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Tumacácori Mission

Dec 2, 2010 | , , | 7 Comments


While we were visiting my inlaws, we took our children on a number of day trips, or should I say “field trips,” to various places that Hubby remembers visiting as a child.  Our first stop was the Tumacácori Mission, Arizona’s first Spanish Mission.

Mission San José de Tumacácori was established in January of 1691 by Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino on 310 acres at the town of Tumacácori, Arizona.  Due to Apache raids and lack of funds, Tumacácori Mission was abandoned in the 1840s before the area became part of the United States.  However, it is maintained by the National Park Service and is open to the public.

A friend of mine had recently told me about the National Park Service’s Junior Ranger program and so I was very excited to see that it was offered at the mission!  Hubby and I visited Tumacácori when Captain was a baby, but it really was amazing how much the Junior Ranger Program enhanced our visit! We all learned SO much and noticed many little details that would have otherwise been easily overlooked.



After arriving at the mission, each of the children were given a Booklet filled with pictures of things they needed to find around the Mission and questions that they needed to answer.



“This church, though not the first on the mission grounds, was the most elaborate.  The Franciscans began the church in 1800, long after Father Kino’s death. Built by Indian and Spanish laborers, constructing the church was a long process due to lack of funds and Mexico’s war for independence. In 1828, Mexico decreed that all Spanish born residents had to leave the country and Tumacácori lost its last resident priest…


… At this time, the church was still not complete and the bell tower was never capped with its dome. As there were few Mexican-born priests left to care for all of the missions, Tumacácori became a visita – a mission without a resident priest.”



“Unlike most mission churches, Tumacácori Mission’s church was built in the shape of a long hall rather than the typical cross shape due to a lack of funds.”





The Cemetery

The Lime Kiln


Our children LOVED looking at the wax replicas of what the church would have looked like when it was first built. 

And Captain particularly loved this replica of an Apache attack that his Grandfather told him to make sure and check out! 


The children were all excited to be sworn in as Junior Rangers, earn their badges, and receive the certificates.   I was excited that my children had such a great learning experience while traveling!! 

St. Nicholas Chocolate Coins

Dec 1, 2010 | , , , , | 56 Comments

Every year on the feast of St. Nicholas, we give our children Gold Coins, Holy Cards, and a yearly “note from St. Nicholas” telling the children what they need to work on between now and Christmas.

For the past few years I have wanted to order the beautiful St. Nicholas embossed foil chocolates I have seen online, but just haven’t been able to spend the money (It all goes towards books, if you hadn’t noticed! lol!)  and have settled for repackaging the dollar bags of chocolates from the local grocery store.  (You can see an example in last years post for the Feast of St. Nicholas.) 

This year I decided to come up with my own affordable alternative.  I am so excited!!!

I cropped some of our favorite images of St. Nicholas to fit on the face of the large 1 1/2″ Chocolate Coins (The bags of coins are available for $1.00 per bag at many grocery stores, including the Dollar Store,  or you can purchase a 12 pack for $12.18 at Amazon right now. Update: I now buy them from Trader Joe’s in lovely gold bags. Many options are available online), created a word document with all the images adding an optional border to the images, cut them all out, and then glued them to the front of the coins.

Didn’t they turn out pretty?!?

I thought I would share my document with you all as an early Christmas Present in case any of you would like to do the same for your children.

St. Nicholas Chocolate Coins

St. Nicholas Chocolate Coins Printable

Making these really got my mind spinning with all the variations I could make so I called my husband and asked him to bring home a few more bags of coins!

So, as a bonus, here are a few other documents I created.  Yes, I stayed up WAY too late! 😉

Christmas Chocolate Coins

Christmas Coins Printable

O Antiphon Chocolate Coins

O Antiphon Coins Printable

Jesse Tree Chocolate Coins

Jesse Tree Coins Printable

I made our Jesse Tree Coins using the smaller 1″ coins.   These would be a great alternative for ornaments (to go along with the readings and coloring pages) for a Jesse Tree if you attached a small piece of ribbon to hang them with and then they could be enjoyed on Christmas!   I think I will add the set I made to this year’s Jesse Tea.

