Popes, Saints, And Sundaes

Today was a great day to be a Catholic, don't you think?

Oh my goodness gracious.

As if Divine Mercy Sunday isn't a really great feast in and of itself, we packed up a Pope sandwich and brought in along to the feast. When we celebrate, we really celebrate.

Am I the only one who just had the revelation that these two Pope are now SAINTS? As in their holy card photos will have halos behind their heads. I can't wait to see them!

Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II

Many years from now we'll remember this day. I'll remember going to Sunday Mass with my family and taking in the Easter glory. 

I'll recall sitting in front of the computer watching the canonization via the internet many hours past it's live occurrence, but feeling it as if I were there. I hope to remember the captivated three year old mesmerized by watching her buddy, Pope Francis. She kept watching with an occasional smile and would remark "I just love Pope Francis. He's so cool. And awesome."

Of course, I'll remember the double Popes. The two who became Saints and the two who were there that day at their canonization.

You must know how my heart leapt when I watched my Benedict come out. 

Or again how it soared when the two stole away an embrace. 

You remember how that makes me giddy, right? Every.single.time.

I will also remember my family's short pilgrimage at the 3 o'clock hour to our small church. The quiet church that swallowed up our every prayer and echoed the cries of the cranky toddler. Alone we prayed, but we were united with so many across the miles that had offered prayers for Divine Mercy and in thanksgiving for our new Saints.

Adding to our feast day, as a family we also made our Marian Consecration that we had been preparing for this Lent.

There in the familiar place, next to Jesus and at the feet of Mary, we interceded and prayed to our newest Saints.

It was a good day. A very good day.

As good Catholics, we celebrated and feasted. We finished our day with a special dessert which, of course. contained symbolism:  Divine Mercy Sundaes (Thanks to Catholic Icing for the idea).

(minus cherries because we just don't do cherries at our house)

Now it is evening and I'm tired from this very big Catholic celebration. 

How about you? Did you do anything special to commemorate this day? 

Thankful for Everyday Life {link up}: Easter Edition

Joining Jamie today with a Thankful list and photo dump. How else were all the fun Easter photos ever going to get posted??!!

Thankful for warm enough weather for the annual Easter egg hunt at my in laws. Thankful for handfuls of little munchkins (this was only a photo of some of them) to join my kids in the hunt.

Thankful for growing up 'baby' who could wander around and find her eggs with ease this year.

Thankful for sunny days filled with kids playing outside. After this past winter we are beyond ready to frolic and have fun outdoors. The breeze is fresh, the sandbox is dirty, the pants are already grass stained, but I don't even care. We are free! It's spring!

Thankful for Easter bunny baskets full of goodies and the kids that enjoy them. This year the kids got a variety of items: candy, sandals, sunglasses, a small toy (My Little Pony for the little girls and  Legos for the big kids), snacks/activity pads for the girls and kites for Lily & Jonah. Oh, and Brother Francis DVD for each of the little girls too. We love those DVDs! And yes, my girls call them their POPE Francis DVD and not BROTHER Francis DVD. 

Thankful for Easter dress clothes and after Mass shots. Thankful for silly little girl 'smiles' (notice Gianna's new smile? Can't get her not to do that one) and antsy pants toddlers. Thankful  for big kids who can hold a smile. Sometimes.

Thankful for Easter kites and kids who think they are a pretty sweet gift. Lily was eager to get hers up and flying right after Easter Mass. There's a sweet simplicity associated with a kite, isn't there? We've given them to the older kids the last few years to keep up the tradition being that Reed's family always got kites at Easter. 

Thankful for daddy and toddler. How is that not just one of the sweetest things?!

Thankful for new stylin' sunglasses and toddlers who can only manage to wear them upside down. It's hilarious every time she does it.

Thankful for birthday boys who turn NINE and their creative minds. Since Jonah's birthday was on Easter Monday, we went ahead and celebrated with family and cake on Easter Sunday. Thankful for a woman from church who I asked to make his Lego cake. I wouldn't have had time to do it myself with so little free time on Saturday. She made the cake to resemble a Lego brick as Jonah requested. Jonah then created a whole birthday scene complete with each family member and other figures to place on top. His mind is always working, that's for sure.

Thankful for my nine year old boy who still lets me call him Studly. Because seriously, doesn't he look like it? This photo was prefaced with him coming up to me, posing like this and saying "What's up ladies?"  Heartbreaker.

Thankful for Birthday Buddies. We were able to go visit my grandma on Monday so that she and Jonah could celebrate their birthday day together. I don't know if they've ever gotten to spend time together on their birthday day, but this year is worked out and seemed perfect. Grandma needed the company and we hadn't seen her in a while, so it was a very good day. 

Thankful for four generations. It's been a long time since I've had a four generation picture taken with my dad's parents. Unfortunately, since grandpa's passing in December I've realized there were a lot of photos I didn't get the chance to take. I'm glad to have this one to look back on one day.

