Preparing for Lent

Last Sunday was Septuagesima Sunday, which means Lent will be here in about 2 weeks or so, and that we should start preparing for Lent.  I'm actually glad that this past Sunday reminded me that I should be getting my spiritual life ready for whatever Lenten devotions I decide upon, because things like Lent and Advent always seem to creep up on me, and I usually find myself scrounging around the day after the season begins to find proper devotions and special acts of love for Christ!  So, this year, I am going to try and *GASP*....get ready ahead of time!!!  Amazing, I know, since I tend to be the queen of procrastination.  Now, the Church asks us to prepare for the Resurrection of our Lord through extraordinary acts of prayer, fasting, and alms giving.  Normally, I do ok with the acts of prayer and fasting, because we have such great Lenten practices given to us, such as fasting and abstinence on Fridays, and the Stations of the Cross....and, of course, I usually try and do some extra self-denial in the way of sweets/soda/coffee, or any other luxury that I am blessed with.  The alms giving part is where I always fall short.  Not that I am perfect at the prayer and fasting aspects, it's just that I don't think I have ever made much of an effort at doing extra acts of alms giving.  I don't really know why I never have, but as embarrassing as that is, I just haven't.  Anyway, I have often found myself praying to Christ and asking him to help me find ways to be more generous with my abundance, and to show me ways I can aide the poor in a real, concrete way.  I mean, we tithe and all that, and I teach the kids that we should always help those in need, but it's pretty rare that they get to see that kind of thing in action.  Let's face it...putting an envelope in a basket every week at Mass doesn't exactly scream "corporal work of mercy" from a practical, hands-on example kind of way.  I just feel like it's too abstract for them to really get that there are people out there who are really suffering from poverty, and those people need our help, support, and prayer.  Our children will only learn generosity through giving.  They have no idea what real hunger is, despite the fact that they come to me a hundred times a day and saying "Mooommmmm, I'm huuuungrrrrry!"  Well, yesterday, I think I finally got an answer to my prayers.  A friend of mine told me that instead of giving money to homeless people when they encounter them, she has a box of pre-packaged bags with essential items in it that she keeps in her car, and she gives them that.  I've always struggled with how to handle the beggar on the street corner, because I don't feel comfortable giving them money, but I want to do something, and when my friend told me about what she does, I thought, "that is so perfect!"  So, this year, that is what our family alms giving will be.  The great part about it is that it can be a project that the whole family can participate and benefit from, and the kids will be able to see first hand how to serve those who are not as blessed as we are.  Especially since I'm not really at that stage where the kids and I can serve at soup kitchens, or attend rallies, or spend time with lots of hands-on giving.  One day, when they are older, I hope I engage them in that form of charity, but for now, I am kind of limited as to what I can do with 4 very young children.  But, this they can do!  They can come with me to the store to pick out the items, help us put the items in the bag, and when we come across a beggar on the street corner, which is often when we go to Mass in New Orleans, they can actually see us giving things to help those in need.  We can teach them along the way about why we are doing it, and how it will help the poor.  I think some of the things I want to put in our bags are:  travel size toothbrush and toothpaste, a bottle of water, non-perishable food items (canned items that have a pop top would probably be best), hand sanitizing wipes, etc...  Also, serving the poor should go deeper than just the material aspect, so to tie that in with prayer and fasting, for each person we give a bag to, we can offer up sacrifices for them, offer up our family Rosary and Stations of the Cross that we say during Lent, and I would also like to put either a prayer card or Rosary in the bag with their other items.  Our homily at Mass this past Sunday dealt with serving the poor, and Father told us that we can give as much as we want to help the less fortunate, but unless we show them Christ as well, then it's useless.  The whole point of this life is allowing Christ into our hearts, so that we can all get to Heaven.  And who knows...that one little Rosary could change a person's life forever.

Christus resurrexit! Vere resurrexit!

