Isn’t it cool…
I had some great plans to celebrate the feast of St. Martin, or rather, Martinmas day, including making these cool lanterns. (I had previously seen this craft in Catholic Traditions in the home and Classroom–There are so many great ideas in this book.) But, being Sunday, it ended up being very hectic, and we didn’t have the chance. Maybe we will get a chance to make them today, or else I will put the craft on hold till next year.
We did, however, read a short story about St. Martin of Tours from one of two books I just purchased. These books are BEAUTIFUL, and I thought I would let you all know about them.
Saints: Lives and Illuminations and More Saints: Lives and Illuminations by Ruth Sanderson
Each page has a short story about a different saint along with a full colored Renaissance style picture of the saint!
The Girls loved looking through all the pictures. These would have made great Christmas gifts… I just wasn’t able to wait till then! 🙂
Veterans Day
Please take a moment and visit Regina’s blog to read about two brave men who gave their lives while defending our country. May God Bless them, and all those who have died, to protect our freedom.
To An Altar Boy
With 2 (almost 3) uncles that are priests, the boys have always wanted to serve Mass as altar boys. We have been blessed with a wonderful retired priest in our area that has allowed my husband to teach our boys to serve Mass at a young age. The boys are able to serve together most Fridays for both Mass and Benediction. “Captain” was allowed to start serving at the age of 5. “Rascal” COULD NOT WAIT to turn 5 so he could begin serving Mass with his older brother. He turned 5 this year and has started serving. Grandpa saw a recent picture of the boys serving Mass at the cemetery for the feast of All Souls and sent a sweet little letter to Rascal with a beautiful holy card (just as he had done for Captain when he began serving). The poem on the back, by St. John Berchman, is so beautiful, I just had to share it! Thank you Grandpa!
To be Christ’s page at the altar,
To serve Him freely there,
Where even the angels falter,
Bowed low in reverent prayer.
To touch the throne most holy,
To hand the gifts for the feast,
To see Him meekly, lowly,
Descend at the word of the priest.
To hear man’s poor petition,
To sound the silver bell,
When He in sweet submission,
Comes down with us to dwell.
No grander mission surely
Could saints or men enjoy;
No heart should love more purely,
Than yours, my altar boy.
God bless you, lad, forever,
And keep you in His care,
And guard you that you never
Belie the robes you wear.
For white bespeaks untainted
A heart both tried and true;
And red tells love the sainted
And holy martyrs knew.
Throughout life, then, endeavor
God’s graces to employ;
And be in heart forever
A holy altar boy.
St. John Berchman, Patron of Altar Boys
Pray for us!
Jamestown Freebies
The boys just finished studying Jamestown, Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. As I mentioned a couple days ago, I was searching online for a few resources for them to use in making a lap book for their final presentation, just like they had made for Columbus. I was getting so frustrated wasn’t having very good luck finding lap booking materials, for Jamestown, that didn’t need to be purchased. (If anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way.) However, I did find a number of other cool things for them to do to help reinforce what they had learned. I thought I would share them here in case they can be of use to any of you.
First, I played let the boys play this great Jamestown Adventure Game over at History Globe!
The year is 1607. You are the captain of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia in this Flash-based historical simulation. Will your colony survive and prosper or will it become another “Lost Colony”?
The boys both really enjoyed playing this, and they keep asking to play again. The results can even be printed out if you so choose. We added these to their notebooks.
I also ran across this link for a free Jamestown QuadPack of Resources. At this site, the boys listened to a short story about Captain John Smith while they colored the provided maps to add to their notebooks as well.
Both of those previous sites were neat, but I would have to say, the most enjoyment came from building this Jamestown Replica. It was a little too hard for my boys to build on their own, but they LOVED watching helping daddy build it. After you download the pattern and directions, all you need is some card stock paper, some colored pencils, a toothpick, scissors and glue. It turned out so cute! The boys pulled out their new Jamestown & Powhatan Indian toobs and the reenactments have begun!
Thank you Sis!!
I’m so excited! One of my little sisters just stopped by and made me a new header for my blog! Isn’t it pretty?!? I LOVE IT!! Thank you Sis!
The Brown Scapular – Garment of Grace
Recently, a friend was asking about scapulars. I myself haven’t been very good about wearing mine the last couple years, but after re-reading all the information about it, I just pulled mine out and put it back on!
A few years back, while we were in Nebraska for one of my Brother-in-laws ordinations, we visited the Carmelite nuns. While we were there, we purchased a beautiful little booklet called Garment of Grace. I have been looking everywhere for it, but I can’t find it! It had several amazing stories of miracles attributed to the Brown scapular in addition to quotes from saints & popes. There is also a version written for Children.
Anyway, here is a little bit of information on the Brown Scapular:
Back in the year 1251, Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite, in the town of Aylesford in England. She handed him a brown woolen scapular and said,
“Take, beloved son this scapular of thy order as a badge of my confraternity and for thee and all Carmelites a special sign of grace; whoever dies in this garment, will not suffer everlasting fire. It is the sign of salvation, a safeguard in dangers, a pledge of peace and of the covenant”.