I hope you are still Easter Thankful and glowing in the Resurrection aftermath at your house.

Happy Easter!

Stop by Jamie's to find even more Thankfuls this week. 

Monday Of Holy Week Daybook

Outside My Window... 

It's colder again, 21 degrees, and the sound of the wind makes me think of fall or winter. Several more days of colder than normal temps lie ahead this week and I think I saw the words SNOW SHOWERS somewhere in the forecast. Please let it be warm enough for sandals and short sleeves on Easter.


I am Thankful For...

A daytime 'date' with Reed on Friday. It allowed for uninterrupted conversation, a quick lunch at a restaurant and a shopping trip in which I scored a TON of deals on spring/summer clothes for the kiddos.


I Am Thinking about...

How to best use this Holy Week in prayer, patience and charity in our household. After reading Jamie's post and realizing this is THE WEEK my soul is yearning for, I feel encouraged to somehow make the most of it.


From the School Room...

CAT/5 survey standardized testing that I scheduled thinking this was a good week to take care of it. Hopefully we can still make it work this week and get it done.


What I am Reading..

Not much. I kind of fell off with some of my Lenten reading that I had done well with at the beginning of Lent. However, I am keeping up with the daily reading in 33 Days to Morning Glory as we prepare for our consecration date on Divine Mercy Sunday.

From the Kitchen...

I am thinking about keeping suppers simple this week. Maybe a couple of days of soup and bread are good simplistic meals for Holy Week? I've got some cheesy potato soup in the freezer to use, but I also think we'll whip up Patty's Meatless Taco Soup, along with this Creamy Tortellini Soup. My mom gave us a package of homemade pretzel mix recently that I want to try and make with the kids on Good Friday.


Praying For...

A fruitful Holy Week.

Families who are missing loved ones who've recently passed away.

Those who are entering the Catholic Church this Holy Saturday.


I am Hearing...

The chatter of the three year old as she watches Wild Kratts.


Around the House...

Thanks to Tracy's post and her help via email, we implemented a new task/cleaning/helping mom chart at our house last week. So far it's working great and keeping the big kids motivated (even if it is by small amounts of money). I needed more help and found that even the smallest things, like filling beverage glasses before supper, only seemed to be done by me. Thanks to the new list, the kids have the freedom to choose which things to do each day to add up to making some money. They are finding that a bunch of small things for modest pay still turns out to be decent pocket money by Pay Day. It is a relief for me and gives me more of a chance to take on the general household needs and also just breathe a bit more.


Picture to Share...

We've never had much for decor in our small parish church in the past, but the combination of a young priest who thrives on liturgical/Church symbolism/tradition and an eager-to-do church coordinator (that would be ME), things are changing. This is the first year (that I recall) our statues have been covered the last weeks of Lent and the red was the extra effect for Palm Sunday. I found that it made me more alert to the sacredness of the week ahead and the longing for the beauty of Easter.

A snapshot of our church on Palm Sunday:

Blessings on your Holy Week, the Week That Changed The World. 

Pretending Spring

 This morning, the sun is shining and it's 30 degrees, but yesterday...

yesterday.

It was not. Thankfully the snow didn't really accumulate here. However, it was the kind of day that makes one realize Jamie's got the right idea about getting the heck outta here.

SHHH.....don't tell my mom....

It's snowing AGAIN.

See, mom? That's not so bad.

It's almost pretty. ALMOST.

Let's pretend it's April and Spring, okay?

Then we'll see who gets the last laugh. Us or Mother Nature.

Here's to a more spring-like weekend! I hope.

S'mores Muffins

Welcome to the latest edition of Mama and Toddlers in the kitchen. Last week we gave another Pinterest recipe a try to add to our muffin repertoire. Another keeper!

S'mores Muffins

Ingredients:

(This is for a single recipe. I doubled all the ingredients to make almost 2 dozen mini muffins)

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup sour cream

3 Tablespoons 2% milk (I used skim)

2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/3 cup milk chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips)

6 Tablespoons marshmallow creme (I just used a small dollop in each muffin)

Directions:


In a small bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg, then the sour cream and milk.

This is where the helpful toddlers come in. Put whole graham crackers in a bag and let them crunch, squeeze and pound to help get the crackers all crushed up. They'll love it!

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda.

Beat dry ingredients into the creamed mixture until moistened.

Add in your chocolate chips and fold in.

Grease muffin tins with cooking spray. If using regular muffin tin, fill about 1/4 full of batter. If you are using mini muffin tin like I did, fill about 1/3 full. Spoon a dollop of marshmallow creme into each muffin cup. Top with remaining batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 14-16 minutes (around 10 minutes for mini muffins) or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack. 

Everyone will surely be asking for S'more!