12/52: Cream Puffs and Laetare

Apparently I took almost no pictures last week! Well, it *felt* like I took a lot of pictures, but looking back, a lot of them turned out to be photos for reviews I have coming up... (Do you hate those reviews? Are they helpful? I know it's easy enough to just not click, or to skim... But there were a LOT of reviews I had to do during the month of March, and I don't want this to feel like an all-homeschooling-all-the-time blog!)

We celebrated the Solemnity of St. Joseph on Thursday with roasted chickens and homemade cream puffs for dessert! I'd never made cream puffs before, but I know they're a traditional St. Joseph's Day dessert (albeit the really traditional ones don't look like this, but I thought Andrew would prefer the chocolate). They were surprisingly easy! Lots of dirty dishes, so I'm not sure I'll bother with them again since it's usually so simple to just get the frozen ones and Costco or Aldi, but that wasn't an option. I used this recipe for the pastry and this one for the pastry cream. Then I just simmered a little cream and melted chocolate chips in it to make a quick ganache, and everyone was happy! The kids told me they were SO MUCH BETTER than the ones from the store. Andrew told me they were "different" and that's all I got from him so... We'll see if I bother again.

Masses are canceled in our diocese (well, public masses), so we live streamed the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem and while it was a beautiful Mass, the kids were... not well-behaved. They did better for me last week! So maybe this weekend we'll have them sit in chairs that don't touch each other and try to find a Low Mass to stream instead, because I think it was just a little too long. (If you don't have Facebook, the Canons are also streaming Masses and vespers on their YouTube channel - please do subscribe, they are doing beautiful things!)

Despite their behavior, everybody looked cute at least, in their pink for Laetare Sunday. Cecilia very kindly offered to fix Edith's hair while I held Lucy, and I was given a little glimpse of hope for the future that maybe one of these days I won't be the only one who can brush and style everybody's hair properly!

How are you all doing? This is such a strange, strange time for everyone... I feel like I'm checking in with friends on social media, but I know not everybody uses it!

If somehow you have found yourself with extra money or free time (some people must, right? Not me. Not most of the people I know. But maybe you?), I've been getting a lot of emails about good deals for various things right now that I'll share below with my affiliate links:

Sock Religious has a lot of really cute new designs and is offering free shipping on orders of $30+ with the code SHIP30 - perfect for Easter baskets, particularly since you definitely can't count on Amazon orders right now!!

Chews Life is offering 10% off their products with the code EASTER10 - their Shepherd Kids rosaries are SO solid, and I love their mini decades for letting Lucy teethe on in the car or at Mass.

Kids Cook Real Food is offering a "suddenly homeschooling" deal - a two-week risk-free trial, and 80% off a two-month membership after that. Get the details here, including a guide to making it work without going to the grocery store! (Usually this is $149 for a lifetime membership and I haven't seen a free trial or monthly membership before EVER, so I think this is a really great deal to jump on. Then I think if you purchase, they'll give you a course for your family AND one to share with a family who may be having trouble making ends meet right now)

Today and tomorrow, Fit2B is offering 41% off everything in their store, so if you've been looking for prenatal or postpartum fitness, this is a pretty great deal. I haven't tried this program personally but I've heard really wonderful things about it, and I know a lot of you have Diastasis Recti or pelvic floor issues... Maybe check out their Postnatal Fitness workout program? It's 7 weeks and $59 with this deal, I'm strongly considering trying it myself to switch things up! You can try a free workout here if you want to give it a go.

Burpee is having pretty frequent sales if you're looking for gardening things but can't leave the house, and they're offering 10% cash back on orders right now if you use Rakuten! Plus if you sign up through my link, you get $10 once you make your first purchase through any of those stores - their seed starting kits are fool proof, seeds tend to germinate well, and their selection is excellent. And they've got a few coupon codes if you click through Rakuten, too.

Also if you're looking at gardening things, check Etsy!! I've had really good luck finding nurseries that sell native plants and seeds there, like this spiderwort that I planted last year, which flowered all summer and is coming back happily now. Who would have guessed? Definitely worth looking into.