4th of July Memories

America! America!  God shed His grace on thee...

"There is nothing but God's grace.  We walk upon it; we breathe it; we live and die by it."~Robert Louis Stevenson~

We had a fun 4th of July!  We were mostly thankful that Dad had the day off...Quite often, 4th of July is a busy day for his profession so we are grateful when he is able to be home with us.
Some dear friends hosted a block party.  All of the kids enjoyed this gigantic water slide that provided many, many hours of splish-splashin fun!

Did I mention that I made it down the slide myself?  It was a fast and fun way to get cooled off:)

We were blessed to have 3 priests in attendance...
(No photo since I didn't have permission)

I just love this book, chock full of great quotes:

"It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."~Abraham Lincoln

Our patriotic sweets...

~Berry Pie (local bakery)~Yum!
Patriotic Strawberries (made by us)~So easy!

And Red, White and Blue Jell-O Pie (made by us)~Refreshing!

Mother to our nation, please pray for us!

The Shining Summer Son

What else could we want but the Summer Son?...

Shining brightly there on the altar, He waits to infuse us with His rays of love and peace, no need for sunscreen or sunglasses to shield us from harm.  As I sat basking in the warmth of His glow this morning, I felt the summer renewal that I needed.  Suddenly other summer destinations seemed pale in comparison.  This shining summer Son is rest for the weary and He beats the heat!

We know that God is everywhere but what a special honor that He comes to us in this miraculous way, a shining Son, live before our very eyes.  

There He sits, available to the whole world...

There is no other love like His love,

No other peace like His peace,

No other renewal like His Spirit.

He is hope for the discouraged, rest for the weary, food for the hungry, and drink for the thirsty.

All of these things that we find in Scripture come flooding forth from the monstrance, revealing the true nature of the shining Son. His powerful beams strike our hearts with love, despite our unworthiness and shortcomings.  He is there for us all...Always.  Right there in that small white host shines Our Savior. This summer Son shines all year-round burning with desire for our presence, a visit that will never fail to energize and nourish us for the journey.  This shining summer Son is the ultimate vacation destination.  I am thankful that I don't have to travel very far to catch the best rays!

A Summer Prayer

Loving Father, during this time of rest and relaxation, please repair in me whatever is weary or broken, and revive my drooping spirit.  Let this summer vacation be a graced time of recollection and rejuvenation, of deeper self-awareness and eager self-giving.  May it be an occasion of refreshment and reinvigoration--a time to reclaim my friendship with Jesus Christ, who is our Lord now and for ever.  Amen. ~Father Peter John Cameron, O.P.~

Magnificat of America

Our little patch of flower garden is in full bloom!

  I always like to decorate our Mary garden with flags on Independence Day since she is the Patroness of America.

As we prepare for our beloved country to commemorate her beginning 235 years ago, it is fitting that we ask our Patroness under her glorious title "The Immaculate Conception" to pray for our land.

"Magnificat of America" 

By: Francis Joseph Cardinal Spellman (1889-1967).

America, our America!

Hold to the vision of Mary,

Mary Immaculate.

Her glory fills the earth,

She is of our race,

Its "solitary boast."

She, alone without sin,

Keeps the doom of wrath from thee,

Who art defending Her glory.

She, Conqueror of evil,

Conquers evil for thee,

Who art resisting evil.

America, our America!

Pray always to Mary,

Mary Immaculate.

She, the Mother to nations--

She, the Mother of Christ,

The Lord of all nations.

She guards them and guides,

Subduing their hates,

Inspiring their spirits.

She mourns for the prodigals,

As childless mothers mourn,

Torn by their treasons.

America, our America!

Give thy heart to Mary,

Mary Immaculate.

Join Her prayer of praise,

All Heaven attending,

For our land that is free.

Sing thou Her song of joy,

All nations listening,

Giving thanks to God.

Sing thou the song of souls,

The Magnificat of Mary,

The Magnificat of America.

           

Sacred Heart of Jesus and World Youth Day

Have you heard that the Holy Father will be consecrating the youth to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at World Youth Day?  Our pilgrims are so excited!  They have worked very hard and have been incredibly blessed to raise enough money, after 2 years of fund raising, to cover their entire trip.  My dear husband and a few other adult chaperones are leading about 20 pilgrims, including our 17yo son,  to WYD in Spain this August.  Everyone is joyfully preparing for this special spiritual journey.  Just for fun, we attempted to make a giant Sacred Heart Sugar Cookie.  It wasn't quite as fancy as the cake we made last year but it tasted good!   If you know other pilgrims who are attending WYD or if you would like to pray a long with everyone there, be sure to order the Magnificat WYD Pilgrim Guide.  It's only $6.95 with shipping and handling.
We baked this cookie for the Immaculate Heart of Mary today:D

This afternoon we had one of those "mission accomplished" moments. We were able to celebrate the Holy Hearts by making these fun liturgical folders that I mentioned in a previous post.  I have been admiring them for quite some time forEVERand over at Gardenia's place and we finally sat down and made some.  The children really enjoyed doing them and the project turned out to be a great distraction as we tried to wait patiently for Dad to come home (with Army Dude) from their week-long Scouting trip.  They will finally be home late tonight...Hallelujah!
~Superboy (Age 7) did the Sacred Heart of Jesus folder~

Here is the inside...

We talked about the meaning of the Sacred Heart and he copied a little prayer onto some cut-out hearts.  Shhh, I didn't tell him that this was good summer writing practice!

~Princess did the Immaculate Heart of Mary~

Here was the inside...

A closer look...

Angel Baby broke out with her coloring debut!  We were all shocked that she colored so well in the lines and picked her own color scheme.  I was working with the other kids and looked over her shoulder to discover "wow!"  We all thought it was amazing work for a 3yo.

Here was her final product...

Oh, how I love the sweet treasures that little hands make!

"Everything in Mary leads us toward her Son, our only Savior, by whose foreseen merits she was preserved immaculate and full of grace; everything in Mary lifts up our hearts to the praise of the Holy Trinity."~Pope Paul VI~

Fabulous Frugal Five-Second Fourth of July Decor

Guess what?  If you like this fun Subway Art with Americana theme...It's free and the cute red frame was only $1.00!  I was so thrilled with it that I just had to share it.  Thank you to Laura from Eye Candy Event Details for this great offering!  I just printed it out from this link and picked up the red document frame from the Dollar Tree.  It took me all of 5 seconds to put together and I even made one for a patriotic friend who had a birthday today! Laura also has some amazing party and event ideas that are full of  color and flare...I just love looking around her blog.  Hope this comes in handy for some of you!
Also, wondering if you've seen these patriotic gems?  Aren't they the cutest?

And the best part is they sound ARE so easy!  We found these at  Baking Bites and gave them a try.  They were fun to make and turned out so perfectly patriotic...

We gave some away and making some more!

~Enjoy and God Bless America!~