Metal Earth :: Thor’s Hammer
As soon as our summer break began, Ranger pulled out some of the gifts he had been saving, from his Thor Birthday Party and this year’s Easter Basket, including the Metal Earth Avengers: Thor’s Hammer. He loves assembling these little models and has quite the collection. Of course, he had to make sure he was wearing his Thor t-shirt for this particular project. I also purchased Captain America’s Shield for our “Captain” which will probably be another upcoming summer project.
Summer Reading…
It seems like every time I look outside lately the kids are all either playing badminton, watering the garden, or reading on the patio… We finally made it down to the library last Thursday to sign up for the summer reading program and I’m hoping to print out some of our Summer Bingo cards to start tomorrow. They are all really enjoying their summer break!
We have the original OOP hardcover edition but I’m so excited to see that Hillside Education has recently republished this book along with a whole bunch of other titles from the American Background Series (biographical fiction about Catholic heroes in American history). To quote Hillside, “These books were printed over a span of 20 years in the 50s and 60s specifically for a Catholic audience. They are biographical in nature, but told like a fiction novel.”
I know what’s going to be showing up in this year’s Stacks of Books for Christmas. You can check them all out over at Amazon {affiliate links}:
- Chaplain in Gray: Abram Ryan
- The Friar and the Knight, Bartolome de Olmeda and Cortez
- Colonial Governor Thomas Dongan
- Don Deigo de Vargas: The Peaceful Conquistador
- Henri de Tonti and the Exploration of the Mississippi
- Simon Brute and the Western Adventure
- Charles Carroll and the American Revolution
- General Phil Sheridan and the Union Calvary
- Margaret Haughry, Bread Woman of New Orleans (coming soon)
- Padre Pro, Mexican Hero (coming soon!)
Brave Knights & Dragons Birthday Party
Earlier this week we celebrated a 9th birthday! How is my snuggly little baby already NINE?! I was still pregnant with him when I started this little blog… He is such a fun, thoughtful, hilarious, and loving little guy and has been such a blessing to our family!
The older boys were gone all week attending Quo Vadis Days, our diocesan vocations retreat/camp, and we thought about saving the themed birthday party until they returned, but on the morning of his birthday we decided to just have it on his actual birthday, as we always do, even though I hadn’t even started preparing. I loaded all five of the younger children into the Suburban and we headed to town for supplies. I don’t go shopping with all of them very frequently anymore and we had a fun morning. Our first stop was at the coffee drive-thru for his free birthday smoothie, then on to the party store to pick up a piñata (they were out of dragons but she sold me the store display at a discount!), and our last stop was the grocery store for drumsticks, veggies, candy/snacks for the piñata, and some cake decorating supplies. Sometimes the best and most enjoyable celebrations are thrown together at the last minute!
The girls covered the table in a red table cloth and set up the little boys’ Medieval Castle and some of their Schleich Crusaders as decorations, while I hung up the banner I made for our last Medieval Birthday party (you can download my printable Knight Banner document here), adding some Fleur De Lis Whirls (see first picture) to it this time as well.
The second set we gave him (also on sale right now!) was the LEGO Creator Lakeside Lodge. The kids all pointed out the moose which immediately reminded them of our trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone last summer. Such a great vacation!
He was so funny to watch as he opened and read aloud his card from Grandpa and Grandma G:
Medieval Castle Cake & Brave Knights Cupcakes
- 3 – packages cake mix + ingredients
- 2 – 9×9 baking pans
- 2 – 6″ round baking pans
- baking spray
- Chocolate frosting
- 4 sugar cones
- gold color mist (I already had gold and silver in the cupboard and we decided that the gold looked the best)
- 2 Chessmen cookies
- 16 Chocolate Creme Oreo cookies
- 1 KitKat
- 24 KitKat minis
- 2 pretzel sticks
- candy rocks (optional)
- Knights & Dragons Toob (optional)
After the cakes and cupcakes had cooled I trimmed the tops of the cakes and flipped over one to place on the top of the other.
