Merry Christmas
Snow White and Rose Red Birthday Party
From Instagram this morning: I have a helper at the office this morning! Can’t believe our baby girl is 7 years old today! We stopped at the mall last night so she could “pleaassseee, pick out an outfit to match” her birthday theme. (60% off clearance!) I was up extra early to finish decorating her cake, and she was up early getting all dressed up! ❤️❄🌹️🎉 #happybirthday #mylittlechristmasrose
We didn’t plan on having a big party, but after getting off work I called my parents and sent text messages to all my siblings that are currently in the area (four brothers and one sister, plus sister-in-law and two nieces) and EVERYONE was able to come over for dinner and cake! The birthday girl was very excited.
- 1 box Milk Chocolate Brownie Mix
- ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp. water
- 60 peanuts split into halves (about ⅓ cup peanuts) or almond slices
- 30 chocolate candy kisses
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl combine brownie mix, water, butter, and egg; stir with a fork to combine into a stiff dough. Dough will seem dry, but will completely moisten as you stir. (Knead briefly by hand, in the bowl, if preferred)
- Working with 1 even tbsp. of dough at a time, roll dough into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets about 2″ apart. Cover the remaining dough in-between batches to prevent drying.
- Press candy pieces, points down and flat surfaces up, into the center of the uncooked cookies. Press four peanut halves, split sides up, into the edge of each cookie to form claws.
- Bake at 350°F for 11 minutes or just until the edges are set. The cookies may appear slightly under cooked, but do not over bake. Cool 1 minute on pans. Transfer to wire racks with a thin metal spatula and cool completely.
In the winter, Rose Red lit the fire and put on the iron kettle.
.: Make Your Own Trail Mix :.
Fish Crackers (Smore’s Goldfish)
Snow White’s Snow Balls (Trader Joe’s Mini Marshmallows)
Fish Crackers (Chocolate Mint & Pretzel Goldfish)
Eagle Talons (Cashews)
Rose Red & Snow White Chocolate (Peppermint Little Secrets)
Bear Claws (Dry Roasted Peanuts)
Bear Cookies (Chocolate Teddy Grahams)
Snipped Off Ends of Dwarf’s Beard (Coconut Flakes)
Rose Red’s Wild Berries (Freeze Dried Raspberries)
.: Piñata Time :.
.: Birthday Gifts :.
Next it was a beautiful journal, little lantern and some chocolates from Aunt Mary. When Aunt Mary was seven, she and her twin were flower girls in our wedding… Now she’s 24!
Grandpa and Grandma surprised her with Snow White (DVD) and Uncle Brian & Aunt Meagan gave her all sorts of fun accessories. She also received a lovely card/gift from her other grandparents.
.: Seven Candles :.
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!
A Special Nameday Gift – St. Lucia Original Painting from Sleightholm Folk Art and St. Lucia Doll from The Little Rose Shop (I’ve been dying to give her this doll since I placed the custom order for it based on one of Heather’s paintings earlier this year!) |
Santa Lucia and Star Boy Coloring Pages from Waltzing Matilda |
Here’s the link to the recipe for Saint Lucia’s Braided Bread.
Scroll through all our past St. Lucy posts here.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Lemon Elegant Heart Cakelets (birthday gift earlier this year)
St. Catherine of Alexandria from Catholic Folk Toys (from our collection)
St. Catherine of Alexandria from The Little Rose Shop (this year’s name day gift for our daughter)
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Thanksgiving Daybook
(I started writing this Daybook post Thanksgiving night, but fell asleep and never got back around to finishing it. I’m just going to delete all the writing prompts I missed and post it anyways…)
Outside my window…
A beautiful Thanksgiving day! My sister Mary arrived to our home early and we headed outside so she could take a few family pictures for us. If we don’t have another chance between now and Christmas, one of them just might end up on this year’s cards.
I am thinking…
I couldn’t believe I got talked into hosting Thanksgiving dinner… I can’t even look at uncooked meat without getting sick at the moment! 😉 Thankfully my mom brought the turkey and sweet potatoes, and sister-in-law brought all the desserts and rolls. That just left the ham and other side dishes for me my kids to cook! It all came together. So grateful for lots of help!
I am thankful…
The kids had so much fun sharing our recent news with their youngest Uncle who hadn’t head yet!
Celebrating the liturgical year…
The feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria is tomorrow… We usually bake a heart shape cake but this year I think we are going to use Twinkle Toes’ new pan (from her When Calls the Heart Birthday Party) and make heart shaped cakelets instead!
