Holy Heroes Summer Adventure

Last week, the girls and I did a free, at-home Catholic "Vacation Bible School" called Summer Faith Adventure, which is put together by Holy Heroes. We received emails that had links to the daily activities and brief online videos. Each day had both Old and New Testament Bible stories that were linked together, along with a video about one of the seven sacraments which was related to the scripture for each day. It was really well-done and provided sound Catholic teaching. Each day also included a snack recipe, a game that could be played in a larger group, and a craft, along with coloring pages and crossword puzzles for older children.

Here are the girls helping to mix a basic pretzel dough. I loved that the recipe was basic and required no rise time, and they were really easy to roll and baked in under ten minutes! I was able to sub half whole wheat flour to add a little more nutrition, and they came out great!

We didn't make the snack every day... if I had more children to eat it though, we would have done the others like baking cookies.

Coloring pictures of Jesus at the Last Supper alongside a picture of a priest holding the Eucharist

I thought this craft was one of the best, although it was a lot of work for younger children... I did most of the cutting for Caroline. There was a document provided which had twelve prayers along with twelve color photos. We made booklets out of construction paper and then cut out and gued in all the prayers and the photos. Each craft had directions and resources provided, and they had also made a video with instructions on how to carry out each craft.

Here's Caroline with her finished prayer book.

Here's one other craft we did: a stained-glass window. I used clear contact paper instead of glue on wax paper... then I drew an outline on the non-sticky side and they stuck little squares of tissue paper on the sticky side.

Here are both of them... I did most of Cecilia's, but she did enjoy it herself for about five minutes.

We have done both the Lent and Advent Adventures, and the summer version was just as fun and informative! We'll be signing up for the emails when Advent comes in a few months!

Caroline on God's Immeasurable Love

Many nights when I am kissing Caroline good night, I say to her, "I love you, Caroline, and God loves you even more!"

Tonight, she said, "We can't know how much He loves us... He loves us until counting stops! You have to count to ninety-nine before it stops!"

Pictures for Holy Week

At the right, you see a cross - the crucifixion. Mary is the figure in the center. The lines coming down out of her eyes are tears. There are also clouds and another crying person... perhaps it is John. Caroline did not elaborate on that part when she was telling me about her drawing.

Another crucifixion drawing, this time in black and not quite so detailed as the first.

Caroline has been quite interested in Jesus's death. Being Catholic, she has been exposed to crucifixes from a very young age. it is hard to decide how much to explain to her... we have a few children's Easter books, and she hears a lot during Mass (I am amazed at how well this child listens in church - I sure wasn't like that even at an older age! After Mass, she can often tell briefly what the homily was about, even.). Right now, she gets that Jesus died on a cross to save us from our sins and that he rose from the dead and is now in Heaven.

I suppose her drawings are her way of exploring it all...

So, my kids are religious fanatics...

Cecilia's hero is the Pope, as I mentioned previously.

Caroline's heroes are more local - Father Paul, and Mike Revak, our seminarian. He gave her a red pen, and she uses it every single time she wants to draw or color or "write." She wanted to ask him to sit with us at dinner at church the other night. Too bad for her that her first "crushes" are definitely not available! The above photo of him appeared on the front of our weekly archdiocesan newspaper (my aunt's sister, who works for the archdiocese and occasionally reads this blog, had better not turn me in for copyright infringement!), and when she saw it, Caroline immediately announced, "Hey, that's Mike Revak!!!"

She wants me to cut it out for her so she can save it. I wonder if she's going to ask him to autograph it and then hang it on her wall...

