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“Our Mother’s Hands” Stained Glass Window

Jan 21, 2011 | , , | 3 Comments

A Craft for the Feast of Our Lady of Altagracia


The memorial of Our Lady of Altagracia is celebrated on January 21st.   My children have really enjoyed celebrating this feast day in past years, ever since being introduced to it through Catholic Mosaic and the beautiful picture book A Gift of Gracias: The Legend of Altagracia.  Since we have a very busy day tomorrow, we made a couple crafts and had a “tea” in honor of Our Lady this afternoon after we finished up our school work for today.

In Alice’s lovely Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Altagracia she suggests creating delicate paper hands, to represent the loving hands of Our Lady, at the beginning of the tea.   Here is how we created “Our Mother’s Hands” adapted from Alice’s suggestions and a craft I ran across at Danielle’s Place.

“Our Mother’s Hands” Stained Glass Window

Supplies:

Card Stock – Black, Yellow, White and various scraps
Black Gel Pen
Scissors
Glue Sticks
Praying Hands Pattern

Craft Preparation and Directions:

Print the pattern of the praying hands and the stained glass window. (I printed our pattern onto white card stock for stability.)
Using the patterns cut the window shape from the yellow paper and the praying hands shape from the white paper.
Cut up scrap pieces of paper (neon colors work best) into small one inch shapes.


Have the children glue the window shape to a piece of black (or dark blue paper) and then glue the white praying hands to the center of the window. 


 Next, have the children glue the small pieces colored paper to the window shape, creating the “stained glass window.”


Write the following note to Our Lady, quoted from the Novena to Our Lady of Altagracia, on the praying hands “Thank you for the innumerable favors that we have received from your hands.” using the black gel pen.   (Some of the children also added illustrations of a rosary, a miraculous medal, or our family praying the rosary together.) 


NOTE:  This craft can be easily adapted by writing the Our Father, or a variety of other prayers for other feast days, on the praying hands!

by Captain and Rascal

by Twinkle Toes and Chiquita

Our Lady of Altagracia, Pray for us! 

Carnivorous Plants

Jan 20, 2011 | , , | 6 Comments

In our current Botany Lesson on Flowers, the children (the boys especially) loved learning about Carnivorous Plants.   Since one of the projects for this lesson was to “Build a Clay Model of a Flower,” Rascal immediately decided to build a Venus Flytrap and then continued on to make all four of the carnivorous plants that they had studied.  The book suggested using Play-Doh, Clay, or Salt Dough, but personally we love using our Modeling Beeswax.  I thought he did a great job and wanted to share a picture with your all:

The Sundew, The Pitcher Plant, The Venus Flytrap, and The Bladderwort
Captain decided to just make a pretty red Lily (to the left of Rascal’s Venus Flytrap pictured below), and Twinkle Toes also opted for a Lily (on the right), like the ones they had just finished dissecting.  

They have also really been enjoying working on the various mini-books for their Botany Lap Book.  The following illustrations are from Captain’s Carnivorous Plant  Layered Book:

As the children complete each mini-book/activity for their Lap Books, we have been storing them in gallon sized ziplock bags (one for each child) and they will compile their first Lap Book as soon as they complete the fifth lesson.   After that they will begin working on a second Lap Book for the remainder of the year.   I’m sure we will post picture of the completed Lap Books, when the are finished.

My Daybook :: January 18, 2011

Jan 18, 2011 | , , | 17 Comments

Outside my window… it isn’t raining at the moment, and there are five little ones running around, climbing trees and enjoying the fresh air, while Rose naps.

I am listening to… Women in Chant: Recordare: Remembering the Mysteries in the Life of Jesus, Son of Mary.

I am thinking… about how being a home educating mother changes the way I look at things.  I never would have thought I would be so excited to receive flowers on my birthday, so that my children could dissect them for one of their Botany lessons! 😉

I am thankful for… my amazing family and all of my wonderful friends!  I turned 33 on Sunday, and had such a lovely day.   It started with Mass and a whole bunch of precious cards from my children.  (Not to mention all the birthday greetings on Facebook!) My brother and sister-in-law then watched our kids so that Hubby could take me to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and then meet my parents for dinner.  Then it was back home to for cake and to open a beautifully wrapped birthday gift which was sitting on the counter.   It was such a nice day!  I sure love my family and have been truly blessed!!

