New Additions to Our March Book Basket
In addition to our Lenten devotions, I plan to begin reading the following book aloud each day beginning on the “Eve of the First Day” and continuing through the “Thirty-First Day” of March and praying the Nine Day Novena to St. Joseph and the Thirty Days’ Prayer to St. Joseph, found in the back of the book, for special intentions. The section for each day is only a few pages long and includes a short reflection followed by a prayer for the day and resolutions. I haven’t read it yet, but it looks excellent.
(Also available directly from St. Augustine Academy Press)
St. Teresa of Avila tells us, “I took for my advocate and lord the glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him…he gave me greater blessings than I could ask of him. I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant.”
This hidden saint, the blessed foster-father of our Lord and protector of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a powerful intercessor for us, as well as a model of perfect virtue. The bible records not a single word of his, yet we know that in the holy house at Nazareth, the young Jesus-the Word made Flesh-was subject to him. Through this series of daily meditations for the month of March, we may increase our devotion to this great saint while also making a fruitful use of the days of Lent. As patron not only of fathers and of the worker, but of the universal church, all of us-men and women, old and young-would do well to look to him in our every need.
I am slowly working on building up our collection of books from the In the Footsteps of the Saints Series. Here are our new additions for the feasts of St. Patrick, St. Benedict, and St. Perpetua.
(Also available directly from Sacred Heart Books and Gifts)
(Also available directly from Sacred Heart Books and Gifts)
(Also available directly from Sacred Heart Books and Gifts)
I just ordered a copy of this book so I haven’t seen it in person yet, but I think it’s going to be a fun addition to our collection. I plan to give it to the kids on St. Patrick’s Day along with a couple other little treats. (Note: You can “Look Inside” on the Amazon page for the Kindle Edition.)
(Published by Pauline Books and Media)
Kieran is braver and stronger than most eleven-year-old boys. And ever since his father’s death, he’s been doing his best to take care of his mother and little brother. In fifth-century Ireland, though, there aren’t many options. When Kieran rescues a wolf pup and meets Saint Patrick, his choices become even more difficult. Should he leave home to join Carrick’s warriors? Will someone discover the wolf he’s been hiding and kill it? But the hardest question for Kieran to answer is the one Patrick had asked him on a moonlit night: What does your heart hunt for? Join Kieran as he cares for an orphaned wolf pup and searches for a shield strong enough to protect everything-and everyone-he loves. Filled with well-researched facts about the people, animals, and customs of fifth-century Ireland, The Wolf and the Shield is historical fiction for children ages 7-10. Exciting and fast-paced, this adventure novel explores what friendship with a saint might be like, showing Saint Patrick as approachable and understanding of the challenges of a young boy. The Wolf and the Shield: An Adventure with Saint Patrick will stimulate young imaginations to realize that the saints are holy but also human and approachable, and they are always good friends.
There is a good chance that we will be spending St. Patrick’s day on the road this year and I’m going to fill up a memory card with audio stories for the drive including Torch of Fire – St. Patrick from Regina Martyrum Productions!
Torch of Fire – St. Patrick
This is the story of an apostle, chosen by Jesus Christ himself, who picked up the fiery torch of truth and bravely carried it into a land of utter darkness 400 years after Our Lord had risen from the dead. It was the land of Ireland and this magnificent man not only converted that whole country, but also kindled the fire so brightly that we still feel its warmth around the world today. This is a story of St. Patrick
Before I go I have a little gift to send one of my visitors for the upcoming feast of St. Patrick! Simply leave a comment on this post by next Saturday, March 6, 2016 and one commenter will be randomly chosen to receive Patrick: Brave Shepherd of the Emerald Isle (DVD) and St. Patrick (Tiny Saints). I’ll announce the winner in this post and also contact them by email next Sunday.
Update: Thank you all for participating in this week’s giveaway! Congratulations, Carrie!
