"All For" a Nun Run!

I am so excited about this opportunity that Lena from JOYfilled family is coordinating...

It's a Nun Run!
This falls perfectly upon my path, as I have been attempting to get "Fit For The King," Christ the King, that is.
Last Fall, I was inspired by Mamas Movin With Mary and got back into running.  I ran a  5K in December, the first in about 10 years.
Recently I have also discovered the Rosary Workout which has also enhanced my goal to be 
Fit For The King, through Mary, Our Leading Lady!
I'm thankful for this opportunity to continue on my journey... ALL FOR.
"I thank you Lord, with all my heart."~Psalm 138~
Please join in as a "Shadow Runner"...

Run/walk with Team ALL FOR!

We will be participating in the 2nd Annual NUN RUN 2011 - March 12, 2011.

The Nun Run will be held in Tempe, AZ.  It will benefit the Our Lady of Solitude Monastery and the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration (Mother Angelica’s Order) in AZ.

Team ALL FOR will be participating as a Shadow Team and will NOT be running in AZ.  As a member of Team ALL FOR, you will run wherever you are are and participate as a Shadow Runner.

You can select to run a 10K Run, 5K Run/Walk, or 1 Mile Walk.  Isn't this a great idea?  Even though we can't all get to Arizona, we can still support the Poor Clares and the King of Glory, through His Most Holy Queen Mother.

Click Over To JOYfilled Family to register!  I'm looking forward to being part of Team ALL FOR and hope you will join us too!
"If I fly with the wings of dawn
and alight beyond the sea,
Even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand hold me fast."~Psalm 139: 9-10~

Almost Anticipation

This is almost like a Wordless Wednesday post...But with a few words.

I just love these photos of my oldest (age 17) and youngest (age 3).

All siblings have unique relationships but there's something about

observing your teenage son spend time (voluntarily) and express tenderness towards his baby sister.  It warms this mother's heart.

I admire from afar with "almost anticipation" about him leaving for college.

I feel God preparing my heart for his absence...

These next 18 months will fly by.

I pray for these tender moments to linger in my heart...

There are no words to describe the "Almost Anticipation..."

St. Valentine Views

These are a few of our St. Valentine views!

We have the tradition of eating heart-shaped pizza for dinner...

Courtesy of our local take-and-bake!

Each child gets a Valentine poster, listing all the ways we love them.

We gather for dinner and a blessing.

A little bag of hearts goes around the table, each one with a different scripture about love written on them.  We each take turns reading the different "love" scriptures.

We are reminded of the true source of our love!

It's a special time to gather around the family table.
This year we missed "Dad" on duty at the Fire Department!

But we made the best of things, like fire families often do.

We followed our dinner with a story about St. Valentine himself…It's one of our absolute favorites! I highly recommend if you don't already have it:)

What a cherish moment captured having our oldest read to the youngers:)

These are a few of our favorite St. Valentine views!

"The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart."

~Anonymous~

Our Lady of Lourdes "Grotto Globe"

I am SO excited to share this cute and EASY 

Mary craft!

Our Lady of Lourdes Miracle at the"Grotto Globe."

You can make this for any Marian feast day or even to celebrate Mary's month of May.

We got the idea for making snow globes from Kaboose and thought it would be perfect to convert a snow globe into a "grotto globe" for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Most Catholics know the story of Our Lady first appearing to Bernadette Soubirous on February 11, 1858, in Lourdes, France.  You can read more about the story at this link for Catholic Culture.

At first, many people did not believe that Bernadette was seeing a beautiful Lady at the grotto.  On February 25, the Lady pointed to a spot nearby and told Bernadette to scratch at the ground.  A spring of water began to flow.  This spring still produces 27,000 gallons of water each day!

How fitting that this "Grotto Globe" represent the miracle of the spring water that Our Lady revealed to Bernadette.  
Each time we turn the snow globe upside down we will shake it three times and remember:
"Penance, Penance, Penance!"
One of the main messages of the Lourdes Apparition was Penance. Our Lady asked Bernadette to"Kiss the ground as a penance for sinners," there at the spring.


