Barefoot and Pregnant

2011-09-15T21:02:00.001-04:00

Just peeking my nose in to say hello to anyone who has come to this blog. I mainly keep it around because it used to be a pregnancy journal at one time. :) Eventually (maybe?) I will get those posts moved over into the archives at my other blog: http://www.sevenkids.net

2007-02-22T15:17:00.000-05:00

Just so I'm not completely bumped from Blogger, I thought I'd add a little post. Be sure to check my regular homescooling blog at St. Francis Academy.

2006-11-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

Making the Leap
...to Typepad, that is. I'm also letting my Homeschoolblogger account fade away in favor of setting up a better homeschooling blog: St. Francis Academy. This is where I will now do the bulk of my posting. I will keep Barefoot and Pregnant available for the archives. Perhaps, if I get pregnant again, I will use it as a pregnancy journal, which is why I started it in the first place. Anyway, in the meantime, please be sure to change your blogroll link to this:

St. Francis Academy

2006-11-03T07:25:00.000-05:00

September, October...November!

A long overdue update...

Sorry about leaving you hanging in regards to my tooth dilemma. Fortunately, all went well on Wednesday morning and I am now pain-free! Hooray! All that's left is fitting the permanent crown on the 13th.

In this post I said I would probably post about the autumn walk in the woods we took at my husband's grandparents' farm. Sadly, I forgot the camera, so I didn't get any pictures. We saw lots of great trees, including some enormous beeches with their silvery-smooth bark. Much to my pleasure, we also found a few stands of pawpaw trees! We might need to take a walk earlier in September to see if we can find some pawpaw fruit.

September
Since I didn't post my post about our initial pawpaw discovery at a nearby location, I might as well say a little something here. At the end of September, we took a walk nearby and kept seeing these low-growing trees with really large leaves. They were everywhere!

At first I thought maybe they were Horsechestnut, which is related to the Buckeye tree. Further along the path, we saw the same type of tree bearing the fruit pictured above. Immediately I knew what it was and exclaimed, "Pawpaw!" The kids thought I had lost my mind until they followed my gaze and found the fruit hanging within arms' reach. Then we looked around and saw one on the ground that looked to me to be pretty ripe. We decided to take it home to try. Once we were home, we cut it open and it was filled with large brown seeds. I think my oldest son counted 15 seeds in that one fruit. It tasted somewhat like a very sugary banana, so it's no surprise to find out that it is called the "poor man's banana". Sometimes I forget that I have a working knowledge of edible wild plants. As I was relaying the story later that day to a friend who came to visit, she asked me, "Weren't you afraid to taste it? How did you know it wasn't poisonous?" I told her that a few years ago, when Ohio was celebrating its bicentennial, we attending a Lewis and Clark festival down near the Ohio River. There was a vendor there who was informing people about the native pawpaw tree of Ohio and was giving out samples and handing out seeds. That's how I knew it would safe for me and the children to taste!

Anyway, back to the family walk in the woods...

October

My husband had brought a shovel along and had our nephew bring his metal detector with him. Ever since he was a child, he had been intrigued by these low mounds that can be found throughout the woods. Now was his chance to dig into a few to see if he would find anything interesting. I kept teasing him about digging for Indians (I know, very un-PC of me), but I admit I was kind of curious too. After digging into about three or four "mounds" he gave up, having found nothing of interest. Still, he wonders how those mounds were made. I suggested that maybe they were composed of roots and leaf litter. Who knows?

My mother-in-law wanted to take us far enough into the woods so we wouldn't see any "daylight" at the edges (daylight, meaning that we couldn't see out to the neighboring fields). We got to a place in the woods where we couldn't see out from three sides, so we sat for a rest and I nursed the toddler. We kept asking the kids to be quiet for a minute so they could listen to the sound of the woods. And what did we hear? The yipping of coyotes!!! We sat quiet for a minute more to be sure we heard correctly. Good for us we could see daylight from one side of the woods. We gathered everyone up quickly and headed for that closest field so we would be out in the open. The boys grabbed up sticks and were ready for battle if the coyotes came our way. I don't think there was anything to worry about. Mamaw had come prepared with her pistol for just such and event.

The rest of the walk through the soybean fields was uneventful. I pointed out the oak trees, maples, and sweetgum that were at the edge of the woods. The sweetgum tree has a neat spiny little seed pod that many people collect to use for crafting and lovely star-shaped leaves that turn a deep burgundy in autumn. Needless to say, we came home with enough to round out our autumn collection of nuts and seed pods. A few gourds and a nice blown glass bowl, and I have a very festive looking centerpiece for our table. Actually, it sits on the counter next to a large apple and cinnamon candle, so when I light the candle and look at our collection, I'm in autumnal bliss in my kitchen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As you know, Halloween was a couple of days ago. Somehow, I was able to surreptitiously get our oldest son to complete a history project in the guide of creating a Halloween costume. Actually, we were reading D'Aulaire's Norse Myths, and somehow he found a connection between Vikings and the characters from the Animal Crossing video game. I think it has something to do with the horned helmet. Anyway, after that, he said he wanted to be a Viking for Halloween. No problem...I had plenty of warning to look for costume pieces in the thrift stores. I let him know that he would be responsible for making his helmet and shield, but that I'd be happy to lend a hand. So, last week he went about creating his portion of the costume, by painting the circle of cardboard he cut from a pizza box and using papier mache to make his helmet:

I made a great find at the local St. Vincent de Paul thrift store. For a couple of bucks, there was a faux fur "cape" (a berserker?) with gauntlets. Perfect for a Barbarian or a Viking. I rounded out the costume with a hunter green fleece shirt and a belt. Here is the end result:

November

So, now it's November. My dental work was on All Saints Day, so I didn't get a chance to get to Mass. Bad Mommy. And we didn't do anything special yesterday for the commemoration of All Souls. I did, however, take a step in the right direction for living the liturgical year. I finally ordered Cay Gibson's Catholic Mosaic! So, maybe I'll be able to get things in order before Advent rolls around!

2006-10-27T04:48:00.000-04:00

What Was That I Said?

No abcess, no infection, no need for a root canal.

Ah yes, I remember now. Um...WRONG!!!

Things were fine after my appointment, and into the morning on Wednesday. The gum around the tooth felt a little tender, but that's pretty normal for a tooth with a crown. Then Wednesday night, it started with the radiating pain again. Another near-sleepless night. Thursday morning came and I felt a little better until I decided to rinse with warm salt water...OWWWW! So, I bit the bullet and called the dentist.

Once I'm there, the assistant fiddled around with the crown, thinking it just needed to be adjusted. A little time passed and my pain started again. She called the dentist in and I was nearly in tears. OK, I was in tears and somewhat ashamed of looking like such a wuss in the chair that I hid my eyes. Once I described the pain to the dentist, he stated, "I think we need to do a root canal." Ok, I'm fine with that...whatever will end my misery. You could punch me in the face if that makes the pain stop!

Instead, he injected me with a long-lasting anesthetic and sent me on my way with prescriptions for amoxicillan and vicadin. No time for a root canal that day. No time for another week! ::sigh:: At least I was able to get through our scheduled girl scout meeting without too much discomfort.

So, as you can see, I'm sleepless again. I awoke around 2:30am with throbbing pain. I took a pill over an hour ago and I think the throbbing is starting to subside. I think I will be calling when the office opens just to make sure this isn't completely abnormal. I know the antibiotics need to have a chance to start working, but I don't want to go through another weekend of suffering if something serious is actually going on.

My poor husband isn't used to me being so vulnerable...and that's how I've been for the last two months. First the miscarriage and trying to regroup from that, and now this. Needless to say, we haven't done much sit-down schooling this week. And, well, if I'm going to be vicadin-dependent for the bulk of next week, we might have to get some educational videos at the library! Bill Nye, here we come!

Note: Since starting this post, the vicadin has definitely started to take effect (why so long?). I consider this a good pain reliever. It takes the edge off, mellows me, but doesn't leave me so loopy that I wouldn't be functional with daytime usage. I think I might actually be able to sleep a little more now. ::sigh::

2006-10-24T13:33:00.000-04:00

I Prefer Labor

If someone were to ask me which I'd rather endure, labor or a toothache, I'd respond with "I prefer labor." For the last four days, I've had the second worst toothache of my life. The first was in a tooth that was in the process of having a root canal done and was closed temporarily before it was finished. That was one day of pure hell, and I was only 13 at the time. That experience left me with the desire to never again see a dentist...until about five years later. But that's a whole other story, and I'm sure you'd rather not be bored by my dental history.

This toothache, though, is a whole different ball of wax. The pain starts in the affected molar, radiates toward the back of my mouth, and down into my lower jaw. Pure hell. For four days. Yes, unmedicated back labor for 12 hours is a piece of cake compared to this! The lovely reward at the end of labor is a baby.

That said, I have never been so excited to go to the dentist as I am now. It will mean a resolution to my pain. I went yesterday for a cleaning and to look into the cause of my pain. It turns out that I need another crown, which I knew about anyway. The tooth has a fracture and the filling in it is loose, letting in bacteria and whatever else, which is causing the pain. The good news? No abcess, no infection, no need for a root canal.

So, in about two hours' time, I hope to feel like a new woman!

2006-10-13T14:45:00.000-04:00

Pumpkins!

This afternoon we went to the local farm stand, five minutes from our home, to pick out pumpkins. A few weeks ago, we had driven by en route to the grandparents' house, and were stunned by the mobscene of their annual fall festival. Little did I know that this festival continues all throughout October and is host to numbers of school and community groups throughout the week!

So, when we arrived, we were met by the same mobscene as we had seen on the weekend. Still, we braved the crowds and nippy, windy weather to pick out our pumpkins. I like to have at least one good-sized one that I can carve, then several smaller ones for the children with which to do whatever they wish. Here you see three of the larger ones we chose with mums in the background and our St. Francis statue in front.

The farm stand had a pretty nifty setup to cater to children. There were lots of cartoon figures that had painted pumpkin heads in the area where the pumpkin piles are. Around the back of the barn there was a "Pioneer Village" with a covered wagon, a couple of tipis, more pumpkin head figures, and several animals in cages. The kids enjoyed seeing turkeys, chickens, roosters, a donkey, horse, sheep, and some young peacocks. Because it was so windy, we didn't linger very long...besides, I had forgotten the camera for some fall photos ops!

This Sunday we will be taking a family walk in the woods that are on the great-grandparents' farm. It should be fun, especially as we are seeing native trees with new eyes. Besides the easily identified oaks and maples, we now know how to identify walnuts, buckeyes, hickories, and pawpaws. I'd be really tickled if we found some pawpaws growing in the woods! Hopefully I'll remember to charge and take the camera along.

2006-10-05T08:29:00.000-04:00

A Glimpse of Reality

St. Francis Day in Review

Just in case someone out there gets the impression that we have this fantastic, full way of celebrating the liturgical year...let me assure you that most of the time we fall incredibly short of my grand plans. :-)

Yesterday's plans deviated a little. First, we stopped off at the library to pick up some books on St. Francis. I thought it would be fun to have a couple of different picture books. One book I picked out was St. Francis of Assisi: A Life of Joy by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. While I definitely don't agree with Kennedy's attacks on our President regarding the environment, this book about St. Francis is beautiful. Definitely worth checking out of the library.

That done, I followed up the nature theme by stopping into the local birding store. I had received a coupon in a "new neighbor" packet the day before for a free 2 lb. bag of songbird seed mix. DS, 10, was impressed that we made two stops, had several books and a bag of bird seed and hadn't spent a penny. :-)

Then we headed up to Sharon Woods. We took a short hike in the woods, noting a bunch of Pawpaw trees, then headed to the playground. Fortunately, the playground is the sort where even the youngest one in our crew (2) can entertain herself happily with the others and mom can sit and relax for a little while. So, while I wasn't looking forward to the playground part, it was actually the nicer part of the outing. I'll have to remember that.

On our way out of the playground, we discovered a Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar, or at least that's what I thought it was. Usually, these caterpillars are green with large fake eyespots, but this little fella was brown with large fake eyespots. I scooped him up with a leaf and placed him near a shrub off the path, figuring that he was probably going to pupate soon. Further along the sidewalk, we found a Virginian Tiger Moth caterpillar. This guy looked like an orange Woolly Bear. Back home, we found out that it's sometimes called a "Yellow Bear," which makes sense. We also confirmed that the brown caterpillar was the Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar preparing to pupate. I love it when I'm right!

So far, so good.

However, once we were home, the rest of the day just kind of slipped by us. No decorated cake, no table blessing, no reading of the St. Francis books. Oh well. Who said you have to read about a saint on the feast day? Right?

Perhaps St. Francis himself would have been more pleased that we spent a few hours out in nature and saved that little caterpillar than feasting on cake in his honor.

2006-10-04T07:12:00.000-04:00

Happy Feast Day!

St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of our homeschool, which is named "St. Francis Academy." I was discussing the upcoming feast day yesterday with our oldest son, and he asked why St. Francis was such a big deal. I mentioned to him that he was our school patron. His remark: "That's really the name of our school?" Apparently he thought we just made it up so it looked like he attended a school when his picture and bio appears in his baseball team's media guide. I told him that, yes, it was officially the name of our school and that I put it on all our paperwork when asked for "school name." I even use it when I order materials online. Anyway, I'll probably explain deeper today why I chose St. Francis as our patron saint.

I don't know exactly why I have such an affinity for this saint. It's not like I have a deep devotion to St. Francis, but I still feel drawn to him somehow. I love how he gave up his completely spoiled rich lifestyle to become "The Poor Man of Assisi". I also appreciate his love of all God's creatures and especially like his Sermon to the Birds:

My little sisters, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God, your Creator, and always in every place ought ye to praise Him, for that He hath given you liberty to fly about everywhere, and hath also given you double and triple rainment; moreover He preserved your seed in the ark of Noah, that your race might not perish out of the world; still more are ye beholden to Him for the element of the air which He hath appointed for you; beyond all this, ye sow not, neither do you reap; and God feedeth you, and giveth you the streams and fountains for your drink; the mountains and valleys for your refuge and the high trees whereon to make your nests; and because ye know not how to spin or sow, God clotheth you, you and your children; wherefore your Creator loveth you much, seeing that He hath bestowed on you so many benefits; and therefore, my little sisters, beware of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praises unto God.

So, how will we celebrate this day? Well, I think I will surprise the children by having a day out at a local park where we will take a nature walk and then play on the playground. On our way back home, we might stop by little Jerome Francis' grave. Back home, we will read the book The Good Man of Assisi and perhaps make a cake and decorate it with these suggested decorations (scroll down). Perhaps before dinner, we will use this table blessing.

2006-09-25T15:57:00.000-04:00

Oh, Nuts!

The best kind of study in our homeschool tends to be the kind that grows out of something done spontaneously as opposed to one that I have designed meticulously. Why is that? I’m not sure, but perhaps it has something to do with following an interest.

Anyway, one study that has developed in such a way for us started when we ventured into our back woods to explore. And what did we happen to find? Well, a Buckeye tree that was bent over by another tree from when the builders first cleared the land on our lot.

Lo and behold, we hit the motherlode of buckeye nuts within our reach! They are fascinating to behold in their spiny husks, though they are nowhere near as spiny as the American Chestnut. We were surprised to find that their husks open easily with a squeeze, revealing a dazzling shiny dark brown nut inside. The nut has a tan round spot near the top. Do you know why they are called Buckeyes? It is because the nut resembles the eye of a white-tail buck!

Here are two pages that the boys and girls created for their nature notebook this morning. They each did a leaf rubbing of a Buckeye tree leaf and sketched a buckeye. John, our avid Buckeye collector, added a sketch of the Buckeye husk below his leaf rubbing.

This discovery led to finding out about some of the other trees on our property. We have found out that we also have several varieties of Hickory trees. When I was a little girl growing up in upstate NY, my brother worked in a restaurant called “Hickory Manor” which was about a quarter mile from our house. I asked my mother how the restaurant had gotten its name and she mentioned something about there being a lot of Hickory trees in the area. Now, my childhood home was a very woodsy area, about two miles from the foot of the Shawangunk Mountains. I spent a lot of my time in the woods behind our home, roaming the hills with my cousin who lived next door. For the life of me, I don’t remember encountering Hickory nuts, though I do have memories of peeling the bark from the Shagbark Hickory…I just didn’t know it was a Hickory tree! Well, I’ve learned a thing or two since then, especially since starting to homeschool, thanks to the naturalists at our local park system. One thing I learned was how to identify a Shagbark Hickory. Anyway, while the children and I were in the woods en route to the playset,

we heard this crashing coming through the leaves. At first I thought it may have been a squirrel jumping from tree to tree, but then the tell-tale “PLUNK” alerted me to the fact that we had some nuts dropping to the ground. A quick assessment of the leaves overhead asserted that there were neither oaks nor buckeyes in the immediate area. Then I spied a tree nearby that had that wonderful shaggy bark.

Aha! Hickory nuts! Sure enough, when we got closer to said tree, we saw the large nuts in their thick green husks. The oldest boy asked, “Aren’t those walnuts, like at Mamaw’s house?” I replied that I wasn’t completely sure, but I thought that maybe they were Hickory nuts and that we could look it up on the internet once we were back in the house. One really cool thing was all around the base of this tree was evidence of animals having eaten the nuts. There were partially eaten nuts all over the ground!

It turns out that we have not only Shagbark Hickories in the woods, but also Bitternut Hickories and possibly Pignut Hickories. The nut husk of the Shagbark is similar to the Black Walnut in that it is fairly large and bright green. However, it differs in that the husk is four-parted while the walnut’s is not divided at all. The Shagbark differs from other hickories also. Its hull is about ¼” thick and difficult to remove while still green, whereas the other hickories on our land have thin husks that are easily peeled away from the nuts. Here's a selection of the nuts we found. The smaller ones that are bright green or peeled are from one of the other Hickory trees, and the larger ones that look like they've been eaten by something are the ones from the Shagbark Hickory.

That’s it for nut-bearing trees on our property. We have lots and lots of Maple trees, most of which seem to be Sugar Maples. Perhaps we’ll have to read up on maple sugaring and tap some trees once February comes rolling around. Down near the edge of the property is a fantastic little creek that has some pools nearby where the kids are able to catch little fish. Along the creek are great big Sycamore trees, which stand out with their stark white limbs and trunk on high. Easily identified in any season…I like that in a tree. Closer to the house on the edge of the woods is what I am pretty sure is a Hackberry tree. The one thing that helped me identify it were these nipple galls that I keep seeing on the leaves it is dropping.

The galls are caused by the Hackberry Psyllid, a tiny little insect. Apparently they do not harm the tree, but only cause it to drop leaves prematurely. I also have reason to believe we have a black cherry growing near the edge of the woods.

Some of the trees are starting to turn color. The Buckeyes have already turned yellow, so they're very easy to pick out amid the maples in the woods. The maple trees near the house have started changing to a yellow-orange up top and are gradually dropping leaves onto the back deck. They are sure to be very colorful if I'm right about them being Sugar Maples. So, in the spirit of the grandest change in seasons, I've chosen some books from the library to read to the children:
Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins
Autumn Across America by Seymour Simon
Woodswalk: Peepers, Porpupines & Exploding Puffballs by Art and Robbins
The Blossom on the Bough by Anne Dowden
We will be rounding this out with our handy Peterson Field Guide for Eastern Trees. We will likely learn how and why leaves change color, and I hope to have them add some narrations to the nature notebook.

Of course, my other favorite topic of study in nature is birds. To me, trees and birds go hand in hand, so before the colder weather comes along I hung some bird feeders nearby. I got a suet feeder and some suet to attract the smaller woodpeckers, nuthatches, and any other suet-loving birds (the chickadees are frequent visitors). I also found a nifty pair of net feeders with thistle seed in them. The chickadees are loving these feeders, though I've seen at least one Goldfinch that will just sit there eating if the cats or kids don't come by to disturb him. One of the net feeders hangs on a tree with the suet feeder, giving DH a wonderful and entertaining view from his office.

These feeders are also visible from the deck and the dining room window, where I've enjoyed watching the birds feed in the mornings before the rest of the family is awake. I also hung a feeder with sunflower seeds around the front of the house near the porch. I think it's hanging too close to the porch railing for any birds to be comfortable eating there. They're not stupid...they know we have cats! So, I'll see if DH can hang that feeder from the porch roof or some other place where we'll be able to watch the feathered fans of sunflower seeds.

2006-09-20T12:06:00.000-04:00

Gentleness

It's funny sometimes how the Holy Spirit can help you sort things out in the midst of reading blogs. I was reading this post just a few moments ago and was struck by the comments of "older mom" Michele Q. Her advice was to give oneself permission to be gentle, to not do it all. It's impossible to do it all anyway, but what you can do is rely on God for His help and trust in His plan. From there, I was led to Mozart and Mudpies where I read the post "A Gentle Beginning." This all brought me back to a little nugget I had read by Elizabeth Foss, a nature reading list which was also presented in a talk she gave at NACHE 2004. Then, Elizabeth dug up this gem which she posted today. It speaks volumes to my heart.

Which brings me to my point.

As I said, I've been needing to sort things out lately. While I'm recovering just fine physically, I need to respect the fact that the emotional recovery (which, no doubt, is also influenced, perhaps subtlely, by hormonal changes) and spiritual recovery will take a little longer. That's not to say that I have permission to completely slack off. What that does mean, though, is that the plan for our homeschooling has changed a bit.

Like Elizabeth, I feel myself drawn to nature, with the desire for our children to become intimately acquainted with their immediate surroundings. This is what is fueling our fires these days. We have this awesome property that is 1.3 acres, most of which is woods. The one thing that is a stumbling block to more independent explorations by the kids is that the hill in the back is quite steep and can be a challenge at times. However, once down the hill, there is a fantastic level spot in the woods where their playset is and where we can explore. Our latest interest has been in gathering Buckeyes. I know there is a rabbit trail in there somewhere. :-) (A rabbit trail is essentially one interest that has you off and running and exploring many things that are related...sometimes it develops into a full-blown unit study, sometimes not).

