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A Lone Ranger Campfire Cake

Jun 22, 2013 | , , , , | 28 Comments


This year Snuggles (who desperately needs a new blog nickname – perhaps Cowboy or Ranger?) requested a “Lone Ranger” themed birthday party for his 6th Birthday!   I had all sorts of plans and had hoped to decorate a two-tiered mountain cake (similar to my Camping Cake) complete with a homemade candy horse for Silver (I even bought the mold)… Then, between camping last week, golf camp this week, and coming down with another bad cold, I had to simplify.

Thursday afternoon I was searching online for ideas and considered trying to make a Gold Mine themed cake (which probably would have been just as difficult as my first idea) and considered just going to the bakery when I ran across lots of variations of Pillsbury’s Campfire Cake and decided it would be perfect!  After dinner on Thursday night I ran to town for the supplies and to search for a white cowboy hat… Even though it was definitely one of the easiest birthday cakes I’ve made, I didn’t get started on it until after 11pm.  I was roasting scorching marshmallows over my kitchen stove around 2am, and didn’t get to bed until about 3, but it was totally worth it just to see the birthday boy’s smiles in the morning!

The Lone Ranger (Little Golden Book from 1956) was just re-published last month! 

Campfire Cake

Supplies:



Directions:

Prepare and bake cakes according to directions.  Cool.

Meanwhile, line 15x10x1 inch baking pan with foil.  Spray with non-stick baking spray.  Place red and yellow candies in a plastic bag.  Finely crush the candies with the flat side of a meat mallet or hammer.  Sprinkle the crushed candies onto the sprayed foil-lined pan in a thin layer.  Bake at 350˚ for 6 to 8 minutes or until candies are completely melted.  Cool the melted candy completely before handling.


Cover a cake platter or large round plate with foil.  Place 1 cake layer bottom side up on the platter and spread with 1/2 cup frosting.  Top with the second cake layer, bottom side down.  Spread a very thin layer of frosting on the top and sides of the cake to seal crumbs.  (Opt: place in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. This make spreading the final coat of frosting so much easier.)  Spread remaining frosting evenly over the sides and top of the cake.



Arrange Piroettes in a circle on the top of the cake to resemble campfire logs.  Break the cooled sheet of melted red and yellow candies into pointed shards.  Insert the candy pieces into the top center of the cake and around the “logs” to resemble flames.



Roast Marshmallows over a flame and arrange around the base of the cake.

Preparation time: Approximately 50 minutes.  Ready in 2-3 hours.  
Makes 12 Servings.  




On the First Day of Summer…

Jun 21, 2013 | , , , , | 10 Comments

… and the feast of St. Aloysius…
Happy 6th Birthday!

Our little 6 year old was so excited to wake up and discover his cake and other gifts early this morning before leaving for the final day of Golf Camp and their tournament.  The older boys had a 7:30 tee time and the other three teed off at 8:30.  Now that the Rose and Bud are awake we are going to head to the golf course to watch the last few holes and the award ceremony, before heading back home for a “Lone Ranger” themed party!  I hope you all have a lovely first day of summer!   St. Aloysius, patron of Catholic youth, pray for us!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Jun 20, 2013 | , , , , , | 12 Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}

Rose playing with her pretty pink kitchen while Bud napped and I cleaned their room.

{happy}
Last week I spent most of Monday sitting in waiting rooms.  Back when I was pregnant with Bud I had a mechanic look at the brakes on our Sienna since it would shake badly when I would use the brakes.  He said that the pads still had some life to them, but the rotors were warped.  He said we could get away with waiting a year to replace them. That was two years ago. We set aside some of our tax refund to finally fix the brakes and really needed to do so before any summer trips.  Despite the “one hour” wait (which turned into four followed by a trip to the tire store for new tires too, which were also needed “as soon as possible!”) and a very cranky toddler, I was very happy to have them finally fixed. and can hardly believe the difference!  Now to see if we can still afford the gas for all these upcoming summer plans… 

{funny}

I just noticed that half of the pictures on my phone from the last week are of us all sleeping!  This photo is my favorite and was taken Sunday afternoon, on our way home from Catholic Family Camp, as we were trying to wake them up for the annual stop at Dairy Queen on Father’s Day with all our friends.  I still can’t believe that Snuggles can actually sleep like that… And Twinkle Toes’ hands?! lol
{real}

