A Little Spring Cleaning

Today I'm working on eliminating old notebooks kicking around the house. Here's a list of movies I found worthwhile, that I compiled some time ago. Don't remember the exact specs of this list - keep in mind that these are general categories that I thought the movies were most appropriate for - but they still might need some might need editing (and I have let some of my children watch some of thes movies at younger ages - for example, Ria watched a slightly edited version of Groundhog Day for the first time this February 2). I find it sad that many modern movies have people taking the Lord's name in vain. We do let the kids watch some of these if we consider the movie otherwise worthwhile, but talk about the problem with our kids and don't tolerate it in our house. Most likely not a complete list...

Family:

Cars
The Incredibles
Prince of Egypt
Joseph, King of Dreams
I Remember Mama
Narnia
Pride of the Yankees
The Pacifier
Cinderella
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Swiss Family Robinson
Wizard of Oz
The Shaggy Dog
The Parent Trap (1990s version)
Sound of Music
Singing in the Rain
Finding Nemo
The Railway Children
You Can't Take it With You
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima
Brigadoon
The Secret of Roan Inish

Upper Grade School:

Ben Hur
Pride and Prejudice (BBC)
The Sands of Iwo Jima
Jesus of Nazareth
The Ten Commandments
The Princess Bride
Yours, Mine and Ours
Mr. Smith Goes to Wahsington
Spiderman I and II
It's a Wonderful Life
Gettysburg
Akeelah and the Bee
The Amazing Adventure
Emma
Sense and Sensibility
Apollo 13
Lord of the Rings Movies
The Quiet Man
The Scarlet and the Black
The Assisi Underground
The Song of Bernadette
Oliver!
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Hoosiers
Rudy
Babette's Feast
The Miracle Worker

Early High School:

Cinderella Man
Life is Beautiful
To Kill a Mockingbird
Indiana Jones Trilogy
The Philadelphia Story
It Happened One Night
I Confess
Rear Window
You've Got Mail
Mrs. Miniver
Gone with the Wind
The More the Merrier
Mad Hot Ballroom
Sabrina ('95)
Driving Miss Daisy
My Favorite Wife
Batman Begins
The Desert Fox
Casablanca
October Sky
Much Ado About Nothing
Master and Commander
Henry V
Twelve Angry Men
The Scarlet Pimpernel (Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour)
The Passion of Joan of Arc
A Man for All Seasons
Meet John Doe
Sergeant York
Regarding Henry

Upper High School:

Frequency
Spanglish
A Good Woman
The Spitfire Grill
The Caine Mutiny
Groundhog Day
United 93
Charade
Return to Me
North by Northwest
One Man's Hero
The Fugitive
Saints and Soldiers
The Awful Truth


More Mature - Viewer Discretion Advised:

The Passion of the Christ
Brideshead Revisited
Gladiator
Saving Private Ryan
Crash
Schindler's List
The Shawshank Redemption
The Right Stuff

Almost Final List of Library Tree Additions

I'm trying to come up with a list of books that were added to our local library through our Library Tree project last year in order to keep track of things for future years. This is list is presently in progress...

Beyond the Heather Hills by Melissa Wiley
Down to the Bonny Glen by Melissa Wiley
The Far Side of the Loch by Melissa Wiley
Little House in the Highlands by Melissa Wiley
Journey into Amazing Caves (IMAX DVD)
This is America Charlie Brown
NOVA: To the Moon
Animals in Winter
Baby Whales Drink Milk
The Mystery of the Periodic Table by Benjamin Wiker
The Man Who Made Time Travel
D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths
The Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty
Leonardo da Vinci for Kids
World War II for Kids
Backyard Ballistics
Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots
William Shakespeare and the Globe by Aliki
The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics by Norton Juster
Caves and Caverns by Gail Gibbons
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky
Mistakes that Worked
Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Gilbin
The Great Art Scandal
DK Space Encyclopedia
Eats, Shoots and Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference by Lynne Truss
Why Do Leaves Change Color
How Do Birds Find Their Way
The Moon Seems to Change
How Do Apples Grow
What Makes Day and Night
Flash, Crash, Rumble and Roll
Who Eats What?
Merry Go Round: A Book About Nouns
Many Luscious Lollipops
The Art of Construction by Mario Salvadori
Lost City: the Discovery of Machu Picchu
Steam, Smoke and Steel: Back in Time with Trains
Marguerite Makes a Book
The Man Who Counted
Touching the Sky: The Flying Adventures of Wilbur and Orville Wright
Shakespeare for Kids
Fly High! The Story of Bessie Coleman
The Handmade Alphabet
Afghanistan to Zimbabwe: Country Facts that helped me win the National Geographic Bee

It was exciting to see how many of the books were currently checked out while searching the library database; I think almost half of them were!

