Three Ways To Nurture Your Catholic Faith in Your Children

In this day and age of technology and instant access, there is much to compete with in our children's lives. It can be more than difficult to connect and create strong enough bonds to our faith and family without added distractions. I truly believe that knowledge is power and understanding your obstacles is the best way to create a plan to succeed in any endeavor.

The endeavor that is most important to me right now is helping to cultivate a love for God, family and the Catholic Church in my children. This has been a topic of interest for me for quite awhile actually. I am a cradle Catholic. Born and raised to go to Confession on Saturday afternoon, attend Mass on Sunday mornings and participate in Catechism classes and Youth groups as needed. That was the recipe to create a love for my Catholic faith. I am not knocking this recipe because obviously something went right. I am now thirty years old, still Catholic and attempting to nourish a faith in my own children and family. I am here to share what I have learned through many trials, more errors and things that I still do today.

Find a Parish to call Home

This is probably one of the most important things you can do to establish a real relationship with your children and their faith. A Parish is not just the church you attend on Sundays or other Holy days of Obligation. A Parish is a second family. They will be present for some of the biggest milestones and memories of your family! Baptisms, First Communion, First Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage and even funerals. They will be there when you need help, whether prayers or other types of assistance.

Create relationships with the people sitting with you in the pews and go say hello to your priest. My children have always been enamored by the priests of our parish. They love to give hugs, high-fives and always smile when they see people from our parish around town. My oldest son's teacher is even in attendance at our parish!

Another important aspect of being in a Parish is participation. Sign up to attend bible studies and other Parish hosted events as a family. Allow your children to make friends with kids at Religious Education and youth groups. Embrace what your Parish can offer your family but remember that it is also important to volunteer and give back as well. 

Decorate Your Catholic Home 

As a child, I remember the beautiful gold display that had the Ten Commandments engraved above my dining room table. The nostalgia of childhood rings so strong when you become an adult. Bring your faith into your home and allow it to have a place in your everyday life, not just Sunday worship.

The Liturgical season is full of distinct colors, sounds and beautiful scenes that can be displayed in your home. Add Holy Water Fonts, Crucifixes and display portraits of Our Lady and the Holy Family. I have incorporated a Home Altar that we update with the Liturgical colors, special Saints of the season, candles and rosaries.

The more these special reminders of our Catholic faith become apart of your families everyday life, the harder it will be for your children to go out into the world without them. These additions to your home can also be passed along to your family as they grow. There was a gorgeous statue of Mother Mary that was my Grandmother Mary's that my dad gave to me when I had children. It was something that I was able to bring with me from my childhood and I hope to pass along to my children one day as well.

Create Happy Memories and Traditions

This suggestion is probably the most important. Creating memories that are warm, happy and include our faith will be what our children think about in times of turmoil. The Liturgical year makes this super easy! Celebrate anniversaries of your children's Sacraments and Saint's feast days. Make new traditions with baking special dinners or desserts on certain days. There are several Liturgical seasons to embrace and each month is dedicated to a special devotion too. I include those days on our family calendar so everyone can see it. My children have started to remind me about certain activities or movies we are suppose to watch on certain feast days now! We incorporate special blessings and prayers. Create candles, crafts and so much more. Make the Catholic faith come to life.

If you need some ideas for ways to incorporate faith into your everyday activities, check out some of my ideas under the Liturgical Celebrations tab. Let your creativity free! You will be creating memories for yourself and your children! The positive association between happiness, love and faith will be something that your family can tangibly look back on as they grow older and venture into the world. My favorite thing about my faith is that we Catholics know how to celebrate! We do have many traditional ways you can incorporate but do not let that interfere with trying out some new family traditions that will be passed on to your children's children.

Interested in more ideas to keep your children Catholic? Checkout this month's CWBN Blog Hop with several articles written on this very intriguing and important topic. Several of my friend's from Everyday Ediths are contributing to this Blog Hop as well.