The 2016 Rocky Mountain Catholic Home Educators Conference
Meet the Masters :: Joan Miró
like notes that shape music.” ~ Joan Miró
We used the lesson for ages 10-Adult, and only my oldest four completed this particular unit study, while the youngest three continued reading a book they had been enjoying.
Joan Miró (“Juan” mee-ROE)
Spanish Painter (1893-1983)
Anything is possible in the dreamlike, imaginative world of Surrealist Miro! For this Spanish artist, feelings were more important than realism. His imagination gave him a magician’s touch of changing the nature, size, and meaning of whatever he came across in real life.
Art Activity Emphasis: Abstract, Surrealistic Shapes
Vocabulary: Surrealism, Mood, Abstract, Shape, Overlap, Squiggle, Line, Foreground, Background, Contours, Still Life
One 12″x18″ sheet of newsprint (placemat)
Three 6″ x 9″ pieces of construction paper in the following colors: 1 red, 1 blue, 1 yellow
Paper towel
Black Markers (extra-fine pointed tip)
Red or Blue (we used Blue or Yellow) powdered tempera paint and Cotton balls (Sprinkle 3 small shakes on each sheet of newsprint at the appropriate time during the lesson.)
Pencil
Scissors
{pretty, happy, funny, real}
Celebrating the Saints :: Saint Germaine
Today, June 15th, is the feast of St. Germaine Cousin, a French saint who was born in 1579.
“From her birth she seemed marked out for suffering; she came into the world with a deformed hand and the disease of scrofula, and, while yet an infant, lost her mother. Her father soon married again, but his second wife treated Germaine with much cruelty. Under pretence of saving the other children from the contagion of scrofula she persuaded the father to keep Germaine away from the homestead, and thus the child was employed almost from infancy as a shepherdess. When she returned at night, her bed was in the stable or on a litter of vine branches in a garret. In this hard school Germaine learned early to practise humility and patience. She was gifted with a marvellous sense of the presence of God and of spiritual things, so that her lonely life became to her a source of light and blessing. To poverty, bodily infirmity, the rigours of the seasons, the lack of affection from those in her own home, she added voluntary mortifications and austerities, making bread and water her daily food. Her love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and for His Virgin Mother presaged the saint. She assisted daily at the Holy Sacrifice; when the bell rang, she fixed her sheep-hook or distaff in the ground, and left her flocks to the care of Providence while she heard Mass. Although the pasture was on the border of a forest infested with wolves, no harm ever came to her flocks.” – Catholic Encyclopedia
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| Saint Germaine Coloring Page • Stockmar Beeswax Stick Crayons |
Last night I purchased, downloaded, and printed this beautiful Saint Germaine coloring page from Stella Marigold Art. You can find it over at Etsy here. The kids colored while I read aloud the story of Saint Germaine and the Sheep.
Using supplies I already had on hand, I came up with “Saint Germaine’s Flock of Sheep Cupcakes” for an afternoon treat! I posted the details and directions over at Catholic Cuisine.
Celebrating the Saints :: Saint Anthony of Padua
Today we celebrated the feast of St. Anthony! “St. Anthony of Padua is one of the most famous disciples of St. Francis of Assisi. He was a famous preacher and worker of miracles in his own day, and throughout the eight centuries since his death he has so generously come to the assistance of the faithful who invoke him, that he is known throughout the world.” (Read more over at EWTN...)
We spent some time this afternoon celebrating his feast with an inspiring story, beautiful stained glass coloring pages, an outdoor scavenger hunt, and some fun “multitude of fish” themed snacks recalling the story of St. Anthony’s sermon to the fish.
