The 2012 Artist Trading Card Swap: For All the Saints!

My children were so excited this morning when I told them that Kimberlee (and her ever so talented children) is hosting another Artist Trading Card Swap: For All the Saints! 

We have really enjoyed participating in the past and have just started creating our trading cards for this year's swap!

Will any of you be participating?  There is still time to join, so head over to Pondered in my Heart for all the details!

Celebrating the Saints :: Our Annual All Hallows' Eve Party!

It wasn't my plan to host another All Hallows' Eve Party this year.  After a physically exhausting year with a new baby and all the extra medical challenges, I thought we'd take a year off.  However, I ended up being talked into it by both my children and friends!  How could I say no when one of my friends said she'd rather I hosted this party, than the baby shower we are planning for her, and another friend said she didn't know what her family would do if I didn't host the party... As for my own children, it's one of their favorite days of the year!



Before we added on to our home a couple years ago, I always wished we had the extra space to host these sorts of parties. I suppose, at least in a small way,  I can thank God for the blessing of the extra space by actually doing so!  :)  



To be honest, the morning of our party, I was in tears.  The cleaning lady I had scheduled to come in the morning for a couple hours hadn't shown up yet, and it was pouring, POURING outside.  My house is bigger now, and I tried to keep the party "small," but I was really counting on the party being mostly outside, especially since we were expecting around 70 guests.   I can't tell you how thankful I was when the sun started shining through the clouds, just long enough for the party!

Yes, the preparation was somewhat overwhelming and a lot of work, but in the end it was all worth it!  As one friend said, in a little thank you note, "Everything you did was so appreciated. You helped to create memories for our children (and us!!) that they will remember all their lives."  And that is really what it's all about - creating wonderful faith-filled memories and growing closer to our heavenly family!    Deo Gratias!

.: Communio Sanctorum :.

Just look at all those adorable saints!   I always love seeing the creativity in our group of friends!  The costumes are all so, so creative and CUTE!  I'm sure the saints in heaven were smiling.

.: Ave Maria :.

Once (most of) our guests arrived, we began the evening with the rosary.   Though I didn't make the various tombstones this year, we still prayed that all of us will one day be Saints in Heaven, for our Departed Clergy, Departed Family, Departed Friends, and for the Forgotten Dead.

.: Dinner and Desserts :.

After the Rosary we had a potluck dinner. I loved how willing my friends were to humor me find ways to tie in All Hallows' Eve themed foods!  My sweet husband even carved out my fairytale pumpkin to use as a vase for the autumn flowers he picked up before the party.



Ann-Marie brought "Juan Diego Beans."  Kristin brought "Kateri's Indian Cake Casserole." Michelle made the cutest little (St. Isidore the Farmer) "Savory Pumpkin Puffs."  And Amy brought "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God Pizza!"  Okay, I made that one up! ;)   There was so many yummy things to choose from!

Jacinta's "Heavenly Fudge" really was heavenly, and aren't those (May the Souls of the Faithful Departed) "RIP Cupcakes" and Candy Corn Krispie Treats that Michelle made so cute?!

I had Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and autumn sprinkles (though I didn't get around to adding pictures of all the saints this year), a delicious big pot of Hot Apple Cider simmering on the stove, along with coffee, tea, water and more!

.: St. Isidore's Pumpkin Roasting :.

Once it got dark, my husband lit a fire in our fire pit so that everyone could roast "pumpkins!" I had picked up a couple bags of Jumbo Pumpkin Marshmallows, some regular marshmallows, and everything else needed to make s'mores!

Warning:  Watch out when "St. Michael" has had too much sugar is about to "defend!"

.: Saint Presentations :.

Just before we started the games we had all the children share a little about the saint they were dressed as this year.

Snuggles best friend came dressed as Moses, we had three boys dressed as St. Maximilian Kolbe, my youngest brother (and godson) was holding my niece (and hubby's goddaughter) who came dressed as "Our Lady's Bug" (since the Ladybug was named after Mary), and another one of our godsons came dressed as St. Dennis (who was said to have picked up his head and continued to preach after it was cut off)!

As always I had extra treats for any of the children that came prepared to share something with everyone!  

.: Saintly Games :.

All Saints Scavenger Hunt

Even though the All Saints Scavenger Hunt I made was challenging, all the kids (and even the adults and priest!) learned something new about the saints!   Really, who would have guessed that gentle St. Joseph is "The Terror of Demons."  Those are the types of questions you get when you ask my husband to help put together a game!

All Saints Bingo

We played All Saints Bingo again this year... 

We also had a second scavenger hunt, looking for different religious items around our home...

... and we ended the evening (after 11pm!) with the All Saints Puzzle Race!   

It ended up being such a wonderful night filled with friends and fun...
I'm sure I'll be hosting the party again next year!

All Saints in Heaven, Pray for us!

*All Photography by Marc Salvatore posted with permission.  

Caramel Apple Turkey

My online Pampered Chef party will be ending Saturday evening, so there is still a couple days to place an order!

Also, each person that shares a recipe, cooking tip or a blurb about their favorite Pampered Chef product either over on the Facebook event page, or in the comments here, will be entered into a drawing to win a prize, and it doesn't require placing an order!

I have so many favorite Pampered Chef products I couldn't possibly list them all, but I thought I'd share a picture of one of the kitchen tools I used today to make a fun snack for my kiddos.

It only took me about 5 minutes to make this fun Caramel Apple Turkey (inspired by an image I saw on Pinterest, but I was unable to find the original source) for an afternoon snack with my Apple Wedger!   (And even less time for my kiddos to gobble it up!)

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. 

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment