Living Like a Saint~ Saint John Fisher

"The life of man here is only for awhile; it will shortly perish and be at an end. No space, no void of time, no leisure can be had, but always it draws to an end. It cannot be at a point; it is never truly at rest for one minute of an hour. Whether we eat or drink, wake or sleep, laugh or weep, our life here is always drawing to an end."

~ Saint John Fisher

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Goals for the Year

Welcome to 2017! Can you believe another year has come and gone? The years are flying by faster and faster. I remember when a friend told me how fast the years would fly by once you had kids. He was older,wiser, and had raised his kids already. He knew once you had children you had something to gauge the years by. One day they're sweet little babies then the next they're teenagers full of attitude. Oh well, times goes by! We just have to keep moving with it. This year, I've been thinking about things that I can do to make my life easier and happier. So I've come up with 10 goals for this year.  My Goals for 2017 1. Lose Weight & Get Healthy.......this goal I have already started. I started on January 1st and have already lost 6 pounds. My goal is to lose 30 pounds total. I've eliminated sugar from my diet. I won't lie it was tough the first few days, but now I feel great!  I am already gluten free, so need to give up bread. I am eating meat, eggs, and veggies! I;ll eventually add in fruit once I get to my goal weight. I'm following more of a paleo diet. I always feel better when I take out the bad carbs. I've increased my water intake. I rarely drank water and now I'm drinking half of my body weight. I've also increased my activity levels. I'm walking 5 miles a day! Right now with the cold weather, I'm walking inside with a DVD.

Once the weather warms up, I'll head outside and walk around our lovely mountain.

2. Spend More Time in Prayer.....My goal is to start reading the Bible daily and praying the Rosary daily.

3. Clean Out the House....Sadly, we still have a toys for little ones, clothes that my kids haven't worn in a few years. and much more. I really want to get our house clean, organized, and clutter free. Every year, I purge some items, but I always keep a few items for sentimental reasons. I now feel the need to clear out the clutter, so we can spend more quality time together as a family. Clutter makes cleaning a nightmare!

4. Start My Sewing Business.....For the past 2 years, I have been debating on getting back into designing and sewing again. Fear, doubts, and time constraints have held me back. I've gotten my sewing space in order and plan to set aside a few hours a week to get to work. I plan on starting with girl's dresses and skirts. Of course, I'll be sewing clothes for American Girl dolls too.

5. Get Back into Scrapbooking.....Years ago, I started scrapbooks for my children. I did their first 5 years and had every intention on continuing on with it. They love looking back trough their books and I love that once day they will have books to show their children. So my goal is too get back into it and catch up. This will take awhile since I'm about 7 years behind.

6. Stay on Top of Laundry....I know this doesn't sound big, but it is for me. I get behind in laundry, play catch up, and then get behind again. I'm currently trying to catch up and when I do my goal is to do a 1-2 loads a day to stay on top of it all. Wish me luck!

7. Attend Daily Mass.....I know I won't get there everyday, but I plan on trying to get there at least 1 time a week. If I can get that done, I'll then aim for 2 times a week. This of course would be in addition to our Sunday Mass.

8. Work On My Patience....Lets face it, it can be difficult to keep our cool all the time. Kids not listening, complaining about school work & chores, fighting with siblings, etc. The list can be endless. Unfortunately, we moms sometimes lose it. So my goal this year is to stay calm, have patience, and respond with a calm voice. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

9. Read Some Classics.....I love to read! Lately, I've been finding the book selection lacking. So I'm going back to the classics. I want to reread the books I read in high school and college. I'm going to add a few I've never read before too.

10. Rework Our Homeschool Curriculum.......Now that both kids are in Middle School and heading into High School, I feel the need to take a look at our homeschool curriculum. I'm reassessing our plans and goals. I want to have the kids have a little more input into their study choices. They both have area they are interested in and I would love to see where they would like to head. I think  if they have some more say, they may enjoy learning even more.

What are your goals this year?

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Traveling Thursdays~ A Prairie Dog Farm

After our brief stop at the Corn Palace in South Dakota, we headed off towards the Badlands. Before entering Badlands National Park, we stopped at a prairie dog farm. They are the cutest little things. 

