For the Lenten Book Basket

Here are some favorites of ours. Be sure to share your suggestions in the comments.

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The Little Rose of Sharon by Nan Gurley This is the story of a rose whose outward appearance is so beautiful that it pleases the Creator Himself. The little rose learns that her life isn't all about what she holds here on earth and she sacrifices her lovely rose petals (her most prized possesion) to save a baby dove.

Petook by Caryll Houselander This story begins with Petook the Rooster and his wife Martha hatching 12 fluffy new chicks. They live a happy life in the garden until they a frightened when a young boy walks toward Petook and his family. No need to worry; it is a kind boy who years later hangs on a cross Petook can see in the distance.This is a classic Houselander story of Easter and new life. 

The Jesus Garden: An Easter Legend The passion of Christ can be a very frightening subject for young children. The grim reality of death is a difficult one for tender hearts.  This story takes on the task and follows Christ's passion from the perspective of the plants and flowers in the garden. Parent and child can follow the Passion from the agony in the garden all the way to the resurrection in a much more soothing way. 

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The Easter Swallows Also in the garden a pair of swallows are building a nest. Lovely text and illustrations. (Worth hunting down.)

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Twice Yours by Nan Gurley This one is new to us this year. It's breathtakingly beautiful. A little boy invests his whole heart in buliding a small sailboat. He loses it and someone else finds it and then he sacrifices to regain it.    
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The Story of the Cross by Mary Joslin  This lovely volume can be read again and again throughout Lent to bring the Stations of the Cross alive to children in an appropriate and reverent manner.

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The Easter Story I'm so sad this one is unavailable. 

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Benjamin's Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs by Melody Carlson Benjamin is a little boy who travels along with jesus and discovers who he really is. Fun story and can be even more fun when used with Resurrection Eggs.

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Tale of the Three Trees by Angela Hunt  This story follows three trees who dream of being big, marvelous things when they grow old enough. Their dreams appear to be crushed, but then they recognize that they were made for bigger things than they could imagine.
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The Proud Tree by Luane Roche This storyline is similar to the one of the three trees. Rex thinks he's a tree worthy for a king. But is humbled when he gets cut down to become a cross for a crucifixion and learns who Jesus, the real king, is.

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A Tale for Easter Tasha Tudor is always so wonderful. *Not overtly religious.

The Thornbush An ugly thornbush growing in Jerusalem becomes a crown for the King of Kings.
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The Very First Easter by Paul Maier  this is a lengthy book with lots of biblical quotes and beautiful illustrations. Lots of details in this one. 

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The Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith    This story of Easter is told through the eyes of the little donkey who carried Jesus through the streets on Palm Sunday. Beautifully illustrated and sure to please all ages.
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Through the Eyes of John This is Mary Beth's favorite.
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The Story of Easter by Mary Joslin this story follows the whole timeline of Jesus from the Annunciation to the Resurrection and helps your child to understand Jesus' whole life.
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Little Colt's Palm Sunday  Palm Sunday is recounted through the eyes of the colt who carried the King of Kings--Jesus himself--through the streets of Jerusalem.  

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Legend of the Easter Egg by Lori Walburg  Learn what Easter is really about as you follow the beloved characters you may already know from The Legend of the Candy Cane from the same author. When Thomas' sister, Lucy, falls sick, he goes to stay at the Sonneman's candy store and there he learns the story of Easter. 

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Legend of the Sand Dollar When Kerry's family takes a trip to the beach she learns all about the story of Easter through a small beach treasure, the sand dollar.   

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The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by DuBose Heyward this story is about a momma bunny who wants to be one of the official Easter Bunnies but first must prove herself to the wise Grandfather bunny. Mike's sister gifted this to us years ago and it is a perennial favorite.

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The Easter Egg. Another that isn't religious, but sure is a sweet read. I do love Jan Brett.

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My Path to Heaven this "retreat-in-a-book" is geared toward kids 9-12. As they learn the truths of their faith and are called to live lives of holiness with these newfound truths. 

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Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco My children love to listen along in this delightful tale as Babushka she prepares her eggs for the Easter Festival. During this story, Babushka takes in an injured goose who teaches her that miracles can happen. 

