• About
    • Copyright Disclaimer
    • Disclaimer
    • Disclosure Policy
  • My Book List
  • Book List for Catholic Men
  • Book List for the Youth
  • Sermons and Audios
  • Finer Femininity
    • Finer Femininity Meeting
    • Traditional Family Weekend
  • My Morning and Night Prayers
  • Donate to Finer Femininity?
  • Catholic Mother’s Traditional Advent Journal
  • Finer Femininity Magazine!
  • Books by Leane
    • My New Book – Catholic Mother Goose!
    • Catholic Hearth Stories
    • My Book – Cheerful Chats for Catholic Children
  • Toning With T-Tapp
    • Move It! A Challenge for You and Me….

Finer Femininity

~ Joyful, Feminine, Catholic

Finer Femininity

Category Archives: Traditional Family Weekend

The Traditional Family Weekend 2022 ~ Videos & A Gallery

26 Friday Aug 2022

Posted by Leanevdp in Smorgasbord 'n Smidgens, Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 2 Comments

We had our annual Traditional Family Weekend in July. Friday of the Family Weekend was supposed to be a soccer match, bonfire, singing and a rosary procession at our parish grounds. But the temperature soared to over 100 degrees so we moved everything to the hall we had booked for Saturday.

The children played in a train area that was set up, the diehards still went outside and played volleyball, we were able to have the singing and the rosary procession as it cooled off a bit and then live music and games.

Besides Friday being moved, the rest of the weekend went off without a hitch. Saturday was the conferences by Father Berg, Games and the Talent Show. Sunday was a breakfast sponsored by our Traditional Knights of Columbus (with all proceeds going to our Kansas for Life Association) and then sports in the park. Thankfully, it had cooled down enough that many showed up for that and ended the weekend with a lot of fun!

I have the videos of some of the Talent Show Acts on Google Drive. The links are posted below if you wish to view them…

These first two are the Fife and Drum Act: Link here and here.     

The Juggling Act with son, Angelo and grandson, Brendan: Link here.

A Mexican Dance: Link here.

Goin’ Courtin’ with daughter, Rosie, Son, Angelo and grandsons Edward, Antonio, Benjamin, Johnny, Nathaniel: Link here.

(Disclaimer: This Act doesn’t necessarily reflect the courtship rules at the VanderPutten household… 😉 )

Irish Music by the McCune Family: Link here.

Whistle a Happy Tune with Father Eichman, Rosie, Hannah, Gemma: Link here.

The Egg: Link here.

The Last Goodbye with the Porter Family: Link here.

The Pony Man Song: Link here.

Ode to a Hero, where Rosie, Hannah and Gemma chide our good parish priest….with Father Eichman’s great talent on the piano: Link here.

Under the Bamboo Tree with daughter, Gemma and Granddaughters, Emma and Juliette: Link here.

Wonderful Violin and Piano Piece with Luis and Raul. Link here.

Below is a gallery of the Family Weekend:

Getting ready..
Play and work…
Tables need to be covered and tacked underneath.

Father puts his one tack in and calls it good.
Rosie and James decorate above the stage.
Gemma decorates Our Lady

Little people help, too!
Taking a break for some popcorn!
Friday was Vin and Gin’s Anniversary.

James and Hannah decorate the doorway….
Our sound and light guy, Rob, with his crew setting up.

Madeline is figuring out things…
And trying to get the coffee maker to work.
Practicing for the Talent Show.

The festivity begins…

Little peope enjoy the Train Section….

Hannah
Jeremy
Theresa, Maria, Megan

Raul plays in the background
Ready for the Rosary Procession

Back inside
Songs and comaraderie…


Vin begins Saturday with making breakfast for family and friends

Father’s conferences on the Family.
They were excellent. I wish we would have recorded them!

Our Lady watches over the Weekend…
Praying the rosary…

Visiting…
Hello from our Spanish friends!




Ping pong!

Priests challenge each other!

Blowing bubbles

Talent Show begins….









K of C Breakfast

Good friends, good food.
A lovely family from North Dakota who came for the Weekend.

We so much enjoyed the friendship and talent of our Spanish friends.