Catechism Discussion Group: Why can't Protestants receive Communion in a Catholic Church?

These are the beginnings of my notes and studies for our discussion tonight - I'll be adding to them here and there throughout the day...

I'm not trying to re-invent the wheel so these are some tidbits that came up in scattered places in addition to the apologetics texts (see sidebar for my apologetics shelf) that I'm finding extremely helpful.

Regarding Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist:

John 6:51-68 is particular striking.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." (John 6:51)

Unabridged Christianity by Fr. Mario Romero (Queenship Publishing) has a terrific exposition of this segment. Isn't it interesting that the miracle of the loves and fishes begins this teaching takes place in the context of the Jewish passover?

A few quotes on the Blessed Sacrament:

Saint Claude de la Colombiere:

It matters very little if you approach the Sacraments with sensible fervor, provided that you replace this with deep and sincere humility. Without this humility there is nothing more despicable in God's eyes than ourselves, but with it we can go to him without fear, certain that he will deign to look on us with infinite mercy (The Spiritual Direction of Saint Claude de la Colombiere translated and arranged by Mother M. Philip, I.B.V.M. - Ignatius Press)

J.R.R. Tolkien:

Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament. . . . There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth, and more than that. (from a letter to his son - Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Houghton Mifflin)

Fr. Ronald Knox:

The Blessed Sacrament is the sacrament of unity; and when you receive it, it does not merely produce in you more charity towards your neighbour, more loyalty towards the Church, more unselfishness in your human attachments. It makes you more at unity with yourself. (Pastoral and Occasional Sermons - this gorgeous book is on sale for half price currently at Ignatius Press and includes a large segment devoted to sermons on the Eucharist)

Saints of the Eucharist includes many more beautiful quotes.

Reception of Holy Communion by non-Catholics

Dr. Gotcher pointed me to this site which details who can and cannot receive Holy Communion.

Catechism Discussion Group: Are You Saved?

I'll be posting my prep. notes for our teen Catechism discussion group here. Sorry if they're a bit cryptic at times. These are my notes from last week...

Sources:

Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Beginning Apologetics I (pgs. 35-36 et al)
Unabridged Christianity chapter starting at pg. 49
Romans 3 and 4 (and other selections mentioned in the above texts)
etc.

Consider:

corporal and spiritual works of mercy
cooperation and collaboration with God


Words to Understand:

salvation
redemption
grace
justification
faith
works
predestination (we didn't get to this one in the course of the discussion)
perseverance (I don't think this one made it to the cards - we discussed it briefly in terms of what we mean by "salvation")

We defined the words from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and then wrote them up on index cards and played around with explaining them in a visual manner (and through the use of analogies). It was interesting! Then we took out the words that Protestants (generally) deny and talked about how that change came about. We wrapped it up with the kids' favorite part - role-playing apologetics.

A Good Measure, Packed Together, Shaken Down, and Overflowing

I know I'm a little slow sometimes.

I'm still thinking about last Sunday's Gospel from Luke (6:27-38):

Jesus said to his disciples:“To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.

Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you,what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you,what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”

I was thinking about this Gospel earlier this week. You see, my sister-in-law is starting a children's clothing "pantry" for those in need - connected with her parish's food pantry. And I have a basement that is packed, shaken down and overflowing with children's clothes. I'm all for the practicality of hand-me-downs and keeping things I know I'll need, but there does come a certain point where Luke 3:11 comes in: "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none." Instead of storing all of the things I may need in the future - why not let them be used by someone who really needs them right now?