They just popped out of their holes and peered around. 

They really looked like they were saying, "Hi, How are you? Welcome!"

There was always a few lookouts keeping an eye on the whole area. 

They were very alert little soldiers.

The place we stopped had peanuts you could buy to feed them. 

The kids enjoyed giving them a few treats. 

They loved the peanuts!

I just love their little tails. They are always moving.

A t-shirt image Michael liked.

They even had a HUGE prairie dog you could take a picture with.

Along the way, we did pass Red from the Disney Cars Movie.

The prairie farm we stopped at was right before you headed into the Badlands. We really didn't need to stop, because once you enter the park you will thousands of these little guys scampering around!

Next stop.....Badlands National Park!

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you.

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Living Like a Saint~ Saint John Bosco

"Without confidence and love, there can be no true education. If you want to be loved, you must love yourselves, and make your children feel that you love them."

~ Saint John Bosco

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Our Patron Saint of the Year

Saint Catherine of Genoa

"Our self-will is so subtle and so deeply rooted within us, so covered with excuses and defended by false reasoning that it seems a devil.

When we cannot do our own will in any way, we do it in another, under all kind of pretexts of charity, of necessity, of justice....

from the example of others, or of pleasing someone who is trying to oblige us."

~ Saint Catherine of Genoa

This year, I was granted the name of Saint Catherine of Genoa from the saint name generator. This is the 4th year I've used this wonderful tool to find a patron saint for the year. I've enjoy learning about the saints I have been given and praying for their guidance and intercession. 

I have to admit I had never heard of Saint Catherine of Genoa. I knew plenty of other Saint Catherines but not this one.

So who was this Saint and why was she chosen to be a saint?

Saint Catherine of Genoa was born in Genoa during the year 1447. She was the daughter of nobles. She was the youngest daughter of five children. At an early age, Catherine was very religious. Prayerful and pious, she felt called to the religious life very early in life. At the age of thirteen she tried to enter the convent. Because of her young age, she was turned away. 

At the age of 16, she entered into an arranged marriage with a Genoese noble man, Giuliani Adorno. Unfortunately, he was not a success as a husband. He failed at being a good husband and a good provider. They fell into bankruptcy. He was mean, violent, cruel, and unfaithful to Catherine. The couple was unable to have children leaving Catherine childless. This difficult marriage and life lead Catherine to fall away from her faith and into a deep depression. 

After a few years, Catherine turned to prayer. She prayed for an end to this depression and return to her old self. God heard her prayers! One day she decided to head to the convent where her sister lived to say confession. When she knelt down to confess her sins, a Divine light pierced her soul! The vision showed her revelation of God's love and her own sinfulness. She fell into religious ecstasy. She focused on penance and prayed for the poor souls in purgatory. She was deeply affected by the souls in purgatory and often felt their deep pains in our own soul. 

For the rest of her life, Catherine was devoted to God. She returned home to her husband and helped lead him to the faith. She never gave up. Catherine was able to convert Giuliani before his death in 1497.  Catherine went on to help the poor, homeless, and sick. Worn out from her labors, both body and soul, she passed away on September 15, 1510. She was beatified by Pope Clement X on April 6, 1675, but was not canonized until June 16, 1737 by Pope Clement XII.

Saint Catherine of Genoa is the patron saint for brides, childless couples, difficult marriages, victims of adultery, victims of unfaithfulness, and widows. She is also known as the Apostle of Purgatory.

Want to find out your patron saint for the new year?

Head over here and find out!

 Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you. 

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Blogging Through the Alphabet

I wanted to share with you all this fun new blog hop.

I am joining the  Blogging Through the Alphabet blog hop with fellow bloggers from the Homeschool Review Crew. Annette from A Net in Time and Amanda from Hopkins Homeschool are co-hosting this blogging adventure. It's sounds like it will fun, but educational too.

What is Blogging Through the Alphabet?