STORY TIME
Animals of God: Volume One by Susan Peek
Additional books about St. Anthony from our collection:
St. Anthony (Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children) by Bart Tesoriero
Saint Anthony of Padua (More Saints: Lives and Illuminations) by Ruth Sanderson
Saint Anthony of Padua: Proclaimer of the Good News
St. Anthony and the Christ Child by Helen Walker Homan
St. Anthony of Padua Coloring Book
A Rich Young Man: A Novel Based on the Life of Saint Anthony of Padua
Saint Anthony: The Wonder Worker of Padua
Our favorite audio stories about St. Anthony:
The Hungry Gray Mule from Regina Martyrum Productions
Seeker of the Lost: The Story of Saint Anthony (Glory Stories: Volume VI)
Windeatt Audio Bundle from TAN Books
COLORING PAGES
Saint Anthony Coloring Pages from St. Anne’s Helper
& Saint Anthony from Fenestrae Fidei
Dear St. Anthony, pray for me to the Little Jesus, whom thou didst hold so lovingly in thine arms. Obtain for me the grace to love Him with all my heart. Amen.
(Prayer to Saint Anthony from Jesus Make Me Worthy)
ST. ANTHONY’S OUTDOOR SCAVENGER HUNT
“Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around:
Something is lost and needs to be found!!”
You can find the link to my “St. Anthony’s Outdoor Scavenger Hunt” in the archives.
CATHOLIC CUISINE
St. Anthony’s Sermon to the Fishes Cupcakes
Remember that batch of cupcakes I made last week?
I decorated 8 more of them today for the feast of St. Anthony!
Due to one of our daughter’s allergies, I’ve been trying to find alternatives to food coloring when possible. Over the weekend I happened to notice the Scandinavian Swimmers at Trader Joe’s. I picked up a bag thinking they’d be a perfect (dye free) alternative for this year’s “A Multitude of Fish Cupcakes”. I used Fluffy White frosting and created little peaks on the top of each cupcake so the fish and other sea creatures could peak out of the whitewater to listen to St. Anthony’s Sermon!
Our local store didn’t have the Smores Goldfish this year so I opted for the Vanilla Cupcake and Fudge Brownie. I posted over on Instagram that I probably shouldn’t have doubled the recipe, but I forgot for a moment that I have teen boys living in my home… 😉 If somehow there ends up being extra we can save it for the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul later this month!
You can find the recipe over at Catholic Cuisine.
“A Multitude of Fish” Trail Mix
NOVENA TO ST. ANTHONY
Say once a day for nine days, especially beginning on June 4 and ending on June 12, the eve before the Feast of Saint Anthony June 13. Some pray a Novena to Saint Anthony on thirteen consecutive Tuesdays, according to Pope Leo XIII’s instructions, or on all Tuesdays.
O White lily of purity, sublime example of poverty, true mirror of humility, resplendent star of sanctity, O glorious Saint Anthony, who didst enjoy the sweet privilege of receiving into thy arms the Infant Jesus, I beseech thee to take me under thy powerful protection. Thou in whom the power of working miracles shines forth among the other gifts of God, have pity upon me and come to my aid in this my great need.
(Mention your intentions here).
Cleanse my heart from every disorderly affection; obtain for me a true contrition for my sins and a great love of God and of my neighbor that serving God faithfully in this life, I may come to praise, enjoy and bless Him eternally with thee in Paradise. Amen.
Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be. +
GIVEAWAY
Author Susan Peek has generously offered to send one of my visitors a copy of Animals of God Volume One and Animals of God Volume Two! The winner will be selected and announced in this post next Tuesday, June 21, 2016. Please visit Susan Peek’s website and sign up for her author newsletter!
Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter box below:
Saint Anthony, Ora Pro Nobis!
End-of-School Interviews for 2015-2016
The summer before last Chiquita painted a lovely Chickadees and Lilacs Paint-by-Number. She asked for another paint-by-number for her birthday and she is doing a beautiful job painting her Goldfinches! I’ll try and post pictures soon.
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