I am hoping and praying… that my niece’s MRI goes well today, for a very special intention, and that my father-in-law has a quick recovery from his surgery.

From the kitchen… lots of leftover chocolate birthday cake, which I am trying not to eat! 😉  I am also trying to come up with meals with the food I have in my pantry and freezer this week.  I haven’t gone grocery shopping since just before Christmas, but I think I should be able to pull off one more week if I have Hubby pick up some milk, fruits and vegetables.

Monday :: Chicken Cacciatore with Dinner Rolls
Tuesday :: Tacos, Steamed Corn and Spanish Rice
Wednesday :: Baked Steak in Tangy Tomato Sauce and Scalloped Potatoes
Thursday :: Get Yo’ Man Chicken, Rice and Steamed Broccoli
Friday :: Brown Rice Vegetable Casserole
Saturday :: Grilled Tilapia with Steamed Veggies and Rice
Sunday :: Lasagna, Salad and Garlic Bread

From the learning rooms… I finally feel like we are making progress!   Each (weekday) morning we have been working on Religion, Language Arts (Handwriting, Phonics, Spelling, Writing and Grammar) and Math, which leaves the afternoons free to study Science, Geography, History, etc.  Following a schedule once again is really helping to get our days off to a good start, and use the time most efficiently.

Living the Liturgical Year at Home… we will be celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Altagracia later this week, on January 21st.    Last year I painted a little wooden peg doll in her honor, read A Gift of Gracias: The Legend of Altagracia and served Orange Smoothies.   I haven’t quite finalized our plans for this year, but we just love all of Alice’s Teas so I am leaning towards serving her Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Altagracia.

I am creating… a little village of paper houses with my girls, using the birthday gifts from my sweet Hubby!

I am wearing… the next size down!!!

I am reading… I haven’t had much time for reading this past week, but I am hoping to get back to the books on my nightstand soon: Large Family Logistics, I Believe in Love: A Personal Retreat Based on the Teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux, Olivia’s Gift, and Small Steps for Catholic Moms.    

On my iTouch… after seeing the Bob Books app suggested by others, I finally downloaded the Bob Books Lite version to try.  Chiquita loves using it, so I think I’ll download the full app soon.

Pondering these words… from Chapter 10 of The Cure Of Ars, which Hubby read to all of us last night at dinner:

“To suffer lovingly is to suffer no longer.  To flee from the cross is to be crushed beneath its weight.  We should pray for a love of the cross – then it will become sweet.”

Noticing that… blowing out 33 candles creates a LOT of smoke!!!  (… and that it was really hard for me to post this “really neat” picture that my children wanted me to share with you all! lol!)

Towards personal care… I am trying to keep the weight off, which I lost while I was sick off, and so far have been successful.   I was actually even able to lose a couple more pounds on top of the first seven, but those came right back due to the cake, coffee, and burger on my birthday…  Now that the coughing isn’t nearly as bad as it was, I am hoping to start exercising again.   I’m not sure the balance games on the Wii Fit count? 😉

Around the house… The weekend before last, Hubby and I added curtains to the windows, to match the ones over the sliding glass door, in our bedroom and we just love them.   However, I must say that it has made getting up a bit harder since it stays so dark in the morning when they are closed!

On keeping home… Here is a favorite quote from St. Frances of Rome:

“It is most laudable in a married woman to be devout, but she must never forget that she is a housewife; and sometimes she must leave God at the altar to find Him in her housekeeping.”

One of my favorite things… The “Watch Instantly” feature on Netflix!  While we were sick earlier this month we all watched (and loved!) The Sissi Collection.  We also enjoyed watching Booky and the Secret Santa (starring Megan Follows) and Booky’s Crush.  Last week, before my sister headed back to college, she came over one night and we watched Relative Values (starring Julie Andrews).   Have you run across any great movies that are available to watch instantly?  I’d love a few suggestions!

A few plans for the rest of the week:

  • Doctors Appointment for Snuggles on Wednesday
  • Prepare for our next Little Flowers Girls’ Club Meeting
  • Attend Mass on Friday and Sunday

A Picture thought I am sharing:

Little Flowers Girls’ Club ~ Friendliness

Jan 16, 2011 | , | 4 Comments

Just before Christmas we had our second Little Flowers Girls’ Club meeting for this year, as we study Wreath III.   Since this meeting fell just before Christmas, we decided to schedule the meeting for a little longer than normal so the girls could have a little Christmas Party and Gift Exchange as well!

