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Feasts & Seasons :: Our January Book Basket

Jan 5, 2014 | , , , | 28 Comments

January 1st, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Holy Mother of God (New) and Circumcision of Our Lord (Trad.): January 2nd, St. Basil the Great (New): January 3rd, Most Holy Name of Jesus (New): January 3rd, St. Genevieve (Hist.):
January 4th, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (New): January 4th, St. Pharaildis: January 4th, St. Rigobert: January 5th, St. John Neumann (New): January 5th, Twelfth Night (The Twelve Days of Christmas):
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Laurel Long
January 6th, Epiphany of the Lord (New, Trad) Sts. Caspar, Balthasar & Melchior, the Three Wise Men (Hist.): (In the United States this feast is celebrated on the first Sunday following January 1st)
Small Camel Follows the Star by Rachel Brown
January 13th, Baptism of the Lord (Trad.):
(On the New Calendar, this feast is celebrated on the Sunday following January 6th)
January 14th, St. Nino of Georgia: January 14th, St. Kentigern: January 14th , St. Felix of Nola:
Saint Felix and the Spider by Dessi Jackson
January 15th, St. Paul – The First Hermit (Trad.) January 17th, St. Anthony of Egypt (New, Trad.) January 20th, St. Sebastian (New, Trad.) January 21st, St. Agnes (New, Trad.): January 21st, Our Lady of Altagracia: January 23rd, Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Hist.): January 24th, St. Francis de Sales (New) (Trad. – Jan 29th): January 25th, The Conversion of St. Paul (New, Trad.):
January 26th, St. Paula (Hist.): January 27th, St. Angela Merici (New) (Trad. – June 1st): January 27th, St. John Chrysostom (Trad.) (New – Sep. 13th): January 28th, St. Thomas Aquinas (New) (Trad. – Mar. 7th):
Saint Thomas Aquinas – Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children
January 29th, St. Francis de Sales (Trad.) (New – Jan 24th): See January 24th for booklist. January 31st, St. John Bosco (New, Trad.):
Other Links for January: Links for January :: Month Dedicated to the Most Holy Name of Jesus

Roses for Baby Jesus

Jan 3, 2014 | , , , , , | 6 Comments

Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!
This like some sweet refrain

In childhood lisped at mother’s knee
Through all the happy years to be

Rose loves lining up her new pink Rosary Roses five times for Baby Jesus during our family rosaries! 

Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!
My heart-cry Thy sweet Name.
~ Jesus Make Me Worthy
(This post contains affiliate links.)

Today is the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus on the new calendar and it is celebrated on January 5th on the traditional calendar.  We will be reading The Saving Name of God the Son and coloring pictures from the Holy Name of Jesus Coloring Book.

It is also the historical feast of St. Genevieve!  You can find short stories about St. Genevieve in Saints: Lives and Illuminations, Once Upon a Time Saints, and Saints for Girls: A First Book for Little Catholic Girls (also available from TAN/Neumann Press – I’m dying to read this one to Rose, but I’m still saving it for her Easter Basket this year!).  I’ve been busy organizing bookshelves and hope to share a complete list of books for January soon.

I hope your new year is off to a blessed beginning! 

A Few Highlights from 2013. . .

Dec 31, 2013 | | 10 Comments

Like last year, I thought it’d be fun to share some of the highlights from this past year. I actually compiled photo albums as gifts for our parents this Christmas and I snapped some screen shots of those pages (with the text slightly modified) to share with you all here at Shower of Roses.  Once again it has been such a wonderful year, filled with so much love, joy, and many, many blessings!

In January we celebrated the twelve days of Christmas with a super fun dinner party and I celebrated my 35th birthday… Even though Sean was away for training for a few weeks he and the kids made sure it was just as special as always!

Rascal turned 11 in February with a Hobbit themed birthday!

March was busy! We welcomed a new Holy Father, completed a Papal Unit Study and Lap Book, and the boys were excited to see their “Habemus Papam!” lego creation shared all over the web, and even tweeted by a Vatican spokesman!

In the meantime the girls were busy practicing Irish Dancing for St. Patrick’s Day.


We spent a weekend at the coast for Sean’s birthday.

March ended with Easter Sunday, Baskets filled with Books, and our Annual Egg Hunt!  You can scroll through all the Easter posts here.

