Home

by | Dec 29, 2022

Papal Lap Book Unit One: St. Peter, The First Pope

Thank you all so very much for your enthusiastic support for my Papal Lap Book!   You all are the best, and I am so touched by all of your kind comments and generosity to my family!   Since I spent so much time on the computer over the weekend I’ve had a little catching up to do around our home, in addition to trying to keep up with our school week, so I am once again extremely behind with answering emails.  If you are still waiting for a response from me, do know that I usually do receive all the emails that have been sent (on occasion some disappear to my spam folder, but I am making an effort to check it frequently) and read and appreciate each and every one.  However, even though I try, it is often impossible for me to respond to them all.  So thank you again, and to those who have asked questions I will either email you soon, or try and make a point of trying to blog about those topics sometime in the future.  🙂

Anyways, back to the Lap Book!  That brief study-guide/outline I shared in my last post (to go along with the Lap Book) was created very late Sunday night (or rather early Monday morning)  and was thrown together rather quickly since I wanted to finish up the post to share with you all.   I broke it into 5 “Units” (my original document read days, due to lack of sleep) based on the order in which I thought I would have my children complete the mini-books.

Since last Friday, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, we have been working on our first unit: St. Peter, The First Pope.  The boys were gone most of Friday, but the girls had started working on their St. Peter’s Basilica Pop-up Books that day, and we read St. Peter’s Story.  We continued this theme over the past few days.

To answer some questions I’ve been receiving I thought it might be helpful to some of you to share how my children have been completing this Unit Study and the progress we have been making. Plus I would like to document it here anyways.  I am hoping to blog a little about what we accomplish during each of the units.   


(Remember, there is no “right” way to do this… Unit studies can be as simple or elaborate as you choose to make them, and just because something works well for my family, doesn’t mean it will for yours!  Sometimes we put together a Lap Book in an afternoon, other times we spend weeks.  My guess is we will spend the next two weeks completing this unit study and Lap Book, adding in additional reading, crafts and activities.)

Unit One :: St. Peter, The First Pope

Read:


Family Read Aloud:

Younger Children:

Older Children:


Other Reading:

  • St. Peter page A Holy Card Prayer Book
  • I think I’m going to send the little kids on a scavenger hunt to see how many of our Saint Books in which they can find Saint Peter! 😉 

Explore:

Copywork: 

NOTE:  I have created a second collection on Scribd where I will upload any additional documents I create to go along with our Papal Unit Study.   I just added this traceable quote for younger children.


Begin Creating Lap Book Mini-Books:

  • Write a Paragraph about St. Peter, for Some Special Popes, based on one of the reading assignments.  (I’m creating a fill-in the blank for Chiquita and a reduced sized coloring picture for the two youngest.  Twinkle Toes wrote a paragraph based on a picture book, Rascal used the reading selection from My Catholic Faith, and I assigned Captain three paragraphs from the CCC (You can download my document here.). 
  • Create St. Peter’s Basilica Pop-Up Book and add cover picture.
  • Write a Paragraph about St. Peter’s Basilica.
A Beautiful Day at St. Peter’s Basilica by Captain

Lightning Strikes St. Peter’s by Rascal   (He cracks me up! I figured one of my boys would try and figure a way to create a pop-out lightning strike…) 
After the Storm by Twinkle Toes

by Chiquita 

by Snuggles

PURPLE! by Rose (I would have guessed pink…)

Additional Activities:

  • Enjoyed “The Barque of Peter” Banana Boats with a Fishers of Men Snack for lunch one afternoon… 

  • And added St. Peter, The First Pope to the History Through the Ages Record of Time.  (FYI:  Yes, this is a rather expensive timeline, but it is awesome!  Each of our school age children have their own treasured copy that they will continue to add to throughout their education.  It will be such a fun keepsake for them.   I’ve posted more about these here and here.) 
by Twinkle Toes
By Chiquita and Captain
A few of the children still have a little writing to finish up, but tomorrow, we will begin our second unit on Our Holy Fathers – Past and Present, as we say goodbye to our dear Pope Benedict XVI on his last day…  We will miss you dear Holy Father, so very much!  We will continue to pray for you, and we are so very thankful for that last gift you recently sent our way!

