King Cake

King Cake a photo by AngieMc6 on Flickr.

King Cake details....

Thanks to the ladies at 4Real, we made our very first King Cake. We've never had one so are satisfied with something less than the real thing. We started with this Easy Mardi Gras King Cake recipe, complete with step-by-step instructions. After looking at some authentic recipes, I added nutmeg to the filling and made the glaze with 1.5 cups powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice. Lacy (thanks!) at Catholic Icing showed us how to color our sugar. Next year we need to up the intensity of color (2+ drops per couple of tablespoons.) We didn't have a toy baby so used a little plastic...chicken (oh my.) Now, where to find the toy baby?

Holy Week and Sacred Triduum: Saturday

This is what I had in my draft box before I brought my husband to the hospital emergency room with severe abdominal pain and swelling...

I love this day! As our seven year old said while bouncing up and down, "Mom, I can hardly wait until Easter! I think I'm going to bust!" Today is all about waiting and preparing.

We'll shop for last minute Easter basket items and fresh food needs for tomorrow. We'll make some dishes that we are bring to our friends' home for our traditional Easter ham dinner tomorrow. Can't forget to get all the Easter clothes ready! We will dye Easter eggs and finish up a few craft loose ends.

We will miss the Easter Vigil Mass tonight, which is a sacrifice. Our daughter will lecture at the family Mass tomorrow, with our whole family present. Tonight after the sun set, we will decorate the front of our home. We hang plastic eggs that have been tied to multi-colored ribbons from our trees. We also hang our Easter flag. Colored wicker Easter baskets with tacky multi-colored Easter grass line the front of the house. For the grand finale, add a purple 6' Easter Bunny similar to this one and you have a can't miss explosion of Easter joy!

(Disclaimer: If I had my way, our front yard would look more, umm, sophisticated. Last year when I was hugely pregnant, the family took the decorating of our "new to the desert front yard" bull by the horns and that explains the purple bunny! So now I eat humble pie, again, because the yard is perfectly eye-catching. It is especially noticeable since we are the only family in the near neighborhood who decorates for Easter.)...

There is nothing like a health scare, and this one was one of the scariest, to put things into perspective. However many wonderful activities we had planned, they didn't have to happen for the risen Christ to come in Easter glory. In fact, Easter is even more delicious exactly because Easter is NOT dependent upon me or you or health or anything human. Easter comes. He is risen!

Thanks be to God and to all my prayerful friends, my husband was home and in bed by 2:00 am on Easter morning. He received the best case scenario results and is on oral antibiotics for an infection. Praise God and Happy Easter!

Holy Week and Sacred Triduum: Friday

Good Friday is a full, slow moving, deliberate and somber day here. No music or entertainment. It is also a day when we need to be careful not to fall into traps of bickering, impatience, and sloth. It is as if the heaviness of the day weighs on us and in our weakness we want to take it out on each other. This article, The Holiday Halmark Can't Handle, touches upon the unique mix of feelings today.

Fortunately, we have several activities to help keep us out of trouble. We plan to make my friend Mary Ann's Hot Cross Buns. (Thanks again, Mary Ann!) We will clean the house. We'll begin the Divine Mercy Novena and will add prayer for troops. We will abstain from meat and fast.

Later today we will do the Stations of the Cross using these prints from Catholic Heritage Curriculum. We will attend Mass for The Lord's Passion, Liturgy of the Word, Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion.

Finally, we get to call my Dad and sing Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad! I and we love you.

Holy Week and Sacred Triduum: Thursday

Holy Thursday is when Jesus ate the Last Supper with his apostles. Although not my tradition, I love the meaning behind calling today Maundy Thursday. Maundy Means "command," which refers to Jesus command to "love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34.)

Today we will make unleavened bread. Tonight my husband will lead us through our simplified version of a seder meal. Our evening will conclude with my husband washing our feet.

My heart is about to burst with gratitude.

Holy Week: Wednesday

Yesterday we planned to clean and shop. I don't mind cleaning but shopping is a whole other matter. Not being a gifted shopper, shopping falls into the category of sacrifice. I do what needs to be done to fulfill my vocation as wife and mother and holiday maker extraordinaire!

What God had planned for me yesterday was quite different. I had the privilege to talk to a dear friend about her family challenges and to suggest ways of helping that included a discussion about the sacramental grace found within the Catholic Church. My friend is a talented, funny woman, a beautiful seeker, a devoted wife and mother, and an inspiration. I prayed out loud to my friend for the ability to represent God and His Church well and with loving truth. It proved to be a challenging and beautiful conversation, one that brought these words to my mouth...

I may not completely trust humans or human constructs, but I do trust God. I trust Jesus Christ and his perfect example and sacrifice for us. I trust the Holy Spirit to lead us Home. I trust the Holy Tradition (I'm not talking Bingo here) of the Catholic Church which Christ promised would never be overcome.* I trust this with my life.

