By Sun and Candlelight

Tuesday Tea: Roosters & Resurrection Rolls

It's a fine day here in New England ... the sun is shining and the wind is brisk ... the rest of Holy Week stretches before us and the weather promises to get even better. How nice it is to usher in Easter with true Spring all around us.

(This is not always the case in our part of the world ... Easter can be quite wintry, some years!)

Anyhoo, today's tea was a nice refreshing break ... we were up early and at 'em - with the roosters, as they say! - and so my theme this week is: roosters! I have always loved roosters (for their connection with "dawn" and their colorful looks) and of course, they are symbolic at Easter:

"Amen, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times."

My friends, are you familiar with Petook: An Easter Story, written by Caryll Houselander (and illustrated by the fabulous Tomie de Paola)? I placed the book in my reading corner today, as Petook is a rooster, you see. Oh, this book is a treasure, and I make sure to take it out of the library each year during Holy Week. I used to have little boys sitting at my feet as I read, but these days I just read it aloud to Earlybird - if he'll sit still! - though quite often the older boys will make a casual comment or take a peek over my shoulder ...

I love how good book memories stay with you no matter how old you grow.

:)

So here's a little peek at my afternoon "Rooster Tea," and a recap of our faith @ home craft - we made "Resurrection Rolls," another Holy Week tradition.

First, take a look at this tiny fellow, resplendent in color and finely made glass:

And my cup today is a new absolute favorite - a big (really big!) ceramic mug, painted in the most cheerful colors:

My tea? Earl Grey (full test, not decaf).

My snack? A resurrection roll (details below).

This is a cute coaster I've had for years:

 ... it makes me happy to put my morning coffee down on it. :)

And here's a wooden rooster, found amongst the boys' playthings:

Our "welcome" flag:

Now, these guys have nothing to do with tea (or roosters for that matter), but I could not resist sharing this:

So sweet. :)

And speaking of sweet, now for those resurrection rolls we made!

A quick set-up ...

A buttery-spiced marshmallow all ready to roll ...

Neat little packages:

Fifteen minutes later ...

Done!

You see, the marshmallow melts but the crescent roll holds its shape - so what you have resembles an empty tomb ... and it reminds us of the Resurrection ... hence the name.

*†*

Well, I'd best wrap up as the day's coming to a close - Bill's on his way home and I've got supper to start. (As I suspect you do too - if not now, perhaps soon - or already!) I do hope you've all had a nice day ... and I thank you sincerely for stopping by ...

I'll be back here to see you again soon!

❤

Edit: My friends, Bill just came in and I'm just finding out about the tornadoes in Texas. Prayers go out to all in Texas, but especially the victims of these horrible storms. And to my dear readers from Texas, please leave a note when you can and let us know you're all right. My heart is with you tonight.

A Sunday Morning Hello

This is a quick, easy (and tasty!) activity to go along with this week's gospel (as well as Easter in general) ... Resurrection Rolls! I posted about it a few years ago ... just thought I'd mention it this morning in case it might be helpful to someone. :)

So Happy Sunday, everyone ... I'm working on my Easter menu and holiday plans today ... I'll be back soon to post about that!

(Oh, and p.s. It's International Waffle Day ... we had ours this morning with that strawberry-rhubarb sauce I made the other day. Delish! :))

Felt Banners for Lent & Easter

Well, here we are almost halfway through Lent and I'm finally getting our banners up!

I've had the supplies for over a month now, but I only found the time to work on this project yesterday. Now, this was supposed to be done with Earlybird - but he was far too busy playing outside yesterday to help me, lol.

Here are the simple supplies:

• Several sheets of plain purple and glittery white felt.
• Adhesive-backed felt letters in purple and glittery white.
• Wooden dowels and ribbon (purple, shown, as well as gold).
• Fabric scissors and (not shown) a hole punch.

I just laid a sheet of purple felt on top of a white sheet, and cut them to fit (the white was a bit larger). I punched a hole in the top of the sheets, near the outer edges. (This was tricky as the hole punch really could not get through the felt easily. What I did was to punch the start of a hole and then used my fabric scissors to enlarge the hole.) I then threaded the ribbon through the holes and attached it to the dowel as shown below.

I shaped the bottom of the sheet a little to appear more banner-like. And lastly, I pressed sticky-backed felt letters onto each banner ...

(Note: I had purchased two-sided tape to sandwich between the felt sheets, in order to fasten them together, but I found it made the felt buckle. And really, the sheets kind of stay together without tape due to static cling.)

Once the set was complete, I hung our new banners in the learning room!

The banners display simple Lenten messages: Pray, Give, Wait, Faith, Hope.

But here's the really neat thing ... on Easter morning the boys will find white banners hanging here instead. (The reverse side!) They will be decorated (secretively, by me, on Holy Saturday) in all kinds of Easter finery - gold, glitter, sequins and what not ...

... IF I can keep the cats away from them, that is!

(Nothing is sacred, I tell you.)

Now, these banners were pretty easy to put together - I worked them up in under an hour - and I think they would be fun for any holiday or festive event, like a birthday, graduation or anniversary. Perhaps for a new season, like the Spring Equinox ... or, if you happen to keep a liturgical corner in your home, you could have an interchangeable banner for the various feasts and seasons of the year. Purple and pink for Advent and Lent ... white for Christmas and Easter ... green for Ordinary Time and blue for Marian feasts, etc. And you - and/or your children - could decorate them with all kinds of felt shapes, letters, sequins and fabric paints, etc. Because despite the fact I could not lure EB inside from his dirt pile to help me with this, lol, this really is quite a child-friendly craft. A nice project for a homey afternoon. :)

***

Well folks, I'm going to sign off as I have quite a busy day ahead ... in fact, I am going to postpone my usual "Tuesday Tea" until later this week. Most likely Friday, I think. I am planning a little "Irish" tea in honor of Saturday's feast, so I do hope you'll join me!

But before I go, I would like to thank you all for your very kind interest in my Spring Newsletter! I am so pleased the idea has been so warmly received! I am keeping track of all your email addresses and once I get a little further along in "production," I will contact each of you in regards to your snail mail address. I can't promise how quickly this will happen ... but it will certainly be sometime this Spring!

