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!
The 9:45 p.m. weeknight bedtime is officially a habit for me and Philip. We finally got our Blizzards! Hooray!
We turn off whatever we’re watching or stop whatever we’re doing at 9:30 to get ready for bed. Philip preps the coffeemaker for the morning and lets Monty out while I start my getting ready for bed routine (which, by the way, seems to be taking longer and longer with each year!).
We “go and see the babies” together–always Walt and then Janie. In their sleep, Walt is a mini Philip and Janie is a mini Catherine. Walt startles when he hears us come in, sits up in a sleepy fog, smiles at us, and lets us lay him back down. We usually find Janie in some contortionist position that looks impossible to sleep in, and she sleeps through us repositioning her and re-covering her with her blankets.
Philip and I read for awhile in bed. I’m re-reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp, and someday I’ll finish Mockingjay. Philip usually starts dozing after a few minutes of reading and turns in for the night. I try to get my “pillow talk” in with him early so that I don’t end up with sleepy Philip, snoring between sentences.
If I’m not reading a book, I check Facebook or Pinterest for awhile on the laptop. I am self-imposing a strict lights out by 10:30 p.m. policy. I’ve gotten carried away with that quiet time all to myself and have stayed up until 11:30 or midnight a few times! So much for an early bedtime!
Philip and I go in spurts of being good about praying together before bed. We have a great book called Day by Day With the Catechism: Minute Meditations for Every Day Containing An Excerpt From the Catechism, A Reflection, and a Prayer by Peter A. Giersch. We’d alternate who read the passage each night, discuss the reading, and the person who read from the book led us in a spontaneous prayer and closed with a formulaic prayer that the other would join. I’m sad to say that we’ve gotten away from that practice, and I’m putting that book on my nightstand right now to remind me to get back into it. What do you and your family do for prayer time? What about you and your spouse?
Despite being faithful to the 9:45 p.m. bedtime and getting out of bed at 6:00 a.m. for my prayer time, the kiddos haven’t been on board with this plan. Two weeks ago, Janie and Walt were getting up at 6:45 and 7:00 respectively. This week, they wake up minutes after I’m out of bed, and today they woke up when they heard Philip’s alarm clock. So, I’ve had to do my prayer time most days during naptime. It works fine on the days that I actually get to do it, but it would be so nice to have that dedicated time in the morning to start things off right, use naptime to get a few things done, and maybe even have a little break.
How do you other moms out there do it? How much do you sleep? When are you getting up, praying, exercising, getting the stuff done you can’t get done with kids around, and having a little you time? What’s your average day look like?
Despite my best intentions, I can’t seem to make prayer time at the beginning of the day work on a regular basis, and I’m afraid it might mean learning to get by with less sleep. Those of you who know me know that that’s going to be a struggle–for everyone involved! 🙂 I suppose I better start praying that either (1) I learn to get by with less sleep or (2) the children start sleeping in.
Our sweet baby Walt turned one last Saturday. I know it’s cliché, but we can’t believe how quickly the year flew by! I thought I’d share a few pictures of the fun day. Of course, I couldn’t help but think of all of the similar mannerisms Walt had to Janie on her first birthday, and I had to add a few shots from her first birthday as well.
Happy Birthday Walt Choo Choo Sign
Our Little Engineer
Our Fam
Janie trying to touch the camera
Walt trying to touch the camera
Jane’s two-handed approach
Walt’s two-handed approach
Jane thinks birthdays rule
Walt thinks birthdays rule
Silly shot. Janie’s fist pump for birthdays being awesome!
Walt just going for it!
Siblings enjoying their cake together
It was a great celebration, and we look forward to seeing what the next year has in store for our family!
Every time I get on Facebook or check the news, I’m bound to see some version of anti-Catholicism. Someday, hopefully someday in the near future, I’ll wise up and stop being so shocked. Usually, the anti-Catholicism is in the form of “machine gun apologetics” — when the person jumps from one point to another as quickly as a machine gun fires, aiming to overwhelm any opposition by taking them down any number of erroneous rabbit holes. Invariably, the discussion jumps from priestly pedophilia to fascism to the Inquisition to how much the Church hates science to their oppression of women to their hatred of homosexuals to any other flavor of the day.
