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

Feb 17, 2013 | , , | 3 Comments


~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}


Pretty dollies riding around on the stroller with Bud.  He is always more than happy to play with Rose, when she is willing to give him a ride on her doll stroller!



{happy}



My last post included a video of a few of Bud’s first steps…  
Here are another couple videos taken the next day, on Ash Wednesday!  🙂 




{funny} 


Last Sunday I made French Toast for breakfast, topped with maple syrup and the rest of the Apple Pie Filling leftover from the Hobbit Apple Tarts.  Bud took his time eating his breakfast, and just as soon as I left the table for a minute to start cleaning up, he decided to rub his plate on the top of his head.   I turned around to see him looking like this as he set the plate back down on the table!



{real}


Thankfully we were able to get all the stickiness out of his hair in the bathtub and get ready for our first quarterly Latin Mass that evening!   My “baby” is growing up way too quickly…

I hope the first week of Lent is off to a great start for you all!   It has been so busy in our home this week, with Mass on Ash Wednesday, a get together in town with friends on St. Valentine’s Day, and the tutor here on Friday, in addition to other errands…   I’ve also managed to continue with my exercising/time on the treadmill each day and, after losing 2 more pounds (for a total of 15 this year) I have finally hit my pre-pregnancy weight from Bud!  It is definitely a start!  Now to focus on the weight leftover from my pregnancy with Rose… 😉


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

A Few More Pictures From Our Latin Mass

Feb 17, 2013 | , , | 0 Comments

Preparing to sing the Chant before Mass
Our sleepy little Rose
Handing out Missals before Mass
Having a very difficult time cutting the cake… Note to self: Next time bring my own cake knife! lol
Pictures taken by Marc Salvatore, posted with permission.  Thank you Marc! 

Celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

Feb 12, 2013 | , | 8 Comments

French Vanilla Hot Cocoa

Immaculate Heart Marshmallows

Heavenly Father,

We, the people of God, gathered in solidarity as did the disciples in the Upper Room, pray for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the cardinals who will be in conclave for the election of the next Vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ. May the hearts of our cardinals be open to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, beyond any human judgment, to elect the candidate most pleasing to you, Heavenly Father, and who will guide the Church at this momentous time in history.

We invoke our Mother Mary, united in prayer with the disciples in the Upper Room, to intercede for our cardinals to select the next Holy Father in docility to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, her divine Spouse. With Mary, Mother of God and of the Church, we entrust this conclave to your maternal and Immaculate Heart, and offer these prayers for your guidance and protection over the choosing of the next Vicar of your Son.

1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1 Glory Be

Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us!

(Be sure to join the Novena for Pope Benedict and the Papacy!) 

Our First Latin Mass :: Quinquagesima Sunday

Feb 11, 2013 | , , | 10 Comments

COLLECT
WE BESEECH THEE, O Lord, mercifully hear our prayers, that being loosed from the bonds of our sins, we may be defended by Thee against all adversity.  Through our Lord.

GRADUAL
THOU ART THE GOD that alone dost wonders: Thou hast made Thy power known among the nations. With Thy arm Thou hast delivered Thy people, the children of Israel and of Joseph. 

TRACT
SING JOYFULLY TO GOD that alone dost wonders: Thou hast made Thy power known among the nations.  With Thy arm Thou hast delivered Thy people, the children of Israel and of Joseph.  

COMMUNION
THEY DID EAT, and were filled exceedingly, and the Lord gave them their desire: they were not defrauded of that which they craved.

POSTCOMMUNION
WE BESEECH THEE, almighty God, that we who have received this heavenly nourishment, may be strengthened by it against all adversities.  Through our Lord. 

Quinquagesima Sunday:  When the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar was revised in 1969, the three pre-Lenten Sundays were removed; they are now denominated simply as Sundays in Ordinary Time. Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima are all still observed in the celebration of the traditional Latin Mass.

Quinquagesima  means “fiftieth.” It is 49 days before Easter, or 50 if you count Easter itself. (Similarly, Pentecost Sunday is said to be 50 days after Easter, but the number is calculated by including Easter in the count.)  Quinquagesima Sunday is the final Sunday before the start of Lent (the Sunday beforeAsh Wednesday), which makes it the seventh Sunday before Easter.