So each week for 26 weeks, a letter of the alphabet is done. Everyone who is joining in will blog about that particular letter. So for example the first letter of the alphabet is A, everyone would write a post about something that starts with A. For example.....Acorns, Antarctica, Accessories, Acting, Airplanes, Astronauts, Apples, Apostles, etc. It's fairly simple. Pick something you want to write about but the only rule it has to begin with the letter of the week. After A, it will move on to B, after B it will move on to C and so on until the letter Z is reached. 

Random thoughts or topics can be picked or a series can be done. Countries, foods, animals, crafts, etc. Annette suggested people from the Bible and field trip ideas. I thought both these ideas were fantastic.

So if this is something that sounds like fun and you want to join, they loved to have you!

Letter A ready on Tuesday January 17, 2017. The following letters will be on the following Tuesdays.

I hope you join in!

Here are the rules:

1. Linking time is Tuesday to Saturday

2.Family friendly post on a variety of topics (if unsure just ask Annette or Amanda)

3. If it isn't family friendly it will be removed

4.Linking back to A Net in Time or Hopkins Homeschool would be great. You can find the blog button over at A Net in Time.

5. For a hashtag, you can use #abcblogging

6. Visiting other pages and commenting is always a great way to get to know people and it' always fun to stop in and say HI!

7. Have Fun!

If you still have question or just want to know more be sure to stop in and see Annette and Amanda. They have all the info since they are co-hosting this fun blog hop!

 Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you. 

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Homeschool Crew Review~ The Beginners Bible from Zonderkidz

As a Catholic mom, it was very important to me to introduce my children to the Bible and their Catholic faith early on. Over the years, we have owned many first Bibles. Today, I am thrilled to share with you The Beginner's Bible from Zonderkidz.

Zonderkidz is a part of the Christian company, Zondervan. Zonderkidz focuses on materials for children ages 12 and under. Zondervan is a world leader of the NIV Bible, Christian books, educational resources, religious curriculum, and digital products. The company has materials sold in over 60 countries and in 200 different languages.
For this review, we received The Beginner's Bible.  The Bible is hardback and costs $16.99. My kids are too old for this Bible. Somehow, they have continued to grow bigger and bigger. We do have an older copy of this bible from when my children were wee little ones. We used to read it daily and we often took it to Mass to help them sit still. It is now packed away for when they have little ones of their own. 
The Beginner's Bible is geared for children ages 6 and under according to their website. I would say the book is great for kids ages 10 and under, depending on your child's reading abilities. Older children can easily read the book by themselves, while younger ones would need help reading it. I love how on the first page there is a spot for who the book belongs to and a line that says "Will you please read to me? Thank you" Little children love to be read to and what better book than the Bible.

The Beginner's Bible is over 500 pages long and filled with beautiful, bright images. This new version of the bible includes 3D illustrations. I can't get over how bright and vibrant the pictures are. The older copy sadly looks dull and boring after reviewing this copy. I wish they had this book when my kids were little.

The Beginner's Bible is a wonderful bible for young children wanting to learn about stories from the Old Testament and New Testament. It's a perfect way for parents to introduce these bible stories. The book contains stories from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. There are over 90 stories accumulated in this book.

Since my kids were too old to enjoy this book, I took it to my religious education class. On Sundays, I teach the first grade religious class at my church. I like to start class off with a bible story, before we get into our lessons for the day.....Saint, Virtue, and Catechism. This book is perfect for reading to the children. The stories are well written, easily understood by the children, and are the perfect length to keep little ones engaged! This is a huge selling point for this teacher.

Zonderkidz also offers a  few other versions of this Bible. Parents can purchase The Beginner's Bible Deluxe Edition that comes with 2 audio Cd's or The Beginner's Bible Collector's Edition that comes with 2 audio Cd's and a DVD of 94 Bible stories. 
The company even offer resources to go along with the book for parents and teachers! I found stickers, bookmarks, coloring pages, crossword puzzles, word searches, search and finds, writing pages, and matching sheets. This a fantastic resource and it's FREE!
They didn't leave the kids out either. Kids can find fun games to play online, a few videos to watch, and coloring pages to print with the help of parents.

Want to see more of the great products from Zonderkidz just stop by for a visit on their social media pages.

Zonderkidz Website

Facebook

Twitter

Youtube

Pinterest

Instagram

Check out the reviews from the rest of the crew!

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you.

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