The Primacy of Peter: A Papal Unit Study & Lap Book

The Primacy of Peter: A Papal Unit Study & Lap Book

Could you tell from my last post how excited I am about this Lap Book/Unit Study?  As I was printing the pages for my daughters’ Lent Lap Books last week I started thinking how nice it would be to create a Papal Lap Book right now, during this special historic time in our Church.   I mentioned it to my husband and quickly dismissed the idea since a quick google search didn’t reveal much in the way of Lap Book resources and it would “take way too much work.”   However, it seemed that perhaps the Holy Spirit was prompting me to create this, since the very next day – the feast of the Chair of St. Peter – I had an unusual amount of “free time.”   I started with the cover and then the mini-books just started falling into place.  I ended up spending most of the weekend finishing my documents and compiling a sample to share with you all.  I am really looking forward to completing this unit study with my children, teaching them even more about our beautiful Catholic faith, the Primacy of Peter, and the Papal office!

Lap Book Supplies

Here is a list of the supplies I used for creating our Papal Lap Book:

  • Yellow File FolderI usually purchase file folders in assorted colors by the case made by Smead or Staples so I always have them on hand. However, here is another link to a smaller pack – they are two tone, but it does include purple for your Lenten Lap Book! 😉 
  • White Card Stock and Paper – 4 pieces per lap book, 2 to attach to the book, 1 on which to print the flag cover, and 1 more on which to print the St. Peter’s Basilica Pop-Up. 
  • Scissors
  • Glue Stick
  • Tape
  • Red RibbonThis is used to tie shut the “Who is the Pope?” mini-book.
  • Optional: Red Paper and/or Card Stock (or color of choice) – We used red paper to accent “What Happens When A Pope Dies?”, and red card stock for our “Amazing Pope Facts,” “Selceting a New Pope,” and “Some Special Popes.”  

Download All Papal Lap Book Documents!

Note: Thank you to everyone who has generously offered to pay me for the use of my documents and the time spent creating this Lap Book! My husband has been encouraging me to sell the Lap Book printables, but I know that there are many other families, like our own, struggling to keep up each month… I wanted to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to use this with their families if they would like to do so. Let’s just say it is a gift of service and form of almsgiving for me this Lent, especially since we are not able to give very much financially at the moment.  However, if some of you still feel inspired to perhaps “buy me a coffee” or send “some alms” our direction I’ve included a paypal button.  I would be more than grateful and will put the funds towards filling our children’s Easter Baskets this year! And everyone else, please just offer a prayer for my family!   Thank you, and may God reward you! 

Here is a summary of the Documents Included with links to each individual document:

*All documents are printed on white paper, except where noted.

Vatican City Flag Cover Page(print on card stock)

Hierarchy of the Catholic Church Flap Book with Definitions

Novena for Pope Benedict XVI Layer Book

The Primacy of Peter” Copywork

Where does the Pope live?” Trifold Book

Who is the Pope? Accordion Book

What happens when a pope dies?” Simple Fold Book

Vocabulary Flap Book with Definitions

Amazing Pope Facts Four Simple Fold Books

St. Peter’s Basilica Pop-up Book (print on card stock)

St. Peter Pop-Up Cover Picture

Where Does the Conclave take Place? Shutterflap Book

What are the chief powers of the Pope?” Trifold Book

Prayers for our Holy Father Pocket

Prayers for our Holy Father Prayer Cards 

Selecting A New Pope Tab Book

Some Special Popes Tab Book

Here is also my brief study-guide/outline for completing this Unit Study & Lap Book.

Pictures and Updates from our Unit Study:

Papal Lap Book Unit One: St. Peter, The First Pope
Papal Lap Book Unit Two: The Holy Fathers, Past and Present
Papal Lap Book Unit Three: The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church
7 Quick Takes :: Habemus Papam!

Additional Documents to go along with our Unit Study can be found here.  

