Decluttering

I just found this really good article about decluttering your life I thought I would pass along. Just some food for thought. Have a a Great Day!!

VBS Day Four and Five

Day Four

Our Saint of the day was St. Juan Diego

We made brownies

Our craft was Our Lady of Guadalupe Wind Socks(very cute)

The kids broke open a pinata for activity which was filled with WWJD? bracelets

In music we did a mexican hat dance and practiced our saint song

In our story we learned that St Juan Diego was
- A Mexican peasant
-Virgin Mary appeared to him twice asking him to go to the bishop and have him build a church on that site where she appeared
-The bishop did not believe him after the first appearance and asked for proof
-After the second appearance she made roses grow in the frozen soil
-Juan Diego gathered up the flowers in his cloak and took them to the bishop. When he laid the flowers before him the bishop did not look at the flowers for all he saw was the image of Mary on Juan Diego's cloak


Day Five

Our saint of the day was Blessed Kateri Tekewitha

We made corn bread

Our craft was Indian rain sticks

It was hot and because of the rain last night the Mary Garden was mushy so we sat and passed around different hand made Indian items and ate Popsicles

In music we did a mexican chant about Blessed Kateri

Our story about Blessed Kateri we learned-
-She was a Mohawk Indian
-Orphaned at age 4 (parents and baby brother died of smallpox)
-growing up she wanted to learn more about Christ and became christian like her mother
-she was baptized at the age of 22 and given the name Kateri which is Mohawk for Catherine
-Her christian views were frowned upon by the Mohawk tribe so she left the tribe and traveled over 2 months to the catholic mission of St Francis Xavier
-Kateri's motto became " Who can tell me what is most pleasing thing to God that I may I do it?"
-She made a vow of perpetual virginity so she would remain unmarried and live a life devoted to Christ
-She died at age 24 of small pox and her last words were Jesus I love you.
-Moments after dying all her smallpox were cleared away
-She is still in the process of being canonized a saint

The day was finished off with a Procession lead by St. Joseph and each tribe wearing crowns of the saint they picked for their tribe(Ours was St. Nicholas and Ethan's was St. Rose). We all sang and did the hand motions for When The Saints Go Marching In.


Bye the way way my ankle is feeling much better. After wrapping it,applying ice, and keeping it elevated. I was able to make it through the last two days of bible school. It was a really great week both the boys and I enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot. I will definitely be volunteering again next year.

VBS DAY THREE and a hurt ankle

Our saint of the day was St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton

We made chocolate chip bread

Our craft was book marks with beads and a Cross at the end

We practiced When The Saints Go Marching In and learned another song in music

Our outside activity just turned into playing on the playground because it was so hot

Our video was a couple different veggie tales movies

In our story about St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton we learned
- She was the first American born saint
- Did not become catholic until after she was married
-Her mom died when she was 3 so she often prayed to the Virgin Mary for motherly guidance
-She started the first catholic school and it was free because most families could not afford to pay
-She founded the sisters of charity which that is the order that run Mount St. Joseph college in Cincinnati
-She died at the age of 42 of tuberculosis

Now the hurt ankle part. While taking 6 boys to the bathroom I managed to fall down a couple steps.I twisted my ankle but it didn't feel to bad. hen when I got home I was walking down my steps at home my ankle gave out and I twisted it again really hurting my ankle. It is wrapped with ice and I am waiting for the swelling to go down a little to get some x rays to determine if it is sprained or if something is broken. It hurts really bad and I can hardley walk. I am really hoping that tomorrow it feels better.

VBS Day Two

Our Saint of the the day was St. Francis Of Assisi

We made banana bread

For craft they made animal puppets(Ethan's group made bug catchers)

In music we learned another verse to When The Saints Go Marching In and a song about animals

Our story was about St Francis of Assisi
-He grew up as a son of a rich merchant and did not want for anything
- He went to war where he was captured and imprisoned for a year where he became very sick.
This is when he was called from god to serve him and aide the poor.
- He gave up all his worldly items including the clothes on his back to do as God wanted
- He was name the patron saint of animals because of his gentleness with them and because in the village where he lived there was a dangerous wolf which would hurt other animals and small children. This wolf right away took to Francis and became tame.

At the end of the day we gathered in the Mary Garden where we had a blessing of pets. Jason brought Ruffles up to get blessed.