NOTE:  For 1″ Coins, just use the above documents printed at 70%!

I had so much fun making these and my husband loved how they turned out.  He suggested that Chocolate Coins with an image of the children’s patron saints would even make great gifts from the tooth fairy!

I hope some of you are able to use this idea!  As always you are more than welcome to link to this post, but I do ask that, if you do, you link directly here and not to the documents at Scribd.  That way, if the documents ever need to be moved, your links won’t be broken. (2016 Update: The documents did indeed need to be moved and are now available over at Dropbox. Please continue linking directly to this post.) Also, I always ask that my pictures are not reposted elsewhere without prior permission, but in this case, I will allow the one picture at the very top of the post to be shared if you wish.  Thank you for your consideration in this, I so appreciate all of my visitors here at Shower of Roses!

I hope your Advent is off to a very blessed start!

St. Nicholas Doll Giveaway!

Dec 1, 2010 | | 105 Comments

I have been given the opportunity to host another giveaway, in honor of the upcoming feast of St. Nicholas! This giveaway is for a beautiful hand painted St. Nicholas Doll from St. Luke’s Brush!

St. Nicholas is a 3.5 inch wooden peg doll hand painted with non-toxic acrylic paints and sealed to preserve this keepsake toy.

Head on over and check out the Etsy Shop, St. Luke’s Brush, and then come back and leave a comment here at Shower of Roses for your chance to win this little hand painted doll!  All these beautiful little saints would make wonderful stocking stuffers!!

Comments will be open until Midnight on Monday, December 6th, the feast of St. Nicholas. The winner will be chosen with a random number generator and announced on Tuesday, December 7th. Be sure to leave your email address, or have it linked in your profile, so that I am able to contact you.

“God of joy and cheer, we thank you for your servant, the good bishop Nicholas. In loving the poor, he showed us your kindness; in caring for your children, he revealed your love. Make us thoughtful without need of reward so that we, too, may be good followers of Jesus.”
~ From St. Nikola an der Donau, Austria

My Advent Daybook :: November 30, 2010

Nov 30, 2010 | , , , , | 8 Comments

Outside my window… it is so COLD!! Such a difference from the wonderfully warm weather we were just enjoying for the past two weeks in Arizona! I am freeezzzzinngggg!!!

I am listening to… “Let it snow” from one of my favorite Christmas cd’s!

I am thinking… that it is so nice to be able to use past crafts over and over each year.  I only had Friday and Saturday to prepare for Advent, and yet our plans/traditions have all fallen into place so nicely.  So, YES, it DOES get easier each year for those of you that were asking!

I am thankful for… the time we were able to spend with my Hubby’s parents.   It was so great for our children to have some time with them to get to know them better and we were all so sad to leave.  How I wish they lived closer!  We will be praying for my Father-in-law as he prepares to have his prostate removed in a couple weeks due to cancer.   Could you please add this intention to your prayers?

I am praying… for Liz and her dear family and in thanksgiving for the time they were given to spend with their precious little saint, Jedidiah Joseph.  The anniversaries of my own little ones births into heaven both fell on Thanksgiving this year, and it is amazing that no matter how many years go by, I still miss them dearly.   We weren’t able to visit the cemetery where they are buried since we were traveling, but we were able to stop by and say a few prayers for my Grandparents…  It was so sad to pass through their hometown for the first time without seeing either of them.

I am also praying for the souls of two my my Great-Aunts who died this month.  My Great Aunt Mary died on November 11th, and my Great Aunt Marlene died this week.   They both lived a long ways away, though I do have fond memories of them both from my childhood and they will be missed by so many!  


Saints of God, come to their aid! Hasten to meet them, angels of the Lord! Receive theirs soul and present them to God the Most High.

