Movie Night

Last year, the Knights of Columbus bought a big screen t.v. for our social hall, but because of the flood, we never got to use it.  This month's virtue was the perfect excuse for testing it out.  While the activity suggested learning more about slavery and perhaps watching Roots, I felt that was way too old for our group of girls.  I decided to just focus on acceptance so we watched 'Kit Kittredge, An American Girl'.  She had to learn to accept a lot of changes living during the Depression.

The girls were so excited to get to bring their pillows and sleeping bags and wear their pajamas!!  Of course, I can't let an event go by without doing a little crafting so I made all the girls personalized popcorn containers that they got to take home.  I just have too much fun crafting so the popcorn and drinks became a little concession stand.  Lots of fun.

Just so that I won't forget, we went through 4 boxes of popcorn and a little over a gallon of lemonade. The m&m's were just leftovers from Christmas cookies at my house.  I put them in little individual containers so that each girl could have one.  

Considering it's been a snowy day, we had a great turnout.  Worked out even better because tomorrow there is a 2 hour delay.  Yay!!  We all get to sleep in.

Acceptance

I had to think about this virtue for a couple of weeks before starting to plan out the meeting.  For some reason, I was trying to make it a whole lot more difficult than it needed to be. If you start looking for ideas online, you will find lots of lessons on acceptance of others and perhaps their lifestyles.  I realized that it is always best to keep it simple.  Since everyone appreciates being able to check off some of the activities, I decided to just work on them.

The girls and I tried to figure out the definition of acceptance.  It's always hard to give a definition!  Got lots of examples of what they had to accept.  Then we moved on to #5.  Using a children's Bible, I read the story of the Agony in the Garden.  I got the moms involved and asked them to share something that they had to accept and perhaps how they dealt with it.  It was great for the girls to have their moms sharing. 

We also worked on #4.  It was easy for them to think of the things they had to accept this week.  Well it was really easy to for them to think of all the hard things that they had to accept.  Our "Hard" list was much longer than the "Easy" list. 

While I was preparing for this virtue, I really struggled on how St. Josephine Bakhita was the right saint for this virtue.  How could a person who had been a slave teach us about acceptance?  I read the blurb about St. Josephine from the Member's Guide.  The connection was made with this statement, "Though slow of movement—perhaps on account of the torture she had suffered as a teenager—she did every job lovingly, with a contagious joy. To those who had more visible roles, she would say, 'You go and teach. I will go to the chapel and pray that you may do it well.'" from From Slave to Saint The Story of St. Josephine Bakhita.  She accepted whatever job was given to her and she did it joyfully.  

The girls were really fascinated by St. Josephine's story.  I think more so than any other saint thus far.  They asked a lot of questions about her being kidnapped and also about the scars she had on her body and about her family.  I was a little concerned that I had frightened them so I reassured them with this statement taken from the above article, “If I were to meet those who kidnapped me, and even those who tortured me,” she wrote, “I would kneel and kiss their hands. For if these things had not happened, I would not have been a Christian and a religious today.”  It was important for them to see that she was "okay" even after going through such a horrible ordeal. 

We switched gears then to take about Sudan.  I learned more than I ever knew about the country preparing for this lesson.  A good resource to share is http://www.our-africa.org/sudan/welcome-to-sudan.  Lots of videos, maps and facts.  I took my ipad to the meeting so that we could watch one of the videos and see the maps and pictures.  I also passed out their pages for their passports.

I took our craft from activity #5.  String art wass an inexpensive craft costing less than $5.  My husband cut some of his scrap wood for me.  The boards measure 8 x 6.  I painted them and used a cross that I printed out on paper as my template to pound in the nails.  I used crocheting thread as the string.

We all have crosses to bear and it may be one that we just need to accept.  We need to remember the one that Jesus bore for us.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of all of the different crosses the girls made.  None of them were exactly the same just as the crosses we must carry are all different.  The heart in the middle is to remind us that God is always there for us. 

An Epiphany Party

Last week, we celebrated the Epiphany.  I just thought I would share some of the festivities.

Now what would be an Epiphany party without a bunch of crowns?

 Then we moved onto making beautiful watercolor designs using star stickers and kosher salt.

  I love the results!

They were so much fun to make using these simple ingredients. Here is a link to the tutorial.

Then it was time to munch on some star cookies and other goodies and listen to The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie dePaola.  

When they were done, we played a short game and then we gave the girls their stars.  They probably could have spent the entire party just playing with them.

Before they left, they were given some blessed chalk and prayers to take home and bless their homes.

Just as a note to myself.  Next year, I think I would like to start with a little lesson about the Epiphany.  Otherwise, I would say it was a success!!

Prepping for the Epiphany

This year we decided to have an Epiphany party for the group instead of having a Christmas party during Advent.  I thought it would be a good opportunity to teach the girls what the Epiphany was and also keep the celebrating during Christmas, not Advent.

