{pretty, happy, funny, real} :: All Saints' Costumes, New Picture Books, Hockey Lessons, and Super Simplified Back-to-School Schultütes. . .

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}

With the month of October just around the corner, our children have been making plans for our annual All Saints Party!  (You can scroll through all our past "costume" posts here.)  Which saint will they be this year?  Twinkle Toes and Chiquita have asked to dress up as St. Margaret of Scotland and St. Helena. 

When we were over at the coast we happened to see some (way overpriced) costumes that would be perfect for St. Margaret and St. Helena… I happened to find them online at a more affordable price and order two saintly "princess" dresses for the girls. You can find the Victorian Rose Costume here and the Crimson Costume here. Now we just need to go to the craft store for some supplies to make a couple crowns to go with the pretty dresses! Two down… Five more to go! ;)  

{happy}

Adventures in Assisi: On the Path with St. Francis

New picture books about saints always make me happy!  Did you know that Amy Welborn just came out with a new book about St. Francis. We haven't read it yet, but our copy just arrived and I plan to surprise the children with it on his feast day, which is coming up on October 4th.

{funny}

Snuggles started learn to skate /learn to play hockey lessons last Saturday! 

The older boys went with me to his lesson and, after seeing their little brother fall again and again, I heard them say, "Poor (Snuggles)! I didn't know he was so bad at skating!"  Yep… It's finally the little guys turn for some lessons! Despite all the falls he had a blast and can't wait until his next lesson this upcoming Saturday. 

{real}

With all our camping trips, and everything else that has been going on, I just didn't have time to create our annual Back-to-School Schultütes this year… not even the Simplified Version from last year. 

A couple weeks before school started I ran across a 12-pack of these Popcornopolis Cones at Costco and decided they looked close enough!

They were a hit! 

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Celebrating the Saints :: Our 2013 Costumes!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Juan Diego, St. Gregory the Great, St. John of the Cross, St. John Vianney, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Catherine of Sienna - All Saints in Heaven, Pray for us! 

The excitement has been building all week in our home as we prepare to celebrate the feast of All Saints and welcome over sixty guests to our home this evening for our annual All Hallows' Eve Party! (You can find pictures from last year's celebration here.)

I am taking a little break from the final preparations to pop in real quick to say THANK YOU for the outpouring of support and encouragement!!!  I wish I could respond personally to each of you and want you all to know how very much every comment/email, along with all the extra prayers, is appreciated.  God bless you all!

Also, I wanted to share this year's saint costumes!  I took these pictures on our way to our parish's All Saints Costume Contest last Friday night and my children will be wearing them all again this evening.  We actually ended up coming home with two prizes!  Chiquita won 3rd place in the 0-10 age category and Rascal won 2nd place in the 11-Adult age category!    I am so thankful that I wasn't one of the judges... There is no way that I would have been able to choose favorites.  I loved them all!

.: St. John Vianney :. 

Captain (age 13) dressed as St. John Vianney

Costume:  Reusing the cassock from Our Coats of Many Colors (these costumes are such a great investment and this particular one has been used in some way for four years in a row now!), Dad's Surplus, a lovely purple stole made by a friend, a piece of black felt used for the collar, holding his crucifix, and white flour to add some "gray" to his hair! 

.: St. Gregory the Great :. 

Rascal (age 11) dressed as St. Gregory the Great

Costume: White gown from my childhood saint costume, a purple chasuble made by a dear friend (she will be opening an Etsy store soon!!), my brother's old miter (which Captain also used in 2008 - it just needed a few repairs and ribbons added to the back), and a sheet of chant!

.: St. Catherine of Sienna :. 



Twinkle Toes (age 10) as St. Catherine of Sienna

Costume: white St. Lucia gown, detached white collar and wimple/veil from our past St. Therese and St. Clare costumes, a black rosary and cross - both gifts from her Uncle Father D.G., white lilies (from her St. Gabriel costume back in 2005!),  our lenten crown of thorns, and (red marker) the stigmata on her hands.

.: Our Lady of Guadalupe :. 

