All Hallows' Eve

Lion for St. Mark, Eagle for St. John, and Fleur-de-Lis for Our Lady

The children had fun carving pumpkins and trick or treating with their dad.

Baked Pumpkin

A few years ago, as my husband carved a pumpkin, I wondered how we could use the pumpkin's flesh. In doing so, I stumbled upon the recipe below (I wish that I had noted where I found it). Baked pumpkin (or pumpkin bake as we call it) is very easy to make. Kieran had so much fun helping me pour all of the ingredients into our Ninja, pushing down the top to purée all of the ingredients, and then pouring it into the baking dish. This is a great recipe to make with young children.

Pumpkin Bake

Ingredients

4 tablespoons of butter
2 medium eggs
2 cups of pumpkin
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of milk
½ cup of flour
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Pinch of salt
Pinch of baking soda
Cinnamon

Recipe

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Put the butter in a 9 x 13 or 8 x8 baking dish (or any size in between) and melt.

Put the remaining ingredients, except cinnamon, in a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into the melted butter and sprinkle top with cinnamon.

Bake for about 30 minutes.

Serve.

The smaller baking dish makes for a more moist pumpkin bake. However, pumpkin bake is always enjoyed at our house regardless of the dish size.

If it is Quiet

 something's going on...

He fell asleep eating his first Oreo cookie.

I assumed our little boy would eat his second Oreo cookie after he woke up. Instead, as I was teaching our baby boy's  brothers and sisters, and he was playing quietly at my feet, our baby boy found said Oreo cookie and proceeded to try and devour it. I attempted to wash him off in the kitchen sink and then realized that he needed a bath to get all of the Oreo cookie off of him. I don't know if our baby boy or the dining room floor looked worse. I do know that we can no longer have Oreo cookies out around Kilian without him crying for one.

After being rinsed off in the sink

Rainy Day Recess Activity

We have been enjoying our St. Luke's Summer. My children are still wearing sandals and short-sleeve shirts. However, earlier today we had a downpour which kept the children inside after lunch. Brendan decided to use his free time to carve our first pumpkin. In years past, he has carved a pro-life pumpkin and a Celtic knot. This year, he carved a raccoon. I am looking forward to seeing it lit up. He wants to carve at least one more pumpkin this year. I am eager to see how he carves the next one.

The stencil for this pumpkin can be found here.

Lilla Rose Sale

It's a Lilla Rose 72-Hour Sale!

Sale ends Saturday, October 18, at 11:59 PM

Brass, brown, and black items are 15% off and everything else is 10% off.

Jennifer at Veils and Vocations and Tracy at Pinewood Castle are hosting online Lilla Rose parties. Please visit Tracy's or Jennifer's party links to take advantage of the sale.

I am offering buy 3 or more, get 1 free* to all new Lilla Rose customers who order through Tracy's or Jennifer's links. Do not add the free item to your cart. After you place your order, please email me (prettynwrose at gmail dot com) and let me know what you would like for your free item (up to $16 value). This offer is only good through one of the party links (please make sure it says Christine). 

Email me if you order over $45 worth of Lilla Rose products, during the sale, and I will refund you $4.00 for shipping.

I am happy to answer any questions. 

Please Note: Lilla Rose does not send emails verifying your order through party links, but I am happy to confirm your order if you email me (prettynwrose at gmail dot com) after placing it.

Shop Tracy's or Jennifer's Party!

*The "buy 3 or more, get 1 free" is only available to customers in the USA.This post contains affiliate links. Thank you to everyone who uses them. 

Happy Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

"The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying."

~Pope Leo XIII

"One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world."
~ Saint Dominic ~

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us!

The Mass Rock in the Glen

In a lonely mountain valley in the county of Tyrone

Lies one of Ireland's Mass Rocks deserted and unknown

The few who write historic tales or wield the poet's pen

Can say with pride I knelt beside the Mass Rock in the glen.

I’m proud that I am mountain bred this is my native place
These mountain glens have ever been the stronghold of our race
‘Twas here our fathers earned the right to bear the name of men
When they kept the faith for Ireland by the Mass Rock in the glen.

No more on Corradinna Hill the sentinel stands guard
The dreaded foes the hated yeos have guns with every word
And you who are should call in peace and bless these fearless men
When they kept the faith for Patrick's sake by the Mass Rock in the glen.

God bless the glens of Ireland every rock and mountain pass

'Twas these same glens that under God preserved for us the Mass

And if the time should ever come when Ireland calls for men

She will not find them wanting by the Mass Rock in the glen.

On this First Saturday in October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, we were privileged to assist at a Mass in honor of Our Lady, offered by our assistant pastor, at an old Marian Grotto on what were once seminary grounds. 

After Mass, a parishioner shared with us that the Mass had reminded her of the old Irish song, The Mass Rock in the Glen, about the persecution of Catholics in Ireland during the time of Cromwell. 

Our youngest didn't show any signs of persecution, as he crawled around the old seminary grounds. 

However, we couldn't help but wish that this state park had remained a seminary.

Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us!

Autumn's Delight and Jen's Review

Lilla Rose's October Flexi of the Month, Autumn's Delight, is now available on my Lilla Rose website.

Jen wrote a lovely review of Lilla Rose's flexi clips on her blog. Her party link is open through this Friday, October 3. If you would like to purchase Autumn's Delight, the flexi of the month, or other Lilla Rose hair accessories, please consider doing so through Jen's party link. Thank you to those of you who have already made purchases through her party.

I hope that everyone has a delightful autumn!