Pumpkins, All Saint's Day, and the month of All Souls

Howdy! Well, All Saint's Day went off really well. I did finish all the costumes (despite not having a car for a couple of weeks ....and running out of material for a monk's outfit!). The children really had fun at the parish party. I let the older boys go off on their own, and since most of the activities, were in the parish hall I could see them. The hardest one to watch was Little Mr. Yummy he was so excited about the balloons and the candy that he could not keep to one place very long, but I stayed in the back of the hall, grabbed a balloon, some treats, and he was good to go!

Miss M and Miss L.L kept together and could g around the hall as long as they could see me. So, I thought it would be too much to handle without my husband but it really worked out.

Then, guess what? My sister had another party on Sunday....with a bouncer and everything ha!
Dad was even there! I would post pictures of the costumes, but that will have to wait until an email.

This month we are trying to visit the cemetery every day. We are very close to a cemetery and it really is very peaceful to pray the family rosary there.

As St. Thomas Aquinas says, "it is more profitable to help the poor souls than poor people, because the poor souls are totally helpless".

Of course, we should help the poor too!!

I did something smart this year. I went ahead and ordered holy day crafts and saint crafts for the whole year. I won't have to worry about that at the last minute it's it my liturgical box and ready to go. I bought this All Soul's day craft from Oriental Trading Co. , and it really came out nice.

 

St. Francis's feast day, and Our New Church updates

Hello there!

Well of course, we must celebrate St. Francis's feast day. After all, we have some nature lovers in this household.

Of course, we are praying on this day for Pope Francis too. I especially pray that he consecrates Russia as Our Lady asked. The church is in such a mess that only through Our Lady will these problems be solved.

Here are some pictures of Our St. Francis's feast day. This is a traditionally a day when you can get animals blessed. I am sure that it is mostly for farm animals (because it involves livelihood), but perhaps your parish priest would bless your home critters too?

This picture was included with a book about St. Francis written by Robert F. Kennedy. I framed it and it will go in Nature Boy's room.

Here are some other good books about St. Francis (for kids).

 

The  book on the right is written by Tomie de Paola (he has quite a collection of good books).

 

This book was written by Josephine Nobisso. The illustrations are lovely.

We did have a craft today. I have  been doing this sort of craft for St. Francis's feast day for a few years now. We make pine cone bird feeders. .

Some peanut butter, a pinecone, a pipe cleaner, and some bird seed.

Take some pipe cleaner and tie it around the pinecone. Then smear peanut butter  all over the pine cone and roll it around in the seeds. Voila! Hang up and there you go.

 

 

 

 I was privileged to be at Our New Church beam signing and also the corner stone blessing. How awesome it will be! It will be a beautiful church, for God. A beautiful church to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. One day my children's children will be in this church. I am excited! I felt like I was part of history!

Here is the beam signed by many parishioners. Ready to go up into the church.

way

way....up

and finally into the church.

 

Wow! So many pictures in the post. Hope you enjoyed seeing all of them.

 

 

Hummingbird Rescue

Found this little injured guy in our yard. We thought he was dead , but he was just in a a tapor (I think that is the word)  for when  hummingbird sleeps. Their heart beat slows way down, and they are in a coma like state. I fed it some nectar and it perked up. But....one of the wings was not working properly. So, I placed him in our Butterfly pavilion (because the sides are a soft mesh).  ( I kept him in the washroom away from the craziness in our home ;)

I found a local rescue that specialized in hummingbirds, and we dropped him off. Yes, it was a him,  a juvenile one, and a Anna's Hummingbird at that.

By the way, doing my research I found out that it is illegal to keep, or even hold a hummingbird, it's eggs, or even it's nest.

I have to say, caring for this little guy for a short time, will always be memorable. He actually would come forward to drink from the tube!

I love love hummingbirds, but it was a relief to hand him over to the experts to heal, and to feed him properly ( I know they also need insects in their diets)


To reconcile myself,  I treated myself to some new hair clips....(hey, my birthday just just......passed)

 

These are from Lilla Rose

 

School, has been going well over here. Of course, it is busy and I never do seem to catch up on my housework. I have a million things on my to-do list...I am actually thinking of hiring a girl from the parish, just to come in weekly, to mop my floors on and iron for me. I just can't seem to find time for these two.

