The Final Preparations Begin

Well I mixed up my first batch of Christmas cookies last night and mixed up another batch today.  I am hoping to mix up at least one more batch today and start baking them as well.  Other stuff I have to do is: 

• I want to take a family picture with our camera and send out Christmas/Epiphany cards since I"ve decided not to worry about getting them out before Christmas. 
• Wrap presents
• Download some mp3's on the mp3 player my son will be getting for Christmas
• Get a Christmas menu together and go shopping
• Get a Christmas tree (that's my husband's job)
• Get our nativity set out
• Present for my sister and her guy?
• Order the chocolate mousse cake we get every year

I think we'll be fine on spending as long as we don't put anything else on our credit card and use the money we have left in our checking.  (I posted about my concerns regarding Christmas spending  yesterday.)
I'm feeling much better about things now and am looking forward to the final preparations.

Oh yeah!  And I'm really happy about the fact that my formerly SLOW, SLOW, SLOW computer is working again.  It was finally decided more memory needed to be put in.  Hooray!  It works like a dream.

Christmas Spending Guilt

It's December 20th.  I don't have a Christmas tree up, or cookies made, or have a menu planned for Christmas dinner  but I have spent more money on presents than I should have.  Part of the reason is that my husband and I decided that we would splurge on presents for each other.  Questions go through my mind wondering if we're being too materialistic, going after the latest electronic gadgets (something that we rarely do).  We are basically spending some "extra" bonus moneymoney that I tell myself we could be putting toward things like savings or fixing the million little things around the house, or help to pay off debt.  We are taking a break from being thrifty and treating ourselves to some fun things, things that maybe even will prove practical in some ways and--sometimes I feel awfully guilty about it. 

It's Advent and I'm Trying not to Stress

Every year personal and spiritual growth during Advent means letting go of preconceived ideas for a perfect Christmas.  This seems especially true for me this year.  My husband is winding down his months of working mandatory overtime and I have been playing in the symphony for a rehearsal or a concert every Sunday this Advent except for the last one.  So it seems there is even less time to "get it all done" than in previous years and it has been very difficult to get day to day tasks done around the house: laundry, cleaning, having supper on the table every night and it seems like a lot to think about getting ready for Christmas on top of all this.

Given the fact that it's so easy to feel overwhelmed, I'm really trying to let God guide me toward what he thinks is important for me to do realizing that we are his children and it should really be up to him to decide what kind of Christmas we have.  This means focusing on love. My focus should be on finding ways to better love God and my family.  If I focus on love and what is truly important than I think I may be less likely to feel anxious and overwhelmed which causes me to not be very loving. 

This may mean playing with my children instead of focusing so much on housework or just trying to keep my cool during tantrums and--what I find the most stressful part of the day--getting supper on the table.  I will need help from Jesus and Mary, of course.  It's difficult to not want to blame your husband for the house being a mess or the fact that  you haven't had time to do any planning for Christmas.  This is when it is important to trust God.  Don't sweat it.  Do your little part and it will all turn out o.k. even if it is not exactly what you wanted.

Practically speaking it helps to have manageable, realistic goals for each day with something I want to accomplish in the various categories of housework, child rearing, prayer, and Christmas planning as this helps to stay focused and I feel better when you know what you want to do and then accomplish at least some of it.

I think that working toward the material things that help in celebrating Christmas such as good food, special treats, presents can also help to prepare us spiritually for Christmas if we do it with a spirit of love and joy keeping in mind the celebration that we are fortunate enough to share with our family and the reason we are celebrating.  It's a matter of balance which begins with trusting God and keeping anxiety at bay.

Any suggestions about keeping things in perspective are appreciated.

St. Andrew's Love of Jesus

"He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah.'" 


Today is Andrew's feast day as well as my husband's namesake day.  I went to mass today and was particularly moved by what our pastor said about St. Andrew.  We know how Andrew's brother Peter was crucified upside down because he deemed himself unworthy to be crucufied as our savior was crucified.  Andrew too felt unworthy to be crucifed as our Lord was and my pastor implied that he felt unworthy to be crucified even as his brother Peter was.  Therefore his cross was in the shape of an "X".  He also was not nailed to his cross but bound as is shown in the above picture to prolong his agony and he was actually preaching while hanging from the cross. 

Sadly it is difficult to imagine this kind of love for Jesus or zeal for the Glory of God.  "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."--Matthew 19:26  This reminds me of how weak I am  and how much I need to thank God and ask him to strengthen me. 

Christmas Anticipation Prayer

St. Andrew's Day is the beginning of the Christmas Anticipation Prayer.  Starting on St. Andrew's Day the following prayer is said fifteen times every day until Christmas:

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold.  In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, (here metion your request) through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of his blessed Mother. Amen

Enthroning the Sacred Heart on Christ the King

In our parish there is a home enthronement "program" sponsored by our parish Knights of Columbus in which we were given packets that included images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the prayers of enthronement and consecration.  We were encouraged to do the enthronement in our homes yesterday on the Solemnity of Christ the King as we would be making Jesus the King of our homes and our hearts. At mass there was a blessing of the pictures and afterwards a eucharistic procession (in the church instead of outside since it was raining). 

In our family we have talked about enthroning the Sacred Heart before, but the information I had found on line always made it seem so complicated.  In contrast, the information and prayers included in the packet were very simple; and the images are beautiful reminders of the presence of Jesus and Mary in our lives making our home seem more like a church.

I believe we were encouraged to do this as a form of spiritual warfare against the evils in our world today and especially the prominant hatred that seems to be developing against Christians.  Our diocese is also looking to plan for big changes in the future to deal with the anticipated shortage of pieists in a few years and I believe that the pastor of our parish, along with others, is encouraging a spiritual emphasis in dealing with this by bringing back forgotten devotions.  What a blessing!
Here is the beautiful enthronement prayer that was included:

CELEBRANT OR LEADER

Almighty and Everlasting God, bless and sanctify this Image of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Grant that whoever humbly strives to honor and serve Him, may obtain through His merits and intercession, grace in this life and everlasting happiness in the world to come. Let us Pray.

ALL

Eternal Father, we consecrate ourselves, all living and deceased members of our family, and our home, to the Sacred Heart of Your Son Jesus. May we return His most tender love, as He comes into the midst of our family to live and share our life in a special way from this day on.


We accept you, Sacred Heart of Jesus, as our loving King and Head of our family. Stay with us, Lord! Sanctify our joys and comfort us in all our sorrows. May your Holy Spirit enlighten each of us to continually be aware of Your special Presence among us, especially in one another. Help us to have a deep and loving respect for one another, so that we may live this Consecration everyday.


Let our love go beyond our home into the world. Guide us to do our part to win other families to Your Sacred Heart. Create through us a real community among the priests and families of our parish and of the whole world.


Amen.

Here is the web site for more information:

http://www.enthronement.org/

I've been dealing with my husband working late hours and I have to say it's been difficult.  I am trying to accept God's will in all of this and I know that God is making me stronger. There is so much I have/want to do and now even less time to do it.  Last night I had a bit of a meltdown in that my sister's "significant other's" mother is dying at the age of 86 after being in a car accident.  I told my husband that we should say a Chaplet of Divine Mercy later. 