The trouble is, our standards for modern journalism are so low, that anyone is allowed to spew out “fact” in the form of opinion and get away with it, and the tendency carries over to the social networking world. As Patrick Coffin, host of Catholic Answers Live, often says, “If I don’t know what an RBI is, the New York Times is not going to let me write a baseball column for them. But journalists who know nothing about Christianity are assigned to cover church news all the time.”
An ill-informed reader grows to hate what they think is the Church because of the lousy journalism or so-called scholarly work that passes as the latest proof of why the Church is backward and in need of reform. I regularly see even those who went through 12 or more pricy years of Catholic education re-posting the untruths and hate about the Church because of how poorly catechized they were. Unfortunately, we can’t blame most of them. They never learned what Mother Church is and what She’s not. It’s a miracle there are as many young, faithful Catholics as there are considering how poorly catechized our parents’ generation was!
I’d hate Catholics if we truly did and believed everything the world says we do, and Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said he would have, too.
He summed up the world’s hatred toward the Catholic Church better than I ever could. This excerpt is a little lengthy, but every word is worth reading, and I couldn’t pare it down:
“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church—which is, of course, quite a different thing.
These millions can hardly be blamed for hating Catholics because Catholics ‘adore statues;’ because they ‘put the Blessed Mother on the same level with God;’ because they ‘say indulgence is a permission to commit sin;’ because the Pope ‘is a Fascist;’ because the Church ‘is the defender of Capitalism.’ If the Church taught or believed any one of these things, it should be hated, but the fact is that the Church does not believe nor teach any one of them. It follows then that the hatred of the millions is directed against error and not against truth. As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.
If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates.
My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. … the Catholic Church is the only Church existing today which goes back to the time of Christ. History is so very clear on this point, it is curious how many miss its obviousness…”
So, I’m ever so slowly learning to try and stop being surprised every time I open up Facebook or read the news. When “machine gun apologetics,” lousy journalism, and poor excuses for scholarship rule the day, there’s no time for a civilized, fair debate free of red herrings, ridicule, straw men, or any other fallacy. If the goal of debate is to find truth, one would think that the non-Catholic want to find out from the Catholic Church and its faithful what they actually believe. After all, then the non-Catholic could go on to future debates with more clout because they would be able to accurately articulate the Church’s position. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the goal of most debates, especially those anywhere online, is less about truth than making the other person look like a bigoted idiot.
There’s a lot of work to be done for us Catholics. I can’t go on thinking it’s enough to be persecuted just because Christ promised it’d be this way. After all, if people in his day called him Beelzebub, should we really be shocked at some of the names launched our way for being His followers? He promised this kind of hatred. “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).
It might tempt us to think we’re something special just because we’re being persecuted, but we better think again. We don’t need to be doormats, but we don’t need to be c
rusaders at every moment either. It’s a delicate dance. As tempting as it is to flush out every red herring or straw man I read about the Church in the news article com boxes or on Facebook, I’m slowly learning that most people are more in need of conversion of heart than whatever words I can type.
Sometimes I’ll point someone in the general direction of a reliable, Catholic resource like Catholic Answers Live, other times I’ll give a short summary of the Church’s position on a particular issue with citations from the Catechism, and other times I’ll bring that person to prayer by name. Entrusting that person to the Blessed Mother or to Our Lord is more powerful than any fleeting vindication I might feel from having “won” a Facebook debate. What victory is it if I haven’t revealed God’s love?
I’m slowly learning to pray for discernment on how to handle these situations. It’d be a lot easier to defend the Faith if I weren’t a broken sinner that the world could point to as a hypocrite, but I suppose the beauty of it all is that the world got Jesus in spite of Judas. God continues to convert hearts despite my failings and miserable blunderings at revealing His love.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood (Heb 12:1-4).
So, on with the race set before us. May we keep our eyes always on Jesus, “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”
All was going well with the new bedtime. I was feeling more rested, and I was thrilled to be done with the fire alarm morning routine. I woke up last Wednesday without an alarm at 6:30, and felt amazing. Unfortunately, the kiddos woke up shortly thereafter so I didn’t get in my quiet prayer time. It had to be done at naptime instead.
