Today

I finally have my camera back!  At about 5:00 today I noticed a new message on my answering machine.  It was the camera store calling to tell me that my camera is finally ready, and they're open until 6.  I usually leave the house around that time to head to my religious education class at church.  I threw my things in the car, wolfed down some yogurt and granola for dinner, and left quickly so I'd have time to grab my camera before the last day of CCD for the year.

We crowned the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that stands outside the parish hall.

At the beginning of the school year, I gave the kids a liturgical calendar for them to fill in with the colors of the liturgical year.  From time to time we got out their calendars and colored in the spaces according to the season we were in.  I modeled it partly after this one, which I found in the elementary Catechesis of the Good Shepherd classroom at the Episcopal church where I work;

At the Episcopal church, the color for Advent is blue.  Someone--I forget who--recently told me that blue is an optional color in the Catholic church as well.  I'd never heard this.

 and partly from the one in their textbook.  We left the middle of the circle blank, and today I let the kids cut out illustrations from their books and glue them to the calendars.  Below are some of the results.  They turned out great, don't you think?

I'm also asking for prayers:  first, for a little boy named Truman who almost drowned and is in critical condition.  For updates on his condition, visit this Facebook page.  Also please pray for my friend's father who had a stroke yesterday.

Oh, and thanks be to God, yesterday my cousin Tyler returned home to his family after a tour of duty in Afghanistan!

Perhaps I'll be back here on Friday for 7 Quick Takes, but if not I hope you have a blessed Memorial Day weekend!  (On Sunday, you'll find me--after Mass, of course--parked in front of my couch with my husband and a big glass of red wine, watching the Indianapolis 500.  One day, we'll see that one in person...)