The Purgative Way {Review & Giveaway}

 

Our family loves board games! I'm always looking for games to add to our collection that are both fun and educational. I'm really excited about this remarkable new game called The Purgative Way! It will be a trustworthy resource for supplementing our children's religious instruction at home. The traditional artwork on the play cards also contributes to their appreciation of their Catholic heritage.

OVER 500 CATECHISM CARDS!
Play with questions from the St. Joseph's Catechism, the Baltimore Catechism, or the Summa Theologica!

GET TO KNOW THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT!
Draw closer to the Saints each time you draw a card!

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING (1 THESSALONIANS 5:17)!
Learn foundational Catholic prayers in both English and Latin with 30 beautiful prayers cards!

NAVIGATE THE PITFALLS OF MORAL DILEMMAS!
We must not only know the Catholic Faith, but we must also know how to apply the truths of the Faith to our moral acts!

GROW THE FAITH! 

A basic truth we, as Catholics, should know is that God made us to know, love, and serve Him in this life so as to be happy with Him forever in the next. But, as St. Paul states, "Faith comes by hearing" and we rely upon our family and Holy Mother Church to tell us the Good News of our salvation in Jesus Christ. The Purgative Way builds upon the grace we receive in Baptism, to grow us and our children into faithful sons and daughters of God!

THE PURGATIVE WAY CAN BE PLAYED WITH 2-7 PLAYERS OR TEAMS!

Recommended for beginners to play in teams for a fast, fun game! More advanced players can increase the challenge by climbing the mountain only through their own knowledge of the Faith!

A CHALLENGE FOR EVERY AGE!

Through the use of different catechism decks for different ages, every player can be challenged with age appropriate questions, making for a fun, challenging way to grow deeper in the Catholic Faith whether you are 9 or 90!

FAITH SEEKS UNDERSTANDING!

The Purgative Way is a great compliment to anyone seeking to reinforce their knowledge of the Catechism and to better know the truths of God. Play it to prepare for 1st Communion, Confirmation, or as you're studying for Seminary!

You can find an instructional video over on their website.

We had one of our parish priests over a couple weekends ago and pulled out The Purgative Way to play together after dinner. It was our first time playing so we split up into two teams. Next time I want to be on Father's team... This game definitely points out which areas of the faith you may need to brush up on! 

There is a limited quantity available and right now you can purchase it at a discount! 

*Note: All links in this post are affiliate links. 

.: Giveaway :. 

If you'd like a chance to win The Purgative Way for your family please leave a comment on this post and enter using the Rafflecopter box below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

I'll leave the giveaways open until 4/23/22 at 11:59PM PST and draw the winner on 4/24/22. I hope you all have a very blessed Triduum and Happy Easter! 

{pretty, happy, funny, real} Instagram Recap

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

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My schedule has been way too full lately, but at least I have a gorgeous new planner (August 2016-July 2017) to continue keeping track of it all! I have been using this beautiful planner for years and didn't think I could love The Catholic Daily Planner any more than I already did, but it's even prettier this year with all the new cover options and full color pages inside!

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{Tuesday morning} I had to go to the office and work for a little while early this morning... this is what I came home to ♥ Ticket to Ride is still a favorite! 

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"Let me in!" (photo credit: Twinkle Toes)

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{From last Sunday's every-other-month Extraordinary Form Mass}

O MY dear Jesus! wash me clean from every stain of sin. Help me, I beg of Thee, to keep my body and soul purer and whiter than snow.

Instagram: ShowerOfRoses

Bargain Priced Toys :: Ticket to Ride

One of our family's favorite board games is Ticket to Ride. I mentioned it in my recent Christmas Gift Ideas post and wanted to share that right now (today only!) Amazon is offering up to 40% off Top-Rated Strategy Board Games including Ticket to Ride. Ticket to Ride - Europe, which has been on my wish list, is also included in the sale! I need to mention it to my husband. ;)

My Daybook :: The First Week of Advent

Note: I meant to publish this post yesterday and didn't have a chance to finish uploading the photos before going out shopping with my mom all evening (before the snowstorm hit today)! I'll be back with a few pictures from today, but in the meantime -  Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

Outside my window... It is COLD!  We have a "Winter Storm Watch" with a 100% chance of snow on Friday, the Feast of St. Nicholas!  It doesn't snow here very often so the children are all very excited!

I am thinking...        
about driving into town to pick up a few things, before the storm hits.  Hot Cocoa, whipping cream, cherries, and some Nutter Butters, plus a few other things just in case we lose power.

