Eileen on Him . . . at least, I try!

Scenes of the Season: Mardi Gras to Easter Sunday, 2009

Mardi Gras, with parade (complete with office chair throne & laundry basket floats!), King Cupcake and King for a Day

 

First Flowers of Spring for the Feast of the Annunciation

SB gives a fistful of violets to Mary and Gabriel... 

...then, we pressed them!

Laetare Sunday:  A Little Break for Weary Little Souls

Just a little something to tide them over.  Halfway there!

Unexpected Snow Day in April

Well, I know three people who were happy about it!

Real, Live Easter Grass -- growing...

harvesting ...

... lining pretty baskets

Doesn't that real Easter Grass look spectacular as a backdrop for all those treats? (We put some plain tissue under the grass as a filler)

Sugar Cube Crosses:  A Good Friday/Holy Saturday Tradition

Last year, we held these together using white glue.  This year, sugar was held in higher regard (!), and the children used royal icing for the "glue" so that the crosses could eventually be used to sweeten their tea.

Decorating the Eggs

A collection so pretty, I wish I'd boiled more!

Holy Saturday:  Soup and Sandwiches for dinner

Step 2 loves sandwiches so much, she says this is what she'll serve at her wedding reception.  Not that she's making specific plans, of course. :)

Beautiful Easter Vigil

Finding the Easter Baskets, with custom-made clues that took 'til 3 AM to put together ...

Uh ... that didn't take long ...

Easter Egg Hunt

We actually forgot to do this on Easter.  Instead, our "hunt" was on Monday!  Taz found the silver egg.  Junie B. demands a rematch. :)

A Joyous Easter Season, to one and all!

Easter Candy Cookies, Redux

Last year we had a wonderful time making simple cake-mix based cookies with Easter Candy mix-ins.  Today, as I tossed some chopped chocolate candies into a Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookie (from scratch), Junie B. asked if we'd be making vanilla jelly bean cookies, too, like we did last year.  Good idea, I thought!  Hence, the repost.  Enjoy!

Looking for a way to dispose of use up the candy for the Easter Baskets and avoid a 50-day long candy binge?

Well, depending on how you use these, this idea might not help! :)  But it's fun just the same, and really easy, too!

A couple of quick notes:  Both the baked cookies and the cookie dough from this unbelievably simple recipe will freeze very well.  The dough should be made into individual cookie portions, then finger-pressed to about a 1/2" thickness--more or less pinky-width--and individually frozen on a tray before storing in a ziplock bag.  Doing this makes the cookies bake perfectly evenly, right from the freezer, and even toddlers can help!

Also, you may want to keep this recipe handy, because it's great for leftover candy from Halloween and Christmas, too!  (Plus, the basic recipe is so crazy simple, you'll want to make these any time you want a quick, home-baked cookie that the kids can make with minimal mess!)

Here's the basic dough recipe:

• 1 box yellow cake mix (or pretty much any flavor you think would be tasty)
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 2 eggs

Stir together in a medium bowl until the dry mix is fully incorporated.  That's it!  Form them into 1-2" balls, and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly browned (don't overbake!).  Cool on the pan for about 2 minutes, then finish cooling on a wire rack.

But wait! Before forming the cookie balls, don't forget the Easter Candy add-ins!  The recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies, so we divided the dough into three small bowls, and Taz, Junie B. and I each tossed in whatever we wanted!

Here's what we came up with:

Taz's Special:  Jelly Belly Delights

• Dig out all the jelly bellies you can find from the community Easter Candy bowl. 
• Work about 1/2 of them into the dough.
• Eat the rest.  Unless it's the coffee-flavored kind; these are unceremoniously spewed at your sister.
• Form into balls and bake as above.  (These took 10 minutes in our oven.)

Junie B.'s Special:  Chocolate Egg Hunt Surprise

• Divide the dough into 10-12 portions.  Unwrap a 1" foil egg, and form the dough around it, completely covering the chocolate. 
• Flatten slightly, and decorate with 3 skittles or jelly bellies.
• Bake as above, for more like 11-12 minutes.
• Note of caution--the chocolate center may take a minute or two longer to cool than the cookie itself.  Take care in offering these warm to the little ones!

Mama's Special:  M&M Pastel Egg Chocolate Chunk Cookies

• Place a handful or two of M&M pastel eggs in a ziplock bag, and crush coarsely with a rolling pin (or whatever you got). 
• Incorporate into the dough, then shape into 12 equal-sized balls.
• Bake 10-12 minutes, depending on size.

