Bargain Priced Books :: Fiona’s Lace and More
I purchased this beautiful hardcover book at a 25% discount a couple years ago, but right now it’s only $6.99 (61% off!) and qualifies for free prime shipping over at Amazon.
P.S. I hear that Bethlehem Books will be offering free shipping and 50% off all of their print titles this upcoming Thursday-Saturday March 9-11 too!
Update: I just ordered Thunder Cake and Fiona’s Luck too. Rechenka’s Eggs (both hardcover and paperback), from our Easter book collection, is also 61% off right now.
New Additions to Our March Book Basket
I have been trying to purchase a book cart for our home since last summer! I found it for a great price, but then my order was cancelled due to it being out of stock… So were my next four attempts to order it from various online sellers. I decided to try one last time this past January from yet another online store that was having a sale at the beginning of the year. A few weeks later I finally received a shipping notification! However, after another 6 weeks, it was delivered different than pictured and damaged. It’s still useable so they left it here while we wait for the replacement.
My little ones are loving the new book cart! The other day, after I set it up with some of our picture books for March, our youngest dragged his little chair from the other room and plopped it down right in front of all the books to start reading. He is enjoying all the books, but one of his current favorites is Into the Sea, Out of the Tomb (reviewed here – highly recommend the first in the series too).
I have filled our book basket (and new book cart!) with books for March as well as a basket filled with some additional books for Lent. I do have some new additions to our family’s collection to share with you today.
This first book is one I purchased from Amazon last year but haven’t pulled out to share with the kids yet. It’s making it’s way into our book basket this month, just in time for the upcoming feast of St. Cuthbert on March 20th.
The seventh-century Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne is one of England’s most beloved saints, honored also by the Eastern Church. Saint Cuthbert’s adventurous, yet humble spirit is demonstrated in this delightful tale of his encounter with an unruly raven. The lyrical, humorous text and simple, charming illustrations of Ravens of Farne will appeal to readers of all ages.
Patrick and the Fire: A Legend about Saint Patrick
(Published by Pauline Books and Media, January 2017)
Bevan the goatherd longs for the annual festival bonfire celebrating the god of light. When a stranger named Patrick appears, Bevan learns about one God in three persons. Patrick frightens Bevan when he boldly lights a fire rivaling the kings. Soon the king realizes Patricks faith, like his fire, cannot be quenched, and Patrick preaches the Trinity to the people. Ages 5 to 8.
I mentioned this book last month and I’m sharing it again now. This will be another new addition to our collection on St. Patrick’s Day this year. A coloring book version is also available.
Paddy and the Wolves: A Story about Saint Patrick When He Was a Boy
(published by Peanut Butter & Grace, January 2017)
to help the Irish shepherd, Barra, watch sheep for the day!
But who will watch Paddy when he wanders into the woods? Paddy finds delights and dangers, and both deepen his understanding of the prayers of his people.
Paddy and the Wolves imagines Saint Patrick as a young boy, weaving a story that uses the saint’s childhood adventures to foreshadow events in Saint Patrick’s adult life. Award-winning contemporary Catholic folk artist
Jen Norton creates a lush panorama of Paddy’s world,
filled with bears and bluebells, flashy fish and furry friends…and grace.
Paddy and the Wolves includes a bonus section with the Prayer of Saint Patrick, adapted for children, suggestions for celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day at home (including an oatcake recipe), and also a biographical sketch.
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| Tallest Tree Stacking Blocks • Wooden Tree Puzzle Blocks Saint Blocks (including Adam & Eve with Jesus & Mary on the back – tie in beautifully to The End of the Fiery Sword) Rainbow Stacking Blocks • St. Patrick & St. Joseph from Catholic Folk Toys St. Patrick from Naturally Catholic • Eric Carle Color Blocks • Color by Design Pattern Blocks A basket of lenten books for the older children too! |
I’m still working on the list of books for this year’s Easter Baskets, in addition to another basket of books to give away! In the meantime, you can find our complete list of books for the month of March here:
The Stations or The Way of the Cross
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Our Annual Lenten Calendar
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| Day 2: Covering another square with a purple cross as we count down the days until Easter! |
They also picked out another can of food from the pantry to give to the needy.
I’ve explained this little lenten tradition of ours before in my original posts:
Toddlers don’t always understand the concept of giving something up for Lent. Instead of having our youngest children give something up we have them focus on giving away. I stock the bottom shelves of the pantry with appropriate food items that can be donated, and everyday the little ones choose something to place in a box to be donated to a needy person or organization. I fit this extra food into our grocery budget by serving simple meals throughout lent, especially on Fridays.
Our youngest children aren’t exactly toddlers anymore, and they choose things to give up for lent now, but we still love doing this each year. I was excited to see that the Knights of Columbus at our parish are asking for 40 Cans for Lent! It ties in perfectly and we will deliver our cans to them this year. I printed out an enlarged image of 40 Cans 40 Days to attach to the front of our box of donations.