We actually didn’t plan to go to camp this year… It was a last minute decision after a generous scholarship was offered to our family at the last minute!  The kids were all so excited, but it left me scrambling last week, trying to squeeze in the car repairs on top of packing, grocery shopping for camp, rescheduling some prior appointments, and trying to find new shoes for some of the kids.  I was in town until about 10:30 on Wednesday night, and then had a conference (Teaching Writing with Structure and Style!) I was scheduled to attend starting at 8am Thursday morning.  Camp started Thursday night and I thought I could try and go to at least the first day of the conference.  I made it until noon and then headed home to finish packing.  (I was definitely sad that I missed the rest of the conference, but I do own it on DVD so hopefully I can finish it this summer.)  It was a good thing too, after seeing some of what had been (or had not been!) packed.  Since we had to take two cars anyways I decided to stay home with the two little ones and head to camp the next morning.   Oh, it was heavenly!  Rose and Bud both fell asleep by 7pm and slept until 8:30am!!!  They also napped most of the drive to camp!  Of course I can’t say the same for that first night camping, but at least I had gotten some sleep the night before! 😉

I do hope to post some of the pictures from camp, and then get back to all the other posts that have been piling up in my draft folder as well as all the emails in my inbox, but we have golf camp every day this week, tomorrow is the kid’s Golf Tournament and Snuggles’ 6th birthday, then we have plans to meet up with friends at the coast this weekend!   The two little ones and I both came down with fevers last night, so please say a prayer that whatever this is passes quickly… We don’t have time to be sick at the moment!   I really miss visiting with you all and hope to get back to blogging soon.

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment.

End-of-School Interviews for 2012-2013

Jun 12, 2013 | , | 22 Comments

My kids loved their End-of-School Interviews so much last year that I just had to make sure and do them again! I do have a folder for each of the children, filled with some of their work samples, lists of what they have read and accomplished this past year, awards they have received, along with Sarah’s Thinking About Books Form. Eventually I will compile it all into binders for each of them, adding pictures from the year, but I haven’t had a chance yet, and with how busy the next few weeks are going to be for our family, I probably won’t be getting to them anytime soon.  Sarah is hosting a link up this week though, so I’m popping in real quick (before I get back to packing for our first summer trip) to share this year’s End-of-School Interviews with you all, which we will be using for the covers of our End-of-Year Binders. Thanks again for the great idea , Sarah!  
(Note: These Cover Pages have been updated with the children’s blog nicknames.) 

Our Neumann Press Book Collection

Jun 9, 2013 | , , , , | 19 Comments

Our family has always loved the beautiful and traditional handcrafted books reprinted by The Neumann Press.  We were so sad to learn of the death of the founder and on Wednesday we were saddened once again to hear that Neumann Press will be closing.

According to their email:

We regret that we must close the doors of The Neumann Press. This has been a difficult and painful decision for our family, and we know this closure will be sad news to many of you. We can no longer accept and process orders and are officially closed.

Our goal is to offer any remaining stock of our titles in a closing sale in late summer/early fall 2013, and will keep you all updated as to when the exact dates will be.

We have been slowly collecting the books published by The Neumann Press for many years, and you will find quite a number of them pictured and linked in the archives here at Shower of Roses.   While there is still a chance to find these books at various bookstores I wanted to share our collection with you all.   I have been able to find some of the titles we were still wanting to purchase on Amazon (though they are quickly selling out), and I know that both Sacred Heart Books and Gifts (Update:  Linda has sold/closed) and Adoremus Books carry books from The Neumann Press as well.  I also plan to watch for their closing sale… And start praying that something changes between now and then!

UPDATE:  TAN Books Acquires Neumann Press!  Deo Gratias!  And you can visit TAN Books / Neumann Press via my new Affiliate link here!

