I'm Still Here

Just busy with my last class of co-op, Sophia's bday party, and Advent prep. I'll be back soon. I promise!

Homemade Gifts

*UPDATED* I added samples of the stationary paper I made onto my sidebar. It got altered when I was uploading but I'm not sure how to fix. ;-)

This past summer I started making homemade gifts in preparation for Christmas. Every year I get frustrated with the amount of clutter caused by toys not even used. Except for a few favorite toys, most of the toys bought during the holidays are never used as much as I imagine when purchasing. So this year I decided to create or buy meaningful gifts.

As St. Nicholas Day quickly approaches Craig has reminded me not to spend a fortune and turn it into a mini Christmas. I've been thinking and thinking and came up with some wonderful ideas!!

Last week I called a local Catholic bookstore to find out how much Catholic stationary cost. The store owner quoted me $16 a set!! I've also been eyeing these sets. But I just can't see buying 4 sets and spending that much money.

Well, today I spent some time printing homemade stationary. The three older girls will each have their patron saint and their name on their paper. Kolbe will also have his saint but will have dotted lines (to encourage correct penmanship).

As for Catherine, I've decided that I will start doing preschool with her in January. I've been enjoying all the Along the Alphabet Path posts here and here. Catherine will begin her journey in January. To help with this cause I've ordered this cd. After printing ALL the coloring sheets I'll have them spiraled bound. I'm also going to print out all the saint coloring sheets from HERE and have them spiral bound.

Veronica received a plastic baby album for her birthday. I have yet to put pictures in it. I plan on printing up pictures of every family member so she can enjoy her book during mass.

Total cost for this Saint Nicholas Day??

4 stationary sets - about $6-10 (printer ink, paper)
envelopes for stationary- about $10
cd of Alphabet Saints - $20 (we already own book)
printing saint sheets - about $1-2 (printer ink, paper)
spiral binding two books - about $3-7
pictures - about $3

Total: $36-40 (since I already own ink, paper, album)

I'll also be bake some cookies using my St. Nicholas stamp. Each child will receive a little baggie with cookies and an envelope of hot cocoa.

I am so excited about these homemade gifts!!!

Thanksgiving Reading Basket

What we'll be reading from these next several days:

The Landing of the Pilgrim by James Daugherty (Landmark Book)
Pilgrims and Puritans by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier
The Pilgrims at Plymouth by Lucille Penner (Landmark Book)
The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh
If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern
Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Robert Bulla
The Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern
On The Mayflower: Voyages of the Ship's Apprentice & a Passenger Girl by Kate Waters
A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim by Kate Waters
The First Thanksgiving (Step into Reading Books: A Step 3 Book) Linda Hayward
Thanksgiving on Thursday (Magic Tree House Series #27) Mary Pope Osborne
The Pilgrim and the First Thanksgiving from The Children's Book of America
Draw and Write Through HIstory: Pilgrims, Pirates, and Patriots

I've waited all year to pull these books out and enjoy!!

I love that I have books at different reading levels for all the kids!!!!!

I'll be back with pics of our crafts. We normally make Thanksgiving turkeys and weaved placemats as well as Pilgrim hats like these. And we'll make some sort of Thanksgiving tree/banner with leaves that will have what we are thankful for. Finally, we'll decorate some white pillar candles with handmade wax leaves in various colors using wax sheets and wax pens we bought from HeartSong years ago.

Nothing fancy. Just the same crafts we've been doing for over 5 years now.

Father Corapi Coming to San Antonio!!!!!!

OMGoodness! I almost forgot to mention that tickets went on sale last Monday to see Father Corapi here in San Antonio!!! I've already bought our tickets and we are in the 1st section!!

My friend's boys will be alter serving with him for mass and MAYBE my girls will participate in a special way ...... we'll see!!

Get your tickets because they are going quickly!! If you want to sit with friends I recommend purchasing tickets as a group.

This event will benefit The Alexander House.

