Ought we prepare our children for martyrdom?

If you can, go see Europe's shrines and holy places while they are still there.

Shhh--artists at work!

Seven Quick Takes Friday--volume 49, the Thank God It's Friday edition

One.
At the end of this day we will have survived the first week of school. There were a few moments on Monday and Tuesday when this prospect seemed tenuous at best. Yesterday was pretty good, however, and a lot had to do with the fact that Sebastian wasn't fighting me at every turn and the three youngest cooperated by all napping at the same time.

Two.
All the kids have colds. I am gearing up for winter and the cold season, even though we got through last winter with only one or two brief colds. My arsenal includes oscillococcinum (and no, I can't pronounce it), Sweet Echinacea for the kids and regular echinacea softgels for us grownups, colloidal silver, and Sambucus elderberry extract. These are used only at the first signs of illness. Otherwise, we just take vitamin C and a multiple. My "knock-out" formula for illness for myself or Bret (because the kids aren't good pill-swallowers) is a combination of vitamin C, deodorized garlic capsules, zinc and echinacea. Taken twice a day at the first sign of a cold, it nips it in the bud very well. We generally get colds only a few times a year, although some years are worse than others.

Three.
I am bummed. I have a load of diapers to wash, and all Gemma's pretty little girl things and it looks like rain again. I want to see all the little things on the clothesline blowing in the breeze...

Four.
We have had a good bit of rain this summer. In fact, this is the only August in the seven years we've been here in which the grass has not been a toasty brown . It's still green.

Five.
We seem to have a very clever mouse visiting our kitchen. He has twice evaded the spring trap, managing to take both corn and peanut butter from it without getting killed, and last night he took the peanut butter off the live trap, wisely deciding not to get the larger bit inside the trap.

Six.
Sebastian and Gabriel spent just about the whole day outside of school-time playing with the useless spring trap. They had a variety of cowboys, knights and soldiers get caught in it, and had the thing springing across the school room. They finally wore it out and they had to toss it in the trash last night. Who needs computer games?

Seven.
We signed on with Netflix after long deliberation. In order to justify the expense, I had to investigate its potential for school. They do have some excellent movies and documentaries that can be resources for history, geography and science. And then, there are the cold, wet days of winter to think about, too.

Now go on over to Jen's Conversion Diary to read other Seven Quick Takes.

St. Augustine and St. Monica

I didn't have a chance to post much yesterday. It was the nameday of my friend Cindy's fourth daughter and feast of my sister's confirmation saint. A saint for all mothers, but especially for mothers of wayward children. St. Augustine attributed his conversion in largest part to the constant, unwavering prayers of his holy mother. A mother's prayers and tears do penetrate the heart of God.

St. Augustine is one of my mother's favorite saints and patrons, and one of my nephews has him as a patron as well. I read his Confessions during my conversion process and they had a great influence on me. They spoke to me across the centuries in a voice that was at times almost conversational, as though he was speaking directly to me (oh, the wonder of writing!). I also found in it some of the most beautiful aspirations, a favorite being

"Lord, grant that I may always love You; then do with me what You will."

Need a laugh?

Thank you, Minnesota Mom, for posting this on your blog. I so needed a laugh today!

How'd it go?

The first day of school was...okay. I am trying to smooth out the rough spots in my lesson plan and keep it somewhat flexible. For instance, I have decided that I cannot do History and Science at the same time and do justice to either, so, since I am working in six-week blocks, I will do three weeks of History, and then three weeks of Science. I have a timeline book worked out this year as well, so as we read about people or events in any topic we can place them on the timeline.

The toughest thing is keeping everyone busy while I work with one child individually. There isn't too much to keep Gabriel and Sebastian busy for long, and I don't like them wandering off. I haven't quite figured it out yet.

The midwife had a birth to attend, so she didn't make it by for our 6-week check up. Rescheduled for Wednesday.

Okay, I have to go and get things ready for the day. Hope your day goes well, too!