Luis and Raul came from Texas for the Weekend.
We hope they will come again!
Raul entertains us…


Good times! The Traditional Family Weekend 2019 Photos

25 Thursday Jul 2019

Posted by Leanevdp in FF Tidbits, Smorgasbord 'n Smidgens, Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 6 Comments

The end of June found us wrapped up in a very fun and wholesome event…The Traditional Family Weekend! It was a great time and I wanted to share some photos with you. Maybe you can make it next year?

As aside….Fr. Allen gave the two conferences on Holiness in Family Life…reflecting on St. Therese and her family. If you would like to listen to them, the link is here.

 

And now, the gallery….

Getting the lovely zinnias and roses from our garden to adorn the tables at the Weekend.
The girls tape the plastic tablecloths on so they don’t slip around.
Madeline and Hannah

Tables are ready!
Getting some “puff balls” ready to hang up.
Sarah is working on Father Walker’s table

Lovely!
Rob and Cheryl rehearsing with the sound equipment.

Talent Show Rehearsal
Mr. James Eichman was here visiting and was able to take part in the Weekend.
Our coffee nook that Gin and Margy decorated.

Potluck Buffet time!
Good food
Good comaraderie

Our live entertainment did a great job! The MacDonald Family Singers.
Foosball was a hit!

Dom and Vinnie
Tom Walker and Fr. Allen
Chatting…

Ping Pong! Mary Frances played a great game!
Jeanette…
Gemma…

Martin chats with Rob…our sound guy…who is the backbone of the weekend!
The singers…
The Play Train Area was a hit!

It kept the little people in one spot and contained…if mothers chose to use it.
Fun!
Virginia’s table of goodies…that are always well received by the girls!

Father Flood stops by…
Grandpa is outside doing the grandpa thing…
Lots of volleyball!

Fr. Adams had the younger guys playing dodge ball.
Winner!

A hand-crocheted blanket was raffled off.
Saturday afternoon, Fr. Allen gave 2 great conferences focusing on St. Therese’s family life.


Fr. Adams…getting ready for his part in the play?
Dominic and Augustine.

What a cutie-pie!
Fr. Flood and Vincent discuss business…

Good job, Tony!
Vin, Gin and Juliette

After the conferences, Fr. Flood led the rosary.

Then…more games and pizza!

Rita was hungry!
Where’s mine? …says Ethan.
Commiserating?

Talent Show begins!
The McCune family with a song about moving to Maple Hill, KS.
A sweet song with the Ecks and the McCunes.

Ernie plays a very hard piece on the guitar
A funny skit about a dear family in the parish.
Father takes part.

The bus is full!
Joseph Walker plays a piece.
Madeline

Madeline and Sarah (daughter-in-law)
Captivated audience
A little singing and guitar

A skit by the Porter Family

Kids in the front row sitting on the floor.
Me
John was very good…and funny!

My girls were hams.
Hannah and Gemma

They sang a song with Ernie.
Mr. Eichman
Fife and drums…excellent!

Angelo’s juggling act was a hit!


Traditional Family Weekend 2018 – Photos, Videos….

18 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by Leanevdp in Smorgasbord 'n Smidgens, Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 5 Comments

Sometimes it’s hard to live a joyful, Catholic life in an un-Catholic world. That’s when you reach out and bring Catholic Culture to your own little world!

And that’s what we did years ago when we had our first Traditional Family Weekend. Yes, it’s been 15 years, we have had our bumps and made our mistakes but we have seen very good fruit come from these weekends. Couples have met, families have interacted, good times have been had, our souls have been nourished.

Here are some pictures and videos (look for the videos underneath the gallery), of our Family Weekend this year in June. It was very hot but it didn’t stop the young people from playing volleyball outside, doing water balloons and playing soccer!

We were blessed this year to have Fr. VanderPutten with us from Nigeria. We had not seen him for a couple years….last year he spent his vacation in Fatima for the 100th Anniversary of the apparitions. So it was great to have him! He always adds spice to wherever he goes. He brought his Nigerian friend, Edwin Mary Akadu, who stayed with us for the week they were here. We got to know him well and grew to love this holy, African man.

Below is the gallery, click on the first picture to view, then look for the videos underneath the gallery…

Set up for the weekend has begun. Here, Vin and Gin are bringing in one of the three parts of the stage that Vinnie built.
This year we made a special niche for the children. Our good friends, Dale and Natalie, brought their train tracks, etc. and we blocked it off with haybales making a fence of sorts.
All the little people could have fun in their little makeshift playroom.