The color of the Mass is violet.   I had hoped to pre-order a custom cake with violet (and a Latin quote from the Mass) but I wasn’t able to get to town to do so.   I was so excited that they had one with at least some violet!  🙂

I loved having my copy of Laudamus Te (The Magazine of the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Liturgy of the Roman Rite) to follow along during the Mass.  (Thank you to my dear mother-in-law for my gift subscription!)

Mass was packed, absolutely beautiful and Father’s homily was incredibly inspiring as we prepare to begin Lent this coming week! Our oldest two boys were able to serve, my husband sang in the choir, and I managed to still take a few pictures to share with you all, despite the squirmy little boy in my arms.   (Our friend Marc took additional pictures which he’ll be sharing soon!)

We are so very thankful for our Pastor’s hard work and willingness to accommodate my husband’s request for this Latin Mass and the quarterly Masses that will follow!  (Though we will continue to pray for more frequent Latin Masses. In the meantime I am very thankful that we are able to have these, since it usually requires us having a baby to have a Latin Mass in the Extraordinary Form here! lol) We are so very thankful to Father Kotas for driving over 2 hours each way to offer this Mass for us!   And I am also thankful to all of my visitors here at Shower of Roses who have been praying for this intention of ours as well!  May God Reward you all!

Deo Gratias! 

A Hobbit Birthday Party!

Feb 9, 2013 | , , , | 27 Comments

This past Thursday Rascal turned 11 years old!  For this birthday, having just finished reading (and listening to) The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, he asked if we could have a Hobbit themed birthday! It was so much fun (even if I did spend too much time in the kitchen!) and I’ve been so excited to share the pictures with you all.    
.: Decorations :.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort.”
For decorations I used a few things I had around the house to create a “Hobbit Hole” out of our dining room hutch!  We covered the front with a green blanket, cut a yellow circle out of card stock, and then cut two pieces of brown paper to create the round door hole.   We placed a green plant on top along with a black closet maid tote on top as the chimney. 
The banner was inspired by Charlotte’s lovely Lord of the Rings Banner!   In fact, after hearing how slightly overwhelmed I was on Tuesday night (while talking to her during the girls Irish Dance class before going shopping) she kindly whipped up a document and emailed it to me!   All I had to do was print it on parchment paper, tear the edges and glue the letters onto some 8″x5.5″ black card stock!  Thank you dear friend, you are the BEST! 
You can download the banner document here.  I also created a door sign using a “Party Business” font I downloaded online.  You can download that document here. 
We also made a “tree” out of brown paper, which turned out out looking more like an Ent! 🙂 

.: An Unexpected Journey :.
“Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not Today. Good morning! But please come to tea -any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Good bye!”

We started the day with a quick trip to town for a Birthday Coffee Drink and found some beautiful golden rings while we were at the store to bring back for 2nd Breakfast! 
.: Defeating Smaug :.

“[S]ome of the younger people in the town openly doubted the existence of any dragon in the mountain, and laughed at the greybeards and gammers who said that they had seen him flying in the sky in their young days.”

We spent some of the afternoon playing The Hobbit Boardgame!  
“The mere fleeting glimpses of treasure which [the dwarves] had caught as they went along had rekindled all the fire of their dwarvish hearts; and when the heart of a dwarf, even the most respectable, is wakened by gold and by jewels, he grows suddenly bold, and he may become fierce.”

“The dragon is withered, His bones are now crumbled; His armour is shivered, His splendour is humbled.” 
.:  An Afternoon Adventure :. 

“I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.’ I should think so — in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!”

As an extra snack, while I finished making dinner, I gave the kids baggies of Mountain Trail Mix and sent them outside to find their own adventure.

“Then something Tookish woke up inside of him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick.”
“There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.”

“Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To find our long-forgotten gold.”

.: Hobbit Hole Door Cookies

“It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle.” 

As I was thinking about what to do with the leftover Green Sugar Sheet and Sixlets from the birthday cake, I decided to try and make Hobbit Hole Cookies (inspired by these) using the leftover Fudge Stripes from this year’s Candlemas Cookie Candles with Drip Plates!

I used my circle hole punch to cut the sugar sheet and added a yellow Sixlets in the center with a dab of yellow sparkle gel.  I thought that they turned out so cute, and they only took a few minutes to make!

.:  Dinner :.

