Happy St Valentine's Day in our Home -2012

Well once again we had a feast day to celebrate. If it is one thing I enjoy about our Catholic Faith it is the absolute ability to make it special in the every day. Of course this means many feast days through out the year, celebrations of the Saints, those who have lived their lives for God in a way we can emulate. To balance this though we are given many opportunities to reflect and draw closer to God through abstinence, giving more of one self and sacrifice....Lent starts next week you know and I am pondering how best to apply the opportunities available to my self as well as a family 'gift'

Our celebrations were not spectacular or very food orientated and quite frankly the crafts I had planned for St Valentine were no where in existence.
However we did achieve a few ideas to help remember the life of St Valentine.

We had our Valentine  Walnut Shell gifts -- tutorial here courtesy of our Eden girl

This idea I am not really how to explain it but the clear plastic heart has everyone's names on heart shaped pieces of cardboard. What I was trying to capture was the heart of the family holding everyone's individual hearts  together in one special embrace. Kinda corny huh?

On our bookcase display (the whole St Valentine Display is in the first picture) I wanted to decorate the candle quickly so I cut out some of our candle decorating wax sheets(we have had these for some years and it has lasted quite well) so hearts of course are quick and simple to cut and apply to the candle.

Getting out our Valentines day books is a great pleasure as we usually add these Tasha Tudor books to our display as well.

I read aloud from  Saint Valentine, Love is....  and Little Acts of Kindness as the younger children coloured in these colouring pictures:

Colouring pages we used~
cut out card
Boy posting card
St Valentine - Charlotte ( I love this one)
St Valentine- illuminated ink
St Valentine and this one too
Boy and Girl
Boy and dog
Cute Bunny (our little girls loved this one)
Boy and girl holding hands

The vestments for St Valentine on Father Pine are red, this is the other end of our bookcase display.

We did set up our Valentines Tree that we have each year as well as our Heart Pockets. The ideas for this are explained in this post from last year

This year our lack of ability to get out and  get supplies fo rthis means we really only started this today and the little ones have been filling pockets with lots of pictures and love letters.  AS we only started today we will keep this circle of love going until the start of Lent.

Just the bookcase display, notice the untidy bookcase, I hadn't really until Eden so carefully  pointed out to me, thanks sweety.

For the All Seasons wreath I wanted to keep it simple so cut our multiple layers of both pink tissue paper and red cellophane and threaded them through with thread, fluffed them up a bit and put them on the wreath.

Simple yet effective I think!!

Of course we had to put up our Valentine Ribbon Banner

Arwen was fascinated by it this year and kept trying to tug at the sculpy hearts, she loved them so much.

Here is the "LOVE" banner that we put up for the first time last year. If you look carefully you can see the Valentine Ribbon banner and the Seasons wreath in the back ground of the room behind.

I was so impressed that Vellvin wanted to cut both eh carrots and chicken pieces into heart shapes. This took a long time to do but she was very diligent with it. I think they look so cute!

I love the way the hearts look on our dinner plate. We had the heart shape cake (pictured above) that Rogan made earlier, for sweets. Our heart shaped sugar cookies that Saxon was making (still in dough form today even....hmm when can we have these Saxon?)

That pretty much wrapped up our celebrations for the day. I hope you enjoyed your own day as well.

Prayer t St Valentine -
O glorious advocate and protector,
St Valentine,
look with pity upon our wants,
hear our requests,
attend to our prayers,
relieve by your intercession the miseries
under which we labour,
and obtain for us the divine blessing,
that we may be found worthy to join you
in praising the Almighty for all
eternity: through the merits of
Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessings to you and your homes,

St Brigid Feast Day coming Up

A quick reminder for all you preparing for St Bigid's feast day on the 1st of February~
I don't have much more to add to our plans than in the past but you can see them here as well as how we celebrated in 2011

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Our Patron Saints for 2012

Each Year we are involved in the process of asking for Patron Saints for the new Year. We believe that these saints choose us for a reason each year and we try to learn about them and have a particular devotion to them during the year, asking for their prayers to guide and help us in the year ahead.