Lo and behold, later that night, after the kids were in bed and I felt that I might finally get some time on the computer reading blogs or writing on mine, he asked me if I wanted to say the Chaplet.  I had completely forgotten about it but was planning on saying it when I went to bed.  I was so upset that he asked me at that time when I was finally able to get some time for myself.  I knew it was the right thing to do and I knew that saying yes to my husband would be saying yes to God; but I didn't.  I went upstairs to our room and struggled with the situation thinking that if I had some time alone I would be able to get over myself and do the right thing. 

My husband came up and offered to bring the computer up to our room so I could work on it.  He was missing the point.  I was frustrated because I knew that the right thing to do was to pray the chaplet with him but I was so upset at that moment at myself for being torn between saying it and taking time for myself.   I told my husband that he didn't have to try to solve the problem.  He left to do other things and I was left sad and started to say the chaplet on my own but longed to have my husband by my side saying it with me.  So I said the chaplet, but not with the peace in my heart that I could have had if I had done it God's way.

I failed to trust in God enough to put him first.  I know in reality he gives me all the time I need for everything he wants me to do but I didn't believe it last night.  Lord help me to do better next time. 

Pray for Clem, a good Christian Pentecostal woman who always showed an interest in others and was a joy to be around. 

Pray that the hearts of my sister and her boyfriend may be converted as they don't believe in God.

Mom with a Bike

I have always admired and envied those who rely on their bike as a primary form of transportation.    Little by little I have been trying to make more use of my bicycle.  First I took short 5 or 10 minute rides with the kids in the trailer I got at a rummage sale for only $10.  My three-year-old adapted well to riding in the bike trailer but my little one-year-old would start crying after five minutes.  He tends to schulump down and his helmet falls over his eyes. 

Although I am still working on ways to make him more comfortable, after a few times going on these short rides he got used to it so we started going on longer 30 minute rides and then finally we rode to the library, the park, city hall (about 30 to forty minutes round trip) for errands and playing.  We have only been doing this a few weeks but I am hoping to keep it up as long as the weather allows.  It's surprising how warm you can stay riding a bicycle in cooler weather with just a few layers and something on your hands and ears.  The kids in the bike trailer also stay very warm with the plastic rain shield over the top. 

I think fall must be the ideal time to ride a bicycle as it is not so hot and the scenery is beautiful.  It seems that everything looks more beautiful when riding a bicycle. 

Looks Like Another Blustery Day

I don't let the kids watch too much t.v. and videos but Disney's Winnie the Pooh is one that I think is really cute for the kids to watch every now and then.  It's my three-year-old daughter's favorite right now.  Since it's a windy day today and wind advisories are in the forecast right now for the midwest, it made me think of "Pooh's Blustery Day."  We had a great walk around the block with our hats and jackets on.  I love the fall leaves against the gray sky with the chill in the air.  The gusts of winds added some excitement.

Here's some of Pooh's windy day:

Children Help Us Slow Down for What Really Matters

Today since the ground was a tad wet I took the little ones for a walk around the block.  Smileyboy rode in the stroller while three-year-old Pumpkin girl walked and sometimes ran ahead.  It's such a joy to experience the fall leaves with Pumpkingirl at this age.  She seems to really understand that it is fall and during fall the leaves turn colors and fall off of the trees.  She gathered a few leaves and some acorns and put them in the cargo compartment underneath the stroller.  We love going outside and we all seem to get a little antsy when we don't make it out. 

When I walk by myself it is mostly for exercise and I walk fast.  With the little ones I really enjoy taking the time and watching them notice everything around us. As most people with chldren know, this is one of the most marvelous things about having children if we allow ourselves to take the time and linger with them.  It's at times like these that we forget about our grown up cares and ambitions and remember that relationships are what we are put on this earth for.  First our relationsip with God and then our relationship with each other.  What better way to live this out than basking in God's creation on a walk with your children? 

Monday Musings

Right now it is a quarter after three in the afternoon.  I just put the pot roast in the oven and may bike over to my husbands place of work to bring him the left over crock pot chicken from yesterday. 

This weekend seemed rough.  My son went on a youth retreat Saturday which I was happy about and my husband worked all weekend again which I wasn't happy about.  These long hours of his have been going on for at least a month and a half.  He usually works to at least midnight most nights of the week and is rarely home for supper.  It's hard not to feel like his company is exploiting their employees a bit.  There has been talk of unionizing the software engineers but it has been said that trying to organize software engineers is like herding cats. 
This can't be good for anyone's health.  My husband is type I diabetic and he has had a lot of high blood sugars due to late hours, lack of sleep, and stress.  We know we are fortunate to be employed, but sheesh!  We really miss him.  I miss the times we had as a family together.  I try to have faith and remember that God is allowing this and I beleive is purifying me through this time. 

Some plans for the week include cleaning the living room and kitchen, watch The Song of Bernadette if there is time, practice for the first rehearsal on Sunday.  I'm hoping to take the kids out in the bike trailer tomorrow if the weather is o.k. That always lifts my spirits.

Praying for my husband and the team he works with that they will do good work and the holy spirit will guide the project and the people working on it. Praying to make a good decision regarding something in particular.

Something that makes me smile...

Figuring out how to make decent whole wheat bread in my new bread maker.  It took a little bit but I think the thing that really helped was making sure there is enough water. This really helps the bread to rise well.  I've been using vital wheat gluten too which I think improved outcome over the initial loaves; but it didn't start turning out really great until I increased the water.  It's nice that even with machine's to make things easier there is still human oversight and experimentation required.  I think the fact I have made good whole wheat bread by hand was helpful in figuring out how to do it well with the machine.

For more Monday Musings see Nadja at Patch O' Dirt.

I Made Yogurt Twice

These are two of the four quarts of my second batch of yogurt.  I talked about doing it in this post and I finally did using my Igloo Play Mate Cooler, warm water, a candy thermometer, Dannon plain yogurt, and 2 % milk.  I followed most of the instruction in the link below.  It turned out ...well ...just like yogurt.  And the best part is it is less than a dollar per quart (unless you use organic milk in which case it is still cheaper than store bought).  Very satisfying!

Here's the link and a summary of what I did:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/yogurt_making/yogurt2000.htm

1)Scald a gallon of milk and let it cool to 50 degrees Celsius.  (I use metric because it's easier to remember). 

2)For starter, stir a cup of yogurt with a cup of milk until blended.  (Some people bring these to room temperature first.)

3)Stir the starter into the cooled milk until well mixed. 

4)Pour into four quart jars and one pint jar.  (I used a strainer for this as I think I should have used a pan with a heavier bottom and there were cooked pieces of milk coming out that were stuck to the bottom of the pan.) Pouring the milk into the jars can be a bit messy so I put the jars on a dishtowel to absorb some of the mess.  The pint can be used as starter yogurt for the next batch. 

