Links for February :: Month Dedicated to the Holy Family

February 1st ~ Feast of St. Brigid of Ireland

• In Honor of St. Brigid of Ireland (2010)
• On the Feast of St. Brigid of Ireland (2011) 
• St. Brigid's Day Arts and Crafts (2011)

February 2nd ~ Feast of Candlemas

• Preparing for Candlemas (2008)
• An Afternoon Tea on Candlemas Day (2010)
• Celebrating Candlemas (2011)
• {pretty, happy, funny, real} ~ Celebrating Candlemas (2012)
• Celebrating Candlemas (2013 - Candlemas Cookies with Drip Plates) 

February 3rd ~ Feast of St. Blaise

• On the Feast of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr (2011 - Cookie Recipe here)

February 11th ~ Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

• Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes ~ plans and ideas (2008)
• Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (2008)
• Ideas for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (2009)
• A Grotto for Our Lady (2009)
• In Honor of Our Lady of Lourdes (2009)
• Celebrating. . .  (2011)
• Celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (2013)

February 14th ~ Feast of St. Valentine

• Valentine Fun! (2008)
• LOVE-ly Valentine Memories (2008)
• Celebrating St. Valentine (2009)
• Valentine's Day Treats (2009)
• St. Valentine's Day Mailboxes (2011)
• St. Valentine's Day Printables (2011)
• Celebrating St. Valentine's Day (2011)
• St. Valentine's Day Cocoa with Sprinkles (2012)
• Homemade St. Valentine's Day Cards (2012)
• Celebrating St. Valentine's Day 2013

Catholic Cuisine:

• Recipes for February :: Month Dedicated to the Holy Family

Links for Lent and Easter Preparation:
I spent a little time updating the following, adding last year's posts.

• Preparing for Lent :: Our Lenten Journey
• Easter- Pentecost :: From the Archives
• Picture Books for Easter

A Prayer to The Holy Family, for One’s Children

O Jesus, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, well-beloved Son of the Blessed Virgin and foster Child of St. Joseph, we most fervently implore Thee, through Mary Thine ever-blessed Mother and St. Joseph Thy foster father, take our children under Thy special charge and enclose them in the love of Thy Sacred Heart. They are the children of Thy Father in Heaven, created after His own image; they are Thy possession, for Thou hast purchased them with Thy Precious Blood; they are temples of the Holy Ghost, who sanctified them in Baptism and implanted in their hearts the virtues of faith, hope and charity.

O most loving Jesus, rule and guide them, that they may live according to the holy Catholic Faith, that they may not waver in their confidence in Thee and that they may ever remain faithful to Thy love.

O Mary, Blessed Mother of Jesus, grant to our children a place in thy pure maternal heart! Spread over them thy protecting mantle when danger threatens their innocence;
keep them firm when they are about to stray from the path of virtue; and should they have the misfortune of falling into mortal sin, oh, then raise them up again, reconcile them with thy Divine Son and restore them to Sanctifying Grace.

And thou, O holy foster father St. Joseph, do not abandon our children! Protect them from the assaults of the wicked enemy and deliver them from all dangers of soul and body.

O dear parents of the holy Child Jesus! Intercede for us parents also, that we may bring up our children in the love and fear of God and one day attain with them the Beatific Vision. Amen.

Prayers Source: This prayer is taken from Prayer Book for Religious by Fr. F. X. Lasance, S.J. (Benziger Brothers, 1904)

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~

{pretty}

My handsome baby with his pretty manly blue and black bandana blanket and neck-tie onesie!

{happy}

Very happy to be able to hold the baby and give mom a little, much-needed, break! 

{funny}

Yes... That is me... Still in "Costume"... Trying to take a couple pictures of Rose, baby and "mustache" in one hand and camera in the other!  

{real} 

Growing fast... "Real" fast!

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more pictures of contentment!

The Good Old Hockey Game

Hello out there, were on the air, it's hockey night tonight!
The tension grows, the whistle blows, and the puck goes down the ice.
The golie jumps, and the players bump, and the fans all go insane.
Someone roars: "Bobby Scores!" At the good old hockey game!

