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As I was sitting at my dining room table making my Advent seasonal plans and I came up with this idea for my girls to make for St. Lucy’s day. After creating one, to test my idea, I thought, “Duh!! I feel sooo silly…This is a nice easy activity for the kids to make their own Advent wreath.” — You see I’ve had a destructive, yet cute, baby in the house for the past 14 Christmases and I have never had a real Advent wreath to sit on our dining room table. So this paper wreath is as close as we have ever gotten to having one! Sounds silly I’m sure, but that’s just how it’s been! I just never thought to much about it till this year!  This Advent wreath is super easy, all you need is colored paper, scissors, glue, and tape or staples. Because I originally planned to make this a St. Lucy’s  wreath, the colors are different in the pictures than they are for the Advent wreath.  Cut out two strips of green paper. We cut ours in a zig-zag type pattern, to give it more of a wreath look.  Staple/tape the two strips together at the ends to create a circle. Cut 3 tall rectangles out of purple paper and one tall rectangle out of pink. (or, as pictured, cut 4 white for St. Lucy) Staple/tape them to the wreath. They are the candles. Now draw four teardrop shapes on yellow paper and add a little orange to the bottom to make it look like a flame. After cutting them out we drew orange flames to the other side, too. Staple/tape one flame to the top of the correct colored candle throughout the weeks of Advent. Cut out circles from red paper to make berries. Use glue to add them to the wreath. We used the berries to cover our staples. It worked well! My little “test subject” was so excited about the cute little wreath-hat! She didn’t want to wait till the 13th (St Lucy’s day) to make them and that was okay, because she was just as happy to make one for the start of Advent as an Advent Wreath! I’m sure my girls will have just as much fun making them again to wear on the 13th, too! Cheers to happy kids! 😉 God Bless. ~JenMarie

Okay, this was not what I planned to do today! But with a little help from my 8 year old, it kept the little kids happy while I worked with the bigger kids and finished up some school! I saw Tiffany’s post over at Family at the Foot of the Cross this morning and I showed it to, Elizabeth, (my 8 year old) she was sooo excited and jumped right on it!! So with my 8 year old in charge of craft time with the little kids, I hopped into a school day. She handled the little kids okay…I had to step in a few times to help, but the tilmas turned out great!! Feel Free to use this download if you need a coloring page with Our Lady: Check out the directions to make this at: Domestic-Church.com Hope you are all having a great day! God Bless. ~JenMarie

Wisemen Adventures ~ The Search for Jesus is over! The moment you have all been waiting for this week!! Our Wisemen have finally found Baby Jesus!! I know you were all beginning to wonder if the wisemen were actually going to find the newborn king – it was a lot of nail biting – edge of your seat moments, but they finally found him! Hooray!! I have to tell you, our house is kinda sad to see them succeed, only because we will miss seeing them each day! Oh well, we have next Christmas to look forward to! I hope your family can join us in the fun!  We have been posting all the adventures our little wisemen have had as they searched for the infant Jesus. It’s our Elf on the Shelf Alternative, and our kids have LOVED IT!! If you missed our other “Wisemen Adventure” posts this week   Click here  to read all about it and see the entire story!

The search continues… Searching for Jesus ~ Day 11 Today we found the wisemen searching through the knick-knacks above my kitchen cabinets. This one was hard for the kids to find since the kings blended in with the stuff so well! That made it interesting! Balthazar and Melchior have teamed up to look inside of the tin cans. But Caspar has his eye on that fun little antique car!  Good thing we hid the keys, or he might have taken it for a spin! Searching for Jesus ~ Day 12 While looking for baby Jesus in our mini pool table, Caspar was still having a grand time! Balthazar and Melchior are likely to get hit with a ball as Caspar makes a shot! Searching for Jesus ~ Day 13 Ah yes, the junk drawer! We all seem to have one! It’s the drawer that holds all the little broken things that need fixed and other stray items that need a home.  Balthazar and Melchior are digging through ours looking to find the infant King. Caspar seems distracted by the idea of finding a new staff No luck again, maybe tomorrow will be better! Until then, ~JenMarie