5)Put the jars in the cooler and then pour water that is 50 degrees Celsius right out of the tap into the cooler using the candy thermometer to make sure it is the right temperature.  Make sure the water stays below the bottom of the lids.  I propped the little pint jar on top of an empty sideways pint jar so it was above the water level.  A little precarious but it seemed to work.

6)Close the cooler and let sit undisturbed for at least 6 hours.  The link with the recipe says 3 hours but  I just want to make sure.

Mary Shows Us Humanities True Worth

Today while waiting in the confession line I was meditationg on the twenty mysteries of the rosary. I was just saying each one to myself in order and it occurred to me how it all started with Mary and how she endured such hardship and violence and through it all she kept saying yes to God and His Will. "I am the hand maid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word." She said this at first being asked to be the mother of the Son of God and she kept saying it throughout her life and the life of her son.

It also occurred to me that though she endured so much pain God came through for her in the end with the resurrection of her son and then her own assumption into heaven and coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth. This gives us so much hope and shows us that even in our darkest hour we need to keep our trust in God and know that God will lift us up in the end if we stay true to Him.

Through Mary humanity is lifted up to its true dignity. Mary is not Divine like Christ but completely human. She shows us how we also non-divine humans are meant to be. Through Mary we are shown our true worth and dignity. We are shown that if we say "yes" to God like she did He will also lift us up to our true worth and dignity.

A Mother's Most Important Job

"Motherhood is all about being a calming prescence to a child.  Providing brownies, breastmilk, and clean bedroom floors are only the nice extras."

This is a quote for the post entitiled "Stripped" from Abigail's Alcove upon having to turn over most of her mothering duties to the folks in the NICU for weeks except the one of being a calm presence.  She goes on to say:

"My mothering job was limited to showing up next to Baby Tess' crib. Talking to her. Rocking her. Listening to a bunch of medical professionals talk about her prognosis. Kissing her head before she went into surgery. Waiting for her inside the tense surgery waiting area. Kissing her groggy cheeks when she came out of surgery.  Oh, and I pumped. Lots and lots of breast-milk that I carefully labeled and hopefully placed in a massive hospital freezer for my baby's 'future use'."

God gave her a specific job in "being an calming presence" and took everything else out of her hands, even the most basic responsibility of feeding her child.  How many times do I as a mother feel like I have to do it all when there is really only one thing for me to do--"being a calming prescence to a child."  I am not meant to do it all.  I am only able to do very little and I have to leave the rest to God.  If I am grouchy and unavailable to my children because of all the things I want to do  then I am completely missing the most important thing that God wants me to do.

Thanks for the reminder Abigail!

Monday Musings

Right now...It is 5:10 Pm.  It is a beautiful fall day.  There is a beautiful view of yellow fall leaves from my kitchen patio door.  I have the little bit of laundry that wouldn't fit on my close line earlier hanging out as the son begins to fade.

This weekend...was really nice.  My husband worked all day Saturday but the kids and I took a short road trip to a little town that is surrounded by an Amish/Mennonite community.  We ate breakfast at the local bakery: eggs, sausage, muffins, french toast, all very reasonably priced.  We than walked around the town.  It's always fun to see the Amish horse and buggies. Before we went home we went to the little Amish run grocery store that's known for selling bulk items.  We got candy, sesame sticks, bag of oatmeal, maple syrup, honey.  When we got home we did a bit of cleaning and I got a chance to go to confession, at last.

On Sunday we celelbrated my birthday for breakfast with coffee cake and presents.  My husband started out by giving me a plastic slotted spoon and a nice coffee mug.  I was trying to hold back tears because I thought, "At least if this is all you're going to get me you could have got me a better spoon."  I was hoping he got me a bread maker and couldn't beleive he only got me this "cheap junk from Wal-mart."  And then when I thought all was lost, my son came up stairs with bread maker in hand.  I had to laugh at myself. 

After church we went and walked around at a local park in the city with woods and trails and then went to Wal-mart to buy frozen lasagna for supper to continue the birthday celebration.  My son made brownies.  After we put the little ones to bed we watched the movie Up!  My son and I had watched it Saturday night but my husband hadn't seen it yet.  I just loved it.  There are some very moving scenes and lots of excitement.

My plans for the week include...raking leaves, trying to clean (dust, declutter, vacuum) the upstairs, I want to get four days of practicing in and four days of walks in as well as take the little ones out in the bike trailer a few times.  I also want to figure out how to make a decent loaf of whole wheat bread in my new bread maker.  The first loaf I made was with white flour using the express setting and it turned out well.  The second loaf was a whole wheat recipe and it wasn't nearly as good as when I make it by hand so I'm doing some research to see what I can come up with. 

If I can get some time to myself I want to...keep reading the book The Yellow Lighted Book Store.  It is a memoir that includes stories about how this author came to be an avid reader and bookseller.  I love the way it's written.

I'm praying for...I realize lately that I rarely pray for my husband and I don't pray for my children that often either.  I make the mistake of not making prayer a priority when in reality if I expect to make it to heaven I need to stay close to Mary and Jesus.

Something that makes me smile...  My new breadmaker of course.

Trying to Apply St. Francis to Everyday Life

"Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible."--St. Francis of Assisi

I have been thinking about this quote for the past couple of days.  Today I think I came to understand it a little better. 

Doing what is necessary

After lunch I put the kids in the living room hoping they would keep busy so I could finish unloading the dishwasher. Well...it seemed my daughter couldn't leave her little brother alone and I found myself getting really frustrated. I realized that what was truly necessary was for me to go in the living room and spend time with them to guide them in their play so that they could each play and not get in each other' way. (Isn't it interesting that they need to be taught or given an example of how to play?)

Doing what is possible 

Earlier in the day, after I had gotten the children lunch and while they were eating it, I worked at unloading the dishwasher, mixing up powdered milk, tidying up in general.  During the minutes that the children didn't need me to meet an immediate need I was able to do what was possible to get some other work done. 

Doing the impossible

I'm not sure I understand exactly what is meant by doing the impossible, but in supervising/playing with my kids in the living room I was able to referee and help them to play in a way so they could both do what they wanted.  For example, my daughter was playing with her new toy pots but her brother kept grabbing at them and wanting to play with them too.  Since there were three pots, two with lids,  I took one of the lidded pots and one of the toy utensils and put it on the floor where her little brother could play with it.  I then took little odd toys and put it in the pot and showed him how to stir it around like he was cooking.  His sister like this and I gave her something to put in her pot--she was delighted.  A truly calm, constructive moment was brought about where all frustrations had subsided.

Could it be said that while doing the things that are set before us to do of more immediate, basic concern such as feeding the children and giving them the attention they need when they need it, we are perhaps doing the small things that open us up to God's grace and allow him to do the impossible in our lives?

Praying to St. Francis for Child's Vocation

My son's 15th birthday was on Saturday but we celebrated this evening.  Yesterday was the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and my son has wanted to be a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal since he was ten years old.  Although I don't know if he is truly called to be a friar or not (I would be thrilled if he was) I figure the week that includes these two happy days would be a good time to write a post that includes a mother's prayers for his vocation. 

