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Feasts & Seasons :: Our August Book Basket

Jul 30, 2014 | , , , | 4 Comments

At the beginning of each month I fill a basket with books featuring the the various saints whose feast days will be celebrated during the month and place it in the living room. Throughout the month I will find the children curled up on the couch reading books they have chosen from the basket, either on their own or to their younger siblings.  I also choose books from the basket for some of our afternoon family read-alouds. Our collection started very small and we have continued adding additional books over the years which we have either purchased or have been given as gifts. Some are picture books, some are chapter books, and some are collections of saint stories. This post is a work in progress and I will continue adding links as I sort through our collection. August 2nd, Our Lady of the Angels (Hist.):
Juanita and Our Lady of the Angels by Elizabeth Loch
August 4th, St. John Vianney (New) (Trad. – Aug. 8th ):
John Mary Vianney: The Holy Cure of Ars – I just love all our books in The Life of a Saint series from Ignatius, which also includes Therese, Bernadette, and Francis!
August 8th, St. Dominic (New) (Trad. – Aug. 4th ):
Saint Dominic from Saints for Boys
August 8th, St. Hormisdas: August 9th, St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein):
August 10th, St. Lawrence (New, Trad.):
August 11th, St. Philomena (Historical):
August 11th, St. Clare of Assisi (New) (Trad. – Aug. 12th ):
August 11th, St. Xystus:
August 14th, St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe (New):
August 15th, St. Tarcisius (Hist.):
  • Saint Tarcisius by Mary R. Berardi (Whenever I hear St. Tarcisius mentioned, this beautiful book from my childhood comes to mind. My mom gave me this copy, along with the book about St. Agnes, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with our children.)
 
August 15th, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven (New, Trad.):
August 16th, St. Roch (Hist.):
Saint Roch and the Dog from Legends of Saints and Beasts
August 17th, St. Hyacinth (Trad.): August 18th, St. Helena (Trad./some places):
Saint Helena from Saints for Girls
August 20th, St Bernard of Clairvaux (New, Trad.):
August 21st, St. Our Lady of Knock (Hist.): August 21st, St. Pius X (New) (Trad. – Sep. 3rd): August 22nd, The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (New) (Trad. – May 31st) and Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Trad) (New – Saturday following 2nd Sunday after Pentecost):
Vintage 1960 edition of Jesus, Make Me Worthy
August 23rd, St. Rose of Lima (New) (Trad. – Aug. 30th):
St. Rose of Lima from Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children
August 24th, St. Bartholomew (New, Trad.):
August 25th, St. Louis IX of France (New, Trad.):
August 26th, Our Lady of Czestochowa (Hist.): August 27th, St. Monica (New) (Trad. – May 4th):
August 28th, St. Moses the Black:
August 28th, St. Augustine (New, Trad.)
August 29th, The Passion (Beheading) of St. John the Baptist (New, Trad.): August 30th, Sts. Felix and Adauctus (Trad.): August 30th – St. Rose of Lima (Trad.) (See Aug. 23rd) Other Links for August:

My Daybook :: July 28, 2014

Jul 29, 2014 | , , , , , | 24 Comments

A beautiful picture my husband took and emailed me recently while working “In the Woods” 
Outside my window…
Fire season is in full force in our area.  Sean spent Saturday on an engine, and then left early yesterday morning for a wildfire assignment in Central Oregon. Today he called to say hello (and that he was still alive!) following a morning spent strapped and harnessed into an open helicopter, flying over the fire searching for hotspots with his infrared detector. Fun! :/

I am thinking…
that my husband sure hasn’t been home much this month!  Between long work days, his eight-day trip to Idaho with the older boys, and now this fire assignment, he will have had a total of three days home all month – the weekend of our Latin Mass on the 5th-6th, and last Sunday, which was our oldest son’s 14th birthday. It’s “survival mode” for me.

I am thankful… 
for the outpouring of kindness, generosity, and support that has been shown to our friends. Deo Gratias! Our local newspaper had an article about the success of the fundraiser on the front page of the Sunday paper. Thank you all for your help, prayers, and generosity! Please continue to keep the Snodgrass family in your prayers.