Edited to add:Here is Caroline's drawing of Mike Revak, which is a gift for him. She gave it to him tonight at Stations of the Cross. She was so excited, and waited for him after Stations so she could give it to him... and get that picture autographed. I jokingly asked her if she was going to get him to sign it, and she took me quite seriously (no surprise there, actually). She also gave him a grocery list she "wrote" and a drawing of Uncle Tim. The above drawing is pretty significant in that it is her first-ever drawing of a person with actual arms and legs. And it is just like I remember learning in a child development class in college - a big round head with lines coming out for the appendages. Neat to see that progression in her drawing! She also wrote his name around it, which you can make out if you start at the 12 o'clock position and pretend the letters that look like P or F are really K. I spelled his name out loud for her while I was doing something in the bathroom - probably changing a diaper - and when she couldn't figure out how to make a K, she got one off the alphabet puzzle so she could try to copy it - pretty good thinking there!

Now she's asking when we are going to invite Mike Revak over for dinner... and Father Paul, too.

Caroline talks to Father

Our church has coffee and doughnuts downstairs after Mass each week. That is where these photos were taken, with my husband's phone (hence the poor quality). After Mass today, Father Paul said hello to us and wished us a happy Thanksgiving. Chris shook his hand. Caroline said she wanted to shake his hand too, but by that time we were already on the stairs and Father had moved across the vestibule. Now, this is Caroline we're talking about... shy Caroline who doesn't even like to say some of the names of members of her extended family (she accidentally said "Andrew" the other day while we were buying him a Christmas present!), and who is terrified of Speedy and Keenan who work with Chris... she hides whenever she sees them, she holds Cecilia's hand in an effort to protect her when they get too close for her comfort.

But apparently there's something about Father Paul that she likes. Maybe kids can sense holiness or something. When he came downstairs, she said she wanted to go talk to him, so I said, "Okay," and scooted her chair out so she could get up. And, to our surprise, she got up and immediately went over to him and they had a conversation for several minutes. Apparently he asked her if she was having turkey for Thanksgiving, because she came over to Chris and asked, "Daddy, is your mom making turkey for Thanksgiving?" Father Paul isn't even our parish priest... but he says Mass often at our church, probably once a month or more. Our regular pastor has joked that Father Paul is our associate pastor.

And a funny note: Chris was talking to her after this and mentioned that Father Paul squatted down to talk to kids since he's so much taller than them, and Caroline said, "Yes, I got down on my knees too to talk to him because I am very tall." She *is* quite tall for her age, actually!

The Holy Box

This is Caroline's holy box. It used to contain car washing supplies, oddly enough. It's a nice, solid box, so we kept it, and it found its purpose as the holy box. I take it out for Caroline during our afternoon prayer time (which I am trying to get better at doing daily). After rest time each day, we say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Sometimes Caroline says it too, or just listens as she follows along on her rosary as best a three year old can... but most of the time, she chooses to look through her holy box.

Here is where we always sit to say the Chaplet. It's the window seat in our den, which is a cozy, quiet spot. It is also high out of the reach of Cecilia, so Caroline's stuff is safe from grabbing hands. Cecilia either plays around on the floor or sits in my lap (trying to grab my rosary) while we pray.

So, here's a look inside the box:

First is Catholic Baby's First Bible. Caroline got it for her first Christmas. The only thing that's really Catholic about it is that it has the Our Father (as in, it doesn't say "The Lord's Prayer" for the title) and Hail Mary in it... and the guardian angel prayer - is that said by Protestants as well? I'm not sure. It has some basic Bible stories in it, from Adam and Eve to the Resurrection.

Next, we have a box of Mary paper dolls. Mary can be dressed up to become Our Lady of Lourdes, Mt. Carmel, Guadalupe, and a few others. We got these at Illuminated Ink, which has some great craft stuff that I have my eye on for when my girls are olde! I decided to go ahead and get these and color them myself for Caroline, because she enjoyed the paper dolls thoroughly when she played with some at Heritage Holidays, a local festival in which they had some "old-fashioned children's games" set up.

Here is one of Caroline's rosaries. We also keep a big wooden one in the box too, which has been great for Cecilia lately. This one was given to Caroline by her Uncle Tim - I can't remember where he said he got it. It's pretty, huh?

