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by Jessica | Dec 29, 2022

Stargazing and Spanish Cocoa on Columbus Day…

Oct 13, 2010 | Columbus Day | 2 Comments

… since, according to our children, it is our family tradition!

Apparently the story of Columbus is so much funnier when Daddy ends it with the following: (Indians to the Queen & King) “We bring you Tacos, Chalupas, Chimichangas, and Guacamole!” (Queen) “What are Chimichangas?” (King) “I don’t know. Just smile and they will go away!”

Hope you all had a wonderful Columbus Day!

Fall Baking :: Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies

Oct 12, 2010 | Recipes, Thanksgiving | 9 Comments

Sunday night Twinkle Toes and I decided to bake some pumpkin cookies for Columbus Day. We used a recipe that I had run across last year, over at Wee Folk Art, and the cookies turned out delicious (how could they not with a big scoop of cream cheese frosting on the top!) and everyone (especially Snuggles!) just loved the “pumpkins” on top! Don’t you just love the fall?!

Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies

~ Ingredients ~

Cookie:
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cup oatmeal
2 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon
optional 1/2 – 1 cup butterscotch chips (if you add chips omit the 1/2 cups white sugar)

Frosting:
1 – 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
optional – if you want to make pumpkins, enough orange food coloring to make a deep orange
optional – butterscotch chips for stems

~ Directions ~

Mix pumpkin, sugars, vanilla and applesauce. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to applesauce mixture. If adding butterscotch chips, mix them in now.

Drop tablespoon of dough on cookie sheet, leaving 2″ between cookies. Depress your thumb into the middle of the cookie. If you thumb is sticking to the cookie dough, dip it in flour first.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minute (until brown). Allow the cookies to cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, cream all ingredients, except butterscotch chips. For regular cookies, spoon frosting into your thumb’s indentation. If making the pumpkins, use a cookie scoop, and mound the frosting on each cookie. Top with a butterscotch chip for a stem.

Recipe makes 5 dozen cookies. If you are making pumpkins on top of the cookies, you will only have enough frosting for 3 1/2 dozen cookies. (We used the cookie scoop for 1/2, and then made much smaller pumpins on the other half with my cupcake decorator. We were able to decorate all the cookies this way, with a little frosting to spare.)

Note: Since there is cream cheese in the frosting, refrigerate until time to serve.

Our New Kitchen

Oct 10, 2010 | Home Improvement, Home Sweet Home | 31 Comments

I’ve been dying to post a few more pictures of our new kitchen, ever since the cabinet maker installed the cabinet doors on Sep 24th! You’ve seen little glimpses here and there, but I was waiting for a few last things to be finished before posting. We’re still waiting for the lights over the island, the shelves on the end of the island, and Hubby and I have yet to pick out cabinet hardware, but I’m going to post pictures anyways… 🙂

I took these pictures on September 25th, just before the baby shower, and I have been enjoying the kitchen each and every day since! I had been so worried that I was going to mess it all up with our choices on cabinet colors and design, appliances, flooring, countertops, light fixtures (the list goes on and on), but it all came together so beautifully in the end!

For comparison, I took the following pictures in pretty much the same spots, both before and after the remodel/addition:

The kitchen grew both in length and in width… The corner of the old kitchen had been just to the right of the far right corner of the new island!

I still can’t believe we now have such a wonderful kitchen! It is amazing how much easier it is to keep the kitchen clean with all the extra space, a separate dining area, not to mention the help of a DISHWASHER!!! It is all SUCH a blessing, and well worth the 10+ years we have been waiting to remodel the kitchen!

Deo Gratias!

Sugar High

Oct 10, 2010 | Home Videos | 8 Comments

Now that we have a nice new kitchen…

Oct 9, 2010 | Kid Talk | 14 Comments

Mom (while making a meal plan in MacGourmet and sipping on a cup of coffee): “Captain, can you go ask Daddy if he has any meal requests for next week?”

Captain to Dad: “Daddy, Mom wants to know if you have any mail requests.”

Dad: “Ummm. No, I don’t have any mail requests.”

Captain to Mom: “He said he doesn’t have any mail.”

Mom: “No, does he have any MEAL requests?”

Captain to Dad: “Mom, meant MEAL requests. It’s hard to understand her when she’s drinking…”

A Baby Shower of Roses

Oct 9, 2010 | Baby Showers | 10 Comments

Last fall I was given a beautiful Shower of Roses for Our Baby as we were preparing for the arrival of our little “Rose.” Recently a good friend of mine delivered another precious baby girl, and since one of her patron saints is St. Therese I thought a little rose themed baby shower would be be just the thing to celebrate her arrival!

