March On...!

Living Lent (and Loving Lent), with two children in college and one child in middle-school, has been a very interesting and a very self-revealing journey.

My motivation is stemming from another place, I am finding a different path to His grace.  I would not say that it is easier, in fact, it feels harder to keep to the traditions of the past.  Silence is always a good start.

"Speak, for your servant is listening."  1 Samuel 3:10

March is a month that is sometimes solemn, not in a grim or dour way, but in a ceremonious way.  March is a month of sincere preparation.  

I love decorating my home for all the seasons and for all the major feast days.  It is a cue to remind me and my family what we should be celebrating, and what we should be focusing on.

This coming Easter will be extra special.  We are celebrating two very important events.  Preparing for the big day is exciting and joyous.

But First...we enter into the Easter Triduum, with whole-hearted faith.

However you may prepare, always remember to Keep Love in Lent.

May your Holy Week be filled with His Love, Mercy and Grace.

~ Valerie

Easter Blessings 2016

Our family has so much to be thankful for, and these past few weeks are no exception.  The days continue to pass so quickly!  My desire to journal here about our days of celebrations and family joys is enormous...but the time to do so, is limited.  There simply is no time to journal and share about all the happenings...

He Is Risen!

We will celebrate the Easter Season until PENTECOST, Sunday May 24th, 2015!

~ The Easter Eggstravaganza & Menu ~

Have you moved on from Easter...?  Even though we celebrate for 50 days, here are some pics from our Easter Morning.  I am SO BACK-BLOGGED!

Every year we like to celebrate with the same delicious fare...maybe we add a couple new dishes & decor, in order to keep things a little interesting.  But we always, ALWAYS, serve the dishes we love and crave.  Including:

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Stuffed Mushrooms

Lemon & Dill Baked Salmon

Leg of Lamb with Rosemary

(not pictured) Macaroni Salad, Mandarin Orange Salad, & Quinoa

More Easter fare...

Grandma's Jello & Auntie's Peep Cookies

Mouth-watering, soft, warm, Buttery Pretzels...(from Good Friday)

Liquid Refreshments & Libations...

From the grandpa to the youngest, there was something for everyone!

The Decor...

The Easter Baskets...

{happy}

Simple & Sweet

The Easter Bonnet...

{pretty}

{funny}

FUNNY+

Finger-pointer:  Do your school work!

Confused Child:  School work?!  What's that??

Finger-pointer:  Guess!

Confused Child:  Is it something that you do on Google+???

cartoonists:  Conductor, Little Lamb & the mama - we just kept adding to the fun, til it was done.   :o)

{real}

I cannot express how delighted I was to receive this gift...absolutely wonderfully made, lovely hand-made napkins.  They were a gift from my sister-in-laws mother.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I am still excited.  Can you tell?  It was an incredibly thoughtful and generous gift...and I just LOVE THEM!!!

If you are visiting...Welcome!  I hope you found something pretty, happy, funny, or real here on my little blog.  For more {phfr} times, visit Like Mother, Like Daughter.

You can also visit other Family Journals over at Catholic Bloggers Network

~+~ Blessings ~+~

~ Random Five on Friday ~ April 5th, 2013

Joining Miranda at The Pebble Pond to try and organize FIVE family friendly random moments in my life...Here goes!

1.  We are just beginning to celebrate Easter here...all 50 days of AWESOMENESS!

2.  I make oversized corny love notes and paste them on our walls to let my children know that I'm thinking about them...

3.  I love to photograph my garden...every year, same plants, over and over; I'm always excited and amazed at the new growth and I never tire of the beauty...

4.  See, I told you...

5.  After watching an episode on making cannolis on The Cake Boss, I have been craving one!  Cannoli.  Cannoli.  Where can I get an authentic fresh cannoli?
I'm happy to report that I experienced my first cannoli this week...after months of searching for the perfect one!  It was well worth the wait...If you're ever in San Francisco go have a cannoli and cup of cappeccino here at Stella Pastry and Cafe.  Oh my.

Blurry, but beautiful...
my hands must have been shaking from the excitement.

Visit The Pebble Pond to share in some family friendly random moments on

~ Random 5 on Friday  ~

~ Church Bulletin ~

Do you read yours?
I love how our pastor includes many Easter Tradition ideas in our church bulletin.  We have borrowed a few ideas over the past seven or eight years...
 
