Have Great Summer Pictures? Create a Mixbook Photo Book!

Can you believe Summer is over and September is here already? I can't! This year is just flying for us. We started schooling early this year (to finish early) and last Monday our Home-school Enrichment Co-Op started. This semester I'm teaching two classes: K-1 Art (super fun) and 5-11 Yearbook/Journalism. In searching for the right program and printer for our yearbooks this school year, I'm leaning towards using Mixbook.com.

I made a book for my mom using Mixbook.com and we loved it! It was professional looking and it was just so much fun putting it together! It was easy to use and I love how versatile it was (or how much I wanted it to be).   Here's the book I made for my mom's birthday last month:




| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Remember my review of the Software for Mixbook.com?  Then the review of the actual book from Mixbook as well?  Well, I wanted to share some goodies {coupon codes}, just in case you hadn't had a chance to create and order yours before.


I love digital scrap-booking but I just don't have the time anymore and using Mixbook.com gives me the quality book I want with the ability to either have their software put a book together with the pictures I submit or I can get as creative as I want and digi-scrap right on there - how perfect is that? I wanted to share with you that Mixbook photo books is having a month-long September promotions:

While getting settled in for the upcoming school year, why not take advantage of saving on your order with Mixbook? For the month of September, you have the choice between saving 30% on your orders over $49 or receiving free ground shipping on your orders over $35.


Don't wait, use this opportunity to finish your summer photo books or get a head start on your holiday cards! With Mixbook, you have total control of your custom photo books, cards and calendars. Make it Yours today!

Here are two great deals for you:
Deal 1: Save 30% on orders over $49 at Mixbook
Coupon: MX3049
Valid: Expires September 30th, 2011
Restrictions: Shipping not included. This offer cannot be combined with other coupons, vouchers, Groupons, or applied after an order has been placed.
Deal 2: Get Free Shipping on orders over $35 at Mixbook

Coupon: SHP35MX
Valid: Expires September 30th, 2011
Restrictions: Offer applies only for free Ground Shipping. This offer cannot be combined with other coupons, vouchers, Groupons, or applied after an order has been placed.

Want more than the pages each book brings?
For Labor Day weekend, Mixbook is slashing the prices on all additional photo book pages in HALF!
Hurry up and take advantage of this limited time offer. With 50% off all additional photo book pages you can capture all of your wonderful summer memories without the worry of running out of pages.

Deal: 50% Off Additional Pages on All Photo Books
Coupon: XTRA50PAGE
Valid: Expires September 4th, 2011 11:59 PST
Restrictions: Shipping not included. This offer cannot be combined with other coupons, vouchers, Groupons, or applied after an order has been placed.

Preserve your family memories with Mixbook

Blessings,

The fine print:  I am a Mixbook affiliate and do receive commission for orders you place using the links on this post.  I only became an affiliate of Mixbook because it is a service I personally use and love and want to share great deals with homeschooling friends of Raising {& Teaching} Little Saints.

Baby's All Grown Up Now

We are going home (wireless)!

 We had our first Co-Op day this past Monday and I was assigned to the Nursery the first hour.  My four older kids got to go to enrichment classes while the "baby" and I went to our first assignment.  In the nursery, Dominic and I are joined by five babies (the real ones) ages 3 months to 11 months and three other toddlers (okay our "baby" is really in this category).  Dominic went straight to playing while the mommies watched them and the little babies in the room.  I got to hold two of the babies while in the room and made me realize just how big Dominic had gotten in such a short time, just 16 months.  The smell of a new baby is just totally priceless - yummy!  All of a sudden, it made me realize just how much I yearned for another little blessing in our home (but he/she needs to come with a passenger van as we have maxed out our Mazda, lol).

Finally going home!  I was one happy Mama!