Here is a page of “Jesus Loves You!” valentine tags. I made these to be used as tags on bagged candies, pencils, or lollypops. My kids discovered they are also a perfect size to use as bracelets! Just staple or tape them together! 😉 Download the St. Valentine's tags here: Enjoy! God bless. ~Jen-Marie

Hi all!  Here are a few arts and crafts for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. (Feb. 11) See if you find any that you might want to do with your kids! Click here to see how to make this Chocolate Grotto, which I posted last year. It’s made from no-bake cookies!! Yum! Click here  to see how to make this felt doll of Our Lady. (I posted this last year, too.)  Here is a neat foil grotto craft from Ad Iesum per Mariam Smart Martha  has step-by-step instructions for this art project. Kristine at The Fire Within posted about this Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine  Xhonane at Familia Catholica posted about this beautiful craft. The Rolling Acres Farm has a great coloring page! Go check it out! Hope you found something you like! Blessings! ~JenMarie

Here are a few pages of printable valentines. I made these  last year , but this year I made a new version of these. I was able to update them to look more like I wanted them to look last year. I\’m adding links to both here so you can choose which ones you like the best! How to use them: Simply print the Valentines onto stock paper.  Color them if you printed the black and white cards  Fold the ends over the picture.  Add a sticker or tape to keep it closed.  Write who the card is to and from on the back. Download the Valentines here: There are three versions of this Valentine:  Heart-Cross version in color (ready to use), the  Heart-Cross Version in black and white, and t he *NEW* Crucifix version. Here is a view of the pages: Feel free to download these free files above! God Bless. ~Jen-Marie

These hearts are great for many things! We used them to decorate our “St Valentine’s Day Tree”.  Plus, they were fun for sticking all over the house or classroom to help brighten it up during dark winter days. They would also be great for homemade Valentines and St. Valentine’s day crafts! They would make great labels for gifts too! They could be cute cupcake toppers, as well!! Download the Hearts here: Click Here God bless! ~Jen-Marie

I’m excited to share our Presentation décor! It’s simple and frugal! It cost me only four dollars. I love a good deal!  😉 The two doves, candles, and wreath were bought from the Dollar Tree. The greens were extras that I had from other projects. I printed them onto stock paper and taped an opened paper clip to the back of each. The paper clip serves as a stand.  They only needed one paper clip; Anna needed two. I also glued Jesus into Simeon’s arms.  Download the Presentation craft here: Our kids have been admiring it! And I’m pleased to have given the kids a faith-centered memory at such a cheap cost! 😉 Hope you are having a blessed day! ~JenMarie

This post contains 2 downloads... Be sure to get both!! We’re having a little fun learning about the Conclave!! Conclave Reading Comprehension First, I made a reading comprehension printable about the Conclave and the way a new pope is elected. The comprehension print-out  also has a page of questions and an extra page of fun facts! I made this to suit my 3 to 6 graders, but it can be used as a guide for younger grades. It’s also acceptable for higher grades. Here is the first of 2 downloads on this post. It's the Reading Comprehension Pages: Conclave Smoke Craft After reading the above print-out we made this craft; It’s a model of the smoke stack/chimney on the Sistine Chapel, which signals to the people outside whether or not a new pope has been chosen. This model of the Sistine Chapel’s Chimney includes a puff of white smoke and a puff of black smoke! This is the 2nd download on this post. Download the Chimney Stack Smoke craft here: I hope this helps you teach your kids about this amazing time in history! God Bless! ~Jen-Marie

