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striving to radiate Him always

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies

by Filed Under: Advent, Christmas, Cookies, Recipe 4 Comments

cookie exchangeA friend hosted a Cookie Exchange during the first week of December for moms and daughters.  It was a great outing and jump start for Christmas baking.

Rose and I decided to try a new recipe.  We were in a chocolatey mood and liked the look of Chocolate Crinkles.  We used Bakers Royal recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies.

Rose found this to be a simple and fun recipe.  She noted that she would use less powdered sugar.   Also, we tried the Crinkles with and without peppermint.  Peppermint is the way to go!

I printed the recipe on the JOY cards for all to take home.

A tall glass of milk is definitely needed.  This is one rich cookie, just the way my kids like them!

sweetie cookie exchange

check out more cookie ideas at Catholic Cuisine’s Christmas Cookie Recipe Exchange and our last year’s Christmas cookie post.

Thanksgiving and Prayers

by Filed Under: Advent, Christmas, Dragonfly Leave a Comment

We have sought simpler times.  This year a Christmas Topiary is part of the plan.  We decided to decorate our tree early this year in honor of our gift from above, Dragonfly.

He turned 7 months on Dec. 17.

JOYfilled Christmas 2010He is a precious baby with a sweet disposition.  He is easy and always happy.  Dragonfly…sits up on his own.  has 6 teeth.  wears 9-12 months clothes.  pulls himself to a standing position, on his own.  eats avocados.  loves to fight with dad and brother.  enjoys his adventures with sweetie.  prefers men to women. is ready for a hair cut.  crawls everywhere.……brings us much JOY!

7 months

seven months

prayers for a

JOYfilled CHRISTmas

We pray that we continue to be filled with the JOY that only Christ can provide.  We extend this prayer to all our blog friends and their loved ones.

 

Waiting For Jesus Christ

by Filed Under: Advent, Christmas, Nativity 1 Comment

We are anxiously awaiting the birth of Christ.  On Christmas Day, the children will add Baby Jesus to the Nativity Scenes in our home, that do not have Him present.  He is the true gift of Christmas!

nativity in fireplace mantle – Fontanini Nativity

tree topper JOY tree topper

nativity in livingroom living room side table – Jim Shore Nativity

kitchen nativity immaculate shrine calendar kitchen calendar – Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

bookshelf nativitybookshelf – Dollar Tree Nativity trinket box

gian's nativitypapi – Oriental Trading Nativity

nativity on altaraltar

nativity in schoolroomschoolroom – Oriental Trading Nativity

nativity on entry tableentry table – Fontanini

nativity on piano in holy room piano in Holy Room (on display year-round)

nativity snow globesnow globe nativity

seto calendar in schoolroomschoolroom calendar – Seton Homeschool

outdoor nativity v2 front yard

not pictured: bedroom nativity sets, veggietale nativity, little people nativity, cloth nativity, …..

more nativity scenes can be viewed at the Nativity Parade.

San Juan de la Cruz

by Filed Under: St. John of the Cross

st-john-of-the-cross-and-st-theresa-of-avila-by-french-school

Nov. 24 – St. John of the Cross, confessor and doctor; St. Chrysogonus, martyr; Sts. Flora & Mary, virgins & martyrs (Hist)

“With what procrastinations do you wait, since from this very moment you can love God in your heart?” ~ St. John of the Cross, Prayer of a Soul Taken with Love

John of the Cross was born near Avila in Spain in 1542. Educated by the Jesuits, he entered the Carmelite Order at the age of 21. He felt attracted to the life of a Carthusian, but Teresa of Avila asked him to co-operate with her in the restoration of the primitive Carmelite rule. After John established several monasteries of Discalced Carmelites, those opposed to the reform had him imprisoned at Toledo. During the nine months of his imprisonment, he wrote many of the poems and prose works that have made him one of the foremost authorities on mysticism in the West. He had asked God for suffering, and he received an abundance of both physical and spiritual torment right up to his death in 1591.

stjohnofthecross355

Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. ~ Prayer from the Proper

Resources:

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“Preserve a loving attentiveness to God with no desire to feel or understand any particular thing concerning him.”  ~ St. John of the Cross, The Sayings of Light and Love. #88

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Saint of Light

by Filed Under: St. Lucia, St. Lucy

lucia breakfast sweet

Dad coordinated St. Lucy’s breakfast in bed.  He made eggs, lil’ smokies, oatmeal and Minibon.  The little girls St. Lucy(s) wore their crowns and delivered the food to Rose and I.  It was a lovely surprise.