The glitter that sprinkles down is blue in honor of Our Lady's color.
You can really see it swirling in the background of this photo.

We are placing it on our Prayer Table/Home Altar for the next month, in memory of the 18 times  that Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette between February 11-July 16, 1858.  Her feast day is April 16th.  We are also renewing our commitment to praying the Rosary together as a family...we have gotten a bit "off-track" with this as a group lately!

The Grotto Globe Tutorial:

Recycled Jar (We used a pickle jar)
Floral Clay (I ordered from Amazon)
Mary plastic figurine
Glitter
Hot Glue
Embellishments for the exterior grotto:
(We used hot glue for a ring of gold ribbon and white roses at the feet of Mary;
 A bit of brown acrylic paint was used to paint a grotto border to frame Our Lady;
We also hot glued a plastic blue rosary to the top as the final touch!)


Print and follow instructions from Kaboose
P.S. Important note! We heard later that if you add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the water, the glitter won't stick to the fixture!

Don't panic if the glitter sticks to your figure at first!
It eventually settles over night:

Warning: Some of our glitter continued to stick to parts of Mary and her dress but we liked it that way!  Once the globe dries, you can shake the glitter around and much of it falls off the figurine (Not sure but maybe it was just the brand of glitter we used?) I didn't read about this happening in the Kaboose instructions.
Notes:
Trim excess floral clay around the inside edge of the lid so it won't interfere with the seal.
Be sure to add extra hot glue to the outside rim to seal it well.
We did not use brown paint for the whole jar.  We were afraid it would make it too dark.   
I hope you will give it a try....really, very easy!

A Novena for Our Lady of Lourdes can be found at the EWTN website and 
Biography Online here.
Quotes from St. Bernadette:
"I shall spend every moment loving.  One who loves does not notice her trials; or perhaps more accurately, she is able to love them."
O my Mother, to you I sacrifice all other attachments so that my heart may belong entirely to you and to my Jesus."
O Jesus, I would rather die a thousand deaths than be unfaithful to you."


"Our Lady's love is like a limpid stream that has its source in the Eternal Fountains, quenches the thirst of all, can never be drained, and ever flows back to its Source."
~Blessed Margaret Bourgeoys~

 Catholic Icing also has some lovely ideas for celebrating Our Lady of Lourdes.

Birthday Blessing

Our Angel Baby is 3!

{Her birthday was last Friday and I'm just now posting some photos for my records!}

Named after our Blessed Mother 

"Hail Mary, full of grace, please pray for us and this sweet girl who carries your holy name."

Can you tell she was sick with a fever?

But still smiling, bless her heart.

We had to cancel grandparents coming for birthday dessert because of fevers and flus (sad face).  But we made the best of things and still had a festive celebration.  That's the thing with big families...It still seemed like a "party" with all seven of us showering the birthday princess with love!

She picked out everything in "pink" and "princess"!

She loved these pretty pink cinnamon rolls that we made.

(Idea, courtesy of Lacy from Catholic Icing)

Though her appetite wasn't the best, other family members helped her out!

Presents to unwrap gave the birthday girl some fun things to do on a sick day!

Always in the mood to play "dress up" with a new skirt and cute pair of shoes!

Can you tell she's our "character?"

"Be merry, really merry.  The life of a true Christian should be a perpetual jubilee, a prelude to the festivals of eternity."~St. Theophane Venard~

Cupcakes closed out the day...chocolate with pink vanilla frosting! (Yum)

Happy Birthday to our pretty pink princess!

She enjoyed licking the frosting from her princess, even though she didn't feel like eating her cupcakes until the next day.

I think she had a great day!

"Out of gratitude and love for Him, we should desire to be reckoned fools.  Laugh and grow strong."

~St. Ignatius Loyola~