Then, I went to a concert Thursday night that kept me up past my new bedtime. It was super fun, and it was worth the late night! Then, it was the weekend, and the new bedtime didn’t apply because it was the weekend. Then, it was Mother’s Day and Philip started a week of working nights, and I just can’t seem to sleep very well when Philip’s gone.
Blah, blah, blah. Excuses, excuses. I know, it’s all very pathetic, but I’m getting back on track–TONIGHT! I will be in bed by 9:45, and I will continue to keep my bedtime. It’s too good for me not to! I’m enforcing the new bedtime around here for all weeknights unless an out-of-the-ordinary event comes up (i.e., an out of town visitor, family emergency, etc.). I know I sound old and lame, but, hey, I need to be old and lame. When you’ve got two little ones and a husband who works a crazy schedule like Philip’s, routine is key. I’m okay with being old and lame so long as it means domestic bliss around here. Philip and the kiddos are the ones I’m doing this all for anyway!
So, in short, I didn’t keep my bedtime last week, and we didn’t get to go out for Blizzards. Darn! If at first you don’t succeed… If we keep our weeknight bedtime for a solid week, we’re going to Dairy Queen for Blizzards next Wednesday. French Silk Pie Blizzard, here I come!
I’m looking forward to the quietness of the morning when I’m rested enough to wake up before the kids. Since I am going to be in bed at 9:45 tonight, I’m setting my alarm for 6:00 so that I can get up and have my coffee & prayer time without interruption. If I picture Jesus in the living room, waiting for me to join Him for prayer time, I get my rear end out of bed. The coffee helps, too. My new coffee creamers make that cup of coffee oh so delicious! I usually have two of these in the fridge at all times. Variety is the spice of life, they say.
That’s what gets me to bed early. What would you need to motivate you to be early to bed and early to rise?
I was busy crafting away last week! Ever since I joined Pinterest, I’ve been adding projects and crafts to do. I decided to tackle a few of them, and I thought I’d share pictures.
Craft #1: Mother’s Day Cards for the Grandmas and Great-Grandmas (original idea found here)
I traced Janie’s hand on green paper and cut it out. I made the flower pot out of patterned scrapbook paper and cut out the flowers before attaching gluing them to Janie’s fingertips. I bent the petals to give them a little dimension. Janie loved this project. “I make flower hands! Flower hands for grandmas!”
Craft #2: Birdseed Cookies (original idea found here, but I used this site for instructions)
You need: 4 cups birdseed 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup water 3 tablespoons of corn syrup
Mix ingredients in a bowl to make a big, sticky mess! Select cookie cutter shapes (I recommend using 3-4 inch shapes). Spread parchment paper on a baking sheet. Grease cookie cutters with cooking spray. Press the seed mixture into the cookie cutters with the back of a spoon, and use a straw to leave a hole.
Bake in the oven at 170 for an hour. Flip after thirty minutes. The alternative to baking is waiting for them to dry for several hours. Bake ’em if you don’t feel like waiting!
Voila! Birdseed cookie! If your feathered friends aren’t interested in the hanging cookie, consider leaving them out on a flat surface like your deck rail. We love watching the birdies and squirrels come to nibble on the seed cookies. Jane watches the action on the deck, and she announces whenever we have a visitor.
Craft #3 (I suppose it’s more of a baking craft): Ice cream cone cakes (original idea from Betty Crocker’s site)
Use a Ziploc bag and cut off a corner to pour the cake batter into the ice cream cones.
Fill 3/4 of the way with batter.
Follow mix instructions or use your favorite cake recipe.
My resourceful husband cut a hole into an empty cereal puff container to serve as a frosting stand. Clever, huh?
What’s an ice cream cone without sprinkles?! We added different colors to the frosting. We love the Wilton dyes. You can find them in the baking section of most craft stores.
Craft #4: Tile Coaster Tutorial (original idea from The Cottage Home blog)
These were so fun to make, and they’re super simple!
Buy some plain white glazed tiles at your local hardware store. We found a 100-pack for less than $20.