St. Francis, pray for my son as he discerns what God has planned for him in life, that he may learn how to be truly holy and his only desire be to do God's will.  Amen.

Monday Musings

Right now it is 6:00 in the morning and I want to try and plan for the week--something I was too tired to do last night.  I want to plan meals, grocery shopping and make time to celebrate birthdays that didn't get celebrated due to a weekend where most of us were sick. 

This weekend My oldest son and I got sick on Friday night.  My son threw up every ten minutes all night long while I threw up twice and just felt crappy all day Saturday.  Saturday was my sons 15th birthday.  We thought we were feeling better first thing on Saturday morning, so I stopped at McDonald's to get breakfast (in an attempt to do something special for his birthday despite our illness)  but we ended up regretting it and feeling worse later on.  I thought I was going to be able to handle taking care of the little ones on Saturday and be able to let my husband work until 5:00 (he is still working mandatory overtime) but I started feeling really bad and had to call him to come home.  Thank God I had the chance to sleep all day.  That evening I was feeling much better.  However, my husband ended up starting to feel badly that evening and he ended up staying at home from work (yes he was required to work Sunday too!). 

It all started with the baby boy getting sick and throwing up on Wednesday ( his first throwing up illness).  My daughter also seemed to be sick too but it seemed much more mild for her in that she threw up once and tried eat but didn't eat much and lied around a lot.  She had never had a throwing up illness until now and she barely did.  This was the first illness that affected our whole family.  My 41st birthday was on Sunday and that didn't get celebrated either.  We'll see what we can do about it this week. 

Some plans for the week include the stuff I said above such as celebrating birthdays and getting some grocery shopping and bill paying that I wasn't able to get in this weekend.  Oh yeah, the little kids and I need to get to the library today and get the over due books back.  We also haven't been in a while and we desperately need some new reading material.  I've been terrible about making time to read to them. 

I also want to make sure to get out for a bike ride with the kids in the bike trailer.  We just go out for maybe ten minutes or so.  My daughter loves it but baby boy can't stand it for very long.  I think he doesn't like his helmet.  I'm trying to take them out for short rides to get them used to the ride although we won't be going out much longer I suppose as the weather gets colder. 

Time for myself needs to include getting at least four days of practicing in, going for walks, and reading blogs of course.

I'm Praying that even though my oldest son is going to public high school we can work something out as far as making sure to do something for religious education.  I also want to help him plan some prayer time for himself.  It is hard as he seems like he is always tired due to getting up early and at times staying up rather late to get his  homework done.  I was thinking about "suggesting" that he start out by reading the bible at least 15 minutes every day and be able to tell me about what he has read too.

Something that makes me smile

These two on a brief stop at the park on a cold, windy fall day:

For Monday Musings and more on country living go see Nadja at Patch O' Dirt Farm.

Dealing with Unethical Vaccines

On Tuesday I took the little ones to the doctor for their check-ups.  This is always a little tense for me as I am forced to think about immunizations and the fact there are some that are derived from aborted babies and wonder whether or not I should share my reservations with the doctor.  There is some excellent information at http://www.cogforlife.org/ if you'd like to find out more.) 

Baby Boy was due for his MMR shot in which the rubella part of this vaccine is derived from aborted babies.  We also had the option of the Hep A shot and the Chicken Pox shot which are also derived from aborted babies.  There are no readily available ethical alternatives to these vaccines.  

According to my understanding of church teaching, if I feel that the health risks are serious enough I may choose to receive these vaccines any way, but I need to make known my objections to the company (the doctor too?)  We went ahead with the MMR but said no to Hep A and Chicken Pox.  (Hep A is not required yet, but Chicken Pox Vaccine is for school and day care.)  I didn't share my reasons with the doctor like I should have though I had shared them with him prevously regarding a combo vaccine where there is an ethical alternative (pedarix vs. pentacel, pedarix being the ethical version).  Fortunately, the doctors office uses the ethical alternative to this particular vaccine. 

Next time I may just give him this information as it spells out which are the unethical vaccine and the churches position regarding whether or not the get this vaccine so he knows where I am coming from.  Meanwhile I really need to write the companies to make my objections known.

Some Thoughtful Homeschooling Posts

Young Mom has a post about Why I'm not Sure if I'll Homeschool and I found a post at There is No Wealth but Life (also a k-12 homeschooling graduate) that also expresses strong reservations about homeschooling.   I think that these posts prompt an excellent conversation in the comments about the pros and cons of homeschooling, something that is hard to find as this can be an emotional topic.

Monday Musings

Right now...It is 7:20 and I need to get the kids up soon.  It's nice that they are relatively late sleepers in that I get them up around 8:00 for breakfast.  My older son is already out the door to catch the bus to high school.  He does a great job at getting himself up, getting breakfast, and making himself lunch. 

This weekend my husband worked all day on Saturday and he has been working all day on most days for the past three weeks.  He has not been home for supper for most days during this time and we all miss not having him around.  It looks like it may let up this week.  Thank Goodnness!  It makes me realize how good I have it when he is here to help.  Meanwhile we need tires and I got a chance to research and found some good ones for a fairly good price.

My husband managed to not work on Sunday and we finally got back to see my Dad and have a nice little one hour visit with him.  His 78th birthday was last week and I never got around to sending him a card.  Awful!  However we brought him cupcakes when we went to see him which he really appreciated. 

Some plans for the week Birthdays--My oldest will turn 15 on Saturday and I am going to be 41 the day after.  I still need to get him a present.  He loves music esp. Baroque, Irish, and Renaissance music so getting him a cd is a good bet.  He said he would like a basic mp3 player that doesn't cost a lot so maybe I'll check into that.  I better do something today if I want to order anyting online.  For our birthdays we may go to a park not so far from here with a lot of caves and hike around depending on the weather.   

If I find some time for myself I better make sure I practice as I am playing in a concert at the beginning of November and I haven't practiced in oh so long.  I also want to make sure I get at least four walks in this week. 

Prayer intentions for my husband to stay healthy despite his heavy work load and lack of sleep and that I may be able to give my children the attention they need as I tend to get distracted.

Something that makes me smile

My daughter turned three last week and we had a fun time despite all my worry about getting everything ready.

For more Monday Musings see Nadja at Patch O' Dirt Farm.

Embracing the cross means embracing...

Vulnerability. This means letting go of pride/ego; the things that you are using to protect yourself from hurt keep away love until all you have is pride which results in a hardened heart that is not able to give or receive love and keeps God at arms length.  Being vulnerable means being naked, helpless, open to hurt, abandoned, letting go of everything, giving up everything like Christ on the Cross.  When you are vulnerable your heart remains open and soft...physically your body is open for an embrace--a hug--or a punch in the gut. Your body and heart are open like Christ's were on the cross to pain and love.  "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do."  "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Bread and Yogurt

Fall is in the air.  I've been making plans for beginning to make a few more things from scratch as I have done in the past.  Inspired by a friend who was making bread in her bread machine when I visited her last week I have started baking bread again.  I don't remember exactly when I stopped; but I think it was around last summer before or after my son was born in July.  I don't have a bread machine but I am seriously considering it for the first time.  Any suggestions?  I always see them at Good Will but I will have to look at them more closely next time I go.

