So very sorry to have been away so long!

I have to say that while I have many flashes of inspiration throughout the days and months and years since my last post I seldom have the required time to document and post them to share. I recently did two activities with my children which they loved and I also had the required time(rather I made it) to share with you.

The first was using our five senses. My son's home school work was on the five senses and I had just purchased three gallons of raw milk. The cream had gathered gloriously at the top and I decided I was going to help my two oldest use all their five senses and make butter at the same time! The kids could help in so many different ways. I find that this is very important when considering full family activities. How much are the kiddos going to get to participate and not get perpetually redirected by the parental units. Butter is one of those things that is low stress for both age demographics. So here ya go:

Either buy cream from the store(half and half) or like me wait for the raw whole milk to settle. Use your EYES to see if it looks like this:

Then skim off the very top as much as you can get and as little of the second layer as possible. The top will be very thick. Put it in a container you can seal very tight.

Because you are all now going to take turns shaking it. To speed up the process you can put clean marbles or rocks in the container. Shake shake shake, it helps if you all sing a bit at this point but stop singing every so often and listen. Pretty soon the cream is going to start SOUNDING more watery it is going to LOOK a little more white with chunks(butter). Get a metal bowl and put ice and water in it. Once the cream has separated and connected to itself(this is why) use a spatula to get it all out of the container and into the ice water. You are now going to rinse the butter. My kids felt the cream and then felt the butter to see if they could FEEL the difference. I had them smell both as well and it was amazing when my three year old's eyes lit up and she said, "Mom, the butter smells like ice cream!" Well, um, yeah.

As you can see my oldest was taking the pictures, my middle and youngest were helping me clean the butter. Roll it around in the ice water then dump the water. Refill the bowl and start again until the water runs clear. This part of the process will keep the butter from getting rancid. We do not add any salt because we love the sweet cream butter flavor on our toast in the morning.

So we used all our senses but their favorite was taste! We spread our fresh butter on crackers and yum!

The second thing we did was try to describe sound waves and our ear drum. Stretch plastic wrap super tight over one bowl then put oatmeal on the middle at the top. Get another bowl, put a lid tight on it as well. Then get a big stirring spoon and smack the second bowl in  the area of the oatmeal. Then you will see the oatmeal dance to the drumming. My kids LOVED this.

i hope to not be so very remiss in posting to this in the future.

Upcoming Valentine's Day!

I cannot tell you what dread fills my soul when someone mentions Valentine's Day and school. I used to hate to go to school on that day with such vehemence it would be hard to describe.  Everyone was going to get something to pick up from the office but me. Everyone on the bus would be assaulting me with their balloons and flowers and teddy bears as they walked by me on the bus. I would fume all day long and feel so unloved that by the time my head hit the pillow I would believe that I could in fact disappear and no one in my life would even notice!

So now I am a mother AND a Catholic. This has opened my world in ways I never thought possible. Before Hallmark ripped off the holiday and turned it into the only day a year people feel like they should show love it, it was a Saint's Day!

So, I decided to define my children's St. Valentine's day before Hallmark got to it. Grandma and Grandpa were visiting so we shuffled the day just a bit for celebration purposes. Then I made Strawberry Punch, courtesy of Foodies TV.

Then I made the St. Basil Jewel cake but with red and pink jello only. I told Joshua all about St. Basil as well, even though his feast day is Jan. 2. I got the recipe from Catholic Icing. Joshua and Maria love this cake because it is so shiny and has so many colors.

I also got Valentine's Day cards that are based on the Lord's love and not the world's. Again, thank you, Catholic Icing. These cards have verses on them and are paired up with certain candies to drive home the point. They are also free!

Finally, I tell and retell the story of  St.Valentine. He was very brave and his actions were done out of love for God and man. I want Joshua, Maria and baby number 3 to know that it isn't about Hallmark love. It is about God's eternal love and that love for a spouse is to mimic that love. An every day commitment and we show each other in little ways every day. Someday they will be old enough to see the Hallmark version, however, by that time I pray they see the Home version is better.

