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It has been a fun filled Advent for our kids as they watched our Wandering Wise Men search for the infant Jesus! They are continuing the search for Jesus during this Christmas Season and they don’t have much time left! I began this family tradition 3 years ago and we have been enjoying it every year since then! If you are not familiar with this activity CLICK HERE to read last years post about it. Today, I want to share a few of the ADVENTures these guy have had. I’m not posting about every day, but these are a few adventures which we really enjoyed: Trouble in the seed bucket! One morning we found them checking out the bucket full the sunflower seeds which we grew in our garden. If you think Caspar is missing, he’s not. He fell into the bucket and is buried in the seeds… do you see him? The next morning we found them helping Caspar get out of the bucket. But how did Mr. Camel get in there? O boy! Now they need to get him out, too! Adding some Christmas flare to the old Thanksgiving décor! Caspar and his friends climbed down and added a star to our old Thanksgiving pumpkin. Thankfully he avoided adding a mustache to himself! Taking a walk in the flower pots: Guess it was a nice night for a stroll! Balthazar is riding Mr. Camel, Melchior is riding the bunny and…. Caspar is hanging from the branch of the flowering azalea! He almost looks like a flower! Under the sofa? All three (and Mr. Camel) are checking out the area under the sofa. All they could find were dust bunnies. They thought the dust bunnies could help. Melchior had just made friends with the other bunny (above) so he thought he’d try to talk to these mini fur-balls. Going door to door: Nope, no one’s home! In the math blocks?  Some of my kids think there could never be anything of value in a box of math blocks. 😉 After a long search, the wise men agreed, but I’d never tell my kids that! 🙂 Among the science “show and tell” items?  Nope, still no luck! Are they looking in the puzzle or are they distracted by the puzzle? I’m not sure… Maybe they started looking, but I think they are now playing. Well, we all need some time to relax. Caspar is burying himself in the puzzle pieces. And Balthazar and Melchior are putting the puzzle together. Maybe they think the completed puzzle holds a clue! After all, kings live in castles, right? Searching the manger-crib:  Nice idea to search the manger, but it they must have gotten stuck! The next morning they were found trying to escape from the hay filled box. Getting a bird’s eye view: Climbing to get a better view, but still no luck. Searching the stars:  ♫..♪.. Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket ♪..♫ .. Nope… not here. Candy craving?  Are they searching a cup of leftover candy or are they just hungry? Mr. Camel looks hungry and Caspar is playing golf!! ♫ Do you see what I see? ♪ They were found using our handy magnifying glass to check out the star on the outdoor nativity. ♪ Do you hear what I hear? ♫ I think they are listening to a few Christmas carols. I wander if they hear the one about the “star of wonder”. 😉 Breaking into Jesus Birthday Cake! Are they hungry or getting desperate!? Here is a close-up of Jesus birthday cake. Looks yummy! A cry for help! I think they may be losing hope! Hang in there guys! The Epiphany is just around the corner!! 🙂 I’m sure the wise men were thrilled when they found the baby Jesus, but my kids are never happy to know the search is over and the wisemen are packed away till next Advent.

I’m truly honored to have an article published! My article ”Celebrate the Season: Truly Catholic Advent and Christmas Fun” was their featured article in the latest issue Today's Catholic Teacher! I’m so impressed with the way they colorfully laid out my images and information! It just looks amazing! In the first part of the article I wrote about the Advent Tree idea, which I posted about in the past . Read that part of the article HERE on Today’s Catholic Teacher’s website.  In the next part of the article I talked about our Wise Men ADVENTures and I shared a few ways to make this activity fun in the class room. This idea has been great fun at our house for several years now and the idea has spread across the web with amazing zeal! Read about it  HERE on Catholic Inspired and read that part of the article  HERE on Today’s Catholic Teacher’s web site. **If you plan to join us this year in the Wise Men ADVENTures, you might like to take a look at the long list of troublesome situations our wise men have found themselves in over the last few years. Take a look at those images HERE .  (Be sure you click on the ”Older Posts” box, too. So you see ALL the posts. – Each link includes 3 or more images! So there are many ideas!) In the last two sections of the article, I wrote about celebrating other feast days during Advent. The two I focused on were St. Nicolas and St. Lucy. I have some of these same ideas listed on this blog in our Advent section . Thank you to Today’s Catholic Teacher for allowing me to write for your wonderful magazine! May you all have a blessed Advent! ~JenMarie

