Preparation for the Triduum and Scenes from Holy Thursday

So many thoughts of food....

 Hot cross buns for Friday from A Continual Feast.

 One a penny, two a penny...

 We have a Good Friday birthday girl, who is willing transferring her birthday to Saturday. The coffee cake muffins are for breakfast that day.

 Cleaning as I go.

 Playing in between work with his Mass kit.

 Enjoying our spring weather.

 My kitchen helpers.

 Holy Thursday supper...

 A tweaked dinner...

 Washing of the feet...

 Even the toddler gets involved...

Have a very blessed Triduum!

Meet the Masters: Van Gogh & Cassatt

We have been using Track A of Meet the Masters for art the second half of this year and all of us are loving it. We do Part 1&2 of each artist one week, and then Part 3 (the big work) the next week. That has worked out well so far, although I may spread Parts 1&2 out when we study the next artist. So far we have studied Van Gogh and Mary Cassatt.

Van Gogh:

Starry Night by Fritter

Starry Night by Ladybug

Starry Night by Sunflower

Mary Cassatt:

Creating texture and patterns with oil pastels.

Learning how to draw faces.

Fritter took creative license with his. He did not want to draw ladies in fancy hats.

Sherlock Holmes by Fritter

Lady in a fancy hat by Ladybug

Top Hat Lady by Sunflower

Art is becoming a favorite around here.

We're Going On a Jaguar Hunt

We're going to catch a big one.

What a beautiful day.

We're not scared.

Oh no! A desert! A hot, dry desert.

We can't go over it...

We can't go under it...

Oh no! We've got to go through it!

No jaguars caught this time. Next time surely...

From My Commonplace

It is laudable in a married woman to be devout but she must never forget that she has a household to care for, and sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find him in her housekeeping.

~St. Frances of Rome

From the Trenches

...and what a blessed trench it is!

First up is my silly Teddy...

A morning spent with horses.  The very best kind of morning.

 If you give two boys some chalk, they will need a bath to go with it.  At least it bought me some precious time to do a phonics lesson with Sunflower!

 He has sisters...

 My bookish girl.  Quiet time is everyone's favorite time.

I also had some deep thoughts while sweeping the other day.  Something about how sweeping the edges and corners could be a metaphor for cleaning out our souls.  It was a fitting meditation for Lent.  Cleaning out the dark, hidden corners to make a more suitable place for living.  But life soon takes over my deep thoughts.  And that's purifying and sweet all at once.