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by Jessica | Dec 29, 2022

Hiking Table Rock

Apr 19, 2011 | Botany, Field Trips, Nature | 10 Comments

This past Saturday we decided to hike Lower Table Rock, one of two prominent volcanic cliff-edged mesas in the valley. My three oldest had hiked it before with their Dad and Father Lange, but it was the first time for me and the three youngest. (When I was growing up, I always opted out of this hike due to all the poison oak along the trail…) The morning started out nice, but by the time we arrived at the trailhead it was raining. We had a few umbrellas, so we decided to hike despite the rain.

Snuggles wasn’t sure what to think.

That “mountain” is a LONG WAYS away!

Our little aspiring botanists really enjoyed identifying the flowers found along the trail, recognizing quite a few from our own back yard!

Rose stayed nice and warm, snuggled in my ERGObaby Sport Carrier…

At least for the some of the hike.

~ Climbing Table Rock ~

As soon as Snuggles was tired of walking, he hitched a ride with his Daddy…

… who ended up carrying BOTH babies the last stretch of the trail. It had gotten quite steep, compared to the rest of the trail, but I somehow managed to make it to the top on my own! 😉

~ On Top of Table Rock ~

After crossing some of the wet, muddy, and rugged terrain found on top, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the valley, despite the rain clouds!

Can you see the person just in front of the trees on the right? We opted to skip walking the additional mile across the top of the plateau to the other viewpoint. The babies were sleeping/sleepy and the rest of us were ready for some dry socks and shoes. . .

… except for my Hubby, who is used to this sort of thing…

… and Rascal who was thrilled that he wore his rain boots!

As for the girls and I, all of our shoes, including my “comfortable” black boots, were soaked through, making the hike back that much more challenging! 🙂

~ Headed Back ~

It ended up being such a fun day. To celebrate our successful hike, we took the kids out for pizza, at an amazing new pizza parlor, before heading home for baths, showers, and a very good night’s sleep!

On Palm Sunday

Apr 17, 2011 | Palm Sunday | 3 Comments

Our Palm of Palms

(I love how it keeps growing each year!)

All glory, laud and honor, To Thee Redeemer King,

To Whom the lips of children, Made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou art the King of Israel, Thou David’s royal Son,

Who in the Lord’s name comest, The King and blessed One.

The company of angels are praising Thee on high,

And mortal men and all things created make reply.

The people of the Hebrews with palms before Thee went,

Our praise and pray’rs and anthems before Thee we present.

Thou didst accept their praises accept the pray’rs we bring,

Who in all good delightest, Thou good and gracious King.

Wishing all my dear friends and visitors a very blessed Holy Week!

{this moment}

Apr 16, 2011 | Little Flowers, Precious Moments: 06 | 9 Comments

{this moment} – A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. To see more visit Soule Mama.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Apr 15, 2011 | {phfr}, Precious Moments: 03, Precious Moments: 04, Precious Moments: 05, Precious Moments: 06 | 6 Comments

Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life

{pretty}

{happy}

{funny}

{real}

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

Easter Symbols :: Handcrafted Candy for Easter

Apr 14, 2011 | Easter, Easter Baskets | 18 Comments

I mentioned, in my post on Catholic Easter Basket Ideas, that I was planning on making the candy for my children’s Easter Baskets this year. We have always included a Candy Cross in their baskets, but this year I thought it would be fun to tie in as many Easter Symbols I could, and then include a little homemade “coloring book” in their basket explaining each of the symbols . I spent a little time the other afternoon getting started and thought I would share a few pictures. Unless you have Amazon Prime 2-day shipping, it might be hard to get any of these molds in time for Easter, but you can always keep these Easter Symbols in mind when looking for candy at the store!

~ Cross ~

The cross is perhaps the best known of all Christian symbols. In the ancient Church the cross was usually depicted without the figure of Christ. It was adorned and decorated as a symbol of the victory Christ won through His suffering. For the ancient world it was a symbol of humiliation, but for Christians it was a symbol of victory and glory. In Christian art, the figure of the suffering Christ was added to the cross only in medieval times. ~ Immaculate Conception Parish

On the very first two that I made (pictured at the top of this post), and you can see that the green leaves ran a little bit. I still though that they turned out pretty! To add the color, I used a toothpick to carefully fill in the leaves and flowers.

After the colors had hardened I filled the rest of the mold with the melted white candy.

I love that I have the option of personalizing the crosses, choosing a different color flower for each of my children! I made white chocolate crosses for my girls (yes, I made one for myself too!) and still need to make the brown chocolate crosses for my boys. You can find all sorts of Cross shaped molds, but here is the link to the one that I used for these chocolates.