Here are some to share:

EASTER BASKET:

No, not from the Easter bunny...lol.  The Blessed Easter Basket has (particular) items that symolize somthing special as it pertains to the Easter Celebration.  For instance,

THE EGG:  Long a symbol of life and re-birth in Catholic tradition.  The egg is the standard symbol of the Resurrection of  our Lord.  It also represents everlasting life and renewal for all who believe in HIM.  Eggs hold the seeds of revival and fertility upon the earth.  The colored egg is symbolic of the tomb in which our Lord was placed.  The egg was originally RED in color, representing the blood of Christ which purifies the believers.

Here are our eggs this year...we tried and tried to get the color, RED, but only managed to get a festive fuchsia...oh well.  We did try.

Our friend made some for our pastor, which came out a darker shade, it was a mixture of beet juice and something else...(onions, maybe; I can't remember!), I think these look much more authentic:

PASCHAL LAMB:  May be made of butter, sugar or baked dough.  It is the center of the symbolic foods-ladened table.  It is the central symbol to the Catholic faith.  For the fullest Easter celebrations, the Lamb is featured carrying a victorious red banner, upon which is a cross.  The Lamb, the symbol of ancient times as the sacrificial animal, now portrays Christ as victorious through this presentation.

We use many lamb symbols (on our table and throughout our home, including the butter, cake, sugar, and paper napkins and paper-mache!  Here are some pictures from years prior:

MEAT:  Ham or Sausage.  The pig, from which this meat is derived, is also an ancient symbol of prosperity.  Forbidden in the Old Testament, they are part of the bounteous meal of Easter.

My mother served both ham AND lamb...

HORSERADISH & PEPPER:  Symbol of bitter herbs of the Passover, signifying bitterness of spiritual exile and bitterness of the suffering of Jesus.

Peppered Potatoes

I'll partake in the horseradish (if roast beef is being served). :o)  Actually, it went well with the lamb.

VINEGAR:  Our Lord was given gall (sour wine) to drink as He hung upon the cross.  Vinegar reminds us of this act when He declared:  "I Thirst".

SALT:  By His words, we are the "salt of the earth", and we are reminded of our Holy Baptism into Christ. 

PASCHAL BREAD:  This is a round loaf of sweet bread, topped with the cross.  It symbolizes the bread of the Eucharistic Meal.  It also declares to us as it vividly declared to the Emmaus Disciples...Christ is known to us in the breaking of bread.  Shown here, at Family Food for Feast and Feria, is a beautiful example and wonderful turorial. 

MYRTLE OR OTHER GREENS:  The Easter Basket is decorated with little branches of myrtle of other greens.  Myrtle is a ritual green, a symbol of purity and is used to decorate all items in the basket.
I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of our Easter Baskets!!  Oh well, here are some other "greens":

OTHER CAKES AND SWEETS:  In addition to Paschal Sweet Bread, and assortment of various cakes and cookies may be used as part of the festivities.  Adorned with Myrtle, or other decoration, they add color and flavor to the Easter Basket. 

Little Lamb made the chocolate covered strawberries...
I've been wanting these all month!

Hand-made cake by my sister-in-law...so cute!

Our Easter Dessert Table is not complete without a carrot cake...
My mother made not one, but two kinds of cake!
Now I know where I got this from...

(I love this part!!!  Our pastor does not mince words!):
"Maybe your ancestors brought different customs and traditions to the USA.  Try to follow them.  Don't cut off your roots.  The tree with cut roots will die."
:o)

This is what I read in our church bulletin about the Blessed Easter Basket:  "The immigrants from Eastern Europe brought many beautiful customs to the USA.  One of them is the blessing of the food for the first meal of Easter.  Every Holy Saturday, some people carry baskets laden with food.  Others carry smaller baskets with an assortment of symolic items of food."

What meaningful traditions do you bring to the table...or around your house?
I'll be sharing more of our Easter traditions as we celebrate the
Fifty Days of Easter Joy...

Linking up to Catholic Bloggers Network:

2013 Monthly Link-Up Blitz -
~ Catholic Family Journal ~