Celebrating Pentecost

Today we celebrate Pentecost where the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples 50 days after Easter Sunday!  Here we celebrate the trinity and also the true birth of the Catholic Church.  To celebrate today we went to mass all wearing red!  Our middle son decided he should wear a fireman shirt since today was all about fire, at least in a 3 year olds mind. 

Acts 2: 1-4: “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”

After church we made the Pentecost Windsock from Shower of Roses and had a great opportunity to discuss and learn about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We also colored a coloring page about Pentecost and talked about the Apostles continuing Jesus's ministry here on Earth. 

Pentecost Coloring Page

Last year we made this fun Pentecost craft from Catholic Icing, which was a great easy activity with little ones!  Also, last year we celebrated Pentecost on our youngest son's first birthday.  It was really fun last year for the kids to really understand how we are celebrating the birthday of the Church, just like we celebrate our own birthdays!

Our son celebrating his 1st birthday last year with the Easter Candle

We ended our day this year having Pentecost Sunday Sundaes, which is the most adorable and yummy idea from Catholic Icing!  We were planning on having a bonfire to continue learning about and having fun with fire, but unfortunately the weather isn't really cooperating! 

Overall we had a great time learning about and celebrating Pentecost.  We have had such a wonderful time celebrating the 50 days of Easter and our oldest son got out his liturgical wheel to proudly inform us that Ordinary Time is coming next!  We are looking forward to finding peace, love and more learning during the next few months of Ordinary Time.  Happy Pentecost!

What Ever Happened to Teaching Our Children How to Lose?

Our oldest son finished his first season of sports and he had a blast learning how to play soccer!  We as parents had great fun and many chuckles watching 4 and 5 year olds run across the field (usually in the wrong direction), kicking the ball all over and falling on top of each other.  Sometimes, even amongst all of that, some of them even got a goal!  All joking aside, it was a lot of fun and we are so glad that our son was able to start learning about great topics like team work, cooperation, listening and learning from coaches and having fun with friends.  Although all of those lessons are fantastic there was one thing though that seemed to be missing all season that kind of had me scratching my head.  No one ever lost!  EVER!

To give you a little background about our son, he is a lover of all sports.  He also has a fantastic memory and can tell you the detailed information of some of his favorite games; what the scores were and who won and who lost.  "Mom, the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys on January 11th 26-21".  "Did you know Minnesota Wild lost to the Blackhawks on May 3rd 1-4?"  He watches games and always is keeping track of the score, and also learning what each point means and how it is earned with each sport.  He understood when his favorite teams lost, and of course was disappointed, but always had a great response of "Well, they did their best" or "They will try again next time!"  When he was getting ready to start soccer he asked me how they were going to keep score and if they would have a marker on the side line.  I told him I was not sure.  I didn't know how they kept score, but what ended up happening surprised me.

So, he started his season and did a great job cheering on his little team mates and friends.  Each score that his team made he added a point in his head.  Each time his opponents would score he would add those points up as well.  At the end of each game he would tell me what the final score was and who won and who lost (sometimes his team won and sometimes they lost).  Yet, at the end of every game the coaches ALWAYS told all of the children that they TIED!  EVERY SINGLE GAME!

At the end of the season each child was congratulated for their hard work with a gold medal and they went on their way.  "Mom, my medal says I'm #1" our son exclaimed.  "But Mom, I didn't get any goals this season?  How can I be number 1?"  Even at 5, he knew that people lose and people win and that that is part of a game.  We talked about how even if he did not physically score a goal himself this season that he helped his team mates work toward different goals that they made when he was out on the field.  But then we also talked about that it is ok and good to win AND to lose and more importantly how to process our emotions with either result.  It is great to be able to cheer and feel excitement in a win, and it that it feels that much better when you have been working really hard for and deserve it.  We also discussed that it is ok to feel disappointed and bummed out when you lose, but then you can use that feeling to excel yourself to practice before the next game and try harder! 

Since when were we so afraid of our children failing that we fail to teach them how to lose?  I want each of my children to learn the important lessons of team work, cooperation, and the skill of the game, but I also want them to learn how to win and lose!  Of course as a parent I will cheer on each success and win, but I also want the opportunities to be there to console and talk through a loss.  Let's not be so afraid to let our children fall and let them fail.  Let's take the time to learn how to teach our children to lose.

