The Birthday Girl
Santa Lucia Day in the Morning {Our 2012 Celebration}
Celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!
We have dear friends visiting from out of state for the rest of the week, but I wanted to hop online and share a few pictures from this year’s celebration in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe! In addition to reading the two books pictured above, we enjoyed another Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The kids helped set up everything while we anxiously awaited their arrival this afternoon!
Our Lady of Guadalupe by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
Our Lady of Guadalupe Pop-up by Francis Serrano
All ready and waiting for our guests to arrive! 
(not quite) Mexican Hot Cocoa (but it is organic!) 😉
Remembering the many innocent lives that were sacrificed by the Aztecs
.: St. Juan Diego :.
Gingerbread Marshmallows for our Mexican Hot Cocoa
.: St. Juan Diego’s Sombrero :.
Pringles with a little round of string cheese
.: Tepayac Hill :.
This year I decided to skip the food for this item and create “Tepayac Hill” with an upside down bowl, some Our Lady of Guadalupe Fabric, and a statue of Our Lady as a centerpiece for the table.
.: A Woman Clothed with the Sun :.
2 cans refried beans, topped with 1 package cream cheese mixed with 1 cup of sour cream and 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning, and then topped with cheddar cheese. Surround with chips to create the sun’s rays. (Before serving, I did pop it in the oven to melt the cheese.)
.: A Crown of 12 Stars :.
Peppermint Dipped Pretzel Snowflakes Stars
.: Crescent Moons :.
Crescent rolls
.: Supporting Angels :.
.: Praying Hands :.
Praying Hand shaped tea sandwiches
.: The Tilma of Roses :.
Tortilla and Cream Cheese with Tomato and Turkey Roses
.: Bishop Zumarraga :.
.: Crushed Serpents :.
Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, intercede for the Church, protect the Holy Father, help all who invoke you in their necessities. Since you are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from your most holy Son the Grace of a firm faith and sure hope amid the bitterness of life, as well as an ardent love and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.
Hold the Bridge!
As I was pulling up our driveway, after dropping the boys off at their Lego Robotics class this afternoon, I noticed something just off to the side. After parking the van I grabbed my camera and walked back down for a closer look… I took a few pictures to share with you all!
My Daybook :: December 11, 2012
Outside my window…
The weather has been all over the place lately. Yesterday it was beautiful and sunny, today it is back to cloudy and rainy. We recently had quite the rain storm come through which caused quite a bit of flooding. The Sunday before last Sean and the kids stopped by the river on their way home from town and by the time I got back to take a few pictures it had really “calmed down.” It’s not as high as I have seen it, but still flooded the park…
I am thinking…
about stocking stuffers and whether or not I want to order this (non-battery version) of the Little People Nativity as a birthday gift for Bud. I better hurry… He is going to be one on the 19th!
I am thankful…
that I have most of my Christmas shopping completed. Now to just get everything wrapped, and the packages that need to be mailed to the post office!
Learning all the time…
We are just focusing on the essentials this Advent – not working on everything, but not taking Advent completely off either. The kids are working on Religion, Math. and Language Arts every day, Writing and Latin each week, and History, Science, Geography, and the Alphabet Path can wait until January.
Celebrating the liturgical year…
Yes, we definitely have been celebrating the liturgical year – with even more celebrations coming up this week!
From the kitchen…
Peppermint Dipped Snowflake Pretzels from Costco… Oh. My. YUM!!!
I am working on…
the Celebrate/Quiet Moments section for Catholic Digest beginning with the February/Marsh issue! (Though you will find a recipe from Catholic Cuisine in the January edition!) I mentioned it on Facebook, but I keep forgetting to mention it here. My deadline is December 21st and I am very excited, and very nervous. I am always amazed at God’s timing! The little bit of income this will provide is exactly what Sean’s paychecks will be decreasing in January when they start deducting for our new Dental Insurance and Flex Savings Plan we just added to help pay for the kids braces. God always provides!
I am creating…
ornaments with the older children to give to their Godparents for Christmas. They worked on them this past Saturday, and I just need to find a way to get the ribbons for hanging them back through the holes. Perhaps one of the “floss threaders” we have been using for the braces will help!
I am going…
to try and finish our Christmas Cards this week. Our family picture is far from perfect, but it’s the best I have if I want to get cards out before Christmas!
I am hoping…
to get on the treadmill today. It has been way way too long. I attempted it yesterday, but only got as far as moving the baby swing and unfolding it before something came up. My Dad recently told me that “He who begins is half done…” Um… I don’t think that applies in this situation! 😉
I am praying…
As we were lighting candles and praying for our Christkindl’s after Mass on Saturday, Father came over and asked us to also pray for a 7 year boy in our parish who was just diagnosed with a brain tumor. Will you please offer a prayer for him too?