From the kitchen… TURKEY!!!!  Despite spending ALL day (and by all day I mean we got up at 4am and on the road by 5am and then didn’t stop until 9:30pm – crossing over time zones so it was actually 17 1/2 hours driving time) on Wednesday and then a good part of Thursday traveling, I was still able to pull off a (very simple!) Thanksgiving Dinner thanks to Wal Mart and that very last frozen Turkey Breast in their freezer… It was barely enough and we were all craving more, so I picked up a 23 lb turkey on Friday and baked it after Mass yesterday… Yum!!!! Now we can have leftovers, Turkey Sandwiches and Turkey Soup all week! 🙂

From the learning rooms… we usually take a winter break in December, but not this year.   With our summer remodel which caused us to start late this year and traveling for a couple weeks this month, we need to really work on developing a good schedule or we just might be schooling all next summer!  We did do a bit of schoolwork (math and english) on the road and we took our children on a number of great field trips, all of which were very educational… That counts, right?!?

Living the Liturgical Year at Home…  Our Advent wreath has been set up on our coffee table and Hubby blessed it Sunday night before we lit the first candle.  We have also hung the first couple ornaments on our Jesse Tree and colored coordinating coloring pages.

The baskets of books are a huge hit with my children and Snuggles unwrapped the first one Sunday night for Daddy to read before bedtime.  Our children are all taking turns, so Chiquita opened the second book last night.


I am creating… a grocery list for this year’s Jesse “Tea!”  We weren’t able to have it on the first Sunday of Advent, but this coming weekend should work out perfectly!

I am wearing… my wedding ring!   I had dropped it off for a repair at the beginning of November before I knew we were leaving town and it wasn’t ready to pick up until a couple days after we were gone.  It is so nice to finally have it back on my finger!  ♥

I am reading… Meet Josefina to my girls and they LOVE it! I just ordered the whole set of books for Chiquita to go along with her Christmas present and she is going to be SO excited!

On my iTouch… wi-fi now that we are home again.  Oh how I was wishing I had an iPhone while we were traveling!   I had very limited access to all things online other than the occasional special trips to Starbucks or McDonalds.  🙂

Pondering these words… from Seek That Which Is Above: Meditations Through the Year.

“Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope.… 


It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”


Our little Rose… did amazingly well on our road trip, thanks to lots of snacks, Almond Milk, and Signing Time on my iTouch!

Noticing that… I never did post this video I uploaded last month.

Towards personal care… I really need to figure out a way to fit exercise into my schedule.  My ankle is still healing which makes walking difficult.  Plus, all the fast and convenient food (Fat Food as my mil calls it!) during our trip did not help my waistline at all.   I always seem to have a hard time losing the extra “baby weight” until after my cycles return and the baby is finished nursing – neither of which has happened yet.    Though I am not in a hurry for either of those, I would like to start getting back into shape…  I am sure I would feel better and have more energy!

Around the house… Advent decorations!   Today I am hoping to pull out our children’s nativity sets… Now where did we put that box?

On keeping home… I miss our brick fireplace and mantel!  I can’t find anywhere to put “PREPARE” like we did last year.  Thankfully the cabinet maker called while we are gone.  He has the new mantel finished and will be coming out to install it on Wednesday.   It may be awhile before we can have the stonework done, but it’s a start!!

One of my favorite things.. seeing how much our little Rose loves her Da-Da!

A few plans for the rest of the week:

  • Begin praying the St. Andrew Novena today
  • Fireplace Mantle installed on Thursday 
  • First Friday Mass
  • Doctor’s Appointment for Rose Friday afternoon
  • Girls Night out with Aunt Bridget, Twinkle Toes and Chiquita

A Picture thought I am sharing:

While downloading photos from the camera I ran across these two pictures that Hubby took a few weeks ago when he and our three oldest took Father L.  hiking to the top of a nearby plateau.  🙂   It was Twinkle Toes first hike with Daddy and her older brothers, and she did wonderfully! 


