Lynn Meadows Discovery Center

We lost my grandfather at the end of May. So our family packed up and traveled the 15 hours (we have kids, remember?) to the Mississippi Gulf area.

Our first day there we met up with my friend Tiffany of As For My House and her littles, Jewel and R.T.

Our family purchased a reciprocal children's museum membership to the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry a couple of years ago. And since then, we renew it every year with money that the boys get for Christmas. It's the gift they get over and over throughout the year! Since we travel so much, the reciprocal membership has taken us to many different museums! We have been to the museum's in Atlanta, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale/Davie, and Columbia, SC.

The first time we met Tiffany, Jewel, and R.T. in real life was at the Miami Children's Museum while they were living in Homestead, FL, and we were visiting. It was a planned meet up since Tiffany and I were "online friends." So, now that they live 30 minutes from my grandparents, we were able to meet up again! This time we met up at the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center. Our boys enjoyed it so much, that we went two days in a row. The second day, we took my nephew Merlin. And after we had left on Sunday afternoon back to Charleston, my nephew was still begging to go back!

At each museum, there are exhibits that I like at each one. This one seems to be our favorite all over museum.

My train loving boys LOVED the Dolan Anvenue Depot!! It had a child sized train, complete with a ticket booth, an engine where you could shovel "coal", and even a dining car where you could serve and be served. Trunks along the platform encourage dressing up!

"Ticket Please, Daddy!"

Joshua enjoying the Bear Camp Bayou toddler area

All of the kids loved the Tree House Village!! Here Jewel is helping John-Michael down the stairs.

We got all 4 kids to climb on one of the structures for a group picture! Joshua, R.T., Jewel, and John-Michael.

Joshua learning about working on a Shrimp boat.

Pa is showing Joshua how to use the rigging to open the nets for the shrimp to fall out

Joe and John-Michael are scaling the Super Colossal Climbing Structure. On the second day, I actually had to have a kid inside the structure help John-Michael navigate his way out. LOL

Jewel wearing a Mantilla in the Celebrate the World We Share - Mexico exhibit. She and John-Michael both dressed up and fixed Tacos. Although the boys seemed to like playing in the child sized airplane the best.

Jewel dressed in attire from the 1890's in the Mississippi History City Hotel exhibit

Joe, Joshua and my dad ("Pa") working at WLMDC-TV. They had cameras and a desk, weather backdrop, on site backdrop, and a control panel you could choose which cameras to use. See? Even the big kids had fun!

Joshua is learning about Hurricane force winds in the A Matter of Science room.

Beside the WLMDC-TV station, was a green room with a kayak. Cameras filmed and played in real time a video of the children super imposed in a looped film of a floating river. So they got to see themselves paddling down a river in a kayak.

On our second day, we got to go to the art room. There they had displays of native orchids, exotics and Pitcher plants. The art teacher explained what the plants where and what they did. then each child got to draw the pitcher plant, and then color it in using water colors.

John-Michael working on his masterpiece.

My nephew, Merlin, working on his art.

All of the boys and my husband and the art teacher working together.

Back in Bear Camp Bayou, John-Michael was playing in the doll house.

Joshua discovered a table of African animals. He liked playing with the giraffes and telling his dad that the Bracheasaurus was similar to the giraffe.

Upstairs in the Mississippi History City Hotel, Joshua went ahead of us and began to shine the shoes on his own. I snapped this as I came around the corner. I guess he has helped his daddy shine his shoes before. :)

back over in the Mexico exhibit, John-Michael was dressed up as an Amigo.

1890's bedroom set up for the MS City History Hotel exhibit

the hotel parlor where we had a tea party.

My husband the news anchor.

We caught up with my brother and nephew in A Matter of Science room. Here they are discovering velocity

In the What It's Like to Be Me exhibit, Joshua discovered what it is like to live with a disablility. They had set ups for Hearing and Visually impaired, as well as physically impaired. Joshua got right in one of the wheel chairs and started maneuvering it up and down a ramp and turning it around like he had done it all of his life.

