Cecilia (5) was the absolute sweetest in her Easter hat, the only one of which actually stayed on because it has an elastic band. Note to self: Add elastic bands to the twins' hats.

12 More Ways to Keep the Easter Celebration Going

Alleluia! He is Risen!

After months of being bombarded with pastels, bunnies, and EASTER EASTER EASTER in every retail store, we as Catholics are yet again "behind" secular culture, as their celebrations have ended and ours are just beginning. But how can we keep the Easter celebration going for the full 50 days of the Easter season? Here are some ideas:

Make an Alleluia banner

Happy Easter 2016!

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

"Everybody say Alleluia!"

Maybe Your Brain Isn't Fried - Maybe You Just Aren't Exercising It {Read More Books!}

On the first day of 2016, I declared that this would be my "Year of Reading" - I made this declaration in no small part because I knew I needed some sense of accountability in order to reboot my system and get back into the habit of reading. But not just reading for the sake of reading, reading good books that would require more than a little brainpower to process.

There are affiliate links in this post, and the proceeds will very likely go towards getting more books.

Dare I say... It's going really well? I'm tracking my progress on Goodreads, and have decided to stop being embarrassed by the fact that I'm currently reading 5 books (plus one that I'm reading aloud with the big kids).

To be completely honest, I've only actually *finished* two books. Both fiction. But Kristin Lavransdatter technically counts as 3, right?

And the baby wanted to get me to kick start my spiritual reading,,,

What I'm learning, though, in trying to get myself back into the habit both of reading more books and of reading more good books, is that perhaps my excuse of my brain being "too fried" to read was faulty.

I don't think my brain was fried - I think I just wasn't exercising it enough.

11/52: What They Said

We managed to get outside quite a bit for the warmer temperatures this past week! Sadly, it cooled down again, as you can see from John Paul's attire in the last picture...

Peter (16 months): All-a-all-a-all-a-all-a!!! (What he calls my mom's dog, Olive)

What I Wore Sunday {Let's Stab Strangers With Palms!}

This is going to be another one of those Sundays where I post a photo from weeks ago, because I didn't have my act together enough to take a picture of today's outfit. But you don't mind!

We woke (almost) everybody up early to go to the 7 AM Mass as a family (Peter was already awake), since my mom is out of town (if you're new here, my husband directs the choir at a church an hour away, so my mom and I usually split the kids up during Mass, which goes... Well, better than trying to have them all in the pew together.). Everybody's been particularly whiny lately, but despite that there was still minimal fighting over palms, and only a little bit of unintentional poking of strangers. Nobody seems to have realized what wonderful swords the palms make - I'm sure by next year they all will have caught on...

Our Holy Week & Easter Book Basket

Lent has actually been going pretty well over here - we've been doing it *very* low-key, so low-key in fact that I only just got out the books and the grapevine wreath. Actually, not the grapevine wreath, because it wasn't in the box. Where did it go???

So I feel late writing this post, but at the same time... Easter is a 50-day season! So if you get any of these books now, you'll still have them out for two months and will be able to use them for years to come.

Books for Lent & Easter are tricky to find - you don't want to read books totally focusing on the Resurrection when you're meditating on the Crucifixion, and there just... Aren't that many books written for this time of year. Not like Christmas!

Our Lady of the Stomp Rocket {PHFR}

Can I make a confession?

I kind of hate forsythia.

I just think the yellow of the flowers is... Ugly. I mean, I love that they bloom so early in spring, and it's probably because that way they don't have to compete with any of the *pretty* flowering plants but... Yuck.

10/52: Their Favorite Things

All the kids seem to have a single "favorite thing" that they spend the majority of their indoor time doing these days - I had to capture it before they move on to something else!

Peter (16 months) loves pulling open the drawer with our plastic IKEA dishes, stacking them on the little table, and then putting them all back. At least, he used to put them back... Now he's taken to scattering them around the house, which is slightly less cute.

What I Wore Sunday: Passiontide

Happy Passiontide!

First things first, would you pop on over to Dwija's and say a prayer for her and her baby Helen? Thanks!

Here's what I wrote about Passiontide last year - it's always kind of fun to be at a new parish and see how they observe the tradition of veiling the statues, since there's a pretty wide range of observances. What does your parish do?

Plastic Animals, Chick Expulsion, & Dollhouses {7 Quick Takes}

Linking up with Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes Friday!

Affiliate links below benefit this blog and help us buy books! Thanks for your support :)

--1--

The girls have been playing an amazing game with their dollhouse people and the big Schleich animals - it mostly seems to involve them all riding various animals to different locations around the house. Giraffe rides, elephant rides, horseback rides... It's incredibly exciting for all involved!

--2--

Apparently the bears even babysit!

 I'm not certain how effective they are, lacking opposable thumbs and all... Perhaps the gorilla would be a better option?

--3--

Easter Basket Ideas {and a giveaway!}

We are officially more than halfway through Lent, and while the first thing that *should* be on your mind is probably, "When am I getting to confession?" you're probably also thinking about Easter baskets. Well, you are if you're anything like me!

Growing up we got plastic grass and a whole lot of candy. I don't know why we got so much candy, except that we really loved it and I think it might not have turned us all insane?

I have one child in particular who turns insane with excessive amounts of candy. So needless to say, we try to limit it! And I have a lot of fun thinking of non-candy basket fillers, too - need some ideas?

9/52: Chick Days

As you can see, we got our chicks this week!

The kids are ecstatic. And we're having a lot of fun just watching them right now - they're in the mudroom until it warms up a little, at which point we'll move them to their coop (equipped with 3 old vanities as nesting boxes, because we happened to have them...).

What I Wore Sunday: Laetare! And Stop Licking Jesus's Toes

Hey friends! Holly's still having some technical difficulties with Fine Linen & Purple, so she's letting me host here again! 

Do you ever have one of those masses where things are going surprisingly well, and you think to yourself halfway through, "Wow, I haven't had to take anyone out yet!"

Only to realize that you've just ensured through your cockiness that all hell will break loose?

Me neither.

A Walk in the Woods {PHFR}

{pretty/happy}

We had a few days of spring-like weather and it was glorious. Nature walks, playground play dates, LOTS of outside time.

There are a lot of leaves decomposing on the top of the pond - Cecilia was convinced it was algae, except she was also convinced that algae is called "allergy." That was pretty confusing before we figured out what she actually meant...