Simple Woman's Daybook for August 24th

Outside my window…6:15 and 59 degrees...feeling pleasantly autumnal! Sun is just tinting the sky pink and peach.

I am thinking…school today! I have "first-day jitters". I am plunging in only half-cocked, as my menu plan is only in place for this week and my lesson plan is still sketchy.

I am thankful for…my friend Marilyn's terrific organizing skills. I have been tagging along behind all her plans and using them to help me to formulate my own. I feel almost incapable of organized thinking lately. I am also thankful for the two awards she has given me, and I hope I can pass these on in time...

From the kitchen...Muffins of some kind and yogurt.

I am creating…Una's sweater. Hoping it will be a Christmas gift. Or that I can get it done before she outgrows it.

I am reading… other than my Bible, I am just looking at books for the kids right now. No time to read on my own.

I am hoping...that this week will go by well and that I can remain loving and calm even when the boys are grumpy about hitting the books again.

I am hearing…the boys, other than Dominic, who will be up in a moment.

A few plans for the rest of the week: my midwife is coming for my 6 week check up today. I am wondering what Gemma weighs. I really have no plans other than to survive the first week of school...

I am praying...for a great school year for us and all homeschoolers. I pray for a spirit of calm and joy in my home. I pray that Bret may continue to work at home. And I pray for my friend Cindy, who has given us the news that she is expecting another baby--number 10! May her pregnancy be blessed.

A Picture Thought: This is Dominic coming back from Mass. Doughnut glaze on his face and a cold in his nose.Now go on to Peggy's and visit other Day-Bookers. Have a blessed week!

The "Maria-Pillar"

Munich is a city dedicated to the Blessed Mother, as is the whole of Bavaria. Her image is everywhere, most notably in the heart of the city in the pedestrian zone, atop a tall pillar. Growing up here, even though I was raised without any religion, I was surrounded by the trappings of Catholicism at its very richest. I have no doubt that being raised in this city had much to do with my eventual conversion.

Our Queen, Our Mother

I could not imitate our Blessed Mother and give God my "fiat" if I did not have her for my intercessor and mediatrix. I wouldn't have the courage. But with such a Mother, how could I fail to trust?

In the moments when I feel fearful of the Father's judgement, I turn to my Mother. Our relationship has taken time, and I can clearly remember that at the beginning of my conversion, this relationship was most difficult. I had some concept of a creator, and I could understand the divinity and humanity of Christ, but Mary was difficult for me to fathom, in part because my relationship with my own mother had been strained during my adolescence and teen years, even into my twenties. But now I wish with all my heart to give myself in service to the Queen.

Gemma Roo

Happiest when she is being toted about in her little pouch.

It's called teamwork

Sebastian rode up to give Una a hand with the laundry...

Seven Quick Takes Friday--volume 48

One.
I am brain-dead this morning, so excuse the possible typos, double-posts and overlooked misspellings. Gemma-dear slept for an hour at bedtime, then awoke and decided that she would practice vocalizing until 11:30 pm. With her on one side going, "Eh-eh-eh-eh" for the last hour before falling asleep and Bret on the other snoring loudly, I felt ready to have my own bedroom. Preferably in someone else's house.

Two.
Made some headway on setting up a timeline-book to be used this year. I have had the book--a giant sketch-book, the biggest one available, for over a year, but found the task of breaking it up to cover the whole of history so daunting that I put it away. I don't know if what I did yesterday will work well, but is has got to be better than nothing.

Three.
It is woefully evident that my kids really need to focus on some Geography and History this year. I can't bring myself to relate to you some of the questions my kids have asked about where this place or that is on the map, or when this event occurred. Let's just say that we have some big gaps to fill this year!

Four.
Do ya think that a toddler can be retro-fitted with a volume-control?

Five.
If I don't get a menu plan in place this weekend, I will not survive the first week of school. Well, I might, but it would mean serving the kids cold cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner all week.