Oh! The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!

Second Period. 
Where players dash, with skates a-flash, the home team trails behind.
But they grab the puck, and go bursting up, and their down across the line.
They storm the crease, like bumblebees, and they travel like a burning flame. 
We see them slide the puck inside, its a one one hockey game!

Oh! The good old hockey game!

Its the best game you can name!

And the best game you can name,

is the good old hockey game!

Third Period. Last game in the play-offs too. 
Oh take me where, the hockey players, face off down the rink,
And the Stanley Cup, is all filled up, for the champs who win the drink!
Now the final flick, of a hockey stick, and a one gigantic scream: 
"THE PUCK IS IN! THE HOME TEAM WINS!" At the good ol hockey game.

OH! The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!

Photo Credit: Marc
Song:  The Good Old Hockey Game
(my boys love this song, click on over to listen!) 

Pinning It Down :: Mini Meatloafs

Click to see more!

I've been a little LOT behind in reading my favorite blogs lately, but have you seen the awesome link up that Pam and Sarah are hosting each week?  It is such a great idea!  I've been dying to join the fun, but honestly can barely manage to get meals on the table, let alone complete any extra projects. Don't ask me how I was possibly able to get ready, order and decorate cakes, and make those First Communion and Baptism Favors... It was just plain old stubbornness all extra grace God must have sent my way!  

Still, when I saw Charlotte's 3rd Pinning It Down post this afternoon, I decided not to let another week go by without joining in the fun.   Since I needed to come up with something for dinner anyway, had a couple pounds of ground beef defrosted in the fridge, and had just pinned a recipe for Mini Meatloafs from My Blessed Life, I decided to give it a shot.  

Actually, I decided to have Captain give it a shot, while I held the baby and snapped a few (blurry) pictures to share with you all!  ;)

He was more than happy to learn how to make another recipe and did a great job!  In fact, when he was finished he went on to make a batch of Outrageous Bar Cookies, which are almost ready to eat.  I am so, so thankful for my big helpers!

The recipe is very similar to the one we made when I was growing up, except I loved that this one suggests making miniature meatloafs instead of one large loaf!  We doubled the recipe for our family, making 20 mini meatloafs, which ended up being the perfect amount.

Delicious Mini Meatloaf Recipe

1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1 c. cheese
1/2 c. oats
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. onion powder
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. salt
1 lb. ground beef
ketchup, mustard, raw sugar {or brown sugar}

Before you get started, preheat the oven to 350 and lightly spray a muffin pan.

In a large bowl, combine egg, milk, cheese, oats, oregano, onion powder, garlic and salt. Add ground beef and mix well. {Take off your rings and mix with your fingers.}

Evenly divide the meat mixture in muffin pan. This recipe makes approximately 10 mini meatloaves. In a small bowl, mix ketchup, a tad of mustard and a teaspoon of sugar. Evenly divide the glaze over each mini meatloaf.

Bake, uncovered for 45 minutes or until meat is done.

My picture doesn't look as good as the original picture, but the recipe was a hit with my whole family, even our pickiest eaters.  We Captain will be making this again soon! :)

Our Little Man's Baby Shower

Yesterday afternoon a couple of my super creative friends gave us the cutest baby shower ever to welcome our "Little Man!"   It was actually a double shower for Amy and I, but Amy wasn't able to make it due to some of her family being sick.  (We missed you Amy!!!)

 

I have known Ann-Marie and Kristi since I was a child.  Their mom was actually the person that encouraged my own mom to start homeschooling us!   Kristi was my Confirmation sponsor, I was a "junior bridesmaid" in her wedding, she is Rascal's Godmother, and we are Godparents to one of her sons.   Ann-Marie was also one of the bridesmaids in my wedding!  Apparently we look related, and I oftern get mistaken for one (or both) of them!   :)  I just love all the connections between our families!

The theme for the Baby Shower was "Little Man" and all I knew before hand was that I was to arrive at 1:30 and wear either Blue or Green.    It was such a fun shower and I was able to snap some pictures to share with you all!  

