Christmas in July!
Marci once again, did an amazing job, and my children had a WONDERFUL time.
Today the theme was Christmas in July!
When we arrived, Marci had a number of tables set up with different activities for the children.
At one table they were able to color pictures of St. Nicholas.
At another table they could make and decorate holy cards of St. Nicholas.
My children especially loved being able to work with glitter, since I rarely (as in never) get it out at our home. ☺
They even got to make some super cute St. Nicholas Figures.
After all the crafts and coloring were completed, Marci had a fun game planned for the children called Roll for St. Nicholas! The winners were even able to choose from a basket of school supplies!
Following the game it was snack time and the kids were treated to Candy Cane Cookies and Hot Cocoa.
Yum!!!!!
The weather even cooperated, and it was nice and cool this morning!
This week there was a total of 25 children from 6 different families. It was so nice to see Amy, and I have been loving spending time with Trina this month. I am going to miss her so much when she and her family head back home next week. Wahhhh!
It was another great week and we are, once again, already looking forward to next Thursday!!!
A quick look at my plans for next year…
Scenes from a Summer’s Day, 5
Last night, my dear friend Trina, and 7 of her children, came over to spend the night, since my hubby is still fighting fire, and they are still in town visiting.
We ate pizza for dinner, made root beer floats, and watched Swiss Family Robinson, before the kids all crashed on the floor in their sleeping bags for the night.
This morning we had pancakes, sausage, orange juice and *lots of coffee* for Trina and I. We were able to spend some time visiting and talking about all sorts of things from past memories to the upcoming school year, while the kids reenacted *The Chronicles of Narnia* outside.
We had such a great time.
But… It’s only 4:00 in the afternoon, and just look at my children!
And this is *after* my little ones already took their naps! A rare sight for sure… and what am I doing?? Taking pictures and blogging about it… I should go join them!
Tempermental
Last summer a friend of mine loaned me a wonderful book about the four temperaments. I didn’t have much time to spend reading it, but what I did read taught me quite a bit about myself, my family and my friends!
All of us are born with distinct personality traits. Some of us live for crowds and parties; others seek solitude and time for quiet reflection. Some of us are naturally pushy, while others are content just to get along. We don’t pick and choose these traits; they’re just part of the way we’re made. For in the womb God doesn’t merely mold our body; He also gives us the temperament that, all our days, colors our understanding, guides our choices, and serves as the foundation of our moral and spiritual life. Ancient philosophers identified four basic temperaments, and over the centuries, countless wise souls have used these four to understand human nature. Now comes The Temperament God Gave You
, the first Catholic book on the subject in 70 years. Here veteran Catholic counselor Art Bennett and his wife Laraine provide an accessible synthesis of classical wisdom, modern counseling science, and Catholic spirituality: a rich understanding of the temperaments and what they mean for you and for your family. Drawing on decades of study, prayer, and practical experience, Art and Laraine show you how to identify your own temperament and use it to become what God is calling you to be: a loving spouse, an effective parent, and a good friend. Best of all, they give you a Catholic understanding of the four temperaments that will bring you closer to God and help you discover the path to holiness that’s right for you. Peace. Happiness. Holiness. You’ll find yourself growing in each of these qualities as you come to understand, and learn to use as you should, the temperament God gave you. (Product Description)
Most people are a combination of primary and secondary temperaments. However, it is important to keep in mind that your temperament is not the whole of your personality, nor does it “put you in a box.” Quite the opposite. Understanding and accepting your God-given temperament will help you identify your natural strengths, as well as ways to grow in virtue.
I am hoping to re-read the book soon, but in the meantime, Audio Sancto, is getting ready to preach a sermon on spiritual growth and the four temperaments. I CAN’T WAIT TO LISTEN TO IT! To prepare for the sermon, it would be helpful to know what your dominant temperament is.
You can take a test here.
**Note: Whatever you do, don’t take the test here. After answering hundreds of questions, you will be asked to create an account to see your results, you will create an account (since you just wasted all that time), and your hubby will come home see the computer screen and ask *just WHAT* you were doing on that site! He will not understand, that is, depending on his personality. Mine didn’t! 😉
For the record, I am a Choleric /Sanguine. A “glass half full” type of person.
The choleric-sanguine is a blending of the two extroverted temperaments and will be somewhat less extroverted than the sanguine-choleric, because the choleric’s extroversion often takes a back-seat to his goal-oriented behavior. Nonetheless, this temperament combination is second only to the sanguine-choleric in terms of being outgoing and people-oriented. This temperament mix tends to give rise to an enthusiastic, motivational, and highly driven leader (choleric) whose social skills and interest in other people (sanguine nature) make him less dictatorial and capable of some flexibility. He will value relationships more than a pure choleric, and will show greater compassion in dealing with people, will be less controlling than the pure choleric, and will be more willing to take time out to relax and enjoy himself.