Six.
Gemma is still too pimply and weird-looking to post photos of her. Sorry if this statement is offensive to those moms who think every infant is gorgeous, but the good Lord forgot to give me those rose-tinted glasses. This may sound cruel, but other than Sebastian, all my babies looked weird to me until they got somewhere past the first eight weeks. I don't feel this way about all babies--I have seen plenty of newborns that don't look weird and squishy, who are truly tiny aesthetic masterpieces--but not among my own.

Seven.
Seven Quick Takes has taken me three hours to post this morning...maybe I ought to host my own version: Seven Syllable Takes.

Now go visit Jen at Conversion Diary to take a peek at other Quick Takes, and have a nice weekend, y'all!

Yesterday

Yesterday was Bret's 50th birthday. Did we have a party? Go somewhere special? Nope. Bret decided to take advantage of the overcast, misty day and remove fencing from our property. He took Sebastian and Gabriel to assist him with this, although I had my doubts about that. I figured Gabe would be whining after an hour or so.

I was amazed. They were gone for eight hours, returning only for a quick lunch (I mean quick--they took most of it with them back to work), and upon coming home at 4:30, dirty and sweaty, they were still rather chipper. Bret said he was impressed by how well they did with the work. He said it three times during the course of the evening. I think it may have been the first time that their help was really helpful, and I am so proud of them. Now Bret can begin to enjoy some of that assistance I have been enjoying with Una for the past couple of years. I wish I had photos of them helping their papa...

Anyway, they did make it home for Bret's chosen birthday meal of pork ribs, steamed new potatoes and salad, and cheesecake for dessert (is there the man out there who does not like cheesecake other than a lactose-intolerant one?). It may not have been an exciting birthday, but with age I have come to the conclusion I don't really need excitement, it only turns my hair gray. Boring is good.

Hoping the next 50 years will be good, comfortable, pleasantly boring ones for you, honey!

Simple Woman's Daybook for August 17th

Outside my window…6:24 and 75 degrees. Humid. The promise of an unpleasantly hot day.

I am thinking…about school beginning next week. I always feel so unprepared, and with a new baby slowing things down, I feel less prepared than ever. I am praying to Our Lady of Good Counsel for assistance!

I am thankful for…the fact that I can teach my kids at home. In my present mood, with all the mothers who are suffering right now (see my Assumption post below), I am feeling especially clingy, and would hate to be separated from my kids each day (I will try to remember that when they drive me insane later on today!).

From the kitchen...Berries with yogurt and bran muffins.

I am creating…I have started a sweater for Una. I don't find much time to knit except in the van, and the sweater is big, so I don't know if it will get done in time for the cold weather, but I am hopeful...

I am reading… just looking at books for the kids right now. No time to read except for scripture in the morning.

I am hoping...that I can get all the things done that I need to before next week! I think Gemma will be spending a lot of time in the Moby-wrap!

I am hearing…kids quietly occupied. Are they feeling alright? Oh, that's it: Dominic isn't up yet, hence the quiet.

A few plans for the rest of the week: pesto (didn't get done last week), a cheesecake for Bret's birthday tomorrow, get the kids to make a special card, lesson plans to finish, a trip to the library...

I am praying...for Bret, that he and I may journey into old age together and see our children's children, and for all those mom's who are dealing with such heartbreak right now. God grant them solace.

A Picture Thought: Sorry--no new photos again this Monday! But I commend you all to the protection of your Guardian Angels. Have a blessed week!

Visit Peggy for more Simple Woman's Daybook entries.

Assumption Picnic at the Fathers of Mercy

The Feast of the Assumption is a big day for the Fathers of Mercy. On this day the seminarians profess temporary or perpetual vows. Today we had young men making their vows, and it is always very moving watching them prostrate themselves during the Litany of the Saints, and kneel to make their vows before the Superior General of the Congregation.

