The Family Service Morning

This Lent, I helped coordinate a Family Service Morning for our church and school community.   

The Family Service Morning is an event intended to bring families of all ages together to complete service projects that benefit our community.  T and I want very much to raise our kids with an appreciation of how serving and sacrificing for others is an integral part of the Christian faith.  I find, however, that it is difficult to find service-oriented activities that welcome children and toddlers.  This is part of why I consider the Family Service Morning to be such a wonderful Lenten opportunity.

As a family, we had been talking about and planning for the service morning for so long that the kids were seeped in anticipation for the big day.  The night before, E-Bear said, "I am so excited for the Service Morning tomorrow, I can hardly stand it!" To which G-Bear replied, "I am so excited, I can hardly speak!" At that point, I was hoping that I hadn't oversold the event to the kids.  As it turned out, they really were completely excited to get together with all their friends to accomplish helpful tasks.

  

Our service morning involved ten project stations:

We collected food from participating families for a neighborhood food shelf.

We unpacked and sorted diaper samples for Second Stork, an organization that donates them to expectant mothers.

We wrote letters to American soldiers for A Million Thanks.

We made greeting cards for People Incorporated, an organization that offers services to neighbors with mental illness.

We decorated coin boxes for the Philomena House, a free residence for expectant mothers.

We packed bags of rice for Neighborhood house, a local food shelf and assistance center.

We made sandwiches for the Dorothy Day Center, a local homeless shelter.

We tied fleece tie blankets for a local children's home.

We assembled Get Well Kits for a local shelter, full of food items for clients that are sick in isolation.

We compiled Birthday Bags for Keystone Services, full of birthday supplies for food shelf clients.

The morning was a huge success!

We enlisted Girl and Boy Scout troops, Student Council and school club groups to lead each station.  We invited parish and school families to join in, and the turn out was tremendous.

In just 90 minutes, we unpacked thousands of diapers, wrote dozens of letters, made dozens of greeting cards, decorated nearly 100 coin boxes, made nearly 700 sandwiches, tied a dozen fleece blankets, made 13 Get Well Boxes, and assembled 50 Birthday Bags.

My favorite part of the event was that volunteers of all ages were truly welcome and able to participate.  All of our projects truly met needs of real people within our own community.

At the end of the event, our volunteers delivered or distributed all the projects we had assembled or created to the benefitting organizations.  Our prayers go out to all the individuals that will be served or benefit from the efforts of all these sweet children and families.  

Happily Ever,

Queen B

My meditation for today

Happily Ever,

Queen B

First Piano Recital

A first piano recital is a special, memorable event.  

Congratulations to G-Bear and E-Bear on their first performances!  

They both did a great job, and we are so proud of their hard work.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

The Litany of Humility

T passed along the beautiful Litany of Humility prayer a while ago. I love it so much I am hoping to learn it this Lenten season.  The lovely printable below is found here.

The talented Audrey Assad has a beautiful song to pray along with the litany.  It is not word for word, but the spirit is beautifully true.  It is on the Lenten playlist here at our house.

"I shall not want," Audrey Assad:

Happy Lent,
Queen B

Beginning Our Lenten Journey, 2015

"Lord, be on my mind,

Lord, be on my lips,

Lord be on my heart.

Amen."

~Our meal time prayer addition for Lent

Friends, the Holy Season of Lent has arrived.  In the days leading up to Ash Wednesday, I was frantically taking down Valentine decorations to make space for this season.   I printed off our Lent Calendars from Catholic Icing, hung our Lent pocket banner and set our our dried beans and Easter basket.  The time has come.  

Each year between the Christmas and Lenten seasons, I enjoy planning our Lenten activities and aides.  This is a wonderful seasons to walk through personally and as a family.  The plethora of Lenten activities on the web is certainly a blessing, but in years past I have been over ambitious and over zealous to the point of being overwhelmed and overwhelming to others.  Now, I try to evaluate each of the Lenten pillars and what we can do to embrace each one as individuals and as a family:   prayer, fasting, and giving (alms).  If I focus on one or two activities to emphasize each pillar, I find that we all tend to do better without being distracted from the spirit of the season.  This year, here are some of our aides and activities, each intended to draw us closer to the heart of Jesus.  