For now, my friends, I wish you all a very pleasant Tuesday ... thank you so much for stopping by. I will see you here again very soon!

❤

A Few Things for Friday

First, and foremost, Happy Friday, my friends! I hope the week has been good to you. ❤

I'm behind on several things at the moment, so please accept my apologies for my lack of comment replies. I do plan to catch up later today, once we're back from Book Group. (My turn to lead ~ must bring cookies and discussion notes!) But I wanted to share a few quick thoughts before I kick-start my morning ...

 As I mentioned earlier this week, today is Dr. Suess Day (aka Read Across America Day). The Crafty Crow has a great round-up of Dr. Suess crafts here.

A few readers have asked about the "4 month/4 elements" unit study I spoke of the other day. I will absolutely share more about that very soon - I'm still working on the details myself! I can say it will be something the whole family will be involved in, though many of the activities will be geared towards my younger two boys (10 and 12).

(And oh my goodness, Penny and Tracy ~ That Nature Connection book is indeed quite a find! I was just working in ours yesterday in fact, gleaning ideas for our Spring Nature Learning. I should really do a proper review ... I think it's a relatively new book and not so well known as of yet.)

Now, on the domestic front, the new dishwasher arrived this week ... and so far I'm quite happy with it. The inside is a little smaller than my old one, but it works very quietly and efficiently. And happily, Ollie seems to be quite taken with it, too ...

(You know we were worried about this. :))

Oh, and I was so interested to read all of your weather reports yesterday ~ March is truly a mercurial month! Today is cold and snowy here ~ it looks more like February should have, actually! The snow won't last long, though ... we're due for a heavy rainstorm tomorrow, and next week may reach into the 60s!

(Just in time for our local farm field trip ~ more on that later!)

*

Well my friends, I'm going to run ... but wanted to say hello, and let you all know I'm here, just a bit tied up this week. I hope you have a nice day ... stay safe and be well ... I will see you again very soon!

A Lent Chart for Earlybird

EB and I worked on this very simple project after lunch today. I wanted to give him something of his own to work on this Lent, and I thought a little chart might do. My hope is it will help him keep track of the days (because Lent is a long season!) and keep his focus on managing everyday behavior.

We used a large sheet of white foam (the base of our chart), a piece of sticky-backed gold foam, and peel-and-stick felt letters and foam shapes.

So I cut a cross out of the gold foam and put it in the upper right corner of the white sheet. Then I used the purple felt letters to 'title' the chart. I then spaced 43 foam shapes on the chart to be sure they'd fit ... popped them in a ziplock ... and then EB and I added the first five shapes to represent the days of Lent so far.

Each afternoon until Easter, EB will get to add another foam shape on his path. First we'll talk about what good things he did that day (helping others, showing love) as well as how he behaved himself (trying hard, listening). Once we've talked about all those nice things he did, we'll add another shape to the chart (which will eventually look like it does in the top photo).

And if it's been a tough day - and we certainly have those! - we'll talk about that too. What could he have done differently? Who needs to hear an "I'm sorry?" Praising him for good behavior is very important, but I think equally important is helping him understand what he might have done wrong, and then helping him to make amends ... 

These days get a foam shape as well. :)

Once we had the chart ready, I hung it in his reading corner:

So today, for instance, EB worked very patiently on a puzzle and he very nicely asked Crackerjack to help him. They worked on the puzzle together for some time, and not only did they not squabble, lol - but they finished it! That was a nice effort on EB's part - very deserving of a foam shape!

(Oh, and please disregard CJ's torn pants ... the boy just will NOT give these up! His "lounge pants" he calls them, lol. He changed into them directly after Art class this morning.)

*†*

Well friends, I'd best be off now as I have much to do before evening descends. Tomorrow I'll show you the "stained glass" project I worked on this morning and of course, as it's Tuesday, there will be tea in the afternoon. I do hope you'll join me!

So have a good night, everyone  ... see you here again very soon!

❤

Tuesday Tea ... and Crafts with EB!

Good evening, my friends - and Happy Tuesday!

I meant to get this post up much earlier - and I did sit down at 4 (albeit briefly) - but then one thing led to another and I just had no time to work online. So here I am now, to share tea with you all ... as well as a few notes and photos from our day. :)

So my beverage of choice this week was Earl Grey, and as a snack I peeled myself a blood orange. Are you at all familiar with blood oranges? To be honest, I'm not all that fond of them - they are striking to look at, but I find them rather bland as citrus fruits go. And yet I get all kinds of excited when I see them at the market. They appear for a short time in the dead of winter (otherwise known as February) and for me, it's like a little ray of hope that we're moving closer to spring. So I always buy a few to bring home to my family. The boys' reactions are worth the money spent anyways - "Blood oranges? Why are they called that?!" Lol. (Note ~ I bet the segments would be good in a winter compote blended with other citrus fruits and spices.)

And my mug today is part of a set of mugs and bowls made by my cousin, Marty. She's actually my mum's cousin so I'm not sure exactly what that makes us, lol! But she's a very lovely lady, and one summer we bumped into her at a craft fair; we were on the spectator side, she was a vendor. She had some beautiful pottery for sale, and I snatched up these blue and white speckled mugs. They're all shaped a bit differently, but they are all well sized. Excellent for tea or coffee. :)

Now, the big news for tonight is the rising of the Full Snow Moon - and actually, it's already done just that! Take a look in your sky right this minute! Isn't it gorgeous? 

And since Crackerjack had to miss my Mum's Superbowl cupcakes Sunday night, I decided to splurge and make the boys a special cake for tonight's dessert. 

EB and I call it "The Full Snow Moon Cake."

He was ALL excited to make this with me, and honestly, it was more about mixing the colored frosting than actually eating the final results!

I had already frosted the cake with plain buttercream frosting but we set some frosting aside for the colors. (And by the way, as most of my readers know, EB is on a special diet - we avoid most artificial things like colors, flavors and preservatives. So for tinting frosting I use India Tree Nature's Colors. He seems to tolerate them well.)

