Candlemas Cookies
 |
| showerofroses: Even the high schoolers show up when there are cookies involved 😉 You can find our Candlemas Cookies with Drip Plates in the archives and over at Catholic Cuisine. |
Bargain Priced Books :: Saint Valentine
 |
| A Time To Keep • LOVE Is… • Saint Valentine • Cranberry Valentine |
We’ve owned a copy of this lovely book for many years, but I’m considering ordering another copy or two to give as gifts, or perhaps have them shipped directly (free with Amazon Prime!) to a couple of our Godchildren as a little St. Valentine’s Day surprise.
Ladybug Warriors :: Praying for the Unborn
While many from around the country participated in the March for Life, I spent the afternoon at home teaching my children about the culture of life and praying for the unborn.
Craft Supplies:
- Red, Black, and Green Construction Paper (we used card stock)
- Ladybug Template & Hail Mary Prayer Card (download here)
- Hole Punch (for punching black spots out of paper/card stock to use as spots)
- Black Crayon
- Glue
- Googly Eyes (2 per child)
 |
| They all said they colored me as the “pregnant mom” (pregnant with them) and, apparently, they all interpret my hair color and highlights differently. lol I’m not quite sure what to think of that huge blond streak in the middle picture! I actually haven’t had my hair cut or highlighted since last June…. It’s time to make an appointment! |
We ended the lesson with some words from our Archbishop and a prayer for life. ♥
Under Construction :: A LEGO Cathedral, Phase 2
Inside the cathedral, you can see the beginnings of the Stations of the Cross, seven on each side.
He then added pillars, making sure you could see each station in between the actual pillars.
38th Birthday Daybook
Outside my window…
Rain, rain, rain… lots of rain this weekend! In fact we currently have a flood warning. Our children keep hoping it will turn to snow, especially after seeing all the snow on the way to the boys’ out-of-town hockey game last weekend, but it’s too warm here in the valley. We’ve had more snow than usual this winter, but it never sticks around for long. It was the snowiest December on record up in the mountains around us!
I am thankful…
Even though Sean and our oldest two were out of town Friday-Saturday for the boys’ high school robotics tournament, I still had such a fun birthday with family and friends. We headed to the rink at 9:30 yesterday morning, for a game and practice. My brother and his family showed up to visit for awhile and then ended up having my five youngest over for the afternoon while I met up with a friend for lunch. After that we headed to my parents home for dinner. It was such a nice day!
It’s hockey season! Each week our eight year old is the first player suited up on the bench waiting for his game to start. He looks forward to his hockey game all week long!
Do you remember last year’s End-of-School Interviews? Well, our oldest daughter is getting her wish! The girls were so excited to start the Learn-to-Play Hockey Program last week. We are at the rink so much already, what’s one more hour a week, right? 😉
Celebrating the liturgical year…
I ordered extra candles from the Cloister Shoppe last October to save for Candlemas, but will probably order a few more beeswax tapers to have blessed this year as well. You can find and scroll through all our past Candlemas posts, including our Candlemas Cookies, in the archives here.
From the kitchen…
My mom asked if there was anything special I wanted for my birthday this year…. Yes, as a matter of fact, there is a special cake I had wanted to make for Thanksgiving or Christmas and never had the extra time or energy. I told her that was the only thing I wanted and I even had most of the special ingredients, including the arrowroot starch and unflavored beef gelatin. If anyone could pull it off it would be my mom! She is amazing in the kitchen, especially when it comes to cooking or baking healthy and healing foods.
Not only did she pull off the cake, she made a delicious dinner for all of us, and even had my dad pick up balloons. He wouldn’t agree to the “38 balloons!” that she requested (hahaha! I can not picture my dad picking up any balloons at the store, let alone thirty-eight…) but he did bring home eight!
I am working…
My birthday gift to myself this year? Hitting “Weight Maintenance Mode” for the first time in at least thirteen years! I only “maintained” my weight loss for about a day last time, finding out I was pregnant the next day with our oldest daughter, so really it’s the first time since I got married. It’s been a long, hard road, but I’m so grateful that I discovered the Autoimmune Protocol last March and have been able to start regaining my health, and losing all the extra weight as an added benefit!
Here is a little update from the various charts in my TargetWeight app this morning:
I am going…
to start going through all the clothes in my closet again soon. I have very few pieces of clothing that fit! Since last March I have dropped from a large to a small (or loose fitting medium) in tops, and from a size 12 or 14 to a 2 or 4 (depending on the brand) in pants/skirts… Crazy!
I am hoping…
I wouldn’t mind losing up to five more pounds, toning, and working on building muscle, but I really don’t want to lose any more than that and need to figure out how to get enough calories in my limited diet to maintain my weight… I’m also hoping that I will start having some success adding additional foods back into my diet. So far I haven’t been very successful and it’s been incredibly frustrating to say the least.
I am praying…
for so many intentions, including my mom. At this point she has decided to “wait and watch” to see if her tumor grows before scheduling surgery. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for her, and for my husband’s parents. We are continuing to pray that my mom’s tumor starts to shrink (she has been trying a number of alternatives) or that at least it doesn’t grow any more…
Pondering these words…
from a homily given by St. John Paul II back in 1979:
“In order that Christian marriage may favor the total good and development of the married couple, it must be inspired by the Gospel, and thus be open to new life—new life to be given and accepted generously. The couple is also called to create a family atmosphere in which children can be happy, and lead full and worthy human and Christian lives.
