Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  Did you know that Christmas has just begun? But, sadly our radio stations have stopped playing the Christmas songs and people are slowly taking down their decorations. :(   But, the Christmas season lasts at least 12 days from Christmas Day to the Epiphany.  Our Wandering Wise Men continue their journey until the Epiphany so keep saying "Merry Christmas!" because this is a joyous season and not just one day! 


The song "The 12 Days of Christmas" is widely known and to be full of great meaning.  I enjoyed reading this post that has new words to the song that has the tenets of our Catholic faith. 


If you are looking for fun books to go along with the 12 days of Christmas theme and that teach geography of the United States, be sure to visit my post HERE.

And if you are looking for great ways to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas go check out my friend, Tara's, post HERE at Blessings in Brelinskyville.  She lists 12 strategies for making the most of the 12 Days of Christmas.

So how did our family celebrate Christmas 2014?  (in case you cared to know)  It started out with fun festivities, but then things changed with a not so fun fever for my 7 year old daughter :(

First, the fun!

Our children added on one more handprint for 2014 to our Handy Tree Skirt. We first started making this tree skirt in 2008 and each child puts one handprint on it each Christmas to make a decorative and meaningful tree skirt.  Most of our children like having paint on their hands.  Our 16 month old wasn't one of them :( 
Then Christmas Eve came and my 7 year old daughter had a fever that day and the day prior so this is where the no fun part comes in.  Our family couldn't attend Christmas Eve Mass at 4:00 PM together :( My husband (who wasn't feeling well either) stayed home with the baby and our sick daughter, while I went to Mass with my older 3 children.  Our girls sang in the choir (and my daughter who was sick was disappointed she couldn't sing).  Then after Mass we went to my in-laws house while my husband and my sick daughter stayed home.  It's always no fun when there are sick children during Christmas, but I kept telling myself it's really no big deal compared to how much sorrow people experience during this holiday. 

I was given the privilege to receive a free download of the new Color Me Catholic: New Roman Missal Edition craft kit in exchange for a review.  Color Me Catholic craft kit was created by Monica at Arma Dei, Equipping Catholic Families.  Since I wanted to learn the new Roman Missal with my children that just began on the first Sunday of Advent, Nov. 27, 2011, I was excited to be able to review a product that would help my family learn about the new changes and responses.

The full collection of booklets (there are 10 small booklets in all) are created by downloading the black and white images and then printing them from your computer. The pictures below shows the cover and the back of the folder that holds the booklets which was colored by one of my children.


The folder holds the entire collection of 10 booklets as shown here:


As stated on the product page the kit includes: Instructions and templates to create 10 mini-booklets, each offering 8 mini coloring pages of treasured Vessels, Vestments & Symbols, Church Furnishings, Parts of the Mass and Sacraments & Sacramentals plus 8 pages of phrases from the New Roman Missal Mass in sequential order. 
A template is also included to create a folder to hold the booklets.

The full collection allows for exposure to most of the text of the Mass (especially all the "People's Parts") and many images, easily reviewed over 10 Masses.  Why not re-circulate the booklets for the next 10 Masses, for even better familiarity, getting kids to look and listen during Mass?

The instructions were clear, but a great amount of concentration was needed in order to make sure I was printing the pages correctly and folding and cutting correctly.  I had a few questions for Monica about the assembly, but she was always prompt with her replies and so helpful so that I could begin using the booklets.  I would highly recommend viewing the YouTube tutorial video also which can be found on the left side of the product page HERE.

Once I printed all the booklets out, I had my children color a section of the booklet as we discussed the images and read over the Mass texts.  Here are some of my children coloring as we discussed each booklet.


My thoughts:   I enjoy using Monica's product with my children.  These Mass booklets are a perfect size for little hands and material is covered a little at a time to keep children's attention without being too overwhelming.  My children will be using these booklets and coloring them a little at a time as we review the Mass responses.  I will be using Color Me Catholic: New Roman Missal Edition as weekly guides to teach during our religion classes during our homeschool days.  I think the more we use them the more familiar our family will be with the new mass responses, which is the intention of the product.

If you would like to read another review about this product, be sure to go to Laura's blog at Day by Day in our World and read her review HERE.

Jennifer also wrote a review at Crafolic. 

Disclaimer ~ I was provided with a copy of Color Me Catholic: New Roman Missal Edition! to facilitate this review.  No monetary compensation occurred and all opinions are my own. 

I just saw that Lacy over at Catholic Icing has made Mass Response Booklets for Kids because at the beginning of Advent (Nov. 27 !) all Catholic Churches will begin using the third edition of the Roman Missal and some of the responses during Mass will be a little different. And as our great music minister says in his weekly bulletin write-up about these changes..."some new words, a deeper meaning, but the same Mass."   So be sure to head over to Lacy's great blog post HERE and print out your booklet for Free! Thanks Lacy for sharing all your hard work! 


Speaking of Mass preparations, I wanted to share a fun way that helps prepare myself and my children for the upcoming Sunday Gospel readings.

Usually on Thursday afternoons, we have "Tea Time" which is an idea that I learned from the Catholic mother and author, Elizabeth Foss.  We used to drink tea during tea time, but now it's milk with our goodies. :)  Anyway, during tea time, I sit down with my children at the dining room table (a table we don't use that often except for tea time and other special occasions), bring out their own real tea cups, light a candle or two and read the scripture that will be coming up for the upcoming Sunday Mass.  I also lay out a colored piece of fabric to match the liturgical season.  So for awhile now we have had our green cloth out to represent Ordinary Time in the liturgical season. Soon we will display the purple cloth at tea time as we enter the Advent season. 

After we read the scripture for the upcoming Sunday, I print out the coloring page that corresponds to the Gospel reading that is provided by Lisa Hendey at CatholicMom dot com.  Lisa has a wealth of activities for each Sunday and it's a wonderful resource to prepare for the upcoming Sunday Gospels.

Have you voted for your favorite Homeschool Blogs for the 7th Annual Homeschool Blog Awards?  My blog has been nominated in the "Best Homeschool Variety Blog" Category! Go HERE to vote for your favorite! ;)

No Ordinary Blog Hop (NOBH) that I co-host has been nominated in the "Best Family or Group Blog".  Go HERE to vote for NOBH. Thanks!

On Sunday, July 4, 2010, we first went to Mass as a family in our patriotic attire. This picture was taken outside our church in the garden. While I was reading our church bulletin, I saw this beautiful quote inside:

I think Pope John Paul II is a wise and holy man indeed. Speaking of Pope John Paul II, I would like you to see this pencil sketch drawing of this great Pope titled, "Portrait of a Saint" drawn by Cameron Smith, a local and very talented artist. No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. This portrait may look like a black and white photo, but it is in fact a sketch done by the hands of Cameron Smith. Be sure to check out the rest of his artwork and be blessed!