Learning all the time…
We are getting closer to completing the Saints Joachim & Anne Lap Books we’ve been working on this month, but a few of the children still have some pictures to add once a replacement ink cartridge for my printer arrives. I ran out! 🙂

Celebrating the liturgical year…
I wanted to bake the Bacon and Chocolate madeleines in We Love Madeleines for the feast of St. James, which is our oldest son’s a certain bacon lover’s name day. . .

… but July 25th fell on a Friday this year, so I opted for the (meatless, but not at all penitential) Chocolate-Hazelnut recipe instead. I think I’ll bake the Bacon and Chocolate madeleines for his baptismal anniversary on July 31st!

From the kitchen… 
I also made an Anna Torte (Gateau Sainte-Anne) for the feast of St. Anne on July 26th, adapting the recipe from Cooking with the Saints. I’ll have to post both of these recipes over at Catholic Cuisine soon, or at least schedule the posts for next July.

I am creating…
interesting meals from the random ingredients in the freezer and pantry. Must grocery shop soon…

I am going…
to be staying home most of this week, but I did add a new St. Therese Glass Tile to my key chain which I recently ordered from Bridgie & Green. I love it!

I am hoping…
to take the older boys to meet their new cousin. They were away at summer camp when she was born.

I am praying…

… for the Snodgrass family.

… for the repose of the soul of Sarah Harkins, The Clay Rosary Girl, who passed away following her baby Cecilia in the womb, and for her family and friends. May she rest in peace+

… for Christine who recently miscarried her baby, and all other mothers who are currently suffering following the loss of a child.

… for my husband’s safety while he is away fighting wildfires.

… a novena with my husband, to St. Rita “Helper of the Hopeless,” for a special intention for our family. God’s will be done.

I am reading…
Blessed are they that Mourn by Mother Mary Loyola. Such a beautiful, beautiful book, filled with encouraging and comforting words that I’ve really needed to hear this past month.

I’ve also been skimming through Legends and Stories of Italy by Amy Steedman, which I ordered at the same time as Blessed are they that Mourn (My goal is to eventually purchase all the books re-published by St. Augustine Academy Press! They are all excellent!) I’m trying to decide whether I should just go ahead and start reading this with the children now as our next read aloud, or if I can wait and save it as a Christmas gift for one of the girls. I’ll probably wait… and read it myself in the meantime! 😉

Pondering these words…
from Mother Mary Loyola in Blessed are they that Mourn:

“Yes, you can. With God’s help you can make that little move towards Him which will open the way to further grace. Try. He will meet you more than half way. Try-and you will find the wall between you and Him crumbling down; your heart softening; His grace entering; courage returning. Then will come the brave resolve to set yourself loyally on His side by meek acceptance of His Will, patience, and trust.”

I am listening… 
to The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow. The boys pulled out their audio version of the book to listen to once again while organizing their bedroom.

Around the house…
we are all working on deep cleaning the bedrooms this week. I promised the children a surprise outing if we can get through them all and fill up the back of the van with items to donate. Probably not the best goal to set while in “survival mode” but I just can’t put it off any longer.

Random picture from earlier this month. 

One of my favorite things…  
the precious pocket rosary which Jennifer Anne sent me following my miscarriage last month. I haven’t added my little baby’s picture to it yet, but will soon.  Thank you sweet friend!

This week’s plans…
I’ll be hosting another Online Curriculum Sale Blog Hop from August 1st-7th, so be sure to get your books and posts ready to go!

A little peek at my day…

I never know what I’m going to see when my husband sends me one of his “In the Woods” emails. Sometimes it’s a beautiful picture like the one at the top of this post, sometimes it’s pictures of all the wildlife, and lately it’s been a lot of pictures of all the salvage logging he has been working on following last summer’s wildfires… 

    Saints Joachim & Anne Faith Folder

    Jul 25, 2014 | , , | 5 Comments

    The feast of Saints Joachim & Anne is coming up on July 26th! I’ve mentioned that we (four of the younger children) are currently working on creating the Saints Joachim & Anne Faith Folders (aka Lap Books) from Holy Learning. We haven’t quite completed them yet, but I do have some pictures of Rose’s Lap Book to share with you all today!

