On the Feast of St. John Vianney
Aug 8th is the traditional feast of St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests and confessors, and one of our youngest daughter’s patron saints! We were blessed to be able to venerate his incorrupt heart while I was pregnant with her.
I pulled out a couple picture books to read and picked up some Orecchiette to make for dinner! Orecchiette from the Italian orecchia, meaning “ear”, and -etta, meaning “small” is a variety of pasta from southern Italy. Its name comes from its shape, which resembles a small ear.
“St. John Vianney was especially known for his gift as a confessor. He drew thousands of penitents to line up, sometimes days in advance, to experience what many recalled as his ability to see into the deepest recesses of the soul. For this humble priest who was known to hear confessions for up to 16 hours a day, the ear pasta seems a fitting symbol.” – from Catholic Cuisine contributor Mary Machado
You can find my August book list here which includes many books about St. John Vianney. I especially love John Mary Vianney: The Holy Cure of Ars and A Story of Saint John Vianney (also available from TAN).
Prayer for Priests by St. John Vianney
God, please give to your Church today many more priests after your own heart. May they be worthy representatives of Christ the Good Shepherd. May they wholeheartedly devote themselves to prayer and penance; be examples of humility and poverty; shining models of holiness; tireless and powerful preachers of the Word of God; zealous dispensers of your grace in the sacraments. May their loving devotion to your Son Jesus in the Eucharist and to Mary his Mother be the twin fountains of fruitfulness for their ministry. Amen.
St. John Vianney, pray for us!
My Name is Philomena {Review + Giveaway}
The lives of the saints point us to God.
Can you persevere in faith? Do you have the hope of the saints?
The children’s story of St. Philomena is recaptured here in “My Name is Philomena”, highlighting her examples of heroic virtue.
By reading this story, it challenges all Christians, boys and girls alike, to follow the example of St. Philomena’s perseverance and her longstanding trust and hope in God.
St. John Vianney’s strong devotion to St. Philomena testifies that even the patron saint of parish priests can rely on her intercession.
Do you have what it takes to imitate Philomena?; to be a true and loyal companion of God?
The life and example of St. Philomena, thoroughly captured in this story, is sure to point us in the virtuous path that leads us to God. Don’t miss this opportunity!
My Name is Philomena can be ordered directly from TAN Books or from Amazon here.
“My children, Saint Philomena has great power with God, and she has, moreover, a kind heart; let us pray to her with confidence. Her virginity and generosity in embracing her heroic martyrdom have rendered her so agreeable to God that He will never refuse her anything that she asks for us.” – St. John Vianney (THE CURE D’ARS)
Giveaway!
To celebrate the feast of St. John Vianney (August 4th on the new calendar and coming up on August 8th on the traditional calendar -one of our daughter’s patron saints!) who loved St. Philomena very much (and built an altar for her which is still in Ars today!) and the upcoming feast of St. Philomena (August 11th- another daughter’s confirmation saint!) I get to giveaway a couple copies of this beautiful new picture written by Fr. Peregrine Fletcher and published by TAN Books.
To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment on this post. (Shipping to continental USA only.) The giveaway will close at 11:59PM EST time on August 7th, 2023 and the winner will be announced on August 8th. You can enter for a second chance to win over at Instagram.
UPDATE: Congratulations to Amanda! Please check your email and get back to me with your shipping address. 🙂
You can find additional books for August feast days here.
St. Philomena, ora pro nobis!
Requiescat in Pace: Fr. Terrence Gordon, FSSP
Thank you to everyone who has reached out with love, cards, texts and messages and most importantly prayers for the soul of my brother-in-law and for the whole Gordon family. We are so very grateful! For those who haven’t yet heard, my husband’s brother passed away at the end of April. Father Terrence was the third of the five Gordon siblings, just two year’s older than my husband Sean. It was such a heart-wrenching shock to receive the news of his sudden and unexpected death while we were in North Dakota the night before our oldest two sons graduation from the University of Mary… I apologize for my silence here on the blog and social media… I tried to start a post a number of times but it was just too hard to type the words… It still feels hard to believe. We will miss him so much.
Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.
My husband wrote the following for the funeral home. You can also find the FSSP’s post here.
Fr. Terrence Gordon, FSSP
The Rev. Terrence Patrick Gerard Gordon, FSSP, 52, passed away unexpectedly Friday evening April 28, 2023 from a heart attack. His brother Father James Gordon was with him and administered Last Rites. Father Terrence was assigned alongside his brother at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Father Terrence was born on March 17, 1971 in Nogales, Arizona to James Patrick and Beatrice Luz (Tena) Gordon. He attended Salpointe Catholic High School (1989), Tucson, Arizona and graduated from the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis Maryland (1994) with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. He served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps in the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, attaining the rank of Captain. He was an Anti-Air Warfare Officer, earned the Airborne Parachutist Wings and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. He served at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina and the Marine Corps Base in Okinawa, Japan.