I started making kefir a few years a go when my now almost three year old was a baby but probably haven't made it in at least two years.  It's nice because you can just make it at room temperature unlike yogurt where you need the right amount of heat and possibly a yogurt maker. I would like to try making yogurt however, as we would probably eat it more readily than kefir.   Here and here are a couple of posts with ideas for making it without a yogurt maker.   This article has some helpful information and kind of combines the two ways mentioned in the last two links.  They pour water of the right temperature into a small cooler and have canning jars full of the yogurt sit in that for the designated time.  It would really be a lot cheaper to make our own yogurt as milk from the store is much cheaper than buying yogurt from the store.

Bad Day

My cross today was two screaming children.  I didn't do very well at accepting this cross as I was overwhelmed and frustrated with my almost 3 year old daughter's tendency to have a fit it seems like everytime I want her to do something that she is not used to.  This time it was giving her a bath before afternoon nap instead of before bed. Due to my frustration, I wasn't as gentle about trying not to get water in her eyes when washing her hair as I could have been.
 At the same time my one year old little boy has picked up the tendency to scream "mama" whenever I don't get his food to him fast enough or when I have food that is different from what he has, or whenever he is not happy in general.  He has just started to say the word "mama;" unfortunately he usually screams it when he is unhappy.  When my daughter was throwing a fit about her bath my son was simultaneously screaming Mama.  He reminded me if the demonic children that torment Judas in the movie The Passion.

Cat Stevens for a Tuesday Afternoon

St. Francis De Sales on Obedience, Chastity, and Poverty

Charity alone places us in perfection.  But the three great means of attaining to it are obedience, chastity, and poverty.  Obedience consecrates our heart, chastity our body, and poverty our worldly means to the love and service of God.  These are the three branches of the spiritual cross, and all have their foundation in the fourth, which is humility...Let us try, then to practice these virtues, each according to his vocation; for if they do not place us in the state of perfection, they will nevertheless give us perfection itself.  Moreover, we are all bound to practice these three virtues, although not all to practice them in the same way.  --From the chapter entitled "Obedience" from An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis  De Sales

I came across the above quote yesterday which gives me a much better understanding of the virtues of obedience, chastity, and poverty that I attempted to write about in my last post.  St. Francis De Sales puts it so beautifully and simply doesn't he?  I am especially drawn to the statement about obedience, chastity, and poverty consecrating our heart, body, and worldy means to the love and service of God.  It is a reminder to me that practicing virtue isn't an end in itself to satisfy my pride, but is supposed to lead me to love of God and neighbor. 

Parallels Between Nun and Homemaker

I started writing this way back on February 10 after I saw the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist featured on Oprah (which can still probably be seen on You Tube) and decided to pick it up again this week:

I saw the Dominican Nuns from Ann Arbor on Oprah yesterday.   They inspired me as a lay person who is a stay at home wife and mother.  Many of them talked about leaving the world because of feelings of emptiness and how at the end of their lives none of the things they owned would matter.  As stay-at-home wives and mothers who are aiming to follow the teachings of the church we leave the world in a certain sense as well.  We practice poverty, obedience, and chastity in our own state of life.

Poverty
We practice poverty by leaving behind an added income and a profession away from our homes and families which would perhaps give us more recognition and importance in the eyes of the culture.  We are giving these things up because we believe this is the way we can best serve God and bring our families to God despite lack of money for our children's college eduction, a better house, better clothes, paying off debt sooner and whatever else, understanding, like the sisters, that in the end bringing our families and ourselves to heaven is the only thing that matters.

Obedience
As Catholic women who have come to believe that what our church teaches is the truth, we have been graced enough to come to understand that children are a blessing and we tend to have more of them than every body else (or at least desire to) which stretches that one income even farther.  Our children, in turn, give us the opportunity to  practice obedience by requiring that we give up the ability to do what we want whenever we want to which allows God to make us more like him--to give of ourselves for love. 

Chastity
Like the nuns, who are celebate, we too are practicing chastity in a way that the world does not understand.  Within the context of marriage, the sexual act is a gift, and although meant to be pleasureable, requires total self-giving and sacrifice.  If we are in a position to avoid conception we do this through periodic abstinance, which brings with it the cross of loving sacrifice.  If something artificial is used to prevent conception a barrier is placed between the couple.  Husband and wife are called to give their whole selves to each other--even their fertility-- so that their love can literally bring forth new life.   How different this is from our culture's views of sexuality where it seems like the freedom to have sex any time without the unwanted result of children is what is valued most.

Of course, it goes without saying that "leaving the world" does not only apply to nuns and housewives but to any Christian who is making it a priority to follow Jesus in this life.  There are many different ways to practice poverty, obedience and chastity for the sake of love in every day life.  We can learn much from holy religious orders who perhaps provide us with a more tangible and literal example of being "set aside for Christ." 

Charlie and Dizzy

The children's book Charlie Parker Played Bebop by Chris Raschka is one of our favorites.  It's basically a poem that in many instances imitates jazz rhythms with words.  It allows for creativity with how you choose to read it and interpret the rhythm of the words.  That's what makes it so much fun.
Here is a clip of "Bird" and Dizzy Gillespie.  I always forget how much I love jazz until I come across something like this:

Family Prayer by Mother Theresa in Honor of her 100th Birthday

Heavenly Father, You have given us a model of life in the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Help us, O Loving Father to make our family another Nazareth where love, peace and joy reign. May it be deeply contemplative, intensely Eucharistic and vibrant with joy. Help us to stay together in joy and sorrow through family prayer. Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our family especially in their distressing disguise.

May the Eucharistic heart of Jesus make our hearts meek and humble like His and help us to carry out our family duties in a holy way. May we love one another as God loves each one of us more and more each day, and forgive each other's faults as you forgive our sins.

Help us, O loving Father, to take whatever You give, and to give whatever You take with a big smile.

Immaculate heart of Mary, Cause of our Joy, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Holy Guardian Angels, be always with us, guide and protect us.

Amen.

A little bit from the garden

This is a picture of just about all the beets from our garden.  I am going to bake them and slice them for supper.  We are really just beginner gardeners and have a small garden.  We got a little bit of some things (like beets) and some very small potatoes and onions and what seemed for a while like a lot of tomatoes.  My husband made salsa with those.  The tomato production seems to be slowing down a bit.  We were going to try our hand at canning but we will see how much more we get.  With the earlier tomatoes I made this delicious tomato salad.

Decalogue for Daily Living

I came across the following which is attributed to Blessed Pope John XXIII as I was organizing the documents on my computer.  I'm not sure where I found it but I copied it and hung it near my desk for future reference as I think it is something that will be helpful to refer to frequently.

1. Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.

2. Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.

3. Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.

4. Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.

5. Only for today, I will devote ten minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.

6. Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.

7. Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure no one notices.

8. Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.

9. Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.

10. Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for twelve hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

Bl. Pope John XXIII

Thoughts on Mother Theresa and Marriage

I read somewhere that when Mother Theresa was a child and her father came home, her mother would always drop whatever she was doing and immediately go to greet her husband with a smile. 

