Prairie Remnant Nature Walk

In August 2006, a fire occurred in the native tall-grass prairie within this park. This prairie remnant is a part of one of the few remaining sections of the cross timbers forest (which stretched from southern Kansas to south Texas). We have been revisiting this park every year to watch the regrowth and changes that the fire and the plentiful spring rains have brought.

I love thistles! It's the Scottish in me, I guess.

Wild blackberries! We didn't see these before the park burned and now they are everywhere.

More thistles!

Evidence of the fire

Due to some readers' sensitivities, you have been spared the picture of the dead snake. You're welcome, Mom!

A purrrrfectly great birthday!

Bigboy loves all kinds of cats! Stuffed ones that is. Remember this disaster? He's not that thrilled with the live version that can walk and run and scratch, but soft fuzzy ones... well, he can't go to sleep without one or two...or twenty! Whenever he sees a picture of one in a book or magazine, he makes a precious little meow sound and reaches out to scoop it up into his hand. So when he announced last year that his number 5 birthday would be a cat birthday, I was not surprised and didn't expect him to change his mind. He didn't.

The pink streamers were replaced with blue ones and homemade tablecloths, plates and cups helped set the theme. My biggest frustration with a cat theme for a little boy is that most cat decorations are very girlie. It's either kitties in tiaras or Hello Kitty. So, we had to make our own.
The tablecloth was a solid blue one from the dollar store that I stamped paw prints on using some sponges from the craft closet and white paint. We printed out pictures of cute kitties from the internet and glued them to plates and cups. The cups were fully usable but the pictures on the plates would have to be covered in clear contact paper in order to be used. We opted to use them just for decoration.
I drew cat faces on balloons (including the Garfield below) that bounced around where the tulips danced just the day before. I think we're getting good at these quick changes!

Shortcake wanted her favorite fuzzy friend to come to the party but didn't want to spark a cat fight so we created a disguise for her puppy with some chenille sticks.

Where are the party hats, Mom?
Supplies: foam visors, extra foam sheets, googly eyes, puff balls and more chenille sticks.
Well, let's make some!
Glue dots would have worked better than craft glue if you are interested in trying this yourself.

I loved this shot of the boys playing with some birthday LEGOs while wearing their party hats.

My biggest disappointment was the cake only because I didn't get to make it. :( BigBoy had his heart set on this Garfield cake. I asked the bakers if I could buy the figures to put on my own cake. No. I tried to find them online but couldn't find any for a reasonable price. I even offered to make these mom and kitten cakes for him. Aren't they adorable? Nope. The appeal of a fat orange cat kicking a dog's backside was just too appealing to a five year old's sense of humor.

He was very happy and it was kind of nice to only have to worry about one cake this year instead of two. (Husband said that, I didn't.)

Happy Birthday, BigBoy! We love you!!!

A Tulip Tenth Birthday

Our stalks are very straight & tall,
Our colours clear & bright;

Sunshine turned ten this Sunday. The day began with Mass at the monastery and a birthday blessing from the Abbot. Since she is still very much enamored with flower fairies, she wanted a repeat of last year's party only with the tulip fairy (one of her favorites) as it's central focus.

Too many-hued to name them all --
Red, yellow, pink, or white.
And some are splashed, & some, maybe,
As dark as any plum.

The decorations looked similar to last year with the addition of lots and lots of pretty tulips (real and artificial). Husband even made streamer tulips float above the entrance to the playroom which you can see in the top right corner of the picture above.

Grammie gave her a bouquet of tulips along with a gorgeous vase decorated with frosted tulips to put hold them. Thank goodness these delicate beauties were still in season!

A mini-mani for the birthday girl and her sister was a special surprise outing since our plans to visit the botanical gardens were hampered by the weather. We had tulip decals that one of the ladies was able to secure to Shortcake's thumbs, but Sunshine's wouldn't cooperate so she was treated to a painted flower instead.

From tulip-fields across the sea
To England did we come.
We were a peaceful country's pride,
And Holland is its name.

We painted shirts with tulips designs. I cut out the tulip shapes using clear contact paper. The girls blocked off squares with masking tape and placed the tulip stickers in the middle then painted over them with a sponge brush. A dabbing technique works best! When the paint was dry, we removed the stickers and the tape and voila...

My mom's is in the middle with Sunshine's on the left and Shortcake's on the right. This was so much fun. They are already making plans to paint shirts for every season; leaves in the fall, fruit in the summer, snowflakes in the winter, etc....

Now in your gardens we abide --
And aren't you glad we came?

She originally wanted a round cake with frosting tulips on top, but in a fit of birthday excitement, decided to let Mommy get creative. I made a giant cupcake and decorated it with flower fairy figurines. Tulip at the top, of course, along with Willow and Forget-me-not. She loved it! And we love her!

Next up... Bigboy turns 5!

(I am back dating these for my own scrapbooking purposes. Sorry if that confuses anyone.)

Prayers...

