The Mother of all Lists

I love a good list and this has got to be the Mother of all Lists!  One of the things that I love about lists is that they keep me focused and this one is no exception.  
Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all worked at checking off a few of these things?  Well, it sure had me looking into the mirror of my soul and wincing just a few times...ouch!  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, please pray for me.
Word of Warning...This list should not be applied to toddlers.  They are the exception to all rules:)


Mother Teresa's Humility List:
1.   Speak as little as possible about yourself.
2.  Keep busy with your own affairs and not those of others.
3.  Avoid curiosity.
4.  Do not interfere in the affairs of others.
5.  Accept small irritations with good humor.
6.  Do not dwell on the faults of others.
7.  Accept censures even if unmerited.
8.  Give in to the will of others. 
9.  Accept insults and injuries.
10. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.
11. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone.
12. Do not seek to be admired and loved.
13. Do not protect yourself behind your own dignity.
14. Give in, in discussions, even when you are right.
15. Choose always the more difficult task.


Be sure to check out Truth and Charity for a thought provoking 3-part reflection! 

You Know You're Catholic When...

You know you're Catholic when your Chore Chart includes Holy Water Patrol!

I thought this was cute...Dad thought of it:)  We have several holy water fonts around the house and at the door of each bedroom.  We just re-filled our jug from the Easter Baptismal water at church so we're all stocked up here at home...Ready to bless!

Dad revised the kids' chore list this week since "some" of the children seem to need reminders every day.  We have always used a chore checklist but seem to have fallen off the wagon (again)  about using them, hence a topsy turvy routine took over.  Obviously when jobs aren't getting done, we need to get back to a list that they can check off.  Doesn't everyone need a list?  This Mama sure does! We also need to adjust our lists periodically as age-appropriate things are constantly changing around our house...We were over-due for all of this!

It's been nice to have Dad home to help us with these organizational tools, though not so nice that he's been injured.  He's doing well with physical therapy so he'll be on the mend soon.  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers on his behalf!


We're back to the books this week...Feeling refreshed after all the spring cleaning last week.  
Just had to share this photo from our backyard cleaning.  Littlest Miss helped clean our Mary garden...It's a blank canvas now, waiting for the kiss from some beautiful flowers. 
Meanwhile, a kiss for Mama Mary will suffice until the flowers arrive around Mother's Day:)

You know you're Catholic when it's completely natural to give your Mama a kiss, even when she's a statue!
+Happy Feast of St. Bernadette+
How glad was my soul, O good Mother,
when I had the grace to look upon you!
How I love to recall those sweet moments
when I was beheld in eyes so full of kindness and mercy...
Yes, gentle Mother, you stooped down to earth
to appear to a mere child and, in spite of her unworthiness,
to communicate certain things to her.
You, the Queen of heaven and earth, wanted to make use of the most fragile thing in the eyes of the world.
~St. Bernadette Soubirous~

Liturgical Decorating~ Easter White

(We replaced our Lenten violet drape on our stair case cross with white... for He is risen!)

After our Easter cleaning frenzy, we were ready for liturgical white.

Just thought I'd share some simple ways we decorate with the Easter color of joy.  After all, it does last 50 days!

I replaced the violet bow on our front door wreath with a white bow.  I still love the symbolism of the dogwood for the Easter season.

Our prayer table or home altar covering is changed to white.

(With the addition of an Alleluia plaque and Divine Mercy sacramentals for our Divine Mercy novena and Divine Mercy Sunday)

The Divine Mercy Novena is one of my favorite Easter prayer offerings:)

I know I've posted this photo before but this is our Easter mantel, once again.

How about an Easter center piece for your kitchen table with a white table cloth?...We keep this on all 50 days, though we are constantly washing the white tablecloth!

Easter countdown?

We are using this cute one so generously offered by Lacy over at Catholic Icing...

And also this white cross made by my husband a few years ago. (The other side is painted a violet color for Lent.  Then we just flip it over for Easter white:)  I cut out simple white doves, each numbered for the 50 days.  This is a photo from last year with all of the completed countdown doves taped on.

Easter white candles...