Our New Beginning in Colorado: 2016 in Pictures

I have read and seen so many negative comments about this past year. It breaks my heart. I truly believe that you have to see the good in the world and when we marinate ourselves in the negativity, it changes our perception on everything. I am refusing to allow the negativity into my house and into my mind. Life is full of ups and downs, happiness and sadness, it is what makes us human and this time on Earth meaningful. This year was amazing for me and my family and I would love to share how and why!

In January.... I met my cousin Sheldon because we so happen to live in the same state now! This was actually a picture taken on New Years of 2016! My kids still try to call him "Uncle Sheldon" all the time and it makes me giggle but this was an amazing milestone for our family! I honestly could not think of a better way to ring in the New Year and I am looking forward to continuing this again this year!

I also became a Nanny to help with my families finances and my kids registered for school here in Colorado for the first time! This is also about the time I started contemplating on bringing back and revamping my blog... at least the first time I mentioned it to my family out-loud.  

In February... everything was CRAZY! We experienced our first Snow Storm and the boys had their first taste of a snow day! There was actually snow non-stop for 3 days! The picture above was from the first day... maybe I should have shared the last day where our car was buried?! LOL

Spring Football for Little Man and Spring Soccer for Goalie also began, although it did not look or feel like spring at all! This was their first experience with sports in Colorado.

We also enjoyed a fun Super Bowl party (again with my amazing cousin, Sheldon) and he was pied in the face MULTIPLE TIMES because of his Super Bowl bets.

I also made the big decision to bring back my blog and renamed it, Pinot Noir and Prayers!

In March... We enjoyed our first Easter in Colorado! Unfortunately, we missed Mass because I was new to the whole "defrosting your vehicle before you can drive it when it's freezing outside" thing. I learned some valuable lessons in cold weather living.

This is also the month we surprised the boys and redid their entire room with Star Wars bedding and decor! They were the happiest little boys in the world!

Our first Easter in Colorado Springs was absolutely amazing and a wonderful way to end March.

In April...  we were able to enjoy the outdoors more and I spent more one on one time with my baby boys. We did a lot of Kids in the Kitchen and Clean Eating too.

This was my final month as a stay-at-home mom. I did Nanny a few times during the week but it was only for a few hours. I volunteered at the school as much as possible and finally got Goalie back on track for his therapies.

In May... we attended our first ever baseball game! It was an awesome experience! Check out Colorado Rockies: Our First Baseball Game for more pictures and fun. 

This was the end of the school year for the boys and the beginning of our first summer vacation in Colorado. I began my new job this month too!

We also enjoyed a Kentucky Derby Party. 

In June... we always celebrate A LOT! We have Little Man and my husband's birthday plus our 2nd Wedding Anniversary and Father's Day all within two weeks! It was Harry's 31st and Little Man's 9th birthday this year and we celebrated them together with a Finding Dory theme and went to watch the movie as a family.

We bought a membership to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and went on several breath taking hikes, including the Seven Falls. 

 In July... Little Man was able to train as an Altar Server at our new parish. In Florida, he had already been serving for a year so he was excited he was able to start in our new church too!

This month was full of Reading, swimming and working out!

In August... we had a 4th grader and a kindergartner! This was the start of the boys first full year at school in Colorado. 

My husband and I made a promise to plan dates to have special time together too.

This was the month I was invited into The Zelie Group and it has been an amazing experience so far!

In September... our family grew! We adopted two more cats, Shadow and Cloudy because we felt that they would be special additions to the family even though they were 10 and 6 at the time of their adoption. We were right! You would never guess they were older because they are just as active as our spunky 2 year old cat, Lemon!

We had our first experience at the Labor Day Lift Off!

We also became a scouting family and joined the Cub Scouts! We have a Lion Scout, which is a pilot program, so we are one of the first! And a Webelow! I'm still new at this so I would love some suggestions on how to help the boys with their badges etc.

We attended my cousin's wedding in Kansas and Little Man was an Altar Server! I also volunteered to be a catechist at the church.

In October... we finished our second seasons of football and soccer! Both boys had an amazing season! They learned so much and made some amazing friends. 

I received my first Little Catholic Box this month as a gift from my dad! 

The boys received their Cub Scout uniforms and attended their first big event as a Scout, the Boy Scout Centennial Campout! They shot BB guns for the first time and made their very own emergency cable bracelets. 

