7QT Friday- Bits and Pieces

Another Friday (or as I keep seeing all over social media FriYAY!) is here. 

1. Vacation Box- PARIS, France

You may recall that we found a neat way to involve the girls more actively in the works of mercy by making a vacation box to Hawaii for a couple near and dear to our hearts.  It was such a fun project and such a neat way to spread love to others, that we have completed another vacation box.  This one for a dear woman whom we decided would enjoy a trip abroad to the lovely, fashionable, and romantic city of Paris.  

The trip took her to Paris where she "visited" the church of the Miraculous Medal, Sacre Coeur, and even attended a ballet while enjoyign some French cookies of course and learning a wee bit of the French language.  

The girls also arranged for her to "journey to" the Arc de Triumph, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and they designed 3 very fashionable ensembles for her to wear on her trip.  And of course some macaroons.  One could have much more fun with the food aspect of a "vacation box" if you live near to the recipient, but we've had to make ours somewhat simple in that regard because our recipients live out of town.  

And a note to explain a little and just because.  :)

We already picked our next recipient and decided we'll be taking her on a trip to the Swiss Alps.  Stay tuned...and share ideas if you send a vacation box to someone you love.  :)

2.  Due Date

Today is Kolbe's due date.  It's so weird to say because he's been with us for a whole TWO weeks.  But this is technically the day that he was "due" to make his way into the world.  He chose a pretty awesome day to surprise us though (Mother Teresa's birthday). 

Happy two weeks, Little Man!  

3. Library trip

One of the first outings I ventured out of the house with 5 littles in tow for was a trip to the library to refill our bag with fresh titles.  The effort to make the trip was well worth the quiet and peace that comes for several days after a trip to the library.  We have many little "readers" in this house for which I am very grateful.  

I found these two like this just a couple days ago.  My heart melted.  Not even kidding.  

4.  Chapel Veils

My sister in law, also Laura, makes custom chapel veils and has just started up a shop on Etsy.  Check out her work and grab a veil for yourself, a loved one, or even your child making their first communion.  She has done some lovely work and she can work with you to make your veil (or a gifted veil) just what you want.  

(picture used with permission)

5. Little Bro

In case you were wondering the girls are still completely in love with their little brother and they ask me constantly often if they can hold him.  

 

Daddy loves his snuggles with Kolbe too when he returns from work.  

6. First Day of School pictures

We started nearly two weeks ago at this point, but it's been busy around here, so I haven't got all these cute shots up on the blog yet.  Enjoy. 

This one cracks me up.  I told them to squish closer together.  Sophie wasn't enthused about the idea.

7.  School

It's been a breeze so far.  Kayla has been so responsible and comes and takes care of her school work almost on her own each morning.  She reads like crazy in the afternoons and is gearing up for her first ever book report.  Elise (and Ava too) are working with me each morning and are doing a great job with letter sounds and numbers currently.  We are having a lot of fun and can't wait for lots more throughout this school year.  There have been some tantrums some days too, but that's to be expected.  I'd want to play all day too....

How was your week, friends?  

Link up with Kelly from This Ain't the Lyceum with your 7 Quicktakes for the week.  

Snapshot of Memories-Spring 2016

A Snapshot of Memories--Spring 2016

I love this idea that I saw on Britt's blog --to take stock of what's going on each season and capture some of those very normal, everyday memories and moments as well as some that are more long-term and far-reaching.  So here goes...

making: plans for the summer-still all in my head

cooking: This BBQ chickpea salad and some fresh fruit for dinner.  Meatless, summery-light Friday meal.

drinking: water mostly, but I mixed it up with sparkling lime water today.  What a rebel.

reading: The Mother of the Little Flower (by Celine Martin) and You Did it to Me (by Fr. Michael Gaitley) plus renewing my Marian consecration with the 33 Days to Morning Glory book

wanting: my current online scoring session to end...it's so tiring...but this section of Mother of the Little Flower was helpful....

looking: for some hand lotion to put on my hands AGAIN because this move to Colorado has been a tough change for my susceptible-ness to dry-skin patches.

playing: Peek-a-boo (Bee-a-boo!) with Sophie all the time.  She's liked the game for awhile, but is recently into covering her own eyes much more and cracks herself up.

wasting: too much time worrying about things I can't control.  Perhaps because of my mom's influence, "Jesus, I trust in You" has been my go-to prayer for--well, pretty much forever.  And it's a constant one for me since I'm a pretty strong choleric.  :)

sewing: nothing-that's not really a talent of mine, but if we are speaking of crafting...I'm working on a few Letter Y projects to complete with the girls.

wishing: those last few boxes would unpack and organize themselves....

