Happy All Hallows' Eve!

~ Our 2011 Saintly Symbols :: Patron Saints ~

 Saint-O-Lanterns 

The children all decided to carve a symbol associated with their patron saints this year! 

St. James' Cross 

by Captain

(template here)

St. John's Chalice with Serpent 

by Rascal

(image found here)

"The Sons of Thunder Saint-O-Lanterns!"

St. Catherine of Alexandria's 

Crown with Heart 

by Twinkle Toes

(template here)

St. Clare's Monstrance 

by Chiquita (and mom)

(inspiration found here)

St. Michael's Flaming Sword 

by Snuggles (and mom)

(inspiration/image found here and here)

St. Therese's Rose 

by Rose (and mom)

(adapted from last year's larger Rose)

* Note:  It is much easier to carve a Rose on a large pumpkin...

If you carve a "Saint-O-Lantern" this year, be sure to share pictures at 

Catholic Cuisine's Saint-O-Lantern Link-up!

*All images on this blog Copyright Shower of Roses. 

Carving our Saint-O-Lanterns ~ 2011

You can see this year's "Patron Saint" Saint-O-Lanterns all lit up here! 

A Few Pictures...

... from yesterday's quick trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

(after the boys' first hockey game, and before running errands for our All Hallows' Eve Party)

We spent this afternoon making treats and carving these six pumpkins...  

I'll be back with more pictures soon!

A Costume for St. Catherine of Alexandria

We have been busy preparing saint costumes for our upcoming All Hallows' Eve party! Last night I decided to try and make Twinkle Toes a "wheel" for her St. Catherine of Alexandria costume.

I pulled out an old hula-hoop from my closet and some brown duct tape (I wasn't able to find any Wood Print tape locally), while Twinkle Toes went searching for "something round with a hole in the center."  My back-up plan was to cut out the center of a thick paper plate, but I was thrilled when she came back from the garage with a "Smokey the Bear Frisbee Ring" that one of the kids had brought home from the BLM at some point.   It was the perfect size!

I wrapped the hula-hoop with the tape, wrapped and placed the frisbee in the center, created spokes with the tape, and then wrapped the spokes to make them a bit thicker.   I used the whole roll of tape, and had just enough!

For a gown, Twinkle Toes decided to wear the burgundy one from her St. Margaret of Scotland costume in 2009.  (I had ordered it extra big for Christmas in 2008, and it still fits!)  We then pulled out an old brown beaded scarf of mine to make into a cloak.   I had picked up a clasp, but either it never made it out of the store or it is hiding around here somewhere, so I improvised with the cords off a gift bag and some gold safety pins, to create a tie.   We then finished her costume with one of her brother's swords and a pretty little Gold Tiara Crown, complete with hearts for St. Catherine!

The tiara arrived much smaller than I had imagined, but it ended up working out nicely and Twinkle Toes is very excited about her costume!   

I still have a few costumes to finish up, but it looks like we are going to have St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Catherine of Alexandria, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, St. George the Dragon Slayer, and St. Cecilia. 

You can find other costume ideas in the archives including Saintly Costumes, A Costume for St. Maximilian Kolbe, and a St. Francis of Assisi Costume.   You can also scroll through all of our past costume pictures here.

{this moment} :: "Real" Friends

{this moment} - A single photo, capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. To see more visit Soule Mama. 

I had so much fun visiting Charlotte and her wonderful family for Cupcake's Baptism.  Even though I knew it would be, it's was so much fun to "meet" in person and see that those dear friendships formed online are just as "real" as they seem.  I really wish Texas wasn't so far away!!  Oh, and sorry Charlotte! There really should be more pictures of your beautiful smile online... and perhaps a few less of my ridiculously huge smile! ;)

All Saints Bingo :: A 30 Card Printable Bingo Set

In preparation for this year's All Hallows' Eve Party, I have been working on a few new games. This year, instead of organizing and/or attending a homeschool party, we will be hosting one at our home and inviting some of our close friends and family. It is going to be so much fun!

We've decided not to do any of the carnival style games this year, but rather some fun outdoor group games. I have also been working on a few indoor games, in case the weather isn't very cooperative, or for after it gets too dark to stay outside.

One of the games I created was this All Saints Bingo Game!   I thought about ordering the Saint Search Game from Illuminated Ink, or downloading the 14 Saint Bingo cards from Catholic Mom, but I really wanted at least 30 variations of the cards so I decided to create my own set.

Of course I had to do so in the most difficult way (without the help of an online bingo generator) since I really had a specific idea in mind and wanted to include pictures of all the saints with a free space in the center.

Here is a sample of one of the cards that I came up with:

All of the 67 saint images that I choose to include are from the Picture Book of Saints by Father Lovasik and will be easily recognized by my children.   I titled each card with "SAINT,"  listed each saint's name under their picture, and then put "Ora Pro Nobis!"  (Pray for us!) in the free space.  For markers I decided to use clear and gold glass gems.

I printed the cards on 8.5"x11" white card stock and, trimmed them (though that wasn't really necessary, and then started laminating them, along with all the small bingo call cards.  Tomorrow I plan to laminate the rest, just as soon as I have some more  laminating pouches...  I ran out!

If you'd like, you can download my documents here:

Saint Bingo Cards

(Includes 30 original cards)

Saint Bingo Call Cards

Update: You can see pictures of All Saints Bingo being played at our Annual All Saints' Party in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. 