Father Terrence was ordained a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter on June 3, 2006. Representing Our Lord as a priest was his definitive calling and upon his ordination, he immediately flourished and throve in generously emptying himself for the people he served. His priestly assignments included St. John the Baptist, Little Rock, Arkansas; Immaculate Conception Church, Omaha, Nebraska; Mater Dei Catholic Parish, Dallas, Texas; St. Joseph’s Parish, Richmond, Virginia; and Immaculate Conception Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Father Terrence brought the joyful light of Christ to people’s souls as a humble servant of God. Throughout his priesthood he was known for his holiness, humility, kindness, and spiritual depth. He never wavered from God’s Eternal Truths and held us all to this higher standard, not for his benefit, but for ours and for God’s glory. The greatness by which he will be remembered wasn’t achieved in human superiority, but rather in the humility of Christ, which we are all called to follow.
Father Terrence was preceded in death by his parents James (1934-2017) and Beatrice (1937-2019) and is survived by his sister Melissa (Gordon) Steenson (Thomas) and his brothers Rev. James Gordon, FSSP, Sean Gordon (Jessica), and Rev. Dennis Gordon, FSSP; many Gordon and Steenson nieces and nephews; and many faithful parishioners whom he served devotedly across the country.
A Rosary and viewing will be held Monday, May 8, 2023, 9:00 AM at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Colorado Springs, Colorado, followed by a Solemn Requiem Mass at 10:00 AM, also at the cathedral. Reception will follow in the cathedral hall.
On the day of burial, a viewing will be held Thursday, May 11, 2023, 1:00 PM at Immaculate Conception Church in Omaha, Nebraska, followed by a second Solemn Requiem Mass at 2:00 PM, also at Immaculate Conception. Interment will follow at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska.
“The Lord led the just man through the right ways, and showed him the kingdom of God, and gave him the knowledge of holy things; He made him honorable in his labors, and has finished his labors.”
– Chapter from the Office of None on April 28, 2023
October 2, 1999 – The Gordon Family before mine and Sean’s wedding at Sacred Heart in Southern Oregon. Pictured on the bottom left, Fr. Terrence was a first year seminarian at the time and still able to be one of our groomsmen.
June 4, 2006 – The Gordon Family at Carmel following Fr. Terrence Gordon’s first Holy Mass.
July 27, 2021 – All the cousins together one last time before my niece Miriam (now Sr. Lucia) entered the Carmel of Jesus Mary and Joseph. This photo was taken just before Fr. Terrence returned to his parish in Colorado Springs so that Fr. James Gordon (not pictured) could come up to North Idaho and join us for the rest of the visit.
I’ll be back with more pictures to share and updates from the rest of this year.
Thank you all again for your prayers! May God reward you!
A Christmas Carol {Book Review}
A Christmas Carol Book Review
Christmas is a time of magic! It’s the day the Light of the World filled the void darkness we humans had thrown ourselves into through sin. Our Lord shines through the night, not just spreading light, but dispelling darkness all at once; taking away, as He fills. Both Christmas celebrations and mindsets has greatly altered through the years, but one thing has remained from in the stable to under the Christmas Tree; hope. Christmas brings hope of redemption for our souls by giving us a Savior, who will open the gates of Heaven and give us Eternal Life, all of us Eternal Life! Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol gives us an example of this hope.
Ebenezer Scrooge, a real Mr. Potter, is a greedy, selfish, cruel man, who cares for no one but himself. He cheats workers of their money and doesn’t even use the wealth he has. Money is his only security. He has shut out his adopted family, he broke the heart of his beautiful, kind fiancé, and he lacks any sort of religion. Money fills his whole life. He has no one and nothing to turn to, save the “almighty dollar.” But there is hope even for him. Every human is made in the image and likeness of God and, even the most miserable of wretches, can reinvigorate his or her hurting, feeble soul. Be a good Nephew Fred and always reach out to those in need around you or help instruct those who are ignorant like the Ghosts of Past, Present, and Future.
A Christmas Carol is one of the most wholesome works of Christmas fiction that has ever been written. It is family friendly and a great read aloud, especially Palazzo’s edition (illustrated by Robert Ingpen). This edition is very easy to read and has illustrations on nearly every page to keep the little ones entertained. By reading it aloud, you can have some great family time around the tree, in front of the fire, on a cold dark winter’s night. But, though Christmas is the theme, the message is for all year round and can be enjoyed whenever!
And, if you’re a fan of the book, the Charles Dickens Tribute Lego Set is a great start to your Christmas Carol merchandise collection and is super cute! It’s perfect decoration for a bookshelf and desk. Me, being a pretty big Charles Dickens fan, love it when a big corporation like Lego brings such a traditional work of literature to their magazines in the form of a book instead of a TV screen!
Beloved Son: Joseph and Jesus {Book Review}
Catholic author Maura McKeegan once again invites readers to explore the biblical prefigurements of Christ. Maura brings biblical academic scholarship and research to an enjoyable and understandable level for any reader. Here, we explore Old Testament Joseph the shepherd as a prefigurement of Christ, the Good Shepherd and see how indeed God weaves with a golden thread. Do not miss this experience!
