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Bargain Priced Books :: The Paleo Approach

Jun 29, 2016 | , | 0 Comments

The Paleo Approach: Reverse Autoimmune Disease and Heal Your Body has been one of the best and most helpful resources that I have used while trying to improve my health this past year with the autoimmune protocol. I initially checked it out from our local library, but ended up purchasing a copy last Christmas.

Right now it is 70% off over at Amazon! {affiliate link}

From the Archives:

The Autoimmune Protocol :: My Journey Towards Better Health & Weight Loss with the AIP Diet

The Autoimmune Protocol :: Seven Snacks That Helped Me Survive the AIP Diet

Additional Recipes

Meet the Masters :: Rosa Bonheur

Jun 28, 2016 | , | 4 Comments

I’m bouncing around a bit as I catch up on sharing some of the artists we studied this past school year… Rosa Bonheur is the 5th and final artist featured in Track C.  
We completed the unit study for ages 10-Adult in May, just before the end of our school year. 
(It was very challenging for the younger children under 10… They ended up needing a little help getting started on the art project.) 

.: Master Artist Introduction :. 

Rosa Bonheur (boe-NER)

French Painter (1822-1899)

Rosa Bonheur’s love of animals is shown in her realistic paintings. Nature was her favorite subject. We studied symmetry, texture, and value through her warm, inviting paintings.

Art Activity Emphasis: Realistic Drawing of Animals

Media: Chalk

Vocabulary: Realistic, earth-tones, value, highlights, shadow, texture, detail

.: Art Supplies :.

One 9″x 9″ light, medium, or dark brown construction paper
(Students choose from an assortment of shades of brown. A couple of my children choose yellow.)
Paper Towel
Oil Pastels
Masking Tape
Pencil
Completed Learning Packet

Junior Artist 50 Piece Oil Pastels
.: Practice Technique – Symmetrical Shapes, Drawing a Lion :.

When Bud realized that the art project was about lions he ran to get a piece from one of his favorite wooden puzzles. He insisted that his art project needed to match his puzzle piece! 

.: Art Project – The King of the Desert :.

At one point, Rose, Chiquita and Snuggles said “this art project is TOO HARD!” They persevered and, with a little help and encouragement, ended up really enjoying the rest of the project. 

The older kids nicknamed Rose’s lion “Howard.” 
I drew the outline and let Bud color his puzzle piece inspired lion. He loved it! 
(Our puzzle was a gift from my mom. It’s similar to this one, but less animals and with wooden pegs.)

We celebrated the completion of our final art unit study for the 2015-2016 school year with donuts! 

Metal Earth :: Thor’s Hammer

Jun 27, 2016 | , | 0 Comments

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…

Jun 27, 2016 | , , , | 0 Comments

… on a beautiful Sunday afternoon! 

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!

Twinkle Toes is working her way through my childhood collection of Nancy Drew books. 

Chiquita is really enjoying The Puffin in Bloom Collection she received for her birthday a couple months ago and is already over 500 pages into Little Women. 

Snuggles started another one of his Christmas books and is currently enjoying

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}:

We also started a couple new read alouds this week. Author (and dear friend) Suzie Andres gave us these copies of The Adventures of Nathaniel B. Oakes and Never Squeeze a Honeybee: The Continuing Adventures of Nathaniel B. Oakes on Easter Sunday. I started reading the first book to four of the children and by the end of the first chapter I had captured the attention of six of our seven children! (Captain was outside re-reading Ranger’s Apprentice otherwise he probably would have started listening too.) So far we are all enjoying these fun books, about a big family living on a farm, written by a homeschool dad! 
Additional book lists from the archives: 

Brave Knights & Dragons Birthday Party

Jun 25, 2016 | | 0 Comments

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.

.: Medieval Crafts :.
Back in 2012 I purchased this Cardboard Adventure Knight Kit (thinking it would be perfect for Blue Knights but we never got around to using it) so I pulled it out for the birthday boy to assemble and decorate while I got started on his cake.

.: Castle Cake & Brave Knight Cupcakes :.
Next the birthday boy came back inside to check out the cake and add the final touches. 
He said “It turned out better than I even imagined!” 

I posted the Castle Cake tutorial here and you can find the Brave Knights Cupcake Kit here. 
.: Birthday Gift :.

At that point they were all asking when their dad would be home for work so I decided to give him one of his gifts (which had thankfully just arrived!) to entertain them for the next hour or so. 
It was a hit! 