I forgot to mention in my last post that I bought this big white candle (below) from a mission society who melts down old altar candles and re-molds them into these beautiful bees wax pillars.  They sell them and proceeds go to the mission. I love this idea! Coming from altar candles, makes this particular candle extra special for the Easter season:)

Paschal Candle

White Easter lambs...

symbolizing the Lamb of God and His Paschal sacrifice.
(Those are our palms from Palm Sunday in the background)
This little lamb (below) came from the Dollar Tree.  Isn't he cute?

Here's a close up photo (below) of the little faith-based Easter egg tree (shown above) that I found on sale at Hobby Lobby.  This would probably be a fairly easy DIY project with some nice handwriting...

 Our Resurrection Set (Oriental Trading) stays up through the Easter season.  It's pretty good quality so to me, it's worth the $25.00.  We even use the characters for our Resurrection Tomb Cake on Easter Sunday.  It comes in handy more ways than one;)

I also just had to pass on this great article about the home being a domestic church.  It's an easy-and-quick-worth-the-read!
With Divine Mercy Sunday being this weekend, here are some easy celebration ideas that I posted last year.

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

"I am mercy itself; therefore I ask you to offer Me your misery and this very helplessness of yours and, in this way, you will delight My Heart." (Diary of St. Faustina,  1775)

5 Ways to Keep Easter Rejoicing!

1.  Find reason for a happy dance.  Christ is Risen for goodness sakes...This calls for a victory celebration!

It was a REAL week of Easter Joy around our house.

Can you believe we filled up 2 of these baby blues?

I blame the Easter grass for sending me into a cleaning frenzy...That stuff drives me nuts like nobody's business.

Let's just say that this week was our Spring Break so we took advantage of some time off to do some much-needed chores and work around the house and yard.  A big family...Definitely a bonus:) We got a ton done with a team of 7.  Well, really 6...We had to make our Fire Captain supervise only since he is still off duty with a sprained knee and hip.


I did a super big happy dance when we were through! I know it sounds menial but it really was a victory celebration in our own way.  Since we should be looking for ways to rejoice during the Easter season, I think my clean-up happy dance counts as Easter joy:) 


2. Shout out lots of this beautiful word...

I got this Easter mantel idea from Charlotte a couple of years ago;)  It's now a tradition that we unpack the Alleluia on Easter morning.  The children always look forward to listening for the Alleluia's in the liturgy from now on...And so do I!


3. Look for God's glory in His creation and life all around us.  After all, His goodness is what we celebrate at Easter.  He tells us to seek and we shall find.


It was a solidly rainy week and this was our reward yesterday...A full rainbow over our Court!

I proceeded to go on a rainbow chase and captured a few more neat photos around our neighborhood.

Our parish Fatima shrine...God's glory at it's finest.

4.  Keep letting your Easter light shine!  
Easter isn't over...Smile more often, Easter is the beginning of our eternal hope.

Speaking of light, I put away all of our Lenten violet candles and replaced them with Easter white.  White is the liturgical color of Easter that symbolizes joy.

We made this Paschal candle last year during Holy Week.  I was able to pull off using it one more year by changing the bottom part of the year from an 11 to a 12 with a Sharpie pen...I really only had to change the last number from a 1 to 2.  You can't even tell...Shouting out another Alleluia for squeezing a little more light out of this one!

5.  Seek to recognize Jesus all around us...In both expected and unexpected ways.


This is my favorite reason to rejoice.  He is made known to us today, just as He was made known to His disciples in the breaking of the bread.  Alleluia! (Lk 24:35)

May we recognize our risen Lord on the throne of grace, through the beauty of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist.


May we recognize our risen Lord, too, in unexpected places...Especially in those who are poor in body, mind and spirit.  May we be strengthened by the courage of the disciples to shine our Easter light in the most difficult places of our lives.

"My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.

I will sing, I will sing your praise.

Awake, my soul,

Awake, lyre and harp,

I will awake the dawn."

Psalm 108

Happy+Holy=Easter!

Look what we found in our Easter baskets!

Happy and Holy Easter to all those who might pass this way!  ~Christ of hope has risen...Alleluia~

We started out with early morning Mass...

Followed by fun in the sun at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Loved this one and the Mary T-shirt:)

We made our traditional Resurrection Tomb Cake...

And some Alleluia Eggs

Thanks to Jennifer at Crafolic for the perfect printable toppers:)

The Easter Season begins...

"Keep the light of Christ always burning in your heart~for He is the Way to walk.  He is the Life to live. He is the Love to love."~Mother Teresa of Calcutta~