If you are a choleric-sanguine, you will find that you have a great amount of energy and inspiration for initiating projects and can be highly focused on task completion as well. Although you tend to be very objective, pragmatic, and logical — and may sometimes find yourself stepping on toes in the process of accomplishing the task at hand — you will also have the interpersonal skills needed to resolve conflict and to help people work together and get along with one another. The creativity and sensitivity of your sanguine nature will enable you to be flexible when the situation calls for it, and less demanding and harsh than a pure choleric would tend to be. You are likely an energetic leader or manager, with superb debating skills: firmly convinced that you are right, you also have the “people-skills” necessary to convince others as well!
Without strong formation and a deep spiritual life, however, your temperament’s weaknesses will be intensified. Without attention to self-formation you may find yourself quickly aroused to anger, yet also unforgiving. You can be impatient with others and overly opinionated. You may speak frankly or impulsively without regard for others’ feelings. You should take care that you become neither a workaholic nor driven by your passions. You may insist on having your own way, and become angered, blame others, or make excuses when corrected. But, once you become aware of the weaknesses of your nature, and make a commitment to self-improvement, you will be able to be equally determined in pursuing self-formation.
It’ s very interesting stuff, don’t you think? I will link to the sermon as soon as it is posted.
If you take the test, I would love to hear what your temperament is!
Mosaic Meme
Here’s my contribution to the mosaic meme which was passed on from my cousin Margaret:
The Questions (and The Answers):
1. What is your first name? Jessica 2. What is your favorite food? Pizza 3. What high school did you go to? Our Lady of Victory 4. What is your favorite color? Pink 5. Who is your celebrity crush? (If I had one…I would probably say…) Jim Caviezel 6. Favorite drink? Mocha 7. Dream vacation? Rome 8. Favorite dessert? Mud Pie 9. What you want to be when you grow up? A *better* Mother 10. What do you love most in life? Faith and Family 11. One Word to describe you? Catholic 12. One hobby of yours? Reading
Your turn to jump on the bandwagon! Go ahead and make one of your own. Here’s how: a. Type your answer to each of the questions above into Flickr Search. b. Using only the first page, pick an image. c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker. d. Save image to hard drive and post to blogger. e. Copy HTML code for flickr photo credits and paste into blogger at the bottom of the post.
**Please let me know if you play along! I’d love to see your mosaic!
Credits:
1. Tu contiens dans ton oeil le couchant et l’aurore, 2. Table.jpg, 3. Our Lady Of Victory Basilica 1+2, 4. rose, 5. james_caviezel_01, 6. The Birthday Mocha, 7. Rome and his churches, 8. Happy Birthday, nal from miami!!!, 9. Pretty Flower, 10. “Norouz” is coming!…, 11. Catholic Church in Vienna HDR, 12. I Love To Read…..3
The Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ July 21
Outside my Window… there are lots of small pieces of water balloons to pick up, someday. I’m so glad that at least the Grenade ones are biodegradable!☺
I am thankful for… my camera, and all the photos that my hubby will be able to see when he gets home next week.
From the kitchen…there is a little bit of cake leftover from yesterday, and not much else. I am hoping to get to the grocery store soon. In the meantime, I am going to half to be creative!
I am creating… this blog post… and that’s about it, for the moment.
I am going… to try and sleep in just a few minutes.
I am wearing…my jammies.
I am reading… some information on this awesome Air Purifier that my dad loaned me for a couple days. It is suppose to eliminate over 99% of the odors and airborne germs and bacteria in the home! I am interested in anything that helps us stay healthier after this past year of being sick all the time!
I am hoping… that I will have a chance sometime this week to sit down and plan out next years curriculum.
I am hearing…the sound of the keys on the keyboard, and the hum of the air purifier. All my children are sleeping.
Around the house… I have some dishes and laundry to catch up on, but it’s not too bad. I also am hoping to get to the girls room and start sorting all their clothes.
One of my favorite things… is the big huge nighttime hugs and kisses that my children give me before they go to bed, multiple times! ♥
Have some friends over Tues-Wed. Auditory Processing Class for Captain, Tues-Thurs Attend Summer with the Saints on Thursday Celebrate the feasts of St. James and St. Christopher on Friday, July 25th Doctors appointment for Snuggles on Friday. (I also need to take him in to have his blood drawn one more time, since there wasn’t enough from the last time to complete all the tests.) Prepare for another 2 weeks of swimming lessons, beginning next Monday morning
To see more Daybook entry’s, click here.
Military Birthday Party
For his birthday, I gave him a “Military” themed party. We invited 20 of his friends–BEFORE we realized that his daddy would be off fighting fire! Thanks to TONS of help from my wonderful Aunt Bridget (who was not only present for Captain’s birth, but always comes to my aid when I am in desperate need of help!) , we had an almost perfect day. (It just couldn’t be perfect without daddy… We miss him SO MUCH!)
Not all the boys were able to come, but if you count our family, we had 19 children and 12 adults!
When the boys arrived, dressed in their fatigues, they signed in for “boot camp,” and were given their personalized dog tags and helmets.
I had tables set up with a large variety of Military Coloring Pages for the boys to color while we waited for everyone to arrive.
Once my brother Brian the “Drill Sergeant” had arrived, it was time to get the games started, so we began with Basic Training.
I set up an obstacle course using our play set.
The objective was to climb the rock wall, come through the fort, down the ladder, over the balance beam, across and back on the monkey bars, run through 2 tire, crawl under the twine barbwire, climb the rope ladder, go down the slide, and hit the target on a nearby tree with a ball.
We had one boy (pictured below) who made it through the course in only 36 SECONDS!!!! Can you believe that? Amazing!!