I will continue adding them as (and if) I create new ones:

The Primacy of Peter” Copywork – Traceable version for younger children

Novena to the Holy Spirit for the Conclave” Layer Book

Some Special Popes Tab Book with room for coloring pages and traceable quotes

Some Special Popes Tab Book with Fill-in-the-Blanks

Adopt A Cardinal My younger children will be using this instead of the Novena Layer Book

What happens when a pope dies? Simple Fold Book with Fill-in-the-Blanks

Selecting A New Pope” Tab Book with Fill-in-the-Blanks

Symbols and Garments” Layer Book

Important Roles During the Conclave” Flap Book

Habemus Papam Franciscum” Tab Book

Who is Pope Francis?” Octagon Accordion Book 

Cover

 

For those that are new to creating Lap Books, you can watch a brief tutorial here on how to fold the file folder for a Basic Lap Book.

Since I wanted the cover of my book to look like the flag of Vatican City I then glued a piece of White Card Stock to the outside of the right yellow flap.

I then cut out the Vatican City Flag (shaped like the Country) and glued the yellow side to the left yellow flap as shown in the pictures.

Since the White Card Stock is slightly shorter in length than the file folder I then trimmed the edges, so it lined up nicely.



I also added a second piece of White Card Stock to the Center of the Lap Book to create an Extension Page.   To do so tape both sides of the white card stock to the top center of the yellow file folder.

View of Inside of Folder – Completely Opened
View of Outside of Folder – Completely Opened 

 

Now that the actual Lap Book is assembled, 
let’s move on to all the Mini Books! 
 
 
 
.: First View – Behind Left Cover Flap :. 

Left Flap:

  • “Hierarchy of the Catholic Church” Flap Book with Definitions

Left Side of White Cover Flap:
  • “Novena for Pope Benedict XVI” Layer Book (This is an optional mini book for those who are praying the novena.) 
 
When you open the Left flap of the Lap book, the first thing you see is the optional Novena for Pope Benedict Layer Book glued to the White Cover Page (which is hidden behind the left yellow flap when the Lap Book is closed).   This is an optional mini-book for those who have been praying the Novena.
Hierarchy of the Catholic Church and Vocabulary 


On the Left you see the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church Flap Book with Definitions taken from “My Catholic Faith.” (Online link to The Hierarchy.)   You can use the definitions I have provided, pasting them in or having the child copy them, or you can have them research and write their own.  

 

.: Second View – Behind Right Cover Flap :. 

White Center Extension:

  • “The Primacy of Peter” Copywork
  • “Where does the Pope live?” Trifold Book *Note: I originally intended this to be on the next page/swapped with “What Are the Chief Powers of the Pope” but mixed them up when assembling.  It doesn’t really matter, but I do think it goes better with the books on the other page.
  • “Who is the Pope?” Accordion Book
  • “What happens when a pope dies?” Simple Fold Book

Right Page/Flap: 

  • “Vocabulary” Flap Book with Definitions (see above picture)
  • “Amazing Pope Facts” Four Simple Fold Books, attached to red card stock 
 
The Primacy of Peter
Copy Matthew 16:18-19 from the Bible. 
 
 Where does the Pope live?
Copy or research and write your own text in the middle of this trifold book. 
 
Who is the Pope?
This accordion book takes a little bit of assembly as shown, gluing each strip together before folding and adding it to the Lap Book.  Wrap the book with a red ribbon before glueing it into place.  This will keep the book closed when it is not in use.   
I’ve included a spot for the children to record the name of our next Pope and the date he is selected. 

 

What Happens When A Pope Dies?


To assemble this book I cut out the white basic fold mini-book and glued it to a piece of red copy paper.   I then glued the cover picture (which I went back and changed from red and black to just black and white, as you can see).   The children will need to research this topic and write a paragraph in their own words explaining what happens when a Pope dies.  (Did you know in the past they would strike the Pope on the head with a hammer three times, to make sure he was dead?!)

Amazing Pope Facts
Fill these mini-books with various facts about past Popes of your choice. 
 
 
.: Third View – Back of Center Flap :. 

