Sunday, March 31, 2013

~The Miracle of the Empty Tomb~

Happy Easter!
JESUS LEAVING TOMB photo JESUSLEAVINGTHETOMB-LARGE.jpg
John 20: 1-18


Friends have a beautiful, memorable Easter Sunday!
~Alleluia~


Back tomorrow with our Triduum activities and birthday celebration!

Until then,

~Chris

Friday, March 29, 2013

Artful Friday: Crucifixion Paintings


Welcome, friends, to my corner of the web today on this Good Friday.
Many of us are keeping online time limited~
This will be a short post with a quick and easy
 but lovely craft idea for this most holy day of our Liturgical Year.

For today's "Artful Friday" post, I'm sharing a craft idea 
for the Triduum that my kids created.
 I was lucky enough to find this   
at one of my favorite blogs, that of  
the always-creative Mom, Nancy, at Do Small Things with Love.
Nancy's creativity and generosity of idea sharing
 just emanates from my laptop when I'm open to her blog!

My kids created their crucifixion art yesterday 
while we boiled eggs for dying and 
finished the final chapter of our favorite Lenten read
And that was it for calm and creativity this week!
Have a crucifix, watercolors and paint pad in the house? 
Of course you do...
Pull   out  the art supplies and take your crucifix down for a few minutes.
 Within half an 
hour from set up to clean up, you're done.
 You'll have beautiful Easter artwork to display!

We did ours a bit differently than Nancy's method.

My little guy created his as such:

























My older son decided to create his with specific coloring on either side of the cross .
He is the narrator  in our parish's living Stations of the Cross,
 which  the 7th graders will  present tonight. 
 The DRE has staged the Blessed Mother on Jesus's left, 
dressed in blue and Mary Magdalene on His right, in red. 
That's how he chose to bring color to his piece.
Also, he painted the paper first before tracing the crucifix.

Here's his artwork:






~The final piece~




Here they are, having some fun before heading out into the 
street to play stickball with neighbors.

Their artwork framed as centerpieces on our Good Friday table:



We'll move them onto the counter when we sit to eat.
On the menu: 
tilapia, mixed veggies, rice and Irish soda bread, 
before we head out to church for the Stations.

BY the way...All these craft and home photos were
snapped with this amazing camera, which


I received as Mother's Day gift from all my boys three years ago!
I love it...use it literally every day!!


Friends, have a blessed and beautiful Good Friday and  happy Easter!



For more  "Artful Friday" posts, 
you might like to click below.....
They're all here if you'd like to dust off something from the archives:
  
First, there's my son's super popular  guest posts on crafting rocket balloons,
 both of which include instructional videos:
I hope you get to click over and watch one of his easy, fun tutorials!

Autumn Decor & Craft  Round Up
30 Amazing, Eye Catching, Jaw Dropping Ideas
 for Halloween, Thanksgiving
 (and Fall in General!) 

"A Door in the Wall" Inspired Wooden Cross Craft 
for Holy Trinity Sunday & the Feast of Corpus Christi

 ( knitting, winter crafts, the theater and piano)






Thank you for spending some of your precious time today
here at my home on the web! 

Have you signed up to receive my posts in your email inbox?
   If not, just click here to 
quickly and easily  so we can be in touch regularly!
You might wish to follow on Facebook as well.....



If you are shopping at  amazon and Target
why not consider clicking through my link
In this way, I will receive a small commission on the purchase.....
at no cost to you.
THANK YOU!

Until next time,



~Chris



BTW, I'm offering photo services and customized
photo packages for your blog or business!
< Subscribers receive a deep discount! > 

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real ~ March 27th



Good morning, friends and welcome to my little spot on the web today!
~Our pretty, our happy, our funny and our real this week~

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ 
Thanks to Like Mother, Like Daughter, for hosting.
round button chicken


~PRETTY~
Only three lessons so far, but he really does sound lovely!
The kids seem to have an 'ear' for music.
I hear tell that Easter baskets may be laden with some violin 'classics' sheet music.
Can't wait!

~HAPPY~
You know it~
 As Boardwalk and Park Place go, so goes the game......
I was not the proud owner of these  lodging establishments.
So, yeah, I lost.

~FUNNY~
What's that, you say?
Pizza is not funny?
A child's homemade pizza that he worked hard to concoct  
and  is excited about sharing?
Not funny?
Well, you weren't here this weekend when we cut into his library cooking class pizza!
Oh my. 
Very funny.
Worst pizza ever!
Good grief, it was bad.
Cut picture though.


~REAL~
Passion Sunday mass procession.
Our choir boy is shockingly, one of the oldest in the children's choir this year.
How did that happen?
He got to lead the procession up the aisle, because he tells me.....
 the director says he 
"knows what's going on."
And yes, the kid's on top of things.
Where would I be without this boy?
Love that. Love our church, our choir director, her hard work and of course,
love our Lord.
Beautiful, moving mass. 
These kids are amazing.