Yes, we're still doing Latin. Yes, we're still working with Saxon Math, although I will likely be taking a different approach with our 10yo son, as he needs more of a challenge. Yes, we're using Copywork and Read Alouds. I'm thinking of dropping Classical Writing, or just using the writing section of it, since the grammar and spelling portion are starting to seem like overkill (maybe not if my kids had started it at a younger age). And instead of my fantastic idea of studying Earth Science a la Well-Trained Mind this year, we have most definitely reverted to pure Nature Study. The biggest thing I want to do to bring meaning and a sense of accomplishment to our studies (especially in History and Religion) is creating and maintaining notebooks. By notebooks, I don't mean the seeming drudgery that is presented in Well-Trained Mind (read this passage, outline it, and place it in the appropriate section of your notebook), nor do I mean time-and teacher-intensive lapbooks. Instead, I mean a scrapbook-type notebook. I already have tons of scrapbooking supplies, so we might as well use them!

2006-09-16T20:31:00.000-04:00

Getting Real

I know sometimes...ok...a majority of the time my posts are, well, fluff. A gripe here about music, a detail about a recipe we like, or how we've gone about setting up our learning space in the new home. And perhaps I've done that because I've wanted to evade getting real on my blog. Being real, being honest leaves one wide open, vulnerable.

Anyway, the other day I was responding to an e-mail an Elizabeth Ministry friend from our former parish had sent, seeing how I was doing. For once, instead of self-editing for fear of becoming too vulnerable, I was honest how I was doing. Since she would like to pass my e-mail along to the pastor to help him understand the effects miscarriage has on mothers (and families), I may as well post what I wrote to her here. So here goes:

Emotionally, I still feel kind of...neither here nor there. I'm deeply saddened and find myself kind of envious of women I see with newborns or sporting a pregnant belly. I yearn to snuggle a tiny baby even though I have my own sweet two year old at home. I know all of this is normal. One difference between this spontaneous miscarriage and the first one is that I'm still nursing Cate. Having that connection helps me feel less...empty. With the first loss, I had intentionally weaned Lizzy weeks before losing the baby. After that, I vowed (to myself) that I would *never* intentionally wean a child and would continue to nurse through other pregnancies. So, I'm able to hold her close, gaze at her, snuggle her, and nourish her, which all helps me feel grounded and less lost.

I think also that because I was able to hold Jerome, to check him out--finger, toes, eyes, nose, ears, genitals (so tiny)--it made it less of a shock. With the middle miscarriage, which was fetal demise at 17 weeks, we tried to wait for a miscarriage to occur spontaneously, which was very difficult. I wound up consenting to a D&E, a procedure identical to an abortion, except that *our* baby was dead. Never getting to hold him (his body was not intact), to be sure HE was a BOY, to know him in that way was such a wrenching, sad thing. There will be that hole in my heart forever.

I think sometimes people treat miscarriage lightly because they don't understand what all is involved. "It's just a miscarriage...it's not like you gave birth." It's important to remember that even earlier miscarriages involve a significant amount of blood loss, and it may be a process that takes place over a number of days. The physical demands may not be identical to birth, but it still places quite a toll on one's body. A mom who has miscarried still needs the help a postpartum mom needs but she may feel strange asking for that help because, after all, "It's just a miscarriage..." Know what I mean? So, when ministering to a mom who has miscarried, it's important to find out if she had a lot of blood loss, if she's eating well with the right kinds of foods, and if she *Isn't* feeling better around 5-6 days, suggest she call her doctor and go in. Then offer help with meals, light housekeeping, or childcare. Some dads might think it's OK to leave her home after a day or so, and that might be the time when she needs the most help. I'm fortunate to have Matt here all the time, so I was able to call on him when I needed something. I just could not imagine going through this, the loss and the recovery, without help.

Anyway, I am finding great comfort in knowing that our loss has helped others to understand things about miscarriage and having respect for life. The people in the ER didn't know that it was OK to take your baby's remains back home with you to arrange for burial. I knew this because I had informed myself on the laws Ohio has regarding the death of babies before and after births. So, now the ER at the hospital (and the OB resident) know that a miscarried baby, lost prior to 20 weeks, can be taken back home. I think most folks must leave their babies there to determine the cause of the loss, not knowing there is an alternative. And the medical staff who would use the term "products" or "fetus" to refer to our baby, and my husband correcting them by using the word "baby". Who knows whose heart was touched that night because we view our child as a human being and not as "tissue"? I'm pretty sure this was a first time thing for our young priest, also. But he was so kind and said just the right words to help us heal (saying that although Jerome's life was short, perhaps his mission in his short time was to remind us *all* how precious life is).

So, yeah, I'm doing OK. I'm sure I'll have my moments, but with God's grace I'll get through them. :-)

I will say, with each passing day, with that God-given grace, I've been able to see such brightness in my life, such incredible blessings. The blessing of friendship this past week has been so wonderful. Not only was I able to meet and connect with Erin, but I also spent another day with a local homeschooling friend with whom I share a lot in common, and one other day I was visited by another Elizabeth Ministry friend. My husband had to travel to California for the week, but God gave me just what I needed in Matt's absence! Even little things like receiving a sympathy card from a fellow homeschooling mom whom I haven't seen for months...just an overwhelming outpouring of love. I've also been blessed with being able to appreciate my home and my family so much more; taking the time to look out on the woods behind the house to breathe deep while the sqeals and squabbles of normal childhood go on inside. It's as though the scales have been lifted from my eyes! And I mustn't forget about the Church, which is my refuge, and the daily re-building of my faith.

God is so good.

2006-09-13T09:09:00.000-04:00

This 'n That

I had a wonderful morning yesterday visiting with the hostess of the Bearing Blog. We spent the time chatting about how we met our husbands, graduate school, homeschooling, and great Catholic parishes. I admired her adorable baby girl, who slept peacefully or nursed in the sling amid the chaos and cacophony of our home. We've "known" one another for years from the CIN NFP list and have tried to meet a couple of time before when she was in town visiting relatives, so it was nice to finally put a face to the name.

I decided to copy the Music Plans for this year to my homeschool blog. It is a music history and appreciation plan, focusing primarily on the musical setting of the Mass throughout history. We will begin by studying Gregorian Chant and move through the musical eras listening to examples from each. This will be supplemented by learning about several composers along the way, listening to the Music Masters CDs that we've had since we first started homeschooling. It will be nice to move beyond Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven! For the month of December, we will take a little detour by listening to Handel's Messiah and learning about the life of Handel. For some variation, we will also be learning about and listening to several Requiem Masses, using Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem as a contrast (Lutheran-based text).

I'm quite proud of that plan as it uses resources that we already have on hand or can get through the library. The only new purchase I made was of the CD "Learning About Gregorian Chant" which I think is a fantastic investment. For my oldest child (12), I sprinkled in some readings from Music: An Appreciation, 4th ed. by Roger Kamien. This is a textbook that I bought on Cathswap a couple of years ago to have on hand. It's not necessary though, which is why I didn't include those readings in the plan online. If you don't have the Music Masters CDs, it would be possible to supplement study with living books on the composers or with articles for children that are online. There are also lots of free resources online, especially for chant, so certain texts would not be necessary, and I have posted links for them. The whole idea is to learn about our rich musical heritage as Catholics, the lives of the composers, and the times in which they lived. Feedback would be great, especially if you have knowledge about which composers were Catholic (baptized and/or devout).

Gotta run.

2006-09-11T16:39:00.001-04:00

"Creating a Christ-Centered School"

Well, you would hope this would be the primary mission of every Catholic school, but we know that isn't always the case. I was tickled to see a copy of this in our parish bulletin this weekend. I thought I would pass it along to you, readers, in case you were looking for some framework within which to teach your children the lives of the saints and the virtues they exemplified.

2006-09-08T12:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Mary

This seems like a really good excuse to bake a cake today. ;-)

The Marian color is traditionally blue, and white is also acceptable given Mary's Immaculate Conception. Now, I'm partial to chocolate cake, preferably baked from scratch using cocoa. But perhaps it would be even more fun for the kids if we baked cupcakes instead. That way, I could use the nifty store-bought decorating icing thing that has white icing in it. So much fun to decorate with. Hmm...maybe once I get this little one down for a nap.

2006-09-07T08:57:00.000-04:00

The Learning Space, Part II

OK, I hope this doesn't take long because I am actually feeling really good today and have some gumption to get a few things done. Anyway, here are a couple of other photos.

The Couch/Computer/TV area:

Yes, that's wee Cate in the computer chair. The couches are nasty, but still a comfy place to park when reading or listening to someone read. This computer is used for oldest DD's math, countless hours of a Pokemon game, and IM-ing dad downstairs in his office.

We also have a TV and VCR in this area. I wish I could say we use it to watch educational videos, but the truth is it is usually the place where the kids play on Gamecube (Hey, Animal Crossing helps with reading skills, right?) and watch Disney Channel and ESPN.

Then there is our ongoing indoor nature study:

The Turtle Tank

We have three little turtles that technically belong to Connor, age 5. They are fun to watch at times, especially when they're hungry. We feed them beef hearts (or "bee farts" as the boys like to say) most of the time, though if we run out they will get those little green pellets they sell int he grocery store. Don't ask me what kind of turtles they are!!! Ok, I think one is a Palmer, and one is a Cooter, but the other is some other kind of breed. Bad nature mommy...I should be able to identify our pets. DH intends to either purchase or build a stand for them so the tank will no longer be on the floor. This is the first thing you see when you come up the stairs (which thankfully are in the back of the house off the kitchen)...along with a pair of tennis shoes and a stale cookie. :-)

Above the turtle tank is a window and in the cozy nook with the couches there is another window. That lets in a lot of natural light. One thing I really like about our upstairs learning space is that our laundry room is off this common area. It, too, has a window and looks out onto the woods. Presently, we're enjoying some nice cross breezes with the cool air that comes up off the creek. Since we have a large family, daily laundry is part of my life. It makes sense to have the learning space upstairs near the laundry so I don't have to trot up and down the stairs to tend the laundry. Another added benefit to being upstairs for "school" is there is yet one more floor that separates us from DH's basement office...key to keeping the noise level down when he is on the phone (which is a large portion of his day).

What other things do I like about our upstairs learning space? Well, there is a lot of wall space that I envision hanging our art reproductions and maps on. I have a Renoir, a Monet, and a Van Gogh that would look great up there. I already have a map of southwest Ohio that shows the various forts and Indian camps that once were here. I hung up our laminated world map over the Montessori shelf, but it has seen better days and it may be time for a new one. DH gave our laminated US map away, so I'm sure I can con him into getting TWO new maps instead of one. I also need to get DH to hang the white board (I can't hang anything straight). We also have a fantastic humongous storage closet in the hall by the kids' rooms. Half is used to store linens, and the other half stores the bulk of the toys and all the games we have acquired over the years. The laundry room also has a good amount of storage over the appliances and sink, which is where I keep most of the craft supplies.

All in all, it's a great space. I still would like a little table and chairs for the little ones to work at. I've recently been inspired by this website to do more things with the two littlest ones...but that's on hold until we work out the kinks with the older kids. :-) I did create a learning poster for them but without the weekly theme and vocabulary. Instead, I made a pocket for the Child-Size Masterpieces along with a spot for the artist's name as well as an area for the music/composer we are studying as a family at the time. Instead of creating a new poster each time, I used clear photo corners in which to stick cards for letters, numbers, shapes, colors, the artist's name (on the pocket for the art print), nursery rhymes, and the composer (still need to print out images for that and create cards for the pieces we will listen to). The idea is similar to the fridge of learning (scroll down to the bulletin board).

BTW, this post took long, long, long because I cooked breakfast for most of the crew and have been fetching juice and milk and changing diapers...also put in a load of laundry while referreeing an argument upstairs. Such is life. :-)

2006-09-06T20:17:00.000-04:00

The Learning Space

OK, ok, I can take a hint. And since Erin has put me to shame by being so prompt in posting her photos, I suppose it's now time. While you're at it, be sure to take a gander at everyone else's fantastic photos in the carnival.

So, anyway, here is the famous desk area:

As I wrote before, this was constructed out of shelving and heavy-duty brackets that are screwed into the wall studs. The long piece is about 8 feet long, and the short piece on the far wall is 4 feet long.

I purchased 12" cork squares and secured them to the wall above the desk so the kids have an area to tack up artwork, model alphabets, and other miscellaneous things.

I like the desk because it provides us with a generous amount of space. Three of us can sit along the long portion comfortably for written work.

Here is the "Montessori Shelf":

If you're familiar with Montessori, then you will recognize the Continent Globe. I'm proud to say I made it myself by painting a thrift-store globe. Sadly, the base of the globe is broken, so it keeps falling off! On the top shelf are other various geography manipulatives: a small jigsaw puzzle of Australia, US state and capital pin-map with corkboard, continent cards, animals of the world cards, landmarks of the world cards, and a Lewis and Clark game. I still need to put up our laminated world and US maps which DH just unearthed today.

On the second shelf are various language materials: tracing cards, plastic insets with cut paper, Language Discovery Cards, Nature Discovery Cards, my version of the moveable alphabet, pink fishbowl words, and Bob Books. I also have the first half of a sandpaper alphabet in cursive made, and they sit in a tray with a small blackboard and a covered box of sand for handwriting practice. This didn't fit on the shelf, so it's on the top of a nearby shelf.

The bottom shelf holds the math manipulatives: pattern blocks, counting bears, multiplication tables, Beads and Skittles game (division), small number rods, Roman numeral cards, addition/subtraction "machine".

I'll finish up tomorrow with the couch/computer/TV area and the turtle tank.

We haven't done any school-school this week as life took a turn for us last week. This morning we buried little Jerome. Had the kids been in school, they either wouldn't have been able to attend the ceremony, or I would've been uncomfortable explaining to the school why they needed the day off. I've been feeling pretty crummy physically since coming home from the hospital because of the blood loss. While I didn't need a transfusion, I certainly did need to work on building up my blood supply. It finally clicked in my brain that I needed straight iron, rather than a little iron in a multi-vitamin supplemented by eating good foods. So, now I'm feeling a little more normal, with energy to stand and do things like cook, load the dishwasher, and get the mail. I kid you not, this miscarriage was physically more taxing than any of my births...recovery has been more demanding and I've had to be patient with myself, allow myself to sit around with my feet up watching bad TV.

Hopefully I can get the kids interested in learning things again. Maybe for the next couple of days I'll just concentrate on read alouds and let the older kids catch up with their CD-ROM math tutor. :-) Yeah, right now the Latina Christiana DVDs are looking pretty darn good!

2006-09-02T11:10:00.000-04:00

Our Baby, Jerome Francis

We ask for your prayers at this most difficult time. It is with great grief that we bring you the news of our baby's passing. At 16 weeks of pregnancy, I miscarried our son, Jerome Francis, on Thursday, August 31.

I began spotting on Wed. August 30. The baby passed from my body on Thursday, and I wound up needing a D&C on Friday for heavy bleeding. The care given by labor and delivery at Bethesda North hospital was truly compassionate and sensitive. I am very thankful for that.

We are having the baby buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery on Wed. Sept. 6. Fr. Nicholas Lombardo, OP, of St. Gertrude's Church will be saying prayers of commendation at the graveside. This is the first time we have ever done such a thing, but I'm sure it will bring us healing and closure.

Some good miscarriage, stillbirth, and early infant death resources:
Elizabeth Ministry
Facts About Miscarriage
SHARE: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support

2006-08-29T07:42:00.000-04:00

Random Homeschool Stuff

You know, I have a homeschool blog over here at Homeschool Blogger. I started it because I thought it might be nice to have a separate home education blog in a community of other homeschoolers. However, I seem to keep posting my homeschooling stuff here at BF&P.

Erin, I promise, once I get the newly charged batteries into the camera, I will get some shots of the "learning space". I had a great opportunity when we started yesterday morning. All the kids except for the littlest one, were perched on their chairs at the "desk" (the shelf thing) like good little school children. It was pretty funny, actually, as I didn't say a thing about sitting there and we weren't going to be doing much, if any, pencil-to-paper stuff.

Anyway, the first day was designed to be very low-key. We (OK, I) talked about the books we would be using this year, how the two oldest would spend the first few weeks reviewing last year's math with the help of the DIVE CDs and then finish the last part of the texts before moving onto the next level. Oldest DS asked, "So, does that mean I'm still in fourth grade?" "No, silly...you're reviewing what you did last year. It's what most kids do at the beginning of the school year."

Then we went to work. The two oldest got set up on the two computers to review math, while I worked with the next oldest on her math. The Kindergartener had an uneventful "first day" only doing a tracing sheet while I worked with the other kids. I definitely need to restructure things so I can work individially with him on all things while the older kids do their independent work.

After the oldest kids were done, we sat at the couches for a Latin lesson. I figured the best way for this to work would be to have the older kids listen in while the younger ones work on Prima Latina (oral vocab for day 1). Then the older kids had their lesson from Latina Christiana 1, which was also review, since we worked up to Lesson 10 in the course last year.

Following that, I briefly worked with each of the two oldest in their respective Classical Writing lessons. During this time, the next oldest was working on her copywork from the Memoria Press Copybook II. Before ordering this book, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. We've used other handwriting/copybooks before and I was disappointed. However, the MP copybooks are very nice indeed. They take quotes from the Bible, prayers, and classic children's poetry and divide them into manageable weekly work. There is also a suggested plan at the beginning of the book on how best to use copywork to teach various language lessons. So, two thumbs up for this little nugget.

We wrapped things up with a reading from the D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, which my oldest daughter was excited about. All in all, it was an OK day. I felt really disorganized, despite my best efforts. I think part of the reason was I really didn't have a plan for how to work with the kids at various grade levels. I had an idea about how I'd do things, but nothing really solid. But, that what these first days are for...figuring out how to best get things done. That's one of the reasons why I wanted to take this week as a gentle way to work back into homeschooling. This way, I'm not totally frustrated that x or y didn't get done.

OH, one last thing. While I had chosen copywork for the two oldest to work on for the year, I had forgotten to print anything out for them! This made me consider purchasing books similar to the MP ones for them. Then I remembered a program called StartWrite. I downloaded the trial copy and spent a while last night typing up the copywork and printing out pages. As long as you don't close the trial copy when you first download it, it is fully functional. I decided this morning that I'd go ahead and purchase the full version anyway, now that I have an idea how to use it for copywork. (I had had it a few years ago, before a computer crash, but only used it for handwriting...at that time I wasn't really impressed with it.)

What are my oldest two using for copywork? Well, they have prayers in Latin to copy, as well as selected Bible verses (these will go along with their readings from the MP Introduction to Classical Studies). To round it out, I will choose copywork from their Classical Writing books (examples from Aesop, Baldwin's 50 Famous Stories, and the Bible) as well as some poetry from The Harp and Laurel Wreath.

One very cool thing about homeschooling is that when the kids go to bed at 10pm, it inevitably means they sleep a little later in the mornings. This gives me some free time alone (I usually get up around 7), yet one other way I can manage a blog post. Only two children are awake right now at 8:20, so it looks like we may not get started until after 9.

2006-08-27T17:58:00.000-04:00

Cheap Pizza (among other things)

This recipe was a hit at our home tonight. Now, I've made homemade pizza before, and it's pretty much been a hit or miss experience. Sometimes, on a good day, I would get the crust rolled out so it was fairly even, get the right amount of sauce, and a good balance of cheese and toppings. However, one problem was consistent: regardless of how well everything else would go, the middle of the pizza would inevitably be soggy. Well, duhhhh...the lightbulb finally went off. Make several smaller crusts, prebake them, and let those of us with different tastes (two of us like olives and onions as opposed to the family favorite, pepperoni) have our own pizza. Excellent idea, I must say...and not more soggy middles. I used the "Make Ahead Pizza Crust" recipe, which everyone commented positively on...good taste, good texture, not too crispy, not too puffy. Ahhh, I love it when a recipe experiment turns out well. :-)

We also really like the Quick Sugar Cookies recipe from this website. I've never really been a fan of sugar cookies myself...probably because I had never tasted homemade ones. You know the ones I'm talking about here...they come in a plastic roll and you slice and bake. Blech. Anyway, I decided to test the recipe above on a day when we were all desperate for something sugary. Nearly everyone likes them. I have one child who still prefers chocolate chip over the sugar cookies, but she does enjoy them if she gets to decorate them with colored sugar, sprinkles, or nonpareils. We went all out last night and even decorated with piped frosting. Fun, fun, fun.

I'm waiting for a good time to try out the Lemon Bars. They sound absolutely delightful, but I'm afraid I'd be the only one eating them.

School starts around here tomorrow. It will be nice to have a daily break from the constant doorbell-ringing of neighborhood kids. The kids had such a great time playing together for several hours the other day while their friends were busy doing other things. I almost forgot that they can enjoy each others' company when they need to. Anyway, I think we'll be using this coming week to get a gentle start back into homeschooling. It's not that the learning ever stops, it's just we're more focused during the school year.

I've been reading blogs in the For Real Learning Blog Ring and came across Trinity Prep School's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective New School Years" meme. I especially liked the advice from a veteran homeschool mom at The Common Room. This gem (in #7) particularly struck me:

You can curl up on the couch with a good history book and your sweet children
and read together and talk about it and you will have covered as much ground in
literature, critical thinking, vocabulary, and history in half an hour as a public schooled child does in a week. You may not have pen and paper work to show for it, but the work of the mind happens in the mind, and it is what happens in the mind and heart that constitutes education.

She also discussed how she keeps records in a way that helps them keep track of what has been done, what is left, and in such a way that you aren't constantly needing to rewrite daily or weekly plans because someone was sick, it was a beautiful day outide, or grandma decided to pop in for a visit. So, is my binder still neat and tidy, keeping track of what everyone is working on at once? You betcha! I decided to adopt this record-keeping method, with books listed, chapter breakdowns, weekly lessons to accomplish, etc. with a space next to them to mark off. At the top of each subject is the times per week we will aim for work in the given subject. You can see a similar system here. It actually look much nicer and tidier than my 3 -week 2-page spread for 4 students. :-) Plus, it lays out the whole year, instead of the 12-week term that I initially started with.

Oh, and while we're on the school topic, I did transform our 2nd floor bonus room into another learning space. What I did was get 18" wide white masonite shelves and heavy-duty brackets. DH screwed them into the wall studs so they would be sturdy enough for leaning on and holding books, supplies, and such. The kids are really pleased with having an area to do drawing, artwork, writing, and building with mega-blocks. I, of course, finished the area out with the necessary accoutrements: a new set of a zillion colored markers, new pencils and pens, pencil holders, a nifty looking desk light, and a kewl stackable paper-holder thingamajig. So, now we have a place where we can actually find the watercolor paper, construction paper, white copy paper, and lined looseleaf paper. Yee-haw. I also brought up the Montessori materials that I had made for the younger set and placed them neatly on a shelf nearby. I bought two white stackable cube-things that have middle dividers, so I'll be able to have a section for each school-aged child to keep his or her things (books they are using/reading, binders, etc.). I'd still like a small table and chairs for the two little ones, but it isn't urgent...at least, not yet.

