On Saint Patrick's Day

It has been rather busy around here this week, and we are now getting ready to go to our Homeschool Group's St. Patrick's Day party this afternoon, but I wanted to take a moment to say hello and wish you all a very

HApPy St. PaTRicK's DaY!

May the good saints protect you,
And bless you today.
And may troubles ignore you,
Each step of the way.

~ An Irish Blessing

Thanking Heaven for our Little Girl...

...who is three months old today!

O God, how can I thank Thee for the gift of this beautiful child?  How perfect are her tiny hands and feet!  How marvelous is her perfectly formed body! And how much more wonderful is the immortal soul which Thou hast created to inhabit this body, to brighten this world, and to praise Thee for all eternity in the next!  What rich potential lies behind that infant face, so peaceful in repose, so expressive in distress, so unaware as yet of the marvels of Thy goodness!

Deign to make me worthy of this precious gift, this unutterable privilege, this wonderful responsibility which Thou hast seen fit to bestow upon me.  With Thy holy Mother as my model, may I raise this child in truth and goodness, in virtue and in love.  May I make my home a haven of peace and sanctity, safe from the corruption of the world - a home inspiring all who enter it to live nobler lives and assisting all who dwell here to keep their minds fixed on Thee.  Thank you for the graces given to this dear child through the Sacrament of Baptism.  May she (and all my children) grow in the Faith, live a virtuous life, receive the Sacraments frequently and die in Thy grace.  

Dear Jesus, how can I realize that Thou didst come as a babe no bigger than the one I hold in my arms, who cannot even hold up her head or eat without assistance?  What humility Thou hast taught us!  What sacrifice!  What love!  In all the trials that lie before me as a mother, help me to imitate Thy selflessness and love, offering all my sufferings gladly to Thee, Who hast shown me how to suffer for love.  May I trust in Thee through all difficulties, knowing that Thou hast foreseen them all and hast permitted them for my greater sanctification.  May every joy and every trial be for me a step toward greater holiness, greater trust and greater love, for love is the vocation Thou hast given to me.  Amen.  

~ adapted from the "Prayer after Childbirth" in Your Labor of Love

On Rose Sunday

I hope you are all having a blessed Laetare Sunday!

We just arrived home from Mass with coffee and a box full of donuts.  Yum!    The girls and I considered baking a Simnel Cake today, but opted to spend the afternoon making either a Strawberry Brownie Shortcake or Sunflower Cupcakes instead, as we slowly make our way through "S" Week.

Anyhow, I am just popping in to announce the winner of our recent giveaway!

Congratulations to . . . Jenny!

I will mail the Vessels & Vestments game and little St. Therese doll just as soon as I receive your mailing address.  :)

Thank you all for taking the time to check out Catholic Artworks and share your favorite products.  I really enjoyed hearing from all of you!

Before I go, can I ask you all to say a quick prayer for my Grandfather?  It has been one year today since he passed away, and we miss him dearly.  Thank you!

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon him. 

May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Little Flowers Girls' Club ~ Wisdom

Now that our little Rose is already nearly 3 months old, it was time to resume our Little Flowers Girls' Club meetings for this year.   I can not believe how fast the time has passed!  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to pull it all together, but thanks to my mom who came over on Wednesday (to help around the house, bake cupcakes, and do a couple school subjects with the kids!!) and with a little cooperation from Rose (and the help of her Guardian Angel and St. Therese, I am SURE!) who slept most of the afternoon so I could finish getting everything ready, it all came together.

Here is a little overview of what kept us busy during the meeting:

~ Coloring Pages ~

Saint Teresa Benedicta Coloring Page

 from Catholic Artworks Faith Keepers Combo

~ Notebook Pages ~

I included the memory verse for Wisdom, an image of St. Teresa Benedicta, the Come Holy Ghost prayer, images of an iris and a dove, and the prayer to St. Teresa Benedicta from the Little Flowers Virtues CD.

(If you would like to download the document I created for this notebook page, you can do so here and here. Also, you can find links to all of my notebook page documents in this post.)