The Great O Antiphons, The Golden Nights
Ever since our oldest children were very little, we have been implementing an old monastic custom in our home by providing special treats, representing each of the “O Antiphons” on the days leading up to Christmas. The O Antiphon prayers begin on December 17th and end on the 23rd, which is the last Vespers of Advent, since the evening prayer on the 24th is the Vigil of Christmas.
The Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one – Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia – the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, “Tomorrow, I will come.” So the “O Antiphons” not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.
Each night, following our family rosary, we pray the O Antiphon for the day, sing O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, which was inspired by this ancient tradition, and then give the children a special treat.
The “treats” have varied from year to year. Some years it has been little gifts or activities for the family, some years it is all food related, and some years it is a mix of both, depending on our schedule and budget. It doesn’t need to cost much or even anything at all! Be creative!
Sometimes the treats are a bit of a stretch, but my goal is try and find gifts that will either help increase our faith (Catechism books, holy family, saints, prayer, etc) or encourage family time (games, puzzles, going to look at Christmas lights, etc). You can find some of our past O Antiphon treats by scrolling through the archives and visiting Catholic Cuisine.
Our family loves this tradition. It is such a fun way to teach the children about these beautiful prayers of the church and also increase their excitement as Christmas gets closer.
In case you are looking for some inspiration, I’ve listed some of the treats I’ve given my family over the years (along with my picks for this year)… Special food ideas, activities and gifts (or you can simply decorate chocolate coins!) for each of the O Antiphons can be found below.
Once again I am hosting an O ANTIPHON GIVEAWAY! One lucky visitor here at Shower of Roses will receive a gift package including seven Cookie Stamps, one to represent each of the seven O Antiphons! Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for the details and to enter.
- Bible Cookies or Bible Candies
- Brain Food – Dark Chocolate, Deviled Eggs, Theo Christmas Bars…
- Patris Roasting Co. coffee would also be great!
- Play a Trivia Game (The Purgative Way, Christmas Trivia, Catholic Trivia, Cranium)
- Play SaintCards, Saint Memory, or Catholic Quiz games
- Pray and Play ABC Puzzle from Saintly Heart (for the little ones!)
- Outmatched from Institute for Excellence in Writing – One year I went with a game focusing on the time period most of our children were studying.
- Bookmarks or Holy Cards
- Family Prayer Book, Catechism, or other Book – The Christmas Book, The Catechism in Pictures with review here, Jesus Make Me Worthy, My Catholic Faith, A Catholic Child’s Picture Dictionary, Around the Year: Once Upon a Time Saints, etc… The possibilities are endless.
- Books including An Alphabet of the Altar, The Wonder Story and The Wonder Days from St. Augustine Academy Press.
O Adonai Ideas from Over the Years:
- Ten Commandment Cookies
- Cookies made with this Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter or these cute 3-D Mini Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter made by Sweet Creations, emphasizing the word “house”
- Pull out the Smore’s Maker or light a bonfire and roast marshmallows, in reference to “Moses in the burning bush”
- Decorate Gingerbread Houses (my girls surprised me with this pan one year)
- Discuss the various names for Our Lady, including House of Gold! The Virgin Mary Around the World or any of the Marian dolls (Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Czestochowa, Our Lady of China, Our Lady of Vailankanni, etc) would be perfect.
- The Holy Mass: On Earth as it is in Heaven
- Father Leopold Lego Set or Architecture Blocks would also tie in nicely.
- Notre Dame 3-D Church Puzzle or Midnight Mass Puzzle
- Root Beer Floats or Carrot Cake
- Roasted Root Vegetable, Hearty Healing Beef Stew or Hamburger Stew… Yum!
- Old Fashioned Root Beer Drops
- Assemble and hang a new family ornament
- Purchase a Christmas Poinsettia (In the past we have also incorporated other Poinsettias: 12 Red Glitter Poinsettia Ornaments, Miracle of the Poinsettia, or Poinsettia Cupcakes)
- Play some sort of Gardening or Nature Game as a Family (perhaps Grow a Garden Matching Game, Wildcraft! An Herbal Adventure Game, Gathering a Garden, or The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game!)
- Kid’s Vegetable Garden Seed Collection from St. Clare’s Heirloom Seeds
- One year I had a set of our family blocks made by Naturally Catholic!
- Bonus: You could even have a Jesse Tea! From Jesse, the shepherd, to Jesus, the Good Shepherd… Shepherds tie in nicely!
- Shepherd and Angel playlet from Shining Light Dolls
- Shepherd Puzzle Set made by Naturally Catholic
- Key Lime Pie
- Special drink (Sparkling cider!) with dinner or for a family game night. Since this is initially a monastic tradition, and on this night, the monk in charge of the wine cellar would provide a special bottle of wine.
- Surprise the family with tickets (“key”) to something local – Christmas play, the Nutcracker, etc. One year I took our older children to see A Christmas Carol at the theatre.
- Christmas Jingle Bells – We were gifted with a set of these from Pinecone Leather Co a couple years ago. I love the description over on Etsy sharing their family’s tradition.