Back of White Center Extension:

  • “St. Peter’s Basilica” Pop-up Book (printed on cardstock) with “St. Peter Pop-Up Cover Picture”
  • “Where Does the Conclave take Place?” Shutterflap Book
  • “What are the chief powers of the Pope?” Trifold Book   *Note: I originally intended this to be on the previous page/swapped with “Where does the Pope live” but mixed them up when assembling.  It doesn’t really matter, but I do think it goes better with the books on the other page.
  • “Prayers for our Holy Father” Pocket
  • “Prayers for our Holy Father” Prayer Cards 
 
St. Peter’s Basilica
I love this Pop Up Book and so do the kids!  They had so much fun creating them on Friday!   They are pretty easy to assemble, but I did take a few pictures for you all… 

 

Where Does the Conclave take Place?
I did include a few pictures of the inside of the Sistine Chapel on this mini book.  The younger children can copy or paste in the text provided, and my older children will be required to write a little about the Sistine Chapel.
 
What are the chief powers of the Pope?
 
These answers came from “My Catholic Faith.” Feel free to use them, or write in answers from the source of your choice.  

 

Prayers for our Holy Father Pocket and Prayer Cards
 Assemble and use the pocket provided to store these prayer cards or additional cards of your choice. 
 

 

.: Center of File Folder :. 

 

Center of File Folder, behind white extension flap:

  • “Selecting A New Pope” Tab Book
  • “Some Special Popes” Tab Book
 
 Selecting A New Pope
Research these topics and write a paragraph on each to include in this book.  
(I may make a “fill in the blank” for my younger children, and if I do I will upload that document as well. UPDATE:  Links added above for fill-in-the-blank books) 
 
Some Special Popes


I chose some (of many!) special popes for my children to research and write about for their Lap Books. They will each be asked to write a paragraph about St. Peter the First Pope, a paragraph about Pope Gregory the Great and the invention of Gregorian Chant, a paragraph about Pope Leo the XIII and how he wrote the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (or they can copy the St. Michael prayer in Latin since they are working on memorizing it this year), a paragraph about Pope Pius X and how he lowered the age for children to receive their First Holy Communion, and either a summary about one of our many books about Pope Benedict (or a favorite quote or memory).

 
 
 

Back Cover

I’m still trying to decide what we will attach to the back cover.  At this point I am leaning towards a coloring picture or an illustration, though it might be a perfect spot to put something about our new Papa once he is announced!

In the meantime here are a couple coloring page options and I will continue adding more as I find them:

Full View of Opened Lap Book

This is just one example of how this Lap Book could be assembled.  You can attach more Extensions, or create a Double Lap Book if you need more space, or for younger children you might just create the Basic Lap Book and include some of your favorite mini books.  It’s up to you!

Our Books and Other Resources

St. Peter, The First Pope

Holy Fathers: Past and Present

On the Papacy

Note: My husband grew up reading My Catholic Faith and introduced me to this book.  I love it!  If you don’t already have it order a copy! You can find My Catholic Faith Online here!  We will be reading the chapters on The Primacy of Peter, The Bishop of Rome, The Hierarchy, Powers of the Pope, and The Papal Elections (scroll to bottom of page).

Updated to add: Our Holy Father the Pope: The Papacy from St. Peter to the Present

Fun Fiction Chapter Books

Websites and Other Links

Additional Craft and Game Ideas

Coloring Pages

Recipes

And don’t forget to Adopt a Cardinal!   

All of my children asked to choose their own.  We printed out pictures of each of their adopted cardinals and they plan to pray for them each day, that the Holy Spirit will guide them during the Conclave, and then add them to their Lap Books following the election! 

If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comment box and I will do my best to answer them as I have the time.  If any of you do end up using the Lap Book with your children and post pictures, I’d love to see them!

We most humbly entreat Thee, O Lord, that Thy boundless goodness may grant as bishop to the most holy Roman Church one who shall ever be both pleasing to Thee, by his loving zeal in our regard, and, by his beneficent rule, deeply revered by Thy people to the glory of Thy name. 