    Rose and I decided to make a Double Lap Book, using two pastel green file folders, so that she would have extra space for a coloring page/pocket on the back to store the paper dolls she colored.  We had so much fun making it together and especially loved looking through all our photos to find pictures of her with her grandparents for the covers of the “Grandparent Interview” booklets.  (We still need to do the actual interviews which should be a lot of fun too!) We also printed wedding pictures of her parents, grandparents, and great grandparents for the “My Family Tree” page!

    .: Inside First Folder :.

    Right Flap:

    • “Saints Joachim and Anne” Graduated Pages Book
    • “Prayers to Saints Joachim and Anne” Pocket Book Set

    Center:

    • “Immaculate Conception” Open the Doors Book
    • “Family Life” Venn Diagram
    • “The Presentation of Mary to the Temple” Pentagon Book
    • “Raising the Mother of God” Square Petal Book

    Left Flap:

    • “Saints Joachim and Anne The Grandparents of Jesus” Simple Square Book
    • “Learning from My Grandparents” Heart Shape Book
    • “Learning from My Parents” Quilt Block Book

    .: Inside Second Folder :. 

    Right Flap:

    • “Grandparent Interview” Book Set

    Center:

    • “My Family Tree”

    Left Flap:

    • “Grandparent Interview” Book Set
    Back of Left Flap: 
    • “My Grandparents” Frame (pictured below)
    .: Back Cover :. 
    Back Cover: 

    If you weren’t one of the two lucky visitors who won a copy of the pdf to create this Faith Folder in the recent giveaway, you have until July 26th to order a copy (or any other items!) from Holy Learning at a 25% discount with the coupon code “roses”.  You can also find additional ideas and book suggestions for this upcoming feast day in the archives!

    A Bacon Birthday Party!

    Jul 23, 2014 | , , | 8 Comments

    This past Sunday our oldest son turned 14 years old!  Fourteen!!! How that is even possible?! He is growing into such a wonderful young man, and I sure can’t imagine our life without this incredible son of ours. 
    Originally I thought I would serve a big welcome home birthday brunch, including lots of bacon with pigs-in-a-blanket pancakes, but having been on my own with our five youngest for the previous eight days while running an online fundraiser for some local friends, I just wasn’t able to get to the grocery store or make very many plans at all for the birthday. Instead, following Mass, Sean and I took him out for breakfast, just the three of us! I got to hear all about the summer camp and all the amazing priests, seminarians, and new friends they met on their trip. 
    After breakfast we picked up donuts to take home to all the rest of the children, including a Bacon Maple Bar for the birthday boy, and some groceries for the birthday cake and barbecue! 
    The birthday banner was painted by Twinkle Toes for her older brother, who spent most of the afternoon catching up on sleep while the rest of us worked in the kitchen baking the birthday cake! 
    .: Birthday Barbecue :. 
    My parents and youngest brother were originally going to be out of town, but they arrived home early and David called to see if they could stop by for a visit. Since they were coming over after all, I sent my brothers Scott and Brian text messages to see if they wanted to come too. It was a good thing I picked up two packages of Hamburger Buns! 🙂 
    While the cake was baking the kids and I also quickly made some Maple Bacon Party Mix to go along with our Bacon Burgers. We also filled a platter with veggies and cut up watermelon.  
    .: Pass the Pigs :. 

    I had considered a few different “Bacon” themed games for the birthday party including Bacon-Opoly, Pig Jax, and Pass the Pigs Party Edition, but I never did get around to ordering any of them… But then my brother Brian bought this version of Pass the Pigs as a gift! 
    Note: This post contains affiliate links. 

    Uncle Brian told all the kids that he once rolled the pigs and they landed “Piggy Back!” He couldn’t remember how many points that earned him, but “It’s so hard, it has to be good!”  We all laughed when we read that “Piggy Back” is “A totally undignified position for pigs. You are out of the game.”

    .: Birthday Gifts :. 

    The kids all had cards and little gifts to give their older brother, including a package of “Birthday Cake Oreos” from Twinkle Toes & Rose, and an “Arizona Quarter” from Snuggles.