Then the biggest reminder that our Dominic is getting bigger hit me when we had to do some cleaning up and putting away.  It makes me sad because of the fact that our little baby is all grown up now (sorta) and because of the excitement I felt when Todd brought all the newborn baby gadgets up from the basement just a year or so ago.  The baby walker was one of the items that made me realize just how big our baby was and how quickly he started walking...then running!  To think back of those 10 days he was in the NICU, which seemed endless then, seems like such a speck now.  Didn't he just start crawling the other day?  Didn't his first foods and steps just happen?  Where did the time go so fast? While I know he is still very little at only 16 months, it just seems like too much has happened already, and to think there is so much more to do...lol.

He is a true joy in our lives, the perfect number five as we call him.  He just fits in with our little family so well, it's amazing!  "He is content in his own skin," my husband says of him all the time.  This is so true, he is a happy and lovable little one.  Which makes me be thankful to God that everything turned out okay and his labor scare was just that...and that God is always in control and taking care of us!  (His labor went from everything's perfect to a prolapsed cord in about 5 minutes...rush to a C-Section....NICU for 10 days...glow-worm baby w/ Jaundice) rocked my world from day one!)

Proud big brother, Josef, gets to hold the glow-worm Baby!

Only a couple of months old.   

Crawling!

Dominic at 16 months.

We love our little guy so much...but I think we are ready for another baby.  I'm not getting any younger, in less than four months I will be turning 38, and conception has not been so easy all the time for us.  So please keep us in your prayers as we ask the Lord to bless us with another little bundle of joy - or maybe two (twins do run in both families, lol).

STOP Planned Parenthood with Abby Johnson {webcast}

Listening to Abby Johnson, author of unPlanned...come listen in with me right now!!!

Event: August 23 9 PM Eastern

Word for Word: The NEW Roman Missal

Life Teen has come out with great videos to explain the difference between the Missal we've used in the last 40 years with the new one coming out in November...I'm posting two of their videos, one for parents and the second for teens. They are great! Enjoy!

"Why are the words of the Catholic Mass changing? Fr. John Muir confronts the misconceptions about the changes with truth and clarity. Fr. John helps parents understand the recent history behind the newest 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal and how it grows from the 1st and 2nd editions. Fr. John compares the “dynamic equivalent” and the “formal equivalent” of how we translate words from Latin to English, and then explains the elaborate process used to create the new Roman Missal. Finally, Fr. John encourages us to rediscover the meaning behind the words and we use at Mass and how we can help our children through this transition."

For Parents:

Word for Word [Parents] from Life Teen on Vimeo.




For Teens:

Word for Word [Edge] from Life Teen on Vimeo.


I hope you liked them as much as we did!  Blessings!  :)

That Resource Site: $50 Gift Card Giveaway

Hey guess what? That Resource Site is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card, so hop on over and join in the fun and who knows maybe you'll win it! :) Here's the link:

That Resource Site: $50 Gift Card Giveaway

Video: Parental Rights in 3.5 Minutes - Parentalrights.org - Protecting Children by Empowering Parents

Video: Parental Rights in 3.5 Minutes - Parentalrights.org - Protecting Children by Empowering Parents

+JMJ+

40 Days for Priests : Prayers & Devotions for a Holy Catholic Priesthood: Prayers to Obtain from God the Sanctification of t...

40 Days for Priests : Prayers & Devotions for a Holy Catholic Priesthood: Prayers to Obtain from God the Sanctification of t...: "Jesus, Savior of the world, sanctify Thy priests and sacred ministers. Iesu, Salvator mundi, sanctifica sacerdotes et levitas tuos. ~~~~~..."

+JMJ+

40 Days for Priests First Campaign - Join us!

Heard of 40 days for Life?  Here is another wonderful campaign, with a twist:  We introduce you 40 Days for Priests!  Join us as we participate in this campaign to pray for our priests!

The blog with prayers, readings, and information:

The Facebook Page

The Online campaign on Facebook.

 On Twitter.

Make sure you spread the word and share this!  Thank you!  :)





WHY 40 DAYS? WHY SUPPORT THE PRIESTHOOD?

Who is the salvation of humanity? Jesus Christ. How did He create the means to achieve salvation? The Sacraments of His Church. Who offers us the means of these Sacraments? His priests!

Everyone has seen in their lives, and parishes, and in their families, the increase in the stress on Catholic priests, and the simultaneous attack on the priesthood in general.

