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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

Tuna balls!  I can’t begin to tell you how much my kids and I like these! I started making these for Lent more than 8 years ago, and they are still well loved! My kids love the taste and I love the versatility!  They are a great on-the-go meal! Easy to eat in the car or when we’re out of the house. I can make a batch the night before a trip, put them in the fridge, and before we leave I put them into a cooler with a few other munchies, like carrots or crackers. It’s an easy to eat meal that’s ready to go! Plus they aren’t too messy for kids to eat!  Sometimes, when we are at home, my kids like to dip them in warm tomato sauce or cheese sauce. And I personally, love them in a salad! (see below) They are also a fun, easy, healthy, snack for toddlers! When they are hungry just hand them a ball from the fridge! My one year old calls them ”Happy Balls”! And they do make him happy!  😉 Tuna Ball Recipe: 6 cans of tuna (drained and crumbled with a fork) 3/4 cup ranch dressing or mayonnaise  or sour cream  (we try all of them) 3 eggs  1 cup bread crumbs (I use Italian ~ I used crushed corn flakes, too) 1 cup graded Parmesan cheese 1 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese Mix all ingredients together. Make sure the large pieces of tuna are crushed and well mixed.  Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls and place them on a greased jelly roll cooking sheet ~OR~ If you are in a hurry, you can press the mixture into a 13×9 inch greased pan, or two 8×8 inch pans. (But the balls bake nicer and more evenly) Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes; until the cheese is bubbling and they are getting brown. They will be a lightly crisped on the outside and softer in the middle. The balls are better eaten warm but they are also very good cold. This recipe will make about 100 balls (100 balls doesn’t go very far for our family of 11! We often make two batches!) Note: I’ve kept them in the fridge for over a week with no problem.  Tuna Ball Salad ( My Favorite) Break up 4 to 5 tuna balls into chunks and add it to a plate of lettuce.  Drizzle the lettuce and tuna ball chunks with olive oil and parmesan cheese. Sometimes I add Swiss cheese pieces! YUM!  I hope you like them as much as we do! Have a blessed Lent! ~JenMarie

Here are a few sites that have some great  Holy Thursday – Last Supper – Passover ideas. If you are looking for some ideas and activities to make Holy Thursday more interesting for your kids check-out these links: Monica at is offering a free sample of her book. The free sample has some great Seder Supper ideas! Here is another great resource for Maundy Thursday Jessica at has some cute ideas! Check them all out! has a great unleavened bread recipe. Jamie Jo at has her kids wash each others feet See this post here . Here are a few coloring pages from Holy Bible Coloring pages: You might like the diorama we have listed on our blog: Agony in the Garden Here is a charoset recipe we learned from our local church\’s prayer group: Easy Charoset 2 cups applesauce (unsweetened) 2 cup finely crushed/chopped pecans 1/2 cup of honey (or less – add to taste) 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 cup of chopped dates and/or raisins (optional) Mix all the ingredients together. Chill and serve cold with matzah.  May you have a blessed Holy Thursday! ~JenMarie

Just a few days ago I was talking to my oldest two daughters about how having a Santa on the top of a Christmas tree is a sign of how people focus on the wrong thing at Christmas.  Later that night I went to the Dollar store. While I was there finishing my Christmas shopping, I saw a cute little Santa tree topper sitting there with his 3 identical companions.  In an instant, a *Catholic Inspired* thought popped in to my head and so I bought one and brought it home. Needless to say I totally confused my teen girls as they questioned why I bought a Santa tree topper! Oh, they should know me by now, but I had to assure them that I was not adding it the top of our tree! And then I gave that Santa tree topper a Catholic Inspired extreme makeover: From Santa to St. Nicholas!! With a little bit of red and white felt, small and medium sized gold ribbons, and gold pipe cleaners, I was able to take this $1 Santa tree topper and turn it into a St. Nicholas doll!  Abracadabra! The kids think I’m magic Mom! 😉 And the only thing that I had up my sleeve was a hot glue gun! Ouch!! Oh, no, not really, that could hurt! And no magic, only God’s inspiration! 😉 Here are a few pictures of what I did to inspire you if you find a Santa you would like to “convert”! His hat was just red felt cut into a miter shape, and trimmed with gold ribbon. For the bottom I added a triangle shaped piece of white felt over top the red and trimmed it with gold ribbon. (I burned the ends of the all ribbons so they don’t fray.) His staff is three gold pipe cleaners twisted together. All felt and ribbons were hot glued down, because I’m not very good at sewing! Kids are easily amazed! And mine were totally amazed! 😉 Hope you are all having a blessed day! ~Jen-Marie

