Saturday, October 31, 2015

Happy All Hallows Eve 2015!

This is always such an exciting day for our kids. They get to pick anything they want to carve into their pumpkins. I was a little worried the firetruck ladder would be too hard, but Brad pulled through as you will see below.





Pumpkin scraps for the chickens!



Hot apple cider while we carve.  What's the deal with the hand in the pocket...quite funny!


Careful carving that fire ladder!


Fire truck, chicken and a cat face.
(no surprise here if you know our kids)



Pumpkin Firetruck and Pumpkin Chicken. 


Pumpkin kitty cat.


Brenden peeking down into his pumpkin tonight. When we came back from trick or treating they were all still lit. I think we are the only people with kids in our hood. We went down our short block and then went to my parents house up the road. 


 Presenting.....St. Michael, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Juan Diego


Both pictures of Brenden made me laugh, so I had to post both.


Brenden had me cracking up with his serious countenance. When he saw his wings (he didn't know I had them, he said he was going to fly up high).

Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego


The back of Mary's starry mantle and St. Michael's wings.


Roses of Castile! 







Grandpa left a trail of evidence behind. Apparently when we came back to my parents house, there were M&M's wrappers in a trashcan. Knox discovered them and told Grandma that Grandpa Fisher ate all the candy! LOL! You should have seen Grandpa's face!





My mom's neighbors have a daughter who my kids love to see. We were lucky to walk with their group. It was a lot of fun.


My parents have the coolest neighbors! lol They like to sit out front with a banjo and play hillbilly music for everyone.


St. Michael got a bit tired.. not sure how, I thought he was going to fly.


Finally done for the night.


I have Matt Maher's song stuck in my head tonight. Here's our Family's Litany, sing the tune in your head... 

St. Michael, Pray for us!
St. Brenden, Pray for us!
 St. Anthony, Pray for us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for us!
Ora Pro Nobis!
Juan Diego, Pray for us!
St. Genevieve, Pray for us!
St. Francis, Pray for us! 
St. John Paul II, Pray for us!
Ora Pro Nobis!




All the Saints and Angels, Ora Pro Nobis!

Friday, October 30, 2015

Ten cool Advent gifts

1.  St. Martin Playmobil set... discontinued and made on the European side of Playmobil. His feast day is Nov. 11th- same as Veteran's Day. So you could use it then, or it could make a cool gift for Christmas. Outside of Advent, but I still had to show you..so cute! Here's a more expensive wood alternative..cute but expensive.



3. Illuminated Ink Advent Candles- they are on sale on Holy Heroes website now, there is another brand I hadn't seen before listed on Amazon.  I like the Illuminated Ink's price better ;)


Advent Adventure Activity Books to use with your Jesse Tree- their sale ends soon.



4. BEST DEAL

St. Nicholas in Tiny Saints- we feel in love at a conference with these a few years ago and have quite a collection now. I ordered 6 Saints the other week, and I got one free. Plus then I used the Shower of Roses discount code, so in the end it was like getting 2 free. AND FREE SHIPPING!! Check out the St. Lucy and Our Lady of Guadalupe- also two Advent Saints.


5. St. Nicholas Shining Light Doll, they are bigger than I expected but still cute- safe for a toddler- you really can't choke on it. Also check out the other Advent Saints, like our Lady of Guadalupe. There website is here, you will find all their Saints there.



6. There are of course tons of cute St. Nicholas books out there as well.  I don't even have my list updated, Amazon is good about suggestions as you browse through the books. Just read the reviews and descriptions before you purchase make sure the length of book and age is appropriate for your kids.

7. Three Kings Gifts, in cute little boxes for your kids! The real deal! It does cost more, but oh it is so worth it! There are cheaper sets on Amazon and Ebay, but not quite as fun as three boxes.







9. Playmobil St. Nicholas and Angel- my kids really love Playmobil, they are cheap right now. Check Playmobil homewebsite and Ebay too- sometimes the used ones are a steal.


10. These are so fun for Advent- and if you give up candy, well this is perfect.  Try the options for the ones with Sinterklaas on Ebay. That's where you find the imported St. Nicholas ones, complete with the little tiny oranges for St. Nicholas' feast day. Some of them have cute family scene's with tiny Advent Candles. We bought them last year for our kids, and oh my I have never seen such excited kids.  (Check Playmobil's website for current ones and pricing). We haven't lost any pieces either, we put them away in a special place. Lego also makes Advent Calendars.  I would check the LEGO website too- I find the cheaper prices there compared to Ebay.


Sunday, October 25, 2015

Knox's First Communion

This was the most perfect week and we could not have been blessed with more perfect weather. The wind wasn't an issue- which is amazing for Kansas, and the temperature was perfect and the bugs are pretty much gone thanks to the night time lows right now. The day was beautiful! 

Thank you, dear Jesus, for all that you blessed our family with this past week!


Just before Mass- we love this grotto. Our cousins greeted us out front with big hugs. Brenden is our cool guy!




Thanks to my mom and sister we got some bonus pictures! These are good friends of ours. Cheryl there on the left is going to be our new little sister's Godmother ;)


AMEN!


Knox's Godfather Derek and Godmother (my sis) Mary.


Our priest Father Ben and our growing family.


A very proud grandma... we were sort of in a hurry to get out of Mass because the 11:00 Mass was already coming in and saying their Rosary, so we had to scoot before we could finish pictures. Poor Grandpa- we didn't get his picture.


Desserts just before we ate and devoured all but a  bit of cake and three cookies and left a few jellos. THE CHALICE JELLOS WERE A HIT. I recommend if you need an easy easy dessert to go with that. The kids all took their special chalices home.





Then menfolk chatting. We mom's were inside with babies or getting food on plates.






Uncle Kale and my good friend Cheryl, both the Godparents- of our new baby, are sitting together...I am not sure they realize it yet, I can't remember if I told them who was the Godfather and Godmother...oh well! lol I will be sure and mention it.


We had some very hungry kids, and Ambrose here told me he "LIKES JELLO."


Here's Dougie getting his brisket on!


Last of the cake topper chalice piece...being devoured..lol! Genna split it and gave Knox the candy Eucharist part..very tasty indeed!

God Bless Knox!