{pretty, happy, funny, real} ~ Celebrating Candlemas
Links for February :: Month Dedicated to the Holy Family
February 1st ~ Feast of St. Brigid of Ireland
- In Honor of St. Brigid of Ireland (2010)
- On the Feast of St. Brigid of Ireland (2011)
- St. Brigid’s Day Arts and Crafts (2011)
- Celebrating the Saints :: St. Brigid of Ireland (2015)
February 2nd ~ Feast of Candlemas
- Preparing for Candlemas (2008)
- An Afternoon Tea on Candlemas Day (2010)
- Celebrating Candlemas (2011)
- {pretty, happy, funny, real} ~ Celebrating Candlemas (2012)
- Celebrating Candlemas (2013 – Candlemas Cookies with Drip Plates)
February 3rd ~ Feast of St. Blaise
- On the Feast of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr (2011 – Cookie Recipe here)
- February Daybook on the Feast of St. Blaise (2014)
February 11th ~ Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
- Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes ~ plans and ideas (2008)
- Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (2008)
- Ideas for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (2009)
- A Grotto for Our Lady (2009)
- In Honor of Our Lady of Lourdes (2009)
- Celebrating. . . (2011)
- Celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (2013)
February 14th ~ Feast of St. Valentine
- Valentine Fun! (2008)
- LOVE-ly Valentine Memories (2008)
- Celebrating St. Valentine (2009)
- Valentine’s Day Treats (2009)
- St. Valentine’s Day Mailboxes (2011)
- St. Valentine’s Day Printables (2011)
- Celebrating St. Valentine’s Day (2011)
- St. Valentine’s Day Cocoa with Sprinkles (2012)
- Homemade St. Valentine’s Day Cards (2012)
- Celebrating St. Valentine’s Day 2013
- Bible Candy Valentines {Tutorial & Free Printable} (2014)
- Conversation Hearts Bible Verse Valentines (2014)
- Madonna & Child Valentine Cards (2014)
- St. Valentine’s Day Cards & Party (2014)
- Celebrating St. Valentine’s Day (2015)
- {pretty, happy, funny, real} :: Instagram Recap – St. Valentine’s Day and More (2015)
- Strawberry Hearts {a Simple & Sweet Treat} (2015)
February 22nd ~ Feast of the Chair of St. Peter
- 7 Quick Takes on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter (2013)
- The Primacy of Peter :: A Papal Unit Study and Lap Book (2013)
Catholic Cuisine:
Links for Lent and Easter Preparation:
- The Lenten Season In Our Catholic Home
- Preparing for Lent :: Our Lenten Journey
- Easter- Pentecost :: From the Archives
- Our Lent & Easter Book Baskets
O Jesus, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, well-beloved Son of the Blessed Virgin and foster Child of St. Joseph, we most fervently implore Thee, through Mary Thine ever-blessed Mother and St. Joseph Thy foster father, take our children under Thy special charge and enclose them in the love of Thy Sacred Heart. They are the children of Thy Father in Heaven, created after His own image; they are Thy possession, for Thou hast purchased them with Thy Precious Blood; they are temples of the Holy Ghost, who sanctified them in Baptism and implanted in their hearts the virtues of faith, hope and charity.
O most loving Jesus, rule and guide them, that they may live according to the holy Catholic Faith, that they may not waver in their confidence in Thee and that they may ever remain faithful to Thy love.
O Mary, Blessed Mother of Jesus, grant to our children a place in thy pure maternal heart! Spread over them thy protecting mantle when danger threatens their innocence;
keep them firm when they are about to stray from the path of virtue; and should they have the misfortune of falling into mortal sin, oh, then raise them up again, reconcile them with thy Divine Son and restore them to Sanctifying Grace.
And thou, O holy foster father St. Joseph, do not abandon our children! Protect them from the assaults of the wicked enemy and deliver them from all dangers of soul and body.
O dear parents of the holy Child Jesus! Intercede for us parents also, that we may bring up our children in the love and fear of God and one day attain with them the Beatific Vision. Amen.
Prayers Source: This prayer is taken from Prayer Book for Religious by Fr. F. X. Lasance, S.J. (Benziger Brothers, 1904)
{pretty, happy, funny, real}
The Good Old Hockey Game
The tension grows, the whistle blows, and the puck goes down the ice.
The golie jumps, and the players bump, and the fans all go insane.
Someone roars: “Bobby Scores!” At the good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!
Where players dash, with skates a-flash, the home team trails behind.
But they grab the puck, and go bursting up, and their down across the line.
They storm the crease, like bumblebees, and they travel like a burning flame.
We see them slide the puck inside, its a one one hockey game!
Oh take me where, the hockey players, face off down the rink,
And the Stanley Cup, is all filled up, for the champs who win the drink!
Now the final flick, of a hockey stick, and a one gigantic scream:
“THE PUCK IS IN! THE HOME TEAM WINS!” At the good ol hockey game.
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!