2006-08-21T12:06:00.000-04:00

The Issue That Just Won't Go Away

I'm talking about the issue of the appropriateness of some forms of music during Mass. Jeffrey Tucker at the New Liturgical Movement blog has excerpted parts of an article discussing the response of teens to rock/contemporary music at church (teens from various Christian denomenations were interviewed for the study).

For me, this is an issue that just won't seem to go away. No matter how much I try to come to grips with the "liturgical music" that's served up weekly; no matter how often I question myself if it's really just a matter of taste; no matter how much I try to block it out as a distraction and focus on the real purpose of going to Mass...it just won't go away. Thankfully, I'm not the only one who is fed up with the state of things. There are plenty of other people, in "real life", and in the blogosphere who feel exactly the same way.

2006-08-17T14:32:00.000-04:00

Time

Just in case you're floored by the cost of a tiny little demonstration clock with which to teach your children how to tell time, take advantage of this printable one. We visited the local teacher's store this afternoon after the first Girl Scouts meeting of the year. I thought, "Heck, I'll pick up one of those little demo clocks." Then I changed my mind when I saw it was going to cost darn near $10.00 for a small one. "Umm....I'm sure I can find a printable one on the internet."

However, I did pick up a Brownie Try-It book for my daughter. I know, I know...you can find all those activities here and there online, but in this case, I don't mind the expense of a bound book that I can refer to in any part of the house and at any hour of the day or night (especially when some other person--a-child--is using my computer!).

And to those of you who responded about my planning...I think this compulsion is just another way for me to avoid the housework. :-) The planning notebook is neat and tidy, but the house is another matter (actually, it's not too bad, but certainly not House Beautiful, IYKWIM).

2006-08-16T09:41:00.000-04:00

I'm Still Here

I know I've let more time pass than 1.5 weeks between postings, but I just wanted to pop in for a moment to say I'm still here. Not much to post on, really. I've been busy putting the final touches on my plans for this school year and finishing up the paperwork to send to the school district. We got our letter the other day noting we are in compliance, so we are good to go (not that I had any worries that we weren't in compliance...but it's a new school district, so...).

For some reason, I love to make plans, especially ones that are all nice and neat, typed up and hole-punched, placed in a binder ever so tidily. There is something so comforting about looking at it, knowing that it's all possible. This year, four of our six children are now "school age", hence the increased need for me to plan. :-) That's not to say that we're rigid in our plans, that this is done at this time, and then we move onto that. No, it's really something I do for my own sanity. There are large goals, and smaller goals, and it's easier to chug along when there is some goal in sight.

That said, we are going to follow the "pared-down" Latin-Centered Curriculum. What this means, essentially, is that Latin is the keystone of the curriculum. It's done formally five days a week, given the most attention. Following that is math, again done five days a week. This year, my goal is to have the older children learn to write clearly, so we're using the Classical Writing curriculum, based on the Progymnasmata. Classical, Christian, and Modern (US) Studies will all be approached in a relaxed manner, using a literature-based approach (fancy term for "just reading"). Science will again be relaxed, using the springboard of nature study to learn about earth and space. Music and art will just be incorporated into our lives as they usually are.

How does this get done with four children at various grade levels? Very simple. For some things they are paired up (7th and 5th grade together and 2nd and K together)...like Latin, Classical, Christian, and Modern Studies. Things like Math and English (which includes writing, penmanship, and phonics/spelling) are done one-on-one depending on the child's level of dependence. I do get some help from the DIVE CDs for the older kids' math. I try to do as much together as a family, though. So, it might turn out that the younger kids might just sit in with the older kids for Classical, Christian, and Modern Studies. We'll see how it all goes.

Then there is the topic of what to do with the littlest ones...::sigh::

I think what needs to be done is to organize or re-purpose some of our rooms. I initially thought the "living room" by the front door, which is currently my den/library/music room, would also serve as our homeschool space. However, I'm not keen on the idea of having a table to work at in this room, so I need to re-think the purpose of this room. It might wind up being my sitting room. :-) The kids' bonus room upstairs (the very large common space between all our bedrooms) has a lot of room and I think it would work well to set up different areas for the kids to work and play in.

Up there we could have a craft/paint table (close to the laundry room where I currently store all the craft and paint supplies), a couple of tables or desks for written work, and more bookshelves. We already have the cozy couches up there, the TV/VCR, and computer. I could set up the few Montessori-ish things I have to keep the little ones busy. Hmmm....this is starting to look really good! :-) Plus, then I could have a place to put up maps, the white board, and any other less-attractive homeschooling things that I want out.

Sounds like a plan....

2006-08-07T09:22:00.000-04:00

Third Place

The Flames took Third Place in the CABA 9U Ultimate World Series. Third out of 15 participating teams...not a bad finish, IMO. The Championship round took the top three teams from each division, for a total of 9 teams; the Consolation round took the remaining 6 teams. The boys played very well under some challenging conditions (100 degree weather, rain/lightning delay), and their only loss prior to the semi-finals was to the eventual CABA winners, the Plainville Warriors. They made it to the Final Four after defeating their local league rivals (#1 team in SWOL), the Avondale Angels.

It was an intense, enjoyable season, but I'm glad it's over for a while. Now we have soccer to focus on for our middle daughter, and I have a bunch of things to do to prepare for our rapidly encroaching school year. That said, I might be scarce for a little while. That whole balance and flow thing, ya know. ;-)

Gestating continues to go smoothly...13 weeks today. I thought I started to feel a few flutters over the weekend, but can't say anything for sure. You'd think after eight pregnancies that have gotten to this stage that I'd know for sure what was going on, but noooooo. LOL!

2006-07-27T12:40:00.000-04:00

Off to CABA

What's CABA? It stands for Continental Amateur Baseball Association. Essentially it is an organization dedicated to providing World Series tournaments for select (travel) youth baseball teams. This year, the 9U CABA Ultimate World Series is being held in Crystal Lake, IL from July 28th to August 5th.

If you're keenly interested in keeping up with John's team, the Cincinnati Flames, during the World Series, you can poke around the two websites linked above or click on the link to check the team blog. I'm sure DH will try his hardest to keep the world updated via the blog. :-)

And if, perchance, you live in the vicinity of Crystal Lake and are a reader and commentor of this blog, please drop me a line. Maybe we can arrange to meet for lunch or something.

2006-07-11T16:13:00.000-04:00

Bless Me Father, For I Have Blogged

Moments ago I received a comment in my inbox urging me to quit blogging and start praying more. Not bad advice, really, since we all could use more prayer time in our lives. However, one has to wonder why someone so "anonymous" would urge a stranger in this way. I suppose the thing that nags at me most about the comment is the assumption that blogging takes up an inordinate amount of time and by doing so you are shirking your primary responsibilities:

Now don't be offended, but I don't know how you have time to "blog" when you have a family to care for and children to teach at your home school. I am single and I have little time to spend on the internet. Just an idea. Consider skipping the blog and spending more time in prayer as this sinner should be doing as well.

So, I ask you, dear readers: is blogging a sin?

Of course the answer to that is, "It depends." Too much of any one thing is never good. Whether that be food, sex, time spent with a book, and, yes, perhaps even time spent in prayer. If those things are taking time away from your primary vocation and the responsibilities that entails, even if those things are in themselves good, too much of it can potentially be bad. The key here is to find the balance in life. For the single person that means something completely different to the married person; likewise for the religious person and the layperson.

I argue that blogging, in itself, is not a bad thing, though too much blogging is.

And to answer the commenter's question above: how do I have time to blog when I have a family to care for and children to teach? The answer is quite simple: I make the time for it. Others make time for sewing, scrapbooking, mountain-biking, gardening, whatever. I make time for blogging. The main reason I blog is the same reason people keep a journal written with pen and paper. It helps to chronicle what is going on in my life. Sometimes it is profound, sometimes it is absurd. I rant, I rejoice, I revel. I can be prayerful and I can be petty (like in the post from months ago that the commenter apparently was reading).

There is a balance in family life as well, and we often struggle for long periods of time finding the right balance amidst the changes that come at us (birth, death, moving, job change, illness, etc.). The unique thing about having a large family is that you are often left with gaps of time in which to complete certain tasks. Older children entertain younger children; younger children play in groups; older kids go out to explore. A great example right now is my three youngest (ages almost 2, 3.5, and 5) together on the front porch examining a frog that the 5-year-old boy caught last night. They are within my line of sight and I can hear their giggles of excitement as one puts a frog on another's head. :-) In fact, I think I have more free time now with six children than I did when I had one child. Perhaps I just got better at organizing my time out of necessity. I don't go by a rigid written schedule, but there is a routine to most of my day.

As a mom I am on-call 24/7, but the level of my involvement, whether that be direct care, education, or housework, ebbs and flows throughout the day according to what needs to be done. I try to get basic things done early in the day, so I can spend my time in prayer, with the kids, with my husband, and also by myself. During these summer months, I am able to spend more time in my personal study of Latin and starting to read the Great Books list.

When we're home educating during the school months, my time is devoted to directing the children in their studies and we are usually done by lunchtime. I think many people have a misconception of home education, that we are all sitting at desks for six hours each day. That certainly isn't the case in our home, even when we are pursuing more structured studies. So, it's no surprise when some people say they don't know where I find the time for this or that...they just don't have any idea.

And, yes, I'll admit to times in my life when time blogging becomes unbalanced. We all go through these periods, then we come to a realization, take a break for a while, and gradually start back again. The key is to stay in balance, not to let our sinful natures take over so that we ignore the things in life that really matter.

2006-07-08T16:16:00.000-04:00

The Least Annoying Comment Regarding Family Size

As most regular readers know, we are a baseball family. Our oldest son (10) has played baseball for five years and our younger boys will be following in his footsteps next spring. That said, today I encountered perhaps the funniest/least annoying comment from a near-stranger regarding our family size.

The man, whom I had just met moments before, says to me on my way to the concession stand (we were at a tournament game): "By the way, congratulations. You're close to getting your own baseball team."

Now, that comment I like. It's a lot funnier than "Do you know what causes that?" It acknowledges how close 7 is to 9 as well as our family's passion for baseball. It's not snide nor even hinting at being snide.

The only response I had was, "Well, yeah, we're working on it!" On my way home, though, I thought of another: "Yeah, we're looking to draft a couple more!" While it's not a comment that really warrants a response, unlike all the other hundreds of stupid ones, it's handy to have a comeback that's witty and appropriate.

2006-06-28T08:19:00.000-04:00

Check This Out

This recent post on being Open to Life over at Danielle Bean's blog is fantastic. Take your time reading through the comments section.

On a related note, I spoke with my mother yesterday. Thanks to Doogie for leaving Luke 9:60 for me to look up. Thanks also to the Holy Spirit for leading me to this gem during my Light Weigh Bible Study on Monday:

...do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
--Mark 10:19-20

So, I didn't worry and called on the Holy Spirit before I called and prayed to have her heart softened. I got her voice mail and left a little message saying I had news and I thought she could guess what it was. :-) She called back about ten minutes and said, "You have news? You're pregnant."

She was civil. Not bubbling over with excitement, but definitely not disappointed like with previous announcements. She did mention because I'm not that far along she won't be telling anyone for a while.

God is so good!

2006-06-24T08:40:00.000-04:00

Thanks

The comments in the last post have been so supportive, so I give you all a heartfelt "Thanks."

DH can't keep a secret for long, so after telling the kids the other night, he decided to call his family yesterday to let them in on the secret. Reception, as he said, was typical: his mom and aunt seemed excited, and his dad created a new ulcer for himself. OK, so not really an ulcer, but his reaction wasn't as positive as MIL and aunt. It all stems for concern for my health, which I really don't comprehend given my history. OK, so yeah, we did lose two babies in the second trimester, but that had absolutely nothing to do with how I take care of myself during pregnancy. Those losses, we were told, were chromosomal in nature and there's a 25% chance of such a loss happening again.

BUT, (and it's a big one, eh?) all my other pregnancies have been so healthy, so uneventful, so blessedly normal that I think that fact alone should outweigh any worry about my health. I've never had problems with hypertension or gestational diabetes. And while none of the labors/births after our second miscarriage (which occurred after our third child) have come close to being as short and as near pain-free as #3, they were still certainly within the range of VERY NORMAL with fairly short second stages. I guess I just need to accept that people are going to worry, no matter what.

So, the only people left to tell are my mom and my brother. If anything, they should be surprised that it took as long as it did to get pregnant again. Heck, with almost all the other kids, by this point in the youngest child's life (23 months), that child had already become an older sibling (exceptions between #2&3 and #3&4, because of those mid-trimester losses...there are 2.5 years' spacing on either side of lovely #3). My brother, God bless him, won't say anything negative to me...he knows I'm doing what makes me happy, staying home and raising my kids. My mom, though, will have concern for my health (you're not getting any younger) and my sanity (you don't get any time for yourself, it must be hard having so many kids, have you thought about sending a couple to school?).

2006-06-21T14:51:00.000-04:00

Ah, Yes, I Remember This

Feeling so normal at times that you forget new life is growing inside you
Then feeling so blah that you wonder if this was a big mistake (nah)
Feeling queasy enough to not want to cook, but not bad enough to actually puke
Then eating just about all the time because you think that will make you feel a little better
Wanting to jump out of your skin when your nursing toddler wants "milk, mama" for the umpteenth time (can you say sensitive? Yeouch!)
Being absolutely wiped out by four in the afternoon that you see no harm to leaving the house in the hands of six kids under 12 to put your feet up and rest

I'm right between 6-7 weeks, which puts me around the time when symptoms start rearing their ugly heads. I started doubting the results of the pregnancy test last week because I felt so good and normal and not pregnant, but not doubtful enough to use the other test that came in the box. This week, though, I really can't deny it anymore. :-)

We haven't told the kids yet because we haven't told our parents yet and don't want the cat to be let out of the bag. Last night at supper, our 3 year old was pestering our almost 12 year old daughter sitting beside him. In a frustrated huff she said to him, "When will you finally realize that I don't want any more brothers and sisters?" Oh. My. Goodness. It took all my strength to not leap across the table and strangle her. OK, so maybe that's overstating it a bit, but I was fuming and I let her know how selfish and rotten she sounded.

I didn't stop there. I let her know that compared to other large families we know, she and her siblings had it pretty darn easy, her especially so because she is the oldest girl. We very rarely make her do anything, we don't overburden her with responsibilities she can't handle. She doesn't have to change diapers or get little ones dressed or fed. The most we ask her to do is to make sure to prepare some extra soup for lunch in case someone else would like to have some or to accompany her little brothers to the concession stand at baseball games to make sure they don't get ripped off. In essence, we let her be a kid. And yet, she feels burdened by her siblings. Go figure.

Of all the kids, she will surely be the one most perturbed by the announcement of another child joining our family. Our oldest son will be thrilled...he loves babies. The rest will roll with the punches, being happy for the most part according to their level of understanding. And the rest of the family? Well, we're hesitant in telling them because we're so darn tired of hearing time and again the tone of disappointment. My mother keeps hoping we're done and hasn't hesitated to state that after each birth. The in-laws worry about my health and well-being, as though this is something that their son imposed on me.

Eventually it all boils down to one issue: they all look at it as Natural Family Planning not working. That's primarily because they don't understand how NFP works, how motivation is such a big factor, and how we, as faithful married Catholics are called to be generous in the service of life. They don't understand that we are called to carry our cross and unite our sacrifice with that of Christ's supreme sacrifice; that our lives are not meant to be constantly carefree and light if we are striving to be holy.

Pray for us...

2006-06-13T12:27:00.000-04:00

The Week in Review

I don't get a chance these days to post on the regular happenings here at the homestead, so I'll try to summarize what has been going on:

We got seed and straw for the yard, so the grass is coming in nicely. That was about 3 weeks ago, though. T

he basketball hoop was installed yesterday (in-ground) and the playset is scheduled to be constructed sometime soon.

There were several baseball games, mostly wins, though they did get beat by a 10U team. The game on Sunday was cancelled.

John turned 10 on Saturday. How time flies.

A family friend was in a very bad motorcycle accident and has been through several surgeries the past week. Her family has been spending nearly all their time at the hospital. We were host to two of her grandchildren for the better part of the week, 10 year old and 6 year old boys who play baseball. Needless to say, our kids had a great time with their new playmates. All the boys slept together in the boys' room. It wasn't nearly as difficult cooking for 10 as I thought it would, despite the 10 year old having a very healthy appetite. :-)

Oh yeah...one last thing.

I'm pregnant. I passed the test with flying colors yesterday afternoon. Looks like its time for a new van.

:-)

2006-06-08T07:45:00.000-04:00

Court decision allowing Muslim course in public schools is ‘double standard’

Wow. The story from the Catholic News Agency is just amazing. Here's a snippet:

For three weeks in 2001, 12-year-old students in a California public school were placed into Islamic city groups, took Islamic names, and wore identification tags that displayed their new Islamic name and the Star and Crescent Moon.

The were also handed materials that instructed them to "Remember Allah always so that you may prosper," completed the Islamic Five Pillars of Faith, including fasting, and memorized and recited the "Bismillah" or "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate," which students also wrote on banners that were hung in the classroom.

Now, imagine, if you will, this same scenario in a Catholic context:
For about six weeks during Lent, 12-year-old public school students were placed into Roman Catholic parishes, took Confirmation names (after a patron saint), and wore holy medals displaying the image and name of their chosen patrons as well as a Crucifix.

They were also handed materials that instructed them to pray a daily Morning Offering, participated in the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist, and abstained from meat on Fridays. They also memorized and recited the "Hail Mary" which students also wrote on banners that were hung in the classroom.

Don't you think half the world would be up in arms? One part would be in a snit because the public school was pushing a certain religious agenda. Another part, the Catholic part, would be in a snit because the school was making a mockery of its religion.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

2006-06-02T09:08:00.000-04:00

Latin 101

Last night, while DH and DS were over on the other side of the world (that is, the West Side of Cincinnati) at a league ballgame, I finally decided to embark upon my own summer study of Latin. Why self-education in Latin? For that I need to back up a bit.

It all started a couple of years back when I started instructing my two oldest children in Latin, using Memoria Press' Prima Latina program. It was easy to use; a very gentle introduction to the official language of the Church. Together we learned vocabulary, several verbs, and a handful of familiar prayers (Sign of the Cross, the Sanctus, the Glory Be, and Grace Before Meals).

I thought the transition to MP's next level Latin course, Latina Christiana, would be a piece of cake. At first it was easy; essentially review from PL with the First Declension thrown in. We also started working on the Our Father. No problems. Then, somewhere around the 10th lesson, I started to become confused with the grammar we were learning, and, thus, became intimidated. We dropped it like a hot potato! Part of the reason was the teacher's manual seemed insufficient for me when it came to explaining the declensions in a way that I could understand and then explain.

So, for the rest of the school year, I wrestled with the guilt that I had somehow failed my children as a teacher. What I came to realize was I needed my own education in Latin. Recent reading, especially of Andrew Campbell's The Latin Centered Curriculum and posts over at Rich Leonardi's blog, confirmed the fact that this would be a good endeavor for me to persue.

Unlike Rich, though, I decided to go a different route. At first, I considered implementing the Dowling Method, which is essentially a drill and kill approach to memorizing the tables. However, being confused about which tables I needed to copy 200 times, I opted for the textbook approach used in many Catholic homeschool curricula at the high school level. I went with Henle Latin: First Year.

The MP website states the text is "for students who have completed Latina Christiana I and II." Am I out of my mind attempting this text when I couldn't make sense of LCI? Perhaps. However, right now it is smooth sailing. I whizzed through Lesson 1 last night, with only two minor mistakes made. And now I actually understand why there are different case endings for nouns as well as why there are five declensions! Hooray!

One thing to note, if you're interested in educating yourself using Henle: you need to purchase the Grammar so you can complete the exercises in the book. I didn't realize this when I bought my used copies of the text and the Answer Key through Amazon. I was able to get through Lesson 1 because I was fortunately familiar with the case endings of the first declension from LCI. I will be ordering a copy soon. If you order through MP, they have a set of the three books you can purchase.

2006-06-01T08:31:00.000-04:00

Not the Coffee Maker!!!

Every once in a while, I have the pleasure of awakening before the rest of the household. It is in these moments that I get the chance to savor a cup of coffee and greet the day in a relaxed, proper way. On a typical morning, I guzzle down a "cuppa" that's gone too cold because I've been fetching breakfast for the household, changing diapers, and getting in that first load of laundry. This morning, however, the baby nursed early and went back to sleep, and her five siblings were not yet awake when my husband's alarm went off. As I pulled myself out of bed and hunted for my sweatpants, I thought, "Yes, today will be one of those relaxed mornings!"

Down in the kitchen I did my usual routine: let the cat out, dump the old grinds from yesterday's coffee, prepare the coffee maker with fresh coffee and water, and press the button.

...and press the button again...

...and again...

...and again...

Nooooo! Not today!!! My one relaxing morning of the month and the coffee maker decides to bite the dust.

Now, I'm not as emotionally attached to my coffee maker as I am to some appliances, but I enjoy the part it plays in my daily routine. Lately I've been thinking about replacing it, but I really wanted to do it on my terms, preferably after I'd had my daily cuppa joe.

One morning without coffee.

I've done it before and survived. I'm not really an addict, per se. If I were, I wouldn't be here blogging about my machine, now, would I? I'd be getting myself out to the local Starbuck's, tolerating the inevitable long morning line. Or, I'd be setting up that 40-cup mega coffee maker that you use for social functions that's in the back of our corner cabinet. No, I'm not an addict, but I do like my routine.

I guess I know what I'll be doing today. After all, I don't want to go through withdrawal...

2006-05-30T15:54:00.000-04:00

Grrr....Snags

Thanks for all the nice comments on our lovely new home. One commentor stated that we hopefully didn't have the same company do our concrete. From what I understand, different builders hire different sub-contractors. Our builder is definitely a different one from our neighbor's, so I think the chances are pretty good it wasn't the same subs. That said, there's no guarantee that ours is perfect either, but so far, so good.

However, we have had a couple of things go awry, though they are quite manageable. First was the method of getting grass planted in our yard. We were under the impression that we were to have it Hydroseeded (where they blow out this blue-green stuff that has grass seed in it). Last week, though, the landscapers arrived to do seed and straw. Next was the powder room toilet, which would refill about every six minutes (I realized this one morning when I awoke at 6am before everyone else started their day). They finally sent someone out on Friday to fix it while we were waiting around for our power to come back on.