(Speaking of Easter, Chiquita is very excited that in 2014 her birthday will fall on Easter Sunday!) 

Our sweet niece turned 3, learned to walk, and has been making such wonderful progress. 

(My brother and his wife also announced their new baby on the way at Thanksgiving!) 

In April we were blessed to attend a Sound of Music play and enjoy another Mother & Daughter Tea Party.

Chiquita celebrated her 8th birthday with a Josefina American Girl themed party.

After years of praying we were blessed with a regularly scheduled Latin Mass each quarter!  

(These EF Masses will increase to every other month in 2014!  These are the first Latin Masses at our local parish that didn’t require me having another baby first! Woohoo!) 

In May Twinkle Toes had her (first phase) braces taken off and we celebrated the feast of Pentecost – one of the many beautiful feast days we celebrated again this year.

In June we attended a Catholic Family Camp with the Fathers of Mercy.

Snuggles turned 6 on the last day of Golf Camp and was thrilled with his Lone Ranger birthday!

The 4th of July was celebrated with friends and fireworks, and cake!

In July we became the parents of a teenager. . . Captain loved his Long Expected Party! 

Summer was filled with wildfires and overtime, way too much smoke, a vocations camp, swimming lessons, tidepooling and more.

In August we were blessed with another beautiful Goddaughter.  The children were (once again) inspired to play Mass (and Bud here) following an amazing Latin Mass we attended during a William Byrd Festival.  

(I was also blessed with another Godson this December, but sadly wasn’t able to travel to Nebraska for his baptism a few days before Christmas… He is such a cutie and I can’t wait to meet him!) 

Twinkle Toes became a Ten-ager and loved her “Caroline” party.

We ended the summer with one last trip to the coast, a cake on the anniversary of Summorum Pontificum, an exciting golf accomplishment for my brother, another visit from friends and a trip to Crater Lake!

After our guests headed home we began our 2013-2014 school year with goals and checklists.

In October we tried not to worry when my husband was furloughed, and some of the family headed to visit my husband’s parents for the first time in nearly three years.  The older boys and I missed them so much! It was hard not being able to travel all together… Saving for a larger van, one that fits all nine of us, is one of our goals for 2014!

We went to the pumpkin patch, got lost in the corn maze, and Rascal built a PumpkinMan…
. . . and the children all looked so adorable in their All Saints Costumes for our annual party! 

Our diocese was blessed with a holy new Archbishop. The fall was filled with many school projects, feast day celebrations, and a Thanksgiving celebration with friends and family!

December started peacefully, but very quickly we were reminded of just how much we value running water in the home when our pipes froze and our well pump’s motor died following a snowstorm and abnormally low temperatures for our area!

Despite the lack of running water (thankfully for “only” 6 days, before we were able to replace the deep well pump) I still managed to pull together a perfectly pink party for Rose!

And Bud celebrated with a Deer in the Woods birthday!

The feasts of St. Nicholas, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and St. Lucy were enjoyed as much as ever and Christmas was beautiful! (I created the book before Christmas, but do plan to share some pictures from Christmas day soon.) 

I have also been so incredibly blessed by this little space of mine here in the blogospehere… Thank you all for the kind comments, prayers and support! May God bless and reward you all! 

Happy New Year! 

Ice Skating and Pizza on the 6th Day of Christmas

Dec 31, 2013 | , , | 3 Comments

Thank you Grandpa and Grandma M. for all the new hats and mittens! 
The older boys took turns helping Snuggles skate. 

Uncles are the best. . . 
. . . even when they are “it!” 
It was a good thing that the kids worked up an appetite ice skating… The pizza shop isn’t kidding when it calls this pizza “Colossal” size!  Thankfully my brothers helped!
At 2 1/2 feet in diameter, the colossal pizza was the equivalent of over 3 family sized pizzas!  They usually charge $43 for the colossal pepperoni pizza, but I had a $10 Restaurant.com certificate, so I thought $33 to feed 12 people (with a box of pizza leftover!) was a bargain!  Bonus: The pizza parlor is celebrating their birthday this week and they just called this morning to let us know we won the $25 gift certificate from yesterday’s drawing!  