I am reading…
Christmas Books and Bible Stories! Speaking of Bible Stories, do any of you own this new Read-Alound Book of Bible Stories? It was just published in October, and it doesn’t have any reviews yet, but it looks great!
Pondering these words…
spoken by St. Augustine:
I am listening…
to Advent at Epehsus and loving this new CD!
Around the house…
I recently moved the Castle to Rose’s bedroom and she has been enjoying it so very much! I think I am going to have to give her a Calico Critter family of her own for either her birthday or Christmas this year. Isn’t the Deer family darling! 😉
The boys have a little green tree that gets set up in their bedroom each year, and the big girls have a purple tree. When I was out shopping this past weekend I ended up buying this little tree for Rose in her favorite color. She ran up and down the hallway yelling “Daddy! Daddy! I have a tree-uh! It’s pink-uh! I luv it!!!” She was just a little excited!
One of my favorite things…
choosing Christmas gifts for my children. I think I enjoy deciding what to give them, just as much as they will love receiving them! ( Shhhh! The themes for the big kids this year are pretty much Historical American Girls – have you seen these great craft kits? They will tie in perfectly to the girls History plans! – for the big girls and lots of Legos for the big boys! I can hardly wait to share more of my picks for this year. So much fun!)
Sunday :: Visiting priest and his Grandmother (who is visiting from Poland!) for dinner. (I loved that my children found little ways in which to communicate with her, even though she doesn’t speak English! Twinkle Toes enjoyed showing her the new book she received on the Feast of St. Nicholas. And the kids had saved a couple St. Nicholas cookies to give to Father and his Grandmother!)
Tuesday :: School, Run Errands, Lego Robotics Class
Wednesday :: Celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe; Dear friends that moved away to the midwest are coming for a visit!!!
Thursday :: Celebrate the Feast of St. Lucy; Lego Robotics Class
Friday :: Ice Skating, maybe?
Saturday :: Visit with friends ends… Lego Robotics Competition for Boys; Celebrate Rose’s 3rd Birthday!
Glorious Nativity :: A Puzzle for Advent
Our children are getting so fast at putting together these puzzles! Last Sunday, on the First Sunday of Advent, we gave them a new puzzle, as I mentioned in one of my Preparing for Advent posts this year, and they completed it last night… I didn’t even get to help with it this year!
Nativity Sets for Children
I’m not sure how many emails I have answered (or still need to answer) on where I purchased the Wooden Nativity Block Set that the children were playing with in my Advent & Christmas Book Baskets Post. It really is neat, isn’t it?!?
I purchased my set quite a few years ago when it was made by HABA, and it doesn’t look like they make it any longer. Haba now sells this beautiful (though very expensive) Wooden Nativity Set. However you can find a similar set made by Constructive Playthings and it happens to be on sale for just $14.99 at the moment, which is much less than I paid for our set! It looks almost identical to ours, though we did notice a few differences: taller columns, more bushes, the addition of camels…
Note: The stable built out of blocks is so tempting to one little toddler in our home who loves to knock it over, which is quite frustrating to his older (almost three years old) sister!
This darling Hand Carved Child’s First Nativity Set was sent to us as a gift. It is designed by Kurt Adler, just like our favorite Nativity Advent Calendar. It’s a little more fragile than the block set (i.e. the paint has chipped in a few places) but loved very much by my little ones!
Even though I prefer the wood sets, we also have The Nativity Play Set by one2believe, an older version of the Playmobil Nativity with The Three Wise Kings, and the Nativity Set by Schleich.
Originally I started out collecting a Child’s Nativity Set for each of our children, but it looks like I missed one somewhere along the way and I still haven’t found a new set for Bud. He would probably love the Little People Christmas Story Nativity Scene, but I wish it didn’t light up and require batteries… I love the Kathy Kruse Nativity Set, but it is just too expensive! Additional options include the Melissa & Doug Nativity Set and the Olive Wood Children’s Nativity Set. However, I think I am leaning more towards creating our own, or purchasing one of the many beautiful sets available on Etsy!
Dress Suggestions for Santa Lucia Day
Happy feast of the Immaculate Conception! I don’t think I’ll ever celebrate this feast without remembering and thanking God for the good news we received on this feast, two years ago today! It’s hard to believe that much time has passed already…
Anyways, I have had quite a few emails lately asking where I purchased our dresses for Santa Lucia Day… Unfortunately the lovely dresses that my older girls have are not currently available where I purchased them, just the doll sized version. Update: no longer available, link removed. (My girls gowns also came with a pink ribbon/bow sewed to the neckline, which I carefully removed).
Last year I just used one of my white t-shirts for Rose (which works great for toddlers!) and this year I have been looking for a dress for her to wear. I bought the big girls their dresses extra extra big back in 2008 and have been cinching them up with the ribbon each year, so we still don’t have a hand-me-down for Rose.
