On Rose Sunday
We just arrived home from Mass with coffee and a box full of donuts. Yum! The girls and I considered baking a Simnel Cake today, but opted to spend the afternoon making either a Strawberry Brownie Shortcake or Sunflower Cupcakes instead, as we slowly make our way through “S” Week.
Anyhow, I am just popping in to announce the winner of our recent giveaway!
Congratulations to . . . Jenny!
I will mail the Vessels & Vestments game and little St. Therese doll just as soon as I receive your mailing address. 🙂
Thank you all for taking the time to check out Catholic Artworks and share your favorite products. I really enjoyed hearing from all of you!
Before I go, can I ask you all to say a quick prayer for my Grandfather? It has been one year today since he passed away, and we miss him dearly. Thank you!
Little Flowers Girls’ Club ~ Wisdom
Now that our little Rose is already nearly 3 months old, it was time to resume our Little Flowers Girls’ Club meetings for this year. I can not believe how fast the time has passed! I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to pull it all together, but thanks to my mom who came over on Wednesday (to help around the house, bake cupcakes, and do a couple school subjects with the kids!!) and with a little cooperation from Rose (and the help of her Guardian Angel and St. Therese, I am SURE!) who slept most of the afternoon so I could finish getting everything ready, it all came together.
I included the memory verse for Wisdom, an image of St. Teresa Benedicta, the Come Holy Ghost prayer, images of an iris and a dove, and the prayer to St. Teresa Benedicta from the Little Flowers Virtues CD.
(If you would like to download the document I created for this notebook page, you can do so here and here. Also, you can find links to all of my notebook page documents in this post.)
To simplify the preparation and planing for our group, all of this year’s crafts were purchased from Oriental Trading. For the virtue of Wisdom I thought having the girls make bookmarks would be fun and appropriate. We’d did need a little help from a couple moms and some needle nose pliers, but overall it was a simple craft and turned out super cute! Here is a picture of one of my girls finished bookmarks:
to the Little Flowers while I finished preparing the snacks. Thank you Amy! 
I had a hard time coming up with a snack for the virtue of Wisdom. I thought about purchasing this pan
My girls had a wonderful time and are already looking forward to our next meeting in just two weeks!
Highlights from “R” Week
letter R’s and practiced writing the letter R using Handwriting Without Tears Hands-On Materials and Kimberlee’s Grey Block Paper.
The girls also made roses and rainbows out of the modeling wax, but I missed getting a picture before they moved on to their next creations…
book and listening to the 
We Read about Rain and Rainbows…
Down Comes the Rain (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Peter Spier’s Rain (Reading Rainbow Book)
Rain Drop Splash (Book and Audiocassette Tape) (Paperback)
Rain Makes Applesauce
Planting a Rainbow
Snuggles LOVES all his stacking
We also printed out this worksheet to Record our observations during a bit of Rainbow Research!
and on the matching 
with Raspberry Spritzer while we Read Rose Plays Hide and Seek
!
and 
and colored 
for next week since 
.
to the girls and they all colored a couple pages in their Rosary
Coloring
Books
.
We read R Is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet and our favorite nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose: The Original Volland Edition
Rr is for Ranch Dip
trying new Recipes including:
Rigatoni with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Tuna
Creamy Rice Pudding
from A Little Something
Rainbow Fruit Kabobs
I just LOVED making these, and will probably make them again for one of our Garden of the Good Shepherd activities during the Easter Season!
and Rice Krispie Ice Cream Sandwiches
also adapted from our new favorite Recipe collection
Wordless Wednesday
More New Products at Catholic Artworks and a Giveaway!
Here at Nippert & Co Artworks, we are proud to present to you our full line of Look & Learn Catholic Visuals! Check out our website to see our exciting new line. With 52 sets to offer, there is sure to be something for everyone – Elementary level, Teens and many set available in Spanish! These high quality visuals are printed on durable 100# Glossy cardstock that will allow you to create a colorful classroom environment while teaching the basics of our vibrant Catholic faith! The price is right too, our special introductory prices will go until the end of the month – Please check it out & tell us what you think!Please help us my forwarding this to anyone you think may be interested! Thank You!Click here to see our full line of Look & Learn Catholic Visuals!
My Daybook :: March 8, 2010
Outside my window… it is surprisingly sunny right now, considering our forecast. Apparently it is going to be the coldest it has been since December and we are even supposed to get snow. Wouldn’t that be a great way to start “S” week! I guess we will see!
