I doubt whether there are many perfect model mammas out there in the world. I certainly am not one of them, but if you are I am really happy for you and would hope maybe you could share some words of wisdom for the rest of us completely human ones! I strive and try my best to be that super mommy, but at the end of the day I still have laundry to do and maybe dishes too. I also have more than likely lost my cool a few times and get discouraged that after a great job cleaning my beautiful children have undone what took me a good while to accomplish in just minutes. At the end of the day we say our family prayers and I sink into bed asking Jesus to help me do a better job tomorrow!
All this week I wanted to get to daily Mass and it just didn't happen. I have one night owl todler that just wont sleep resulting in a real challenge to wake come morning, another older challenging one, and a baby on the way that is making getting things accomplished even more difficult. I am reminded by an old testament verse to rejoice because I serve a good and loving God! That wonderful God gave me my little blessings and when I look and see the simple joy in their smiling faces all the struggling and imperfection in my vocation melts away.
"Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD is your strength!”– Nehemiah 8:10
So if you feel the struggle is REAL too just remember that rejoicing in the Lord is our strength. A smile is contagious and so is a cheerful heart and even thru our struggles we can choose to be cheerful. Jesus came to show us the way and that way was paved with struggles. Don't beat yourself up if you are not the perfect super mom, because our Lord loves you and will carry you through your struggling imperfect day and even give you the all Grace you need to try and do better tomorrow!
I just finished up illustrating a cute saint image of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and started thinking about how cute it would be to make it into a children's scapular. I like tiny scapulars for kids but most of them don't hold up very well for long, so I set out to make a sturdy one.
The strings are sturdy para cord at about 12 inches, just the perfect size for little ones. I have sewn around them 2x with a straight stitch ensuring the strings are well attached and then added a decorative blanket stitch in different color choices. You can find them in our shop on Etsy at SaongJai
So how many of us out there wish there were awesome Catholic letter practice pages for our little ones? I know that I was one, but searching I found there were limited cute Catholic products on the market. You can find this amazing printable on sale right now over at www.etsy.com/shop/saongjai or by clicking on the SALE picture.
This amazing printable set of over 60 pages is on super sale right now until May 6th 2016! A-Z letter practice, numbers, colors, and coloring pages are included. The best part is that unlike a workbook where you only have one page for the letter being practiced the printable allows you to print as many of that letter that you want. There is still more greatness about this because a limited home use license is granted to you so you can print it out for as many kids and as many years as you need it.
I am so excited to share with all of you the latest creative effort I have been plugging away at. A children's ABC book of saints. I am delighted to be illustrating these cute adorable saints and blesseds, bringing them to life for little children. Here is a small preview of the book.
This Lent I am adding in some things to deepen my relationship with our Lord and not just cutting out some goodies or enjoyment. I think adding some great spiritual reading, a little extra time for prayer, and maybe a retreat. Have you heard of the amazing Catholic Conference 4 Moms? Well I went last year from the comfort of my own home and it was great! How often do you think you want to just get some spiritual refreshment but you either don't live anywhere near where a retreat or conference is taking place or also don't know how you would fit it into your schedule?
There is a great line up of speakers and it's all professionally filmed for your viewing pleasure at the convenience of your internet capable device on February 20th. And there is more great news, I have a coupon code for you to use to make the already ridiculously reasonable rate of $14.99 even more affordable so use the Code HANDMADE when you click here to check out at Catholic Conference 4 Moms.
We gave a beautiful birthstone bracelet and custom patron saint kids Rosary set to the Catholic Conference 4 moms so they could give it away to someone who attends their online conference! Maybe it will be you...
January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. Here are a couple free coloring pages, one is a girly design and one more masculine for the little fellows. I hope you all enjoy these coloring pages! Don't forget to check out our growing collection of FREE coloring pages!
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Here are a couple FREE coloring/craft pages. The first is a set of the three gifts the Magi brought to
Jesus when they visited him. Can you imagine how happy they were when they finally found Jesus after searching for so long?
And the second, a cute set of the three Magi with their gifts for Jesus. They can be colored and cut out. Maybe you even want to glue them to large popsicle sticks for reinforcement and add some tiny fabric capes or other decorations. There are 4 sets to the page so if you have a bunch of little ones you can make multiple sets!