I've also heard that Mother Theresa told her sisters to not let it be said that a married woman loved her spouse more than they loved Jesus their spouse.

These two things seem to be related to one of the things that Mother Theresa is fond of talking about:  smiling at God--even when you don't feel like it.

There are a few things that come to my mind:

1) Isn't it amazing how much we can learn from a celebate nun about how to love our husbands?

2) That how much we love our husbands is directly related to how much we love God; and how much we love God is related to how much we love our husbands.

3) How much of an influence M. Theresa's parents love for each other must have had on teaching her about how to love God and others.

4) It is important for me to love my husband in such a way that my children understand what it is to love and be loved.  This means smiling at my husband--even when I don't feel like it.  This is how to set an example of holiness.

Mother Theresa, pray that those of us living the vocation of marriage learn how to love truly and deeply.

Monday Morning Musings

Right Now It has been a while since I have read blogs or written on my blog so I thought Monday Musings would be a good place to start.  It is 4:00 in the afternoon and raining.  It seems like the overcast days far outnumber the sunny days.  This is frustrating as I got a new clothesline this summer and it seems like I hardly ever get a chance to use it. 

This past weekend Saturday I organized my "office" shelves and got a lot of other things done.  Sunday morning hubby and I sat outside in the backyard (there was some sunshine in between the rain) and watched the two little ones play.  It was nice.  In the afternoon we went to latin mass where there was quite a good crowd for the first time in a long time.  Was it due to the time change from 3:00 to 1:30?  I know I prefer the new time. 
For Sunday Supper Hubby made a most delicious meal of Indian Food.  Really good!

Some Plans for the Week  Hopefully finish the online application for refinancing our house. If it goes through we would be paying the same montly payment but it would be a 15 year loan instead of a 30 year.  Clean the mold off the basement walls.  We finally got a dehumidifier and it works great.  It doesn't smell musty anymore!  Maybe play some music.

If I can find some time to myself I want to spend some time reading blogs and maybe writing a post too.  I would also like to work on my just barely started beginning knitting project--a dishcloth.  It's mostly for practicing purl and knit stitch.  I'm expecting it to be very imperfect.

Special prayer intentions Always or my dad who who lives in a nursing home about an hour away and who we try to visit every month or two.  And also for many in my family who have left the church.

Something that makes me smile

Big brother with little sister

For more Monday Musings see Nadja at Patch O' Dirt Farm.

Where It's At

After mass a few months ago I talked with a woman who had just had her ninth child.  I went over to talk to her and show my two year old her new baby.  She said something about how it is so good to come and see everybody at church.  I replied with sympathy, "You probably don't get out a lot, do you?" implying that with nine kids 12 and under it must be difficult.  She said without blinking, "It's overrated."
 
I have to admit I was slightly taken aback.  Getting out of the house is what we all long for as stay at  home wives and mothers, isn't it?  Yet in her brief answer she expressed a firm sense of purpose as a homemaker and mother that said, "The rest of the world doesn't know what it's talking about, staying home with the kids is where it's at because this is important and fulfilling work."  She implied that being blessed with nine beautiful children was way more important than being able to do whatever you want whenever you want to.  She radiated a sense of joy and confidence that made me think (despite all my doubts) that staying home with the kids really is "where it's at."

Though it is still nice to get out occasionally, too. 

Small Successes Vol. 3

1.  I think after four years I have finally found contentment (although imperfect)and have come to see the dignity inherent in being a wife and mother and how it is a truly great things to be able to stay home and take care of your own children.  This waxes and wanes, of course, but it it is gradually becoming more consistent.  I am starting to believe that this is really the place I am supposed to be.

2.  I went to see my three nephews who are visiting their dad (my brother).  There is a good chance they will be here next week too.  I was hoping to see them twice this week but don't think we'll make it.  I am hopeful that I wll be seeing them more this summer.

3.  I made it to a play group that was started by someone from our homeschool group and I was glad that I did.  It ended up being a lot of fun.  I thought about bringing my nephews but decided we would see how it went with just us first.  Maybe next time.

Thanks for stopping by! For more small successes click on the above logo.

Dreams of a Clothesline Realized

Alleluia! I finally found a workable solution for a clothes line at a fairly reasonable price.  On last weeks quick takes I talked about my woes in digging a hole in the ground for an umbrella style clothesline and how some of the freestanding clothes lines online were $200 or more.  Well I took a look at the local hardware store and what did I happen to find but a Sunline Tripod Portable Clothesdryer with 64 feet of drying space at about $60 dollars.  Here it is holding its first load of laundry.  It didn't hold everything from my relatively large load of laundry but it held just about everything.  I can use it indoors too.  I think that's pretty good and am very happy with it.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 15

1.  I got a haircut on Saturday!  I think it has been at least a year since I got my hair cut.  It's amazing how good I feel.  It was really long and I wore it in a pony tail all the time.  I had it cut above my shoulders and layered.  I'm just thrilled with it and my husband likes it too;)

2.  It was hot at the beginning of the week: the upper 80s and maybe 90; but the past couple of days have been so beautifully perfect.  Yesterday I went on a weed pulling rampage.  It was easy because the ground was just the right amount of wet.

3.  It looks like we may have to look for other options in my wish for a clothesline.  We got an umbrella clothesline that requires a hole to be dug in the ground for installation.  

We called to have the underground utilties marked but it seemed like no matter where my husband dug he always ended up hitting an underground cable t.v. line anyway. Some other possibilities are  Mrs. Pegg's Handy Line and something that attaches to the house like this one.  They are kind of expensive but it seems that these may be the best options for our limited space and it will end up paying for itself (though maybe not as quickly as I would like).

4.I hate Facebook.  When someone says something that rubs me the wrong way (i.e. discusses politics) there are times when I feel I just have to comment and tell them (politely of course) that they are mistaken and here is why.  That is in the heat of the moment and then comes the next day when I feel embarassed and am loathe to check my email in fear that they may have responded back.  Sometimes they don't but when they do I just delete the response and hide from the whole situation.  Isn't that silly?  I recently did yet again but this but this time I moved the email with the with the response to a special folder and will perhaps look at it later when I have time to think about it and not become upset or preoccupied about it.  I think I have a misplaced sense of guilt about speaking my mind. 

5.  Memorial Day weekend is the annual Renaissance Fair.  We may go to this as we haven't been in a long time.   Much of what goes on isn't purely "Renaissance" but a mix of many time periods and there seems to be a certain Wiccan element as I recall.  Something cool I remember from last time I went was a woman who made cookies form medieval times.  She talked about how it was the man's job to beat the eggs because they didn't have mixers and the eggs had to be beaten for a long time.  The cookies were beautiful as they were made with a cookie mold.  I think it will be fun.

6.  Smileyboy's first birthday is July 3rd and I often find myself thinking how hard it is to believe that at this time last year I was pregnant.  He was due July 2nd and I was sure he would come late as my first two children were induced at two weeks past the due date.  My water broke on July 2nd and my labor wouldn't get started because of how he was positioned.  Thank goodness he moved to a better position before it was time to push.

