Easter making

I walked into the church this morning, and the scent of flowers flooded my nose. Gold banners hung around the crucifix. Pink hydrangeas and Easter lilies adorned the steps of the altar (and everywhere else!). The complete opposite of the dreary sadness I felt when I walked into church before Palm Sunday and was stunned to see the cross already veiled in black. But now... Happy Easter! He is risen! No more sadness or tears. The church looked and smelled like victory, and I couldn't help but smile. 

We participated in the Triduum in our own ways, like making wooden people to play out the Passion story. 

And the girls went with me to a Good Friday liturgy because they wanted to venerate the cross. They were very tired when we got home an hour and a half past bedtime, but they said they liked going.

Katie had an Easter egg hunt last weeek at school, and I always have extra yarn, so I made her a basket, on a whim. 

And For Easter Sunday, we gathered with family to celebrate Easter and 3 April birthdays, so a special cake was in order. 

I made a special cake topper for cousin Charlie, who was turning 2 and wouldn't be having any extra celebrations (unlike Ellie and David who will have "friend" parties later in the month). 

An Easter puppy made with modeling chocolate!

My first time to pipe basket weaving. 

The finished cake! Chocolate bunnies with fondant party hats, the puppy, giant jelly beans, and a cake ball "egg" under the puppy. 

And because I've always wanted to make boo-boo bunnies, I put these together and shipped them along with a few other goodies to some sweet kiddos we know and love.

Of course we had our egg hunt after Mass, and our kids got some fun and yummy goodies too. Indoors because it was raining. 

And we unsealed our oven to taste the sweetness of our resurrection cookies. 

Then we let out the Alleluia we had "buried" and made "Alleluia" bracelets. 

Yay Easter! I am currently working on Ellie's birthday cake, and then I have another cake to make after that... Then I might take a little break! I've been busy!

All these Easter things were rewarding and fun to make, and they helped me get into the spirit of the most important holiday of the year. Alleluia! Rejoice!

Palm Sunday

It's the home stretch! Easter is one week away! Quick! Cram in everything we slacked on doing halfway through Lent!

Actually... We're not. I have crafts and activities for Holy Week, but I'm taking a relaxed approach. We'll do them if we want to. 

We did go to Soup and Stations at church on Friday... Well, just the soup part, because starting Stations of the Cross at 7pm with our crew would not make for a very holy experience. But we did walk around the rosary garden outside the church before going home... And the Stations of the Cross are conveniently nailed to the trees around the garden, so we did our own little version... Complete with pauses to look at lady bugs and spontaneous 3-year-old prayer. 

We did manage a Palm Sunday craft this weekend... Jesus riding into Jerusalem on his trusty steed. We even got palms from outside to wave and sing Hosanna!

Anthony was the only one who wanted to do it at first, and he enjoyed one-on-one craft time with me. 

Eventually, Ellie and Katie made theirs too. 

It's also fun to make crosses out of the palms from Mass. I got crafty with mine and wove them to make this. 

Paul made some traditional ones for the kids. 

I'm hoping to make it to Good Friday Mass with Ellie this week. I miss going to all of the Triduum. It'll be easier when the kids are older. As St. Frances of Rome said, “It is most laudable in a married woman to be devout, but she must never forget that she is a housewife. And sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in her housekeeping." 

Wishing you all a blessed Holy Week!

Mercy

Another way we prepare ourselves for Easter is by performing some of the acts of mercy, and the corporal acts of mercy are more tangible to the kids, so we have focused on those, specifically:

• To feed the hungry
• To give drink to the thirsty
• To clothe the naked

Which means we are back to handing out bags of useful items for the homeless people we see on our drive home from school. Ellie made some cards that she placed in each bag, and we hope that she helps brighten their days.

I always feel sad when I see these people on the street corners. Sad and helpless because I really don't know what else I can do to help them. 

We also went through our toys and clothes, and I was overwhelmed by our surplus. Everything is still in good shape, yet we don't need so much, so I hope these things can bless other people who need them more than we do. Plus it was so cathartic to declutter!

Truthfully, we should be doing works of mercy throughout the year and not just during Lent, especially since my kids go through stages of ungratefulness several times in a year. Lately I've been struggling with managing the ennui of the privileged that my kids have been displaying (maybe more on that later if I am up for baring my soul), and I am frustrated with the fact that life can feel so difficult despite the fact that we have our every need met and then some. 

As for me, I need a little more of the Spiritual Works of Mercy in practice in my life. I totally lost my cool with my kids several times today. They haven't been perfect, but neither have I, and I have a hard time recovering from the all-too-frequent moments when they cause me to lose my temper. I'm normally not this on edge, so something's gotta give. I need to remember that it is an act of mercy

• To bear wrongs patiently
• To forgive offenses willingly

We made beaded crosses today, and the initial intent was to make sacrifice beads too, like St. Therese of Lisieux, but the girls just wanted to string beads for necklaces. 

I, however, did make some sacrifice beads because I think I need them to help me adjust my attitude this Spring Break. It didn't start out very well, and if I'm going to stay mad at these kids, it'll be a really long week. I'd much rather enjoy it.

Stations of the Cross

Lent is at about the halfway point. Our zeal for the season and eagerness to sacrifice has lost some of its intensity, but we continue to prepare ourselves for Easter in little ways, like listening to Holy Heroes in the car on the way to school and making crafts to remind us of Jesus' sacrifice. One project that we recently finished was our Stations of the Cross "stained glass windows." 

There was a moderate amount of prepwork that went into these, but I just love them. 

First, I drew the silhouettes of each station (and frames) and cut them out on black cardstock. Then, I stuck the cutouts on contact paper, and the kids put tissue paper squares on the leftover sticky parts. 

I made sure to just do one at a time because I didn't want the kids to get tired of making their craft and then end up with sticky contact paper lying around. It took us a few days to do them all. 

Once they had covered all the gaps, I put another piece of contact paper on the opposite side, and voilá! Our very own stained glass window!

Here are all the stations, in order:

1. Jesus is condemned to die. 

2. Jesus takes up his cross. 

3. Jesus falls the first time.

4. Jesus meets his mother. 

5. Simon helps Jesus carry his cross. 

6. Veronica wipes Jesus' face. 

7. Jesus falls the second time. 

8. Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem. 

9. Jesus falls the third time. 

10. Jesus is stripped of his clothes. 

11. Jesus is nailed on the cross. 

12. Jesus dies on the cross. 

13. Jesus is taken down from the cross. 

14. Jesus is laid in the tomb. 

Now they are all hanging in my kitchen windows. May they remind us of Jesus' great love for us. 

Next up: Corporal Acts of Mercy