11 1/2 Months

Nov 30, 2010 | | 9 Comments

Our little Rose has been walking for awhile, but she just recently decided that she now prefers walking over crawling and is getting around quite well.  I still can’t believe that she will be turning one in just a couple weeks…

Apparently she prefers the basket to all those carefully selected books! 😉

Jesse Tree Readings & Coloring Pages for 2010

Nov 29, 2010 | | 17 Comments

Update: You can see close-up pictures of our tree and ornaments here.

Back in 2007 I started printing coloring pages for each day of Advent to coordinate with our Jesse Tree.  Since every year the number of days in Advent is different, it is necessary to adjust the reading list slightly each year.

This year I decided to rearrange our Jesse Tree ornaments to coordinate with the New Catholic Picture Bible – the one we use each year for our Jesus Tree.

I have also updated the links to the coloring pages we will be using this year.  (I noticed that many of my old links no longer are working, that’s the problem with linking to artwork that is not my own…Links are often moved or deleted!)   My older children have opted to color selections from their copies of Stories from the Old Testament (Marty) and  Great Adventure Kids Bible Story Coloring Book (Great Adventures: Kids), as well as working on adding corresponding entries to their History Timelines!

For those of you that have been asking, I made the ornaments for our Jesse Tree by looking at the coloring pictures found in Advent and Christmas for the Christian Family which is part of the Celebrating the Faith in the Home Series from Emmanuel Books.   As for the tree/banner.  I just cut it out free hand, hot glued it the a blue felt background and then a couple weeks later attached jingle bells with safety pins to hang the ornaments from since my children kept knocking them off!  😉   SUPER EASY!!  Plus the jingle bells look and sound so cheery and Christmasy! 

Anyhow, here is our list for this year:

November 28 ~ Creation
Symbol:  Earth
Readings: Gen .1:1-31; 2:1-4
NCPB: The Story of Creation, Pages 8-9
Coloring: Creator of Heaven and Earth

November 29 ~ Adam & Eve
Symbol:  Man & Woman / Apple
Readings: Gen. 2:7-9, 18-24
NCPB: Adam & Eve in Paradise, Pages 10-11 (first half)
Coloring: Adam and Eve or Creation

November 30 ~ Fall of Man 
Symbol: Serpent
Readings: Gen. 3:1-7 and 23-24

NCPB: Adam & Eve in Paradise, Pages 10-11 (second half; optional pages 12-13)
Coloring: Expelled from Paradise (favorite) Adam & Eve Expelled from the Garden (younger children)

December 1 ~ Noah’s Ark
Symbol: Ark
Readings: Gen. 6:5-8, 13-22; 7:17, 23, 24; 8:1, 6-22

NCPB: Noah’s Ark, Pages 14-15
Coloring: Noah’s Ark (My children love this collage)

This is another great option: Noah’s Ark Coloring Page Two-by-two

December 2 ~ Abraham
Symbol: Stars
Readings: Gen. 12:1-3

NCPB: The Promise to Abram; Abraham’s Sacrifice, Pages 16-17

Coloring: Abraham

December 3 ~ Isaac

Symbol:  Bundle of wood
Readings: Gen. 22:1-14 
NCPB: Abraham’s Sacrifice, Pages 18-19

December 4 ~ Jacob’s Ladder
Symbol:  Ladder
Readings: Gen. 25:1-34; 28:10-15

NCPB: Jacob and Esau, Pages 20-21

December 5 ~ Joseph
Symbol: Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors
Readings: Gen. 37:23-28; 45:3-15

NCPB: Joseph and his Brothers, Joseph in Potiphar’s House & Joseph’s Greatness, Pages 22-27
Coloring:  Joseph and  Joseph Storing Food

December 6 ~ Moses

Symbol: Ten Commandments/Stone Tablets

Moses: Ex. 2:1-10

NCPB: The Ten Commandments and Miracles in the Dessert, Pages 39-41
Optional:  Moses, Prince and Leader, The Burning Bush, The Plagues of Egypt, The Crossing of the Red Sea and Manna in the Desert, Pages 28-37

Coloring: Moses and the Ten Commandments
Here is also a Moses Maze and our simple Ten Commandments Lapbook!