Waiting in line to practice for the Talent Show.
Two of the ladies in our parish were such a huge help! Natalie and Isabel.

“Hanging out” after the decorating.
Talent Show practice is the night of the decorating.
Our son-in-law, Mike, and Magdalene.

Smiling faces…
Practicing…
Our wonderful sound and light crew….Rob and Cheryl!

3 sisters…Cecilia, Rebecca and Joan.
Practicing…

I raided our zinnia patch and made 30 bouquets for the tables!
The hall is ready!

Good times…

Chivalrous Mike helps his mom who fell and broke her ankle while visiting here from Maine. She was in a wheelchair.
Son-in-law, Vin with our son, Dominic.

Visiting…
Father VanderPutten tends to give us the evil eye if we snap a picture!

Fr. Kodet
Fr. Flood, Fr. VanderPutten and moi

Gemma, Father Vdp and Margy
Birthday!
Gin and Nathan

Avila is wildly impressed!
Guys chatting…
The weekend is dedicated to Fr. Kenneth Walker, R.I.P.+

Gin and Jeanette have a table to sell their wares.
Games

Parents sit on the edge of the haybale niche
Father talking intensely with Zaelie.

Priests and little people….
A father and five of his boys came to sing for us on Friday night.
Live entertainment!

Grandaughter, Rita

Our coffee nook…
Games to play!
Gin and Sarah

Rob (our sound man) helps Joe set up his video camera.
Joe, the Camera man.
Praying the rosary

Conference

Thomas, a good friend…

Hannah
Father Kodet
Talent Show

Talent Show

The party after the party….

Below are some pictures of the Talent Show. Father Kodet, who has been with us for three years, will be leaving us soon to bless another parish with his winning and fatherly ways! He was always willing to spread the love of Christ to others….and often had his concertina in the back seat of his car to pull out and entertain those around him. Here is a video of Father playing at the Talent Show.

 

What a pleasure to have these young men perform! The kids loved the vibrant sounds of the fife and drum!

 

 

Hannah and Gemma are up to their antics again as they assure people that life is not perfect at the VanderPutten home….hehe

 

Wow! Skillful drums!! Take a look!

 

The girls practiced this song with Ernie…a lot. They finally got it down and when they got on stage, Ernie accidentally had the capo on the wrong fret of his guitar. Threw them all off and….well, let’s just say….this is not that video. Blah.

Anyway, this is their practice of the song…

 

John and Gemma never cease to amaze us with their talents!

 

Virginia (Gin) and Rosie sing “All I Ask of You” from the Phantom of the Opera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Invitation to The Traditional Family Weekend, July 15 – 17, 2016 and a GiveAway!

08 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by Leanevdp in Events, Give-Aways, Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 27 Comments

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀      Please join us if you can!       ❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀

Traditional Family Weekend July 2016.pdf

I know a lot of you have seen this video but I post it for those who do not know what the weekend is about. Thanks to Ernest Garcia for putting it together for us!

******************************************************************

And now you can sign up for this giveaway of a copy of my Maglet: Finer Femininity; A Sunshiny Disposition, a beautiful brass wire-wrapped rosary bracelet and a First Communion Catechism Audio CD from St. Anne’s Helper  to help you teach your little ones the Catechism!

Just leave a comment on this post!

The winner will be announced on Weds., June 15th!

FullSizeRender

 

il_570xN.859928020_8wqh

******************************************************************

quote for the day2

“Being feminine does not mean being giggly, unintelligent, incompetent or unreliable. Instead, our femininity is an assignment from God. It is how God created us. It is a character that is imprinted deeply upon us, which is made apparent in our physical bodies, and by how we speak, act and dress.” -Colleen Hammond, Dressing With Dignity

13165920_521851928016822_6304978323759429416_n

Traditional Family Weekend Summer 2015 – Photos!!

09 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by Leanevdp in Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 12 Comments

We had a wonderful Traditional Family Weekend this summer and I thought I would share with you today some of the pictures I gathered together. Click on the first picture to view the gallery…

This is our gang before the Weekend…..expressing their excitement while Angleo is thinking they are all bananas!
Missouri VanderPuttens sent this picture to us showing their anticipation!
I think one of the most enjoyable times of one of these Weekends is the preparation. The exciement in the kids is energizing and puts a smile on my face….all day! 🙂

Doing hair in fancy up-do’s or Jane Austen fashion is a lot of fun!