It was rather a last minute thing, since I had been without a kitchen and on crutches, and so I only had a couple ~~weeks~~ hours to plan, not to mention PRAY that our kitchen would be at least close to being finished (the cabinet doors were installed the day before the shower!), so I told her it would probably be more like a “sprinkle” instead of a “shower.” Even though it was rather thrown together, it turned out to be a lovely afternoon.

~ Invitations ~

I didn’t have time to mail out invitations, so email it was…

Thank goodness for the stationery feature on my iMac!

~ Guests of Honor ~

Amy with her little Sweet Pea

I had wanted to make a Baby Sock Corsage for Amy, but having run out of time, ended up just pinning a single “rose” made from a pretty pink ruffly sock.

~ Decorations ~

Fresh cut roses, of course!

Isn’t that a cute little rose tea-pot? I found it at Pier 1.

Speaking of Pier 1, I also have a total love of rose shaped candles right now (ever since I received a box of beautiful rose candles from PJ. THANK YOU PJ!!) and just cleaned our Pier 1 store out of these Pink Rose Tealights! LOVE them!

I loved Lacy’s idea of tying roses to the bottom of balloons for a “Shower of Roses” and knew that I just had to get some balloons! Thank you to my Hubby for running to the store while I finished getting ready! 🙂

Marci brought candles and little ceramic roses to decorate the table.

I also set out one of my little St. Therese statues with the pretty little rose tea-pot that Amy gave me last year.

~ Games ~

I wasn’t planning on doing any games, but at 1 am the night before I decided that we *had* to at least have a couple games…

I am sure everyone else agreed when they realized that they all got to have some baby food as an appetizer! 😉

Uuummmmm, YUM! 😉

We also played “Name the Baby!”

Next time I will be sure to not wait until the ~~night before~~ early morning of the shower to print the games… Apparently my computer switched around the numbering and I was too tired to notice! Oops!

Rose Candle Holders with Tea Lights were the prizes.

~ Refreshments ~

Hubby ordered the cake for me from Costco. (I “erased” the writing on it for this blog post.) I had him ask them to use their special autumn frosting colors of burgundy and sage green, along with baby pink. Didn’t it turn out so pretty!

“Perfectly Pink Party Punch”

1 liter Ginger Ale

1 liter Raspberry Soda

4-6 scoops of Berry Sherbet

and 1/2-1 cup Frozen Raspberries

Coffee, Cocoa and Tea…

… served with cream and sugar…

… and chocolate roses!

~ Gifts ~

Amy received all sorts of gifts for her and the baby – darling new outfits, a nursing cover, a beautiful baby book, and a big group gift of a new pack-n-play!

~ Favors ~

“Shower of Roses” Chocolates and Novena Rose Prayer Cards!

~ A Few More Pictures ~

My Helpers

Rose and her little cousin, who isn’t quite SO little anymore!

Welcome Sweet Pea!

A few more pictures…

Oct 8, 2010 | St. Therese | 7 Comments

… from the Feast of St. Therese!

~ Morning Snack ~

Every year we make Easy Mini Éclairs,
since Éclairs were a favorite treat of St. Therese.

~ Blessings ~

Father praying with the Altar Boys after Mass

Mass was absolutely HEAVENLY!! We have been so very blessed to have a wonderful new associate pastor in our area. He asked my boys, and one of their friends, to serve Mass. It brought tears to my eyes as they processed in while Father sang beautiful song to St. Therese which I had never heard before (I must remember to ask him for the lyrics, since I’ve been unable to find them online… We had him over for dinner that night, and he said he learned it at a Marionite parish that has a strong devotion to St. Therese), and incenseed the Altar. It was one of those moments that I hope to remember forever! He also has such a gift for giving sermons, and it was just the motivation and inspiration I had been needing so badly.

After Mass and over Homeschool Party, we had Father over for dinner. Not only did he bless our home (starting with our new addition, and re-blessing the rest!), he also gave Hubby and I a beautiful Anniversary Blessing on the “Eve of our 11th Wedding Anniversary,” and then blessed my new rosary (which I had just received from a sweet friend just in time for the Month of the Most Holy Rosary!), then prayed the rosary with our family, and visited for hours. We are hoping to make it a “First Friday Tradition!” Now I just need to start working on some meatless meals that are company worthy! I am quite out of practice in the kitchen. . . 😉

~ Fiori Rosé ~

When Charlotte told me about her Penne Rosé, I knew I would have to try and make it for with dinner. I didn’t get as far as trying the actual recipe, and ended up just mixing two jars of sauce – one alfredo and one marinara.