Happy feast of the Epiphany! What a blessed day! And I thought I’d share the craft my 8 year old daughter and I made yesterday. We made three glittery crowns and they made a great centerpiece for our table! It’s so simple, but it uses glitter! Now I know many moms hate glitter, but I love glitter! It’s such a fun way to decorate! Besides it’s Christmas time! You have to use glitter and be messy at Christmas or it just doesn’t feel like Christmas.  😉 So here’s what you need: 2 toilet paper tubes white glue  paint brush glitter scissors I also used a zip-lock bag for the glitter (to make it less messy) Cut the toilet paper tubes in half and cut out triangle shaped wedges at top of each half tube to make a crown shape. You need three crowns for the 3 kings! Paint white glue all over the outside of the crown. Roll the crown in glitter till it’s covered. I put my glitter in a zip-lock bag to help keep the mess at a minimum. Spread the glitter out inside the bag and roll the crown around in it. Knock off the extra glitter before taking it out of the bag.    That’s it! You now have a shinny gold crown! Now do it again 2 more times to make three crowns. We added LED tea-lights to the center of ours and placed them under our mini tree with our wisemen figurine.  It looked so neat as the light made the glitter shine off the table top! 🙂 Did I mention I love glitter! These crowns would be a great craft for Our Lady’s Queenship or the feast of Christ the King, too!

Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar are still searching for Baby Jesus…. And now, here are the next three days of their crazy adventure: Searching for Jesus ~ Day 8 Okay, now who came up with this idea!? Balthazar, was it you!? I think these poor little guys are starting to get desperate!  Balthazar and Melchior used a rubber band to sling-shot Caspar up to the ceiling fan!! I guess for a better view?! I told you Caspar is daring! He actually let them talk him into that?!Now how is he going to get down?! Searching for Jesus ~ Day 9 Oh no! Using a string Balthazar and the camel lowered Melchior down to the ceiling fan switch and turned it on! It made Caspar fly off the fan and into the Christmas tree!!! Well that’s one way to get down! Searching for Jesus ~ Day 10 Balthazar and Melchior used their string to send Caspar a “life line”. Good thing Caspar had his staff to reach it!! Now he can climb out of the Christmas tree! Since they got out of that catastrophe, I think they can continue to search for Baby Jesus tomorrow!  Wishing you and yours a blessed New Year!! ~JenMaire

Let’s see what the three Kings are up to!!!They are still looking for the Infant Jesus! Here are the next three days…. Wisemen Adventures Days 14 to 16 This is our Elf on the Shelf Alternative: If you missed the first few post click here to learn the whole story! Searching for Jesus ~ Day 14 Once again Balthazar seems to be ordering Melchior to go out on a limb (or a stocking) to search for the infant Jesus! Caspar is more interested in seeing how far he can go as he balances himself on the stocking holder! Searching for Jesus ~ Day 15  The Wisemen know that Bethlehem means “house of bread” so they thought they would look for Jesus where we keep our bread – the fridge! Balthazar and Melchior spread out like to jam to cover more ground while Caspar readies himself to hide among the eggs and spring out at Melchior! I don’t think his white turban looks enough like an egg to fool Mel! Searching for Jesus ~ Day 16 Melchior is taking this searching seriously, and now he got caught in the tissue box!  Balthazar tries to pull him out…one tissue at a time! What a mess! Poor Mel, but at least his stuck in a soft spot!  Caspar fell in love with the soft fabric of the tissues! So he made himself a cloak! It’s very kingly and it matches his turban! I hope Balthazar and Melchior aren’t getting too frustrated with their failed search! Caspar seems to be having fun!! 😉 Let’s see how tomorrow goes! Blessings till then! ~Jen-Marie Meet Our New Patron Saint for the New Year!! Thanks to  Allison for helping us pick our family’s patron saint for the new year! This year our patron saint is  St. Genevieve ! And her feast day is today!!!! (Jan 3) Check her out she’s an awesome saint!!