All in all, this was a great museum with lots of different exhibits. The exhibits weren't as large as some of the other museums, but for their size, the exhibits sure did pack in a bunch of stuff!! It was a well rounded museum and we would love to go back. I hope if you are ever visiting the Mississippi gulf area, you will go and enjoy the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center!

Please also excuse the pictures. I had a very hard week with Blogger trying to upload them. After the first 4, I had to use links from Facebook pictures instead!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

While In D.C., Ashley and I brought all our food to eat to have more money to shop cut down on our expenses. Well, I took care of the hotel and she brought the food, but I digress. But anyways, she taught me this AWESOME recipe!! Since I've been home, I've made it twice now, and put my own spin on it. Ashley uses flatbreads (similar to the pitas you get in a restaurant) and I decided to make my own. This past week, Ashley and her wonderful family came to visit us while our oldest two attended VBS at the Cathedral. This was a great meal to have for our "family of 7"! We even had enough for lunch the next day, well for the adults at least.

I use one of the doughs in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a day

This past week, I used the Olive Oil dough recipe. This is to make it dairy free for Ashley and her nursling. I had enough from the 5lbs mixture to make 10 individual sized pizzas!!

Recipe for Barbecue Chicken Pizza:

Prepare dough per the Artisan Bread in 5, or your favorite pizza dough
Oven preheated to 500 degrees
cornmeal (for ease of removal from baking stone)
Cooked chicken, shredded
Barbecue sauce (any flavor! I use Honey Barbecue)
Cheese (any blend)

This week, I used 4 big chicken breasts, boiled, picked and shredded. I had enough for 10 pizzas plus 1 shredded chicken sandwich. :) Add barbecue sauce to your chicken. You will use almost to a full bottle of barbecue sauce. Set aside.

Now your dough should have gone through it's rise. Punch it down an start tearing off chunks to make into individual pizzas.

Roll out your dough into little pizzas on a slightly floured surface. Do not over flour or the dough will not be sticky enough to hold it's shape. You may need to let it rest after working with the dough.

Your oven and baking stone should be preheated to 500 degrees for 20 minutes past the time your oven tells you it is at 500. I take out my stone and back down the temperature to 450 to not have smoke with the cornmeal. I do not have a pizza peel so that is why I remove my stone.

Lightly sprinkle corn meal on your stone and place the dough on it. Turn the edges up and towards the center of the dough to get a rolled edge. Spread a tablespoon or two of barbecue sauce on the dough and spread it around. Top with the shredded chicken. Leave space so the dough will be able to cook through. Top with cheese and bake until the cheese is melted and the crust is lightly browned and done. To continue making the pizza dairy free, instead of topping with cheese, either leave off the cheese or top with your favorite vegan cheese. Ashley kept hers without cheese and said it was yummy!

Mmmmmm.... pizza!!

When I make it for just my family, I have pizzas left over. Here are two ways I use the leftover pizzas.

1. wrap the cooked pizzas in foil and place in the fridge and eat for lunch. It's even good cold and I'm not a cold pizza person!

2. Prepare your dough into circles, roll edges for a crust, and prick the dough with a fork to cut down on bubbles. Bake your dough for 4 minutes at 500 degrees, and remove from the oven. Top with a layer of cheese on top of the dough, then add the sauce and barbecue chicken, then the cheese topping. The layer of cheese helps protect the dough from getting soggy. Wrap the entire pizza in several layers of plastic wrap and tin foil. Then place in your freezer. When you are ready to use your pizzas, pull them out and put them in an oven and set it at 425 degrees. Once it has reached 425 degrees, turn on the timer and bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until the cheese and crust is done. If you want more freezer pizza ideas, check out Jenny over at Freezer Dinner.com!



I joined the link up! You should too!