— Beautiful Saint Stories for Children —

Saints and Friendly Beasts Series and other Various Books about Saints for Children

The Neumann Press reprints some of the best saint stories for children! A Story of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and The Little Flower of Jesus are two of our favorites.  We also enjoy all the books in the Saints and Friendly Beasts Series by Eva K. Betz including:  Blessed Sebastian and the Oxen, St. Martin de Porres and the Mice, St. Colum and the Crane, St. Brigid and the Cows, and St. Germaine and the Sheep. Other wonderful stories in our collection include:  A Story of St. John Bosco by Brother Ernest, A Story of Mother Elizabeth Seton by Brother Ernest, A Story of Saint John Vianney By Brother Ernest, A Story of Saint Lawrence by Brother Lawrence Emge, Margaret by Sister M. Juliana of Maryknoll, and A Story of Beethoven by Brother Ernest.  St. Thomas More of London Town is the last that I recently purchased to give to the boys eventually.  (Update: Buy them from TAN here!) 

— Saints for Girls and Boys—

I purchased these two precious books, Saints for Girls: A First Book for Little Catholic Girls and Saints for Boys: A First Book for Little Catholic Boys, during the Easter Sale at Adoremus Press and plan to add them to Rose and Bud’s Easter Baskets next year, if I can wait that long. (They may end up getting them for their Birthdays or Christmas!)  I just love them both!    (Update: Buy them from TAN here!) 


— Coloring Books —

I also love this set of Catholic Coloring Books for children!  The complete set of ten includes:  How Jesus Lived, The Story of Our Lady, The Saints Are My Friends, God is Wonderful, Mother’s Day, Talking to God, I believe in God,  It’s A Joy To Go To Church, The Rose Queen, and Meet Your Angel.  Saint Jerome and the Lion is another great coloring book reprinted by The Neumann Press.


— A Catholic Baby’s Record Books —

The blue baby book on the left is actually my husband’s baby book from 1973!  We were so excited to find copies of When You Were Very Small reprinted a number of years ago, with both pink and blue covers.  We have been purchasing copies to use for some of our own children as well as to give as gifts. 

It’s a little smaller than the original, but the artwork throughout is the same!

 
 
(Click each picture for a larger view of the gorgeous traditional and Catholic illustrations!)
— Catholic History Books —

A few books published by The Neumann Press are suggested titles in the Connecting With History Booklists, including Founders of Freedom, The Old World’s Gift to the New, and Heroes of God’s Church!  Last year I was thrilled to acquire copies of Bearers of Freedom and Guardian of Freedom through Paperback Swap!  Giant of the Western Trail can also be found on our shelves and we just purchased the remaining two titles in the Land of Our Lady Series (Leaders of Freedom and Challenge of Freedom) as well as Priest on Horseback and The Secret of Pooduck Island.
— Teaching The Faith —

For those who use the Baltimore Catechism #2 to teach the faith, the Angel Food for Boys & Girls series (Volume I, II, III, and IV) makes a perfect supplement along with Jen’s lists.   We also love True Stories for First Communicants, My Mass Book, First Communion Days, Illustrated Catechism for Little Children, and The Holyday Book.   My First Communion Catechism is another favorite of mine!

Our children also have copies of I Go To Mass which are kept in our Mass bag. 

— Books by Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson —

These two books, A Child’s Rule of Life and An Alphabet of Saints, both by Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson are just lovely!   There is a third book in the series titled Old Testament Rhymes which recently ordered to go along with our Ancient History study next year.

— Other Great Books for Children —

Jesus and Mary
Sunny Bunny
I Believe: The Creed, Confession, and the Ten Commandments for Little Catholics
Whale and Snales and Heavenly Tales: A Children’s Phonetic Reader
Manners in God’s House: First Prayers and First Missal
Legends of Saints and Beasts

I love all of these!  In fact, I wasn’t very happy when I discovered I Believe had been left outside the other night!  Thankfully it hadn’t rained and it wasn’t too damp in the morning… I do love that my children will pull these books off the shelf to read on their own without any encouragement from me. They really love and enjoy reading them too!

A few of these we have had for many years and a couple others arrived in Easter Baskets this year, but I actually purchased Manners in God’s House: First Prayers and First Missal to go along with “C” week last fall (As we studied “Church” Along the Alphabet Path) and it is just as sweet as can be!
You can click the following pictures for a closer look at all the precious pages.