This was Goalie's birthday month and he turned 6! To celebrate we visited Diana's Pumpkin Patch and the boys even earned a Cub Scout Patch for completing the corn maze!

We were forced to buy a new car this month as well because our older one decided to crack an engine block while my husband was driving home from work one night.

This was our first Halloween dressing up together and we decided on a Star Wars theme: Little Man was a Flame Trooper, Goalie was Captain Rex, my husband was Darth Vader and I was a Storm Trooper. It was so much fun, I can't wait to plan another family costume.

In November... was filled with amazing food! We were blessed to attend a Friendsgiving and still do a traditional Thanksgiving at home and invited new friends to share the experience with us! 

We also participated in our first Turkey Trot (yes, we did dress like turkeys!)

Let's not forget...Goalie lost his first baby tooth!

This month was the end of our OFFICIAL first year in Colorado. We have learned so much and are ready to fill this next year with more neat experiences!

In December...there is so much to share, I barely know where to begin!

I was asked to join the committee at church to help with our Parish Faith Nights and this month was my very first one! It was Advent themed and we made Craft Advent Wreaths and sang songs.

I won a Mass Box during a Giveaway and hosted my first ever Giveaway during December!

We attended the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Electric Zoo Safari as a family! So many beautiful lights and even got a chance to see Mr. and Mrs. Claus while we were there.

Goalie was in a Winter Musical Production called the Big Chill at school and both boys won awards for Outstanding Student and their participation in the 100 Mile Club!

I also have found myself pulled into the Bullet Journal craze and am currently working on my first ever Bujo and adding some Liturgical Pages and trackers along with so much more!

To end this month, I was able to watch my children sing in the Christmas Eve Christmas Choir and it just made my heart so full, I could have burst! There were so not so fun things that we endured this year but as you can see, the good far out weighed the bad! And it will continue to be that way as long as we realize all the amazing blessings around us and never forget what is important! How was 2016 for you and your family? I hope it was filled with many blessings and that the upcoming year is even more amazing. You still have a couple more days before the end of 2016... let's go out in a bang! I am linking this with Revolution of Love.

God Bless!

Christmas in July Celebration

Does the hot rainy weather of the summer ever make you miss the cool crisp winter air of Christmas? I LOVE the Christmas season. The music, food, smells, movies and sweaters! It has become tradition in our household to have a Christmas in July Celebration to help us all beat the heat and get into the Christmas spirit!

We started the day out at Mass. It was Little Man's first time altar serving at our new parish. He did amazing and I love how prayerful he looks. Goalie really wants to be an altar server but he is too young and I am afraid that his ADHD will inhibit him from doing altar server duties for awhile. Checkout 5 Tips to Help Your ADHD Child During Mass.

I am linking this at My Sunday Best at A Blog For My Mom.

After Mass, we headed to the pool! It is still summer time and it is hot outside. We have been experiencing rain quite often in the afternoon so we decided to head out early. It was a little too chilly for me to jump in the water but the boys had a great time.

While I prepare our yummy Christmas Feast, the boys will be able to read some Christmas books, color  and learn about Saint Nicholas all while listening to Christmas music. I think that the music is my favorite, honestly I could listen to Christmas music all year long.

Checkout the St. Nicholas Center, they celebrate Christmas in July too.

This year I decided (last minute) to keep our celebration pretty simple. I made a Christmas Pork Roast and Christmas Cookies!

Here are some more classic Christmas foods you can enjoy with a summertime twist for a Christmas in July Celebration! I have done all of these at one time or another but I just did not have time to incorporate them this year.

Smithfield Pecan Praline Spiral Sliced Ham

You can purchase this at any large grocery store chain. It's wrapped in a bright blue colored foil too! What I love about this ham is it is packed with a pecan praline sauce that is more summery and gives the ham amazing flavor.

Christmas Watermelon

Slice your watermelon into medium slices and use christmas cookie cutters to cut the watermelon.