Laundry Update

Well, I did 3 loads yesterday and today. But, I didn't get yesterday's laundry folded until late last night and put away this morning. Today I folded and had kids put away clothing before deadline!! Woohoo!! I kinda cheated for my 3rd load. I washed both Kolbe's and Catherine's tennis shoes and just threw them in the dryer. That was an easy load!!


Does anyone else have trouble with keeping track of socks or getting your kids to wear them? My 6 yo and 4 yo don't wear socks consistently. And their shoes often reach an unbearable smell. This is the 3rd time I've had to wash them. I just bought another pack of socks today. TMI???


Today I bought some plastic drawers, electric pencil sharpener, MORE pencils, printer ink and paper!! We can stop sharing the one pencil and get our homeschooling back to normal ... at least until a certain 4 yo sticks a crayon in the sharpener and the pencil monster steals all our pencils. Then we will be back to normal! ;-)

Have a great Wednesday! Our pizza just arrived! (I mean, if I'm going to be doing so much laundry I can't possible be expected to cook, can I??)

Hearts for Home - November 17th

Gae at Cherished Hearts at Home is hosting "Hearts for Home."

She says, "I am encouraging myself and others to commit to thinking about what 4-6 things we can do each week to bring our thoughts, prayers and actions to keeping our 'Hearts for Home'.I am praying that a spirit of gentleness, generosity in thoughts and time along with loveliness and grace would lead us to be all that God wants us to be. I pray also that each person involved in 'Hearts for Home' would also pray for any others involved as well.

What a lovely idea!!!!

So, here are my 6 goals for this week:

1. Read books before bedtime to my little ones.

2. Keep my voice low and sweet and try to model to my girls what they should be as moms (and what Kolbe show look for in a wife).

3. Knit and crochet with my girls twice this week (on Wednesday and Friday). I really LOVE this idea and plan to start up something similar with just my girls. What to name it??

4. Work on sewing Christmas presents (doll clothes and aprons) on Saturdays.

5. Pick up my office/school room at the end of each evening.

6. Improve my laundry system. Try to do 3 loads before 3pm (includes folding and putting away). *sigh* I'm reading these articles and searching for more ideas.


I've written out my list (out of print paper and ink) and am carrying it with me. Wish me the best! Go visit Gae at Cherished Hearts at Home to find more participating mothers!!!

Inspiring Article

Blair has a wonderful article over at Faith and Family. Go read it and gain a wonderful new perspective on accepting and carrying our crosses cheerfully.

St. Martin Lanterns

Annie has a wonderful idea to celebrate St. Martin de Tours next Wednesday. I hope to make these with my kiddos. I love it when I find out about an idea with enough time to implement (at least 3-5 days). I'm not so good with reading about an idea the night before and implementing.

My November Resolution (since its not the new year ... liturgical or regular) is to do one saint craft a week. That will be a big task for me!

For November we'll celebrate the following saints:

November 11th - St. Martin de Tours
November 17th - St. Elizabeth of Hungary
November 24th - St. Andrew Dung-Lac & Companions
December 3rd - St. Francis Xavier or St. Rose of Lima (only because this is Sophia Roses' bday and it would be nice to celebrate her saint name)

Wish me luck. And please email me any ideas for these saints. Other than reading books and handing out coloring sheets, I'm not very good with coming up with craft ideas BUT can steal ideas beautifully!! ;-)

isansoko at yahoo dot com

Wordless Wednesday

*How my house looks like on a good day of homeschooling (good day defined as everyone getting ALL their school work done). Just trying to "keep it real!" ;-)

Today was a good day!!

All Soul's Day

As you go throughout the day and even upcoming weeks, please keep my friend, Kelly, in your thoughts and prayers. She died yesterday morning and leaves behind two sweet boys. She was a wonderful mother. Her life ended early due to breast cancer.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.


Prayers for the Faithful Departed
Prayer for the dead is one of the greatest acts of charity we can perform. Our prayers help them during their time in Purgatory, so that they can enter more quickly into the fullness of heaven. These prayers are especially suited for offering a novena on behalf of the dead, or for praying during those seasons of the year (November, in the Western Church; Lent, in the Eastern Church) designated by the Church as times of fervent prayer for the faithful departed.