We said a sad good bye to Pope Benedict XVI this past week. It broke my heart, but I have high hopes that he didn’t leave unless he was sure a grand man was going to replace him. Before long, the Conclave will begin and a new pope will be chosen. I am planning to have a small party in honor of our new pope. I made a few things for my kids to have and do at our party. Here they are: Learning about the Papal Insignia This printable explains the symbolism in the Papal Insignia. I made one in color to show to the kids and one that that they can color. I also made one in color! Download the Papal Insignia Pages here: God Bless Our Pope Hats/Miters I plan to have my kids color the miter, cut them out and wear them. Just staple (or tape) the strips to the miter and staple the ends together. Download the Miter page here: St. Peter’s Square and Papal Flag Cupcake Toppers Just print out the printable page, cut out each image and tape the top of a toothpick to the back of each. Download the Cupcake toppers here: Pass the Papal Keys Game Keys are a symbol of St. Peter and the “keys to the Kingdom” They are also a symbol of the pope! Peter passed the keys to the next pope after he died and each pope has passed them to the new pope who was chosen after him. Draw a set of keys on a yellow balloon and let the kids pass “the keys” to each other. If you have older kids who know some past popes, have them say a name of a pope when they touch the balloon. Simon Peter Says Game This is a game I have talked about in an old post click here to read about it. Still need to teach about the Conclave? Reading Comprehension Printable It’s a great *easy* way to teach kids… click here  to learn more Conclave Smoke Craft Click here for the printable and to see how to make it Till next time, God bless, ~JenMarie

