A little bit of dirt...

"In the spring, at the end of the day you should smell like dirt." ~ Margaret Atwood

 "The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." ~E.E. Cummings

A Little Paris Fun...

Do it again, Daddy!!

Happy Easter!!

Wishing you a very blessed Easter Season filled with hope and joy.  Enjoy a snippet of our Easter Celebration! 

All ready for Easter Vigil.  We were so proud of how well they did at the Vigil, especially after an already long week!

Lenten decorations were replaced with the Easter Scene!

The Easter Bunny arrived

Sacrifice beans were turned into jelly beans.

Our study of salvation history completed

Easter morning joy

No words...just egg hunting!

My Easter Morning Fruit Platter

And what holiday brunch is complete with out Great-Grandma Wiedenmann's Cinnamon Rolls!

Faith in the resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being;  the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered… God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed. – Pope Benedict XVI

Good Friday with Kids

Today has been a blustery, rainy and stormy day.  Very appropriate for Good Friday, right?  I wanted the kids to really understand that this day is different.  That this isn't just another day off school.  Not that I expect them to spend the day in prayer, but I want to teach them to be mindful of what today is and what it means for each of us.  So what do we do?

•   We obviously do not expect our children to fast, but we did tell them that today will not be a day for extra snacks or sweet treats.  Now for our kiddos this is difficult.  They LOVE to eat.  So everytime they ask, we ask them, "Why are there no snacks today?"  It keeps reminding them that today is Good Friday, since this occurs at least once an hour.

•  Stations of the Cross:  I made stations out of baby-food jars a couple of years ago.  We light each candle and then after we do a short mediation on the station, each child takes a turn blowing out the candle.  It keeps them interested.  I also made children's stations, where the kids can match a physical item representing each station to a picture of that station.  

 
 

• Silence:  I think it is very important to teach children the value of silence, but especially the importance of quieting our soul so that we can hear the voice of God.  Our kids are still in the teaching phase, meaning it is our job to teach them how to become silent and what to do with that silence.  We have different expectations for each one of our kids.  For example, with Isaac we sent him to his room for five minutes and told him to think about Jesus on the Cross.  After five minutes, I went in to ask him what he was thinking about?  What pictures do you see in your head?  How does this picture make you feel?  What is Jesus saying to your heart?  How can you help Jesus on the Cross.  It was beautiful to see what God was doing in his little heart in just five minutes.  A very tender moment for Isaac and I, to say the least.  

• The Kids Passion Movie:  We picked up a $5 Passion cartoon at Target a few years back.  It is surprisingly great and keeps the kids interested.  It is a two-part DVD.  The second part is all about the Resurrection.  We will let them watch that on Sunday.

• Veneration:  We will take  the kids to Veneration of the Cross at Church. 

Divine Mercy Novena

Today begins the Divine Mercy Novena.  If you are looking to help children participate in this prayer checkout catholicicing.com.  There are many ideas for making this feast of Divine Mercy meaningful.  I adapted one of her ideas to create a Divine Mercy Novena counter for our kids.   I am hoping this will allow them to be more activily engaged in the novena this year.

Jesus, will move each day of the novena until Divine Mercy Sunday!

“And I understood that the greatest attribute of God is love and mercy. It unites the creature with the Creator. This immense love and abyss of mercy are made known in the Incarnation of the Word and in the Redemption [of humanity], and it is here that I saw this as the greatest of all God’s attributes.” St. Faustina

Good Friday

 

 

 

“We adore you and we bless you, Lord Jesus Christ, here and in all the churches which are in the whole world, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”  St. Francis of Assisi

Underconstruction

Be on the lookout changes are on the way for this blog!