Comprehension not just repetition of our beloved Mass.

I get so excited during the Mass that I just about cannot contain myself. Trying to tell Joshua what is going on and remain quiet enough so as to not disturb others is too rough. So I had found myself reduced to making him quiet. Well, thanks be to God He intervened.

For his birthday a few years ago we got him the Wee Believers Mass Kit. We also got him the priest that the same company makes for Christmas. He was so happy with these two toys. And he would mimic the real priest during the Mass with his mass kit and it was adorable. Then he got older . . .suddenly, the hosts became frisbees and the incense burner became a sling shot and so the Mass Kit stayed home. I was at a loss of what to do with this amazing toy. Then we went to St. Andrews in Silver Spring MD. At the back of the church was the Magnifikid. It still took me months to put two and two together!

So, we have a new family tradition! The night before(preferably) or the morning of we have a practice Mass in our living room! Complete with an alter(end table), a gifts table(a chair), a priest chair. We have a pretend Mass and a homily on Joshua's level. We explain the scripture readings and the big words in the Liturgy. Joshua loves it and he seems to do a lot better at Mass because he has heard it before and it has been explained to him. As a side benefit we have heard the readings already so that when Maria tries to break for the doors or starts screaming her little adorable red head off we feel prepared to celebrate the Eucharist still. Not to mention, watching my husband formulate and explain to Joshua the readings on Joshua's level is a beautiful thing and I realize he would have made such a great Priest but I thank God so much his vocation was to marry me! :-)

Will Joshua still have rough days at Mass, he sure will. But I feel as a family our hearts and minds come to the feet of the Lord so much more prepared to take Him in, in our ears, hearts, minds and our tummies. Thank you so much, Jesus!

Easter, Easter season is here!

Ok, so I am a little behind in my posting about fun things to do with littluns. So this is a grandiose effort at catching up!

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday Mass is awesome. However, I found that Joshua seemed to miss what was happening and how truly awesome it was. So the following Monday I set about trying to bring it to his level. He loves painting and getting messy so I put the two together!

a) I had him pick his favorite color of construction paper and two colors of washable paint.
b) Then I had him cut strips of yarn about 1 inch long. I say about because he is four so I even took the 2 inch long ones.
c)Then starts the part he really loved! I had him open his hand and used a paint brush to paint the inside of his hand. This uses less paint and it tickles so gets them giggling and who doesn't love that sound!
d) Then I had him put that painted hand on paper.

e) Then I had him make a fist and painted the side of his hand with his other favorite color and had him place it on top of the hand. I explained during this procedure how the hand was going to be the donkey Jesus rode into town triumphantly and the side of his hand represented Jesus.

f) Then I had him cut the palm branches that we got at church into about 3 inch pieces. I gave him flannel to cut up as well. All the while I am telling him the story of Palm Sunday. We cut and glued together and viola!

After this craft he could tell me the entire story! He understood that Jesus was treated like a superhero when he rode into Jerusalem just a week before Good Friday! It was awesome!

Easter Season

Easter Day I love having sweets. Since during Lent we all drastically reduce our sugar intake what better way to celebrate the sweetness of life with the Resurrected Christ then by tasting sweet foods!

So I turned my Grandmother's monkey bread recipe(that I only allow myself to make once a year due to the dastardly effects it has on one's waistline) into a Crown of Thorns!

The easiest way to make this is buy about 6 tins of biscuits. Roll them in melted butter, then cinnamon and sugar(the kids love this part!) Then drop them into a bundt pan. Cook for the biscuits recommended cooking time and temperature. Check for doneness with a single toothpick. While it cools have it turned upside down on a cooling rack. When it is out of the pan, put on a plate and then put a toothpick in each ball around the outside. And you have a Crown of Thorns that has a taste that reminds you the story does not end there!

