Christ with me, Christ within me...

St. Patrick "Breastplate" Prayer. 

Mark in 2008 with his St. Patrick's Breastplate! 

Christ with me, Christ within me, 

Christ behind me, Christ before me, 

Christ beside me, Christ to win me, 

Christ to comfort and restore me, 

Christ beneath me, Christ above me, 

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in the hearts of all that love me, 

Christ in the mouth of friend and stranger.

See the whole prayer here. 

Slightly different words. 

Credit for this craft to goes to one of the many wonderful homeschooling moms that I know. When I find out which one (or remember), I will give credit where it is due! 

March Feast Day Decorations

Taking a lighthearted turn here to show off our 

St. Patrick's feast day table. 

 It is hard to see in this picture, but the light through the door was 

casting rainbows on the wall! 

 In case everyone has not colored their own "Paper Dali", you can print your 

St. Patrick here. 

 I purchased this super adorable "cool spool" from the Iris Blue Artworks store at Etsy.

 We made these shamrock rosaries last year using an idea posted on Catholic Icing. 

And more... 

 We did bump St. Joseph from the feast day table- not very nice considering this is his month! But he has a very prominent spot in our kitchen, and I added a purple cloth (in honor of lent) that I think makes him stand out nicely.

 A little more St. Patty's bling. 

Thanks to Tiffany's inspiring post, I am adding a little purple to our decor.  

Some more St. Patrick's day books and the smaller "cool spool" 

that came in a set with the one above. 

Blessings to you during this Lenten season! 

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

And a big "Thank You!" to my dear friend who brought me
this book today for my birthday!!  I love it!

St. Patick's Day At Our House

We love St. Patrick's Day around here- my grandmother, Mary Agnes Sweeney, was Irish and fiercely proud of it. She loved to tell about her big Irish Catholic family and their antics. I just wish I had been old enough to understand how valuable it would have to been really listen and remember the stories that she shared.

Life has been cr-aaaa-zy around here, so there has been little time to prep for any big celebrations. We did set out our decorations, read a few books, and make a few projects

(St. Patrick Spoon Saints were made last week). James, who was home alone with me

today, made this just for fun mobile to help liven up the decor. :)

In his school box- all the fixins. The weird goopy stuff to the left is glitter glue- James would have preferred to use the sprinkle kind (it is more fun), but all we had on hand was an old bottle of gold glitter glue- it all glopped out of the bottle, so I scooped it up with a shell that was sitting on the shelf- so, note to self- buy new glitter. . .
James hard at work on his mobile. He could have done the cutting- he actually loves to cut, but I don't think he would have finished it in one day if I did not pre cut the pieces. The project, printed from The Knack, is labeled for ages 9-12. After completing the project with James (6yo), I think it is the assembly that bumps the age range up- if a child has mom or an older sibling to help, age 4 and up would work.

The completed project hanging in the kitchen over the table.

A cute project from last year, ordered from the Oriental Trading Company.

Our St. Patrick's Day books.
And, our table. My daughter suggested putting green Easter grass in the vase (super cute, I thought!)- I looked for a week for some, but no one had green Easter grass!! Go figure. Next year...

St. Patrick Spoon Saint

I have seen these little saints on several Catholic blogs, but I believe they originated here at Cottage Blessings. These have been on my to do list for a long time. Today, we finally made some!!

The supplies:
We used printer paper (green and yellow), felt tip markers, scissors, hole punch (for detail on staff), pencils, glitter glue, glue, wooden craft spoons, and a pattern (below) for the St. Patrick's vestments. James (6yo) working on his spoon saint. We put magnets on the back of the saint so that they could be put on the fridge or, in this case, our message board.

Julia with her adorable saint. :)The magnet strip:

For the older kids, I gave the pattern and materials to them and they went for it. For a few, I traced the pattern and they cut. I cut everything out for the 6yo- he could have done it, but I don't think he would have been as enthusiastic (he made two).