The Twelve Days of Christmas & Cathedral Windows

Dec 29, 2013 | , , , , , | 8 Comments

This is the third 1,000 piece puzzle we have completed this month… 
I think I need an intervention! 😉 

Twinkle Toes and I just started working on this puzzle last night! 
The solid red border was definitely challenging, but after that we made quick progress… 
It was such a fun puzzle to assemble! 
We were able to complete it this morning after Mass…

… and, of course, everyone swooped in joined the fun at the end! 😉 

They kindly let Twinkle Toes add that last piece!

Speaking of The Twelve Days of Christmas…  
I’m hoping to have another Twelve Days of Christmas Dinner Party on Twelfth Night! 
I ran across these cute 12 Days of Christmas Cupcake toppers that might make a fun addition for this year.  (I fell in love with the Meri Meri products when I ordered a few for Rose’s birthday.) 
I actually found them from this Amazon seller at 54% off with Free Shipping and I am hoping they arrive in time.  If not I’ll save them for next year.  I also ordered a Christmas Cupcake Gift Set (complete with an apron!) for only $8.99 and it was originally $29.95.  (There is still one or two left, if anyone is interested.) 

Well, I’m off to start our next puzzle – Heaven on Earth complete with stained glass windows!!! dinner…  I also made some Cathedral Window Cookies in honor of St. Thomas Becket for dessert.   I hope you are all having a Blessed Sunday and Feast of the Holy Family! 

To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others. ~ Bl. Pope John Paul II

On the Feast of St. John

Dec 28, 2013 | , , , | 2 Comments

After a rather crazy Advent, we have all been greatly enjoying these peaceful and relaxing days of Christmastide! Yesterday we celebrated the feast of St. John and a name-day in our home.  Instead of baking the Eagle Brownies again this year, Rascal asked if I could make St. John’s Love.  After we all sat down for dinner my husband blessed the wine.

Blessing of Wine for the Feast of St. John the Apostle
(Source: Feast Day Cookbook)

Leader: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who has made heaven and earth.
Leader: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you. (I love that the kids all answered “And with your spirit!”) 
Leader: Let us pray. Be so kind as to bless and consecrate with Your right hand, Lord, this cup of wine, and every drink. Grant that by the merits of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist, all who believe in You and drink of this cup may be blessed and protected. Blessed John drank poison from the cup, and was in no way harmed. So, too, may all who this day drink from this cup in honor of Blessed John, by his merits, be freed from every sickness by poisoning and from any harms whatever. And, when they have offered themselves in both soul and body, may they be freed, too, from every fault, through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Leader: Bless, Lord, this beverage which You have made. May it be a healthful refreshment to all who drink of it. And grant by the invocation of Your holy name that whoever tastes of it may, by Your generosity receive health of both soul and body, through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen

To begin the toasting, the Father of the house lifts his glass toward the Mother and says, “I drink you the love of St. John.” The Mother then replies, “I thank you for the love of St. John.” She then turns to the oldest child, lifts her glass and says, “I drink you the love of St. John…” and so on, until everyone has been toasted.

I diluted the children’s spiced wine with lots of 7-up and also had some Sparkling Grape Juice as another alternative for those who were not interested in trying the (well boiled) wine.

 
 

It was not exactly a repeat of his last reaction to St. John’s Love, but close! 🙂 
While we all ate Sean read us a short story all about St. John’s Love from Saints For Young People for Everyday of the Year:
St. John was a fisherman in Galilee and was called to be an apostle with his brother, St. James the Greater. Jesus gave these sons of Zebedee the nickname, “sons of thunder.”  St. John was the youngest of all the apostles and was dearly loved by the Lord. At the Last Supper, it was John who was permitted to lean his head on the breast of Jesus, and John was the only apostle who stood at the foot of the Cross.  The dying Jesus gave the care of His Blessed Mother Mary to this beloved apostle. Turning to Our Lady, He said, “Behold your mother.” So for the rest of her holy life on earth, the Blessed Mother lived with St. John.  He alone had the great privilege of honoring and assisting the all-pure Mother of God.  