So I spent part of Friday night and yesterday morning digging through clothing tubs (some of which were, quite literally, overflowing) and collecting surplus hangers. (Terri accidentally asked, "Are we getting rid of all the girls' clothes that are too small for Frank?") I really needed to do this for my own sake, too. We have such an abundance of clothing (thanks to great rummage sales in our area!) that I need to give some of it away just to get things back under control again. Life has a certain amount of chaos all on its own, but too many material blessings can be a burden, when they are not shared.

A related thought from the Catechism:

1936 On coming into the world, man is not equipped with everything he needs for developing his bodily and spiritual life. He needs others. Differences appear tied to age, physical abilities, intellectual or moral aptitudes, the benefits derived from social commerce, and the distribution of wealth. The "talents" are not distributed equally.

1937 These differences belong to God's plan, who wills that each receive what he needs from others, and that those endowed with particular "talents" share the benefits with those who need them. These differences encourage and often oblige persons to practice generosity, kindness, and sharing of goods; they foster the mutual enrichment of cultures:

I distribute the virtues quite diversely; I do not give all of them to each person, but some to one, some to others....I shall give principally charity to one; justice to another; humility to this one, a living faith to that one....And so I have given many gifts and graces, both spiritual and temporal, with such diversity that I have not given everything to one single person, so that you may be constrained to practice charity toward one another....I have willed that one should need another and that all should be my ministers in distributing the graces and gifts they have received from me. [St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue I,7]

Movie Meme

I picked this up at Semicolon, but I pluralized some of the questions:

The Oscars. Are you bothered? [American "translation": "Do you give a hoot?"]

More no than yes, though I generally watch some or all of it and particularly enjoy tributes to the classics and making fun of some of the stupid clothes people wear. (heehee) Honestly, I love movies, so I do like this sort of thing. I'm usually surprised at how well the ones I root for do (ahem, either it's a tribute to my good taste, or I start out with really low expectations). Generally I don't let the kids watch it, but call them in for interesting tidbits.

Which of the Oscar nominees, if any, have you seen?

I was surprised when I checked the list just now and found that I have seen four of them:

United 93
The Little Matchgirl
Click
Cars

A really good film you’ve seen recently, although nobody else has seen it or even heard of it:

I don't know about *nobody*, but I've recently seen Regarding Henry and Brideshead Revisited.

The worst film you’ve paid good money to see:

Parenthood (only movie I've ever walked out of)

Most pretentious film you’ve paid good money to see:

The Phantom of the Opera - most of my friends seem to love this movie/musical, but I hated it! I haven't seen the old one. Another movie I didn't like that everyone else seemed to (though it doesn't qualify as pretentious) was Babe.

A film you’ve rented on video or DVD and turned off very quickly, shouting “this is awful!”

Some obscure version of A Merchant of Venice (no, not the one with Jeremy Irons and Al Pacino). The BBC version of The Scarlet Pimpernel caused a similar reaction.

A film you know you should watch but you’ve never quite got round to seeing:

I don't really have any like that left on my list. There are a few I'd like to see from this year's Oscar list, though: Children of Men, The Pursuit of Happyness and Happy Feet. There are quite a few from the Ignatius Press catalog I'd like to see too.

Earliest cinematic experience:

I remember seeing Star Wars in the theatre - I was six or seven at the time.
I loved it.

Teenage movie memories:

Movies I particularly enjoyed in high school:
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (this was particularly funny from the perspective of an early homeschooler)
Anne of Green Gables
The Cary Grant movie marathon they played on American Movie Classics right after he died. I was just old enough to stay up REALLY late watching quite a lot of them. I looked it up on IMDB (another movie-related thing that I love) - the year was 1986.

Strangest cinematic experience:

My mom was staying with us before Frank was born so John and I went out to the movies because it was much closer (about half an hour closer!) to the hospital than our house and we weren't quite ready to go in. We saw Lost in Translation and about half of Return of the King before we finally decided to go in around 11 pm. It turns out we had plenty of time to finish Return of the King as he was born about four hours later - but it was our second time to see ROTK so it wasn't a big deal. We left after the "beacon fires" scene - which I particularly liked and wanted to see again.

Are there any films that you’ve been waiting to see again for years that have just vanished from the face of the Earth?

Young Tom Edison
My Wild Irish Rose

Your cinematic obsession that bores everyone else to tears:

My younger brothers tended to complain about "my" movies when I was in high school. They didn't tend to like black and white movies or romantic/costume-type dramas. I found out awhile later than my youngest brother recorded a basketball game over Anne of Green Gables sometime after I went off to college.