Chiquita (age 8) as Our Lady of Guadalupe 

(remember her as Our Lady of Guadalupe back in 2006?) 

Costume : homemade veil (made at the last minute last friday with green fabric, gold trim and iron on stars), a red dress (reused from the St. Margaret of Scotland costume in 2009), black ribbon and some white roses. 

.: St. Juan Diego :. 

Snuggles (age 6) as St. Juan Diego 

Costume: A white t-shirt of daddy's, rope for a belt, brown sandals, a borrowed sombrero, a piece of fabric tied around his neck with a fabric image of our lady pinned on the front in addition to crocheted rosary roses.  I also used some of my eye liner for the little mustache and goatee he wanted! 

.: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton :. 

Rose (age 3) as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Costume: reusing the costume made by Grandma in 2006, a black rosary, and an American Cardinal Reader Primer (which can now be purchased from TAN! Yay!) 

.: St. John of the Cross :. 

Bud (age 1) as St. John of the Cross

Costume:  Once again using my little brother's old St. Anthony costume from 1991 along with our homemade tonsure, a ivory cape from St. Therese's costume, and a wooden cross from our vestment liturgical colors set. 

I was very happy that, other than a few supplies for Chiquita's veil and a couple items that a friend made for me (more details on those soon!) all the costumes were pulled together with things that we already owned and from the costume box our children love to use year round!

Happy All Hallows' Eve and Feast of All Saints! 

The Dolls' Saint Costumes {with links to our children's past Saint Costumes!}

I'm not the only one who has been working on preparing costumes for our upcoming annual All Hallows' Eve Party...  The older girls have been busy creating costumes for the dolls as well!  

Josefina is dressed as Our Lady of Guadalupe... 

... complete with a blue play silk veil covered with paper stars, and paper roses at her feet! 

Caroline is dressed as St. Cecilia...

... Kaya is dressed as St. Kateri...

... Kirsten is dressed for Lucia Day in honor of St. Lucy...

(She is wearing the original American Girl outfit and wreath, but I am dying to show you all a beautiful new option that a friend of mine has recently created... soon!)

... and Mia (as in ME-ah - Rose's look like-me-ah doll) is dressed as Our Lady of the Rosary!

I always love seeing their creativity! 

Anyways, it is time for me to get back to helping the children assemble their costumes for this year, now that the girls have shown me how to thread the machine.... (I am so thankful I had them take that sewing class this past summer!)   We are headed to our parish's party this evening and I will try to share this year's costumes soon.  In the meantime you can browse through some of the children's past Saint Costumes in the archives or by clicking the individual links below.  

.: Saintly Costumes From the Archives :.

• Saintly Costumes (2008 - long list of ideas and suggestions)

• Reminiscing (pictures from 2006)
• Our Cast of Saints (2007)
• Our Cast of Saints (2008)
• Our Cast of Saints (2009)
• Getting Ready to Celebrate the Feast of All Saints (2010 - includes costumes from my childhood)
• Our Cast of Saints (2010) 
• Our Cast of Saints (2011)
• Our Parish All Saints' Party and Costume Contest (2012)
• {this moment} (2012 - Parish Contest Winners!) 
• Our Cast of Saints (2012)

• A Costume for St. Maximilian Kolbe (2009)
• Almost Wordless Wednesday (2010 - Our Lady of Guadalupe)
• A Costume for St. Catherine of Alexandria (2011)
• St. Michael the Archangel (2012)
• St. Joan of Arc, Maid of Lorraine :: All Saints' Day Costume (2012)

A Quick Hello and a Giveaway!