- Advent At Ephesus or Caroling at Ephesus
- Key Puzzle/Brainteaser
- Tiny Saints Key Hooks – One year I purchased a couple key hook rails to use to hang our Rosaries. You can see them in our old home in this post.
- Incorporate Music “keys” with Catholic Songs for Children CD, Sheet Music Book and St. Cecilia Doll. This new Children’s First Chants book would be a fun gift!
- A Woman Clothed with the Sun (Oranges)
- O Dayspring Ice Cream, Non-Alcoholic Mimosas or Texas Sunrise with Breakfast
- Decorate a Christmas Candle (We use a tiny wax baby Jesus I purchased years ago along with Gold Decorating Beeswax from Stockmar.)
- Our favorite tradition for this O Antiphon is to pile in the car after dinner with hot cocoa and drive around to look at all the Christmas lights.
- Stargazing was the plan for the evening of December 21, 2020!
- Candles from The Cloister Shoppe
- Our Lady of Fatima: The Graphic Novel (miracle of the sun)
- Grimm’s Casa Sole Stacking Blocks
- New Christmas Pajamas
- Crown Cake, Cupcakes or Wreath Cookies
- Wreath Charcuterie Board
- Bake Cookies using the Wise Men Cookie Stamp from Rycraft, Inc
- Assemble a Three Kings Puzzle or Nativity Snow Globes Puzzle
- Listen to King of the Golden City CD
- One year I picked out one of the beautiful sets of Three Kings Gifts – we pull it out every Christmas! The Wise Men Who Found Christmas is great too!
- Rex Gentium Nail Polish
- Twas the Evening of Christmas Picture Book – Our daughter received this one year on the feast of St. Nicholas. It’s such a lovely book!
- Three Kings Playset from Shining Light Dolls
- Three Kings, Ten Mysteries
Once again we’ll bake our Christmas Cookies, fill a box/basket to take to Carmel, and maybe even pull out another Christmas puzzle (from our now large collection) to get started on!
- Decorate Nativity Cookies to give as gifts or Cookie Cutters Tell the Christmas Story
- Make a Chocolate Nativity Scene for Christmas
- Decorate Chocolate Christmas Coins using this FREE Printable
- Holy Night Puzzle
- Fill a basket to deliver to the nuns at Carmel. Fresh Fruit, Various Cheeses, Christmas Cookies and other goodies!
- Christmas picture books, coloring books including the beautiful Eucharistic Adoration: With Saints And Symbols Of The Eucharist coloring book, or the Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring: Christmas with The Dominican Sisters of Mary.
- Children’s Nativity Set – you can find some of our favorites in this post and more of our collection here (scroll down a bit)
- A Child’s Christmas ABC Book (review here)
- 2020 Fontanini Ornament
- Nativity Icon from Clear Creek Abbey
Win a Set of Cookie Stamps
Here are the cookie stamps I picked out to go along with each of the O Antiphons.
The winner will receive one of each!
Wisdom: #460 – Triune God
House: #214 – Home Sweet Home
Root of Jesse: #520 – Willow Tree
Key of David: #543 – Key to My Heart
Dayspring: #291 – Moravian Star
King: #448 – Norwegian Wedding Crown
Emmanuel: #368 – Nativity
Rorate Caeli Mass in Honor of Our Lady
“The Rorate Caeli Mass is a traditional Advent devotion wherein the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary for Advent is offered just before dawn…
…The Rorate Mass is lit only by candlelight. Because it is a votive Mass in Mary’s honor, white vestments are worn instead of Advent violet. In the dimly lit setting, priests and faithful prepare to honor the Light of the world, Who is soon to be born, and offer praise to God for the gift of Our Lady. As the Mass proceeds and sunrise approaches, the church becomes progressively brighter, illumined by the sun as our Faith is illumined by Christ.”- FSSP
Rorate, caeli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum,
aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem.
Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above,
and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened
and bud forth a Saviour.
– first words of the Introit from Isaiah 45:8
We braved the falling snow (fishtailing only once on the drive home!) and made it to the beautiful and inspiring Rorate Caeli Mass at our parish early this morning. Perfect way to start the day and pray for some special intentions! Deo Gratias ✨
Our 2022-2023 Curriculum {And How We Homeschool High School}
We are wrapping up our first semester of this school year! At the beginning of the year I promised that I would share our curriculum this year and I’m finally getting a chance to finish up this post… This year we have a 12th grader, 9th grader, 7th grader, 5th grader, Kindergartner and Pre-schooler!
Pictured above: Rose Floral Clipboard, Homemade Checklists, an outdated Teacher Lesson Planner (I didn’t use it much last year so I’m re-dating some of the weeks to use this year instead), and a beautiful 2023 Catholic Planner (I was given the planner as a review copy and love how beautifully it coordinates with my other planning tools). I haven’t started using it yet! This past year – with my right hand in a cast like brace for a few months and still not fully recovered – I’ve found myself opting for my phone calendar instead of having to write… Looking forward to using an actual planner again!