Dad tried to take pictures but the camera battery was dead, go figure.

starboy Dad also made star cookies for Star Boy.

We will be doing activities from last year’s celebration and additional ones from Jessica at Shower of Roses.

I’ll be back with updates, Dad is on a roll. 

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LITURGICAL PRAYER: Hear us, O God, our salvation, as we rejoice on the feast of Saint Lucy, Thy virgin and Martyr, and grant us to learn the spirit of pious devotion.

 

***

Not much of an update.  Dad capped out at the cookies but did take the kids on a procession (a.k.a.walk to the park).

Sugar and Spice…

by Filed Under: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Recipe

and everything nice, that’s what reminds us of Our Lady of Guadalupe.OLOG Statue

We celebrated the feast day of Our Lady Guadalupe on Sat., Dec. 11 instead of Dec. 12.  Our parish was granted permission by our Bishop to move the feast day for a Solemnity and First class celebration since Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of our diocese and her original feast day fell on Gaudete Sunday (this year).

We kept it simple with a field trip to the Mexican Market and a small Our Lady of Guadalupe Tea Lunch inspired from Shower of Roses and Cottage Blessings. For dinner we had chicken tacos with rice and beans.  Rose and I made Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Crispies for dessert, a family favorite.  The Crispies are  made with a little sugar and spice and remind us of Our lady of Guadalupe.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, ora pro nobis.

OLOG field tripField trip to the Mexican Market, Rancho San Miguel (St. Michael Ranch)

The girls and their friends were thrilled with the bright, yummy desserts.  They had a great time looking at the ethnic dishes; cow’s tongue, “fish head with eyes” (tilapia), pig’s feet……  They decided to stick with rice and beans.

  OLOG Tea Our Lady of Guadalupe Tea Lunch

crispies  Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Crispies (cinnamon chips)

  • Flour tortillas
  • Cinnimon
  • Sugar
  • Oil

Directions:

  1. heat oil on stove
  2. mix cinnamon and sugar together
  3. cut tortilla into triangles
  4. fry tortilla wedges until crisp (fry a small amount at a time)
  5. remove tortilla wedges from oil
  6. place tortilla crisps on cooling rack, over a drip pan/cookie sheet
  7. generously sprinkle tortilla crisps with sugar/cinnamon mixture
  8. turn the crisps over and repeat step 7
  9. cool and serve

olg_feastday_linkup

One Sink At A Time

by Filed Under: Advent, Home, Organization 1 Comment

I have been somewhat overwhelmed since having our newest blessing.  My home has been a reflection of my state.  Nonetheless, I am determined to follow His prompting to regain order during this Advent season, one sink at a time.

Like Mother, Like Daughter is hosting a Kitchen Sink Linky Party.  Thank you Auntie Leila for the gentle prompting. 

Pretty over the kitchen sink ~ Share your "flow" progress and your pretty windowsill or other space above your kitchen sink! Link back here to Like Mother, Like Daughter, and leave a comment if you like! Then visit each other to show everyone sink love!

 sinkkitchen counter

Preparing my soul and my home for the coming of Christ.

St. Lucia Crowns

by Filed Under: Crafts, Little Flowers, Loyalty, St. Lucia, St. Lucy

st lucia crown

Saint Lucy
Feast – December 13

We made this crown for Little Flowers, St. Lucy and loyalty.

inspired by As Cozy as Spring & Shower of Roses

Lucy, patron of Sicily, and one of the saints of the Canon of the Mass, was martyred at Syracuse in the persecution of Diocletian about the year 304. The legend of her martyrdom says that she was denounced as a Christian by a rejected suitor. Refusing to apostatize, she was condemned to a brothel, but a mysterious force prevented the persecutors from moving her from the tribunal. After an unsuccessful attempt had been made to burn her to death, her neck was pierced with a dagger.

