Odds and ends on Monday

Last week we got out of the house a went for a total of two walks which was really great.  It is so good for us to get out of the house and I like to stay in touch with the seasons.  I can't do this if I don't go out side.  It is fall of course so it is really the best time of year for going for walks.  I've been taking baby in the baby carrier and that makes it even more fun.  C and E run and run.  They don't really run in our back yard.

Last week I also made some apple butter in my crock pot out of the free apples given to us the Friday before.  In my enthusiasm I took waaaayyyy to many. This is something that I have never made before and it turned out well.  I would like to make another batch this week. Her is a link to the recipe I used http://ohsheglows.com/2012/09/26/slow-cooker-naked-apple-butter/.  I added 2 tsp of Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of cloves, 1/4/ tsp of nutmeg and 1/2/ cup of sugar.

This week: I need to order some homeschool books from Amazon, et al. I need to sign G up for Seton English and keep getting the kids out for walks. 

Today I need to pay bills, go for a walk, make more apple butter.

Hidden Life

This is some of what we read yesterday when Gabe and I were readling religion together.  From the Didache Series, Introduction to Catholicism, p. 119 talking about Christ's Hidden Years:

The hiddenlife of Christ is for us the perfect model of humility, industriousness and obedience...

By living in obscurity, he teaches us to fight vanity, which makes us desire to do only what seems great, important, or deserving of praise and notice.  He went about his work day after day without impatience or complaint. 

This is what I had in mind when I named this blog years ago going from an obscure job outside the home to the much more obscure, hidden job of being a homemaker.  It was a somewhat difficult transition.  I really didn't know if I was doing the right thing and one of the main reasons for this was perhaps the lack of acknowledgement that comes your way as a housewife.  It can be a very lonely business being the only one out in the middle of the day with  your own children going for walks in the neighborhood, running errands with your kids while everyone is running errands by themselves over lunch hour or working while their kids are at school or daycare.  Yes I feel like we are odd balls which can be an uncomfortable feeling but it is a feeling that I am learning to embrace.  I am happy to be here.

Poverty through Force Vs. Poverty through Choice--a Quote

"Christianity has nothing to do with either modern capitalism or modern Communism, for Christianity has a capitalism of its own and a communism of its own. Modern capitalism is based on property without responsibility, while Christian capitalism is based on property with responsibility. Modern Communism is based on poverty through force while Christian communism is based on poverty through choice. For a Christian, voluntary poverty is the ideal as exemplified by St. Francis of Assisi, while private property is not an absolute right, but a gift which as such cannot be wasted, but must be administered for the benefit of God's children."--from the essay "The Case for Utopia" by Peter Maurin

An Accomplishment

We made something today. HOORAY!

It is my sisters birthday today so we (me and my two preschoolers) C and E made her birthday cards. We used construction paper and cut out pictures from old greeting cards to glue onto the paper and wrote a birthday message, of course. The kids enjoyed cutting pictures out.


This seemingly small endeavor made me feel like I accomplished something today. With a 7 week old baby in the house it is hard to feel like you are "accomplishing anything." I guess mostly what I mean is that I don't feel that I have been giving C and E the attention that I would like to give them. They play a lot together but I don't feel like I have been giving them my time. So I am happy that I was able to do something especially for them. 

It is really just a matter of taking the time and just doing it. 

Unexpected

It looks like I will have a csection for this baby.  He is breech we find out last week at 38 weeks and one day.  I suspect he has been that way for quite a while though.  The nst administrator had trouble finding a good spot to pick up the heart beat so the doctor ordered an ultrasound for a biophysical profile.  The baby is doing well.  He is just head up with the cord wrapped around his neck therefore they will not try and turn him around.  I really don't think he will turn on his own either.  I am o.k. with all of this though.  A few years ago I probably would have been freaking out.  I pray the Lord keeps me and the baby safe and I am healed quickly. 

Advent Blessings/ Christmas Poverty

Husband's back surgery on Monday-two weeks before baby is due.  Will he be well enough to drive back and forth from the hospital to check in on the kids?  My husband hasn't pooped since his surgery. Six days.  I'm not sure how serious this is but it makes me worry.

I find out today that my baby is breech and the cord is wrapped around his neck. Because of the nuchal cord the Dr. doesn't want to try and turn him.  It seems probable that I will have a c-section though the baby may turn on his own.

A c-section means one more day in the hospital.  It means that I may need more time for recovery.  It means that I will probably have to rely more on others to get household work done.  And the idea of being cut open and the pain of recovery scares me. 

Since my husband is home recovering from surgery I feel like I don't have any time alone.  He is up early so I can't be alone then.  He goes to bed late so I have to stay up later if I want to be alone.  I am cross with him and he patiently endures it. 

Maybe all this (and I know these problems are nothing compared to what much of the world suffers) is helping me to stick with the basics of the meaning of Christmas and trusting in him more.  I have a gift for everyone here in my immediate family and that is really enough.  I agonize about what to have for Christmas dinner when perhaps I should be thinking more about what food the kids will eat when I am in the hospital. 

I know God is purifying me through all of this. I feel like at the heart of all of this I am learning the lesson of poverty which is what Christmas is.  Christmas is about poverty. 

This Advent

This Advent...

We are not just getting ready for baby Jesus (as if that weren't enough)but also for our baby boy that is due to be born at the beginning of January.  I wish I could write some kind  of deep reflection about expecting a baby at this time of year but nothing of interest really comes to mind.  Mary was about to give birth at this time of year and so am I.  I have a lot that I would  like to do to get ready for Christmas but I also have a lot to do to get ready for a baby.  There should be some kind of spiritual lesson to learn here, shouldn't there?  Alas, I am not able to articulate it. 

Hubs has been doing a great job of making sure we gather around the Advent wreath every night. This used to be my job but I am happy to have him take the lead.  We light the candle, say the Advent prayer and read from the days Gospel.  We then sing Advent songs like Maria walks amid the Thorn, and Gabriel's Message ( I think it is called), and a Christmas Carols so the kids can learn some before Christmas.  He calls Advent "ours" because neither he nor I grew up with any Advent traditions to speak of but we have developed our own with the help of Catholic websites and bloggers.  

We have some Jesse Tree ornaments that we made together as a family when my oldest was an only child.  We tape those to the fireplace mantle after I tell the kids a little bit about each one.  We also have an Advent Calendar with little books for each day that tells a bible story in Jesse Tree style or has a Christmas Carol to sing or a little prayer to say. 

These are some really very simple things that we have been doing as we have built a little bit of an Advent repertoire over the past few years with the help of websites like CatholicCulture.org.  The best part is that we have been praying as a family every night this week.  I'm grateful and hope that we continue at least throughout this season of Advent.