You can find more All Saints Party Printables here.

Week 30

By now God may have topped me
with one lovely head of hair.
I am His beautiful creation.
When I'm born, you'll want to stare!
~ The Miracle of Me

I didn't plan on crying at either of my appointments yesterday afternoon... The first appointment was just my routine 2 week check-up, followed by a "Fun 3D" ultrasound - and it sure did make me smile (through even more tears) to get another peek at our little guy (and see his little foot touching his forehead)!

However, at my first appointment, my amazing and wonderful midwife surprised my by saying that she had a confession to make. Apparently her and her husband will be going out of the country for Christmas this year to visit family (as they should!) and will be gone from around the 20th-28th of December. I am not actually due until January 1st (originally Dec 25, but then changed due to my ultrasound), but in the past I have averaged around 7-10 days early, which is right around Christmas.

My midwife has really spoiled me in the past, delivering our children (all 6 of them!) whether she has been on call or not, and I haven't even met the other midwifes in her office. I don't know why, but for some reason I have already been extra nervous about delivering this baby, and now I am even more so... I keep telling myself that everything will be okay, and will work out as it is suppose to, with or without those that I am use to having (Hubby still hasn't been released from his training beginning Jan 1) at the delivery.   Right?!?

Our Precious New Goddaughter

Lord, surround this child with goodness,
lead her in Your light each day;

Help her walk the path You've chosen,
guide her steps along the way.

Teach her, Lord, to trust your wisdom
with a faith forever new;

Keep her from all harm, and bless her;
with Your grace and gladness, too.

 It was such a blessing to be able to attend the beautiful baptism and spend some time with Charlotte and her wonderful family.   I am sure going to miss them all when I fly home tonight... Hopefully it won't be too long before Cupcake gets to meet her Godfather and the rest of my family!

You can visit Charlotte's blog to see a few more pictures!

My Daybook :: October 18, 2011

Outside my window... I keep spotting two cats.  Did I mention that we have cats now?   Somehow I was convinced (or rather ambushed) by a neighbor, Hubby, and 6 begging children, to adopt the two eight month old kitties. They were recently abandoned, when the family across the street moved out of town. Since they "arrived" on Columbus Day, and since they kids had all been studying New World Explorers, they finally decided to name the cats Ferdinand and Isabella.  

The girls with Ferdinand

Isabella (the hunter!)

This picture was taken right after she killed a snake and laid it across the entry to the garden...  Now if she could just get the gophers that have been digging through our garden! 

I am thinking... that it is SO. MUCH. EASIER. to pack for one than it is to pack for seven!   It wasn't nearly as overwhelming as I thought it was going to be, and I am all ready to fly to Texas tomorrow morning - if a 6:00 am flight can actually be considered "morning."

I am thankful... that I finally will get to meet Charlotte and her family.  I am so excited!

From the kitchen... yummy treats from our field trip to Harry and David!

Learning all the time... I took a break from Little Saints this week, to focus on getting some extra school work done with the older kids, and we will continue our "Fall" theme next week when I get home.   In the meantime, Snuggles is still loving All About Reading's Pre-Reading Program.   This morning, after his lesson on the letter D and some more work on rhyming words, he got to complete another letter from "My First Book of Letters."  The older kids have all moved on to their second unit of History and are now studying the Colonial Times.   History has definitely been everyone's favorite subject this year, and Writing With Ease the least favorite (at least for the boys - the girls have been pretty happy with everything).

Living the Liturgical Year at Home... I have started making plans for our All Hallows' Eve / All Saints Party, and our children have been trying to decide which saint they will dress as this year.   Snuggles has decided to be St. George and was so excited when his dragon arrived this past week!

I am creating... a few new games for our All Saints Party, including a Saint Bingo Game.   I will have to share it with you all when I get back from Texas.

I am wearing... old clothes.   All my nice clothes (that actually fit) are sitting in a suitcase next to the front door!

I am reading... nothing at the moment, but I did pick up a book from the library to read on the plane.

Noticing that... as much as I am looking forward to a vacation, I am really going to miss my family.   All day today the kids have been counting the hours until my plane leaves with sad faces, and giving me extra hugs constantly.  I am so blessed!

Towards personal care... I never did get around to making an appointment to get my hair cut, but I have until December to use my gift certificate, so I still have time.  I can't believe that it has been since February!  I am so bad at making time for these sorts of things. . .

I am listening... to Chiquita singing "Work while you work, Play while you play, This is the way To be happy each day.  All that you do, Do with your might, Things done by half, Are never done right!"  It is the latest poem she has been memorizing in her First Language Lessons, and she has been practicing it so much I think the whole family has it memorized!

Around the house... the laundry is all caught up, lesson plans have been created for the rest of this week and next, and their is food in the pantry.  I don't know why I am worrying so much, I am sure Hubby will be just fine and my mom has even offered to come over and help a couple days!

I am praying... for a safe flight, and that I don't have a panic attack.  It has been 11 years since I was on a plane last, and I am just a little bit nervous.  :)

One of my favorite things... playing board games with my kids!  

A few plans for this week:

• School... School.... School... 
• Hockey practice for the boys
• Tutor on Wednesday morning
• Early morning flight to Texas on Thursday
• Finally "meet" Charlotte and her family!
• Cupcake's Baptism on Saturday
• Spend the night with my sister on Saturday night
• and attend Mass at the Cistercian Abbey on Sunday! 

A Picture thought I am sharing: