Faith/ Catholic Archives | Page 6 of 13 |

Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad…| Triplets’ First Holy Communion Day

May 15, 2010 By Laura 3 Comments

The triplets’ First Holy Communion Day, was so special.
This day, that they have waited for for so long, finally arrived! I promise, this is the last of the First Holy Communion posts – along with the Simple Lunch Spread for a Celebration Gathering post up right now. We’re hoping someone, somewhere, is still interested, while we indulge in posting about this happy occasion one more time.

Anyway, I wasn’t going to take photos of them actually receiving for the first time, because it just didn’t seem right. But….the other parents were told it was alright, as long as the photos were taken from their seats. So, I decided to do so too, not wanting to regret passing up the opportunity! Even though my angle was awful! All of the other children receiving their Sacrament this day, sat at the end of a pew for their family, and simply stepped out of their pew to receive this first time. But ours stepped out of our pew, and across the whole aisle in a line up, across the back of the 2 lines of kids. (Hope you followed that.) Anyway…..the Mass was really nice, as always, and the kids did great! They were so excited prior to…..then after, so happy and just….beaming. Trust me when I say, they fully understood/understand the significance of this event, and every Mass from here on out.

Some of our family and friends were there at the Mass with us. Some traveled quite a ways, to celebrate this day with us, and it meant a lot to all of us. {JM, O & S} brought up the gifts for the Mass, which was so sweet. They were really happy to do it.

Do you all know Fr. Bob Reed, from CatholicTV? ( Do your kids watch WOW!?) Well, we do, and love him. We were touched to learn that he had put in for presiding the Mass at which they would make this Holy Sacrament. He has become a great friend of ours. Yes, he is giving them rabbit ears in the first photo, still being silly in the second, and finally we get a serious shot in the third! He even has a secret handshake with them. He is, simply put, a really kind, funny, down-to-earth guy, and the work he does to evangelize our Catholic faith through by his vocation, through TV and otherwise, is nothing short of amazing!
–

Following Mass, our family and friends came to our home for a continued celebration. Of course, we had decorated our little tree (a.k.a. a branch) for this special Sacrament occasion, and I loved what the kids did on our schooling chalkboard! We served our guests a light lunch, which I shared in the Recipes section.

Before we ate though, we took some more quick photos with the people who love them, and came to be with them on this day:

triplets-first-holy-communion-day-7 Left: The 6 of us. I love that this is small, and you cannot see how absolutely terrible & tired I looked! (Aren’t I clever?) I had been going non-stop for days, to be ready for this day. Can’t imagine how I would have survived, if I didn’t ‘keep it simple’! But I digress. {A} on the other hand, was an absolute doll! She had on the sweetest outfit, and beads! / Right: The trio with their Godparents, (one of my brothers and sister-in-law), the kids Uncle G and Auntie K. As blessed as our kids are with the Godparents they have, we wanted badly to be able to give them each their own set of Godparents. They are individual kids, not a unit, and deserve that like any other kids. But you know how complicated these things can be, and we just couldn’t at that time, give them their own. I feel compelled to say that, only because I do not want to give the impression that we see our triplets, as ONE, and not individual kids. Most know that, but I feel better SAYING it. (So thanks for letting me!) Their Godparents love them very much though, and vice-versa. They are also a wonderful aunt and uncle, and were gracious to accept all 3 as their Godchildren.

With their ‘Papa’, who often comes for overnights to spend time with them. And then with two uncles.

“It’s all…..for you.” lol.

WITH FR. (Bob) REED

Fr. Bob showed up, so I took the fruit cup in his hand away, and I made him have another photo. Even though, as he said, he didn’t have his priest attire on anymore. But he had PINK on!! I think it’s great when guys wear pink. Don’t you?

We were so done with photos by this point. And hungry. So we all went and ate. Well, I made sure everyone else ate, and tried to keep up with everything going on, and took bites in between!

Family and friends brought, and sent by mail, very thoughtful and unexpected gifts. We wanted to spend as much time with the people who came to celebrate with us, so the kids opened most of them later that night by ourselves. They received so many beautiful and special tokens of this day, that the kids truly already, treasure. They have always had a special fondness for their own religious items-and now they have so much more. The people in our lives are so kind and thoughtful.

The day just seemed to fly by, and I felt like I missed so much. I despise that feeling. I had planned this special day for the kids for so long, and I didn’t want to miss a moment. But I just couldn’t take it all in at once. We had several friends with us that day, that I wanted to get candid photos of, and never got to before they left: A family who good friends of ours, and some folks who have sat near us for so long and have become dear friends, who have watched the kids ‘sit like indians’ while we all went up to receive Communion, and have waited for this day too. It’s really bothering me, still. It’s one of those things…I want to go back and have another chance! I want the kids to have photos of everyone who was there with them that day. Despite my planning, I didn’t get this part done. I wanted to take LOTS of candids all day. But I was so busy with so many things, time got away, people eventually left, and then it was too late.

But to the kids….the day was truly perfect, and joyful. And I too, do have sweet moments of this day, burned into my memory. (But, I don’t have proof of it all in photos, darn it! lol). Sweet moments, like this one…..

….The boys, pushing their Aunt/Godmother on the swing. She, of course, was really being dramatic and making the most of it for their entertainment, and they were just loving it!! They were laughing so hard, and having so much fun. And so was she!! I truly just love the photo of her on the right.

THIS……Is Fr. Ken. The pastor of our church. You know, the one who’s AMAZING homilies I speak so much about?! We were so happy he came over to our house for awhile, too!! He came a little later on, after many had left (even Fr. Bob). But you know what…it was SO NICE. Because we sat with him for a long time on the deck, and just talked. (After he quizzed the kids on important questions. Talk about being put on the spot!) We talked about his homilies, and how he prepares for them. (I had to know the details!) He also shared a whole lot…..about the new church we will be building quite soon.

Here is another photo, that represents more sweet memories of this day….

…..our kids, with some of their cousins. Many could not be with us this day, but these 2 could!! D & M (right behind {A} in the front) are great kids. They all had SO much fun together, playing with Pixel, laughing and talking about random stuff, and playing basketball. It was great to see them all having a great time together, and we’ll be doing it again soon!

It truly was a blessed and beautiful day, for sure. The weather could not have been better, too. Sunny and mid-70’s. Perfect.

O.K. now, aside from the day’s menu over in Vittles, that should wrap up our First Holy Communion posts!! Thank you so much, for letting us share so much of this special occasion with you, and sharing in our joy!! As much hype as we have built up to this day, the kids will tell you, the happiness and excitement only began with this day. They will, and already are, re-living the joy over and over, as they receive Jesus at every Mass of their lives, from this day forward.

Let us continue to rejoice, and be glad.

Save

Palm Cross

March 20, 2010 By Laura Leave a Comment

With Palm Sunday almost upon us once again, we thought we would re-post this tutorial which we had in the Big Picture section last year, on how to make a nice cross for your home, with the blessed palms you bring home from mass on Palm Sunday. We hope you find the instructions and photos helpful, and the craft enjoyable, in making a beautiful palm cross for the walls of your home.

First, take 3 sets of 2 palms each, and at least one good palm wisp.

In the area the intersection of the cross is, put the ends of one set of palms alternately layered in between 2 of the others, going in the opposite direction of course.

Then takes the last set, and layers those for the other side.

Pinching it all together at the intersection, take one side of the palms and makes a loop with them to the back of your cross.

Securing that with your fingers to the middle as well, and then do the same with the other side.

With the formed cross in hand, take the wisp of palm you had set aside, and start wrapping the intersection of the crossed pieces, to secure them tightly.

The below collage, to be viewed left to right in rows top to bottom, is not every single move. It just gives you a general idea of how it is wrapped around, crisscrossing, and going up and down as well.

When you only have about 2 inches left, turn the cross over, place it on the table, and holding the wrap tightly, take the remaining end and feed it under the wrap a couple of times, and then just pull it tightly. The front of the middle of the cross then looks like the last square in the above collage.That’s it!

We hope you have a happy and peace filled Palm Sunday !

* * * * * *

Please come follow me here and there:

Save

Tuna Pea Wiggle

March 18, 2010 By Laura 49 Comments

When I was a kid, my absolute favorite meal, was Tuna Pea Wiggle. Honestly, I thought maybe my mother or grandmother made up the name for this recipe. But no, it turns out ‘wiggle’ is a real term, for ‘cream sauce’. I think that just having the word ‘wiggle’ in the name of this dish, is enough to intrigue any silly kid. Having crackers for dinner, may be another plus. At least, that’s how we make it. There are other variations I’ll mention after, but my kids and our whole family, LOVES Tuna Pea Wiggle, just as much as I do. As Catholics, this is a great meatless meal for the days of abstinence of Lent, and we often have it on those days. But that doesn’t keep us from eating it the rest of the year!

Here’s how to make it:

* Participating Ingredients:

2 cups milk
1 tsp. butter or margarine, and add to milk above
3/4 cups peas (we use frozen)
1-2 cans of tuna
salt & pepper
2 Tbsp cornstarch, mixed w/ 1/4 c. milk
saltine crackers

* We double this recipe, for our family of 6, and we eat it all in one meal. Everyone has seconds. For a doubled recipe, we use 2 cans of tuna. We like it a little saucier.

Add 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch to1/4 cup of milk, and mix to dissolve with fork.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and butter/margarine until bubbles form around edge of pan.
DO NOT BOIL!

Stir in the cornstarch and milk mixture. Cook until it thickens.

Add tuna and peas.

Mix it all in.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir and let thicken a bit more. It’s just a visual thing. There is no amount of time, right, or wrong way.

Spread saltine crackers on a plate.

Ladle Tuna Pea Wiggle over the saltine crackers. Salt and pepper a bit more, if desired. I desire.

Enjoy every-single-bite.

Don’t be afraid to have seconds.

Now, here are a few variations:

– My cousin told me she has always had ‘Salmon Pea Wiggle’. She has never had it with tuna. Interesting! The opposite is true for me.

– I’ve heard of people adding cheddar or Velveeta cheese to the sauce. I love cheese, but not with tuna and peas, personally.

– Tuna Pea Wiggle can also be served over toast, biscuits or boiled potatoes. But I have always, always had it over the saltine crackers. Because I’m still that silly kid.

Have you ever had Tune Pea Wiggle? Does your family eat other variations of it? Do you call it something else?
(Update – You’ll enjoy reading the comments on this one, as much as we have! This post has been so popular, from ‘Tuna Pea Wigglers’ all over the world! Lovin’ it)

Save

Table For 6: Family Dinner with Our Little Valentines

February 15, 2010 By Laura 10 Comments

Just sharing a peek into our Valentine’s Day Family Dinner, with our little valentines!

In getting ready for our special dinner together, one of the kids wrote this on my little chalk board that I use for schooling the kids sometimes. First, it made me smile. Then, I found out who wrote it, so we could have a little discussion about how they determined where they should put that apostrophe. It turns out, they were under the impression, that St. Valentine’s name, was St. Valentines. Therefore, because his name ended in s, it would be acceptable to just put an apostrophe after the s in his name, to show possession of his day. So, if she was right, she would have been right! But she was wrong, so she was wrong. Know what I mean? lol. In the end, she learned something new on Valentine’s Day: That the saints name, was indeed St. Valentine. Not St. Valentines. No S. Just like our LAST name. ; )

See? Schooling 24/7.

I resisted the urge to fix it. Just because I felt like I needed to SO badly, and knew there might be an issue there with myself, that I needed to work on. So I just left it. Not feeling free yet though.

Our afternoon dinner table, all set. We actually eat dinner together as a family every single night. But the kids get excited for dinner like these, because we go above and beyond the normal, to make it special. Special pretty table setting, candles, surprises, and more. It’s just fun to do with the kids, and see their excitement over the occasion.
–

We’ve still got this little tree going. To decorate it for Valentine’s Day, the kids made cut out hearts, and wrote something on them that we can do to ‘show our love’ to someone. One of my favorites is: “Give a foot rub?“. Yes, with a question mark. lol. That was {A}’s, who possibly gives the world’s best foot rubs, and I possibly may want one more frequently than she wants to give one.
–

Back in the summer time, our local CVS (pharmacy) moved from it’s location, to a bigger and newer construction, further up the street. Aside from my grumbling that CVS would now be further up the street, I wasn’t sure how I felt about a ‘Dollar Tree’ moving into the old CVS, either. Not having much experience with that store, and therefore really questioning the quality of product we’d find in there, I was leaning towards disappointment.

But as it turns out, I’ve found the store rather useful. There really are some darn good finds there sometimes, and the pricing certainly fits our budget!

So I checked out the Dollar Tree, to see what helpful items I could find for our dinner. Looking at the photo above, I got the plastic champagne flutes (which the kids got such a kick out of), the gift bags, their cards (2 for $1! )the napkins, and the candles and glass candlesticks! Not bad, for a fancy-ish dinner setting!

The kids loved their surprises.

–

For the dinner’s main course, I made Shrimp and Pasta Diablo! Thankfully, the sky is the limit when planning a menu, even for a meal with our kids. They’ll eat just about anything under the sun, and they sure loved this dish, too. They really love shrimp and pasta anyway. {O} did leave just a few tomato pieces on her plate. There was definitely some ‘heat’ to those tomatoes, so I was surprised they all ate as many as much as they did. 2 out of 4 of the kids, had seconds! As did Michael of course. But I can never eat that much of anything. It was delicious though.

