Wednesday, September 30, 2015

What We've Been Reading - September 2015


"What We've Been Reading" is a series here at Children of the Church to both keep track of what we are reading and to share with others what we have been reading in our home.  Reading is such an important part of our daily lives and also our homeschooling journey.  Thank you for following along and please feel free to share what you have been reading as well so we can all learn together!

September 2015

Children's Book List (Our children are 5 1/2 years, 3 1/2 years, and 2 years old):
My Book List:
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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Feast of the Archangels Liturgical Playdate


Image Source
 
Do you remember how I started to have Liturgical Playdates with friends and their children last spring for the Feast of St. Patrick and the Feast of St. George?  Well, my amazing friends and I have had such a fun time that they are carrying on the tradition as well to host more awesome playdates!  Today, one of my dear friends had a group of us all over to her home for a Feast of the Archangels Liturgical Playdate. 
 
Here are a few things that she did to put together this awesome Liturgical Playdate!
 
1.  Decorations: 
  • Prints from Happy Saints to display images of St. Gabriel, St. Michael and St. Raphael around the home
  • Beautiful Fall Decorations and Holy Cards
2.  Learning Activities/Books:
  • Coloring Sheet of the Archangels from Happy Saints
  • Cut Out Swords for Coloring with the verse "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edge sword ..."  Hebrews 4:12
  • Archangel Wings to Color and put on to wear with yarn
  • A reading from Saints for Boys about Saint Michael and the book My Friends the Angels
 



 
3.  Fun Activities:
  • Homemade Pinata for the little Archangels to destroy and defend against (and of course get candy from)!

4.  Food:
  • Our awesome hostess made angel hair pasta and glazed carrots along with homemade angel food candy
  • Each guest also brought a snack including Blackberry Punch, Angel food Cake with Blackberries and Strawberries and Sour Gummy Worms with Toothpicks (Swords) piercing them!

We had a wonderful time and cannot wait to have another fun Liturgical Playdate with friends in the near future!
 
A Prayer to St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael
-The Archangels
 
Heavenly King, You have given us archangels to assist us during our pilgrimage on earth. 
 
Saint Michael is our protector; I as him to come to my aid, fight for all my loved ones and protect us from danger.
 
Saint Gabriel is a messenger of the Good News; I ask him to help me clearly hear Your voice and to teach me the truth. 
 
Saint Raphael is the healing angel; I ask him to take my need for healing and that of everyone I know, lift it up to Your throne of grace and deliver back to us the gift of recovery.
 
Help us, O Lord, to realize more fully the reality of the archangels and their desire to serve us.
 
Holy Angels, pray for us.  Amen

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Monday, September 28, 2015

Life is Precious - Respect for Life Month


October is officially Respect for Life Month, and although this is a very important topic, sometimes it is hard to figure out how to discuss it with little ones.  Because of this, I was so thrilled to find the fabulous resource Life is Precious, which is aimed at Kindergarten - 2nd grade children and goes through important and basic topics of the value of human life using 4 beautiful children's books!  We are so excited to dive into this program in lieu of our regular Before Five in a Row activities in homeschooling for a month.


This program explores the following books, which we will take one week each to explore:
 
It also includes a fetal model to help illustrate and a fantastic DVD with 4D imagery of preborn babies in the womb!  This is such a wonderful program for us to be studying right now, not only in light of Respect for Life Month but also to continue preparing for the birth of the newest member of our family. 

Stay tuned for what we are doing and learning with Life is Precious!
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Friday, September 25, 2015

7 Quick Takes - Vacation Fun in Minnesota


We have been having so much fun the past few weeks!  My husband traveled to a Medical Conference at an amazing resort in Minnesota a few weekends ago and we decided that myself and our boys would come along as well.  I then stayed in the Twin Cities in the cutest little rental home with the kids for an extra week to catch up with family, friends and enjoy the many fun things to do!  Here is a quick recap with TONS of photos!

---1---
Resort Fun - Alexandria, MN
 
My husband decided to go to a Medical Conference in Alexandria, Minnesota and we decided that it would be fun to come along.  It was so beautiful and had so many fun things to explore including an awesome water park, zip line and lots of nature to explore!  It was a wonderful time and we are already planning our return for next year!
 






 
---2---
Hanging Out Fun
 
We had a busy trip, but also took a lot of time to just hang out together to have fun and relax.  We were fortunate to find an adorable little rental house to stay which was close to so many places and people who we were visiting.  It was nice to have a place for naps, cooking meals and most imporantly for climbing trees!
 


 
---3---
Chutes and Ladders
 
Anyone who lives in the Twin Cities in Minnesota knows that one of the coolest places to go is Chutes and Ladders (or the Hyland Play Area in Bloomington, MN).  It is a GIANT playground with tons of slides and adventures to explore.  We had a lovely morning playing together and having tons of fun!
 



 
---4---
Twins Game
 
I grew up in Minnesota loving the Minnesota Twins so I was thrilled when my Uncle and Aunt kindly gave us their tickets to a game when we were in town.  It was so much fun to take the boys to a game!
 



 
 ---5---
Fun Field Trips - Jackson Street Roundhouse
 
For our train loving boys the Jackson Street Roundhouse is such a treat to go to visit and was one of our favorite places when we lived in Minnesota last year!  We were thankful to be able to go on a morning of "Tots and Trains" when they have a fun morning of story time, crafts and snacks which are all themed with TRAINS!  We then spent some time exploring and after our oldest son proudly told one of the volunteer engineers that he is homeschooled we received an awesome tour of their back rooms where they fix the trains! 
 



 
 ---6---
Mall of America

I think officially one of the most exciting places to go for little kids in Minnesota is to the Mall of America!  We were able to go a few times when we lived in Minnesota for the year last year, but it gets more and more fun as the kids get older!  Also, an added plus at an amusement park is our kids being incredibly tall for their age!  Our 5 1/2 year old was able to go on pretty much every ride, including the rollercoasters that go upside - down; which he thought were AWESOME!  Our 2 year old also got to ride his first kiddy rollercoaster and we all had a blast!

 




 
---7---
Fun with Family and Friends
 
The best part of the week was visiting and catching up with family and friends.  I was born in Minnesota and lived there until my teenage years and most of my extended family still lives there.  I was able to visit with so many people and even go to my cousin's wedding!  It was so nice to see and catch up with so many wonderful people in my life!
 


 
 


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