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”
~ On the Menu ~
Hobbit Stew in Bread Bowls

Tater (Po-Tay-Toe) Casserole
Gandalf’s Cold Chicken and Pickles
Shire Garden Salad
Farmer Maggot’s Mushrooms
Red Wine Grapes
Cheese Wheels
Mountain Trail Mix
Gollum’s Gold Fish
Gandalf’s Smoke Rings
Dried Apple Rings
Hobbit Door Cookies
Bilbo’s Seed Cakes
Bifur’s Apple Tarts
Buttered Scones
Raspberry Jam
Root Beer
Tea and Coffee

“Some called for ale, and some for porter, and one for coffee, and all of them for cakes; so the hobbit was kept very busy for a while.”

I had also picked up various “ring” shaped snacks… The boys said the Snack-O’s reminded them of Smoke Rings!

“He was blowing the most enormous smoke-rings, and wherever he told one to go, it went- up the chimney, or behind the clock on the mantlepiece, or under the table, or round and round the ceiling; but wherever it went it was not quick enough to escape Gandalf.”

“Quite a merry gathering! I hope there is something left for the late-comers to eat and drink!” 

“The dwarves ate and ate, and talked and talked, and time got on. At last they pushed their chairs back and Bilbo made a move to collect the plates and glasses.  “I suppose you will all stay to supper for cake?” he said in his politest unpressing tones.  “Of course!” said Thorin. “And after.  We shan’t get through the business till late, and we must have some music first. Now to clear up!”
.: Hobbit Music :.

“Now for some music!” said Thorin. “Bring out the instruments!” 
.: Birthday Gifts :.
We wrapped his birthday gifts in brown paper, tied with string, and attached gift tags and a beautiful new Hobbit Bookmark hand painted and ordered from The Fig and Thimble!  (NOTE:  The wonderful dwarf hoods the children are wearing were also all made by The Fig and Thimble!) 
Gifts from Twinkle Toes, Chiquita (and Snuggles gift bag in the back), and Captain
The older children also wrapped up gifts for their brother!   Twinkle Toes choose a couple mini-figures from Series 9 (and was very happy to discover that one of them was the Forest Maiden with a bow… Yep, Mom is getting good at “guessing” what’s inside the packages! lol), Chiquita wrapped up the PB&J Candy Bar that the tooth fairy had recently left under her pillow (inside a little hobbit hole box she decorated!), Snuggles wrapped up some of his coins and we picked up some trail mix when we were at the store to add, and Captain did many extra little jobs and chores to save for a little lego set (the one that comes with Samwise Gamgee) for his brother.   
Rascal’s other gifts include the next four books in the Tales of the RAF series (since he enjoyed the first book which he received in his Christmas stocking so much), The Hobbit Lego Game, 
.: Bilbo’s Hobbit Hole Birthday Cake :.

The birthday boy loved his cake and added the finishing touches just before we sang Happy Birthday! 

“You are a very fine person, Bilbo Rascal, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!”

{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: Rascal’s Hobbit Birthday

Feb 8, 2013 | , , , | 10 Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~
I took quite a few pictures yesterday, but it’s probably going to take me a little while to sort through them and put a post together on Rascal’s Hobbit themed birthday party… In the meantime, here are a few pictures I took with my phone to post on Instagram and Facebook.   
UPDATE:  You can see the rest of the pictures here – A HOBBIT BIRTHDAY PARTY!
{pretty}
The birthday boy put the finishing touches to his Hobbit Hole Birthday cake!  
{happy}

Thank you Dutch Bros. for the birthday coffee! (And thank you to the kind woman in front of us who wanted to buy it for him before finding out that it was his birthday and free! So sweet!)

{funny} 
“Hobbit Stew! I just added the porter… Now to chop up some carrots and po-tay-toes!”
And the kids thought the “brace o’ coneys” tasted just like the beef in our freezer! 😉 
{real}

Regardless of whether it was made with coneys, mutton, or beef, the stew was real good!
(And, yes, I skipped the bread bowl…)
I’ll try and post more pictures from our party soon!  It was so much fun!  I made way too much food, so the kids my little hobbits have been enjoying the leftovers today for 1st Breakfast, 2nd Breakfast, Elevenses, Luncheon, and they will be having more of the scones with their Afternoon Tea while they play Rascal’s new Hobbit Game.  Since it’s Friday we’ll save the leftover Hobbit Stew and Tater Casserole for Dinner and Supper tomorrow! 
Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment.

