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by | Dec 29, 2022

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HT: Waltzing Matilda, whom I would, apparently, get along well with! 🙂


You Are a Comma



You are open minded and extremely optimistic. You enjoy almost all facets of life. You can find the good in almost anything.

You keep yourself busy with tons of friends, activities, and interests. You find it hard to turn down an opportunity, even if you are pressed for time.

Your friends find you fascinating, charming, and easy to talk to. (But with so many competing interests, you friends do feel like you hardly have time for them.)

You excel in: Inspiring people

You get along best with: The Question Mark




**Now I am going to go and crawl back into bed… No wonder, my (generally very active) boys, just wanted to lay around on the couch earlier this week, listening to stories. This flu knocks you out! Hopefully I will be back soon.

Illuminated Ink Coloring Contest


Illuminated Ink is hosting another Coloring Contest!

The theme this time around is Easter and, as always, the picture is just lovely and filled with symbolism!

You don’t have to be a child to participate either! There are categories for all ages… So, click here to print the page, and HAVE FUN!

Parents of St. Therese…

… to be beatified in 2008!

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Cause of the Saints, has announced that the beatification of the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, Louis Martin and Azelia Guérin, will take place later this year!!!

Above the graves of St. Thérèse’s parents (behind the Basilica in Lisieux) are the words, ‘God gave me a father and mother more worthy of Heaven than of earth.’ These words were written by Thérèse to Abbé Bellière two months before she died.

Tan has published a few books about St. Thérèse’s parents and family that I would love to read:
The Father of the Little Flower: Louis Martin (1823-1894)
The Mother of the Little Flower: Zelie Martin (1831-1877)
The Story of a Family: The Home of St. Therese of Lisieux

Online, you can read about Louis and Zelie here, as well as see the articles regarding their beatification here and here. It’s so exciting!!!!!!

Ambitious or Insane?

Since we were in town this morning, I decided to have my dear hairdresser check Chiquita’s hair. She actually said that I did a “pretty good” job, and that I am my mother’s daughter… That was a complement right? 😉

Anyhow, as we were leaving, there was a little cluster of older women standing by the door. As we filed by, one of them asked, “Are these all yours?” I answered “yes.” Then another said, “Wow! They are sure close in age!” I smiled and said, “yes they are.” I then opened the door for the kids…

At that point they started talking to each other, as if I couldn’t hear, too funny! One said, “She sure is ambitious isn’t she?” To which one of the others replied, “Or INSANE!” I chuckled and continued out the door.

So, which is it, am I ambitious or insane?

I personally think that sometimes I can be very ambitious and at other times I am totally somewhat a little bit insane (mainly… after a sleepless night!)

But, regardless of how ambitious or insane I can get, when it comes to my kids, I would just say, I’ve been so blessed, and I can’t imagine my life without a single one them!”

The Jesus Tree ~ Week Four

The kids are loving our Jesus Tree!

Today we read the story “Jesus Walks on the Water” from our New Catholic Picture Bible, then it was Chiquita’s turn to put the symbol on our “tree.”

The kids are also really enjoying the various coloring pages and activities that correspond to each story! There have been days that we have missed getting to all of it, so, this week, I made a folder for each of the kids containing all the pages we have studied so far. That way, when they want to color, they can pull out their folder and “catch up.”


I’m sorry it has taken me so long to post our readings etc for next week… It has been taking a bit longer than I thought it would to find the corresponding coloring pages and activities. It’s a good thing that I am able to do this late at night while I nurse my teething Snuggles 🙂 I’m just wondering when that first tooth is going to finally pop out!?

Anyhow, here they are, and here are the links to week one, two and three.

Day 20 ~ The Cripple at the Pool

Symbol: Mat
Readings: Jn 5:1-15
NCPB: Page 129
Coloring: PDF file with Coloring page and many activities
Just for Fun: Healing at the Pool Word Search, Crossword, Online Jigsaw Puzzle

Day 21 ~ Nicodemus Comes to Jesus

Symbol: Dove on Water Drop
Readings: Jn 3:1-15
NCPB: Page 121
Coloring: Nicodemus talking to Jesus
Just for Fun: Nicodemus Word Search, Crossword Puzzle, Online Jigsaw Puzzle

Day 22 ~ Return of the Prodigal Son

Symbol: Ring
Readings: Lk 15:11-32
NCPB: Page 177
Coloring: Prodigal Returns
Just for Fun: Prodigal Son Activities

Day 23 ~ The Rich Man and Lazarus

Symbol: Angel
Readings: Lk 16:19-31
NCPB: Page 139
Coloring: Rich Man and Lazarus