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

While my friend Ashley and I were in Washington DC for the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Home school Conference, we headed over to see the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget! The Basilica of the National Shrine is the largest Roman Catholic Church in North America and one of the ten largest in the Nation. It has over 70 Chapels throughout! This place will truly take your breath away. I recommend anyone visiting the area (Catholic or not) to check it out! Here are some of the photos I took under my biz name, Lillian Anne Photography

Depiction of Mary in the Book of Revelation. The Baby Jesus is being carefully taken out of harm's way by two angels. Everything is in mosaics.

The relief is 58' X 17' high and is made from a slab of Travertine Marble. It depicts the Universal Call to Holiness.

Jesus stares down at you while you are at Mass. His right eye is relaxed and looking upon you with love, his left eye is raised and he is looking upon you in judgement. His hands are 5' tall and his head is 7' tall. Everything you see is in mosaics. I think the 3 angels below Him represent Faith, Hope & Charity.

There are 5 domes in the ceiling of the Upper Church. The largest dome is the 2nd largest in DC - only smaller to the Capitol building.

Depiction of Pentecost

This is the gorgeous Blessed Sacrament chapel where the Eucharist is exposed for adoration and prayer. Everything was breathtaking.

This is the Eastern Rite chapel where Bishops & priests of the Eastern Rite can celebrate Mass.

Our Lady of Vietnam.Everything on the ceilings and walls are done in mosaics.

IHM National Conference

I went with Ashley to the national IHM conference in Herndon, VA (suburb of Washington, D.C.). We met some great people like Lacy over at Catholic Icing

It was a great, faith-filled, educational conference! For most of the speakers, Ashley and I divided and conquered (although I think she got some of the better speakers).

I wasn't pleased with the conference location. The speakers and shopping were so spread out we spent a good deal of time just walking from one location to another on the opposite side of the hotel.

I also have to agree with Lacy, when you advertise for FREE Admission, it should be FREE. But all of us were caught of guard when we saw this at the registration tables:

I did leave with a new, head covering friend, some great homeschooling supplies, 3 new veils, and lots of ideas for our upcoming school year!!

If you homeschool, I highly recommend that you attend a conference near you!

Why we homeschool

We constantly get lots of looks when we tell people we are homeschooling. We get this from family, friends, acquaintances, even strangers. Most people turn their nose up. I guess they think they are "better" than us because they send their child off to be educated. Not necessarily.

So while the parents who are paying $7,000 to $25,000 a YEAR for private education think they are better. I ask "is it really worth that money? What can you do for your family with that money if you weren't spending it on that education??"

Some still have the "old mindset" that a home based education is inferior to a public education because the teachers are "more educated." Now, yes, this may have been true in the 1930s to the 1950's when children started to come out of the fields and go to school. Their parents were farmers and had the education that they needed. Not necessarily what would have prepared their children for the next generation.

However, we aren't in that generation anymore. We have access to many of the resources public education has - but we have more time to focus on it. We have access to foreign language programs, higher math & science curriculums, etc...

Take a look at classroom instruction another way. Let's take a general day:
6am wakeup
7am leave for school
8am to 4pm school
5pm to 6pm daycare/afterschool care/latch-key
8pm bedtime

In one school week's time the average public/private school student spends 50 hours a week outside of the home influence. In a time when MTV glorifies teenage pregnancy, Abbercrombie & Fitch are selling padded bras for elementary age girls, and modest clothes are hard to find in stores, is that influence able to be overcome with the roughly 35 hours (1 hour each morning, 2 hours each night, 20 hours on the weekends) that parents have with their kids? Most likely not.

Homeschooling is not for everyone, but it is for us. I love that my children are growing up in our loving influence. They are also getting a solid, Catholic education
that we are confident will provide them with a foundation for their higher learning later in life. We are raising saints, but we won't be disappointed if the become saints and scholars.

Blessings!!

31 Days to Clean

Have you heard about 31 Days to Clean?? It's currently the #1 on Amazon's Home Cleaning, Caretaking, & Relocating section! Sarah Mae is a writer over at Raising Homemakers. I love the content over at Raising Homemakers! I was not raised to be a homemaker, so I have been learning "on the fly" the past few years.