This was when I burst into tears! I'm not one to cry easily and I most certainly didn't want to turn emotional during this delicate conversation. Then I found myself apologizing for the tears, saying...

I've never said that before, in that way, to anyone. I'm crying because not only do I completely trust this for me, I completely trust this for those I love, for my children, for my husband, for you.

My gracious friend blessed me yesterday. I hope and pray that I was a conduit of God's grace for her. We've been good friends to each other for years. God works in amazing and surprising ways.

Yes, I managed to shop yesterday (with an extra bounce in my step) and the cleaning was rescheduled...gladly.

*Matt 16:18 - "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

Holy Week: Tuesday

We collected our recipes and made shopping lists. We watched Veggie Tales An Easter Carol and colored this page. We'll continue watching Jesus of Nazareth.

We also looked at family service and decided to do something special for dad. We will make him home made nutrition bars, to take to work. We will also suprise him by caring for the lawn.

The day has been quiet. The children have played. I have spent leisurely time at the computer with friends. Our anticipation is growing....

Holy Week: Monday

I want Holy Week to feel very holy, special, and different from our usual week. Oh how I wish the whole community would stop business as usual! Until then, we'll stick to doing holy, special, and different family activities.

To start, we take a break from our formal school work. Today we'll visit with friends and eat pizza together. We'll watch The Miracle Maker and make paper flowers, tissue paper or crepe paper flowers. We'll pull out our Bibles and spend time reading about and looking at illustrations about Jesus's death and resurrection (Matthew, Chapters 26, 27, 28; Mark, Chapters 14, 15, 16; Luke, Chapters 22, 23, 24; John, Chapters 18, 19, 20, 21.) We'll do some Holy Week themed word puzzles. Here are some more ideas for Holy Week.

Holy Week: Palm Sunday

Holy Week is here. Our family will keep our preparations simple and low key.

For Palm Sunday we will attend Mass, decorate our home with blessed palms, make palm crosses, and spend the day outside together. In the evening we will begin watching Jesus of Nazareth.

Have a most blessed Palm Sunday.

Valentine Centerpiece

Often the simplest ideas have the best and most pleasntly surprising results. This past Sunday I strewed material and supplies to make valentines on our dining room table. We leisurely made valentines and gave them to each other on Valentine's day. The valentines were all so pretty, we decided to display them as part of our table centerpiece. This ballooned into everyone contributing something else to include flowers, candles, candy, and more. The final product isn't Martha Stewart pretty but in our eyes, it is beautiful.

St. Valentine Day

We have collected a few sweet St. Valentine day family traditions. Years ago we made these easy as can be crayon hearts. To our delight, they have lasted and we have hung them in our different homes in a sunny window. Saint Valentine is a lovely book to read aloud to the whole family. We have to have the classic candy, Sweethearts. Heart shaped pancakes for breakfast are fun. If strawberries look good, we slice them vertically to make heart shapes and serve them on the pancakes with whipped cream. A drop of red food dye turns milk pink.

We also make special Valentines for family members. This year we purchased some beautiful Valentine paper and card kits at the Target Dollar Spot back in December. We added some paper doilies, stickers, glitter glue, and voila'.

Happy St. Valentine day!

Blessed Sunday

Have a... lots of God, lots of rest, lots of family, Sunday*. Simple, as it should be, glue.

*A gem of a description borrowed from Holly Pierlot's A Mother's Rule of Life.

First Friday

A few months ago my husband was able to arrange a change in his work schedule that allowed him to attend morning Mass with me and the children on the first Friday of each month. We drive to a church 30 minutes away and go over our examination of conscience for children on the way. After Mass we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, then we go to the church gift shop and purchase a little something for the children and ourselves. Finally, we go to Rubio's for fish tacos and bean burritos, (eat your hearts out East Coasters!) All of this gels to make for a very special morning, one that we look forward to each month.

When I was growing up, we didn't eat meat on First Fridays or any Fridays, but I had no idea why. I thought it had something to do with pizza. Really. I grew up in NE Pennsylvania and we take our pizza seriously. A little town near my childhood home is the pizza capital of the world. Now you know. While attending parochial grammar school, first Friday meant...pizza. Yep, delivered to the school. This was truly the highlight of the month! After walking to church and going to Confession (phew!) we ate pizza.

Guess what? First Friday isn't necessarily related to pizza, it has to do with abstaining from meat. Guess what again? Catholics are STILL supposed to abstain from meat on Fridays. Read on..

The Code of Canon Law indicates that Catholics are supposed to abstain from meat on all Fridays during the year, not just during Lent:

Canon 1250 -- All Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and times throughout the universal Church.
Canon 1251 -- Abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Canon 1253 -- It is for the conference of bishops to determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence and to substitute in whole or in part for fast and abstinence other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety.

We will add one more level of richness and fullness to our First Friday outings this year. We are striving to complete a Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart .

My hope for our children is that they grow up thinking First Friday is something special, a highlight of the month. We'll make sure they don't think it is necessarily linked to fish tacos and bean burritos:).