Posts

Advent Idea #1

/11 Comments/in /by

I love Advent.

“Come Lord Jesus, Come”–my individual walk with God as an adult pales in comparison to the communal walk with God as a family.  Each day I become closer to God as I teach, listen, and create with my kids.  What a blessing and a gift.

I have done quite a few Advent projects over the years with my kids and kids in afterschool programs that I have taught.  Purple, pink, wreaths, glitter, candles–all my favorite things!

I tell the kids that Advent is a time to prepare ourselves for the birth of Christ.   In our house we do lots of little things–my oldest is 11 and he doesn’t craft as much any more but LOVES to HELP the little kids–which tells me that he is still interested but it may not be cool enough.  He does enjoy seeing his previous artwork on display.

Today’s idea is simple–it can be a coloring project.

any kid project framed–turns into beautiful artwork!

This was from my #1–he made is in 1st grade.  It has been up in our house for 5 years now.

I like that it is simple and get the point across that each week we focus on a different word to bring us closer to the cross.

I wanted to do this project again–so when I was the room mom for Kindergarten Christmas Party I knew this is what I wanted to do for the craft!

I had 20ish frames in my basement–don’t judge me!–I’m a collector–but I’m working on getting rid of stuff that doesn’t add value to my life.  Let’s get back to the project.

I had frames, I cut paper into strips, I cut squares for the “flame” I had markers in a variety of greens and I had little jewels to put on the wreath–add some bling!

The kids cut the strips into different lengths (I was going for perspective and how a “real” wreath would look), the candles burn down each week (science), and I had them label each candle with hope, love, joy, and peace–the words correspond with our focus and prayers for the week.

For the flame I had them cut a triangle with fancy scissors.  Some kids took it a step further and used orange marker on the tip for a flame!  Kids are so creative.

Once they had the “candles” on the page I had them do simple crosses (or x’s) on the bottom for the wreath.

I love the colors of Advent–this wreath came out very well.

Simple, cute, frame-able for years to come.

see the bling?

I’ll be writing more advent ideas in the next couple of weeks!   If you don’t want to miss  an email . . . sign up to the Advent prayers and crafts sent to your email.

Be Blessed.

Today I’m linking up with

Heart and home, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Titus 2uesdays, Into the Beautiful, Soul Sisters, Hip Homeschool, Path A merry meaningful Christmas

broken and blessed

/3 Comments/in /by

then Jesus blessed the bread and then broke it . . . I go to Mass a few times a week and I alway cross myself at that moment–do this in remembrance of me . . . I cross myself again.  Some days I wish I could just stop Mass at that moment until I felt like I understood it–I want to understand the mystery!  or at least be able to reflect on that moment.  Jesus how do I eucharisto?

Today is 12/12/12.  The last time in my life that I will ever see a sequence of numbers like this.  I want to celebrate–so I have decided that I will begin living a life of counting my blessings.  I’ve sort of already started–my 11-year-old gave me a jump-start!

I was cooking in the kitchen–working hard to make a phenomenal Sunday dinner–it was a special birthday dinner . . . I was taking extra care in ever detail when I saw the blue soccer  ball fly through the air–I covered my head thinking it would knock over one of the 3  hot pots on the stove or knock over a gravy boat filled too high or smash the yeast rolls . . . then I heard the clang and the crash.

The blue soccer ball hit the ceiling, landed on the top of the fridge and rolled onto ALL of my Christmas cups–the ones I have been collecting for 20 years!  I knew from the sound that there was breakage.

one of my collection

one of my collection (this is the mug–but it really fell into the other mug and then onto the floor . . .)

My son acted as if were no big deal–just one cup broke–“and the cup isn’t even broken just the handle!”  I went from 0 to 60 a couple of times until I was well into warp speed!

It wasn’t about the cup–well, it sort of was–I was mad!

  • it wasn’t the best time to break a cup
  • the cup broke all over the other cups requiring lots of washing (because after such a big dinner the dishwasher would be full)
  • I remembered the day I bought that particular cup
  • his attitude was horrible
  • I have said a million times “no balls in the kitchen”–I do allow dribbling/foot skills in the house–but NOT in the kitchen and no kicking again walls
  • I was trying to get dinner on the table, in the dining room, on the second Sunday of Lent, for a birthday dinner AND I wanted everything to be PERFECT.
the blue soccer ball that normally lives in the dining room

the blue soccer ball that normally lives in the dining room

In the brokenness of the cup I am blessed.  I am blessed that I have a wonderful son.  Who has legs to play soccer.  I remind myself that I prayed for this son.  Who can teach me the meaning of abundance.  I am so incredibly blessed.

In that moment of cleaning the mess of the blue soccer ball and the holly Christmas mug–I found the meaning of my life.

  • I live abundantly–I have everything I need.  I have more cups than I could ever want! (the loaves and fishes story)
  • I give thanks, in everything.
  • I found that anger doesn’t get me where I want to be–I want to seek joy!
  • I serve God by serving my family JOYFULLY.  When I fail at that I fail at serving God–when my intention moves towards perfection it moves from God.  When I do things for God, then it becomes perfect.
  • May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.  Romans 15:13.
  • I still think balls should stay OUT of the kitchen!