Crackerjack - who is still on the mend - came over to take a peek at the proceedings. (And I must point out - in consideration of my morning post - that my sink, as you can plainly see, was a REAL hot spot today! *blush*)

Here's EB sprinkling our February full moon with snowflakes ...

Now, this was not so much a craft, as it was an impromptu science/nature study lesson. Bookworm and Earlybird "investigated" the state of the water in our yard. :)

And while they did their outside stuff, CJ rested and I started in on some candlemaking. (I think it's becoming an addiction, this candlemaking, lol.)

Now, EB and I had discussed making a "night sky" candle, one that we could light when the moon is full or if something really neat is happening in the sky. (Such as meteor showers or a planet appearance.) 

Unsurprisingly, I got a little carried away, but here's what we did ...

This side is the sunset - see the red sun at the very bottom?

(And see the extra help I had while doing this project?)

While EB painted his own project, I worked on the glass - but we chose the tissue paper colors together. (Trying to decide in what order the colors appear as the sun sets.)

He then decided the candleholder needed stars, so I let him have at it.

And here's the finished result!

See how the stars float up from the sun and into the sky? That was EB's idea. :)

And here's the moon side:

EB was quite proud of our creation!

Now, since I was in a real crafty mood, I decided to continue on and I whipped up this nifty little candle:

I am working on setting up a liturgical corner for the learning/sitting room and I thought it would be nice to have a candle just for this spot. So I used another battery-lit candle (like the one I used on Candlemas) and just glued on bits of tissue paper in liturgical colors - white, green, purple, red, pink and even blue for Marian feasts. I also added a small wooden cross (purchased in the wood section of my craft store) and embellished it a little with a golden doiley.

And ... voila!

:)

Well, friends, that's all I have for now ... and I've certainly kept you here long enough! So I'm going to say goodbye ... But I do hope you all had a nice day ... and please let me know if you had a chance to "take tea" today.

Next week will be a "Valentine's Tea" theme, so keep that in mind! I'd love to have you all join me on that special day ...

In the meantime, please have a good night ~ Be well and God bless!

I'll see you again sometime soon ...

❤

Good Candlemas Morning!

(And 'Happy Groundhog's Day' too!)

I have just a few things to share with you this morning ... we have an early start to our day and it looks to be a busy one, too. First thing ... in just about ten minutes, the groundhog will tell us his prediction: will we have an early Spring or a lingering Winter? I set the kitchen timer for five minutes before so we don't forget to watch it on TV!

Of course, whatever the groundhog might have to say, there is also the Candlemas proverb to consider:

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will have another fight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won't come again.

(Our weather forecast is for partly sunny skies and temps in the 40s, so I'm calling that pretty "fair and bright.")

But back to the groundhog for a moment ... here is his website for more information, and here is a roundup of "Groundhog Day crafts" found at The Crafty Crow - just in case you're looking for something fun to do with the littles today. :)

I have a small candle craft to work on with my younger boys later today ... and I've readied our basket of candles for the blessing at church this morning ...

 And how lovely are the delicate snowdrops - also known as "Candlemas Bells" - shown at the top of this post? I found this image in my Kate Greenaway Illustrations Book. This book was a birthday present from Bill and it came with a CD-ROM filled with hundreds of "royalty free" Kate Greenaway images. I think you'll find them in many of my future posts!

So have a great Thursday, everyone, and thanks for stopping in ...

I'll see you again very soon!

❤

 

A last-minute (child-friendly) gift ...

Now I know I keep revisiting this tissue-candle craft, but honestly, I'm a little in love with it! It's such an easy project and it makes such a pretty gift ... something you could make with your kids (of all ages) in a jiffy. Keep the supplies on hand and in the space of an hour you'll have a wonderful last-minute gift ... for a teacher or coach, your pastor, a neighbor or anyone, really. Because who wouldn't love a sparkly, colorful candle handmade by a child just for them? 

Crackerjack made one yesterday morning for his Art teacher ...

(Two things to note in this picture (aside from the kid and the craft) ... 1. the cat (helping as usual) and, 2. the new yellow paint in my dining room. I love it! :D)

Supplies:

glass candle holder

tealight candle

colorful art tissue paper

dry-clear glue

paint brush

clear, white or iridescent glitter

(*fixative?)

(Note: I think tearing the tissue paper into bits and setting out the pile for the kids to work from, saves time and makes the whole project less fussy.)

Working in small sections, let the kids brush the glass with glue, and then stick on bits of colorful paper.

Once the glass is covered (encourage the kids to fill in any gaps), apply one final *very thin* coat of glue all over the outside. This will smooth down any edges and keep the paper from peeling over time. (Depending on the age - and patience - of your child, this might be best done by Mama.)

The glue also creates the perfect sticky surface for sparkles! Just shake glitter over the candleholder (or roll it in glitter set on a paper plate).

Now let it dry!

The glitter idea was my mum's, and it really lends just the right festive touch to the final project. My mum made so many crafts with us when we were kids - all year long, but especially at Christmas. (I think that's why Christmas is so linked with crafting in my mind!)

One thing I wondered, though, (and it's too early right now to call Mum up and ask) is whether or not we should spray the final project with a fixative of some sort. If only to keep the glitter from shaking off. Any thoughts, dear crafty readers? :)

While I cleaned up the mess, CJ set our projects in the sunny front window ...

And before heading to class, we packed CJ's craft in a pretty little bag. We also added a small "tin" of our favorite holiday cookies:

But as pretty as the candle looks sparkling in the sun, I think it looks especially lovely shining in the dark:

:)

So there you have it! A quick and easy last minute gift - or a New Year's craft? - or maybe just a nice winter's day project. Something to keep in mind for after the holidays when Winter really sets in - as does cabin fever!

(Now, I promise to lay off the tissue-candle craft for a little while, lol!)

And it was so lovely to "have tea" with you all yesterday. As soon as I finish this post, I'll be jumping into the comments to catch up ... Maybe you'll consider joining me again today?

4:00 my time ~ I'll be here with another cup and another kind of tea ... or maybe something stronger, lol. ;)

Whether you join me or not, I do hope you all have a wonderful day! Take care of yourselves (and your loved ones!) and I will do my best to do the same.

