…
getting our chores and school work completed early today so we can watch the Installation Mass of our New Archbishop! I sure wish we could be there, but it just wasn’t possible. I love that we will be able to watch it online.
I am creating…
a calm and peaceful home, or at least trying my best to do so. This always seems, at least for me, to require “clean and cozy.” Yesterday morning I mopped the floors and finished cleaning up from our Easter company and it was so nice to start the week with a clean home! I sure miss that cleaning lady I had helping a couple hours every two weeks last year… It wasn’t much, but it sure helped me stay caught up with the cleaning.
I am going…
to print out some of the recent blog posts referecing the boys’ Habemus Papam! Lego Creation including the following from the Wall Street Journal blog:
“At Easter, for instance, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke tweeted a photo of a Lego version of the new pontiff, Pope Francis, standing on the balcony of St. Peter’s in Rome the day he was elected (the event is typically known as Habemus Papam). The photo originated on the Shower of Roses blog in the U.S.
Mr. Burke’s tweet, sent on March 29, read “Habemus Lego” followed by a link to where the photo could be found.”
I am hoping…
that we can get back to finishing up our Papal Lap Books soon!
I am praying…
:: the Divine Mercy Novena.
:: for Jennifer.
:: for Kerry, who lost her husband this past week.
I am reading…
lots of new books with the children! Thank you to all those who have been clicking and purchasing though my Amazon links!! Wow! I hope you all enjoy the books, and I am very appreciative of the 7-8% commission I usually receive from Amazon on your orders! It’s just one more way in which God has been providing for our family and I am so very thankful.
I did have to substitute a different book for Rascal since Bank Robbery! is temporarily out of stock, but at Linda’s suggestion I ordered Shadow in the Dark, the first in the Chronicles of Xan series. It was the first book Rascal decided to read and he has been enjoying it immensely. I’ve already ordered the remaining two books in the series, The Haunted Cathedral and The Fire of Eden, to slip in his Christmas stocking.
Pondering these words…
from the Cure of Ars’ Easter Sunday sermon, Pascal Joys:
We have heard that we have every reason to rejoice from the bottom of our hearts on this memorable day, and to approach our Risen Redeemer with joyous Alleluias. But this is not all, we must be active also, and make a practical use of to-day’s celebration. Christ died for us, and He has given us an example that we should tread in His footsteps. As Christ is risen, so shall we arise and enter upon a new life. I call upon you, therefor, Christian parents, in the words of the Apostle: “Arise, and walk in the way in which thou shouldst go.” You promised one another before God’s holy altar mutual fidelity and help, that you would bear one another’s burdens in peace, and that you would bring up your children in the fear of the Lord. How have you kept this promise? Is the throne of harmony erected in your home, and dispensing blessings upon you? Are you a good father and mother to your children, do you feed the flock confided to you in green pastures, and do you lead them, as a good shepherd should, to the source of living waters? Or are you, fathers, bad examples to your sons and you, mothers, unnatural mothers to your daughters? Arise and from your spiritual death, fortify anew the throne of peace, approach the Altar of God and renew your conjugal vows. Bring up your children as good Catholic parents should do, assist the teachers and those who have charge of their spiritual welfare in this difficult task, then, and then only, will you have a happy Easter; then Easter joys and Easter blessings will gladden you and your family.
I am listening…
to the Glorious Mysteries Reflections on my Women in Chant: Recordare CD.
Around the house…
signs and symbols of Easter, everywhere!
Golden Eggs! Does your family have a tradition of hiding a golden egg? This is one of my favorite childhood Easter memories, linked to my Grandma (Dad’s mom)… I remember how much she loved building up our excitement before we all ran off to search for eggs and that highly sought after “Golden Egg!” It was always filled with money, coins, candy, and a few religious items (sometimes medals, holy cards, rosary, etc). My grandmother passed away 23 years ago (very quickly due to cancer, shortly after being sentenced to 3 months of jail time, on Good Friday by a “Catholic” judge, for sitting in front of an abortion clinic, before serving that time) when she was only 61 and I was 12, but her and I were very close during my childhood. Of course, I’ve always included a golden egg in our egg hunts, but couldn’t wait for the kids to discover the new one I found last year and have been saving! When I showed it to my Aunt Bridget yesterday before the hunt, she said “Grandma would freak out over that egg!” Which I already knew, of course, and put a huge smile on my face! Isn’t it perfect?!
