Breakfast Resurrection Rolls

Resurrection Rolls are a Holy Saturday breakfast tradition in our house.

We read John's account of Jesus' death and burial.  

This fun baking project is the perfect backdrop for the story.

Roll out the crescent dough,

count out one small marshmallow for each roll.

The white marshmallow represents Jesus.

Anoint the marshmallow, first in the oil, then in the "spices" (cinnamon sugar), 

just like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea did for Jesus.

Then, lay the marshmallow in the crescent roll tomb, and carefully seal it up.

 Hints: make sure the marshmallow is in the center of the dough and REALLY seal the edges well.

Once we sealed our tombs, we dipped each one in more oil and spices. Yum :)

Now, they are ready to bake according to the crescent roll instructions.

Look, our rolls are ready!

 A few may burst open, but that only adds to the effect of the "empty tomb."

We ate ours with whipped cream and sprinkles, because in addition to Holy Saturday, we were celebrating a certain, special, eight-year-old birthday.  

This was such a tasty combination, 

we may have to make the whipped cream a part of our tradition as well.

There is a clear reason why these are a family favorite!

Come, Lord Jesus!

Happily Ever,
Queen B

Maundy Thursday, Good Friday 2015

Let the Holy Triduum begin!

Our Lenten Journey is coming to an end!

We washed feet on Holy Thursday before our Last Supper meal.

Everyone got a turn.

The kids loved hearing the story of the water jug and bowl.  T gave both of them to me on the night he proposed, and then used them to wash my feet.  It is such a special event to get them out every year for Holy Thursday and wash feet as a family.

Our Last Supper meal always seems to be a hit.  This is the one time each year when we get out the silver cups that T received from his grandmother for our wedding.   The kids love drinking their grape juice "wine" out of their chalices during dinner.  We read the Last Supper story and then cover all of our crosses.

Once again this year, T and I were able to find a babysitter so that we could go to our parish Holy Thursday service and then join in a seven churches visit with a large group of friends.  We are so incredibly blessed to have seven tabernacles within a three mile loop of our house.  This year, as last year, we walked the loop with friends, stopping at each chapel to pray and spend time with the Lord, remembering His night in the garden.  I can't wait for the kids to be old enough to join us, because the evening is such a powerful spiritual experience.  For now, T and I treasured the opportunity to do the walk together.

On Good Friday we made our peanut butter cross sandwiches.

 T took the day off, so we were able to enjoy and reflect on the day all together. 

We went to the Good Friday service at 3pm 

and then ate our simple dinner of bread and cheese, jam and fruit.  

Then it was time to finish our Stations of the Cross.  

"We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,

for by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world."

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Holy Week 2015

"TOMORROW is PALM SUNDAY!  The start of Holy Week is tomorrow!" 

exclaimed E-Bear last night at dinner.

Holy Week is upon us, friends.  We have made it through all of our Lent Pockets.  Our Lent Calendars are nearly completely colored.  Our bean basket is full of black beans.  We are ready for Easter.  But before Easter, we're hoping to fully enter into the mystery of the events of this week.

As I have said in previous years, I have found that there are many wonderful ways to make Holy Week special in the home for young families.  Our kids now look forward to Holy Week almost as much as Easter, remembering the special meals, crafts and readings that we enjoy as a family.  This year, I am especially excited because our Spring Break aligns with Holy Week, so all my kids will be home. We'll have plenty of time to savor each day.

This is our plan for Holy Week this year.  Each night, in addition to the activities below, we do the  Stations of the Cross after dinner so that we will finish them by Good Friday. 

Palm Sunday

Bring 'Hosanna' paper palms to church.

*Craft: Make palm frond crosses

Kids get Cross Wreaths to decorate for Holy Week

Cover crosses and crucifixes in the house for Holy Week
Dinner: Chili and quesadillas

Holy Monday ~ Preparation Day

*Craft: Making Lamb of God Easter cards (don't forget to mail them!)

Dinner: Tortilla soup with carrots, chips and salsa

A few of our Lamb of God cards from last year.
Inside we write: "Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us!" and "Happy Easter!"

Holy Tuesday ~ Preparation Day

*Craft: Decorating Easter Eggs!
Church Penance Service 
Dinner: Spinach tortellini with tomato cream sauce, peas and oranges

Spy Wednesday ~ Preparation Day
Remembering how Judas and the leaders plotted to capture Jesus
Remembering Jesus' anointing at Bethany
*Craft: Spy Wednesday silver coin craft from Catholic Icing
Dinner: Cauliflower and Cheddar Soup with whole wheat Irish soda bread and 
Cracker rounds (remembering the thirty pieces of silver),
olive oil (to "anoint the bread"), applesauce

~Maundy Thursday~

Remembering the Last Supper,  Jesus' night in the Garden, Jesus' trial

*Craft:  Garden of Gethsemane Praying Hands from Sowing Mustard Seeds

Holy Thursday Mass and Seven Churches Prayer Walk

Dinner: Remembering the Last Supper & Washing Feet

We'll read passages from the Gospels and wash each other's feet at dinner

Turkey meatballs (remembering the roast lamb) from Everyday Food Magazine

(these can be made ahead and frozen ~ perfect for a busy week!)