Bilbo’s Hobbit Hole :: A Hobbit Themed Birthday Cake

Feb 7, 2013 | , , , | 13 Comments

… For Rascal’s 111th Birthday!

After listening to the excellent unabridged version of the Hobbit, and watching the movie, Rascal requested a “Hobbit” themed birthday for his 11th birthday this year!  Our cake turned out differently, but was mostly inspired by Charlotte’s recent Hobbit Hole cake and Rascal’s Hobbit Hole Lego Set.  Usually I wait until the kids are in bed to decorate their cakes, but today I decided to take advantage of the long nap Bud took this afternoon.  So now I get to share it with you tonight!

My Supplies:

2 boxes cake mix (Rascal choose Triple Chocolate)
Oval Cake Pan (I have the Oval Pan set which I love!  I first used them for our Nesting Doll Cake and also use them each Easter for Egg shaped cakes! For this cake I used the 13.5″x9.8″ Oval) 
Filling/Frosting of choice

2 containers white frosting
leaf green icing color
Wilton Tip #233 (for grass) with decorating bag and coupler

Nutella mixed with a little of the extra white icing (for the ground – chocolate frosting or brown sugar would also work)   
1 granola bar (for chimney) 
2 large chocolate coins (for windows) 
yellow sprinkles (or yellow frosting)
1 green sugar sheet (for door)
1 yellow Sixlets (for door knob)
Candy Rocks (decorations) 
Candy Flowers (I used these.) 
2 Hershey Chocolate Bars (for around door and walkway) 

Assembling the Cake:

Bake two oval cakes.  Cool.  Slice each cake in half lengthwise.


Line up the cakes on platter, filling with frosting/filling of preference.  (We ended up only using 3 of the 4 cakes halves, and 2 – one cake – might have been enough, but we liked the look of the three cakes halves best.)   I then covered the cake with a layer of white frosting.   (I usually then stick it in the freezer to harden, but didn’t this time and regretted it later!) 


 Make the chimney.  Slice a granola bar in half and stick the two halves together (we used a little Nutella).   Place on top of cake.

Cover the cake with green grass using tinted frosting and the grass frosting tip.   This took a little while, and I bounced back and forth between it and other things, but it was fun!


 At Charlotte’s suggestion I made the door with a Green Sugar Sheet!  The cookie cutter helped with the size I needed and then I cut the circle out with a pair of scissors.  For the yellow door knob, I just attached a yellow Sixlets with some chocolate.

I made a big mess of the cake when I tried to use some Nutella around the door and the windows (I tried using yellow sparkle gel at first) kept wanting to slide down the front of the cake… So I searched through my supplies and pulled out a couple Hershey Bars and a couple chocolate coins.   We cut the Hershey’s into little squares for around the door and then put a little white frosting on the coins before dipping them in yellow sprinkles for the windows.   Thankfully the grass covered all the mistakes!  

While I cleaned up the kitchen Captain helped arrange the candy rocks around the yard and then I added some yellow flowers.  

The birthday boy loves his cake and is very excited for the celebration to begin in the morning!

Happy Birthday Rascal! 

My New Year’s Resolution {150 Miles Later!}

Feb 5, 2013 | , | 39 Comments

“We may schedule time to exercise and pray, to truly be open to hearing the word of God, to remove all noises from our minds and to carefully listen to the language of the heart, but change, true change in the direction that God has planned for you, will not happen unless you take action now and live the opportunities that God has placed before you.”  ~ The Catholic Workout, pg. 35

One of my resolutions, or rather challenges for myself, this new year was to do my best to improve my health and make time for exercising.   It is one of the areas in my life where I have been really procrastinating.    I made some great progress early last year, when I had the scare with my liver, but after I lost some weight (10% of my body weight at the time) and the problems cleared up, I lost my motivation.   I’ve been struggling to keep up in many areas of my life (blogging, paperwork, emails, laundry, housecleaning, homeschooling, exercising, pretty much everything… there is just not enough hours in the day to do it all!) and my husband keeps gently reminding me that I need to stop procrastinating and JUST DO THE WORK!

I had to laugh when I found this on my nightstand one night!