Here is an overview of our meeting:

~ Coloring Pages and Copywork ~

The girls had two options for coloring pages in addition to the pictures in their Member Guides.  The first option was this beautiful coloring page of Ruth and Naomi from Curmudgeonry.   (I was very excited to find that Jordana has illustrated coloring pages for Wreath III!  The links can all be found in her sidebar.  The second option was a Ruth & Naomi Picture Search I happened to run across in one of my files. 

This year we are expanding on the virtue pages for our notebooks, and adding a bit of copywork using the Memory Verse for each month as well.  I am hoping this will help the girls get a jump start on memorizing the verse each month.   Here is the page I created for the younger girls (using Startwrite) for the virtue of Friendliness.

~ Meeting on the Virtue of Friendliness ~

Friendliness :: The quality of being pleasant and friendly.  Friendliness, like cheerfulness, is seen as a human virtue.    

Here is what was discussed:

I also had a “game” picked out for the girls to play, but we ran out of time… It actually might be a fun one to include at our Mother/Daughter Tea this summer! I am going to add the idea here anyways, in case any of you would like to use it with your groups.

“ALL MY FRIENDS”

Items Needed: Large Area to walk around in a circle as a group

Song:
My friends and I went to the store
So we could buy some candy!
Its so much fun with all my friends!
(Clap loud) Isn’t it so dandy!

How to Do Activity: Form a circle with all of the children. Walk around in the circle singing the song (to the left) to the tune of “Yankee Doodle”, clapping as you go. After each verse, stop and say the name of a child and ask, “Who’s your friend?” They have to say the name of a person who has not been called. Help them to think of somebody if they have trouble remembering who has not been named. After they say the name, say “_____ is our friend too!” Continue on until everyone has been named.

~ Notebook Pages ~

For the notebook pages, I used the memory verse for Friendliness, A Guardian Angel Prayer for Friends, an image of Ruth and Naomi, and a border of Morning Glories. You can download my document here.

Here is a picture of the sample page I created:

I always love seeing the lovely variations that the girls create:
~ Craft ~

At first I had planned to either have the girls make Friendship Bracelets and Amish Friendship Bread, but when the meeting ended up falling just before Christmas, I changed plans… Instead I asked all the girls to bring 3 dozen cookies for a Cookie Exchange.   At the meeting the girls all made 2 trays each – one to take home to their family and another to give away to a friend!

Chiquita made Peanut Butter Cup Cookies and Twinkle Toes opted for St. Nicholas Miters.    

~ Wreath III Virtue Aprons ~

  

This year ELM came up with the darling idea of creating WREATH III Virtue Aprons.   For the virtue of Friendliness the girls will be ironing on a strip of all of their names to the ribbon/apron strap since “Friends hold us up!”  We will finish this up at the next meeting, since we didn’t have the right type of iron-ons.  🙂

~ Snack Time ~

Since our meeting ended up being dinner time, I decided to serve a light meal along with the regular cupcake snack.   To tie in the virtue of Friendliness, I decided to try and come up with a with a “Best Friends Forever” themed menu.   So, naturally, Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches came to mind, as well as Veggies and Ranch Dip.

I made these cute little sandwiches using my Pampered Chef Cut N Seal. 
(The Krustbuster would be another option, for square sealed sandwiches.)
I thought about making attempting these beautiful Morning Glories, but ended up opting for the easier alternative of letting the girls decorate their own, using Sparkle Gel, once again.
The girls just love decorating their cupcakes and were very focused on the task! 
We served the snack with Peppermint Hot Cocoa, topped with White (the color for this month’s meeting) Whipped Cream!

~ Gift Exchange / Group Photo ~ 

The girls all brought a wrapped gift (that they had made) for a gift exchange.  It was so much fun and so cute to see the sweet and thoughtful gifts made by each of the Little Flowers! 

Naomi and Ruth help our hearts to see that a faithful friend is a sturdy shelter, he who finds one, finds a treasure.

St. Therese, the Little Flower,  pray for us! 