All of this is capped off with the annual Assumption Picnic. Good food, good Catholic fellowship, lots of priests, seminarians and visiting sisters. I wish I had taken more photos, but I was sweating with Gemma in her Moby-type wrap and chatting an awful lot. I think I can post a few without offending the subjects of my lens...

Here is my sister and my nephew...
And here is my brother-in-law with another nephew and three of my boys...

Here are a few good people waiting in the heat for food. If you look to the left of the tree in the background, there I am with Gemma on my front, her little white socks dangling below...

And this guy is trouble. Not my nephew (who is practicing to be trouble), but the priest. Fr. Tom. I can give my boys twenty-minute lectures on the dignity of the Priesthood and directions on proper manners with priests, and along comes Fr. Tom and in about 30 seconds he will have them on the ground, wrestling with him...
A couple of random shots...
I just love this one...

My four boys...
And this one I think needs a caption contest. Claire, the little tow-headed doll in pink with a pink cast on her doll-like arm, is wearing Dominic's shoes.
I hope your day was blessed!

Somber thoughts on the Feast of the Assumption

For the seventh year in a row, I give myself--all that I am, all that I do, all that I possess--to our Blessed Mother. This is not easy for me. I am not a person who trusts easily, and I did not grow up with any religion, so my relationship with God and His saints has come late to me. Part of me is always afraid to give without reserve. I fear making myself vulnerable.

It is especially hard this year. I have a new baby, and all around me I hear of/read of mothers suffering the most dreadful losses: the unspeakable loss of their children. Mary Ellen has just lost her son, Ryan. A wonderful woman we know from our church community has lost her fourteen year-old grandson to MS and a long-suffered heart defect. Elizabeth's son Sam has two friends in the hospital, one having been found at the bottom of a swimming pool and another fighting bacterial meningitis. So many mothers weeping and praying right now, standing with Mary at the foot of the Cross. I am afraid of being asked to make the same sacrifice if I surrender myself, and yet I know this must be nonsense on my part. Bad things happen whether or not we surrender ourselves to the Divine Will; surrender only means that God will assist us in the hour of our greatest need because we have placed ourselves in His hands.

It is my painful history that makes me feel that growth in holiness must be paid for with suffering. No wonder I so often receive as my penance the prayer, "Jesus, I trust in You."

I fail, in these fearful moments, to see the "Big Picture", to see from God's point of view rather than my own. God often shortens a life out of mercy, as humanity with its fallen nature tends to use the extra time to commit more sins, rather than to grow in holiness. It is our selfishness, our own attachment to what we feel is ours, that causes us to weep bitterly and shake our fist at Heaven when someone dear is taken from us.

I know this, and yet I hope that I am never made to suffer such a horrendous loss.

My heart and prayers go out to these mothers.

Seven Quick Takes Friday--volume 46

One.
Lesson planning is a headache and makes me wish I could toss everything to the wind and join the "unschooling" community, only I am far too schedule-oriented and insecure for that. I felt a bit resentful about everything school-related falling on my shoulders and not Bret's, but then I recalled that he will have to do the taxes this year, and being self-employed since February, it is going to be a headache of major proportions. I now feel much better about lesson-planning.

Two.
I am reading Ecclesiastes in My Daily Bible, and it must be one of those books of the Bible I have sort of skipped through in the past. It is really beautiful! A love song to Wisdom...

Three.
Today would have been the 76th birthday of my father-in-law, "Dutch". He died of melanoma just five months after Bret and I married, at the age of 54, and was a really great person. A lot of him lives on in Bret. I think Dutch would have been exceedingly proud of the man Bret has become and proud of his grandchildren. He passed away early Christmas morning in 1987 in Tucson. That morning the desert was covered in a blanket of snow...

Four.
It is, of course, also the Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe. I cannot think of this Saint, and likewise St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein), without thinking of the concentration camp at Dachau...I have been to that camp, having lived fairly close to it while growing up in Munich, probably four or five times. There is a Carmel outside the north wall of the camp. The hand-carved crucifix in our school-room was purchased in its gift shop.

