In Faith and Love

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2012-01-18T16:38:00.000-08:00

Pretty Pretty baby boy. Happy Finally! Snow!!! The Pathfinders (Ages 5-6) at our Parish's American Heritage Girl mid-year ceremony. Alice is the littlest one all the way to the left. Receiving the "I promise to love God" bead. Funny Someone had a fun-filled snow day. Real The time to make the stand is now. Call and write your representatives to let them know where you stand on the issue of

Spiritual AND Religious AND Christian AND Catholic

2012-01-14T19:56:00.000-08:00

SBNR. Spritual, but not religious. I've noticed growing up, that this seems to be a prominent trend in our society today. Chesterton put it perfectly when he said "He who marries the spirit of the times will soon be a widow." Today on Facebook I noticed a video going around called "Why I hate Religion, But Love Jesus." My reaction was one of irritation (there's no heresy filter option on facebook

Daddy and Baby

2012-01-14T00:33:00.000-08:00

Isaac was pulling all my fabric out of my sewing stash and engaging in a fun little game of his own invention with dad. And a big hug!!!!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2012-01-12T02:00:00.000-08:00

PrettyMy little American Heritage Girl is very pretty because she is working on inner beauty. Loving God, cherishing family, honoring country, and serving community. Happy and Funny Real Real bread!

Yarn Along

2012-01-12T01:58:00.000-08:00

Second elf-hat finished and baby-doll elf hat. Alice requested a matching hat for Love (baby doll's name).

Kindergarten Part 2 - The Plan

2012-01-09T22:28:00.000-08:00

January 9- February 21: Who am I? Lesson 7: Wrong Choices-Sin Concepts of Faith: 1) How do we sin?We sin by choosing to do something we know is wrong. We disobey God. We do not love him as we should. 2) What happens when we sin? When we sin, we hurt ourselves, we hurt others, and we displease God. Horizons Math K Book 1: Lessons 43-48 Explode the Code Book 1: pgs 37-48 January 21,

Epiphany

2012-01-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

We were awoken this morning by Alice, telling us Befana had brought treats. Star Hairstyle

DIY Liturgical Year Bulletin Board

2012-01-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

This is a beautiful liturgical year calendar that is also interactive. The downloads and supply list are here at Sanctus Simplicitus.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2012-01-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

PrettyA Christmas Gift from Alice's Godparents, a beautiful statue of Our Lady. Christmas cards from friends and family. Happy The past two days of cold cloudy rainy weather have been such a gift, because they made the gift of today so beautiful. Funny Isaac thinks peek-a-boo is very funny. (<--video link) Real Homeschool late in the day, since that's when her brothers decided to nap and

Yarn Along

2012-01-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

Second elf-hat in the works. Knitting, a good book, a sunny winter's day, and a good cup of tea. God is so generous in His blessings! Finished elf-hat

On the twelfth day of Christmas...

2012-01-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

... I found my camera!

On the sixth - tenth days of Christmas...

2012-01-03T15:07:00.000-08:00

... I lost my camera. Saint Anthony, pray for me! I attempted pictures with my phone, but the quality is terrible. I did manage to get this picture. DS2 playing with the doll baby DD received on Holy Innocents. Update: Camera found! Some pictures... Presents from G-diddy and L!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

2011-12-31T22:50:00.000-08:00

Yarn Along

2011-12-29T22:20:00.000-08:00

Seeing some of my favorite bloggers Yarn Along posts inspired me to start (and hopefully finish) a project. I found a great box to hold my knitting and reading and my goal is to read all the books/finish the knitting project before they can be replaced in the box. My current project is to make elf hats from Charmed Knits.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

2011-12-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

Gifts from Uncle M. and Aunt J. and cousins! Pretty new outfit. Yellow, perfect for the sunshine girl. Matching outfits for the boys. Sticker play castle (and pirate ship). Thank you, M, J, and family for the lovely gifts!

Happy Birthday to My Dear Husband!

2011-12-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

Birthday Dinner menu:fried chicken scalloped potatoes whole cauliflower w/ herbed bread crumbs Carrot Cake (no raisins) The perfect ending to a happy birthday.