Cut out squares of your favorite scrapbook paper. Mod Podge them to the tile. Add 2-3 coats of Mod Podge over the paper, making sure that each coat dries completely before adding additional coats. Sponge brushes work great for applying the Mod Podge.
Once the Mod Podge is completely dry, apply a clear acrylic sealer (outside!) to the tiles. I used Krylon brand. This will make the coasters water resistant. Don’t use warm beverages on the coasters for at least a month and make sure the acrylic sealer completely covered the entire surface of the tile. Otherwise, moisture will build up and cause the paper to bubble.
Apply felt to the bottom of the tiles with fabric glue.
Voila! You have a cute little gift! I bundled mine together with ribbon and gave them to the great-grandmas, grandmas, my sister, and sisters-in-law for Mother’s Day.
Now, we’re gearing up to celebrate Walt’s birthday on Saturday. Can’t wait!
I was busy crafting away last week! Ever since I joined Pinterest, I’ve been adding projects and crafts to do. I decided to tackle a few of them, and I thought I’d share pictures.
Craft #1: Mother’s Day Cards for the Grandmas and Great-Grandmas (original idea found here)
I traced Janie’s hand on green paper and cut it out. I made the flower pot out of patterned scrapbook paper and cut out the flowers before attaching gluing them to Janie’s fingertips. I bent the petals to give them a little dimension. Janie loved this project. “I make flower hands! Flower hands for grandmas!”
Craft #2: Birdseed Cookies (original idea found here, but I used this site for instructions)
You need: 4 cups birdseed 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup water 3 tablespoons of corn syrup
Mix ingredients in a bowl to make a big, sticky mess! Select cookie cutter shapes (I recommend using 3-4 inch shapes). Spread parchment paper on a baking sheet. Grease cookie cutters with cooking spray. Press the seed mixture into the cookie cutters with the back of a spoon, and use a straw to leave a hole.
Bake in the oven at 170 for an hour. Flip after thirty minutes. The alternative to baking is waiting for them to dry for several hours. Bake ’em if you don’t feel like waiting!
Voila! Birdseed cookie! If your feathered friends aren’t interested in the hanging cookie, consider leaving them out on a flat surface like your deck rail. We love watching the birdies and squirrels come to nibble on the seed cookies. Jane watches the action on the deck, and she announces whenever we have a visitor.
Craft #3 (I suppose it’s more of a baking craft): Ice cream cone cakes (original idea from Betty Crocker’s site)
Use a Ziploc bag and cut off a corner to pour the cake batter into the ice cream cones.
Fill 3/4 of the way with batter.
Follow mix instructions or use your favorite cake recipe.
My resourceful husband cut a hole into an empty cereal puff container to serve as a frosting stand. Clever, huh?
What’s an ice cream cone without sprinkles?! We added different colors to the frosting. We love the Wilton dyes. You can find them in
the baking section of most craft stores.
Craft #4: Tile Coaster Tutorial (original idea from The Cottage Home blog)
These were so fun to make, and they’re super simple!
Buy some plain white glazed tiles at your local hardware store. We found a 100-pack for less than $20.
Cut out squares of your favorite scrapbook paper. Mod Podge them to the tile. Add 2-3 coats of Mod Podge over the paper, making sure that each coat dries completely before adding additional coats. Sponge brushes work great for applying the Mod Podge.
Once the Mod Podge is completely dry, apply a clear acrylic sealer (outside!) to the tiles. I used Krylon brand. This will make the coasters water resistant. Don’t use warm beverages on the coasters for at least a month and make sure the acrylic sealer completely covered the entire surface of the tile. Otherwise, moisture will build up and cause the paper to bubble.
Apply felt to the bottom of the tiles with fabric glue.
Voila! You have a cute little gift! I bundled mine together with ribbon and gave them to the great-grandmas, grandmas, my sister, and sisters-in-law for Mother’s Day.
Now, we’re gearing up to celebrate Walt’s birthday on Saturday. Can’t wait!
I love sleep. I looooooooooooooooooooooove sleep. Fortunately, Janie and Walt (usually) love their sleep, too. Unfortunately, they still wake up fairly early, and I’m in the bad habit of going to bed too late. It’s a silly problem, and I really need to do something to fix it because it’s a bad day for everyone when Mama Bear doesn’t get enough sleep. When I don’t get enough sleep, I’m like this lady.
