Welcome Back!!!

Finally!!  For the last few weeks, I have been so excited about getting back to Little Flowers.  It feels like it has been forever ago since our last meeting.

We started off our year with a 'Welcome Back Pizza Party'.   I thought it would be a good way to let the girls get some play time in and for any new members to get acquainted with the group.  We had one new member so that takes our group up to 10 girls.    The evening started off with food.  I tried to keep things simple as I knew the girls would be too excited to eat.  One thing I need to remember for next time is music!  It would have made for a more festive time.  Of course our Little Flowers CD would have been perfect.


Before the games, we took a walk over to the church to have a visit before the Blessed Sacrament.  I got the idea from the Little Flowers Girls' Club.  What a wonderful idea to help us always remember to put God first.  Joan has a little prayer posted there that I typed out for all the girls.  We were only there for 5 minutes but enough time to thank God for our group and also work on those church manners and reverence.



After our visit, I had Jessica take the girls downstairs to play some games.  They played an m&m game.  I mean, come on, who won't open up a little with the promise of m&m's?  Here is a copy of the game.  I had to scan it in as I still need to figure out how to save my files from my Silhouette to share.  It will be on my list of things to do.

They also played with the prayer ball.  I've seen people make these out of just plain blow up balls too.  It was totally worth the $10.00 for me as the girls love it.  It is a great filler too for when we need to take up some extra time.  I am always amazed at how excited they get when I bring the ball.  They all want a chance to catch it and pray.







While the girls were busy having fun, I had a meeting with the moms.  It worked out so great doing it that way as it really gave us a chance to take care of business.  We discussed the activities for the year and I stressed the need for volunteers.  We have a really great group of moms who are dedicated to bringing their daughters to Little Flowers.  I want them to feel that this is their group too, not just mine. 

And so begins the new year.  Our first official meeting is in a couple of weeks.  I still need to go back and finish up blogging from last year.  Oh yes, it's good to be back!!

 

Our First Annual Tea Party with the Ladies Auxiliary

This year, we decided to invite the Ladies Auxiliary to join us for our Spring Tea.  We made a great "Save the Date" poster for them at the beginning of the school year and then went to one of their meetings back at the beginning of April to personally invite them to join us.  Not only was the evening to be a tea, but also a modesty fashion show.

This was a very big event for us.  We are down to 7 moms for our group (one just had a baby) and 22 ladies RSVP'd to say that they would be joining us.  I knew we could pull it off, but I wanted it to be really special for the girls too.  I probably drove some of the moms crazy with my little details. 

We were able to use the money from our cookie sale to provide the food and drink and then I asked all the Little Flower moms to bring a dessert.  Each mom and daughter hosted a table which was a wonderful way for the girls to meet some of the ladies from the parish.  It also allowed the ladies to learn more about our group.  The girls were able to show the ladies our display of the virtues that they had worked on.

We were so fortunate that the parish's dishes are quite pretty.  They went well with our china.  I will certainly be on the look out for more china this summer at garage sales.  We were also able to use the table clothes and napkins from the parish.  We had just enough!!!  To continue with the beauty, we had
Angels and Saints At Ephesus playing in the background for our music.  Perfect for a church tea.

At one of the meetings, the girls made cute little flower pots that we used as little favors.  I made up a prayer card with the St. Therese prayer on it to clip on each of them.  There was a little clothes pin inside each flower to hold the card.    All the ladies seemed to love them.

 

I also got crafty and made little place cards with my Silhouette which made seating everyone quite easy.       

 

We started the evening with a quick history of Little Flowers and what our group is all about and then after a prayer, we had dinner.  There was chicken salad sandwiches, ham and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly.  There was also a pasta salad and garden salad and some beautiful little cucumber bites.  We also had a fruit tray, cheese tray, and a veggie tray.  I would say we went a little overboard with the food.  We probably would have needed about half of the food, but better to have too much than not enough.