 
 
 

— Sermons of the Cure of Ars —

Sermons of the Cure of Ars is simply amazing!  My husband will sometimes read sermons from this book during dinner, and in the past I have found so much encouragement and inspiration from this book. 

— Other Miscellaneous Books —

We only have a couple of the American Cardinal Readers…  I’d love to have the whole set, but it’s really expensive and we haven’t read the two that we do own yet.  (I might need to add Book 4 to my daughter’s reading list for next year and try out the primer with my Kindergartner.)  We also have a number of Christmas books including A Christmas Chronicle, The Eternal Babe (I think this one has been OOP for awhile now), The Catholic Christmas Book, and The Church Mouse of St. Nicholas (My kids love this one!).

I would have loved to eventually collect the all of the Masterpiece Classics…
If anyone happens to own any of them I’d love to hear about your favorites!

The Catholic Child and The Blessed Virgin

Jun 9, 2013 | , , , , , , | 7 Comments

My dear Child: 
The Blessed Virgin is your Mother in Heaven.
She loves you because her Son, Jesus, loves you and has died for you.

Vintage 1960 edition of Jesus, Make Me Worthy

She is anxious to help you.  
You may be sure that she will hear your prayers.

She is powerfully with Jesus.  
He will not refuse her anything she asks.
The children decorated cupcakes (made with Wilton Heart Silicone Baking Cups) for the Immaculate Heart or Mary

Is it not wonderful to have this lovely Queen of Heaven for your mother? You must try to show her that you love her.

Pray to her every day. Let her sweet name and that of Jesus be first on your lips in the morning and last at night.
Hand Embroidered Scapular with the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Wear the Scapular and Miraculous Medal.  It is a sign that you are hers.

The scapulars you can usually spot our children wearing were gifts from one of their Uncles,
 after he gave a retreat for the sisters at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
You can order them directly from the sisters here. 

Say her Rosary. It is a wreath of beautiful roses which you can lay at her feet.
Crocheted Rosary Roses for the little ones to count the prayers of each decade of our Family Rosary
Imitate her virtues.  Try to avoid the least sin; be humble and obedient, and love Jesus with all your soul. 
Family Read-Aloud for today’s feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary – A Holy Card Prayer Book Volume I & II

Remember, O most loving Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, and sought thine intercession, was left forsaken.  Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins! my Mother.  To thee I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.  O mother of the Word! despise not my words, but graciously hear and grant my prayer. Amen.

 Excerpt from Jesus, Make Me Worthy – a reprint of the original can be found here.

 I hope you all had a very blessed feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

The Catholic Child and the Sacred Heart

Jun 8, 2013 | , , , | 12 Comments

Sacred Heart of Joseph at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church taken after Mass on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart
My Child:  Forget not the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Heart of Jesus loves thee.
The Heart of Jesus suffers for thee.
The Heart of Jesus is meek, humble, patient, obedient.
The Heart of Jesus is an ocean of goodness.
The Heart of Jesus is filled with mercy.
The Heart of Jesus is your comfort in sorrow.
The Heart of Jesus is your strength in temptation.
The Heart of Jesus is your hope in dying.
Vintage 1960 edition of Jesus, Make Me Worthy

HAIL, Heart of my Jesus!  love me. 
Hail, Heart of my Creator!  perfect me.
Hail, Heart of my Saviour!  save me. 
Hail, Heart of my Judge!  pardon me. 
Hail, Heart of my Master!  teach me.
Hail, Heart of my King!  crown me.
Hail, Most Loving Heart!  inflame me with love for Thee.
 
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, 
make my heart like unto Thine!
 
Exploring the Choir Loft following First Friday Mass on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart
Sweet Heart of Jesus, be Thou my love!
Red and Pink Cupcakes (made with Wilton Heart Silicone Baking Cups) for the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts
 

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on me!
May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved!
O sweetest Heart of Jesus!  I implore that I may ever love Thee more and more.
Family Read Aloud: The Story of the Sacred Heart by Daniel A. Lord, S.J.

Heart of Jesus, by Thy agony, have pity on the dying. 

Hand Embroidered Scapular with the Sacred Heart of Jesus

All prayers from Jesus, Make Me Worthy – a reprint of the original can be found here. 
I hope you all had a very blessed Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus! 