As I get older, I’m learning to embrace who I am and finally own up to my triggers (the things that set me off into crazy Mama Bear mode). Aside from hormones (ha!), my main triggers are lack of sleep, hunger, and a messy house.
I’m finally getting a handle on the messy house, and I’m discovering more and more healthy snacks to keep me fueled throughout the day. My big, remaining trigger is lack of sleep.
I don’t have a good reason for being tired or for staying up too late. Philip and I don’t get much time together in the evenings after we’ve gotten the kids to sleep, and we’re learning that we simply won’t get as much time as we used to have. He usually has to be up at 5:00 a.m. to be at the hospital for morning rounds, and the kiddos will be up shortly thereafter.
We make resolutions to go to bed earlier when it’s Wednesday and we’re exhausted from staying up too late, but we inevitably slide back into our old ways. We’ll watch one too many episodes of Downton Abbey, or I’ll waste away an hour on Pinterest after we’ve gotten into bed for the night. Before I know it, it’s midnight and I want to smack myself in the head for putting myself through what I know is going to be a tough wake-up call.
So, it’s time to build-in a new habit. There’s a new bedtime at the Boucher household, and it’s 9:45 p.m. That means we will be in bed at 9:45 p.m. There are several reasons we need to build this new habit into our routine:
Philip and I will both get the sleep we need.
I can have uninterrupted prayer time before the kids wake up. I have been doing my prayer time during naptime, but it’s unsuccessful for a few reasons:
I’ve been so tired from going to bed so late that I need a nap every now and then!
Naptime is the time when I can get things done around the house uninterrupted. I need this time to be doing other things.
Sometimes naptime doesn’t go according to plan and I’m not able to get a good prayer time in.
No more of what I call fire drill wake-up calls. When I wake up with the kids, I feel like I’m constantly putting out little fires until everyone’s settled and eating at the kitchen table. I end up re-warming my coffee several times before it’s even half-gone when I’m in fire drill mode.
More time to enjoy reading together or having a little pillow talk.
I can organize my thoughts before bed and relegate all of my mental clutter to the next day’s daily do-it list during this time.
We’ll be alert enough in the evening to re-dedicate that time to praying together as a couple before bed.
So, here’s to the new bedtime, and a more-rested & happy family! For a little extrinsic motivation, Philip and I decided we’re going out for a little Dairy Queen next Tuesday night if we successfully go to bed at 9:45 p.m. every night. Oh, how I love me some French Silk Pie Blizzard…
It’s hard to believe, but Philip has almost completed his first of three years as a pediatric resident. Yay, Philip! We’re so proud of you!
Thanks to the recent work hour restrictions put in place, Philip is able to see much more of his family than his predecessors. Nonetheless, he’s still working very hard, and sometimes the hours get the best of him. His most intense months are called inpatient months. During these months, he works a week of night shifts. With two little ones at home during the day, it’s tough for Philip to get much rest.
Inpatient months are difficult on our family because of the limited time we have with Philip. The trade-off is endless entertainment from sleepy Philip. He’s always sleep-talking, sleepwalking, or doing other goofy things.
During one of his most difficult inpatient months, Philip tapped me on the shoulder in the middle of the night and said, “Hey, who do you think will be the top-selling recording artist this year? Taylor Swift?”
Philip’s been known to sleepwalk and sleep-talk when we have a newborn. Sometimes it can be scary. One night, I had to intervene when I heard the bathroom fan and tub running. I intercepted Philip on his way to the nursery where he said he was going to “give Walt a bath”! Yikes!
Last night, I woke up at 2:45 a.m. to see that Philip had disappeared. I found him, asleep on the living room couch, and he had no memory of how it happened.
A few months ago, in the midst of an inpatient month, Philip decided he’d try to help convince Janie to take a nap. He said he’d try sleeping on the floor next to her daybed. The plan worked for about forty-five minutes. Then, I heard Janie making some noise. I decided to investigate, and this is what I found when I opened the door:
Philip was snoring on the floor, wrapped up in a blanket. Janie was standing over him in her footie pajamas, holding something. She had gotten the hand sanitizer off of the changing table, and was standing over Philip with the bottle, ready to squirt it all over him. Who knows what would have happened had I not come in. Now THAT would have made a good video! Here’s the scene caught on video:
Is my husband the only sleepwalking, sleep-talking resident out there?