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The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous Katy and Carl go on an egghunt while visiting their Grandmother's house and Katy has no luck finding any eggs. She ends up searching the attic where she finds very special eggs her Grandmother  painted when she was a little girl. 
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Easter Eggs for Anya Decorating beautiful Easter eggs was something Anya loved to do and was very sepcial to her family. But with Papa away at war, Anya's family is very poor and will not be able to purchase eggs to decorate this year! When Anya stumbles upon a nest of goose eggs she thinks she will be able to decorate eggs after all, but God always has a bigger and better plan. 

A Martinmas Spice Cake

It's the eve of Martinmas. The children's lanterns are glowing on the mantle and I still have one more pumpkin hat to decrease and bind off after bedtime. I did manage to get a little festal baking done after dinner and just pulled our spice cake out of the oven when I thought of you.

I thought how you might like to prepare a Martinmas cake for your family. (We're eating ours for breakfast. A feast is the perfect excuse to have cake for breakfast if I do say so myself. Anyhow, this recipe boasts a smidge of whole wheat pastry flour and a lot of pumpkin puree so I don't feel too guilty. Not at all in fact.)

This recipe is a simple one and most likely you have all the ingredients on hand, especially this time of year. And no. It's not even close to Paleo. 

Martinmas Spice Cake 

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

First of all, don't forget to preheat that oven. 350 should do just fine.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Some say it's best to sift them. I say just use a fork and mix away.

In another bowl...

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 can pumpkin puree (That's probably about a cup and a half.)
• 2/3 cup canola or coconut oil
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the wet ingredients well and then gradually add in the dry. Don't overmix or you'll have yourself a dense cake. 

I suppose you could add in dried fruit or nuts, but why mess with perfection?

Generously spray a bundt pan with canola spray. (Seriously, spray it generously.) Pour in the cake batter and bake for 40 minutes. (At least that's how long it takes in my oven. My oven tends to run slow, teaching me unwanted lessons in patience. So check it at 30 minutes just in case. If a toothpick comes out clean, you're set.) Allow your cake to cool in the pan for five minutes and then turn out on a rack to cool completely. (If you sprayed that bundt pan generously it should come out just fine.)

Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy with those you love.

Happy Martinmas to you!

xoxo,
Edith

A Martinmas Yarn Along with Edith

Perhaps you know the story? How St. Martin of Tours, upon encountering a poor beggar suffering from the cold, ripped his own cloak in two and covered him? 

"Martin, what you have done for the least of your brothers, you have done unto me."

That's what Christ said to him, the following night in a dream. And that's the spirit in which we celebrate the feast of St. Martin - Martinmas. Giving of our abundance, going through our clothing and boxing up the gently used for the less fortunate. Knitting needles clicking fast and yarn moving through my fingers, knitting up warmth to offer as gifts to my little ones.

I've been looking forward to this day, November 11. And it was a just a few weeks ago that I began planning -- wondering what could warm the hearts and bodies of my children on Martinmas.

As perfect timing would have it, it was just a few weeks ago that I found Nicole's pumpkin hats. Needless to say, in no time I was browsing cubbies full of yarn at our local yarn shop, searching for just the perfect shade of orange. 

I did find that perfect shade, I do believe. 

This week I'm working on a fourth pumpkin hat. (Here's my Ravelry link.) As far as saving these hats for Sunday, the little ones will have none of that. Little heads and ears are already being kept warm. I'd have it no other way. 

As my math would have it, I bought a bit too much of that perfect shade of pumpkin, a Wooly Wonka Aerten called Bittersweet. No matter. My little sister's birthday is just around the corner and what could be better for a fall birthday than a autumnal hued hat? Have you seen this one? It's Elissa Sugishita's neckwarmer hat. A hat and a cowl, all in one! (Here's my Ravelry link.) It's so easy to knit (perfect for election night knitting, ahem.) and so cute to wear. (Eleanor's already knitted up two.)

Those last two photos bring me back to Martinmas and my current reading. This week I've pulled an old favorite off the shelf, Mrs. Sharp's Traditions by Sarah Ban Breathnach, a Victorian-inspired almanac of family celebrations. If you have the book on your shelf, you can pull it off too and find the description and directions for creating Victorian paper lanterns for Martinmas. 

That's what we've been creating this week. It's such a beautiful way to capture light as the darkness of these autumn days grows longer. (I'm so looking forward to decorating our mantle and seasonal table with them.)