Which leads me to another oddity about our part of the neighborhood. Apparently we are on a different power grid than the rest of the development. Storms came through last Thursday and power was down for a large portion of the eastern Cincinnati and Northern KY suburbs. We were without power from about 8:30pm Thursday to 5:30pm Friday! Our neighbors on the next street up had their power restored at around 10pm (I could see their streetlights from my bathroom window)! Amazing. We left for a local tournament on Friday around 4, checking in with our next-door neighbor from time to time to see if power had been restored. DH came back home after the tournament game was over so he could turn off lights, TVs, etc. once the power was back on.

The straw to break the camel's back this afternoon, though, is that the breaker to the central air keeps tripping, so this behemoth of a home :-) is about 80. Yes, the summer has come to Cincinnati this Memorial Day weekend, with highs in the mid-90s. It would be tolerable if we had ceiling fans installed (it's on our To-Do list), but right now it's rather close.

I know, I shouldn't complain. And I'm not, REALLY. I thank God for the blessings he has bestowed upon us, realizing it could be (and has been in the past) a whole lot worse. It's just that with a new home, you expect things to be in working order. Anyway, the electricians just arrived to fix things for us.

On the upside, we got to enjoy the community pool yesterday. It was crowded, but it was hot and I didn't care one iota. One of the veteran homeowners said that the pool usage usually dies down after about a month into summer vacation. I'm guessing that's because many families are on vacation away from their homes. Still, we have a few days of pool use before school lets out for the summer, so maybe we'll be up there tomorrow if it's still hot.

2006-05-22T08:17:00.000-04:00

Life in a Construction Zone

Let me start by saying "it could be worse." It could be our house that was messed up.

Fortunately our next door neighbors are pre-retirement empty-nesters, though their situation is surely a thorn in their side. You see, whoever poured their front porch, walkway, and driveway did a really, really poor job. The biggest problem, which has to be remedied tout suite, is that their driveway was actually lying on their next door neighbor's lot (set to close and move in in the next few weeks) by about four inches or so. That's a biggie! Also, when the drive was poured, the weather was too cold, which caused some interesting discoloration. The other big problem was with their porch, which was causing the two front columns on it to start tilting towards one another!

So, our little cul-de-sac here has become a bigger construction zone with a maze of trucks, equipment, and the ever-present enormous garbage dumpster. They started last week by having some Bobcats come in to assist in tearing up the driveway, front walk, and porch. My kids were fascinated by the whole thing, because they were able to watch from our front porch. Then it rained, leaving the street a slippery, muddy mess. As I said, it could be worse. Imagine having to park on the street and trudge through the mud to get into the house with six kids! It's bad enough having the still-to-be-seeded yard of dirt...at least there's still the driveway and walkway!

I'll be happy once our neighbor's concrete mishap has been remedied, as I'm sure they will be too! Then we'll have the daily quiet that we're now only blessed with on Sundays. There shouldn't be as much dirt on the street either, so when it rains the cul-de-sac won't be a muddy skating rink. Best of all, though, is that we will no longer have to dodge cars, trucks, and equipment when driving to and from our homes.

That's life in a construction zone.

2006-05-10T08:39:00.001-04:00

Home Sweet Home

Well, it has been a week since we moved into our new house and I'm loving it. It has been a very busy week of baseball, moving, more baseball, unpacking, a birthday party, and painting of the old house. Most of the kids are adjusting just fine. Our 3-year-old, however, has been showing some signs of regressing a little, namely awakening during the night and coming into our bed to sleep.

Fortunately we made the effort to meet the neighbors during the contruction process. To one side we have "empty nesters"; to the other side a family with three children (16, 11, and 8). The family who moved in just before we did has two girls close to the age of our oldest daughter, have homeschooled in the past (in Georgia), and will likely be homeschooling again (Abeka style). Another family with boys around our oldest son's age, also from Georgia, should be moving in this summer. Their home is nearing completion...I think the appliances were installed yesterday.

One family which lives at the end of the cross street from ours we knew from our previous parish. They have three boys, the oldest an avid herpetologist the same age as our oldest son who has taken the kids creeking on various occasions. The creek at the edge of our property has been a consistent attraction for our kids and is the source of many interesting critters: crawdads (crayfish), salamanders, leeches, minnows, frogs and turtles.

Today I'm preparing for the final meeting of the year for our daughter's Little Flowers Girls Group, which will take place tomorrow. I'm thinking I will have the girls make mini Mary Garden planters for Mother's Day. Then it's off to the old house for more painting. It's strange being at the old house...it feels like a shell now, it's soul long gone. Very weird.

2006-04-26T19:57:00.000-04:00

Closing Tomorrow

We had our final walk-through the house on Monday, 4/24, and there are only a couple of minor things left undone. One thing was a cabinet door in the kitchen was hung too high. Everything else that the guy pointed out were things we wouldn't have noticed. It was incredibly thorough...two hours long...but that's a good thing.

Anyway, the closing is tomorrow. We go back to the house prior to the closing to be sure all the things that were undone on Monday have been completed. Then we'll head up to the Dixon offices and sign all the paperwork we need to sign.

My mom comes into town on Friday, there are four baseball games and one choir concert over the weekend, the moving company comes on Monday to help pack, and then we move into the new home on Tuesday! I believe that makes it exactly 3 months since they broke ground! WOW! I'm excited, tired, trying to get over the tail end of a cold and get the house cleaned up for a visitor and not surprise the movers by anything really gross under the couches.

2006-04-20T09:34:00.000-04:00

Go Google Yourself!

If you've seen the recent version of Yours, Mine, & Ours, you should get that reference right away. For those who are more innocent, the male lead is talking with a colleague about "Googling" his high school sweetheart all night long and the clueless colleague asks, "So, how was it?" (or something along those lines)...fairly funny line. Sadly, the remake resembles the original 1968 movie in title only. OK, so there are 18 kids, but there are no great number of adoptions of "yours" and "mine" and the movie doesn't end with number 19 being "ours." Oh well.

Anyway, my point wasn't to provide a review of the most recent movie I've seen (thank goodness for Pay-Per-View). This morning I decided to Google myself. For some reason that sounds better than "Yahooing myself", but I did that as well. In other words, I plugged my name into those two search engines to see what would pop up. Just about everything that came up refers to my no longer existent "career" as a childbirth educator. There are a couple of references to my first son's birth story (won't that be great when he's playing Major League Baseball?). There is also reference to a childbirth education video program I co-wrote and taught that is no longer for purchase and one for our former parish's Elizabeth Ministry, but that's about it.

So, go ahead, Google yourself. You might just have fun!

2006-04-16T18:03:00.000-04:00

Indy Recommendation?

We'll be travelling to the Greenfield/Indianapolis, IN area this coming weekend and I'd appreciate feedback or recommendations for a place to attend Mass. The tournament schedule, apparently devised by heathens :-), at least allows us to attend a Mass on Saturday evening. In fact, we have all the time in the world for woship from about 1pm Saturday until 9am Sunday. So, if you could lend a sister a hand, that would awesome.

2006-04-12T13:33:00.000-04:00

Closing In
Wow.

Yesterday we were working on getting a closing date for our new home. At first, our guy came back with a date of Wed. April 26. Unfortunately, my husband will be on business in Chicago that day, so it's not going to work out. So, now we're waiting on whether we will close on the 25th or 27th of this month!

That is about TWO WEEKS away!!!

Two weeks. Sheesh! Boy, I have a lot to do, and yet, what is my priority? Blogging. Yes, you read that right...blogging. Well, I have to contend with sick kids, the baseball schedule, etc. that the thought of getting ready to move is just a wee bit overwhelming at present. Don't worry, though. I'm not waiting until the last minute to pack. We've already established that I'm certifiably insane, but I'm definitely not crazy!

We will be getting mucho help this time around in the form of a moving company. Yeah, the tightwad in me is reeling from this decision, but the mom in me is like, "Heck, yeah, I'm havin' someone else pack up my dishes and glassware and move the hanging clothes for 8 people!" And, well, of course we need the sheer brute strength of several young, brawny professionals to move all that heavy crap. No use having DH put his back out when we have ballgames to go to! :-)

It's kind of hard to believe that in less that three weeks, I'll no longer have the same view from my computer desk. We'll be gone from the place where two of our children were born, the only place that four of them have called home, the house where all six have built memories. But home is where the heart is, and I'm sure we'll be very happy in our new home.

So, if blogging becomes light again, you'll know why.

2006-04-10T15:43:00.000-04:00

Good Advice

Thanks to Amy, I have switched my baseball blog, Inside Corner, to the BlogSpirit server. Very cool. Easy to use like Blogger, with the visual appeal of Typepad. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, maybe I'll be inspired by coach's recent e-mail on the pitch count rules and compose a new post there.

2006-04-10T09:09:00.000-04:00

Bits n Pieces

I'm not in the right mindset to post coherently on anything of substance, as I'm recovering from a whirlwind weekend of tournament baseball and sick babies. That said, you readers deserve at least some little tidbit of an update.

I hate to bore my regular readers with baseball stuff, so I've created another blog here. I don't think I care for the blog-city interface that's free, and I'm not sure I care to pay for an upgrade (same issue I had w/Typepad, i.e. I'm a cheapskate). So, it may wind up being transferred to Blogger this week.

Our house is nearly finished and you can see the updates here.

Who says you only should only have one blog? :-)

As things are right now, blogging is about the only thing I can do one-handed with a clingy, sleepy, sick, snot-nosed baby attached to my left side. I have a number of posts floating around my head, something about the RV, homeschooling, baseball, and gratitude...just not sure where they are going to wind up. :-)

2006-04-03T16:28:00.000-04:00

The Season Hasn't Even Started...
...and already there's BS.

I'm beginning to think that some folks don't have the concept quite down what travel/select baseball is all about. I'm not sure I know what it's all about, but I'm starting to learn. And if it's something you are considering for your son, I recommend this article. One thing we, as parents, need to keep in mind when considering travel or 'select' baseball is the differences between it and recreational leagues like Little League or Knothole (the latter seems to be a Cincinnati-area league).

Travel baseball is designed to compete and bring out the highest level of competition from our players. Because of this, we choose to expose our child to failure or disappointment at any time, not the coach! [emphasis mine]

Be sure to scroll down to"Differences Between 'Recreational' and 'Travel' Baseball" in the gray box near the end of the article. If you don't agree with the aspects of travel baseball (e.g. winning, rather than just participating, is fun), then it's probably best to stick with the rec leagues.

More from the article:

One of the lessons parents learn when they're first exposed to this competitive baseball concept, is that there's a chance that their baby's ego may be crushed...How so?...he's never had to be evaluated against his own peers before, or even compete for something at such a young age...until now!

Fortunately, I don't think DS has been dealt a blow to his ego. Or, if he did, he recognized it for what it was (a taste of reality, that he isn't THE BEST), and used it as motivation to improve, to strive to become the best he can be.

Of course, it's easy for me to comment in this way because it's not my kid sitting the bench or playing right field. However, if it were, I think I'd be adult enough to accept that the coach had a reason for his decision and respect that, rather than constantly second-guessing. And if there is a problem, for goodness sake, talk to the coach (rather than bad-mouthing the guy in public), seek a solution, and work with your kid to help improve his game. Just like with education. You can't assume the teacher can solve every problem, so you help your child if he's struggling with his work. And so it is with baseball. You can't assume the coach is fully responsible for the success of each and every player. You need to help him outside of practice and games. At least, that's what you do if you want him to succeed, to be the best he can be...

2006-03-29T13:31:00.000-05:00

So Long, Good and Faithful Servant

After 12 years, an estimated 6000 loads, 2 service calls, and one replaced heating element, we bid a fond farewell to our dryer.

The problem first reared its ugly head on Saturday, but I really didn't take notice until Sunday, when I was ready to put another load into the dryer. "Hmm....I thought I dried these sheets and towels yesterday," I thought to myself. "Guess I forgot to turn the dryer on! Oh well, better 'git-r-done' now." Half an hour later, hearing that the dryer has stopped, I go to remove the dry items, only to find that they weren't dry at all. Hot, yes. Dry, no. I looked at the dryer timer dial and realized that it hadn't completed its cycle.

"Did someone open the dryer to shut it off?" I yelled, with no response from the house. So, I closed the door and started the dryer again. This time I was in the kitchen. After five minutes, the dryer had shut off, so I went in to investigate (the laundry room is right off the kitchen). Still wet. "What the heck is going on?" I mused aloud. (Can you tell that I'm a little dense on this one?) So, I close the door and start the dryer...again. Five minutes later, same thing.

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. Yes, this insane woman went to turn the dryer on again. Except this time it didn't turn back on. "Hmmm....let me go to the panel and see what's up." Yes, folks, I'm really that dense. I switch to breaker off and on again, go back upstairs, turn the dryer back on, sit on the counter for five more minutes, and it shuts off...again.

Would you believe I did this two more times???

Yup. Definitely insane. Certifiable.

Well, I guess it's kind of hard to admit defeat. Forget that this puppy is 12 years old. Forget that we replaced the heating element a mere six months ago. Forget that we average about 40 loads/month. Forget that everything in this house has decided to putter out as we prepare to move into our new place. No, the dryer can't be broken. it. can't. be. broken. C'mon, I have laundry to do!!!

Those of you with a larger-than-average family realize just how big of a wrench a broken washer or dryer can throw into the family's routine. Mt Washmore grows each day the appliance goes unfixed; people continue to use towels and napkins; they demand clean socks and underwear. All this gets compounded by the looming specters of future dirty baseball uniforms and a soaked bath mat that has started to smell like mildew. Great. Great, great, g-r-e-a-t. ::sigh::

So, on that unusually quiet Sunday afternoon, I sat miserably in my living room waiting for the moment my husband would come home so I could tell him tale of woe. And when that moment arrived, did he cluck and commisserate, draw me near and smooth my hair. No. "Why are you telling me?" Huh? Wha'? Because the planets are out of alignment and my universe has come crashing down around me ears. Because I want you to make it all better.

"Who'd ya call last time?" he asked.

"The place where we bought it. But I can't call today because it's Sunday and they'd charge about half of what a new one would cost to come and give a diasgnosis," I reply.

"Well, call them tomorrow."

So, I called someone else. It would cost about half of what a new one would cost to fix it, and, given its age and the extreme demands we make on it, it wouldn't be prudent to get it fixed.

Monday afternoon I shopped for a lovely new dryer, one for the 21st century. It was delivered on Tuesday morning, all shiny and new. The old one was carted away, dingy and caked with dried detergent and lint, rattling with loose change on its way out the door. Sayonara, old friend.

I'll let you know when the washer dies.

2006-03-23T11:39:00.000-05:00

Called to Pray

Have you ever had the overwhelming feeling to pray for someone, as though you were called to pray? Have you ever had this calling to pray for someone you barely know? This weekend, while on our way home from Nashville, I was overcome with the sense that I had to pray for a certain person I had met for the first time while we were there (my husband knows who this is).
The thing is, the feeling that this person is desperately in need of prayers--my prayers--has not left me since we got home. And this feeling comes at various times of the day, not during my usual prayer time. It's as though there is a whisper, that this person needs prayer...right now. Very strange. So, my rosary beads are getting a workout this week. :-)

This confession of mine has made me wonder about the efficacy of prayer. Part of me (perhaps that devil on my shoulder trying to lead me astray) thinks I'm deluded, that this person couldn't possibly need my prayers, or need them as much as I think, or that they're not going to do much good anyway. But another part of me is reminded by something I read once about the power of prayer, particularly the rosary, and particularly if it is prayed wholeheartedly.

I've prayed and sacrificed for a particular person before who was in a time of spiritual crisis. I was able to see a transformation in this person, the prodigal son who returned home. I certainly don't take credit for this transformation, but I do have hope that my prayers and sacrifice worked for his good. I do have hope...

I may not know what this recent person's needs are spiritually; that is something for God to know and to work out. But, if my prayer is earnest, fervent, and heartfelt, I can only hope it works for the best.

2006-03-22T09:32:00.000-05:00

The Well-Connected Mother
Read this article by Judi Loesch Wiley on...well, just about everything related to pregnancy, birth, parenting, from a Catholic perspective. I just wish I had been the one who had written it!

(H/T to Erin)

Here's a little nugget for you gents out there (NFP):

He admitted that before, when they had disabled their fertility, he had been getting bored with sex. It was always the same. It seemed inane. Now, looks and gestures had drama. Touches, advances, could turn out either way. Sex and longing loomed bigger, took up a more significant chunk of emotional energy. He wasn’t sure he wanted sex to take up that much space. But he realized that his wife was taking up that much space. His wife. His wife. He found himself thinking about her as he had never thought about her since—well, since they were courting.
Read the whole thing.

2006-03-20T14:19:00.000-05:00

Nashville's on Fire

Time to brag on my son! :-)

The team ds plays for is the Cincinnati Flames 9U select baseball team. They played their first tournament of the year, The Donelson Early Bird Classic, this weekend in Nashville, TN. The boys were amazing, especially since they've only played one scrimmage this year as a team. They won the tourny in their division. If you get a thrill reading more details about the games, check out their blog, the Cincinnati Flames 9U Herald.

Why should I brag? Well, our dear little boy was the winning pitcher for the championship game! The coaches are fortunate to have a solid team with a number of players who are able to play a few different positions. John's energy (his arm) was reserved in anticipation for the championship game. He played short stop, 3rd base, and right field for the round robin games, then he was "benched" for the semi-final game.

And, you know, it's not so much that I'm proud that he was the one who pitched a great game. The other boys pitched equally well in the other games and the closer in the championship game pitched better than I have ever seen him pitch (he and John were on the same fall ball team last fall). What makes me most proud is to see how much he has matured as a player and improved as a pitcher. I can only hope the coaches continue to foster this growth throughout the season, not only for our son but for all the boys on the team.

At first I thought an early bird travel tournament was a bit nutty for such a young team, but this experience has changed my mind. Through this travel experience, the boys have really started to mesh as a team. While some of the boys know each other from previous ballteams, or from school, there are a number of boys from several different towns throughout the greater Cincinnati area. With such a widespread area to cover, it can be difficult to foster a sense of comraderie...so it's almost necessary to have a couple of travel experiences early on to help build those relationships.

One of the neatest parts of the trip for me was when we went down to the hotel pool where some of the other boys were swimming. When we walked in, a couple of boys said, "Hey, John's here!" It's just cool to see that acceptance. It doesn't matter what school he does or doesn't go to, or what town he lives in, because they're all from different places. It doesn't matter that he's homeschooled. All that matters is that he loves the game and gives 100% every time he plays.

2006-03-15T19:10:00.000-05:00

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

If you're a first-time visitor to this blog, welcome.

Yes, it must be spring: that time when I once again get frustrated and bored with how my blog template looks. I've been toying with the idea of defecting to Typepad, but I'm a cheapskate at heart and I just can't pass up the free blog space I get here at Blogger. Nothing against you folks who use Typepad...I think it probably gives you more versatility and freedom for creating a whiz-bang blog. But, once the 30-day free trial is over, you have to part with some cash in order to keep the thing afloat. No thanks, I'll pass.

I've also been considering changing the blog title, since it has been over a year and a half since our last baby was born. I initially started the blog when I was pregnant and I've spent the last 12 years either being pregnant, recovering from a miscarriage, or nursing a baby, so the title fit. While I'm not currently pregnant and not actively pursuing a pregnancy, I think I'll still stick with the title. For some people the title is a phrase to describe "those poor women" who have no choice but to be "barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. " To me, though, the phrase conjurs up an image of a woman who is happy at home, regardless of her reproductive status or what she wears on her feet!

Then, I decided to look up some alternate definitions:

Barefoot: "shoeless; unshod (discalced)"
Hey, that's cool...it has a religious tone to it, like the discalced religious orders.

Pregnant: "Weighty or significant; full of meaning; fruitful"
Hmmm...I like that. I like being significant, meaningful.

Barefoot and Pregnant=significant, meaningful and unshod, not unlike certain religious orders. See, it fits, it fits nicely with the whole "domestic church" (or domestic monastery) concept! (see the sidebar for links)

So, anyway, for you every-once-in-a-while visitors, you will notice a couple of little changes. I searched high and low for something that would fit me and this blog. I looked at Blogskins for a suitable template, but was overwhelmed at the vast choices out there. I also wasn't sure I'd know what to do if I downloaded a skin once I found one I liked. I looked at other places, considering adapting a 3-column approach, for a different look. Then I wasted oodles of time at places like iStockphoto, searching for an image to adapt for my blog. Then I finally found one that was kind of "me" (not that my legs look that good) and kind of what this blog is supposed to be about.

While the original photo is excellent, it needed a little extra something to fit in with the template's theme. I putzed around with Photoshop, changing the color so it was rosy. It still needed something...something to make it Catholic. Then I remembered a photo of the late Pope John Paul II, walking with a Rosary dangling from his hand. PERFECT! Photoshop is really fun for those kinds of things. I cropped the rosary image, pasted it into the hands of the skirted one, made the whole thing rosy, and it's just right. It took me a while to figure out how to get the image into the template and I had to tinker for a while to get it to look right, but I'm pleased with the result.

I also decided to edit my profile. I don't know why I've been reluctant to show my face until now. Hah...I made that one rosy too! Why not? And the sunglasses make me at least appear to be going incognito...

2006-03-13T11:01:00.001-05:00

Spring Fever

I didn’t think I’d be saying this so soon, but…

I’m ready for baseball.

Yep. I’m ready. DS had an indoor scrimmage yesterday and it was such a blast to see his new team decked out in their new uniforms and the opposing team in theirs. It is getting me excited for the tournament they will be playing in Nashville this weekend.

I’m ready for spring.

We’re having some warmer-than-normal weather. I decided to open the windows this morning and air out our winter-stagnant home. The sounds of spring surround me as I listen to the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos chant the Mass II Kyrie. The chant wafts through the house, like incense on the breeze. The sounds of birds chirping and the thump-thumping of my son’s basketball suddenly are replaced with rain falling on the ground, occasional thunder, and the increased ringing of the buoy bell in the wind.

“Kyrie eleison.”

With the change of seasons from winter to spring, we experience the change of liturgical seasons from Lent to Easter. The seeds in the winter are covered with earth and snow, hidden in a quiet life. The warmth of the sun comes with the increasing daylight of spring and new life emerges. The Church, in Her wisdom, gives us Lent, a time of quiet, hidden life when the seed that God has planted in our heart can prepare to emerge to new Life. With Easter, the Son is resurrected, conquering death.