    Along with a card and a beautiful letter, Grandpa & Grandma G. sent an Electric Razor for their oldest grandchild, saying that if he doesn’t need this yet, he will soon! 
    He also received a Champion Disc Golf Set from some of his uncles and Grandpa & Grandma M.  (The kids have all been loving the Disc Golf we set up last month for the Golf Par-tee!) 
    Sean and I also had a few gifts for him including the newest release in the Brotherband Series (which was released just in time for his birthday), a copy of Saint Magnus, The Last Viking (sent and autographed by the author Susan Peek), a family game called Say Anything (suggested by a friend)…
    … and his big gift, which I originally planned to save for Christmas but it tied in so nicely with our “food” themed birthday, was the Parisian Restaurant Lego Set. This huge lego set has been keeping the boys busy all week! 
    .: Bacon Birthday Cake :. 

    As I mentioned the other day, the birthday boy had requested “A white cake topped with a Bacon Donut and surrounded by Cream Puffs!” I ended up making a Maple Bacon Upside Down Birthday Cake and surrounded it with cream puffs, leaving the Bacon Donut for him to enjoy separately. It isn’t one of my prettiest cakes, even without the bacon donut sitting on top, but according to the kids and all our guests it was the best tasting!

    He tried so hard to blow out all fourteen candles out, but thankfully a certain little two year old brother had his back and took care of that last candle for him! 🙂

    The rest of the evening was spent playing frisbee in the yard and enjoying time with family.  
    Happy 14th Birthday! 

    Maple Bacon Party Mix

    Jul 23, 2014 | , | 3 Comments

    Maple Bacon Party Mix

    Ingredients: 

    • 2 cups corn chex
    • 2 cups rice chex
    • 2 cups wheat chex
    • 1 cup peanuts, salted and roasted
    • 6 strips bacon, cooked extra crispy and chopped
    • 4 T. butter, melted
    • 4 T. maple syrup
    • 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (depending on how spicy you like it)
    • 1-1 1/2 teaspoons Maldon (any salt will do but if you are using table salt reduce the quantity)

    Directions: 

    Combine the cereals, peanuts, and cayenne in a large, microwavable-safe bowl.

    In a small bowl combine the butter and maple syrup. Add the butter mixture to the cereal and stir very well. 

    Microwave on high for three minutes stirring every minute to prevent the sugars to scorch. Add the bacon and salt. 

    Stir. Let cool. Serve.

    Maple Bacon Upside Down Birthday Cake

    Jul 22, 2014 | , , | 14 Comments

    Yesterday we celebrated our oldest son’s 14th birthday!  This year, for his birthday theme, we decided to focus on one of his favorite foods: BACON!

    When I asked the birthday boy what type of cake he would like this year, his answer was, “A white cake topped with a Bacon Donut and surrounded by Cream Puffs!” (Cream Puffs are another favorite treat of his!)  I got pretty nauseous after searching for images of “Bacon Birthday Cakes” but thought I might be able to pull off a Bundt Cake, topped with a Maple Glaze and Bacon Crumbles. Then Charlotte came to my rescue and emailed me the link to this Maple Bacon Upside Down Cake which actually looked really yummy!

    Despite comments and questions from our guests (my Dad!) like “You didn’t actually put real bacon on that cake?!” the cake was such a hit and it didn’t last very long. Before it completely disappeared, I wrapped up a piece to send home with my brother and niece, for my sister-in-law. (She had stayed home with their brand new one-week-old baby girl!) Here is the text message Meagan sent me this afternoon:

    “Are you kidding me with that cake?! That is seriously the best thing I’ve ever eaten. EVER!! I must have that recipe!”

    Maple Bacon Upside Down Cake

    Ingredients:

    • 6 slices maple-smoked bacon
    • 3/4 cup butter
    • 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
    • 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup real maple syrup
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1 box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ white cake mix
    • 1 container (8 oz) sour cream
    • 1/2 cup milk
    • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
    • 3 eggs
    • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

    Directions:

    Heat oven to 350°F. In 12-inch skillet, cook bacon until crisp; drain on paper towels. Tear bacon into pieces; set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons drippings in skillet.

    Vintage Style Cafe Toile Apron – Beautiful Tiered Knit Peasant Skirt
    Meanwhile, in 13×9-inch pan, melt butter in oven. 