From the kitchen…
Cinnamon Roll Turkeys for brunch! This year we skipped the pretzels (I forgot to pick them up) and used dye-free Pumpkin Spice Little Secrets for some of the decorations.
I am praying…
for this little surprise baby of ours.
Pondering these words…
from St. Therese Lisieux:
I am listening…
Around the house…
Family ♥
One of my favorite things…
Roses ♥
A little peek at my day…
Honeycomb Cake on the Feast of St. Ambrose
I just shared the recipe over at Catholic Cuisine.
Saint Ambrose and the Bees from Brother Wolf, Sister Sparrow: Stories about Saints and Animals |
O Antiphons Ornaments & Gift Package Giveaway
Ever since our oldest children were very little, we have been implementing an old monastic custom in our home by providing special treats, representing each of the “O Antiphons” on the days leading up to Christmas. The O Antiphon prayers begin on December 17th and end on the 23rd, which is the last Vespers of Advent, since the evening prayer on the 24th is the Vigil of Christmas.
The Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one – Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia – the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, “Tomorrow, I will come.” So the “O Antiphons” not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.
Each night, following our family rosary, we pray the O Antiphon for the day, sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel, which was inspired by this ancient tradition, and then give the children a special treat.
The “treats” have varied from year to year. Some years it has been little gifts or activities for the family, some years it is all food related, and some years it is a mix of both, depending on our schedule and budget. It doesn’t need to cost much! Sometimes the treats are a bit of a stretch, but my goal is try and find gifts that will either help increase our faith (Catechism books, holy family, saints, prayer, etc) or encourage family time (games, puzzles, going to look at Christmas lights, etc). You can find some of our past O Antiphon treats by scrolling through the archives and visiting Catholic Cuisine.
Our family loves this tradition. It is such a fun way to teach the children about these beautiful prayers of the church and also increase their excitement as Christmas gets closer.
This year I am hosting an O ANTIPHON GIVEAWAY! One lucky visitor here at Shower of Roses will receive a gift package which will include one complete set of O Antiphon Ornaments and one themed gift for each of the seven O Antiphons! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to enter.
sponsored by St. Augustine Academy Press
“This is perhaps the most beautiful book we have come across in a long time, and it was a labor of love to reprint it for you. Each lavishly illustrated page is mesmerizing in its detail but even more so for its love of the beauty of our Faith. Printed in a deep, rich brown ink on cream paper, with a cloth hardcover and dimensional gold embossing, this is a book that will make you feel proud to be Catholic. Preorder yours today and save–this will make the perfect Christmas gift–even for those who already know their alphabet quite well.”
- Bible Cookies
- Brain Food (Dark Chocolate, Deviled Eggs)
- Play a Trivia Game (Christmas Trivia, Catholic Trivia, Cranium)
- Play Scattergories-Catholic Edition
- Bookmarks or Holy Cards (order customized Holy Cards from Keepsakes by Carrie)
- Family Prayer Book, Catechism, or other Book (The Catechism in Pictures with review here, Jesus Make Me Worthy, My Catholic Faith, A Catholic Child’s Picture Dictionary, Around the Year: Once Upon a Time Saints, or even incorporate the Doctors of the Church like the St. Therese Picture Books including the new Flowers for Jesus from Peanut Butter & Grace, etc… The possibilities are endless.)
Additional Ideas:
- Ten Commandment Cookies
- Cookies made with this Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter or this cute 3-D Mini Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter made by Sweet Creations, emphasizing the word “house”
- Roast Marshmallows, in reference to “Moses in the burning bush”
- Decorate Gingerbread Houses (we might use this pan this year, a Christmas gift from my girls)
- Forest Nativity Shaped Puzzle (shaped like house) or Stained Glass Holy Night
- Building Blocks would also tie in nicely… I love these Architecture Blocks. I just purchased a set to give our soon-to-be five year old.
sponsored by Sacred Heart Books & Gifts
- Root Beer Floats or Carrot Cake
- Roasted Root Vegetable, Hearty Healing Beef Stew or Hamburger Stew (pictured)… Yum!
- Purchase a Christmas Poinsettia (In the past we have also incorporated other Poinsettias: 12 Red Glitter Poinsettia Ornaments, Miracle of the Poinsettia, The Miracle of the First Poinsettia and Poinsettia Cupcakes)
- Play some sort of Gardening or Nature Game as a Family (perhaps Gathering a Garden, Wildcraft! An Herbal Adventure Game — we don’t have either of these but they sound interesting– or The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game which is on our little ones’ wish list)
- “My Family” set from Naturally Catholic or something else Family related
- Old Fashioned Root Beer Drops
(Duplicates of a couple we already have. Hope the winner likes them as much as we do!)