Here is a Mass book that goes through all the parts of the Mass and explains them to kids. It is still a little mature for Caroline, but sometimes she asks me to read it to her after we pray, and she looks through it some while I say the Chaplet.

We have these two pins, the Precious Hands and Precious Feet, which show exactly how a baby's real hands and feet look at 10 weeks gestation.

Then we have a pouch full of holy cards. Many of these are mine from childhood - attending Catholic schools, teachers were always handing them out to us for various reasons. These are probably the most interesting part of the holy box for Caroline... she can look through them for several minutes straight. She especially likes the one with an unborn baby on it, the ones of Mary and baby Jesus, and the one of St. Michael the Archangel (she is fascinated with the illustration of him stepping on the devil).

These are some particularly neat holy cards, again from Uncle Tim. They are laminated and have medals inside them. I'm pretty sure he got them at Mount Saint Mary's in Baltimore (he can comment and correct me if I'm wrong). Caroline likes these a lot. There are Divine mercy Jesus, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and St. Jude.

And there are a few random things in there as well... a pamphlet that has this year's intentions of the Holy Father, and an illustration of Our Lady of Guadalupe from the front of our church bulletin.

I think these would make a wonderful addition to the box. I would love to get Caroline the ones of Jesus and St. Anne in particular. I wish I knew how tall they were, though.

And this crucifix hangs above the window seat. It was given to me by my godmother. Caroline sometimes takes it down and examines it while we pray. Chris told me that yesterday she got it randomly and broke the hook off the back - oops. He fixed it, though, and it's back between the windows now.

I like to use the holy box because it involves Caroline in prayer time while not forcing her to sit perfectly still and say the prayers, which is hard for a preschool-aged child to do. Once she is older, I will expect actual participation, but for now, her participation by looking through the holy objects is a prayer in itself, in her own special way.

"Should we get her a halo?"

This is what Chris asked me about Caroline last night.

We have been trying to pray a decade of the rosary as a family in the evenings after dinner and before bedtime. Last night, we were running short on time, so when Caroline asked if we were going to have out family prayer time, Chris told her that she could choose to have either a bedtime story as usual, or they could pray the decade of the rosary together while I put Cecilia to sleep.

Guess which one she chose??

Tonight though, she chose a bedtime story!

A Nursey Rhyme/Creed Medley

Caroline was playing with her farm animal toys this morning. As she made the sheep walk around on a stool in the kitchen, she began chanting, "Mary had a little lamb, that was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate..."

Thoughts on Heaven

Caroline seems to be a deep thinker for a three year old... lately, she's been exploring her feelings on Heaven. Apparently, she understands that it's where we go when we die and that Jesus and God are there. She has asked:
*if she can take her toys and stuffed animals to Heaven with her.
*if she can bring her bed, or if God will have one there for her.
*if I can go with her when she goes to Heaven, because she'll miss me.
*if her grandparents will go to Heaven soon (and they aren't even old as far as grandparents go - only in their early-mid 50's!).

Tough questions, huh? So far, I have told her that she'll have to ask God about bringing things with her once she gets there. God grant me the grace to be able to provide appropriate answers for her!

New Testament Basics with Caroline

Caroline, Cecilia, and I were visiting my parents recently because my grandparents were in town. At dinner, my mom (the proud grandma) wanted to show off some of Caroline's intelligence. Caroline was talking about Good Friday and Easter, so my mom asked her about it. Caroline was talking about Jesus "praying and crying in the garden." My mom asked her who else was there with Jesus, and Caroline said, "Mary Magdalene." Of course, my grandparents were impressed that she could actually pronounce "Magdalene" correctly.

Then Caroline said, "And Peter was there, too... but not Peter Rabbit."

Our Father and Hail Mary

Here's Caroline saying both the Our Father and Hail Mary. She says these prayers every night before bed.