77/365 - 88/365

Okay I am so behind it is not even funny! So I am loading up about 100+ pictures tonight. Why because I need to I want to make sure this year is marked on my blog, since I have had writers block for the past 5 months. So here it goes, next year someone keep me on track.

77/365 Blocks just to stack up and knock down

78/365 Blueberry Pancakes for Breakfast

79/365 St Patricks Day

80/365 Kisses from Daddy just the best

81/365 Otto our new German Sheppard Puppy sleeping away.

82/365 Girls learning how to cut strawberries

83/365 Fun with magnets

84/365 Otto loves his carrots

85/365 Elsa and Otto eating (Otto's head is so small at this point).

Good Friday

Do you really know what Jesus did for you.

Today our family will remember the crucifixion of our Lord.

We thank the Lord for what he has done for us.

The Lord has brought new life because of the cross.

Holy week, a time to remember why we as Christians have a chance to enter Heaven.

We thank our Lord and Father in heaven, and weep today for what Jesus had to do for all of us.

No one has a greater love for us than the one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus gave his life to save all of us from sin and death.

At 3pm today we will be praying and remembering you Lord. We have not forgotten what you have done for us.

As a family today we will be having our Good Friday tea, and reading Mark chapter 15.

A tea that we found to be a great blessing.

you can find more info on Good Friday Tea over at Cottage Blessings or Shower of Roses

"And he brought a linen shroud, and taking Him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb."

Blessings,

Pamela

I need to start Blogging again!

Well life has been so BUSY around our home that every time I sit down to write a little one needs me. I have not had any time to do anything other than our normal routine. It started as not wanting to blog so much during Lent, and then I found myself not being able to. I have decided to put my blog into my daily routine, I miss it horribly.

So, I have been up to pretty much the same things I have always been up to just schooling, cooking, cleaning, and learning each and every day.  We are a few weeks into Lent and I have just spent more time away from the computer then I used to. It is nice to take breaks from things once in a while and just free your head from things. As I was freeing my head of things, I still took lots of notes for my Blog and every time I did something fun or something happened I wrote it down to share.  My husband said that it should be okay to set aside 1hr a day to journal my thoughts and find some quite time to myself.  Have I ever said how much I love my wonderful husband :) Well I do!

Here is a recap of the past 3 weeks- We bought a new puppy a 9week old male pure Breed German Shepherd. He was born on my husband’s birthday and his name is Otto we think he's a keeper:)

I was also told by my dentist this week I have a moderate case of periodontal fun fun. It runs in my family and with all the babies I have I am not shocked.

I have also been thinking a lot about our Faith and how much more I need to lean on God for all my anxiety. As a mother of 7 daughters 11 and under I have a fair case of anxiety, wanting to stay as healthy as I can. So I will be leaning on the Lord more then I have. I always like to do things on my own, not the best idea when I have a Savior willing to help.

Back to Blogging! I missed you all!

Hugs,
Pamela

Days before Lent

Lent is a time for prayer and thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Not many Christians take part in Lent I find this sad. When we joined the Catholic Church 4 yrs ago it was then I found a real understanding. I have learned so much from the Church, things I will take with me forever. We no longer are with the Catholic Church we are visiting an Orthodox Presbyterian Church  now with family integrated values. This seems like a good fit for our family and we are so happy to have found a church and faith to call home after many years of searching.  I was sad however to learn they don’t do anything for Lent or even Good Friday.  So my family and I will do things like we have for the past 4 yrs just on our own. I have to say I do like the idea of taking Lent as a personal family time. We are not being told how to pray or how to do things as a family over Lent. I feel much closer to the Lord and I feel this is better. My husband and I prayed about what we needed to do as a family, keeping family traditions was something we decided to continue since our girls learn so much from it and draw closer to God’s word.

 My family and I take Ash Wednesday till Good Friday very serious I find it sad that for many years we did not even know what it was. My faith was strong during the years we did not practice Lent, but I also lacked a lot of knowledge in the bible from churches not teaching the whole truth. I am not very fond of Luke Warm teaching s and I don't need to feel all warm and fuzzy when I leave. A reason I feel in love with the Catholic Church and my current church.  During our early years as a new Christians we were searching for the whole truth we wanted to live for Christ 100% at least try because one can never be perfect.  I cannot believe how many churches will skip this time all together, not even to touch base a little on this time of year. I am not here to judge others that’s not for me to do, I just become sad about things and this is one of them.  I fall deeper in love with the Bible and our father in heaven each and every year around this time. The things our Lord did while on earth and the events that took place these 40 days before Easter are so important. As a family we will pray much deeper, read the Gospels, and try to walk along the road that Jesus took for our salvation. We also know that it is only by the Grace of God and our Salvation in Christ that we can make it to Heaven.  

Here are our plans for Fat Thursday, Fat Tuesday, and Ash Wednesday.

We start our plans earlier then some. My husband’s family is from Poland so the Thursday before Lent called Tlusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday.)  We eat Paczki sweets all day long since we will be fasting starting Ash Wednesday. It is celebrated here in the United States on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday called Shove Tuesday. Here is a little more information on Tlusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday).   We give up meat and sugar throughout Lent; we eat lots of fish, salads, vegetables and soups. We do eat eggs and dairy during this time but as a family we love Meat and sugars so this is a sacrifice to us. 

We will take part in Shove Tuesday by adding some Irish and American fun. I am 50% Irish so we will add some traditions from Ireland as well. For Breakfast will have a very thin pancake kind of like a crepe sprinkled with lemon and powdered sugar, Cheeseburgers and shakes for lunch, Dinner a New Orleans Style cuisine with a little Jazz and a little Irish music. Our dinner   will be Jambalaya and Sweet Potato biscuits, for dessert Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce from Paula Deen Celebrates!: Best Dishes and Best Wishes for the Best Times of Your Life . We will be using our own homemade doughnuts for this, at least I think so will see how it goes.


Plans for Ash Wednesday will be personal and simple

 I will be going out for a Mexican lunch with our Pastors wife I can't wait she has become such a great friend. For dinner this year I will be serving a Black beans and rice along with flour tortillas. The recipe can be found over at Catholic Cuisine. 

We will miss going to mass to receive the Ashes which I am a little sad about, but the Lord has indeed left a peace in my heart about it. We will be going to our Pastors house for the weekly bible study this year instead.  My heart is still in love with the Catholic traditions and mass, I just have had a really hard time with all of the teachings. Know I am not against the Catholic Church in anyway.  When we went to Mass I loved it and felt so close to our Lord, I just never felt a peace in my heart it never felt 100% right to us.  I pray that this Lent all of you find time to keep Christ very close to your heart, remember his sacrifice to all of us.  This is a perfect time of year to fast and give thanks for all our Lord has done for us.

Peace and Blessings,
Pamela