2:16 PM UPDATE: We were suppose to have “Snow Showers mainly before 4 pm.” Yet, here’s what it looks like “outside my window…”
I am listening to… the boys singing Hockey Songs. They have been having so much fun learning how to play on Saturdays. They have played a few scrimmages after their lessons, and once in between periods at a game, but (since they are picking it up quickly) they were invited to participate in a game yesterday afternoon and had so much fun! I wish I would have sent the camera with Hubby!
I am thinking… about yesterday! I didn’t attend the boys Hockey game since it was my sisters (the twins) 18th birthday. Our boys and my youngest brother went with Hubby to the rink, Twinkle Toes and Chiquita went home with their Grandpa, and Rose and I went out for a delicious Brunch with my mom and 3 of my sisters. It was so nice! Originally it was just going to be the twins, mom and I, but my sister Jennifer drove most of the night to surprise the twins for their birthday.
I am thankful that… everything is coming together for our remodel/addition. I spent most of Friday afternoon on the phone with the Mortgage Company, Appraiser and Appliance Store, but I made quite a bit of progress.
I am hoping and praying… that the county approves our plans. We ran into yet another hurdle last week when Hubby tried to apply for the permits… Originally our plan was to add on to the left side (looking up from the road) of our home, but the county would not allow us to add any more living space (we can build a detached garage) any closer to that property line due to zoning restrictions for “Woodland Resource.” NOW, after finally figuring out how to go through our kitchen (thankfully it hadn’t been remodeled yet) they have recently added another zoning restriction which won’t let us build within 100 feet of the other property line on the other side. Argh!! We do live on three acres, but it is long and rather narrow. This gives us a small are directly off the back and we weren’t sure if the plans we just had made would fit into this area. Hubby came home to measure and it is exactly 100 feet, from where we think our property line is located. Praying!!!!
Anyhow, here is a peek at the finished plans. Our existing kitchen and laundry room/bathroom will be completely remodeled (making my kitchen wider and the existing bathroom narrower, with a pocket door going into a new laundry room) and we will be adding on a dining area and living room! It will add about 560 sq feet to our home.
From the kitchen… dreaming about the good things to come in the not too distant future! Yay!!!
From the learning rooms… still working on that schedule.
The girls will slowly start “S” week Along the Alphabet Path. I have a feeling we may be here for a few weeks with everything else that is going on… We’ll see. I’m not going to stress out about it! 😉
I also need to schedule the mandatory state testing for Captain. This will be a first for us, since testing isn’t required until 3rd grade. I am so nervous!
Living the Liturgical Year at Home… still focusing on our Lenten Activities and looking forward to Laetare Sunday next weekend (and remembering how special last Laetare Sunday was for me!), followed by the feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph.
I am creating… a clean and organized home. All of my craft projects are on hold as I work on filling those 40 bags and organizing the rest.
I am wearing… a nursing top handed down from my cousin. Thank you Bethany!
I am reading… lots of picture books including Little Rose of Sharon
Pondering these words… from St. John Vianney.
Our little Rose… is rolling over!!! I noticed her on her tummy last night and thought perhaps I left her on her side (I had just finished nursing her), but then this morning she was clearly on her back when I left and once again I found her on her tummy (crying, since she hates being on her tummy). Slow down baby girl! I’m not ready for you to start growing up already…
Noticing that… I never did have a chance on Friday to participate in Emily’s March Favorite Fives. I’ve been thinking about it though and am noticing that their are so many little things in my day to day life that make me smile. It is going to be hard to narrow it down to just five.
Towards personal care… I’m still working on that mile per day. I usually take Sundays off, but since I was a mile behind walked with my mom at her house yesterday afternoon. My parents live on 10 acres and there is a trail/road which goes around the whole property. It is beautiful to walk. I also did a workout Saturday morning using EA Sports Active
Around the house… lots of candles! Now that some of the surfaces (ie: bathroom counters and coffee tables) have been de-cluttered I am lighting my candles a bit more often and just love how they warm up a room and make it feel so much more cozy!
On keeping home… I filled up one more bag for the 40 Bag Challenge with a few more of my own clothing items and a number of puzzles from the school room. Nine more to go!
One of my favorite things… RAINBOWS!! We were hoping to get to see one during “R” week and ended up seeing quite a few. Here is a picture (taken by Hubby) of one of the rainbows we saw at my parents home yesterday afternoon.