I am thankful... 
for our wood stove fireplace insert! It helps keep the house so warm and cozy.

Learning all the time... 
We are back to school this week following our Thanksgiving break... In the past we have tried to take all of Advent off of our formal schoolwork to focus on Advent and preparing our hearts for Christmas, however as the children get older it has gotten harder to take that long of a break during this time of the year.  If all goes as planned we will still be able to take a few weeks off beginning with the feast of St. Lucy on December 13th!  Now if we can push through the rest of this week and next....

Celebrating the liturgical year... 
as we always do during Advent!

Adding the Noah's Ark ornament to our original Jesse Tree

My "baby" is getting so big!

From the kitchen... 
I had a little helper making cookie dough the other morning!

It didn't take long for us to make quite a mess, but isn't my new can of baking powder cute!  I couldn't resist the pink and white can, even though I already had some in the cupboard.  ;) 

I am working on... 
praying for and doing extra special things for my "Christkindl!"



I am creating... 
St. Nicholas Coins for the feast.  I found the bag of Belgium Chocolate Coins at Costco, printed out the images, and quickly cut them out with a Fiskars Circle Punch!

I am going... 
to start wrapping some more Christmas gifts!  This and this arrived this week (I had pre-ordered them for the boys) and this* arrived for Bud (*just the figurines - at a great sale price!).  I don't know who is more excited about Christmas, me or the kids?!?  I can't wait to give them these gifts!

I am hoping... 
that I will find a new source for Advent candles that I love as much as the ones I always purchased from the Abbey... How I wish the monk would have been able to continue making these gorgeous candles.  My favorites were the round pillars, but this year we are using a set of square pillars I purchased a couple years ago (the very last set available in the gift shop) when I found out they wouldn't be carrying them any longer.  How hard is it to learn how to make candles? ;)

I am praying... 
Advent prayers each night with my family.  These few pictures were taken just after our wreath was blessed (by my husband, while I lit the first candle) and we prayed our St. Andrew Christmas Novena and Family Rosary on the First Sunday of Advent.

Each week of Advent my husband adds to our Nativity Scene.  This week it is very simple with just the stable and manger, Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, donkey, ox and a tree. 

I am reading... 
Come, Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Art of Waiting.

Pondering these words...
from Mother Teresa:

The season of Advent is like springtime in nature, when everything is renewed and so is fresh and healthy. Advent is also meant to do this to us–to refresh us and make us healthy, to be able to receive Christ in whatever form He may come to us.

I am listening...  
to Advent at Ephesus, Adventus (Tracks 1-5 for the First Week of Advent), and Legends of Nicholas.

Soon we will start listening to Mater Eucharistiae, The Story of Christmas (First songs including Ave Maria, Angelus, Breath of Heaven, and Magnificat...), the beautiful Mañanitas CD from Sister Servants, and Matins for the Virgin of Guadalupe for the upcoming feasts of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe!

I am also considering purchasing a copy of Voice of Joy, after reading Melody's recommendation!

Around the house... 

the Wise Men have been on the move each night, searching for Baby Jesus!  Our oldest two boys have been moving them after everyone else is in bed and having a blast... Here are the places they have been found the past few days.

If you are searching for Baby Jesus you might have to scale a wall... or at least a baby gate!

The Wise Men took shelter under the rosemary bush and noticed a beautiful fragrance.  (It is said that the rosemary's fragrance arose after Mary hung her linens to dry on its branches!) They also spotted "a star in the East!" and started climbing to get a better view!

"Okay!  Who spilled the beans? It looks like we aren't the only ones searching for Baby Jesus!"

After hearing so much about Noah on the 4th day of Advent, the Wise Men decided to stop by the Ark and say hello... If only they could get to the top without slip-sliding down all the rainbows! As for the camel, he's busy catching up with some old buddies!  (You can find Noah's Rainbow Race at Amazon or at Catholic Child.) 

One of my favorite things...  

watching the little ones take turns unwrapping the books from our Advent and Christmas Book Basket each night after our family prayers.  Last night it was Snuggles turn and he offered to let Rose help him.    I wish I would have videoed Bud unwrapping his book on Sunday night.  It is amazing that pulling wrapping paper off a picture book can bring so much joy and excitement to a child... And the fact that their daddy looks forward to reading the stories to them each night makes this tradition even better!

This week's plans...