We're also considering combining the peeps and the Chocolate Crosses with graham crackers to make Easter S'mores.  I'll let you know if they turn out! :) [ETA:  They're easy & fun!]
 

Getting Ready for the Easter Vigil

All year, one of the ways I help my children prepare for Sunday Mass is to teach them the sung Psalm Response for that week.  (Our musician sings exactly what's in the book, so that makes my job easy! It's also a fun exercise for me in sight singing, and Junie B. practices identifying time signatures and clapping out note rhythms as part of her music lessons. She also copies the Psalm Response and posts it on the kitchen door so we can see it during meals.)  Whenever there is a reading that lends itself easily to it, we also may act out or do a flannel board story about it -- with the hope that the familiarity will increase the likelihood that they will pay attention a bit during Mass itself.

Of course, the Easter Vigil, with its gazillion readings and psalm responses, stretches us to the limit in this department!  I wish I had started at the beginning of Lent, perhaps focusing on a reading and  psalm response each week rather than cramming it all in during Holy Week (oh, well!  Next year!), but this week we're doing 0ur best to at least make the stories and psalm responses fresh and familiar ahead of time.

Junie B. and Taz actually love and are looking forward to the Easter Vigil, long and late as it is.  We've had to search far and wide to find a parish that actually "does it right" with all the majesty and music and emphasis on going from darkness to light, that together make the Easter Vigil the most awe-inspiring and beautiful liturgy of the entire Church year; and last year we actually found one!  (I'd been telling Step 1 & Step 2 since we first met about how beautiful the Easter Vigil liturgy can be, and last year they finally said, "Now I get it!")

(Of course, the little ones also love that we'll be stopping at Tim Horton's after Mass for a late-night snack of doughnuts and hot chocolate, ending their 6-week wilderness experience of life without sugar!) (And I'll be very excited to have a cuppa joe, extra-large, heavy on the cream, myself -- I don't even care if it keeps me awake all night!) :)

If I were as wonderful as Alice at Cottage Blessings (and no matter how hard I try, I have resigned myself to the reality that I will never be  :) ), I'd have  followed her beautiful path for preparing the children for the Easter Vigil that she completed with her older girls a few years back.  Especially memorable to me is the beauty of the children taking home the Easter Flame!  That Alice.  (Actually, I hope to do this at least with Junie B. next year, and maybe a simpler, but equally gentle, version of it with the little boys as well.)

Meanwhile, here's a peek at some of what we're doing this week to prepare for the Easter Vigil.

• Sung responses:  Instead of singing the Psalm Response at the end of grace before meals every day (as is our usual practice), we're singing, "Christ our light:  Thanks Be to God!"  Then, at the beginning of prayer and story times, we're singing "The Lord Be With You/Lift up your hearts" sequence in the Exsultet (I intone, they respond).  It's actually kinda fun!  (And it's very exciting for me to hear my children's little voices raised high during Mass itself!)  To make this little practice even easier, I've found an online recording of the Exsultet.  It's such a beautiful, almost mesmerizing chant.

• Psalm Responses:  Oh, there are so many to learn!  We're just taking the opportunity to generally familiarize ourselves with each of the Psalm Responses by praying one or two of them each day from start to finish.  Again, I wish I'd had the foresight to start earlier; but at least they won't be completely new when they hear them at Mass on Saturday night.

• Readings:  There are three OT readings that lend themselves to easy preparation:  The story of Creation, Abraham & Isaac, and the Parting of the Red Sea.  We are focusing on these three stories using the flannel board, paper bag puppet & figurine reenactments and role play (this is so much fun!  I don't think they'll ever forget last week's role play of  Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, starring Junie B. as the donkey, Taz as Jesus and SB and I laying blankets and throws along their path while we all sang our parish's version of "Holy, Holy, Holy!").  We'll also focus on the NT story of the women finding the empty tomb, and completing a few coloring pages and crafts, as well.  It doesn't have to be complicated to be memorable!