Today I got together with one of the other moms, and sewed all of our stars for the party.  Wow, 12 stars didn't sound like much, but perhaps when we added the 5 kids running around, it took us a little longer than we thought. 

Hopefully this will be a fun activity for them and we won't wind up with rice all over the social hall.  The girls have so much fun just throwing the prayer ball back and forth that we thought making "shooting" stars for them to throw around would be fun.

Got to finish some of the decorations and the little matchboxes for the Epiphany chalk.  We'll be all set for our big party on Monday!

Unselfishness - Complete Lesson Plan

What a perfect virtue for the season.  I think all the moms appreciated having a review of what it means to be unselfish or giving.  It can be easy for kids to get caught up with the "I wants" at Christmas time. 


Shannon lead the group this month and she provided me with all of her notes.  Wow, I wish I could be so organized when I lead meetings!!  I need to take some lessons from her.  Everything is included for the meeting. 

1.        Gather on blanket.  Have unselfish written on board.

a.        What does it mean?

                                                               i.      Thinking only about yourself, not caring or thinking about others

                                                              ii.      Stingy, not generous

                                                            iii.      Egotistical – thinking you’re the best

b.       What are some examples?

c.        What is the opposite of Unselfish?

d.       What are some examples of selfish

2.       Talk about St. Teresa of the Andes (#2)

a.       Map world, maps of Chile/Andes (Why do you think she was called St. Teresa of the Andes?)  Pass out Passport pages.

b.      She was born in Chile, South America

c.      She read St. Therese’s Autobiography, The Story of a Soul – she was so impressed and excited about it, she wanted to become a nun

d.      She used to write letters talking about her life following Christ

e.      She gave up everything to give her life to God – unselfish

f.      She overcame a self-centered personality to become a person who put others before herself

3.       Split up: moms take girls to play telephone (while other mom’s hide boxes).  Telephone sentences:

a.        “I am unselfish when I think of others first.”

b.        “Praying to God will help me be unselfish.”

c.        “St. Teresa of the Andes was born in Chile, South America.”

4.       Sorting find the boxes activity: selfish/unselfish statements cut into strips and each one put into small boxes.  Hide boxes for girls to find –like Easter egg hunt.  Once a team finds a box, they open it, read the statement, decide if it is selfish or unselfish, tape it to correct piece of construction paper (two pieces of construction paper on table labeled “Selfish” and “Unselfish”)  See attached statements.

a.        Find boxes and tape onto correct paper

b.       Work in partners (older girl with younger girl)

c.        Ask girls how they can practice being unselfish while playing this game (letting others find boxes and giving hints to other teams)

5.       Talk about Christmas – a time to be unselfish, keep Jesus first, not focus on just the presents

6.       Unlucky Jim Story (#6)  See attached story

a.        Have moms leave the room

b.       Read story to girls

c.        Have girls draw a picture about the story Unlucky Jim

d.       The girls will share story with mom using the picture they drew

7.       Write a letter to someone (#4) See attached instructions

a.        Have you ever gotten mail in your mailbox?  How does it feel? 

b.       Write a letter, draw a picture, tell someone about St. Teresa or Little Flowers or just that you are thinking about them

c.        Moms can help daughters organize thoughts

8.       On your way home (#5)

a.        Talk with your mom about some ways she has to be unselfish as a mom/grandma and some ways that you have to be unselfish as a kid.  Is being unselfish easy?

Showing Zeal to the World

I'm a little slow with updating this blog.  I had better get caught up before the New Year begins.

For our second meeting in November, we went to the assisted living community.  We are so blessed that one of our religious education teachers volunteers there.  She not only gets us put on the schedule to visit there, she arranges the crafts for us as well.

This month, we did two crafts with the residents.  The first one was a cute little jar with a picture of St. Mary Star of the Sea.  Charlene gave a little talk on why Mary was given such a name and then passed out the jars along with the rest of the supplies.  The girls got to fill the jars with beautiful shells and then mod podge pretty pictures of St. Mary the Cross.  Simple enough for them all to complete on their own.

The second craft was making a paper bag puppet of St. Mary MacKillop.  I shared a little about her with the residents and a refresher for the girls. 

It is so wonderful watching the girls and residents interact.  We had one of the little sisters just steal the show.  She is from Germany and has a sweet little accent.  She was going around to all the residents, absolutely not shy at all and showing great zeal.  She has all the residents smiling which was so great to see.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of their wonderful projects. Something seems to happen once we get home from our meetings.  The girls' projects go into their rooms only to reappear months later.  Perhaps one day  I'll be able to post some pics.