Lent is the perfect time to get you and your family into the habit of saying a daily rosary! If you start saying the Rosary as a sacrifice during Lent, you can keep going even past Lent!  That\’s how our family started saying our daily Rosary together. That was about 7 years ago and I have to tell you, the blessings that God has showered on us have been amazing! I can really feel that God is helping us during our everyday life when we are saying our daily Rosary! In the past 7 years we had a few weeks when life was extra busy and our Rosary was forgotten. During those times when we neglected to say our Rosary, I felt that the devil was at me more and the kids seemed more agitated! Saying the Rosary really does seem to help us all in our everyday life!  So I highly recommend saying a family Rosary!  I know life may seem busy already, I feel that, too! But I’ve seen how God ”pays you back” in other ways. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not instantaneous. It takes days, weeks or even months, but God always seems to help us more if we pray our daily Rosary. No, He’s probably not going to send angels to do your work like he did for St. Isidore, but I’ve seem small changes that have made a BIG difference in my life!  It just takes trust! Trust that the best thing to do is this one thing for God and that God will not leave you alone. He will help you if you are trying to live a holy life. Always remember, you fight his fight and he’ll fight yours. I’m sure many of you are asking yourself: ”How can I say a Rosary with so many little kids?”  I totally understand how you feel. I said that to my self many times. I have 9 kids, ages 14 to 1. Well, here are a few of the tricks I found helped to make our daily Rosary happy and more peaceful. __________ 1. Pick a time and stick with it Pick a time of day that works for you…after school, before dinner, etc. and stick with that same time each day. If the kids learn to expect it they will not feel as upset about it. A set time will help them mentally prepare. We normally say the Rosary at one of two times each day: We often say it at 3:00 (Jesus’ Hour) when the little ones are tired. The Rosary often helps them to fall asleep.  If we can’t say it at 3:00 due to an appointment or other conflict, we say our Rosary at night after the kids have had their night time snack and the little ones are ready for bed. 2. Have Rules: Be sure the kids know what you expect of them. Tell them each day before you begin. They will need a daily reminder until they are in a groove and just know what to do. If they don’t obey the rules during the Rosary, take away a privilege. For example: After our 3:00 Rosary my older kids have their daily ”free-time”. So they know they have to be good during Rosary to receive that ”free-time” privilege. If they are not good, they give 20 minutes of that free time to me to do extra chores. (I’ve never had to actually enforce that -I’ve only needed to tell them and they were good!) It’s very important that the room you are praying in is clean. It should have no toys, books, or other things that could distraction them. The bigger kids must stay sitting or kneeling. The little ones must stay laying down, sitting or kneeling. Allow the younger kids to have a pillow and blanket, too, but no toys or books -unless they are rosary books! It did take a few days to get them to understand the ”no toys, stay sitting” rules!! I just had to keep bringing them back to the room and taking toys. Be strong, don’t make a fuss. Just bring them back and sit them down and begin to pray again. You can say, ”It’s time to pray”, but you must remain calm. Once the Rosary becomes an everyday event the kids just learn to except it. Now my little kids just lay down and often times they fall asleep. 3. ”Family” Rosary – the whole family – Really? I know I say ”Family Rosary” but personally, we don’t pray as a ”family” everyday. My husband is often not with us. I’m sure many families have this same problem. Moms, I feel it’s better that we say a Rosary without dad than to not say a rosary at all. My husband says his Rosary as he drives home from work, but we do say our Rosary together, as a complete family, on Saturdays and Sundays. Do your best to make it a daily family event, but worse case, just get as many family members involved as you can! 4. Pray with a DVD: Years ago when we started saying the Rosary as a family we used Rosary DVDs. It helped the kids to learn how to say the Rosary and the images helped them to stay focused. It was great to begin this way. I was able to keep praying as I ”trained” the kids. Plus, the older kids didn’t need to stop and wait as I chased down a toddler! 😉 We got the DVDs from EWTN, but they might be cheaper somewhere else. The DVDs I found to be the best ones for kids are: ”Rosary in the Holy Land” (The one in the picture is different than mine, but I guess it’s the same.) For Holy Land Rosary Link ~Click here! ”The Holy Rosary” -it’s the one with the stain glass window pictures. Click here to buy it from EWTN Note: The Rosary DVDs which are made special for kids are often too distracting and seem to make them think’s playtime!! (all kids are different, so you be the judge of what works for your kids.) 5. Pray with Pictures: We also have pictures of each of the 20 mysteries. They are 8×10 inches in size so you can put them in a poster frame or in plastic sheet covers and place them in a 3 ring binder. Just turn to the correct picture for the Mystery you are reciting.  For 20 Mysteries Prints ~Click here! We also have small Rosary books to help them follow along.  My little ones like to compare the pictures in the Rosary book to the pictures on the Stain Glass DVD! For example, they see the Holy Spirit in the picture on the book and they find the Holy Spirit in the pictures on the DVD. It can keep them calm for awhile!. Pray with Scripture: Sometimes we will read scripture verses before each Hail Mary. This helps the kids have something to think about during each prayer.  ”Rosary of Praise” or ”Scriptural Rosary” are good books to use for this. 7. Think outside the Box!! – Other ways to pray. We have also said the Rosary on the drive home from different events. A few times we have loaded the kids in the van to say the Rosary while trying to get a baby to sleep. It might help to get an Audio CD for your car or van. We have said the Rosary while walking outside around our house. The kids find this fun, as they follow ”Mamma Duck”! If you don’t want to go outside, then walk around inside. If your toddler seems very wild, try putting him/her in a stroller and pushing the stroller around as you pray. If you don’t have a room large enough try pushing the stroller back and forth. This has often worked for many of my young kids.  We also like to pray with our Pro-life Giant Rosary. Click Here  for this printable giant Rosary to build as you pray. 8. Distracted Kids? If you’ve been saying the Rosary for a little while and the kids seem to be loosing interest, change the way you say the Rosary. In other words: if you have been using a scripture book, switch to a DVD or try walking around the room. Making a switch will help them refocus. 9. Other thoughts: It might help if you start saying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy first, then after a few days/weeks switch to the Rosary. Try taking turns: Give each of the kids a turn leading a decade of the Rosary. If you plan to buy or make Rosaries for children, I recommend ”all-twine knotted Rosaries” or rosaries made from string. Any Rosary with medal loops are very easy to break. 10. Try these Printables: I made a few sheets to help my kids during our Rosary. (I'm always trying new things to keep them interested) These are the sheets to use as you pray - Click here Print them out and laminate them (or use plastic sheet covers).  Then the kids can use them to follow along as they pray. They can use a dry erase marker to fill in the rosary beads on the sheet as they pray each prayer.  ** Click here ** to read more and download them for your kids! __________ If you are considering trying to say a daily Rosary together as a family, I hope this can help you to get you started. –For God will surly bless you if you try to pray the Rosary! Till next time! ~JenMarie