Free Printable First Communion, Baptism, Confirmation Quinceanera, Invitations, Cards

Do you know a child who is making her first holy Eucharist (holy communion) this year? Perhaps your family is Catholic and your child is celebrating his first communion? If you're hosting a reception, here are free printable first holy Eucharist party invitations. If you're attending a first communion mass and reception, here are free printable first communion cards for the new communicant.

Hoover Web Design has several free printable first holy Eucharist invitations that could be used as free printable first communion cards. To print, the invitations, click and save to your computer. Then open the saved clipart, copy and paste in a new Paint image. Adjust so the image fits (cropped to 4.25 x 5.5 inches) and place in bottom right corner. Print and fold top half down and in half again so card opens to right. Fill in party details or for greeting cards, write your own verse and sign. You can also get other free printable religious party invitations and cards for Jewish bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah plus Catholic and Orthodox Christian baptism and confirmation.

365 Greetings has free printable first communion cards with modern and lovely vintage Catholic images. The old classic images come from holy cards and feature the Sacred Heart of Jesus offering the child holy Eucharist (holy communion). Greetings Island has attractive contemporary free printable first communion cards and holy communion invitations. Real Life at Home has several free printable first communion cards, invitations and announcements. Here's another site with more free printable holy Eucharist cards and invitations. American Greetings and Blue Mountain both havefree printable first communion cards and first holy Eucharist invitations, Some are alike and others are different. .

Free Printable Natural Family Planning Ovulation and Fertility Charts

Birth control is a very personal choice between couples but in the Catholic church and some protestant denominations, use of artificial contraception is forbidden by church law. If you're a Catholic Christian or concerned about the safety of taking the pill, oral contraceptives or using artificial birth control, why not consider NFP or Natural Family Planning? 

Natural Family Planning International, a ministry of the Catholic Church, teaches couples to chart monthly menstrual cycles, using the symptom-thermal or calendar method of birth control. Fertility awareness helps couples with natural family planning without artificial birth control. It helps them achieve pregnancy by understanding a woman's monthly cycle. Here are free printable ovulation charts, also called fertility charts.

Ovulation is the time of the month when the egg is released from the ovary and begins its way down the Fallopian tube to the uterus. The uterus prepares for possible pregnancy each month and the BBT or basal body temperature rises slightly around fertile times of the month. The uterus also builds up mucus which appears in the cervix and around a woman's genital area. The consistency and type of mucus indicates more and less fertile times. Couples plot information about CM (cervical mucus) and BBT on fertility charts to know when ovulation is occurring.

Using the information on fertility charts, couples plan to when to engage in intercourse to get pregnant. Charting cervical mucus and daily BBT is called the symptothermal method of Natural Family Planning. With the health risks involved with artificial contraceptives, many couples use symptothermal birth control to know when to avoid intercourse and pregnancy, for safe and natural family planning.

Free printable medical forms has a free printable fertility charts. These BBT charts track ovulation signs using the symptothermal calendar method. There are simple free printable fertility charts and more advanced BBT charts for a cost. Just Mommies has free printable ovulation charts that use just the BBT calendar method and not the symptothermal method of birth control. Fertility charts are simple to use. Instead of writing the clinical sexual intercourse or SI used on most fertility charts, couples write BD (baby dance).

Baby Center is a great for folks trying to achieve pregnancy. Its supportive and includes a free e-newsletter to receive helpful fertility advice. Baby Center has tutorials on how to use basal thermometers and free CM and BBT fertility charts. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the free printable BBT charts. Use fertility awareness tools in natural family planning.

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Ash Wednesday Lenten Almsgiving Service Project Activities

When I homeschooled our children, our Catholic Lenten lesson plans centered on prayer, fasting and almsgiving, in solidarity with the poor and imitation of our Lord Jesus. A favorite Lenten service project was to help with church missions for our twin parish in Haiti. Here's a Lenten almsgiving service project. 

Make personal care kits and school supplies kits for those in need. Fill gallon size zippered plastic bags with hygiene products. Discuss needs. Do they require certain hair care products or weather-related items (sunscreen, hand warmers)? If they lack water, how will that affect the products you send? What products are most necessary and useful? What items will break or spill? What might not get through customs? What items will expire (medicine)? Then, buy these basic supplies: bar of soap, washcloth (items can be wrapped in this for travel), brush, comb, tissues, socks, hair bands, lip balm, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, small towel, bandages. 

Make school kits: buy pencils, pencil sharpener, paper, notepads, notebooks, scissors, tape, glue stick, solar calculator, colored pencils, crayons, ruler, protractor, markers, folder. Package items in inexpensive backpack. Teach time and money math. Have students make lists, plan shopping, organize time, read maps, plan routes and coordinate trips. 

Teach students to compare prices, read ads, do the math on bulk purchases, figure sales and percentage discounts, calculate tax, use coupons and budget. Make several kits. Teach story problems with multiplication, division, money, fractions. Ask questions like "if one toothbrush costs $.79, how many do 6 cost?" 

Teach ecology, recycling and environmental science. Have children remove packaging: boxes, plastic wrapping, inserts before bagging items. Sort and recycle. Explain that extra packaging cost more. Wrap items in reusable things: washcloth, bandanna, socks, towel, to prevent breakage. 

Students learn social studies, geography, history and earth science. As you assemble kits, discuss countries where the kits will be sent. Locate on the globe. Explore the country's resources, agriculture, climate, terrain, history. Consider factors leading to poverty: water sources, weather, drought, sanitation, war, governmental policies, military coups. Discuss what the needs are and why. Teach empathy, by helping children understand how much they have compared to many around the world. Now celebrate. Explore customs, foods, religion, traditions, mores. Sample regional foods. Listen to local music. Make native crafts