Catholic Women Rejoice in Seven Quick Takes

by | Oct 17, 2014 | , , | 3 Comments

It’s been so hard to squeeze in blogging lately, but I finally have a few minutes at the computer this morning and want to share some pictures from our last stop on our recent road trip.  You can find my first post here with pictures from Idaho, Seven Quick Takes from Seattle here, and Our Visit to the American Girl Store here. Here are 7 Quick Takes from Catholic Women Rejoice!

— 1 —

The last stop on our recent road trip was Portland/Vancouver for the Catholic Women Rejoice! conference. It was my first time attending and I was so excited to finally get to meet Danielle Bean, my editor at Catholic Digest! (I have a deadline this upcoming week for the Jan/Feb issue which will begin my 3rd year of writing the Quiet Moments/Celebrate section!) After nine very full days on the road I was exhausted, but I’m so glad I was able to attend the conference and it was so great to meet Danielle!

— 2 —

I also had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Hendy, Teresa Tomeo, Lisa Ferry and Sterling Jaquith (the conference organizers), and quite a few online friends!

Danielle gave a talk all about how “God Equips The Called” which was excellent, and it was really interesting to hear Teresa Tomeo’s testimony “From Secular Anchor to Media Evangelist.

— 3 —

Lisa Hendy, author of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and The Handbook for Catholic Moms, provided some great Ice Breakers and Games throughout the day. My favorite was CERTAINTY, The Opposite of Jeopardy! and I’m thinking about trying to incorporate a variation of it into our Annual All Saints Party this year. 
There were so many women of all ages attending the conference, including many mamas with babies! 
— 4 —

The schedule for the day also included Holy Mass offered by Father Juan Gonzales, who I first met last year at our Goddaughter’s baptism. 
Speaking of our Goddaughter, here it what she was up to during Mass. It was such a joy to see her again and catch up with her Mama, my dear friend Ursula (Rose’s Godmother). The girls actually spent the day having a blast with her Daddy (Rose’s Godfather) and all her siblings. 
— 5 —

Ursula was actually helping out with the Soul Gardening Journal booth during the conference. You can sign up for this excellent FREE (provided exclusively by donations!) magazine here. I’ve been receiving it for years and it’s just lovely.

— 6 —

The conference organizers kindly invited me to attend a special dinner with the speakers after the conference! 

I happened to switch places with Lisa for a few minutes, while she was visiting with another women at my end of the table, and Becky snapped this picture! 🙂  Thanks for sending me a copy! 

— 7 —
While we were in the Portland area we were hosted by Becky and her family! Becky and I have emailed back and forth a number of times over the years and it was so awesome to finally get to meet her and her super fun family! I really hope we can visit again someday. It was such a blessing to make so many amazing new friends on our trip!
You can click over to Becky’s blog to see a few more pictures from our visit.  Please keep Becky in your prayers as she prepares to welcome her 6th baby any day now!

Our Visit to the American Girl Store

by | Oct 15, 2014 | , , | 21 Comments

Ever since our girls received their very first American Girl dolls on Christmas morning in 2010, they have been requesting American Girl birthday parties, collecting additional Historical dolls (and accessories, clothing and furniture) received as gifts on their birthdays and Christmas (you can see how we organize it all here), dressing their dolls up as saints, completing unit studies and lap books based on the Historical dolls, and dreaming about someday visiting an actual American Girl store…

That dream finally came true during our recent visit to Seattle a couple weeks ago!


“Mom! Stop taking pictures so we can go explore!”

I was disappointed that we didn’t have an opportunity to visit before all the recent new “Beforever” changes to the Historical doll line, but the girls loved seeing all the new outfits including Kit and Addy’s new “rich clothes!” See, even a 9 year old can tell that the new “Meet” outfits look way too expensive for the cooresponding time periods! 😉

However, even I couldn’t argue that Samantha does look so much prettier in pink… and just look at that darling Lacy Parasol! ♥

Next Twinkle Toes went searching for Caroline…

… and Chiquita headed straight for the Josefina display.

Being a weekday during the school year we pretty much had the whole store to ourself!

We had a little time before our reservations at the Bistro so we visited the Doll Salon to make an appointment for Josefina.

Caroline and Emily just needed a new brush, but the kind hair stylist offered to “show us how to use the brush” on their hair as well and soon everyone was looking their best for our Afternoon Tea and Craft!

I had never told the girls much about the American Girl stores and the “oohs” and “aahs” when we walked into the PINK Bistro, and when they realized that even their dolls would get there own seats, were so cute!


The girls all opted for Pink Lemonade instead of Tea and started working on the Beforever Bracelets.