(Here is the sample page I had prepared for the meeting.)

And here are the girls finished pages:

~ Craft ~

To simplify the preparation and planing for our group, all of this year's crafts were purchased from Oriental Trading.  For the virtue of Wisdom I thought having the girls make bookmarks would be fun and appropriate.   We'd did need a little help from a couple moms and some needle nose pliers, but overall it was a simple craft and turned out super cute!  Here is a picture of one of my girls finished bookmarks:

~ Meeting ~

After reading about St. Teresa Benedicta, and discussing the virtue of Wisdom, Miss Amy read God's Wisdom for Little Girls to the Little Flowers while I finished preparing the snacks.   Thank you Amy! 

~ Snack Time ~

I had a hard time coming up with a snack for the virtue of Wisdom. I thought about purchasing this pan, baking a book shaped cake, and then decorating it with the memory verse for wisdom or perhaps a quote from this saint, but decided that might be a little more than I'd be able to pull off right now.  So, I simplified that idea by decorating fig newtons to look like books and placing them on top of cupcakes.  I thought they turned out cute!

My girls had a wonderful time and are already looking forward to our next meeting in just two weeks!

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the cross, as Edith Stein you learned the truth of God, help us to learn wisdom as you.

Saint Therese, the Little Flower, pray for us!

Highlights from "R" Week

Learning Along the Alphabet Path

~ Letter Formation ~

The girls made Modeling Wax letter R's and practiced writing the letter R using Handwriting Without Tears Hands-On Materials and Kimberlee's Grey Block Paper.

The girls also made roses and rainbows out of the modeling wax, but I missed getting a picture before they moved on to their next creations...

~  Ragged Robin Fairy Coloring Pages ~

From this Coloring Book
(While looking at the Flower Fairies Alphabet book and listening to the CD!)

~ Picture Book Science :: R is for Rainbows ~

We Read about Rain and Rainbows...




Down Comes the Rain (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
Peter Spier's Rain (Reading Rainbow Book)
Rain Drop Splash (Book and Audiocassette Tape) (Paperback)
Rain Makes Applesauce
Planting a Rainbow

Snuggles LOVES all his stacking blocks especially the Rainbow Blocks.

We also printed out this worksheet to Record our observations during a bit of Rainbow Research!

~ Picture Study :: R is for Rose   ~

Using the pictures in Museum ABC and on the matching Museum ABC Nesting Blocks.

After the picture study, the girls made Red Roll-Up Roses...

... to serve on their Rose Tin Tea Set with Raspberry Spritzer while we Read Rose Plays Hide and Seek!

We also read Miss Rumphius and The Rose in My Garden and colored this picture.

We saved the Little Rose of Sharon for next week since we never got around to reading it it is a Story of Self-Sacrifice.  ;) 

~ R is for St. Rose ~

 

Our Painted St. Rose of Lima, for with An Alphabet of Catholic Saints.

We also listened to the story of St. Rose while coloring a couple pictures of her (from Catholic Artworks) and completing a bit of copy work.

~ R is for Rosary ~

from God's Alphabet

Captain also read Father Lovasik's Holy Rosary to the girls and they all colored a couple pages in their Rosary Coloring Books.

We also received a gift package of some of Catholic Artworks new products including the Discover the Rosary Mysteries book, posters and set of CD's!

~ R is for Rhyme ~



We read R Is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet and our favorite nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose: The Original Volland Edition.

~ Serendipi-Tea time ~

Rr is for Ranch Dip

trying new Recipes including:
 Rigatoni with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Tuna

Creamy Rice Pudding
from A Little Something

(We used all 2%, since we didn't have any whole milk or cream.  

We also doubled the recipe and added an extra 1/4 cup of rice.)

Red Raspberry Tea Sandwiches

adapted from the Pretty Princess Cookbook

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

I just LOVED making these, and will probably make them again for one of our Garden of the Good Shepherd activities during the Easter Season!

and Rice Krispie Ice Cream Sandwiches
also adapted from our new favorite Recipe collection

 Served on Sunday as we Started Ss Week!