7 Quick Takes on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

— 1 —

It’s a Friday during Lent and we gave up sweets, which means we didn’t make any special treats for today’s Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. However, that doesn’t mean we haven’t done anything special for this feast day, during this very significant time for our Holy Mother Church as we wonder who will be sitting in the “Chair of St. Peter” soon. So, I thought today would be the perfect day to begin our Papal Unit Study!

— 2 —


Here is a sneak peek at the Lap Book I’m creating for my children to complete and assemble!

Yep, this is what I’ve been working on all afternoon, instead of exercising or working on my next Catholic Digest submission…  What? Me procrastinate?!  Never! 😉  
— 3 —

I’m so excited with how it’s turning out! Isn’t the cover perfect? I made a sample for the kids, and will let them each create their own. I used a yellow file folder and a piece of white card stock to create the base, and then attached the Vatican flag in the shape of the country! (Did you know that Vatican City is really a country?) I glued just the yellow of the flag to the yellow file folder, overlapping the rest onto the white. I haven’t figured out how many additional flaps it will need, since I am still creating the mini-books, so I’ll just add those later.

— 4 —

I’m even more excited about the St. Peter’s Basilica Pop-up Book! (It was inspired by the Erie Canal Mini-Book from the boys Early 19th Century Lap Book, and I was so thrilled to figure out how to make it work for St. Peter’s!) You can see my rough draft in the picture above along with the final printed version. The kids will be able to color the basilica and the background (the sky) before assembling it and adding their description.

— 5 —

I’ve displayed some of our “Pope” themed picture books which we will be reading over the next few weeks beginning with St. Peter’s Story and Saint Peter the Apostle today. I’ll be sure to include a list of all our books when I post the Lap Book (if anyone is interested in using it too?) but in the meantime I have them listed in the sidebar. In addition to reading lots of great books, I’m drawing from My Catholic Faith and some online websites (like this one – thanks, Charlotte, for the link!)

— 6 —

We broke out these fun books too!  My boys loved reading them and I thought they (or at least the first one) might make a fun read aloud over the next couple weeks.   You can find them here:   Lost in Peter’s Tomb, Break-In at the Basilica, Curse of the Coins, and Secrets of Siena.   My boys originally received these in their Easter baskets, if I remember correctly

— 7 —

As for me… I’m currently reading, and loving, Lent with Pope Benedict XVI a little bit each day.
“Let it not be said, or thought, that this ministry of Peter finishes with his life on earth. That which is given as the support of a Church which is to last forever, can never be taken away. Peter will live in his successors; Peter will speak, in his Chair, to the end of time.”  ~ Jacques Bossuet
For additional Quick Takes visit Conversion Diary. Thanks for hosting Jen! 

{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: Lenten Days

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}
and the beginning of the girl’s Lent Lap Books… 
(I’m still working on our usual wall calendar… I’m running a little behind this year. Anyone else?) 
{happy}
I’m very happy that, despite Lent starting (way too) early this year, it is finally starting to look like the Lenten season in our home.  The children have changed the vestments to purple in the school room, and our Jesus Tree is hanging on the wall.   
{funny}
I always feel funny when I take a self-portrait of just myself, unless I’m pregnant, or have one of my other children in the picture too.  An even funnier sight, however, was me stumbling out of the Church after the Deacon put the Ashes on my forehead.  He pretty much showered me in them, filling my eyes and then leaving a long black streak across my face while he was trying to wipe them off.  As the altar girls began giggling he apologized.  Haven’t had that happen before!  Through the ashes I was still able to find my way to the restroom to wash out my eyes and dust off my nose and cheeks before returning to Mass.   I should have taken a picture of that!
{real}
I love my helpers!  The big kids are taking turns reading the little ones the bible stories each day before they hang the ornaments on our Jesus Tree.
 
 
As much as “we” try to read a story a day, there are still some days that we need to do a little “catching up” and read two stories (or more).  This actually ends up being a good thing, since each of the little ones gets to hang their own ornament! 😉 

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

The Early 19th Century Unit Study and Lap Book

The next topic in our series of six Unit Studies for American History (plus the Presidential Election Unit Study and we also plan to end with an additional unit on World War II) is based on The Early 19th Century.  I seem to be on a roll this week blogging about some of our (somewhat) recent history and geography studies, so I thought now would be as good a time as any to add this post too!  🙂   The boys started this Unit last spring and finished it up in the Fall (while working on their Election Study linked above) before moving on to The Civil War which they are currently completing.