Monday :: Belated Birthday Date/Dinner Out
Wednesday :: Orthodontic Appointments
Thursday :: Tutor from 12-5
Friday :: Mass and Grocery Shopping
Saturday :: 3rd Birthday Party for my sweet little niece
Sunday :: Mass
I kept telling myself that “life will calm down after Easter!” I filled in my calendar yesterday and April fools on me… This week is our final week of quarter three (work samples due), next Saturday is my niece’s birthday party, the following weekend is our Mother/Daughter Tea Party, and the weekend after that is Chiquita’s 8th birthday (Saturday) and we are also hosting the Latin Mass (Sunday – which was rescheduled from the following weekend) – in the meantime I still need to finish entering last year’s receipts and finish/file our tax return, sign papers on our home refinance, take the kids to a couple ortho and doctor appts, and who knows what else I’m forgetting… I think I need a nap…
Easter Baking
A Child’s Way of the Cross
* The boys were just asking to see their old Playmobil scenes of The Easter Story (here are the links from 2009, 2010, and 2011) and I realized I never posted the pictures from last year, so we are adding them now.
My Daybook :: March 24th, 2013
We just got home last night from spending one night and two beautiful days at the coast to celebrate Sean’s 40th birthday! I started writing this post at the hotel but never did get around to adding pictures and posting. Now to finish unpacking, start the laundry, and finish our Spring Cleaning before the Triduum begins. I hope you all have a very blessed Holy Week!
Outside my the hotel window…
we can see the Pacific Ocean!
I am thankful…
that we were able to plan a last minute mini-vacation to celebrate Sean’s 40th birthday! He had made me promise to not plan a party for him, but on Saturday morning when I suggested a drive to the coast to attend the Latin Mass for his birthday/Palm Sunday, he thought that sounded perfect! Even though it is Spring Break we were still able to reserve a Family size Room at a hotel for Sunday night, so once again we had to leave the house bright and early to make it to the 8am Mass over two hours away!
I am thinking…
about getting older, and how fast the years are passing… Aren’t we still in our 20’s?! On the drive over to the coast I kept teasing my husband…
Learning all the time…
After Mass we took Father out to breakfast and then we drove down to the harbor before heading north to our hotel. I asked Sean to swing back around so I could snap a picture of the Coast Guard Ship. I never did get that picture, since we got a little distracted by all these sea lions and fur seals!
Celebrating the liturgical year…
It was so nice to attend a Latin Mass on Palm Sunday! Father even asked the boys to serve. There was a visiting priest as well, who offered confessions after Mass. I’ve been extra overwhelmed lately and was very happy to be able to go to confession one more time before Easter. I also loved the penance he gave me: “Give hugs to four of your children and tell them that you love them!”
It was the perfect day to sneak in lots of hugs!
From the kitchen…
To keep the cost of our trip to a minimum we avoided eating out for the most part. I had packed water bottles, juice boxes, peanut butter/jelly/bread, snacks, muffins and oatmeal and then we picked up some fresh fruit and a birthday cake at the grocery store once we arrived. We did pick up a pizza to take back to the hotel room for dinner – half BBQ chicken and half Garlic chicken, as requested by the “birthday boy.”
I didn’t think about how much smoke those 40 candles were going to create… I’m just thankful that we didn’t set off the fire alarm in the hotel. That could have been really bad! 😉
I am working on…
strengthening my lungs again after that awful cold! It was so heavenly to be able to go for a run on the beach with my husband! We snapped a couple pictures during a break at the tide pools during low tide.
I am creating…
a check list for Easter! I picked up a couple other small items at the gift shop across the street from the hotel for Easter (a red dragon for Snuggles, since it goes so well with his Knight themed books, along with some cute little purse size note pads with butterflies and peacocks on the cover for the girls) and also ordered one more book for Rascal since one of his books is on backorder. I’ve also been making a grocery list and I think our Easter dinner will be pretty similar to last year.
I am hoping…
that the kids are all healthy again by Easter. Some of them are still coughing pretty badly, especially at night, but I think we are finally reaching the end of this virus.
I am praying…
for a special intention.
I am reading…
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the children. We have never let them watch the movie (and don’t plan to) but they have been captivated by the story and keep begging for more. Even little Rose keeps asking for “just one more chapter!” Twinkle Toes forgot to bring a book on the trip so she has started over at the beginning to read it again.
Pondering these words…
from my page a day calendar. How interesting, considering the penance I was given. I wonder if Father has the same calendar! 😉 I doubt it…
I am listening…
to very excited children! One of them has already asked for an “ocean” themed birthday party for their next birthday. They are all having so much fun! We have also started a list of “things to bring” the next time we are able to come over to the coast: A kite, shovel, sand buckets, frisbee, etc…
Around the house hotel room…
Traveling with a big family is difficult and expensive, so we usually avoid it when ever possible, opting for a summer camping trip or day trip for our family “vacations.”
This trip actually worked out well though and I am hoping we will be able to do it again! We booked the “L shaped Family Room” which had 2 queen sized beds, a queen size pull out couch, and we asked for a roll-away. The girls had one of the queens, Rascal and Snuggles had the couch/bed, Captain had the roll-away, and we bought a pack-and-play for Bud!
watching the Sunset over the ocean.
We had a dear friend and her children over for lunch today, and tomorrow we will be working on some Spring cleaning and grocery shopping for Easter. Other than that it will be a quiet week in our home as we observe the Triduum and celebrate Easter!
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