Little Dancer

Stations of the Cross Kit for Children

Several years ago, our family began the tradition of saying the Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings during Lent. Some years we had the stations hanging in our hallway, or along the mantle, or sometimes we just used a book. But one idea I've been wanting to try for the past few years is a hands-on Stations of the Cross kit for children, with items representing each station that can be held and matched by little hands. I wish I could remember where I first saw this idea!  It seems to have gained popularity and I have seen several variations now, including one with Easter eggs, but I chose to simply gather our items together in a clear, plastic purple box.

We already had some beautifully illustrated cards that I had printed and laminated a few years ago, as well as a Stations of the Cross book by Fr. Lovasik that we use every year.   (I'd link to the cards, but they don't seem to be available online anymore!)  Using these and some other ideas I found online, I collected all the items we needed for our own stations of the cross kit!  Most of these were things we already had, and the rest were not very expensive.  I'm so excited to use it tonight with our little ones during our Stations of the Cross!

My little Valentines

Since I devoted an entire post to my littlest sweetheart a few days ago, it seems only fair to share these photos I took yesterday of my big sweethearts. :) 

Little Sweetheart

Adoration

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."   Matthew 19:14

My beautiful blue eyed girl

Super

Five little monkeys...

Sweet children after Mass

Fighting The Frump

I have been inspired by a couple of sources lately to take more care with my appearance.  I was doing pretty good over the summer, but this winter I have practically lived in jeans, old tennis shoes, and baggy sweatshirts (primarily Darren's old Army one and my old NMSU one—both are well over 15 years old!)  Definitely time for a change, and Blair's post yesterday could not have come at a better time!  I remembered that Savers' MLK Day Sale was today...50% off all clothes and shoes!  What a perfect time to spruce up my wardrobe with some "new", less frumpy items!  (Savers is my favorite thrift store.)  

I know it doesn't look like much here, but the outfit I'm wearing in the above photos is definitely a step up from my usual.  Jeans, a ribbed tank, and thick ribbed sweater.  I was SO excited to find the shoes I'm wearing; I've been wearing some almost exactly like them for the past six years and I love them so much that I refused to throw them out, even though the soles are completely split on both of them.  I learned not to wear them when it was raining, LOL!  These looked brand new and were only $9.99, so I paid $5 for them since they were 50% off!  SCORE!  (They're black leather mules and oh so comfy.)  I still need to figure out how to work some more accessories into my wardrobe, but I did wear earrings today (that I've had for close to 20 years) and my St. Anne medal.  I felt so much more "put together" today.  I even did my hair!  :)

It's so exciting to have a few more fun outfits to choose from!  I tried really hard to pick things that I ordinarily wouldn't even try on, and I loved them!  I ended up buying three pairs of jeans, four shirts, and the above sweater and shoes for a total of $31.73!  Totally made my day.  :)  Thank you so much Blair for helping my bust out of my rut!

Outdoor fun

We had some seriously C-C-COLD weather earlier this week! Yesterday, though, was very nice. It almost felt like Spring! After lunch, Meghan and I took her school work outside while Kristen and Austin played on the swing set and trampoline. 

After homework was finished yesterday afternoon we all went out to ride bikes and play basketball.  I know I've said it before but I just love the lighting at this particular time of day right now. (Around 5:00 or so.)  The sun is just starting to sink over our neighbor's house and it casts the most beautiful golden glow over our cul-de-sac, while our gorgeous Organ Mountains are lit with the most stunning shades of purples and pinks at the opposite end of our street.  (I wish I had been able to get a good picture of them.)  We stayed out until Darren got home from work (with pizza, so we didn't even have to worry about cooking dinner!).  :)  I was feeling so down yesterday and really missing my kids.  Even though Christmas break just ended, I'm already looking forward to having them home again.  I wanted to count the days until Spring Break and Summer Vacation, but I never did have a chance to find our school calendar.  But, when I went to pick up Dylan and Caitlyn from school yesterday I was chatting with one of my friends and she reminded me that they don't have school on Monday (Martin Luther King Day).  YAY!  It's not a long break, but I'll gladly take a three day weekend!  :)

Loved the moon peeking through the basketball hoop!

Instagram Collages

My mom doesn't have Instagram or Facebook, but since she's lucky enough to have access to my (not updated frequently enough) blog, I thought I'd post some collages I made with PicMonkey using some of my most recent Instagram and Facebook posts.  Best of all worlds! Hope you like these, Mom!  :) 

January

My snow babies!

Watching "The Very First Noel" after eating our Rosca de Reyes on the Feast of the Epiphany.

I gave our learning cabinet a liturgically appropriate makeover after packing away all of our pretty Advent/Christmas decorations.  Since we celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God on January first,
I went with a Marian theme.  :)

Just a pretty sky pic.  I love the time of day during which this was taken.