The Priesthood is at the core of our Faith. Our priests sanctify, preach, and lead in their threefold office of Priest, Prophet and King.  Jesus uses them to forgive our sins through the power of Confession. They give us the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They Baptize us, and our children. They often Confirm us in the Faith, and they are there for us in our last moments, with Extreme Unction aka Anointing of the Sick. Lastly, they make new priests by Ordination, by the hands of the Apostles, our bishops, the fullness of Priesthood.

The Priesthood gives to us all the means of our santification, and it is often a thankless job, or stressful job even when thankful. Let us list some of the ways priests suffer now:

• Being overworked, spread too thin, or stressed from the demands.
• False allegations.
• Weakness in true allegations.
• Lack of support from parishioners or even fellow priests.
• Firm faith and preaching causes isolation.
• Empathy for disenfranchised groups causes isolation.
• Depression and loneliness.
• Temptations of the world around them.
• Alcoholism or drug dependency.
• Derision from non-Catholics.
• Derision from Catholics.
• Lack of trust on the part of laity or the public because of scandals.
• Normal human temptations.
• Fear of persecution for speaking up on cultural issues.
• Poor formation or lack of continuing formation.
• ... and the list goes on and on.

Compelled by a desire to doing something more productive than spend time on Facebook, we envisioned and put into place in three short days the 40 Days for Priests. There is no set time for this devotion. There are no set prayers for this devotion, though we offer have, and are adding, a wide variety of prayers for priests. See the labels section for kinds of prayers in the right hand column on the blog.

So please, choose a devotion, and begin 40 days of prayer for the priests that YOU know, and for all priests, bishops, deacons and seminarians. We have priests ask us to pray for them all the time. Respond to the call by forsaking time spent on Facebook or other things, and make a 40 day devotion for the sanctification of the clergy. God will reward you in many, MANY ways for your faith in His Church, and His priests!

God bless you, and all you pray for!

"The witness of a priestly life well lived brings nobility to the Church, calls forth admiration among the faithful, and is a source of blessings for the community; it is the best way to promote vocations, the most authentic invitation to other young people to respond positively to the Lord's call. It is true collaboration in building the Kingdom of God!"

—Pope Benedict XVI, Meeting with clergy and religious in Aparecida, Brazil, May 12, 2007

Please visit our blog for prayers and updates, thank you:  http://40daysforpriests.blogspot.com/

A Catholic Preschool Curriculum - Introduction and a Giveaway {Catholic Icing}

Homeschoolers, looking for a great Catholic Preschool Curriculum for your little one?  Lacy has come out with a book she is selling just in time for the new school year.  What's more, she is hosting a giveaway, that's right!  Two blessed mommies, will get a chance to win her new book!  :)   Here's some info:

"This Catholic preschool curriculum is hands on all the way! From the unit studies, to learning the alphabet, to crafting, singing, and counting- this book strives to make learning (and teaching) fun! Hey, why shouldn't it be fun?

I designed the book to engage visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. The activities in this book help develop gross and fine motor skills. I believe that children learn best when they have multiple senses engaged, and when they have meaningful experiences that they can connect with. This book definitely helps you create these kind of experiences with your preschoolers. 

Catholic ABC's has 26 lessons that are based on the letters of the alphabet. They're meant to be used weekly. Each lesson includes a craft, bible verse, saint of the week, full color visual aid (usually in the form of beautiful artwork from the masters), and many lessons also include a bonus activity. The 5 unit studies follow the liturgical year and have directions for making unique learning tools to teach the story, and again, make it fun! The unit studies also teach the kids counting and numbers, and they all include a fun learning song.
               Unit Studies:

1. Ordinary Time 1 - Creation

1. Advent/Christmas - Nativity

1. Ordinary Time 2 - 12 Apostles

1. Lent - Stations of the Cross

1. Easter - He is Risen!

Ready to try to win one for your homeschool?
Hop on over to Catholic Icing!

Call Me Kate by Molly Roe: A Book Review (Historical Fiction)

When you think back to what you learned in history class, what comes to mind?