See you all again sometime soon!

*❤*

Mexican on Monday

Today's Advent scroll read:

To celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we'll eat Mexican tonight!

Our favorite way to "eat Mexican" is by enjoying "taco potatoes" - which, plainly put, are just baked potatoes topped with taco filling. (Seasoned ground beef or turkey, diced bell peppers and tomatoes, shredded cheese and sour cream.)

I also made a special snack for the boys this afternoon, a recipe I've had in my files for a few years now, but had yet to try:

>> Pineapple Salsa with Cinnamon-Sugar Tortilla Chips <<

Super easy and ridiculously good!

To make the salsa, I mixed a 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple (drained), with 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice, 3 (ish) tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh mint.

It was sweet and chunky and delicious!

Then I took flour tortillas, brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled them with cinnamon-sugar. Cut them into triangles and baked them on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 350.

Done!

(Earlybird said this looked just like the sun. :) Might make a nice Solstice day treat!)

Now, the boys all loved the tortilla crisps, but were not overly fond of the salsa. Bill, however, liked it so much, he had a few spoonfuls over his tacos tonight!

(Also, I should mention, I found both recipes on the internet, at myrecipes.com.)

And before I go, here's the craft EB and I worked on together today:

(We also read The Legend of the Poinsettia, a lovely Mexican tale.)

We also observed the sunrise at 7:04 a.m. (with the mostly Full Cold Moon hovering in the opposite sky) ... as well as the sunset at 4:12 p.m.

Closer and closer we creep to that first day of Winter!

:)

Well, my friends ~ I hope your week's off to a good start. Thanks so much for stopping by today ... I will see you all again very soon!

*❤*

Little Lights for Dark Days

Earlybird and and I were discussing just how dark it is at this time of year - and what a blessing "light" is, especially on these very dark days (and nights). So I thought it would be fun to make some lovely little lights in the colors of the season - informal Advent candles to place on our nature shelf. There was glue involved, so EB was on board!

EB worked on a plastic cup and I worked on four glass votives (one for each week of the season).

Using paint brushes, we just spread mod podge on the sides of the cups/candleholders and then stuck bits of purple and pink tissue paper all along the outside.

We did, of course, have help.

We placed our final crafts in the windows to set:

While the candles dried, I cleaned up the glue/tissue paper mess and then EB and I made up a batch of brownies for tonight. (They'll be served with peppermint stick ice cream - for "Pink Sunday!"). By the time the brownies were in the oven, the sun had gone below the horizon and the house fell into shadow ...

It was time to light the candles!

Earlybird placed his Advent candle in the empty manger. Here it will shine as we wait for the Big Night.

(Note: EB's candle is battery-lit, while my glass votives hold real wax-and-flame tealights.)

I placed my Advent candles on the Nature Table: 

EB said they look just like the sunrise!

:)

This week we'll be logging the hours of sunlight and paying special attention to the sky at the start and the close of the day. (Goodness knows, we're up for both ends of the day!) These are the darkest days of the year ... so every little bit of light counts. But the week after next brings us the solstice, and with it the return of the light. Slowly and surely, the days will get longer ... and brighter.

Well, my friends ... I hope you all had a nice weekend. Did yours go by as quickly as mine did? (Which was pretty darn fast!)

Thanks so much for stopping by ... have a good night, and I will see you all sometime tomorrow ...

❤

Loaves of Thanksgiving

A few freshly baked breads for our friends around town!

 A small token of gratitude for all they do for our community - and us. :)

Learning about, and experiencing, our community is a big part of Earlybird's home education. And his favorite part of the week are the excursions we make here and there, meeting all kinds of folks on the way. Despite the fact he is autistic, he is an extraordinarily social child! (Autism affects each child so differently, and things like awareness and affection have never been an issue for EB. His challenges run more along sensitivity issues, impulsivity and developmental delays.)

What EB needs is guidance on how to conduct himself in public, and practice in speaking with those he meets. Consequently we spend a lot of time visiting the library, the grocery store, the post office, etc. EB is always full of questions and comments and has made some really nice connections with many of the people we see on a weekly basis. 

Happily, it's been our experience that people are generally very kind and encouraging when it's clear our EB is a special needs child. They respond to his outgoing nature, and are patient with him as he asks questions or makes comments. His speech delay can make him difficult to understand, and it touches my heart when I observe someone giving him the time he needs to finish his thought. And it thrills us to watch him grow in confidence and skill as he learns to socialize with people outside his own circle.

So at Thanksgiving we wanted to take a moment to think about the people we see regularly through the year and say thanks for being so friendly and helpful. To that end, I baked some quick breads this morning and we delivered them this afternoon when we ran out to do a few errands. 

I used the "mix-and-match quick bread" recipe in Frozen Assets (my good old standby) but I tinkered with the recipe a bit. I used less sugar, and added some white-wheat flour. I also used nutmeg and ginger as well as cinnamon. I used sweet potato and pumpkin puree for a nice autumn blend - so we call these "Thanksgiving Breads!"

(What I really love about this recipe is how flexible it is and that it makes two loaves in one try. Very convenient when you're baking with the seasons and making food gifts!)

When the breads were cool I wrapped them in parchment paper, and lengths of green-and-white baker's twine. I gave EB manilla leaf tags to color ... but truth be told, Crackerjack pitched in because EB told me he'd "done enough coloring this morning," lol. Good ole CJ, he may be a tween now, but he still loves to do crafts when I've got them set out. Of course, it may have something to do with the fact he can step away from his math for a while. ;)

So, on the tags we wrote why were thankful ...

For the farmstand because they grow good things for us to eat.

For the library because we LOVE to read!

For the post office because mail is such a fun part of our day!

I tucked the tags beneath the twine, and our "loaves of Thanksgiving" were ready to go! It was a quick and fun morning activity - plus, it felt really nice to make people smile. :)

And if I could, I'd bake a loaf for all my readers and the tag would say:

For the kind people who visit my blog and make me smile every day!

