Where did my voice go? I must find it.

Happy Friday! We did it.

I'm shifting into high gears next week with lots of time in the office, and while I'm preoccupied there will be some superheroes over here, sitting behind the keyboard at Pars Caeli. They hail from Ireland, Italy, as well as the Northeast and deep South of the beautiful USA (what a lovely melting pot) and these ladies have come armed with dazzling photos, DIYs, calls to action, and even a fancy pants Vlog (first one here ever!!) to keep you coming back for more. Yes, I am cool by association.

I will be popping in to relieve my stress and to say hey so please, please be sure to continue your happy commenting trend. And when I do return, I'm coming back with fireworks ablazin' with a great giveaway and a pool party for the 4th on this here blog (I hope my Mac can handle all that chlorine).

Before we head into the weekend, let me leave you with some great ideas I glistened from my new friend, Jennifer Cooper. Jen is a super talented lady, founder/designer behind Ellie Bellie Kids, editor of Classic Play, and a generous teacher over at the Alt Channel. I was a fortunate student in her class, Writing and Finding Your Voice, and I want to share some great takeaways for you and your writing (whether it be blog, papers, emails, books, or tweets!).

One thing before I give you these 5 golden rings...true confession: before starting a blog, I never really thought about the fact that I'd have to WRITE it. My mom said to me, "The blog will be a great way for you to write and share your ideas." I say, "Well, I don't always have to write. Sometimes I'll just share pictures or things I love or, you know, other stuff." My eloquence started early. And so, here I am, baby blogger, totally in the tornado of writing an ample amount, every day.

Who knew?

Oh, wait, you all did, didn't you? Well, why didn't you tell me?

So, get our those handbags, here's what we've got.

1. Less is more.

I can be a total stream of consciousness kind of girl, and I need to fight that tendency because...you people are precious and your time is the best. So this is a good reminder. Less is fresh.

2. You want to have a certain level of intimacy with your audience.

While shirking away from challenging topics and leaving out the gory details might make for happier posts, the writer needs to establish an intimacy with the reader. I think this is why the "Things I'm Afraid to Tell You" blogging series really hits it out of the park. It feels like we're all up late together eating Suzy Qs in our PJs. 

3. Remind your readers who you are – recap your best posts or your philospophy.

Sometimes I forget that you're not in my head. And so reiterating why I started a series of posts or explaining why my family decided to do something in particular would be helpful to move the story along and connect the dots (I always enjoyed the alphabetical connect the dots as much as the numbered ones, how about you?).

4.  Carry a notebook.

 

I started doing this when I started blogging, and I find it really helpful to catch thought bubbles that burst way too quickly. And I have to prohibit any to do lists in such notebook otherwise it brings stress instead of inspiration. 

 **this one is my fave: 

5.  A great idea poorly written is better than a bad idea written brilliantly.

Jen has oodles of other ideas and great recommendations on folks who do this well.  Pop over tomorrow night when she's at it again. Check it here. Grab yourself a glass of red wine and get ready to learn. I think you might just find your voice.

Happy weekend, friends. I hope it's a bright one. Meetcha here on Monday where we'll be living La Bella Vita. Do not miss it. :)

XOXO, MJ

P.S. For those of you interested, I'm starting a new weekly series focusing on faith and family. Once I graduate out of the baby blogger phase, and understand feeds and menus more, you'll be able to subscribe to this feature in particular. Until then I'll just try to remind you. "Ready to Pray" will link to the readings of the week and offer an activity and/or questions you can use with your kiddos (or yourself) to help them understand and engage in Mass. I haven't quite decided what's the best day to post these so I welcome your feedback there. This first installment will be coming at you on Saturday!! Happy inspires.

Pentecost Pinwheels

Happy Friday! We made it to the holiday weekend. Can you believe it?

We celebrate Memorial Day, and in my faith tradition, we'll be celebrating Pentecost (50 days after Easter), too. It's the birthday of the Church...so we're going to party!

We're making Pentecost Pinwheels. Ever since I was a little girl, shopping with my mother, I have been fascinated with pinwheels. When I used to whine and fuss, she'd treat me to a simple pinwheel and my world would be made.

This is very much a Macgyver craft. All you need is a square piece of paper, scissors, a pin, and a straw (or pencil with eraser top). For our craft we crafted with our unused Chick-Fil-A straws (from dinner last night) and sparkly pipe cleaners, too.

I was inspired when I saw Jennifer's use of the pinwheel to explain the work of the Holy Spirit, and I also wanted to include the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit since both of my little ladies have been learning about them in school lately.

So, to all pinwheel newbies, no worries. Here's what you do:

1. Cut a square of paper. The lighter weight of paper you have, the better to make a functional pinwheel.  For ours I didn't stress over functionality and glued two pieces of construction paper together, on.

2. Cut four diagonal lines, one at each corner, leaving a small circle of uncut paper in the middle.

3. If desired, write the gift of the Holy Spirit on the front and back flaps (awe, reverence, courage, knowledge, good judgement, wisdom, understanding). I added in the word Pentecost and a dove as the eighth flap.

4. Fold down alternating wings of the pinwheel and poke a straight pin through the ends of all four.

5. Poke the remaining pin into a straw. I covered the sharp end of the straight pin by wrapping a pipe cleaner around it.

As we breathe out to move the pinwheel, we remember the presence of the Spirit alive within us and around us. Happy Pentecost!

And happy loooonnng weekend, friends. I hope the holiday of it all seems endless to you! Meetcha back here next week.

XOXO,

MJ

 

"Pentecost commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles. After Jesus rose on Easter, he appeared to the apostles over the next 40 days, teaching them the significance of what had happened to Him. They listened, but didn’t really understand, so Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, who would enlighten them and give them everything they would need to carry the Good News to people all over the world."

Helpful information like this found here at OSV.