–

A couple days prior, a good friend of ours, who LOVES to cook and bake, and does a whole lot of BOTH, so thoughtfully delivered to us some banana cake he made, as well as 6 molten lava cupcakes! We decided to save the cupcakes for our special Valentine’s dinner, so dessert would be covered. It seemed like the perfect dessert to top off our family dinner. And boy was it ever!
–

We really felt the love. With every-single-bite! I would have taken a photo of the inside, but that would have required me to put down my fork, and pick up my camera, at a very excitable time. Goodness! We’ve been invited to have dinner with him and his wife at their home this week. I’m tempted to bring my camera, and photograph it all, but I don’t want to freak them out! lol. I know he is going to have a reallly goood menu plan, just for us. He’s brought us other food and treats before. But also because Michael said that he said, in inviting us, “I plan on doing some cooking this week!” See….when someone says something like that, in that way, you know they are serious about their cooking! We really look forward to spending a few hours with he and his wife. They are just good peeps. With our without the good food. But they want to feed us too? Well….alllriiiiiight. If they insist.

–

It was nice that St. Valentine’s Day landed on a Sunday this year, wasn’t it? We opted to go to 4:00 Mass on Saturday, to leave Sunday wide open to get ready for our afternoon date with each other. We rarely do that, (go to Saturday Mass) because the Saturday Mass is just not the same for us, at all. And it wasn’t again. But as always, the homily was good!

So how was YOUR Valentine’s Day? Did you do anything special? Celebrate in some small way? Go all out? Skip it all together?

We’d love to know.

Oh, and also, we recommend you be on the lookout for a Give-Away! That’s all we’re sayin’.

Save

{Kreature-Triple-Feature}: A Mixed Post

February 3, 2010 By Laura 10 Comments

We’ve got a few brief things to share today, and we hope for your comments & thoughts on any or all of it!

First up, is an amusing little story:

You know the stories you’ve heard, of instances when a baby has been left on someone’s home doorstep, or at a hospital? Especially since the ‘Safe Haven Law’ went into effect, there have been numerous stories of such cases in the news. But most of us have heard similar stories, going way back before the law was enacted. (Starting with Moses in the basket, floating along the river, in hopes someone would find him, and keep him safe and loved.)

Well, something QUITE similar happened, not at our home, ….. but our church!

And it wasn’t a baby that was left…. but a lop-eared bunny!

HE (it’s been guessed) was found inside our empty church on Saturday, by one of the Knights of Columbus! He was left there, in her big, clean cage, supplied with fresh food, fresh hay and full bottle of water.
–

There was a note, that simply stated that he was not being taken cared for well enough anymore, and that was it!
–

He’s just beautiful. BIG, SO SOFT, such a gorgeous gray coat, and very handler friendly.

And get this…..

HE’S POTTY TRAINED!

We had heard the story after Mass on Sunday, and went right over to the parish center to see him.

Yesterday, we just had to go back, so I could get some photos of him. I was right on time, because a parishioner was there and had him out of him cage, trimming the his nails. This guy is really good with animals, and seemed to know a few things about rabbits.

Look at him, checking out his reflection in the window.
–

And there is nothing cuter, than watching him wash his face, with his paws. We just about melted.
–

Surprisingly, our pastor fell quite smitten with the bunny, and decided that if no one claims him as a joke or something, the church is keeping him!! He already named him, ‘Kreature’. (Borrowed from the story of ‘Kreature’ from Harry Potter, I guess…which we’re not familiar with.)

He’ll be living at the parish center, where he will get PLENTY of LOVE and ATTENTION, from our huge parish family.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

I considered several different activities, in the couple of days prior, to do in light of Candlemas. (Light…lol…no pun intended. ; ) But, nothing was really appealing to me enough. In the end, we just decided to have a ‘circle breakfast’, representing the solar system and light, and talk about again, all of the meaningful events, that are tied into Candlemas.

For those of you who have never heard of Candlemas, I would be happy to link you to information, but would never be able to CHOOSE exactly what to link you too. It’s a complex day, honoring several events, that interestingly, can be said to be all tied to one another in some way. So, may I be so nervy as to suggest you just Google ‘Candlemas’ yourself, see the abundance of links, and click on one or 3, that draw your attention.

It’s all worthy of a little celebration. But knowing the days will grow longer and longer with daylight, certainly makes us happy.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

In our day to day life, I think any one who really knows us, will tell you that I am one of THE most protective mothers out there. Some say, ‘over-protective’, even – which sits quite fine with me.

