A House Full of Saints

I think every year I find myself saying that "this year's All Saints Day Party was the best one yet." And this year was no different. What a blessing that this annual celebration just keeps getting better and better. I feel so overwhelmingly blessed to be surrounded by wonderful Catholic friends who celebrate the saints with us and strive to glorify God while having fun at the same time.

I took so many pictures at our party that I feel are worth sharing, so I will try to let the photos do most of the talking...

Here is our "saintly" family ready for the party to begin.  This year Michael dressed as St. Andrew, Paul dressed as St. John Bosco, Joseph dressed as St. Peter, Dominic dressed as St. Dominic Savio, Maria dressed as St. Faustina, and Nathanael dressed as St. Gabriel.

Our dear friends Glen and Lisa brought their girls dressed as very sweet looking saints:  Margaret was dressed as Blessed Mother Teresa, Audrey was dressed as St. Bernadette, Agnes was dressed as the newly canonized St. Kateri, and Grace was dressed as St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

We made a new saint game this year that the kids all loved called "The Saints Trivia Go Fishing Game."  I asked each little fisherman or fisherwoman a saint question, then if they got it right they got to go fishing for a prize.  One of the 4 year old boys gave the cutest response to the question:  What saint was Jesus' daddy?"  I was looking for the answer "St. Joseph," but this little boy gave the much more profound answer: "God."  So cute, so correct.  He definately got a prize for that answer.

The little girls especially loved the "St. Therese Rose Toss Game."  If they successfully threw their rose into the laundry basket which held a picture of St. Therese, they received a prize.

I bet St. Therese the Little Flower was smiling down on the happy little kids playing this game :)

The boys especially loved the new game that my friends Glen and Lisa introduced this year.  It was called the "St. Kateri Sin-Shooting Game."  Each cup target had a sin labeled on it, and the kids tried to fight the sins with their bow and arrows :)

The littlest kids just loved all the excitement around them and the candy, of course!  :)

Little Margaret's chocolate eyes truly melt my heart and remind me why we are called to be like little children.  So precious, so innocent, so joy-filled!

And the grand finale of the evening is always the pinata game.   This year I didn't have the energy to make a homemade pinata, but I found this fish pinata on the internet for only $6!  I thought a fish would be fitting since two of my boys were dressed as fishermen saints.

Even the littlest sluggers were able to get some of the candy to fall out of the pinata this year.

Who needs trick-or-treating when there's a pinata filled with candy to enjoy?!

Here's the whole group of little saints.  It's hard to tell if the little kids or the big kids enjoy the party more....it seems to be loved by all ages!  Everyone went home happier, and perhaps a little holier :)

And remember, even if you feel like your halo is drooping, God's mercies are new every morning and we are ALL called to be saints!  God bless each of you on your journey to holiness!