Small Successes: May 28, 2009
- I cleaned my girls bedroom and packed up all the remaining size 3 clothing and shoes that Chiquita has recently outgrown. It is hard to believe that she is already four, and will be nearly FIVE when this little one arrives! I wonder if our new one is a girl? It would sure be fun to pull out all our little girl stuff once again… Either way I will be thrilled with a healthy baby.
- I finally ordered a tuxedo for Rascal. Sheesh!! What an ORDEAL!! The bridal store that had been chosen, was as far from helpful as they could possibly be, so in the end, I actually just ordered a new tux on eBay. I’ve had good experiences with eBay in the past, and the seller reviews were great, not to mention it was less than half of the bridal store’s price for a tux (which would need to be altered since it was too big and they refused to order me the right size!). I am so glad it is on the way, but I will feel a bit better when it arrives and FITS! =)
- I french braided Chiquita’s hair for the first time this morning. She has been asking me to for awhile, but I thought her hair was too fine… Apparently it is not! Chiquita was very excited to finally have braids like her big sister!
Ideas for Celebrating Pentecost Sunday
* I just updated and revised my post from last year, adding a few new ideas and fixing some of the links… Here is the updated version!
The feast of Pentecost, also known as Whitsunday, ranks among the great feasts of Christianity. “It commemorates not only the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Disciples, but also the fruits and effects of that event: the completion of the work of redemption, the fullness of grace for the Church and its children, and the gift of faith for all nations.”
Here is a list of ideas that could be done for this day!
(Disclaimer: We will not get to all of these (more like just a few!), but I thought I would share the ideas with you just the same!)
Prayer:
- Pentecost Sunday Mass.
- Sing Veni Creator Spiritus (aka: Come Holy Ghost).
- Say some of these Prayers for Pentecost.
Come Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Ghost, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Ghost we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Food/Snacks:
- You can find a list of ideas I posted last year over at Catholic Cuisine.
- Since Pentecost is also known as “Whitsunday,” and one tradition is to serve white foods, we will be having powdered sugar doughnuts and white hot chocolate with breakfast and an afternoon snack of milk and Macaroons.
- Amy’s family always enjoys Holy Ghost Sopas.
- Set the table with a red tablecloth and white plates.
- Another dinner suggestion is to serve Cornish Game Hens (representing the Dove), Pasta Alfredo (white), and Cauliflower (white).
- Here is a link to all the posts at Catholic Cuisine labeled Pentecost.
- Cornish game hens sound like too much work, so I think I am going to go with the “Red-Hot Theme” for dinner this year. Maybe some grilled shrimp (it’s red!) and veggies? That way hubby can cook! 😉
- I’ve really been craving fruit all week, so I definitely plan on making a Twelve-Fruit Salad this year!
- For dessert, A Cake for Pentecost, complete with the mighty wind to blow out the candles. This was a hit last year, and I plan on making it again!
Reading:
- Read Song of Songs 2:8-17 for the Garden of the Good Shepherd
theme of the day: The Dove.
- Read about The Descent of the Holy Spirit pages 226-227 in the New Catholic Picture Bible
.
- Read The Very First Christians
.
- Read I Believe: The Nicene Creed
.
- Read
The Twelve Apostles
by Marianna Mayer.
- Read Apostles of Jesus
by Father Lovasik.
Copy work:
My Lord and My God!
–traditional Eucharistic exclamation.
Craft:
- Make a centerpiece. Cut out seven flame shapes from either felt or construction paper and label them with the names of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost.
- Make the Pentecost kite found in The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions
- Make Dawn’s Pentecost Windsock!
- Here is a cute Holy Spirit Mobile. (pdf)
- This Pentecost Spinner looks like fun!
Activities:
- Do a Pentecost Cross Word Puzzle, Decoder, Word Jumble, Word Search, or a Twelve Disciples Word Search.
- Color this Pentecost Coloring Page, or any of these.
- Don’t forget the beautiful Pentecost coloring page to be found in Fenestrae Fidei: A Coloring Companion for Catholic Mosaic!
- Even more great resources for Pentecost can be found here!
- Go fly a kite! Wind is one of the symbols of Pentecost, so what better way to experience the wind than to fly a kite? If a kite is too much work, Pinwheels would be fun too!
- Play “Who Has the Fire?”
Who Has The Fire?Introduce game: What flickered around the disciple’s heads, but didn’t burn them? Fiery flames.
Need: Orange construction paper balled up to be the fire.
Directions: The children sit in a circle close together. The child who is “It” stands away from the circle and hides their eyes while the fire is passed around. When “It” says “STOP!”, the child holding the fire hides it (under their leg, up their sleeve, etc.). The child who is “It” guesses who has the fire. The child who had the fire is now “It”.