Sweet and Beautiful

2011-12-27T21:39:00.000-08:00

DD baking her cookies. She took turns playing me and herself (dd as "mommy" rolled out the dough and dd as dd cut the shapes). Putting the cookies in the oven. Cookies baking. Checking on her cookies. Tying the ribbons. This was sooooo cute. My rolling pin was out on the counter and dd started up this whole game, tell me how she was "you, mommy!" and rolling out the cookies. And then playing

On third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

2011-12-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

Cookie Ornaments

2011-12-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

{pretty, happy, funny, real} Christmastide

2011-12-27T10:37:00.000-08:00

PrettyFinally got the tree decorated. We planned on having it decorated Christmas Eve, which didn't happen. We did manage to get it decorated by the Feast of Stephen. This year we have edible ornaments, so I assume by Twelfth Night there won't be many decorations to take off the tree. Happy Baking cookie ornaments with the little ones was so much fun! We have lots of "J"s (or candy canes) and

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

2011-12-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T13:28:00.000-08:00

Un Petit Réveillon

2011-12-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

Réveillon (from the French réveil, or "waking) is a tradition in French-speaking cultures of a meal or party after midnight Mass. Our little Réveillon included a traditional French-Canadian tourtière (meat pie), hot mulled apple cider, and a bûche de Noël. The Christmas log is a culinary reflection of the old Western European tradition of burning a great log at Christmas time, that would

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-25T12:56:00.000-08:00

My little sous-chef greasing the pans.DH brought home a tree. The sous-chef mixing the batter. the tourtièresfreshly iced yule logCurls! DD getting very sleepy waiting to go to Midnight Mass. Cider mulling.Handsome Miller MenUnfortunately, no pictures of DS1 since he and I were the last to get ready.DD very sleepy at Mass.

Eve of Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T01:07:00.000-08:00

Advent chain. DS2 has learned how to climb on the dining table (and grab candles). Mixing bowls needed tomorrow for the "Buche". Eggs room temping, and sifted flour/baking powder/salt. Prepped lemon rind, juice, and vanilla extract.Mocha Icing Ready!

The ABC Boy, At It Again!

2011-12-24T00:58:00.000-08:00

DS1, the ABC boy, wrote letters on the counter top with cheddar cheese.

Recycled Men's Shirt Dresses

2011-12-21T13:49:00.000-08:00

This is a fun and easy dress to make using an old mens shirt. I'm very much a beginner and am intimidated by patterns with buttons and button holes and zippers. With a mens shirt the buttons and everything are already there! I took off the breast pocket and re-sewed it onto the "front" of the dress, since DD likes pockets on her clothes. This is the tutorial I used. All you need is some

Advent Cleaning

2011-12-20T21:25:00.000-08:00

Two more bags to give away.Clothes for 3 children after purging. "If you tend to accumulate items on a regular basis, then make it a point to discard or give items away regularly. My recommendation is to declutter at least twice a year, preferably during Advent and Lent." Excerpt from Simplifying Your Domestic Church by Abby Sasscer "As your house, so your soul." Saint Teresa of Avila "The

2011-12-20T20:56:00.000-08:00

Leavenworth 2011

2011-12-20T12:34:00.000-08:00

All three sleeping! Letting my kid eat tons of food coloring at the hotel's complimentary breakfast... Not that my DH is camera shy or anything...Another fun trip to the Bavarian style town of Leavenworth, WA. Possibly our last. Not as much snow as last year but enough for sledding downtown. I wish I could have taken more action pictures but the only time I could really get the camera

Wrap-around Braids

2011-12-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

Sailor Girl

2011-12-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

Ember Days of Advent

2011-12-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

Toasty Tuna Melt and Garlic Sauteed Green Beans

December Sun - A Beautiful Day

2011-12-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

Isaac saying "cheese". Video 1Video 2 Video 3

Dining With Dinosaurs

2011-12-09T14:22:00.000-08:00

Friday and Lots of Lentils

2011-12-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

Our Friday meal this week is a recipe from Vive Le Vegan by Dreena Burton. Earthy Lentil Soup2 TBSP olive oil 1 onion 3-4 stalks celery, diced 2 large carrots, diced 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 tsp sea salt 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp dried savory 1/2 tsp dried rosemary 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp curry powder 2C brown lentils, rinsed 2C stock 6-7C water 1-2 TBSP tamari or soy sauce 3 TBSP

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

2011-12-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

Feast of the Immaculate Conception "... Blessed be the great mother of God, Mary most holy. Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception..." After Mass we enjoyed a white meal in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception. Milk, creamy chicken over white rice, cauliflower, and cheesecake.