Here is our ornament for Christ the King of the Universe. This feast day moves each year, but it always falls on the Sunday before the First Sunday of Advent. To create this ornament you will need: Pattern and printable instructions (Download Below) black felt white felt (with glitter if you want) yellow felt light blue felt brown felt tan or peach felt green permanent sharpie marker red permanent sharpie marker (optional) gold glitter glue silver glitter glue scissors  glue (hot glue, felt glue, or tacky glue) thread and needle for the looped hanger Download the pattern and printable instructions here: First, cut out the pieces like those pictured above. Use a green marker to add land to the half-circle blue earth. We added a little red to the scepter, but this is optional.  Now glue the earth to the bottom of your black background. Add Jesus’ body on the very top of the earth – only glue it in the middle. Next, lift up the body and add the arms and feet. Now finish gluing down the body.   Now add his head and beard. Add his hands, too. Next add his hair, crown, and scepter. Cut off the extra background. Add gold glitter glue to his crown and scepter. Add silver glitter glue to the black background so it looks more like space.  Once it’s dry add a looped thread and hang it up! Our Lord, Jesus, pray for us! May He bless you all! ~JenMarie and Elizabeth

St. Simon, apostle and martyr, shares his feast day with St. Jude on Oct. 28th. Read about him HERE . To make this ornament you will need: white or off-white felt light blue felt maroon felt gray felt black permanent sharpie marker scissors  (these  kind work well) glue (hot glue,  felt glue ,  or tacky glue – like  this  or  this ) needle and thread for the looped hanger Cut out the parts like those above. Use the black marker to add detail to the fish. Paste the pages into the folded maroon ”book-cover”. Glue the book onto the blue background and add the fish to the book area. Cut out around the book and fish to remove all the extra blue background. Add a threaded loop to the top to hang it up. St. Simon, pray for us! ~JenMarie and Elizabeth

One day I was shopping for groceries and saw a box of Italian Waffle Cookies sitting on the store shelf. I thought to myself, ”Wow! Those look like neat little halos!” So I bought a box and created this fun, saint inspired, treat to serve to my kids! I bought our box of waffle cookies at our local Aldi store but THESE are similar, although they are more expensive. My kids all liked the vanilla flavored cookies, but some of them disliked the Anise flavored cookies.  The saint images were cut from old cards, magazines, calendars, or charity mailings. I always keep saint and holy images they always come in handy! But if you don’t keep images like I do you can print a few pictures from the internet.  These were easy to make and the kids were so excited to see the fun display with all the saints! This idea could be used for All Saints Day and many different saints could be displayed, or use the idea for one saint on his or her feast day! Have a blessed day! ~JenMarie

Elizabeth is hoping to create ornaments at the speed of light! She twisted my arm (she’s a strong girl -lol!) and begged me to help her make 5 this morning! Here is the ornament for Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s Feast day, July 16 (for the new and traditional calendars). I’ll post the others later when I have more time.  For this ornament, we wanted to make the brown scapular the main focus, and we added a simple image of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts.  To make it we used: dark brown felt, light brown felt, white felt, brown embroidery string, and hot glue.  We used silver thread to add the string so we could hang it on our liturgical tree. The hearts were added with permanent sharpie markers: yellow, orange, red, brown, and black.  It turned out to be so cute! Well, I like miniatures so a tiny scapular is just my style!  Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us! God bless you all! ~JenMarie