...for the family of sweet little Faith. God bless those who loved her and comfort them during this time of loss. Thank you for bravely sharing your little girl with the world!

Tuxedo Strawberries

My chocolate was a little too runny to be piped. (So is my nose!) The later batches turned out better but they can't be photographed right now unless you want to see an empty, dirty plate. I stopped my kids before they licked it clean. Company's here, gotta go!

It's not fair!

You say that so often, I wonder what your basis for comparison is?

I have a cold or a sinus infection or something that is making it impossible for me to breathe, or sleep, or think. AND...I have two birthdays to get ready for. And company coming to celebrate those birthdays. And no scotch tape.

Can you tell I am not a very patient sick person? You already knew that right? So here I sit feeling like my face is going to explode and with a nose as red as Rudolph's and if my eyes weren't already drippy, I think I would cry.

*Pity party.
My house.
Come as you are!

Someone bring the cheese cuz' we are good on whine. Bonus points if you can name the movie quoted above!



*Actually, I am not so self centered as to ignore the sufferings of others who are going through real physical and emotional hardships right now. Please offer your prayers for them and I will offer my small sufferings for whatever they are worth.

Garden of the Good Shepherd~Week 6

OK, so we are still here. It's called perseverance. Or stubbornness.

The theme for week 6 is:

"Oh, What a Beautiful City!"

36. The City Gates : Read Revelation 21:9-14

• Jessica pointed to this Heavenly Gate coloring page last year and I think it is a great idea.
• I also know my girls will love looking at these gates and gardens of Carmel as photographed by Linda Yvonne. Magical!
  

37. The Temple: Read Revelation 21:22-25

• EWTN for Kids still has the Build-a-Church game that Jessica mentioned or we might try an online jigsaw puzzle like this one.
  
• How about... Shirley Temples? Oooh. I think I pulled something stretching that far.
• Maybe a tabernacle craft would be better. We will probably choose a visit to Our Lord in the tabernacle.
  

38. Hallelujah! : Read Revelation 19:6-9

• While we enjoy his work, we might just learn a little bit about him. Be sure to check out all of the great things over at Classics for Kids.
  

39. The Thrones: Read Revelation 22:1-5

• Watch The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, especially the coronation scene.

• We have back-to-back birthdays coming up next week so we might make some birthday thrones for our birthday prince and princess.
  

40. The Bride : Read Hosea 2:18-20

• Break out the wedding pictures and let the children see them. Ours usually stay packed away but today might be a good day to dust them off.
• Make some Mexican Bride Cookies
  

41. The Groom : Read Revelation 19:6-9

• Dress some strawbabies up in some fancy duds! Tuxedo Strawberries
  

42. The Crowns : Read Isaiah 62:3-5

• If you don't have back-to-back birthdays coming up, you might consider making this Cookie Crown Cake. Or maybe a Crown Jewel Cake.
• As for us, we will be making crowns for the birthday kids in lieu of party hats. Okay, THEY will be coloring crowns. I will be cleaning!
  

Owl Cupcakes

I am like a vulture of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places. ~ Psalm 102:6

So much fun! Anyone else craving a Tootsie Pop?

Garden of the Good Shepherd~Week 5

I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you friends. Seven weeks is a long time to celebrate. Apparently, 4 weeks is our natural slowing down point and by 5 weeks, we are pretty much done. Maybe it's just us. Maybe we are too fickle. Or maybe there are so many things to do during this time of the year and we just can't do it all! I think I need to spend some time contemplating what the Church means by celebrating this festal season. Anyway, for those of you still interested, here is Jessica's list from last year and our keep-it-simple plans. Sorry they are late.

The theme for week 5 is:

"The Gardener Plants Paradise"

29. The Tree of Life's Leaves : Read Revelation 22:1-5

• Leaf rubbings

30. The Tree of Life's Flowers: Read Isaiah 55:12-13

• Flower pressing
  

31. The Tree of Life's Fruit : Read Galatians 5:22-26

• This lesson mentions Ambrosia and talks about how some people believed that the saints eat it in Heaven. I don't think I will risk offering this dish until I can be assured that the kids will enjoy it.
  
• Try a new fruit. (Really this is just an excuse to go to the fancy supermarket since I have to pick up laundry detergent supplies anyway.)

32. The Owl: Psalm 102:6-12

• Owl Cupcakes
  

33. The Olive Tree : Read Genesis 8:6-11

• This lesson mentions sacramental oils. We have some St. Joseph's oil that we will bring out and let the kids smell and use.
  
• My kids don't like olives, but they do like Rosemary & Olive Oil crackers. It counts.
  

34. The Palm Tree : Read John 12:12-17

• Enjoy some dates (they grow on palm trees) with tropical punch for snack.
  

35. The Roses and Lilies : Read Song of Songs 2:1-7

• Clip some of our own roses or buy some today. I'm not sure we can find lilies at the store and the daylilies outside don't last long once you bring them in.