As parents, most all of us go to certain extents also, when using the web, to protect our children.

As a professional child-photographer, I do all I possibly can do, to protect the identity of my subjects. While I use their photos online, on marketing material, and in displays, all with legally-signed permission from the parents, I never ever use the children’s names, or give out any other information relevant to their location or safety. I am actually more of an advocate about that, than most of my parents even seem to care about. After all, what harm can come of anyone seeing a photo of a child online, and knowing their first name?

Which brings me to the point of this post, in relation to OUR life, specifically. Like so many parents do with their own blogs, etc., I have used a substitute of sorts, for our own children’s names. Some parents come up with fun nick-names, etc., that represent their children. Everyone has different circumstances, and there is also a wide variation of feelings and comfort levels on the matter. Which I respect 100%.

So this post is in no way an argument about the relevance or importance of doing so for any family in part, or as a whole, but more directly about US, in particular.

From the beginning, we have opted to use our children’s initials, inside of brackets. When we started this blog, I didn’t have very strong feelings on making an effort to protect our children’s online identity, per sey. Naturally, as a child-photographer, I’m all about photographing children. And as a mother who is in love with her children, and of which this blog revolves around, I definitely was going to be posting TONS of photos of our own children. (Their Dad is quite fine with it as well, by the way.) But in using their names, I was sort of ….undecided. I couldn’t really think of a single reason, in OUR life circumstances, how using their names would jeopardize their safety, on any given day. But just in case I thought of something later, I embarked on this blogging journey, using the bracketed initials.

But lately, I have been asking myself WHY we do that, and what harm could possibly come of using their names?

I’m just starting to feel a little…..silly, I suppose, using their bracketed initials. Silly, when I consider the following facts:

In home schooling our children, they are pretty much under our wing at all times. They don’t take a bus, walk to or from anywhere on their own, nor are they ever really anywhere without us. They know full well, anyway, that just because someone knows their name, does not mean that they KNOW them, nor should they trust them. We have a safety plan in place & in practice for everything. Even just playing in the yard. These are things that we talk about frequently, and they are tested on them as well.
Our whole family was on national television, for goodness sake, and their faces and names were used. That show has aired a gazillion times, and probably will continue to for some time.
Between our 2 home-based businesses and 2 sets of growing clientel, in and around the surroundings areas, many people know us because of our lines of work.
Then of course there is also the blog here, which is gaining a growing audience all of the time. For those local to us, they know our names anyway! For those who aren’t local, what harm could they be when they are not even in close proximity to us?
We end up communicating with many visitors of this blog. We really enjoy communicating and networking with so many of you. I am willing to bet that many of you, reading this right now, KNOW what our children’s names are anyway. Do YOU?
The kids are also involved in activities or programs here and there, and we are also out about the world a lot. We don’t live in a bubble, and our crew seems to attract attention every where we go. In part because 1/2 of our family is seemingly the exact same size.
In our REAL LIFE, people see their face, and learn their names, whether on a personal or casual basis. So what is the difference?

So, I guess I’m just thinking out loud, in a way, and asking you to share your thoughts on this matter for US. In our particular situation. Not a general opinion on the matter, because again, I feel everyone’s situation is different, and it IS up to the respected discretion of each and every parent/family. But maybe point out something we haven’t thought of, or share the notion that you really see no risk in it either. Generally speaking, I am thinking more of the now 7 year olds. Our oldest is more independent and grown up enough to keep herself safe. She has a different set of safety rules. I think I stopped worrying about her physical safety as much, right around the time I realized she is WAY bigger than I am! Still,…..I will always be protective of my children, and instruct them on safety.

Somehow, I thought this was going to be a brief question for you. But I guess a little background might be helpful, for you to offer your thoughts, if you will, on the use of our children’s names on this blog. I don’t know what our final decision would be, but I would love YOUR food for thought, and consideration. To help us ‘think outside the box’ on this one.

We value your comments (on anything), as well as your respectful opinion!

UPDATE-2016: I continued refer to the kids using their initials in brackets for years. Just because I started out doing so, even though I wasn’t all that uncomfortable with their first names being out there, with their photos on the blog. As they got older and continues blogging, in time, I just using their names, and do so today when blogging. So in full disclosure for this very old post now, here are their names:

{A} – Alexis….more formally know as Alexis Grace – the oldest girl
And the triplets:
{J} – JackMichael
{O} – Olivia (Faith)
{S} – Shane (Jacob)

Save

« Previous Page
1
…
4
5
6
7
8
…
13
Next Page »

Let us continue to rejoice, and be glad.

Amazon Affiliates