What are your plans for Pentecost? I would love to hear any ideas that you all have as well!
A Swarm of Bees
~ Judges 14:8
Bee Cookies for Garden of the Good Shepherd
My Daybook ~ May 26, 2009
FOR TODAY: May 26th, 2009
Outside my Window… (or rather my front door!) their is now an abandoned nest. All five of the little birdies learned how to fly this weekend, much to the excitement of my children! They were able to peek through the window panes and watch them take off. I still can’t get over HOW FAST they grew! It seems like just yesterday I was lifting a little one back into the next, and now they, all five of them, are so big!
I am thinking… that I wish I would have been able to get a couple good pictures of the baby birds (We figured out that they are House Finches.) in their nest… It was just not meant to be. I was able to get a couple pictures of the daddy and momma birds, while perched at the top of a nearby tree.
I am thankful… that, even though one of the gifts
From the kitchen… On Sunday morning, before heading to Mass for the Ascension, we had Ascension Pancakes for breakfast. The Pancake represents the earth Jesus walked on; the fresh strawberries represent the blood Jesus shed; the chocolate syrup represents the roads Jesus traveled; The whipped cream represents the clouds our Lord ascended into; and the sprinkles represent the sweetness of life in Heaven. They were SO yummy!
From the school room… The boys will hopefully finish up their Language Arts workbooks this week… We’ll see! However, we will definitely be doing Math all summer. I keep telling myself that just one lesson, 4 times per week, won’t be too bad at all. Right?! While we are finishing up, I am hoping to organize and declutter the school room to make some room for all the new books that are on the way. 🙂
Living the Liturgical year at Home… We are still celebrating the Easter season using The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the Fifty Days of Easter
I am creating… a blog post!! Can you believe it?? I just haven’t had the motivation lately for blogging, and I do apologize to those of you who keep checking in and are wondering if I’m ok… I’ve had plenty of things to blog about, but, by the time my children go to bed and I usually sit down at the computer, I’ve been wanting to either go to bed myself, read a book, or watch a movie.
I am going… to be so happy to finish Garden of the Good Shepherd this coming weekend!!! WAHOO!!! Seven weeks is a LONG TIME!!!!
I am wearing… Caladryl on my feet, legs, stomach, and neck. Ugh! Have you ever had poison oak?? It is miserable!
I am reading…the Spring 2009 issue of Mater et Magistra. I was so excited to see that one of the articles was written by my brother-in-law!
I am hoping… to find a Tux for Rascal this week. I am starting to run out of time!
I am hearing… lots of questions from my boys, while they work on their English, and the girls singing songs from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Around the house… lots of projects. I spent yesterday deep cleaning my girls room, yet again… A project that needs to be done every couple months in seems. Hubby spent the day working on stripping the old paint off the deck railing so it can be repainted. It’s a big project, but it needed to be done and will look so nice once it is painted!
One of my favorite things… is the new sofa on the porch! (The one we got last month.) I LOVE IT!!! This past weekend we ordered a side table and another chair/ottoman to go with it. I’ve really enjoy sitting out there reading while the children play in the yard, or during nap time, or really ANYTIME!
- Baseball practice tonight and a game on Friday.
- Friday morning will we be attending Mass and Benediction.
- My boys opted to miss their game on Saturday for a Young Hunters Day, which they’ve attended in the past and really enjoyed.
- We also will have a few little friends spending the night on Friday, while their parents celebrate their 10th Anniversary!! My children are SO excited!
- Mass again on Sunday… and I think that is it, so far!
A picture thought I am sharing:
To see more Daybook’s visit Peggy!
Ascension Thursday Picnic
In honor of Ascension Thursday (which technically has been moved to Sunday in our diocese) we had a picnic dinner on our hill outback! I didn’t have a chance to go to the grocery store prior to our picnic so I made do with what I had in the kitchen, but no one seemed to mind.
Everyone was very excited!
It is traditional to eat some sort of bird since Jesus “flew” to heaven. 
I served Chinese Chicken Salad and Rice.
Since fruit represents Christ, the first fruit of all men, I served Strawberries. 
However, the Italian tradition is beans and grapes… Perhaps next year?
All I could come up with for dessert that somewhat resembled clouds…. 
…were these simple Mini White Chocolate Pudding Pies. They were delicious!
My children were thrilled to each get there own Sparkling Ice!
These sparkling, carbonated drinks were chosen for their “rising” bubbles!
Captain feeding Snuggles a little bit of pudding…
I always love seeing my older children helping their little siblings.
“Mom, no more pictures!” 
On the Job
Hubby just emailed me a couple pictures he took up where he’s been working… Isn’t it beautiful?!