 

I am starting my three year with letter recognition. If she takes to it I will continue, if not, I will wait a bit.

These letters and letter cards from Plan Toys are awesome.

 

Here is a certain kiddo's birthday cake. Last yr, the castle cake I made was a dismal disaster. I am getting a bit lazy with my cakes, I mostly buy toppers for them...but the kids seem to love it all the same.

that's all for now.

 

 

 

 

Silouettes

For awhile, I have had this idea to do silhouettes of the kids. My little sister gave me some frames and with a quick trip for some card stock and I was ready to go ( all of 2 months to do....ahem!)

I took a profile picture of each of the kids, printed it out, then used it as a template to cut out of paper card stock. I picked some pretty backgrounds and there you go. (the girls' background I really do like and if I could find a real wallpaper like that print, I would soon snatch it up and paper my walls with it...but I digress, on to the pictures!)

boy's background

 girl's background

 

In the frame and ready to hang. I did write each of the children's names in there with the date

and now hung up...I love the way it looks on the wall near the wainscoting. It felt really good to complete this craft.

 

Do you like it?

Tweaking the school day, making plans, and seeing what works.

Hi,


Been keeping pretty busy this new school year. My husband's work schedule has changed a bit this new school year and so we must tweak our school day.

We start a littlie earlier (yawn) but it is working out pretty well. I don't have much free time these days, but I am enjoying our days together.

I started the older boys with Memoria Press grammer this year instead of the Seton English. I am not sure I like this, but we shall see, before we make any final decisions.

So, here is a list of what the older two are doing; Latin (with Dad), Greek (with Dad), Math (dad), Catechism (mom), grammer (mom,) spelling, handwriting, literature, and Roman History, vocabulary, oral narration,and dictation (mom)

The two younger ones; Math (dad), and catechism, reading, oral narration, writing, etc. with me.

While he works with the older boys I school the younger ones and visa versa.
I am pretty spoiled to have him here during most of our school day.

During meal times I am reading the bible or Our Lady of Fatima. They each have their day as a kitchen helper and we have been trying out, bread making together (just yesterday I tried my hand at soaked dough to make it more digestible).

 by the way

if you notice in this picture the container with the flour was on it's way to the floor....yep.....

 I try to teach wherever I am as you can see.

I like to finish up the school day early (skipping breaks) so we can finish early. That leaves afternoons free.

This fall I hope to give them all their own garden plots to plant and tend to. Aren't we cute?

Had a birth yesterday, yes sir, one of the pigeons babies hatched right in the hands of Nature Boy. This isn't the first time, but we all still get pretty excited.

On to a practical note, to help the homemaker in all of us.  Here is a nifty basket idea for the coffee. Put in the coffee, sugar and filters in one basket for easy get to and storage. So simple....

 and there is goes

it my disaster of a pantry. I accept this and it's really ok that it's a disaster.....mostly.

Off I go now, I wish I could say, "off I go to my nap", who is kidding who?..I never get to nap. I am so stinkin' tired right now, that anything amuses me.

 

Summer fun, wet froggies, sugar butterflies, and a sugar humming bird?

Having some wet muddy fun over here. I don't care for the major mud clean-up, but I know it's so hot that unless we have a pool (and no, I don't want one) the kids keep cool  by the outside hose. Of course, with the dirt in the back yard we get a bit muddy.

Who wants a bunch of muddy kids coming in for lunch (because you know darn well, they are not done playing) all muddy and wet ...only to go back out again.

So, I make a picnic lunch for them. Mini sandwiches and some grapes. And finally....when you are really done playing in the water then we can change.

One of the kids ( I know you can guess who) built a small pondish area. We have been bringing our toad to partake in this enjoyment.

Last but not least we had a birthday party. I have ordered these before, "sugar butterflies" and they are so worth it. They look so real (they taste like an ice cream cone).