We  had a beverage station with the group's favorite punch, plenty of different teas to choose from, iced tea and water.  There were also fresh lemon wedges and mint for the ladies' tea.  I had my teenage son work as a server.  It helped the girls keep their dresses clean as he did the pouring of the punch.  He was also a great help clearing tables and bringing out desserts.  He even looked the part in his black pants, white shirt and bow tie.

After dinner, the girls put on a modesty fashion show for the ladies.  They modeled their dressy or church outfit and then got to change into a play outfit.  At the end of it, they all came out together with their Little Flower aprons and sang 'O Little Flower of Jesus' for the ladies.  It was so cute.  When the girls came out, the desserts caught their attention and they totally forgot what they were supposed to do.  They were oohing and ahhhhing at the table.  We all got a good laugh out of it.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the beautiful desserts.  All of them looked so delicious!!  Once again, we went overboard with the desserts.  We could have probably cut the amount in half with this also.

The whole tea lasted about 2 hours.  The girls stayed for a while to help us with some of the clean up and then most of the dads came and picked them up.  It only took a little over an hour to clean everything up which really didn't seem long at all.  Everyone pitched in which really helped.

It was so great visiting with the ladies and also spending time with our daughters.  I know this is going to be a tradition at our church for a long time to come.  Our girls are going to grow up feeling they are very much a part of the church.  When they attend activities, they are going to know the people around them.  What a good feeling!!

The Big Sleep Over

We survived the big sleep over!!!  What a great time.  This is the second year that we have done this and the girls are already planning for next year.

The evening started at 5:30 pm on Friday night.  Siblings were invited to come along if dad didn't get off of work on time.  We ate at 6:00 pm.  Dinner was easy.  We had pizza, a veggie tray, chips and pretzels.  For dessert, the girls got to make fruit pizzas which were a real hit.  They were seriously delicious.  I used the frosting recipe from here and the cookie recipe was the same one from our cookie sale.

We also had a table set up with the scrapbook pages that I had made a few weeks ago.  It was a good reminder for all of us about all the hard work that we had done this year. 

After dinner, we went into the church to pray and spend some time with Jesus.  The most precious thing happened.  Oh how I wish I had my camera with me!!!  The girls had gone up ahead of all the moms.  When we got in there, the girls were all kneeling in front of the Blessed Mother and were praying!!!  It made me realize that all the time I spend on Little Flowers is soooo worth it.  They have learned a lot this year and their love for Jesus has grown.

It was then time for games!!  Jessica was in charge of the games.  She had the girls playing some Minute To Win It Games.  They had a blast.  Lots of laughing.  It was hilarious to watch the expressions and poses that they made.  It was great.  Maybe next year, we should get the moms involved!!!  Although it was sort of nice to sit back and just visit while the girls played.

At 9 PM, we popped popcorn and watched My Catholic Family - St. Edith Stein.  It's only 30 minutes long so its the perfect amount of time yet the girls thought it was so fun to get to watch tv.  For some reason, I thought the girls would sort of calm down after the movie.  If they did, it was short lived!!!

Our plan was to get the girls washed up and ready for bed after the movie, read a bedtime story and then let them have a little quiet time after lights out.  They did wash up and get their beds all ready.  I got them to settle down and listen to a story.  I read from First Communion Days which is a great little book and then it was lights out.  I figured it would take a half hour or so for them to really calm down and sleep.

Part of the problem is that the moms were sitting next door in the kitchen doing some tea party planning.  Of course, the girls took this to mean that they could have a pillow fight and all that other good stuff.  They certainly were not ready to go to sleep.  Finally around 11:00 PM, I decided it was time to just go to bed to get them to sleep.  It took a little firmness with my daughter and then all was quiet.

Everyone was up bright and early the next morning.  A good thing to remember for next year.  Let them know what time they are allowed to get up.  This year, they were making noise at around 5:45 AM.  I told them all to go back to sleep for another 45 minutes.  I'm thinking next year, around 7:00 AM would be nice, at least in my dreams.