Someone else’s cinematic obsession that you’ve gone along with:

I don't have anything that really qualifies here. John and I are pretty compatible in the movie department - we both like a wide variety of genres.

Anyone from the world of cinema that you have a real love/hate relationship with?

Adam Sandler
Mickey Rooney

Favourite romantic movies:

You've Got Mail (I can't help it - it's about a bookstore!)
Brideshead Revisited
Pride and Prejudice (BBC)
Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson)
Emma (Gwenyth Paltrow - I didn't like the BBC one here)
Return to Me
The More the Merrier
The Philadelphia Story
Spanglish
Groundhog Day
Much Ado About Nothing

Favorite movie(s) based on a book:

Pride and Prejudice (BBC)

Movie that absolutely ruined a good book:

Caddie Woodlawn

Everyone's My Brother

I was talking to Kate this morning. (She's such a great morning person, beaming at everyone, always interested in a chat; whereas at night...)

Here is a tidbit from this morning's conversation...

Me: "I'm so glad I have a little girl named Kate who loves to give out hugs and has short blonde hair and has ... how many brothers do you have?"

Kate: "Three!"

Me: "No, how many brothers do you have?"

Kate: "Oh, you mean in our family?"

Studeo Words

We certainly have a lot of "life like literature" in our "learning library", though I'm not quite sure what "mom music" is (I am fairly certain that it's a remarkably eclectic selection) and of course I already knew that we had a lot of "Catholic Chesterton[ian] children" running around the house though I'm not at all sure that many of them will grow up with much "science sense". Hmmm.
And my new motto - "Think Thomas!"

hat-tip Minnesota Mom

I'm Reading: From Slave to Priest

I'm right in the middle of From Slave to Priest: A Biography of the Reverend Augustine Tolton by Caroline Hemesath right now (published by Ignatius Press). It's a really interesting slice-of-history/biography about the first black priest in the United States. Fr. Tolton was born a slave in 1854.

I had a particularly large chunk of reading time today at the orthodontist as Terri had her braces taken off. More details later.

The Problem I Don't Have with Chesterton

I'm so delighted and edified by this - especially since I've been so recently immersing myself in the wonders of Chesterton. It's all so perfectly, beautifully paradoxical (and Chesterton always helps point people in the right direction!).

It'll certainly be an interesting piece to bring up in our catechism/apologetics discussion group tomorrow in which we'll be talking about the question/challenge "Are you saved?" (which has other varieties such as "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour?") Should be interesting especially since a large portion of ChesterTeens belongs to the group.

By the way, I discovered this blogger through his book which I found at Sam's Club. It's called The Christian Almanac: A Book of Days Celebrating History's Most Significant People and Events by George Grant and Gregory Wilbur. I wasn't planning on purchasing it - just checking out its format and general content as I was working on plans to expand the "Calendar of Resources" on love2learn. The first thing I opened to was a piece on Hilaire Belloc! After picking up my jaw from the floor, I did a little more browsing and realized that even though there were things I disagreed with (such as the author's overall take on the apparitions of Fatima), it was a treasure trove of historical and literary tidbits that I'd enjoy culling things from and included Saints of the Day and lovely selections from some of my very favorite authors. (It also didn't seem accidental that Chesterton was listed first in a list of favorite authors mentioned in the acknowledgements.)

P.S. This is sort of related (hat-tip Amy Welborn)

Too Warm to Blog

It got up to about 48 degrees today - SO beautiful and nice that we had to air out the house and spend some time outside. Happiness!

Book Notes - Word to Caesar, Apologetics, Ratzinger and Chesterton

Yesterday I finished reading Hillside Education's Word to Caesar by Geoffrey Trease. It's a wonderful adventure story that brings in lots of personalities, culture and geography from Ancient Rome. A good read particularly for middle school age Latin students. (A few scenes might be troubling to more sensitive readers.)

--------------

Our teen catechism/apologetics study group has been forcing me to dig deep into my library for helpful materials. I've been especially grateful for the following:

The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating
The Catholic Answers Website
Unabridged Christianity: Biblical Answers to Common Questions about the Roman Catholic Faith by Fr. Mario P. Romero (Queenship Publishing)

I've also ordered Jim Burnham and Frank Chacon's Beginning Apologetics series.

