Your works, O Lord, are manifold and wisely made, and well!
You fill the world with forms of life more than our tongues can tell.
Oh, yonder lies the rolling sea with life of ev’ry sort,
and in it lives Leviathan, whom you have made for sport.
These look to you and you provide, they gather what you give.
You open wide your hand with good to feel all things that live.
The past couple days week ended up being very busy, with a Little Flowers Meeting and Luncheon on Friday and a Birthday Party to attend on Saturday, so the kids and I had our 4th Good Shepherd’s Garden Party last night, as a late lunch/early dinner.
The little framed image of The Good Shepherd, pictured above, was a gift that arrived in my mailbox this past week from Patty! Isn’t it beautiful?! Thank you Patty!! I had saved our tablecloth, net, and extra plates and napkins from last year, and decorated the center of the table with our Paschal Candle
and small Good Shepherd Statue. However, I was very tempted to purchase the Christ as Fisherman of Men Statue
that I recently saw on display at our local Catholic Bookstore. It would have tied in so perfectly since the fourth week of The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the Fifty Days of Easter
is based on the theme “The Wind and Sea Obey Him.”
and small Good Shepherd Statue. However, I was very tempted to purchase the Christ as Fisherman of Men Statue that I recently saw on display at our local Catholic Bookstore. It would have tied in so perfectly since the fourth week of The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the Fifty Days of Easter is based on the theme “The Wind and Sea Obey Him.” ~ The Boat, Mast and Sail ~
I’ve been craving protein like crazy, and if I eat enough it seems to help control the morning sickness, so I decided to make Deviled Egg Sailboats, instead of the fruit boats. I’ve also been trying to cut back on using food coloring, so the orange and red pepper sails made a pretty and colorful addition as well!
~ The Net and The Fish ~
This is a variation of a “Go Fish” snack we did a few years ago. Instead of using Pretzel Rods, the kids dipped their nets in the peanut butter before trying to catch their fish. They all loved it, especially Snuggles!
~ The Barbecue ~
Instead of pulled pork I made BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, placing frozen Chicken Breasts, BBQ Sauce, and Crushed Pineapple in the crock pot. They turned out great!
~ The Leviathan ~
Now here is where I caved on the food coloring… I already had some leftover blue cream cheese frosting from Friday’s Little Flowers Meeting, and the Octopus Candies in the cupboard. The kids had so much fun decorating their cupcakes and said they were delicious. I opted for a cup of yogurt topped with some granola and frozen raspberries for dessert.
Snuggles has so much fun overseeing the cupcake decorating!
“Oh no! He got frosting on his finger!”
While helping his little sister decorate her cupcake…
… it wasn’t long before she got frosting all over his nose!
And our little Rose, who had just woken up from a nap, just couldn’t figure out where Snuggles was telling her to put the octopus leviathan!
~ “Sea” Water Ice Cubes with Ocean Spray ~
I happened to find this in the cupboard and decided it would be a perfect addition to this week’s party.
~ A Few More Pictures ~
Patiently waiting for all his siblings to finish washing their hands and sit down so we could say our prayers and eat!
Patiently waiting for all his siblings to finish washing their hands and sit down so we could say our prayers and eat!
Everyone misses their Daddy dearly… We are so happy that he will be coming home at the end of this week and be able to join us for our next Garden Party!
Be sure to visit Catholic Cuisine to see all of the other Garden Parties from this past week!
another lovely party indeed. such wonderful creative adaptations, Jessica.
Your Snuggles is so cute! That pic made me giggle. 🙂
I love the egg boats. Protein really helped with my morning sickness, too as I remember. Great idea!
The "go-fish" game is fantastic. I'll have to remember that for next year. My kids would love it. My 5 yr. old boy was already using his peanut butter with his pretzels to construct a cage for the fish, lol.
LOVE the egg boats and the pepper sails! The colors were amazing! And the Go Fish snack turned out perfect! I wish I could have taken more pictures, but it was fun thinking outside the box this week.
Love your new changes with the egg boats! We almost did something similar. You are amazing to put it all together with everything you have going on. Oh yes, we can empathize with Daddy being gone! I craved protein only with my two girls….:-)
Precious photos of your family too. Have a blessed week 5!
Speaking of protein and morning sickness, I read a super interesting article a while back on eating beans to help! It's here – http://karenhurd.com/concern_morning_sickness.html. I also read another article on the site (that one is here) on how it isn't that beans (ahem) are a magical fruit – they help bile clean the waste from our blood and when that waste (and the beans) hit our intestines, the waste ferments. I've been hoping to get preggers to test the theory but no luck so far. :>)
Thanks, Lenetta! I have been feeling pretty lousy this morning, and on the verge of getting sick, so I just opened a can of beans and will give it a shot! Hopefully it will help since I need to take my boys to fencing in a few hours and our last drive of any length was pretty much a disaster! 🙂
Snuggles is sooooo cute! He has the greatest expressions 🙂 I've heard the same thing about protein and morning sickness. I'm glad it works.
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I'm glad you received it. It looks so pretty in the picture. I went back to pick up more and they are all sold out 🙁
Snuggles has the best expressions on his face!!
I love all your parties!
I don't like eggs, but If I did, I'd make those cute little boats!!
I really like the peanut butter with the "nets" My kiddos would love those!
So fun! And Snuggles is SO CUTE!!!
You are bursting with love for our Lord and everyone around you. It shows in everything you do!!!! I happened to have read about the canned beans and remembered recently reading that the lining of cans contains bpa. Not everyone is concerned about bpa but enough parents have banned together so as to convince some manufactures to offer options to bpa. The picture I saw on how bpa changes tissue in the breast was more than enough to speak words of warning to me. I was so thankful to have stumbled upon the information and share it just in case there is anyone else out there that would benefit!
Dear Jessica, I hope you are keeping well? Noticed you haven't updated this for a few days. I know you must be busy! – just checking. Love from Valerie in NZ.