Gospel Time Trekkers {Sponsored Review}
“Three ordinary kids, six extraordinary adventures, one incredible quest! The Gospel Time Trekkers series follows the adventures of three siblings as they travel back to Gospel times to find Jesus and learn to discover him in their everyday lives. This wonderful historical fiction series shares Christian faith and values in a creative way for today’s kids while remaining true to Bible culture and scholarship.”
Hearty Healing Beef Stew
I modified the original ingredients (serves 4 to 5) from The Healing Kitchen to make enough stew for our family of nine:
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3-4 pounds beef stew meat
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 2 large yellow onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme (This time I used 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick (I am out so I used 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon)
- 2 (1-inch) pieces fresh orange peel
- 8 cups Beef Broth
- 1 – 15 oz can Sweet Potato Puree
- 1 cup red wine
- 8-10 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (the first time I used 1 bag of Trader Joe’s Carrots of Many Colors)
- 1 head of celery, chopped
- 1-2 bunches of kale, chopped
Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the meat, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and brown on all sides for 8-10 minutes total, but avoid getting a crust on the outside. (Make sure you scrape up all those caramelized brown bits from the bottom of your pot to give your stew a deep, rich flavor!)
Stir in the onion, thyme, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, orange peel, and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant.
Add the broth, sweet potato puree, and wine to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid, and cook for 1 hour.
For the feast of St. Brigid, the girls also made our “St. Brigid’s Cross Dinner Rolls” again this year to serve alongside the stew for the rest of the family who aren’t on a grain-free diet. I love how they turn out!
Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles {Sponsored Giveaway}
This week one of my visitors here at Shower of Roses will WIN two soul inspiring CDs from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles: Lent at Ephesus and Easter at Ephesus!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
You can also order them directly from the sisters!
Thor’s Hammer :: An Avenger Themed Birthday Cake
Thor’s Hammer :: An Avenger Themed Birthday Cake
As I mentioned over at Instagram, this cake wasn’t one of my best, but considering I hadn’t even come up with a theme until the night before, I was really excited with how the birthday party came together! Even though the cake didn’t turn out exactly like I originally envisioned, it really did turn out neat and was a definitely a hit with the birthday boy and the rest of my family. Thank you all for the sweet comments as well!
Here’s what I used:
- 2 – 8″ chocolate cakes
- chocolate frosting
- Oreo Cookies
- Candy Melts (Light Cocoa, White and Black)
- Silver Sugar Sheet (leftover from the Hockey Jersey Birthday Cake)
- 1 Batch of Rice Krispie Treats (3 TBS Butter, 40 large marshmallows, 6 cups Rice Krispies – Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.)
While I baked the cake I had a couple helpers making the Rice Krispie Treats which I planned to use to mold into the hammer for on top of the cake.
With buttered hands we shaped a rectangular block for the hammer head and then a roll for the handle. We had the equivalent of one or two treats leftover for my helpers to sample. 😉
This is what happens when you forget to “cool completely” before trying to frost the cake… Whoops!
After it had a chance to finish cooling, I cut a chunk out of the top of the cake to sit the hammer down into for stability, added a little of the trimmed cake to one side to create a bit of a mound, and then added the rest of the frosting.
One of the girls crushed about six or seven Oreos to place on the top and all around the base of the cake. Not only did it taste great (according to my family) it also helped disguise the horrible job I did with the frosting!
Fondant would have probably worked so much better, but I was trying to use up some of the decorating supplies I had in the cupboard. I mixed some white and black candy melts to create gray for the hammerhead and then used light cocoa for the handle. It was so hard to get it to look smooth over the Rice Krispies, plus I was in a hurry so I didn’t spend that much time on it either. I then used some strips of the silver sugar sheet to wrap around the handle and cover the end. Once it had a chance to dry we placed in on top of the cake. All done!