Here’s how we homeschool high school…
Before I start with the specifics I want to share a little more about how we have been homeschooling for high school. That seems to be what I’ve been getting the most questions about! It’s always nice to have someone share what’s worked for their family to help inspire you with your own… As the oldest of twelve, I was able to watch how my mom homeschooled all of my siblings (over many years with different styles/curriculums) and I have a dear friend with young adults a little older than mine who has been a huge inspiration to me. Maybe hearing what we’ve done will help you figure out what is best for your family!
Like my youngest two brothers (who are now 26 and 28 – our oldest son is four years younger than my youngest brother!) I’ve enrolled our first four children with Kolbe Academy for high school. It was mainly for the paperwork/transcript side of things in case our teens decided to pursue college sports like my brothers. I have loved the flexibility offered by Kolbe and that we can continue tailoring our curriculum to our family’s preferences and our students’ needs. I submit graded samples twice a year and they keep all the necessary records for the transcripts. So far we have had three Kolbe Academy graduates and will have a fourth this upcoming spring!
We actually decided not to enroll our new high schooler this year due to the extra cost… With the cost of everything going up (and our grocery and gas bills skyrocketing) I opted to put our limited homeschooling funds towards a few live high-school classes and some dual-enrollment college courses instead of the enrollment fees. (Thankfully we live in a state that gives parents total freedom over home educating, and doesn’t have a set curriculum that must be followed, so I don’t need enrollment for any of those reasons.) **Update: We went back to enrolling in 2023-24 – if you decide to go this route let me know and I can provide a discount code for you to save $50 off enrollment for new families.
My hope is that our current freshman will actually graduate with (or very close to) an Associate’s degree by the end of his four years of high school so I’m not as worried about having that official high school diploma this time around.
Kolbe no longer has it on their website, but our first four high schoolers all worked towards Kolbe’s old Magna Cum Laude Diploma. The courses I’ve chosen to complete the requirements prepared them all well for college.
*Kolbe’s current options are a little different, it looks like they are no longer requiring that extra year of English/Literature (my kids all completed at least 10 semesters) and Foreign Language (now it’s two years instead of three). Here is their current college preparatory recommended track.
NOTE: Any one semester college course counts as a full YEAR of high school credit. For example this school year our daughter is taking 4 college classes in the fall and 4 in the spring. This will equal 8 high school credits on her high school transcript (as well as 24 college credits). The college classes are taught at a much faster pace than a typical high school course.
Here’s an overview to give you an idea of how I plan high school courses for our students and minimum graduation requirements for each subject:
Theology – 4 credits
- Understanding the Scriptures
- Introduction to Catholicism (At the suggestion of a friend we start this one second, giving them a little more maturity for some of the topics covered.)
- The History of the Church (This usually doubles as a History spine for one year.)
- Our Moral Life in Christ
Our current senior completed the first three and then took Christian Moral Principles from FUS. She is actually planning to get an AA in Theology from Franciscan and will be taking more Theology this upcoming semester and next school year.
Our current “freshman” has already completed Understanding the Scripture and Intro to Catholicism so this year he is taking Apologetics as you’ll see below.
English & Literature – 5 credits (including at least 2 credits of Literature)
Pretty sure our kids have all exceeded this requirement, taking both English and Literature courses most years. We use Institute for Excellence in Writing for English and a few Homeschool Connections and/or Lukeion live courses for Literature. My current college students have told me that IEW’s The Elegant Essay was especially helpful for college. You can find my IEW page here!
History – 3 credits (World History, US History, History Elective)
Our students have typically completed the three years of history and followed it with Government and Economics their senior year. Our current senior is the first to take history as a dual-enrollment class and has really enjoyed the course!
Mathematics – 3 credits (Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra II or higher)
Our second son completed Advanced Math his senior year. The girls opted to finish with Algebra II. One daughter finished with Foundations in Personal Finance her senior year. Our current Freshman is already working through Algebra II and I plan to put him in dual-credit Pre-Calc/Calc classes etc as soon as he is old enough. One son got his Geometry credit by working through Saxon Algebra I, II and Advanced Math. Another son and one daughter completed Teaching Textbooks Geometry on top of Saxon Algebra I and II, and one daughter completed Jacob’s Geometry in addition to Saxon Algebra I and II. As you can see it has varied depending on the student.
Science – 3 credits (Biology +Lab, Chemistry +Lab, and a Physical Science)
We have used Taylor Science for high school biology and chemistry for our older students. I prefer having two siblings take it together when possible so they can work through the experiments at the same time. It was nice having the older boys go through high school science together and then the older two girls. It’s harder now that we have bigger age gaps with the younger ones.
Foreign Language – 3 credits (2 credits must be in the same language)
We now start with a Grammar Intensive in 8th grade, followed by Latin online with The Lukeion Project. We’ve had four students take Latin from Dr. Sue Fisher and we love her so much! Charlotte was the one to introduce us to Lukeion and the live classes my high schoolers have taken have all been excellent.
For students with auditory processing challenges/dyslexia, ASL is an excellent foreign language option.
Our first completed 1 year Latin, followed by 2 years ASL.