Marking the Days

A take on an Advent Calendar, the Lenten Path from Catholic Icing has become a Lenten staple in our house.  My kids look forward to receiving their "Lent Calendar" on Ash Wednesday.  It helps them visualize the season and look forward to Jesus' miracle at Easter.  The calendar also helps them follow along with days of abstinence (the fish symbol on Fridays), and helps them learn that Sundays are not included in the 40 days of Lent.  Lacy at Catholic Icing has done such nice job with this teaching tool.

Prayer

During Advent and Lent, I try to teach the kids a short, new prayer by adding it at the end of our mealtime grace. I try to pick a prayer that is symbolic of the season.  This year, we are saying the following prayer together, while making the sign of the cross over our mind, mouth and heart:  Lord, be on my mind.  Lord, be on my lips.  Lord, be on my heart.  Amen.  If the gesturing seems familiar when you try it, that is because it mirrors the Mass liturgy at the point of the gospel reading.  I hope my kids will learn the prayer and remember it each time they make the sign of the cross on their forehead, lips and heart before the Gospel reading.

Our main prayer discipline will be our long-time tradition of reading the New Testament stories from our Jesus Storybook Bible. We have others, but this is my favorite kids' Bible version.  G-Bear and E-Bear will soon be ready for more formal scripture readings, but they, along with Buddy Bear and J-Bear, love the pictures and the simple language of this interpretation.  Buddy Bear also knows many of the stories by heart now, because T found an audio book version a few weeks ago, which plays continuously in our car these days.  It is beautiful to watch them internalize the stories, reference them, and ask questions.  

In addition to our Lenten readings, this year I added Scripture cards to our Lenten table, in hopes that we might be inspired to remember and live out a little of God's Word.  All 26 of the ABC Scripture Cards (distributed by Magnolia Lane in Birmingham, AL) are beautiful and include a separate Bible verse for each letter.   The verses are perfect for Lent, for example, the letter D spoke to all of us:

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Fasting

Fasting is truly countercultural in our society and so poorly understood, so I relish the annual opportunity Lent affords me to witness and role model Christian fasting for my children.  While we won't eat meat as a family on Fridays during Lent, I don't expect my kids to notice that very much.  What is more, since children under 14 are exempted from the dietary fasts of Lent, I am saving focused conversations about food and drink for later.   For now, we are talking more about how making small sacrifices for ourselves can be a special way of growing closer to Jesus and clear away things that we think are more important than God.  The biggest way I am trying to teach them this is with the help of our Bean Basket:

This well-known tradition has become another one of our Lenten staples.  Whenever the kids do something kind, selfless or loving during Lent, they get to put a black bean in the Easter basket.  At Easter, when Jesus rises from the dead and "makes all things new," the black beans in our basket are changed to jelly beans that we get to enjoy for the whole Easter season.  With the basket, I am trying to teach my kids that "fasting" from bad behavior choices can help us clear the way for behavior that God wants for our lives.  The delayed gratification that comes from going without candy for now and looking forward to it after Lent also helps to make the Easter celebration that much sweeter for all of us.  

Giving

In the past we have had a Friday Food basket that I let the kids put food items into for our parish March Food Drive.  This year, we are focusing our attention as a family on an event that I am coordinating for our church, the Lenten Family Service Morning.  This event will provide service projects for families of all ages to complete together.  I am asking the kids to help me gather the supplies and we'll be talking about the way our service is a form of giving to those who are less fortunate.  

This year, we are once again using the "Lent Pockets" that I made last year.  This string of 46 felt pockets reminds us of the pillars of Lent and helps us pass the days as a red wooden cross makes its way along the banner.  

