Updated Holy Week Printable & Links

Happy Palm Sunday!

I updated the Holy Week printables that I shared last year.  Click the picture below to access a free Holy Week minibook and blank Holy Week Planning Calendar. (UPDATED 2016)

Looking for activities to fill up your blank calendar?  Look no further!  I've compiled a list of resources and ideas below!

Holy Week:

Holy Week Printables @ Teaching Heart


Holy Week Meditation Journal @ Kids and Glitter


Holy Week Box @ It's An Always...Always Kind of Love


Holy Week Activities Post 1 and Post 2 @ Eyes on Heaven


Holy Week Day by Day @ Eyes on Heaven


Holy Week Mobile @ Drawn 2B Creative

Housecleaning Tradition @ Catholic Culture


Animated Passion Trilogy


Holy Week in Handprints @ Catholic Icing


Jerusalem Lesson and Godly Play @ Catholic Icing


Holy Week Lesson Plan @ The Catholic Toolbox


Peg Doll Holy Week Calendar @ Catholic Missionary Family


Holy Week 3-part or Sequencing @ Tired, Needs Sleep

General Triduum:

Triduum Bracelet @ Loyola Press


Triduum Notebooking Page @ Sadlier


Triduum Links @ The Catholic Toolbox


Triduum Craft @ Catholic Inspired


Triduum Coloring Page @ Look to Him and Be Radiant

Holy Thursday: 

Last Supper Craft @ Catholic Icing


Holy Thursday Learning Pack @ Eyes on Heaven


Watch Prince of Egypt to understand the Passover.


Last Supper Notebooking Page @ Catholic Icing


Unleavened Bread Recipe @ Catholic Icing


Passover Themed Snack @ Family in Feast and Feria

Good Friday:

Pray the Stations of the Cross.  (We use the Happy Saints version).


Begin Divine Mercy Novena.


Good Friday Nature Walk @ The Unlikely Homeschool


Good Friday Crafts @ Catholic Inspired


Good Friday Schedule and Printable Activities @ Eyes on Heaven


Watercolor Crucifix Craft @ Do Small Things With Love


Crown of Thorns Snack @ Free-N-Fun Easter


Crucifixion Notebooking Page @ Catholic Icing


Printable Resurrection Eggs @ Teaching Heart

Holy Saturday

Easter Story Cookies @ Catholic Icing


Lenten Supper @ Shower of Roses

Thanks for reading!

Check out my Holy Week board for more ideas:
Follow Andrea's board Catholic Kids: Holy Week on Pinterest.

8 Quick Ways to Celebrate the Annunciation

The Solemnity of the Annunciation is the day we celebrate the angel Gabriel coming to Mary to tell her that she will be the mother of Jesus.  It is always nine months ahead of Christmas, on March 25th.  Though it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, there are so many wonderful ways to celebrate this special day!

Food
1. Eat Waffles!  It is a tradition in Sweeden to eat waffles on this day, owing to the fact that "Vaffelsdagen" (Waffle Day) and "Varfrudagen" (Lady Day) sound so similar.  (Source).

2.  Enjoy a Mary ParFIAT.  Enjoy a blueberry yogurt parfait for breakfast or a snack and make sure that your children understand what the colors of the various elements mean.

Coloring & Crafts
3. Print and color - probably the easiest way to celebrate this special day!
Family Feast and Feria - 4 different coloring pages
St. Anne's Helper

4. Create a Marian triptych.

Prayers
5. Pray the Joyful Mysteries

6. Pray the Angelus.

Songs
7. There is nothing I love more than a good Mary song!  Sing some of your favorite Marian Hymns in honor of our Blessed Mother.  My favorites are Sing of Mary, Hail Mary - Gentle Woman, and Holy is His Name.

Art Appreciation
8. There are so many beautiful paintings and works of art that showcase this amazing moment in Jesus' life.  Some of my favorites are listed below.  Find your favorite piece and discuss it with your children.
The Annunciation by Maurice Denis
Annunciation by J. Kirk Richards
The Annunciation by Frederic James Shields

For more great ideas, check out these awesome posts:
12 Simple Ways to Celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation
Spiritual Adoption of the Unborn
Celebrating the Feast of the Annunciation
8 Activities for the Feast of the Annunciation
Kids Don't Forget a Thing Like Waffles for Dinner
Feast of the Annunciation
On the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord


Thanks for reading!

Puzzle Checklist: How to Turn Completing Schoolwork into a Game

Do you have a younger homeschooled child who moans and groans when it comes to finishing schoolwork?  Perhaps your child has problems staying on task, or perhaps just wants to know when they can finally be done so they can go play outside!

Once upon a time I had a laminated visual checklist hanging on the classroom wall with pictures of our subjects along with little checkboxes which we would check as we worked through them.  My little type-A daughter inherited my love of checklists so this setup worked very well for her.  When I started teaching my son last year, however, he could absolutely care less.  I knew I had to find something else to help him get through his work.

I ran across this great classroom completion chart a couple of years ago, and finally decided to implement my own version at the end of last year with my kids.  I was amazed at how well it worked!  It gives a great visual of how many subjects they have left in a fun, engaging way. 

Want to make your own?  It is so easy!  Print and laminate a picture of your child's choosing.  Cut it into as many pieces as you have subjects for.  Ours are for our "core subjects".  This year Rafael has 4 main subjects (phonics, handwriting, math, grammar) so we cut his puzzle into 4 pieces.  Add magnets to the back and you are done!  We use workboxes so I put each puzzle piece into the corresponding workbox drawer.  They get to put up each puzzle piece onto our whiteboard after we finish each subject.