Mini Meatloafs
Still, when I saw Charlotte’s 3rd Pinning It Down post this afternoon, I decided not to let another week go by without joining in the fun. Since I needed to come up with something for dinner anyway, had a couple pounds of ground beef defrosted in the fridge, and had just pinned a recipe for Mini Meatloafs from My Blessed Life, I decided to give it a shot.
Actually, I decided to have Captain give it a shot, while I held the baby and snapped a few (blurry) pictures to share with you all! 😉
He was more than happy to learn how to make another recipe and did a great job! In fact, when he was finished he went on to make a batch of Outrageous Bar Cookies, which are almost ready to eat. I am so, so thankful for my big helpers!
The recipe is very similar to the one we made when I was growing up, except I loved that this one suggests making miniature meatloafs instead of one large loaf! We doubled the recipe for our family, making 20 mini meatloafs, which ended up being the perfect amount.
Delicious Mini Meatloaf Recipe
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1 c. cheese
1/2 c. oats
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. onion powder
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. salt
1 lb. ground beef
ketchup, mustard, raw sugar {or brown sugar}
Before you get started, preheat the oven to 350 and lightly spray a muffin pan.
In a large bowl, combine egg, milk, cheese, oats, oregano, onion powder, garlic and salt. Add ground beef and mix well. {Take off your rings and mix with your fingers.}
Evenly divide the meat mixture in muffin pan. This recipe makes approximately 10 mini meatloaves. In a small bowl, mix ketchup, a tad of mustard and a teaspoon of sugar. Evenly divide the glaze over each mini meatloaf.
Bake, uncovered for 45 minutes or until meat is done.
My picture doesn’t look as good as the original picture, but the recipe was a hit with my whole family, even our pickiest eaters. We Captain will be making this again soon! 🙂
Our Little Man’s Baby Shower
Yesterday afternoon a couple of my super creative friends gave us the cutest baby shower ever to welcome our “Little Man!” It was actually a double shower for Amy and I, but Amy wasn’t able to make it due to some of her family being sick. (We missed you Amy!!!)
Our Baptized Baby and a Beautiful Baptismal Blanket
After our little man’s baptism this past Friday, I snapped a few pictures of him on his beautiful baptismal blanket, a gift from his Godparents. I realized prior to the baptism, that I didn’t really have any close up pictures of the baptismal outfit, which was also worn by two of his older brothers. I don’t generally like the little “suit” outfits for boys, but I think this one is darling!
And isn’t the blanket perfect?! I think I have a new favorite baptism gift for Godchildren! Even though the blankets had been on back order, it arrived just in time for the baptism, thanks to Catholic Embroidery who embroidered it as soon as the blankets were back in stop and shipped it express mail. (Thank you Mary!) The blanket is embroidered with the Ave Maria Symbol in dark blue and the baby’s name and baptismal date in green. (I really had no idea that I had chosen the colors of his Godfather’s favorite football team! lol!) It turned out so pretty!
Can you believe that Bud is a month old already?! This past month has gone by so fast!
{this moment} :: At the End of Their Special Day!
{pretty, happy, funny, real}
Preparing for Mass
It was a real blessing for Captain to serve Mass for his Godfather, especially since it may be his last trip to visit us before he enters a cloistered monastery in March! Please keep Father in your prayers.
“My First Holy Communion” Party Favors
In addition to the Baptism Favors, I also made First Holy Communion Lollipop Favors for the Cake Reception following the girls’ First Holy Communion and the baby’s Baptism. For these I used the Girl Communion Candy Mold (a boy version is also available), along with Lollipop sticks, white and pink candy melts.
You can see an example of how the multi-colored candies are made in this post. I poured the melted white chocolate into the center of the mold first, let it harden in the fridge, and then finished the lollipops by filling the mold the rest of the way with the pink candy and adding the lollipop stick. It would have been helpful to have more than one mold, but since I really couldn’t make very many at a time (due to a little one who loves to be held) I made them four at a time over a three day period as I had little bits of free time.
I packaged the candy shells in Clear Treat Bags, tying them with Pink Curling Ribbon. I made similar tags to the Baptism favors, some reading “My First Holy Communion…Deo Gratias!” and some that were customized with “God Bless (Child’s Name)”at the top, and the date of the First Holy Communion on the bottom. I just used scissors to cut the circles, which really didn’t take long, but I would love to purchase a 2″ circle punch for the future. I cut the 2 1/2” scalloped backgrounds using my Cricut, Winter Woodland Cartridge, and gold card stock.
Here is the link to my document for the “My First Holy Communion” tags, which I printed out onto white card stock, in case anyone would like to use them in the future:
I was planning on making a couple dozen Cross Lollipops as well, but ended up running out of time even thought they are quicker to make and also take less of the melted candy. These would be a great option if you need a lot of favors.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to display the lollipops, and started looking for a styrofoam block. I wasn’t able to find anything, and wasn’t about to spend $8-10 dollars for one from Walmart, so I ended up cutting down a shoebox (from a cute pair of new boots), to make it shallower, wrapped it in gold wrapping paper, and then punched holes in the top with a hammer and nail. The lollipops didn’t stand up completely straight, but I thought it worked well enough, especially since it didn’t require purchasing any more supplies. 🙂
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