 

Supplies:

  • sewing machine (for optional embellishments)
  • strip of white fabric
  • red felt balls
  • green felt
  • green thread (optional)
  • yellow felt
  • red ribbon
  • hot glue gun
  • scissors

Directions:

Little Flowers Loyalty 005

cut green leaves (i used a template and cut multiple leaves at once)

sew a vein onto the green leaves

Little Flowers Loyalty 002 

cut yellow flames

glue the yellow flame to the tip of the cookie stick

drizzle hot glue on the stick to resemble melting wax

red bows 

cut red ribbon and tie into bows

(I tie several small bows on the continuous ribbon and cut in between the bows when done.  This makes tying small bows easier.)

plastic canvas cut with ribbons

cut plastic canvas

tie a red ribbon to each side of the cut plastic canvas

cut white fabric

cut the white fabric the same size as the plastic canvas

adhere the plastic canvas to the white fabric.  this will give the crown a smooth surface to be placed on the head and will help to secure the leaves.

crown 09 

begin gluing the leaves to the artist canvas

glue the red bows (created in a earlier step) onto the leaves

glue 4 cookie sticks to the crown, behind some leaves.  coordinate the candles with the bows

glue the felt balls/berries as desired

back of crown

tie the red ribbon to the desired size

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sparkles joy

St. Lucy, your beautiful name signifies light. By the light of faith which God bestowed upon you, increase and preserve this light in my soul so that I may avoid evil, be zealous in the performance of good works, and abhor nothing so much as the blindness and the darkness of evil and of sin.
By your intercession with God, obtain for me perfect vision for my bodily eyes and the grace to use them for God’s greater honor and glory and the salvation of all men.
St. Lucy, virgin and martyr, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. Amen.

She Looks Like Me

by Filed Under: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Sparkles

image 

Sparkles with her Our Lady of Guadalupe statue in our first Mary Garden

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My husband and I know little about our exact heritage.  We are Mexican with  some Italian, French, German, Spanish Basque and… God only knows what else.

 image

Our eldest, Rose, looks nothing like us.  She was born with blue eyes and fair skin.  She resembles past generations.  My grandmother and great-grandmothers (on both sides) had green eyes, light hair with fair skin.  My husband’s mother has fair skin with green eyes.

ella on her bday at chevy 5.18.07

Our next daughter was Sparkles.  She is our “Mexican baby.”

Our third daughter, Sweetie, looks exactly like Rose.

All of our children have a beautiful devotion to Our Blessed Mother.  When they were younger, their devotion was driven by which Marian apparition looked most like themselves.  Sparkles would always light up when she would she Our Lady of Guadalupe.  “She looks just like me,”  she would exclaim.  Other times she would say, “That’s me!”  The sheer joy that she had knowing that Mary looked like her was heart warming.

sparkles in he garden v2

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Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, please pray for us.

olg_feastday_linkup

St. Catherine Laboure ~ Humility

by Filed Under: Humility, Immaculate Conception, Little Flowers, Marian, Miraculous Medal, St. Catherine Laboure

Our Lady of Miraculous MedalO Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

In this brief prayer we find the truth of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and Mary’s intercessory power with God for us who ask for her aid.

+++La Vierge de la rue du Bac

‘Lord, here I am, give me what You will.’  If He gives me something, I am very pleased and I thank Him. If He gives me nothing, I still thank Him because I do not deserve anything.  And then again, I tell Him all that passes through my mind; I recount my pains and my joys and … I listen.  If you listen to Him, He will speak to you also, because with the good God it is necessary to speak and to listen.  He will always speak to you if you go to Him simply and sincerely.

St Catherine Labouré

+++   LaboureCathe

This month’s Little Flowers meeting was on St. Catherine Laboure and Humility.  There were 29 girls in attendance.  I had initially planned to have the girls attend Mass with their family instead of as a group, due to the Rorate Mass*.  We ended up having a nice turn out for 9am Mass.