These are the saints who we have for the year~


Family Patron Saint -- Our Lady of Good Remedy
Home Schooling Saint -- St. Joseph Calasanz

Stephen -- St. Benedict
Gae -- St. Monica
Kynan -- St. Ambrose of Milan
Braedon -- St. Thomas Aquinas
Autumn -- St. Catherine of Alexandria
Eden -- St. Francis Xavier
Saxon -- St. Andrew Kim Taegon
Vellvin -- St. Clare of Assisi
Rogan -- Bl. Pedro Calungsod
Moran -- St. Joachim
Myffwyn -- St. Rita
Corbin -- St. John Chrysostom
Arwen -- St. Brighid
Trahaearn -- St. Patrick

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

A couple of our St Valentine Day ideas......

I have been trying to get to this post for a couple of weeks now and share this tradition that we have had within our family for some years now, in fact I think over 10 to be more accurate.

In our family we have a belief that Valentines Day is more than just for the 14th of February. We use the first weeks of February up until the actual day of Valentines Day to show love for each family member. Of course the traditions stems from St Valentine and the customs that arose from this time.

The love of two people that then blossoms into children within the family circle and the unending circle of love is a beautiful tradition to  celebrate each year.
Two activities we do every year to a more or less degree, sometimes depending on financial restraints are below:

Two activities we do every year to a more or less degree, sometimes depending on financial restraints are: 1) We have a Valentines tree
and 2) Our Heart Pockets

The Valentines tree is simply a branch form a tree that we make heart shapes out of  paper and then hang them on the tree. We use a heart shape punch to make the lacy look pattern on the hearts.
A very simple and beautiful reminder of love within the family.

Our giant heart shape I made  from felt and then I stitched on smaller heart shaped pockets. Thank goodness I made it with some spares as we have added some babies since then!
Being the fabric paint lover I am I wrote on the name for each family member and sewed on some lace. The reason we have different colours is I simply was using the colours I had in my fabric stash rather than buying new fabric.
As it is, I am contemplating how to add to this heart as we still hope for future children (perhaps) and spouses for the children.

Into each pocket the tradition is to make small love notes and place a small gift of chocolate, lollies and other items I have placed into the 'giving basket'. It is a little hard for the younger children not to be over generous with their giving as they view the 'giving basket' as an unending supply. However I try to limit to 1-2 lollies and a note each time. The note being the requirement to putting a lolly or gift in.

These are some supplies I bought to make a Valentine ribbon banner, I am part way through this and some paper crafts for the children this coming week.

To decorate the notes for the heart we use some glitter and small beads as well as some stickers and small images we have stored away for Sparrow Post letters.

All ready for the eager little givers........

It didn't take long to start filling the pockets. The little ones keep checking back every few minutes or two. I love their enthusiasm, I just wish I could keep topping up the 'giving basket' for them

Just a few little things in a couple of pockets.

I hope you enjoyed our little trip down 'Valentine Lane.' I am still planning on a sharing a few more ideas before  the actual day of St Valentine. But I was really keen to share our main preparations for this beautiful day.

Blessings to you and your homes,

Feast day plans for St Brigid of Ireland

Happy Feast of St Brigid of Ireland.

We love our Irish saints as we have a family history that links us back to the 'Isle of Erin.' So this is one day we enjoy celebrating!

Our plans today consist of these activities:
Food~
Irish Stew
Irish Soda Bread
Scones with Jam and cream - St Brigid is the patron saint of Dairy farmers hence the use of cream
We are also going to make a St Brigid cloak cake this was Vellvin's idea.

Reading~
This is an interesting read for the children and I love this poem from the site: it could be used for memorisation or copywork

The Giveaway -
Saint Brigid was
A problem child.
Although a lass
Demure and mild,
And one who strove
To please her dad,
Saint Brigid drove
The family mad.
For here's the fault in Brigid lay:
She WOULD give everything away.

To any soul
Whose luck was out
She'd give her bowl
Of stirabout;
She'd give her shawl,
Divide her purse
With one or all.
And what was worse,
When she ran out of things to give
She'd borrow from a relative.

Her father's gold,
Her grandsire's dinner,
She'd hand to cold
and hungry sinner;
Give wine, give meat,
No matter whose;
Take from her feet
The very shoes,
And when her shoes had gone to others,
Fetch forth her sister's and her mother's.

She could not quit.
She had to share;
Gave bit by bit
The silverware,
The barnyard geese,
The parlor rug,
Her little
niece's christening mug,
Even her bed to those in want,
And then the mattress of her aunt.

An easy touch
For poor and lowly,
She gave so much
And grew so holy
That when she died
Of years and fame,
The countryside
Put on her name,
And still the Isles of Erin fidget
With generous girls named Bride or Brigid.