    Cook pecans in reserved bacon drippings over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until light brown. Add brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla to pecans, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture over butter in pan. 
    In large bowl, beat cake mix, sour cream, milk, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. 
    Beat 2 minutes on medium speed; stir in almond extract. 
    Pour batter over pecan mixture in pan. 
    Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. 
    Place heatproof serving plate upside down on pan; turn plate and pan over. Let pan remain over cake 1 minute so pecan mixture can drizzle over cake. 
    Remove pan; sprinkle cake with bacon. Serve warm. 
    I’ll be back sometime soon with the rest of the birthday pictures, including the cream puffs!

     Update: A Bacon Birthday Party!

    My Daybook :: July 18, 2014

    Jul 18, 2014 | , , , , | 20 Comments

    Outside my window…
    we’ve been enjoying our daily visitors.  “Why, don’t you know? They’re twitterpated!”

    I am thinking…
    about Melody’s post on Discovering God’s Purpose for Your Blog, Charlotte’s break, Katherine’s post on authenticity and ambition, and Mary’s letter to Small-Time Mediocre Bloggers.  They are all inspiring posts which have given me so much to think about as a blogger.

    I am thankful… 
    for the incredible love and generosity that is being shown to our friends, a local Catholic homeschool family, who lost their two year old in a tragic accidental drowning last Sunday.  In just three days we have raised nearly $25,000 to help offset the medical and funeral expenses. Thanks be to God, and thank you all for your help and prayers!

    Learning all the time…

    Last week we completed Track A of Meet the Masters! Hopefully I can find time to share the pictures from our unit studies on Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet sometime soon. This has been such a fun program and I’m looking forward to continuing on to Track B during this upcoming school year.

    Note: You can scroll through all our past Meet the Masters units under the label “Meet the Masters.” I purchased the A-G Bundle for ages 10-Adult (with some of my charter school allotment) to use with all our children, along with art supplies, from Rainbow Resource. You can also find the program at a discount through Homeschool Buyers Co-op.

    Celebrating the liturgical year…
    With the oldest two boys out of town this week, I had all sorts of recipes and crafts planned for the younger children for some of the feasts days this week, but we haven’t been able to get to them after all.  Perhaps we will still have some “Saintly Summer Fun” sometime soon, but if not I can always save the craft supplies for next July. I love the liturgical year!

    From the kitchen… 
    Coconut Chia Granola with Almond Milk.  Yum!

    I am working on… 
    Oh, where to start? I’m working on organizing, decluttering, and cleaning the bedrooms, which is taking FORever! I am ordering our school books for the upcoming school year, and still trying to find the time to finalize our plans. We’ve been working with contractors and trying to make decisions on what we want, combined with what we can afford, on the garage plans. I have some deadlines coming up for Catholic Digest and Creative Catechist, so I need to start working on my submissions. And that’s just the beginning of my “to-do” list lately… somewhere in there I’m trying to make the time to exercise, but that hasn’t been happening much (at all) this week. Hopefully today I can squeeze in some time on the treadmill.

    I am creating…
    Saint Joachim & Anne Faith Folders with some of our children!  The giveaway ends today so click over to last week’s post to enter for a chance to win one of two copies, if you haven’t already.

    I am going…
    to try and coordinate some meals for my brother’s family, who just welcomed their second baby this past Sunday!  At least that is the plan, if I can convince my sister-in-law. 🙂

    I am hoping…
    to get back to town so I can hold my new niece again. She is such a doll!  We were able to go visit at the hospital on Monday evening, and then went to pick up dinner for them to drop off at their home, since they were being discharged. It was love at first sight.

    I am praying…
    for the Snodgrass family.

     

    I am reading…
    the Christ 101 Study Manual.

    So far I love this apologetics course! It’s is geared towards high-school age students and adults, but my husband and I are considering beginning Christ 101 from Classical Theist, along with the Study Manual, with our oldest two boys this upcoming school year.

    Pondering these words…
    from Fr. Gabriel, OCD in Divine Intimacy:

    “O Lord, teach me to seek you, even when my heart is dry and my mind distracted.”