December 7 ~ Joshua

Symbol: Sword & Trumpet
Readings: Joshua 6:2-5; Jos. 1,3,6-11

NCPB: Rahab and the Two Spies; The Taking of Jericho; and Joshua Conquers the Land of Canaan, Pages 42-47


December 8 ~ Ruth

Symbol: Sheaths of Grain
Readings: Ruth 2:15-17
NCPB: The Devotion of Ruth, Pages 48-49

Coloring: Ruth gathering wheat or this version which we will use this year

December 9 ~ Samuel

Symbol: Oil Lamp
Readings: Sam. 3:1-18

NCPB: The Child Samuel; King Saul; Saul Disobeys God, Pages 52-57

December 10 ~ Jesse

Symbol: Shepherd’s staff
Readings: 1 Sam. 16:1-13

NCPB: David and Saul, Pages 58-59

For Jesse we will color this Shepherd with Staff

December 11 ~ David

Symbol: Harp
Readings: 1 Sam. 17:12-51

NCPB: David and Goliath; David Loves Saul; Saul’s Death; The City of David , Pages 60-67
Coloring Pages:David & the King and David and Goliath
Dot-to-Dot:  David and Goliath


December 12 ~ Solomon

Symbol: Scales of Justice
Readings: 1 Kings 3:5-14, 16-28
NCPB: King Solomon; The Temple of Solomon, Pages 70-73
Coloring Page: King Solomon


December 13 ~ Elijah

Symbol: Raven
Readings: 2 Kings 17:2-4, 6; 2 Kings 17-18:21-39

NCPB: The Prophet Elijah; The Prophet Elisha, Pages 76-79
Coloring: Elijah Praying


December 14 ~ Jonah

Symbol: Whale

Readings: Jonah 2:1-2, 11

NCPB: The Prophet Jonah, Pages 80-81

December 15 ~ Isaiah and Jeremiah
Symbol: Stone
Isaiah: Isaiah 7:14 or Ecclesiastes 48:25
Jeremiah: Jeremiah 30:21-22
NCPB: Isaiah and Jeremiah, Pages 82-83
Coloring: Bible and Scroll

December 16 ~ Raphael
Symbol: Fish
Readings: Tobit 11:7-8
NCPB: Tobiah and the Angel, Pages 84-85

Coloring: St. Raphael Coloring Page illustrated by Charlotte

December 17 ~ Judith
Symbol: Sword
Readings: Judith 13:7-10
NCPB: The Bravery of Judith, Pages 86-87
Coloring: Hummmm… I think I am going to look for a picture of just a sword for my little ones to color since the only other one I can find is a little too much for my kiddos!

December 18 ~ Daniel
Symbol: Lion
Readings: Daniel 6:1-29
NCPB: Daniel in the Lions’ Den, Pages 90-91



Coloring:Daniel in the Lions Den 
A simpler version can be found here.

December 19 ~ Angel Gabriel
Symbol: Angel with lily
Readings: Luke 1:26-38
NCPB: The Annunciation, Pages 94-95
Coloring:  St. Gabriel by Charlotte; and The Annunciation; or this beautiful Conceived by the Holy Spirit




December 20 ~ Zachary and Elizabeth
Symbol: Angel
Reading: Luke 1:11-13
NCPB: The Visitation, Pages 96-97
Coloring: The Visitation (my favorite) or this version is another option



December 21 ~ St. John the Baptist

Symbol: Shell with water
John the Baptist: Mark 1:1-8

NCPB: The Visitation, Pages 96-97 (Optional: The Baptism of Jesus, pages 112-113)
Coloring Activities: The Baptism of Our Lord


December 22 ~ Joseph
Symbol: Carpenter’s Saw
Joseph: Matt. 1:18-25
NCPB: The Birth of Jesus, Pages 98-99
Coloring: Here is one of St. Joseph; St. Joseph the Worker (by Charlotte)

December 23 ~ Mary
Symbol: Lily
Reading: Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38
NCPB: The Birth of Jesus, Pages 98-99

Coloring Page:  Born of the Virgin Mary;  Mary, Mother of God (by Charlotte)
As an option, here is a coloring page with a lily

December 24 ~ Birth of Jesus
Symbol: Infant Messiah
Reading: John 1:1-14
NCPB: The Birth of Jesus, Pages 98-99
Coloring: I just LOVE this coloring page for The Birth of our Lord!