*The “Rorate Mass,” so called because it begins with the words “Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant iustum…” (Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One…), is a votive Mass offered within the season of Advent in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Celebrated by candlelight, and traditionally held before dawn.

The girls eagerly recapped last month’s saint, St. Cecilia.

stcatherinelaboure

We discussed the life of St. Catherine Laboure and focused on her humility and visions of Mary.  I gathered my info from the resources listed below.

Born in Fain-les-Moutiers on 2nd May, 1806, in the year 1830 Catherine became a seminary Sister with the Sisters of Charity (Rue du Bac); there she witnessed, a few months later, visions of Our Blessed Lady in the Chapel.
She later moved to Reuilly for a period of 46 years, helping the poor and elderly people. There, you may pray before her heart.

We used stations again to further instruct the girls.

MiraculousMedal

Station 1

Miraculous Medal story and coloring.

Did you know that the Miraculous Medal was first called? – Medal of the Immaculate Conception

Station 2

Craft – Miraculous Medal Ornament

Station 3

Outdoor social time and play

Station 4

St. Catherine Laboure Coloring Page and binder update (refer to handouts for complete links).

Father visited the girls and spoke about the purpose of Advent and true meaning of Christmas.  He instructed all the girls to put less focus on gift giving/receiving and more focus on giving gifts to Jesus.  Helping the poor-those in need, was an example of a gift for Jesus.  He gave the girls their usual blessing before departing.

St. Catherine Laboure, Ora Pro Nobis

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HANDOUTS:image

miraculous medal coloring page

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Miraculous Medal

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The Meaning of the Front Side of the Miraculous Medal

Mary is standing upon a globe, crushing the head of a serpent beneath her foot. She stands upon the globe, as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her feet crush the serpent to proclaim Satan and all his followers are helpless before her (Gn 3:15). The year of 1830 on the Miraculous Medal is the year the Blessed Mother gave the design of the Miraculous Medal to Saint Catherine Labouré. The reference to Mary conceived without sin supports the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary—not to be confused with the virgin birth of Jesus, and referring to Mary’s sinlessness, “full of grace” and “blessed among women” (Luke 1:28)—that was proclaimed 24 years later in 1854.

The Meaning of the Back Side of the Miraculous Medal

On the reverse side of the Medal we see a Cross, the symbol of Christ’s Redeeming Sacrifice on Mount Calvary for the salvation of the world.

The twelve stars can refer to the Apostles, who represent the entire Church as it surrounds Mary. They also recall the vision of Saint John, writer of the Book of Revelation (12:1), in which “a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars.” The cross can symbolize Christ and our redemption, with the bar under the cross a sign of the earth. The “M” stands for Mary, and the interleaving of her initial and the cross shows Mary’s close involvement with Jesus and our world. In this we see Mary’s part in our salvation and her role as mother of the Church. The two hearts represent the love of Jesus and Mary for us. (See also Lk 2:35).

1st Apparition of the Miraculous Medal

1st Apparition of the Miraculous Medal

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Become Humble Like Mary

Saint Catherine, you kept secret the wonderful
grace of having seen the Blessed Virgin. Pray for me
when I put myself before others.
O Mary, Mother of God and Our Mother, you who
dislikes pride, bathe me with your humility.

Becoming Like Mary – Seven Daily Prayers

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RESOURCES:

humility craft page

RESOURCES FOR KIDS

family prayerHard work produced much happiness in the Labouré family household ; the day finished with family prayer.

CRAFT:

miraculous medal ornament joy

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catherinelaboure

Prayer of Saint Catherine Laboure

Whenever I go to the chapel,
I put myself in the presence of our good Lord, and I say to him
“Lord, I am here.
Tell me what you would have me do.”

If He gives me some task, I am content and I thank Him.  If He gives me nothing, I still thank Him since I do not deserve to receive anything more than that.  And then, I tell God everything that is in my heart.  I tell Him about my pains and my joys, and then I listen.  If you listen, God will also speak to you, for with the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen.  God always speaks to you when you approach Him plainly and simply.   ~ Catherine Labouré

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The Entire Miraculous Medal Story, told by Rev. Carl L. Pieber, C.M. from Madeline Stewart

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