Are strings of people, places and dates running through your brain?

Or, do you recall particular figures who’s story was so interesting that it captivated you?

I know that for me and many others, it is far more interesting to read about people who walked before us.  Even historical fiction, which takes historical events and people and embellishes to bring intriguing stories presents a more palatable way to expand our knowledge and appreciation of history.  Call Me Kate by Molly Roe meets the criteria of bringing historical events to life beyond a dry retelling in the history books.  I would even wager that many of us have little background or knowledge of the unrest among mining communities of Pennsylvania during the Civil War.

Call Me Kate illustrates the harsh living conditions many immigrant workers faced as well as the unsafe working environment for the boys and men who worked in the coal mines.  Kate is a young girl who finds her dreams of completing school thwarted after her father is in a mine accident.  While he does not meet the same fatal end as others, he is no longer able to work.  So, Kate begins her life as a servant to help the family survive.
At first, she works for a local man while he awaits the arrival of a female relative to tend to his needs around the house.  She misses the simplicity of life before employment, yet finds a balance between work and play as she becomes friends with sisters that live near her employers house.  And, she begins to transition into adulthood with feelings towards one neighborhood boy moving from friend to something else.

When that short term job ends, she is then faced with moving away from her family and all she knows.  Seeing anger in her one friend after his brother is seriously injured in the mine, she also brings her worries about what he might do and how he might be involved with the Molly Maguires.  Under the employment of a rich and powerful businessman’s vacation home, she makes the decision to take action to protect those she loves back home.  There’s plenty of action and tension as Ms. Roe weaves her tail of Kate infiltrating the Molly Maguires in an attempt to save her friend and ultimately save lives.

Throughout the story are references to faith, specifically Catholicism.  You can get a sense of the prejudices faced by the Irish Catholic immigrants in that area, especially when Kate is informed that ALL servants of her new employer must attend services with the employing family.  To her relief, the local priest provides counsel that she follow her employers wishes and come to Mass as frequently as she can attend.

Call Me Kate is inspired by the stories Ms. Roe’s aunt shared of the family members who came before them, yet pulls in facts from a variety of references to ensure authenticity with regard to events mentioned in the story.  Published by Tribute Books, Call Me Kate is available in hardback, paperback, or electronic format through the publisher or on Amazon. 

Enjoy the book trailer…


Read an excerpt of Call Me Kate…

And find out more about the author…

Molly Roe is the pen name of Mary Garrity Slaby, a veteran language arts & reading teacher at Lake-Lehman Junior Senior High School. Mary holds a Ph.D. in education from Temple University, and Pennsylvania teaching certification in six areas. She has pursued the hobby of genealogy for the past decade. Mary was born in Philadelphia, raised in Schuylkill County, and currently lives in Dallas, Pennsylvania with her husband, John. They are parents of two grown children, Melissa and John Garrett, cover illustrator of Call Me Kate. Digging into the past has given Mary newfound respect for her ancestors and a better understanding of history. Call Me Kate is the first in the author’s trilogy of historical novels loosely based on the lives of the strong women who preceded her.  You can find Molly Roe on Facebook or the Molly Roe blog.






Disclaimer ~ I was provided with a pdf copy of Call Me Kate for the purpose of completing this review.  No other compensation was provided and the opinions expressed are my own.


Guest Blogger, Laura O'Neill , is a Catholic Homeschooling mom that blogs at Day by Day in Our World. 
"A Catholic homeschool family with four boys sharing from their lives in Alaska as well as product reviews and giveaways."

Book Amazon buy link:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/098146193X?ie=UTF8&tag=tributebooks-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=098146193X

Excerpt:
http://www.tribute-books.com/callmekate10.pdf

Molly Roe Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1504351498&ref=search&sid=796917087.2918603515..1

Molly Roe Blog:http://conversationsfromthesideporch.blogspot.com/

Tribute Books website:http://www.tribute-books.com/

Tribute Books Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Archbald-PA/Tribute-Books/171628704176

Tribute Books Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/TributeBooks