“Christe eleison”

The time of preparation is not always quiet and hidden. Sometimes there are storms, with loud, crashing thunder, and blinding flashes of lightening. Temptations can and will cause turmoil within the soul, leaving one to feel abandoned and lost. God is merciful. He is near. All we need to do is call out to Him. Continuously, call to Him. We will stumble and fall, like Christ on His way to Calvary. But with God’s help, we stand and continue on the journey, always united with the Cross.

“Kyrie eleison”

2006-03-11T16:37:00.000-05:00

Jubliate Deo?

Yes. "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Chant, But Were Afraid to Ask"
OK, so maybe that's a stretch. But you get my point. It's referenced in the Adoremus article linked below. Check it out.

If you are afraid of neumes, but somewhat familiar with modern musical notation, you can download a pdf of the chants here. And if you are more of an auditory learner, you can play the MP3s here. Pay special attention to Mass XVI Kyrie, Mass VIII Gloria, Credo III, Mass XVIII Sanctus, Pater Noster, and Mass XVIII Agnus Dei.

2006-03-11T14:20:00.000-05:00

Songs that Make a Difference?

The National Association of Pastoral Musicians conducted a poll last year, inviting the public "to name a liturgical song that has made a lasting impact on their own lives of faith and then to provide a brief explanation for their choice." The number one 'hit'? "On Eagle's Wings." Could've been worse... could've been "Lord of the Dance." (H/T to Rich at Ten Reasons for this one).

If you feel like having fun, peruse these links below. Granted, I haven't had time to read through them all, but hopefully I'll get to read them in depth and maybe come up with something to post on later this weekend:

Retrieving "A Treasure of Inestimable Value" by Susan Benofy, Adoremus Bulletin, March 2006
A New White List? from the Musica Sacra blog
NPM's Golden Calf, commentary on the above subject via the Christus Vincit blog (if you're being rained on with nothing else to do, check out their podcasts)
If you have related links to share, please be generous to the other readers and share via the comments box.

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Other business. We've had some acquaintances from our former parish (friends, but not 'close' or fully informed about our up and leaving) call and check on us recently. I guess when you suddenly stop attending Mass or being involved in parish life, it makes people wonder what the heck is going on. It kind of surprised me, but it's also nice to know that they were concerned about our well-being.

The house. Windows and doors are in, though I don't have any photo updates for that. They delivered the drywall the other day; electric, HVAC, and plumbing are more or less done. I drove by today (didn't get out because of all the rain we've had, so it's quite a muddy mess) and noticed a large covered pile of bricks out front, so they'll be getting started on that soon. Our pre-drywall meeting is set for Monday morning. It is essentially so we can approve where all the electrical, etc. outlets, lights, and other fixtures are before they go ahead and do the drywall. By then we should have a fairly good idea from the superintendant when the house will be completed, but they CANNOT set anything in stone (of course).

Baseball. DS has a scrimmage game against his neighborhood buddy's team tomorrow afternoon, rain or shine. Since it has been raining all day today, I'm pretty sure they will be playing indoors at Summit Country Day. I think the dad for one of the boys on the team is the baseball coach there. From what I understand, it is a pretty nice athletic complex. The team has been practicing there bi-weekly since January. Nice for us, since it is a central location and we (we, as in my HUSBAND, LOL) don't have to haul ds to the home field in West Chester. YET. Once the regular season starts, that will likely be our second home for the summer.

2006-03-03T15:40:00.000-05:00

Under Roof

It is one month to the day that they began pouring the basement of our new home and we are now officially "under roof." For those who haven't built, that means that the roof and its shingles are on the house. I hope the link to the picture works. Click the title above or here.

If the past month went by quickly, I can only imagine the next two will be equally quick, if not quicker. Our son officially kicks off his baseball season with a tournament in Nashville, TN over the St. Patrick's Day weekend. We will be celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary while in Nashville. If any readers have a parish they'd recommend attending Mass at while in Nashville, please share via the comments box. I don't know what our schedule will be like, but we're hoping at least to visit The Hermitage (home of 7th US President, Andrew Jackson) and the full-scale replica of the Greek Parthenon in Centennial Park.

April will be filled with baseball game after baseball game, rehearsals for a choir concert that will take place at the end of the month, and packing up the old house. Gladly, there will be Holy Week and Easter in there, giving us a chance to slow down just a little and give thanks to the God who loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die for our sins. Gosh, I love Easter. I'm glad it hasn't been as tainted by commercialism as Christmas has. (That's not why I love Easter...I'll save it for a later post).

2006-02-21T16:24:00.000-05:00

So You Want to be Catechized By Dominicans?

Did that catch your eye? I hope so. I was just hanging out at EWTN and I noticed something that looks to be blessedly promising for the kiddos in their March premieres. A new program, "Truth In the Heart" will be airing on Saturday mornings at 11am, and again on Wed. and Thurs. afternoons at 5pm. The EWTN website states: "The Dominican sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, from Ann Arbor Michigan teach religion classes for children in grades 1 to 5 who are unable to attend a traditional Catholic School."

I remember seeing this group of joy-filled religious being interviewed on EWTN's "Life on the Rock" last year and was really touched by the love they have for their vocation. It really is inspiring to witness so many young, enthusiastic, joyful people being drawn to the religious vocation. May God bless them in their work!

2006-02-17T10:49:00.000-05:00

Maybe This Will Work?

The link above should take you to Yahoo! Photos, where I have created an album to track the progress of our home building. I can't seem to get photos uploaded to Blogger or to our ISP server, so hopefully Yahoo will work for us. Please leave a comment if you can view the album without any problems.

We went to the house/lot yesterday to see what was new. The basement and garage floors have been poured, the steel beams are up, and wood has been delivered. They were supposed to start framing yesterday (2/16), but nobody was there working when we were there at lunch time. As we were leaving the subdivision, we saw a truck with another load of wood with "#41 Dixon" on it, which, I assume, was destined for our lot. We'll probably head up tomorrow (Sat.) to see what has been done. It would be a nice surprise if they already had the first floor framed.

Our builder, Dixon Builders, has been a real pleasure to work with so far. They have been incredibly professional and well-organized, and they communicate so much better with their clients. We built eight years ago with a much smaller builder, and it was such a different experience. That was part of the reason why I never wanted to build again. Anyway, if you live in the Greater Cincinnati area and are considering building, consider if Dixon might be right for you.

2006-02-12T16:05:00.000-05:00

We Have a Basement!

Well, basement walls, actually. The foundation was poured on Friday, Feb. 3 and they did most of the back-filling sometime this week.

I haven't had much of an excuse for not keeping up-to-date on this blog. I apologize to those of you who might have me on your blogroll...I'm sure it has gotten old, checking in and never finding any updates! Mea culpa...

Let's see...what have we been up to, besides having a house built? Well, for most of January, it seems, one or more of us was battling some kind of illness. I, myself, went through two colds, and then fell ill a couple of weeks ago with a stomach virus. The stomach virus went quickly through the whole family (everyone hit and it was over with in about four days tops). Sadly, I'm still trying to get the laundry back on track. I think I'm almost there.

Our oldest son is wrapping up basketball and is several weeks into winter practice for the select baseball team he is on in preparation for a tournament in Nashville, TN in March. Exciting stuff. Our oldest daughter is in her second term with the Catholic children's choir, preparing a concert of wedding music which will be performed in April at the Cathedral here in Cincinnati.

We've also started a trek into the world of Montessori homeschooling. I think this might be the fit I've been looking for, melding the freedom that unschooling is famous for and the academic framework of the Classical model. A big part of that has been DECLUTTERING the environment, preparing it so that it better fosters discovery and self-directed learning. And added benefit is that our home is slowly being purged of those things which are unnecessary, unloved, and useless...a good preparation for moving!

We continue to attend Mass at St. Gertrude and are starting to feel more at home there, though none of us have taken the plunge to become more active members of the parish. Unfortunately, I think that will need to wait until we move. Right now, our commute to the church takes roughly 35-40 minutes. Once we move, that time will be cut in half. We still won't be living within the parish boundaries, but we'll be a whole lot closer and hopefully that will make it easier for us to take part in parish life.

One of the more wonderful things about our new parish is the absolute joy the Dominican Friars have in their vocation. Several of the priests have been sharing their stories at Mass about being called to the Dominican life, and it is such a pleasure to be surrounded by such convicted, holy men, both young and old. It is my hope that as our children become exposed to joyful priests and religious, they will begin to be open to God's calling for them.

One more thing to share here, as I've been pondering my musical past and what the future holds for me. I have been blessed to know some really talented people in my life. One, a more recent acquaintance, is a fellow homeschooling mom who has a most incredible vocal gift: Catherine Fishlock. Catherine's husband, David, is a percussionist with the Cincinnati Symphany Orchestra. Two others are people from my past. The first is Stephanie Blythe, with whom I attended the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY. Stephanie had a lovely, rich voice even then, and I seem to remember her being a soloist at one of our concerts in either our first or second year of school. The second is Tamara Mesic, who was a year behind me in high school. I remember Tammy having a sweet voice in school, and I'm really pleased she has made a successful career for herself.

2006-01-06T10:46:00.000-05:00

Long Overdue Post

Sorry it has been so long since the last time I posted. You're probably thinking I've been bogged down with house-hunting, or moving, or the holidays, or any number of other things. There have been a vast number of things that have come to mind to post about over the weeks, but I just haven't had either the time or the inclination to write.

Anyway, biggest news is, we have found a house! Actually, we had found a house around Thanksgiving, put a bid on it, but the bid was rejected. THEN, I don't know what opened me up to the idea, we decided to BUILD again. BUILD. AGAIN. Yes, I never thought I'd say those words, never thought we'd be doing it.

We were having such a difficult time finding a big enough home with a big enough yard in a neighborhood with at least SOME children. We would find a house we loved, but the yard wasn't what we wanted, or there would be a great lot with a turd of a house. Or we'd find someplace that was 'do-able' but there were no other kids in the neighborhood.

THEN we found a really awesome lot, 1.3 acres, wooded, bordered by a creek.; a nature-lover's paradise with rolling hills that reminded me of where I grew up. It's on a cul-de-sac and is bordered by a greenbelt, meaning nobody will build behind us. It's in a neighborhood and there will be kids nearby. AND, the house we want to build has oodles of room for our homeschool, home-office lifestyle!

So, we've been busy with house-building details for the past month. We've done all the choice-making for the interior (flooring, cabinets, appliances, etc.) and exterior (siding, brick, stone, windows) and we received our plans the other night. Today DH is at the pre-construction meeting. I'm guessing after our builder gets the permits from the county (which takes a couple of weeks), we'll be breaking by the end of January. We're looking at May for the big move.

On the spiritual side, we've found a home at St. Gertrude parish and have been overjoyed at how nourishing it has been for us. The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our worship there. It will be nice once we are closer to the parish so it will be easier to take part in other facets of parish life there. We know several families who attend there through our homeschooling group, so that has made it feel more like home as well. Personally, I'm looking forward to hearing the choir sing at Mass as I have been led back in the direction of using the voice God gave me for His glory.

I hope you're all having a wonderful Christmas. I am.

2005-12-19T12:20:00.000-05:00

The John Rutter Christmas Album

I purchased this CD last year when my daughter's choir was performing Rutter's "Nativity Carol" and it has grown to be one of my favorite Christmas CDs. Rutter, a 20th century composer, has been described as "not a religious man" but his lyrics and his music, especially the songs in this Christmas Album, are sublime. Here's a taste of one of the songs that has really gotten my attention this Advent. The lyrics are by a 15th century English monk:

There is a flower sprung of a tree,
The root thereof is called Jesse,
A flower of price;
There is none such in paradise.

This flower is fair and fresh of hue,
It fadeth never, but ever is new;
The blessed branch this flower on grew
Was Mary mild that bare Jesu;
A flower of grace:
Against all sorrow it is solace.

The seed hereof was Goddes sand
That God himself sowed with his hand,
In Nazareth, that holy land,
Amidst her arbour a maiden found;
This blessed flower
Sprang never but in Mary’s bower.

When Gabriel this maid did meet,
With Ave Maria he did her greet;
Between them two this flower was set
And safe was kept, no man should wit
Till on a day
In Bethlehem it could spread and spray.

When that fair flower began to spread
And his sweet blossom began to bed
Then rich and poor of every land
They marvelled how this flower might spread,
Till kinges three
That blessed flower came to see.

[sand = gift, wit = know, bed = bud]
by John Audelay

So, if you're looking for something beautiful and a little different to listen to this Christmas, check this one out. It's a great remedy to the commercial pop-crap that's been blasting from one local radio station since Thanksgiving.

2005-12-03T07:29:00.000-05:00

Sacred music is focus for Vatican seminar

Giordano Monzio Compagnoni of the Ambrosian Institute for sacred music in Milan and Father Louis-Andre Naud, a consultor to the Congregation will speak about sacred music and liturgical participation. Father Jean-Marie Bodo of Yaounde, Cameroon, will talk on the role of inculturation and liturgical music. Father Philippe Dupont, the abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Solesmes, will speak about Gregorian chant...

Notice the names Marty Haugen and David Haas do not appear anywhere in the article. Apparently they are too busy preparing for this concert. Why else would the Vatican not have them attend the seminar? Oh. It's focus is on sacred music. Never mind...

2005-12-01T14:25:00.001-05:00

Advent Reading

It is of absolute necessity for our peace that we surrender ourselves wholly to God. Most people want to do this, but they do not because they are afraid...these anxieties can be put to rest by a little thought about God's approach to us, His way with human beings....How small and gentle His coming was! He came as an infant. The night in which He came was noisy and crowded; it is unlikely that, in the traffic of the travelers to Bethlehem, the tiny wail of the newly born could be heard....Knowing that God supplies all our necessities, and that one of our necessities is that we surrender to Him, we should not be, surprised that He comes to us as an infant; for surrender to an infant, any infant, is easy.

The above is an excerpt from Wood of the Cradle, Wood of the Cross: the Little Way of the Infant Jesus by Caryll Houselander. I've been reading Houselander's biography that I snagged from the parish library a while ago. I also have the above book but haven't read it. I think I will make it my personal reading for Advent.

May you have a blessed Advent as you prepare the way of the Lord!

2005-11-29T06:40:00.000-05:00

Pope Encourages Use, Study of Latin
Well, at least we're doing something right in our homeschooling! :-)

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Church Mission Statements that we came across this weekend:
Where I attended Mass on Sunday: "We are a Catholic community called to worship God with gratitute by celebrating liturgy, ministering to one another, and reaching out to others in need."

Where we will be going next weekend: "a Eucharist-centered Roman Catholic parish committed to the Word of God through the Dominican heritage of prayer, preaching, and teaching. Gathering as the Body of Christ and serving our brothers and sisters - within our Catholic family and beyond -we grow in love together on our journey with Jesus to the Father."

2005-11-17T10:59:00.001-05:00

US Bishops on Death Penalty, Lay Ministry, and Mass Translations

I had a post which turned into a major rant on the issue of church renovation, but my dear almost 3-year-old son closed the window when I took a short bathroom break and turned on his Dora the Explorer game instead. Probably just as well, since it was going in the direction of being somewhat uncharitable.

So, instead, I'm just going to comment on this brief article which caught my eye yesterday, specifically the last part regarding "Mass translations."

The central issue in dispute is the fidelity of the English translation to the Latin original. In several instances, the new translation brings the English back into accord with the Latin, but defenders of the translation now in use argue that ordinary Catholics would find the proposed new text stilted or unfamiliar.

"Ordinary Catholics would find the proposed new text stilted or unfamiliar." Hmmm...that didn't stop them when they started saying the Mass in the vernacular, now, did it? It's also a huge assumption that us ordinary Catholics might be turned off by a translation that comes closer to the beauty of the Latin 'original.' So what if it's unfamiliar to many of us? In time we can adapt to the changes. It obviously worked with the Mass of Paul VI, it can work with this too. Or can only changes which are more left-leaning be implemented to further an agenda to destroy the Church?

Maybe those who defend the current translation are afraid of other changes that may come in its wake. Maybe they're afraid of having to re-learn different parts of the Mass, of not being able to go on auto-pilot so Mass is over with in under and hour.

2005-11-17T10:59:00.000-05:00

The central issue in dispute is the fidelity of the English translation to the Latin original. In several instances, the new translation brings the English back into accord with the Latin, but defenders of the translation now in use argue that ordinary Catholics would find the proposed new text stilted or unfamiliar.

2005-11-14T08:12:00.000-05:00

Exodus

In case any of my three loyal readers still actually checking in with this blog, yes, I'm still here, just seriously busy with the changes life has thrown at us. Oh, nothing major is going on, but still, things are in flux right now and that last thing I need to do is spend too much time writing in my blog about it. I know, I know...it has been three weeks since an entry. Mea culpa!

'What has been developing?' you ask yourself. Well, DH took his grandfather on a bonus trip to Las Vegas for five days. You see, Gipa (that's what our kids call him) an Gigi used to go to Vegas for six months of the year to live....did it for years. They drove their RV out there, parked at one of the number of places out there, and enjoyed the warm Vegas weather, the gambling, and the friendships they developed out there. Of course, as they've gotten older (especially after Gigi was diagnosed, treated, and recovered (hallelujah) from colon cancer), they haven't been able to make it out to Vegas. DH had bonus miles, hotel points, and car points, so he took Gipa to Vegas. ANYWAY....while attending Mass at a church on the strip, DH had an epiphany. This epiphany led him to have us attend Mass somewhere outside our current parish. This is, in a sense, our Exodus.

I'd really rather not detail why we've decided to leave before actually moving, but suffice to say that we've been unhappy there for several months. It has been a very gradual thing and we see now that it is time for us to move on. We are keeping the children in CCD and DH is still teaching, I'm still involved with the Elizabeth Ministry. We'll maintain this level of outside involvement as long as we are still living in this house, but once we move that will also stop.

It's kind of weird being without a parish right now. We attended Mass this weekend in one area where we are looking for homes. It was a lovely old church that hadn't been completely ruined by renovations. Beautiful stained glass windows, the old altar still there behind the new one, great architecture. Mass was pretty nice too. I'm not sure we'll be moving close enough to this church, though. Thus, we'll be searching in the weeks, and possibly months, to come. Hopefully it won't take forty years of wandering through the desert before we find our 'home.'

Besides that, we've been looking at homes...old homes, new homes, but mostly BIGGER homes. When we built this home seven years ago, we had two children and another on the way and nowhere near as much stuff as we have now. We had no idea that we'd double our family size and acquire all the things that come along with more humans. Now, honestly, even if we weren't moving, we would benefit from a good, serious decluttering. However, even ridding ourselves of many of the useless things that clog our home and our lives, doesn't make this house work perfectly for us. Seven years ago we weren't thinking about homeschooling. Seven years ago we weren't thinking DH would be working from a home office. Now that we've adopted this lifestyle and are home together nearly all day, every day, we need a home that will suit that lifestyle.

One last thing. In my last post, I mentioned Heart of Wisdom unit studies. I want to let you know that there are a couple of similar unit studies (history-based, good literature) available that are distinctly Catholic. One is History Links, which has units from Creation up to the Early Medieval times. Another is Connecting With History. Now, this currently has available only Volume One: Old Testament and Ancient Cultures, but it is wonderful.

2005-10-25T21:16:00.000-04:00

Random Thoughts
Sorry that blogging hasn't been a priority lately. I seem to have gotten caught up in my life again. :-) For those 3 or 4 readers who are wondering, though, here is what has been going on:

1) We've decided that we will be moving from this eastern rural area of greater Cincinnati. We will probably relocate in a more northwestern, possibly less rural area of greater Cincinnati. Part of my days consists of browsing the Cincinnati MLS (Multiple Listing Service), checking out the satellite images on Google Earth (if you haven't tried it yet, it is addictive), and tracking down the information on the county auditor's website. Oh, and DH and I "IM" each other the MLS numbers of homes which we like. You have to love house hunting in the 21st century!

2) We've done a complete 180 as far as the curriculum issue. We are still Classical in focus, but we're taking things in a more relaxed manner. I've decided to save my sanity and will take an approach more like what is suggested in The Well-Trained Mind. Essentially that means instead of doing 3 separate science, history, art, and music plans, we will learn these subjects together as a family. This will hopefully allow for the little boys (ages 4.5 and almost 3) to take part in some of the fun of learning.

3) In the effort to make learning more family-centered and fun, I've taken an interest in some new things. I'll pass them along. First is Lapbooking, or Scrapbooking to Learn. It looks like a lot of fun. Next is the Great Science Adventures series, which uses multi-level learning for grades K-8. We plan to use the book on Plants. Lastly is Heart of Wisdom unit studies. I've had their e-book History unit studies for a few years now. While I don't agree with everything they put forth, I do like how Ancient Egypt and the events in the Bible are woven together. I need that kind of help. Oh, and a great resource that I've seen suggested over and over again is the History Pockets series for hands-on learning.

2005-10-18T16:34:00.000-04:00

Marian Devotions Tonight
We (meaning our parish Elizabeth Ministry and I) have another prayer service organized for this evening, taking place in just a short two hours. I don't want to get into the whole thing right now, but suffice to say it was orignally planned as a Memorial Service for those who have lost a child either before or after birth (so that includes those who have experienced a pregnancy loss of any sort). That was tabled until next month, November, when we remember the Holy Souls who have gone before us.

Anyway, tonight's prayer service is billed as a Respect Life Service, which is nice since our parish doesn't seem to have an official pro-life group. The evening will begin by praying the Rosary. It's a lovely, warm afternoon, so we might get to pray outside in the grotto. Then we will have essentially the Liturgy of the Word, followed by refreshments in the parish dining hall.

Please pray it all goes well. When our ministry sticks its neck out like this to introduce something new to the parish, there is the potential for things to be a flop and for us to appear foolish. I don't think this will be the case. I hope at least the first few rows of pews will be filled. I know one row will be filled just with the ministry and my family, so there's hope! :-)

2005-10-17T15:48:00.000-04:00

Let Girls Be Girls
OK, I mentioned the thing between American Girl and Girls, Inc. below. If you want to do something in a positive way, visit the site linked above and join in their efforts.

And if you're still mad about the assault our culture is making on our little girls, you're not alone. Dale at Dyspeptic Mutterings has some choice words in this post (which I claim was gobbled by Blogger from my blog and spewed out on Dale's, *LOL*) and this one as well.