Frozen Hot Chocolate (1 serving)

6 fluid ounces vanilla coffee creamer (I use creamer made with almond milk)
1/2 cup hot cocoa mix (2 packets)
1/2-2 cups ice
whipped cream (optional)
cinnamon sticks (optional)
shaved chocolate (optional)
sprinkles (optional)

Pour Creamer into the blender. Add cocoa mix and ice with the creamer. Blend until ice is crushed and drink is at a slushy consistency. Don't be afraid to add a splash of peppermint extract while you are blending if you like peppermint cocoa. Pour into a mug or glass and garnish with whipped cream, cinnamon sticks and sprinkle with shaved chocolate and/or sprinkles if you wish. Enjoy!

**This can be made into an adult beverage if you add 2 oz of Baileys and/or Peppermint Liquor**

So last minute I did make some frozen hot chocolate! We will end the day with a Christmas Movie Marathon that will include the classics! Polar Express, A Christmas Story, Silent Night and A Christmas Carol. My most favorite Christmas movies are White Christmas and It's A Wonderful Life. I force my hubby to watch them with me quite often.

A Movie Marathon would not be complete without popcorn and frozen hot chocolate for the boys and a nice big glass of wine for me and my husband. Now to be patient... just another 5 months until the real Christmas season begins. I am sharing this at Talk it Up Thursday.

Children's Prayer to Saint Nicholas:

God Our Father we pray,

That through the intercession of St. Nicholas,You will protect our children.Keep them safe from harm,And help them grow,And become worthy of Your sight.

To keep their Faith in You,

And to keep alive their joy,

In Your creation.

Through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Give them strength,

Amen.

St. Nicholas, pray for us!

Summer Time Check Up!

Today we are almost to the very end of July and I thought it would be a great time to do a Summer Time Check Up! It's about halfway through the summer and I can't wait to see where everyone stands on the bucket lists and goals you have set for yourselves and your family. I have to admit I am disappointed we have visited the apartment pool more than anything else this summer. Just felt nice to be home and not travel a ton. We have been reading a ton and utilizing a lot of our money saving experiences like the $1 movies, parks and gym.

Cinemark Summer Movie Club:

COMPLETED

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo:

We bought season passes so we can enjoy this amazing zoo year round! There are Halloween, Christmas and other events that we are really excited to check out.

Focus on the Family Visitor Center:

NOT ON THE ORIGINAL BUCKET LIST BUT SHOULD HAVE

Seven Falls Hike:

Strawberry Moon Night Hike:

Colorado Rockies Baseball Game:

Birthday Pie Fight:

Little Man and my husband share the same birthday month so to celebrate we had a huge pie fight! My husband had his face pushed into the cake first then we took the "pie fight" outside and threw cool whip everywhere. It was a really great family memory.

Aga Splash Park:

NOT COMPLETED (YET)

Denver Zoo 

Royal Gorge Train 

Royal Gorge Bridge and Park 

Berry Patch Farms 

Patsy Candy Tour 

Peterson Air and Space Museum 

Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum 

Williams Fire Museum

Canon Balloon Classic 

*Missed this completely so we will have to wait until next year* 

Manitou Springs Cliff Dwelling 

Manitou Springs Incline 

Miramont Castle 

Cave of the Winds 

Aquarium 

Arkansas River Rafting Trip 

Camping Trip

Visit a Lake

OH MAN! That is a LONG list! At least some of these activities are in close vicinity to each other so I can hopefully knock out several in one day. If not, we will get to it eventually. I realized that my aspirations for the summer were quite large to say the least! We have had an amazing summer so far and I'm sure it will continue to be great until school starts. This week we will be celebrating Christmas in July and several other fun feasts. I have already begun working on our Fall Bucket List too! How has your summer been so far? 

Feast of Saint Martha

Saint Martha is the sibling of Saint Mary Magdalene and Lazarus. She is the patroness of homemakers, cooks and those that work around hospitality. This makes Saint Martha pretty important to my family. Both my husband and I work within the hospitality industry over the past decade. Right now he is a restaurant manager and I will be starting a new serving job soon. The service industry is certainly difficult but Saint Martha did it and through her example we all try our best. She is also one of the greatest examples of what I want to be as a homemaker. Saint Martha is only mentioned a handful of times throughout the bible but there is a Golden Legend concerning her and a dragon. This story and more can be found at FishEaters. 

