LT's Baptism

This past weekend LT was baptised in the Catholic faith.  It was a nice ceremony held during the Saturday evening mass.  I am thankful for all the family members who travelled to share this day with us and for the others who could not make it but kept us in their prayers.  Star and Sky were altar servers at the mass.  My brother was the Godfather and a cousin was the Godmother.  LT was very good.  She got a little fussy during the homily but then fell asleep.  She woke up and fussed a bit when the water was poured over her head.  But she quickly found her thumb and settled back to sleep.  LK was a bit rambunctious as nearly two year old boys tend to be.  He played with his tractors a bit and walked about visiting family members in the pew behind us but overall was very good.  Hubby wasn't happy that he discovered a granola bar in my bag just before we went up for the baptism but he wasn't about to take it away from him as that probably would have resulted in a major fit.  So LK was eating a granola bar as LT was baptised but it kept him happy.

The Baptism

The Family

With the Godparents

LT in her Baptismal Gown.  Hubby was baptized in this gown and all of our children as well.

Teacher Gifts

If your like me the last day of school is coming up and your frantically trying to think of a gift for your children's teachers.  I'm never sure what to get them and I am working from a limited budget, but I did want to give them a little something to show our appreciation for all they do.  After some debate I decided chocolate was the way to go.  They can serve it up at a holiday gathering, regift it as a hostess gift or to the mailman, or freeze it for a sweet treat when the holidays are just a memory. 

Then I came across this M&M nativity legend and decided that M&M's it would be.  I purchased a couple bags of M&M's and then printed out the M&M nativity legend and glued it onto card stock.  The girls made their teachers a card and then I tied it all together with some ribbon.  Hopefully they will enjoy it.

Advent Time!

I know this post is coming a little late as advent is nearly half over but I thought I would share with you what we do during advent.  We have an advent wreath which we light during our evening prayers.  The girls really like lighting the candles and blowing them out so it makes our prayer time a little special.  The other tradition we have started is having a Jesse tree.  For our Jesse tree I just clip a branch from one of the bushes or trees in our yard, put it in a flower pot and keep it in place with some stones.  In some places I have read that a Jesse tree should be green but this works for us and then we put up our evergreen Christmas tree a little closer to Christmas.  I use the devotional and symbols found here with our Jesse tree.  For the ornaments I just printed out the symbols and had the girls colour them.  Then we glued them onto some red and green card stock and used some yarn to hang them on our tree.  It isn't much but I know the girls appreciate the little extra effort.  The other day Star said that her favorite time of day is lighting the candles on the wreath.

Our Jesse tree and Advent wreath.

Oh, and as we light the advent candles we sing this song to tune of Jingle Bells.

Advent time, Advent time,

It' Advent everyone.

It's the getting ready time

to welcome God's own Son.  (2 times)

One (two, three, four) candle(s) on the wreath,

Shining oh so bright,

Help us all to think about

The coming of our light.

How do you make Advent special on your home? 

The Apostles Creed

My oldest daughter has to memorize the Apostles Creed for her Christian Ethics class so this week instead of a bible verse we are going to work on memorizing the Apostles Creed.  It is amazing that I say this every Sunday at church but when I go to recite it on my own I always miss parts or put it in the wrong order or something.  For those of you who don't know it this is the Apostles Creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit,

and born of the Virgin Mary,

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

He descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

He ascended into heaven,

and is seated at the right hand of the Father,

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. AMEN.

Bible Verse For The Week

Well the memorization of the bible verse went well last week.  I taught it to the girls as well so we could recite it together.  Here is the verse we are going to work on this week.
 
"Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Bible Verse For The Week

Memorizing bible verses is not something that I have ever really done.  However, I do think that knowing God's word is important and by memorizing some verses maybe they will provide me with comfort and strength when I need it.  Also memory work is good for the brain.  As a stay at home mother I sometimes feel as though I am not using my mind to its full potential.  Anyway this is something I want to try so I will post a bible verse every Sunday and work to memorize it that week.  This week I have chosen a verse from Joshua.

"I command you, Be strong and of a good courage! Be not afraid nor dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you whereever you go."  Joshua 1:9

An Emotional Week

I haven't been updated my blog this past week because my Uncle passed away.  So it has been a rough week.  I did enjoy visiting with all my cousins and remembering all the good times we had.  However,  it was an emotional few days as we attended the prayers on Sunday night, the funeral on monday, and the burial was yesterday.  But life does go on and I am now trying to get back into my normal routine.  As I go about my day I have been finding some comfort by listening to some inspirational music.  This is one of my favorites.