I made these Cross Lollipops using the 2-1/4-Inch Cross Sucker Chocolate Mold. You can usually find Chocolate Crosses pre-made at some stores as well!

~ Lamb ~

We refer to Christ as “The Lamb of God,” and “The Paschal Lamb,” because he was sent as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. We also lovingly refer to Him as “The Good Shepherd,” since He is our Shepherd and told Peter to feed His sheep.

Although mixing colors adds such a pretty touch, it does take a little bit of time. I made these little white Lambs in a matter of seconds with some of the leftover candy from the crosses above. Didn’t they turn out cute?!?

Like the crosses, there are many lamb molds to choose from, and you could even use the little lambs included in the Nativity mold which I posted about last Christmas. Here is the link to the lamb mold I used to make the lambs pictured above.

Lindt Chocolate Lambs are a cute and delicious store bought alternative.

~ Bread of Life ~

Bread and Wine/Wheat and Grapes: Because of the bread and wine they produce, the symbols of wheat and grapes are often used to designate the Eucharist. Bread is the basic food of every culture and of every age in human history. Made from the toil of human hands, the many grains of wheat are transformed and become one to nourish and sustain us. A meal, in which bread is broken and shared, becomes a means of bonding human beings together. This is the sign Jesus used to describe Himself as the “Bread of Life.” Following His command, in faith we take and eat this Bread, His Body, and become one with Him.” From ancient times wine is associated with banquets, joy and celebration, a gift of God to gladden our hearts. The grapes, like the grains of wheat used for bread, are fruits of the earth and give of themselves in order that we might celebrate and be glad. This sign which Jesus used for His Blood, speaks to us of giving and of sacrifice in order that we might enjoy the benefits of His love in the banquet which is the foretaste of heavenly joy.

IHS: IHS stands for the first three letters of the name Jesus in Greek.

I’m updating this post to include the “Bread of Life” candies I ended up making as well, using a Communion Chocolate Mold. A number of other variations, including a smaller version of this mold, are also available.

~ Lily ~

The lily represents purity, chastity, innocence, and St. Gabriel’s trumpet, and is a symbol of Our Lady and used to depict the purity of the Saints, especially SS. Joseph, Francis, Clare, Anthony of Padua, and Catherine of Siena. In America, it has become, too, a symbol of the Resurrection. Legend says that lilies originated with Eve’s tears when the first couple was banished from the Garden of Eden. Other legend says that they sprang up from the ground when drops of blood fell to the foot of the Cross. It is interesting that these two legends exist, because Christ, the New Adam, wipes away the tears of the children of Eve who became the children of Mary when Christ gave her to us, through John, from the Cross. Mary herself is symbolized also by another lily, lilium candidum, or the Madonna Lily. ~ Fisheaters

These sweet little Lily Lollipops were made using this mold. I also have the non-lollipop version as well, and plan on making a batch of them for Easter too. You can find many other options here. I used Charlotte’s suggestion and added a dab of yellow to the center with a toothpick. So pretty and soooo easy!!

~ Egg ~

The egg is like Jesus’ tomb. It is enclosed, it is quiet, and it seems lifeless. Yet within an egg, the promise of new life is waiting to burst forth. Jesus’ tomb was like an egg until early on Easter when Jesus rose up to a new and glorious life. ~ Catechist.com

See’s Chocolate Butter Easter Egg with Pecans

Now, there are all sorts of Easter Egg Candy Molds available for making your own candy eggs, but I decided to just purchase this symbolic candy for my children’s baskets. There are just too many yummy options available! My favorites are the Decorated Eggs from See’s and the Cadbury Mini Eggs, my husband loves the solid Chocolate Eggs from Hersheys, and our kids are happy with just about anything!

Update: I ended up purchasing these adorable Hollow Eggs with a White Chocolate Chick inside from See’s. They were only about $1.00 each, and my children LOVED them!

~ Butterfly ~

Butterflies are an apt symbol of the day’s meaning. Beginning life as lowly humble caterpillars, they “entomb” themselves in cocoons only to emerge with jewel-colored wings and the ability to soar. What better symbol of the Resurrection — except maybe for eggs, which had always been symbols of Spring and were items of wonderment to all — an inanimate object out of which comes life. For Christians, they became the perfect symbol of the tomb Christ conquered. ~ Fisheaters

I opted to use one of the very first chocolate molds I ever purchased (a few Easters ago), the Wilton Butterfly Pretzel Mold! I won’t be making these until just before Easter, but here is a picture of the ones the girls and I made back in 2008. You can find quite a few additional options here.