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I mentioned earlier that I breezed through portions of a several of Cardinal Ratzinger's books on liturgy to prepare for a discussion/workshop on Sacred Music. It seems that over the past year, I've been turning to many books by both Pope Benedict XVI (Ratzinger) and G.K. Chesterton and thoroughly enjoying them. It occured to me just recently, though, that I am starting to make a strong connection between them in my head. I think it's because a) they have a wonderful way of helping me make sense out of the world and myself and b) their writing style leads you up to such wonderful "Aha!" moments.

I love Consumer Reports

We were doing washing machine analyses on the Consumer Reports website when I came across this hilariously true and honest (yet fairly polite) review of a washing machine that I just had to share...

The washer electronically signals the matching dryer to indicate which wash cycle was used and the dryer automatically chooses a corresponding setting -- a unique but not especially helpful feature.

I'm almost obsessively opposed to appliances with unnecessary features that cost more money to begin with and have more things to break. (I inherited this "prejudice" from my dad.) The surprisingly new and incredibly expensive range and dishwasher that came with our house (they were both a year or two old when we bought the house just three years ago and cost around $1000 each) have firmly entrenched this concept into my psyche with their multitudinous break-downs and replaced parts. We try to find the very plainest possible model of very solid machine/series and this has served us quite well.

I should probably note that Ria will be particularly excited about the new washing machine (it was a Consumer Reports "best buy" and incredibly inexpensive - and on clearance at Home Depot) we picked up this morning as she runs most of the laundry in the house (though she gets to listen to Chesterton audio books during this tedious chore). Our current system requires the washing machine to be manually filled with hot water from a hose in the sink as the hot water valve in the machine had rusted "on" and had to be shut off at the source (to prevent additional basement floodings). Happy day!

We saw Saturn!!!

I filed our taxes about two weeks ago - the first time I've ever used software - which allowed us to file electronically. The turn-around time at this time of year (electronically at least) is fantastic - we had our refund deposited this week. This caused me to be unexpectedly prepared for two surprise "deals" yesterday - two things I thought were a bit beyond our reach.

First a friend of mine e-mailed about a decent high-school-appropriate microscope set available used on Cath Swap (thanks Kathy!) so now we can much more adequately provide for Ria's high school science needs (and share it around at co-op). That should be arriving soon.

Later that same day, John called to say that there were some telescopes on clearance (about 80% off as we later discovered) at Sam's Club (as these deals seem to be fairly consistent from store-to-store, it might be worth a peek - it's the smaller of the two Dobsonian telescopes found here)! I've always wanted a telescope, but I knew we needed a fairly decent one to make it worthwhile. Aside from that I know NOTHING about telescopes. We decided to go ahead and bring it home but did some web research first to try to get a sense of whether this was a good choice (we could always return it before we got too far). The research results were fairly inconclusive except for learning that the suggested retail price was $400! We decided to give it a go and John braved the extreme cold (a few degrees below zero I think) to set it up and we were able to see Saturn through the weakest lens. It looked pretty much like this picture I found on the Internet (click to go to web source) except it was a little smaller and less fuzzy (and we saw the rings from a different angle, I think). I've never seen a planet through a telescope before - it was exciting and amazing!

Got the Winter Blues?

You need to visit By Sun and Candlelight's Field Day: Late Winter Edition!

By the way, sorry for the sparse blogging. I've been putting a lot of effort into Love2learn Blog and Unity of Truth as of late.

Catholic Blog Awards

I voted today, did you?

I have far too many friends and favorite blogs in the nominations to list them all here (or even vote for all of them - some of these were tough choices!).

So I will just mention two - particularly since these are two that don't come up all that often in the course of my blogging...

My sister (who also happens to be my godmother!) has been nominated for Best Political/Social Commentary Blog: Clairity's Place

And my nomination for the best blog whose owner I'm not personally acquainted with (or related to!) is: The Way of the Fathers.

Life's Little Miracles

Do you ever stop to think about the little miracles that occur in our lives? The ones that can't quite be confirmed by medicine? The ones we aren't quite sure about? Sometimes I hesitate to even share these stories of small heartaches and frustrations - these are just little things and I know many families who have suffered through really big things with their children. This is not anything like that.