*❤*

Now, here we are ONE day before the BIG day, and there's so much to do on my list I can hardly think! Lol. It will all get done though - it always does! Unfortunately it is raining HARD here this morning, so that won't make food shopping so fun. (At least the forecast for tomorrow is bright sun so I really can't complain.)

Before I sign off, I'd like to thank you all for the wonderful response to our cranberry poll! I love reading your votes and particularly the reasons behind them. Please keep them coming - we'll be working on our chart later this week. And the poll will be open until I go to bed tonight - I will draw a winner in the morning!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, my friends ... I will see you all again very soon!

:)

Crowned Cupcakes for Today's Feast

This feast day snuck up on me! Autumn has flown by and suddenly it's the last Sunday on the Catholic calendar! (Next week we begin Advent, and with it, a new liturgical year.) It was during the homily today at Mass that I found myself envisioning a quick but easy treat in honor of Christ the King (today's feast). (Not to suggest Father's homily wasn't interesting, but sometimes I find myself getting little ideas as I listen and it's all I can do not to whip out the post-it note pad, lol.) So I mentally surveyed my craft supplies and thought of golden doilies which would make nice little crowns. It being Sunday - a day for family dinners and special desserts - I thought I would make some delicious cupcakes, and "crown" them with a little help from the kids.

Now, Bookworm and Bill were off very early to Cambridge today, where BW is participating in a neat program at MIT. They'll be there all day, so the younger boys and I ran a few errands and while we were out I picked up some gold cupcake liners and edible glitter.

At home I dug out those aforementioned doilies and some colorful sequins (for "crown jewels"). Then I set in on making the cake ...

Now for spontaneous baking like this, I usually rely on a chocolate package mix that's EB-friendly, but I really wanted to make white cupcakes. (The liturgical color for today's feast.) So I used the "tender white cake" recipe off the back of the King Arthur Cake Flour box and though it's a little more work, it makes such a wonderful cake! It uses both vanilla and almond flavoring and the texture is so light and tender ... and the cakes bake up nice and golden:

So while the cupcakes cooled, I set the boys to work on the crowns. I gave them each some doilies, scissors, glue sticks and sequins and let them have at it.

(Note Crackerjack's divided attention - he's watching Scooby Doo in the background, lol.)

So the boys cut the doilies in half and then swiped the smooth front with a glue stick. Then they pressed on the colorful sequins.

Then we let them dry, and I headed back to the kitchen to whip up some buttercream frosting.

To decorate and assemble the cupcakes, I first spread some of the edible gold glitter (simple decorating sugar) on a plate:

CJ dipped the frosted cupcake into the glitter:

Then he placed a crown on top, bending it to shape, and gently nestling the edge of the crown into the frosting. (It held easily - no need for toothpicks.)

Ta-da!

Happy Feast Day!

I think these would be fun for any party that had to do with royalty - whether it be knights and castles or princesses (fairy or otherwise). They were so easy to make and I think the final result is pretty festive!

~•❤•~†~•❤•~

Well, my friends, I hope you all had a nice weekend. Now, as for my next post, it will be "cranberries" for certain! I know I keep promising that post - and truly, I have it all written - but I was so pleased with today's last minute project I just had to share it!

So I hope you all have a nice night ... Bill and Bookworm just got home, so I'm off to hear all about their adventures. (And start supper!)

Take care, and as always, thanks so much for stopping by ... I'll be back here again very soon!

:)

Our Martinmas Day

And what a wonderful day this was, my friends! A "finally" Friday, a national holiday, as well as a special day on the Catholic calendar ... and the weather was absolutely glorious! Bright sunlight slipped in and out between billowing gray clouds ... the sky was vivid blue ...  and the air was nippy and brisk. A perfect day to enjoy the late autumn landscape, as well as the comforts of home. :)

And speaking of home ... I was all the more glad I had taken those little "do-ahead" steps yesterday - because bright and early Bill started tearing up the dining room floor! 

My goodness, the house was chaos for most of the day! So needless to say we went even further off-track today ... but did I still get those cookies baked? Check. And did we still get that little lantern in our window (and for a time, in our tree?)? Double check!

So first let me tell you about our little lantern, because it was so last-minute, and so super-easy, and lanterns are fun for all kinds of special days through the year!

(Archie, always eager to help ...)

Now, originally I planned to make watercolor paintings this week with Earlybird and those paintings were going to be the base for not only our Martinmas lanterns but for some Thanksgiving post cards as well. Alas, illness hit the household and original plans went awry.

So here's what I came up with instead:

I was poking around downstairs and found an old jam jar that already had colorful star stickers all over it (I think this was from Epiphany last year).

We wrapped it with a bit of tissue paper ...

... taped it securely at the seam and on the bottom ...

... and then tied some twine around the top to serve as a handle.

And we were done!

 

While Bill kept working, we whipped up some Martinmas "horseshoe" cookies in the kitchen. (Remember I had all the fixings set out on the counter?) Here's my Crackerjack rolling out the dough (with a rolling pin that obviously had not been floured, lol). Bookworm is in the background reading his latest English assignment.

The cookies went into the oven ...

... and while they baked, I took a little stroll around the yard with my camera. Things are fading fast, but there is still much autumn "punch" in the garden ...

And 20 minutes later the cookies were done!

These are very simple cookies - a buttery, oat shortbread that tastes wonderful with a cup of tea or a tall glass of milk. And the horseshoe shape is a symbol St. Martin. As the legend is told, one night Martin, riding upon his white horse, came across a beggar on the side of the road. A young man of the military, he used his sword to split his warm cloak in two and gave half to the beggar ... later that night he dreamed of Jesus, and he was wearing that very same mantle. 

A lovely tale of generosity and kindness ... perfect for this time of year. :)

Now, nothing aids cookie digestion better than a dose of fresh air! So the boys and I headed outside. Earlybird carried the lantern out with us, intent on hanging it in a tree.

Then the boys all took their swords to recently felled branches.

I don't know what the premise of this was - perhaps there was no premise, lol. Just boys being boys!

So while they did their boy stuff, I went over to the feeders and was met with a pleasant surprise:

The little red squirrel, munching away in the tray feeder. :)

(Back inside, the cats were taking violent offense to the squirrels.)