Become “fishers of men” anytime or place! (Except in the rain or in the pool – the game is made of cardboard-  it would get soggy! lol!) This cute game is not only fun, it’s also a great way to get kids to remember some key ideas of life. This fishing game is an old favorite for my kids! We made several different fishing boxes over the last 10 years and each have been well loved! In the past, we have played this game at our All Saint’s Day parties, and it’s also been a fun activity on rainy days (in-doors, not outdoors – again soggy!). It’s fun for toddlers who are learning the letter “F” and you might like to have this as a fun activity for the kids to play on St. Peter’s Feast days! It can be a great surprise! This game was made using a cardboard box, which was decorated to look like fish in water. Don’t use real water it might get — ya that’s right– soggy! 😀 Download this Game File and Patterns Here: The box we used is 1.5′ x 2′ x 9”. We painted this box with a medium-blue acrylic paint, but we have also made this in the past using blue construction paper or plain blue wrapping paper. Then I used wavy strips of light blue paper to make “watery-waves”.  I glued these onto the blue box. Then I added half-circles and  half-ovals of brown paper to the bottom to make the “ground”. I printed out the fish and seaweed patterns and colored them with markers. Download Patterns above ↑ After cutting out the fish and seaweed I glued them onto the box. Wide Lines for Easy Coloring and Cutting All of the fish and seaweed patterns have extra wide black lines for easy cutting. Just freely cut anywhere in the middle of the black area.  The wide lines help give it a clean look! Then, print and cut out a few sets of fish to catch.  These are best printed on stock paper, but will work with regular paper. (We used colored stock paper) I have two sets of patterns for these fish. One set has virtuous actions and virtues written on them: Share, Be kind, Go to Mass, Pray, etc. The other pattern has plain fish, so you can write your own ideas on the fish. You can add anything you want the kids to learn. Download these fish in the PDF above.↑ After you have written on the fish (if needed). Tape a paper clip to the back. Then create a fishing rod. We made ours with a piece of bamboo, a string, and a magnet. The magnet on the end of the string will “catch” the fish! Make sure it’s a strong enough magnet to attract the paper clip. How to play: The younger kids can simply “catch” a fish and someone older can read aloud what the fish has written on it. For older kids: Add two or more sets of fish -so each fish has at least one match. The kids should fish till they found a match to the first fish they caught. Fishy Art Work (Use these patterns to make an under water scene.) When learning the letter “F” with my young kids we also used the fish and seaweed pattern to create a fishy scene! My other art-love’n kids enjoyed making these scenes, too! Here are a few of the pictures that they made: Hannah  (Water Colors) Hope you all enjoy this fun game and art project! God Bless! ~JenMarie

Here are the cards my girls received in the mail from the Marian A.T.C. Swap: ___________________ Rachel received: Top Left: By Grace B. Age 12 Top Middle: Raya Age 12 From England Top Right: Emily N. Age 12 From VA Bottom Left: Grace Marie Age 12 From WI Bottom Right: Laurel Age 12 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are the cards Rachel made and sent: ___________________ Rebekah received these: Top Left: By Arianna Age 11 Top Middle: Jacqueline H. Age 12 From GA Top Right: Megan Age 12 Bottom Left: Kylie Age 11 From OK Bottom Right: Mary Kathryn Age 12 From OR ~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are the cards Rebekah made and sent: ___________________ Elizabeth received these: Top Left: By Jamie Age7 From TX Top Middle: Lisa Jane Age7 Top Right: Elise Age 7 Bottom Left: Eliza Age 7 Bottom Right: Saxon M. Age 7 ~~~~~~~ Here are the cards Elizabeth made and sent: __________________ _ Hannah received these: Top Left: By Ella Age5 From KY Top Middle: John Paul Age5 Top Right: Eamon Age 5 Bottom Left: Mariela Age 5 From SC Bottom Right: Noah Age 5 ___________________ Here are the cards Hannah made and sent: ___________________ Thanks to Kimberlee at Pondered in my Heart for hosting this card swap!!

The feast day of St. Joseph the Worker is May first. Rachel (my oldest child -age 15)  had such a fun time fixing the Divine Mercy coloring page that she decided to create a St. Joseph’s coloring page, too! Here is her newest work of art: Download this coloring page here: Have a blessed day! ~JenMarie