John wrote one of the four Gospels, in which he shows us that Jesus is truly God. He also wrote the last book in the Holy Bible, called the Apocalypse, and three Letters to Christians, which we find in the Bible, too. All his long life, St. John taught Christians to love one another, and he himself practiced great charity.  Once when he heard that a young Christian whom he knew and loved had become an outlaw and a robber, he set off at once to find him.  Old as he was, the Saint rode into the outlaw territory alone, and was taken prisoner. As soon as the robber saw St. John, he turned away in shame. 

“Son,” cried the apostle, “why are you running away from me, your father, an old man without weapons? There is time for repentance. I will answer for you to Jesus Christ. I am ready to lay down my life for you. I am sent by Christ!” The young robber stopped when he heard those words. Suddenly he began to weep. He was won over by the love of St. John. Before he left that city, the beloved Apostle made sure that the young man had become a good member of the Church once more. 

When he had grown so old and weak that he had to be carried to church, St. John used to say to his people over and over again, “My little children, love one another.” The Christians once asked him why he spoke to them. St. John answered, “Because iy is the word of the Lord, an if you keep it, you will be doing enough.” 
Today I will try to resemble St. John at least in one of his three great virtues – purity of heart, charity toward all, and love for the Blessed Mother. 
St. John the Evangelist, Pray for us! 

Christmas Eve in Pictures

Dec 27, 2013 | , , | 10 Comments

Baby Jesus will arrive soon!
On Christmas Eve some of my family came over for dinner after they attended Mass. (We always attend either the Midnight or Christmas Day Mass.)  Here are some pictures I managed to take throughout the evening! 
Madonna and Child
.: A Few Pictures :. 
Really wishing I would have had someone snap a family picture for us again this year… 
Maybe on New Year’s Eve! 
.: Christmas Eve Dinner :. 
I made homemade Cream of Broccoli and Beefed Up Barley Soups, Mom provided the meats and cheeses, and my Aunt Bridget made amazing deviled eggs.  I also picked up a veggie platter, chips and salsa, cookies, and baked a chocolate Cathedral Cake. It was a simple meal but still delicious! 
.: Christmas Puzzles :. 
After finishing the Noah’s Ark puzzle, we started the Our Lady of Guadalupe puzzle once again!
This week we are working on The Twelve Days of Christmas! 
 .: A Few Gifts on Christmas Eve :. 
Looking through the Family Photo album I helped my mom assemble.
 She gave a copy to all 12 of us siblings for Christmas!  
Sean picked out a board book and Tug Boat for our niece (his goddaughter) which she loved! 
.: Decorating Gingerbread Houses :. 
.: Presents and Stockings All Ready for Christmas Day :. 

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

On the Feast of Stephen. . .

Dec 27, 2013 | , , , | 8 Comments

Stephen’s Feast and Saint Stephen from Saints: Lives and Illuminations
Today is the second day of Christmas and the feast of St. Stephen. 
I baked Podkovy (St. Stephen’s Horseshoes) to celebrate! 
Good King Wenceslas by Jane Seymour and Good King Wenceslas by John Neale
Actually, after the first couple dozen, I got tired of rolling and shaping all those little horseshoes and used the rest of the dough to make one big horseshoe, adding some chopped up apple as well.   
We will be having the leftovers, with coffee and cocoa, in the morning. Yum!
This little cutie kept playing peek-a-boo with me while I was baking…
Mirkwood Elf Army
Coast Guard Patrol
Lake Town Chase
… and the older boys were all busy, busy, busy, assembling their new lego sets! 
Can you spot the Walkie Talkies in each of the pictures?  These were a last minute decision (when Rose reminded us that Snuggles really wanted a “Laughy Taffy” for Christmas – he was her Christkindl – that is, after I was able to figure out what she meant… Laffy Taffy? You mean candy? “NO! A Lauughyyy Taffyyyy!”) and it has been the favorite Christmas gift for all the boys, since they discovered them peeking out of their stockings on Christmas morning.  In fact, I don’t know why we didn’t think that the girls (especially our oldest daughter, who is usually outside with her brothers) would love them just as much… 
Thankfully the boys have all been more than willing to share! 
For dinner, inspired by Miss Charlotte over on Facebook, we had Deep Dish Pizza, Salad and Sparkling Pomegranate juice.  You can also spot the boys trying to master the new Perplexus Balls in the background. 🙂  We are all very much enjoying our Christmas break! 

What kind of pizza does Good King Wenceslas prefer?
Deep pan, crisp and even!

