Wordless Wednesday

Finally Arrived!

The days have been warm, although the evenings are still cool, the snow is pretty much all gone, the river has flooded, we've heard thunder and seen lightning, we've listened to the sound of the rain, and the mosquitoes are flying (and biting). Yes, I do believe we can say it is finally here!

WELCOME BACK TO MINNESOTA, SPRING!!! SO GLAD YOU HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED!

And what better way to welcome spring than with a campfire and smores!

First: Gather the needed ingredients.

Second: Roast your marshmallow.

Third: Assemble your smore!

Finally: Enjoy!!!

And if you happen to be allergic to corn (which is in both the graham crackers and the marshmallows) you grab your version of sorbet and enjoy your own treat!!

YEP! Good times!!

16!!

James turned 16 on Saturday. Aunts, uncles, cousins,

g'ma, sisters, brother and mom all joined in the fun!

These are my favorite pictures of the day!

Doesn't James look so handsome struttin' around with his new purses.

I do believe they were his favorite gifts!

(ok... so the purses really belong to my nieces, but we all got a few good laughs from this)

Hope you had a wonderful birthday, James. Know that you are loved dearly!

A good school day!

We had such a fun homeschool day last week. We were working on a language lesson and each child (all except Lawrence) had the assignment of writing a poem. "A Sea Song" was our model and each child had to write a "song" of their own. We spent the afternoon working through the poems together, helping each person brainstorm and work through difficulties. Everyone had a good time and the poems turned out great. I thought I would share them here

This is the first stanza of "A Sea Song", the poem used as our model.

A Sea Song

by Allan Cunningham

A wet sheet and a flowing sea

A wind that follows fast,

And fills the white and rustling sail

And bends the gallant mast;

And bends the gallant mast, my boys,

While, like the eagle free,

Away the good ship flies and leaves

Old England on the lee.

This next poem is the one I wrote. The kids were a little worried about being able to do this assignment. Writing poetry is not something we have worked much on. I figured the best way to "prove" to the kids that this wasn't that difficult of an assignment was write one myself. I have never been very good at writing poems, but I have to admit, I really had fun. So, here it is...

The Mass Song

by Kristina

A peaceful prayer and an uplifting song

A word that to us speaks true,

And encourages the mind and contrite heart

And fills the spirit anew;

And fills the spirit anew, dear friends,

While, like the angels praise

United the faithful worship and adore

To Christ, their souls they raise.

Now here are the poems completed by each of the children. I think they did a great job.

A Soccer Song

by Myriah (17)

A firm coach and excited fans

And athletes determined to win,

With mighty sprints and fancy foot-work

And a goal they must defend;

And a goal they must defend, my friends,

While the game is almost done

Away the ball is kicked and scores

And now the game is won.

A Kolbe Song

by James (15)

A loud yip and an annoying jump

An excitement that never misses,

And keeps the day happy and fun

And ends with lots of kisses;

And ends with lots of kisses, my friend,

While like a cat he plays

Our crazy dog cuddles and purrs,

And in our heart he stays.

A Horse Song

by Madison (14)

A gentle mare and a friendly foal

A head that is lifted high,

And sends a soft and peaceful neigh

And calls the stallion nigh,

And calls the stallion nigh once more,

While like the river flows

The graceful herd gathers and gallops,

Through the glistening snow.

A Family Song

by Magdalene (10)

A cozy home and a prayerful family

A mother that loves deeply,

and fills the children's hearts and minds

and teaches the faith so sweetly;

and teaches the faith so sweetly, my friends.

While like the sisters are sweet,

The brothers are silly and fun.

Our family is so neat.

The Annunciation.

Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation. I must admit, I forgot about the feast until last night. Thankfully, I came up with these little cupcakes. The kids thought they were fun. The angle is of course for the Archangel Gabriel. The cupcake with blue frosting is for the Blessed Virgin Mary, as she is often pictured wearing blue. I tried to put a red hot inside each cupcake to represent Jesus, however, little did I know they just melt down and disappear. (We did taste the cinnamon flavor it added though!) And together we prayed the Angelus. Happy Feast Day!

Mary, may we follow your example and say "YES!"

to all that God would ask of us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!

Let it snow! Let it snow!

Our Winter has been a very snowy winter thus far; and, really, it is not even officially winter until December 21st.

Our first snow storm of the year hit the day before Thanksgiving. It really wasn't all that bad, but it was pretty and did slow down driving some that evening. But, not enough to keep me totally home bound.

It was just too nice not to grab my camera and take some pictures at the park. Actually, Mark was amazed that we were getting that much snow and it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet, so he was trying to take a few pictures with his cell phone. That was all the encouragement I needed to grab my camera and tripod and have some fun.
(Now, some of you may be wondering "Who is Mark?" That is another post entirely. Some day I may even get around to that. For now, let me just say "Thank you Catholic Match for bringing TN and MN together!")

Tuesday, November 30th, we awoke to a winter wonderland.

Friday, December 3rd, ushered in yet another storm. Which provided plenty of fun for Magdalene's 10th Birthday party on Sunday, the 5th. I will post pictures of her birthday in a separate blog!

Now today we were hit with the biggest snow storm yet. I guess some are saying our biggest snow storm since the Halloween Blizzard of 1991.

So, tonight after dinner we all bundled up in our snow gear and went out to play.

Oh no... I am being swallowed by a snow-a- constrictor!

The kids really enjoyed burying me in the snow!

I don't think Kolbe enjoyed it much! In some places the snow was taller than he is so it was hard for him to walk around the yard.

We finished the evening off with hot chocolate and a game of Apples to Apples.

Days like today are just such fun!

Feast of St. Nicholas

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In hopes the St. Nicholas soon would be there...."

He did not disappoint. We awoke this morning to goodies in our stockings.

Some of us worked hard to get our trees up

Some of us not so much!




We watched a movie and read a book about St. Nick

We are now enjoying ice cream and watching a Christmas movie.

Happy Feast Day from our family to yours.

Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children,

Pray for us as we continue to prepare our hearts for the coming

of Christ at Christmas.