I can't believe it is Friday already!  This week of Vacation Bible School has flown by!  I'm quite sure it was just Monday yesterday!  We had a great time at VBS and tonight we will have our PotLuck and program and FIESTA!  We made maracas, sombreros, tilmas with Our Lady of Guadalupe's picture on them, God's Eyes, and giant tissue paper flowers.  We had a baby shower and collected items to donate to a crisis pregnancy center.  We watched an animated video about Our Lady of Guadalupe as well as Horton Hears a Who...very pro life movie!  Since Mary was pregnant when she appeared to Juan Diego, she is the patronnes of the unborn.  We had some yummy snacks this week too:  chips & homemade salsa (thank you Tammy!) & sangria (made with grape juice, orange juice, and sour); mints, nuts, cheese & crackers, pretzels & sherbet punch for our baby shower;  hot chocolate with cinnamon (wow was that ever tasty!) & corn muffins; cheese quesadillas; and roses in the dessert (frosting roses on a graham cracker).

 

My daughter is making these brownies for tonight.  We have never made them before, but most of us are experimenting for tonight, trying to make lots of Mexican dishes to keep with the theme.  The children will be singing 2 songs in Spanish tonight.  They also learned how to make the Sign of the Cross in Spanish.  I think everyone had a lot of fun!

 

Mexican Cinnamon Brownies

 

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares

1/2 cup butter

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

 

Melt chocolate squares and butter in saucepan or microwave.  Let cool 15 minutes.  Heat oven to 350.  Whisk eggs till foamy, then add sugars and vanilla and whisk till combined.  Stir in chocolate till thoroughly combined.  Stir together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Add to egg and sugar mixture and beat till smooth.  Fold in pecans.  Pour into 13x9 pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or till knife inserted in center comes out clean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Joseph Activities – March 19

Write or type the following poem or prayer on paper for your children to decorate.  Encourage them to decorate with green (often used as the color for St. Joseph) or carpentry tools.  Be sure to pray the prayer together on St. Joseph’s Feast Day.

 

Joseph, be our guide and pattern,

Faithful to your sacred trust,

Strong protector of the Virgin

And the infant Jesus Christ.

Joseph, firm and faith, guide us,

Joseph, walk the way with us.

Faithful to the guiding vision,

List’ning to the angel’s word;

Shielding Mary from all slander,

Guarding Christ, both Son and Lord.
Joseph, true and trusting, guide us,

Joseph, walk the way with us.

 

 

Another Prayer to St. Joseph (my favorite!)

O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God,
I place in you all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen.

 

Build something with wood with Dad or Grandpa, maybe a simple tool box, birdhouse or other project.  Joseph was a carpenter.

 

Illuminated Ink carries a beautiful wooden Rosary holder kit.  Check it out at www.illuminatedink.com

 

Have the children make something special for Dad, Grandpa and your Pastor (remember he is our father too, our spiritual father!).  Maybe a spiritual bouquet card.

 

Special meals/treats:  build your own sundae (provide ice cream and lots of different toppings for everyone to pick from); have cheese cubes & pretzel sticks for a snack & let the children build something with them before they eat; build your own English muffin pizza or mini pizzas from homemade dough or frozen dough balls from Sam’s Club (put sauce on the English muffin or dough & have lots of different toppings for everyone to pick from)

 

Listen to a story about St. Joseph on CD, like the one available from Catholic World Mission (www.catholicworldmission.org).  They have lots of great saint stories on CD and have coloring books to go with them.  The especially great part is that the proceeds go to help the missions!  You can listen to parts of the stories online.  They also have some sample coloring pages.

 

 

 

Line muffin cups with paper liners & spray with non-stick cooking spray.  In large mixing bowl, stir together flour, pudding mix, chocolate chips, sugar, baking powder & salt.  Add beaten eggs, milk, oil & vanilla.  Stir just till combined.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.   Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or till golden brown & toothpick comes out clean.  Frost & decorate as desired.  Makes 24 cupcakes.

 

St. Patrick’s Breastplate

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

  

Read a story about St. Patrick.

 

Watch a movie about St. Patrick. “CCC” has a great animated movie.  I think the Hartington Library has a copy.  It is also available from www.catholicchild.com (item #17050).  There are 9 or 10 movies by this company, all are terrific for young children!

 

Find Ireland on a map or globe.

 

Make the Irish flag by cutting rectangles of green, white, and orange paper and placing them in that order on a larger sheet of paper.

 

The following websites have a lot of activities and coloring sheets for St. Patrick’s Day:

www.coloring.ws

www.dltk-kids.com

www.kidzone.ws

www.kaboose.com (celtic cross pattern)

 

Don’t forget rainbows!  There are a lot of crafts you can do that include rainbows.  The rainbows, leprechauns, and pot of gold legends are fun for kids.  You can always talk about the difference between real and imaginary and how rainbows are a symbol of promise for Christians.

This is a very easy thing to do to send a message to the new president that the majority of Americans DO NOT support his abortion policies. Please read, participate in this campaign, and share with everyone you think will also participate.

  

Here's the idea:

Get a red envelope (Now is the time to get one from a valentine card). On the front, address it to:

 

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington, D.C.  20500

 

On the back, write the following message.

"This envelope represents one child who died by abortion.  It is empty because that life was denied the chance to offer anything to the world.  Responsibility begins before conception".

 

On Thursday, the President said this at the National Prayer Breakfast:

"There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being."  This would be very appropriate to add to the message. 