You can see the rest of the party here:
The Little Flower: A Parable of St. Thérèse of Liseux {Sponsored Review & Giveaway}
Happy First Sunday of Lent and Feast of St. Valentine to all my visitors here at Shower of Roses! We are heading out to my parents to celebrate my brother’s birthday (he was born on St. Valentine’s day 26 years ago today) but first I wanted to share a new picture book from Peanut Butter & Grace with you all…
“Becky Arganbright has adapted St. Thérèse’s lesson of the little flowers into a delightful parable for children. The young Thérèse learns that even though she might be little, with God’s help, her littleness can be a way of doing great things for God.”
I’ve been looking for books to include in our children’s Easter Baskets next month and am excited to add this parable of St. Thérèse and her “Little Way” to our youngest daughter’s basket, especially since she is named after this beloved saint.
The inspiring book is filled with beautiful watercolor illustrations and will make a lovely addition to our collection of children’s books about dear St. Thérèse!
Peanut Butter & Grace has generously offered to send THREE of my visitors a softcover edition of The Little Flower: A Parable of St. Thérèse of Liseux! The winners will be selected and announced in this post next Sunday. The books will be shipped to the winners directly from Peanut Butter & Grace.
No Greater Love – The Story of St. Valentine
“Searching for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift for a loved one? Whether it be your spouse, a friend or your children, you need look no further than this inspiring and heartwarming story about the saint whose self-sacrificing love and message of giving has come down through nearly 17 centuries and remembered every February 14th – Saint Valentine himself.
How this obscure Roman priest and martyr, who neither courted nor married, became the patron saint of lovers has led to many stories and legends about him. Yet this well-researched and magnificently produced play portrays Saint Valentine as he surely must have been – a humble, kind and selfless follower of Christ whose charity always sought out those who needed it most. Young and old alike will be both entertained and edified by this heroic story. Indeed a gift worth giving!”
Regina Martyrum Productions just released the story of St. Valentine – No Greater Love! I’m hoping to download it tonight so we can listen to it during our drive to Mass in the morning.
Marvel’s Avengers :: Thor Birthday Party
Yesterday we celebrated Ranger’s 14th birthday! FOURTEEN!!! Didn’t he just turn seven?!? They are sure growing up fast, but I am really enjoying this new season of family life with teens. Our older boys are turning into such amazing young men!
I asked our oldest son if he had any suggestions for Thor… He replied, “Ummmm, Pop-Tarts?” Great idea! We don’t usually buy Pop-Tarts (when I buy toaster pastries I opt for the Nature’s Path or Trader Joe’s brands) but we went with official Pop-Tarts for the birthday boy. Sean picked out the S’mores flavor and it was a hit. The birthday boy found the box on the kitchen counter in the morning along with a quote from the movie. Even though the “entire box” was for him, he still shared some of them with his siblings!
I decided to put together a snack and popcorn bar for our movie night, incorporating popcorn add-ins for each of the various Avengers!
Black Widow Bites: Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Flavor
A google image search provides tons of inspiration for Avengers themed party foods! I decided, for our teen’s birthday, to go with pizza.
I picked up six frozen cheese pizzas, a package of pepperoni, and some veggies Saturday night and they came together quick and easy on Sunday afternoon! The birthday boy was so surprised when he arrived home from getting his coffee to see them all assembled. I did have some help!
Captain America’s Shield Pizza: Pepperoni and Star Shaped Slice of Cheese
Thor’s Hammer Pizza: Red & Yellow Frozen Peppers and three slices of Turkey Lunch Meat (Canadian Bacon would have probably worked better, but we had this in the fridge and the kids loved it!)
Incredible Hulk Pizza: Lots of Green Veggies (we used broccoli, green pepper, green onions, asparagus, and sliced brussels sprouts)
Black Widow Pizza: Sliced Black Olives and a slice from the end of a vine ripened tomato
Iron Man Pizza: Pepperoni, extra cheddar cheese, two slices of mushrooms
I was going to grab some “Java Thunder” ice cream, since Thor (that hammer-wielding god associated with thunder) liked coffee so much, but the store was out so we went with “Chocolate Brownie Thunder” instead.