Our second completed 4 years of Latin.
Our third LOVES ASL so she also choose to take it on top of Latin.
Our fourth completed 2 years Latin + 2 years college Spanish (6 high school credits all together since each semester of college counts as a year of high school credit)
Our fifth is taking his first year of Latin now.
To quote Lukeion: “There are many programs now available for younger students. In our experience, however, these programs demand a lot of busy work but deliver very little in the way of learning the functional nuts-and-bolts of Classical languages. Students are not generally prepared to master these languages until they have reached the logic stage. You will accomplish much more in a fraction of the time if you wait until your student is 12 to 15 before you start formal instruction in Latin and Greek. Better still, waiting to start these logic based languages may mean your student will enjoy them more.”
I’ve found this to be true and no longer attempt to teach Foreign Language to my younger students. It’s just not worth the effort, time and frustration.
Academic Electives – 2 credits (we have always exceeded this requirement)
This is usually additional Math, English, Literature, Philosophy, and Government/Economics – lots of options! Academic areas only.
Visual/Performing Arts – 2 credits (Kolbe would allow them 1/2 credit each year)
Choir, drama, art, music lessons, etc
Physical Education – 2 credits (Kolbe would allow them 1/2 credit each year)
Our high schoolers have all participated in our local public school(s) sports.
- Captain- Varsity Hockey (2 years), Varsity Golf (4 years), Varsity Soccer (2 years), Ski Lessons
- Ranger – Varisty Hockey (2 years), Varsity Golf (4 years), Junior Varsity Basketball (1 year), Varsity Soccer (2 years), Ski Lessons
- Twinkle Toes – Varsity Golf (4 years), Varisty Soccer (1 year), Ski Lessons
- Chiquita – Varsity Golf (1 year), Ski Lessons (both girls were in Irish Dance for awhile too)
- Scout – Junior Varsity Golf (just completed his first year), Hockey, Ski Lessons
We’ve been grateful that we live in areas (both in Southern Oregon and North Idaho) that allow homeschoolers to take advantage of the public school sports programs. It’s usually right around $100 for the season (when else can you golf nearly daily for a 2-3 months for so affordably?!) and thankfully the hockey and ski options here are fairly affordable too.
Home School Help!
We’re still paying the monthly fee for access to all of their recorded classes which the kids can take at their own pace. Middle School favorites have included science classes with MacBeth Derham and history classes with Philip Campbell. For high school we have loved Joseph Pearce, Gregory Pyne (Screwtape Letters), and Eleanor Bourg Nicholson’s literature classes, as well as American Sign Language.
My high schoolers can’t get the “Kolbe designation” on the non-Kolbe courses, but they still qualify for high school credit (the high school level courses do anyway, with pre-approval from Kolbe) and they have worked well for us!
This is our very first year using LIVE classes from Homeschool Connections! Our 15 year old is very excited to be taking America History from Philip Campbell and his older sisters are a bit envious that he gets to take literature live from Elenor Nicholson (they loved her recorded classes).
Franciscan University of Steubenville Fast Track (11th-12th)
I wish our oldest children would have had access to these dual-enrollment online courses! We could never make it work for them, since we didn’t like the idea of community college classes, plus they never worked with their sports schedules anyway. Our current high school senior will have completed at least her first three semesters of college (with great content/courses!) for so much less than what we are paying for our other college kids. Spring registration will open on December 15th for dual-enrollment students so her course plans for spring aren’t confirmed yet.
Holy Apostles Take Credit! Program (11th-12th)
The price for the Take Credit! Program unfortunately went up this school year… It was more affordable last year, but it’s still worth it and I just enrolled her for two more courses this upcoming spring. (Still need to pay the bill though…) I’m grateful to have dual enrollment options from faithful Catholic colleges! As I mentioned above our daughter highly recommends Rhetoric with Patrick Reilly!
Math Tutor – I really miss having a math tutor. If we could afford to add anything right now (we’ve had way too many medical expenses and college expenses the past couple years) another math tutor would be at the top of my list. I loved having someone (from outside our home) come once a week to review all completed lessons, the weekly test, and go over any questions and mistakes. It really helps keep my kids on track having them accountable to someone other than mom! We are managing without the help, but the middle/elementary kids are slipping a bit behind where I’d like them to be and they will most likely be finishing up in the summer (again) this next year to make up for weeks of sickness, ski days, etc…
English Editor – I also love having someone edit IEW papers for me when I can get the extra help… Right now our 9th grader emails his papers to our oldest son who is off at college and once it’s edited I send him a little payment through Venmo… I get help and he gets a little spending money at college. Win win!