I had been looking and finally ran across this cute little imported Scandinavian Swedish Dress for Lucia with Red Ribbon Sash on Ebay! It is currently available in 4 sizes, and I ordered the XS for Rose. It arrived today and I still need to wash it, but I did try it her to show you all. It is slightly see-through, which seems to be the case with most white gowns, but I think it is really cute especially the collar and sleeves!
Here are a few other dress options as well:
- Josefina’s Night Shift for Girls from American Girl
- White Angel Robe from Oriental Trading
- Girls White Pajama Gown from Amazon
- Little Girls Christmas Nightgown from Etsy
- Megan Girls Dress from April Cornell
- Old Fashioned Nightgowns from Jumpin Bloomers
Additional ideas for celebrating the Feast of St. Lucy can be found in the archives:
Celebrating the Feast of St. Nicholas :: 2012
I hope you all had a wonderful St. Nicholas Day! Here are a few pictures from our celebration this year:
I’ve mentioned before that last year we enrolled our children in a local homeschool charter school, and that we have an ES/Tutor that comes about 3 times a month to spend an hour with each child enrolled (3 weeks on, 1 week off plus holidays/vacations). We have been very blessed to have one of my friends, and mother of one of my Little Flowers, as our ES this year! She comes on Thursdays for 5 hours… I LOVE it! It is such a blessing to have even the little bit of help, plus the fact that my older children have to be accountable to someone other than myself! Anyhow, Thursday is the day that she comes, so while she was working with each of the children, I was able to spend some time with the rest of the kids decorating cookies and preparing some treats for our St. Nicholas Day Brunch (which ended up being breakfast for dinner this year!
The other fun cookies that I made this year for the children (or rather from St. Nicholas) were these Saint Nicholas Cookies made with Nutter Butters! You can find the recipe over at Catholic Cuisine.
I made the bottom of each candy cane with 1 1/4 pkgs. of crescent rolls, using the remaining 1/4 package to cut strips to lay over the top. I topped each candy cane with half of the cream cheese mixture and half of the pie filling.
Update: You can find additional Advent and Christmas Posts listed here.
you will guide and protect our children.
Keep them safe from all harm and help them grow
to become loving disciples of Jesus in your sight.
Give them strength to always mature into deeper faith
in you, and to keep alive joy in your creation.
Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
The Baker’s Dozen :: A Saint Nicholas Tale and Baking Cookies for the Feast!
Yesterday, in preparation for today’s feast of St. Nicholas, the children unwrapped The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale (a fun tale about generosity and the origin of the term ‘baker’s dozen’) for us all to read together. After reading the book the we baked Saint Nicholas Cookies using the recipe provided along with the template from the back of the book!
We finished decorating them this afternoon, in between early morning Orthodontist appointments, lessons with the tutor, and lego robotics for the big boys. It was a busy day, but ended with our usual St. Nicholas Brunch (for dinner this year) and another wonderful picture book!
The Baker’s Dozen St. Nicholas Cookies
First we collected all the ingredients:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- About 4 1/2 cups flour
*I’m including this picture just so you can all see the piles of random items on my counter at any given time… (And show you why I’ve been hesitating to post any more of the gift ideas I have for my children this year, since I frequently find the kids reading my blog!)
Directions:
1. Melt the butter and set aside.
2. Beat the egg in a large bowl until the yolk and white are well mixed and fluffy.
(Measure the correct amount of honey, if you can get it out of the bottle!)
3. Add the honey, milk, almond extract to the egg mixture and beat well.
(Have you gotten that honey out yet, honey?)
4. Mix the brown sugar, spices, and salt.
5. Add to the egg mixture and beat until well mixed.
6. Add the melted butter slowly and beat until well mixed.
7. Watch mom dump the flour in and make a BIG mess
Add the flour slowly until the cookie dough is solid enough to knead.
8. Transfer to your work surface and knead in more flour to make soft, slightly sticky dough.
9. Shape the cookie with a pattern, cookie cutter, or cookie mold.
Even though we do have a few various St. Nicholas Cookie Cutters, we opted to copy the pattern provided on the back of our book.
(I have been keeping an extra close eye on that baby, who is very interested in our Advent Wreath!)
10. Preheat the oven to 350˚F, or lower for especially thick cookies. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are slightly brown around the edges. Transfer to cookie racks and cool.
11. After the cookies have cooled, decorate with red and white icing.
We started with the red frosting last night, and finished decorating the cookies today, once we picked up some more white cookie icing on our way home this morning. The children all really enjoyed decorating their own cookies, and helping with the rest! (The big kids helped Snuggles and Rose decorate their cookies.) I thought they did an excellent job!
12. Enjoy!
13. (We have to have a Baker’s Dozen for the directions, right?)
With a generous spirit like dear St. Nicholas,
package up some of the cookies to deliver to friends!
Scroll through all our past St. Nicholas posts here and order a copy of The Baker’s Dozen here.
You can also find my free St. Nicholas Chocolate Coins printable here.
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