I was truly impressed. Johnny hauled his sewing machine over 3 days before the weekend and sewed himself the shirt, the vest and the cravat. He had no pattern and his sewing machine would not feed through so he fed the material through manually! What a great job!

It is such a pleasure to see the guys dress up for these functions!
Our 15 yr. old daughter, Margy, made most of these vests for the dance.
Paul and Francisco Shibler

The girls are lovely!

Virginia made these outfits….so pretty!
One of the favorite dances of the kids is the Virginia Reel. This dance takes about 11 minutes and is very tiring! We did it three times that night! Lots of fun!
It was not my plan to become a dance caller. But the cost was inhibitive of getting one in each time – from $250.00 to $800.00. I figured I would try my hand at it. I love to do it and to see the kids have so much fun!



Paul Shibler

Best buds and brothers-in-law! Mike and Vinnie
Erni Garcia and Jessica VanderPutten
Best cuz’s Regina, Dominic, Michelle VanderPutten

Mike, Jeanette and Agnes….
Dapper Dave

Patrick from Oklahoma
Fran (Vincent’s brother) and Lori are from Missouri and come to take part in the festivities every time! I am grateful for their support!
Father VanderPutten was visiting from Nigeria!

Mom and daugher. 🙂
Our sound and lighting guy, Rob, with his daughter, Laura. These people are fantastic and without them, the Family weekend would be a dud! 🙂
The candy and popcorn Lady was very busy!

Playing games….
Char Harder from Arkansas
Olivia Byrne behind the booth. The smiles will sell merchandise! 🙂

Don’t ask…. 😀
Mom and Daughter….Lori and Michelle VanderPutten

Erni and a hitchiker
Some people just can’t take the excitement!
Talk about not taking the excitement!! They may be peeved at me for posting this one but, hey, what are mother-in-laws for??!! Hehe

Margy and niece, Agnes!
The Family Weekend is dedicated to Father Walker.
Most of these kids are not regular choir members so this was a chance to sharpen their polyphony and gregorian chant skills!

We prayed the rosary Saturday afternoon.
Praying the rosary.

Rosary time.
Father Curtis’ conference on the Bishop’s Synod coming up.
Father Fongemie gave a conference on Fatherhood and Purity.


Father Curtis’ blessing.
Margy and Sarah
Little Melissa.

Best Cuz’s Jacinta and Hannah!
Caught in the act….
Best cuz’s Jacinta and Gemma!

Father VanderPutten and Father Curtis
Balloons helped to keep the kids happy and occupied!

So did lollies!
Devin and Theresa.
Gabe Harder…The Harders come from Arkansas and are a great support to the Weekend!

Ready for a baby any time now!
We had a booth set up where I sold my Maglets and rosaries, etc. and Virginia sold her Kanzashi ribbon flowers.

I can imagine that Virginia is telling Little Johnny that he may NOT touch what is on the table….or something of that sort!
Vincent just kept blowing up balloons to keep the kids happy!

Virginia’s Kanzashi flowers!
Lovely, lovely! Everyone was wearing them in their hair! They were a hit!

4th of July Kanzashi Flowers!

Haha Good times for Little People!
Cuz’s Michelle and Rosie

Mom and Daughter…Lori and Regina….beautiful!
Very good friends…Rosalie and son, David Gallant
First time we met Chad and Karen! Wonderful people!

Hillarie and Theresa George….always smiling and bringing smiles to others!
Olivia Byrne, Felicity VanderPutten
Ricky Riello and Rita Therese

Terry & Lisa from Oklahoma
Jeanette and Virginia
Rosalie from Maine

Linda Riello…..dear friends!
Johnny Gallant and niece, Agnes!
Olivia and Felicity

Aunt Margy and Nathaniel
Dominic, Regina, Sarah
Char and Michelle

Trinity from Texas and Melissa
Miranda and Hannah
Samantha and Gemma

Margy, Erni, Rosie
Clean up is very important and intense. But with so many hands on deck, the yoke is easy and the burden light!
Even Little Emma knows the value of clean-up!