Homemade cards and book markers from his siblings, a card/gift from Sean’s parents, a gift certificate for an hour long golf lesson from my parents, a new track jacket (Costco has a great deal on these – Captain has the Dark Gray and we got Ranger the Gray), the complete trilogy of The Hobbit (Extended Edition), and lots of LEGO… He was pretty excited!
I had purchased The Louvre last Thanksgiving during a Barnes & Noble sale and ended up not needing it for Christmas. Ranger loves the Architecture series and this will be another great addition to his collection.
Ranger’s last gift was an even bigger surprise. It was another amazing deal I found last year, this one from Amazon, for a “like new but damaged box” LEGO Tower of Orthanac! He now has plenty of bricks to keep him busy for a long time at least another week or so… maybe a little longer due to the boy’s full high school and hockey schedule! Now if I could just find a great deal on some gray roof tiles for that cathedral…. 😉
Sponsor Love :: Quarterly Update & Current Specials {scroll to the bottom for a little giveaway!}
It’s time for another quarterly update on my sponsors here at Shower of Roses! I generally try to post these on the first of the month, at the beginning of each quarter, but I’ve been struggling to keep up now that I am working part-time outside of the home on top of home educating and our crazy (but fun!) hockey schedule. Life is FULL at the moment! 🙂
I have a few new and returning sponsors this quarter including Lent at Ephesus (De Montfort Music), Peanut Butter & Grace, and Keepsakes by Carrie, in addition to many continuing sponsors. Read below for updates and specials from all these great businesses and be sure to keep them in mind while looking for inspiring resources for Lent and beautiful, faith filled gifts for Easter.
Please welcome my new sponsors:
In addition to Lent at Ephesus, our family loves the rest of the CDs in the series as well which include Easter at Ephesus, Advent at Ephesus, and Angles and Saints at Ephesus.
“The mission of Peanut Butter & Grace is to help Catholic parents raise children who know and love Christ and his Church. We do this by providing digital and print resources that assist parents in forming their children in the faith within the daily life of their family. All of our products are made for Catholic parents—either to use themselves (think of 77 Ways to Pray with Your Kids), or to hand to their kids (think of the Illuminated Rosary prayer books).
Our primary audience is “middle pew Catholics”—parents who attend Mass regularly and want to do more to integrate the faith into their family life, but don’t know where to begin. They might even say, “I can’t teach my children about the faith because I don’t know how.” These parents are probably both working to support their family, living the crazy-busy lifestyle of the typical working- and middle-class American family.”
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| From Instagram: “I will sing always, even if my roses must be gathered from amid thorns; and the longer and sharper the thorns, the sweeter shall be my song.” ~ excerpt from Little Lessons from St. Thérèse of Lisieux This sweet book is available directly from Peanut Butter & Grace or Amazon |
I have really been enjoying looking through some of the books published by Peanut Butter & Grace, especially those in honor of St. Therese, and will be hosting a giveaway soon!
Read more about Peanut Butter & Grace here, like them on Facebook, and subscribe to The Bread (their weekly printable family faith formation planner) here!
Visit Keepsakes by Carrie for personalized prayer cards including Baptism, First Holy Communion, Engagement with an engagement prayer for the bride and groom, Holy Matrimony, Remembrance for deaths and miscarriages, Enthronement Keepsakes, Birth Announcements, Name day cards, and more!
Prayer Pillowcases are more than just a pretty place to lay your head! They’re a unique way to bring Catholic art and prayer into your home. And a practical way to share the Faith with your family and friends. Our distinctive line combines original art and favorite Catholic prayers that appeal to all ages and transform pillows from the ordinary to the divine! Honor a special occasion or make any occasion special with the gift of a joyful, lasting (and personalizable) Prayer Pillowcase. We’re always working on new designs and hope you’ll visit again soon to see even more ways to help your loved ones begin and each day with a prayerful heart.
