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St. Mary’s Messenger has published one of my posts in their most recent addition! My kids were excited to see their picture in the magazine! It was a new and fun experience for us! When my three year old first saw his picture and said, ”Hey, that guy is me!” Then, he grabbed the magazine and ran off to see if he could find anymore of himself! 🙂 St. Mary’s Messenger published my St. Peter’s Fishing Game.  Click here to see the post. And be sure to check out St. Mary’s Messenger ,  it’s a cute magazine for Catholic kids! Thanks to Katherine and Kris for offering this opportunity. Have a blessed day, everyone! ~JenMarie

St. Monica and St. Augustine were mother and son, so we kept them together. St. Monica, the patron saint of mothers, prayed many, many years for the conversion of her wayward son. Finally, he converted and sang the praises of God to all those he met! At the age of 41 he became bishop of Hippo.   Read more HERE and HERE . St. Monica’s feast day is Aug. 27 (new) & May 4 (traditional)  St. Augustine’s feast day is Aug. 28 (new & trad.) I have to tell you we had a bit of a time deciding how to do this one. Of course we made a few jokes and said we should make a hippo wearing a bishop’s miter, since Augustine was the bishop of Hippo, but in the end I think this was a MUCH better idea! St. Monica and St. Augustine are often pictured with a book, so we decided to make a book and add another symbol for each one of them. Because St. Monica is sometimes pictured with flowers we added a flower for her. St. Augustine is often show with a flaming heart which is pierced with an arrow so we added that for him.  The book is made from maroon and white felt. We added the ”print” with a black permanent sharpie marker. It’s just simple dots lined up in rows. We also outlined the pages with a brown sharpie marker.  The flower was made by creating two purple flowers (one larger and one smaller) and a small pink circle. I used a purple marker to outline the flower parts. Augustine’s heart is red and outlined with a purple marker – yes, purple. The flame is yellow and was outlined with an orange marker. The arrow is dark brown and was slid through a small slit in the heart. All the parts were hot glued together. St. Monica and St. Augustine, Pray for us! ~JenMarie and Elizabeth Visit our Etsy shop to purchase our St. Monica felt statue

I never heard of  St. Rocco (aka: St. Roch) till a few years ago when my sister-in-law (May she rest in peace.) asked me to fix and repaint an old broken statue she found at a yard sale. She and I had no idea who the saint was, but after a bit of digging on the world-wide-web we discovered it was St. Rocco.   I had to make an ornament for him, because I can’t think of St. Rocco without thinking of my dearly departed sister-in-law. I hope and pray she finally got to meet St. Rocco in person! 🙂  St. Rocco, was known for his love of others and the way he helped those who where sick during the plague. He eventually became ill himself and secluded himself outside of town so he wouldn’t be a burden on anyone. Legend says that a dog delivered bread to him each day till he was well again.  Read more about him HERE and HERE . His feast day is Aug. 16 – the anniversary of his death in prison. St. Roch’s ornament depicts a dog and a loaf of bread. This was very easy to make and just too cute! The dog is just three ovals: one larger light brown oval and two smaller dark brown ovals. The light brown oval has two smaller black dots for eyes and one larger black dot for the nose. These dots were made with a permanent sharpie marker. The bread is an oval that was a little more flat on one of the long sides. We used a brown sharpie marker to add an edge all the way around and a few slashes in the top. These were glued onto a light blue background. What a cute puppy! 🙂St. Rocco, pray for us! Have a blessed weekend, everyone! ~JenMarie

