Buddy's First Holy Communion in #7QT

Kelly wasn't the only one celebrating sacraments this Saturday.  Buddy made his First Holy Communion.  We had a nice party with about 50 people. We had had a huge party with 120 people for Cowgirl's Communion, but Buddy just wanted his closest friends and family at our home. So, that's what we did. He was over the top excited all week!

Buddy was up from 4:30 AM!  He was exhausted and cranky by the time we left for Mass at 10.

It was a beautiful Mass and I was fighting tears the entire time. Buddy got to bring up the water for the offering.  He had been so excited all week but didn't smile once....

After Mass, he just wanted to go home but I strongly suggested we take at least a couple pictures. This is all we got.

As I was prepping for the party, Little Man entertained our out of town family while Buddy headed to bed. We still thought he had just worn himself out with excitement. However, the poor kid had a high fever. He spent most of his party in bed.  I felt so badly.

When I asked Buddy, a few months ago, if there was anything special he wanted for his party, he said, "Pizza, mussels, stuffed shells, and wings. Oh, and apple pie, apple cider donuts, and apples for dessert."

At first I thought that was crazy.  But, Hubby' s godmother convinced me it wasn't. So, that is what we had with a salad for balance.  Now, I'm Italian. My mother used to cater her own parties for 120 people complete with six entrees, five salad, four vegetables, and hundreds of cookies.  I'm not that talented but I do tend to overdo the food.  I ordered WAY too many pizzas. We had them stacked up all over and handed them out as party favors as people left.  Out of 14 Sicilian pizzas, 9 were left untouched. In fact, we only actually finished one pizza the whole day!  Oops!  

When we made up the thank you e-cards, Buddy asked me to include photos of the food. He likes to eat!  Honestly those are the only pictures I have of the party. The rest of the time I was running around and checking/worrying over Buddy.

It was a long night with Buddy moaning from fever discomfort. The fever finally broke around 2AM and he returned to normal, no other symptoms. That was just in time for Little Man, who had apparently eaten more than half a bag of sour cream and chive chips on top of mountains of pizza, other chips, Apple's, and donuts, to climb into our bed and get sick, all over!

Needless to say, we didn't make it to 9AM Mass and May Crowning. Buddy was really disappointed but it just wasn't happening. We did get some good pictures though and he was happy to show off his suit--of course, he still didn't smile too much. He doesn't like having pictures taken!

At the retreat, the kids all worked on this mosaic banner. Isn't it beautiful?  Things didn't go as planned but it was still a beautiful event and we have some special memories.  Buddy is just so happy to be one of the big kids and get to receive every Mass.  He says the host tasted different on his First Communion. It could have been the fever, or it could have been the sweetness of meeting Jesus with a heart full of anticipation despite feeling terrible.

How was your weekend?

5 Faves: Communion Preparation

So, Buddy's First Communion is in four months--FOUR MONTHS!!!!!  That might as well be tomorrow as far as my uber planning personality is concerned.  Now that the distractions of moving and the holiday season has passed. It is time to get down to business.  I realized that I have not yet begun the Communion notebook that I was planning.  So here is my finalized plan for you, but also for me.  I will try to post pictures of sample pages, too.

Linking up with Ashley for #5Faves.

1

I am a Child of God Section-  These pages will be about Buddy and his life in the Church.  It will contain the following pages:

1. My Name-- The pictures and names of his two patron saints. (You could also include a story of how the name was picked.)
2. My Baptism--Pictures and details about his baptism including date, place, and Godparents. (I am also going to make a second page with his "Baptismal Garment" on it.)
3. My Favorite Saints-- Pictures and descriptions of his two favorite saints. 

2

Salvation History Section- These pages will trace the plan of salvation from Genesis to the Gospels

1.  God Makes the Earth--List the seven days of Creation and what happened on each day.  (Just a sentence for each at most, this should fit on one page.)
2. Adam and Eve--Narration of the fall and entrance of original sin in Buddy's own words.  (I will have him tell me the story as I write so there isn't any pressure of spelling, etc.)
3. Noah and the Covenant-- We will read the story of the flood and make a page with a rainbow and God's promise to Noah.
4. Jesus is born--A decorative page where Buddy can draw the story of the first Christmas.
5. Teachings of Jesus--I am using this book and having Buddy design a page with words and drawings to explain what he learned from the book.
6. Jesus Redeems the World--A narration in his own words of how Jesus suffered, died, and rose to free us from our sins.

