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The Catholic Church celebrates Pentecost 50 days after Easter, so Pentecost is the official ending of the Easter season in the Church calendar.  So NOW you can finally put away those Easter decorations!?! 😉  Pentecost for this year was celebrated on Sunday, June 4, 2017.

What is Pentecost?  You can read Everything You Need to Know About Pentecost and/or read this meme that has a good summary:




There are many meaningful and fun ways to celebrate the birthday of the Church!  Some celebrate with a family bonfire like Kendra at Catholic All Year because Pentecost is Bigger than Christmas. (Maybe I can squeeze in a bonfire with my own family)

Our family celebrated with a “birthday cake”.



The cake was made using the recipe from the Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa can (it’s the BEST chocolate cake recipe that I use for chocolate cupcakes too!) and then I made homemade cream cheese icing.

The red flames are (mostly) red, yellow, and orange hard candies crushed up and then melted in the oven at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. I put the crushed candies on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil and sprayed with a non-stick spray before melting them. ( I used LifeSavers this year, but for last year’s cupcakes I used butterscotch candies)

The 12 white candles represent when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, but I should have included one more candle since our Blessed Mother was also present.

I found images on Google to copy and print to put on the cake too.

Here are some photos I put on my blog’s Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter.





 The book that we read from at the “party” that is displayed is Mary: The Mother of Jesus.




Did you know this about the Old Testament connection to Pentecost?


Be sure to visit Easy Pentecost Activities & Explanations for Catholic Kids at Catholic Mommy Blogs.  Great list of fun ideas!

Peanut Butter & Grace has 9 Things To Do with Your Kids on Pentecost.  There was some new ideas I’ve never heard of like using 13 candles instead of 12 as I mentioned earlier.

Another easy way to celebrate Pentecost is to meditate on and be inspired by beautiful Pentecost art that Melanie has linked to at Association of Catholic Women Bloggers.

Come, Holy Spirit

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Pentecost Sunday was on Sunday, May 15th this year.  This is when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and it is the birthday of the Church! (Check out Acts 2: 1-11)  It's a big deal and a great reason to celebrate!  Pentecost also falls 50 days after Easter and marks the end of the Easter season and we now enter Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar.  

Last year we celebrated Pentecost Sunday for the first time with Pentecost pancakes for breakfast.  We continued the tradition this year.  I made homemade whipping cream (Yum!) and cut strawberries in slices to make "flames".  We did the same pancake celebration this year and since it is a birthday celebration, I made Pentecost cupcakes over the weekend with my little helper. 

I decorated the chocolate cupcakes (I use the Hershey's Cocoa powder recipe) with homemade cream cheese icing that I've used quite often and sprinkled with red sugar sprinkles.

Here's a picture of my little helper.

I made flames with yellow orange butterscotch and red cinnamon candies like the campfire cake I made for my son's 13th birthday party.   I found some Holy Spirit clip art for free on the computer so I printed them out, laminated and cut in a circle.  Then I taped each one to a toothpick to make as a cupcake topper.  I've used this easy and cheap decorating method for several of the cupcakes I have made for birthday parties.


We shared the cupcakes with friends and neighbors over the weekend and they were enjoyed by all!

On Pentecost Sunday my husband attended Mass out of town with our 11 year old daughter while traveling for a soccer tournament and I had a child not feeling 100% so my teen daughter (who attended Saturday's vigil Mass with friends) stayed home Sunday with her 2 sisters.  Here are a few of many photos my husband took at my daughter's tournament.  My daughter reminds me of a fighting Eagle defending her territory. :) They came in 1st and that's my daughter being lifted by her coach to reach the trophy!


So on Pentecost Sunday my son and I had our first Mass "date" and it was the first time we matched!  I had to take a picture of us! :)  My almost 3 year old enjoyed playing peek-a-boo for the camera! :)
Red is the liturgical color for Pentecost  as it represents fire and the altar on Pentecost Sunday is decorated with red linens and banners and the priest wears red vestments.   It is also a tradition for people to wear red on Pentecost Sunday. 

In the evening, we read the few pages from Tomie DePaola's Book of Bible Stories that discussed Pentecost.

I thought this graphic was interesting and enlightening that I thought was worth sharing here. I found this graphic on Facebook that shows how the Old Testament (from the Book of 2 Chronicles) parallels the New Testament scripture about Pentecost (in the Book of Acts).

If you are like me, there is soooo much about the Holy Spirit that I am still learning and it will always be a lifetime journey to remember to invoke and completely rely on this third Person of the Blessed Trinity.  For these reasons, I enjoyed reading 5 Things Every Christian Needs to Know About the Holy Spirit.  Maybe you will enjoy it too!

This week our oldest turns 16!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I can't believe it either! :) Blog post coming soon!

Have a blessed week!

It's been almost a week since I last updated my little corner of blog land here.  I guess maybe the reason is that I'm still in shock that I now have a 15 year old in our house as we celebrated her birthday last week and I wrote her annual birthday tribute post.

Or maybe I haven't been a consistent blogger because I continue to work with a small team on the website, Saintnook, where the Saints are always online! What is Saintnook you may ask?  Read all about it and enjoy!
Fun and exciting things are happening with this project so if you haven't signed up for the Saintnook email newsletters, don't hesitate.  Just do it!  By signing up you receive special news and updates from us. We promise to send you only the kind of thing you want to see; secret releases, new Saintnook features, fun activities, and so on.

Or maybe I haven't been a consistent blogger because our local Catholic homeschool group is starting a co-op using Classically Catholic Memory (CCM) and we are still organizing and planning all that will go into a faith-filled, fun, and successful co-op!  Have you heard of CCM?  If so, do you use CCM at home or in a co-op setting?  If so, I would love to hear all about your experience(s) with CCM!

Whatever the reason I haven't popped over to update my blog, it's always fun to jump back on board and write a post when I can.

This past Sunday was Pentecost Sunday, when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and it is the birthday of the Church!  It's a big deal and a great reason to celebrate!  Pentecost also falls 50 days after Easter and marks the end of the Easter season and we now enter Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar.  
Red is the liturgical color for Pentecost as it represents fire and the altar is decorated with red linens and banners and the priest wears red vestments.  Our local parish also paid tribute to our fallen men and women in service as it is Memorial Day weekend as well.

Sunday night we had "Pentecost Pancakes" with 3 of my children since my husband and other 2 children were out of town for a soccer tournament all weekend and got back late Sunday night. 


Pentecost pancakes for dinner with 12 "flames" to represent the 12 "fruits" of the Holy Spirit: charity, generosity, joy, gentleness, peace, faithfulness, patience, modesty, kindness, self-control, goodness, and chastity. Although on Pentecost the Apostles received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but fruits of the Holy Spirit worked better with the strawberry theme. :)


If you are looking for an easy, delicious and "patriotic" fruit salad (for Memorial Day or the 4th of July), this one is it.  Just cut up strawberries and plums and add in the blueberries and it is a perfect combination.  I served this salad at my sister's bridal shower in 2012 and it was a hit and I've served it for several other formal and informal occasions.


I hope your Memorial Day has been blessed as we remember all those that have sacrificed so much for our families and freedom.  Thank you just doesn't seem to be adequate enough for all those who have paid the ultimate price for our country's freedom.  Our family continues to pray for all our military men, women, and families.

God bless America!

The following graphic and quote was found at Happy Saints.