~ Peacock ~

“It was once believed that the flesh of the peacock never corrupts, so peacocks became the classic symbol of immortality. They are an ancient Christian symbol of the Resurrection, and representations of them are found on the tombs of ancient Christians as an expression of their hope to follow Christ in His defeat of death. “ ~ Fisheaters

I found this Peacock Chocolate Mold on ebay, though I am still waiting for it to arrive. If it doesn’t arrive in time for Easter, these candies would make a fun addition to the last Good Shepherd’s Garden Party!

~ Bells ~

“In countries like France and Italy the bells are silent from Holy Thursday until Easter Sunday. In Germany and central Europe even the bells on farm buildings are still, though they begin to ring again on Holy Saturday. With the bells silent, the farm people of the Middle Ages felt uneasy. So, to comfort themselves and their children, they would say, “The bells have flown to Rome, but they’ll come back on Easter.” ~ Lilies, Rabbits, and Painted Eggs: The Story of The Easter Symbols

In France and Belgium, it is these bells, not the Easter bunny, that bring the Easter eggs!

These pretty chocolate bells are sold at Ladurée in Paris, France!

Here are the ones we made this year, using the 1-Inch 3-D Bell Chocolate Mold, though there are many other options available as well.

Be sure to let me know if you end up trying any of these!

Update: Charlotte has created a great little Easter Symbols Booklet to go along with these Easter Candies!

“New” Furniture

Apr 14, 2011 | Home Improvement | 18 Comments

I mentioned in my Daybook post last week that I had a couple pieces of furniture painted “Shabby White” – our old hutch and a little fireplace that we were given by a friend. The painter was able to finish them quickly and they were delivered on Monday evening while I was in town with the kids. We were so excited to see them when we got home!

They look quite different, and have taken me a little getting use to, but I think I love them! 🙂 I love our tan walls and dark wood floors, but the room did need a little brightening up and this seems to have really helped. We ended up leaving the mirrors out of the top cabinets, but we do have the option of adding them back, if we change our mind.

So, what do you think?

Hubby’s response was: “Well, it definitely looks 200 years old. . . “

Snuggles response: “Oh! It’s Layla’s Candy Shoppe!!!!”
(No, sweetie, we are not going to fill it with candy!)

I just love the little swirly appliques and hardware that the painter added.

And here is a before and after of the little corner fireplace!

Now if I could just figure out what to put in the hutch… Any suggestions?

Book Review: Olivia’s Gift

Apr 13, 2011 | Books | 9 Comments

A couple years ago I had the pleasure of reading, for review, Olivia and the Little Way by Nancy Carabio Belanger. This past December the author kindly offered to send me a copy of her newly released sequel, Olivia’s Gift! I just finished reading this delightful book.

Like Olivia and the Little Way, Olivia’s Gift is also about Olivia Thomas, who is now 12 years old, and will be going into the seventh grade. She is out of school for the summer and will be spending a month at her aunt and uncle’s summer beach house with her parents, little sister, grandmother (who I still just love!) and friend Hayley.

Over the summer Olivia learns that sometimes it is very difficult to be a good Catholic. As a mother, I found myself getting frustrated with Olivia as she gave into peer pressure and temptation, but the author uses this as an excellent opportunity to inspire the reader when Olivia makes an examination of conscience, goes to Confession (the priest reassures Olivia and helps her to overcome her fear of the sacrament), prays in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and resolves to amend her life.

“I understand very well why St. Peter fell, Poor Peter, he was relying upon himself. Before ruling the Church that is filled with sinners, her had to expierence for himself what a person is capable of without God’s help.”
– St. Therese (Olivia’s Gift, page 71)

Once again, I just loved the beautiful quotes from St. Therese at the beginning of each chapter, the special friendship that Olivia has with St. Therese, and how this dear saint’s “Little Way” is interwoven throughout the story. I also loved the strong pro-life theme which encourages a deeper respect of life, including the unborn! I found myself tearing up when the sweet pregnant woman next door, who Olivia is helping, reveals to Olivia that she lost a child (the baby had been named Gabriel, just like one of my own precious little ones) to miscarriage, and is now expecting a baby with Down syndrome. The pro-life message is also portrayed when Olivia and Hayley try to save an endangered sea turtle nest from the new “friends” they had made at the beach.

“How often have I thought that I may owe all the graces I’ve recieved to the prayers of a person who begged them from God for me, and whom I shall know only in heaven.” – St. Therese (Olivia’s Gift, page 269)

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to having my own children read it when they are a little older.