Here is the link to the CD that contains all the printable mini-books that we used for our Lap Book!

Resources and Books for Unit Four: 
(you can print our Unit Four Plans/Booklist here)

Core Text 

Additional Books read by the Boys:


Dover Coloring books:

Timeline Entries:

  • 1734-1820 Daniel Boone
  • 1774-1821 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
  • c. 1787-1812 Sacagawea
  • 1786-1836 Davy Crockett
  • 1788 Second Constitutional Convention
  • 1791 Bill of Rights
  • 1792-1799 The White House (Lap Book) 
  • 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition
  • 1812 War of 1812 – at War with Britain (Lap Book) 
  • 1817-1825 Erie Canal (Lap Book) 
  • 1832-1888 Louisa May Alcott
  • 1840s Oregon Trail (Field Trip) 
  • Feb 23-Mar 6, 1836 The Alamo
  • 1848-1849 The Gold Rush
  • 1846-1917 Buffalo Bill
  • 1847-1931 Thomas Edison (Lap Book) 
  • 1847-1922 Alexander Graham Bell (Lap Book)
  • 1860-1861 The Pony Express


I asked the boys to choose a few of the events from the list above to add to their History Through the Ages Record of Time timeline book during this unit.  The listings in bold are the ones that they choose to include this year.  Here are a few pictures:

 
  Timeline Entries by Captain

   Timeline Entries by Rascal 

Additional Activities:

 ~ THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY LAP BOOK  ~ 

~ THE FRONT COVER ~

~ INSIDE VIEW #1 ~
The blue center page/flap addition contains the following mini book: 

The Covered Wagon
Behind each flap you will find various items that the pioneers needed during their trip West. 

On the Top Flap: 

The Barbary Pirates
The Famous Duel
Innovations of the Early 19th Century
On the Bottom Flap:

The Erie Canal

The White House
~ INSIDE VIEW #2 ~

Indian Story Bag
The War of 1812
Pocketful of Presidents
The Center of Actual Lap Book Folder contains the Growth of the Nation Map. 


It looks like the boys are still in the process of creating their overlays, using transparency paper, showing “the Growth of the Nation.”  I think I need to add this project to one of their upcoming weekly checklists to finish up! 

I’m hoping that they can finally finish up their Civil War study by the end of this month, and then move on to the Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression while we are still working on the 3rd Quarter of our school year which will end in April.  At least we aren’t too far off track in our History Studies, despite how difficult it can be to squeeze in these “extra” projects!

State-by-State Baking :: Illinois Deep-Dish Pizza

“Now C is for Chicago
it’s called the windy city,
and also for the cardinal
singing clear and pretty.”

Yesterday afternoon the girls finished up their study of Illinois, the 21st state, by making Deep-Dish Pizza! Before choosing a recipe to bake, from their copy of The United States Cookbook, the girls read  L is for Lincoln: An Illinois Alphabet and then completed their Notebook Pages:

“Deep-dish pizza was first made at the Pizzeria Uno restaurant in Chicago in 1943.  Becuase it’s baked in a deep dish, it can hold more toppings than a regular pizza.”  ~ The United States Cookbook

Illinois Deep-Dish Pizza

Ingredients:
  • 2 teaspoons butter or shortening
  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 1/2 cups all-pourpose flour (we used “better for bread flour”)
  • 1 15 1/2-ounce jar pizza sauce
  • 6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 4 ounces sliced pepperoni 
Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425˚F.  Grease a 9×13 baking pan with the butter.  Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water.  Stir in the sugar, salt, vegetable oil, and flour.  (Our recipe suggested kneading the dough for 3 minutes by hand, but we used the Kitchen Aid with the hook attachment.) 

Place the dough in the greased pan, spreading it evenly along the bottom and halfway up the sides.