In each pocket, we have a daily Lenten discipline to serve as our "giving" for the day.  If the kids are noticed doing their daily Lenten giving, they get to put TWO beans in the basket at the same time.  Huge incentive, let me tell you.  I write "what we're doing for Lent" each day on the chalk board in the kitchen so that we all remember.  The kids are so eager each morning to find out "what is in the Lent pocket!"

I am coming to appreciate more and more each year the joy that it is to walk the Lenten journey as a family.  In the end, this is a season to, above all, learn aware et amari: to love and be loved.  Fear not, for He loves us in all our faults, and in His love there is hope for us all.  Easter is coming....

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Winter Smiles from J-Bear

Can you believe the big girl our J-Bear is becoming?

She is crafty,

 oh so clever, just like her big sibs,

and definitely not afraid of the camera. 

She loves to see her picture, which reminds me of another little girl at this age.  

"I see?  I see?"

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Ash Wednesday, 2015

"Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord."  ~Joel

Ashes on our foreheads at Mass.

Buddy Bear could hardly contain his excitement.

Lenten Path calendars for everyone at the breakfast table.

E-Bear could hardly contain his delight.

Black bean soup and pretzel rolls for dinner.

G-Bear was thrilled to cross her arms in prayer.

Lord, I help me welcome this Lent as my children.  

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Breakfast for Saint Valentine's Day

MoMo and Papa are out of town for Valentine's Day this year.  

That means that Valentine's Day falls to me.

MoMo is a Valentine's Day celebration expert.  She leaves big shoes to fill.

Thankfully, she has taught me a few tricks over the years:

1.  The right paper plates and napkins go a long way.

2.  Leave treats at each plate, and everyone will want to come to the table.

and 

3.  Sprinkles make any meal special.

MoMo's tricks work every time.

Papa left us with a little piece of himself too.

He made sure to drop off his traditional Valentine gift before he left town.

Our "Watch and Grow Garden" is already sprouting.

Papa's garden gift always assures me that spring will come, 

even when it still feels a long way off.

Happy Saint Valentine's Day from Happily Ever Johnson Land!

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Preschool Valentine Party

What do you do when your three year old feels left out of Valentine festivities?

When he is the only one without a classroom Valentine party?

When he is the only big sib not making a Valentine box?

"Mom, don't I get to make Valentines for my friends?"

"Will I get to have a Valentine box?"

"Mom, are we going to have a Valentine celebration?"

I did the only thing there was to do if I was going to be able to sleep at night:

"Well, of course, Buddy Bear!  We're having a preschool Valentine party with your friends HERE at our house!  We'll decorate Valentine bags, eat Valentine treats, sing Valentine songs and read Valentine stories.  Who are we going to invite?"

Take that.  Call me a sucker.  I love these kids.

So, I called the mothers of two three-year-old friends the night before and *begged* them to let me host their kiddos for a Valentine party the next morning.  Not that I had to twist any arms.  I think I was suddenly Friend of the Year.  Even more so when I offered to take a third friend from her mom this morning right before the party.  

And we did just what I promised.  Spare paper bags, stickers and markers were perfect for decorating Valentine Bags around the dining room table.  Fruit snacks and heart-shaped breads with jam and do-it-yourself-sprinkles made a great snack.  When playtime grew tiresome, we sat in a circle and read a few Valentine books, learned about God's love in 1 Corinthians 13 and then sang "Jesus Loves Me" all together.  Then it was time to make a few Valentines to put in our bags, hand out lollypops and erasers (already on hand from my treat cabinet) and head home.  

Too bad there aren't any pictures.  My hands were full, but thankfully, they were full of love.  Buddy Bear was so delighted with his treats and Valentine bag.  He was thrilled to get to share the news of his party with his siblings when they came home from school with their party stories.  I think it made the day great for both of us.  These preschool days go by so fast.  I need to seize each one.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Play dough Valentines

Play dough Valentines:

the perfect pre-dinner activity.

Whether or not dinner turns out,

these made my day.

Happily Ever,

Queen B