After taking these pictures yesterday I realized that I still needed to add the moveable squares for the feasts of St. Patrick, St. Joseph (falls on Sunday so it’s transferred to the 20th this year), and the Annunciation. I added squares for the upcoming Ember Days too. (My document can be found here: Ember Days) You can read more about Ember Days over at Catholic Cuisine.
LEGO Ideas :: Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein is a 19th-century Bavarian palace on a rugged hill near Hohenschwangau and Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner, the King’s inspiring muse. Although public photography of the interior is not permitted, it is the most photographed building in Germany and is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. Today Neuschwanstein is one of the most popular of all the palaces and castles in Europe. Every year 1.3 million people (6,000 per day in the summer!) visit “the castle of the fairy-tale king”.
A few weeks ago, inspired by his previous Metal Earth Neuschwanstein Castle (available here) and his sister’s 3D Puzzle of this Fairytale Castle (available here), Ranger decided to try and create a micro LEGO version of Neuschwanstein Castle using LEGO from his collection. He amazes me!
He hasn’t posted it over at LEGO Ideas yet, but plans to soon. (You can find his profile here, and vote on his current projects, although it will require you to create a free account and/or log in.)
Pro-Life Prints :: Praying for Others
Pro-Life Prints is a brilliant addition to the Culture of Life Studies Program. It has been a fun and engaging hands-on way to teach our little ones more about the dignity of every human life!
We worked through the four lessons the last week of January (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3) following the presidential inauguration and leading up to this year’s annual March for Life, but our youngest ended up coming down with a virus on Day 4 so we finished the final lesson in shifts. It was the first thing he wanted to do as soon as he was feeling better again the following Monday, but it’s taken me nearly a month to get back to sharing the photos with you all!
This fourth and final lesson focused on Praying for Others. We talked about the importance of praying for friends, family, and even strangers. The lesson also included a special tip to help us remember everyone for whom we need to pray, including ourselves.
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| My Life with God by Father Lovasik |
I loved the explanations used in the lesson! In summary, the thumb is for family and those closest to you, the index finger is for teachers and all those who instruct you, the middle/tallest finger is for all those in authority, the ring finger (which is the weakest finger) is for unborn babies and all of the weakest members of our society, and finally the pinkie is a reminder to pray for ourselves last. After praying for all the others we will be better able to pray for ourselves and ask God for what we truly need.
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| Manner’s in God’s House: First Prayers and First Missal |
- Manner’s in God’s House: First Prayers and First Missal
- Favorite Prayers for Catholic Children
- Prayer for a Child
- Prayers for a Small Child
- Prayers for Children
- My Little Golden Book About God
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| Prayers for Everyday by Father Lovasik |
And from our collection of Father Lovasik books:
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| My Family from Naturally Catholic • Favorite Prayers for Catholic Children |
On Saint Valentine’s Day {and Baby Update}
My girls were the creative ones this year, with their Little Way Valentines and Nutter Butter Heart Cookie Valentines! Here’s a picture of my simple contribution to this year’s St. Valentine’s Day celebration with friends. I love our collection of bundt pans. (This particular heart pan is currently 48% off!) They made cake decorating so easy when I’m low on time. I had hoped to add lots of red berries, like I did for our daughter’s When Calls the Heart birthday cake, but was never able to get to the store so I simply topped it with a holy card.
Meanwhile our little ones colored a couple St. Valentine coloring pages. Someone couldn’t find anything red to wear so he decided that green was the next best option, after all St. Patrick’s day is coming up soon! 😉
While our kids were at the party I had another ultrasound followed by another appointment with my doctor to check on the baby. Despite the never-ending nausea our little girl is healthy and well!
Feb 4th: As of this weekend we’ve made it to 20 weeks! I still get sick and am nauseous on a daily basis (though not anywhere near as bad as the first trimester – those St. Nicholas Day letters/prayers from the kids did the trick!) and I have to be very careful to keep cramping to a minimum, especially with my history of pre-term labor, but it will all be worth it. Halfway there and so excited to meet our new baby girl this summer! Thank you all for the prayers. They are appreciated more than you know! #hyperemesisgravidarum #lowlyingplacenta #20weekspregnant
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| Still enjoying the beautiful St. Valentine’s Day roses from my husband. |
Little Way Valentines
Our oldest daughter finished creating these rose heart covered pretzels and chocolates last night for today’s St. Valentine feast day party while I made up some labels for the treat bags! We all had to be extra creative this year, using stuff we already had in our pantry and decorating stash since I haven’t been able to get to the store, and she did such a great job!
- Rose Hearts Pretzel Mold (can’t find the exact link, similar to this one)
- Red Candy Melts
- Green Candy Melts
- White Candy Melts (she used White for the multicolored pretzels and Bright White for the solid white pretzels)
- Pretzel Rods
- Pretzel Treat Bags
Nutter Butter Heart Cookie Valentines
On the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
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| Our Lady of Lourdes Marian Grotto • Bernadette, The Little Girl from Lourdes |
Note: The older girls used regular glue and many of their gems eventually fell off and had to be regaled on. It also took forever to dry in between steps. To save some time I helped Rose glue the project together with the hot glue gun. I added the glue and she placed the popsicle sticks and gems. It turned out lovely!
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