There was that time upon the river of Rhone, in a certain wood between Arles and Avignon, a great dragon, half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than an horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent, and defended him with two wings on either side, and could not be beaten with cast of stones nor with other armour, and was as strong as twelve lions or bears; which dragon lay hiding and lurking in the river, and perished them that passed by and drowned ships. 

He came thither by sea from Galicia, and was engendered of Leviathan, which is a serpent of the water and is much wood, and of a beast called Bonacho, that is engendered in Galicia. And when he is pursued he casts out of his belly behind, his ordure, the space of an acre of land on them that follow him, and it is bright as glass, and what it toucheth it burneth as fire. To whom Martha, at the prayer of the people, came into the wood, and found him eating a man. And she cast on him holy water, and showed to him the cross, which anon was overcome, and standing still as a sheep, she bound him with her own girdle, and then was slain with spears and glaives of the people. 

The dragon was called of them that dwelled in the country Tarasconus, whereof, in remembrance of him that place is called Tarasconus, which tofore was called Nerluc, and the Black Lake, because there be woods shadowous and black. And there the blessed Martha, by licence of Maximin her master, and of her sister, dwelled and abode in the same place after, and daily occupied in prayers and in fastings, and thereafter assembled and were gathered together a great convent of sisters, and builded a fair church at the honour of the blessed Mary virgin, where she led a hard and a sharp life. She eschewed flesh and all fat meat, eggs, cheese and wine; she ate but once a day. An hundred times a day and an hundred times a night she kneeled down and bowed her knees.

An interesting aspect of this story is that Saint Martha threw holy water on the dragon to defeat it. There are several other saints that are discussed with dragons like Saint George but she does not "slay" the dragon like Saint George. Saint Martha simply uses holy water to defeat the dragon and the comparison of the homemaker Saint Martha to a dragon really illustrates the strength of her prayers.

Also thanks to this story about Saint Martha and the dragon we learn about a cool connection between her and tarragon, a fresh herb. Tarragon is also known as "little dragon" in Latin, which is an herb that grows in the same region of France that Saint Martha lived.

In her honor it is customary to enjoy a nice tarragon tea but I felt making a good hot dinner of Tarragon Chicken. If you are still interested in making a nice cup of tarragon tea check out The Herb Gardener for a simple recipe and some interesting variations. I love all natural remedies and tarragon has many different uses. Saint Martha is the patroness of homemakers after all! Below is the recipe I used to make dinner tonight in honor of Saint Martha.

Crockpot Chicken Tarragon:

2-3 Large Chicken Breasts

2 Cup Chicken Broth

1 Cup Heavy Cream

3 Cloves Garlic (minced)

8 Tbsp Dijion Mustard

4 Tbsp Fresh Tarragon (chopped)

4 Tbsp Fresh Parsley

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

2 Tbsp Flour (or a little more depending on your preference of gravy thickness)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix the Chicken Broth, Garlic, Dijion Mustard, Tarragon and Lemon Juice Together. Place the Chicken Breasts into the Crockpot and pour the broth mixture over it. Cook Ingredients on Low for 6-8 hours. Remove the Chicken for the Crockpot and pour the broth into a large sauce pan. Place the broth on medium heat and add the heavy cream and corn starch and stir until a slightly thick gravy has formed. Serve the chicken with the sauce poured over it with fresh veggies (Asparagus and carots pair perfectly) Enjoy!

If you are a wine fan, like me I would highly suggest pairing this meal with a nice Sauvignon Blanc wine. France is known for its amazing vineyards so pour and glass and toast Saint Martha!

Prayer to Saint Martha:

O blessed St. Martha, your faith led Jesus to proclaim, "I am the resurrection and the life"; and faith let you see beyond his humanity when you cried out, "Lord I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God." With firm hope you said, I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him, and Jesus called your brother Lazarus back from the dead. With pure love for Jesus you welcomed him into your home. Friend and servant of our Savior, I too am "troubled about many things." (Pause for silent prayer.) Pray for me that I may grow in faith, hope and love, and that Jesus, who sat at your table, will hear me and grant me a place at the banquet of eternal life. Amen.