2005-10-14T14:36:00.000-04:00

Smorgasbord

I don't have much to blog about these days. Actually, I do. It's just that I don't have the mental energy to post anything of substance regarding what has been floating around my brain for the past week or so. I was going to post something on letting girls be girls, but when I went to submit it, Blogger had a big brain fart and the post was lost (Blogger was actually shut down for maintenance in the midst of my composition). So, instead, feed your fury on this information regarding American Girl's involvement with Girls, Inc. See the article on the American Family Association website to get the scoop.

I've also been thinking about things having to do with the liturgy and the recent Synod of Bishops. Of course, I can't get anything coherent down, so I'll just suggest you visit here, here, and here. They all write better than I do anyway, so there'll be something to sink your teeth into.

Let's see, what else? Oh, the usual homeschool stuff. Now that we've completed seven weeks of the new school year, I find myself reevaluating things yet again. Will it ever end? Will I finally find the right mix of this syllabus, this lesson plan, and that curriculum? I'm tired of tweaking things, and yet I don't want to settle for one thing or the other because sometimes some choices just don't suit all my children.

Anyway, at the core of this big question is classical education. I've been looking far down the path to high school, knowing that what we do now (our oldest is three years away) has some effect on what we will be doing then. I really like the idea of doing some type of Great Books study, using primary sources for history and literature. I also like working chronologically from the Ancient Greeks through Modern times. Kolbe Academy does this for high school (see page 13 in their book list); St Thomas Aquinas Academy follows this outline as well. The Angelicum Academy offers a Great Books study along with online Socratic discussions. Mother of Divine Grace takes a slightly different approach, as far as the chronological list, but still combines history and literature using primary sources. Of course, there's always The Well Trained Mind.

Things I like using for elementary/middle school years include:
Latina Christiana
Primary and Intermediate Language Lessons
Lingua Mater
Saxon Math (preferably used, since the kits can be quite expensive)
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Little Angel Readers
Our Pioneers and Patriots (Catholic American History Text)
The Old World and America (Catholic World History Text)
St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism
Saint for Young Readers for Every Day, Vol. 1 and 2

We haven't found science that we've fallen in love with yet. It's pretty much been hit or miss as far as texts go. DS 4th grade is using Abeka's Understanding God's World and DD 6th grade is using Concepts and Challenges in Science: Earth Science. Our best experience with science has been just observing nature.

Well, I guess I did have something to blog about after all. Doubtless you'll be driving me crazy with all your comments. :-)

2005-10-08T15:22:00.000-04:00

Madeleine Choir School
This gem of a school is in the heart of Mormon territory, nestled in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the school for the Cathedral of the Madeleine and my niece and nephew both have the privilege of attending there. You can see my nephew's photo on the school website. His is the one which flashes up after you see two children sitting, reading a book. It looks like a photo from a few years ago, as he has matured since then.

Lest you think my niece and nephew are among the rich privileged Catholics in SLC, they both attend there on scholarship. My nephew started out there as a boy soprano, in fact, was recruited from his elementary school because he is quite talented. Since his voice changed a year ago, he has moved from the Boy Choristers to the Cathedral Choir. During his years there, he has had the privilege of traveling to and singing in Italy (Assisi), Austria, and also sang during the opening and closing ceremonies for the Winter Olympics that were in SLC.

My niece will be going through some official recognition sometime this month. I believe the children are "installed" in the choir, or inducted, or something. Anyway, it's some official celebration where they are publically recognized as being a part of the choir. All very exciting.

The most exciting part, to me, though, is that these kids have the joy of learning the musical heritage of their Catholic faith. Take a look at the service music the various choirs get to sing! Plainchant, Palestrina, the Masses and indiviual works of great composers like Mozart, Bach, Haydn, Britten. Lucky, lucky kids! :-) There are CDs for sale in case you're looking for some inspirational choral music to listen to.

Anyway, I just wanted to brag on my brother's kids for a bit. I have one more niece, their older sister, who is gifted in the visual arts. She attends the Catholic high school that her mom attended.

2005-10-03T07:45:00.000-04:00

Comments Changes
I've added Word Verification to the comments thing. I received about ten pieces of spam via my comments box this weekend, mostly things related to guys surfing the web looking for roofing screws, shingles, etc. and coming across my blog. Of course, these comments aren't showing up in anything posted recently, but they do get forwarded to my e-mail addy. So far it has been harmless stuff. However, unsolicited advertising--spam--is always annoying, regardless of how harmless it is.

2005-09-30T09:26:00.000-04:00

Looking For the Introit?
I swear I didn't find this article until today. Timely, don't you think? Be sure to check out Mary Jane's blog, Sacred Miscellany for her opinion on musical matters.

2005-09-26T15:55:00.000-04:00

To Thee Have I Lifted Up My Soul...

That is a rough translation for the opening line of "Ad te levavi" (Psalm 24[25]), the Introit for the First Sunday of Advent. It's what the new Cincinnati Schola is working on. Yesterday was my first time rehearsing with the group, and I have to say...it awakened something inside that has been dormant for a long, long time. It was quite special to have the opportunity to chant along with others.

I wonder more and more why so much had to change after the Second Vatican Council, especially musically. I know it wasn't the intent of the Council to introduce a whole new array of music that is sadly trite and all too frequently doesn't lend itself well for either whole-hearted worship of the Triune God or for contemplation. I also realize that the Introit has been relegated to optional in favor of the entrance hymn, despite that the singing of a hymn at the beginning of Mass is the fourth option outlined in GIRM. But tell me, which one puts you in a more God-focused frame of mind: "I have lifted my soul to You, my God" or "Soon and very soon/we are going to see the King"?

Is it simply just a matter of personal taste? I don't know.

All I know is that when I hear chant, when I myself participate in chant, I am transported, elevated to the bosom of Holy Mother Church. When I find myself disappointed in the Sunday liturgy, I want to turn and run. But to where? It's a dilemma I struggle with on a weekly basis, one I've struggled with for a long time now. It's not that I'm looking to "get something" out of Mass...I get what I come for, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. That's the one thing that keeps me returning week after week. However, it's what I "put into" it that at times seems sub-par, worship that is unfitting, not my best, not what Our Lord deserves.

I know people like me who are yearning for a renewal or restoration of the liturgy are often spoken of as "nostalgic", wanting to return to the way things used to be. How can a person born at the tail end of Vatican II or after be nostalgic for something he has no memory of or never experienced? Some may say our minds are being influenced by older people who never wanted Vatican II to happen. However, most of the "old fogeys" active in the Church today are those who embraced the "Spirit of Vatican II" and all its changes, good and bad. So, why is it we feel this way? Why this yearning? I think it's something that speaks to us deep down in our hearts, touching our souls in an ineffable way.

How I long to sing "Ad te levavi animam meam", "To Thee have I lifted up my soul", to worship in a way that He deserves. Until that time, please pray for me.

2005-09-21T15:27:00.000-04:00

Do You Want Peace in Your (Home) School?

The link above discusses how to begin a school rosary program.

Do you want peace in your school? The Blessed Mother said at Fatima that until a sufficient number of people give their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary we will not have peace!
How do we give our hearts to Jesus and Mary? Before school each day, say a small prayer to the Holy Spirit, the small consecration
prayers to Jesus and Mary, and the morning offering (all available from Shepherds of Christ at no cost). Each time the children enter a classroom, say the consecration and Holy Spirit prayers. This binds the children in one heart with Jesus and Mary and there is less disharmony.

You can find the prayers mentioned above here or you can download a nice PDF file of several "cards" for your youngsters here.

I should explain that we have a visitor this week in our home (see the photo). Our parish preschool religious education program had a meeting last Sunday, at which there was a sign-up for the Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Now, this is not the Pilgrim Statue, but is one of many used in a Pilgrim Virgin Program similar to this. Along with the statue are two videos: The Rosary For Little Children (which we have owned for several years) and The Day the Sun Danced, an animated movie about Fatima from CCC of America. There are also several prayer cards, instructions on how to pray the rosary, and several rosaries. The point is to introduce the family to the message of Fatima and to help them on their way to praying the rosary as a family.

So, have we been praying the rosary together yet? Well, no. However, this morning, I printed out the prayer cards for my kids and we prayed together. Hopefully this evening we'll be able to squeeze in at least a decade of the rosary before bedtime. It's one of those habits I'd really like to begin. I realize that it may take some gentle coercion at first (for DH and me as well), that's how it usually goes when we're trying to train ourselves in a new way of doing things. And maybe with some practice, there'll be a little more peace in our home.

Please pray that when we return the statue to our parish on Sunday that others will follow along and sign up to have her visit their homes. When I signed up on Sunday, I was the only one who did so. However, there were a few moms who were lingering at the table but then left because the coordinator was taking some time to get a sign-up sheet ready. Hopefully they'll remember to sign up!

2005-09-13T15:50:00.000-04:00

Getting to Know Me...
...getting to know allll about me...

OK, so I changed the words from this little Rogers and Hammerstein ditty from The King and I.

Anyway, Christine at Hot Carmel Sundae has tagged me for this meme, so I guess it's about time I relent and submit my answers. I haven't done a meme in a while...but I'm deciding to change it to the number 5, because thinking up 7 things is kind of hard in some of the topics!

Getting to Know Me.....

5 things I plan to do before I die:
1. Write and publish a book (non-fiction)
2. Make a pilgrimage to Guadalupe, Mexico
3. Go to Ireland to visit the birthplaces of my grandparents
4. Plant a vegetable garden and actually eat the veggies
5. Sing in a choir (again); one that is really good

5 things I can do:
1. Sing
2. Play piano and most woodwinds
3. Remove splinters and stitches
4. Make most baked goods from scratch
5. Roll my tongue

5 things I cannot do:
1. Knit
2. Play brass and double reed instruments
3. Hang curtains, window blinds, or anything else that requires installing those darn drywall screws
4.

5 things that attract me to the opposite sex:
1. Sense of humor/quick wit
2. Intelligence
3. Strong faith
4. Affectionate
5. Plays well with children

5 things I say most often:
1. Stop it!
2. Be quiet!
3. Get down! (or Sit Down!)
4. Please and Thank you
5. I love you.

5 celebrity crushes: (do I have to do this???)
1. Mel Gibson
2. Keifer Sutherland
3. Adam Dunn (Cincinnati Reds)
4. Harrison Ford
5. Dylan McDermott

5 people I want to do this:
1. Alicia at Fructus Ventris
2. Smock and Mama T at The Summa Mamas
3. Pansy and Peony at Two Sleepy Mommies
4. Kate and Heart Speaks to Heart
5. Tony at Catholic Pillow Fight

2005-09-07T14:58:00.000-04:00

Musings on the Future of the Church

It probably seems like most of my writings, when it comes to musing about the Church, are full of complaints about lame music, abuses and oddities within the liturgy, and the politics between those who are considered conservative and those who are considered liberal when it comes to Church teachings. OK, it not only seems like that, it is like that. Sorry. However, from time to time I have glimmers of hope for the future of the Church.

Lately I've been musing (to myself mostly) about the incredible increase of those within the Catholic Church called to homeschool their children. Is it that we are increasingly repelled by today's modern culture? Sure. Are we at odds paying tuition for a Catholic education that is no longer authentically Catholic? Indeed. But those things are only the surface of what I consider to be something fascinating, something so full of hope that it is difficult to express.

Of course, I can only speak for myself here and my personal calling to homeschooling my children. However, I don't think that our family's experience is unique. So, why is it that so many of us feel called to homeschool?

First is the consideration of homeschooling being a "calling." Another word for a calling is a vocation., from the latin vocare (to call). I feel I have been called to this vocation of homeschooling by God, and I know I'm not alone in this feeling. Indeed, the Church teaches us that "the institution of marriage...is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring" (Gaudium et Spes, 48). We see in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that "Parents are the principal and first educators of their children" (1653, citing Gravissimus educationis 3). I think Fr. John Hardon sums it up best: we, as parents, are training our children for heaven; we are "parents for eternal life." Some parents send their children off to school and work hard to foster the primary importance of life on earth ("to know, love, and serve God in this world, so that we may be happy with Him in the next"). But for many of us, there is this battle against the culture, on almost a constant basis, that it becomes easier, nay, crucial that we educate our children in the home. But I digress...

Next is the consideration of what has happened in the Church since the Second Vatican Council. Sure, lots has happened; lots of negative things. You can find countless articles on how awful Vatican II was and how much it has hurt the church, so much so that I won't bother linking to anything like that in this post. You can also find the opposite position, that Vatican II has been the best thing since sliced bread. It isn't my point to argue one side or the other. I have to consider myself a moderate on this issue, middle-of-the-road, since I appreciate many of the good things that grew out of the Council, but hold quite a grudge when it comes to my piss-poor catechesis. The point is, the Church has been changing, and that brings me to my last point.

Last is what is best, that sense of hope for the future. I feel in my heart that so many of us have been called to Catholic homeschooling for the good, the positive growth of the future Church. I feel the pendulum swinging in the right direction after the waywardness we have experienced since the Second Vatican Council. I don't mean this in a split liberal-conservative way, but in the way in which the Holy Spirit initially intended us to be heading. Catholic homeschooling can help foster the culture of life; it can help increase priestly and religious vocations; in can help improve the spiritual and intellectual well-being of future generations. Look at the number of authentic (loyal to the Magisterium) Catholic colleges and universities that are opening their doors to home educated students!

What is interesting to me is how most of the well-known Catholic homeschooling curricula providers are solidly, authentically Catholic. Why is it that our Catholic schools and colleges can get away with being less than that? It is precisely that authenticity within the Catholic homeschooling circles that fills me with such hope, though. With a little guidance, even those of us who received the horrendous catechesis of post-Vatican II can help our children learn the many facets of our beautiful Catholic faith, including many almost-forgotten traditions. We can help our children (and ourselves) come to understand and appreciate what it means to really be Catholic.

"Catholicism: It's Not Just For Grandmas Anymore!"

2005-09-03T07:52:00.000-04:00

Breaking Blogfast

OK, I know I've gone weeks without posting anything, but I've never considered it a blogfast before. However, in light of what has been going on in our country since Hurricane Katrina hit, my lack of posting most definitely has been a blogfast.

It's hard for anything I put down in words to not seem trite. I feel ashamed that I wrote about my own petty troubles and inconvenience of the living room ceiling, when there are people stuck in flood-ridden New Orleans. How could I follow up with the insignificant details of the clean-up, all of which is covered by insurance? It's being taken care of...we have a roof over our heads and live in such comfort, such abundance.

I am humbled by what I've been see on the news as each day passes. God forgive me for taking so much for granted. I am so very blessed, even amid these small trials. My loved ones are nowhere near danger, our home is standing, my husband is working, the price of gas is not burdensome, I'm able to educate our children at home, they have a yard to play in, we have a church to go to in which we can worship. My God, the list goes on, and I'm so, so sorry for not thanking You, My God, for each and every moment You give me, especially since this moment could be my last.

Last night we found out our neighbors are driving down to the affected area next weekend. I believe it is part of the effort their children's school is making. So, we will be gathering items that are needed to help in the effort, and they will be taking them down.

2005-08-31T14:21:00.000-04:00

It Could Be Worse...
Ah that game we play to help ourselves feel a bit better about an unpleasant situation...

You see, the photo is of our living room ceiling. I came down yesterday morning to discover our ceiling had several dripping spots. Since it was located right under the 2nd floor bathroom our children use, I assumed it was a leak. I ran up to the bathroom and saw some water on the floor. I checked the toilet and saw it needed plunging.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, we called in Roto Rooter to get their opinion. After listening to our story and checking things out, the guy suggested it wasn't a plumbing issue but a roofing issue. We were getting heavy rain all day yesterday and some wind gusts as a result of the Katrina tropical depression, and he thought that maybe our 7-year roof had a leak somewhere. He suggested calling a roofer to check it out for us, as well as taking a look ourselves in the attic.

Matt called a roofer, who suggested poking a hole where our biggest drip was. At this point, it wasn't a gamble, since the ceiling was already damaged and will need to be replaced. So Matt poked with a bucket underneath, and out gushed the pool of water. After testing the plumbing, we discerned it wasn't a plumbing problem.

At about 5pm, Matt discovered the source of the leak: the rain was leaking through a broken seal that was around the plumbing vent, which explains why it was pooling in a certain section of the first floor ceiling and nowhere else. A roofing guy was on his way out to cover our house with a tarp, but when he got here he confirmed the problem and fixed the seal. For FREE.

Of course, we still have the water damage on the ceiling, a portion of which will need to be replaced. I know it could be worse. Any inconvenience this little snafu brought to our domestic bliss was offered up for those suffering from the blows dealt by hurricane Katrina.

It's difficult to wrap my mind around such devastation. My goodness...if it were me, with six kids, stuck in the Superdome...how would I be coping?

2005-08-29T12:50:00.000-04:00

Because It's the First Day of School and I Have Nothing Better to Do...

I thought I'd have some fun with this website and create my own little SP character. Now, granted, sometimes "that show" gives me a bit of a giggle, but please don't think I'm a regular viewer and think less of my character. Sometimes the guys step over an invisible line and off goes the show.

Anyway, the link came via this Reds website. I got such a kick out of the team's picture that I just HAD to create my own!

2005-08-25T14:31:00.000-04:00

You Know You Don't Get Enough Time to Yourself When...

...you actually look forward to spending nearly two hours in the dentist's chair.

I know, what a pathetic life I must lead, to relish the idea of going through lengthy dental work in order to have a little "me" time. I'm sick and perverted at best. :-)

I broke a molar about a month ago, before we left on vacation. That was the start of this lovely little relationship with a new dentist. Last time I had been to the dentist was four years ago, two weeks after my 4-yo had been born, for an abcess. That dentist recommended yanking the tooth, having a bridge placed so that at least my four front top teeth would all match in color. I high-tailed it out of there. Then my molar broke...when I was eating potato chips. ::sigh::

Anyway, getting a crown placed on your molar is not a one-visit, in and out kind of deal. NOooo. It takes three visits! The first visit was a week before vacation, to have what is called a crown build-up. Essentially it's a big filling-thing that replaces what was broken off your tooth. It's very temporary, and I got back to the dentist just in time, as it was starting to wear away thanks to my awful nighttime tooth-grinding (I need to look into a solution for this after my major dental work is finished).

So, this morning's visit was #2 of 3. It lasted nearly two hours, I kid you not. Much of the time was spent waiting: waiting for the dentist, waiting to get numb, waiting for the mold goo to harden so they have an impression of your tooth. Lots of fun. Too bad I left my Ratzinger book at home and had nothing to read. So, I laid there for most of that time, blood rushing to my head because she had me back in the chair so far. The rest of the visit was time spent shaping the tooth and preparing the gum to accept the crown. I don't care to know more of the details than that.

Now I have a temporary crown on my tooth made from acrylic. I'm due to go back for the porcelain crown in about two weeks. Then we'll place a crown on the molar that's on the opposite side before I go through the trauma of another broken tooth. After that, it's onto fixing my front teeth: 3 out of 4 are discolored because of root canals that were done 15+ years ago. The suggestion is to have these teeth capped, not only for aesthetic reasons, but because it will help them to retain structural support and keep from breaking. If I want to, and if the finances allow, I might have the other teeth bleached before getting the caps done, so they will all match and I'll have th radiant smile I always wanted! :-)

So, I see many hours in the dentist's chair ahead of me. And that sick side of me really looks forward to it: not just because my teeth will benefit from it, not just because I'll have a better looking smile, but also because it's hours without the demands of motherhood.

Who knows, I might actually finish The Spirit of the Liturgy after all and come away with a decent understanding.

2005-08-23T09:41:00.000-04:00

Scoring Big-Time

Part of the fun of traveling to my mother's home with a vehicle that has storage space to spare is that I usually come home with some good books. My most recent big 'score' is 20 volumes of the Harvard Classics. Granted, it's only about half of the collection, but it's still a great score! I think my parents must have only chosen the volumes with authors they were either likely to read or at least had heard of. I started dipping into the volumes when I when I was in high school, thinking I was sophisticated by reading English Poetry and Shakespeare's plays. I even made myself a bookmark, which sits smack-dab in the middle of Macbeth.

This is not my first score off mom. I graciously took the full set of Collier's Junior Classics off her hands the year after we started homeschooling. I read through this delightful set of books as a youngster, so there is no way I was going to pass them up! She's still trying to get me to take the set of Collier's Encyclopedias, but there are too many of the books and not enough space for us here to keep them. Besides, we run to the Internet these days to look up information about something we don't know.

Mom was nice enough to send me some things that were in my grandmother's house after she passed away. I had let her know that I would like any religious articles left behind, since I knew most of my cousins wouldn't care about images of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the other saints. I have a lovely collection of rosaries that at one time belonged to my grandmother, as well as some First Communion articles that belonged to my uncle. One is an adorable little book called God's Child by Rev. Harold Colgan. I keep it in my purse so my little boys can look at it during Mass when they are getting restless. The other book I cherish is called Blessed Be God, my grandmother's prayerbook, which was published in 1961. Mom also passed on to me a neat little set of books on music published by Grosset and Dunlap: The Story of Orchestral Music and Its Times and The Story of One Hundred Symphonic Favorites both by Paul Grabbe; The Story of One Hundred Great Composers by Helen Kaufmann; and The Story of A Hundred Operas by Felix Mendelsohn.

One of these days I'll work these books into our curriculum.

2005-08-22T15:07:00.000-04:00

Mostly In Maine

The reason I haven't blogged in over three weeks is I was busy preparing and then vacationing in Maine (mostly). We just got back on Sunday after traveling for over two weeks to the northeastern United States. Most of the vacation was spent wandering around the great wilderness of Maine.

This photo was taken at the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. It was our last evening staying near Bar Harbor, so we headed up to the summit of Cadillac for a splendid sunset. Some gracious visitor was kind enough to take a picture of all of us. It's about time you get to know us, no?

On the far left, in the shadows, is Drew (2.5), then from l-r are John (9), Julia (almost 11), Lizzy (6.5), Connor (4), Cate (1, on dad's back as usual). I think you can figure out that the gorgeous babe in the shades is yours truly (age was discussed a couple of weeks ago), and the handsome baby carrying the baby is my beloved Matt (I call him a baby because he's younger than I am).