7.  Our garden is starting to look really good.  I wish I had a picture handy to post.  It will be interesting to see how much stuff we get.  It's a small garden but maybe we will get enough tomatoes to do a little canning.  We have beets so I may be able to try pickling some and maybe freezing the greens.  I have never done this before so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Have a good Memeorial Day weekend and for more Quick Takes go to http://www.conversiondiary.com/.

Feeding the Other Side of Me

 I am (as I think we all are) trying to figure out who I am and who God wants me to be.  Being a wife and mother is pretty much a given and, as I wrote about here, should be the starting point and the basis of everything else that I do.   I am a wife and mother who cooks, cleans, launders, teaches, plays with her kids(notice how the cooking and cleaning are at the beginning of the list--that needs to change).  The domestic side of me romanticizes (romanticizes?) about frugal, "self-sufficient" living with more homemade and less store bought.  This includes gardening, canning and freezing, cloth diapers, hanging laundry out to dry on a clothes line, making homemade bread, raising our own milk cow(maybe) and chickens (maybe).  Everything except livestock  are all very realistic possibilities at the moment.  Included in this domestic dream are three more kids (at least!) by the age of 46. 
Then there is the other side of me who thinks, "More kids!?"  Won't that just prevent me from doing what I want to do?  I want to go out with friends for coffee.  I want to go see concerts in Chicago.  I want to find a career when the kids I have now get old enough (at least that's what I tell myself sometimes).  I want to travel to Europe and sit in a cafe with a glass of wine and brush up on my French.  I want to do the things I have never gotten to do before it's too late.  I also want to be able to do age appropriate things with my oldest; things that we can't do with the little ones along. 

But I need to stop and ask myself:  what are the truly important things in life, and what is God asking of me?  Won't God provide me with the things I truly need?  And won't the things that God wants for me provide more happiness and fulfillment than anything that I could ever hope for myself?  In fact maybe I already have everything or at least the opportunity for everything that I mentioned above inside and outside of the domestic realm.

The truth is, I procrastinate.  I don't call to sign up for that continuing education French class; I put off calling up a friend to go out for coffee;  I fail to take advantage of the plentiful concerts and museums in my own community; and I put off looking for a baby sitter for the two little ones so my husband, teenage son and I can go out to a movie or concert together. And the truth be known, the more years that go by, the more content I am to stay at home and sip wine or just go away for a weekend a few hours away in  Wisconsin.  (Did you know they have vinyards there?)  And I am growing more and more content as a housewife and grateful that I can focus much of my time and energy on the domestic front.

So perhaps the answer to my dilemma is that God has already offered me so many opportunities to enrich my life with things that I would like to do but I haven't been doing my part.  He is also gradually putting new, more important desires for domestic things in my heart to replace less important desires for what one may consider more glamorous things. So yes, I still have interest in things not seemingly related to the domestic front; and I can still do these things if I put in the effort but at the same I am developing a true love for my domestic responsibilities and know that they are of eternal value.

Thinking of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla for Mother's Day

I have started to reread the biography entitled Saint Gianna Beretta Molla: A Woman's Life by Giuliana Pelucchi.  It occurs to me that this is an appropriate selection as Mother's Day is coming this Sunday.  Gianna Beretta Molla lived from 1922-1962.  She was a wife, mother, and physician.  During her fourth and final pregnancy a tumor was discovered next to her uterus.  Instead of choosing abortion or to have her uterus removed (which would be allowed by the church but would have obviously resulted in the death of her child) she chose the course of treatment that was the riskiest for her own life and ended up dying shortly after the birth of her child.  It is said that her whole life was devoted to the will of God which prepared her for her final, heroic act.  I think she is a great inspiration for those of us in the vocation of marriage and I am always moved whenever I read about her.  I ran across the Litany of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla and thought it was particularly beautiful.  I have included the concluding prayer from the litany below:

Lord of life, we thank You for the heroic witness of

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla. You have taught us that

there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life

for others. Saint Gianna did this, not only as she

gave birth to her last child, but also in her everyday

life as she died to herself so that she could live

wholly for You. What selflessness we see in her!

Help us, we pray, that through the intercession of

Saint Gianna, our society may regain a sense of the

sacredness of all human life. Fill us with her spirit

of courage to suffer any struggle rather than deny

You and the sanctity of human life. We ask You

this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your son, who

lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one

God, forever and ever. Amen

(Composed by a priest from Alabama and offered to

the Society of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla)

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 14

1.  I posted about Angelboy and my husband putting together a frame for a raised garden here.  Well here is a picture of the garden with the dirt in it just waiting for the plants to come and live there.  Hmm...I guess it depends on how fond of gardening you are as to whether or not you find this picture very interesting.

2.  There is a woman I know who just had her 9th child at the age of 42 and she had her first child at around the age of 30.  Isn't that amazing!  I love it when older women are able to have large families.  It's unorthodox to have nine chlidren in todays society, but it is even more unorthodox to do so beginning in your thirties and continuing on into your forties.  I can appreciate this as I had my second and third child at the ages of 37 and 39 and am hoping God gives me the strength I need to accept more if it be his will.

3.  I had a really bad attitude last week.  Then I saw the above mentioned woman with all her nine children and her new baby and my attitude changed.  If she can have her 9th baby at the age of forty-two with the oldest child being 12 how can I claim to be stressed out as a housewife with two little ones who gets mostly plenty of time to herself and has plenty of help.  (O.k...I don't have nine, but it is still hard to get it all done sometimes.)

4.  Speaking of older women having children...I had an ultrasound done of my ovaries on Tuesday.  It was kind of depressing as the ultrasound technician told me my ovaries were small.  She then said that this was good in that it is normal for your ovaries to get smaller as you get older, and then added, "unless you want more children."  Ugh. 

5.   We finally got an offer on our condo and the closing is scheduled for May 25.  I pray that it goes off without a hitch... or at least minimal hitches, anyway.  I dream of the day when we will be paying only one mortgage.

6.  We got a Brill reel lawn mower today (Those are the push lawn mowers without motors).  Our power lawnmower died and we had been thinking for a long time about getting a reel lawnmower.  Our grass hadn't been mowed yet this season so our grass was pretty long and we had even longer gone-to-seed Dandelions  sticking out of the grass.  The mower did great with the grass but it didn't mow the dandelions so we have a yard full of dandelion stems sticking up.  Very ugly.  We may have to power mow these some way and then start over again by mowing them with the reel lawnmower before they get very long again.  I guess you have to mow your grass pretty regularly as the manual lawn mower doesn't do as well with tall grass as the power lawnmower.  We'll give it a chance.

7.  Tomorrow is May 1st and the feast of St. Joseph the Worker.  Wow!  Goodbye April.

Thanks for reading!  You can read more qt's at conversiondiary.com.  Have a good weekend!

Small Successes Vol. 2

1.  I finally called about having a sump pump put in our window well.  I found out I need to send them the contract signed along with ten percent of the payment first but at least I know what I need to do now. 