Saint Martha, pray for us!

Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne

Saints Joachim and Anne were the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus Christ. Saint Anne's name means "grace." God blessed Saint Anne with many special graces, the most important being that she was the mother of Mary. Saint Anne is the patron of mothers, infertility and children. Because of Saint Anne's patronage to fertility, she is known as a patron of rain for the soil's fertility. In Italy it is said that "rain is Saint Anne's gift" and in Germany it is called "Saint Anne's Dowry." We have had tons of rain this past week during the afternoon, maybe we will be blessed with Saint Anne's Dowery today as well. Saint Joachim is the patron saint of fathers, grandfathers and grandparents. Grandparents should be shown some extra love on this day. Since we relocated out of state, my children will be sending letters and goodies to their grandparents today.

Saint Anne is my baptismal saint as well. It is custom for girls who are named for Saint Anne to wear red and green ribbons in their hair. Maybe I'll rock some cute red and green head pieces today. The day is still young. Thanks to this color combination I think of watermelon, strawberries, and fresh salads for food. I also think of beautiful red roses, lady bugs climbing on leaves and Christmastime. We are already celebrating Christmas in July this upcoming Sunday but today might have been a fun way to incorporate some cool Christmas cheer into the hot summer too.

For breakfast I decided to make a watermelon strawberry smoothie and I felt that it was appropriate for the boys to pick their meal for dinner because that's what their grandparents would do for them. Naturally they chose chicken nuggets and fries. We don't usually eat stuff like that and when we do it is probably once every couple of months. The boys are ecstatic about dinner to say the least! While the boys stuff their faces with nuggets and fries, my husband and I will be enjoying a fresh garden salad and maybe a french fry or two and attempting to stick to a healthier eating menu.

If you check out my previous post about the Feast of Saint Anne you will see it is customary to prepare some type of lobster or shell fish in Saint Anne's honor as well. In the past I have made lobster bisque and a watermelon cake, they were both delicious!

We are so blessed that we are close to the Shrine of Saint Anne. I discussed this shrine in the Ultimate Guide to Holy Places in Colorado. Today we will be unable to drive out to the shrine because Tuesdays are a busy day with behavioral therapy and other things. My little Goalie really has been struggling with controlling his emotions the past few weeks so days when we have behavioral therapy are usually emotionally draining for him. I will be planning a special trip to the shrine to have some quiet prayer time. I am also thinking I will print a couple coloring pages. I just came across this new Catholic coloring page site here too. What do you have planned today? Any fun activities or outings with the grandparents? I would love to hear all about it!

My husband and I have been trying to conceive for over two years and have not been blessed with another child yet. If you don't mind please pray the attached prayer with my special intention to conceive a child if it be God's will. I would greatly appreciate it! 

St Anne Prayer (To Obtain Some Special Favor) 

Glorious St. Anne, filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present affair which I recommend to you under your special protection.

St. Anne, please, recommend to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue.St. Anne cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. (Here ask for favor you wish to obtain.) 

Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with You and Mary and all the saints, praising and blessing Him through all eternity. Amen.Good St. Anne, mother of her who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, pray to her for us and obtain our request. (Three times).

Here is a another prayer that can be said in honor of your Baptismal Saint as well. It has Saint Anne in the prayer because she is my Baptismal Saint but to make it personalized for you and your family, just replace "Saint Anne" with the name of your saint:

Saint Anne, at baptism, my parents gave me that name which was also yours. You are my companion and heavenly protector. You have borne this name honorably before God and men. May your example teach me to do the will of God, to be faithful to Christ, to go my way with the attitude and conduct of a committed Christian so that I may one day share with you the rewarding joy of having followed Christ faithfully. Amen

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us!