enjoying: this point in pregnancy when I feel the wondrous kicks from inside often throughout my day.  Sweet reminders of life, but not yet strong enough that I've had to start wondering if my uterus is suddenly going to just fall out...that time is on it's way.  For now, "Hello, sweet bouncing baby!"

liking: a quiet moment here and there to read

wondering: who our little baby inside is and what sort of perfect fit God has made for our family this time.  Each time we welcome a new little one I'm always so contented with God's choice in creating such a perfect, unique individual to add to our family dynamic.

hoping: to find my patience again.  It was gone when I woke up and I've been trying to reclaim it.

marveling: at the great blessings God has bestowed on me and trying to be humble and thankful.  "Everything is a grace" -St. Therese (and repeat)

smelling: lilacs.  Every house but ours in the neighborhood seems to have a bush.  Brings back memories from my childhood in Spokane.  I can't get enough of that scent.  So back up to wishing and wanting...a lilac bush.

needing: a few moments in the quiet of my husband's arms

wearing: one of my new dresses on Sunday--still have to decide which one!!

following:  This mama who is due anytime with a little surprise, and of course, getting a chuckle from the wit of Grace over at Camp Patton. Clearly also, keeping up with the beautiful photography and writing style of Britt, which is where I even got this idea in the first place.

noticing: how quickly my girls are growing up.  Kayla just got a new, bigger bike, so that Elise can take her former one, and now it's little Ava's turn to learn to ride!! Sophie isn't to be left out and hops on anything with wheels when she gets a chance...not always a great idea....

knowing: the truth of the words of this song- "Lord, I Need You"

thinking: about what might happen in tonight's Person of Interest episode...as well as pondering the beauty of the last episode we watched in which one life was spared even though the possibility of many harmed was at stake.  A reminder of God's mercy available for us ALL!  EACH and every ONE.

bookmarking: this Fr. Riccardo podcast that Britt recommended.

opening: the cover of a sweet book with my girls.  Most recently, Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile, a sweet story recommended by my MIL.

giggling: at the sound of my girls giggling when Daddy plays with them at the playground.  He can dissolve them all in sweet giggles when he pushes them high on the swings or makes whatever that teetering-tottering contraption in the picture below is twist and shake and bump and bounce.

feeling: blessed.  Oh, so blessed.

The Beginnings of a Summer Reading List

It's time to make my Summer Reading plans!  Back in this post, I compiled a big list of books about Saints that I have plans to really begin to explore this summer.  So books about Saints make up the majority of my current Summer Reading List, but I'm still looking for some great suggestions (probably one per month) for great fiction/historical fiction novels you'd recommend.   
 Note** You can also currently find my 'summer list' under my Mommy's Book Bag tab
Here's what I've got so far for my Summer Reading Saints list:

Let's start with a few books that will be on my "ongoing list" throughout the summer.  By that I mean that I know they will take longer than 1 month.  Some will take just over, some will take more like two, some will take 4, and some I won't even finish during "summer" and will continue into the fall and beyond, I'm sure.  

A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms 

By Lisa Hendey

My (former) Mom's Group is working through this book which is fantastic.  It's filled with short biographies, little reflections, scriptures to reflect on that relate to each Saint, and ways to reflect at home with your family as well.  

33 Days to Morning Glory

By Fr. Michael Gaitley

Two years ago, I consecrated myself to Jesus through Mary (using the 33 Days book; I've done the St. Louis de Montfort version in the past multiple times) on May 31, the feast of The Visitation.  So every year since I've tried to re-read the 33 Days to Morning Glory book (beginning April 28) and reconsecrate on May 31. 

'You Did It to Me'

also by Fr. Michael Gaitley

I'm already a little ways into this, but I put it down because I wanted to read Story of a Soul and Fr. Michael's new book, 33 Days to Merciful Love earlier in 2016, but it's still the Year of Mercy, and I'm determined to read this great book on mercy that Fr. Gaitley has penned as well.

Diary of St. Faustina: Divine Mercy in my Soul

I've also been reading this off and on for a long, long while now.  Again, it's the Year of Mercy, so I'm going to make a more concentrated effort to try to finish this in 2016. 

Introduction to the Devout Life

by St. Francis de Sales

I have had this on my "to read" list for a long time now.  I am a big fan of both St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal, but I still have yet to read this awesome work. 

                                                                                                                                   

And now for some other books on specific Saints to read from May-September:
   

 Story of a Soul
(Yes, I am STILL finishing up the last chapter or two of this book.  It's a gem, but PACKED with awesomeness, so I've been taking it really slowly.)

The Mother of the Little Flower

By Celine Martin

I hope to read both this and The Father of the Little Flower this year.  St. Therese's parents were canonized just last year and I have been itching to read more and more about them.  This is a May goal. 