I have been really excited about this book coming out!! Right now anyone who blogs or tweets about the book can receive a free copy (today only)!!

I am so excited about this book and even more about the 31 Day Challenge!!



What People Are Saying About 31 Days to Clean

“31 Days to Clean is just what we all need—refreshingly motivating and gracefully real. This encouraging book makes you truly feel like you can do it– conquer your home while keeping your heart on your family, renewing your vision for cleaning while keeping your motives and life in balance. There is an inspiring word for everybody–I highly recommend it!”

-June Fuentes, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

“This book has already given me the push that I needed to clean my house not only for my family and myself, but for reasons beyond that. I love that there are small do-able tasks each day to clean but also a task to give inspiration to keeping a clean house. Love everything I have read!!! Thank you to Sarah Mae for such an amazing resource. I will be giving this book to each of my girls as they move out, so that they will be blessed with this great book as well!”

-Angie, Amazon Review

“What do you think of when you consider doing laundry, washing dishes, and cleaning the dreaded bathroom? Are you discouraged? Do you feel overwhelmed? I have to say I feel that way … often. In all my live-long days I haven’t seen my home as a ministry. Can I serve Jesus and others as I clean my home? Sarah Mae proves I can. As a wife, mom, mother-in-law and mentor to teenage moms I’m going to cherish this book and share what I learned. Cleaning is more than just fighting germs. It can be a ministry of the heart!”
-Tricia Goyer, author of 25 books, include Blue Like Play Dough: The Shaping of Motherhood in the Grip of God


“Whether you need to be more like Mary and approach housekeeping from a God-pleasing heart, or you need to be more like Martha and get your physical house in order, this book is for you! In addition to thoughtful, authentic reflections on they why’s of keeping a house up, Sarah Mae gives specific, actionable tasks each day to get you started. Do this for 31 days and not only will your soul be refreshed, your house will be sparkling, too!”
-Angela, Homegrown Mom



“This is no ordinary “how to clean your house” book. In 31 Days to Clean – How to Have a Martha House the Mary Way, Sarah Mae goes beyond the “how-tos” and gets straight to the heart of the matter. Why is it so hard to keep up with the day-to-day tasks of running a household and what can we do about it? Each day will challenge your thinking and drive you to The One who offers grace and comfort.”

-Kimba, A Soft Place to Land



“Sarah, thank you, from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful resource! God bless Flylady – she’s a tough cookie – but I just cannot keep up with her, and I cannot find motivation in her methods. This book, however, with the Mary and Martha approach, gives me not only motivation to clean my home, but also to haul out my Bible and spend time in the Word, searching out scripture to go with the daily devotional… My mother and I are doing this book together. She lives 8 hours away from me, and we’ve found this to be something to do together. We can challenge and encourage each other in this area, and your book is a wonderful guide for us.
Thank you, once again, for your obedience in writing this book! God bless you!”

-Val, Amazon Review

Beginning of Lent

So I've been a little slack keeping up with the goings on. Here is a catch up of our Lent.

Well, I just deleted my first photo by accident. I am not going to go through the hassle of uploading it again, so I will keep going.

The beginning of Lent is Ash Wednesday. The day before is referred to as Mardi Gras/ Fat Tuesday/ Shrove Tuesday

We spent the day in preparation of Lent with a few school activities. The first was working on our Alms Cross and the second was our Mardi Gras masks.

Here is our supplies laid out on our kitchen table which is where we do our school work.

I needed an alms box. I had JUST gotten rid of an oatmeal container that would have been perfect. So I went looking and found this container. My dad buys these drink mixes for himself for while he is visiting. I removed the wrapper and had my cylinder. :)

 

 

 

Our Alms box covered in purple construction paper which was hotglued. In the background you can see our Alms Cross. I found this great project over at Catholic Icing. Please check out Lacy's blog and all of the great ideas she has!