A few plans for the rest of the week:
Monday :: Home Appraisal (the Appraiser just left)
Tuesday :: Bunco
Wednesday :: Doctors appointment for Rose
Thursday :: Little Flowers; Pro-Life Dinner/Fundraiser
Saturday :: Hockey Lessons
Sunday :: Mass (Don’t forget to Spring Forward!)
A Picture thought I am sharing:
40 Bags in 40 Days :: UPDATE
I can’t believe that it has been a month since we started the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge! (I started early so that we could be finished before Holy Week.) We actually have been able to make better progress than I thought we would and, after the 2 bags I filled in the kitchen this afternoon, we are already up to 35 bags (including trash)!
To make it a bit more challenging I am considering not counting the 5 bags of trash and try to fill another 10 bags, instead of five. It’s getting harder, but is so refreshing to let go of some of this “stuff” that I’ve hung on to for way too long.
Here’s a quick look at what we’ve bagged up so far:
Boys Bedroom ::
4 bags of clothing
1 bag of trash
Girls Bedroom ::
2 bags of clothing and shoes
1 bag of toys
1 bag of trash
Hall Closets ::
3 bags of baby blankets
The Nursery ::
2 bags of baby clothing
2 bags of toys
Master Bedroom and Closets ::
1 bag of men’s clothing
2 bags of women’s clothing
3 bags of maternity clothing
1 bag of misc. items
1 rebounder
2 bags of trash
Bathrooms and Laundry Room::
1 bag of misc. items
1 big plastic drying rack
1 rug
Kitchen ::
2 bags of Kitchen Items
School Room ::
1 bag of trash
Living Room ::
Overall ::
27 bags of Stuff
3 Large Items
5 bags of Trash
For a Total of = 35 bags
- School Room (I tend to hang on to everything here… including these
two
puzzles which drive me crazy and will probably be the first to go.)
- Bookshelves (This is even harder, since I tend to save everything until I have time to resell it on Cathswap… Which hasn’t happened since I started blogging! lol!)
- Board Games (I’ve stopped buying more at least!)
- Entertainment Center (Movies, CD’s, etc… I got rid of a ton last year, but still have plenty more to go though.)
- I also have more to work to do in my closet. (This is where most of our craft supplies are kept.)
With all that stuff to choose from it shouldn’t be too hard to fill up 10 more bags. Yet then again…
Favorite Fives :: Kitchen
I’m just a little bit late in participating in Emily’s Kitchen edition of her Favorite Fives, especially considering her next edition is coming up tomorrow… I just thought that since I am often overwhelmed by my kitchen, it would be fun to focus on the favorites!
First on my list of favorites is my Pampered Chef Stoneware. I have almost all of the different stones, and love them all. In fact, the Rectangle Baker, Rectangle Stone, Large Bar Pan, Pizza Stone, and Muffin Pan could easily be listed as all five of my kitchen favorites, so I am grouping them all together. 😉 The stoneware does an excellent job of evenly distributing the heat from my least favorite item lovely oven, and prevents me from burning everything.
I guess, my Vita-Mix
splurged purchased years ago from Costco) Have you ever used one? It’s awesome for making smoothies, of course, but also makes great ice cream, soups, salsas, and even baby food. Not to mention, it is super easy to clean. A huge bonus since I already spend too much time washing dishes.
quite a bit more, so it wins. I use it multiple times each week, especially considering I only have three working burners on my range. (It is truly time for our kitchen remodel… I couldn’t be more excited to be at least starting the process!)I’d love to hear any feedback from you all on these kitchen items which I have on my wish list, though I don’t plan to purchase any of them (except perhaps the cake mold) until we’ve completed our kitchen remodel…
- Nordic Ware Spring Lamb 3-D Cake Mold
(for Easter)
- Fox Run 36 Piece Alphabet and Number Cookie Cutter Set
(my alphabet letters are pretty small)
- A Crown Shaped Cookie Cutter (Does anyone have a favorite to recommend?)
- One more place setting of our wedding china
(So I’ll have 12 place settings)
- A Tea Kettle, since I constantly forget when I have water heating on the stove. (Emily has me eying one like hers
in kiwi!)
- Panini and Sandwich Press
- Prego Nonstick Pizzelle Baker
and Cone Roller
- Keurig Home Brewing System
(I’ve been wanting one of these for a long time! Perhaps once our remodel is completed and we have somewhere to put it!)
Wordless Wednesday ~ Outside my Window…
Saint Joseph Lap Book
Last March Rascal made a 3-D Cut & Color St. Joseph Altar and started making a Lap Book in honor of St. Joseph.
