The Wise Men Who Found Christmas {Book Review}
Bargain Priced Books: Get 3 for the Price of 2 Sale!
Amazon is currently having their Get 3 for the Price of 2 Sale!
There are so many great books included in this sale and it’s a perfect time to stock up on gifts for Christmas, Epiphany and Easter! As I was scrolling though I compiled a list below of some of the books I have purchased. There are so many more and you can shop all items here.
Please note: All links are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Bargain Priced Books – Currently Priced Over $20
The Hobbit: Illustrated Edition
(I’ve purchased this at least three times for my younger boys and gifts!)
Little Women, Good Wives, Emma, Sense & Sensibility, and more!
(Beautiful Chiltern Classics)
Letters From Father Christmas (Hardcover Centenary Edition)
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A Book-to-Table Classic
Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set (Paperback)
Anne of Green Gables Boxed Set
The Hobbit And The Lord Of The Rings: Deluxe Pocket Boxed Set
Major Works of Charles Dickens
Bargain Priced Books – Currently Priced Between $10-20
Our Lady’s Wardrobe and Our Lady’s Picture Book
The Poorest Shepherd (Update: not in 2023 sale)
‘Twas the Evening of Christmas
Finding Christmas (Update: not in 2023 sale)
John Ronald’s Dragons: The Story of J. R. R. Tolkien
Finding Narnia: The Story of C. S. Lewis and His Brother (not pictured above)
James Herriot’s Treasury for Children (hardcover)
My Baby Book: A Catholic Baby’s Record Book
It’s a Wonderful Life: Illustrated Holiday Classic (not pictured above and not in 2023 sale)
The Wise Men Who Found Jesus (not pictured above)
Bargain Priced Books – Currently Under $10.00
The First Christmas Lift-a-Pop (Update: not in 2023 sale)
The Christmas Carol (Puffin Paperback)
(We love these hardcover editions)
Christmas Carols (Little Golden Book)
Bob Ross’ Happy Little Night Before Christmas (Update: not in 2023 sale)
Adventures with Barefoot Critters (Update: not in 2023 sale)
Little Naturalists: Ansel Adams and His Camera (BabyLit)
All Creatures Great and Small (Update: not in 2023 sale)
Saint-O-Lanterns
We carved our annual Saint-O-Lanterns on Sunday, October 30th, in preparation for our All Hallows’ Eve party the following evening. Between Mass that morning, and a bonfire the teens were all headed to that evening, we opted for some simple designs this year and they all turned out great!
Celebrating the Saints :: Our 2022 Costumes
I’ve been meaning to share these pictures from All Hallows’ Eve here on the blog and finally had a few moments to finish up the post. I took them just before our guests arrived for our All Hallows’ Eve/All Saints Party. It was such a fun evening and thankfully the weather (mostly) cooperated!
On the Feast of St. Hubert
St. Hubert Saint-o-Lantern
It’s taking me a couple days to recover from all the feasts and festivities this week, but I hope to share some pictures soon. Meanwhile, here is a peek at our ten year old’s Saint-O-Lantern pumpkin carving this past weekend in honor of St. Hubert whose feast day happens to be today!
Hubert was passionately devoted to hunting. While chasing a stag on a Good Friday morning, he received a vision of a crucifix between the animal’s antlers. A voice warned him, “Hubert, unless you turn to the Lord, and lead a holy life, you shall quickly go down to hell.” It was a conversion experience for Hubert.
Saint Hubert, pray for us!
Crafting a Crown Fit for a Queen
Crafting a Crown Fit for a Queen
We were trying to come up with a crown for one of our daughter’s costumes this year… I considered this one over at Amazon but, while I was debating due to the cost, it went out of stock. Decision made! She was on her own to come up with something and I was absolutely amazed at her creativity and results.
Here is what she used:
Cardboard (she used the box from the Sonicare toothbrushes I had just purchased)
Spray Bottle of Water
Old Ping Pong Ball
Fleur de Lis Silicone Mold
4 Yards of 4mm Pearl Trim
Paintbrushes
Brown Paint
Gold Paint
This YouTube Video was her inspiration!
Find more All Saints Day inspiration in the archives!