Speaking of the cats (and random wild animals), they had to get their rabies shots this afternoon. They were both very well behaved, I'm happy to report. But between all the noisy floor work and the trip to the vets, they're a little jumpy this evening!

But it's such a beautiful evening ...

And our humble little lantern sure looks pretty shining beside the dark window!

"There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle." ~ Robert Alden

Well, my friends, I am now going to wrap up, since I've kept you so long and I'm sure you all have things to do. ;) I hope you all had a nice day, and I wish you all a happy and safe weekend ...

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I'll see you all again very soon!

:)

Doing a little today ...

... to make tomorrow a little easier!

We're just so off this week, between sick kids, tired parents and off-track schedules. But I still want to do some fun things for the feast day tomorrow, so when I had a quiet moment this afternoon, I grabbed the materials for our Martinmas Lantern ...

... and I set out the ingredients for our traditional St. Martin's Day "horseshoe" cookies.

Having these few simple steps done ahead, really help me make things happen. When I think about how I fit in those little seasonal things we do (the nature celebrations and the faith-at-home fun), so much of it happens thanks to a little thinking - and sometimes doing - ahead.

I learned this habit from my grandmother, actually, who was, among many things, a wonderful homemaker. She was also one of the most organized people I've ever known. Every morning, once her kitchen was clean and before she got on with her day, she'd set out the materials she needed for preparing the evening meal - including a recipe card set squarely in the baking dish or mixing bowl. As a child I loved to see the counter all set up in this way  - it made me feel happy and secure. :)

I find I often do something like that myself now. Usually around lunchtime when I'm working in the kitchen - getting the boys their lunch and neatening the sink - I'll think about supper and what might make the "making" a little easier. Once my counters are clear, I'll set out the (non-perishable) ingredients and any tools I might need. I'll also hang up the recipe if I'm using one ...

(Much to Bill's chagrin, I use a piece of tape - not great for the wood, and not very fancy, but it keeps it off the counter and right at eye-level.)

I find this all helpful in the practical sense - if I'm pressed for time tomorrow, I'm that much ahead of the game - but also, psychologically. Seeing those items all ready to go give me a sense of satisfaction as well as a little nudge of encouragement.

 So "doing ahead" is a great way to get a head start on any project - whether we're baking cookies, making crafts, or just cooking supper! It's not rocket science, of course, but I think I'll thank myself tomorrow - and I'd like to think my family will too.

:)

Have a great night, my friends ... I'll see you again very soon!

Leaves of Light and Grace

Our gratitude banner is now underway! And it looks so pretty in the learning room windows.

At midday ...

... and just after dark ...

The original plan, if you remember, was to wait until Thanksgiving night to illuminate this banner. (Once all the "leaves of gratitude" had been hung.) Well, that was a nice idea and all, but ... we just couldn't wait! As soon as the sun started setting last night around 4 p.m., I decided we could use all the light we could get!

Now, funnily enough, it didn't really matter that I had gathered all the materials for this project in advance - we still got a late start!

Bill just got the string of lights up Saturday afternoon (after a little nagging nudging from me).

I just cut out our first five leaves Saturday night.

And then we had to catch up with the days we had already missed! 

(Originally, I planned to have a basket filled with paper leaves all ready to use, but I decided it would be far less taxing to just cut out a new leaf each night.)

And happily, we added our sixth leaf last night, so we seem to be on track. ;)

So see, plans are wonderful things - but "real life" always comes first and sometimes you need to tweak those wonderful plans a little so they fit your reality more, well, realistically. :)

And now for a quick step-by-step - not that this isn't a ridiculously easy and self-explanatory craft, but I took pictures as I made last evening's leaf, so I figure I'll share them!

First, I used that oak tag leaf shape as my template ...

(Though my favorite autumn tree is the sugar maple - for its vibrant orange and red foliage - I have a real soft spot for oak leaves. I think it's because they are usually paired with acorns, and goodness knows I love me some acorns! The shape of the oak leaf is very pleasing as well - large-sized and curvy - and they're sturdy. They don't rip as easily as do other tree's leaves.)

So our most recent leaf was cut from a piece of gray-blue cardstock. Now, blue might seem like an odd "autumnal" color, but really, this shade is like the perfect pale November sky - a kind of cadet blue, quite striking against the more traditional leaf colors.

I simply traced the template, then cut out the shape with my all-purpose scissors ...

Then I pierced the stem (serving as handle) with the point of my sharpest scissors, and threaded a length of twine (more rustic than yarn) through the resulting hole. (The stem was just a little too narrow for a hole-punch.)

Do you see the little tail in the background of the picture above?

Sweet, silly kitty.

Before a day's leaf is hung on the garland, we brainstorm the things we are grateful for on that particular day. I try to encourage the boys to focus on the little things, not just the big picture. And I absolutely love hearing what they have to say! I write down all our thoughts and then hang the leaf up on the light string, nestlng them in between the  glowing grapevine balls.

By Thanksgiving - if all goes according to plan - this whole window will be filled with pretty autumn leaves, celebrating our family's daily gratitude, and honoring how our lives are touched by Grace every day.

I just love the way soft lights like these shine through the darkness, both inside and out. And I love the idea that - symbolically speaking - we're making "our own light" to shine throughout the darkening world. Physically, we turn on those lights for all to see - and spiritually, we turn on our own inner lights, by acknowledging and sharing our gratitude. It's a really good feeling!

❤

Well, my friends ... I'm finishing this post up as I watch another lovely sunrise. Six a.m. sharp, and it's pretty dark in this house ... but just look at that beautiful light heading our way:

The gift of another day together - now that is something to truly be THANKFUL for!

And speaking of gratitude, thank you all so much for stopping by and spending some time here - I appreciate your time and your thoughts. I hope your week gets off to a great start ... 

So have a good day, everyone ~ I will see you all here again very soon.

:)

Happy Halloween Donuts!

Well, this was all kinds of fun!

A batch of freshly baked pumpkin donuts, glazed and adorned with a few "tricks and treats!"