 

 

 

 

 

Our completed Alms Box

Joshua working on his Mardi Gras mask.

The boys chose their sequins and the position of the feathers. I hotglued the feathers on, Joshua glued his sequins, and I helped John-Michael glue his. He chose which ones and I stuck them in the glue and he pointed to where he wanted them stuck.

Joshua's finished mask. He insisted on the feathers "on my nose."

Our finished Alms cross. This hangs in our school area and the boys take turns counting the pennies and removing them for the Alms Box.

He was very proud of his mask :)

Did you know you can suck a paci AND wear a mask at the same time?? Poor little guy was tired, this was taken just before bedtime. His arm is behind his head because he is twirling his hair. :)

For the rest of Mardi Gras, we had our "Aunt S" over for pancakes (in olden times, fasting and abstinence was strict and most people gave up butter, flour and eggs for Lent. So they used them all up for pancakes the night before.)

On Ash Wednesday we went to Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and started our Lenten Season. 

Click HERE to see our Weekly Lesson Plan that we used for the week of Ash Wednesday.

I will upload more from our schooling as I have the chance.

Headcovering giveaway!

Head on over to Beloved and enter in Amy's giveaway for a $20 gift certificate to Sowers of Hope. This is a GREAT giveaway!! I love their Bethany veils and their Tichels!

What would you get??

Patterns for a Cause

A couple of years ago, I joined an awesome online community of like-minded women. Now, I've joined a lot of online groups over the last 3 years, but this is by far my favorite group. I have laughed & cheered with them during triumphs, sobbed during their sorrows, oohed and aahed over their creative ingeniousness, and even been pea green with envy from time to time. :)

The leader of this rag-tag bunch of home-ec missfits, is an awesome woman named Berritt. Berritt is the kind of woman who says it like it is. If you compared her to a wild-west figure, you would say she "shoots from the hip." When she posts, you stand up and take notice.

Well, last week we all stood up and took notice. Berritt's awesome husband of 9 years was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia or CML. The good new is that it is in a treatable and manageable stage. The bad news is that they do not have prescription medicine insurance. This lifesaving treatment is going to cost the family $7500 a MONTH. Yes, a month.

So when the outpouring of love started to build, and ideas were being strung about for fundraisers, donations, and love offerings; Berritt politely declined. Instead she asked for prayers and for us to help promote her business. Berritt is one of those aforementioned goddesses that brings out the green-eyed monster. From her wicked photography skills, to her pattern creating genius, Berritt is who I want to be when I grow up.

Berritt has two online stores right now. Lille Skapet is a great little store for patterns for that little princess in your life. No princess in your life? Head over to Birdiful Stitches and check out her awesome patterns for cameras, DSLR and SLR lens cases, and even carriers and covers for your Nook/Kindle/E-reader. 

These are my favorites right now. How cool are my Nikon lenses going to be in these little bags all pretty in my Tamarac Expedition backpack? And I will have to sew some up for DH and his "new" lenses since I gave him my kit lenses when I upgraded my glass.

Can't sew or don't see anything that really gets your money burning a hole in your pocket? Say a prayer for this family and pass on the info to all your friends. Don't forget to add them to your prayer circles and prayer lists.

Blessings!!

Doing More for Lent

Today is the feast day of Saints Perpetua & Felicity (martyrs).  Saint Perpetua not only had a nursing child, but was also pregnant when she was condemnd to death for her faith. She was martyred two days after giving birth to a baby girl. How scary it must have been, not only to face wild animals in the arena, but to leave your very young children in the hands of others to die for your faith. She is quoted to have said, "Neither can I call myself by any other name than what I am -- a Christian."

How powerful is that statement?

Can our friends and acquaintances say that about us? If you were to be condemned for being a Christian, is their enough evidence against you?