That same week my Grandfather passed away and we ended up spending March 19th, the feast of St. Joseph, in the car traveling out of state to attend his funeral. Needless to say, Rascal’s Lap Book never was completed. A year later (I can’t believe it has been a year!) I finally pulled it back off the shelf so he could finish it up in time for this year’s feast!
I’ve included links (and uploaded any of our own documents) in case anyone would like to use them as well.
Books Read
Other Resources:
- From An Angel in a Dream: The Story of St. Joseph
- Favorite Prayers to St. Joseph
- The Virtual St. Joseph Altar
- SQPN
Cover
For the cover Rascal colored this picture of St. Joseph. (Charlotte also has a lovely coloring page and you can find even more options here.)
Inside First Folder
For the left flap of the first folder we pasted the Litany of St. Joseph. (Here is my document to download.)
In the middle, a the top, we included a 2 Flap Flap Book for the two “Feasts of St. Joseph.” (You can download my file here – the font is different since it was originally made on my other computer. Rascal completed this part of the lapbook last year, otherwise I probably would have had him write it in himself.)
- On the outside of the first flap we pasted placed a picture of St. Joseph holding the baby Jesus and on the inside it says “March 19th ~ St. Joseph, Spouse of the Virgin Mary”.
- On the outside of the second flap we pasted a picture of St. Joseph working, and on the inside it says “May 1st ~ St. Joseph the Worker”.
Next we printed out a “Petal Pentagon” and wrote five things that St. Joseph is the patron of on the five different “petals,” and “St. Joseph, Patron of…” in the center. Although St. Joseph is patron of many things, we choose the ones he is most known for: 1) Universal Church; 2) Workers; 3) Families; 4) Fathers; and 5) the Dying / Holy Death. Rascal added illustrations as well.
We then added a 2 Flap Book to list the two main symbols used by The Church for St. Joseph. On the outside we wrote “Symbols of St. Joseph.” On the inside flaps we wrote “The Lily” on one, and “Carpenter’s Square” on the other. In the very middle we have an image of St. Joseph holding both. (Here is my document to download.)
At the bottom of the page Rascal wanted to write his Blue Knights prayer to St. Joseph:
“Dear St. Joseph, who took such good care of the baby Jesus and His Holy Mother Mary be our protector too. Guide us on a path that is safe and sure and be with us all the way to heaven. Amen.”
For the right side flap of the first folder, we made a Nine Layer, Layered Book for the Nine Day Novena to St. Joseph. We pasted this image on the cover and titled it “Nine Day Novena”. We then placed the nine days of prayers, in order, on each of the nine layers and added “Day One, Day Two, etc…” on the bottom of each layer. (And here is this document. You’ll need to make the Layer Book yourself, though you can use the 7-Layer Book at this link to get you started.)
Inside Second Folder
On the left flap we included the Blessing of the St. Joseph Altar.
In the center we included a picture of our mini St. Joseph Altar, which Rascal made using this pdf. I printed out this image (at 150%) to frame our picture.
Beneath our picture of our homemade St. Joesph Altar, we printed out and added the history of the Saint Joseph Altar from Viva San Giuseppe by St. Joseph Guild.
On the right flap we placed a couple pockets for our St. Joseph Memory Match Playing Cards.
Back Cover
Rascal colored a beautiful stained glass coloring page (pdf here) and glued it to a piece of cardstock. We glued the side and bottom edges of the cardstock and attached it to the back cover creating a pocket.
We used the pocket to store the St. Joseph Paper Doll we downloaded, colored, and cut out, from Paper Dali.
Additional Activities
Since Rascal still has a little room on the outside of the two end flaps, we are planning on using a few of the ideas from Domestic-Church’s Exploring Saint Joseph. Our favorites were:
- Interview your Dad about his childhood (Prepare a list of questions in advance and use a cassette tape recorder to record the interview. This could be a real treasure in the coming years. — They provide a list of suggestions.)
- Complete the Sentence (Have the children complete that following sentence in as many ways as they can. Saint Joseph…. Some suggestions: was a hard worker, was a virtuous man, taught Jesus, was a loving father.)
- Saint Joseph and Dad(Discuss with your siblings how Saint Joseph and Dad are alike. How are they not alike? Is Dad getting more and more like Saint Joseph?)
Participate in the 1st Annual St. Joseph Altar Blog Fest. You can find all the information here.
Bake! Lots of recipes for the feast of St. Joseph can be found at Catholic Cuisine.
Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God. I place in you all my interests and desires. Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your devine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.
Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary of contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me and ask him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath.
St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls – Pray for me.
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