It’s been a whirlwind of a day, and I’m all out of creative things to write, so I thought I’d share an awesome recipe.
If you like Indian food and you like using your slow cooker, you’re going to love this recipe. It’s called Slow-Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala. Click on the link to access the Tasty Kitchen blog where I found the recipe. Deeeeeeeelicious!
Image from tastykitchen.com
I’ve copied and pasted the ingredients and directions, and I included my notes below.
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE CHICKEN:
9 wholeBoneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
1 TablespoonGround Coriander
1 TablespoonGround Cumin
1 teaspoonKosher Salt
1 cupYogurt
4 TablespoonsButter
1 wholeJalapeño Pepper, Stem Removed, Pepper Pierced Several Times With A Sharp Knife
FOR THE SAUCE:
4 TablespoonsButter
1 wholeLarge Onion, Peeled And Diced
6 clovesGarlic, Peeled And Minced
1 TablespoonKosher Salt
3 TablespoonsGaram Masala
1 pieceFresh Ginger, About 2-3 Inches, Peeled And Grated
4 cupsCrushed Tomatoes
1 TablespoonRaw Sugar (can Substitute White Granulated If Necessary)
2 teaspoonsCornstarch Or Cleargel
1-½ cupHeavy Cream
TO SERVE:
Hot Buttered Rice And Peas
Chopped Fresh Cilantro
Preparation Instructions
Cut the boneless, skinless chicken thighs into 1- 1 1/2 inch pieces. Sprinkle the coriander, cumin and salt over the chicken, then stir in the yogurt until all the pieces are evenly coated. Cover lightly and let sit for 10 minutes before proceeding.
Melt 1 tablespoon the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Raise the heat to medium high and quickly brown about 1/4 of the chicken. Transfer browned chicken to the slow cooker as it is finished, using 1 tablespoon of butter per batch, and repeat until the chicken is all in the slow-cooker.
Throw the pierced jalapeno in on top of the chicken.
Prepare the sauce. Return the pan to the heat and melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and kosher salt, then stir. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to lightly brown around the edges.
Stir in the garam masala and ginger and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute) before raising the heat to high and adding the crushed tomatoes and raw sugar. Stir well, scraping the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan, and bring to a boil. Pour over the chicken in the slow-cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours, or until the chicken is very tender.
Use a fork or whisk to stir the cornstarch or cleargel into the heavy cream until smooth. Pour into the slow-cooker and stir gently until the colour is even. Replace the lid and let cook for 10 minutes or until bubbly around the edges.
Serve over hot rice and peas, topped with a generous amount of chopped cilantro.
My Notes:
There’s a lot of butter, and you can get away with cutting out a few tablespoons.
The recipe has a good kick to it from the pierced jalapeño. If spicy isn’t your thing, I’d suggest halving the jalapeño or leaving it out altogether.
We found a good-sized jar of Garam Masala (the key spice for the sauce) at Target from their Archer Farms series.
I used granulated sugar since I didn’t have raw sugar.
Consider chopping the chicken thighs and doing the veggie prep the night before so that all you have to do the next day is combine ingredients and turn on the slow cooker.
I used the freezer pack chicken thighs from Costco. Gotta love Costco!
I used cornstarch instead of the cleargel.
We used basmati rice. We cooked according to the package directions and threw in some frozen peas for the last minute.
Serve with naan. Got that at Costco, too! It came in a pack of 3, so we froze the extra. Brush it with olive oil or sprinkle a little water on it and stick it in the oven at 300 for a few minutes.
I love cilantro, but I decided against serving with cilantro since the sauce already had so much spice to it. Taste the sauce before you decide to add the cilantro or not.
The recipe made a lot of leftovers for us, so I froze about half into a few quart-sized bags. I made the recipe a few weeks ago for dinner, and had the frozen half for dinner last night. I thawed the bags in the fridge Monday night and poured the contents into a saucepan to thaw Tuesday night for dinner. All I had to do was make another batch of rice and throw in some peas at the end! We had the leftover naan, too. So good!