Spread the pizza sauce on the dough, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese, and then top with pepperoni slices.


Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned and the cheese is melted. 

One pizza wasn’t nearly enough for our family, so I helped the girls make two more!  Yummm!!

And, yes, I did eat some of this delicious homemade pizza… In fact, I didn’t regret it for a second, at least not until I stepped on the scale this morning.  :/  Still, this recipe is a keeper!   I think I am going to have the girls make it again, next time without the pepperoni and topped with lots of veggies instead for one of our upcoming meatless Lenten meals!

Resources we used for this State Study:
L is for Lincoln Teacher’s Guide (pdf)
Other Posts of Interest: 

State-by-State Scrapbook :: Illinois

L is for Lincoln, 
Illinois is his land.
He was president long ago
and known to be fair and grand.
  ~ L is for Lincoln: An Illinois Alphabet

The boys are still working towards completing their State-by-State Scrapbook that they began back in 2009.    Since it is an “extra” project and since they spend so much time on their illustrations for each state, it has taken so much longer than we originally planned.   They don’t seem to mind and, despite the increase in their school work in 5th and 6th grade, they still find time to add to their scrapbooks.   It is fun to look back and see how they have grown and how their illustrations continue to improve over the years.  I’m just hoping that they will be able to complete the project by high school! 😉 

.: Illinois by Captain :.

.: Illinois by Rascal :.

*The links to the worksheets used for these notebook pages can be found here, and here is the link to all of our State-by-State Study posts.

I’ll be back later with the recipe the girls made for Illinois yesterday! 


1824 – Josefina :: An American Girl Lap Book and Unit Study

The girls completed their Josefina lap books last Spring (as you can tell by the green grass and flowers in the background, and Chiquita’s long hair!  Oh, and Twinkle Toes braces free smile! lol) but I am just now finishing up the post since we just did a brief review and crafted the “Corn Husk Doll!”

Resources:

Josefina Doll and Mini Doll
Free Josefina Mini Books from Homeschool Share
*You can also find the girls’ bonnets here.  They make great Easter Basket gifts

~ Front Cover ~ 


For the cover the girls each choose an image from the American Girl Website’s Wallpaper selections, cropping and pasting it to the front of their covers.  They then cut out the year “1824” with the help of our Cricut to add to the front cover as well.

~ Inside First Folder ~ 
 Free Josefina Mini Books from Homeschool Share:
  • Who is Josefina?
  • United States Map
  • In Josefina’s Day
  • Josefina’s Favorites
~ Inside Second Folder ~ 
 Free Josefina Mini Books from Homeschool Share:
  • Living in 1824
  • Conflict
  • Sombrieta
  • Spanish Words
  • Josefina’s World
  • Recipe Pocket (homemade)

The girls love embellishing their Lap Books with their American Girl Historical Dolls Stickers
New Mexican Hot Chocolate ~
New Mexican Hot Chocolate
Serves 4
Ingredients:  
  • 5 Tablespoons powdered, unsweetened coca
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup hot water
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:  

Combine the cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and honey in a saucepan and mix well.  Stir in the hot water.  Heat over medium-high stirring constantly until it begins to boil.  Immediately turn down the heat and simmer for 30 seconds.  Add the milk to the mixture and continue to stir constantly over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until hot, but do not boil.  Remove from heat.  Stir in vanilla. Whisk until frothy.  Pour into mugs and top with a sprinkling of cinnamon. 

~ Bizochitos ~
We also made Bizcochitos, but I can’t seem to find the pictures… 
~ Additional Crafts ~

Make a Corn Husk Doll


We used an Early American Corn Husk Doll Kit to make our doll,
but you can also find free directions online.

Painted Memory Box

The girls also have the Painted Memory Box Craft Kit, but decide to save it for an upcoming special occasion! 😉

The American Girl Website has additional fun games and activities as well! 

The girls continued studying the Early 19th Century with the boys, in addition to working on a Kirsten Unit Study/Lap Book.

Celebrating St. Valentine’s Day 2013

What a week!   Coordinating a Latin Mass last Sunday at our parish, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes on Monday and finding out that our Holy Father is resigning, Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and then St. Valentine’s Day all back to back!  We then had the tutor here most of Friday – which was definitely a good thing since it forced us to keep up with our school work in addition to everything else… But boy was I cranky and ready for a break this weekend, especially since I started the week tired!  In fact, I went to Confession and Mass by myself last night so I could enjoy a few (very rare) quiet hours at home alone today!  😉  I am really looking forward to this coming week to focus on (hopefully) very simple Lenten days and school work.  We’ll see!  Anyways, here are a few pictures from St. Valentine’s Day, and the party we attended at our friends home.   
.: Saint Valentine’s Day Breakfast :.

Heart Shaped Eggs and Toast for Breakfast
.: Cupcakes for the Party :.
Triple Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting
(one for each of the kids at the party and one for my brother who was born on St. Valentine’s Day!) 
Frosting:  1 pkg cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, and two big spoonfuls of Nutella
Top with heart sprinkles and marshmallows 

.:  Party Time :. 
.: Valentine Cards and Treats :. 
Delivering their Valentine Cards and Treats to all of their friends.
Twinkle Toes decided to CEREALsly bless her friends this year! 

Rascal (in memory of Sparkle) gave out Goldfish Snacks,  Snuggles and Rose choose fun shaped pretzles, and Chiquita opted for Candy Rings “to save for Sunday!”

.: Valentine’s Day Pictionary :. 

As Chiquita was trying to illustrate “Honey” with a Bear holding honey, Snuggles yelled out, “I KNOW!!! It’s a Reindeer drinking COFFEE!!!!”  We had to remind him that it was a St. Valentine’s Day theme, and not Christmas.  It was so funny!  Interestingly enough, he ended up being Santa Claus for the Valentines Day Matchmaker Game
.: Cupid’s Arrows :. 

Another game that my friend Trina had for the kids to play was Cupid’s Arrows.  She set up a table with two hearts (bowls), one for each team.  Gave each child their own straw, and each team a large pile of q-tips.  She set a timer and told the “Cupids” that they had to get as many “arrows” into their heart as possible. To do this you must place the straw in your mouth, load it with an “arrow,” and then blow the “arrow” out the end of the straw towards the bowl. The team with the most arrows through the heart wins.  They had a blast!

.: Saint Valentine’s Day Mailboxes :. 

First thing this morning my children pulled out all of their sugar cereals and candies to enjoy.  It is the First Sunday of Lent after all!

“The proof of love is in the works.  Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.” 
 ~ Pope St. Gregory the Great
St. Valentine, Pray for Us! 

Our Family

Sean & Jessica, Captain-24, Ranger-22, Twinkle Toes-21, Chiquita-19, Snuggles-17, Rose-14, Bud-12, Grace-7 and Joy-5 (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 Pre-reading
All About Reading Giveaways
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Our Advent & Christmas Books

Shower of Roses Christmas Gift Guides

Looking for Something?

looking-back

  • 2024 (30)
  • 2023 (30)
  • 2022 (48)
  • 2021 (48)
  • 2020 (57)
  • 2019 (61)
  • 2018 (90)
  • 2017 (128)
  • 2016 (148)
  • 2015 (172)
  • 2014 (227)
  • 2013 (238)
  • 2012 (308)
  • 2011 (297)
  • 2010 (313)
  • 2009 (486)
  • 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!

0 Comments

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-24, Ranger-22, Twinkle Toes-21, Chiquita-19, Snuggles-17, Rose-14, Bud-12, Grace-7 and Joy-5 (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 Pre-reading
All About Reading Giveaways
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Our Advent & Christmas Books

Shower of Roses Christmas Gift Guides

Looking for Something?

looking-back

  • 2024 (30)
  • 2023 (30)
  • 2022 (48)
  • 2021 (48)
  • 2020 (57)
  • 2019 (61)
  • 2018 (90)
  • 2017 (128)
  • 2016 (148)
  • 2015 (172)
  • 2014 (227)
  • 2013 (238)
  • 2012 (308)
  • 2011 (297)
  • 2010 (313)
  • 2009 (486)
  • 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!