Five.
Gemma has infant-acne. A bad case of it. This means that it is unlikely that I will be posting any photos of her for a while. I am being vain on her behalf.

Six.
I troubled my husband, after he spent a number of hours putting up new trim in the bathroom, to move a shelf in my teaching cabinet (which meant drilling a number of holes) and to make a cross on a base to use for this wonderful craft/liturgical teaching tool. Good man that he is, he did it without delay. Then I told him I really could use a little shelf in the corner on which to display it...

Seven.
Tomorrow I make my Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin according to the method recommended by St. Louis de Montfort for the seventh year in a row. This year I hardly managed any of the preparatory prayers. I suppose I could have substituted my normal morning prayers with those in the book, but with my ongoing battle with aridity, I try to stick to prayers that inspire me rather than those that put me to sleep, and I am sorry to admit that unless I am in a church, the litanies tend to do just that when I pray them alone. I feel so pathetic. Lord, grant me fortitude and perseverance!

Now go and visit Jen at Conversion Diary to read some other Seven Quick Takes.

Small Successes, Vol. 30

1) I made about 5 lbs of my favorite granola, which is just about my favorite breakfast, served up with home-made yogurt and raw honey from our local Mennonite community.

2) I actually made a bit of headway on my lesson plans for the coming year. Still have much to do, however...

3) I received my Daily Catholic Bible from Sacred Heart Books and Gifts and have begun to read it daily as part of my morning prayer-time. I have done this in the past, but having a set Scripture reading for each day makes it easier and hopefully I will stick to it. I have had as much success with reading Scripture as I've had with most exercise programs, which is not saying much.

Bonus #4: Have been using cloth diapers (Chinese prefolds and Proraps covers) for Gemma for two weeks now, and not only am I getting the hang of it, I really enjoy it! I am thinking that All-In-Ones may be a better option for older, more wiggly babies, however...

To see some other Small Successes, or to share your own, go to Faith and Family Live.

The Dino-bores...

"So, y'know what a triceratops sits on?"

"No, what?"

"Its tricera-bottom!"

Have you any idea how hard it is to build a post around a neat photo of your kid's plastic dinosaurs? Do you know how hard pressed I am for something interesting to tell you?

Simple Woman's Daybook for August 10th

Outside my window…5:53 a.m., 70 degrees. Getting light, but it looks hazy. Another hot, humid day ahead, no doubt.

I am thinking…about how funny it is that I am an orthodox Catholic, living in the country with six kids and farm animals, doing things like making butter and knitting and washing cloth diapers. At 18, I was neo-pagan if I had any religion at all, had doubted that I would marry (child of divorced parents and grandparents that I am), never entertained the idea of having children, and thought I would die if I ever left the city...the good Lord certainly has a sense of humor. It is one of the ways in which we are made in His image.

I am thankful for…the fact that my life is not the one I wanted when I was 18!

From the kitchen...Um, how about cucumber pancakes and cucumber smoothies, with cucumber muffins, and cucumber salad? Joking, naturally, but I have had three people give us cucumbers lately, and I just have trouble saying no when someone is trying to delight us with home-grown veggies! We have been eating a lot of cucumber lately, but I like it...it is a real summer pleasure.

I am creating…I am done with the soakers...just need to make drawstrings for them, and I will have Gemma model them for you. I am working on a flyer for one of the Fathers of Mercy, for a one-day conference celebrating the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be held in November.

I am reading… Consecration to Mary according to Louis de Monfort and another old book on the Blessed Mother. Finished Sea of Trolls with the kids and am looking for something else to begin with them.

I am hoping...that Gemma will finally, ahem, move her bowels. Without an explosion.

I am hearing…insects buzzing, cowbells ringing, birds chirping. No kids up yet.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Lesson plans, making pesto and granola, starting a new knitting project.

I am praying...for a holy, happy household, for a better prayer life for myself.