I just wanted to pop in real quick to say hello and let you all know that I will try and answer comments/blog questions and emails (there are currently over 250 in my inbox waiting for responses from this past year... Even though I had it "caught up" to 60 at the beginning of summer.) as soon as I have a chance.  It's just been a little busier than usual around here!  Thursday we had an Ice Cream Social at the park with friends, Friday we celebrated a 10th birthday (pictures coming soon!), Saturday included a visit with out-of-state cousins, Sunday we headed to the coast for a parish picnic, Latin Mass and dinner with friends (before a late night drive home), Monday (yesterday) I watched my little brother win the final round of a golf tournament (and setting a new record!), and today we have dear friends arriving for another visit and staying until Sunday!  I guess I really should have used pencil when I wrote "First Day of School" in my planner! ;) 

Dressed up and coloring pictures from Caroline's Color and Craft on Twinkle Toes' 10th Birthday

Anyways, while we are busy having fun with friends, it's time for another giveaway here at Shower of Roses.  Over the past couple years I have purchased a few beautiful dresses for my girls from Cheri at Ashley's Attic and she has offered to give an Apron and Bonnet set to one of my visitors!  You can see my girls wearing the Josefina and Kirsten dresses in the Josefina Birthday and An Early American Pioneer Birthday posts.  Twinkle Toes also received the Caroline Abbott dress last Christmas which she wore again last week on her 10th birthday!  I have been so impressed with the quality and durability of these dresses and look forward to purchasing more (perhaps a dress for Rose!) from Ashley's Attic in the future!

The winner of this giveaway will receive a handmade Bonnet and Apron in their choice of either Regular (fits best 5 to 9 year old) or Large (fits best 10 and over).  The color will be chosen by Cheri, since this is an extra busy time of year for her as well.

If you would like to be entered in this giveaway, just leave a comment on this post, and make sure your email address is either linked on your profile or included in the comment so that I am able to contact you if you win.

For an extra entry visit Ashley's Attic and then come back and tell me which dress/item is your favorite, or help me decide which dress I should purchase for Rose!  The "Wendy" dress is one of my own favorites... Isn't it just darling!?! :)  (Ooh!  I love this one too, and it's pink! So many beautiful choices, it is so hard to pick a favorite!)

Comments will be closed Saturday night and I will update this post and contact the winner next Sunday, which happens to be our Blessed Mother's Birthday!  God bless you all! 

UPDATE: Thank you all for participating! Congratulations to texasgal!  I'll be contacting you soon for your size preference and mailing information.  I hope your daughter enjoys her new bonnet and apron! 

St. Joan of Arc, Maid of Lorraine :: All Saints' Day Costume

Even though Chiquita dressed as Mother Teresa for our Parish Party, she had been planning on dressing as St. Joan of Arc on All Hallows' Eve.

Originally I thought she would just wear one of the boys' knight costumes, but that was not exactly what she had in mind.   She wanted to dress as "The Maid of Lorraine" looking more like the picture in our Picture Book of Saints.

We actually didn't even put together her costume until an hour or so before the party, but we were both very pleased with how it turned out!

She wore a simple white shirt, the breastplate that my brothers used when we were younger, and one of my gray knit knee-length fold-over skirts, pinned to fit her tiny little waist.

The white flag was simply a piece of an old sheet pinned to a wooden dowel, and she pulled out our Fleur-di-lis Sword & Shield Set made by Schylling.    We finished her costume with a ring of flowers similar to this one (thanks for the suggestion, Charlotte!) and that was it!

O Lord, You raised up in a wondrous manner St. Joan, Your Virgin, to defend the Faith and her country. Grant that through her prayers Your Church may enjoy lasting peace.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

I still haven't had a chance to put together a post from our All Saints Party, but here are a few more pictures taken by our friend Marc.  (I just need to hire him to be our permanent photographer!)

{pretty}

My beautiful little "Therese" all ready for the party! 

{happy}

Can you believe how well he is healing?!?  Deo Gratias!

{funny}

You are just going to have to imagine the picture that was taken right in between these two...  It is one that she is not going to "luv-uh!" when she is older!  ;)

{real}

Even "St. Therese" needs to eat...

... and, yes, that is me drinking a much needed margarita and enjoying the party!



*All the pictures in this post were taken by our friend Marc and posted with permission. 

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St. Michael the Archangel...

...defend us in battle.

Be our protection against the wickedness 

and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;

and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -

by the Divine Power of God -

cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,

who roam throughout the world 

seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.