Thankful

Thankful my grandma had cancer removed from her breast and 

she is doing AWESOME!!

(She's 92!)

 Thankful my father in law here (not a great picture of him, but
it's a great one of my mother in law!)
He has like 9 lives.
He's had some really amazing things happen to him,
with his health.
God is being Merciful,
We pray for his soul every day.

Please pray for him, he is going through cancer treatment

Thankful for Thanksgiving crafts!!

 Thankful for easy Art projects!

(OK, a little messy)

 Just paint black circles using a paper cup...wait for it to dry

 then water paint!

 So pretty!

 Adds some color to a usually dull November...(more on that later)

 Thankful for Awesome 5 year olds that love to do just about everything!

 She's showing her funny cats here!

 Thankful for sitting on the floor times...try it, just sit on the floor

 and watch them come and tackle you!!

 Thankful for little children in my life, these years are fleeting.

I tell you, they go from one activity to another...

Cute as can be...please stay this age for a few more years...

Thankful for Ramen noodles!!  Yes, I am. 

 They make for an easy lunch and the kids love them!

Ummm, and that dull November, well, we got snow early this year...

Just a few days after our graveyard walk

(thank goodness!)

It is pretty...this is the morning sunrise shining on the frosted branches...

Thankful even though we gave away all our boots, and had to buy 5 pairs

for our last couple weeks here,

it was worth it...

The kids love playing in the snow....

Thankful for kids....gosh, they make anything bearable!

I have no idea what they are doing here...

Snow and cold make me want to bake cookies.

But, I don't have time to bake cookies.

SO

I baked Pan Cookies!!

Just put your dough in a 13x9 and bake for 20-30 minutes

Thankful for Frosty.

Oh, Frosty, you bring so much joy to all.

Over and over and over again and again!

My favorite line?

"Busy, busy, busy!" 

Come on, you know who says that in Frosty, don't you?

(The Magician)

Thankful winter means we take out our Easy Bake oven!!

Thanks to their auntie Heidi, we've had mixes to supply us for 8 years!

We just used up the last 2 packets!

Thankful for peppermint gum!

Did you know that peppermint gum helps prevent tears while chopping onions?

It works!

(I chop my onions and freeze them)

Thankful for awesome meatless meals for Fridays!

One of my very favorite recipes!

I even have sauteed just the veggies and spices (I use dried basil)
 with no noodles...so yummy!

Here's the recipe!

Thankful for friends coming to say goodbye!!

I had to block out my whole week this week, I'm just too busy with a million things

trying to get ready for our winter get-away.

Christine and sweet Ava here...look at that awesome smile!! 

(she's my goddaughter)

Look at my little whitey next to Ava.  

They are so dang cute together.

Best friends.

It's so easy when you are little, isn't it?

Oh, Sims!

Little Red wanted in on the picture taking!! 

Thankful for flashlights!!

And Forts!

In the dark!!

It gets dark so dang early now, we have to figure out something fun to do!

This is another favorite when it's dark out!

Lite Brite!

Thankful for oldie but goodies

(I cut construction paper squares and they make designs and then staple them into books)

 Thankful for Lego masterpieces!

He's an awesome builder!

Thankful for a big brother nice enough to let them 

break apart his masterpieces and make their own...made up ones.

Thankful for rosie cheeks

and hot cocoa after playing in the snow!

Thankful, I got caught up on my laundry.

But as I type this, I'm already behind again.

Thankful for littles that want to make our giant water jug be unique to any others out there.

 Thankful our awesome piano teacher is letting us use

this keyboard to take to Texas this winter!! 

WE WILL HAVE MUSIC!!

(WOO! HOO!)

Thankful on the way to piano today, I spotted this beautiful tree.

The kids made fun of me, but I went home and got my camera.

I had to get a picture of it.

Isn't it amazing?

We need to notice these little things or they will pass us by.

Thankful for the love this sweet boy has for Elsa.

Her blanket must be laid flat on his bed

(yes it's a mattress on our bedroom floor--Sh!!)

Anyway, it must be laid flat, or he will freak out!!

Well, the other day, I saw this beautiful Elsa doll at Wal-mart for $19.99

so I got it for him.

(look how he holds her neck)

He loves Elsa!

But

My 5 year old, who had always NOT loved Elsa,

all of a sudden, decided she did love Elsa.

and was crushed.

(I felt like the worst parent of the year!)

So I went back that night and got another one.

Yep.  Best parent of the year. 

At least to these two.

And they have not "Let it go" (Elsa) since they got her!

Thankful for Elsa 

and Elsa dolls

and for Wal-mart.

Oh, my gosh, that was long, and if you are still here, 

I am thankful for you.

Please Pray for the Dead

 I've been reading this book this month, 

the month of the Holy Souls.

I've learned quite a few things about Purgatory.

One thing, is that we Catholics are not the only ones that pray for the dead!

This was a Jewish custom and in fact, Orthodox Jewish still pray for the dead.

Please go 

HERE

for biblical proof of Purgatory. 

I'd try to explain it but he does a much better job than I'd do!