I meant to post this for Terri's birthday yesterday, but life happens and here I am, a day late. :) (Do I sense a trend here? I found out yesterday that I was nominated for a Catholic Blog Award - many thanks to the one kind soul who nominated me - but didn't make it into the voting because I wasn't nominated for a particular award - maybe they should make a special award for the hardest-to-fit-in-a-particular category blog, heehee).

Anyway, here's the story...

Nearly ten years ago we moved back to Wisconsin from San Diego. John had a decent job offer here and our prospects of buying a house in the San Diego area at the rate we were going were practically nil. We had been married almost five years and enjoyed the charming company of almost 4 year old Ria and 18 month old Gus.

Rockwell put us up at a Residence Inn for two months and we managed to squeak into our first house - a real fixer upper in the downtown of a village on the outskirts of the Milwaukee area.
While we were in this temporary housing we were thrilled to discover that we were expecting again - due date near the end of February 1998.

A couple of memorable things happened that fall of 1997, while I was expecting Terri:

September 5: Mother Teresa passed away
October 19: St. Therese of Lisieux was declared a Doctor of the Church
November 6: in a sad, but inspiring story, a young student from Thomas Aquinas College who was particularly devoted to unborn children, died in a hiking accident.

One day it came to me (during Mass) that these three would make wonderful patrons for my little one. I didn't know at the time that it would be a girl - it *almost* seemed like it would be a girl because the names were so perfect. (Though you never know!)

I've had ultrasounds taken during all of my pregnancies because of a serious heart defect that runs in John's side of the family. Being prepared can be very helpful! We had an ultrasound for Terri near the end of my second trimester. An initial low-level ultrasound brought up a possible problem - it looked like one of her kidneys was enlarged, but it was hard to know for sure - the doctor ordered a higher-level ultrasound. John and I went into the city to a large Catholic hospital with a renowned prenatal assessment center.

The perinatologist was very nice. It was wonderful to hear him talk about our baby (as a baby!)and he did a fine job explaining the different things that showed up on this more complex ultrasound. (He was obviously a professional who chose his words carefully, because he had to deal with such delicate situations!) Yes, something did seem amiss. One of her kidneys was significantly enlarged - most likely because of a blocked ureter. They connected us up with a pediatric urologist who explained the situation and the testing and likely treatment that would occur after she was born.

Terri was my only baby born early - about two weeks before her due date (which always seemed in retrospect to fit with her personality). A few moments after she was born, she was fussing in her little hospital bassinet while the doctor and nurses did their normal vital sign checks and all. John suggested that I talk to her. I said "Hi Angela" and she immediately stopped fussing, turned her head and looked right at me. Wow!

The doctors had her on antibiotics soon after she was born and we brought her to Children's Hospital for testing when she was about three weeks old.

The radiology waiting room in Children's Hospitals is an education in itself. There's more than a little perspective to be found floating around the place - especially when you're already in a reflective mood, contemplating what is in store for your little one.

I was rather anxious about the testing. Kind of yucky stuff where Terri couldn't nurse for several hours before the test, they would have to keep her quiet for a long period of time, we weren't sure if we could stay with her, etc. etc. It was very nice that they did allow us to stay with her and I'll never forget her arching her little neck to look at me during the long tests with the most patient look of trust.

The results were a little on the vague side. No surgery needed (at least yet), but we'd bring her back for further testing at regular intervals (until she was 4 or 5 years old, though the intervals got longer and longer) and keep a close eye on the possibility of infection. When she started to react negatively to the first antibiotic, the doctors decided to not risk losing another antibiotic for future needs and simply keep a close eye on any symptoms of trouble.

In the end (and over the years) she was all clear of problems. These things can clear up on their own, as we were told, but the perinatologist believed that it wouldn't because of how "generous" (remember how carefully he chose his words?) the enlarged kidney was. Was this a miracle? I'd like to think so, and I think it never hurts to give the benefit of the doubt where it is most deserving. :)

Birthday Time

Happy Birthday to Abe Lincoln, Caddie Woodlawn and our very own ... Terri!

Not much time for blogging lately.

Terri is really excited about these printable paper dolls of her birthday twin.