From the feast day of Jesus Baptism to Candlemas (The Presentation) I often reflect on Jesus’ “quiet life”. Jesus’ “quiet life” is the time when Jesus was a child growing into a man; a time when He was helping St. Joseph build furniture (and probably got many splinters); a time when He helped His mother with chores around the house; a time when He was learning to read and write; a time when He grieved for the loss of His foster-father; and a time when He was content in being here on the earth and living a simple life. Imagine the great, almighty, and all-powerful God being content with no drama or prestige for 30 years. He didn’t nag his mother and beg her to go out preaching. He waited for her to give Him the okay before He left home and began His mission. He was content to just live a quiet life. That’s humility! Sadly, we are often very discontented living in the background. We want to be seen, and we have such a hard time being content with the things of a simple life. We are always looking for something more – something greater!  Jesus calls us to the same contented, humility that He had, and that can be very hard for us. We what to be seen and appreciated. Jesus and His thirty hidden years can show us what we are meant to strive for. I often think of Jesus’ “quiet life” on snowy days. If you have ever sat outside on a snowy day you hear nothing. No, not a thing -no birds, no wind, no cars (unless you are in a city) – just the gentle, soft, sound of snow hitting the ground. The silence is amazing and so peaceful. So with these two topics in mind, my kids and I created snowflakes that have images of Jesus’ “quiet life” depicted on each. We bought our snowflakes (a pack of 12 foam snowflakes) at the Dollar Tree. But here are a few websites that teach you how to create snowflakes: More paper snowflakes (with video) Snowflakes from Coffee Filters Making them is always fun, but the foam snowflakes were an easy time-saver. Feel free to buy or hand-make your own. You will need: Snowflakes – made from paper, foam or other material (ours were about 3 inches around) small religious images (download below) glue scissors glitter glue hooks or string to hang the snowflakes Feel free to use the images we used. Download Here: My kids cut out the images and glued one to the center of each snowflake. Then they used glitter glue to decorate the snowflake and around the image. Once they were dry we added a hook. We hung our snowflakes on our “seasonal tree”,  which has a rotating and ever changing supply of decorations including our Saint Medals , Mary flowers , St. Valentine Hearts ,   Lenten sacrifice crosses , Assumption décor , and more. We really do enjoy our little “tree”!  It’s an easy way to decorate for each season and it allows each of our kids to help create the decorations.  So it’s a joint family effort as the liturgical year slips by. Our “tree” was created by adding a few flat clear marbles to the bottom of a mason jar. Then we collected sticks and arranged them in the jar to form a tree. It works well, but we need to replace the branches about once a year. Well, hope you enjoy seeing our Catholic winter décor. Please, pray for me as I try to be content. You are all in my prayers. ~JenMarie

These bags contain the most unsuspecting and most powerful weapon any kid (or adult) can own! Yes, it’s a rosary!! But it’s no ordinary rosary! It’s a Rosary Mat-Bag! I found this to be the most fun and effective way to teach young kids how to say the Rosary! They love the size and the softness, as well as, the colors and the ”marker” or ”stick” which they use to keep their spot as they pray.  To make one you will need:  clothe place mat or large felt sheet (about 18 by 12 inches) pom-poms (enough for Rosary beads ~ 58 any color) small piece of felt  (2 x 3 inch) hot glue Scissors 12 inches of ribbon cut in two equal pieces  (ends burnt if they tend to fray) ~ optional one pipe cleaner (any color) First cut out a rosary center and cross from your small piece of felt. I made our Rosary centers heart-shaped. Next lay our your pom-poms, felt cross, and center so a complete Rosary fits on your place mat. You may like to use a marker to mark your ”Our Father” beads in-case your place mat gets bumped.  With the hot glue, glue down the Rosary center and cross.  Then glue down the ”Our Father” pom-poms. Be sure to only put a small dot of hot glue on the bottom of the pom-pom and be careful not to burn yourself as you press it into its spot. After the ”Our Father” pom-poms are glued down, start gluing the ”Hail Mary” pom-poms down. It might work better if you start on the pom-poms next to the ”Our Father” pom-poms and worked into the center of the decades.  This will help you to keep the same amount of space on each end. I glued 6 inches of wide ribbon to each end of the place mat to create handles. (You could sew them on if you like.) First add a small strip of hot glue to the spot you want the ribbon to attach.  Press the ribbon down onto the glue with the metal end of some scissors. Metal works well for this so it doesn’t stick to the glue.  Then I added a little more hot glue around the edges of the ribbon and the place mat so it’s more secure. You may need to press it down with the scissors again.   Now, one last thing… Take your pipe-cleaner and bend it in half.  Leave a looped opening at the end, big enough for a pom-pom to fit into. Twist the other end together to make the ”marker” or ”stick” for the kids to use to keep track of their spot while they pray. This ”marker” can be looped over one of the pom-poms when not in use so it won’t get lost. Then, the kids are ready to go!!! Any where, any place, any time! Hope you and your kids enjoy this!! Our Lady of the Rosary, Pray for us! ~JenMarie By the Way: If you want one of these soft Rosaries but don’t want to make it yourself, I have some for sale on my Etsy shop . Stop in and see our selection…

