7QT: Guardian of the Incarnate Word

--- 1 ---

St. Joseph's feast day was this past Wednesday. It was a good day. It was a great day! We celebrated in little ways for our little man's name day and this mama finished praying the St. Joseph novena for my husband, husbands everywhere, my boys, and for thanksgiving.

My intentions for the novena were dear to my heart. All of them. But, this year, most especially the prayers of thanksgiving. Let me explain.

Last year I prayed this same novena. I asked dear St. Joseph to help us find our home and to help my husband find another job that better suits him (or that we have more peace about where he was then) in the near future (preferably before buying a house). These intentions were present to where we were then and pretty specific. Thankfully, our son's dear patron saint, heard me and took my petitions to our Sweet Lord.

Months after the novena, my husband found, applied, and accepted a job that is perfectly suited for him. This new job has been such a blessing to our little family. Such a gift!

Soon after he accepted his new job we began our house hunt. This house hunt went on for a little while. It was hard to trust. It was easy to get carried away with each house. But, thankfully we were  able to be mostly patient, trusting, and had so many people praying for us, including St. Joseph.

--- 2 ---

Eventually we stumbled upon a home that we were drawn too. There was an undeniable pull once we entered the doors. And, we really did just stumble upon it!

It's funny though because we initially weren't very interested. See, we had found an open house across the street and found out there was another home nearby that was also showing. This house wasn't necessarily on our radar. Just another house nearby. We called our Realtor and decided to head over since we had a good hour before Mass. It really was the best decision we could have made and Holy Spirit gently guiding us to our gift. 

We walked in and I immediately noticed a small figure of St. Joseph on the welcome table. I quickly noticed the figure and took to the owner. We started chatting about our Catholic faith. She shared how she had been praying for a young Catholic family with babies. She wanted new and precious family memories to be had in her home. She shared with me the beauty of the home, all it had to offer, and emphasized how wonderful it is that it has been prayed in for over 20 years. She got teary at the thought of our little family purchasing the home and so did I! My son took to her too and after leaving kept asking to go back to Mrs. Carolyn's house. She took to him as well seeing as his name is the same name that started us in conversation - Joseph. She also quickly shared that she had started a 30-day novena to St. Joseph the day prior and felt that he was working fast.

She was right. And, I could not be more grateful for our Lord listening to the petitions of St. Joseph, Guardian of the Incarnate Word!

--- 3 ---

{Pretty}
Now, onto our celebrating this wonderful Saint who was so integral in helping us find our home.

This picture was able to encapsulate a lot of what I found beautiful on this feast day. We were fortunate to have a friend and her two boys (one in utero) over to feast over dinner. Ultimately, she had come over to help let me pack up for our big move this weekend, and when I realized she would be here on St. Joseph's feast day I quickly let her know that we would be feasting and she and her sons would be joining.

She brought over a delicious St. Joseph salad. Our oldest boys are near in age so they had so much fun playing together. Many laughs were had and it was beautiful. Made me want to always celebrate feast days with family friends. Also, it was another reminder of just how blessed we are to have so many wonderful people in our lives and the lives of the boys.

The picture captures the richness of our faith. The joy. The celebration. The whole feast! Which is why I also included this photo for Abbey's Holy Lens Insta-project and Cari's Theme Thursday.

--- 4 ---

{Happy}

Bigfoot was so happy to pick and choose breakfast and lunch. Funny enough he was happy to keep it toddler-simple while I made more of a feast out of dinner.

St. Joseph Feast Day Menu

Breakfast

Blueberry muffins, cereal, and apples

Lunch

Chicken nuggets, Hummus & Carrots, blueberries

Dinner

Pappardelle di San Giuseppe, St. Joseph salad, and St. Joseph blueberry puffcakes

(Another thank you to Catholic Cuisine for their awesomeness!)

We read our St. Joseph Story book during breakfast and lunch per the little man's request.

Enjoyed friends and food for dinner. The pasta that we ate was delicious! It was a perfect salty sweet and made me think of sawdust. Sounds weird, I know, but it did! The breadcrumbs mixed with sugar and crushed toasted walnuts had this sawdust look to them. A perfect opportunity to share about St. Joseph and his craft of carpentry!

And I coudn't get enough of this yummy St. Joseph's salad my friend Katey brought over!

Last, but not, I made theses yummy St. Joseph puffcakes. I ended up using blueberries because it's what I had (instead of rasberries). I also changed up the cream filling a tad by replacing the heavy whipping cream with shortening and almond milk since, again, that's what we had. These were so light and airy I kept wanting to call them puffcakes. Either way, they were a delightful little close to our feast day celebrations!

--- 5 ---

{Funny}

Linus decided to share some of his sweetness on during our feast.

Yesss...?

Mama, what are you doing?

Ah! You want take pictures of me and you want me to smile?

OK!

Was that good?

Ok, mama. I smiled already.

Alright, it's awkward...

--- 6 ---

{Real}

Thank you, thank you, thank you, dear St. Joseph, Gaurdian of the Incarnate Word. We are forever grateful for your prayers and look forward to continuing to get to know you better, precious Foster Father of the Son of God. 

--- 7 ---

All in all, it was a good day. A good day to celebrate answered and unanswered prayers. A good day to celebrate the patron saint of our oldest son and a good day to be thankful for all of our blessings. Blessings in our faith. Blessings in our new home. Blessings in our family. And, blessings in our friends here on earth and in Heaven.

We have lots to celebrate and I'm thankful that celebrating the beautiful lives that have gone before offer us special little ways to remember that.

Thanks for stopping by and for more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary! And visit Like Mother Like Daughter for more Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real posts!

Also, if you could pray for us! We are having our big and full move in to our new home-sweet-home tomorrow! From novena to novena, we have been heard and loved! ! So EXCITED!!!

St. Joseph, Head of the Holy Family, ora pro nobis.