All Saint's Day Pics

Today we celebrated All Saint's Day with our homeschooling co-op. This is definitely one of my favorite holidays!!! I love the idea of living out the liturgical season. While I don't always bake special treats or make ingenious crafts for saint feast days, I do go all out for All Saint's Day.

I've made these costumes over the years. This year I only had the time and energy for making a black bonnet for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Thankfully, Catherine had never worn our Kateri Tekakwitha outfit. And Sophia had never worn the Mother Teresa costume. Anna LOVES being St. Elizabeth of Hungary. And Kolbe cares mostly about saints with swords! =)

Here is today's line up of saints.

Blessed Virgin Mary





St. Kateri Tekakwitha


*playing Saint Musical Chairs*

St. George (with real shield & sword!!)

*Every year Kolbe chooses to be either St. Michael the Archangel or St. George. I think he's been St. Francis once. Before he knew about swords. Next year I hope to steer him towards a different type of saint. Perhaps a martyr? =)

Bl. Mother Teresa

St. Elizabeth of Hungary

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

All you holy men and women, pray for us!! My prayer is that I raise saints, please God.

Veronica's 1st Birthday Party

Veronica is now officially a year old! Her birthday was actually last Tuesday but we celebrated with friends and families on All Hallow's Eve. Veronica seemed to enjoy her cake and loved all her new toys. Here are a few pictures of her special day.

I couldn't resist making this fun and yummy cake I saw in a magazine. It was made with two 1.5 L Pyrex bowels. The stem is a Snickers bar. The kids had funny adding the orange Reeses Pieces (after I added the yellow ones for eyes, nose and mouth).

Plenty of fun was had by all. Happy birthday, sweet Veronica. My, how you have grown!!

Friendly Advice

Blair and 'Neen have words of wisdom I just needed to read this morning. Their reminder of priorities and encouragement were more helpful than my cup of coffee. I'm blessed to have such wise friends!!

Back to Basics and getting suits ready ... that will be my order of business today.

In addition to praying for Kelly, I will be praying for her little men. And hugging my little ones tightly, grateful for just one more today. Because, really, that's all anyone has, just the promise of today.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Saturday Edition)

I've always wanted to participate and this seems like an easy way to blog various things. Sorry its a day late!!

1. Last night Craig and I went to hear Dr. Ray speak!! He was wonderful and very funny! We got front row seats since Baby Veronica stayed with Grandma. Dr. Ray reminded me of a few things I need to start implementing. LOL!

2. A dear friend has been heavy on my heart. Please pray for Kelly and a peaceful and holy death. She's been struggling with breast cancer for years and is now saying her good-byes.

3. Veronica is officially walking. She rarely crawls. Yesterday I caught her sitting in a pile of crayons, tasting the assortment of colors. When she saw me she KNEW she was in trouble. Did she crawl away? NO!! She took the time to stand up and tried to run! LOL!!! That little bugger!

4. We just finished week 9 in school. Last year we didn't get to week 9 until right before Christmas. Woohoo! Of course, last year Veronica was born. That's a much better accomplishment than any other. Still, I'm excited that we will get further in our school work than any previous year!!

5. My cell phone is broken. :-( BUT ......

I'm getting a new cell phone!! I assumed I'd be getting an Iphone but Craig is getting me what he uses ..... a Blackberry!! LOL!! Too bad all that technology will be wasted on me! I just need to be able to call people and take an occasional picture or video. Although, seeing as how I'm directionally challenged I'll have to figure out the GPS feature.

6. We've started painting rooms! We've lived here almost 3 years and have yet to paint a wall (bathroom emergency doesn't count) just for fun. We're starting with the girls' bathroom. We're adding wainscoting and a chair rail and painting the walls a pale pink. We're also painting their cabinets an antique cream/white. This way the toothpaste will blend! LOL!

7. Saturday will be a busy day for us! Anna and Sophia are singing for an ordination downtown. Isabelle has a swim meet. And Craig and I are doing our hour at PP for 40 Days for Life.

For more inspirational 7 Quick Takes please visit Jen at Conversion Diary.