We began with watercoloring the lantern paper (just plain old watercolor paper.) Saturate the paper with color and coat the dried paintings with vegetable oil, that's all the children need to do to make a beautiful lantern. 

We're still working on our lanterns (the Foss children too) and Elizabeth and I hope to share the images of softly colored Martnmas light from our homes very soon. But in the meantime, I've put together a few links for you, just in case you'd like to capture light this season with your children as well. 

Here's an easy watercolor paper lantern tutorial. Or how about this tutorial on folding a traditional star lantern out of those watercolor paintings? (There's a video tutorial too.) And for those of you like me who love, love, LOVE plant-dyed wool felt, here's a tutorial for creating a felt lantern bunting.  

Happy Martinmas!

Join Ginny for more Yarn Along posts.

My Domestic Almanac {Sunday evening edition}

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

I've been spending lots of time soaking up sunshine in my garden these lovely autumn days. The roses are making a glorious comeback. Perhaps to honor St. Therese? Mostly, we've been cleaning up and pulling away. I think, though, that tomorrow is the day for a fresh flat or two of pansies and some new compost and soil. 

::listening to 

Soccer on TV. I was watching football. Mike changed the channel. This is an ongoing thing around here. I gave up. I'll blog. No one will notice.

::clothing myself in 

Pajamas. I tucked myself in very early tonight. It's been a long, physical weekend and these quilts are so welcome!

::thinking and thinking

About how fleeting these days are. This time next year, God willing, all three big boys will be living away from the home I've made. And they will be missed.

::pondering prayerfully

“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.”  ~St. Therese of Lisieux

::Carefully Cultivating Rhythm

Stephen has soccer practice until 10:00, three nights a week. He trains about 40 minutes from our house, with  no traffic. We didn't know this--could not imagine such a scenario, really--when we consented to this team. We're in it now. So, I've spent the last couple of weeks looking for silver linings and arranging the rhythm around this incredibly annoying fact of life. I've prayed super hard for grace on this one and I can sort of see the good emerging.

::creating by hand

There must be something about the nip in the air that inspires me to want to create. I've got some beautiful stacks of fabric on the way to be made into <<big breath here>> fairy tale dresses. The difficulty level is  higher than anything I've ever attempted and I'm going to combine two different views, but Leisl Gibson assured me that I can do it. Honestly, if anyone can teach me how to do any of those new skills, it's Leisl. If she says I can, I believe her. Her patterns are so well written, anything is possible.

We've also chosen fabric and stashed for some new quilts. Autumn is like that--just inspiring us to find cuddle spots. Or make them.

And, oh-my-goodness-I'm-so-excited! Ginny has a new sweater pattern, just available. I've watched this beautiful sweater and pattern take shape and I'm so excited for her. It's kind of like when a friend has a new baby--the giddiness is contagious. I'm going to try this one, since I seem to be in a place where I'm tempted to try things that are more than my usual difficulty level. That sweater is so very lovely and the pattern is perfectly written, which makes me certain that a willing advanced beginner can be succesful. Each of my girls wants one. Since I'm knitting super slowly these days, I'm making no promises. Even if you don't knit, go take a look. She's been all domestic about her blog and it looks lovely:-)

::learning lessons in

Patience. I'm trying to slow myself, to believe that I have time to enjoy the process and that, sometimes, it's the process itself that has the real value. I've taken lots of deadlines off my calendar; they were suffocating me. Breathing is good. Very good.

::encouraging learning 

Turtles! I rescued a box turtle from the street the other day. For two full school days, we were all about turtles. Reading, writing, observing, drawing. Poor turtle is so tired of my crew she's burrowed under some brush and called it a season.

::begging prayers

for all the people who have joined our weekend prayer community. I carried your requests with me to Mass and I will keep a candle lit for you throughout the week.

Several of you have asked about Elizabeth DeHority. She's seen both Emily and Sam off to school and settled in with her three younger boys. She's fighting this disease--hard. And the fight is, well, really hard. Your prayers are so much needed and even more appreciated. Cancer is a formidable foe.

::reading

Still reading  The Backyard Homestead. I desperately want to make this happen next spring. I can't have livestock, poultry, grains, or bees, so that "just" leaves the fruit, vegetables, and herbs sections. I can work with "only," right?