Well, one must love her.
Nonetheless,
In thinking of her
Givingness,
There's no denial
She must have been
A sort of trial
Unto her kin.
The moral, too, seems rather quaint.
WHO had the patience of a saint,
From evidence presented here?
Saint Brigid? Or her near and dear?

Of course we will read  Brigid's Cloak

The older children will also read this beautiful story here and write a narration on it.

Activities~
Making St Brigid's cross using these instructions with whatever materials we have on hand, perhaps long grass or pipe cleaners

Write this blessing out to go with our Cross's
An on line quiz
Wordsearch I can't get the direct link to work so just choose wordsearch
St Brigid crossword
St Brigid's mantle- a fun activity
Of course a holy card to have at the end of the meal printed and written on
Draw a Celtic cross and colour
Practice form drawing with Celtic knots as the pattern, for the younger children they can just colour them in!

St Brigid Colouring page from Charlotte 
We will also be using various colouring pages from these books:


Life in Celtic Times:- what ever pages they like

Celtic Stained Glass pattern Book- choose a design and colour it


Link to book :Ours is slightly different being not only letters but is an older version and I can't find a link

Copywork quote~
I would like the angels of Heaven to be among us. I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all. I would like Jesus to be present. I would like the three Marys of illustrious renown to be with us. I would like the friends of Heaven to be gathered around us from all parts. I would like myself to be a rent payer to the Lord; that I should suffer distress, that he would bestow a good blessing upon me. I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings. I would like to be watching Heaven's family drinking it through all eternity."

~ St. Brigid of Ireland

Prayers~
I found this lovely St Brigid Chaplet  prayer on line we will try to pray

Prayer to St. Brigid
Brigid, you were a woman of peace,
You brought harmony where there was conflict.
You brought light into the darkness.
You brought hope to the downcast.
May the mantle of your peace
Cover those who are troubled and anxious,
And may peace be firmly rooted
In our hearts and in our world.
Inspire us to act justly and reverence all God has made.
Brigid, you were a voice for the wounded and the weary.
Strengthen what is weak within us.
Clam us into a quietness that heals and listens.
May we grow each day into greater wholeness -
In mind, body and spirit.
Amen!

Litany of St Brigid form here

An interesting little piece of information I found

 

St. Brigid of Ireland, Pray for us!

Blessings to you and your homes,

Read to Me Challenge

You all know how much I love picture books and reading picture books so of course this challenge caught my eye.

I thought it would tie in nicely with the reading I will be doing with our younger children anyway but the focus is slightly different.

For those of you who might be interested the link is here but the general instructions are below.
How To Participate:
1. Decide which challenge level you’ll be doing (see below).
2. Decide if you intend to read them with a child or on your own. Sorry, but those who read with a child get twice as many entries each month. Although those that do read with a child need to share their experience with the them in their review.
3. Grab a button.
4. Create your own post to let all your readers know you’re taking part in the challenge and at what level. Make sure to link back to this page with either one of the buttons or a text link.
5. Use the link form below to enter into the challenge by sharing your challenge post url and your name (either your name, blog name, or both). Please only use the comment section to participate if you do not have a blog. All other participants should use Mr. Linky below with a direct link to your challenge post.
6. Submit your reviews as you complete them on the designated monthly post to be qualified for monthly prize drawings.
7. There will be a “wrap-up” completion link-up at the end of the year to sign up for to share in your successes. 
Challenge Levels:
Reading with a Child:

• “Planting” – Read 12 picture books with a child during the year.
• “Watering” – Read 36 picture books with a child during the year.
• “Feeding” – Read 72 picture books with a child during the year.
• “Growing” – Read 120 picture books with a child during the year.
• “Harvesting” – Read 200 picture books with a child during the year.

Reading on Your Own:

• “Board Book” – Read 12 picture books on your own during the year.
• “Unjacketed” – Read 36 picture books on your own during the year.
• “Jacketed“ – Read 72 picture books on your own during the year.
• “Early Reader” – Read 120 picture books on your own during the year.
• “Chapter Reader” – Read 200 picture books on your own during the year

We will be entering in the challenge of:

Harvesting” – Read 200 picture books with a child during the year.
I actually don't think this will be an issue for us.

I will post this weeks editions of books we have read over the next couple of days

Blessings to you and your homes,