Tea arrived on three tier trays and looked pretty, but it really wasn’t anything special and didn’t taste that great. The girls all agreed that their mom’s teas are more creative and taste SO. MUCH. BETTER! 🙂  (That made me so happy!) If we ever visit again we’d probably just skip the meal and order a dessert to share.




After we had finished our tea it was time to shop! The girls had been saving their sticker charts for months. (Last spring I started a new sticker reward system for extra chores, summer schoolwork, etc and each completed sticker chart equals a certain amount of money for them to put towards activities or things they would like to purchase.) The sticker charts combined with some birthday gift money from their grandparents and a little extra spending money I gave them for our trip allowed them each to pick out some things from their wish lists! 

Twinkle Toes purchased some of Caroline’s clothes and accessories as well as the new Lacy Parasol from the Samantha line. Chiquita purchased the food from the Josefina and Kaya collections as well as Kaya’s Winter Accessories.

Rose kept pulling me back to all the beautiful ROSE COVERED (It was during my novena to St. Therese and roses were turning up in random places each and every day!) furniture and accessories in Samantha’s collection and we ended up choosing Samantha’s Holiday Set to take home.  Isn’t it precious?!

We had such a fun filled afternoon creating special memories that will Beforever! 😉

Seven Quick Takes from Seattle

by | Oct 10, 2014 | , , , , | 9 Comments

When I realized that we had a couple nights to fill in between our time in Idaho and the Catholic Women Rejoice conference the following weekend I sent an email to my Aunt/Godmother to see if we could visit. We arrived at her home just outside of Seattle on Wednesday night and stayed until Friday morning. She had a prior lunch commitment on Thursday, but the girls and I had some sightseeing and shopping plans to fill our day. Here are 7 Quick Takes from Seattle!

— 1 —

The first place we headed was to the Space Needle! I’m from a very small town and I don’t think I’m ever going to get use to driving in big cities, but somehow we managed to find our way downtown, find a parking spot, parallel park on a steep hill, and figure out how to use the parking meter after searching all of our purses for some coins…

The girls were not interested in riding to the top, and we really didn’t have time since it took us so long to find, but we enjoyed seeing it in person and visiting the gift shop.

— 2 —

The International Fountain was originally built as a modernist water sculpture in 1961 for 1962 World’s Fair, but it was completely replaced and expanded in 1995. With over 20 spouts, the fountain goes through programmed cycles of shooting water patterns, accompanied by recorded world music which is chosen to coordinate with the water patterns.

It was a perfect place to take some pictures with the Space Needle in the background! 🙂 
— 3 —

The Space Needle wasn’t very far from North American Martyrs at St. Alphonsus Church and it was so nice that we were able to make it in time (or rather a few minutes late) for the 12:10 Mass. 
Fr. Gerard Saguto, the current Administrator at this parish, actually attended Christendom College at the same time I did back in 1997-1998! It was nice to see him again and visit for a few minutes after Mass.
— 4 —
Before we left the girls asked if they could light candles for a special prayer intention. ♥
— 5 —

We spent the afternoon shopping (more about that later) and arrived back at my Aunt’s home for dinner around 5:00. She had invited my cousins, her four children along with all their spouses and children, over as well and it was so nice seeing them all again and meeting the new little ones!

— 6 —

Aunt Roxane made such a delicious dinner with all homemade lasagna, bread, and Oreo Cheesecake for dessert. Despite my dairy intolerance I couldn’t resist a small piece of each. I found that sticking with a diet while traveling is so hard! 
— 7 —

Our last stop of Friday morning, before getting back on the road, was Snoqualmie Falls, another beautiful waterfall in the Pacific Northwest! 

{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: Road Trip with the Girls!

by | Oct 10, 2014 | , , , , , | 16 Comments

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life with Like Mother, Like Daughter. ~
{pretty}

One of the first places the girls and I visited our recent (2,000 mile!) road trip was Multnomah Falls, the tallest waterfall in Oregon.  Isn’t it so pretty?! 
{happy}
It was such a blessing to be able to visit my brother-in-law and attend daily Low Masses and a Sunday High Mass at his parish.

