Happy Feast of All Saints' and Souls' Day

I've been trying to step up my "Catholic Feast Days Celebration" game and, since Abby was participating in the All Saints Day parade at Mass, I figured I'd join in on the crazy holiday weekend that is Halloween/All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. You know what? All those bloggers who talked about how crazy this weekend was were right! I was super happy getting my craft and holiday preparation face on, but by Monday I could nod my head in agreement with everyone else that "whew" it was fun but I'm glad it's done. :-)

After putting Abby to bed much, much later than normal due to the influx of candy consumed on Halloween I took down our Halloween decorations and put up an All Saints' Day banner I'd found on a Shower of Roses. As you can see I used a variety of construction paper colors, as that's what I had on hand, and squished the banner letters together so that they'd all fit in our bay window. I know it looks pretty simply but I was up until after midnight putting that sucker up! I wondered if Abby would really notice since I just put away the Halloween tablecloth and took down the Halloween wall decorations that were on the side of the windows;leaving the streamers up. But as soon as she woke up and came into the Dining Room I got another "Wow" out of her as she began pointing out the letters she knew.

Happy Feast of All Saints!

This picture is here only because of the intense love she had for the Nutella on her toast. Not a normal breakfast but I still think she liked it!

Since we had our Disney on Ice: Let's Celebrate! event that afternoon our Saint celebration was pretty tame. We read the St. Andrew book I had available on her bookshelf (note to self: need more Saint books), talked about St. Patrick and picked out the stuffed animal she wanted to bring to church the next day (Sunday school was doing a Saint parade after Mass and her class picked St. Francis of Assisi to represent) and talked a little bit about who Saints are and why they're important. All Saints' Day...done.

Next up, All Souls' Day. We started the day with Mass and since Abby was "performing" most of the family joined us for church! The Saint parade was really cute. Each class represented a different Saint and brought props that their Saint was known for. St. Francis had stuffed animals, St. Joseph had carpentry tools, St. Isidore had farming items, etc. Abby stepped on her snake and almost went down but quickly recovered without issue. Girl definitely doesn't mind being in front of an audience!

Mom and Chase. He did so, so good during Mass. When the choir would sing he'd babble along and when the room was silent he'd let everyone know what he was thinking. :-)

I almost got the stumble on camera! Here she's picking up her snake and keeping her toes clear of it.

I think she finally saw Grandpa in this photo but was happily waving to everyone as she walked up the aisle.

I see Mom! 

You did a great job representing your Saint!

And...continuing to wave to everyone as she passes by them. :-)

When we got home from Mass it was time for our last Feast Day Celebration activity. Making Holy Ghost cookies (idea from Catholic Cuisine).

The idea was to put just three chocolate chips on the ghost cookies to represent eyes and a nose. Abby decided that more chocolate was better (as it usually is) and gave the ghosts lots of eyes!

Nate getting in on the cookie making action. It was pretty simply. Dip the Nutter Butters in the melted white chocolate chips then lay them on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Cool and eat!

Surprisingly the cookies were pretty yummy! I think this is an activity I will definitely have us repeat next year!