So on this day of 12/12/12 I want to my life to move forward with intention, joyfulness, purpose, and most of all trust that when I give thanks, in everything–God will be at the end of my prayer.  God is my safety net!  I want to practice intentional gratitude–not just on sunny days when my life seems perfect–but on my hardest days.  I know God has been with me on my darkest days.

that dang blue soccer ball!

that dang blue soccer ball–this is where the ball hides so it won’t be kicked, break dishes and then banished to the garage!  (and no I didn’t clean before I took this pictures–this is a real blog, with real pictures of a real house)

I am broken and blessed.  I thank God each day for my blessings.  I have an awesome house vs. my Ford Escort that I lived in–with two dogs and a cat!  I have these incredible children and a wonderful husband who love me–for me.  I look at everything as a gift to be treasured, respected and honored.

My life is a joy!  hard at moments, I lose my temper, I feel emotions other than love, peace and joy, but more and more those negative emotions are fleeting and I find myself seeking joy, grace and giving thanks, in everything.  I chose to be joyful, loving, kind, respectful, and thankful in everything I do.

Be Blessed.  My prayer is that you will feel the love and faithfulness of a God who wants to show you his abundance just for you.  For your own purpose.

I’m linking up with Works for me Wednesday,  Work in Progress Wednesdays, Wisdom Wednesday, upside down homeschooling,

A Kid’s Liturgical Year Journal 2012/2013

/3 Comments/in /by

In the Catholic church we have a liturgical year.  This year is marked by the special “seasons” of the church–Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Ordinary Time, as well as other holy days mixed in throughout the year.

The “new year” begins on the first day of Advent, December 2, 2012 this year.  The idea of this calendar is not to show the passage of time but rather to understand more fully the life of Jesus–from his birth to the crucifixion then our waiting in glory for his final coming.

Ok, I’m not gonna lie–it is a lot to understand, process on any level and apply it to our lives.  Then in order for me to teach my kids or write about it I needed to have a way to work through it with them.

So I came up with the idea to have a weekly journal that followed the liturgical year.  I love color so I thought I would coincide the weeks with the colors of the liturgical year.  Thank you God for the gift of colors!  God knows how to brighten our days!

My goal is:

  • a new fun way to keep a gratitude journal
  • incorporate the colors of the liturgical year
  • be able to see Holy Days ahead of time and prepare to celebrate more fully
  • mix up our way of learning religion–I can teach multiple ages and a multitude of subjects!

Colors:

White:  joy and victory

Red:  blood and fire

Green:  life and hope

Purple:  coming of Christ and penance and renewal

Rose:  the joy of anticipation

This how the weeks break down:

4 weeks of Advent (3rd week can be pink)

2 weeks of Christmas

6 weeks of Ordinary Time

Ash Wednesday

6 weeks of Lent

1 day of Red–Good Friday  Tridium

8 weeks of Easter

1 day of Red Pentecost

26 weeks of Ordinary Time

I’m trying to keep it simple and “learn as we go” so I will begin with paper in this order:

2 purple

1 pink

1 purple

2 white or gold

6 green

Ash Wednesday–not sure what color to go with on this day

6 purple (I will use a different shade from Advent)

1 Red–Good Friday

8 white or gold

1 day of Red for Pentecost

26 green

I used what I had in the house! I think it looks pretty cool!  For Christmas I found some white paper with gold stars!

Ideas for study:

  • at the beginning of each week write out the Sunday Psalm and see how that speaks to your heart over the next week
  • Take a message from the gospel and apply it to each day of the week.
  • Be mindful of where the mysteries of the rosary will be throughout the year.
  • keep it simple and create a gratitude journal–counting each one–I think my kids will out do each other in gratefulness
  • write a special prayer for each “season”

I am creating 4 of these journals–one for each child.  I will let them determine what they want the focus of the year to be.  For my youngest son I will have him pick one word (a concept word like-peace, hope, love, change  . . . ) to be his focus for the year.

My intention for this form of study is that it will foster a way for the kids to develop their own walk with the Lord this year–but it has specific boundaries.  I would hope that it will be a wonderful devotional for them to look back on.  For the kids that I’m homeschooling it will fulfill religion, writing, handwriting, math (time, months, weeks, visually represent a year), reading (we will share our stories/prayers), art (either drawing or exploring Christian artwork, putting on plays), computer skills–if they want to type a week or two or print off artwork from the internet), social studies (where in the bible are we?), science (what was the weather like in the areas, were their bodies of water?, mountains, what did people eat, what plants were plentiful in different areas)–hopefully you get the idea.

I’m hoping that this idea takes on a life of its own and is a wonderful experience for everyone–but I have been homeschooling long enough to know that it will grow and change into something else.

Please let me know if you decide to embark on this activity and how it works out!   If doing an entire year seems daunting than try just one season.  Or if you read this half way through the year . . . start then!

Be Blessed.

A merry meaningful Christmas