Small Successes: Vol. 18
I’ve been wanting to participate in Faith and Family Live’s Small Successes for months, but that was one small success that has been put off till now!
- I survived snack bar duty Tuesday night at Little League AND found someone to watch our three youngest children (at the last second) since I had to be in the snack bar and hubby (Asst. Coach) was on the field with the boys. Even though the smells of hotdogs, chili, and hamburgers did make me feel sick for the rest of the night (bleh!!), I did NOT throw up!
- Found a dress for Chiquita (who will be the flower girl in my brother’s wedding next month), which the bride loves and also met out requirements. (I can’t believe how immodest most flower girl dresses are now!! Yikes!!)
- I ordered all of my boy’s schoolbooks for the upcoming school year! Now if we could just finish the current school year, that would be a huge success… =)
Game Ball
Rascal has been making such great improvements in Baseball this year.
At the beginning of the season, he was easily frustrated since he had a tendency to hit the ball directly to first base and then get tagged out… (Not to mention he is the smallest and one of the youngest boys on the team.) Well, he started hitting the ball just a little bit sooner and hasn’t been getting tagged out anymore. The other night he was awarded the game ball for, not only not being tagged out, but scoring the most runs for the team!!
Good job Rascal!!
Requiscat in Pace!
Yesterday morning we attended the funeral of a kind older man from church, Mr. Ralph Denman. My boys both loved Mr. Denman, and have been serving Mass and Benediction with him on Friday’s since they were 5 years old. He was an excellent role model to my boys, and will be missed dearly.
My husband was telling me that, on the day Ralph died, he seemed to know that he was going and dressed in his best suit. That brought tears to my eyes, and shows just a bit of his wonderful personality!
My two youngest brothers served the Funeral Mass and a friend of ours put together this great video. At the end of the video Father sings a beautiful song while incensing, which always makes my cry: In Paradisum.
in tuo adventu
suscipiant te martyres,
et perducant te
in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.
Chorus angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere
aeternam habeas requiem.
may the martyrs receive you
in your coming,
and may they guide you
into the holy city, Jerusalem.
May the chorus of angels receive you
and with Lazarus once poor
may you have eternal rest
Updated to Add:
Our friend Marc just sent me the clip of “In Paradisum” from the above video. Thanks Marc!
Garden of the Good Shepherd ~ Week 6
I sort of dropped the ball last week, with our activities to go along with The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the Fifty Days of Easter
The theme for this week is:
This week, in addition to drawing from last year’s list and a few of Charlotte’s ideas, I’ll be adding some of the upcoming feast days into our activities as well.
36. The City Gate : Read Revelation 21:9-14
- Listen to Oh What a Beautiful City.
- Since the above song mentions “twelve gates,” one named for each of the apostles, you could read about the apostles! We will probably read The Twelve Apostles
- Color the Gates into Heaven Coloring Page.
- Give the children their own Pretzel and Cheese Cube Construction Kit to build their own gates.
37. The Temple : Read Revelation 21:22-25
- Make Cathedral Cookies or Church shaped Stained Glass Window Cookies
- Hand paint Stained Glass Cross Shaped Suncatchers.
- Play the EWTN Kids Build-a-Church Activity. (To get to this, sign into EWTN kids–it’s free!–then go to The Diego’s house, then to Javier & Manuel’s Room, then click on the box with a church on it. My kids LOVE this game!)
38. Hallelujah! : Read Revelation 19:6-9
- Listen to the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s “Messiah” as well as The Story Of Handel
.
(We will be traveling to town for another funeral Mass Tuesday morning, so the CD will be prefect for the drive home… Please say a prayer for the repose of the soul of a man named Ralph, who passed away last week at the age of 93. May he rest in peace! And maybe you could add a short prayer for Captain, who is taking his death especially hard. Captain and Rascal have both served Mass on Friday’s with Ralph since they were five. He will be missed dearly!)
39. The Thrones : Read Revelation 22:1-5
- I loved Charlotte’s idea of watching The Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!
40. The Bride : Read Hosea 2:18-20
- Since this Thursday is the feast of the Ascension, we will attend Mass and then head to a nearby hilltop for an Ascension Picnic.
- Show the children some of our wedding pictures!
41. The Groom : Read Revelation 19:6-9
- Celebrate the feast of St. Rita of Cascia with a simple tea in her honor.
- Make Tuxedo Brownie Cups, Cookies, or Strawberries.
- Call Father and wish him a Happy 5th Anniversary!!
42. The Crowns : Read Isaiah 62:3-5
- Place a crown of flowers on our statue of Mary.
- This year, May 23rd is the traditional feast of Mary, Queen of the Apostles. Perhaps we will make another Crown Cake or at least some Simple Cupcake Crowns.
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