A Picture Thought: Contentment. This time will pass so quickly...Visit Peggy for more Simple Woman's Daybook entries.

Sunday Silence

Dominic's Nameday, Baptismal Feast and Belated Birthday

Dominic's cake. I managed to finish it while he was down at the pond with Bret this morning and Una held a little Gemma who did not feel like being put down.


The birthday boy himself. The hand in the frame is Bret's--trying to keep Dominic from blowing out the candles before we had finished our raucous, off-key "Happy Birthday to You." He didn't succeed.


My happy little guy. He has become something of a tyrant in the last few months, but who can be tyrannical with a mouth full of dinosaur cake?


The answer to that last question is, Dominic can. He absolutely refused to let us cut the dinosaur. Note Bret's creative cake-cutting. I told him that the dinosaur wanted to live in our tummies because it reminded him of his cave back home, but Dom wasn't impressed.


And then there are the presents! Fun to open, not so fun to listen to the boys fight over them for the rest of the day. A cake, presents, lousy singing and a bunch of siblings to make a fuss about you...not a bad day, all in all...

We Love You, Baby Boy! Happy, happy birthday, Dominic!

Another reason to homeschool your kids (funny!)...

Patrice at Rural Revolution offered this glimpse into why our country is in such bad shape!

Gemma takes a bath

She looked a bit uncertain at first, but she was very relaxed throughout her first real bath.

Seven Quick Takes Friday--Volume 45

One.
I am afraid to breathe it, but Gemma has been sleeping well for three nights now. I have been able to catch a four-hour stretch at the start of each night as she settles into the co-sleeper. After that, however, her sleep is more erratic and she rests tucked under one of my arms or the other, nursing every two hours. This isn't too bad, except for the fact that I wake up with a stiff neck every morning.

Two.
With regards to Miss Gemma, she is the first baby I have had that does not poop at every nursing. In fact, I think we are going on day five or six since her last poop. Whether she is doing this out of respect for the cloth diapers I so lovingly wash for her, I don't know. I look at her skin color unable to discern whether the slight golden tint of it is due to a remaining hint of jaundice, or whether my darling baby is just up to her golden-tinted eyeballs in poop. In any case, the suspense is killing me, and I am praying she will finally release her bowels before we head to Mass on Sunday.

Three.
I am really enjoying reading to the kids. Right now I am reading Nancy Farmer's Sea of Trolls. I love to use different voices for the various characters, and it has been a blast making up voices and accents for Viking berserkers and trolls and such. I'll be sad when the book is finished.

Four.
Is it shallow of me to ask God to let me keep my, um, nursing bosom? I mean, He hasn't honored my request in the past, and I doubt He will do more than snicker good-naturedly this time around as well, but I really enjoy having a top to balance out my bottom. I mean, my regular cup-size is "Near A". I am not making this up; I have to order my bras online to get the right fit. If it wasn't for nipples showing through clothes, I wouldn't need a bra at all normally. After all, would you wear shoes if you didn't have feet?

Five.
If you read my post yesterday, you know that I am trying to cultivate joy and peace in my home. The odds are against me. I have four boys with temperaments only slightly better than the Vikings I am reading about, and the activity and noise level in this house is frequently more than I can bear. Top that off with my dear husband's booming voice when the kids fail to listen, and you have a distinct lack of peace and joy. Not sure what to do about this. Why am I the only one in this family who is sensitive to noise?

Six.
In a classic display of Postpartum Brain, I canceled my debit card last weekend after noticing what I swore up and down was an unauthorized purchase on my bank statement. Monday came, and a call to the bank established the fact that the purchase was indeed my own. It was my online HSLDA renewal. Wondering how others deal with snitching in their homes. On the one hand, I do need to know when someone is breaking the house rules; on the other, I want them to feel a sense of fellowship, brotherhood, camaraderie. Instead of sticking up for one another, they seem to never miss an opportunity to rat on one another. "Mamaaaaaaa! So-an-so said he's going to get a Roman Candle and blow up my bike tires!" "Mamaaaaaa! So-and-so is blowing bubbles in his chocolate milk with the straw!" It is wearing me down.