7 Reasons I Love Having Boys - 7 Quick Takes

 

 

Life continues to fly by but we are having a blast.  Our house is loud, rowdy, fun, and full of boys!  Having grown up originally wanting four daughters of my own, I cannot believe how much I now LOVE having boys!  Here are a few things that we have been up to and a few reasons I simply adore having boys!

 

--- 1 ---

Creighton Baseball Games

We have gone to a few baseball games for our Alma Mater Creighton University and the boys have a blast.  This week though the most entertaining part was learning how to break open and eat peanuts, more than actually watching the game!  Also, a fly ball from the game was a caught a few rows behind us by some college aged gentlemen and they gave the ball to our oldest son, you would have thought he won the lottery! 

--- 2 ---

Getting Ready for T-ball

Sports are a big thing around our house, and our oldest son is a fan of EVERY SINGLE SPORT!  As soon as one season is over he is ready to learn what sport comes next.  His soccer season ends next week and he is already so excited to be getting ready for T-ball which starts in June.  There is an adorable little kids baseball field blocks from our house where we like to go play together!  I guess we are really one our way of creating our own little baseball team.

--- 3 ---

Exploring the New Playground - OR instead the Woods

The playground closest to our house just got all new park equipment, but when we go to check it out our boys still prefer to play and explore in the woods and creek behind the park.  They much prefer the sticks, mud and leaves.  Such boys, but I love it!

--- 4 ---

Digging Time

We are blessed with a beautiful fenced in back yard at our home with a swing set and lots of outdoor toys.  When we moved in the area underneath our deck was all dirt and my husband and I were brainstorming if we would want to pour a cement pad or put in rocks, but the dirt has become our boys FAVORITE place to play.  They get out all of their trucks and play in the dirt for hours.  Also, our 3 1/2 year old is obsessed with writing his name right now, and so he is commonly found practicing in the dirt!

 

 

--- 5 ---

Our Garden is Growing

Remember when we started our new science curriculum and planted our first vegetable garden?  Well, this spring we have had so much rain and lots of sun and it is exploding!  The boys love taking care of the garden and we will commonly find them outside picking weeds or watering it all by themselves!  Plus, sometimes they even find worms and snails in the garden, which you know is simply super cool for little boys!

 

 

--- 6 ---

School Fun

 

We quickly have learned how much our son loves to explore, especially with science.  We got him his very first microscope and he is in love!  We got a bunch of cool pre-made slides and then also a kit where he can make his own with leaves, the dogs fur, flowers, or anything else he finds.  It entertains him for hours and he has been learning a lot, which is a win - win for everyone around here!

--- 7 ---

A New Library Subject - Waterworks

 

We have completely exhausted our libraries resources on subjects like snakes, bats, tornadoes, volcanoes and a few other very boy like topics.  Due to our awesome homeschool co-op here in our town, this week we found a new subject topic for the library after they went on a tour of our town's water plant.  Since you had to be at least 5 years old to go I was not able to go with our little ones, so our oldest son got to go with Dad!  He had been reading The Magic School Bus: At the Waterworks for a while before the fieldtrip and then found some great new books at the library this week all about how the water system works! 

Well, that's what we have been up to!  For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain't The Lyceum

Celebrating Ascension Thursday

We have been loving following the 50 Days of Easter by continuing to celebrate Easter and learning lots of new things.  Our kids have been so excited for Ascension Thursday and we have a few fun activities planned for today to help celebrate.  Ascension Thursday is the day that we celebrate Jesus rising to Heaven 40 days after Easter. 

First, we went to mass since it is a Holy Day of Obligation!  Next, we came home to complete this adorable Ascension Craft from Pulchra Doctrina.  What I love most about this craft is that Jesus can actually move and "ascend" into Heaven!  This really helps our little ones understand the concept of what happened.

We also always love all of Lacy from Catholic Icing's ideas for fun Catholic crafts and games and she does not fall short with ideas for celebrating the Ascension!  You can find all of her ideas HERE!  If you are looking for more ideas beyond these, the Catholic Toolbox also has a great resource list of Ascension Activities!

We also played the "Ascension Building" Game which is explained by the following:

"To both show the definition of ascension, rising up, as well as reiterate the fact that it took 40 days, challenge the children to build an ascending tower. Give each player 40 sugar cubes. Instruct them to build a tower out of all of the 40 cubes. The tallest tower that stands upright for at least 40 seconds wins the game. Set a time limit on the building process, such as 30 minutes."

