All things Gale: DIY

I feel like every Lent for the last 31 years has been a bust. I always give something up. And I try to add some extra prayers in. But most of that is internal preparation. And I always feel like I could have done more.

Christmas, on the other hand, is over the top preparation on the exterior AND the interior. I think that having decorations and outward signs are a fantastic aid to keep us on the journey toward Easter. And now that I am a homeschooling mom, and Leo is getting so much older, it is up to me to observe the large plank lodged square in the center of my eye before I start throwing out advice to my children for Lenten practices. And I have lots of crafty things that I can do with the kids to help us all remember exactly what we are getting ready to celebrate!!

I am so excited to be waaaaay on top of the ball this lent. It took a little bit of planning, but no more than I do in a day for homeschool anyway. It was as easy as a quick google search "lent with kids". We are shooting big by trying lots of different things this Lent and anything that ends up a winner will be reinstated next year, and the losers will just phase out.

I'm a realist. I don't know if we'll get around to completing all of them this Lent.

They are small and messy. And exhausting.

But, I found so many good ideas on the Catholic Icing Lent Pinterest board that we are going to go ahead and add these to the Gale Family roundup for Lent 2014:

Our Lenten Calendars up on the wall:

Up top is my 40 Bags in 40 Days calendar. I know if I didn't print the checklist out, I wouldn't do it. This way, it stares me in the face while we do school every morning. Below is the Catholic Icing Printable Lenten Calendar. I just drew it onto a huge posterboard so the kids could color in each day as we travel through Lent!

I am really excited about this one. I have never taken the kids through the Stations of the Cross. But now that they are older, I think this is a great year to start. I found this fantastic idea for a Montessori Stations of the Cross box on Three Sided Wheel. She offers a free printable, so I had Jason print them on cardstock and I wrapped them with contact paper. Now I just have to find a box and the items to put inside!

Look at what a creative idea she came up with!! One item to represent each station. Hopefully this will be hands-on enough that the kids won't lose interest and get all wild and crazy in the middle of the church...????

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And I thought this was a cute idea to help us out if they need ideas for sacrifices they can make during Lent. Our religion book through Kolbe Academy has a list of 20 sacrifices you can make during Lent. I copied each one onto a popsicle stick, and if the kids want to, they can pick one out of the bag.

Lastly, I purchased a couple cheap supplies:

so that on Ash Wednesday, instead of our regular morning of school we will be making these: A bunch of purple salt dough crosses to hang up in the classroom. I think the kids will have blast making them and they will make the room a bit more Lent focused.

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and this:

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A playdough crown of thorns with toothpicks: each time a child does something great (a sacrifice, being obedient, sharing, etc.), they get to pull a toothpick out of the crown. So simple and sweet!

The only other thing I did was make this webpage my homepage for Lent: http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2012/02/recipes-for-lent-from-archives.html. That way, I can prepare in advance our meat-free dishes rather than scrambling on Friday afternoon after I have already thawed a pound of ground meat!

Now I have to quickly finish the bag of chocolate bars I picked up yesterday so I don't have to stare at them for 40 days...

And now I leave you with photos of our iced over East Texas backyard today!!

Linking up with Cari, Author of Pope Awesome and Other Stories, for this weeks 7 Takes!

--- 1 ---

My brand new squishy delicious niece was born yesterday morning!!! Lucy Ryann was born on her due date at 9:40 in the morning. I'm so happy for Nicole that she is no longer pregnant! And major kudos for the 100% natural delivery - no drugs...again (she did a drug-free delivery with the twins as well!!)

The twins are going to be all the entertainment this little girl can handle.

Elena got so excited she asked if she could go play with the baby. I told her the plane tickets cost too much money and she said, "No mom, look at all the money in your money jar!"

--- 2 ---

We did just visit our cousins a month ago. I put a few photos on Facebook, but here are some pics of our visit with family!

We gathered our family from 4 different states (Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Texas) for the 2nd anniversary of my mom's death, and we did exactly what she would have expected us to: We drank a toast to her!

Seriously - they are as tall as a human gets. It was ridiculous. And I felt claustrophobic all week.

My Goddaughter Audrey!!

Annual Lobster Feast - a Nova Scotian thing

Instead of finishing his summer reading, Gavin built them a fort and then hid from his parents in it with Elena

It was a good trip and now I'm ready to go home and visit again!

--- 3 ---

I am participating in another Jesse Tree Swap this year. Last year was a nightmare. I crocheted tiny little swords and anvils and it took WEEKS!! This year, I saw that the Stump and Sprout were still available and jumped on it. It took a whopping 2 hours!

While I read a book in front of the fire, Jason saws 2 pieces of firewood into tiny little circle ornaments. He drilled a hole through the top for the string, and made a small angled hole in the bottom (not all the way through) to hold the "sprout". I bought an ornate leaf thingy from Hobby Lobby and tore it apart to attach sprouts to the wood.

And seriously - that was IT!! It took a few more minutes to attach the string. But 2 hours max. I might get around to writing Isaiah 11:1-2 on the back as well.

Isaiah 11:1-2

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

The Peaceful Kingdom

11 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Jesse Tree - Isaiah 11:1-2

--- 4 ---

Ever since I gave up Facebook, dinner has been on the table by 6 every night. It is magical. Last night we had my brand new favorite meal. We had it when we visited friends for dinner a couple weeks ago and now it is a Gale Household staple!

Creole Red Beans and Rice with Cunapes
(Of course I don't have one picture because it gets eaten so fast - I'll get photos tonight and add them!)

Ingredients:
1 cup dry red beans
1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups chicken broth
6 slices bacon
Creole Seasoning (from Allrecipes)0

Directions:
1) The day before, soak the beans in warm water on the counter overnight. The next morning, rinse the beans thoroughly and soak again. At least an hour before you want to eat, boil water and cook the beans for about an hour.
2) Pour the broth and rice (rinsed) in a pot and bring to a boil, put the cover on and allow steam to come out and cook for 20 minutes.
3) Bake the bacon in the oven at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Crumble.

Serve the red beans and rice with the creole seasoning poured on top and crumbled bacon. Serve with cuñapés.

Cuñapé

Ingredients:
8oz round of queso fresco grated
1 cup Yuca Harina (tapioca starch)
Salt to taste
~1/4 cup milk

Directions:
Stir ingredients together adding milk only as needed to get a dough (but not too wet). Form balls and push your finger in the bottom to create an indent (will help them not stick to the pan). Bake at 375 for 15-25 minutes. This depends completely on your oven but they should look like this when done:

Credit: Wiki - "Cheese Bun"

And go read The Origins of Cunape in the comments over here: http://www.boliviabella.com/cunape-cheese-bread-balls.html. I felt like I was in 5th grade all over again when I read it *snicker*

--- 5 ---

We only have one more soccer game before the end of the season!

This was from our last practice of the season last night. That was the first time Leo actively tried to engage with the ball. And the only...

He usually spends his time on the field being silly

Not paying attention

Or stuck in the imagination world of a 5 year old

He is certain this red jersey makes him an official Power Ranger.

One time during a game, the ball hit his foot and went straight to his teammate who kicked it in the goal. We whooped and hollered like he won the Olympics hoping that he would finally understand the concept.

Maybe he can get a Lego scholarship???