One thing I always like to do every year is an All Saint's party. Last year we flew out the day after All Saint's Day and it was the first year we've missed since Hannah started kindergarten. There was not a party already in place so in the summer I planted the seed in the mind of some of the homeschoolers. I intended to get the planning done ahead of time so it wouldn't be a last minute deal, but, alas, August and September got away from me with all our visitors and trips. However, I had already planted the seed and one of the other moms just (you are not going to believe this!) totally took over and planned the whole thing minus the location which another mom took care of. How in the world did that happen? I didn't have to do a thing for the party but throw the idea out there. That is amazing! Of course, there were the costumes. That I had to do myself.
Well, come to think of it, I have older girls that can get creative and resourceful, right? Plus, I have years of costumes for the little boys to choose from or adapt. Hannah made her own costume with a few suggestions from me. She drew the angel at the feet of Our Lady of Guadalupe and pulled out a summer dress and the cape I had made her years ago with little stars all over it. Ta dah! I used clear tape to attach t to the dress.
Drew wanted to be St. Maximilian Kolbe. Daddy was tasked to remove the lenses in an old pair of his glasses. Then we took Isaac's St. Isaac Jogues costume which consisted of a black turtle neck shirt and a handmade black elastic skirt (made from t-shirts for Hannah's St. Claire costume originally, now that I think about it.) I got a rope out of his dress up box and
he was cutest thing I've ever seen...
...at least, until this guy.
Judah asked to be St. Padre Pio. He was adorable showing his "wounds of Christ" off. I drew him a beard and got anpther one of the monk tunics from the box of costumes past. He won the costume contest for his age group. However, I must admit that he was the only one in the 2-4 year old range that stood still during the competition. The other preschoolers all bolted and were running around the room. He was left standing there all alone twisting his little wrists back and forth showing his stigmata. It was so cute I almost cried.
His was not the only beard I drew. St. Simon Stock is the one that Mary gave the brown scapular to. Isaac is the only child who wears his scapular very faithfully. I thought is was appropriate (whispers aside) "and easy." Good thing we had a lot of these monk tunics made from Brian's old undershirts. Another rope from the dress up trunk and we were done.
I didn't get any good pictures of Bobby because he really wasn't feeling well. The last minute plan had been for Brian to come by after work and, instead of joining the party, just take him home so he didn't have to suffer through the whole thing, but Brian got off super late due to some work emergency that there was no point in taking him home 20 minutes early. Bobby got to wear the costume I made for Drew year ago, ST. Juan Diego.
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| Group picture |
There were games, contests, and prizes. We all brought our own dinners so the food was easy. It was a lot of fun, but poor Bobby had me a little distracted. The kids had an amazing time though! The mom who planned it sent every child home with bags of candy and a prayer calendar to pray for a specific different soul every day of November and then the child could have a piece of candy after each prayer. This was a great idea. Judah memorized the prayer over the course of the month. See the video at the end of this post. Swoon warning! My favorite thing is every night Drew and Judah would ask me, "Who died?" They didn't totally understand that these people didn't die that day, perhaps.
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