Breakfast was kept simple.  Everyone signed up to bring something and there was lots of fruit, bagels, and muffins.  I think the moms appreciated it after a rough night on the floor.  The mess was kept to a minimum and not too much to clean up.

After breakfast, we got dressed and went over to the church to say the rosary.  I found this wonderful idea for praying the rosary here.  I had wanted the girls to be able to decorate the felt hearts with glitter glue but after trying it at home, I realized that it was going to take longer than 12 hours to dry.  It was still a beautiful visual.  While I led it, Jessica passed out the hearts for the girls to lay down.  We sat up near the Blessed Mother's statue and when we were done, gave Mary all of our hearts.

Unfortunately, it started pouring the minute our sleep over started and never let up enough for us to spend much time outdoors.  It would have helped the girls to burn off some of their energy if they had been able to run around but they still did great.  We had two crafts planned and had been hoping that the weather would improve enough to do the one outside.  It never happened.  No big deal, we laid down a couple of disposable tablecloths and had the girls make their Mary Gardens right inside.

Before the gardens, they got to make necklaces.  I was able to get the bottle caps from Etsy, and the little medals came from Madonna Catholic Supply Company.  Jessica did the wording for the necklaces.  While this activity didn't take very long, it will make a nice keepsake for them to remember their year.

Our last activity was their Mary Gardens.  Jessica is quite the gardener so she was in charge of getting all the plants.  We got the pots at the Dollar Store and I made the grottoes.  The little Mary statues came from Autom.  Before the girls started their planting, Jessica shared the meaning of each flower that was going in the garden.  It was really interesting to us all.  All the moms helped their daughters with their gardens and so the mess wasn't too bad.  My daughter's garden is looking a little wild in this picture, but they all turned out so beautiful!

Whew!!  This was quite the post!!  It was a fantastic sleep over, and I would say the girls and moms all feel a lot closer now.  We are so fortunate that we are allowed to use our church's social hall.  I wish I could say that it's time for a break, but it's now time to get ready for a tea!!!

Courage - Wreath II

It is so great having different moms run the meeting.  Each one brings their own special talents.  I think it's good for the girls to get to be proud of their moms too.

This month, Shannon led the meeting.  It became evident right away that Shannon is a teacher!!  Wow, I got some great ideas from her.  After our opening prayers and handing out the badges from the month before, she had the girls sit on a big, comfy looking quilt.  She asked the girls what courage meant.  There were lots of hands going up to answer.

She then read the book, The Story of Ruby Bridges.  This was an excellent example of courage and faith.  I had never heard of Ruby Bridges before.  Just briefly, Ruby Bridges was a 6 year old, African American girl during the 1960 who attended a New Orleans school after court-ordered desegregation.  The book talks about the mobs of angry people that Ruby had to walk through each day.  Wow, talk about needing courage.  It also told of her praying for the people.  The girls all seemed to enjoy the book.

After the story, Shannon handed out little smiley faces on popsicle sticks.  On one side, the face was smiling with the word, courageous.  The other side was a frowny face with the word, foolish.  Shannon read several situations that they might encounter and the girls had to decide whether it was courageous or foolish.  One of the examples was about peer pressure.  Since I know some of our Little Flowers have been experiencing peer pressure lately, it was great having the idea of being courageous and doing the right thing reinforced.

It was then time for a craft.  Shannon shared a bracelet that she was wearing that she had made.  She said that it helped to remind her to be courageous.  The girls then got to all pick out beads and make their own courageous bracelets.  Before the girls got to work, Shannon hung a large list of ideas up of what they could do after they were done with their work.  She had brought a bunch of books that they could read on courage.  She also included some of the badge activities.  It was nice to get a couple of the activities done before we even got home from the meeting.

This is my daughter's bracelet.  She was so funny.  It took her forever as she searched for all the animal beads and one flower. The girls definitely liked making the bracelets.  Both of my daughters wore them to school this morning.