O God, who made the Mother of your Son to be our Mother and our Queen, graciously grant that, sustained by her intercession, we may attain in the heavenly Kingdom the glory promised to your children.
Mary, Queen of Heaven, pray for us!
Late October Daybook
Outside my window…
After some gorgeous and fairly warm autumn weather up here in North Idaho, a cold front rolled in and it’s been raining on and off this past week and snowing at the higher elevations. I’m praying for nice weather on Monday for All Hallows’ Eve!
That I have access to Shower of Roses. I had quite the scare on Wednesday… I received an email from Blogger letting me know that they had removed my blog… It was gone. The whole blog. All of it… I had no access to any of my content at all. They said that it had been flagged and that after review they “determined that it violates our guidelines”… specifically that the “content has violated our SPAM policy.” I asked them to reconsider – while unsuccessfully trying to hold it together and keep from sobbing… The automatic response was that they would get back to me within two business days. An hour later (probably thanks to everyone’s prayers over at Facebook, they emailed back: “Hello, We have re-evaluated your blog against Blogger Community Guidelines https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy. Upon review, the blog has been reinstated. You may access the blog at http://www.showerofrosesblog.com/. Thank you for understanding. Sincerely, The Blogger Team.”
I need to figure out what I need to do to prevent that from happening again… I need to move to somewhere where I own and have full control over my content. It just seems like such a daunting task after over 15 years of sharing here on Blogger. I’m also worried about the potential costs involved and if it’s even a possibility. I was given a couple contacts over on my Facebook post. Please say a prayer that I can figure it out!Learning all the time…
I’ve been blogging a lot about all the fun I’ve been having with my youngest students. I’ve had a lot of requests and promise that I’ll share more about what the older ones have been up to soon even if it isn’t as interesting!
All Hallows’ Eve is coming up on Monday! Our parish will be hosting another All Saints’ Party, but our teens requested to host a small party at our home this year instead of helping with the parish party. Last year it was freezing cold and there was well over 600 people in attendance… Our parish has continued to grow and I’m sure it will be even bigger this year! A good problem to have for sure, and I’m glad it’s an option, but our children really loved and miss the more intimate parties we used to host at our old home in Oregon. Here are the direct links to some of those parties: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014.
If you are hosting a party, or helping with a parish party, you can find all sorts of FREE downloadable All Saints & All Souls Printable Decorations, Games & Activities in my blog archives.
Craft supplies all over the kitchen counter at the moment! Tomorrow we’ll be carving our annual Saint-O-Lanterns, or at least that’s the plan!
I am working…
We’ve all been working on coming up with saint costumes! I found a crown I wanted to order for one of the girls but it was expensive and then went out of stock… Last Sunday she started making her own and it is turning out great! I’ll have to share pictures of it when it’s completed.
…some games for our party, this year’s All Saints Guessing Jars, and Ora Pro Nobis Candy Boxes. I picked up some healthier treats (Unreal Dark Chocolate Coconut Minis and Peanut Butter Cups, That’s It Mini Fruit Bars, Pure Organic Fruit Bars, and Chomps Minis) to fill our Ora Pro Nobis Candy Boxes with this year.
…to finally get my very first passport! I applied for one a couple weeks ago and can’t wait for it to arrive.
I am hoping…
…that, God willing, I can go to Fatima for my baby brother/oldest godson’s wedding early next year!!! I don’t know if we can actually make it happen or not, but I applied for my passport and that was the first step. We’ll see!
I am praying…
…for Sarah Grant, a sweet mother from our parish who was recently diagnosed with cancer after delivering her newest little baby early via c-section.
lots of picture books to our preschoolers but not much else. I ordered a new book for me recently and hoping to at least get back to my personal “minimum of 10 pages a day” goal soon.
from St. John Vianney:
We have two new kittens! I’m actually allergic, but they are living in the garage and over time we will move them outside/to the shop. We have had a mouse problem since moving here and the kids have all really missed Ferdinand and Isabella. October seems to be the month we end up with cats!