Seven Quick Takes

Jan 15, 2011 | , | 0 Comments

I promise that this will be my last post about our trip to Arizona.  🙂 
~ 1 ~ 
One day, the girls and I were able to go to the Church and help the Catholic Daughters prepare for a take-out dinner fundraiser. 
 The girls did a great job bagging up all the rolls!
The girls with Grandma
~ 2 ~
The boys enjoyed spending time visiting with Grandpa in his garden…
~ 3 ~
…and Snuggles loved pulling the little toys all over the yard!
~ 4 ~
I always love seeing all the old pictures of Hubby, when we visit his parents.
~ 5 ~

We took these pictures one day, on our way out to a local lake.   Apparently there had just been a Border Patrol shooting… 
~ 6 ~
Oh how I wish we lived closer and could visit more often! 

~ 7 ~
On our last day, the girls and I took their Grandma shopping and then she treated us to dinner.  It was such a fun day!
I just love this picture of Chiquita with her Grandmother/Godmother!

{this moment}

Jan 15, 2011 | , , | 7 Comments

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. 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. If you’re inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

Saguaro National Park

Jan 14, 2011 | , , , , | 3 Comments

“S is for Saguaro (suh-WAHR-o), the cactus with branches like arms.
It can live for centuries in the desert. Sharp spines protect it from harm.”
~ G is for Grand Canyon : An Arizona Alphabet

Our last field trip, during our visit to Arizona this past November, was to the Saguaro National Park.

“Enormous cacti, silhouetted by the setting sun, for most of us the Giant Saguaro is the universal symbol of the American West. And yet, these majestic plants are only found in a small portion of the United States. Saguaro National Park protects some of the most impressive forests of these sub-tropical giants, on the edge of the modern City of Tucson.” ~ Saguaro National Park Website

When we arrived to the park, we headed to the visitors center to pick up activity booklets and check out discovery packs (containing a variety of tools to assist in completing the 12-20 page desert-themed workbooks) for the Junior Ranger Program.   Even though the program is geared towards children ages 5 and up, they were kind enough to let Snuggles participate as well!

Our next stop was the picnic area, where we ate lunch and got started with some of the assignments in the activity booklets. 

Hubby and the boys then went exploring (they were searching for a saguaro to study) while the girls and Snuggles stayed with me, close to the picnic area, observing all the wildlife.

We then all headed into the park, as “Desert Detectives,” searching for certain plants, animal tracks, nests or nibble marks on cactus, and other clues that animals leave behind.   We also had fun looking for, and identifying, some of the birds in the park including Gambel’s Quail, Cactus wrens, Red-Tailed Hawks, Cardinals and Turkey Vultures.  We even saw a couple Roadrunners! 

Twinkle Toes was very happy when she “finally” found an animal hole and was able to check it off her list!

It was so neat to see all the different cacti and even a few “skeletons.”

Hubby also took a picture of all of us next to the cactus we choose as our “family favorite:”

After completing the workbooks, and answering some question from a Park Ranger, all the children were awarded official Saguaro National Park Junior Ranger certificates and badges.

Well, with our late start in school this past fall, traveling in November, and then our Christmas break, we may not be as far along in this year’s science textbook as I would like, but I am thankful for all the extra learning opportunities our children have had this year! 
To follow up our field trip we’ve been doing a bit of reading and coloring:

America's Deserts: Guide to Plants and Animals Cactus Desert (One Small Square) Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus (Tree Tales) Cactus Hotel (An Owlet Book)Deserts   Cactus Soup A Desert Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk in the Sonoran Desert Cactus Cafe a Story of the Sonoran DesertThe Cactus Coloring Book (Colouring Books)

A Prayer Request

Jan 13, 2011 | | 11 Comments

My Father-in-law is having surgery today, due to prostate cancer.   Could you all please say a little prayer for him today?

It also happens to be my Mother-in-law’s birthday, so perhaps you could add a prayer for her as well.   Thank you!

O great St. Peregrine, you have been called “The Mighty,” “The Wonder-Worker,” because of the numerous miracles which you have obtained from God for those who have had recourse to you. For so many years you bore in your own flesh this cancerous disease that destroys the very fibre of our being, and who had recourse to the source of all grace when the power of man could do no more. You were favoured with the vision of Jesus coming down from His Cross to heal your affliction. Ask of God and Our Lady, the cure of the sick whom we entrust to you. Aided in this way by your powerful intercession, we shall sing to God, now and for all eternity, a song of gratitude for His great goodness and mercy. Amen.

Our Family

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.


Our Family

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.

My Other Blog: Catholic Cuisine

Please Visit My Sponsors…

This Week's Popular Posts

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As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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