We changed it up a bit to use building blocks since our little ones would probably have a hard time with sugar cubes, but either way it helps to teach the lesson!  It was also good to have them work on counting out 40 blocks!

The Ascension of Jesus serves as a kind of prelude to Pentecost (which is the 50th Day of Easter), when the power of the risen Christ came upon all believers through the Holy Spirit.  We celebrate Pentecost as the birth of the Church and it is truly a day to celebrate.  To get some great and fun ideas of how to celebrate Pentecost check out Catholic All Year.  Also, don't forget that you still have time to do some fun activities from the 50 Ways to Celebrate the 50 Days of Easter!

When Mother's Day Isn't "Typical"

My husband and I in general are not the biggest celebrators of "Hallmark" holidays.  Why do we need Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc to show love and appreciation to the people in our lives, when we should be taking time each day to show appreciation.  Although it was very blessed, my Mother's Day this year was different than years before for many reasons. 

My husband and I had just returned the afternoon before Mother's Day from a little get away (which was wonderful by the way), but our children were very clingy to Mommy and a little off from our daily discipline and structure.  I cannot even begin to express my gratitude to my parents for watching our crazy kiddos while we were away.  They got to deal with a lot between broken plumbing in the bathroom, water in the basement during a big storm and one of our kids waking up at 3am vomiting!  Yikes!  Thankfully my mom is a rock star and has been around the block with her own children so she handles it all with much grace.

Our view on our vacation!

 

The boys having fun at the new park with my mom while we were away!

Also, this was my first Mother's Day after the loss of our child Samuel through miscarriage.  We went to visit Samuel's gravestone after church, which is something that we go and do multiple times a week but this time was much different.  There were so many people in the cemetery.  It really hit me how many people are grieving the loss of their mothers, sisters, children and friends and how they remember them in a special way on Mother's Day. 

Visiting Samuel's Gravesite and leaving a rose from mass

 

Beyond that, being pregnant again on Mother's Day is such a blessing, but I have to admit it is also sometimes very difficult.  My thoughts are all over the place sometimes, and I try to let myself process through all of the excitement and grief that I experience as it comes.  I usually have each week of my pregnancies mapped out on my calendar, but after the loss of Samuel and having to go back and delete each increasing week I am not doing that this pregnancy.  I set myself these small little goals, usually weekly, and do not let myself think much beyond those.  I am hoping that as time goes on it will get easier, but maybe it won't.  I am in my second trimester and I think that hopefully feeling the baby move in the next few weeks will help me to have better clarity of this precious life inside of me.  I am taking each day and each week as a blessing, but still feel myself guarding my heart for any more potential loss.  As a mother it is heart wrenching to lose a child, but at the same time has truly helped me to appreciate each moment with each of our children. 

With my little loves on Mother's Day

So this Mother's Day, as I received the prayer for mothers at Mass, was given flowers from each of my children and sweet notes of thanks I also said many prayers to all women.  Women who are wonderful mothers and grandmothers in my life and my children's lives, women who have lost children, women who are praying for more children but battling infertility, etc.  We went to our parish prayer garden after Mass to say a quick prayer to Mary and say Happy Mother's Day to her and it really brought it into perspective that SHE is the Mother that we need to be so thankful for, today and every day.  Mary is there to hold us as mothers during our times of excitement, grief, confusion, exhaustion, laughter...each and every moment.  I hope that you all had a wonderful Mother's Day, even if it was not "typical"! 



Making Time For Your Spouse

My husband and I were able to take time away last November to spend some time alone and we quickly realized how nice and how important it is to truly make time for each other.  We try to take time for weekly date nights out or even at home, but it was so great to really get away for a little while.  To be away from work, the children, homeschooling, chores, and busy life in general is very needed every now and again.  We had so much fun that we decided to do it again!  We are headed to the beach this week for some alone time to give some extra priority time to our marriage. 

I don't know about you, but for us we have a really hard time getting away alone within the last few months of a pregnancy and within the first year of a new baby being around (mostly because of breastfeeding).  With a new baby arriving in November, we decided if we were going to go on another trip it needing to be NOW!  My husband and I are both pretty active people and pretty big planners so this trip is a little different than usual for us.  Guess what we have planned...NOTHING!  We plan on relaxing and just enjoying some quiet time together. 

What are some of your favorite activities or ways to reconnect with your spouse?  Even if you are not able to get away for a while, what are some special things that you can do at home to make time for your spouse?
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