Prayer Pillowcases will soon be offering three new pillowcases – they just need to add the prayers and Saints Peter, Anthony and Philomena will be ready to join their pretty, practical Prayer Pillowcases!
Catholic Child offers so many beautiful resources for lent including the Stations of the Cross Grotto Craft Kit (You can see us crafting ours here and our completed grottos here!), a Last Supper Puzzle (We put a similar one together back in 2011!), and many great gift ideas for Easter Baskets, First Holy Communions, and more.
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| Crafting our Stations of the Cross – kit from Illuminated Ink (also available at Amazon and from Catholic Child!) |
Culture of Life Studies has been releasing some great materials to help parents and teachers introduce the Culture of Life to our children. Last month we enjoyed the Ladybug Warriors mini-lesson while praying for the unborn. (Free download can be found here.)
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Jesse Tree Treasures
“Our shop provides families ornaments and tools to share the traditions of the different seasons of the church year, like the Jesse Tree, O Antiphons, Advent, Lent, Easter and other aspects inspired by Jesus. We create ornaments that would help others share their faith with their children and last for years to come.”
Gail Giron Designs
Gail makes such beautiful rosaries and faith-inspired jewelry, including these beautiful St. Therese Rose Earrings which I recently ordered for myself. So pretty!
Behold Publications, LLC
“Behold Publications, LLC is more than just a publisher! Family owned and operated since its founding in 1999, we have developed great Catholic clubs like the Little Flowers Girls’ Club and Blue Knights Catholic Boys’ Clubs for Catholic girls and boys ages 5 and up. What makes these clubs unique is that they are at their core faithfully Catholic. We don’t “tack on” Catholic identity as other clubs might, but begin and end with a Catholic world view. We also believe that local clubs best operate the way they see fit, so there is no national organization, policies, registration or dues. Groups can easily adjust the program to fit their local needs. Behold Publications also produce a line of historical fiction based on American history and American saints for ages 7-15.”
Audrey Eclectic
“A unique collection of American folk art created in the heart of the Oklahoma prairie. My inspiration comes from literary classics, spooky tales from the past, the pioneering spirit, my home town, Scandinavia and other lands far away.”
You can also follow Audrey Eclectic on Facebook and Instagram for updates!
Subscribe for emails or follow over at Facebook for sales and updates.
Note: They aren’t pictured above, but Naturally Catholic also included little ones with halos for our babies in heaven! ♥
Are you looking for a new veil? Robin creates such lovely veils for ladies, girls, and even dolls!
Almond Rod Toys
Almond Rod Toys makes Saint Blocks that are just the right size for little hands and can be used for imaginative play, building, stacking or collecting. The front has a print of original watercolor artwork. The back has a quote or a prayer chosen to inspire little ones and the one that cleans up behind them. The saint’s name, feast day and patronage are also listed; just enough to be a reminder and an inspiration for further learning.
We also really love all the Blessing Blocks from Almond Rod Toys including the Easter Blessing Blocks which you can see pictured in last year’s Lenten Dinner on Palm Sunday and Good Friday Lenten Dinner {on Holy Saturday}.
Art Angel jewelry designs are born of a love for art and faith. Owner and designer Raphael Fitzgerald holds an M.A. in Art History and specializes in vintage holy card jewelry.
Praying for Lizz
Lent begins next week and I just picked up supplies for our annual Lenten Calendar. Every year we “Pray, Fast, and Give Alms” for various special intentions. This year I want to ask you all to consider joining us in remembering the Lovett family in your own prayers and sacrifices.
I have never met Lizz in person, but we live in the same archdiocese, have exchanged emails, and she is a friend of our youngest daughter’s Godmother. I can not even imagine the heavy cross she is currently carrying and how hard it must be when a mother has to say goodbye to her children.
Please pray for and consider supporting Lizz and her beautiful family!
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