Little House News

Word has it (from author and Catholic homeschool mom Melissa Wiley) that her prequels to the Little House series (currently published by Harper Collins) are going out of print, and will be re-issued only in an abridged format. We haven't read all of them yet (hasn't been a particularly good year for read-alouds) but have very much enjoyed the ones we have. I second Lissa's suggestion to pick these up while they're still available.

We were just filling out our Little House set last spring, after On Top of Concord Hill was no longer available through bookstores. Happily, we we found it still in stock at the Little House gift shop in Pepin, Wisconsin (last summer).

Don't miss out.

The Man Who Was Thursday Discussion

We enjoyed a teen discussion last night on TMWWT - with a total of 13 teens and two adults. It was already a favorite among many of the teens who had been looking forward to the discussion for months. It was a lot of fun, though I thought perhaps one girl best summed up the book and discussion (and perhaps what I was trying to explain in an earlier post) as follows: "It's a hard book to understand, but it's an easy book to relate to."

I think they'll be continuing the discussion on ChesterTeens starting sometime soon.

Narnia Quiz

This one's tough - and I thought I knew the Narnian tales pretty well, but it's been years since I've read ALL of them. I'll bet you can do better than I did. (written by some Catholic homeschoolers, by the way, but no one we know personally)...

You are 68% a Loyal Narnian!

Congratulations Loyal Narnian! Your visits to Narnia have left you wise. Time to move, "further up, and further in."

Are You a Loyal Narnian?
See All Our Quizzes

Congratulations to Ria and Gus who both got 90% right on the quiz! Terri got 88% right!

The Man Who Was Thursday, in a rather fuzzy fashion

There's a little chatting about Chesterton's Man Who Was Thursday going on over at the ACS Blog and we're discussing TMWWT with our teen discussion group on (most inappropriately) Friday. So I thought I'd attempt to write the post I hinted at way back here.

I've taken so long to post about it because I never seemed to be able to wrap my head around it completely even to post about it. So it's funny that I've just been thinking about a related concept, partly because of my Sacred Music meeting (which was last night, by the way, and went well, I think). The concept I've been thinking about is whether or not you should introduce children to things that they can't completely understand. I wrote a little about it last year here in the context of introducing poetry to children. Willa recently reminded me of it here.

This came up in my reading (mostly writings of Cardinal Ratzinger) on music because music - particularly if some of it's in a different language - has some of the air of mystery to it. I'm sure it's possible to have music that's far too sophisticated to "reach" most people. Right now the tend is the far opposite extreme - songs that have no depth or mystery whatever to them.

In A New Song for the Lord, Cardinal Ratzinger says:

Speaking about singing in accordance with wisdom points to a word-oriented art, but the place of word must not be narrowed in the superficially rationalistic sense of an intelligibility of all words at all times. Instead, looking at it from the perspective of the early Church, we can call what is meant here music in accordance with logos [with "reason"] There is an art form corresponding to God, who, from the beginning and in each life, is the creative Word which also gives meaning. This art form stands under the primacy of logos; that is, it integrates the diversity of the human being from the perspective of this being's highest moral and spiritual powers, but in this way it also leads the spirit out of rationalistic and voluntaristic confinement to the symphony of creation.

Well, that's a tangent I can't fully explain right now, but it does relate to my thoughts on TMWWT anyway. I read this book aloud to the kids this summer. It was an enjoyable, adventurous read, but I left feeling like I hadn't understood the story very well at all. The kids loved it and have listened to the audio numerous times (they're obviously not afraid of diving into things they don't fully understand - a good thing I think!).

So I put the book away, thinking I'd have to read it a second time some day (that second time, by the way, needs to be this week!). The funny thing is how little thoughts and ideas kept coming back from it and a number of things in real life kept reminding me of the story.

Anyway, today I started re-reading TMWWT today and came to this in the foreword by Chesterton himself:

...I should not wish it supposed, as some I think have supposed, that in resisting the heresy of pessimism I implied the equally morbid and diseased insanity of optimism. I was not then considering whether anything is really evil, but whether everything is really evil; and in relation to the latter nightmare it does still seem to me relevant to say that nightmares are not true; and that in them even the faces of friends may appear as the faces of fiends. I tried to turn this notion of resistance to a nightmare into a topsy-turvey tale about a man who fancied himself alone among enemies, and found that each of the enemies was in fact on his own side and in his own solitude. That is the only thing that can be called a meaning in the story; all the rest of it was written for fun..."