The meeting ended and the girls were able to play outside a little while.  It's great when they can get outside and just have some free time to play.  I think it really helps them to bond.  Now it's on to getting everything ready for our big sleepover on Friday!!

Spring Activities

May is fast approaching and before things get really crazy, I thought I would post about some of our upcoming events.   We have two big activities coming up, our mother/daughter sleep over at the church and
then our Spring tea.

I know a sleep over with a bunch of girls might sound a little crazy, but last year we did it, and it was so much fun!!  Believe it or not, the girls actually did go to sleep.   We do crafts, play games, watch a short movie, pray the rosary and have lots of slumber party fun.  I will definitely post pictures after the big event.

Our other activity is the Spring tea.  Last year it was a mother/daughter tea.  This year, we decided to invite the Ladies Auxiliary to join us.  We thought it would be a great way to get the different groups of the parish together.  We will also be putting on a modesty fashion show for the ladies.  The girls will model a modest church outfit and then change for a modest play outfit.  They are SO EXCITED!!!

We are going to have a display table set up at both events with a preview of all the virtues that we worked on this year.  I thought it would be a good reminder for the girls before the tea.  Then for the tea, they would be ready in case any of the ladies ask about what they have learned.  I got the idea of doing scrapbook pages from Jessica over at Shower of Roses.  I changed it a little to include a little picture or idea of what activity we worked on for the month.  Pictures of the virtues we have done so far are below.  Hopefully I will have a chance to take pictures of the display.

I love seeing how excited the girls are getting for these activities.  It seems like it's all they have been talking about all year.  Can't wait to come back and post pictures of all the fun things that we did!!

                                         

 

Tea Party Etiquette 101

To get ready for our tea party this spring, we had a practice with a lesson in etiquette.  I set the tables with the church's dishes (wanted to save the china for the big party).   We had lemonade and served some fruit and angel food cake kabobs, rice krispie treats and some fresh fruits and veggies.  It gave the girls a chance to practice going through a buffet line and pouring their own punch.  I want them to feel confident at their tea party.

After the girls got their food, we started our lesson.  There was a lot of information to go over, but I certainly didn't want the girls to feel overwhelmed.  I came up with a great way for them to remember the most important manners.  I cut out paper flowers using my Silhouette and placed the manner in the middle of each flower.  As we reviewed the manners, the girls would find their flower and put it in their vase which was just a jam jar filled with some rice.  The girls were really paying attention and when I mentioned one of the manners, they would start waving their flower in the air.

The girls got to take their bouquets home with them to share with their families.  I encouraged them to practice them every night at dinner.  By the time the tea party comes, they will be little manner experts!!

Here is a list of the manners on their flowers:

• No Burping
• Elbows off the Table
• Chew with your Mouth Closed
• Use Please and Thank You
• Napkin in your Lap
• Speak Kind Words
• Use Proper Utensils
• Bottom on Seat 

I think we all learned something about manners and tea party etiquette this evening.  I know I learned a lot as I researched for the meeting.  Our family is certainly guilty of using poor manners at the dinner table and a lot of it is just laziness on my part.  This was a fun way to review for moms and daughters.

Justice - Wreath II

Wow, I would say of all the virtues this year, Justice has to have been the hardest to come up with a lesson or craft. Thankfully, I didn't have to do it, hence the smiling ruler.  I couldn't even come up with a picture let alone a whole lesson.   Jessica had signed up for this month's virtue and luckily she is so well organized that her whole lesson was written out.  Rather than trying to describe it, I am going to just copy and paste the whole thing right here.

Thank You Jessica for the great job!



Justice

ASK- What is Justice? The strong and firm will to give each his due. - Thomas Aquinas.

• It’s a moral virtue that helps us work diligently to give God and others their due. This does not imply that exactly the same is due to each person. Giving everyone the same opportunity.