This picture turned out a bit dark let's try this one.

ok, and I just had to show your these. Just had to.....

 

If anyone wants to know...I wouldn't object to these at all on my birthday. God bless!

 

Sunday

I thought I would drop in and write a quick post. Most everyone is sleeping in. Sometimes the 11:00 mass is a God-send.
As I am writing this I am hearing a bit of a quarrel go on in the next room....oh, it's stopped. Thank you Curious George. IN case you don't know we are Curious George fans.

Do you find your vocation hard? I do. Yesterday, I made a resolution that anytime I wanted to grumble (to myself) I would instead say a prayer and be done with the grumble. I was very humbled at how much I wanted to grumble.

Humbled by the grumble, humbled by the grumble, humbled by the grumble....(that was fun for me...I know such a nerd I am!).

I decided to do this because even though I might not grumble out loud, I know it effects my mood, and as my little sister said,"we want to show our girls how to be good mothers and wives".

That really hit home with me.

What kind of mother am I? How do the children view me? It's true I must be a disciplinarian, that is not really as fun and making a pie or playing a game with the children. I must show all of them how to behave for their own futures. It's a very weighty thought.

I must protect their souls. I must be ever so diligent with how they play, what they watch, where they go.  And no matter what others may think of me I must place God's good view first!

I must teach them how to fish (teach a child to fish...you know that saying). This always entails my greatest struggle, to be consistent and making sure everyone helps as they are capable. To show them how. How to tie their shoes, how to fold clothes, how to dust, how to answer the phone. The patience this takes, is a cross to bear, yet how I rejoice when we do learn that life skill!

 I must keep my spiritual life in good order, so they see it's the most important thing in life. Do I pray often, do I teach  catechism, do I pray for them. How do I use my spare time?

(true, mothers need refreshment, but how did Christ take His refreshment? He went alone to pray.)

I must watch what I say. I must be careful to always talk with charity. I must be careful in how I correct, do I correct with a good spirit or with a tired and aggravated spirit.

How do I interact with my spouse? Do I speak with love and respect to him? Do I correct him in front of the children? Do we work together as a team?

So, Sunday is here and yet another day I can thank God, and ask Him for help, guidance and strength. I tell you, sometimes (all the time) I am exhausted. True, my joys are great, my smiles are genuine, though a bit weary looking.

Now, to our Assumption day activities. I have been making it a tradition that we drink tea on this day. We use my special tea pot with the flowering tea leaves.

 

I better get. It's getting late. By the way if this is too preachy, chalk it to a mother giving herself a "pep talk".

Just some summer time prettiness

It's pretty hot here in the summer.  I won't deny that summer vacation away from home is a special treat for me, especially since I get to visit the OCEAN!

I do find it pretty here and just to prove there are pockets of pretty in my neighborhood ...

 

Some cool pink clouds before a storm. Monsoon season is one of my favorites.

Of course we are avid watchers of hummingbirds. We have some frequent visitors, some so frequent that we have named them.

 

That's all for now. We went to mom's for a pre-school year lunch. I won't deny it, chick-fil-ae is pretty darn tasty. I better get one of the kids has to show me the doves. Did you know that Inca doves mate for life?

Gearing up for a new school year

Though we school year round, there comes a time at the end of the summer that we get our "new" books. I am pretty excited. I love to make new plans and decide what did work what didn't work and what is not necessary.

I have been reading a bit about Charlotte Mason and do like what I see so far and (this may be old news for all you veterans) have found Elizabeth Foss.

It is ever so much easier to find information, order books and find support. I wish mom had this when we were young!

I am also streamlining our day. Housework will have to be done after school. I have to tried to fit in doing laundry and a bit of housework, but it proves too distracting.

I have some to the realization that my home will have to be messy until "later". ha!

New in this neighborhood

Well, we finally managed it a little community of blogs rolled into one!

I hereby name this sub-blog "My Humming Bird Nest". It fits don't you think? A busy mama tending to her brood. Anywho, I must get ready for mass so...I will catch you later.