2.  I have been eating healthier.  I have been following the guidelines from a brochure I have for pregnant women from the March of Dimes.  It gives recommended amounts from each of the five food groups (grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, and proteins) for each day.  It really helps me not to over-do it with portion sizes and it helps me to make sure I get enough dairy and vegetables.  Getting enough vegetables is probably the most challenging thing.  I am not pregnant but I am nursing so its probably about right.  Now I just need to stick with this if I should become pregnant as this is when I really over do my eating.

3.  I have been drinking only one 12 oz. cup of coffee per day as opposed to the two 12 oz. cups that I normally drink.

Focusing on Motherhood

My primary job as a wife and mother is to lead my family to Christ.  This idea gave me a great deal of comfort today as I was going about my duties.  Whether I am a mother who stays at home or works outside the home this should be my primary focus.  It's the same for career women or for those of us at home and everything in our lives should be about this purpose. 

If I am a stay-at-home mom and am constantly grouchy and impatient with my children, am I fulfilling my duty in leading my children to Christ?  The answer, of course, is a resounding "no."  If taking some time away from the kids would make me a more loving mother then this is what I should do since it would help me fulfill my purpose in leading my children to Christ. 

If, as a career woman, my job were keeping me from making this the first priority in my life then, as with the full time homemaker, I would need to consider what changes I may need to make, such as working less hours, getting a different job, etc. in order to put my priorities in line.

I struggle with what it means to be a wife, mother and homemaker sometimes; but keeping in mind that marriage is my number one vocation helps me to realize that this needs to be my primary focus no matter what my "job" is. 

Seven Quick Takes (Vol. 13)

1.  This hasn't been the best week.  Does anyone else ever wonder if they should really be a stay at home mom?    Does anyone feel like they are missing out by not working outside the home?  Is it one of those green grass on the otherside things?  I think I will feel better when I start playing in the symphony again on a regular basis.  I also plan on getting out for a "Mother's Sabbath" tomorrow. 

2.  I'm naturally introverted so sometimes its just hard getting started with the ideas I have for doing things outside the home, which include:   Working up some music to play with my son (and husband?, and sister too?)at nursing homes, playing at church (I have inquired about this before but nothing ever seems to come of it), just picking up my bass and playing at home would be a good start. 

3.  I have mixed feelings about homeschooling.  As of today we are planning on sending Angelboy to the public highschool.  I feel a little sad about this and of course wonder if it is the right thing to do.  But I also wonder of continuting to homeschool would be the right thing to do.  When homeschooling goes well I really enjoy it (and maybe he does too), but at the same time sending him to highscool may quite possibly free up a lot of my time and I may have more time to spend with Angelboy doing things other than schooling.  He really likes the idea of going to highschool as I think he wants to know if he can handle the academic challenges of a more structured environment.

4.  Pumpkingirl no longer gets herself into a tither whenever I suggest she "goes potty."  Perhaps this is a sign that bigger things are to come. 

5.  Tonight is "date night" and I don't know where we are going as I insisted that it be a surprise.  I am looking forward to it.

6.  My current blogging goal is to get at least two posts a week in anyway that I can; the rest is gravy.  This is my third post this week so I'm doing fine.

7.  I haven't done any quick takes since before Lent so it feels good to be back...though I don't know how regularly I will be doing quick takes.  It seems like Friday isn't a very good blogging day for me and (as has been said before) quick takes aren't always so quick.

Have a good weekend and stop by to see Jen at conversion diary for more quick takes.

Small Successes Vol. 1

1.  We drove the 60 mile drive to visit my dad in the nursing home where he lives.  We had a very good visit.  His mind was better than it was when we saw him last.  I am very grateful for this.

2.  I got some prints made of some of my digital photos.  This mostly because my son needed some pictures our family for his project in Spanish Class.  I framed one to give to my mother-in-law too. 

3.  I made all the meals that I had planned on my menu so far this week.  The meals that I planned this week were some of my simpler dishes such as pizza and frozen burritos which I spruced up with some salads, like: mandarin beet salad with the pizza and Greek sald with the frozen burritos.  Lots of veggies served in a more interesting way!

Raising the Garden

Here's a picture of my husband and Angelboy doing some father/son bonding while building a raised garden (I hope the neighbors don't mind that I got them in the background).  Our soil has a high clay content in our back yard and we haven't had much luck growing anything for the past couple of years, so we decided to give the raised garden a try.  We are all excited about the prospect of growing things in our little patch of dirt.  We may divide it up three ways so we can grow anything we want as we all have different ideas of what we want to grow.  We better get a move on; it's only getting later and later in the growing season.

God's Will as Offering Opportunities to Love

I wrote this a few days ago.  It doesn't say anything that others haven't said before, but I thought it would help me retain it in my brain better if I wrote about it.  It seems like God has given me plenty of chances to put it into practice since then.  Whether I have responded well or not to these chances is another story.  Here it is:

I was just reading a short meditation in  My Daily Bread by Anthony J. Paone, S.J. entitled "Obstacles to Peace of Soul."  The only way to true and lasting peace is God's will.  The question is asked,"Am I trying to embrace God's holy will in all that happens to me each day?"  This calls to my mind the little daily annoyances that easily make me loose patience or can throw me into a blue mood.  For example, when the baby won't take a nap, thus interfering with my quiet time or, when I feel like my husband has been thoughtless which can throw me "out of joint." Perhaps if I changed my perspective about these things and saw them as God's will, I would be more patient and cheerful or at least try harder to be more patient and cheerful rather than allow myself to become downcast so easily.

On a retreat that I attended recently the presiding priest suggested that we look at the list of sins that we tell at confession as missed opportunities to love.  Perphaps these "little annoyances" that happen in every day life can be seen as opportunities to love.  In order to love more I can be kind and patient even when I feel like my husband isn't loving me in the way that I want to be loved; and I can accept and trust that God is giving me what I need even though I am not getting  what I want (i.e. the said quiet time) at a given moment.  In fact, it is almost certain that the opportunity to love more is why God allows these "little annoyances" in the first place.

Spring Flowers Everywhere

Most mornings the little ones and I go for a leisurely stroll around the block while Angelboy does his school work (poor kid).  Today was just beautiful. And now along with the daffodils (which have been out for at least two weeks and are just now starting to fade), tulips (which have been out for at least a week), and dandelions and small violets (which I have just started to see in the last couple of days) the trees which produce flowers have been producing them in full.  Spring flowers don't last very long so we're trying to enjoy them while we can.  Soon we will be seeing Lilacs too as I am just starting to see them bud.

I didn't see any dandelions until a few days ago and then they just seemed to appear over night.  They are plentiful and still pretty.

Along with the dandelions I started seeing violets spread throughout the lawns.

A note on daffodils

This spring I have been taking note of the timing of the appearnce of various flowers.  The daffodils seem to be the earliest bloomers and are noticeably plentiful this year.  I have never seen as many daffodils as I have seen in this neighborhood this year.  I didn't think it was possible, but I am almost sick of them just because there are so many.  They must be somewhat fashionable these days.