 

Put it in the mail, and send it. Then send an email to every one of your friends who you think would send one too.  I wish we could send 50 MILLION red envelopes, one for every child who died in our coutry before having a chance to live.  Maybe it will change the heart of the president.   And don't forget to PRAY!!! 

 

Butter 9x13 pan, put ½ bread in bottom.  Saute onion, celery & pepper in butter.  Combine mayo & other spices; add tuna & crab; spread over bread.  Put rest of bread cubes on top.  Beat eggs and milk, pour on top.  Cover & put in frig overnight.  Bake 15 minutes at 325.  Combine 1 can cream of mushroom soup & ½ c milk, pour on top.  Top with grated cheese.   Bake for 1 hour.

I recently sent these ideas out in our Homeschooling Newsletter:

 

Prayer/Fasting/Almsgiving are the basics of Lent.  Have each family member come up with one thing in each category to do for Lent, or if you have young children, maybe have a family activity in each category.  For example:  Prayer – pray the Stations together twice a week; Fasting – only watch TV/videos for ½ hour/day or 1 hour/day; Almsgiving – save all of the  change you receive when you buy something during Lent and send it to the missions.

 

Lenten Prayer Pots:

Give each child a fist-sized ball of clay.  You can get air-dry clay at Walmart.  Show the children how to make a pinch pot.  You can have them decorate the outside with paint or markers or leave it plain.  On Ash Wednesday place the pot in a special place, maybe on the dining room table or your prayer table.  It will remain empty for a few days.  On the 1st Sunday of Lent, place a small heart cut from construction paper in the Prayer Pot to remind them of God’s love for us and that we should show our love for, and be kind to, others.  On the 2nd Sunday of Lent, place a seed (sunflower or pumpkin or whatever) in the pot to remind us that God’s love for us constantly grows and that we should try hard to do more for other people.  On the 3rd Sunday of Lent, place a rubber band in the pot as a reminder that God always stretches His patience and everyone should do the same for others, even when it isn’t easy.  On the 4th Sunday of Lent, place a marble (or a small game piece) in the pot to remind everyone to take turns and share with others in all they do.  On the 5th Sunday of Lent, place a band aid in the pot to remind us to help other people when they are sad or hurt.  On Palm Sunday, place a tiny piece of the palm you receive at Mass in the pot to remind us that Jesus is our King and we should remember to pray to Him.  On Easter Sunday, place a piece of eggshell in the pot to remind everyone that Jesus will always be with us and is always ready to hear our prayers.

 

Praying the Stations:  My children enjoy using their “Station’s Box” when we pray the Stations at home.  There is a symbol that they use for each Station and helps them to think about (thus learning to meditate) on each station.  Use any children’s Station book or look online for meditations.  The following items can be placed in a bag or box.  You may think of other good symbols as well!  Another neat idea to use while praying the Stations is to put 14 votive candles on your prayer table.  Light all of the candles when you begin & after each Station is prayed, blow out 1 candle.  At the end of the Stations, the room will be dark, just as the world was dark when Jesus died on the Cross.

 

1st – string to represent the rope used to tie Jesus’ hands

2nd – small wooden cross

3rd – band aid

4th – Rosary or picture of Mary

5th – red heart

6th – cloth with picture of Jesus’ face drawn on it (see page included)

7th – band aid

8th – Kleenex

9th – band aid

10th – small piece of purple felt or material to represent His purple cloak

11th – large nail

12th – crucifix

13th – picture or statue of Pieta14th – stone to represent stone rolled in front of the tomb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A message from the Knights of Columbus regarding the November 4 election:

Dear friend of the unborn:

It has been a difficult struggle, but the pro-life movement has accomplished many things since the Supreme Court's decision to preempt all state and federal laws regulating abortion in Roe v. Wade in 1973.  While achieving the ultimate goal of overturning Roe remains somewhere in the future, we have been able to achieve many small successes along the way:

• the Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding for abortions;

• the federal law banning partial birth abortions, which was finally upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in April 2007;

• the "Mexico City Policy," which has barred the use of federal taxpayers' money to pay for abortions in other countries;

• laws in 44 states that preserve a parental role when children under 18 seek abortions;

• laws in 40 states that restrict late-term abortions;

• laws in 46 states that protect the right of conscience for individual health care providers;

• laws in 27 states that protect the right of conscience for institutions;

• laws in 38 states that ban partial birth abortions;

• laws in 33 states that require counseling before having an abortion;

• and laws in 16 states that provide for ultrasounds before an abortion.


All of these restrictions on abortion - all of the progress we've made over the past 35 years in trying to limit and reduce abortions in the United States - would be invalidated with the stroke of a pen if the next Congress passes, and the next president signs, the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA).
Before you cast your vote on Tuesday, please take the time and effort necessary to learn whether candidates for whom you might vote favor or oppose FOCA.

The Senate sponsors of FOCA are listed here:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR01964:@@@P 

The House sponsors of FOCA are listed here:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SN01173:@@@P

Obviously , if a candidate in your area is not listed among the sponsors, you may have to ask his or her campaign for their position on FOCA.

We have gathered much additional information about the Freedom of Choice Act, including links to material from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and on life issues generally on a special Knights of Columbus web page:

http://www.kofc.org/pro-life

Remember, all that we've done together since Roe to save the lives of the unborn is at stake.  Please pass on this message to your pro-life friends.