• Of course, we'll also be discussing the order of the service, with emphasis on the lighting of the Easter Flame and its gorgeous symbolism as that flame is passed like wildfire from person to person throughout the Church!  The triumphant ringing of the bells during the Gloria is inspiring and wonderful, too.  And it's also such a blessing to see RCIA candidates entering the Church at the Easter Vigil -- their presence always give me hope for the future of our Church, and it's something I am only too happy for our children to see.  The parish we'll be going to on Saturday night will surely have candidates; our parish almost never does.  (We really don't have to discuss too much more of the Liturgy than that; by this time it'll be close to 10:00, and certainly the boys, at least, will be drifting off to sleep!)

Imperfect though it may be, I'm confident that this bit of preparation will help Junie B. and Taz be joyful participants in this lovely Liturgy on Saturday.  It is an experience we are profoundly happy to share with them!

Refresh My Memory: What Season Is This Again?

These geese are no fools.  They are headed due south.

Well, it is pretty.  And it does cover up all the muddy, brown matted grass and delay spring clean up a little longer.  (Hey!  That means there's no excuse for missing Maple Weekend!  Don't forget!)

And it's just as fun to play in today as it was in December!

Besides, you can have this kind of S'mores in any weather! :)

Ingredients:

• Break the graham cracker into two squares.
• Place a square of Easter Chocolate on one half.
• Top with your favorite peep (or peep substitute, in this case)
• Microwave on high for 10-15 seconds.
• Top with the other cracker half.
• Enjoy!

(Even a toddler can do it!)

Note:  The marshmallow peeps will expand like little balloons in the microwave.  Be prepared for gales of laughter as the kids watch!

Oh...and keep some warm soapy water nearby...

FYI--I found a really cool Easter S'mores in a Jar recipe today that I really want to try!  It looks like it would be really cute, and easy to make, too--stay tuned!  :)

Easter Candy Cookies

Looking for a way to dispose of use up the candy for the Easter Baskets and avoid a 50-day long candy binge?

Well, depending on how you use these, this idea might not help! :)  But it's fun just the same, and really easy, too!

A couple of quick notes:  Both the baked cookies and the cookie dough from this unbelievably simple recipe will freeze very well.  The dough should be made into individual cookie portions, then finger-pressed to about a 1/2" thickness--more or less pinky-width--and individually frozen on a tray before storing in a ziplock bag.  Doing this makes the cookies bake perfectly evenly, right from the freezer, and even toddlers can help!

Also, you may want to keep this recipe handy, because it's great for leftover candy from Halloween and Christmas, too!  (Plus, the basic recipe is so crazy simple, you'll want to make these any time you want a quick, home-baked cookie that the kids can make with minimal mess!)

Here's the basic dough recipe:

• 1 box yellow cake mix (or pretty much any flavor you think would be tasty)
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 2 eggs

Stir together in a medium bowl until the dry mix is fully incorporated.  That's it!  Form them into 1-2" balls, and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are very lightly browned (don't overbake!).  Cool on the pan for about 2 minutes, then finish cooling on a wire rack.

But wait! Before forming the cookie balls, don't forget the Easter Candy add-ins!  The recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies, so we divided the dough into three small bowls, and Taz, Junie B. and I each tossed in whatever we wanted!

Here's what we came up with:

Taz's Special:  Jelly Belly Delights

• Dig out all the jelly bellies you can find from the community Easter Candy bowl. 
• Work about 1/2 of them into the dough.
• Eat the rest.  Unless it's the coffee-flavored kind; these are unceremoniously spewed at your sister.
• Form into balls and bake as above.  (These took 10 minutes in our oven.)

Junie B.'s Special:  Chocolate Egg Hunt Surprise

• Divide the dough into 10-12 portions.  Unwrap a 1" foil egg, and form the dough around it, completely covering the chocolate. 
• Flatten slightly, and decorate with 3 skittles or jelly bellies.
• Bake as above, for more like 11-12 minutes.
• Note of caution--the chocolate center may take a minute or two longer to cool than the cookie itself.  Take care in offering these warm to the little ones!

Mama's Special:  M&M Pastel Egg Chocolate Chunk Cookies

• Place a handful or two of M&M pastel eggs in a ziplock bag, and crush coarsely with a rolling pin (or whatever you got). 
• Incorporate into the dough, then shape into 12 equal-sized balls.
• Bake 10-12 minutes, depending on size.

We're also considering combining the peeps and the Chocolate Crosses with graham crackers to make Easter S'mores.  I'll let you know if they turn out! :)
 

A Blessed Easter to One and All!

Easter Vigil, 2008