    I am listening (and laughing)… 
    to Snuggles’ recent comments on “How do babies come out of their mom’s tummy? There is only ONE place I can think of. . . and it’s a STINKY place!”

    Around the house…
    ummm, yeah… about that. Let’s just say that after spending the last few days at the computer running the fundraiser, I have quite a bit to do before my husband arrives back home tomorrow night.  As soon as I finish up this post I’m planning on getting to work cleaning, washing dishes, catching up the laundry, and hopefully making a few plans for the birthday on Sunday.

    One of my favorite things…  
    Our new Keurig Coffee Maker. My husband was skeptical when I asked if we could purchase the Keurig when we were at Costco a couple weeks ago, but he agreed to give it a try and he loves it just as much as I do, if not more!

    This week’s plans…
    Sean and the boys will be home late tomorrow night, just in time for our oldest son’s 14th birthday on Sunday! They left early last Saturday morning to travel to attend the boys’ camp at my husband’s youngest brother’s parish in Idaho!  I can’t wait to hear all about their trip!

    A little peek at my day…

    The girls were both up extra early so they could continue working on the paintings they started yesterday afternoon.

      Please Join Me in Helping a Family in Need

      Jul 15, 2014 | | 8 Comments

      As you all know, on Sunday, July 13th, our friends lost their toddler, Julianna Snodgrass (the fourth of their five children), in a tragic accidental drowning while visiting family in California.

      In addition to our prayers, the family is in need of our financial help and support. Julianna was air lifted to the hospital during the attempts to resuscitate so the medical bills will be extraordinary. With the funeral expenses on top of those and all of the grief too, this family will be suffering tremendously. 

      If you can help in any way, no matter how small, it would be greatly appreciated. Together we can at least help lighten the financial burden on their family as they grieve this tremendous loss.

      Please continue to pray for Gabe & Renee Snodgrass, and their family, that God may pour His grace upon them in this time of sorrow. May God reward you abundantly!

      Urgent Prayer Request

      Jul 14, 2014 | | 68 Comments

      A dear friend of mine and her husband just found their two year old face down in a bucket of water, not breathing.  Her lips and fingers blue. Please pray that they can revive her. The little one is being air lifted to the hospital.

      Please Pray. Thank you!

      + + +

      Update: Thank you all for the prayers. The precious little one did not make it… I am so heartbroken for their family. Please continue to keep them in your prayers!

      Update #2: We have set up a GoFundMe page here to help with the extraordinary medical and funeral expenses.

      O Tender Heart of Jesus, please have mercy on my dear friend’s grieving heart! She has lost her child, and her soul is flooded with tears. And yet she knows that Thou hast not abandoned her. Thou art with her always. Thou hast triumphed over death, so that through Sanctifying Grace, death is not the end of life, but only the beginning of a life of eternal joy and peace. Help her, O Lord, in this time of sorrow, to find consolation in knowing her child is now a saint and enjoys the perfect happiness of living with Thee in Heaven.

      O Mary, my Sorrowful Mother, who gazed in sorrow at the sight of thy Son dying on the Cross, please pray for my dear friend and her family in their time of grief. Help them to find peace and comfort in trusting in our merciful Father’s love. May this trial serve to strengthen the bond between their sorrowing hearts, to unite them even more closely to each other, and to deepen their faith and trust in God our Father. Though their sweet child is lost to them in this life, may they know the unutterable joy of meeting their child again in Heaven.

      Blessed Zelie Martin, mother of St. Therese the Little Flower, you experienced profound grief when you held four of your children in your arms as they breathed their last breath. Assist my dear friend in her grief, for she too has lost a child. You knew deep sorrow, yet you never grew bitter or angry against God, but always trusted in His infinite mercy and love. Help her to trust Him too. Your faith assured you that your little ones were happy in Heaven, and you found consolation in knowing they were watching over your family and praying for you. Help her, too, to be strengthened by her Catholic Faith, and to find joy in knowing that her precious child is now enjoying the peace and joy of Heaven.

      All ye heavenly Angels and Saints, pray for them! Pray for their grieving family! May they never forget to pray to the little member of their family who is watching over them from Heaven. Amen.

      Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live: And every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever.
      John 11:25-26

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      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.

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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.

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