All Saints day and All Souls day is upon us. It’s the time of our Liturgical year when we remember the entire Communion of Saints!! But what is the Communion of saints? Well, first I’d like to answer a question I’ve heard many times…. What is the difference between All Saints day and All Souls day?  All Saints day is a day is when we celebrate ALL the saints in Heaven. It’s a day to pray to the saints and ask them to intercede for us. This includes ALL the saints, even the ones that we don’t realize are saints. Not all holy people who have died and gone to heaven are canonized by the Church. There are many holy people who have died and gone to heaven but have never been acknowledged by the Catholic Church. Even though they are not canonized, they are still saints. So we celebrate them all and ask for their intercession. All Souls day is a day we focus on prayer for those who have died and are suffering in Purgatory. These souls need our prayers to help them to get into Heaven. This is a special day dedicated to prayer for these needy souls. I’ve been teaching my kids about the Communion of Saints, which includes both the saints and the souls in Purgatory. Actually, there are three groups in the Communion of Saints: The first group includes all the saints in heaven. This group is the part we almost always think about when someone mentions the Communion of saints. We call this group the Church Triumphant . So what does triumphant mean? Normally, when we say someone is triumphant we mean that they won or succeeded in what they were trying to do. For example, a runner is triumphant when he wins a race. The second group in the Communion of saints is the Church Suffering.  This group is made up of the poor Souls in Purgatory.  These are people who have died in union with God’s teachings, but are not yet holy enough to enter into Heaven. They need our prayers to help them become pure enough to enter Heaven. They cannot enter into Heaven without our prayers, so always be sure to remember the Souls in Purgatory when you pray.  All Souls Day is coming on November 2 and it might be a great time to take the kids to a cemetery and say a few prayers or a Rosary for the souls who are most in need of prayers. This is a great visual reminder to them of who they are praying for. Now the third group is one we all know well, but often times don’t think of as “saints”. The third group is called the Church Militant and it’s made up of living people here on Earth who strive to follow God’s will. This group can include the Pope, bishops, priests, and anyone who is living their lives the way the church teaches. All of us can belong to this group, but we must do as the saints in Heaven have shown us: we must live for God and try to do His will in all things. To help teach my kids about the Communion of Saints I created a few bulletin boards:  I made this first one a few years back. It hung in our church’s entryway. The top is a white cloud with pictures of saints. In the middle was an artist idea of what Purgatory might look. I added the thorns around the picture. On the bottom was a collection of pictures of the parishioners in our parish. It was a big hit with the parishioners as they tried to find those they know. I also added a few pictures of the churches in our area, too. Next was one I made for a talk I created for the kids of our local Catholic homeschool group several years ago. Jesus said, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” All three groups in the Communion of Saints make up the branches. God is the vine that gives us all our life and grace. This vine is split into three parts. The first part starting at the Holy Trinity, has leaves that contain pictures of the saints. The next group were just images of “souls”, they are just average looking people who appear to be sad. On the last section I added images of the pope, our bishop, and a few different churches. These were a great visual  help when teaching about the Communion of Saints. Printable Activity Page I also created a printable activity page that helps to teach the kids about The Communion of Saints” Here are a few of our finished pages: There are 4 different pages to pick from. To create this page have the children title and decorate each section as follows: The top section should be titled Church Triumphant. Have the children draw or color around the clouds in this section. They could also use glue or a stapler to add some cotton. Now they can paste on a few pictures of their favorite saints.  Older children can draw saints. The middle should be labeled Church Suffering. The children can draw pictures, add photos, or write the names of those they know who have died. Have the children draw or color sharp rocks or thorny branches around the pictures and names. This is to symbolize their suffering.  Remind the children that these souls need prayers. The bottom is for those who are living and striving to do God’s will. Draw or color grass, houses, trees, flowers, then have the children draw or add pictures of the Pope, bishops, as well as, family members. Teachers: All pictures for this project could be brought from home as a homework assignment. Download the Page Here: May all the Saints in Heaven pray for us! And hope you all have a blessed All Saints Day! ~Jen-Marie

Here are lots of ideas for you to help you celebrate Our Blessed Mother’s Birthday (Sept 8) Family At The Foot Of The Cross:  Blue praying arms pretzels The Careless Catholic:  Nice list of books and more Ten kids and a Dog: Nice cake and coloring activity Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice:  Beautiful cake for Mary Ten kids and a Dog:  Made Cards for Our Blessed  Mother’s Birthday Slightly Crunchy Catholic: Another Beautiful cake for Our Blessed Mother\’s birthday! Training Happy Hearts:  Fun day 2010 Fun day 2011 An Abundance of Rainbows:  Queen Mary’s Children Party fun! Three-Sided Wheel Fun books and ideas Family at the Foot of the Cross Beautiful post and party St. Anne and Baby Mary Felt Doll / Statues Felt Doll / Statues or Mary’s Nativity

Here are some ideas to help you celebrate the feast day of “The Holy Name of Mary” (Sept 12). Waltzing Matilda:  Most Holy Name of Mary Plans 2008 Another Post 2009 Just Another Day In Paradise : Most Holy Name of Marycraft and dessert  Cottage Blessings: Mary’s Holy Name Lantern More ideas from  Waltzing Matilda Family At The Foot Of The Cross:  The Holy Name of Mary A few ideas from: Shower of Roses