Feast of Saint Nicholas

2011-12-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

God, Who didst grace the Blessed Nicholas as protector of imperiled innocence whilst he lived, and after his death by countless miracles, grant that by his merits we may be freed from perversion of justice while alive and from the fires of Gehenna after death. Amen. Let your continual mercy, O Lord, enkindle in your Church the never failing gift of charity that, following your example of your

Advent in our little Ecclesia Domestica

2011-12-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

A pulling horse cannot kick. -Amish proverb

2011-12-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

DD is mommy's little helper and DS1 is starting to help out, too. DD can put dirty laundry in the washer, put wet clothes in the drier, wash small dishes, dust, and tidy up her toys and books. DS1 is getting better at tidying books and toys and really enjoys it. He can also clean up small spills at the table if you give him a rag or paper towel.

Feast of Saint Nicholas (planning)

2011-12-01T15:12:00.000-08:00

Thursday - December 1 (5 days until feast day) Today (payday) I purchased necessary supplies for crafts and the rest of the St. Nick Day gifts for the children. I've also copied down the recipe I will need for that day and planned out the baking on my calendar. Recipe card with ingredients on the front for easy shopping list making and the occasion's date in the top right corner. Directions

Ladder to Heaven - Children's 10 Commandments

2011-12-01T13:16:00.000-08:00

No TV Activities - Continued

2011-12-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

Living Room Tents This is always a lot of fun for the kids... for maybe an hour and then it turns into... well, the pictures speaks for itself!

No TV Activities

2011-12-01T11:28:00.000-08:00

Felt boards. Our felt boards were generously handed down to us from another homeschooling family on our block. When I get around to looking up more activities for these I will post links.

For Family and Friends Who Love Pics of the Kids

2011-12-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

DD and DS2 Down the SlideI'm off of Facebook for Advent and until at least after Christmastide with all the busyness of preparations and homeschooling, but I will be posting updates on the little ones and their activities here on the blog.

First Sunday of Advent! (continued)

2011-11-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

First Sunday of Advent!

2011-11-27T16:05:00.000-08:00

DD with our Advent wreath and the Advent project she made at CCD today, eagerly waiting to light the first candle. We are so excited to enter the season of Advent and are happily waiting to celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Advent, Christmastide, and Epiphany

2011-11-26T10:16:00.000-08:00

This Advent I'm determined not to let it pass me by, so this year I'm trying to organize my ideas so that I don't miss or forget something I wanted our family to do. This is me organizing all my mental sticky notes and things will be added and moved around and so on as the season progresses. This Sunday is the first Sunday of advent and we are in need of new candles this year. I let DD pick an

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin cheesecake! Our neighbors have invited us over for Thanksgiving. They are always so welcoming and extending hospitality to other families with get-togethers, barbecues, and a helping hand wherever and whenever it is needed. God bless them.

There is something beautiful about morning chores.

2011-11-23T10:45:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's the view.

Feast Day - Saint Cecilia

2011-11-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

Good for the Soul

2011-11-19T16:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight it's chicken and rice soup with some of the stock I hadn't frozen, yet, meat left over after freezer enchiladas, chicken fat, garlic, onions, celery, carrots, rice a teeny pinch of curry powder and some simple herbs and bay leaves.

Freezer Cooking continued...

