Our Cast of Saints ~ 2011

I had hoped to post these pictures yesterday, but our internet ended up being down, and then all the phone lines in our town and the next town over stopped working as well!   It was so strange to not having a working phone-lines (most cell phones wouldn't even work, including my own) and I wasn't able to check out my library books, had to pay cash for a prescription, and even the banks had limited services available!   Late last night the fiber optic cable at the phone company was repaired, and then sometime this afternoon our internet started working again!  Yay!!  The good thing is that it forced me to rest in my free time yesterday and go to bed early last night, since we were all up very late on Monday night for our party, went to Mass yesterday, and then headed back to a historical cemetery for Mass this morning.  It has been a wonderful week!  

St. Ignatius of Loyola

St. Francis Xavier

St. Catherine of Alexandria

(costume details here)

St. Lucy

St. George

St. Cecilia

St. George had so much fun with his little Baby Dragon Puppet,

 and St. Cecilia loved her little gold Harp.

Father C. didn't even recognize Rose with the long blond hair, and asked "whose little girl is this?"  He couldn't believe it was our Rose!  She was hysterical and just loved the wig... I didn't think she would keep it on her head!  

I hope you all had a blessed 

All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day!  

Links for November :: Month Dedicated to the Holy Souls

Month Dedicated to All Souls: 

• Ora Pro Nobis Candy Boxes (2014)

November 1st ~ All Saints Day

Saintly Costumes:

• Saintly Costumes  (lots of ideas and suggestions!)
• Getting Ready to Celebrate the Feast of All Saints (2010 - includes costumes from older years)

• Reminiscing (pictures from 2006)
• Any Guesses...  (Saint Costumes from my childhood)
• Our Cast of Saints (2007)
• Our Cast of Saints ~ 2008 (Costumes:  St. Patrick, St. John Berchmans, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Clare, St. Anthony)
• Our Cast of Saints (2009 - Costumes:  St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. John Bosco, St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Patrick)
• Almost Wordless Wednesday (2010 - Our Lady of Guadalupe)
• Our Cast of Saints (2010 - Costumes:  St. Isaac Jogues, St. John the Evangelist, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Pius X, and Our Lady of Guadalupe) 
• Our Cast of Saints ~ 2011 (Costumes:  St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Lucy, St. George, St. Cecilia)
• {this moment} (2012) 
• Our Parish All Saints' Party and Costume Contest (2012)
• Our Cast of Saints (2012)
• Celebrating the Saints: Our 2013 Costumes 
• Celebrating the Saints :: Our 2014 Costumes

• St. Francis of Assisi Costume
• A Costume for St. Maximilian Kolbe
• A Costume for St. Catherine of Alexandria
• St. Michael the Archangel 
• St. Joan of Arc, Maid of Lorraine :: All Saints' Day Costume

Saintly Games:

• Saintly Games
• Getting Ready to Celebrate the Feast of All Saints (2010)
• St. Martha's Cake Walk (2010)
• All Saints Bingo :: A 30 Card Printable Bingo Set (2011)
• All Saints' Day Party Games :: A Saintly Jigsaw Puzzle Race (2012)
• All Saints Scavenger Hunt {A Printable Party Game} (2012)
• All Saints' Day Party Games :: Saint Themed Guessing Jars (2013)
• 12 More Saint Themed Guessing Jars (2014)
• All Saints Scavenger Hunt {Another Printable Party Game Featuring 16 Additional Saints & New Clues!} (2014) 

Decorations: 

• All Saints' Day Banner Tutorial {including Printable!} (2012)
• An Alphabet of Saints :: B is for Blocks (2012)
• An Alphabet of Saints :: Painted Wooden Peg Dolls

Fasting and Feasting:

• Fasting and Feasting for All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day and All Souls Day
• Making Cookies (2008) and Holy Ghost Cookies (2009)
• Candy Math (2009)

Past All Hallows' Eve and All Saints' Parties:

