This year, our family’s All Saints Day was pretty laid back. The highlight may have been reestablishing our tradition of homemade donuts- not so laid back, but totally worth it!
Halloween
The children donned their long underwear, costumes and then topped it all off with a coat, gloves, and hat. And we were still cold! It was the first year we ended up driving for some portion of our trick-or-treating route.
In case you missed it, here is our Catholic family’s Halloween manifesto.
All Saints’ Day
My kids love and look forward to Holydays because they are a day off of school and our normal schedule. We treat them much as we would a Sunday (which is what we are encouraged to do)!
An All Saints’ Booksale?
We usually try to avoid shopping, but I made an allowance this year for our tiny town’s library book sale. It was a special treat for the kids and we came home with 116 new books for $23.
I think I may have a problem….
Candy Bartering
Christian is still on a low-carb diet as he transitions away from his super strict medical keto diet. The fact that we no longer have to weigh his food by the gram, calculate meals, and that he can now have 30 grams of carbs per meal versus 4 grams has given us so much more freedom.
Of course, he still can’t gorge himself on Halloween candy, so he began bartering candy for money, toys, etc. He is quite the wheeler-dealer!
You can read more of our epilepsy journey here.
All Saints’ Feast Table
What is a Catholic feast day without a bit of feast table decor? You can thank the kids for the arrangement!
All Saints Costumes
And here is probably one of my favorite parts of All Saints (besides the donuts)- saint costumes!
This year we had St. Michael the Archangel, St. Clare of Assisi (a repeat from last year), St. Martin of Tours, and St. Jose Sanchez del Rio.
Jose Sanchex del Rio St. Martin of Tours St. Clare of Assisi St. Michael the Archangel The whole saintly crew!
Soul Cakes (aka awesome-sauce homemade donuts!)
It’s been a couple years since I’ve made homemade donuts because I didn’t want Christian to have to sit out of that tradition. This year, I found a low-carb donut alternative that worked with his new diet and – ALLELUIA!!!- the donuts are back in the liturgical celebration line-up!
The Crispy Creamy Donut recipe we have used with lots of success.
Mass
Of course, this is actually one of my favorite parts of All Saints too! I’m always soooo glad whenever I can get to Mass.
All those years of training our children makes Mass a real joy! I can actually participate and focus with a whole heart!
If you aren’t there yet, go read Reasonable Expectations and Simple Strategies for Mass with Littles. Don’t fall for the “Just-hold-on-it-will-get-better-some-day” mentality.
You CAN go to Mass with children and enjoy it too!
All Saints Party
Our party was postponed until November 5th and only half the crew made it (nasty cold). It’s always a joy to get together with our friends. We let the kids run free and we mom’s were able to have some nice mom chat.
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All Saints Costumes DIY (2015)
I just found your blog and am thoroughly enjoy it! Such great ideas for All Saints Day! I love the Saint peg dolls!!
Well, first of all, “Welcome!” I’m so glad you enjoyed the post! We all love the little peg dolls too. We have just enough that it isn’t overwhelming.