I also served it over “Fiori” pasta noodles. They nearly jumped off the shelf at me when I was looking for the sauces! How perfect are they for the feast of St. Therese?! My children loved it!

~ Celebrating a Nameday ~

Our own little “Rose” also celebrated her very first nameday. I thought she looked so cute in her little hand-me-down rose dress from her big sister and St. Therese Hair Bow which had been a baby gift from Cecilia at Hair Bows for Life!

St. Therese, flower of Carmel, Pray for us!

On the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Oct 7, 2010 | Marian, Our Lady of the Rosary | 7 Comments

Our Lady Of The Holy Rosary Novena Prayer

My dearest Mother Mary, behold me, your child, in prayer at your feet. Accept this Holy Rosary, which I offer you in accordance with your requests at Fatima, as a proof of my tender love for you, for the intentions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in atonement for the offenses committed against your Immaculate Heart, and for this special favor which I earnestly request in my Rosary Novena: (Mention your request).

I beg you to present my petition to your Divine Son. If you will pray for me, I cannot be refused. I know, dearest Mother, that you want me to seek God’s holy Will concerning my request. If what I ask for should not be granted, pray that I may receive that which will be of greater benefit to my soul.

I offer you this spiritual “Bouquet of Roses” because I love you. I put all my confidence in you, since your prayers before God are most powerful. For the greater glory of God and for the sake of Jesus, your loving Son, hear and grant my prayer. Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.

*This novena is to be said along with a daily rosary.

Roses for Our Lady

“Listen, my faithful children; open up your petals, like roses planted near running waters; send up the sweet odor of incense, break forth in blossoms like the lily. Send up the sweet odor of your hymn of praise; bless the Lord for all he has done.” (Sir 39:13-14)

Wordless Wednesday

Oct 6, 2010 | Baby "Rose", Wordless Wednesday | 15 Comments

Celebrating the Saints on First Fridays

Oct 5, 2010 | First Friday Feasts, St. Therese | 15 Comments

This year we have decided to get together on the First Friday of each month, with our Homeschool Group, for Mass followed by a potluck and a variety of crafts in honor of some of our favorite saint feast days for each month.

Our first get together for the year was this past Friday, the feast of St. Therese, and we had such a great time! To be quite honest, with the Baby Shower the weekend before, contractors still coming and going, feeling a bit overwhelmed with homeschooling this year, not to mention a conflict in plans (We had Father coming over for dinner and to bless our home at 4:30 pm and the Homeschool Event was scheduled from 12-4, 30 minutes from our home!), I wasn’t as prepared as I would have liked to have been, but it all came together in the end and it was such a lovely day!

Here are some pictures from our afternoon:

~ Cupcake Rosary ~

Since October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, we brought our annual “Cupcake Rosary” to share!

Being the feast of St. Therese, I topped each of the “Hail Mary” ~~cupcakes~~ Beads with a Chocolate Rose.

~ Our Lady of the Rosary ~

One of the creative mothers in our Homeschool Group set up a table for the children to create their own Rosary Boxes!

~ St. Therese, The Little Flower ~

Now, being the feast of St. Therese, I HAD to make sure we’d have a craft in her honor! I had one late night and early morning to prepare – most of which was spent baking 59 cupcakes and a Rose Cake (for our dinner with Father, and which I FORGOT to photograph this year!) – but after borrowing a few supplies in addition to a discount on medals from the local Catholic Bookstore on the way to Mass, the children were able to make Sacrifice Beads!

I also had a couple beautiful coloring pages and a paper doll for the children to color as well.

~ The Holy Guardian Angels ~

There was a great display and craft in honor of St. Michael and the Holy Guardian Angels: Foot and Hand Print Angels!

Watching My Secret Friend: A Guardian Angel Story – DVD

~ St. Francis of Assisi ~

At one table the children could all make Pipe Cleaner Creatures. My children LOVED this craft and we will have to make some more here at home sometime soon!

At another table the children could make Pine Cone Bird Feeders.

There were a couple other tables set up with lots of worksheets, activity pages, and coloring pages.

(Most of which were linked to in this post.)

~ A Few More Pictures ~

My children are all ready looking forward to next month!

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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.