When you’re celebrating fatherhood on Sunday, don’t forget to acknowledge the men you call “Father” as well! Let us married folks and parents not forget that without these fantastic priests, we couldn’t have had a nuptial Mass in the Catholic Church to start us on our vocation to marriage.
Catholic Icing, a website full of Catholic resources to bring the Faith to life for your family, has some fun suggestions on how to acknowledge our priests on Father’s Day.
“Cut a strip of black (felt), and glue on a little white square for the collar. Then just wrap it around any present for your priest and attach with some tape!”
Here’s a “collar” on a bottle of wine:
If Father doesn’t like wine, maybe he’d like some homemade cookies with a felt “collar” around the container. If he doesn’t like cookies, give him a gift certificate to the local Catholic bookstore, pay his green fees at his favorite golf course, purchase him a new liturgical vestment, or enclose a “good for one homecooked meal at our home on the evening of your choosing” gift card.
Ask the kids to help make a card for Father, and write a heartfelt message thanking him for his life of service for the Church and the gift of his spiritual fatherhood.
If he’s tech savvy and checks his e-mail, send him a Collar-Holler or a Spiritual Bouquet from EncouragePriests.org. If you’ve never seen their site before, take some time to check it out. It’s a wonderful initiative from Catholics Come Home to promote vocations and encourage the priests who have taken on the role of spiritual father. Our priests are under more scrutiny than ever. They need our support and our prayers.
If you don’t like any of the above ideas, do what these sisters did for this priest:
Happy Father’s Day to ALL of the fathers out there–biological, adoptive, and spiritual!
When you’re celebrating fatherhood on Sunday, don’t forget to acknowledge the men you call “Father” as well! Let us married folks and parents not forget that without these fantastic priests, we couldn’t have had a nuptial Mass in the Catholic Church to start us on our vocation to marriage.
Catholic Icing, a website full of Catholic resources to bring the Faith to life for your family, has some fun suggestions on how to acknowledge our priests on Father’s Day.
“Cut a strip of black (felt), and glue on a little white square for the collar. Then just wrap it around any present for your priest and attach with some tape!”
Here’s a “collar” on a bottle of wine:
If Father doesn’t like wine, maybe he’d like some homemade cookies with a felt “collar” around the container. If he doesn’t like cookies, give him a gift certificate to the local Catholic bookstore, pay his green fees at his favorite golf course, purchase him a new liturgical vestment, or enclose a “good for one homecooked meal at our home on the evening of your choosing” gift card.
Ask the kids to help make a card for Father, and write a heartfelt message thanking him for his life of service for the Church and the gift of his spiritual fatherhood.
If he’s tech savvy and checks his e-mail, send him a Collar-Holler or a Spiritual Bouquet from EncouragePriests.org. If you’ve never seen their site before, take some time to check it out. It’s a wonderful initiative from Catholics Come Home to promote vocations and encourage the priests who have taken on the role of spiritual father. Our priests are under more scrutiny than ever. They need our support and our prayers.
If you don’t like any of the above ideas, do what these sisters did for this priest:
Happy Father’s Day to ALL of the fathers out there–biological, adoptive, and spiritual!
I’ve been MIA from the blogging world because I was on vacation. No, I didn’t go anywhere exotic or do anything earth-shattering. I simply got to spend an entire week with Dr. Phil at home with us! Hooray! We got to do all kinds of fun stuff. We worked on the landscaping in our front yard, and it already looks so much better. I’ll be sure and post pictures once we get everything planted and exactly how we want it. We made a trip to the local Children’s Museum and had a picnic lunch. We visited a state museum on our alma mater campus and got to meet up with my sister, her kiddos, Philip’s mom, and his little sister. We had two weddings, and Janie loved seeing the “princesses” in their beautiful gowns. We went with our playgroup to the zoo and had lunch by the seals. My high school World Religions teacher was in town for a conference, and we were able to have him over for brownie sundaes. What’s cooler than watching one of your heroes color with your daughter at the dining room table? I can’t think of what else we did off the top of my head, but it was a fun whirlwind of a week with plenty of family time. I’m sad to see it go, but it’s nice to be back to my regular routine. I had let the housework and cooking get away from me (and we know how THAT stresses me out!), so I’ve had a busy day getting back on track.
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I’m currently re-reading “The Happiest Toddler on the Block.” Part of Dr. Karp’s strategy for raising a happy toddler is spotlighting the good that they’re doing. One strategy is creating what he calls a “star chart.” You pick three behaviors to focus on (two that the toddler is already doing and one to work on). Then, sit down when they’re calm and explain that they’re doing a great job at the two things and say you’d like to help them work on the third. Let the toddler know that they’ll get a star each time they do any of the three things. Draw out the chart, allow the child to decorate it and pick out the stickers to make it their chart. Display the chart where everyone can see it, gossip about their success, give bonus stars for extra cooperation, get your child’s input for special rewards for every ten stars. Redo the chart every few weeks and add new behaviors.
Since praise is very effective with Jane, I decided to create “Janie’s Sticker Chart.” The two things that she does well already are sharing with Walt and waiting. The third thing that we’re going to work on is allowing Mom and Dad to put in her eye drops everyday. (Unfortunately, Jane inherited her mom’s “lazy eye.” It might be a cool party trick when you can control it like I can, but Jane can’t, and she needs these drops to blur the vision in her strong eye and strengthen the muscles in her “lazy” eye.)