The holiday season is a time when we all like to give a gift to friends, or do I mean receive a gift? Ya know, I’m not sure! So often our hearts do desire to receive rather than give. But Jesus tells us to give. Not only does He tell us to give, He tells us to give without thought of receiving:  Jesus said ….”When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14) Giving with no desire to receive can be hard for us and it’s even harder for kids. At Christmas time, kids often make and/or give a gift to a sibling or a friend and assume that they will get a gift in return. The hardest and most sacrificial giving is to give and know that you will receive nothing. If you can learn to give with no thought of what you will receive then you have mastered ”the art of giving”! This Christmas season I wanted to create a way for kids to help the poor, so I contacted Cross Catholic Outreach  and asked them to assist me in creating an on-line art show to help empower kids to raise money for the poor while using their artistic talent!   This event is similar to a ”walk-o-thon” but kids create art instead of walking, so I like to call it an ”art-o-thon”! Any child can create a work of art, take a picture of it (or scan it), and send the picture in an email to  mpotter@crosscatholic.org  . The name and age of the child who created it should be included in the email or written clearly on the image.   Then, once the image is visible on the Art Slide Show the child may ask family and friends to donate on behalf of the their artwork. Here are the works of art that kids have already added to the on-line art show: Can’t see it?  Click here   Or view the images on Flickr .  Those donating can write the name of the child, who has created their favorite art work, in the comment box when making the donation.  They can donate by clicking on the donate button on the  Cross Catholic’s Art of Giving web page: All proceeds will feed impoverished children and families in El Progreso, Honduras at the Prince of Peace Nutrition Center. In Honduras, one in every four children suffers from chronic malnutrition and are in desperate need of life’s basic needs. This event runs till Dec. 31, 2013. After all the donations have been tallied up, the young artists will be able to see how much they have raised to help these hungry children!  Who can create the art? All kids, from toddler to teen! This project is just a fun and easy way for parents, teachers, and youth group leaders to help teach kids the joy of helping others who are in great need. Kids can learn that giving is more important than receiving. They only need to create a work of art and ask grown-ups for support! Parents, teachers, and youth groups leaders, please use this opportunity to reinforce what you have already taught your children about how to love their neighbor. This would make a great service project for high-schoolers, youth groups, or Little Flower’s Clubs, too! How should the young artists ask for donations? During the Holiday season, they can talk to family and friends about the event and ask them to donate. The kids can also create a letter that explains the event and request donations. They may like to copy it and send it out in the mail or by email . If you like, you may use the letter I made for my kids. Click here to view and/or print our letter.  It might be a good idea to add a letter or note in your Christmas cards as you send them out! Who can donate? Anyone! Please, join in and help encourage these kids while saving the lives of starving children! Simply, choose the child/art you like and make a donation to Cross Catholic Outreach . Be sure to add the artist's name in the comment box when you donate, so the kids can see they are making a difference! Where do the donations go? All the donations go to Honduras, where one in every four children suffers from chronic malnutrition. But with help from Cross Catholic Outreach, one local parish is making a difference. The Prince of Peace Nutrition Program, a ministry of Las Mercedes Parish, provides meals for hungry children in poor Honduran communities, educates their caregivers on health, hygiene and nutrition, and ensures that the most severely malnourished children are able to see a doctor and get the medicine and vitamins they need. How do I find the artist’s name? The child’s name can be found on Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/109073631@N02/ To see the name of the artist, hover over the art work and a tab will pop-up at the bottom of the picture. That tab lists the name of the artist who created the work of art. Please help support this event in any way you can, through creative art or with a donation! I have asked a number of wonderful Catholic bloggers to help me host this event: Jennifer from Catholic Inspired  Pete from The Catholic Book Blogger Jen from Enter Under My Roof Chris from Campfires and Cleats Monica from Equipping Catholic Families Birgit from Designs By Birgit Jen from Happy Little Homemaker Nancy from Do Small Things with Love They are helping to spread  awareness  of this meaningful opportunity! Please be on the look out for future blog posts from them and myself. Next week we will also be posting about our children’s art. Then we will be giving all other bloggers the opportunity to join in a link-up and share the art that their kids have created for this event! Thank you for your time and please pray that God will help guide us all as we learn the art of giving. God Bless. ~JenMarie