Another Marian Swap

A few weeks ago, 15 other moms and I swapped Marian pegs that we had painted.  This was my second swap (see first swap here), and it was such a favorite that I wanted to offer it to my local mom painter friends as well.  I wasn't planning on taking part in the swap, but sometimes God makes it clear when your supposed to do something.  This was one of those times.  A sweet mom from our homeschool group had signed up to do this swap (many months in advance) because the last one had filled up.  So when the time rolled around for this Marian swap, she had to back out because it was going to take place right when her baby was to be born.  So, the words just came out of my mouth (or email rather - lol!) - "I"ll do the swap and give you all the duplicates that I already have."  When all was said and done, I think I gave her 9 Marian pegs.  And when I gave them to her, of course, I had to let her know these were in exchange for a meal (since I always try to make a meal when moms have new babies), but have been SO crazy busy with pegs, Little Flowers, school, fall activities starting, and just surviving my own pregnancy, I haven't had an opportunity to get that meal to her.  She was so sweet and understanding and these beautiful pegs will last her much longer than any meal anyways.

Enough jabbering (lol!), here are the beautiful Marian peg dolls.  I have included both a front view and a back view.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Mary Undoer of Knots, Our Lady of Good Success, Our Lady of Hope

Our Lady of China, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Stella Maris, Our Lady of Ransom/Mercy

 Our Lady of  Vailankanni, Our Lady of Knock, Our Lady of Czestochowa, Queen of Heaven

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Our Lady of Siluva, Our Lady of Snows, Our Lady of LaSalette

Here are my two littlest getting out and setting up all our Marian pegs on the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary this week....

++Our Lady, pray for us!!++

Marian peg doll swap

Out of all our peg dolls, these are my favorite.  And, I'm sure you'll see why!  We love our Mother Mary, so having all these peg dolls to help us remember all her various titles, apparitions, and love for us are such a blessing!!!  I painted 25 of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel pegs and swapped with 24 other moms.  (the other two I bought)

(Our Lady of the Assumption, Our Lady of Beauraing, Our Lady of Czestochowa)

Hail Mary, full of grace.

(Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Our Lady of the Rosary)

The Lord is with thee.

(Mary Mystical Rose, Our Lady of Kibeho, Our Lady of Guadalupe)

Blessed art thou among women!  

(Mother of Good Counsel, Our Lady of Lourdes, Mary Undoer of Knots)

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.  

(Madonna of the Streets, Our Lady Queen of Peace, Immaculate Heart of Mary)

Holy Mary, Mother of God, 

(Our Lady of La Vang, Our Lady of Hope, Our Lady of Knock)

pray for us sinners, 

(Our Lady of Grace, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal)

now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.  

(Our Lady of Ngome, Our Lady of Good Help, Our Lady of Snows)

(Our Lady of the Americas, Mary Queen of Heaven, Our Lady of Snows)

Our Lady Guadalupe, pray for us!!

Isn't living the liturgical year so wonderful?  In the midst of the waiting of Advent and holding back from Christmas festivities, we have three great saints to celebrate this week - Juan Diego (on Tuesday, December 9th), Our Lady Guadalupe (today), and St. Lucy (on Saturday, December 13th).

During our morning devotional and prayer time, I read this beautiful book and we lit our Advent candles and decorated our wreath with our crocheted Rosary roses and our Shining Light doll in honor of Our Lady Guadalupe.  We may even make some paper dolls and color themed pages for today's saints later today. Tonight for dinner, we will have a Mexican feast as well - walking taco's, chips and salsa, and chocolate cake.

This past April, we took Ariel on her First Holy Communion trip down to St. Louis.  On our way back home, we stopped at the Shrine of Our Lady of Snows.  Here are a few pictures while visiting the grotto dedicated to Our Lady Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego...

++Our Lady Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego, 

pray for us!!++

Our Marian Artist Trading Cards - 2014

I mailed out 30 trading cards on Saturday, all decorated in honor of Our Lady for the month of May and to take part in this ATC swap.  In a couple weeks, we'll get a special delivery of new cards from children the same age as mine who participated in the same swap from all around the US.  We had a great time doing this swap in 2011 and the kids were so happy with all the new cards they received!  We *had* to take part in it again!!

Three years later, we added another artist and all the other kids have grown in their art talents as well....

Pookey - age 4

(did all the coloring - momma drew the picture of the "Immaculate Heart" for him)

Max - age 6

Ariel - age 8

Melody - age 9

Mario - age 11

Fone - age 12

Hail Mary, full of grace!

The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners, 

now and at the hour of our death.  

Amen.  

A trip to celebrate...

...Ariel's First Holy Communion!!!  

Ariel received Jesus in her First Holy Communion back in December.  And, like we did for the oldest three, we took her out on a little trip away for a couple nights to celebrate the new life of Jesus in her and to also give her that special one-on-one time (although little Rose was a tag-a-long since she is not quite ready to leave Mom and Dad at night).  We were able to split the rest of the kids up and they stayed the night at both sets of grandparents (thanks, Mom/Dad and Jean/Ken!!!).  And, Neil and I, and Ariel and Rose headed down for St. Louis....


The first night, we only had a couple hours, so we took Ariel out to an arcade for a little fun with playing games and winning prizes....

 Goodness - that girl can jump, huh??  

The next day, we spent almost the whole day at the St. Louis Science Center , back to the hotel for some swimming, and then a little shopping at the Galleria mall...

 Ariel was a tad nervous (see above) about the Dinosaur Exhibit, but after she found out that it was not scary, real-looking dinosaurs but playing with the robots instead, she was happy as a clam (see the last last dinosaur pictures and her goofey pose below....)

And for the last day, we spent the first part visiting Our Lady of Snows Shrine and then driving home.  The shrine is such a special place and we went to Mass, spent time at the playground, visiting the devotional areas and eating lunch there as well.  I have to add - their lunch buffet of salad/soup is *the* best buffet of that type!!!  Eight homemade soups and a huge salad bar!!!  If you ever visit the Shrine, do not forget to eat there too!!!

 Isn't there just something so precious with a baby in a bonnet, not to mention her adorable smile!!

 Gotta love that smile!!!

++Thank you, God, for the gift of the Eucharist and for sending your Son to live in Ariel so beautifully and brightly, and for the one-on-one time you gave us with her in this special trip++