I thank you for stopping in today and I hope that
 wherever the day takes you,  it is peaceful  and happy.
Have a  wonderful day and a blessed Triduum.

 Until next time,

~Chris

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Redesign...

For anyone stopping in  this afternoon, 
I apologize for the mess of my blog!
I'm trying to redesign and margins are all over the place 
with sidebar gadgets disorganized.
Hopefully this will not be the case soon.

Thanks for understanding and for stopping over,
Chris

Wordless Wednesday: Forgiven





~Mercy~

The theme of this week. .....
For all of us.

The mercy of the Lord.
Always forgiving. Never denying.

   Then Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 
Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times,
 but seventy times seven..."  Matt 18:21-22

Although the above shots were taken over three years ago, 
they capture symbolism of this week.
 Of our Faith.
My little guy, receiving his Sacrament of Reconciliation, on, of all days, his birthday.
What a gift.
His 7th birthday in December, 2009.


                                                      Thank you for stopping in today, friends.
I'm happy to link up to  Wordless Wednesday 
hops with these lovely blogs :

Small Things
Wordless Wednesday



Wordless Wednesdays

Have a  wonderful day and a blessed Triduum.

 Until next time,

~Chris


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Try A New Recipe Tuesday: Lemon Poppy Muffins



Good morning friends and welcome to my corner of the web today!
Love Tuesdays!

A few wonderful blog hops brighten our mid week and help me keep 
 my family's homeschooling momentum going! 
Sine this is Holy Week, with the exception of daily read alouds and independent reading, 
piano and violin lessons and the kids' rehearsals at church
 to prepare for the living Stations of the Cross on Good Friday
 and choir hymns at the Easter  vigil, 
I have to say, we're taking a much needed break from routine this week.
We'll be resuming our rigor the day after Easter and plowing through the remainder of this school year's curriculum until we slow things up again around Memorial Day.
Well, that's the plan anyway. 
Then I assess and tackle "what we really need to cover this year but didn't yet"
 and administer their standardized tests.
June's routine is much lighter as we head into summer break.!
Yay!

In fact, I write about balance, checklists, laundry and grace this week
in my column at Catholic Lane.
If you're so inclined, go check it out,  (thank you!) as well as the inspiration found there. 
Seriously, the writers at CL hit one outta the park every time; I wonder how on Earth they publish me alongside these writers with  teeth!
 But they do and I'm honored.
I reprinted my column for my Memoir Monday post yesterday 
( yup, running a bit low on time! )
 Blogger friends, please look into my Memoir Monday hop and consider linking up!
 I'd love it if you shared your stories with us in the hop!
A few of my blogger friends have linked such amazing reflections
 and I am flattered that they did so......

So, my recipe share for this week~
Lemon Poppy Muffins
Our family is getting set for the baseball season, which begins the weekend after Easter. We're a three sport family and very active in our CYO.
 Soccer in Fall; basketball in winter and baseball in spring.
Two boys generate lots of mitts, bats, helmets, mud, dirty uniforms, 
game and practice schedules and yes, cleats...
You know the drill. We're all happily in the same boat!
And so, we need simple, filling and nutritious foods.....
 Since  we're at the field for many hours 
every Saturday from beginning of April  until end of June,  
we've found these muffins to be a great  breakfast/snack staple.
Making our own is easier, cheaper and less time consuming
 than stopping at 7-11 or a deli for a pick-up  breakfast.
 They're tasty and easily stored in the cooler with
 some fruit and water bottles on the hot baseball field.
 We also rely on my hubby's blueberry muffins 
as well as my Irish soda bread recipe, which I'll be sharing soon.

So, here goes;
There are a lot of ingredients, but you know I'm all for simplicity:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 stick (1/2-cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup white granulated sugar
  • finely grated zest from 2 lemons
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and lemon, until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly. Stir in flour mixture; then add  lemon juice and  poppy seeds. 

Pour into muffin tin; place in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or so.

Enjoy!

I'm  happy to link up with my friends who host these awesome blog hops...
Please head over to  Home to 4 Kiddos for Lisa's Try a New Recipe Hop, 
for their In and Out of the Kitchen Hop,  as well as 
for some wonderful treats!
Please  check out their warm, inviting spots on the web,
 as well as the bloggers who've linked their recipes.

                                              Feeding Big                                                                                              



                                                  



Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays                                                        
                                              




(You know, in the "draft," these badges are all laid out beautifully. Then I hit
"publish" and this happens! Yikes)


Thank you  for stopping in !



Have a  wonderful day!



 Until next time,


~Chris