Seven.
In a classic display of Postpartum Brain, I canceled my debit card last weekend after noticing what I swore up and down was an unauthorized purchase on my bank statement. Monday came, and a call to the bank established the fact that the purchase was indeed my own. It was my online HSLDA renewal. Oops.

Now go visit Jen over at Conversion Diary and read some other Seven Quick Takes

Misty morning at Patch O' Dirt Farm

The playset this morning was draped in a dozen spiderwebs beaded with seed-pearls. The kids went out in their wellies to marvel at it...

Happiness and holiness at home...

My friend Marilyn and I have been discussing this via email back and forth for a bit, and today she posted a little about it.

My lament has been that school has had a tendency to get stressful as I work to cover all the bases and keep order in a home that has more little children than big ones. I realize that as the kids get older and are able to help more, there will be more time for us to relax as a family, but right now I am still at a point where most of the housework, cooking and teaching falls on my shoulders. And I do tend toward perfectionism (in desire, if not in fact!), so I see my failings acutely, in every dusty piece of furniture, in every less-than-well-balanced meal, in every unused science or history book.

This post was a balm for my guilty soul. But I have had to sort out a few things on my own as well with the approach of the new school year.

I have had to take a good, hard look at my Why we Homeschool list, and a dispassionate look at how I did things last year, and I see that I have not keeping to the goals I set out to meet at the onset.

Here are some of the things I want to keep in mind this year. A list to post under my Why We Homeschool list:

1) I have been guilty of placing academics before God. I hereby resolve to trust our Lord and take Him at His word, believing that if I put Him and His kingdom first, whatever else is needed will follow. This is not to say that I am ready to become an "unschooler". I am much too list/schedule/task-oriented to be able to handle that without having a nervous breakdown. But I will try not to allow myself to get bent out of shape about finishing this workbook, or whether this son of mine is reading at grade level, or whether the kids are getting enough science or not.

2) JOY is what I want to cultivate in our home. I have a mortal dread of the children turning 18 and chomping at the bit to get away from home. And so it is my intention to work at making our home a joyful place. Working through my tiredness, my crabbiness, my children's bickering, and everything else that is working against the cultivation of joy. It will be a daily battle to maintain peace--how's that for paradox?--but I hope to be victorious with God's help.

3) I want this family to be Christ-centered, and for us to pray more as a family. We tend to be pretty good about our evening Rosary and grace before meals, and I pray every morning when the house is still quiet, but I want all the children to join me--and Bret, now that he is working at home--in morning and bedtime prayers. We have never been good about doing morning prayers with the kids (although during the school year I always began our day with prayer and a verse or two of Immaculate Mary), but bedtime prayers have been spotty, mainly because our rosary is right before bedtime and it seems easy to blow off any further prayer when we are all tired and ready to go to bed--or fighting to get toddlers into bed.

4) I want us to live the liturgical year in our home. The blogs I list among my favorites will be an immense help with this, as these moms are so very good at finding the right prayer, craft, recipe and/or resource for every Catholic feast and holy day. This will take a little planning ahead, but since out here I haven't the option of making it to a daily Mass, I think it is important.

5) I need to relax. This is not easy for me. I don't like to be idle, and I always have a list of a million things I need to do and another million I want to do. When I am watching a video, I am also making a menu plan; when we drive to Mass, I am knitting; when I am nursing, I am blogging, reading to the kids or answering email--or thinking about what I need to do next. Learning to just be with the kids and give them my undivided attention will be something very hard for me, but infinitely worthwhile I think. I need to be with them and not think about how I ought to be mopping the floor, tending to the pile of mending or drilling them with Latin flashcards. I need to aim to get school done nice and early, so that we have time to relax together in the afternoon before making dinner. And I need to stick to menu plans and precooked meals and such so that dinner will not be such a stressful time as well.