This is probably one of my worst ideas!! We had a pumpkin sitting here since thanksgiving and I had no desire to cut it up and cook it, but my daughter was begging me to cook the seeds. She just loves pumpkin seeds! 😀 So with Christmas in our midst, I decided it would be fun to use the pumpkin in a Christmasy fashion! So here is our Epiphany Pumpkin! 😉 After Elizabeth dug out her yummy seeds, I carved a star into the pumpkin and she painted the pumpkin with black acrylic paint. While the paint was still wet we sprinkled it with gold glitter. It looked so pretty, the pictures don’t do it justice! At night we added a tea light and our wisemen. Ya, it's a goofy idea, but she had fun and it was a perfect way to use our leftover pumpkin at Christmas time! 😉 God Bless! ~JenMarie

Ah, computers, love’em, hate'em… I both’em! This past week I had a horrible time fighting with my computer. It caught a ”bug” and took ”sick leave”. Now I’m playing catch-up on my emails, Etsy , etc.  So these photos are almost a week and a half old. Well, better late then never! Here are 7 quick takes on the past week and a half: ~1~ May Altar Here is our Mary-May Altar this year. ~2~ Tea Party Fun and Decor I posted about our Marian Tea Party invitations and decorations a few weeks ago and here are some photos of this years party. Of course our Marian Tea Party was beautiful and the girls LOVED it, again!  Our Marian center-piece: ~3~ Tea Party Smiles Naomi (5) Abigail (7) ~4~ Tea Party Food Our Ladybug Cookies In honor of Our Lady’s Bug! Click here to see how we made Our Lady’s Bug Cookies ~5~ Tea Parties and Boys We girls discovered the true reason that boys are not often invited to tea parties. My husband and all the other male members of the family had a ”guy party” in the next room, but my 3 year old son wanted to join in the tea party with the girls. I think I need to train him in the Art of Manners!! He was more interested in making odd noises, gulping tea, and picking at the girls! Well, I guess every tea party needs a little comic relief!  😉  ~6~  First Communion for our 6th Child Here is Miss Hannah after her First Communion – So excited! Six kids down and 3 to go! Abigail will have her First Communion next year! Wow! Time flies!  This is my daughter Hannah with my niece. They shared the special day! After the The First Communion Mass we celebrated with a Special cake. ~7~ Practicing to be a Bride’s Maid  The First Communicants had to be at church early, so I took Hannah and Elizabeth in the car. My husband, Jon, brought the rest of the family later. I had to laugh at the way Elizabeth helped Hannah get into the car and get buckled-up. Then Elizabeth helped her out of the car and into church. She was being very protective of Hannah’s veil and white dress. The way she treated her was just like a bride’s maid would treat a bride! Well, Hannah was the bride of Christ, so I figured Elizabeth was the volunteer bride’s maid! Too, CUTE! Aren’t they beautiful! 🙂 One final note — An update on my Endometriosis—- After trying a few other options with no success, I decided to take the advice of my OB and get a shot that shuts off my ovary for a few months. It creates a temporary menopause as it stops my ovary from producing estrogen in the hopes that it will shrink the Endo. I received the first of 3 shots 3 weeks ago. So far I’ve seen no change, but the doctor said it could take a month before I would see any change.  I’m trying to eat as healthy as I can (aside from the tea party treats!), and warmer weather always seems to help my condition. So I’m LOVING the warmer spring sun!  I want to thank every one for your kindness and prayers. I know God is helping me through this and I’m finding peace with everything. Please pray the shots do as the doctor and I hope. If they don’t I feel I may need to have my last ovary taken out in the fall. But if the shots do work I should be well enough to hold off on a surgery for a year or more. I hope, for the sake of my children and husband, that God will give me all I need, whether it be in health or peace or both.  Thank you again and God Bless. ~Jennifer