We had a great time despite the constant squabbles, did some fantastic hikes, and saw really awesome scenery in the great state of Maine. We canoed on the Androscoggin River near Bethel, ME. Yes, all of us: mom, dad, and the four youngest in the canoe (baby Cate slept in my arms for all but 5 minutes), and the two oldest tied to the canoe riding in rafts. We saw ducks and Bald Eagles. Much of our time in Maine was spent looking for the "elusive mooses" (great band name, isn't it?). Yes, we went out at dusk; yes, we knew the 'secret feeding grounds'; yes, we HIKED, and we STILL didn't see any stinkin' moose! This was true for Bethel, Skowhegan, and Millinocket. I caught the tail-end of a young moose who was skedaddling across the highway, but no photo-op and nobody else in the van saw him. We had a similar experience a few years ago when we were in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

Anyway, some really nice state parks to visit include Grafton Notch (near Bethel) and Baxter (near Millinocket). We also visited the easternmost point of the United States at the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse. Our last days in Maine were spent near Bar Harbor. Actually, we were closer to Acadia than to downtown Bar Harbor, which was a good thing. We had loved Bar Harbor when we visited it the first time six years ago and stayed in the town. We've changed a bit since then, and tend to like more rustic surroundings that are a bit less touristy now. So, we camped on the northern end of the island and only spent a couple of hours in Bar Harbor one afternoon. Too many people. After Bar Harbor, we headed south and eventually wound up hooked up to my mom's house, camping in her driveway.

My mom lives in upstate NY at the foot of the Shawangunk Mountains. I went to great lengths back in May to introduce you to the place where I grew up, so go back and read it if you haven't already. Mom threw an awesome party on Friday night, and about 50 of our relatives showed up to meet the newest members of the clan and to have a good time. It was wonderful to see everyone and they seemed impressed by our large, wonderful brood. Many were stunned that we would even consider getting into a canoe with so many children. We're either adventurous or stupid...I'm still figuring that one out! :-)

Lots of laundry to do, a week left before official schooling starts. We're already back into the grind with baseball and soccer practices. And poor Matt, he had to high-tail it to Chicago this morning and won't be back until Wednesday. Back to life, back to reality.

2005-07-29T08:31:00.000-04:00

Time Flies When You're Having Fun
If you're new to my blog, then you need to backtrack to this post from July 29, 2004.

How could it be a year already? Where has all the time gone?

Perhaps the most remarkable of all, though, is this is the first time in EIGHT YEARS that we are NOT newly expecting by our baby's first birthday! Eight years!!! Can you believe it?

Part of the reason is we have enjoyed a longer span of lactational amenorrhea, thanks to ecological breastfeeding. In other words, when you breastfeed a baby in a certain way (as outlined in the linked article), it can be an effective and morally licit way of spacing babies.

That's not to say I won't be expecting NEXT month, since my fertility is returning, but right now, as our baby turns one, I'M NOT PREGNANT. "And," in the words of Stuart Smalley, "that's...OK."

Happy Birthday Catherine Siena! May your Patroness be prayerfully watching over you.

2005-07-25T11:26:00.000-04:00

Food For Thought

Hi. It's Monday, but I'm not even going to bother to comment on this week's Mass.

I will, however, pass along a couple of choice links as food for thought. The first is from Dr. Philip Blosser's blog, Musings of a Pertinacious Papist, on "Three Liturgical Movements." While the post is mainly concerning a letter he wrote to Adoremus Bulletin, he provides some good insight on what's going on with the Liturgy these days. I especially enjoyed the link he provided to an article by Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.

"The Mass of Vatican II", Fr. Fessio argues, is that middle ground that so many of us seem to be searching for these days, somewhere between the modern, guitar-strumming-free-for-all (which is, he states, permitted, though not always welcome) and the ancient Tridentine Mass (also permitted) which seems to be experiencing growth due to the indult. Unfortunately, there aren't very many places that have actually adhered to the true "spirit of Vatican II."

Another article I've been meaning to post a link to for a while is entitled, "The Emasculation of the Priesthood" written by Fr. James McLucas. If you're not more traditional-leaning, please, at least let your mind get past the magazine title "Latin Mass". You may even need to look beyond Fr. McLucas' passion for the Traditional Latin Mass (Tridentine) so you can appreciate the meat of the article. I think he articulates wonderfully what has happened to the priesthood, perhaps even pointing to the reason(s) behind the decline in the number of priestly vocations.

Lastly, I have a book recommendation. It's one I'm sure a lot of people are reading right now.

Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. The Holy Father is quite readable, and the topic is absolutely fascinating. I'm about 25% through it. It would be more, but I don't get much quiet time to read. And this is definitely a book that is better read when you have undivided attention (e.g. no squirming 1-year-old babies nursing while the 2.5 year old is wrestling with daddy as the TV blasts the latest episode of Reno 911).

So, read, enjoy, think, and then feel free to leave me some of your thoughts. :-)

2005-07-22T07:58:00.000-04:00

Hopelessly Devoted

While strolling through St. Blog's this morning, I came across Fr. Jim Tucker's response to this article from U.S. Catholic. Bill Cork, at Ut Unum Sint, has a few choice words to share as well.

So, why is it that so many younger Catholics are "flocking" to the popular devotions that Bryan Cone writes about in his article? I can only speak for myself, as a "younger" Catholic who grew up in a time after the Second Vatican Council. Why do I feel drawn to praying the rosary? Why am I attracted to adoring Christ, Truly Present in the Blessed Sacrament? Why do I pay attention to the liturgical calendar and bother to learn more about and pay homage to all those holy men and women who paved the way before us (i.e. the Saints)? Why?

Because I was robbed!

Yes, ROBBED! Growing up post-Vatican II (PVII), I was robbed of the popular piety of the Church. Adoration, Benediction, Monstrance? What are those things? Corpus Christi Procession? What are you talking about, that place in Texas? I was robbed of an education of what is means to be truly Catholic. In its place were teachings that all religions are the same, as long as you love God, things are OK. I was taught that the bread and wine are Jesus, but nothing along the lines of "Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity" or "Truly Present" or "Blessed Sacrament"...it's just a symbol, right? Here, chew on this:

The risk of adoration, as theologian and professor Sister Susan Wood, S.C.L. noted at a recent liturgy conference held at the University of Notre Dame, is that we might get “stuck” at the Real Presence, forgetting that the eucharistic mystery also contains what she calls a “presence of absence.” In other words, Christ, though truly present, is yet veiled in the sacramental symbols of bread and wine. That veiling is a reminder that the eucharistic mystery has yet to come to fullness, that its fulfillment will only come when we baptized are also fully transformed into the Body of Christ.

In my experience, we've been "stuck" in this other notion, the Mystical Body of Christ, for too long. This was evidenced by polling done in the last decade that illustrated that "younger" Catholics, the PVII generation if you will, no longer believed in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I, for one, am glad that the pendulum is swinging in the other direction. It's about time we reclaim our Catholic heritage.

Cones' article gives us a summarized history lesson of how some popular devotions developed. Essentially, he states that most of them came about because the laity was illiterate, didn't know how to "actively participate" in the Mass, etc. So, now that we can read and the Mass is said in the vernacular, we should toss our Rosaries? Please. He gives the example of ringing the bells at the Consecration because the laity were often worshiping Christ's Eucharistic Presence too soon in the Mass. Perhaps we should bring back the bells, so attention can be once again be brought back to worshiping His True Presence at the Consecration!

I’ve no doubt there are higher motives lying behind the energy of many proponents of the new devotionalism. People are rightfully hungry for silence amid the daily deluge of images and information, and changes in Catholic liturgy and piety, sometimes haphazardly implemented, have left some hungry for a time when a different kind of reverence and decorum marked Sunday Mass.

Cones urges us to put the focus back on the Mass. I'm sure many of us would not have difficulty with that, except that in many places the Sunday Mass has become so much of a distraction that is becomes difficult to worship. It's no surprise many of us are "hungry for...reverence and decorum" when what's taking place up at the altar on Sunday often resembles a circus. Amy Welborn has some good thoughts on how to get grounded again.

I'll leave it at that. All the little monkeys are awake for the day, so I should get down to business now.

2005-07-18T08:24:00.000-04:00

Panis Angelicus
Yes, we FINALLY got to sing a true Eucharistic hymn at Mass yesterday.

We were, however, instructed to sing both the Latin and the English verses. I wondered how that was going to fly. Would the congregation sound weak because the Latin language is hardly taught anywhere anymore? Would those of the parish who were Pre-Vatican II Catholics remember the hymn? Would those of us with a working knowledge of "choir Latin" be able to sing well enough? I have to admit, our parish is good about things...we will pretty much sing ANYTHING we're told to.

Anyway, it was lovely, singing the Latin, singing about the Eucharist.

And then we got to the English verses.

WHOA! Now, I'm not a Latin scholar by any stretch of the imagination, but I know enough of the roots to be able to figure out that the English verses sounded incredibly fishy. Once I came home and checked it out, I discovered I was right.

I just can't pass up the opportunity to show how OCP can completely butcher something so wonderful, so sacred. Here is the translation as it should be (literal and then rendered into an acceptable form of poetry.

Let's go line for line:
Latin: "Panis angelicus/fit panis hominum..."
OCP: Holy and living bread/wondrous food from heaven sent...

OK, that's not too bad. Nothing about angels, but at least a reference to Heaven.

Latin: "Dat panis caelicus/figuris terminum..."
OCP: God's sacrifice foretold--now in our hands we hold...

What? Now, even my Latin tells me there is something about heavenly bread, and something about coming to an end...no hands in there. Ooh, this is starting to bug me! Oh yeah, I'm sure St. Thomas Aquinas would've written about us holding the Body of Christ in our hands. Mmm-hmm, yeah.

Latin: "O res mirabilis/man ducat Dominum..."
OCP: Sign and reality/challenge for us to be...

Ugh, please! Sign and reality??? What is a sign? What about something wonderful, something from God?

Latin: "Pauper, servus, et humilis."
OCP: ...Humble servants to all the poor.

Goodness! Now, I can see where the poor comes from, and servants, and humble, but I don't think this is a correct translation, especially when continued from the previous line "challenge for us to be humble servants to all the poor." Not that I disagree with this. We should be humble servants of the poor, but this isn't what the hymn is about. But let's put that in there...they don't know Latin anymore, so it won't bother anyone.

Let's move on:

Latin: "Te, trina Deitas/unaque, poscimus..."
OCP: God, holy Three-in-One/through this off'ring of your Son..."

OK, again, we start off pretty good. At least we have a correct reference to the Trinity.

Latin: "Sic nos tu visita/sicut te colimus..."
OCP: All now on earth can see/what we are called to be:"

OK, whatever. I'm getting tired of this. My brain is starting to hurt. Just make it up as you go along...remember, nobody knows Latin anymore and certainly nobody believes that Christ is Truly Present in the Eucharist, right?

Latin: "Per tuas semitas/duc nos quo tendimus..."
OCP: Hope for a world in need/signs that love can succeed...

Blech. Ick. Poo. Fay.

Latin: "Ad lucem quam in habitas."
OCP: Where true justice and peace endure.

Good grief!

And lest you think I'm such a total crab when it comes to this type of stuff, at least I'm not alone. Read The Hidden Hand Behind Bad Catholic Music by J.A. Tucker (from St. Cecilia Schola Cantorum)

2005-07-14T09:11:00.000-04:00

Instrumentum Laboris
Just as I was beginning to think the shadow of the dark cloud hanging over Church was going to comsume me, this little ray of light broke through. Take a gander at this document. Numbers 26, 32, and 60 particularly spoke out to me. At least now I know I'm not completely imagining things! From #26:

It is widely held that Christ’s presence is a result of the community and not Christ himself, who is the font and centre of our communion and head of his Body, the Church.

Neglect of prayer, contemplation and adoration of the Eucharistic mystery has weakened the sense of the sacred in relation to this great Sacrament.

This situation can lead to compromising the truth of Catholic teaching concerning the change of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, traditionally called transubstantiation. It can also threaten faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, a belief which suffers from ideas which intend to explain the Eucharistic mystery not so much in itself but rather from a subjective point of view, for example, in the use of terms like “trans-finalization” and “trans-signification.”

And from #32:

Catechesis is faced with the difficulty of preserving the sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist as well as the idea of the Eucharist as a meal. Oftentimes, the latter receives more emphasis than the former.

Uh, yeah...you ain't kidding. Thank you for that "warm and fuzzy, Jesus is my friend" catechesis of the 70s.

And, lastly, from #60, which speaks of the music:

The faithful need to know the standard Gregorian chants, which have been composed to meet the needs of people of all times and places, in virtue of their simplicity, refinement and agility in form and rhythm. As a result, the songs and hymns presently in use need to be reconsidered.

[Hat tip to Sacred Miscellany and The Curt Jester]

Which reminds me, folks:
Learning About Gregorian Chant on CD
Read more about the CD at the Abbey of Solesmes website (scroll down and then click on the CD cover).

2005-07-07T10:16:00.000-04:00

A Pox on your House
We are knee-deep in chickenpox recovery right now. Kid #1 came down with them the middle of June. At first I thought it was a bad case of poison ivy, since she had admitted to falling down face-first into a patch while playing in the woods across the street. But no, it was the pox. Then we went a nice two weeks with nobody sick. Thinking we were more or less in the clear, we went on another camping trip over the July 4th holiday. Then the other five kids broke out, all within about 6-12 hours of each other. Thank goodness we travel in an RV...at least they had some of the comfort of home. We were traveling with DH's sister, brother-in-law, and their two kids. The cousins had already had the pox, so at least our kids had someone to be entertained by.

Oldest son has the worst case, by far...they are all over the place in great number. We attribute this to his playing baseball in the sun the first day of camping. Apparently this can cause a greater number of pox to appear. Poor thing. He has county tournaments coming up this weekend and he's hoping the sun won't bother his scabbing skin by Saturday. I knew he was starting to feel better on Tuesday when he was returning to his role of resident instigator.

What else has been going on? Well, two weeks away from our home parish has allowed us to experience some different implementation of GIRM. I wrote about our experience in Corbin, KY (Diocese of Lexington). Over the 4th holiday, we attended Mass at St. Paul Church, which is outside of Dayton and part of our home Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

St. Paul was built in 1973 and from the outside it looks like a typical 70s church. Inside, I was first struck by the huge icon of Christ behind the altar, then I noticed the chairs. Fortunately, the chairs had kneelers attached to them. "OK, so they kneel, that's good," I thought. Then I looked around for the red sanctuary light and the tabernacle. Not to be up front. Hmmm, not in this side alcove, either. Well, it must be somewhere...the sign outside said "Catholic Church"...we'll go find it after Mass. It turns out they have a separate little chapel reserved for the Blessed Sacrament, which is behind a gate inside the church and a security coded door which allows parishioners with the code to gain access from outside the church. Other things that weren't totally "traditional" included the crucifix that was in that side alcove, the microphone wires hanging from the ceiling to the side of the sanctuary, the grand piano, no statues or vigil candles that were visible while sitting in the chairs. Hymnals were something from GIA.

However, while it was not the most traditional appearing church, the Mass was incredibly reverent. We opened with the hymn, "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say." Since I can read music, I realized the tune was the same as "Star of the County Down", so I told the kids they would recognize the tune. It turns out, both songs are based on the Kingsfold tune, which was named thus by Ralph Vaughn Williams, I believe. We sang the Gloria based on a "new chant" in the GIA hymnal...not bad. Chanted the Our Father based on the ancient Pater Noster chant...I like that. Nice parts: the cantor was robed in an alb, indicating his special function; LOTS of sacred silence, wow; everything was done slowly and deliberately so we didn't feel like we were racing through the Mass, and everything was done reverantly.

DH stated that attending Mass there helped him to realize that what he has been wanting wasn't so much a return to traditional things (with "better" music) as a unified sense of reverence for what is taking place. I agree with him on that, though I think the music plays a significant role in what is going on. We are being urged by certain members of the parish staff (also our firends) to not leave the parish, to stick it out and prayerfully wait for things to improve. It is nice to know we are appreciated for what we bring to the parish and are wanted and needed. It is an issue which tears at me though. On the one hand, I see the value of stability and obedience, of submitting oneself to the greater purpose, of persevering. On the other hand, I've stuck it out for at least three years and am getting spiritually tired, drained if you will, and I don't know how much more I can stand.

St. Thomas More, patron of large families, pray for us.

2005-07-01T07:59:00.000-04:00

A Schola? In Cincinnati?
Rich Leonardi has put out the call for Catholic singers in Cincinnati--those especially on the east side--to form a Schola using the blueprint of the St. Cecilia Schola Cantorum of St. Michael's church in Auburn Alabama.

This idea has been floating around in my little brain for a while now, though it wasn't in the actual form of "Schola Cantorum." Actually, it was more in the form of a question: "How can I pass on the incredible wealth of Catholic sacred music to my children?" Now, it's not that I grew up hearing chants in Latin or anything, but at least in the 70s, parts of the Mass were still chanted, though in the vernacular. I did major in music for part of my college career, though, and was exposed to lots of incredible music.

Anyway, I still haven't completely introduced my children to authentically Catholic sacred music, but I'm making my way there gradually. I attempt to play the classic hymns on the piano in my free time, I recently got my hands on a copy of "Minimum Repetoire of Plain Chant" and have had Lingua Angelica since our second year of homeschooling. These two resources have songbooks and recordings to facilitate learning the music.

A while back I read an article...I think it was in a free copy of Latin Mass Magazine that was sent to me. It was about starting a latin children's choir. I thought it was such an excellent idea, especially since our parish didn't have a children's choir at the time. Things have changed since that time. We now have a new music director and a children's choir which sings once a month during the school year.

The main reason I didn't step up to the plate to start something in my parish was the fear of the idea being rejected or of stepping on someone's toes. The proposed blueprint gives suggestions on how to go about forming a schola, the primary one being that it should start by word of mouth. So, if you live on the east side of Cincinnati and would like to do something positive regarding the present state of liturgical music being offered at the majority of parishes in our area, please leave a comment for Rich.

2005-06-29T08:46:00.000-04:00

Check This Out
Thanks for the heads up at Confessions of a Hot Carmel Sundae on this blog I wasn't aware of 'til this morning. Nothing like a good dose of Catholic humor/sarcasm to start the day.

Be sure to check out other new listings on my blogroll. I've added a few in the past month or so. Those that have been inactive for a long amount of time will eventually get the boot from my blogroll.

Oh, and for you baseball fans out there, especially those of the Reds ilk, check out Redleg Nation, to which my dh is a contributor.

2005-06-27T11:42:00.000-04:00

Corbin, KY
We took our second camping trip of the season this weekend, visiting pleasant Corbin, KY. Corbin is the birthplace of Col. Sanders and home of the very first Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Corbin are is also home to Cumberland Falls. Apprently this waterfall, called the "Niagara Falls of the South", is the one of only a few places where one can see a "Moonbow." What is a moonbow? Read it here. We didn't venture out at night to see the moonbow, since I was experiencing some digestive problems and wasn't feeling well until Sunday afternoon.

We attended Mass at Sacred Heart Church. I was struck by the appearance of the church. At first, when I saw the corner stone which read 1971, I thought we'd be in the middle of one of those modern church buildings. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Tabernacle in the center under the crucifix and the presider's chair off to the side. There were stained glass windows, statues, and votive candles. It was a small church, but quite comfortable. The most wonderful part was the proper place of music within the Mass. While everyone was receiving, the organist played a tune in the background while nobody sang, then once everyone had received we sang this hymn:

Soul of my Savior sanctify my breast,

Body of Christ, be thou my saving guest,

Blood of my Savior, bathe me in thy tide,

wash me with waters gushing from thy side.

Strength and protection may thy passion be,

O blessèd Jesus, hear and answer me;

deep in thy wounds, Lord, hide and shelter me,

so shall I never, never part from thee.

Guard and defend me from the foe malign,

in death's dread moments make me only thine;

call me and bid me come to thee on high

where I may praise thee with thy saints for ay.

This is the prayer, Anima Christi. I had a difficulty singing it because I was so struck by the words. I had to fight back the tears for this wonderful gift God has given.

Not that the liturgical music was perfect. We did sing "Gather Us In" ("...give us to drink the wine of compassion/give us to drink the bread that is you..."), but at least it was the entrance hymn and not at Communion.

2005-06-27T08:25:00.000-04:00

Thoughts on Ephesians 5:21-33
Kate over at Heart Speaks to Heart has asked me to comment on this meme started by Greg Popcak on his HMS blog. I'm not really into "tagging" people for this kind of thing, but if you want to comment on this passage, please feel free to do so in the comments or cut and paste the relevant info to your own blog. :-)

Here are the questions:
Read the passage from Ephesians 5:21-33:

21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Answer these questions:
1. Why do you think this passage is such a incendiary one for women and men?

I don't like how the question is worded, since it assumes it is incendiary for women and men. I would have preferred the wording to be, "why do you think this passage can be such an incendiary one?" Worded that way, I can go ahead and speculate why it has the potential to be incendiary.

It can be incendiary if only part of the passage is taken out of its context, e.g. "Wives, submit to your husbands... For the husband is the head of the wife." When only parts of verses 22 and 23 are taken from the whole of the passage starting at 21, it is ignoring the vital parts of the instructions St. Paul is giving us in his epistle. It ignores that we, as married persons, are part of a unit, each one submitting to one another; it ignores, that we, as Christians, are part of the Church, which submits herself to Christ, who is Head. If we think of marriage as purely a social construct, rather than the spiritual union it truly is, then of course this passage, or pieces of it, could be incendiary.

1 1/2. Was it ever that way for you? If so, how was your heart changed?

Thank the Lord, it has never been this way for me...that is, incendiary in my marriage (I am assuming that is what the question is asking between the lines). While our union started out as a civil one, it was eventually blessed by the church (convalidated) when my husband entered the fullness of faith. Fortunately for us, we both came from families where the sacredness of the marital union is upheld, built on the bonds of love and respect.

2. What is God trying to tell us through St. Paul in this scripture reading?

I believe God is showing us that marriage is indeed more than a social construct, that there is something mystical between the union of man and woman. This is illustrated so beautifully through Christ's sacrifice for his bride, the Church. He gave himself up to make her "holy and blameless." In the same way, a husband cares for his wife, sacrificing on her behalf, for her good, so that she may be holy. Wow! St. Paul goes further to explain that "husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies." When things are ordered in the right way, this means harm is not being done, but the utmost care is taken of the temple of the holy Spirit, which is worthy of dignity and respect. We can see the tenderness here between man and woman, because each is acting out of love for one another, but moreso, out of love for Christ.

3. How does a misunderstanding or lack of understanding of God's plan for marriage revealed through this scripture damage marriages?