Donuts are a traditional autumn food - they're soft, sweet and SUCH a treat! My favorites are freshly baked cider donuts - they are simply a must at the farm in the fall! Dunkin Donuts always does fun holiday-themed donuts, but Earlybird - though enthralled by those ads and what he sees in the shop windows - can't have commercially prepared donuts. He asks for them, of course - he's a child after all, and they look good! - but I explain that he can't eat those particular donuts. I tell him that they're made with things that would make him feel crummy. I always have a plan though - something to take the sting out of missing out - so I suggested a homemade alternative ... delicious donuts made at home, with good things he can eat!

Now we've baked donuts before (remember these pretty things last Christmas?), but for this time of year I wanted a pumpkin spice donut. So I just googled "baked pumpkin donut" and found lots of options. The recipe I found here sounded awesome, so I decided to try it out.

One really neat trick I learned from this recipe was to pipe the donut batter into the pan using a ziploc bag (with the corner snipped off). This made it so easy!

I will also mention that I used squash puree instead of pumpkin since I had it on hand (despite what the kids think, squash really is no different from pumpkin!). Also, I did not make a maple-cinnamon glaze as the recipe suggests - though it sounded lovely, I wanted something plainer. So I just used vanilla instead of maple extract and left out the cinnamon.

After baking (for about 14 minutes - we made ours dense), I set them to cool in the front window ...

And while the donuts were cooling, I made the vanilla glaze ...

Doesn't that early morning sunshine look pretty? :)

We raided the holiday candy stash for embellishments - but I left one plain for EB. (Funnily enough, though he loves the look of the decorated donuts, he'd rather eat something less textured.)

Crackerjack helped me with the garnishing:

You can see our final designs in the top picture - notice the one in the upper left corner? That's our homage to the "frost snow on the punkin" this year! ;)

Now obviously these donuts would be a real treat even without all the candy and sprinkles, etc. That was just in the spirit of the holiday at hand. ;)

But considering the donuts are baked, and made with minimal fats, they're really not all that bad for you! In fact, I was thinking that these spiced "squash" donuts would be lovely on Thanksgiving morning ... Munching on spicy, warm donuts while watching the Macy's parade? Sounds like a plan to me!

Well my friends, I wish you all a good Monday, and a Happy Halloween as well! I hope you all have a nice day (and night). Be safe and have fun!

I'll be back again sometime soon ...

:)

Thinking Ahead for Thankfulness

~ Making a Gratitude Banner ~

With a quick glance at my calendar, I see there are only 13 days till Halloween ~ which means ~ there only 14 days till November! And on November 1st we begin our annual gratitude project - so now's the time to get our materials together!

Every year we like to do something a little different for this project. I particularly like making "thankful trees," using bits and pieces of real nature - i.e. branches, waxed leaves and the like - but with a pair of mischievous kittens in the house this year, I think it will be best to keep things simple. Or at the very least, inedible.

So last weekend I bought some cardstock in pretty autumn shades, and I plan to cut out 24 leaves in a variety of colors, one for each night through Thanksgiving. Each square piece of paper should allow for two leaves, going by the size and shape of my template. (Which is just an oak leaf shape I drew and cut out from tag paper.) 

Now, the plan is this ... 

Every night at supper, we will take a leaf from our pile (neatly nestled in a pretty basket) and talk about what we are thankful for that day. I will write down all our responses and then hang that leaf on our "gratitude banner."

Our banner will be, very simply, a long string of grapevine ball lights. I'll have Bill hang it above the windows in the learning room.

I'm sure you can guess why I say "above" the windows and not "around."

Scamps.

Each leaf will be hung from the garland - but! - the lights will not actually be lit till Thanksgiving night. (On Turkey Day we'll add our final leaf and ask our dinner guests to join us in expressing our gratitude for all that we have.)

I think it's sort of nicely symbolic to wait till the banner is full - of blessings and gratitude - before lighting it up. We'll let thankfulness fill our hearts (and our windows) and on Thankgiving night - as we head into the darkest nights of the year - our banner will shine all the more brightly. 

So this is the plan and the prep (save for the cutting which I'll work on this week - and the light-stringing which I'll nag ask Bill to do over Halloween weekend). I'll post about the execution stage of the project on the first (or maybe the second) of November!

Now, speaking of gratitude projects, I must point you all to this lovely article over at Parents.com - a collection of 20 cute crafts to say "thanks" with your kids. In fact, one of the projects might seem a little familiar to some of my readers ~ our "Gratitude Seeds" from last year is idea #10. :)

Well, I hope you all had a nice Tuesday! Our day began cool and raw and I was wondering where the anticipated "lukewarm" weather could be ... but just after lunchtime the skies cleared up and the sun shone strongly. The temps did indeed rise to near 70. Such a treat!

And I did get my 2011 holiday planner assembled today - and of course I took plenty of pictures! - so I will post all about it in another day or two. For now, I must be off ... but I will see you all again very soon!

:)

Fossil Day Fun!

In honor of National Fossil Day (which was yesterday, October 12th), Earlybird and I made some homemade, backyard "fossils!" 

I found directions for making leaf fossils online here ... and since the day was nice (and this craft was a bit messy) I decided to set up our work area outside.

We began by measuring and mixing the flour and salt ...

Then we dug up the next ingredient ~ dirt!

Earlybird (who is in dire need of a haircut!) added the dirt ...

... and then the water.

He mixed it all up ...

... and then kneaded the "dough" on some wax paper.

Once our "mud" was thoroughly mixed, we shaped it into egg-sized balls ...

... and lined them up on the wax paper.

(I won't tell you what we thought they looked like, but I bet you can guess!)

Next, we flattened our mud balls into 1/2-inch thick patties.

Now, Crackerjack was going to participate in this project too, but he's currently fighting a wicked cold and felt too "yucky" to pitch in. He did join us for a short walk around the yard, looking for leaves and seeds, etc. to "fossilize," but then hurried back inside "to get warm."

Here are our fossils in progress ...

We carefully and firmly pressed the leaves, seeds and feathers into the mud. (Full disclosure ~ I did this part; EB was too impatient, lol!)