I hope you are all enjoying a peaceful and joyful Christmas too! 
I’ll be back with more pictures sometime soon…

Over the River and Through the Woods…

Dec 24, 2013 | , , | 5 Comments

A few of my siblings (JoAnn, Kevin, and David) have arrived home from college for their Christmas break! Last night my parents invited us over, along with my brother Brian and his family, my brother Scott, and Aunt Bridget and Uncle Shawn, for a spaghetti dinner and “White Elephant” gift exchange.  It was such a fun night!

 
After dinner it was time for the gift exchange!  
(That is, after those younger brothers of mine nearly gave me a heart attack when Kevin said he wanted to show me something in the trunk of his car, and then a black gorilla – aka: Brian, my 27 year old married brother, wearing an awful mask – growled and jumped out at me…  Some things never change!
Of course, David caught my scream on video. Nice.) 
We had two exchanges, one for the grandchildren, and one for all the adults (plus David… He may be in college, but he’s still only 17, at least until next month!).  We started with the gift exchange for the children.  Uncle David drew names to see who would choose a gift first.  As each person’s name was called they had the option of choosing an unwrapped gift from the pile, or “stealing” one of the gifts that had already been opened.  
I think my favorite part was watching Rascal unwrap an American Girl craft…
 and Captain unwrap a That’s not my dolly… board book! 
The girls were more than happy to steal swap gifts with the boys! 
Everyone will be coming over to our home tomorrow night, so I had better get back to decorating and preparing!

Our Family

Sean & Jessica, Captain-25, Ranger-23, Twinkle Toes-22, Chiquita-20, Snuggles-18, Rose-15, Bud-13, Grace-8 and Joy-6 (blog nicknames)

A Little About Me

Hi! I'm Jessica, a Roman Catholic wife and home educating mother to our nine children. I was home educated myself, along with my eleven younger siblings. I have a special devotion to St. Therese, through whom I have been given much help and many blessings--the beautiful "Shower of Roses" that she has sent my way! Here I will record a few of the blessings I treasure. Please remember that what you see here is just a little glimpse at our lives, so please say a prayer for us, as we continue to strive for holiness.

My Other Blog: Catholic Cuisine

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Prayer of Mothers

Father in heaven, grant me the grace to appreciate the dignity which you have conferred on me. Let me realize that not even the Angels have been blessed with such a privilege—to share in your creative miracle and bring new Saints to heaven. Make me a good mother to all my children after the example of Mary, the Mother of your Son. Through the intercession of Jesus and Mary I ask your continued blessings on my family. Let us all be dedicated to your service on earth and attain the eternal happiness of your kingdom in heaven. Amen.


Our Family

Sean & Jessica, Captain-25, Ranger-23, Twinkle Toes-22, Chiquita-20, Snuggles-18, Rose-15, Bud-13, Grace-8 and Joy-6 (blog nicknames)

A Little About Me

Hi! I'm Jessica, a Roman Catholic wife and home educating mother to our nine children. I was home educated myself, along with my eleven younger siblings. I have a special devotion to St. Therese, through whom I have been given much help and many blessings--the beautiful "Shower of Roses" that she has sent my way! Here I will record a few of the blessings I treasure. Please remember that what you see here is just a little glimpse at our lives, so please say a prayer for us, as we continue to strive for holiness.

My Other Blog: Catholic Cuisine

Please Visit My Sponsors…

This Week's Popular Posts

Shower of Roses Affiliate Links

All About Spelling
All About Reading
All About Reading Giveaways
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Our Advent & Christmas Books

Shower of Roses Gift Guides

Looking for Something?

looking-back

  • ▼2026 (1)
  • ►2025 (31)
  • ►2024 (41)
  • ►2023 (30)
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  • ►2012 (308)
  • ►2011 (297)
  • ►2010 (313)
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  • ►2008 (564)
  • ►2007 (148)

Posts About:

Shower of Roses Alphabet of Saints

A Papal Unit Study & Lap Book

Shower of Roses Easter Gift Guides



All Saints Party Printables

All original photographs and written material are ©2007-2025 Shower of Roses. I'd love for you to link back to me, but please do not copy or take content from this blog without permission. Click here for my Copyright Terms & Conditions. Thank you for visiting!