I’m most likely getting this out too late for most of you to use it, but I thought I’d post it anyway. This is a coloring activity for Advent. My oldest daughter, Rachel, drew the coloring pages with the Advent Wreath, the manger, and Baby Jesus. She had hoped I’d share them with all of you. For this coloring page activity, the kids can color the Advent wreath, candles, manager, flames, and Jesus. Then they can glue one flame to a candle each week. On Christmas day they can add Jesus to the manger! I’d like to thank my second oldest daughter, Rebekah, for coloring the Advent wreath and Jesus images.  She did a great job, as always!! 😉 We accompanied Rachel’s coloring activity with our family’s Advent Prayer Chain.  The Advent Prayer Chain doubles as a countdown to Christmas! If you want to make one, too, you can access our free download below. Print it onto colored paper (I used red and green). I cut construction paper down to a regular size sheet of paper and placed it into my printer. Worked great! Then cut on the dotted line to make the strips, which you will need to create the chain.  We used a stapler to attach the ends together as we made our chain. We turned the prayer intentions to the inside.  Each night as we are saying our evening prayers we remove a chain link and say an extra prayer for the special intention listed on that chain link. Download the printable prayer chain here: Since Advent is so short this year, there are more chain links on the printables that you will need. So just pick the prayer intentions you like best and use those to make your chain. Hope you have a blessed Advent! ~JenMarie

A few weeks ago, I was telling our kids the story of the day my little brother and I got lost in the snow covered woods as we looked for a mini cedar tree. We lived on a 60 acre farm with lots of woods, and I had this crazy desire to put a small tree on our dinning room table and decorate it! Ya, I was crafty back then, too! 😉 So after telling my younger brother about my plan, he grabbed a shovel to tag along! (I was about 10, he was 8)  So the two of us wondered through the woods in search of the perfect little tree to do the job. After searching and searching we began to realize we had no idea where we were! Well, fear not – I used my knowledge of the sun to find the way back home! But it was a day I’ll never forget! Well, after sharing my story with my kiddos, my 8 year old daughter, Elizabeth, had a fetish with the idea of having a Christmas tree in her bedroom! I told her I didn’t recommend that she wander through our woods to find one! But I wandered through the Christmas section of Wal-mart and found a few miniature, sparkly Christmas trees – and I didn’t even get lost!! 😉 These little trees were made to be used in one of those miniature Christmas villages. I bought 4 trees, at a dollar a piece, and gave one to each of my youngest girls.  They decorated them with sparkly pipe-cleaners and pony beads. I helped to hot glue the parts and pieces down.  They just loved them and now they each have a tree in there bedroom. Little Naomi (with mom’s help) discovered that they worked great in her doll house as a Christmas Tree for her dolls!  Such a simple joy and without the fear of getting lost! 😀 Hope your Christmas Season is joyful and peaceful! Blessings, ~Jen-Marie

Merry Christmas, everyone!! The time of preparation and waiting is over! And what a wonderful day our Lord has blessed us with! Yesterday, our Advent Tree bloomed into a Christmas Tree!! It’s filled with our kids Boyd’s Bear ornaments and sparkling stars, which our kids made many years ago. Our tree has been “baby proof” for several years now and I’ve grown quite fond of the paper stars and teddy bears! 😉 This morning, 3 presents  for each of our 9 kids (3 gifts each – in honor of the gifts of the Wisemen) surrounded our Christmas tree and the most important present of all  lay in our wooden manger. Jesus wore a bow and a tag that read: We also were blessed with a white Christmas!! We haven’t had one of those for 10 years. The snow started late Christmas Eve, and created a bit of a concern as to our ability to get to Mass in the morning. By the Grace of God we had no problem getting our 15 passenger, rear-wheel drive, maxi van out of the snow covered drive way! I hope and pray you all had a blessed Holy Day! And now that the wait is over it’s time to celebrate! So this week I’ll be sharing a few other things my kids and I will be doing in honor of Christ birth! Blessings to you all! ~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

On with the search for the Baby King: (If you missed the first post click here to see it) Searching for Jesus ~ Day 5 After no luck the first 4 days, Balthazar, Melchior, Caspar, and their camel checked in a baby wipe box. Nope, no baby in the *baby* wipe box, but I’ll give them a “A” for thinking “outside the box”. Hee Hee!!! Searching for Jesus ~ Day 6 Caspar is a daring fellow and after meeting a friendly pommel horse gymnastics athlete, he decided to take a break from searching and give this neat talent a try. He’s got good form! What do you all think? Should we give him an 9.5?? I think we better wait to see his dismount! Not far away, Balthazar and Melchior were checking out another candle and trying an acrobatic feat of their own!!! Wow, I’m not sure how they got into that position, but that’s got'a hurt! The true question is how will they get down! Searching for Jesus ~ Day 7 Oh boy, now Caspar did it!! He managed to get himself trapped inside the medal basket which he was using  as a pommel horse the night before!! But with quick thinking Melchior grabbed the nail clippers and tried to break him free! Good thinking Melchior!! The search will continue tomorrow!! Blessings, ~Jen-Marie