To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others and share their burdens (cf. Gal 6:2; Phil 2 :2). Each one must show concern, not only for his or her own life, but also for the lives of the other members of the family: their needs, their hopes, their ideals. Decisions about the number of children and the sacrifices to be made for them must not be taken only with a view to adding to comfort and preserving a peaceful existence. Reflecting upon this matter before God, with the graces drawn from the Sacrament, and guided by the teaching of the Church, parents will remind themselves that it is certainly less serious to deny their children certain comforts or material advantages than to deprive them of the presence of brothers and sisters, who could help them to grow in humanity and to realize the beauty of life at all its ages and in all its variety.
If parents fully realized the demands and the opportunities that this great sacrament brings, they could not fail to join in Mary’s hymn to the author of life—to God—who has made them his chosen fellow-workers.”
I haven’t had much time to read to the kids this past week, but my dad has been reading to his grandchildren! He stopped by one afternoon, when he had a little break in his work day, with a book he has had since he was in kindergarten. Last night, as soon as we arrived to their house, he started reading from Winnie the Pooh. I loved it when he read to my siblings and I when we were growing up, and I love hearing him read to my own children even more!
Around the house…
Sean and the boys beat us home last night, and we ended up coming home to a warm fire, clean kitchen (I had left a mess and a sink full of dishes), homemade cards and pretty flowers on the island.
I sure love my large immediate and extended family and all my dear friends, including all my friends here at Shower of Roses. I’m so blessed to have you all in my life! I didn’t have time to respond to everyone, at least not yet, but it was so much fun to read through all the emails, texts, and messages thoughout the day. Here is one from my sister Jenny that put a huge smile on my face late last night:
 |
| “I want to wish my big sis Jessica a happy birthday! She’s one year and two months older than me so we had lots of adventures together as little girls. I bought my first car from her and she helped teach me to drive. She helped train me for my first real job when I was 16 and she was 17. We’ve worked in business together at various times and I’ve always learned a lot from her. She’s so smart and successful with whatever she puts her mind to. But most of all she’s the most incredible mother and teacher to her seven children that she home schools, as well as a wonderful wife to her husband. Thanks Jessy for inspiring me and loving me. Happy birthday!!!! xoxoxoxoxo” |
This week’s plans…
Mass, homeschooling, additional classes, tutors, work, hockey… pretty much the same as usual.
{this moment}
Under Construction :: A LEGO Cathedral
Last spring our pastor sent out a parish wide survey and feasibility study seeking out our thoughts and recommendations regarding the possibility of building a new church for our parish.
Construction has continued to take place ever since these pictures were taken last April (2015), using additional bricks purchased last summer and even more LEGO found in Ranger’s stocking on Christmas morning. However, just like our parish’s plans, this project is also way over budget and is on hold for now pending additional funds LEGO. 😉
Here are some of the LEGO sets used for this project so far:
The Battle of Helm’s Deep and Urak-hai Army
“Saint Statues” from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Game
Long White Candles – railing from Creator Lighthouse
Classic Style Limousine from the Palace Cinema and Camper Van
Demolition Service Truck (and porta potty for construction site)
Reading Aloud at the Rink
“Hey, your little brother is so cool!” said one of the other high school hockey players to our two high schoolers just before their practice, “Yeah, he was reading to us!”
Free Christmas Story :: The Little Lamb’s Wish
I have been meaning to share this link since before Christmas, but fell behind here on the blog as usual… Better late than never, right? Anyway, for a limited time Regina Martyrum Productions is offering a FREE DOWNLOAD of The Little Lamb’s Wish with coupon code NATIVITY15.
A bored little lamb on a wintery hillside, with nothing to do but graze. While other sheep are content munching on grass all day, Little Lamb is growing impatient with his day-in, day-out hum-drum existence. He longs for adventure, for something special to happen. When his mother suggests that he wish very hard, Little Lamb sets about wishing with all his might.
Then one day, crowds of travelers appear on the road, heading to nearby Bethlehem. When Little Lamb spots a weary man with a beautiful Lady on a donkey, he feels certain his wish for something special is about to come true. Never again will his life be the same.
Celebrating Epiphany
~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life with Like Mother, Like Daughter. ~
 |
| On the twelfth day of Christmas… {Making plans for our annual “Twelve Days of Christmas Dinner Party” which we’ll have on the traditional feast of Epiphany this year, if I can manage to pull it together and get to the grocery store tonight… Yesterday and today were just too packed with school, work, activities, and appointments to spend any extra time in the kitchen!} #Christmas2015 #twelvedaysofchristmas #stilladjustingtothisseasonoffamilylife #itmightbejustacrowncakethisyear |
 |
| The 12 Days of Christmas: The Story Behind a Favorite Christmas Song |
 |
| I decided to keep it simple this year and set aside our usual Twelve Days of Christmas dinner party/plans until next year, but we did bake a batch of cupcakes late last night! #CatholicCuisine #twelvedaysofchristmas #eggnogcupcakes #eggnogandrumfrosting |
 |
| Happy Epiphany! This year’s King Cake is just a ring/crown of Eggnog & Rum Cupcakes, but I did tuck a chocolate coin into three of them, one to represent each of the three gifts brought by the Magi to the baby Jesus. #Catholic #epiphanyofthelord #catholiccuisine #whowillfindthecoin |
 |
| Our middle all found the coins this year and received little gifts. Bud insisted that it needed to be “the FOUR LITTLE ones!” pointing to “one, two, three, and FOUR!” being his cute little four-year-old self! |
 |
| He noticed the stack of books I left on the kitchen island and pulled over a barstool to sit down and read ❤️ |
 |
| I should have known he would insist on “the cupcake with the GOLDEN RINGS!!!” and start singing for us once again! |
 |
| Finally getting back to our history books and we finished the last few chapters of our current read aloud this afternoon… Perfect timing for the final chapter titled “Christmas, A.D. 800” about the crowning of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor! |
0 Comments