Just A Little Up-Date

This is Monkey's busy travel season, leaving me to run the household on my own.  By the time I get the Love Bugs in bed, my head is ready to hit the pillow as well.  The last week has been busy, so here is a little up-date on our happenings.

Lent has begun.  In a perfect world, we would be able to always attend Mass together as a family.  But as circumstances have it, that is not always feasible.  So on Ash Wednesday, Grandma attended 8 AM Mass at our parish, the four oldest attended Mass at school, Sweet Pea and I attended Noon Mass at a church in our  Area Faith Community, and Monkey attended a 7 PM Mass.  When all was said and done, I pieced together this Lenten centerpiece.  It holds our Rice Bowl, a Rosary, sacrifice beads, a small Crown of Thorns, part of a palm branch, a blessed candle from the Feast of St. Blase, and a LEGO cross - made by Honey Bunches.  The purple envelop holds an "Alleluia", which will remain unseen until Easter.  The kids have given up screen time for Lent.  There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, there are no video games, computers, DS, etc.  We are also incorporating Sacrifice Beads this year.  They are a string of 10 beads which encourage us to do go and kind acts each day.

Assembling our beads.

Valentine's Day was greatly anticipated.  The kids had parties at school, where they came home with candy amounts that could rival Halloween.  It was also the day that Grandma left for her annual trip to Texas.  Since she would be gone during her birthday, the kids begged to have a celebration before she left.  So at 5 bells, I arose to make a Birthday breakfast.  

Here comes the Birthday girl!

Scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, juice, coffee, and coffee cake with a candle.

A little special touch to Sweet Pea and Pumpkin's hot cocoa.

Valentine floats after supper.

On Sunday, Gummi celebrated her Rite of Welcome at church, beginning her journey towards her First Communion.

Here she is announcing her name.

Monday was President's Day.  Although we didn't do as many "presidential" activities as in previous years, the kids were still very busy.

Sweet Potato wanted to make something "American".  What is more American than apple pie?  He took this project on himself.

His final product turned out very well.  He struggled a bit with the crust (no store bought pastry here!), but the taste was outstanding.

Sweet Pea asked if she could do the dishes.  Without my supervision, I found a very close to overflowing sink.  She also soaked her pajamas!

The cold weather kept the kids indoors.  It was the perfect opportunity to build a fort.

Of course there was crafting.  Here is our table BEFORE lunch, with lots of scraps that escaped to the floor. 

In our home, no President's Day would be complete without a craft commemorating the holiday.

WIGS

Within our home, Lent is off to a great start, the kids are being creative, Monkey's travels have been safe, and as usual - I'm looking forward to having us all together again soon!