Great Suggestions for an Incredible Summer

Jun 7, 2013 | , | 1 Comment

My brother-in-law Tom Steenson, who is married to my husband’s sister and teaches 5th Grade at The Heights School in Maryland, just wrote another excellent blog post and I wanted to share the link with you all:

It is such an inspiring post!   A couple days ago I wrote out a simple schedule for our summer days and left plenty of time for the children (both our boys and girls) “to do nothing!”  In fact, all four of his suggestions were already on my list of “goals” for our family this summer.  However, Tom put it all into words so much better than I ever could. Do click over to read the whole post!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: Vegas in the Valley!

Jun 6, 2013 | , | 8 Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}

New iPhone + Instagram filters = Better than reality new profile picture for Facebook! 
And for those who have asked, you can find the link to my pretty polka dot dress here. 

{happy}
It was so much fun to get dressed up for a night out with my husband last Saturday!  We went to Vegas and gambled… Yep, completely out of character for us! 😉 

Actually it was “Vegas in the Valley“ an annual fundraiser for the Hadley Hope Foundation!  Tickets to the event included admission, appetizers, hosted beer/wine/soda, and $25 “funny money” which could be cashed in for chips.  I spent most of the evening playing Blackjack and then took all my winnings over to the Roulette wheel!  I paid my $10 in chips for for three spins and won 2 Chipotle Gift Cards!  Sean played next and won the Grand Prize, a $50 gift card to Papa John’s, and a couple t-shirts!  Just slightly addicting…  Overall we won 3 Chipotle Gift Card Sets (1 free salad bowl/burrito, buy one get one, and free chips and guac. in each set), 2 – $50 Papa John Family Packs (perfect for summer birthdays, right?!), a few passes to the Ice-Skating Rink, some t-shirts and a hat for the boys!

I didn’t win anything on my last few spins, but at least I was able to “hold still” long enough for Marc to get a great picture!  Marc thought it was worth the loss, though I wouldn’t have minded another gift card! 😉 

{funny}

My brother photobombed this cute picture of Rascal’s Godparents…   Nice, Brian! 
And my brother Scott?  Just look at all those tickets he won!  At the end of the night everyone turns in all their chips/winnings for raffle tickets.  There were tables lining a long wall filled with gift baskets and prizes that had been donated to the event.  You could drop however many tickets you wanted into the jar for each item.  My brother Scott had his eye on a GoPro Camera and, after putting one ticket in each of the other jars, he put all the rest in the jar for the camera.  He didn’t win the camera, but he did win two of the other prize baskets!!  He gave us his basket of Trader Joe’s goodies!  Thank you Scottie! 
Sean & I didn’t have nearly as many tickets, after spending most of our chips on all that Roulette Wheel, but we still had about 20-30 between the two of us to enter into the raffles.  I put them in various jars:  Horse Riding Lessons, the Camera, some Carhartt gear, a big Thirty-One Gifts bag filled with bags, and a few others that were either practical or fun!  I actually ended up winning one of the raffles – a gift basket filled with manicure supplies and more Chipotle gift cards!  Woohoo!!! 
{real}

Even though we had a fun night, the best part of the evening was hearing the updates on the Hadley Children and knowing that all the prayers and fundraising is making a difference in the lives of these dear children!   Just before showing the update video, Brian Hadley got up and spoke.  He said it has been over five years now since two of their three children were diagnosed with a terminal disease called  Niemann Pick Type C, also known as “Childhood Alzheimer’s.”  At that time they were told there was no cure and to go home and love their children…   The progress they have made towards finding a cure has been nothing short of miraculous!  Please continue to pray for the Hadley family, and if you feel called to donate you can visit the Hadley Hope Foundation here.  

Note: All Photography by Marc Salvatore used with permission.


Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment.

My Daybook :: June 4, 2013

Jun 5, 2013 | , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Outside my window… 
We keep spotting a couple birds sitting on the edge of one of the hanging flower baskets.  I just realized, after seeing the mess on the deck, that they are actually taking the lining to build a nest somewhere!