.: Decorating Goblets :. 
One of the birthday boy’s requests was to decorate goblets like we did at his older brother’s party. Can you believe that five years later I still had a leftover package of glasses and some acrylic gems?! I pulled them out and set them on the patio table for the kids to decorate while I finished dinner and their dad grilled the drumsticks. 
.: Feast for a King:. 

“Oh, noooooooooo! Not another one of THOSE dragons….” – Bud, age 4
Fruit Swords
made with strawberries, green grapes, and plastic sword food picks
BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
I also made some hamburger patties and mac-n-cheese. 

MOM! After we say “Cheers!” you have to take a drink!!!

.: Slaying the Dragon :.

After dinner it was time for the piñata!  
I picked ours up at a local party store for around $12 but you can find a similar one here. 
Bud especially loved the dragon and has requested one for one of his next birthdays… 
“After the soldier birthday!” 
He also named the dragon “Chocolate!” I thought it was because he was filled with lots of chocolate, but that wasn’t the reason… “Because he is the same COLOR as chocolate!” 
We filled the piñata with fruit snacks and some chocolates that the kids picked out:
THREE MUSKETEERS 
DUKE OF YORK Peppermint Patties
Hersheys GOLD Nuggets
and
PRINCESS Kisses
It only took Twinkle Toes one swing to take the head off the dragon. 
We tied the rest of the body back onto the rope and the kids insisted that Sean and I each try as well. 
.: More Birthday Gifts :. 
I’m going to skip ahead to presents and then go back to the cake and candles… 
The birthday boy’s siblings raided their piggy banks for dollar bills and made cards. I loved that Chiquita happened to choose the same font that was used on as his birthday banner on the letter she typed. Twinkle Toes spent some of her babysitting earnings on a Bunch O Balloons for her little brother. Rose has been making everyone cards this year with the Scratch Art Notes my parents gave her last Christmas. He loved all his gifts! 
I loved how excited he got (and how excited all his siblings got!) every time he opened a present. In addition to the game he was given earlier in the day, and the Super Soaker I let him pick out while we were out shopping that morning (it works even better with a large soda bottle!), we also gave him two LEGO sets that I had (thankfully) stashed away in my closet. His birthday really snuck up on me this year! 
The first set he opened was the LEGO Van & Caravan.  (Note: It’s 26% off right now and only $14.82. With how excited ALL of my kids got when he opened this set, it might be a really great one to have on hand for any friends birthdays they are invited to this summer.) 

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:

For a Grandson 
who’s the very best, 
“OHHHHH, yeaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!” 
(while fist pumping) 

a really good sport, too…
Here’s hoping that 
your birthday
is a winner – 
just like you! 

“I’m a WINNER!!!” 
.: Happy Birthday :.

Happy 9th Birthday, Snuggles! 

Medieval Castle Cake & Brave Knights Cupcakes

Jun 22, 2016 | , , | 0 Comments

Yesterday we celebrated Snuggles’ 9th birthday! He requested a Knights & Dragons theme and asked if I could please make him a castle cake this year. 

At first we thought would wait until his older brothers get back from summer camp later this week to have his themed party, but at the last minute we decided to just have the celebration on his actual birthday as always and just save his brothers some cake. So, early yesterday morning, I loaded up the car and we all drove to the store for the rest of the supplies! 

I wanted to keep it a little simpler than the last castle cake I made, and preferably with a little less food coloring. I combined and/or modified some ideas I had seen online (I pinned them here) and was very happy with how the cake came together!

Here is what I ended up using: 

I baked one box of cake mix in each of the 9×9 bakers and split the third cake mix between the two small round pans and 8 cupcakes. 

I purchased this darling Brave Knights Cupcake Kit and used 8 of the cupcakes cases and eight toppers, saving the rest for another time. 

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.

I decided to cut a small half circle out of each corner of the square cake for the cookie/cone towers.

I placed the 2 small circle cakes on top of the square bottom and frosted the cake with a layer of chocolate frosting. I popped it in the freezer for about 30 minutes to seal in all the crumbs while I sprayed the cones and Chessmen cookies with some gold color mist. 

I added a second layer of frosting, smoothing it out the best that I could (I stink at frosting cakes), and then placed the Oreos and Gold Sugar Cones in each corner. 

I placed the two Chessman cookies, pretzel sticks, and KitKat at the front of the cake to create the doors and drawbridge, and then finished the cake with some KitKat minis around the top edges of both cakes. 

The birthday boy took care of the rest, adding the Knights & Dragons! 

I’ll be back soon with the rest of the pictures from his Medieval Knights & Dragons birthday party! 