Moving on! Here is a closer took at what we are working through this school year…
.: High School :.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church
- Theology for Beginners
- Faith and Revelation
- Catechism on Scripture CCC §§ 101-141 (onlne link provided)
- Dei Verbum (onlne link provided)
- Interpreting the Bible in the Catholic Church (onlne link provided)
- Verbum Domini (onlne link provided)
- Economics for Real People
- Economics in One Lesson
- Additional readings to be assigned
Gregorian Chant Choir
Confirmation Classes at our parish
- Mansfield Park (Ignatius Critical Edition)
- Oliver Twist
- North and South
- “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (will be provided free by the instructor)
- The Moonstone (978-0140434088)
- Bleak House (978-0141439723) plus Audible version here
- A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles (978-0553328257)
U.S. History: Revolution, Republic, and Union (1763-1865) with Philip Campbell
High School Golf
St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism (with Dad on Sundays & Class at SJA)
- Anne of Green Gables and Audible version
- Anne of Green Gables Student Study Guide and Teacher’s Guide
Middle School U.S. History: Part 1 (1492-1847) with Phillip Campbell
Bud :: 5th Grade
Supplemental Religion Books and Saint Stories from Our Monthly Book Baskets
Structure and Style for Students: Year 2 Level A
- Selections from Grimm’s Fairy Tales
- Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
- The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
- The Golden Key by George MacDonald
- “The Happy Prince” and “The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde
- Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (I also love this and this edition.)
- Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (And this audio!!)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
- The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry
A Mastery of Mysteries for Middle School with Kevin O’Brien
or maybe some American Historical Fiction.
Saxon 6/5 with Solutions Manual and Tests/Worksheets
Saxon Math 6/5 Homeschool: Saxon Teacher CD ROM Science:
Grace & Joy :: Ages 5 & 3 (Kindergarten/Pre-school)
Lots of fun learning Toys and Puzzles
Occasional Crafts and Baking with Older Siblings
Little Saints: A Catholic Pre-School Program
I’m just choosing a couple themes each month as time allows… In September we completed I Belong to God and Alphabet Fun! During October we moved on to Colors/Guardian Angels and Fall is Here! For November it was Number Fun and Thanksgiving. This month I’m taking a break from Little Saints and we are focusing on Advent – reading books, bible stories to go along with the Jesse Tree, and celebrating all our favorite feast days. I’ve used parts of this curriculum enough times to know that’ll I’ll most likely never complete it in full, but I enjoy using some of the themes as inspiration and a starting point for themes for my little ones!
You can scroll through all my past planning posts here and all of the Back-to-School posts here.
Our Lady of Guadalupe and Her Dear Juanito
Our Lady of Guadalupe and Her Dear Juanito is a retold version of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s appearance in Mexico, 1531 A.D. The colorful illustrations will captivate the mind of the young reader as well as the rendition of the tender dialogue between Our Lady and Juan Diego, as if a mother is speaking tenderly to her beloved child. Parents and youth alike will grow in deeper love with Our Mother that God Himself has sent to the entire human race as a source of solace and comfort.
Our 2022 Advent Book Basket and Printable Labels {Plus Giveaway!}
Advent Book Basket
Is it really Advent already? How is that even possible?!? This month (year!) has flown by…
We have had our college kids home all week which has been wonderful! I sure love it when everyone is home and I am already looking forward to having them back for Christmas break in a few weeks. They drove home last weekend and had been planning to drive back to school this weekend, but another couple snow storms are hitting and we decided to book them one-way flights back to school instead of having them risk the long drive over multiple mountain passes… Hopefully they will have safe flights (early Sunday morning) and not end up stuck at their connecting airport! 🙏
It was such a nice Thanksgiving! I’ve been enjoying lots of family time and staying busy in the kitchen which hasn’t left any time for sharing online (or preparing for Advent!)… I snuck away for a little while this afternoon so I could finally decide which books to include in this year’s Advent Book Basket. I’ll probably wrap them up tomorrow afternoon after Mass and try to round up the rest of our Advent decorations to start setting up while our little girls nap.
The length of Advent always varies from 22-28 days, beginning with the Sunday nearest to the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (November 30th) and embracing four Sundays. The first day of Advent can fall as early as November 27th or as late as December 3rd. This year Advent begins on Sunday, November 27th and we get a full four weeks of Advent!
Every Advent our family counts down the days until Christmas with picture books, Advent Calendars, and the Jesse Tree. Years ago, when we didn’t have enough Christmas themed picture books to wrap one for each day of Advent, I would check some Christmas books out from the library just before Advent began, using Christmas Mosaic as a guide. We have added many books to our home library since then, giving one Christmas themed book to each of our children on the feast of St. Nicholas, and our collection has definitely grown. (You can find this year’s St. Nick books here!)
In the past I have filled our Advent basket with Christmas Mosaic titles and our children’s 35 Favorite Christmas Picture Books (or at least what they were back in 2014!). One year I picked twenty-six of my favorites (although I still find new favorites to add to my list each year!) and one year I left the choosing up to my husband and our oldest daughter. You can find even more lists here: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 or by scrolling through all past Advent Book Basket posts.
This year I decided to focus on our collection of picture books from Catholic publishers. I also included some that tie in to our Jesse Tree readings for various days throughout Advent.