- Key Lime Pie
- Special drink with dinner. Since this is initially a monastic tradition, and on this night, the monk in charge of the wine cellar would provide a special bottle of wine.
- Surprise the family with tickets to something local – Christmas play, the Nutcracker, etc. A Couple years ago I took our older children to see A Christmas Carol at the theatre.
- Key Puzzle/Brainteaser
- Tiny Saints Key Hooks (One year I purchased a couple key hook rails to use to hang our Rosaries. You can see them in our home in this post.)
- Advent or Christmas CD (There’s keys in music 😉 – The new Christmastime in New Orleans CD and TV Special DVD would be fun too!)
- O Dayspring Ice Cream
- Non-Alcoholic Mimosas or Texas Sunrise with Breakfast
- Decorate a Christmas Candle (We use a tiny wax baby Jesus I purchased years ago along with Stockmar Gold Decorating Beeswax.)
- Our favorite tradition for this O Antiphon is to pile in the car after dinner with hot cocoa and drive around to look at all the Christmas lights. We have also added these to our tree: Kurt Adler 10-Light Candle with Gold Dish Light Set
- Candles from The Cloister Shoppe
- Grimm’s CASA SOLE Stacking Blocks (The set we have, pictured, isn’t currently available. Other options can be found online and over at Etsy.)
sponsored by St. Augustine Academy Press
- Crown Cake, Cupcakes or Cookies
- Holiday Wreaths (We made these on back in December 2009.)
- Assemble a Three Kings Puzzle and this beautiful Stained Glass Nativity Puzzle
- Listen to King of the Golden City CD
- One year I picked out one of the beautiful sets of Three Kings Gifts – we pull it out every Christmas!
- Nativity Puzzle Flipzles (flip the puzzle pieces over for a complete nativity scene!) or add a “King” puppet or toy to our collection. The Christ the King Blessing Block is perfect too.
sponsored by Catholic Child
- Make a Chocolate Nativity Scene for Christmas
- Decorate Nativity Cookies to give as gifts or Cookie Cutters Tell the Christmas Story
- 500-Piece Stained Glass Jigsaw Puzzle or Holy Family Puzzle
- Decorate Chocolate Christmas Coins using this FREE Printable
- Children’s Nativity Set – you can see our collection here (scroll down a bit)
- Holy Cards, Coloring Books, including the beautiful Eucharistic Adoration: With Saints And Symbols Of The Eucharist Coloring book, or this BRAND NEW RELEASE from St. Augustine Academy Press: Catholic Songs for Children (Includes two new songs that have not been heard since the 1960’s: “The Best Christmas Present of All” and “I Want To Be a Little Missionary.”)
Celebrating the Saints :: Saint Andrew Cupcakes
Today is the feast of St. Andrew! We had a very full day today, between co-op classes for all the big kids and an afternoon at the office for the three little ones and I, but we had another nameday to celebrate! On the way home this evening we stopped at our local market for eggs, a can of Marshmallow frosting, and some Fudge Brownie Goldfish Grahams so we could decorate some cupcakes for this special feast. (We already had a box of cake mix and some Trader Joe’s Honey Wheat Pretzel Sticks in the pantry.) I simply stuck two pretzels into each cupcake at an angle to create an X shaped cross and added a few fish grahams to the base. So simple to decorate and I loved how they turned out!
Our little guy loved his two nameday surprises: St. Andrew the Apostle from Naturally Catholic and his very own St. Andrew Chaplet from Mary Devotions.
Saint Andrew Novena
It is piously believed that whoever recites the St. Andrew Christmas novena prayer fifteen times each day from the feast of St. Andrew (November 30th) until Christmas Eve will obtain the favor requested. Our family has a very special intention this year… Here is a picture of our littlest one taken on Monday at 10 weeks 2 days. A little too soon to get all the measurements they were looking for, so I’ll get another peek next week! So far everything looks perfect and baby is due June 24, 2017! ♥
Happy Feast of St. Andrew!
Bargain Priced Toys :: Shining Light Dolls
Ooohhh! Looks like you can save 23% on all qualifying Shining Light Dolls today! That brings them down to $10 each, with Prime shipping. The discount shows up during checkout. The Saint Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) and St. Thérèse of Lisieux are two of Rose’s favorites. She’ll be receiving Our Lady of Mount Carmel for either her birthday or Christmas.
If you haven’t already, you can also enter for a chance to win your choice of six Marian Shining Light Dolls along with a copy of The Virgin Mary Around the World! A Pilgrimage of Faith (Board Book) in this year’s Christmas Giveaway.
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