Colored Easter Hands

Easter Sunday was a lovely gathering up at our cousins' house.  It was also Doobs' birthday, so we had lots to celebrate.  We had a little egg hunt in the back yard for all the kids.  It was chilly, but that didn't stop them. Each child was instructed to collect only 8 eggs and then STOP! We're all about fairness in this family and Easter eggs are no exception to the rule.  Speaking of Easter eggs, it appears that Kicky became a little more interested in dunking her hands in the dye than in dying the eggs themselves.  I had to laugh when I read the back of the dye box (after the fact).  It read, "Dye may cause staining.  Parents should supervise children during the dying process."  Ooops.  Well at least she had fun and it eventually came off after a few good scrubs in the tub.  

Stations of the Cross

AMDG2 (Avon Mountain Drama Group - Ad Majorem Dei Glorium)

2nd Annual Presentation of

The Stations of The Cross

The 11th Station:  Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

(clay station created by Linka & Doobs)

The girls participated in a very special reenactment of The Way of the Cross one week before Easter.  It was cloudy, cold and damp weather-wise, which was fitting for the occasion. Grammy joined us up in Avon for a memorable afternoon.

The Living Stations were presented by the AMDG2, a student-run drama group for Catholic homeschoolers from all over.  Forty plus children participated in this special presentation in various ways; through drama (the Living Stations of the cross) through song (singing of the Stabat Mater in latin) through sculpture (creating clay replicas of the 14 Stations) and drawing (an art contest for the cover of this years' program). Linka and Doobs created the above station themselves. All of the clay stations were fashioned by the use of natural elements only - sand, leaves, rocks, sticks, moss and clay in order to achieve an authentic and "earthy" model depicting each step of Christ's journey on his path toward Calvary.  

As often as we've seen the living stations reenacted, it still stirs our hearts and brings us to a place of humble gratitude for the sacrifice that Christ offered for our salvation.  Watching the children silently portray the final moments of Christ's life is both powerful and "living" each and every time. 

Linka was a "weeping woman" of Jerusalem.  (Notice the giant fake tears in photo above....nothing but dried droplets of glue squirted out from a glue gun and adhered to the cheek with a dab of corn syrup! Man, these mothers have good ideas!)  And Doobs, though an original member of the Stabat Mater a cappella choir, found reading in Latin a bit too advanced for her five-year-old self.  So she remained focused on her clay station contribution as well as and her assistance with baby watching and the passing out of programs.

As for the tears - the fake ones got thrown in the garbage can.

The real ones have all been dried for Christ is Risen!  Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Whatever it Takes!

Breakfast in bed was the bribe du jour last Tuesday!  At 7 a.m. with smiles on their faces, the girls were awakened tenderly by their loving mother who entered the bedroom bearing three fancy trays each adorned with a bagel & cream cheese and oj (not their usual breakfast beverage).  "What's this for?", they asked sheepishly?  "Well, I replied sarcastically, whatever it takes to get you people out of bed in the morning!"  You see, now that we've "relocated" to the other part of town, our lives have been torn up-side-down.  Okay, I'm exaggerating, but my point is that everything was so on track over at Ardmore Street.  Get up at 7, put on clothes, run out the door for 7:30 mass, home at 8, breakfast, chores and school begins at 9!  (mommy loves a schedule).  WELLLLLLL, since the little church at the end of the street in the new "hood" has morning mass at 9:00 a.m., mommy's schedule is being thrown off completely. Even I have gotten sucked in to the 9 a.m. mass dilemma.  I like a little extra shut-eye myself during these cold, winter months and who wants to hop out of bed in the dark and cold?  Ugh.  But going to mass at 9 a.m. feels more like lunch time when you get up at 6:00, so what's a woman to do but sleep in!  Alas, the girls (and mom) have become sleepy heads...and waking up later means.....you guessed it, going to bed later, which means, frustrated mommy!  I know April, none of this would have happened if we hadn't moved.  But there are some benefits of living in the woods, like mice, spiders and other woodland creatures, but that's for another post.

Instant Snowman in a box

The girls made an awesome little snowman last week (which has since melted).  But it was as easy as 1, 2, 3. They piled up three heaping mounds of snow, one atop the other and then quickly ran inside shouting, "Hey mom, where is the snowman kit that Auntie Tania gave us for Christmas?" Quickly grabbing the little wooden box from the closet, they headed back outside to bring their icy white statue to life.  Inside the little box lay all the ingredients necessary to put the decorative touches on any snowman:  three round black buttons, two eyes, a pipe, orange carrot nose, red scarf and black felt hat.  They pushed all the little wooden pieces right into their frosty snowman and VOILA!  He came to life, just like the song says (well.....almost).  

Lands' End Snowboots: $39

Plastic hand shovels: $ 2

Christmas Tree Shop Snowman Kit: $4

Seeing the proud smiles on your kids' faces:  Priceless !

God bless "America"

Oh, forgive me.  Did I say I have four girls?  How silly of me.  I actually have five! (drumroll) Ladies and gents........Meet "America."  She is a very important member of our family.  This is actually the new Amercia.  The old (or original) America was discarded accidentally by the insensitive McDonald's employee several months ago, when we left her on the table. (Hint: Don't ever leave important things at fast food restaurants...they don't save anything even for 24 hours!  We learned the hard way.) Needless to say, "Kicky" was devastated when she lost America. We promised to replace her immediately, and so here she is....the new America! She goes with us at all times.  She washes quite well in the machine and she's the quietest of all the girls by far. She receives blessings at mass from Father Charlie, who even knows to call her by name.  "God bless America" he says as he makes the sign of the cross on her forehead. He knows well that if he doesn't bless her, Kicky will stand in front of him waiting until he does! It was after her first official blessing that I realized with a giggle how Kicky had chosen her name. She obviously made an association with the song "God bless America" that we often sing and probably figured, "Oh, America!  That's a great name for my baby."