Day one of Vacation Bible School

Today was the first day of VBS at our church. I agreed to be one of the tribe leaders this year. The theme for this year is When the Saints go Marching in. The patron saint for the week is St. Joseph obviously since that is our parish. Ethan is in the Dan tribe with several of his friends from school. I am the leader of tribe Simeon and Jude is in my tribe which consist of 9 children going into kindergarten next year.

Our saint of the day was St. Therese The Little Flower

We made wheat bread(we will make a different bread everyday)

The kids painted wood garden signs

We learned a song about St. Therese and started learning the verses and hand motions to When The Saints Come Marching In

One of our Deacons told us a story about St. Therese
- She became a french nun at the young age of 14
- She died at 24 of tuberculosis
-She saw the good in everyone and viewed people as flowers
-Her jobs in the convent were cooking and cleaning. She was proud of these jobs and would offer them up to god.
These our just a few facts about St. Therese

The kids then watched a movie and then we met in the church for a final prayer to end the day.

Splish Splash

The weather around here has been down right stinky.The kids first week out of school it pretty much rained all week. That being said yesterday we decided to embrace the partly cloudy 75 degree chance of rain weather and head to the splash park. I am glad we did because it turned out to be a great outing. The crowd was minimal due to the above stated and the weather work in our favor. No rain and the sun even manage to make some appearances. The kids had fun and below are so pictures of the evidence.


Ethan going down the slide



Caleb in the center of sprinkling water

The boys met some friends

Aubrey even took her turn to splash

I just love this picture of Caleb. I love to get up close pictures of the kids showing their features and expressions. So darn cute!

Birthday Albums

One thing that I have learned over the past years scrapbooking is that I prefer smaller albums. Albums that are dedicated to one specific subject or event. I like the larger 12 x 12 albums but I find them very overwhelming. I now only have 1 12 x 12 album which is a family album. I have smaller albums like birthday books for each kid, school albums and this year I am going to make a summer album.



This is a picture from Ethan's birthday book.

Here is a picture from Jude's birthday book.

This is from Caleb's birthday book.

I have pages made up for these books up to the age of eighteen. I love them because after their birthday I pick a favorite picture and pop it in the album. In one book I will have a glance at every birthday for eighteen years. I don't have Aubrey's album made as of yet but I will post photos when I get it put together.

Summer Fun

The kids are out of school and the summer in finally here. Hip Hip Hooray!! Here is the Summer Fun List I made up a couple weeks ago and posted on the refrigerator.

1. Zoo




2. Silverlake( The recreation center we belong it has an outdoor and indoor pool and lots of other things for the kids to do)




3. Splash Parks




4. Berry picking




5. Bowling(Super Bowl in Erlanger has free bowling for kids June1st- July 3rd)




6. Putt Putt Golf




7. Reds game




8. Movies( Great Escapes in Wilder has a free movie for kids on t,w,th throughout the summer).




9. Chicago




10. Home Depot kids workshops(1st sat of every month 9-12)




11. St. Joes Crescent Springs festival August 8,9,10




12. Vacation Bible School (June 22- June 26)




13. Summer reading program at the library

I hope everyone has a great summer!! Below are a few pictures from saturdays visit to Home Depot.

Surprise For Me

Look at my surprise I received Friday while I was working. My sweet hubby hand delivered these beautiful roses. No it was not my birthday, anniversary of marriage or the day we met. No I am not pregnant. It was just because which makes them all the more special. The card read " Thanks for all you do and who you are".

Back in the swing of things

I love scrapbooking and card making but have been putting them on the back burner these days. Life can just be so darn busy around this house. I am trying to get back into the swing of things and hopefully get those creative juices flowing again. This is just a photo of a recent birthday card I made.

Schedule Madness

When I was at my parents on Sunday we were talking about schedules, calenders and such. My mom made the comment that looking at my calender gives her headache. I would have to agree that to an outsider it must seem a little crazy. In any given month you may look at my calendar and you would see

1. My work schedule
2. Jason's work schedule
3. School schedules ( Ethan, Jude and Jason)
4. Doctors appointments for four children
5. Chiropractor appointments for 6 people
6. Eye doctor appointments
7. My haircut appointments
8. Various meetings at church( Holy name society, mops, volunteer work)
9. Birthday parties
10. Any other extra activities or gatherings

With that being said I have to to say that I am so thankful for only having to deal with school schedules for three more days. Then it will be off for summer break and hopefully a nice fun filled summer for the kids and a slight break in the schedule madness us.