• All Saints' Party (2008)
• All Hallows' Eve (2009)
• A Few More Pictures... (from our 2010 All Saints Party)
• Sanctifying Halloween :: Celebrating the Saints (2011 Party - Hosted at Home!)
• {pretty, happy, funny, real} (2012)
• Celebrating the Saints :: Our Annual All Hallows' Eve Party (2012)
• Celebrating the Saints :: Our Annual All Hallows' Eve Party (2013)

November 2nd ~ All Souls Day

• A few Devotions for the Holy Souls
• Decorating Sugar Skulls
• A Mass at the Cemetery (2008)
• Mass on the Feast of All Souls ~ 2009 and A few more Pictures
• Mass on the Feast of All Souls (2010)
• Our 6th Annual Mass at the Cemetery (2011)
• Our 7th Annual Mass at the Cemetery... (2012)
• Our 8th Annual Mass at the Cemetery... (2013)
• Our 9th Annual Mass at the Cemetery... (2014)

November 3rd ~ Feast of St. Martin de Porres

• In Honor of St. Martin de Porres (Books, Craft, Snacks)
• Highlights from "M" Week
• Martin de Porres :: The Rose in the Dessert

November 9th ~ Feast of Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica

• Cathedral Cake on the Feast of the Dedication of Saint John Lateran Basilica in Rome

November 11th ~ Feast of St. Martin of Tours

• Isn't it cool...
• My Daybook ~ Nov 14th (Crescent Rolls and Coloring Pages for Martinmas!)
• Highlights from "L" Week - Lanterns for Martinmas
• Martinmas Lanterns
• Celebrating the Saints :: Saint Martin of Tours

November 13th ~ Feast of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

• Little Flowers Girls' Club - Industry

November 16th ~ Feast of St. Gertrude

• Little Flowers Girls' Club - The Gift of Knowledge

November 16th ~ Feast of St. Margaret of Scotland (New)

• Little Flowers Girls Club - Initiative 

November 17th (New) and 19th (Trad) ~ Feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary

• Poem to St. Elizabeth
• Alphabet Path E Week - St. Elizabeth Embroidery

November 22nd ~ Feast of St. Cecilia

• The Little Flowers' Girls Club - Virtue of Piety
• Highlights From "C" Week
• On the Feast of St. Cecilia :: A Sweet & Simple Treat

November 23rd ~ Feast of Bl. Miguel Pro

• Precious Moments on the Feast of Bl. Miguel Pro

November 25th ~ Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria

• A Saint Day Celebration! (2007)
• Celebrating the Feast of St. Catherine (2008)
• Crafting a Holy Water Font
• Little Flowers Girls' Club :: The Gift of Understanding
• Fire Camp, A Greek Orthodox Monastery and a New Book
• On the Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria (2012)
• My Daybook :: November 25, 2013
• Instagram Recap (2014)

November 28th ~ Feast of St. Catherine Laboure

• Little Flowers Girls' Club - Humility

November 30th ~ Feast of St. Andrew

• On the Feast of St. Andrew (2012)
• Celebrating the Feast of St. Andrew (2012)
• Celebrating the Saints :: St. Andrew the Apostle (2014)

~ THANKSGIVING ~

• Thanksgiving Stories (A few of our Favorite Books)
• Gobble, Gobble... (Oreo Turkeys)
• Our Tree of Thanksgiving (2007)
• Painting Leaves... and So very much to be thankful for... (2008)
• Thanksgiving Day in Pictures (2008)
• Fall Baking :: Pumpkin Thumbprint Cookies
• Veggie Tray Turkey (2011)
• Caramel Apple Turkey (2012)
• Celebrating Thanksgiving (2013)
• Praline Pecan and Mallow-Topped Sweet Potatoes (2013)
• Our Festive Raspberry Cranberry Jello Mold (2013)
• Five Favorites for Thanksgiving (2014)
• Instagram Recap (2014)

OTHER RESOURCES:

• Feasts & Seasons: Our November Book Basket
• Catholic Cuisine : Recipes for November ~ Month Dedicated to the Holy Souls 

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.