We then carefully peeled the natural items away, leaving behind subtle imprints...

Fossils!

We moved them to a cookie sheet and brought them inside to dry overnight. And in the morning they looked like this:

Now, Fossil Day may have come and gone, but this is a great craft/science project to do with the kids at any time of year! 

In fact, I think fossilized autumn leaves would make lovely place markers and/or favors for Thanksgiving dinner! You could always make a plain, tinted dough (instead of one using dirt), using shades of green, gold, orange and brown. Poke a hole at the top while the dough is still soft and then thread a pretty ribbon through to serve as a loop. Just a thought!

Well, I hope you all had a nice day - it's very rainy and raw here, but the house feels quite cozy as I finish up this post. The lights are on, the boys are busy, the kitchen smells great and Bill just walked in the door. So that's my cue ~ I'm off till next time!

Have a great night, everyone ...

:)

A Celestial Suncatcher

Earlybird has always had a "thing" for astronomy - I'd say his passion for space is second only to his love for trains! Not surprisingly then, we spend lots of time learning about the universe and all its myriad marvels ~ the planets and stars, the moon and the sun ...

So one of our favorite books to read on the Feast of St. Francis is based on our patron saint's beautiful hymn, "The Canticle of the Sun." The praise for God's creation paints such a striking picture, and the connection made between us and all of nature - "Brother Sun" and "Sister Moon," "Brother Wind" and "Sister Fire" - is quite memorable. I thought it would be fun to make a craft to go along with our reading - hands-on, visual learning is key with EB - so I conjured up this pretty little suncatcher.

Now, it's nothing fancy, but there are some tricky parts to the craft, so parental supervision and/or assistance is necessary.

Our main materials:

clear contact paper

scissors, craft knife

 pencil, fine black sharpie

paints, paintbrush

paper plates

tissue paper

I began by tracing a "window" design onto the plate (I used a template cut from another plate):

Then EB helped me fashion one side of the circle into a sun shape:

After cutting out the rays with EB, I used the craft knife to cut out the "windows" on either side of the craft. (I did this on a thick sheaf of cardboard to protect the workspace from my knife.)

Now we had our sun and moon shape, separated by a center strip:

And EB set to work painting his sun and his moon!

As we worked we talked about "hot" and "cold" colors:

Once EB was satisfied with his painting we left the craft to dry in the front window.

I next cut out a circle of clear contact paper to fit the back of the craft, sticky-side facing forwards:

Then I gave EB two separate piles of "cold" and "hot" tissue paper squares (which I had cut up in advance). 

Since EB balked at the feel of the sticky contact paper, I ended up adding the colorful squares to our window openings ...

Lastly, I wrote "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" down the center panel and the craft was all done and ready to hang!

It looked pretty in our learning room windows yesterday afternoon ...

But it now resides in EB's bedroom window, catching the early morning light as you can see in the top photo. :)

One thing we meant to do, but didn't due to a forgetful mama, was to add glittery silver stars to the moon's outer edge. We had scrapbook paper and a star-shaped craft punch, but stickers would work just as well.

Well, I hope you are all having a nice week. (Is it Wednesday already?) Our new day is getting underway here now so I'd best be off ... thanks so much for stopping by ... I will see you again soon!

:)

Earlybird's Little Lantern

Lanterns are lovely at this time of year, as the light fades and the days grow short. This was a very quick and easy craft for Earlybird. He absolutely loves doing crafts, but if there's glue and a paintbrush involved he's especially motivated!

So yesterday, Michaelmas, was a gray and damp day. It started early, with us driving Bookworm up to a library a few towns north from here, where he participated in an all-day biology lab. We (the younger boys and I) came home to a rather quiet house - Crackerjack got started on his math, while EB and I dug into his art project.

As I mentioned yesterday, I bought this little pastic paint bucket at the craft store. It is meant to be decorated as a wedding or shower favor but happens to be the perfect shape for a small lantern!

EB spread the bucket with glue and then stuck bits of colorful tissue paper all over it.

 

Since he finished the lantern pretty quickly, I allowed him to "decorate" the plastic plate which had served as his workspace. 

Good fun!

Once he was finished, we left the projects to dry in the windows and started in on our baking activity ...

We made jam thumbprint cookies - very easy and quite delicious!

Most of the cookies were filled with blackberry jam, but some got a dollop of maple pumpkin butter.

The cookies were left cooling on the counter (protected from kittens by light dishcloths) and we headed out to pick up Bookworm. Here's the CityLab bus in the library parking lot!

It just so happened that beside where we parked there were a whole bunch of Michaelmas daisies growing! Since I had my camera out, I snapped a quick shot:

(I also snipped a couple of blossoms to bring home.)

On our way home we got caught in a rather fast and furious storm. Thunder, lightning and drenching rains ... quite dramatic! But once we were safely inside, the storm rolled over and then the skies cleared for a while ...

By nighttime, EB's little lantern - with a battery operated tealight tucked inside - was shining its cheerful light from the window:

And now, as I finish this post, it's the next morning, and our Friday - this last day of September - is dawning bright and clear. Crackerjack had to have four teeth pulled this morning, and I just got the call from Bill that all went well and they are on their way home. Cj will understandably need a restful day, so our plan is just be home and catch up - on lessons and housework - because it really was a very busy week. I'm still trying to find our "groove," working around a fall schedule filled with outside classes and commitments. Gone are the long lazy days at home when everything seemed to fall into a neat and tidy rhythm. Now it's more like fitting things in when and where we can. I will post very soon - probably not this weekend, but certainly next week - on how things are shaping up for me on the "organizing" front. I think a file crate post is long overdue ...

In the meantime, this weekend will bring Saturday soccer and lunch with Bill's folks who are leaving soon for a trip to China! There will also be some yard work, housework, a trip to the farmstand, and of course, Sunday Mass - followed by a parish pancake breakfast. It will fly by so fast, this weekend, as the days seem to do at this time of year. Tomorrow brings the first of October! I can just feel that holiday "rush" lurking around the corner. ;)

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a very nice weekend. Thank you so much for stopping by ... I will see you all again very soon!

:)