With Easter coming up soon, both Olivia and the Little Way and Olivia’s Gift would make excellent additions to Catholic Easter Baskets for tweens/teens! You can visit the website to read a few excerpts and order an autographed copy of Olivia’s Gift. It is also available at Amazon.

Exploring Creation with Botany Lap Book :: Part 1

Apr 11, 2011 | Botany, Lap Books, Science | 6 Comments

THE FRONT COVER

by Captain (Blue Folder), Rascal (Green), Twinkle Toes (Yellow)

This year, for Science, my children have been studying Botany using Exploring Creation with Botany. At the beginning of the year I purchased the Notebooking Journal, Exploring Creation with Botany Lapbook Lessons 1-5 and Exploring Creation with Botany Lapbook Lessons 6-13.

I really should have ordered just one or the other (Journals or Lapbooks), and I really loved the new Notebooking Journal, however, since my children really enjoy lapbooking, we opted to complete the lapbooks this year. We have been taking our time, and we just finished the first Lap Book (of two) a couple weeks ago and moved on to the second half of the book. Here are some pictures of the completed lap books:

~ INSIDE FOLDER #1 ~

Lesson 1 Vocabulary; Vascular and Non-Vascular Plants; On What Day; What is Binomial Nomenclature; Lesson 2 Vocabulary; Germination; Taxonomy; Latin

~ INSIDE FOLDER #2 ~

Angiosperms; Lesson 3 Vocabulary; Parts of the Flower; Self-Pollination; Animals that Pollinate Flowers; Amazing Fact; More Lesson 3 Vocabulary; George de Mestral

Flower Dissection and Pollinating Donuts

~ INSIDE FOLDER #3 ~

Draw a Seed; Botany Dominoes; Bees; Seed Dispersal; Carnivorous Plants; Amazing Fact; What happens after…

Carnivorous Plants

Working on the Seed Dispersal Mini-Books

As the children completed their mini-books, we stored them in a plastic zip-lock bag until they were ready to assemble to whole lap book. We started doing this after a cup of water was spilled on most of their mini-books for Part 2 of their Astronomy Lap Book Last Year. 😉

These illustrations were done by Captain. I just loved the detail that went into this mini book! It looks like I only got a picture of his, and not the other two. . .

~ INSIDE FOLDER #4 ~

Dry Fruits; Fleshy Fruits; Name these Flowers; Evidence; Why do most; Draw Your Favorite Flower; Amazing Fact; Word Search

~ COMPLETED LAP BOOKS ~

by Captain (4th grade, age 10)

by Rascal (3rd Grade, age 9)

by Twinkle Toes (1st Grade, age 7)

Like Mother, Like Daughter…

Apr 11, 2011 | Precious Moments: 03 | 4 Comments

“Smile, Momma! I am going to take a picture of you and put it on my blog!”

My Daybook :: April 8, 2011

Apr 8, 2011 | Daybook, Fencing | 7 Comments

Outside my window… The weather has been crazy lately. Last week it got up to a nice and warm 70 degrees and yesterday we woke up to snow on the ground! It melted pretty quickly, but continued to snow and hail throughout the day. It cracked me up when I heard the hail start coming down once again and the boys laughing and running out the front door. I looked out the window to find them wearing their swimming goggles and trying to catch the hail with their mouths!

I am listening to… the Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible with my children. We love it! I do wish that I had the actual set of CD’s (versus the Audible Download that I have) since I would really love to be able to skip around to the various readings, for our Jesus Tree Bible Study. Hopefully next year. In the meantime we are just enjoying listening to it from start to finish whenever possible.

I am thinking… about the potential government shutdown. Will my husband be going in to work on Monday or will he be one of the “non-essential” employees forced to take unpaid leave while Congress tries to come to an agreement on the budget? We are still praying that this doesn’t happen, but if it takes a government shutdown to defund Planned Parenthood it would be worth it!

I am thankful… that I was able to find my old boss’s daughter through a Google Search (using only her first and maiden name) this past weekend, after getting a phone call from him asking for help since he had been evicted from his apartment. He is 94 years old and currently in a retirement home with Dementia. (He was able to remember my maiden name and contacted my parents.) She flew up on Monday and stayed with our family while we helped her move his belongings out of his old apartment on Monday and Tuesday.

From the kitchen… Lollipops leftover from my niece’s birthday party!

My girls decided that they wanted to save their Lollipop for Easter and I keep hearing them singing this song:

All of our children were singing this song the day after the party:

From the learning rooms… My three oldest completed their first (of two) botany lapbooks for this school year last week. They turned out great and I am hoping to post some detailed pictures soon.

