50% OFF all Little Flowers Books, and More!

Ecce Homo Press is having a sale to celebrate the beatification of Pope John Paul II!!    ALL the books on can be purchased at 50% OFF!!!

All you have to do is enter the coupon code:  JP2WELUVU  

(expires at midnight eastern May 1, 2011) 

I used this opportunity to order some more Little Flowers Girls Club Materials for my girls club (including the Art & Activity books that come with copyright permission and CD's!!!),  Blue Knights Materials for my boys, the Little Woman Hospitality Program (which sounds wonderful), as well as a few Saint Books including The Iron Spy and The Search for the Madonna (at only $3.97 each, how could I pass them up?!?).  Anyhow, I just wanted to let you all know, in case you aren't on their mailing list.

Thank you, Joan, for offering this amazing sale!!

P.S. While I am at it, Adoremus Books is also offering 20% off EVERYTHING on their site until May 2nd, using coupon code EASTER11.   My husband better hide my credit cards! ;)  

A Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea

This morning, inspired by a friend - who I have yet to meet, even though she met two more of my sisters today! -  I turned on the rebroadcast of the Royal Wedding, and started preparing an "afternoon tea" of Crown Shaped Cookies (everyone decorated their own), Strawberry Heart Tea Sandwiches, Royal Peach Tartlets (I didn't have any raspberry jam), and Tea.   It was so much fun and the wedding was beautiful! I really had no idea that my children would enjoy watching it so much...  And it was a perfect opportunity for a little impromptu History lesson!

A Cross Stitch Easter Egg

When I was a child, one of my favorite things to do (besides read) was cross stitch.   My Grandmother (my mom's mom, who passed away last August) had given me all of her old floss and helped me set up a craft box to store it in (pictured above).  She would also give me advice and tips as I was learning. 

At the beginning of April I decided to pull out all of my old supplies and try and teach my oldest daughter.  It was so much fun!   With Easter coming up, I decided to show her how to make a cross stitch Easter Egg, like the ones I would make years ago.   In fact, when I was in 4-H I actually gave a demonstration on making these little eggs! 

First we decided to use a simple pattern from about.com, and then she choose the various colors of floss that she wanted to use... She did such a great job coordinating them, and then picked right up on the actual cross stitching.   

 First she started with yellow, for the borders.

Then, after adding some pink beads, she cross stitched a brown cross and gray tomb.  Chiquita loved watching and wanted to know when it would be her turn to learn!

Next she added a bit of green...

... finishing it up with the words "He is Risen" in gold.

As soon as she was finished, her and I made a special trip to the store to pick out some coordinating fabric, ribbon, and lace to finish up the Easter Egg! 

We already had the styrofoam egg and straight pins.

To assemble the egg, first you pin the completed cross-stitch onto the front half of the stryofoam egg, trimming off any excess fabric.  

Repeat with a coordinating fabric for the back of the egg.

I helped her with the final step of wrapping the sides (to cover the pins) with lace and ribbon, adding a bow and a little rose to the top.  

Didn't she do such a great job?!?

On Easter Morning she decided to display her egg at the base of our Easter Lily and helped decorate a cake to match! 

Teatime

A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Altagracia (2011)

Celebrating Candlemas (2011)

An Afternoon Tea on Candlemas Day (2010)

A Lenten Tea on Holy Thursday (2011)

A Lenten Tea on Holy Thursday (2010)

A Lenten Tea on Holy Thursday (2009)

A Lenten Dinner on Good Friday (2011)

A Lenten Tea on Good Friday (2010)

A Lenten Tea on Good Friday (2009)

A Joyous Easter Tea (2009)

The Good Shepherd's Garden Parties can be found here. 

A Marian Titles May Crowning Luncheon (2011)

Celebrating the Feast of St. Therese (2011)

Our 2010 Jesse Tea for Advent (2010)

A Jesse Tea for Advent (2009)

A Tea in Honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe (2009)
Celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (2012)

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. 

{pretty}

Our Paschal Candle placed inside our former Crown of Thorns.   

Thank you Charlotte, for the suggestion of picking up the tiny flowers from the wedding section at Michaels!  They worked perfectly and looked so pretty!! 

{happy}

It has been over 7 years since all 12 of us have been together at the same time, but I was happy to spend Easter with six of my siblings, including these three brothers - David, Paul, and Scott!

{funny}

Hearing Chiquita's reaction while making cookies on Holy Saturday:

"Aw, man! There is candy on my finger and I can't even lick it because it is STILL LENT!!"

{real}

"Oh no... There is more on my dinner plate than just a plain white dinner roll..."

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment!

Hunting for Eggs!

The Easter Story with Playmobil ~ 2011 Edition!

In addition to our family traditions, my older boys started a tradition of their own a couple years ago!   The first year it started with them reenacting The Way of the Cross with their Playmobil Toys.   Last year I was delighted to find their toys set up for Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday!   This year I found their toys set up on Palm Sunday (don't you just love all the little palms they cut out of paper!), Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.   It looks like they used their Nativity Set, Romans, Knights, Vikings, Pirate Treasure Chest (Garden and Stone for Tomb), Dragon Rock (Tomb), and King's Knight (Flag).   They have always done this all on their own, with no encouragement from me, and I think it is so sweet.

~ Palm Sunday ~

The Entry into Jerusalem

~ Holy Thursday ~ 

The Agony in the Garden

~ Good Friday ~

The Way of the Cross

~ Easter Sunday ~

He is Risen!!  Alleluia!