Meet the Masters :: Joan Miró

Jun 17, 2016 | , , | 0 Comments

“I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, 
like notes that shape music.” ~ Joan Miró
Joan Miró is the third artist featured in Track C. We initially skipped over him and moved ahead to study Rembrandt, but ended up going back to complete this unit study last month as well. 

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.



Before I get back to the older kids art project, here is one more picture from later that afternoon, after they had finished watering the garden. The Making of a Knight was one of Snuggles’ favorites from this past school year.  Rose pulled out one of her favorite pop-up books and Bud pulled out one of their knight costumes and his sword. ♥
.: Master Artist Introduction :. 

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

Media: Paper Cutouts and Markers

Vocabulary: Surrealism, Mood, Abstract, Shape, Overlap, Squiggle, Line, Foreground, Background, Contours, Still Life

.: Art Supplies :.

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

One 12″ x 18″ sheet of white construction paper
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
Glue

.: Practice Technique – Abstract Shapes, Overlapping Shapes and Lines, and Abstract Drawing  :.


.: Art Project – Surrealistic Artwork :.

“Would you like to use your imagination even more and think up a title for your artwork?” 
Charlie Brown Garage Sale by Captain
Stargazer – “A Mixture of Confusion and Madness” – by Ranger
In the Clouds by Twinkle Toes
Catch of the Day – “Peaceful and Exciting” – by Chiquita

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Jun 17, 2016 | , , , , | 0 Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life with Like Mother, Like Daughter. ~

{pretty}

We had so much fun celebrating my {pretty} little sister’s college graduation last weekend!  
From her Facebook post: 

What a journey.
It all began with a half scholarship to University of Dallas in Texas starting out as a biology major in pursuit of physical therapy. 
After a year of liberal arts classes, amazing friendships, working at the coffee bar, I was lucky enough to study abroad in Rome for a semester. During this time I was able to SOMEHOW by the grace of God manage a 3.8 GPA AND travel to 5 additional Countries! Upon returning from Rome, I decided that University of Dallas was too far from home and didn’t have the exact college program I wanted. 
I transferred to Oregon State University and changed my major to Exercise Sport Science. I am more than grateful that I took the risk of living with my best friend. Together we took some of the most challenging and amazing classes including Chemistry and Anatomy 😉 
I was able to pay the majority of my schooling thanks to babysitting and waitressing at amazing places like Flat Tail and the Corvallis Country club. Thanks to also working at Coffee Culture I was able to stay caffeinated and energetic in my classes after I FINALLY changed my major to Public Health- Health Promotion/Health Behavior. 
After 5 years of travel, education, friendships, and the NEWMAN CATHOLIC CENTER (my foundation in Corvallis), I finally got my Bachelor’s of Science =)
Excited to see what God has in store for me next. 
-Deo Gratias.
{happy}

The kids were very happy to be playing a game of kickball at Grandpa & Grandma’s with so many of their aunts and uncles! 

{funny}

My amazing parents with 8 of their 12 children. I love my {big, crazy & definitely funny} family!
{real}

Homeschooling definitely has it’s perks, along with occasional complications… Last week the boys received their Varsity Letters for golf. This afternoon we picked up their Varsity Letters for ice hockey. Now they will have to decide which high school’s letterman jacket they’d prefer, because they are way too expensive to buy two of each! #homeschoolproblems 
#twolettermanjackets #varsityasfreshmen

Celebrating the Saints :: Saint Germaine

Jun 15, 2016 | , | 0 Comments

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

We spent a little time after lunch this afternoon learning more about this inspiring saint whose body still remains incorrupt and can be seen in the Church of Pibrac, France.

.: STORY TIME :. 

.: COLORING PAGES :. 

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.

.: SNACK TIME :. 

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.

They didn’t turn out anything like I originally envisioned this morning (I had to improvise since we didn’t have any mini-marshmallows or tootsie rolls) but I loved how they turned out!

(Note: I substituted the pink heart with a white heart on the 8th cupcake for our daughter who is allergic to some food colorings.) 

.: PRAYER :. 

Saint Germaine, look down from Heaven and intercede for the many abused children in our world. Help them to sanctify their sufferings. Strengthen children who suffer the effects of living in broken families. Protect those children who have been abandoned by their parents and live in the streets. Beg God’s mercy on anyone who abuses children. Intercede for handicapped children and their parents. Saint Germaine, you who suffered neglect and abuse so patiently, pray for us. 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

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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

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Posts About:

Shower of Roses Alphabet of Saints

A Papal Unit Study & Lap Book

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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!