• Mrs. W tutoring on Thursday
• Celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas!  Unfortunately with the snow storm we won't be able to make the drive for Friday morning Mass... 
• Spend Saturday at home playing in the snow, assembling puzzles, and enjoying our time together as a family!
• Mass for the Second Sunday of Advent

A little peek at my day...

These two were having so much fun with some leftover cookie dough.

(They choose to use the Mini Noah's Ark Cookie Cutters - so perfect for this week of Advent!) 

Cupcakes of Catan

I'm still working on sorting through all the pictures and creating a post from our oldest son's 12th "Settlers of Catan" themed birthday this past Friday, but I thought I would pop in real and share a few pictures of his "cake."  I decided that, instead of making an actual cake, it would be easiest to just use cupcakes, representing all the individual pieces that make up the board game.   You can find all sorts of versions/inspiration through a google image search.  Here is what we came up with for our "Cupcakes of Catan!"

Supplies:

37 Cupcakes

1 batch of Buttercream Frosting, divided

Blue, Green, and Yellow Food Coloring

Blue Sprinkles

Brown Sugar

1 Candy (i.e. Spice Drop) for Robber

Blue Gel Icing (just a dab)

5 Oreo Cookies (we went with a generic brand) 

1/2 cup Mini Marshmallows

1/4 cup Twizzler Cherry Bites

1/4 cup Honey Smacks Cereal

Couple handfulls of Pretzel Sticks

Directions: 

Decorate Cupcakes.

• Ocean - 18 Cupcakes frosted blue, topped with blue sprinkles
• Desert - 1 Cupcakes topped with white frosting, brown sugar, a little blue icing for the Oasis, and a candy (we used a spice drop) for the Robber
• Ore - 3 Cupcakes frosted white, topped with crushed Oreo's
• Brick - 3 Cupcakes frosted white, topped with Twizzler Cherry Bites
• Wood - 4 Cupcakes frosted green, topped with a pile of Pretzel Sticks
• Sheep - 4 Cupcakes frosted green, topped with Mini Marshmallows
• Wheat - 4 Cupcakes frosted yellow, topped with Honey Smacks

Arrange in the shape of a Hexagon.

It actually didn't take very long at all to decorate all the cupcakes, and ended up being one of our easiest birthday cakes yet.   Captain was very excited when he woke up and discovered his cake early Friday morning!  

Update: A Settlers of Catan Birthday Party and Game Night

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Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life.  

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 Our quickly growing Twinkle Toes, wearing a pretty new dress and holding the Strawberry & Peach Tea Cake we just finished baking! 

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Captain loves the new Catan: Cities and Knights Game Expansion, for with The Settlers of Catan, that he received for his birthday!

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"The Fireman" made with Stockmar Modeling Beeswax

by Rascal (age 9)

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Snuggles was the only one that didn't like the Tea Cake...  

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

Guess Who? Patron Saints Edition!

My children all love playing the Guess Who? Board Game.  So, last night, after running across a new blog named Arma Dei: Equipping Catholic Families and seeing Monica's post on converting her family's Guess Who game, I knew I had to do the same for our family!   (Thank you Monica for the inspiration and for sharing your idea!!)

I have an older version of Guess Who, and not this version that was used in the link above, so I had to create my own templates.   It wasn't that hard to do, plus I was then able to customize it with our own Patron Saints.  

I guess I could have used colored scrapbooking cardstock that is white on one side, but I wanted to stick with supplies I already had at home... So, I printed my template onto white paper and then glued it onto red and blue cardstock before cutting along the lines to create the individual cards to insert into the slots on our game.  

It didn't take long to slip all the pictures into their slots.

I then printed out a larger version of each picture and glued it onto yellow card stock to create the deck of cards to use for choosing your saint.   I cut them into 2 1/4" by 1 1/2" rectangles and then it was finished. 

Just as soon as my children saw their "new" game they wanted to play!  

"Are you a man. . . Are you a woman. . . Are you an angel?"

"Are you an apostle. . . Are you a nun. . . Are you a priest?"

"Are you holding Baby Jesus. . . Are you a martyr. . . Are you missionary?"

"Is a member of the Holy Family in the picture?"

The options for questions are endless!

 

P.S.  Tomorrow is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.   I have a box of Cocoa Pebbles in the cupboard so we can build a Grotto for Our Lady and some blue Jello to make "Springs at the Grotto" for dessert!   You can find my compilation posts of all sorts of Ideas for Celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes in the archives.