• Give examples – example a candy scramble….everyone starts out with the same opportunities and they all end up with different amounts of candy. It would be right that to point out that is one child ended up not getting any or just 1 piece, to put yourself in their shoes and treat them the way you would want..maybe share some with them.

• Justice is a virtue that deals with individuals and a society as a whole. It is within Justice that we can fulfill Christ's command to "love your neighbor as yourself". We can't truly love someone we do not know but we can give them justice...and in that justice there is love. Love is putting someone else first in your life; taking care of what they need before taking care of your needs. The golden rule is love in action; treating others well, because others are as important as you are. Jesus said that Christians' love and caring for each other would be how the world identified us.

ASK- what is the Golden Rule? In the bible ( Matthew 7:12) "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets."

• One of the first moral lessons taught to you as children is to treat each other as you want to be treated. Example- sharing a swing at the playground, sharing toy with a sibling. Remembering the moral law of “Do Good, Avoid Evil” we see that justice is necessary for natural human perfection.

ASK- Invite girls to “Imagine what the world would be like if every person on the planet lived according to the Golden Rule.”

• God has always given His people guidance on how they should treat one another. We tend to be selfish, unless trained otherwise. But God wants us to be considerate of others. He said that we should treat others they way we would like to be treated.

ASK - How do you like to be treated? With respect, listened to, not interrupted, loved, share things with, treated fairly, honest with, follow through on promises. If we like these things from others, it is only natural that others would like us to treat them the same.

3 types of Justice.

1. Commutative – form of justice that we owe our family and neighbors. ( fair standard of giving and receiving. This is the one we will concentrate on most) - it would include using the golden rule.

2. Distributive - city protecting a citizen. (If you call the fire dept. they are going to come and help you. It doesn’t matter who you are, or if they even like you or not, how much $ you have,they are going to come and help you..because it is the right thing to do.)

3. Legal - need to follow rules. (What is a car comes to a stop sign and doesn’t feel like stopping? What if nobody felt like stopping at a stop sign? If even if there isn’t a policeman around you still gotta stop because you don’t want to crash your car or hurt someone.)

You don’t follow rules because you don’t want to get punished, you do it because it is the right
thing to do.

Another dimension of the virtue of Justice is the virtue of Religion. While is might seem
unusual to view religion as a virtue, it needs to be seen as the worship that is due to God
as the first principle in all things. This is the most important virtue that is derived from
justice.

ASK- girls- How many gave things up or did extra special things during Lent?

• Devotions, sacrifices, presence at mass- It is not out of mere habit that we should do these things, but rather because it is JUST to do them. It’s God’s right to expect them from us.

Blessed Mary of the Incarnation

Jessica got information about Blessed Mary of the Incarnation from here.



The girls were then paired up and did some skits to practice being just.

SKITS –

I hear “It’s not Fair” around my house all the time….Something might not seem fair to you or I. BUT, sometimes when we look beyond ourselves at the bigger picture, what seems unfair can actually be the right decision because it is just. Remember… This does not mean that exactly the same is given to each person.


SKIT 1

Incorrect Way:

Parent: Why did you eat that? I just said we were having dinner.

Child: I was hungry and you already said it would be a minute and it has been a lot longer.

Parent: (yelling) Why do you never listen??!? I don’t know what to do with you. That’s it! You can’t go anywhere for the 4 months!

Is the parent being just? What should the parent maybe do to be just? People need to be corrected, there needs to be consequences to help people learn and make the world a better place, but some punishments are too harsh and not justly given.

Correct Way:

Parent: Why did you eat that? I just said we were having dinner.

Child: I was hungry and you already said it would be a minute and it has been a lot longer.

Parent: (in a calm voice) I know it is hard to be patient sometimes, but dinner is taking me a little longer than I thought. Maybe you can try to be a little more patient next time. Please help me be faster by setting the table….and after dinner help me clean up the dishes since you didn’t listen.


SKIT 2

Incorrect Way:

Child 1: Hey, Angie was really mean to me today….she took my jump rope.

Child 2: Really? Why?

Child 1: I don’t know, but I don’t like her…she’s mean. I think I am going to go take her candy when she is not looking.

(Child 1 takes candy from behind Angie’s back while she is talking to someone else.)

Did child 1 treat Angie justly? What do you think she should have done?
It is important to let someone know that you were unhappy with them if they weren’t being nice to you. But….even though Angie was mean to her, she still should have treated her justly….
Treat others the way that you want to be treated, even if they are meant to you.

Correct Way:

Child 1: Hey, Angie was really mean to me today….she took my jump rope.

Child 2: Really? Why?

Child 1: I don’t know, but I guess I should go talk to her about it….it’s really bothering me.
(Child 1 does not take the candy. She goes to talk to Angie.)

SKIT 3

Incorrect Way:

Big Sister: I can’t wait to eat this cake…I’ve been looking forward to this all day!

Little Sister: Me too…It’s my favorite kind!

Big Sister: There is only 1 piece left…let me cut it.

(Big Sister cuts the cake into 1 really large piece and 1 really small piece and gives Little Sister the really small piece)

Big Sister: Here you go, little sister….enjoy your cake.

Did the Big Sister treat her Little Sister with justice? What do you think she should have done?
Be just…even to your siblings! Yes….the same siblings that may get on your nerves. God calls us to be just….. all the time….. to everyone!

Correct Way:

Big Sister: I can’t wait to eat this cake…I’ve been looking forward to this all day!

Little Sister: Me too…It’s my favorite kind!

Big Sister: There is only 1 piece left… Why don’t I cut it and you can choose which piece you would like first?

Little Sister: ok.(she chooses which to eat) thanks!

Big Sister: yummmmmm!

Little Sister: yummmmmm!

SKIT 4

Incorrect Way:

Girl: I don’t want to give things up for Lent. I don’t want to say extra prayers tonight. I’m not going to do that.

Mom: Why?

Girl: Because I don’t feel like it.

Mom: Well, think of all the things you are thankful for….God gave you them. God wants us to follow his rules, because he wants to be close to us, and his first rule is to keep Him first. By saying more prayers and giving things up we are showing him respect and treating him with justice, which he is due. Jesus showed us the golden rule- treat others as you would want them to treat you.
Is the girl treating God with justice? What do you think she should have done?

-Point out – in church Father says Let Us Give Thanks to the Lord our God. What do we answer? It is Right and Just.

We should want to do it because it is the right thing to do, not because we don’t want to get in trouble.

Correct Way:

Girl: Why do we say extra prayers and give things up for Lent?

Mom: Well, think of all the things you are thankful for….God gave you them. God wants us to follow his rules, because he wants to be close to us, and his first rule is to keep Him first. By saying more prayers and giving things up we are showing him respect and treating him with justice, which he is due. Jesus showed us the golden rule- treat others as you would want them to treat you.

Girl: Oh, I remember we were talking about that in Little Flowers lately. Thanks mom! I really do want to do what is right and show God just how much I love him! He made me and I want to thank him and show Him how much I love Him.


I am so glad that I started this blog because I know in 4 years from now when I am stuck doing Justice, I'll be able to just pull this up and print it out.  I will certainly be thanking Jessica again then!!

Order of Virtues

I guess I have confused some people by changing the order of virtues for the year.  While we did write out a calendar with the correct order, it still confuses people.  So why did I change them?  Well it just seems to make more sense to discuss the saints during the month of their feast day. When we were going over St. Lucy, it really worked well to talk about her feast during the month of December.  We made St. Lucy crowns and talked about how kids celebrate her feast in different countries.


Perfect idea for next year!!  I still believe that we should match the saint up with their feast month as much as possible.  At the beginning of the year, as to not confuse anyone, we will sit down the first night that we all have our books and write the month in which we will be discussing that particular virtue.  This should eliminate any confusion.

Now....will I remember this come next September?