There it is, in a rather large nutshell. Ask me in February how we are doing. I hope I'll be able reply without shame...

Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord

It's Dominic's birthday

Only we are not telling him. We are going to celebrate his birthday on the 8th of August, his baptismal feast and his nameday. Why? Because we haven't one cotton-pickin' thing to give him, that is why. Because I didn't think far enough ahead to order things before Gemma's birth, that is why. And because I was too brain-dead from sleep deprivation to bake a cake yesterday, that is why.

So we will be doing some shopping this week to find a few things for my little guy. He's looking forward to his birthday. Don't say anything, okay? Just come back on Saturday to look for a birthday photo and post...

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Thanks, Jennifer, for emailing this to me!

Simple Woman's Daybook for August 3rd--Monday Evening Edition

Well, here I am, late again. But that is because I went to bed late last night (or rather, early this morning) and got up late this morning. Consequently, Bret milked the cow late, the kids ate breakfast late, and well, hopefully I will be back on track tomorrow!

Outside my window…84 degrees and sunny, with a gentle breeze, perfect clothesline weather. Thanks to all the rain we have gotten this summer, the pastures are a glorious green still, and not the crispy brown they usually are by August.

I am thinking…bedtime, and whether or not I will be able to sleep tonight. My tiny darlin' decided to fuss last night until 1 a.m. I don't feel up to several hours of rocking, bouncing, nursing and Spider Solitaire tonight. Also thinking about Dominic's birthday, which is tomorrow, but which we will celebrate on Saturday, which is his baptismal feast and nameday. I have only one gift for him right now, so I need to do a little quick shopping!

I am thankful for…a quiet moment in which to blog! The kids are all outside having some kind of meeting behind the barn.

From the kitchen...the kitchen is closed for the night, but we had a nice meal of grilled ham steaks, mashed sweet potatoes, corn and a cucumber salad.

I am creating…nothing at the moment, but I am overwhelmed by ideas for things I want to make. One of them is this.

I am reading… Consecration to Mary according to Louis de Monfort and another old book on the Blessed Mother.

I am hoping…Gemma will not prove to be my first colicky baby!

I am hearing…The hum of the ceiling fan and the bells on the cows as they graze.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Lesson plans, reading to the kids, spending lots of time cuddling Gemma, shopping for Dominic and on Friday, baking a cake.

I am praying...for a holy, happy household, and for a better prayer life for myself.

A Picture Thought: Isn't this cute? Una embroidered the center part and I made it into a little cushion cover for her.
Visit Peggy for more Simple Woman's Daybook entries.

"Come and See"

Come and take a peek at the Fathers of Mercy, and you'll get a glimpse of the priests we get to listen to every Sunday. We are truly blessed.

Thank you, John, for your great video work!

AAARRRGGHHH!!!!!!

Dratdratdratdrat! I was fiddling about, trying to figure out how I could make my blog template a three-column one without losing all my widgets and graphics and such, and when I came back to my blog, my list of Favorite Blogs had disappeared!

Excuse me a moment while I bang my forehead against the keypad...

Will try to restore my list ASAP. But it is nearly bedtime, so it may have to wait until tomorrow after Mass.

Grrrrr.....

Isn't she lovely...?

I'm falling in love again. Of course, there is often that surge of love-at-first-sight when you have a baby, but there are things that can stand in the way of that. Pain, exhaustion, fear during birth--all of these can postpone the bonding between mother and newborn for weeks, even months. I know that after Adrian's birth my exhaustion (the labor wasn't so long, but I went 48 hours without sleep) led to postpartum depression, and that kept me from loving Adrian the way I wanted to until he was a couple of months old. But I had very good labors and deliveries with Dominic and Gemma, and consequently, nothing has stood in the way of my getting all emotional and gushy with love over them. I know that this "Baby-moon" passes, but right now I even love changing her diapers...