Our Fifth Good Shepherd’s Garden Party : The Gardener Plants Paradise
, for the past few years now. (You can find links to all of my old Garden of the Good Shepherd posts here.) 
A Gift for Mother’s Day
yet, but my sister-in-law (Hubby’s only sister Melissa) received a signed copy from her husband, my brother-in-law Tom, for Mother’s Day! Highlights from “T” Week
, Wooden Pieces and on paper. 
while listening to A Flower Fairy Alphabet
on CD.
As soon as we got home our Tree Toys were all taken out and I got quickly got online to order some picture books on the Topic! 😉
and the Tallest Tree Stacking Blocks.
I also have my eyes on some Tree Blocks (like these)
A Tree Is a Plant (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science)
A Log’s Life
Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest
Sky Tree: Seeing Science Through Art
A Tree Is Nice
The Giving Tree
The Apple Pie Tree
Fun With Nature (Take-Along Guide)
For lunch one day, while I was preparing some Toasties, the children made Veggie Pine Trees and Fruit and Cookie Palm Trees! They were both very easy, fairly healthy, and so much fun!!
and nesting blocks
.
.
The girls had fun dressing up in their St. Therese Costumes, playing with Rose’s St. Therese Dolls, and loved watching The Miracle of St. Therese
.
We also read about St. Therese in our Catholic Children’s Treasure Box books.
You think you might be able to find lots of other ideas for St. Therese in my archives! 😉
We also watched St. Teresa of the Andes
and a Garden Party based on the theme The Wind and Sea’s Obey Him.
and A Time to Keep: The Tasha Tudor Book of Holidays
.
A Flower Fairy Birthday Party
It’s hard to believe that Chiquita’s birthday was well over 2 weeks ago and that I still haven’t posted any pictures, other than of her cake!?! What has happened to me? 😉 I just can not keep up with blogging anymore!
Chiquita had wanted a Flower Fairy Birthday Party ever since seeing the pictures from another little girl’s birthday. Even though it was just our family (my mom did stop by for a few minutes) she had a wonderful birthday, complete with some darling Flower Fairy Crowns sent as a gift from Twinkle Toes’ new pen-pal who recently had a Flower Fairy Birthday Party too!!
and “Magic 
. 
The children all had so much fun decorating their muffins as Fairy Garden Cottages!
Thank you, Charlotte, for the tip on cutting notches into the paper plates to make rolling the wands in the sprinkles a little bit easier!
…
…
She wasn’t quite sure what to think of that bag of “cloth,” but as soon as I showed her a few of the possibilities we had a whole bunch of very excited children. Even the boys joined the fun!
Fairy House Cake Tutorial
I’ve had a couple emails asking for directions on how to make the Fairy House Birthday Cake I made for Chiquita’s birthday, so here is a quick tutorial. It really was quite easy to make and this is coming from someone who had to be convinced to even try decorating a cake just two years ago! Of all the cakes I’ve made, this one and Captain’s Tank Cake are my favorites. I’m so glad that my sweet friend convinced me to give it a shot and create such wonderful memories for my children.
Ingredients:
- 4 – 8″ Round Cakes (I used two boxes of cake mix – 1 Milk Chocolate and 1 Triple Chocolate)
- Milk Chocolate Frosting
- White Frosting mixed with a little Creamy Peanut Butter to make a light brown Frosting
- Coconut mixed with some Green Food Coloring for Grass
- Fondant (I used blue, yellow, and green from this Wilton Multi Pack)
- Food Decorating Gel (to paint accents on the door, windows, shutters, and leaves)
- Sugar Flowers
- Trim the cakes so that they are nice and level. I’m sure there are better ways to do so, but I just used my long serrated knife. I did it quickly and if you look closely my cake is slightly slanted! 😉
- Stack the cakes frosting between each layer. (I flipped them over so I was frosting the bottoms of each cake instead of the trimmed top, making it easier to frost .)
- Frost the outside of the cake and a ring around the outside of the top with chocolate frosting. (Use a knife, or in my case clean finger) to add texture to the “bark.”
- Frost the top of the cake, inside the dark brown ring, with a light brown frosting.
- If you’d like to add growth rings like I did, just use a fork to create multiple rings at once, starting at the outside of the circle and working your way towards the inside with just a dot in the very center. (My husband is a Forester, so this was very important! My children all counted the rings to see how “old” this tree was before it was cut down!)
- Sprinkle coconut grass around the base of the house, covering your serving platter. (I covered my tray with foil first and then a trail making a pretty shining pathway leading up to the front door. Simple and cute!)
- Decorate the Fairy House with a door, two windows, and shutters cut out from Fondant. Using a small paint brush and food gel, add accents. Cut leaves out of Green Fondant and place around the house for decoration. You can also add decorative sugar flowers as well.