2011-11-18T22:34:00.000-08:00

After about 3 weeks I've finally been able to get DS2 to go to bed with his brother and sister. For 1 or 2 months before that he was bound and determine to stay up all night (sometimes until 1-3 in the AM). On the bright side he then slept all morning and it was easy to get the older two breakfast and do homeschool with less interruption (DD and DS1 were going to bed early and waking up bright

Freezer Cooking

2011-11-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

Bones, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, apple cider vinegar. Then celery and garlic cloves. Chicken and water. Chicken meat for enchiladas. Broth (stock? Can't remember the difference...) Cooled broth. Chicken fat. Broth cubes. Ready to freeze. And frozen broth cubes. They're so pretty! Each cube should be about an ounce give or take a little.

Springtime Lesson

2011-05-06T10:51:00.000-07:00

DS2

2011-05-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

DS2 is 6 months old. He is crawling, rolling over both ways, and pulling himself up to stand. He is the much adored baby of the family right now. Everyone loves and dotes on him. He enjoys some pureed fruits and enjoys sucking on sticks of steamed carrots.

Chomper again

2011-03-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

Chomper

2011-03-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Sick Days

2011-03-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

DD came down with something on Monday and passed it to me and DS1. Me with DS2 at 2am just after putting pukey DS1 to bed. And my sweet DD all better and ready to go out to play. Poor DS1, not feeling well:-( Then poor little DS2 came down with it as well.

Books

2011-03-30T13:49:00.003-07:00

Photography

2011-03-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

me with DS2, picture taken by DD

Children's Lent Calendar

2011-03-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

flip crayons

2011-03-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

Almost Spring

2011-03-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

"I'm a star!" Off to play with her friends.

mat man

2011-03-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

Sleeping Beastie

2011-03-19T00:24:00.000-07:00

I think it's so cute when kids fall asleep with books.

ABC

2011-03-19T00:22:00.000-07:00

DS is still obsessed with ABCs. Here are some of his mixed-media creations. He's very particular about having them in order. If I am reading an ABC book and a page gets stuck together he screams because a letter has been skipped and when I un-stick the pages he says with relief "There's H" or whatever letter had been lost.

Soup for Lent

2011-03-19T00:18:00.000-07:00

This is a delicious soup for Lent. It's an Italian vegetable and bean soup from Evelyn Birge Vitz's A Continual Feast. We had this soup for Ash Wednesday with some semi-homemade croutons.

Baby(doll)wearing

2011-02-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

Living Room Fort

2011-02-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

Learning All the Time

2011-02-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

Alice's unifix cube patterns.Coloring a castle. I'm really looking forward to our homeschooling years. The kids love learning new things and figuring things out and mastering skills. So far I LOVE the BOB book series for DD. They are little booklets that come in stages. We are reading the first set and she just read a new book today and asked me "How many books can I read now??" "Four," I said.

Home Economics: Babywearing 101

2011-02-28T11:47:00.000-08:00

Learning to read!

2011-02-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

Practice: Alice's first book! < < Click here!

The Beast

2011-02-22T23:44:00.000-08:00

Cut and paste math. The Lady Bug Game Playing the lady game while DS2 spits up on the floor...

The Musical Fruit

2011-02-17T01:22:00.000-08:00

Beans beans... in this case, kidney beans. And if you want beans to be less musical, try cooking them with a strip of kombu. Anyway, there's breakfast. Rice, beans, eggs, broccoli. I seasoned the beans with salt, pepper, a heaping tablespoon of nutritional yeast, a couple squirts of Bragg's aminos, and a pinch of curry powder.

A couple simple, quick, and healthy meals:

2011-02-16T01:06:00.000-08:00

Roasted Root-Veggies and Tofu Soba (buckwheat) Noodles, Scrambled Tofu, Mixed Veggies

Advent 2010

2011-02-16T00:57:00.000-08:00

Advent Wreath DH and DD, partners in silliness:-) <3

Leavenworth 2010

2011-02-16T00:52:00.000-08:00

DH pulling the kids. J just LOVED being pulled in the sled. I think he preferred it to actually sledding. Me and the little guy. Lights:-) During Advent last year we took a family trip to Leavenworth, WA, a Bavarian village, for their Christmas lighting festival. It was like a little winter wonderland, with parents pulling their children in sleds instead of pushing strollers. Everywhere we