Secondly, I made a funfetti Easter cake. They sell these mixes and colored icings and sparkles at Aldi's(And any other grocery story, we just shop at Aldi's). Joshua loves all the colors and they remind us of the beautiful joy of Christ, so much variety in life of beautiful people, situations and Jesus' love. Bright colors remind me of that and I try to use them to remind my kiddos.

Then there is the beautiful Easter meal but others in my family had the expertise to cover that area. And it was a gorgeous meal.

Easter Season goes on until Pentecost and to celebrate that fact we do the Resurrection stations once a week and make Resurrection rolls. I can take no credit for this genius and have included the links below that we use.

Resurrection Stations and Stations of the Cross Cards  These are perfect for little hands to hold while doing the stations and if you print them off on card stock will last the season.

Resurrection rolls are a great way to make a picture for the kids of Jesus' Resurrection. Joshua also loves the mess that they make which is very limited but brings him such great joy! While we are doing the stations we can smell them baking and it is just another reminder of the sweetness of life buried in Jesus to come to life in Him.

Happy Easter Season!

More Fancy Snack and free craft ideas!

This is a jelly fish in a coral reef. Joshua had been hunting lunch for us all morning in the basement, the "Coral Reef." I told him I was going to cook it up for lunch and this is how it came out.

A different side view.

I am the Lorax and I speak . . .Joshua loves this book and movie. We were having a Lorax day. So when it came to snack time I tried to work it in. Cauliflower is the clouds, half an orange for the sun. I used peanut butter to stick everything together but Nutella would work to if you like that sort of thing.

Winnie the Worm Farmer is a book that Joshua dearly loves. We had been reading it and so I decided to make it a snack. This is crackers for dirt, raisins for bugs and cheese sticks for worms all in a bowl. It is simple to make and not much to look at but Joshua loved it!

Candles for Family Alters

I took an empty washed and dried pickle jar. I cut out artwork from a mail order catalog we received. 

Joshua glued on white tissue paper.

Then we glued on the artwork once the tissue paper had dried.

It is a great free candle that we use during prayer time at our family alter.

Baby bath tub/ Play time!

Storage is forever in short supply and frankly, I tire of stuff! My husband and I are forever getting rid of stuff so as to not have mountains of things. Not to mention where to put all that stuff? So all of my baby things I try to find a multipurpose reason for existing. For instance, the jumparoo doubles as a dog gate and keeps Eutaw out of the dining room during dinner. haha However, the baby bathtub had me stumped for a while, that was until I thought of turning it into a play area!

As a tub:

As a play area:

It works for a little while to entertain her. And now it doesn't just take up space between baths! She had to be able to sit up on her own for this to work.

Dry Snow!

So we had snow this week, wonderful, beautiful snow!  I love snow so much! I dressed Joshua and we raced outside while Maria was napping.  We made snow angels and snow mountains, it was even 24 inches tall! It was a blast and 30 minutes that went way to fast! However, after a cup of decadent hot chocolate it was time to play and I suddenly had an idea! Just because the snow was too dry to make snowballs or snowmen didn't mean I couldn't figure out a way to do those things, kinda! So I googled papermache!  Feeling well prepared for the task I threw some flour and water into a bowl while Joshua set about tearing up newspaper.

After the stripes were torn and set aside we balled up some other newspaper to put the papermache over.

This is the messy bit. I suggest a linoleum floor, clothes on everyone that no one cares about getting gross and letting go of cleanliness for the next hourish. After the balls of newspaper were well wrapped in our papermached stripes they were put in the oven at 200 degrees for about 3 to 4 hours. You have to make sure that it is completely dry so that it doesn't mold!

We just put them on a normal baking sheet to "bake" in the oven.

Here they are before all the paint starts. So at our mommies preschool, one of our fab mommies did The Snowy Day book and for the craft we made snow paint. It was awesome and so I thought I could do this for our snowman!! So that is what we did. 

Then as you can see below there were googlie eyes, pom poms and pipe cleaners involved for the finishing touches.

 Then, finally, there was a top hat. Which we used construction paper and half of a toilet paper roll to construct. We made a snow man even though the snow was so dry outside two flakes would stick together!!