Living the Liturgical Year at Home… We just started praying a novena for our Holy Father, whose birthday is coming up on April 16th. We are still observing Lent and getting ready for Easter… Checking the day’s off of our Lenten Calendars, reading bible stories and adding to our Jesus Tree, offering sacrifices and removing thorns from our Crown of Thorns or adding beans to the jar, and working on our Last Supper Puzzle which is almost finished!

I am creating… a plan for Chiquita’s 6th Birthday on the 20th… So many ideas and so little time!

I am reading… an excerpt from our local paper (which I ran into town this morning to pick up!) about my little brothers Kevin (16) and David (15 – who is also my Godson!) ::

(Kevin’s) 82 at the District 6 Golf Invitational on April 1 was no April Fool’s joke as the Chieftains’ golf team placed second in the tournament, four shots behind St. Mary’s. Chieftain golf fans have become so accustomed to (Kevin’s) consistently superb play that shooting an 82 had to be some kind of joke, but it wasn’t. (Kevin’s) little brother David, fired a 76 to place second on the individual scoring card…

Pondering these words… from a quote found in the spring issue of Soul Gardening, an inspiring little journal that was just sent to me as a gift from Rose’s Godmother. I LOVE it, and it was just what I have been needing this week!

God’s presence or absence is known by the effect of suffering on us, especially by the effect of the small sufferings of every day, such as the “slights” which literally corrode those who try to endure them in their own strength. But in those whom Christ abides, it is Christ who suffers every humiliation. For them there are no psychological scars: the humility of Christ clothes them in His majesty and crowns them. Crowns them with thorns, it is true, but what other crown could any thinking person wish to wear today? And what other would not be ludicrous? ~ Caryll Houslander

Noticing that… I really love Twinkle Toes’ hair short. We had it cut this past Saturday, right before her cousins birthday party, and it turned out so cute!

Towards personal care (and exercise!)… We had planned on putting the boys in baseball this Spring (and they did try out and attend the first practice), but due to some drama and problems with our local Little League we ended up changing plans. After searching for an alternative, I found a Fencing class that had just started last week. I thought this would be perfect, especially since the boys have been studying the Middle Ages this year!

Captain was very excited, but Rascal was a little nervous. After hearing a little encouragement from The Professor, he started looking forward to the lesson. When we arrived, the instructor took one look at my boys (who are small for their ages) and thought they might want to just observe to see if they were still interested in participating, or perhaps join an earlier afternoon class with younger children. I convinced him to let them give it a shot and he said they could try out the first part of the class, which was on foot work. “Don’t worry about filling out the forms… They won’t be using any weapons today.” Or would they?!? 😉 He was quite surprised at their coordination (they were in Hockey after all) and at how quickly my boys learn.

Around the house… I hired a woman to paint our old oak dining room hutch and the little electric fireplace which we were just given by a friend. They were picked up on Wednesday and should be done this next week. She just emailed me to ask if I would like to have the mirrors taken out, or not. Oh, I don’t know!! I am kind of thinking it might look better without… What do you think… Mirrors or no mirrors?

On keeping home… I don’t think I am going to get anywhere near 40 bags this Lent (I’m only up to 10 right now). However, after a little inspiration from Charlotte, I did tackle one of the racks in my closet. Taking everything out, really does make a difference! I boxed up the skirts and dresses that I hope to fit back into someday, bagged up a bunch more to donate, and hung the rest back up in the closet. I probably should go through them again and get rid of a few more, but at least it’s a start and I actually do have some clothes that fit!

Before:

After:

One of my favorite things… clean de-cluttered spaces, even if we only have a few of them in our home!

A few plans for the rest of the week:

We are looking forward to tomorrow. The girls have their very first Ballet class, followed by lunch with the other women that live on our street!

A Picture thought I am sharing:

Rose with her Daddy, taken at the coast a couple weeks ago

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Sean & Jessica, Captain-25, Ranger-23, Twinkle Toes-22, Chiquita-20, Snuggles-18, Rose-15, Bud-13, Grace-8 and Joy-6 (blog nicknames)

A Little About Me

Hi! I'm Jessica, a Roman Catholic wife and home educating mother to our nine children. I was home educated myself, along with my eleven younger siblings. I have a special devotion to St. Therese, through whom I have been given much help and many blessings--the beautiful "Shower of Roses" that she has sent my way! Here I will record a few of the blessings I treasure. Please remember that what you see here is just a little glimpse at our lives, so please say a prayer for us, as we continue to strive for holiness.

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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.