Well, obviously, if the passage is taken only in bits and pieces, out of context, it can only be taken on a surface level. I defer again to looking just at verses 22-23, which can then be used by one to justify "power" and "authority" over another, namely the husband over the wife. The most common misunderstanding of this being, "I [the husband] have been assigned as head over you [the wife], and you must submit to whatever I say. You must respect me, but I, in turn must do nothing for you."

Feminists, I'm sure, have looked at parts of this passage and have revolted. How could any self-respecting woman "submit" herself to a man's authority? How could she allow herself to be treated as a second-class citizen with no say in anything? Is any man worth negating oneself?

When Christ is removed from "marriage", there is a tendency for things to become unbalanced, either in "favor" for the man or the woman. We must always remember how St. Paul begins this instruction with verse 21: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

4. How can men and women come to understand it better?
"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." If we approach our marriages in this way, we are looking in the right direction. We act not out of a selfish desire, but for the good of the other, because we not only love that person, but, more, because we love Christ. Those of us who are wives must allow our husbands to be the head. In our modern society, this is somewhat countercultural. It is not what our culture says we should be doing. Rather, we should be looking out for number one and assert ourselves. Those of us who are husbands must love sacrificially, that is, give up oneself for love of Christ. If husbands love in this way, in the way that Christ loves His Church, it is easy, a joy, for a wife to submit to and respect her husband because she does it for love of Christ.

2005-06-23T08:10:00.000-04:00

Mass Confusion

Sorry for not posting more frequently during these lazy days of summer. I have no excuses, really, except that I have been tending to the normal duties of life in our ever-busy household.

Weighing on my mind for some time has been the experience of participating at Mass in our parish. For months, perhaps years, I feel like I have been holding out in the hope of some improvement. Lest this turn into a rant about how much I dislike things and seem ungrateful for the fact that I can choose to attend Mass elsewhere if need be, let alone get to attend Mass at all, let me just summarize that I'm getting tired of holding out. Apparently, so is my husband...so I take that as some indication that we need to investigate other parishes.

Just so you know the level of frustration I am at, I will provide you with a quote I came across in this article this morning:

In an article in Homiletic & Pastoral Review (Nov. 1995), I pointed out that we should not be surprised that a majority of American Catholics reportedly think that the Eucharistic species are merely bread and wine, and not the Real Presence of Christ. After all, since 1969 we have been reciting a Memorial Acclamation after the Consecration that goes, "When we eat this bread and drink this cup..." Such a formulation, repeated week after week and year after year, can only have the effect of diminishing our alertness to the Real Presence. Combine this liturgical habit with a Communion distribution that has become decidedly casual, and with a catechesis that no longer trains Catholics to think of substance and accident and Transubstantiation - and the result must be that ignorance of the Real Presence will become first a habit and, finally, a conviction. Archbishop Rigali of St. Louis, in fact, has issued instructions to his diocese (June 1997) that post-Consecration references to the sacred species as "bread and wine" are not to be used at Mass.

Look at that last sentence again regarding Archbishop Rigali's instructions: "post-Consecration references to the sacred species as "bread and wine" are not to be used at Mass." How many of us have attended Mass where the Communion 'hymn' is some ditty referring to "bread and wine"? It may be completely unintentional on the part of the music minister, but it's my feeling that this type of music undermines traditional Catholic teaching when it comes to the Eucharist. It is said that "singing is praying twice" (attributed to St. Augustine), and that we learn things more easily when they are set to music, absorb them, if you will. It is especially dangerous to be singing these sorts of songs when younger people and new Catholics are present, people who may not yet have grasped the teaching regarding Christ's True Presence in the Eucharist. The problem is made worse when the tune is pleasing, familiar, or easy to sing.

I was born in 1969. To be honest with you, I never thought about that Memorial Acclamation mentioned above until I read the writer's comments on it this morning. Has it contributed to my diminished "alertness to the Real Presence" in the past? Highly likely. I didn't come across Transubstantiation or substance and accident until I was a junior philosophy major in college (a public university no less). I grew up in the 70s and 80s, where my catechesis was entrusted initially to the Benedictine nuns who were in charge of CCD, but then phased into the "religious instruction" run by lay people.

This type of Mass Confusion is all I know. It's all my husband knows, having only been Catholic for eight years. It's all my children know. And yet, we all know, on one level or another, that it can be and is different: reverent, majestic, mysterious. I'm not talking about traditional versus new, Tridentine versus Novus Ordo. I'm talking about that which is the "source and summit of Christian life": the Eucharist. If Christ is Truly Present--Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity--then He deserves the proper respect and dignity reserved for Him, the King of Kings.

2005-06-08T12:17:00.000-04:00

Faith and Family
Go there now and sign up for your free trial issue. You'll be happy you did!

I used to subscribe to a whole host of parenting magazines when I had less children and more time to read them. After a while I found myself just throwing them out because so much didn't jive with my parenting philosophy. Mainstream magazines we're full of mainstream advice and mainstream advertising. The ads for antibiotics, vaccines, and birth control are the most prevalent. I finally let the subscriptions lapse.

Even the non-mainstream magazine, Mothering, which is more in line with my parenting philosophy, proved to be a disappointment too, since it seemed to kowtow to the Earth-goddess mentality that is prevalent among many natural family/AP types.

I subscribed to Catholic Parent for a while, but that didn't seem to fulfill my needs either. It was certaibly nice, though, to see ads from companies and organizations I want to support. I just recently let that subscription lapse in favor of subscribing to Faith and Family.

The one and only downside of this periodical is it is published seasonally. But what it lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in quality.
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Update: This afternoon, while perusing the blog of writer Danielle Bean, I came across her copy of the article that sealed my decision to subscribe to F&F: Seasoned Moms. Be sure to check out Danielle's blog!

2005-06-03T08:05:00.000-04:00

The Mug
While I was still a student in high school, one of my friends purchased a coffee mug for my birthday. I thought it an unusual gift since I had not yet taken up the habit of drinking coffee. Still, I liked the mug. It was one of those Sandra Boynton mugs picturing a fuzzy gray cartoon cat sliding down the mug's side, claw marks on the way down, with the words scrawled "HANG IN THERE!" (the second one pictured). It is my favorite mug. I love how it feels in my hand, how its curved lip slides delicately over my own when I take a sip. It has weathered through two handle breakings in the past 18 or so years...my goodness, has it been THAT long?!?

Anyway, my mug is gone. No, it didn't mysteriously disappear. I know exactly who took it, and I think I'm OK with it. Let me explain. Remember a few posts ago I mentioned in passing that we were having temporary house guests? Well, our friend has been trying to get his life together for the last couple of years and has had quite a few demons to battle. His first big one was being diagnosed with a brain tumor and dealing with all the stuff involved. Others have included losing his job(s), losing his house, being robbed, and coming to terms with the undeniable call back home to the Church.

Why would that last one be a demon to battle? I guess that, itself, was not the demon, but the pride that needed to be overcome in order to take the steps back to the Church. Yes, the pride. It has been a long, slow process over the last year or so. It started with viewing "The Passion" last year, and included many heated religious discussions with my husband. Things finally came to a head this Lent when my husband and I started preaching the Gospel through our DEEDS rather than just WORDS. We opened our home, we fed, we loaned money, we gave counsel. It has been spiritually beneficial for us as well as for him. The pride started to melt away. God's grace took over. Our friend confessed his sins of the past 35 years, received absolution, did penance, and received the Eucharist. The Prodigal Son has COME HOME!

So, back to the mug. While our friend was staying with us, I noticed he would use MY MUG for his morning coffee. And since he wakes up at the crack of dawn, there was no way I could beat him to it to SHOW him it was MY MUG. I couldn't very well say to him between sips of coffee, "By the way, that's MY MUG you're drinking from." I mean, it's JUST A MUG! For some reason, he would always choose the mug...even when it hadn't been washed in the dishwasher, even when I would tuck it BEHIND some OTHER mug...he would choose MY MUG.

After thinking about it some, I think I know why he likes that mug. Is it the way it fits his hand? Maybe. The way the curved lip fits his mouth? Perhaps. But I think he likes it and has taken it with him to his new home because of its message:

HANG IN THERE!

So many times he could've given up; so many times he could've high-tailed it back to a life of sin, but he didn't. Somehow, in the midst of all the crap going on, there was the hope of things getting better, something greater than this world.

HANG IN THERE!

There is something better, we just have to wait for it. But I promise you, it will be AWESOME.

Yeah, now that I think about it. I'm OK with my mug being his now.

2005-06-02T07:51:00.000-04:00

American Catholic?

One of the hazards of suburban life is that eventually you fall into social situations you wouldn't otherwise have chosen for yourself and wind up overhearing comments you wish you hadn't overheard. Try this on for size:

I'm an AMERICAN Catholic. AMERICAN first. If the Pope were to visit, I'd gladly shake his hand, but no way would I kiss his ring.

Now, lest you think I'm one of those unpatriotic, anti-America Americans, rest assured that I am not. I love my country. I love the freedom we have been granted. We Americans have the freedom to practice our religion, the freedom to express our thoughts and feelings about issues in the church and the world. Parishes can bicker with one another about sharing priests and consolidating smaller parishes to become one larger one. This is especially true in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, where we are "facing a future with fewer priests."

Yesterday I read Abigail Palmer's article, "My Kingdom for the Pill," (via Dyspeptic Mutterings, via JimmyAkin.org) and she hit the nail on the head regarding American Catholics:

American Catholics are the most spoiled Catholics on the planet. A Catholic in Baghdad just hopes that his church won't be bombed this Sunday; Sudanese Catholics hope that they can face another day without brutal, unspeakable religious persecution. In many of the dioceses of the world, a roof on the church or running water would be nice. And we, in all of our prosperity, want more ease. We can go to church when we like, say what we like, do what we like.

Ain't that the truth? We bicker over having to possibly travel 10, 20, or 30 minutes further to go to Mass, or have to share a priest with St. Holier-Than-Thou parish, or have Mass at a less convenient time. Good grief! Gives thanks and praise that you can attend a Mass! One Sunday, our deacon was put on the spot because the missionary priest who was scheduled to offer Mass didn't show up. We wound up with a Communion Service. If this is what a future with fewer priests might be like, we should pray more earnestly for more vocations to the priesthood. Why? Wasn't Jesus still present in the Eucharist reserved in the Tabernacle from the previous Mass? Yes, but there was still something missing....the sacrifice of the Mass. Somehow, it felt a little...empty.

So, like the comment that has fueled this post, we American Catholics can say what we like. We also think we can do what we like. I like the radio ad I heard last week during the Catholic Answers show. It was something like this: "You don't like this teaching? OK, well let's just rip paragraphs x,y,z out of the Catechism! Susie, you don't agree with this teaching? No problem, q, r, s...gone! The problem with this approach to Catholicism is that soon everyone is his own pope!"

The cafeteria is closed, folks, but the banquet room is still open. Come and take part in the feast that has been set down before you. And while you're at it, kiss the Pope's ring if he graces you with his presence.

2005-06-01T15:53:00.000-04:00

Liturgy of the Hours
Just in case you haven't seen it.
And to find out what, exactly it is, as well as how and when to pray it, see this website.

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I am finding myself more and more perturbed by suburban life after having returned from our outing to the mountains of West Virginia. We spent those three days without any television (other than the children's videos), and I have to admit it was nice to have a respite from the daily assault of modern advertising. I'm yearning for more space, cleaner air, places to roam for the kids. ::sigh:: At least we have Maine to look forward to in August. :-)

(and yes, I AM quite happy with my modern life in general, especially conveniences that help to make my load a little easier to bear. But there has always been this part of me that is drawn to a 'simpler' way of life...who knows if I'll ever get there).

2005-05-31T10:04:00.000-04:00

Trip Report

Well, this Memorial Day weekend marked our first RV trip of 2005. Our destination was the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. We stayed at the lovely Stuart Recreation Area Campground. We left Ohio on Friday morning, a bit later than planned, since we were having some trouble with the rear blinker on the motorhome and the tow dolly. Yes, we travel in a 31' Class C motorhome with six kids, towing our van behind us. It is really the only practical way we can travel these days. Actually, since having four kids, we've been forced to stay in hotels that have suites, or pay for adjoining rooms (something about fire codes), so I think the motorhome has probably paid for itself in that respect. Besides, the children are able to watch TV, use the bathroom, and eat while on the road. But I digress...

We got a late start, but travel was uneventful and we made fairly good time despite taking mostly state highways there. The real adventure started when we were looking for our campground. Silly us, we followed the directions from the website above, waiting for a very literal sign which would say something like "Stuart CAMPGROUND, next left. Turn here, you dufus!" Since we didn't see anything other than a general National Forest sign saying "STUART", we figured we'd see the CAMPGROUND sign further on up the road. Well, further on up, and further on up, still no sign. We look at the directions again and notice that the road we should turn onto to the left is called Stuart Memorial Drive or Forest Road 91. Up the road (and the mountain) a piece, we see Forest Road 91, so we turn onto it. Well, it's called FOREST ROAD for a reason. It was basically a 1.5 lane road through the forest with a very sharp drop to one side. We prayed we wouldn't meet anyone coming the other way. Fortunately, that held true for the first 15 miles or so. Then we met someone local-ish just past the Bear Heaven campground who told us if we just kept going "down the steep mountain about 5 miles" we'd find our destination. He wasn't kidding about the steep part, but we had the misfortune of getting stuck behind a fellow who apparently didn't know how to drive down steep mountains. The fool rode his brake the whole way down! Anyone who has driven anything bigger than a van knows that the larger the vehicle is, the harder it is to stop quickly! Matt was forced to ride his brake down the mountainside as well. When we reached the bottom, we could smell the brakes! Ugh! We figure we must've gone about 30 miles out of our way. We set up camp and had hot dogs for supper.

On Saturday, we hiked one of the trails near the campground. The weather looked threatening, so we made plans to drive the distance to Seneca Caverns. We had an early lunch in their restaurant and then toured the caves. Seneca Caverns was very cool, much to my surprise. The last time I was in a cavern like that was when I was a kid and our family visited Howe Caverns in upstate NY. I remember being kind of freaked out about it, but maybe because my mom was freaked or something. I wasn't freaked about this cavern at all. It was more or less spacious for most of the way, and had some really fascinating formations. After Seneca Caverns, we stopped by Seneca Rocks. Through binoculars we were able to see people climbing the rocks. We then headed north to Blackwater Falls State Park.

Since it had been a long day, we decided to eat out at a restaurant in Elkins, WC, the twon nearest the campground.

On Sunday we started out with a hike at the second trail near the campground, or so we THOUGHT it was the second trail. We had the option of following the trail to the right, left, or straight ahead and up. Since the last option was blocked by a fallen tree, we didn't choose that one. Matt suggested we choose the "road less traveled" which led down to the river. It was a great trail, except that we had decided to let Drew, our 2 year old walk instead of being carried in the backpack. The trail was essentially a narrow ledge which led us alongside the river very high up. It was really an awesome trail, but I had the easy job of carrying the baby on my back and leading the pack. Matt was the caboose and had the unenviable task of leading the two little boys carefully along the ledge trail. The trail looped around and led us back to our last option where the fallen tree was. At this point, I had to take the baby/backpack off my back, climb through the tree limbs and then have Matt pass her down through to me. Did I say it was a beautiful trail? It really was. In a couple of weeks it will be spectacular when the rhododendron and mountain laurel are in bloom.

We then took a long drive to the West Virginia State Wildlife Center. There we saw all sorts of native animals in fenced natural surroundings. It was a lovely day...not too hot, not too cold...just right, weather-wise. The highlight of the visit was seeing a newly born white-tail fawn!

Afterwards, we all chowed down at a local pizza buffet. Good thing, too, since we had no idea what was in store for us later that afternoon.

We headed north again toward Blackwater Falls State Park, since we wanted to hike some of the shorter trails that are along the Canaan Loop Road. We were going by information we had found on this website. We hiked a little bit on Fire Trail #2, but it was kind of wet and didn't really lead to anyplace in particular, since it is a connecting trail or sorts. So, we decided to travel further along the road to a place called Table Rock. We thought this would be a good trail to hike, since it led to an overlook of the Canaan Valley. The trail was rocky, but very manageable for the most part, not much uphill hiking at all. We met a couple of hikers about 3/4 of the way through and they told us that it starts to get really muddy as we get closer to Table Rock. They weren't kidding! Talk about a family working together! Once we finally got through the muddy trail, we went out on Table Rock and received this rewarding view.

It was getting late, so we figured we should be on our way. Fortunately, we all had enough pizza in us that nobody was complaining about being hungry! Silly us, once again. We thought loop road actually meant loop ROAD. We kept driving on the road, which was now heading back east, and it was getting worse and worse until it resembled what our oldest son called a creek bed. There was a lot of water and many rocks and dips. We continued onward until we reached a place where even the heariest minivan could no longer venture (which is, funnily enough, the type of minivan we have, a Chevy Venture). Matt got out of the van and scoped the trail ahead. It was a very steep rock face meant to be scaled only by a very good 4x4. How I wish we had visited this website before thinking the loop road was a ROAD!!! Somehow we managed to turn the van around with lots of scvraping and scratching from the rhododendrons on each side of us. We finally got back to the campsite at 9:45pm!

Moral of the story: If you are heading to a National Forest to camp, don't drive on any Forest Road without doing your homework first! :-)

2005-05-17T07:28:00.000-04:00

May Crowning

May is the month devoted to honoring Mary, the Mother of God. Many traditions honoring Mary are slowly dying out in Catholic parishes, though. One of these traditions is May Crowning. It can often be difficult to understand why Catholics have such devotion to Mary. Please read about her Assumption and about her Queenship from these two reliable Catholic apologetics websites.

Last Thursday, the day before the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, our parish Elizabeth Ministry sponsored the Marian Event, "Behold Your Mother." It was a lovely, though windy, evening. We began by praying the rosary in the grotto outside the church. Some of our recent First Communicants helped to lead the rosary by holding pictures representing the Joyful Mysteries, and we prayed for the special intentions of the parish, the First Communicants, and the Elizabeth Ministry. We then had a procession into the church.

Once inside, we listened to the Word of God (First Reading: Isaiah 66:9-13a; Psalm: Psalm 33; Gospel: Luke 1:39-45). After a reflection on the Gospel, which was the account of Mary's Visitation to Elizabeth (from which Elizabeth Ministry gets its name and its mission), we had one of the expectant mothers and her family come up to the statue of Mary with a wreath of flowers to adorn her head while we sang "Hail Mary: Gentle Woman." We then prayed the Litany of Mary, Mother of the Church and then had the Blessing of Expectant Mothers. Four pregnant moms came forward and we presented then with pink roses and our deacon gave them the special blessing. One of those moms was the woman who lost one of her twins at 20 weeks! She is now 37 weeks with the remaining twin and good to go any day now. The evening ended with an ice cream social in the parish dining hall. I think ice cream was a good incentive for a good turnout.

Next year we hope to involve more First Communicants by having them take part in a living rosary. We also hope to have even more pregnant women receive the Blessing For Expectant Mothers.

2005-05-10T13:53:00.000-04:00

My favorite personal photo of Mohonk's Skytop taken from Butterville Rd. off Rt. 299.

2005-05-10T12:10:00.000-04:00

More About Me
Around this time of year I tend to get a little nostalgic for the place where I grew up. And, well, Colleen, who left a comment on my last post, is from the same area of the world and it just made me think that it's probably time I let me readers know a little more about me. :-)

Then again, maybe it's not more about me, but about the cool place where I grew up. My husband, who is an Ohio native, grew up in a very small town, with a very small graduating class. He still actually looks forward to seeing his classmates every now and then, even though he has moved on and away from his boyhood hometown. I, on the other hand, really would only like to see about 2 or 3 people from my somewhat larger hometown and graduating class, and that's about it.

I grew up near New Paltz, NY, on a dead-end road about 2 miles from the base of the Shawangunk Mountains. The name of the mountains, pronounced by the locals, sounds like "Shongum" but is also known as the 'Gunks, for short. I believe the Native American word means something like "place of the white cliffs" which makes sense, since the ridge is composed of granite. It is a popular spot for mountain climbers. Summer as a kid was always interesting, since we could often hear climbers yelling to one another on the ridge. Sadly, there were too frequent siren sounds going up the hairpin turn to retrieve fallen climbers.

At the top of the mountain ridge sits Minnewaska State Park, with its crowning glory, Lake Minnewaska. Make sure you look through the Scenic Minnewaska photo gallery and the history timeline. There was a resort of sorts up there at one time, but a fire destroyed many of the buildings...that was all before my time. My fondest memories of the mountain are skiing in the winter at Ski Minne and swimming at Split Rock in the summer (brrr...refreshing mountain astreams are great for a hangover). In the 70s, we'd get a hoot by driving by with the folks, catching a glimpse of some hippies skinny-dipping!

Technically, Split Rock is part of the Mohonk Preserve. The most well-known part of the preserve area is where the Mohonk Mountain House is. It's a gorgeous place to hang out, but it costs money to get onto the land (unless you prefer to walk up the mountain to the property). Thus, I've only been there about 3 times my whole life! This is where the movie "The Road to Wellville" was filmed. Stupid movie, great scenery. From the town of New Paltz and many other locations, you can see Skytop, which is a little mountaintop tower. At one time there was a light in the top, but I'm not sure that burns anymore. Take a look at the photos from G. Steve Jordan. You can get on the mailing list and get some really lovely postcards inviting you to the gallery events.

New Paltz was founded in 1677 by French Huguenots. Huguenot Street Historic District is a National Historic Landmark, often referred to as "the oldest street in America in continuous state of habitation." I take that to mean that the houses are still standing and people live in some of them. At one point in time, you could still see the cobblestone from older times. Of course, I think the history is fascinating especially since my husband's family descends from French Huguenots. However, dear hubby likes to make fun of me because our school "mascot" (the emblem on our yearbooks and rings) is the Huguenot rock that stands in front of the Jean Hasbrouck house.

New Paltz is also home to the State University of New York College at New Paltz, aka SUNY New Paltz. This is the college I finally graduated from with a BA degree in Philosophy and a minor in Religious Studies.

There's a lot more to New Paltz. It's an interesting place. The population doubles everytime the college is in session, and going up main street, you get to see all sorts of freaks and hippies. The town made national news a year ago, when the 26-year-old Green Party mayor, Jason West, was charged with 19 criminal counts for performing gay marriages.

So, I hope you enjoyed your little virtual tour of my hometown. :-)