Sean and the older boys visited earlier this summer, but the girls and I hadn’t seen him since he flew out to baptize Bud, “Churching of Women” for me, and give the girls their First Confession and First Holy Communion nearly three years ago.  The girls were all so happy to see him again! 
This was actually the first time I’ve visited a FSSP parish, other than when we attended my husband’s three brother’s ordinations to the priesthood. It was so inspiring!  
We continue praying that someday we will be blessed with an FSSP parish within driving distance or that we are able to move to an area that already has one established… 

The girls also loved making new friends… 
… and so did I!  We all had such a wonderful time and didn’t want to leave!
{funny}

Some of you may have already seen this picture over at Instagram, but one afternoon the girls and I spent some time downtown shopping. My favorite store was All Things Irish. Where else can you find saint stories, beautiful statues, and Guinness?! So awesome!
{real}

The floating boardwalk in Coeur d’Alene is really long! In fact, at 3,300 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 10 feet deep, with a 60-foot-long bridge on the west side, it is the longest floating boardwalk in the world. The girls and I stopped to check it out just before Mass on our way out of town!

I’ll be back soon with some pictures from our next stop!

The Boys of St. Paul’s Choir School: Christmas in Harvard Square {Christmas Gift Idea & Giveaway!}

by | Oct 8, 2014 | , , | 0 Comments

I had a package arrive in the mail this afternoon, from one of my new sponsors, and just had the pleasure of listening to the beautiful sacred music created by The Boys of St. Paul’s Choir School!

Christmas in Harvard Square was released today and is going to make a lovely addition to our home.  (affiliate links included in this post) 

I wanted to encourage you all to consider doing a little early Christmas shopping (It’s always nice to have it completed by Advent, or at least try anyways!) and order either the CD or MP3 to give as a gift or keep for your family. Any orders now can help boost the initial sales so that they can make it onto the “Holiday” Billboard charts with something that actually has Christ in the title!

Note: When you purchase this recording you are also helping the The Choir School with their many funding needs.

To thank you for helping me promote and spread the word about this new recording I have three review copies to give away to my visitors here at Shower of Roses! Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter box below: 

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Feasts & Seasons :: Our October Book Basket

by | Oct 7, 2014 | , , , | 5 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.

Month of October – Respect Life

October 1st, St. Thérèse of Lisieux (New) (Trad. – Oct. 3rd):

Picture Books

Chapter Books

A Few of My Personal Favorites

Audio

Movies

October 2nd, The Holy Guardian Angels (New, Trad.):

October 3rd, St. Thérèse of Lisieux (Trad.) (New. – Oct. 1st):

  • See October 1st for Book list.

October 4th, St. Francis of Assisi (New, Trad.):

Picture Books

Chapter Books

Movies

October 5th, St. Faustina Kowalska (New/some places):

October 7th, Our Lady of the Rosary (Victory of Lepanto) (New, Trad.):

October 8th, St. Bridget of Sweden (Trad.) (New – July 23rd):

October 12th, St. Wilfrid of York (Hist.):

October 13th, St. Edward the Confessor (Trad.):

October 15th, St. Teresa of Jesus (Teresa of Avila) (New, Trad.):

October 16th, St. Hedwig (New, Trad.):

October 16th, St. Gerard Majella (Hist.):

October 16th, St. Margaret Mary Alocoque (New) (Trad. – Oct. 17th):

October 18th, St. Luke (New, Trad.):

October 19th, Sts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf & Comps (New) (Trad. – Sep. 26th):

October 21st, St. Ursula & Her 11,000 Comps. (Trad.):

October 22nd, St. John Paul II (New):

Additional ideas and pictures can be found here: Commemorating the Canonization of Two Popes

October 23rd, St. Anthony Mary Claret (Trad.) (New – Oct 24th):

October 24th, St. Raphael, Archangels (Trad.) (New – Sep. 29th):

October 27th, St. Tekla:

October 28th, Sts. Simon & Jude (New, Trad.):

October 31st, St. Quentin (Hist.):

October 31st, All Hallows’ Eve (New, Trad.):

Other Links for October:

Harvey House Publishing {Sponsored Giveaway}

by | Oct 6, 2014 | | 0 Comments

In honor of the feast of St. Therese during this month of October, Harvey House Publishing has offered to send one of my visitors here at Shower of Roses autographed copies of Olivia and the Little Way and Olivia’s Gift!

I’ve reviewed both of these excellent books in the past and added them to our girls’ bookshelf. Our oldest daughter recently read Olivia and the Little Way and now it’s one of her favorites!  She just started reading Olivia’s Gift, which also includes dear St. Therese and is perfect for Respect Life Month with it’s strong pro-life theme encouraging a deeper respect of life.

Olivia and the Little Way
Fifth grader Olivia Thomas has moved to a new school in a new state, and is eager to make friends! Her best friend quickly becomes someone she has never seen—St. Therese of Lisieux. Follow Olivia’s trials as she tries to fit in at St. Michael’s School. With the help of her grandmother, she learns about the “Little Way” of serving God and how it can change everything!