The Roman Catholic Church extended this wonderful privilege to all the laity who are willing to be invested in the Brown Scapular of the Carmelites and who perpetually wear it.Any priest may bless and enroll a person in the Brown Scapular. On the Sunday closest to the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, one of our local priests will do enrollments after Mass and he hands out scapulars to whomever wishes to be enrolled, or needs a new one. Our children have all been enrolled as babies and, as soon as they are old enough, they start to wear their scapulars. (This has generally been around age 5.) Each person can only be enrolled once, and after being enrolled, replacement scapulars do not have to be blessed, since the person has been.
- Wear the Scapular.
- Observe Chastity according to your state in life.
- Pray daily the Little Office of Our Lady OR Observe the fasts of the church together with abstaining from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays OR substitute the Rosary with permission of a confessor OR substitute some other good work with the permission of a confessor.
In addition to all of the above, Pope Benedict XV granted an indulgence of 500 days for devoutly kissing your scapular.
There was also an emphasis on the Scapular during the apparitions at Fatima and Sister Lucia said, “One could not follow the Message of Fatima unless he fulfilled the five conditions, one of which is wearing of the Brown Scapular all the time–day and night.”
So, put on those Brown Scapulars, and get enrolled if you haven’t. Let’s not pass up these wonderful promises from Our Lady!
O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary (here kiss the scapular as a sign of your consecration), I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the altars throughout the world, joining with It the offering of my every thought, word and action of this day. O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can, and I offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate, that she may best apply them to the interests of Thy most Sacred Heart. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
PRAY THE ROSARY DAILY.
It’s almost “Turkey Time”…
Anyone interested in a Turkey Time Lapbook?
I was browsing the internet looking for ideas to use with our Jamestown presentation (I will post more on this later), when I ran across this cool promotion over at Hands of a Child. You can download their Turkey Time Lapbook for FREE. Go to this link, and type in promotion code 1117UBLAST (regular price is $9.95). This lap book is geared for students PreK-1.
“This 37-page project pack includes a mini guide about Thanksgiving traditions and foods, along with 15 hands-on activities that are divided into 5 days of learning!”
Ordinary Time
I love this song! I have most of Marie Bellets CD’s… They remind me so much of my own life!
Made with Love
Dawn is hosting a Loveliness of Handmade Gifts fair over at her blog, By Sun and Candlelight! I am so excited and really looking forward to seeing everyones ideas and submissions!
What perfect timing! Since we now have our All Saints Party behind us, it is time to start planning for the Christmas season. The kids and I were just talking about what we could make to give as Christmas gifts this year. Last year they all made their own ornaments. They had so much fun doing so, that when asked, the votes were unanimous, they would like to make ornaments, once again.
So our search began and, just like last year, I ended up letting each child choose their own ornament kit to make. I know there are many of you out there that can come up with these little crafts on your own, but I’m just not creative enough! And with 5 little ones, it is so nice to have all the supplies arrive together, this saves me so much time and makes the craft oh so much easier. It looks like, this year, our assortment of ornaments will include: Baby Jesus, a Nativity, a “Colors of Faith” Snowflake, and the Legend of the Snowflake! The kids usually make ornaments for their Grandparents, Godparents, Aunt & Uncles and a few family friends.
In addition to making ornaments, we love to make some sort of edible treat for our friends as well! A couple years ago the kids and I made Saint Nicholas Cocoa to give away. The kids especially loved smashing up the peppermint candy! We packaged the mix in Mason jars with decorated lids. With red and white ribbon, we attached candy canes to be used to stir the cocoa mix. It was so much fun and a perfect Christmas morning treat!
Saint Nicholas Cocoa Mix 8 cups powdered milk
1 (16-ounce) package instant cocoa
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
10-ounces powdered non-dairy creamer
8-ounces miniature marshmallows
6-ounces finely crushed peppermint candy
- Combine powdered milk, cocoa, powdered sugar, creamer, marshmallows and peppermint candy; mix well. Store in an airtight container.
RECIPE TO ATTACH:
For each serving, mix 1/3 to 1/2 cup of mix with 1 cup boiling water; mix well with candy cane. ENJOY!!
Last year, instead of making another jar mix, I purchased a number of small batter bowls (since I am a Pampered Chef Consultant) and the kids and I filled them with either Celebration Cookie Mix or Batter Bowl Brownie Mix. We then tied the directions, along with a bamboo spoon, to the handle. These looked really cool! I wish I had a photo to share, but this was pre-blog days 😉 I do have the flier with the recipes, if anyone wants it, I can email it.
There is a sweet older woman at church who has been spoiling me the last few Sundays with her DELICIOUS biscotti. She bakes it weekly to sell at a local growers market. This last Sunday she sent me home with a bag full of at least 10 different kinds! It looks lovely, and tastes even better.. It has inspired me and although I have never made biscotti myself, I am going to give it a shot and try making this recipe to give as gifts this year. I think I will dip them in Chocolate, top them with Coconut and Pecans, and then wrap them up and place them in a pretty coffee mug with a packet of cappuchino. There’s nothing better than a hot cup of joe and a crispy biscotti. Unless, of course, you’re enjoying them at a cafe in Italy! Right?!
Anyways, these are a few of our ideas. They are not the most elaborate gifts, but they are made with much love and that is the important thing! As Mother Teresa said:
A Big Buck
“Mommy… mommy… LOOK! There is a BIG BUCK outside! I guess he spent the night AGAIN! LOOK!”
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