Mixed Feelings

I just had to laugh at myself for getting all sentimental seeing our trusty OLD harvest gold oven being tossed out of our kitchen today!

 You have served us well for the past 10 years that we've lived in this home.

I will miss you. . . At least for the next six weeks or so! ;) 

An Infant Baptism and a Prayer Request...

... on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul!

Welcome to the Catholic Church little one! 

Our little niece (who Hubby is now blessed to call his Goddaughter!) will be going under general anesthesia in the morning so the doctors can measure the pressure behind one of her eyes.   Could you all please say a prayer that it all goes well and this next pressure reading comes back in the normal range?   

Thank you for your prayers!  

Wordless Wednesday ~ 3rd Birthday Pictures

Zoo Cake tutorial can be found here.

Catholic Cuisine

I just posted a recent news report by Rome Reports over at Catholic Cuisine.  I thought it turned out cute and wanted to share it with you all here as well!

You can read the whole article here:
 Food Blog with a Catholic Touch 

Although I am not quite sure what "Pentecost Parfait" is (It does sound good!), we do have a new recipe for Grasshopper Parfaits, which Charlotte just posted in honor of the upcoming feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist!

Thank you Rome Reports! 

The Marian ATC Swap

Yesterday afternoon, in the middle of celebrating Snuggles' birthday, we were all very excited when the mailman delivered our artist trading cards (ATC's) from the Marian ATC Swap.

My children had so much fun looking at all the lovely illustrations, in honor of Our Lady, and then finding out who they were from on the backs of the cards.  

I never did post the pictures I took of the cards we sent for the swap. So, here are some pictures of the ATC's we sent, in addition to the ones we received:

by Captain (age 9)

To: Captain 

by Rascal (age 8)

To: Rascal  

by Twinkle Toes (age 6)

To: Twinkle Toes

by Chiquita (age 5)

To: Chiquita

My Cards

I just LOVED all of the ATC's I received, and immediately recognized the beautiful cards made by Vee and Lydia!  

Thank you to everyone!!!  

My children have all added their cards to their Holy Card Collection Albums and are already looking forward to participating in the next swap in the Fall!

Thank you Kimberlee for hosting this wonderful opportunity for us all.   

May God reward you! 

A Zoo Cake...

... for Snuggles' 3rd Birthday!

Zoo Cake Supplies:

2 - 9" round cakes - We made a delicious Gluten Free Chocolate Cake! 

Frosting - We made Barbara's Buttercream Frosting and tinted it orange.

Shredded Coconut - Some tinted Green and Some Toasted

Blue Gel Icing for Pond

Twix Candy Bars  - I bought 6 king sized Twix bars.

1 Keebler Deluxe Graham, White Icing to write Zoo, and two toothpicks

(Poke toothpicks into one side of cookie and stand into cake) 

Some Chocolate Covered Raisins and a few Whoppers for "rocks" 

Toy Tree and Baby Zoo Animals

Happy Birthday Snuggles!! 

On Christian Fatherhood

Prayer for Fathers

St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus and chaste husband of Mary, you passed your life in loving fulfillment of duty. You supported the holy family of Nazareth with the work of your hands. Kindly protect those who trustingly come to you. You know their aspirations, their hardships, their hopes. They look to you because they know you will understand and protect them. You too knew trial, labor and weariness. But amid the worries of material life your soul was full of deep peace and sang out in true joy through intimacy with God's Son entrusted to you and with Mary, his tender Mother. Assure those you protect that they do not labor alone. Teach them to find Jesus near them and to watch over him faithfully as you have done. ~ Pope John XXIII

This Week's Progress

 ~ Monday, June 14th ~

 (The boys were both hired by the contractor, one on Monday and the other on Thursday, to clean up!) 