Day 24 ~ The Call of Matthew

Symbol: Money Bag
Readings: Mt 9:9-13, Mk 2:13-17; Lk 5:27-32
NCPB: Page 137
Coloring: I had a hard time finding a color page for this one… We will either use a BW Graphic/Image or this picture of Jesus with his apostles…
Just for Fun: Calling of Matthew Word Search, Crossword

Day 25 ~ The Blind Man

Symbol: Eye
Readings: Jn 9:1-41; Mt 20:29-34; Lk 18:35-43
NCPB: Page 181
Coloring: Jesus Heals the Blind Man
Just for Fun: Jesus Heals a Blind Man Word Search

Day 26 ~ The Man with the Withered Hand

Symbol: Hand
Readings: Mt 12:9-13; Mk 3:1-5; Lk 6:6-10
NCPB: Page 145
Coloring: PDF FILE Jesus Heals a Crippled Hand Coloring and Activities

I hope you all are having a very Blessed Lent!

Mooovvviiing on…

We have been making very very slow progress on our history time line… That is why I haven’t posted about it in awhile. We finally finished reading about the Pilgrims. It seemed to take forever to get through Stories of the Pilgrims. This was a BIG book (240 pages) for my little ones, but the boys really did enjoy it! After that, we all REALLY enjoyed Squanto and The Pilgrims of Plimoth. The boys especially loved that Daddy was able to read Squanto to them, for a change! (I got to listen in, since he was reading a couple chapters out loud to all of us each night–while I would get dinner on the table… This was very helpful!)

We have now moved on to learning about Ben Franklin. Did you know that he was the fifteenth child of seventeen children, and the youngest son (of ten boys) in his family!! Gotta love those big families!!! Anyway, the book we are reading is titled, obviously ;), Benjamin Franklin!!! It is yet another of the wonderful books by Ingri D’Aulaire. They are so great, and really capture all the children’s attention, as well as my own!

The boys were excited to be moving on to another book by her, since they just love coloring the black and white pictures illustrated by her husband Edgar d’Aulaire.

The boys would really love to make another history lap book, so, I think we just might do one on Ben… We’ll see!

Chiquita’s First* Haircut

* That is, if you don’t count the ringlet of hair she cut off last year!

Tonight, I decided to cut Chiquita’s hair. I am so impatient. I should have waited, and taken her in to my hairdresser, but I didn’t, and her hair is now shorter than I had planned… But, she is happy.

Ever since Twinkle Toes and I got our hair cut off, Chiquita has been saying that she wants “Doy-a” (Dora) hair. So, since her hair has been rather scraggly (it was super thin on one side from her own attempt at cutting it), and since she has been having a hard time keeping it out of her mouth at mealtime, I decided to cut it.

Here are a few pictures…

Chiquita anticipating her new hair cut:

(Can you see how much shorter it is on the left?)

I decided to try and cut off a pony tail from the back to add to her baby book… This was NOT a good idea. I ended up cutting too much, and then she saw the pony tail at the same moment that I said OH NO!!!! Sooooo, this resulted in her crying. No picture of this, sorry! I was too busy trying to reassure her — and myself, for that matter!! We both recovered.

Here is a picture of the back. It is slightly uneven… But, hey, I’m new at this!


And here is the front:

She was very pleased! As for me, I’m just happy hair grows! 🙂

WONDERFUL SERMON!!!

I know I just posted the link to a sermon yesterday… but, the sermon that was posted today is soooooooo GOOD!!!

Take a few minutes and listen to it–you can have it playing in the background while you do any other computer work you need to be doing, I’m still working on those piles of bookkeeping! 🙂

“If you wished to be saved like the few, live like the few!”
~ St. John Climacus

“So that we may confidently say: The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man shall do to me.” ~ Hebrews 13:6

Happy Birthday to you…

Happy Birthday dear Grandpa,
Happy Birthday to you!


Today is my dad’s birthday — also, lovingly referred to by the little ones in our home, as Grandpa!

I just wanted to tell you (again) how much

I love you Dad!

Hope you have a wonderful Birthday!


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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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

Shower of Roses Affiliate Links

All About Spelling
All About Reading
All About Reading Giveaways
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Our Advent & Christmas Books

Shower of Roses Gift Guides

Looking for Something?

looking-back

  • 2026 (1)
  • 2025 (31)
  • 2024 (41)
  • 2023 (30)
  • 2022 (48)
  • 2021 (48)
  • 2020 (57)
  • 2019 (61)
  • 2018 (90)
  • 2017 (128)
  • 2016 (148)
  • 2015 (172)
  • 2014 (227)
  • 2013 (238)
  • 2012 (308)
  • 2011 (297)
  • 2010 (313)
  • 2009 (486)
  • 2008 (564)
  • 2007 (148)

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!