If you didn’t get around to making May Day baskets this year, you’re not alone. Fortunately, I found a fun crafty alternative that you and your whole family can do to scatter flowers year-round! More on that below.
Patrick Coffin, host of Catholic Answers Live (the best show in radio as far as I’m concerned), closes every show by saying, “Be a saint. What else is there?”
Really, what else is there? We’re made to be saints, and we shouldn’t be shy about saying so. If my job as a wife and mother is to get my family to heaven, that’s just another way of saying our mission is to become saints. So, let’s get on with it!
Among all of the saints, St. Therese of Lisieux holds a special place in my heart. This young French girl dedicated her life to becoming a prayer warrior. Ironically, the cloistered Carmelite nun who only lived to the age of 24, is the patroness of the missions because of the way she inspires others to serve, know, and love God. Like Therese, all of us have the opportunity to change the world around us through our prayerful presence–even those of us who might feel like we’re “cloistered” on some days at home with little ones!
In great humility, St. Therese embraced her vocation as a cloistered Carmelite and taught the novices entrusted to her how to follow in her “Little Way.”
“Great deeds are forbidden me. I cannot preach the gospel nor shed by blood — but what does it matter? My brothers toil instead of me and I, a little child, keep close by the throne of God and I love for those who fight. Love proves itself by deeds. I will scatter flowers, perfuming the Divine Throne, and I’ll sweetly sing my hymn of love. Those flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least of actions for love.”
Each day affords us the chance to “scatter flowers” in “every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least of actions for love.” Blockheads like me don’t necessarily take advantage of every opportunity we receive to follow in St. Therese’s “Little Way.” Catholic blockheads like me are blessed that Mother Church, in Her wisdom, gives us sacramentals to help us along our way to sainthood.
Sacramentals engage all of my senses to remind me that my mission is to be a saint and not a blockhead! Bringing sacramentals into our home for us to encounter on a regular basis helps turn our minds to what is above. In a Catholic home, you’re likely to see holy water, crucifixes, statues, icons, candles, blessed salt, the nativity scene, an Advent wreath, palm branches, etc. To remind ourselves of our mission to become saints, Catholics keep the sacramentals on their bodies. Examples include crucifixes, scapulars, wedding rings, ashes, religious habits, liturgical vestments, etc.
I was hoping to put together some May Day baskets for friends and family this year as a little surprise. I found an adorable basket on Pinterest, but the time got away from me. Since I’m too late to deliver baskets, I wanted to think of a way to build in the habit of “scattering flowers” for my loved ones.
A beautiful ministry called The Little Ways is a home-run ministry that is dedicated to spreading the example of St. Therese of Lisieux. As part of their mission, they teach others how to make sacrifice beads and sacrifice bead bracelets.
Sacrifice beads. Image from thelittleways.com
According to their website,
As a child, St. Therese, the Little Flower used a string of beads to count her sacrifices and acts of love done for God, in that way she was able to advance in perfection daily. You too, can grow in holiness by following the example of the Little Flower. Sacrifice Beads or Good Deed Beads are a string of ten beads, which can be pulled and remain in place. They are used to count the acts of love or sacrifices a person makes in a day for God. The string of sacrifice beads helps a person to grow in perfection by increasing their acts of love they do each day. The sacrifice beads we make also have a fixed Our Father bead on the end of them. Thus they double up as a rosary.
I don’t know about you, but this blockhead still needs to work on self-sacrifice and daily acts of love done for God. What a beautiful, tangible reminder of my daily mission as a wife and mother! Not only is this a fun craft that families can do together, but it’s an awesome sacramental that helps to instill the habit of self-denial and service for others. In this “Little Way,” we hold ourselves accountable on the beads, tucked away in our pockets.
Maybe next year I’ll get around to the May Day baskets. They are adorable!
Until then, I’ll make a string of sacrifice beads to help me learn how to scatter flowers like St. Therese. Hopefully, keeping this string of beads in my apron pocket will remind me to do little things everyday for the love of my neighbor (and, therefore, God).
Maybe I’ll get around to those May Day baskets in July…