Here’s what I’m wrapping up for this year:
2022 ADVENT BOOK BASKET
Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
November 27 – 1st Sunday of Advent: – The Curious Christmas Trail(NEW) – set up Advent Calendars, Advent Wreath and Jesse Tree
November 28 – The End of the Fiery Sword: Adam & Eve and Jesus & Mary
November 29 – Little Star
November 30 – Feast of St. Andrew: A Child’s Christmas ABC Book (or direct from TAN)
December 1: A Child’s Christmas Counting Book(or direct from TAN)
December 2 – First Friday: God the Father’s Loving Plan
December 3 – First Saturday & Rorate Mass at Dawn: Beloved Son: Joseph and Jesus (NEW)
December 4 – 2nd Sunday of Advent:: Saved by the Lamb: Moses and Jesus
December 5: – The Night the Saints Saved Christmas – write letters to Christ Child/Saint Nicholas, bake Speculaas or St. Nicholas Cookies, and decorate St. Nicholas Chocolate Coins to give to others
December 6 – Feast of St. Nicholas: Santa’s Priority: Keeping Christ in Christmas (or direct from TAN)
December 7 – Feast of St. Ambrose: The Miracle of St. Nicholas – Bake a Honeycomb Cake
December 8 – Immaculate Conception: Our Lady’s Picture Book – Decorate Christ Candle
December 9 – Feast of St. Juan Diego: Our Lady of Guadalupe and Her Dear Juanito(NEW)
December 10: The Beggar and the Bluebird
December 11- 3rd Sunday of Advent/Gaudete Sunday: Bambinelli Sunday
December 12 – Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Our Lady’s Wardrobe – Our Lady of Guadalupe Brunch
December 13 – Feast of St. Lucy: Into the Sea, Out of the Tomb
December 14 – Ember Wednesday: The Grumpy Old Ox
December 15: Guess Who’s in the Manger
December 16 – Ember Friday: A Little Camel for Baby Jesus
December 17 – O Sapientia and Ember Saturday: Ishmael: The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem
December 18 – 4th Sunday of Advent – O Adonai: Spider’s Gift: A Christmas Story
December 19 – O Radix Jesse: The Shepherd at the Crib and the Cross (NEW)
December 20 – O Clavis David: A is for Angel: The Alphabet in Sacred Art (or direct from Holy Heroes)
December 21 – O Oriens and Winter Solstice: Joseph’s Donkey
December 22 – O Rex Gentium: The Wise Men Who Found Christmas
December 23 – O Emmanuel: The Spider Who Saved Christmas
December 24 – Vigil of Christmas: Bethlehem (Catholic Edition)
Many years ago I switched from our original purple and pink wrapping paper to brown paper with purple and pink ribbons (I save the ribbons to reuse each year). Sometimes I recycle brown paper bags and sometimes I pick up a roll of brown craft paper from the craft store to use along with our ribbons and homemade labels.
As always, we’ll unwrap and read one book each night during Advent, following our family rosary. The rest of our book collection will be placed in additional baskets to read during the seasons of Advent and Christmas.
If you’d like to use my little labels too, you can download my Advent Book Basket Labels for 2022 over at Dropbox.
.: ADVENT BOOK BASKET GIVEAWAY :.
Prize #1: Planner & Calendars from Sophia Institute Press!
Includes: Fiat: Traditional Catholic Planner and The Illustrated Liturgical Year Calendar Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany 2022 – 2023 (value $67.94)
Congratulations, Anna!
Prize #2: Blindside Series Books & Gifts from Leslea Wahl!
This prize includes a signed copy of the award-winning Catholic teen series by Leslea Wahl along with several related items. (Signed copy of The Perfect Blindside, signed copy of eXtreme Blindside, signed related short story One Blessing at a Time, a St. Sebastian prayer card and medal, a metal bookmark, lip balm, sticky note pad, and an inspirational magnet.) (value $51.00)
Congratulations, Elizabeth!
Prize #3: Set of Three Christmas Books from Ignatius Press!
Includes:
Ishmael: The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem
24 Christmas Stories to Welcome Jesus
sponsored by Ignatius Press (value $38.97)
Congratulations, Melodee!
Prize #4: Two BRAND NEW books from St. Paul Center!
Includes:
Beloved Son: Joseph and Jesus and
The Shepherd at the Crib and the Cross
sponsored by St. Paul Center (value $35.90)
Congratulations, Michelle Fol!
Enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter box below:
Note: If you have any trouble with Rafflecopter just send me an email or message with your name/email address and I can add you manually. I’ve been looking for alternatives, but haven’t found a free option yet that offers what I need for these annual giveaways that I love hosting for you all! I may not be able to personally respond to every email but I’ll be sure to add all the entries before drawing names.
For additional Christmas book suggestions you can find some of our lists in the archives:
Feasts & Seasons :: Advent & Christmas Collection
Feasts & Seasons :: Our December Book Basket
35 Favorite Christmas Picture Books for Children
Last Year’s Advent Book Basket
December :: Month Dedicated to the Divine Infancy
Christmas Mosaic :: A Review & Featured Book List
You can find the rest of our booklists here.
P.S. There is still time to enter the St. Nicholas Giveaway and the huge Christmas Giveaway!
0 Comments