And here is one more coloring page link for the Feast of Epiphany.  I am hoping that I will have a chance to make additional ornaments this year for the Twelve Days of Christmas!


Additional Ornaments from our collection – I may squeeze these in here and there if I have the opportunity:

Melchisidek
Symbol: Bread and Wine
Readings: Gen. 14:17-20; Ps. 110:4; Heb.20 
Coloring: High Priest for Melchisidek

Hezekiah
Symbol: Teardrops
Readings: 2 Kings 20:1-6; 2 Kings 18-20 

Nehemiah
Symbol: Walls of Jerusalem
Readings: Neh. 2:17; Neh. 1-7 
Coloring Activities: Here is a fun maze for the wall of Nehemiah.

Esther
Symbol: Queens Crown
Readings: Esther 2:17 
Coloring Activities: Esther or this one of Esther meeting the King

We will also add the following O Antiphon Ornaments (Dec 17-23):

O Wisdom (Jesus is Wisdom): Sirach 24:2; Symbol: Open book
O Lord (Jesus is Lord): Ex. 3:2; 20:1 Symbol: Burning bush
O Flower (Jesus is Flower of Jesse): Isaiah 11:1-3 Symbol: Flower
O Key (Jesus is Key of David): Isaiah 22:22 Symbol: Key
O Radiant Dawn (Jesus is the Radiant Dawn): Isaiah 41:25-26 Symbol: Sun rising
O King (Jesus is King of the Gentiles): Psalm 2:7-8; Ephesians 2:14-20 Symbol: Crown
O Emmanuel (Jesus is Emmanuel): Isaiah 7:14; 33:22 Symbol: Holy Eucharist

This Year’s Advent and Christmas Book Baskets

Nov 29, 2010 | , , , | 18 Comments

The problem with giving our children new Christmas picture books on the feast of St. Nicholas each year (in addition to the other books we’ve purchased or have been given) is that, after 11 years of marriage and 6 children, we have a ridiculous number wonderful collection of Christmas Picture Books!  😉

Inspired by Charlotte, I’m wrapping up some of our christmas picture books this year:  One for each day of Advent and Christmas!   I’ve had the paper since last year (being full term with Rose I just didn’t have the energy to use it) and am so glad I finally have a chance to try out this idea with our children this year!

I have quite a few of our Christmas books in my sidebar right now, but here is a peek at all of our books this year:
~ First Week of Advent :: November 28 – December 4 ~ 


Our additional “Preparation” themed books for the 1st Week of Advent:

A few favorites from the library:
~ Second Week of Advent :: December 5-11 ~ 
Theme:  St. Nicholas & Giving
A Gift from St. Nicholas

 The Miracle of Saint Nicholas

The Christmas Candle

 Good King Wenceslaus

 Pablo’s Christmas

 The Three Gifts of Christmas

The Clown of God (Replaced with The Little Juggler)
(Pablo’s Christmas is new to us and just arrived in our mailbox last week!  Thank you Dessi!!   I thought that the feast of St. Juan Diego would be a fun day to read it!) 

Our additional Feast Day books for the 2nd week of Advent:



Our additional “Giving” themed books for the 2nd Week of Advent:

~ Third Week of Advent :: December 12-18 ~ 
Theme:  Our Lady of Guadalupe, Santa Lucia, Los Posadas and Family
These are wrapped in purple paper with pink dots.

