Birthdays: String Bean turns 11 and hosts a party!

Our millenial baby, String Bean, turned 11 on the 1st ... we had a small family party Tuesday night but she really just wanted a party with her girl-friends so today, we sent the boys off (dh took them to see Rango!) and Max was relegated to the crate. 

Our "theme" was A Royal Garden Tea.

We set the table with String Bean's birthday gift from us:  a beautiful, real tea-set -- a service for 4 (including cups, saucers, luncehon plates, dessert plates & bowl and a tea pot).   The runner underneath the tea-pot is one that her grandmother sent her that her mother had stitched ... so it's old as well as gorgeous! 

The wooden flowers in the wine-glass/water-glass are the place-cards (with a magnet on the back for the girls to bring home and use).   For party-activities we painted flower-pots (which then became their "goodie bag"); a wooden initial letter and made fabric-covered scrapbooks (filled with traditional black thick paper).  BTW, in the picture below, that is a real baby sleeping -- he was the only male allowed to come to the party (the youngest brother of one of the guests) and he was a perfect guest -- slept the whole time!

We ate fancy, traditional tea finger-sandwiches (cucumber, honey-walnut, and ham-roll-ups), homemade blueberry muffins and cheddar muffins, crudite tray, deviled eggs (String Bean's favorite!), and a hot-tea punch (served in the tea cups, of course).  No birthday around here would be complete without a chocolate cake of some kind:  String Bean asked for the old Betty Crocker "chocolate joy cake" with chocolate fudge frosting!

Wow, what an afternoon.  But String Bean is such a blessing to so many ... every bit of work and worry was worth it!

God bless you, String Bean.  Happy 11th and may you have many, many more such glorious (but not so rainy) days!
 

Football: uh oh ... what happens when you run out of ice cream ...

... when it's playoff weekend? 

Quickly (and I mean, quickly) make a big ol' pan of brownies with chocolate frosting and sprinkles ... DUH! 

File this in the "whew ... dodged that bullet" category ....

 

Feast Day: St. Nicholas and a big step on our Advent journey to Christmas

We love St. Nicholas' Feast Day!  This is a big step on our Advent journey toward Christmas.  This is the day that the good Saint fills children's shoes and hearts with the love and spirit of giving of the Christmas Season!

Now, this is how we do things around here [and please understand that this is what works for us and altho I enjoy your suggestions, please don't "dis" my way of doing things]:

On St. Nick's Eve (that would be last night) the family each put out a shoe (the bigger the better the younger you are) and a note to St. Nick.  The note details what the wishes are for Christmas ... and the older ones do a bit of an examination of conscience since only the good Saint will see the letter.  This is a good chance for all of us to think about how we can empty ourselves of the bad and re-fill with the good before the coming of the Christ Child. 
The next morning (that would be today) the letters are gone and the shoes are filled with some gold-covered chocolate coins (in rememberance of St. Nick's helping of the dowerless girls), a candy cane (to represent the Bishop Nicholas' crook), and a book -- either a push-the-limits reading book, an activity book, or a religious book.  This year the good Saint included:

• Pope Benedict's Church Fathers: From Clement of Rose to Augustine (for dh)
• A Japanese knitting stitch-pattern book (for me) -- yes, Japanese ... but the patterns are graphically shown so it doesn't matter that I don't read a word of Japanese!
• the first in a new excellent "boy reading" series --
  Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bel Lione (for Lego Maniac) -- I am anxiously waiting for him to finish Sir Quinlan (which is the 5th book and that's how we stumbled on this wonderful Christian lit for boys) so I can read it!
• a wonderful paper doll "primer" for String Bean -- The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer:Activities and Amusements for the Curious Paper Artist is a brand new book that includes lots of activities, great ideas, and absolutely gorgeous paper dolls!  String Bean loves crafting with paper and still has a great affinity for dolls -- so this is perfect.  The text is also a reading stretch for my struggling reader so this is all good.
• the 2010 Guiness Book of World Records for BamBam who loves all that trivia and statistics and facts.  This will also help him with his reading skills!

St. Nicholas is WELL-LOVED around here.  He is also our Santa ... yes, we do still believe in Santa around here and would hope that all well-meaning adults and precocious children who think they know "the truth" would be sure and not tell our kids otherwise. 

See, we believe in the magic of the season ... that St. Nicholas is a model of goodness and charity and self-giving ... that St. Nicholas is the one who fulfilled the needs of the dowerless girls, the almost-lost-at-sea sailors, the nearly killed boys in the barrel ... and that he continues to bring goodness and charity at this time of year.  So yes, the family writes letters asking for Wiis or dolls or cameras or whatever ... and yes, on Christmas morning there will be surprises that engender comments like "no way, Mom and Dad got us that!"   This is all part of the Christmas Magic that I've always believed in ... and will continue to encourage in my own children. 

Now, obviously, as the kids get older, they "know" ... but they get into the spirit of the season and don't ruin it for their younger siblings.  And it truly is amazing to see the surprises that often end up under the tree ... or come during the season .... things that "no way we could afford" but would REALLY like ...

So, believe in the magic and celebrate St. Nicholas and his spirit with us from now thru the Christmas season!

BTW, we'll be making St. Nicholas Soup for dinner (thanks to Twelve Months of Monastery Soups), homemade crusty bread, and finishing off with St. Nicholas Purse Cookies and tea.  What more could you want on a blustery, early Winter evening? 

Review: Recipes for LIfe: A Catholic Family Cookbook

Recipes for Life: A Catholic Family Cookbook is one of those cookbooks that you'll refer to ... for old standbys as well as adventurous cooking.  Published by Friends and Family Cookbooks, this cookbook is not only packed with obvious family or parish favorites; the book links nourishing the soul through saints' biographies and Catholic catechesis with nourishing the body. 

The book was written by a growing lay apostolate based in a parish in Maryland.  TASTE -- which stands for Taste and See, Take ... Eat -- is a family apostolate that grew out of the parish of St. Mary of the Mills, in Laurel, Maryland.  A weekly mom's catechesis session with children warmly welcomed, helps teach the beauty of our faith.  The cookbook is an off-shoot of this apostolate.

I like the cookbook -- and have marked many recipes to try.  I like the linkage of saints' feast days and special dishes and the tips on how to incorporate celebrating our faith with something as mundane as fixing dinner.  The catechetical portions of the book (and the prayers in the back) are a wonderful inclusion.

My only issue with the book is that it would be hard to use on a regular basis -- the saint recipes are interspersed throughout the book and altho there is a chart at the beginning linking the saint to his/her "recipe", there is no chronological listing of saints.  You need to know the saint's feast is coming up to find the appropriate recipe.  Not a big deal ... just an irritant.  I also think there is too much text and not enough white-space (for notes, etc) ... but again, not a big deal.

Overall, I think this is one of those cookbooks I will use -- the recipes are not fancy, are wholesome and the philosophy behind the book are all very good things.  Check out the website and see what you think.

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Disclaimer:  I received this cookbook as part of the CWG's SOA evaluation process.  The words of the above review are my honest "take" on this book.