After Basic Training, it was time for Air Force Academy. The boys all made their own paper airplanes and we had a flight competition to see whose would fly the farthest. (For most of the competitions, we broke the boys into groups by age–younger boys and older boys.)
Next it was time for Sergeant Says. The “Sergeant” had a little too much fun with this game.

Even Twinkle Toes joined in the fun.
After the games (we never did get to all the ones I had planned. Why do I ALWAYS over plan??), supplied with tons of cardboard, I had them break into two teams to build their forts for the upcoming water balloon fight Battle, while we served up dinner.
I was keeping these boys BUSY!
After dinner they had their battle. I really enjoyed *watching* from the sidelines, and snapping a few photos!
At the request of Captain, I made a “Tank” Cake. Capitan loved, Loved, LOVED it! I must say that I was pretty excited with how it turned out as well! What do you think? Do you like it? Does it look like a tank?
Anyhow, after the boys ate their German Chocolate and White German and American Tank cake with Triple Chocolate Ice Cream, it was time for Captain to open his gifts.
He was completely spoiled. (Good thing he knows that these birthday parties are not a yearly event!! Usually it is just our family.)
(Yes! My Auntie made me wear camo…and I am looking pretty tired by this point!)
I am in desperate need of some sleep after this weekend, but before I go, I want to send a Big HUGE thank you to Aunt Bridget for all the help!!!! You are AWESOME!!! Thank you Brian, JoAnn, Mary and everyone else who helped me keep up with it all during the party! I SO appreciated the help! And thank you to all of Captains friends for helping to make his day such a special one!
The Saint Song
My children have been trying to sing this since yesterday, when we watched it (5 times+) over at Amy’s blog!
The First Mass and First Holy Communion

On the morning of May 31st, the day following the Ordination, Father said his very First Mass and our oldest son made his First Confession, and received his First Holy Communion.

It all took place at the beautiful Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, in Valparaiso, Nebraska.
It was a very special day.
Here are some photos that were given to us by Father:

Isn’t it such a beautiful chapel?!





The sermon was so inspiring!

The Consecration


First Holy Communions for two of Father’s Godchildren.
They are also the oldest Grandson and Granddaughter in the family.

Communion for Family Members


Giving a Blessing after Mass


Brothers

Our oldest son, and First Communicant, who is growing up so fast!


We have been truly blessed!




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