Thanks for reading!

Joaquin Que Lucero-Watje

On January 22nd, at exactly 33wks pregnant, I went in for a routine ultrasound due to my gestational diabetes and discovered that my son had died in the womb.  There was no heartbeat.  I can't begin to describe the emotional whirlwind I felt that day as I had to come to terms with losing my son.  How impossible it was to call my husband with the news.  How overwhelmed I felt at the thought of having to labor to deliver a child that I wouldn't get to bring home.

I was admitted immediately to labor and delivery after my husband arrived at the hospital.  I remember praying over and over again that the labor would be short.  Boy was it.  The drugs they used brought labor on so quickly and so PAINFULLY that I could feel contractions full force through the IV meds they gave me.  I was literally screaming for an epidural when my son was "born" less than an hour after I felt my first contraction in the early hours of Jan. 23rd.

He was perfect.  They had no idea what went wrong.  Just one of those things that we'll never know.

I was so thankful to have one of my best friends, who is a photographer, drop everything and come to take photos of our precious son Joaquin.  The hospital staff was so sweet and caring.  They allowed us to have as much time with him as we wanted and we spent a wonderful 8 hours saying goodbye.  We had a beautiful funeral the next week with our closest family and friends.  Joaquin is buried nearby in the baby section of a local cemetery where we can visit often.

I found this blog post a few days later and it describes so perfectly how I felt in the immediate aftermath.

"Infant loss is nature's cruelest practical joke. It's investing all of the required time and effort into pregnancy, only to be robbed of the result. It's cradling a body that grew within your own and trying to reconcile the cold, lifeless form in your arms with your memory of the baby who turned double flips in your womb.

 

It's worrying that you'll forget what your child looked like and snapping an album's worth of photos that no one will ever ask to see. It's sobbing so hard you can't breathe and wondering if it's possible to cry yourself to death.

Infant loss is handing off a Moses basket to the nurse who's drawn the unfortunate duty of delivering your pride and joy to the morgue and walking out of a hospital with empty arms.

 

It's boxing up brand new baby clothes and buying a 24-inch casket. It's sifting through sympathy cards, willing your foolish body to stop lactating, clutching your baby's blanket to your chest in hopes of soothing the piercing ache in your heart.

 

Infant loss is explaining to your 7-year-old that sometimes babies die and being stumped into silence when she asks you why. It's watching other families live out your happy ending and fighting a fresh round of grief with every milestone you miss." ~Laura Schubert

I have been absolutely showered with love and prayers the last couple of weeks, and for that I am eternally grateful.  If it weren't for the constant love being shared, and for my faith in God, I don't know how I would be able to get out of bed.

The saving grace in all of this is that I know Joaquin is in a better place.  And that's not a pithy saying.  I know that he died innocent of any sin, and without question, he is with Jesus now.  Selfishly, my mama heart aches for him and wants him to be here with me so that I can raise him and be with him throughout all of life's ups and downs.  I want to be the one that nurtures and comforts him, and the one who guides and shapes his life as he grows up.  But ultimately the goal for all of my children is to get them to heaven.  Joaquin is there.  And that is enough.  For whatever reason, he fulfilled his life's mission in the 8 short months that he was here on earth.  And now my family has a saint in heaven watching over us and ready to intercede for our intentions.  It blows me away to think how blessed we are in that regard.  St. Joaquin, pray for us!

Wisemen Adventures - Day 1 & 2

This year we are participating in Wisemen Adventures. The idea is to move your Wisemen figures around the house "Elf on the Shelf" style while they follow the star, until they find baby Jesus on Epiphany.  Ours started their search the day after Christmas.

Day 1

The Wisemen decided to search the gingerbread houses to see if the Christ Child was sleeping inside. No luck, but the naughty camel found himself a little treat and started eating the snowman's walking stick!

Day 2

The Wisemen were distracted from their search by our Christmas goodies!  I hope they had a good snack because they have a long journey ahead of them!

Stay tuned for more Wisemen Adventures. Thanks for reading!

Reminder: Epiphany Countdown and Christmas Thank You Notes Printables

Don't forget that I have a couple of printable resources on this blog that are perfect for this time of year!

Simple Epiphany Countdown to countdown the time from Christmas to Epiphany.

Simple Christmas Thank You Notes perfect for young children to send thank you notes for their Christmas presents.

Thanks for reading!

12 Days of Christmas Resources

One of my absolute favorite things about being Catholic (besides the Body and Blood of Christ!) is that we get to celebrate Christmas for an extra 12 days after the rest of the world has already started packing it up into boxes for the attic.  Well technically, there are 11 days of the Christmas season this year if you are counting to Epiphany.  18 if you celebrate until the Baptism of the Lord!  Here are some fun resources to help you celebrate:

My favorite go-to resource for Christmas liturgical year info is the Catholic Culture countdown.  It has a great review of WHY we celebrate Christmas for as long as we do, and usually a neat activity and recipe for each day of Christmas.

12 Days of Christmas for Busy Families by Two 0's + More is a great post outlining simple ideas for celebrating each day as well.

Family at the Foot of the Cross has a great post that not only explains the real meaning behind the 12 Days of Christmas Song, but also lists ideas for each day of Christmas as you scroll down.

And of course, Shower of Roses always has amazing resources.  Scroll to the bottom of this post for December feast days, and the beginning of this post for January feast days in the Christmas season.

Have a very merry Christmas season!  Thanks for reading!