The Imitation of Christ

by Thomas a Kempis

Another that I've started, but have yet to make it all the way through, so this is my June goal.  My friend Denise loves this book and I know I will too once I actually finally read it!

Lily of the Mohawks: The Story of St. Kateri

by Emily Cavins

I will likely read this as a 'read-aloud' with Kayla since St. Kateri is one of her current favorite Saints.  I bought this book with her in mind, so we'll try to read it during the month of July since St. Kateri's feast day is almost smack in the middle of that month.  

Saint Martin de Porres

by Elizabeth Marie DeDomenico

This book is one Kayla earned a few months ago with good behavior.  She's already barreled through it, but I'm going to read it on my own (a very easy read as it's written for elementary kids, but a nice, quick intro to a Saint whom I know very little about, but I'm very interested in.). 

    

A Man for Others
by Patricia Treece
A book about St. Maximilian Kolbe, another great Marian Saint.  I've been wanting to read it for awhile now, and I'm figuring that the month of his feast day might be a nice goal, so August it is.

Meditations from a Simple Path
by Mother Teresa
I don't have a copy of this yet, but I'm hoping to locate a copy before September.  Mother Teresa will be canonized then and I'm due right around then.  I'm thinking she will be a great inspiration.  Her humility and sacrificial love are virtues that I'd love to grasp more especially during the waiting at the end of pregnancy and the exhaustion that comes after labor and delivery.

Lovely Mother Teresa print from Katrina over at Hatchprints.  I adore her work. 

Any fiction recommendations for me? 

 I'd love to hear what you hope to read over the summer too!

Mission Basilica Door of Mercy!

You may have heard of "Holy Doors", and if you are like me you guess that they are some beautiful Church tradition and that there's a bit of research that must be done to educate yourself more on the subject. 

With the ease of the internet, I found a wonderful explanation on the Mission Basilica website in about 5 seconds.  

To give a brief explanation here, I have pasted a part of the explanation below (I have added some underlining for emphasis):

       "A holy door or porta sancta has been used since the fifteenth century as a ritual expression of            conversion. Pilgrims and penitents pass through it as a gesture of leaving the past behind and              crossing the threshold from sin to grace, from slavery to freedom, and from darkness to light.              Often these rituals are associated with prayer, pilgrimage, sacrifice, confession, and indulgences.

       But the door finds meaning only when the believer associates the door with Christ.

       Jesus is the Door!"

We are blessed to live quite near to the Mission Basilica, one of two locations in Orange County where a holy door can be found during the Year of Mercy.  Our dear friends, Jacinta and Scott organized an 'pilgrimage' (gave us a meeting date and time) to visit the holy door and complete the 11 Stations of Mercy at the Mission Basilica.  And it did end up being more of a pilgrimage than we thought it might be because the annual Swallows Day parade was taking place the same day, so we ended up having to park several miles away, hop onto a shuttle (a school bus) and walk about 1/2 a mile to the Basilica from there.  It was a nice little additional time and effort to make it feel like we had to "try" since ordinarily a trip to the Basilica is a quick easy hop for all of us from where we live and there is a parking lot right next to it.  

There ended up being three families who met to do our little pilgrimage together. 

 Here are some of us entering the door.  (Jacinta took these next two pictures)

I love Ava looking up at the picture here.  So sweet. 

Chris and Scott and Gregory heading through from darkness to light.  :)

Inside the Basilica (and outside too, since a few of the stations were outside) they designated certain pictures and shrines to be markers for the 11 Stations of Mercy:

Station 1: Welcome the Stranger

Station 2: Admonish the Sinner

Station 3: Counsel the Doubtful

Station 4: Forgive Offenses

Station 5: Comfort the Sick

Station 6: Visit the Imprisoned

Station 7: Bear Wrongs Patiently

Station 8: Feed the Hungry, Clothe the Naked, Give Drink to the Thirsty

Station 9: Instruct the Ignorant

Station 10: Comfort the Afflicted

Station 11: Bury the Dead, Pray for the Living and the Dead

You can find the stations to pray on your own wherever you are during this Year of Mercy here on the Basilica's website.  It has reflections on each station and a beautiful prayer to say for each as well.  

Jacinta took these next two sweet pictures as well. 

It was a beautiful little pilgrimage and a wonderful blessing for each of us and for our families during this Year of Mercy.  

As Pope Francis said, "There is only one way that opens wide the entrance into the life of communion with God: this is Jesus"  

Especially in this Year of Mercy, may God continually remind us to show others mercy just as He has shown us such incredible mercy.  

Jesus, I trust in You.  Be Merciful to me, a sinner.

And here are just a few pictures of a bit of the Swallows Day parade that we caught after our pilgrimage.  

 

Here's sweet Gregory, "feeding the hungry".  hahaha

It's hard to see the 'swallows' they are swinging around in the wind....