::keeping house

We always hear about spring cleaning. I'm feeling a major fall cleaning coming on. It makes sense to me. Just before we start closing ourselves into home for the winter, let's scrub it and dust it and clear out the clutter. I have the urge to make home cozy. First, make it ready and then make it home.

::towards being unplugged

Since Stephen's schedule gives me several hours a week in an internet cafe, I'm trying to limit my computer time to those chunks of time. It means that only these Monday almanacs are written in "real time" and other posts are queued up, a few at a time, over tea between 8:30 and 10:00, but I think that might be better, all the way around. It's still a work in progress, the rhythm of it all. I've also scheduled time for answering comments. Again, it's not always the same day as the comment is written and it's almost never in the moment, but the plan is to spend a chunk of time in the combox three times a week. I'm looking forward to the conversation. The rest of the time? I'm unplugged. 

::crafting in the kitchen 

We went apple picking Friday. Our yield was disappointing and I think we'll have to go again, but we do have about a bushel right now. Here's my challenge: grain-free, dairy-free things to do with apples. We've got applesauce. Now what?

::loving the moments

Mike replaced a toilet this weekend. That toilet hadn't worked properly for years. Literally. I remember hanging on to the phone with one hand, while Rebecca read fix-it-yourself toilet remedies to me on the other end about 5 years ago. It worked, but not great. Now, it's perfect. And you know, sometimes you don't know how much something bugs you until it doesn't bug you anymore. I'm actually loving the moments when the toilet flushes perfectly. Every. single. time.

::giving thanks 

for Facebook friends. I enjoy Facebook. I think I've learned what to post there and what not to post in order to keep things mostly pleasant and cheerful. Just now, Kamille from Redeeming the Table and I connected on Facebook. We're already friends on Twitter and Instagram and at MomHeart. But I'm happy to have found her on Facebook. (She's friend number 2,000 and I told her we really need drums and balloons and party. Or at least flourless cake. She's probably just the person for it.)

::living the liturgy

We're heading into Liturgical Year and Birthday Week Celebration overdrive, my friends. All the details from past years, mostly summed up here...

::planning for the week ahead

Hah! Here we go! Birthday Week begins at the end of this week. This week is about getting ready.

Michael turns 24 on Saturday.

Katie turns 10 on Sunday

Patrick turns 18 on Tuesday

Karoline turns 6 on Thursday

My big challenge: to personally remain free of grains, sugar, and dairy while making sweet celebrations for the birthday bunch.

More almanacs at Suscipio.

Preparing for the Feast of St. Therese

~repost, because that's what we can do with traditions.

If you've ever been to my house, chances are excellent to 100% that you have seen one of these prayer cards laying around. I ordered them in bulk when Karoline Rose was born to include in her birth announcements. And I've ordered more every year since. The rose novena is most definitely how we begin to prepare for the feast of this saint, who is so, so dear to our family. Karoline's name, of course is a tribute to St. Therese's promise to shower roses upon the earth and Karoline tells everyone she knows that she is, indeed, a rose sent from heaven. Katie was baptized Kirsten Therese, so she, too, is named for St. Therese. And there is lots of evidence of her presence on this blog because there is lots of evidence of her presence in our lives as a family.

We will go to Mass, of course, to celebrate with the Universal Church. There will be roses. Michael is Katie's godfather and buys her miniature roses ("Little Flowers") on this day--just as long as I remind him;-). For this year, the girls are all abuzz about this pan, I purchased last summer. So, a rose-shaped cake. But I'm still not sure what the recipe will be. Any suggestions would be most welcomed in my inbox. Extra points if you have a grain freen recipe that works in a pan like this. It's a season for miracles, no?

One of Trish's candles (in that amazing St. Therese rose scent) will be lit before the icon. Mary Beth took Therese as her confirmation name and Patrick's godmother blessed her with this beautiful image.

 

I have learned over time that this is one feast I do not overplan, despite the fact that it is huge day in our family. St. Therese has a history of showering us with her love in most unexpected ways.

The novena begins September 23, to prepare for the October 1st feast.

*September 23 is the feast of our favorite Capuchin, St. Padre Pio. In our house, that means cappucino all around:-)