I love that Everything we Catholics do is BIBLICAL!! 

I am black and white, I need that order, that backing so to speak.

I've always thought of Purgatory as a place of cleansing.

A place where the soul wants to be, to be purified for God.

Now, Yes, Jesus died for us, for our sins.

But sin is sin and the soul knows it.

The flames of Purgatory is the yearning the soul has for God.

The way I understand it is

each day in Purgatory is one day closer to God 

so there is Joy and a yearning pain at the same time.
The soul wants to be there.
The soul knows that he is going to Heaven.
  

Last week, I couldn't go to my holy hour 

because I wanted to go to my uncle's funeral.

On the way there, I had this pain in my heart, 

upon the realization of not seeing Jesus that day.

This pain is yearning.  It brought me to tears.  

I think that is a very small example of what Purgatory will be like.

It's a love.  

The Love we have for our Father in Heaven.

The love and desire to be perfect for Him.  

St Faustina Kowalska relates in her diary, her mystical experience

of the complete moral self-insight that one day will be revealed to every man at the particular judgement after death:

Once I was summoned to the judgement (seat) of God, I stood alone before the Lord.  Jesus appeared such as we know Him during His Passion...Suddenly I saw the complete condition of my soul as God sees it.  I could clearly see all that is displeasing to God.  I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for.  What a Moment!  Who can describe it?  To stand before the Thrice-Holy God!  Jesus asked me, "Who are you?" "You are guilty of one day in purgatory."  I wanted to throw myself immediately into the flames of purgatory,

 but Jesus stopped me.  

From Hungry Souls:

"St Faustina transmits the awfulness of the soul's confrontation with the Eternal, 

its insight that perfect holiness is required before it can enjoy God's presence--the smallest imperfections having more weight than even a pure soul as Faustina's had been aware--and the instinctive impulse of the soul to be cleansed, even in the flames of Purgatory."

This book also explains that ANY spiritualist phenomena, 

or so called manifestations of the dead during states of trance, hypnosis, or at a spiritualist and other magic or occult sessions: they are by no means the departed persons they pretend to be, but hoaxes or demonic imposters. 

This makes me think of mediums claiming to be "Catholic" and yet 

going against the Church and continuing to delve into this kind of phenomena.

Poor souls are not sensitive to commands to vanish in the Name of God, or in the Name of Jesus.

Their anxious begging for help signals hope for deliverance.

 The sad thing is that I don't think many people give much thought 

to what happens to the soul after death, except that it goes to Heaven.

I think that most people think that almost everyone goes to Heaven.

This is one of the greatest tragedies. 

The souls in Purgatory, having no one to pray for them, 

all their loved ones believing they are already in Heaven.

Pray, Pray, Pray...

They need our prayers

 Another book, I'm going to read again (in Texas this winter)

is Get Us Out of Here!

This book is Maria Simma's accounts of the Poor Souls that appeared to her, 

begging for prayers.  

This book is SO good!! 

You can find it HERE

 If you click on this picture you can see my Little Red in the background, getting ready to run!
(stinker)

Pray for the dead, pray rosaries, offer Masses, 

never give up praying for them!

Last week we had some of our Catholic Homeschool Youth 

 (32 of them) over for a walk to the graveyard 

(up the hill, down the hill, through the woods, and across the field)

to pray for the Holy Souls

I gave a short talk on Purgatory, indulgences  

and a little about St Gertrude and the prayer given to her from Jesus:

Eternal Father, 

I offer you the most precious

Blood of Your Divine Son,

Jesus, in union with the Masses said

throughout the world today, 

for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, 

for sinners in the Universal Church, 

those in my own home, 

and within my family.

Amen.

(This prayer was given to St Gertrude and Jesus promised that every time it was said, 1,000 souls would be released from Purgatory and allowed into God's Presence)

The saints knew of Purgatory!!

 

 Here we are walking across the field

 After my short talk, the kids got to explore and try to find the oldest grave.

We also have a section where all the babies that were miscarried during the year 

are buried through our Catholic hospital in town.  

Several of us went over there. 

Instant tears, I tell you, instant. 

 We caught this beautiful sunset on our way home...

 Then it got loud and a little crazy....

 We had pizza, pop, snacks and lots of fun!

 We broke into 2 groups (16 kids each)

 And played Minute to Win it games!!

 M&M Suck it (I named this one)

 Face the Cookie

 Stack Attack!
The parent helpers were awesome! 

 Guess the Candy amount to win the candy!!

 Have you ever made this?  Tastes exactly like Salted Nut Rolls...

The games were a lot of fun, but next time, 

I think we'll set up several places where the games can be going on at the same time, 

it seemed like there was a lot of waiting around...and then the non game players 

got bored...but most had fun, I think!
 My daughter heard kids talking about it the next day after Mass and she said they had fun!

My own kids thanked and thanked me over and over 

for a fun night!!

Please pray for the Holy Souls!!

I've always had a love for the Poor Souls

I have a hard time writing about it, for fear of not doing justice, 

but my goal here is to make people aware and to hopefully pray more!