This Lent, I have decided to forgo our normal homeschooling curriculum for one devoted solely to Lent and deepening our faith as a family. The 4 main sources I am gleaning from

The Lent - Easter Book

The BIG Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions

Catholic Icing

The Catholic Toolbox

Plus several other sites. There is no lack of information, crafts, activities, etc.. out there for me to look for. I really have to try to not get so excited and look at everything. LOL

Lent is a special time for Catholics. It calls us to prayerful reflection, penance, fasting, and almsgiving. Joe and I want our children to live lives of faith. We are prayerfully hoping that by devoting our homeschooling time completely to Lent, we will help our boys turn their faith into action. Yes, our children are still very young, but instilling and growing faith while they are young will help them grow to the men of faith we pray they will become.

Matthew 19:14 but Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Proverbs 22:6 "Train a boy in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not swerve from it."

(Quotes taken from the New American Bible)

For myself, I have been prayerfully considering what to do to deepen my faith more during Lent. For those that don't know me to terribly well, I will give a synopsis of the past few years. On Easter 2003, I converted to Catholicism. It was one of the biggest decisions of my adult life. I made the decision of my own free will, and basically against the wishes of my parents, friends, and coworkers. I was given no instruction on how to receive communion. We were told very quickly to just cup your hands, and then with one hand, remove Christ, and place on your tongue. In my heart, I knew that was wrong. I did a lot of research and learned how to properly receive on the tongue. I began doing that and you will never see me do anything else.

A year later, I heard an apologist speak and during his awesome talk, he mentioned women wearing headcoverings at Mass. This is due to 1 Corinthians Chapter 11, and Canon Law. Those that know me, know not to through down a gauntlet that you do not want thrown back at you with a massive amount of research done. I did the research, and did a lot of prayer. My heart had a revelation and I found myself confessing to my friend (my future husband), that I was being called to veil at Mass. How I received my first veil was also a calling. ALMOST identically to how God blessed me with my first rosary, he did the same for my veil. I was on lunch break, and was driving down Wade Hampton Blvd, when I was told to pull into an antiques store. I had never been there before, but did as my feeling told me to. I was lead immediately to a booth, and was lead to kneel down and find a box, and to dig through this box of scarves. There at the bottom, was a chapel veil (link is similar in style). I wore it on Good Friday. I went up to venerate the cross, and as I went back to my seat, I was OVERWHELMED by the scent of roses. Now everyone I have told that story to says "Oh! Saint Therese!!" I just smile and nod, but I know in my heart that it was our Blessed Mother giving me her nod of approval.

So that is why you will NEVER see me enter a Catholic church without a skirt/dress on and a headcovering on my head. I have many types of headcoverings. I have snoods, chapel veils, a titchel,  and a mennonite circular lace bun cover (image is similar, but mine is much smaller).

Here I am wearing a black, lace chapel veil at the baptism of our Joshua:

And here I am wearing a white, lace chapel veil at the baptism of our son, John-Michael. This veil is a veil I found in one of my mother's underbed drawers when we were dismantling the bed. She used it during the wedding of one of her cousins. It is currently my favorite veil (even if it is white - i.e. not traditional for married women).

When I was working at the Diocese of Charleston, I was called to veil at all times. Prehaps this was due to working so near to the Bishop, especially when I worked in his office. I was persecuted greatly for this act. It's amazing how when you do something so near to God's heart, satan will go to great lengths to stop you.

I did stop veiling full time when I left the Diocese. I was working for the Catholic Radio Association and was growing more and more pregnant by the day. There are very few covering women here in the Baptist Bible Belt. The only other women who are covered downtown are the Daughters of St. Paul. Since people were staring, I didn't want them to think I was a pregnant nun, so after some prayerful consideration, I stopped.

For lent this year, I am going to prayerfully take up headcovering full time again, instead of just part time. At Easter, Joe and I will reflect if this is something we will still continue. Along with covering full time, I will be praying the Liturgy of the Hours full time again as well. It is a practice that has gone by the wayside while raising two boys.

Please pray for my Lenten journey, and I shall pray for yours.