Zeal - Wreath IV

I love, love, love that I got to do the lesson on zeal this evening.  Some days, I truly just feel like I am so filled with zeal that I could explode!!!  Little Flowers is a great outlet for me to spread that zeal.

Our group has grown so much that I just didn't think it worked well around the tables.  I came in early and put the moms' chairs in a half circle and then carpet squares on the floor for the girls.  I think it actually worked much better.  The girls were excited to be sitting with their friends and the moms were able to participate if they chose.

I started off with defining what zeal was.  It is such an easy one to explain.  It's loving God so much that it gives you energy.  An enthusiasm and energy for God and all that He wants.  I found that the leaders' manual was really helpful for planning this meeting.  We talked about having a false zeal and St. Paul before his conversion and also about the first Christians and the zeal they must have had to be able to spread the word without phones, computers, televisions, or newspapers.  All of the info came from the leaders' manual.

We then completed activity #5.  I pulled over a chalkboard and talked about some of the fads.  This was good because even some of the shyest girls felt comfortable enough to share a fad.  I then asked the girls to share what we could do to keep our faith from becoming a fad.

Then we did a little role playing.  If you haven't had a chance to check out The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, definitely check it out.  They have a wonderful Virtues in Practice program.  They have it broken down into different grade levels.  The following comes from their lessons:

Virtue Activity

We are going to sort of role play or answer questions  by responding with some Godly zeal.  Think about how you can be zealous in your relationship with God by acting with intense love for Him. 

1. The music teacher at school is helping you learn a new hymn to be sung at Mass, and some sections of it are difficult – and you’re tired.
2. You’ve been asked to help contribute your time to help out with a fundraiser for a parish mission trip to Africa.  You don’t know that much about the purpose of the mission, or where it’s actually going, but you do know someone in your parish who is from that area 
3. You play sports for a city team.  Some of your teammates are talking about religion and whether they should become Christians. 
4. You are at the roller skating rink and some girl notices the crucifix you are wearing on your necklace.  She asks you about it.
5. After a weekday Mass during the summer, one of your friends remarks that she skipped Mass last weekend because she wanted to sleep in – and she knew she would be coming to Mass during the week anyway. 
6. An opportunity comes up over summer vacation to help out with Vacation Bible School, but you’d much rather have the time free to hang out with friends.

Some of these were harder than others for the girls to come up with, but we had fun trying.

We were able to work on Activity #4 as well.  I read the memory verse out of the bible and then read Ephesians 6:10.  I also passed out a wonderful handout from Practical Pages.  Head over there for a great drawing of girl dressed in the Armor of God. 

I handed out an examination of conscience for them to use nightly to help them with Activity #8.  The leader's manual gave a great suggestion from Catholic Parents.  

It was then time to switch speeds.  We have a mounted big screen television in our social hall that we have never gotten to use, so I showed a 5 minute video on our saint of the month, St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop.   This was especially good for our littlest of Little Flowers.  We talked a little bit more about her after the video.  The girls also got the next couple pages for their passports.

 Before our craft, I showed them a map to point out Australia.  I passed out a handout with some fun facts about Australia.  Just one warning.  I edited the list before I handed it out as it listed the first gay and lesbian radio station in Australia.  Totally not necessary for our lesson.  Our craft came from here.  I am sure that it could easily be done without buying the file but for $1.50, it was worth it to me to get it done.  They were quick crafts.  The perfect amount of time for what we had left.  I just needed to have a few sheets of yellow tissue paper and I printed the yellow wattles out on card stock.  

Lastly, I handed out hearts to all the girls.  On one side, I put a quote from St. Catherine of Sienna, "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire!".  On the other side, I had the Sacred Heart of Jesus with a banner saying "Set the World Ablaze!".  I encouraged the girls to live their lives the way God would want them to with lots of zeal!!  

 

Wow, how did I fit that all in within 1 1/2 hours?  Isn't it great when it all fits just perfectly?  We will be having an outing in a couple of weeks.  We are going to go rollerskating!!  I would say that will definitely be a day filled with zeal!!

Endurance, Part II

This evening, we had a chance to practice our physical, mental and spiritual endurance.  Before we began, Jessica shared a little about St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes.  Then we took a walk around the parking lot praying the rosary.  I think Jessica certainly had to show some physical endurance as she attempted to lead the rosary walking backwards.  

Afterwards, we let the girls run around for a bit and then headed back inside to do some physical endurance.  Jessica had the girls do some physical activities such as sit ups and bracing themselves against the wall and holding themselves up.  They were having a good time trying the activities and even some of the moms joined in.  

After getting all riled up and excited, we had to practice some mental and spiritual endurance as we spent two minutes meditating and looking at a picture of Mary.  It was hard to stay focused after getting all excited.  

It was a good meeting to be able to put into practice some of what we learned at our next meeting.  Also helped us to be able to complete another one of the activities in the book.