{pretty, happy, funny, real}
He wasn’t joking, but he figured it out really quickly when I grinned even bigger and all the kids started giggling! He’s had a long week.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget him asking if I had asked the orthodontist if he could still kiss me when I first got them on, and the electric shock he got from that first kiss! ⚡ That was the one and only time that happened, but the timing couldn’t have been more perfect!
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| A screen shot from my Target Weight App showing my weight loss from the past year. The green dots show that I’m now in the “normal” range for my height! |
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| My Easter morning breakfast was an AIP approved Pina Colada Smoothie made with 1 large banana, 1 1/4 cup frozen pineapple tidbits, 1 cup coconut milk (this kind), 1 cup crushed ice, topped with unsweetened toasted coconut and garnished with an organic strawberry. Yum! |
Corpus Christi Mass & Procession
{this moment}
{pretty, happy, funny, real}
This little guy lost a tooth at the orthodontist’s office yesterday, just before getting his space maintainer, and the tooth fairy was extra generous last night! He couldn’t wait to finish his final Math assignment for the school year (yay!) and get started building. #perfectendtoaroughweek #endofschoolpartytomorrow #aslongasnooneelsegetssick
Homeschool Family Camp & Pentecost Sunday
There was plenty of free time throughout the weekend for playing games, visiting with the other families, or spending time in the chapel.
On Sunday afternoon Father Andrew Szymakowski arrived to offer a Low Latin Mass for Pentecost, Adoration, and to hear confessions!
Our family actually attended the ordination of Fr. Szymakowski many years ago (we only had three children at the time!), since he happened to be ordained with my husband’s oldest brother, through the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), before becoming a diocesan priest.
Lava River Cave
Eventually Lena and I decided to turn back with four of the little ones. We thought we had gone so far, but just around the corner was the entrance to the cave!
It took at least an hour and a half for the rest of our families to make it all the way to the end of the cave and back up again.
Exploring the cave (and attending the Homeschool Family Camp!) was fun, but one of the highlights of our trip was getting to visit with Lena and her beautiful JOY{filled}family! My older girls have been pen-pals with her girls for years now and it was such a blessing and treat for them to get to meet in person and spend some time together over the holiday weekend!
{this moment}
I didn’t mean to disappear after posting the review and giveaway of BENEDICTA… Our schedule has been so incredibly full and I’ve been too tired at night to spend much time at the computer. I’m hoping to carve out a little time this weekend (in between a graduation party this afternoon, the girls’ piano recital tomorrow, and then a Baby Shower of Love for sweet little Patrick Gabriel) to share some pictures from the Homeschool Family Camp we attended last weekend! In the meantime here is one of my favorite moments from the past week (a short video clip of my “baby” with his Little Prayer Book) in case you missed it over at Instagram. Hope you are all having a great weekend! God bless!
BENEDICTA: Marian Chant from Norcia {Review & “Win It Before You Can Buy It” Giveaway!}
The following review of BENEDICTA: Marian Chant from Norcia by the Monks of Norcia (De Montfort Music, 2015) was written by my husband. Thank you, Sean!
The simple beauty of Gregorian chant – the eternal beauty of chant is prayerful, rich, and necessary in our age. BENEDICTA is the Monks of Norcia’s first ever international recording. The Monks of Norcia, in the sincerity of their prayer are able to draw the listener into the mind and heart of the Church’s expression of faith. The mysticism of the chant, the serenity and timeless beauty of its ancient tradition, the meditative and celestial qualities of the recording transport the listener to a spiritual light. We are reminded that our eternal destination lies beyond the earthly allure. As the listener enters into the contemplative mystery of prayer they are reminded of the spiritual land that indeed awaits those who hope in the Lord. These are the transcendent thoughts that the official music of the Church inspires.
Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “The chanting of the Office continues to sustain the whole Church around the world.”
This album is particularly unique in that the music is not part of any mass settings as many other chant CD’s from monks have done in the past. As the title reveals, the chants recorded in this album are dedicated to the Marian Feast Days found in the divine office and devotional hymns outside of the mass. From De Montfort Music:
“Inspiring, beautiful music of Chant at it’s very best – from Italy by The Monks of Norcia. BENEDICTA: Marian Chant from Norcia is the title for this new recording of 33 tracks of Gregorian chant, including favorite Marian antiphons such as “Regina Caeli” and “Ave Regina Caelorum” but also previously unrecorded chant versions of responsories and a piece originally composed by the monks (“Nos Qui Christi Iugum,”) Some pieces are sung by the entire group, some by smaller ensembles of monks and others by soloists, imbuing ‘BENEDICTA’ with a variety of sound. Recorded on location at the monastery in Norcia, Italy, the album was produced by 11-time Grammy Award-winning producer Christopher Alder and engineered by Grammy-Award winning engineer Jonathan Stokes.”
Today I have the privilege of being able to offer my visitors here at Shower of Roses a chance to WIN one of three copies of BENEDICTA before you can buy it! The giveaway will remain open through Monday, May 25th and the winners will be announced in this post and contacted by email on Tuesday, May 26th. De Montfort Music will mail the CDs directly to the winners so that they can arrive just before the album is released!
Please help spread the word about this beautiful and unique new album, and be sure to enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter box below:
Sunday of the Rose
Before the 15th century, the Sunday after the Ascension was called in the Roman books “Sunday of the Rose” (Dominica de Rosa). On this Sunday, the mass is centered on the coming Feast of Pentecost. At the church of Santa Maria Rotonda in Rome (the Pantheon), following the Pope’s sermon, a shower of roses was thrown from the nave of the church in token of the Lord’s promise that He would send the Paraclete soon. We can spiritually revive this custom by making an offering of roses to the statue of Our Blessed Mother in our home or parish church. ~ excerpt from my May 2015 Catholic Digest submission
It’s been such a lovely day!
A Day Trip to the California Coast
“Trinidad Head, a large domed prominence rising to a height of 380 feet, is connected to the mainland only on its northern end, thus forming the beautiful and natural Trinidad Bay on its eastern side. On the bluffs overlooking the bay, Trinidad, the oldest town on the northern California coast, was founded on April 8, 1850. Early on, the town was a vital link between ships anchored in the bay and miners testing their luck in the Klamath, Trinity, Salmon River, and Gold Bluff Mines. As the gold rush slowed, Trinidad Bay, like most bays along the Redwood Coast, became home to multiple sawmills. To aid vessels engaged in the lumber trade, a lighthouse was proposed for the ocean-facing side of the headland in 1854.” – Source
A little history from Wikipedia:
The wave he described was the highest recorded wave on the coast. After the sea struck the lighthouse and extinguished the light, service was restored in four hours by Lightkeeper F.L. Harrington, the keeper from 1888 to 1916.
It was a beautiful end to our week of tasks for National Pro-Life T-Shirt Week and our efforts to learn, pray, and do more to protect and defend the sanctity of all human life from creation to natural death.
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