Pinning it Down ~ Baptism of Jesus

Our Catholic homeschool group meets once a month for Blue Knights and Little Flowers. My friend and I lead a small group of younger siblings during this time. (I'm planning to share more of what we do with them soon!) While brainstorming for our January session (baptism and the Baptism of Jesus), I saw this fantastic sea shell ornament! It was originally pinned by Lacy of Catholic Icing from Crafolic.

We made a few changes to it...

First, I asked my husband to drill a small hole in the shells for the string/yarn/twine to make the hangar more sturdy.

Second, we used Mod Podge, and mixed the glitter right in!

This is not the easiest project for young kids, but they are a determined bunch and had fun! I ended up gluing the image of the dove and stringing the yarn ahead of time. The kids glued with image of Jesus with a liberal amount of glitter.

I did end up trying another recipe this week as well. We were suffering from the 4 PM doldrums yesterday, so I quickly mixed up some Orange Dreamsicle Smoothies. Yum!

I halved the sugar, but next time I'd skip it all together. Orange juice is sweet enough that you do not need added sugar!

More Pinning it Down here and follow me on Pinterest here!

Signs of Spring

The first signs of Spring have arrived in our little home! Because our life revolves around the seasons of the Church and the rhythm of the liturgy, the first sign of coming Life is not the first daffodil or the return of our backyard birds, but the transition from Ordinary Time to Lent.

I love all the seasons in our corner of the world, but I have to admit that the tail end of winter and early spring is a bleak time. The snow is old and dirty. The exposed grass is brown, and the sky is gray. It is fitting that the Church is also stripped and bare during this time. On Ash Wednesday we are told, “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.” We hide our Alleluia, and the statues and crosses are draped in purple. In our house, the winter ornaments that adorned the festivity stand are put away, replaced with grapevine, bare of leaves and reminiscent of His Crown of Thorns.

Then, slowly, the sky lightens. The first shoots appear. The rain washes away the last of the snow and the grass is greener. The time draws closer.

Finally, the world bursts forth in bloom, and the Church bursts with rejoicing, "Christ is risen! Alleluia, alleluia!”

Candlemas- The Presentation of the Lord

Today is The Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas.

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Luke 2:22-24

We started the day with a traditional breakfast of pancakes and reading about the Purification of the Virgin/Presentation of the Lord.

I share this picture because Sidekick really wanted to dress like a candle (he is very into the "light" part of the feast!), so he wore a red shirt with his yellow sweatshirt.

Later in the day we rolled candles. I hadn't intended on candle making this year since the boys are still so young, but Emma alerted me to this kit. Thanks to Amazon Prime and a $3.99 upgrade to one-day shipping, we were able to "make" candles after all!

We said a simple blessing ourselves and will also take them along to be belatedly blessed next weekend at Mass.

Feast of St. Brigid

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of St. Brigid, part of the February schedule for Catholic Mosaic. We read St. Brigid's Cloak: An Ancient Irish Story and listened to The Life of St. Brigid: Abbess of Kildare presented by the Readings from Under the Grapevine podcast from Ancient Faith Radio. I was very disappointed to see that St. Brigid is not mentioned in any of my lives of the Saints books for children, so I was very glad to have a copy of St. Brigid's Cloak on hand as well as the podcast!

We also baked St. Brigid's Bread from Catholic Traditions in Cooking. It was a very simple quick bread and quite tasty!

Christmas Candle

We decorated our Christmas Candle yesterday. We kept it simple this year and went with holly and stars.

O Antiphon House

Today marks the beginning of the O Antiphons, prayers said during the Octave before Christmas.

From the Catholic Education Resource Center: "The importance of “O Antiphons” is twofold: Each one highlights a title for the Messiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel. Also, each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah."

The really cool thing about the Anitphons is that when the initial for each is read backward they form an acrostic for the Latin "Ero Cras" which means "Tomorrow I come."

This is our first year adding the O Antiphons to our Advent traditions and I borrowed an idea to create an O Antiphon House:

Each block has a symbol representing the title...

As well as the Latin translation and the date the Antiphon is said:

Because of my limited talent with such artsy things, I printed everything then hand colored the symbols and used Mod Podge to attach everything to the blocks. I also added the text for each Antiphon in the various "rooms" of the house. Each day we'll pray the Antiphon then add the block.

I don't love how it turned out. With more time, I would change a few things. Next year I think I'll re-letter "Ero Cras" and stars at the top. I also need to decide if I want to add anything to the spaces where the blocks rest until needed. I've seen houses with images of the Nativity or stars. I might try and hand draw and letter the blocks too, but we'll see.

Midway Through Advent

Advent Spiral...

Jesse Tree...

Preparing for St. Nicholas Day

December 6 we celebrate St. Nicholas Day in our home. It is a fun day in the midst of prayer, penance, and preparation for the Nativity. The past several years we've hosted family and friends for a small party featuring traditional St. Nicholas treats from around the world, crafts, "gold" coins in shoes or stockings in a wonderful afternoon of visiting.

Big Brother is old enough this year to remember a little bit about previous years' celebrations and also to understand the story of St. Nicholas a little better. He has been very excited to read our St. Nicholas books this year and cannot wait for Sunday as he knows his stocking (according to Czech tradition) will be filled with a treat or two-- especially those chocolate coins!