3

My First Reconciliation Section--These two pages as a way to remember and preserve the memory of this special day and how Buddy felt about it.

1. Pictures of My Day--A scrapbook style page of the photos I took.
2. My Memories from that Day--A narration of Buddy's memories and what reconciliation meant to him.

4

The Most Holy Eucharist Section--This will be an explanation of the Eucharist and why it is so special. 

1. The Last Supper--A page of drawings and words by Buddy to show what happened on the last supper, which was the first Eucharistic sacrifice.
2. Eat My Body, Drink My Blood--A narration of how Jesus' body and blood became the Holy Eucharist offered for all our sins.
3. Patron Saint of First Communion--A scrapbook style page for Blessed Imelda.  (We will read her story and listen to the Holy Heroes version before creating this page.)

5

My First Holy Commuion Section--These pages, like the First Reconciliation section are a scrapbook of sorts to preserve the memories and pictures of this most special day.

1. Pictures of My Day--Buddy will get to pick which pictures he wants to include and create page(s) to keep in his notebook.
2. My Memories from that Day--A narration of Buddy's memories and what receiving Jesus for the first time meant to him.
3. Family and Friends--A scrapbook of cards and notes from family and friends.
4.  A Letter to Buddy--As I have for special events in all my children's lives, I am going to write and scrapbook a special letter to Buddy, if I can see the page through my tears.

For any information on the books we are using to prepare for First Communion, please check out my post in the Let's Get Planning Section on Fist Communion Preparation.

Any questions or recommendations?  Please leave a comment, I love to hear from you.  

Let's Get Planning: First Communion Preparation

I am attempting a posting blitz today--my goal is four posts.  We will see how it goes, this is post number 2.  (Deep breath) Linking up with Kelly.

Buddy is preparing for First Holy Communion next spring--I can't believe it.  Below is our plan for preparation that includes some of our favorite books!

1

We are including P. A Halpin's Children's Retreats book.  This beautiful book is out of print and fairly expensive out in cyber space. I was blessed to find it for under $10 at a used curriculum fair.   I am on the search for an e-version and will update if I find it. In a search for a place to purchase this book, I discovered the Janet P. McKenzie has published readers for Confession and Confirmation based on Halpin's classic.  In addition, she has First Communion Journals for girls and boys.  I am ordering the St Paul version for Buddy.

2

 


I am hoping Newman Press will bring back this classic.  It is such a sweet book of stories of various children's experiences on the day of their First Holy Communion.  Again, it is exorbitantly expensive for a used copy--who is really paying $130!!!  I will be searching for any deals on this for my readers.  I bought this for $4 at a used curriculum fair.  I better warn the kids about extra gentle care for this one.

3

 

Yet another out of print book, my apologies, friends. However this can be found for reasonable prices.  All of the books in this series are amazing.  We have almost all of them.  In fact, we have a book that contains the stories for each sacrament.  I have read it to the children three times so far, they cry every time it ends that there is no more to read--they are so touched by the stories.

4

 

This story is absolutely beautiful, even more so that the illustrations.  A beautiful book cover to cover.  Based on a true story, it is inspiring for all ages. 

5

 

Come meet a young saint who inspired the Pope to lower the age of Communion. All of Mary Fabyan Windeatt's books are well done.  I think I will enjoy this as much as the children, this is my first time reading this book.  I also highly recommend the Holy Heroes radio drama of Blessed Imelda. 

6

  

This book is a classic.  Though it may seem dated, I believe it still has value.  In addition, our parish just started a monthly Latin Mass.   This will serve to explain both our weekly Novo Ordo Mass as well as the monthly Latin one.

7

Lastly, we will compile a First Communion Notebook.  For Cowgirl, I followed a lovely blog that told me just what to do.  That blog has since been taken down.  So I am going to create my own notebook layout.  I will post page link at the top of the blog and add a photograph, and instructions as we complete the pages.  I am hoping that will keep us from scrambling to finish them all at the last minute.  My Buddy is the great procrastinator. :)