But first, Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Happy Sunday, too! I hope your weekend's going well ... :)
Today I'd like to share some of the pictures I have piling up on my phone, and the crafts we worked on last week. Each one was a suggestion from our purple cross countdown, a chance to spend some time each day doing a little something nice for someone else ...
On Thursday, I began the day with a quick, last-minute craft for Our Lady of Lourdes ...
A tiny paper baking pan + printed image + craft moss + a few rocks + a paper river + a candle = a little grotto of sorts! I kept it lit on the Lenten altar throughout the day.
(Note: Before lighting, I swapped the beeswax tealight for an LED candle since this whole situation was quite flammable!)
Later in the day we followed the suggestion of our daily post-it to create a donation box for the foyer. Here's how that went:
I covered an old moving carton with plain white wrapping paper and added some sticker sentiments around the outside of the box (give, help, lift, love). Then I asked the boys to help me draw happy things ...
Since Little Bear's favorite things right now are volcanoes (complete with hot "la-blah") he requested I add a couple of those ...
It's certainly a colorful box!
It now resides in our foyer where each week we'll add items for various collections in which we're participating.
❤
On Friday, we continued our commitment to care for creation, by making some edible valentines for the birds ...
After lunch I asked all the boys to pitch in with this very simple craft. We threaded cheerios onto pipe cleaners, bent them into heart shapes ...
And then looped them all together ...
Even the youngest could do it!
(Well, the cheerios kept him busy anyway ...)
Finally, we hung our valentines outside for the hungry birds ...
(Translated: Mama threw on her boots and her parka and braved the arctic wind to hang the valentines where we could see them from the windows. It really is SUPER cold these days in these parts!)
And finally, yesterday we worked on sharing our love, by making small hearts written out with the reasons why we love each other. I kind of did this secretly - making up the small red paper hearts early in the day and then passing a batch of five to each family member. (Well, except for the 2 yo and the 20 yo off at college.) As the hearts were completed and "turned in" I glued them onto pretty doilies and then - trucking outside in those boots once again - I snipped some magnolia branches for a vase.
And this was our Sunday breakfast centerpiece! I loved watching the boys faces as I read aloud the hearts. :)
❤
Well my friends, I hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday! We're quite hunkered in because it's all of 8 degrees at the moment (and only because the wind isn't blowing) ... but the sun is shining and the snow is sparkling and our home is warm and full of people I love ... so you'll hear no complaints from me!
But as always, I thank you all for stopping by and taking the time to read ... take care of yourselves and your loved ones ...
I'll be back here again very soon!