Our book choices were gathered from Catholic Mosaic and the St. Nicholas Center.

• Saint Nicholas by Ann Tompert
• Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegemeyer
• The Legend of Saint Nicholas by Demi
• The Miracle of Saint Nicholas by Gloria Whelan
  
• The Baker's Dozen by Heather Forest

We also typically make a few treats: St. Nicholas cookies and a variation on St. Nicholas Day Punch (last recipe in the list) were favorites last year.

Last year we made several St. Nicholas crafts. Last year we made this mobile and this Czech St. Nicholas window decoration. This year we're doing some coloring, puzzles, and learning this echo story.

Also check out Seasons of Joy for St. Nicholas circle time ideas and some links to St. Nicholas songs!

I'll be sure to post pictures of this year's feast!

Lenten Learning: The Lord's Prayer

Now that our older son is quite the talker, I decided it was time he start committing prayers to memory. I suspect that he knows quite a bit already as he hears this prayer all the time, but has yet to show us! First up is the Lord's Prayer. I picked up a set of Lord's Prayer prints (along with others such as the Hail Mary and Ten Commandments) about a year ago against the day I'd need them. I laminated them then stuck them in the chair rail for easy access. We've been looking at them quite a bit and talking about each image. Even after he's committed it to memory, I think we'll be enjoying these prints for a long time!

St. Nicholas Day

Advent, Week One

Michaelmas, Part Two

We made St. Michael's Day Bannock with a recipe from The Catholic Home. (A more traditional recipe can be found here.)

Served with fresh, cider from the orchard we visited!

We also decorated the Michaelmas Candle. My original plan was to use an idea fomr All Year Round and do a dragon design to represent St. Michael's casting the Devil out of Heaven, but since I wanted my older son to be involved as much as possible in the project, we switched to something simpler. The little guy chose the shapes and colors and helped me cut them out and press them on the candle.

Our design features a ladybug, turtle, several stars, hearts, a flower, and a butterfly!

Michaelmas, Part One

Blackberry Cobbler for breakfast...

"According to an old Irish folk tale, blackberries were supposed to have been harvested and used up by this date, too, since it is told to children that when Satan was kicked out of Heaven, he landed in a bramble patch -- and returns each year to curse and spit on the fruits of the plant he landed on, rendering them inedible thereafter."

http://www.fisheaters.com/customstimeafterpentecost10.html

Apple picking...

Today we picked Jona Golds (or Jonagold) at one of our local orchards!

Read Through the Bible and Catechism in a Year

Elena of Visits to Candyland and My Domestic Church has posted a link to a schedule for reading through the entire Bible and the Catechism in a year. Reading the entire Bible is again on my list for 2008, and adding the Catechism seems like a great idea too! It's nice to have the hard work of figuring out what to read when already done, so check this out!

Let me know if you're going to commit to either or both schedules, and we can encourage each other this year!

St. Nicholas Day

Mother's Song

Madonna and Child Tea Set

Isn't this lovely? A mom on one of my message groups is buying it for her daughters for Christmas. I think it would be a lovely addition for any Christian family!

Our Advent Calendar

Our little guy is having a wonderful time placing each piece in the manger scene this year. It's hard to wait for the next morning!

Memorial of St. Nicholas

As many of you know, today is St. Nicholas Day!

From Catholic Culture:

St. Nicholas was born in Lycia, Asia Minor, and died as Bishop of Myra in 352. He performed many miracles and exercised a special power over flames. He practiced both the spiritual and temporal works of mercy, and fasted twice a week. When he heard that a father who had fallen into poverty was about to expose his three daughters to a life of sin, Nicholas took a bag of gold and secretly flung it through the window into the room of the sleeping father. In this way, the three girls were dowered and saved from mortal sin and hell.

Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra, is undoubtedly one of the most popular saints honored in the Western world. In the United States, his memory has survived in the unique personality of Saint Claus — the jolly, rotund, white-bearded gentleman who captivates children with promises of gifts on Christmas Eve. Considered primarily as the patron saint of children, Nicholas is also invoked by sailors, merchants, bakers, travelers and pawnbrokers, and with Saint Andrew is honored as the co-patron of Russia.

This is our first year truly "celebrating" and honoring St. Nicholas. We've been reading as much as we can about the saint. Demi's books are some of my favorites and her book on St. Nicholas is no exception. (Also check out Mother Teresa, Jesus, and Mary.)

I don't know how traditional it is, but in addition to our small family celebration, we are having a St. Nicholas Party this weekend for our closest family and friends. Several St. Nicholas treats are on the menu, and I think we'll have the kids decorate some St. Nicholas cookies (and other Advent/Christmas shapes).

To remember the saint's generosity and because I am Czech, St. Nicholas fills stockings in our house (not shoes), so I'll be sure to share pictures later!

Now it's time for my Sidekick and I to start our baking for tonight and Saturday!

Novena to St. Andrew

Today is the feast of St. Andrew, Apostle.

From Catholic Culture:

Today's feast traditionally marks the end of the Church year and beginning of Advent. Advent always begins on the Sunday closest to November 30, with this day being the last possible day of the old Liturgical Year. Christmas is right around the corner. An old saying reflected this:

St Andrew the King
Three weeks and three days
before Christmas begins.

St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland (home of my father's family).