I am thinking…        
about Legos.  The new catalog arrived on Saturday morning, almost immediately after I had told the boys that I didn’t want them to look at any Lego catalogs that they find in the mailbox for the next couple months. (Basically until after our summer birthdays.)  It was pure torture for them to carry it up the driveway and hand it over to me without peeking at “Over 60 New Sets!” They have been obedient though, and it will be fun for them to discover a couple new sets without having seen them first.  Now to decide which to purchase… Snuggles had asked for a “Lone Ranger” themed birthday (without knowing that there are new Lone Ranger Legos!) so that’s easy, but the hard part is choosing which of the new Lord of the Rings Lego Sets to choose for Captain who has asked for a LOTR themed birthday… I also love the new Coast Guard Patrol Set, and the Treehouse Creator Set, and the new Castle sets…  It’s a good thing I’ve been saving up my Amazon Visa Reward points!  Still there are just way too many options!  How am I ever going to make up my mind? 😉  

I am thankful… 
that I have been able to sell almost all of our Teaching Textbooks materials on Cathswap!  (All I have left is the workbook for TT #7.)  Now I can put that money towards all the new school books I have been purchasing for next year!

Learning all the time… 
tomorrow we have our last meeting with our charter school ES followed by an End-of-the-Year party at the park.  We have already finished up nearly all of our studies for the year and our “school” days this week consist of assembling a few unfinished Lap Books.  (The younger ones are finishing up their Papal Lap Books and the older boys just finished their Industrial Revolution Lap Books.)  Over the summer we plan to study WWII and the 20th Century, continue with Math and Spelling 3-4 times a week (to get a head start for next year), and I will also continue Primary Arts of Language with Snuggles.

Snuggles playing the “Short-e or Short-i” game this afternoon

Celebrating the liturgical year… 
The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart and this coming Friday is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.  We are planning on attending morning Mass and then decorating cookies in the afternoon.  We’ll also decorate some for Saturday’s feast in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

From the kitchen… 
lots of tamales!  Our parish youth group had a fundraiser on Sunday and we ended up purchasing a couple dozen.

I am working on… 
a post with pictures of the boys’ Civil War Lap Books… Sometimes taking the pictures and blogging about our projects seems like more work than the actual projects themselves! 😉

I am creating… 
Summer Bingo Cards!

I am going… 
to take all the empty ink cartridges I’ve been saving to Staples tomorrow, to recycle for rewards, after our Dentist appointments.

I am hoping… 
to carve out some time over the next few evenings to work on my next submission for the Catholic Digest Celebrate/Quiet Moments section.  My deadline is this coming Monday and I haven’t started yet!         I’m also hoping to have a chance to read the June/July/August Issue.  My copy disappeared and I finally found it in Rose’s bedroom.  She loves this last edition for some reason!

I am praying… 
for a couple dear friends.

I am reading… 
The Saint and his Bees!  This sweet book was written by Dessi Jackson, an Eastern Rite Catholic and online friend.   It is about the Celtic St. Modomnoc (Little Dominick) of Ossory and his work as a beekeeper.

I purchased a copy of the book when it was first available on Amazon last week (It wasn’t on sale when I placed my order, but it is now!) and I have already making plans for some Saintly Summer Fun incorporating the tale of this saint!

Pondering these words…
from Blessed John Paul II:

“In the Sacred Heart every treasure of wisdom and knowledge is hidden. In that Divine Heart beats God’s infinite love for everyone, for each one of us individually.” 

I am listening…  
to Sean read another chapter from Snow Treasure.  They all love it when their Dad reads to them before bed.

Around the house… 
lots of library books!  I just requested a few more, including Keep the Lights Burning Abbie for the girls to read as a followup to their study of Maine.  (Thank you for the recommendation KelLee!) 

One of my favorite things…  
boxes of new school books!  This box just arrived from Sacred Heart Books and Gifts.  I’ve been reading through the Classically Catholic Memory Alpha Year Teacher’s Manual and so far I am loving it all and looking forward to implementing it next year.

This week’s plans…

Wednesday :: Tutor for an hour in the morning, End-of-the-Year School Party at the park, and four more Dental appointments in the afternoon.
Friday :: Morning Mass on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Saturday :: Young Hunters Day
Sunday :: Sunday Mass

A little peek at the last two mornings…


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.

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