**this is a very long post with beau-coup pictures, so please read at your own risk...

I think one of my favorite things about having kids (because the list is never-ending) is the way that they challenge me to learn more about my Catholic Faith.  I'm not exactly the most catechized Catholic you'll ever meet, so ever since we started both homeschooling and attending the Traditional Latin Mass, it's like I'm learning my Faith for the first time.  It's so exciting and fun and interesting to see what a rich and beautiful history we have as Catholics.  And, with the kids, there are so many opportunities to learn things from a different perspective as well.  I mean, the questions they ask are so awesome, because it gives me a reason to go and seek out the answer.  "Mom, what will we look like in Heaven?"  "Do angels have bodies, or are they just a head with wings?"  "Does the Devil have wings?"  "When is Jesus coming to earth again?"  "How do we get to Heaven?"  "Does God come down and get us?"  "Why do we sometimes say 'Holy Ghost' and sometimes 'Holy Spirit'?"  "Can Mary appear to me like she did to the children at Fatima?"  They are very curious about all of it.  So, while Lent may not have been as prayerful as I would have liked, and maybe I didn't do the best at my Lenten sacrifices, but it was most certainly a learning experience.  Which, in hindsight, is the best kind of Lent, because I came out the other side knowing more about who Christ is and more about why the Church does all those awesome traditions She is so famous for.  Natalie seemed to really get it, too, which was so sweet to watch.  Andrew thought Lent was a person, and asked to go to Lent's house several times, but that's ok...there's always next year =).  So, here are some of the ways we celebrated Passion tide and Easter.

We started off Holy Week by making a Holy Week banner to mark off the days until Easter:

We also made an Easter Lapbook that we used to tell the Passion Story with:

We attended the washing of the feet services for Holy Thursday, and then on Good Friday we participated in a Good Friday walk.  This was probably my favorite thing that we did.  It was so awesome!  We did a 9 Church walk in downtown New Orleans with a group of fellow parishioners.  We would say 1 or 2 Stations of the Cross outside of each Church, and then visit the Church and pray for a short while before walking to the next one.  I'm not sure how many miles we walked, but it was a lot!  The kids did surprisingly well, and really didn't start getting tired of walking until the last 20 minutes or so.  After the walk, we attended Veneration of the Cross at our Parish.  When we got home that night, Phil and I watched The Passion.  Amazing movie!   

Here are the kids on the way to New Orleans...she how excited they were!

Andrew wanted to hold Natalie's hand the whole time =)

 I didn't realize how many gorgeous Catholic Churches there are in New Orleans!  They were simply amazing.  Here is one of my favorites:

The above picture is from St. Mary's Assumption Church, and it is the location of the national shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos.  That was really cool to see, too!  I didn't get any pictures of that, though =(

On Holy Saturday, we made Ressurection Rolls and died our Easter Eggs

 

You were supposed to use one, large marshmallow to represent Jesus' body, but all I had were the tiny ones!  Oh well.  I also used a homemade crescent roll dough instead of the store bought kind...these things were SO GOOD!

Favorite part of Holy Week!!

When I asked Andrew what he wanted his egg to say, this is what he requested:

Ever since we celebrated St. Patrick's Day this year, he believes his middle name to be 'St. Patrick'...it's too cute, and I can't bring myself to correct him =)

Little Rachel's first dyed Easter egg!

The Easter baskets all done up and waiting for the Easter Bunny =)

On Easter morning, we checked out our goodies, then headed off Mass, and then to Grandma's house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt:

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the Easter bunny left the last marker for the Holy Week banner that read "He is Risen!"

After we put it on our banner, Natalie said, "look, it's shaped like a cloud so Jesus can ascend into Heaven!"...the Easter Bunny totally did not do that on purpose...in fact, he didn't even think of that idea...he just kind of drew a squiggly line around it before cutting it out, but it was cool that Natalie saw it that way ;)

Rachel enjoying and Easter sucker:

which doubled as a drum stick:

and then she was sad because we took it away:

Daddy and Rachel enjoying our beautiful Easter day!

the weeds Easter flowers Natalie picked for me:

Finding Easter eggs!!

Rachel doing what she does best...begging for candy:

the traditional sucker for breakfast on Easter Monday:

and, last but not least, the aftermath from Easter:

All in all, we had a fantastic Easter!  I always feel especially blessed to be Catholic during Holy Week and Easter. 

Be sure to visit Catholic Icing for the Easter Link-Up party today to see how other families celebrated our most treasured Feast Day!!