- I added a couple Cecily Mary Barker Flower Fairy Ornaments (purchased from The Turtle Trail) to the top of our cake. They are even cuter in person! They come with floral picks which make them quite easy to place securely on the cake.
Craft Basket Wednesday :: More Painted Saints
I’m so excited to actually be able to participate in my friend Amy’s Craft Basket Wednesday this week!
This past week was “T” week for us Along the Alphabet Path, and even though I have already painted (quite a few!) St. Therese Dolls, I just had to paint another. 🙂
For the very first St. Therese I ever painted, I used a 2 3/8″ Little Person. I have also made some with the tiny 2″ Girl dolls as well. This time I decided to try painting one of the 3 1/2″ Dolls for the first time. It was just as easy (if not easier!) and will be less of a choking hazard for my littlest one. I took a picture with all three so you can see the size differences. All of these dolls can be purchased very inexpensively from Woodworks.
on DVD, and despite that it is in Spanish with subtitles, it is one of my girls new favorite movies. 
My New Little Niece
Last Wednesday my brother and his wife were able to bring their sweet little baby home from the hospital at just 4 pounds! So we could have “an excuse” to stop by and see them, the kids and I made up a dinner to deliver and then headed to town.
Comparing Baby Pictures #2
Good Shepherd’s Garden Party :: Plans for Week Six
“Oh! What a Beautiful City!”
This Week’s Good Shepherd’s Garden Party Menu
Shirley Temples
Bride Strawberries
Groom Strawberries
Crown Cake
Decorating Ideas
Play the “Hallelujah Chorus” by Handel
Have children decorate “Thrones” for the “Bride and Groom” (Mom & Dad)
Recipes and Suggestions
36. The City Gates
Let the children build their own city gates!
37. The Temple
Ingredients:
Lemon-Lime Soda
Grenadine
Maraschino Cherries
Ice Cubes
Directions:
Pour lemon-lime soda into a glass containing ice cubes.
Add a dash of grenadine to it and stir.
Garnish with the maraschino cherry
38. Hallelujah!
Play the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s “Messiah
39. The Thrones
Have the Children decorate “Thrones” at each end of the table for the “Bride” and the “Groom” (aka: Mom and Dad)!
40. The Bride
Decorated Stawberries make really cute “Brides and Grooms.”
41. The Groom
Ingredients:
24-30 strawberries, fresh
6 ounces of white chocolate
8 ounces of dark chocolate
Directions:
Wash and dry the strawberries, making sure the berries are fully dry as water will cause chocolate to seize up. Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. Follow the melting directions on the package. Dip the strawberry in the white chocolate, holding onto the stem or the “shoulders” of the strawberry. Give it a quick little twist and shake with your fingers to shake off the excess and then point it at the ceiling for a second or two to ensure that the chocolate adheres. Place on a piece of wax paper to let dry. Melt the dark chocolate according to the instructions on the package. Dip the strawberry in at a 45 degree angle from both sides to make the “jacket”. Let the excess drip off. Place on wax paper to dry. Place some melted dark chocolate into a piping bag with a very small tip, or in a ziplock bag with the little corner snipped off and pipe on buttons and bow tie. Allow to dry and cool. (If drying seems to go too slowly, place them in the freezer for about 3-5 minutes.) Best eaten the day they are made.
42. The Crowns
Lots of ideas for Crown Cakes can be found in the archives over at Catholic Cuisine.
Shopping List
Fresh Produce:
24-30 Strawberries
Dairy:
Cheese Cubes
Snacks:
Pretzel Sticks
Beverages:
Lemon Lime Soda
Grenadine
Condiments:
Maraschino Cherries
Baking Supplies:
6 oz White Chocolate
8 oz Dark Chocolate
Ingredients for Crown Cake
Various Supplies for Decorating your Crown Cake
Other:
Straws
Umbrella Picks
Handel’s Messiah
Throne Decorations
Our Fourth Good Shepherd’s Garden Party : The Wind and Sea Obey Him!
Since the fourth week of The Garden of the Good Shepherd: A Sticker Calendar to Count the Fifty Days of Easter
We finished up the week with our Good Shepherd’s Garden Party on Saturday night and, as usual, it was enjoyed by everyone.
It was also super cute to watch him try to make his pinwheel spin. At least the wind, which was coming through the open windows and screen door, helped him out from time to time!
Instead of “Sea” Water, my children picked out Blue Sky Soda’s at the store on Friday.
~ Our Calendar This Week ~
Our Sticker Calendar is starting to fill up as we continue to add the symbol for each day!
0 Comments