…High School sports for our teens. It’s so great that high schoolers are allowed to try out and participate in our local high school sports, both back in Southern Oregon and also here in North Idaho! Our oldest two played Varsity Golf all four years of High School, two years of Varsity hockey, two years of Varsity soccer and a year of JV Basketball for one of them. Our oldest daughter played four years of Varsity golf (with unfortunately only one tournament junior year due to shutdowns) and one year of soccer. And our next two joined the fun this school year, playing on the Varsity Girls Golf team and JV Boys Golf team! We went to the Golf Banquet last Wednesday night to finish the season.
- Hockey Practice for the boys Mon/Wed/Fri with games Fri/Sat
- Carving our annual Saint-O-Lanterns Sunday after Mass
- Hosting an All Hallows’ Eve Party Monday!
- Mass on the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls
- Doctor appointment on Tuesday that I scheduled 3 months ago 🙏🏻
- Weekly PT on Thursday
- Friends for dinner next weekend!
A little peek at our trip to Green Bluff…
Little Saints Preschool :: Colors & Guardian Angels
I’m bouncing ahead from I Belong to God to the Little Saints Preschool theme we finished last week, on the Feast of St. Luke, before moving on to Fall is Here! This was such a fun and colorful unit study and perfect for October with all the gorgeous fall colors and the feasts of the Holy Guardian Angels and St. Luke who is the patron saint of artists. Be sure to scroll to the bottom for a chance to win a copy of How the Angels Got Their Wings!
Picture Books
Rainbow Stacker • Eco-Kids Finger Paint • Eco-Dough • Small Rainbow Stacker
St. Luke Peg Doll • Archangel Blocks (pictured below)
Caps for Sale* • Angel in the Waters • One • The Mixed-Up Chameleon*
How the Angels Got Their Wings • A is for Angel • What Angels See • The Angels’ Alphabet
What Color is Heaven? • Planting a Rainbow* • Baby Bear Sees Blue
Color Zoo • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?* • Colors of Creation (from TAN)
Conan the Color Blind Chameleon
(Note: Only four of these books* are listed in my Little Saints book, the rest are my own additions.)
Archangel Blocks from Almond Rod Toys
My rolling Book Display has been perfect to set up for each unit! I can display all of our picture books on the top, add some toys and games to the shelf, and the bottom holds my other supplies, teacher manuals, and my Primary Arts of Language crate. I also love that I can easily roll it out of the dining room when I want it out of sight.
Learning Games
Color Blindness
Arts & Crafts
Snacks
One of our older girls is allergic to Red40 — We love that Trader Joe’s has so many colorful candies without food coloring… Not quite as vibrant as M&M’s put still very pretty!
St. Luke’s Artist Palette Cookies
Giveaway
Sophia Institute Press has offered to send one of my visitors a copy of How the Angels Got Their Wings! We’ve read it a number of times now and the little girls (and older kids!) love it. It’s definitely and excellent introduction to the angels for little children and has been frequently requested to be read again!
Leave a comment on this post and then enter using the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway (Remove link: Rafflecopter has closed their website.)
You can find all our past Little Saints Preschool posts listed here or scroll through them all here.
Behold I will send my angel, who shall go before thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have prepared.
– Exodus 23:20
State-by-State Baking :: Pennsylvania – Hershey’s Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies
Ingredients:
- 10 Tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons Unsweetened Hershey’s Cocoa Powder
For the Cream Cheese Center
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 6 Full Sized Hershey Bars to top
Remove from oven and immediately top with full size Hershey bars. Let melt and spread evenly. Cool completely.
Pennsylvania Notebooking Page from United States Maps
State-by-State Baking :: Pennsylvania – Philadelphia Soft Pretzels
Ingredients:
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 large egg, beaten
- seasame seeds
- mustard for dipping
Resources we used for this State Study:
Pennsylvania Notebooking Page from United States Maps
Our United States of America: Catholic Social Studies
Name that State File Folder Game
United States Coloring Book
How the States Got Their Shapes Season 1 and Season 2
Sequence States & Capitals
United States Puzzle (older version of this one)
USA & Canada Geo Puzzle
Handwriting 5 for Young Catholics (contains basic facts for each state and more)
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State-by-State Baking :: Pennsylvania Hershey’s Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies
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