 ~ Tuesday, June 15th ~

 ~ Thursday, June 17th ~

Photo Credit :  Rascal 

~ Friday, June 18th ~ 

Teaching Children the Liturgical Colors of the Church Year

Okay... Because I always try to give credit to where all these great ideas come from (information can get watered down so fast out here in blog land!), this idea for teaching children the liturgical colors of the Church Year was originally shared by Jennifer at Wildflowers and Marbles in 2007.  I had just started blogging at the time, and hadn't been blessed to "meet" Jennifer quite yet and missed the post, so my first introduction to this idea was last year when Suzanne (link no longer available) posted her own set.  I loved the idea but didn't think it was something I would be able to replicate.  I was finally convinced that it was possible by Charlotte, who posted a non-power tool version.  Yay!!

Anyhow, after deciding that I did INDEED want to give this craft a try, I could NOT find crosses that would work anywhere.  (We are not blessed with a Hobby Lobby in our area and last year they weren't selling online yet.)  I finally found a set of 12 wooden crosses online (similar to this one) and placed an order for them.  That was last June.

I had every intention to complete them as one of our projects, in addition to our Lap Book, for The Year for Priests, and isn't it just like me to wait until almost the very last minute? Yep, our set was completed with just 2 days to spare.

We almost made a set during "V" week, but at that time another local mom had started talking about Summer with the Saints for this year, and I told her I had the perfect craft for June. I shared the idea, gave her my box of crosses, and decided to wait.

To keep it simple we were originally going to make the vestments out of felt (like Charlotte's), but I just loved Anne's GORGEOUS fabric version. I also wanted to create Traditional Roman Fiddleback Vestments (like Ruth) since that is what my FSSP brothers-in-law wear when offering Mass.

So, as you can see, our inspiration came from many of my online friends!   

THANK YOU to ALL of you!! :-)   

Now, on to our version! To prepare the craft for our children, we first stained the crosses and then headed to the fabric store and found some beautiful fabrics and ribbons. On her way home she stopped by my house and had me make a little pattern for the Fiddleback Vestments.  (OOOhhhh!! I was nervous!)  It's not perfect, but I was happy with how it turned out and so we pre-cut two of each color so the children could each decorate one or two.

The children all cut ribbon for the front and back and glued it on to their vestments.

Well, that was about all that they were able wanted to do.  

No...this was not the most kid friendly craft.  

So, while the children ate pizza, I kept gluing... and gluing! ;)

While the children all had a blast playing, we continued cutting out 10 more of each color.  The plan is to eventually have a set for each of our children.  We'll have a total of 12 though, which leaves 3 extra sets.   When they are finished we are thinking of listing them on Ebay (or maybe here at Shower of Roses) as a Fundraiser for my Little Flowers Girls' Club.

After they were (almost) dry we tried them on the crosses.
Here they are with a little information on each color:

Red:   The color of blood, is used on all feasts of our Lord's Cross and Passion, on the feasts of the Apostles and of all martyrs. Red is also used on Pentecost and in Masses of the Holy Spirit, in memory of the tongues of fire of the First Pentecost.

Green: The color of budding and living vegetation, it is the symbol of hope. It is used on the Sundays after Epiphany and after Pentecost.

Purple: A symbol of penance and expiation. It is used during the penitential seasons of Advent, Septuagesima and Lent, and on fast days and vigils.

Rose: This color is permitted, in place of purple, on the third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete) and on the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare), when the Church tempers the sadness of the penitential seasons with an invitation to rejoice in the goodness of God our Saviour.

White: The symbol of innocence and triumph (Apoc.3,5) It is used on all feasts of the joyful and glorious mysteries of our Lord's life (e.g. Christmas and Easter), on the feast of our Blessed Mother, on the feasts of angels and of all saints who were not martyrs.

Gold:  Vestments made of real cloth of gold are permitted in place of white, red and green vestments

Black: The color of death and mourning. It is used for the services of Good Friday and for Masses for the Faithful Departed.

Didn't they turn out great?!?  My children couldn't wait to show their dad when he got home from work.  As soon as he saw them he said,   "Wow!!! Those are Awwweeeesome!"  I  had a feeling he would be impressed.


Update:  There is just one cross for each set of vestments.  The children will then change the vestments to coordinate with the correct Liturgical Season.   They are just displayed on individual crosses for the picture.

8/4/2011 Update:   Here is the link to download the Fiddleback Vestment Pattern I created!