This touching and heartfelt Catholic novel celebrates the life of St. Therese and will inspire young readers to follow her example and discover their own “Little Way” miracles. This engaging story is beautifully accompanied by Sandra Casali LewAllen’s stunning illustrations.

Olivia’s Gift
In Olivia and the Little Way, Olivia Thomas was the new girl in school when she felt St. Therese of Lisieux enter her life. Now her relationship with the Little Flower has blossomed into a beautiful friendship as she prepares to follow the Little Way into seventh grade.

School is out for the year and it’s time for a fun beach adventure. However, Olivia discovers that sometimes it can be difficult to be a good Catholic when you are in middle school—she discovers she needs God and St. Therese more than ever. In this beautiful novel that celebrates modesty and the precious gift of life, Olivia learns that it takes blind faith every day —and that God is never far away, even on vacation. This captivating story is beautifully accompanied by Sandra Casali LewAllen’s stunning illustrations.

I’ve included Amazon links above so you can read additional reviews, but these books can be ordered directly from Harvey House Publishing with optional inscriptions from the author at no additional charge and FREE standard shipping!  Click here to buy the books! 

Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter box below:

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15 Years Ago on the Feast of the Guardian Angels

by | Oct 3, 2014 | , , , | 16 Comments

Today is our 15th wedding anniversary! I realized this afternoon that our littlest ones had never seen our wedding album. I pulled it out and it was so much fun watching their reactions to all the pictures. I also finished praying my St. Therese novena today, the eve of her traditional feast day, and I actually have a little “rose” story to share, but that will have to wait for now since Sean and I are going out to celebrate. Happy Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels!
“Uncle David is so little!!!” Hard to believe that he was only three when we got married and now he’s in college…
 
Snuggles and Rose were excited to spot their Godfathers in this picture.
… and Bud wanted to know why he still hasn’t even gotten to meet his! 😉
“Gampa!!!” {aka “grandma” lol}
A Mother’s Prayer to the Guardian Angels of Her Children 
I humbly salute ye, O you faithful, heavenly Friends of my children! I give you heartfelt thanks for all the love and goodness you show them. At some future day I shall, with thanks more worthy than I can now give, repay your care for them, and before the whole heavenly court acknowledge their indebtedness to your guidance and protection. Continue to watch over them. Provide for all their needs of body and soul. Pray, likewise, for me, for my husband, and for my whole family, that we may all one day rejoice in your blessed society. Amen. 
 

Rose Cupcakes for St. Thérèse

by | Oct 2, 2014 | , , | 7 Comments

The Little Flower of Jesus by Sister Julita

Two boxes of cake mix = cupcakes to celebrate three back-to-back feast days for our family of nine with just a few leftover! I baked the white cupcakes yesterday, while baking the face for St. Jerome’s lion, and decorated them this afternoon with cream cheese frosting, white roses from Wilton, and my attempt at some ribbon roses and leaves with the extra frosting… They are far from perfect but still turned out pretty!

  

“You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.” ~ St. Thérèse

The Catholic Child and the Saints :: Little Flower

by | Oct 2, 2014 | , , , , | 4 Comments

Dear St. Therese, thou wert always good and obedient and always did the Will of God. Now thou art a great saint in heaven with God. Thy loving and tender heart rejoices to send down roses upon earth. O give me the sweet flower of a great love for Jesus! Pray for me that I may have all the graces I need. 

– Little Flower prayer from Jesus, Make Me Worthy – a reprint of the original can be found here.
+ + + + + + + 
I couldn’t help smiling when my beautiful little “Rose” walked into our room early this morning wearing her new “Wild Irish Rose” t-shirt (purchased at a fun little Irish store we visited on our road trip) without any reminders from me on whose feast day is celebrated today! 

St. Therese, the Little Flower, pray for us! 
Our Visit to the American Girl Store

Our Visit to the American Girl Store

by | Oct 15, 2014 | , , | 21 Comments

Ever since our girls received their very first American Girl dolls on Christmas morning in 2010, they have been requesting American Girl birthday parties, collecting additional Historical dolls (and accessories, clothing and furniture) received as gifts on their...

Harvey House Publishing {Sponsored Giveaway}

Harvey House Publishing {Sponsored Giveaway}

by | Oct 6, 2014 | | 0 Comments

In honor of the feast of St. Therese during this month of October, Harvey House Publishing has offered to send one of my visitors here at Shower of Roses autographed copies of Olivia and the Little Way and Olivia's Gift!I've reviewed both of these excellent books...

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-24, Twinkle Toes-22, Chiquita-21, Snuggles-18, Rose-16, Bud-14, 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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