Feast of Saint James the Greater

Today is the Feast of Saint James the Greater. He was given this name to differentiate him from Saint James the Less, who was believed to be shorter than him. He is the patron saint of Spain and pilgrims. Saint James was one of the first apostles of Jesus. He was found fishing on the Sea of Galilee unable to catch fish that day when Jesus called out to them and asked them to cast their nets once more. The boat the men were fishing from nearly sank because of the abundance of fish they caught in their final netting. Saint James was one of three disciples who witness the Transfiguration and is known for spreading the teachings of Jesus in Spain for over 40 years. Saint James was decapitated by King Herod for his faith and became the first apostle to be martyred for his faith. His remains can be found in the Cathedral of Santiago in Spain.

I thought that making an authentic Spanish meal would be perfect to celebrate Saint James the Greater. I decided on making Gazpacho but with a twist. My kids, especially my youngest, have some texture issues and Gazpacho is actually a cold soup. I decided to add pasta to my gazpacho and not blend the ingredients into a thick soup so it resembled a pasta salad instead. If you checked out my Menu Plan Monday post for this week and looked at the ingredients for my recipe, I am sure you noticed I tweaked my recipe a bit. I didn't feel like running out to the grocery store today so I replaced a few things that I didn't have on hand with other ingredients that I did.

Here is my original recipe

Gazpacho Pasta Salad:

1 lb Rotini Pasta
3 Medium Ripe Tomatoes (diced)
1 Large Cucumber (diced)
1 Green Bell Pepper (minced)
2 Green Onions (chopped)
6 Fl oz Canned Tomato Juice
2 Cloves Garlic (chopped)
1/4 Cup Parsley
3 Tbsp Lime Juice
1 Tsp Tarragon
1 Tsp Basil
1 Tsp Cracked Black Pepper

Bring pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and put aside. Combine the pasta and the rest of the ingredients together and mix well. Chill for at least 2 hours and toss again prior to serving.

***If you wanted to make traditional Gazpacho you would mix all the ingredient together except the pasta and increase the tomato juice to 4 cups. Place ingredients into a food processor and blend until it is a think soup consistency. Chill for 2 hours and serve with croutons***

I substituted Shell pasta for the Rotini Pasta because the shells represent the sea. Saint James is also represented by a cockle shell or a man with shells all around him. Saint James was a fisherman and he traveled the sea to evangelize Spain so the extra symbolism is beautiful. I was also out of tomato juice, tarragon and green onions so I used a half jar of leftover jar of marinara, fennel seed and red onion. All the substitutions made resulted in a delicious Gazpacho Pasta Salad. I have it chilling in the refrigerator now and will toss it with a little extra lime juice before serving. If you aren't into eating pasta or you are trying to keep carbs out of your diet, some kind of fish or scallop dinner would be perfect to celebrate this day too.

We have been enjoying the nice weather here and intend on going to the gym before sitting down to dinner as a family tonight. After dinner, I will read the short summary that is in the Book of Saints Part 8 and say a couple prayers. If you click the affiliate link above, the book is included in a 10 pack for an awesome deal! We own tons of the little books from Father Lovasik and my boys love them.

If we still lived near the beaches, I would definitely consider going for a stroll on the beach and collecting some sea shells. It use to be a common tradition to build a shrine in honor of Saint James from broken sea shells. If you have some shells, placing them on your home altar would be perfect! I am working on a prayer wall in my house that I will update each month to coincide with the liturgical year and feast days. 

Other ways to celebrate are:

Creating a dessert decorated with the Saint James Cross (cake, pie or cookies)

Checkout Catholic Cuisine for some other great recipes

Go on a fishing trip 

Coloring page 

The Way of Saint James Game

O glorious Apostle,

St. James, who by reason of thy fervent and generous heart

wast chosen by Jesus to be a witness of His glory on Mount Tabor,

and of His agony in Gethsemane;

thou, whose very name is a symbol of warfare and victory:

obtain for us strength and consolation in the unending warfare of this life,

that, having constantly and generously followed Jesus,

we may be victors in the strife and deserve to receive the victor's crown in heaven.

Amen.

Saint James, pray for us!