Thanks guys! Vince Harder
Until next time…..

Just For Fun….

24 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by Leanevdp in Events, FF Tidbits, Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 2 Comments

We had a Film Festival on Saturday afternoon of the Traditional Family Weekend.

(For pictures of past Family Weekends search in the category of Traditional Family Weekend….)

One of the films was by our good friend Erni Garcia (Erniversal Studios).

The video features the beautiful voices of  Erni Garcia and Hillarie George. Our married couples are also in it….Mike and Jeanette Gallant and Devin and Theresa Byrne.

I think you will enjoy it!

This post shared with the blog Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Coming Right Up!! Traditional Family Weekend – June 19 – 21, 2015!

11 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Leanevdp in Events, Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 6 Comments

For those who are planning to come, we are looking forward to having you!!

YOU ARE INVITED!!

 Traditional Family Weekend 2015.jpeg

Traditional Family Weekend – June 19 – 21, 2015!

24 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by Leanevdp in Events, Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 7 Comments

YOU ARE INVITED!!

 Traditional Family Weekend 2015.jpeg

A Bake Sale Today and an Heirloom-Quality Necklace Set Give-Away for You!

07 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by Leanevdp in Give-Aways, My Shop - Meadows of Grace, Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 29 Comments

The girls worked hard yesterday to be able to pull this Bake Sale off in town today. It is lovely out. Just two days ago the low was 3 degrees, the high in the twenties. Today it will be 72 degrees……perfect for a Bake Sale!

I wanted to show you the pictures from yesterday. Our Traditional Family Weekends run into a good amount of funds so we try to have two Bake Sales before each Weekend.

IMG_7732 IMG_7736 IMG_7747 IMG_7748 IMG_7750 IMG_7759IMG_7766 IMG_7768 IMG_7769

We also try to get the guys together and have an “Epic Duels” Tournament at least once to raise more money. We have a bunch of guys get together with 3 or 4 of the games. They pay a certain amount to participate, we provide the food, they buy the drinks from us. We are able to raise close to $200.00 each time. And it provides a good time for everyone!

IMG_7755

If you would like to donate to the “cause” of these Weekends that provide a chance for like-minded Catholics to get together for social and spiritual nourishment, you can click below.

Also, any benefactors will be remembered in our daily rosary here at our household. 🙂

paypal-donate-button

Here is a video that our friend, Ernie Garcia,  put together to give you an idea of what we try to do over here (I have posted it before):

AND NOW FOR THE GIVE-AWAY!

Today I want to give to one of you this heirloom-quality, classic necklace set!

This necklace set has sparkling spring colors sprinkled throughout to make a lovely and elegant set, perfect to offset your fresh, spring outfit! The wire I used for this particular set is unique…a braided silver wire. It was a little difficult to work with so you may be the only person wearing a set like this…. 😀

It is wire wrapped and therefore a set that will last a lifetime!

If you don’t wear jewelry yourself, think about someone you could give it to. 🙂

Please sign up by making a comment! As usual, I always love to hear from you…even if it is just a hi!

We will announce the winner on Valentine’s Day so don’t be late!

IMG_7630 IMG_7641And while you are at it, take a look at some of my  items at http://www.meadowsofgrace.com   I know there is a lot of jewelry and rosaries out there on the market. I like to think mine is unique because each link is handmade and wrapped around itself (and sometimes running across the bead) providing it with a durability that is unlike other jewelry and rosaries.They are made with time and with love. <3

Click on the first picture to view the gallery.












Christmas Seasonings

13 Tuesday Jan 2015

Posted by Leanevdp in Feast Days, FF Tidbits, Seasons, Smorgasbord 'n Smidgens, Traditional Family Weekend

≈ 2 Comments

The following is a smorgasbord of pictures that will walk you through some Advent, past Christmas and into the Traditional Family Weekend. Make sure to click the gallery off after you are done looking at the photos and scroll down to watch the videos of some of the Talent Show acts….

Click on the first picture to view gallery.

Searching for “debris” to make our stable scene.
Lots of goodies!

OK Margy, we can’t bring a WHOLE TREE into the house!! But we will try, won’t we?

Moss is one of our favorite things to discover and bring home to put in just the right places in our stable scene.