 Homemade pesto (remembering the bitter herbs and bread)

Praying Hands Pretzels from Catholic Icing  

(remembering the unleavened bread and Jesus' prayers in the garden)

Grape juice in "chalices" (remembering the wine)

Three spinach leaves salad (remembering Jesus telling Peter he would deny him three times)

Raisins (remembering the Mount of Olives)

Red Twizzlers, Hershey Kisses (remembering Judas' bad kiss and Jesus' arrest)

Our "Upper Room" to remember the Last Supper.

~Good Friday~

Keeping Vigil at the Cross

*Craft: Making Crown of Thorns by Catholic Icing

Lunch: Cross Sandwiches from Catholic Icing

Dinner: Hot Cross Buns from Spoonful

Pineapple cubes (remembering how the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' garment)

Roasted Asparagus Spears (remembering how the soldiers pierced Jesus' side)

Cheese sticks (remembering the two robbers crucified with Jesus)

Jam & Water (remembering the blood and water from Jesus' side)

~Holy Saturday~

Awaiting the Resurrection!

Breakfast: G-Bear's Birthday!  

Resurrection Rolls from Eat at Allies with whipped cream and sprinkles

Dinner: G-Bear's birthday party!

Whatever is in store for us this week, may we meet the Lord in a deeper, more personal way.   We all need Him; He loves us so much.  How deep the Father's love for us.

Happily Ever,

Queen B

Stations of the Cross, Lent 2015

Praying the Stations of the Cross is a beautiful tradition particularly appropriate for the Lenten season.  The traditional meditation includes fourteen events from the final moments of Christ's life and Passion leading up to His crucifixion and burial.  The fourteen stations are visually depicted throughout the sanctuary of most Catholic churches, and we are fortunate that our church offers Stations of the Cross every Friday night throughout Lent.

As I have said before, I try to be realistically age-appropriate in my Lent plans for our family, and the post-dinnertime Stations at our church is too late for our younger kids.  The full prayer meditation takes about a half-hour, which again, is a bit much to ask of our kiddos at such a late hour.  So, for the past two years, we have opted out of our parish Stations experience.  Instead, I focus on the Stations for our family during the last two weeks of Lent leading up to Easter.  This allows us to do one station per night and the final three stations on Good Friday.  This way, all of our kids can participate in the prayers, we can talk about each one, and all of our kids can certainly focus attention on a single station each night (the prayers for each station take only about 2 minutes).

This past Monday, I set up our Stations of the Cross in our dining room:

Last year, I made our own version of Catholic Icing's Stations of the Cross Eggs.  These are a wonderful addition to our routine.

Each egg represents one station and contains a wooden heart with the number of the station and a small object representing the event (with the exception of one egg, which represents Stations 3, 7, and 9, Jesus' three falls.  The Catholic Icing version uses an 18 egg set to allow for separate eggs for all these stations.  I just fill the one egg with enough pieces for the three falling stations).  This is a great way to hold the attention of preschoolers, and I often give the job of opening the egg to our younger kids so they can show the object to the rest of us as we are doing our prayer.

To help with our prayers, we also use the Saint Joseph's Press Stations of the Cross Coloring Book.

It has large, age-appropriate pictures for each station, as well a special prayer coloring page specific for each station.

I like the introduction page of the coloring book so much, because it explains simply for the kids why we pray the Stations of the Cross.  We use this page as the introduction to our prayer each night for each station.

After the introduction, we light a candle and read the station for the day, open an egg and talk briefly about what the station means, say a short prayer specific to the station and then say together,

"We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you.  For by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world."

Then we blow out the candle, make the sign of the cross, and we are done.  

This year, I gave the kids Stations of the Cross wheels from Oriental Trading Company so they would  have their own visual aid to color each day.  The kids colored the top of the wheel, I helped them assemble them, and now they get to color the station windows that we do each day.  Everyone has enjoyed this and put a lot of effort into their work:

G-Bear's Stations Wheel

J-Bear's Stations Wheel

E-Bear's Stations Wheel

Buddy Bear's Stations Wheel

However we pray the Stations, our greatest prayer is that the Lord will use this time to draw all of us closer to Himself.  Lent and Easter are precious seasons because we are asked to take time to reflect on how much Jesus loves us.  The Stations are a reminder and a brief glimpse into that love.  For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not die but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)

Happily Ever,
Queen B

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

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