Rising Strong: Book Review

I have to thank my friend Amber, who suggested reading this book several months ago. I decided to include this book as part of my Mid Year 2016 Reading Challenge. I love to read and I especially love books that find a way to touch me in my life, experiences or heart. Rising Strong did all of this and more. I have shared my thoughts on this book as I read it with my husband and he is eager to read it, as I hope you will be too. Please be aware This post contains sponsored links from Amazon.

Rising Strong by Brené Brown is an amazing book that will make you question every significant event in your life. Her understanding of emotion is astounding and her ability to communicate her research to readers is direct and easy to comprehend. There is an exploration of shame, anger and fear that is prominent in our failings through life and her rising strong teaching and process can help you study and understand more thoroughly how to grow and recover from failing more quickly. Failing is something that every person can relate to and makes the topics discussed within this book more important to understand how to be better productive within our relationships and our daily lives.

I will warn you that the colorful Brené Brown does sometimes use strong language to get her point across. I did not find the language to be vulgar though, rather she used it as an exclamation point to highlight her important research. I also find that her presentation made her feel more relatable. I love that there is a direct conversation between Brené Brown and the reader. She does not hide her true ideals or intentions.

Another aspect that makes this book unique is that although Brené Brown is a researcher, she allows the discussion of faith and spirituality to be important in her research. She includes research and quotes from religious people. One of my favorite moments within the book is during a discussion where Brené Brown states, "I experienced a collection of holy and unholy moments that would eventually bring me face-to-face with one of my greatest fears and, in the process, teach me exactly what Saint Teresa of Avila meant when she said,"There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers."" If only we could all have revelations that bring us to a closer connection to God.

I have not had the pleasure to read her book Daring Greatly yet but I can promise it is now on my book list. There are several references to it within Rising Strong and I think that the best understanding of both books would come from reading both. Daring Greatly discusses concepts of vulnerability and scarcity and pairs well with the overall topic of overcoming adversity in Rising Strong.

I will end this with another one of the great topics that is discussed throughout the entire book; "The irony is that we attempt to disown our difficult stories to appear more whole or more acceptable, but our wholeness, even our wholeheartedness, actually depends on the integration of all of our experiences, including the falls." This particular quote is written on the back cover of the book. Rising Strong is truly an amazing book and I hope you take the opportunity to read it.

I know I have several friends reading this book right now and I would love your opinions as well! I am sharing this at The Book Nook At Create With Joy. 

Feast of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha is the patron saint of environment and ecology and was just recently canonized in October 2012. She is also the patroness of Native Americans and people in exile. She is known as the Lily of the Mohawks. She was the first Native American to be recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church. She was orphaned as a child because her mother, father and younger brother were killed during a smallpox outbreak. Saint Kateri was scarred horribly but survived the outbreak. She did many outdoor devotions by forming crosses with sticks to pray the Stations of the Cross and creating rosaries out of rocks and praying with them. These unique and special outdoor devotions are the reason she is the patron saint of ecology and environment. She died at a very young age of 24 and all of her scars disappeared from her face.

The simplistic beauty of this saint make her a perfect example for children. In the Book of Saints Part 2 there is a nice little biography about Saint Kateri Tekakwitha too. There are many different ways for you to introduce your family to her as well. I would suggest trying out a few of the suggestions below:

Holy Heroes Glory Stories: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

National Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine in New York

Catholic Icing: Headband Craft

Catholic Playground: Coloring Page

Pinot Noir and Prayers: Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha 

Pinot Noir and Prayers: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Catholic Mom: Catholic Dream Catcher

This year I really wanted to go on a nature walk, unfortunately the weather did not hold up today. Severe thunderstorms rolled in during the afternoon and I was quite busy with an IEP/ kindergarten transitional meeting for Goalie. I will discuss that later though.

Since my nature walk and picnic were rained out, I decided it was best to stay inside and have an indoor picnic instead for dinner. I made Chili and Cornbread and placed our picnic blanket in the living room to enjoy dinner. We opened up our screen door so we could enjoy the peaceful sound of the rain falling and the gentle roar of thunder. We will do a nature walk tomorrow or Sunday if the weather clears up.

I have plans to watch In Her Footsteps: The Story of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha with my husband when he gets home from work this weekend. I would love to hear how your families celebrated today!

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us!