We made the sticker chart this morning together while Walt took his morning nap. Janie helped me pick out the images online for the different tasks, and we drew up a chart on Microsoft Word. She retrieved it from the printer and helped me to put it on the refrigerator. She is sooooooo excited about her chart, and she gets a big thrill out of putting her selected Sesame Street stickers up for her achievements. It’s pretty darn cute watching her puff out her chest and point at her accumulated stars for waiting, sharing, and putting in eye drops.
Here’s the chart:
Hopefully the sticker chart continues to be a smashing success, and we’ll be able to go out for ice cream as a family when Janie gets 10 stars. C’mon, Janie! Mama loves ice cream as much as you do!
I’ve been MIA from the blogging world because I was on vacation. No, I didn’t go anywhere exotic or do anything earth-shattering. I simply got to spend an entire week with Dr. Phil at home with us! Hooray! We got to do all kinds of fun stuff. We worked on the landscaping in our front yard, and it already looks so much better. I’ll be sure and post pictures once we get everything planted and exactly how we want it. We made a trip to the local Children’s Museum and had a picnic lunch. We visited a state museum on our alma mater campus and got to meet up with my sister, her kiddos, Philip’s mom, and his little sister. We had two weddings, and Janie loved seeing the “princesses” in their beautiful gowns. We went with our playgroup to the zoo and had lunch by the seals. My high school World Religions teacher was in town for a conference, and we were able to have him over for brownie sundaes. What’s cooler than watching one of your heroes color with your daughter at the dining room table? I can’t think of what else we did off the top of my head, but it was a fun whirlwind of a week with plenty of family time. I’m sad to see it go, but it’s nice to be back to my regular routine. I had let the housework and cooking get away from me (and we know how THAT stresses me out!), so I’ve had a busy day getting back on track.
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I’m currently re-reading “The Happiest Toddler on the Block.” Part of Dr. Karp’s strategy for raising a happy toddler is spotlighting the good that they’re doing. One strategy is creating what he calls a “star chart.” You pick three behaviors to focus on (two that the toddler is already doing and one to work on). Then, sit down when they’re calm and explain that they’re doing a great job at the two things and say you’d like to help them work on the third. Let the toddler know that they’ll get a star each time they do any of the three things. Draw out the chart, allow the child to decorate it and pick out the stickers to make it their chart. Display the chart where everyone can see it, gossip about their success, give bonus stars for extra cooperation, get your child’s input for special rewards for every ten stars. Redo the chart every few weeks and add new behaviors.
Since praise is very effective with Jane, I decided to create “Janie’s Sticker Chart.” The two things that she does well already are sharing with Walt and waiting. The third thing that we’re going to work on is allowing Mom and Dad to put in her eye drops everyday. (Unfortunately, Jane inherited her mom’s “lazy eye.” It might be a cool party trick when you can control it like I can, but Jane can’t, and she needs these drops to blur the vision in her strong eye and strengthen the muscles in her “lazy” eye.)
We made the sticker chart this morning together while Walt took his morning nap. Janie helped me pick out the images online for the different tasks, and we drew up a chart on Microsoft Word. She retrieved it from the printer and helped me to put it on the refrigerator. She is sooooooo excited about her chart, and she gets a big thrill out of putting her selected Sesame Street stickers up for her achievements. It’s pretty darn cute watching her puff out her chest and point at her accumulated stars for waiting, sharing, and putting in eye drops.
Here’s the chart:
Hopefully the sticker chart continues to be a smashing success, and we’ll be able to go out for ice cream as a family when Janie gets 10 stars. C’mon, Janie! Mama loves ice cream as much as you do!
Happy 4th Anniversary, Philip! How has it already been 4 years since that special day?!
Reading the card Philip sent me before the wedding
Me and my sister
The girls
Flowers unite!
Love this picture
Me, my sisters, and my goddaughter
My aunt gave me her wedding dress. I had a few alterations done to make it my own. Isn’t it beautiful? What an awesome gift!
Lace detail and my shoes
I had to add another picture of the dress. I felt like Cinderella!
Philip & the groomsmen
The dudes
Mom & all of my brothers escorting her
The entourage of ring bearers and flower girls. Are they adorable or what?!
Talking with Dad, doing everything we can not to get too emotional before walking down the aisle.
Locking eyes for the first time that day
We are gathered here today…
Handing off my bouquet to Philip so that I can wipe my eyes. Our priest made us get emotional during the homily.
Receiving a crucifix for our home. Here, it is being blessed by our priest.
You may kiss the bride
The ringbearers (my adorable nephews) were ready to party!
My family
My bouquet. A friend from my sorority did all of the flowers. Weren’t they beautiful?
“Savor the Love” Life Savers for the guests
Our cakes with “The Best Day” Lladro statue from my grandparents in between
Cutting the cake
First dance
It looks like we’re the only two in the room!
Father-Daughter Dance
Dancing with Philip & his sister
Philip & his sister
Me & my siblings
We had an 11:00 wedding and luncheon afterward. After the reception, just the two of us went downtown in the limo while our family partied on at my brother’s house.
We took a bunch of pictures downtown
We had so much fun walking around in the dress & tux. We received a lot of well-wishes and ch
eers from people walking by.
Smooch!
Foreshadowing?
This picture was taken in a beautiful building downtown
If you can’t have an exorbitant amount of public displays of affection on your wedding day, when can you?!
Looking at Philip across the passageway
Champagne toast at dinner as husband and wife.
It was a beautiful day, and things have only gotten better since. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to share in these last four years! Here’s to many, many more!
