Custodians of Beauty

We made fresh butter on the feast of St. Brigid (Feb 1) and the kids LOVED it!  They eagerly took turns shaking the jar full of cream, listening and waiting for the sloshing to cease. What does St. Brigid have to do with cows and cream you might ask? Well, along with being one of Ireland's most famous saints, she is patron of midwives, dairy maids, and newborn babies. I read the story of  Brigid and the Butter to the kids while they enjoyed their slices of the freshly buttered bread. St. Brigid was born into slavery around the year 451. She was taken from her mother at birth, but at the age of ten, rejoined her on the farm working for their master. St. Brigid gave generously. She offered milk and butter to the poor and hungry, even when that meant she and her mother would go without food. Tradition holds that she knew St. Patrick and that he may have baptized her. When she grew up she became a consecrated sister, spreading Christ's love to all in Ireland. She later be...

Hello blog! It's been awhile since my last post.  I took a break from blogging in November-January to get through the whirlwind of holidays. But I'm back now, and wanted to post about the day we celebrated the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. As with every feast day, I found a coloring page for the kids to embellish while I read a short story of St. Francis from our Book of Saints. After coloring, I read them "St. Francis and the Wolf". In the story, St. Francis comes to the aid of the villagers who are terrorized by a terrible wolf. St. Francis teaches the valuable lesson of friendship and to love all God's creatures that walk on the earth, fly in the sky and swim in the sea. Our snack in honor of St. Francis was "wolf paw" cookies. They were delicious and turned out more wolf-like then I imagined. We used package Iced Almonette cookies for the base. Then added sliced almonds and white baking chips for claws using melted chocolate for glue. I ga...

St. Therese, the Little Flower, please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me with a message of love. Ask God to grant me the favor I implore and tell Him I will love Him each day more and more.  Amen "St. Therese loved nature, and often used the imagery of nature to explain how the Divine Presence is everywhere, and how everything is connected in God's loving care and arms. Therese saw herself as "the Little Flower of Jesus" because she was just like the simple wild flowers in forests and fields, unnoticed by the greater population, yet growing and giving glory to God. Therese did not see herself as a brilliant rose or an elegant lily, by simply as a small wildflower. This is how she understood herself before the Lord - simple and hidden, but blooming where God had planted her. " - Text taken from the Society of the Little Flower The girls colored the Little Flower  print out while I read them a short story of St. Therese from ou...

Coincidentally,  St. Valentine's Day falls on Ash Wednesday this year so we moved our valentine feasting and sweet eating to Fat Tuesday.  It has not been our custom to take the kids to Mass on Ash Wednesday, since it's not considered a holy day of obligation. However, we do try to keep things low key and prayerful to help us enter into the season of Lent. (This silly little poem rings true for Catholics. Remember, you can't spell valentine without Lent!) Our children have not reached the age requirement for fasting and abstaining, but we encourage them to offer up little sacrifices (ex. going to bed without a stuffed animal for one night, letting a sibling pick which Netflix show to watch, or skipping the Mc D's fries when out and about running errands.) So far, so good! They have willingly (no whining or pouting) given up their favorites, their treasures, and their comforts for Our Lord. What pure hearts, those children have. If only we could learn to love ...

On November 1, we celebrate the host of saints in heaven. We ask them to intercede for us so that one day we too may join the holy soul for all Eternity. My four year old has told me many times that she wants to go to heaven to be with Mary and Jesus. This afternoon, while praying my rosary, she climbed onto my lap. She asked if she would see the apostles up there (heaven). I said yes, of course! And St. Francis, St. Maximillian, St. Nicholas, and St. Agnes!  Isn't it amazing to think about who you could rub elbows with in heaven? I mean how cool would it be to dine with St. Lawrence and St. Martha, share a hearty laugh with St. Bernard of Clairvaux or hike the mountains with St. John Paul and Blessed Pier Giorgio? Heaven will be GREAT! My husband and I desire our children to know and love the saints. To help them get to know their patrons, we read stories and celebrate their feast days with tasty foods and fun activities. Our children look forward to the All Saints Day...

On the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus I made a treat for the kids. It was a solemnity after all! The base was a graham cracker spread with buttercream frosting. I used slices of strawberries for the hearts and slivers of roasted almonds for the crown of thorns and cross. The fire at the top was orange and yellow sprinkles. You could use flower sprinkles instead of almonds to turn this into the Immaculate Heart. (Next year!) Extremely impromptu, yet fun and easy to make. Just used what I had in my pantry at the time.   Before we ate our snack, the kids looked at the image of the Sacred Heart and I pointed out to them the thorns, fire, and heart of Jesus. We talked about what each symbol meant. The flaming heart showing His burning love for us, and the cross and thorns circling the heart reminding us of His suffering and death on the cross. Prayer to the Sacred Heart: O Most Holy Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore you, I love yo...

The morning of the feast of St. Valentine, the girls and I ate pink heart-shaped pancakes topped with raspberry jam for breakfast. They gobbled them up, I barely had a chance to eat a few myself! For lunch, continuing the heart theme, PB sandwiches and carrots (making good use out of that cookie cutter). Unfortunately, the munchkins didn't have an appetite and only ate half of what was on their plates. Stinkers. Serves me right for making lunch FUN for a change, golly.  I did, however, enjoy creating said themed foods. Bud was snoozin' in the front carrier as I made the lunches. He's so cute when he sleeps.  When he wakes from his nap, I just can't keep myself from kissing those warm and rosy baby cheeks. I hid a few love notes for my husband to discover throughout the day. The Downton Abby printable  valentines from Do Small Things With Love  blog were perfect! We loved that series. I hid one in his drawer, one in his work backpack and one the car. Ap...