Not only do I still have plenty of weight to lose (from the last five pregnancies), I’ve also found that exercising greatly lowers my stress levels (along with my angio edema reactions) and helps me be a much happier person in general.   This time of year, with all the dark and gloomy days, can be especially challenging, so I started by deciding to stop procrastinating (with exercising at least) and try and get on the treadmill every day during January.

That first week I was able to walk/jog a total of 30 miles!

The next week I decided to try and match that… then again… and again…

 … and my five miles last night completed my 5th 30 mile week in a row – 
for a total of 150 miles so far this year! 
 In fact, I’ve already walked more miles this year, than I did all of last year combined!  

However, even though all the exercise was helping me feel great and cope with all sorts of stressful situations, especially with my husband out of town most of January, I didn’t start losing weight until I really started dieting as well.  

A typical breakfast of mine on the 17 Day Diet – 2 eggs with mixed greens, onion, and tomatoes with green tea and/or coffee

I figured that with Sean gone, and being able to make simple meals for the kids, January was a great time to try and attempt the 17 Day Diet again!   I started on January 18th (I had to wait until after my birthday!) and yesterday was day 17!!   I followed Cycle 1 almost completely, with just a few little cheats over the last couple days (some rice and beans on Friday, some spaghetti squash last night, and two little Dove chocolates and a bite of apple fritter yesterday) which is most likely why my weight loss stopped over the weekend.    I also allowed myself to have the sweetened Chobani yogurts (for my probiotic servings) and coffee with fat-free half and half each day.  

2 pounds lost from Jan 1-Jan 18th, then I started recording my weight daily while on Cycle 1 of The 17 Day Diet

I started the year with 32-42 pounds to lose and am already down a total of 13 pounds, with 11 of those pounds lost during my 17 day diet! Unfortunately I didn’t take my measurements, but I’ve also gone from barely fitting into my size 12’s to being able to button my 8’s!  It’s definitely an encouraging and motivating start!  

This week I am moving on to Cycle 2 of the 17 Day Diet, which will start incorporating a greater variety of foods and some grains.   I’m hoping that by Easter I can hit my first goal, which is to weigh the same or less than my husband!  (We are the same height and he spends most of his days hiking mountains… How can this homeschooling and blogging momma compete with that?! lol) 

“Allow me to make another comment.  While it promotes physical fitness and strengthens character, sport must never distract those who practice and appreciate it from their spiritual duties.  It would be as though one ran, as St. Paul writes, only ‘for a perishable wreath’. forgetting that Christians must never lose sight of “the imperishable one” (11 Cor 9: 25).  The spiritual dimension must be cultivated and harmonized with various recreational activities, which include sport.” ~ Bl.  John Paul II

It has been difficult to force myself to get on the treadmill each day, but I have found that it is the perfect time to pray a daily rosary for various special intentions and then spend the rest of the time listening to sermons, audio books, watching movies, or talking huffing and puffing on the phone with friends! 😉   And the days when I still don’t want to do the work, I just offer it up for special intentions.  Now that it has been over a month hopefully I’ve finally established a new habit and won’t be derailed too badly when something (sickness, etc) comes up!   

“Health is God’s great gift, and we must spend it entirely for Him. Our eyes should see only for God, our feet walk only for Him, our hands labor for Him alone; in short, our entire body should serve God while we still have the time. Then, when He shall take our health and we shall near our last day, our conscience will not reproach us for having misused it.” ~ St. John Bosco

Celebrating Candlemas

Feb 2, 2013 | | 6 Comments

‎”All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi

Traditionally called Candlemas, candles are blessed on this day to help us remember the words of holy Simeon who called the babe in his arms, “A light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of your people, Israel.” Luke 2: 32.

My Pocket Rosary Children’s Prayer Book
For years now our family has been making Candlemas Cookies to celebrate this feast day, and every year they turn out a little differently.  The first year we tried our best to balance them on top of a cookie base, one year we inserted them into the middle of Pinwheel Cookies, and last year we made Candlemas Cookie Cupcakes.  
This year I decided to try and make our Candlemas Cookies with Drip Plates!   They were so easy to make and turned out great! The kids all had so much fun creating their candles.  I think this is my favorite version yet, and it is definitely one of the easiest.  I just posted the directions over at Catholic Cuisine.

You can scroll through all our past Candlemas celebrations here, including a Candlemas Luncheon.

Christmas Angels with Baby Jesus Statue
Happy Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, 
and Happy Candlemas Day!


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.

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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-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
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As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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