Today I want to share a watercolor art project tutorial, which I used to teach my kids. Okay, I have to admit that my kids complained when I said the word, “watercolor”. But in the end they said they had a lot of fun and were VERY happy with how the paintings turned out! Since it’s Lent, I wanted to create something that was focused on the season. A Good Friday project just seemed to be perfect! Download the instructions here: You will need: Printable Instructions (Download above↑) half-sheet of light blue construction paper Note: half sheets are easier and less intimidating for kids to work with. Note: light blue paper is easier for kids who are just starting to learn this skill. This way they don’t feel the need to fill the paper. paint brush with a fine point cup to fill with water Watercolors needed: medium blue black brown green purple yellow A few tips before starting: The more water you add, the softer the color. The less water you add, the darker the color. If you add water to the paper the colors will “bleed” further and easier, but the painting will be lighter. The paint will be lighter in color when it’s dry. So the colors you see while it’s wet will change when it’s dry. Add water to the colors you are going to use. Squish the brush into the paint to make the top layer soft and liquidy. Be sure to rinse your brush in a cup of water before you switch to a new color. To make the hill, add green arched lines across the bottom of the paper. Try not to paint above 1/3 of the page so you have room for other things on your painting. Add brown paint in and around the green. You may need to add more green, too. Use a brush-full of plain water to blend the two colors together. Add paint and blend with plain water till you are happy with your hill. Add black to the top of your page. Make the paint thick on the top and get thinner as you move toward the hill. Adding straight lines going across from side to side works best. Now add purple to the sky. Be sure to add some purple to the black and also add some to the area below the lowest black line. Next, add blue. This should be added in the black area, the purple area, as well as, below the purple area. If you wish you can use more plain water on your brush to make the colors blend together. Now, add the crosses. Dark brown or black works best. Be sure it’s thick paint and has little water so you can make thin strokes. Practice on scrap paper first.  Add a dark brown or black edge to the hill, under the crosses. FOR YOUNGER KIDS: Young kids can use a marker after the painting is dry. You can add some lightning, with some thick yellow paint. Be sure to have only a little water in the yellow paint, so you can make thin strokes. Try it on scrap paper first. FOR YOUNG KIDS: Young kids can use marker to make the lightning, just be sure the painting is dry first. This is my daughter, Hannah, (age 8) painting her picture. Below is her finished picture: Here are a few more pictures of the finished painting my kids made. They all have different designs and focuses! Each one has it’s own unique beauty! Top left to right – Jacob age 12 – Rachel age 15Bottom left to right – Elizabeth age 10 – Joshua age 11 This last one was done by my 5 year old, Naomi. She used a lot of water so her painting is very soft looking. We used brown and yellow markers to make the crosses and lightning. Okay, I hope I explained that well enough! Have fun trying this, too! And remember this is a painting of Good Friday, so if the painting looks a little messy, it adds to the sad feeling of the painting. Please pray for me and I’ll pray for you. God bless. ~JenMarie

In our beautiful Catholic art, lilies are a common sight. They are symbols of purity. Many chaste saints, like St. Joseph and St. Philomena, are depicted holding these delicate beauties. They are often thought to be Mary’s flower, too. During the Easter Season, lilies are a common sight and they decorate many churches! I wanted to have a few lilies to decorate our home during the Easter Season as well as other special feast days. Sadly, artificial lilies are very expensive, so I thought I’d try to figure-out an easy-long-lasting way to make some of these gorgeous flowers. A paper plate was just the trick! 🙂  They were so easy that my kids picked up on the idea real fast! You can make two flowers from one paper plate, and the only other items I used were yellow paper, green paper, a yellow pencil, clear tape, and a stapler. Download the printable instructions here: First cut the paper plate in half. Next cut out 6 or 7 petals as shown in the picture. Try not to make the petals deeper than the flat part of the paper plate. Flip the plate so the petals are bending away from you. Color the center with a yellow crayon or pencil. Cut a 1” x 1 1/2”  inch strip of yellow paper. Make lots of thin slits in the paper, but make sure not to cut all the way through. Tape the yellow fringed paper to the center bottom of the flower. Fold the paper flower into thirds (some petals will overlap). Only press the folds on the bottom half of the flower. Tape it together. Open the flower and curl out the petals out, if needed. Cut out 4 long triangle shapes from green paper. Put one on each side of the flower bottom, pointing out. Staple the flower and the leaves together at the bottom of the flower. One or two staples should work. Now they are ready to decorate your home or school. Use them on your Easter table, around statues of saints, or to decorate during May for Our Lady! Have a blessed Easter! ~JenMarie

Here is a simple craft to color and create for the Solemnity of the Annunciation (March 25)! Download this Annunciation Craft Here: Just print the free PDF file (found above) onto stock paper or heavy paper. Color it and add a prayer list inside the blocks. (Using Crayons? Add the prayer list first and color over top with light colors. If you are making this with small children you may need to write the list on the back.) The list can be anyone you want to ask Mary to help and protect. Then cut along the outside edge of the shape. Fold along the lines marked with the arrows and stand it up. Now place it on a table or altar. Have a blessed Solemnity of the Annunciation! ~Jen-Marie