 

Happy Easter everyone!!

If you give a man pride, he'll probably want some humility to go with it

Like most people, I suffer severely from the illness that is pride (I throw in the 'like most people' disclaimer because it makes me feel better - yet another symptom of my pride).  So, like any good Catholic would, I strive for the opposing virtue of humility (albeit unsuccessfully most days), and especially so during Lent.  The problem with working towards, and praying for humility, though, is that you get...well, humiliated!  And, I'm not talking about the idealistic kind of humility where you are in situations that require you to humbly respond to compliments and say things like "oh, thank you!  Really it was nothing.  I hardly did anything."  When I pray for humility, it always ends up coming in the form of situations where I walk away wanting to put my head under a rock because I'm so embarrassed and completely mortified.  Things that bring me to tears embarrassing.  I'd give examples, but once around the block is enough!  I guess that's really the point, though...*sigh*

Good Friday Recipes

Ok...so having Good Friday recipes is probably an oxymoron given that it is THE fasting day of the year, but nonetheless....here goes.  After Mass this past Sunday, a fellow parishioner invited us on a Good Friday Walk.  I had never heard of such a thing!  It is a really cool idea, too.  Basically, you meet in downtown New Orleans (or other large city rich with Catholic culture, cuisine, and large beautiful Cathedrals) with other families.  We will then walk around the city to 9 different Catholic Churches and stop to say one or two Stations of the Cross at each one - all to be done before the 3:00 p.m. services.  It should be a really amazing experience.  A beautiful way to commemorate the Passion of our Lord, I think.  Kids are expected to come (we are Pro-Life here, after all ;), and the only rule is you bring your own wagons, slings, water, snacks, and other paraphernalia needed to tote lots of kids around for several hours.  I can't wait for our family to experience this.  I'm hoping this will quickly become a LeBlanc family tradition.  Now for the recipe part of this post.  While most of us are expected to fast on Good Friday, obviously a 5 year old, 3 year old, 1 year old and her accompanying nursing mom are more limited in that regard.  So, I plan on bringing some light snacks to get us through the day.  I got both of these recipes from my mother-in-law, and I think they will pack up nicely for this occasion. 

 Sweet & Spicy Nuts

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp each cinnamon, cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, chipotle powder

1/8 tsp nutmeg

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 cups nuts (I used fresh pecans)

¼ cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp water

½ Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

dash hot sauce

In small bowl, combine salt and spices; set aside.

In a large heavy skillet, melt butter. Add nuts.

Cook over medium heat until nuts are toasted, about 4 minutes.

Sprinkle with spice mixture.  Add brown sugar, water and sauces.

Cook and stir for few minutes until sugar is melted.  Spread on foil to cool. 

Store in airtight container.

*these are actually not that spicy...you can leave out the hot sauce and chipotle powder if you like, though*

Peanut Butter Balls

1 c. peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

1/4 c. honey

1/2 c. instant dry milk

1/2 c. raisins 1/4 c. sesame seeds (optional - I don't use this)

MIx peanut butter and honey together.  Thoroughly mix in instant dry milk.  Stir in raisins.  Scoop out 1 T. of mixture and roll into balls with hands and place on a plate.  Optional:  Roll balls in sesame seeds to geta nice even coating.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before eating (they are better this way).

My husband says he remembers coming home from school all the time and his mom would have a plate of these waiting for him =)  She is one of those moms we all aspire to be.  I actually made these as a surprise for him tonight...I hope he likes them!  And, really, depending on the choice of peanut butter, these are probably a nice alternative to other unhealthy snacks for kids.  I know my kids really enjoyed making them, so that's a plus too!

I wish I had pictures to post of these (I tried the nut recipe last night), but my sister is holding my camera hostage 2 hours away!  Not really...I left it there from my Mardi Gras visit.  Ah well...such is life.  Enjoy the recipes!

Oh!  For good measure, here is an actual simple, meatless recipe that is probably more Lent-ish.  It is Pioneer Woman's Simple Sesame Noodles.  They are very good and easy to make.  She also has a baked lemon pasta that looks awesome, but I haven't tried yet...I would like to one Friday soon!   

Happy Feast Day of the Chair of St. Peter!