All Saints Day

On October 31st, the girls' school celebrated All Saints Day with a big Carnival.*  Emily dressed as St. Francis of Assisi and carried a basket of animals with her and Elizabeth dressed as St. Thomas the Apostle.  As a fourth grader, Elizabeth was required to write a paper about her chosen saint and give a presentation to the class.  She chose St. Thomas the Apostle because he is the patron saint of architects and she wants to be an architect when she grows up.  She did all of the research herself (although on the computer, not at the library, which is so weird for me); she then organized her research and dictated her paper to me.  I made intentional spelling and grammatical mistakes and, as much as it pained me, did not correct any of her mistakes. She then proof-read her paper several times, spotting all of the mistakes ("Mommy, you are not a very good speller") and changing sentences that didn't sound right.  She then rehearsed her presentation for us several times, working on eye contact, reading slowly and using a loud, strong voice.  She also did a great job with her costume, pinning photos of famous landmarks to her religious outfit.  We don't know her grade yet, but we are very proud of the hard work that she put into this project.  As a crazy coincidence, her friend Ethan in New Hampshire also made his very first presentation (about a historical person that took a chance) on the exact same day!  Janet and I exchange several nervous texts on Thursday morning but both of our kids did great!

Thomas and Francis 

 It was dark when the girls left for school and dark when I got home that night, so taking good pictures of their costumes proved a bit difficult. 

Some of the photos pinned to Elizabeth's costume - the Notre Dame administration building was displayed prominently. 

Serious apostle. 

Laila and Elizabeth 

Emily and Kayla 

Some of the fourth grade saints. 

Elizabeth, presenting to her class.

 
*Why on Halloween, and not the actual All Saints Day?  Well, All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation and all students are required to wear their formal uniform to mass.  And because the school is Catholic, their principal does not allow Halloween celebrations.  So having an All Saints Day Carnival on the actual day of Halloween is really the way to go.