~ Decorations ~

I fell in love with the little applique-style neck tie onesies that Ann-Marie made and hung on clotheslines along with little wash clothes.   She sent four of them home for our little man and the other four will be given to Amy!   Aren't they adorable?! 

~ Photo Booth ~ 

Kristi and Ann-Marie also set up a "Photo Booth" complete with a whole collection of their dads ties and Kristi's boys' hats.  They made the cutest mustaches out of black foam and bamboo skewers and then had everyone pose for pictures.   Here are a few of the ones that were taken on my camera: 

Rose watched while everyone was "playing dress up" and decided to join the fun, getting herself all dressed up on her own. 

It was so much fun!

~ Games ~ 

I always love the Guess the Baby game and was excited to see that it was one of the games for the shower.   Quite a few of the women forgot to bring pictures, but the four pictures of me and my three girls really threw almost everyone off.  My Aunt Bridget, who always watches our children when I am at the hospital, had a bit of an advantage and won the prize, correctly naming 9 of the 11 babies. 

Another fun game was the timed races to see who could Pair Socks the quickest.   Lisa and Samantha tied for the win, pairing 9 socks in about 20 seconds! 

Due to a "Strict Dress Code - Ties Required" there was a cute baby basket of little fabric bow ties they made out of fabric and safety pins that everyone was given as they arrived!  If you were caught saying baby or men during the shower you had to give up your bow.   One of the teens was quite ruthless, and it cracked me up when she pointed to me and asked one of the other moms while acting all confused "Why is she holding the blanket like that?"  and the other mom responded "Because she is feeding the baby."  She lost her bow, quickly realizing that the teen really wasn't "that slow."

~ Cake and Refreshments ~

Isn't the cake great?!  I loved that they ordered a Costco cake and added their own touches.   It's something I would do!  ;)   In fact, Ann-Marie came over after the Baptism reception last week, and when I was showing her "this cute new mustache chocolate mold" I had just purchased she nearly choked on her coffee, thinking about her own "secret baby shower plans!"  Heeheehee!  

In addition to the cake they had the yummiest peppermint bark candy (Kristi, I need your recipe!),  Cookies shaped and decorated like Mustaches, Bowties and Onesies, Cowboy Cookies, Pretzel CIGARS, LITTLE ME Snack Mix (Complete with decorated Gingerbread Marshmallows, LITTLE MEN Cookies, BOW TIE (Peanut Butter) Pretzels, and Fruit KABOBS! 

The drink BAR was awesome!   Little mustaches on all the cups and straws, root BEER and darling mason jars with BOW TIES! 

Yum!! 

~ Gifts ~

We were spoiled with even more cute outfits, toys, and a "car seat fund" to put towards a new car seat for our little man.  Chiquita loved helping me open the gifts while Twinkle Toes snapped a few pictures.  

~ Favors ~

Mustache Lollipops!  

We are definitely making some of these soon... I already have the mold!  ;)

Did you get the sign?  

Before You Must Dash Mustache, Please Grab Sweet!

~ A Few More Pictures ~

Thank you Kristi and Ann-Marie for the wonderful welcome for our Little Man!!!

Our Baptized Baby and a Beautiful Baptismal Blanket

After our little man's baptism this past Friday, I snapped a few pictures of him on his beautiful baptismal blanket, a gift from his Godparents.  I realized prior to the baptism, that I didn't really have any close up pictures of the baptismal outfit, which was also worn by two of his older brothers.   I don't generally like the little "suit" outfits for boys, but I think this one is darling!

And isn't the blanket perfect?! I think I have a new favorite baptism gift for Godchildren!  Even though the blankets had been on back order, it arrived just in time for the baptism, thanks to Catholic Embroidery who embroidered it as soon as the blankets were back in stop and shipped it express mail.  (Thank you Mary!)  The blanket is embroidered with the Ave Maria Symbol in dark blue and the baby's name and baptismal date in green. (I really had no idea that I had chosen the colors of his Godfather's favorite football team! lol!)  It turned out so pretty!

Can you believe that Bud is a month old already?!  This past month has gone by so fast!