Our additional “Family” themed books for the 3rd Week of Advent:

A few favorites from the library:

~ Fourth Week of Advent :: December 19-24 ~ 
Theme : The Nativity and Angels
The Legend of the Poinsettia (Replaced with Miracle of the Poinsettia)

Christmas Bird

Mortimer’s Christmas Manger

Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers

The Donkey’s Dream

There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve


 Our additional “Nativity, Angel and Christmas Eve” themed books for the 4th week of Advent:

~ Christmas Day and the Twelve Days of Christmas ~
December 25 – January 6
These are wrapped in gold paper and will be placed in the empty basket on Christmas morning!
Our additional books for the Christmas Season:

Home again…

Nov 27, 2010 | , | 7 Comments

… after two weeks and 3,431 miles!!!

We are so thankful that we were able to make a last minute road trip to visit my Hubby’s parents in Arizona and (finally!) introduce them to our little Rose!  It had been 2 1/2 years (way too long!) since we saw them last.

We had a great time and I have all sorts of pictures to share, but first I need to put the groceries away, unpack, start the laundry, and get ready for the First Sunday of Advent!

I hope you all had a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Links for Advent Planning from the Archives

Nov 15, 2010 | | 12 Comments

~ Getting Ready for Advent ~ 

Decorations:

One of my favorite additions to our Christmas decorations in 2009 was the new manger and Baby Jesus for under our Christmas tree.   All during Advent our children filled the manger with “hay” to make a soft bed for Baby Jesus, who arrived on Christmas Day!
Craft Projects and Activities:

~ Advent and Christmas Picture Books ~

~ The Jesse Tree ~

(This link will that you to the post for 2010. You can find my old posts from 2007 and 2008 in the archives.)


Other Jesse Tree Books, Resources and Printables:

Paper Dali’s Paper Jesse Tree Ornaments to Color
You can download and print either small or large colored ornaments here.
King of Peace and Domestic Church also offer free Downloads!

Scripture Tree’s Jesse Tree Banner Kit from Leaflet Missal
(you can also see close ups of the felt ornaments at Serendipity!) 

In the past we have used our family bible for the daily readings…  
Here are additional options:
~ A Jesse “Tea” for Advent ~ 

~ Special Feast Days ~

On the Calendar (various December Feasts)
December 3rd :: Feast of St. Francis Xavier

December 6th :: The Feast of St. Nicholas

December 7th :: Feast of St. Ambrose 
Every year we create our Christmas “Christ Candle” on the feast of St. Ambrose.   Since 2009 we have used gold decorating wax and a tiny baby Jesus made from wax (from Blumchen) to decorate our Christmas Candle.

December 12th :: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

December 12th :: Christmas Rose Novena Begins

(St Therese Novena which begins 12 Days before Christmas)
December 13th :: Feast of St. Lucy
~ The “O” Antiphons ~ 
December 17th to 23rd 

Other Great Ideas and Resources:

(We colored these last year, but the link is currently broken..)
~ Christmas Baking and Gifts~

(Includes: Jesse Tree Coins, O Antiphon Coins, and Christmas Coins)

Shhh! Don’t tell them… (2009 Christmas Gifts)

~ Christmas Posts ~


~ The Twelve Days of Christmas ~

~ December 26 :: Feast of St. Stephen ~
~ December 27 :: Feast of St. John ~

~ December 29 :: Feast of St. Thomas Becket ~

~ Celebrating Epiphany ~


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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Shower of Roses Alphabet of Saints

A Papal Unit Study & Lap Book

Shower of Roses Easter Gift Guides



All Saints Party Printables

All original photographs and written material are ©2007-2025 Shower of Roses. I'd love for you to link back to me, but please do not copy or take content from this blog without permission. Click here for my Copyright Terms & Conditions. Thank you for visiting!

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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

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Posts About:

Shower of Roses Alphabet of Saints

A Papal Unit Study & Lap Book

Shower of Roses Easter Gift Guides



All Saints Party Printables

All original photographs and written material are ©2007-2025 Shower of Roses. I'd love for you to link back to me, but please do not copy or take content from this blog without permission. Click here for my Copyright Terms & Conditions. Thank you for visiting!