The day before my parents' big 50th wedding anniversary party on September 9, 2017, (blog post on the big celebration coming soon!)  we had a small celebration with our family and my sister and her family for our Blessed Mother's birthday on the morning of September 8th.


In year's past we have celebrated this special day with other families in our homeschool group, but this year with so much going on with my family's festivities, we decided to celebrate with just our family.

In the morning, I laid out our traditional doughnut rosary (that we have done for several years now) with a vase of roses and our Marian statue holding a rosary.  We prayed a decade of the rosary and then everyone had doughnuts for breakfast.  I bought 60 munchkins and a dozen doughnuts to make the rosary. (actually we used 53 munchkins and 6 glazed doughnuts total for the rosary)

Here is what our rosary looked like this year:

I wrote a post at Peanut Butter & Grace titled Celebrate Mary's Birthday with Doughnuts, Cake, and Candles!



In the post, I include photos of all the yummy, edible rosaries we have made in the past with our homeschool group for our Blessed Mother's birthday.

Did you celebrate Mary's birthday this year?  If so, how did you celebrate? With doughnuts, cake and candles? Or maybe you had cupcakes?

Happy Birthday Mother Mary!







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As the saying goes and my motto these days in blog land, better late than never, as I publish this post a day after Mother's Day 2016.  I just thought I'd share a few highlights of my day so I can look back on it one day and actually remember it.  I have MBS (Mommy Brain Syndrome) so my blog keeps memories documented for my benefit. :)


I can sum up my Mother's Day with the words grateful and relaxing.   The only gift I wanted from my children was to have them not argue with one another since in the Smith house this happens waaaaaay too much.  Uggghhh!  I could tell they were trying really hard to make the day peaceful and I was grateful!

In the morning, all my kids woke up in good moods and got ready for Mass without fighting!  Yes!  (OK, so maybe you are thinking the Smith household can be like a war zone sometimes...well, you're right! ;) ) My 8 year old and 15 year old daughters sang in the girls choir at Mass and my 8 year old sang the "Alleluia" chorus with her friend.  They did a beautiful job!  My daughter is in the pink top standing next to her friend with our fabulous choir teacher singing for support. :)
I told my family I wanted a family photo outside of church after Mass which was not a surprise request for them. :)

After Mass we went down to the beach for a few hours and it was just fun to hang out!  In the evening my wonderful husband grilled burgers outside on the charcoal grill near our family campsite behind our house at the edge of the woods.  My family surprised me with a beautiful orchid after dinner.  I just love orchids! They are beautiful and so easy to take care of!  I didn't get to see my Mom on Mother's Day because she and my Dad are on a cruise with friends. (tough life! :) ) Above is a photo of my Mom and I from back in November 2015 on her birthday with the photo of the orchid and my family after Mass.

It was a beautiful day and I am so grateful for the vocation of marriage and motherhood.  My husband gave me the gift of time as I relaxed and read a great book, Trusting God with St. Therese. I have loved reading this book! It's a gem and it's just what I need to be reading during this season of my life.

I am so grateful for my children and I try to not take any of my blessings for granted as I keep in prayer all women who struggle with infertility and who have lost children through abortion, miscarriage and sickness.

I'll close this post by sharing one of my favorite quotes:

"The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral-a dwelling place for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body...Even the angels have not been given such a grace! What is more glorious than this - to be a mother." -Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty  

And this is a prayer I say often during prayer times that came from Mother's Manual. It covers all that I feel as a mother on a daily basis and reminds me to look toward our Blessed Mother for love, guidance and peace.  Every time I pray this beautiful prayer it speaks to my heart in a special way.


Dear Mary, I who am a mother, have you for my mother.  Thank you!  I really need you, Mary, as my Queen, my mother, my friend.

For the energy and spirit to arise each morning with a joyful heart - My Mother Mary help me.

In the difficulties and setbacks of each day - Mary help me.  

When I feel tired and depressed - Mary help me. 

When the outlook is bleak and there is no one to console or encourage me - Mary help me.

When I feel impatient with my family - Mary help me. 

When others are impatient or rude to me, by your gentleness - Mary help me. 

When others speak angrily or loudly to me, and I feel like snapping back, that I would answer calmly and gently - Mary help me. 

When my plans don't work out, my efforts seem in vain, and I feel discouraged - Mary help me. 

When I try my best and others don't understand -Mary help me. 

When worry and anxiety clutch at my heart and it is difficult to be at peace - dear Mother Mary help me!

When there is no one around to support me in trouble - Mary help me. 

Dear God, grant that through Mary's intercession, all things in my life and my family will work out for the good.  May I grow day by day to be more like her, My Mother, my Queen.  In the name of your Son Jesus I pray. Amen. 

Have a blessed week!

"The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral-a dwelling place for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body...Even the angels have not been given such a grace! What is more glorious than this - to be a mother."  

-Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty

In the Catholic Church, our Blessed Mother's birthday is traditionally celebrated on September 8 each year on the Church's calendar.  One of the many reasons I love being Catholic is that our Church celebrates Mary throughout the entire year with lots of  Marian feast days.  Mary did have such an important role in salvation history by having the privilege to cradle Jesus in her womb for 9 months and raise our Savior, it's always nice to give her honor on more days than just at Christmas time when we celebrate Jesus' birth.

There are so many wonderful Marian Feast Days in the church throughout the year and celebrating Mary's birthday is one of our family's favorite.  My children love birthdays and celebrating our Blessed Mother's special day is definitely a birthday party our family doesn't want to miss!   Each year our homeschool group gathers for Mass on September 8 and then we have a birthday party for Mary.

Each year we create an edible rosary, which is always a hit with the children.

We say a decade of the rosary with the children and parents then sing "Happy Birthday to Mary!".

Here are some photos of the rosaries our homeschool group has made for Mary's September 8 Feast Day:

Last year on Sept. 8, 2009, our rosary was made with the traditional sized "Our Father" cupcakes and small "Hail Mary" cupcakes.  We put my Mary statue/vase in the center with flowers in it.  Then we placed candles in the "Our Father" cupcakes.


This year on Sept. 8, 2010, we simplified our rosary by using Hershey kisses for the "Our Father" prayers and cupcakes for the " Hail Mary " prayers.  We gathered at a local park for this year's celebration and  it was windy so we couldn't light candles as we sang "Happy Birthday".  We did say a decade of the rosary together and as each child led a "Hail Mary" prayer, they took one Hershey kiss away from the rosary.  After praying and singing everyone loved eating the extra cupcakes parents had made and the Hershey kisses.

You can check out how others make edible rosaries over at Lacy's blog at Catholic Icing.

As mentioned in the first link of this post, "the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been celebrated in the Church at least since the 8th Century."  Wow! since the 8th century!?!  I didn't know this! Our family and homeschool group will continue to keep this special and fun tradition alive each year as we gather around our edible rosary and sing "Happy Birthday to Mary!"