Getting a little too fuzzy here at the moment. I'll try to get back to this more later.

Frankly Speaking V

Frank was very fascinated this morning by his discovery of "a penny" stuck in the back of one of our big soft chairs. He and Gus (who braved a rather significant bump on the head for his little brother) carefully fished it out and Frank carried it about with him proudly for awhile. He showed me his "penny", which I had to tell him, in all honesty, was really a nickel.

"No, it's not a nickel," he said.

"Yes, it is a nickel," I countered.

"This is a nickel," he conceded, pointing to one side.

"This is not a nickel," he said, pointing to the other side.

"It IS a nickel," I firmly reinforced thinking this was an argument I couldn't lose.

"This is not a nickel," he stubbornly repeated, still pointing to the "other" side.

"Okay, if it's not a nickel, what is it?" I, o-so-smartly asked.

"It's a house!"

Late Winter Field Day - Coming Soon

Dawn at By Sun and Candlelight is accepting submissions for the Late Winter "Field Day" on February 16th. Check out the details here.

By the way, she shares a link for the Great Backyard Bird Count - which sounds like a lot of fun. I think we're going to give it a try.

Correction to previous Music Posts

A New Song for the Lord: Faith in Christ and Liturgy Today by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger IS still in print from Crossroad Publishing.

available from Aquinas and More

The Holy Father on Sacred Music - Part II

Some highlights from A New Song for the Lord: Faith in Christ and Liturgy Today by Cardinal Ratzinger:

Even for modern culture, however, the separation from its religious matrix has not been without consequences. For this reason it, too, has been driven into a dead end in which it can say less and less about its own quo vadis. Culture somehow seems useless in the modern world and, making a virtue out of necessity, it defines itself frankly as follows: Art is that which fulfills no function but is simply just there. There is some truth to this, but negation alone does not suffice to establish a meaningful space for any kind of phenomenon in the existential framework of humans and the world. (pg. 94)

But now something completely new has occurred. Music has split into two worlds that hardly have anything to do with each other any more. On the one hand there is the music of the masses, which, with the label "pop" or popular music, would like to portray itself as the music of the people. Here music has become a product that can be industrially manufactured and is evaluated by how well it sells. On the other hand there is a rationally construed, artificial music with the highest technical requirements which is hardly capable of reaching out beyond a small elite circle. (pg. 95)

Within the Old Testament, the Psalter is a bridge, as it were, between the Law and the Prophets. It has grown out of the requirements of the temple cult, of the law, but by appropriating the law in prayer and song it has uncovered its prophetic essence more and more. It has led beyond the ritual and its ordinances into the "offering of praise," and "wordly offering" with which people can open themselves to the Logos and thus become worship with him. In this way the Psalter has also become a bridge connecting the two Testaments. In the Old Testament its hymns had been considered to be the songs of David; this meant for Christians that these hymns had risen from the heart of the real David, Christ. In the early church the psalms are prayed and sung as hymns to Christ. Christ himself thus becomes the choir director who teaches us the new song and gives the Church the tone and the way in which she can praise God appropriately and blend into the heavenly liturgy. (pgs. 96-97)

Singing psalms should have something of the essence of sapientia about it and in it. In order to plumb the enigmatic quality of this formulation we should ponder what is meant by sapientia: a behavior of humans that certainly has the brilliance of understanding about it but also denotes an integration of the entire human person who not only understands and is understandable from the perspective of pure thought, but with all the dimensions of his or her existence. In this respect there is an affinity between wisdom and music, since in it such an integration of humanness occurs and the entire person becomes a being in accordance with logos [with "reason"]. (pg. 98)

The analysis of the oft-repeated imperative psallite in the psalms thus calls us to draw a few concrete conclusions concerning our question about possible biblical directives for music in the Church:

1. This imperative runs through all of Scripture; it is the concrete version of the call to worship and glorify God which is revealed in the Bible as the most profound vocation of human beings. This means that musical expression is part of the proper human response to God's self-revelation, to his becoming open to a relationship with us. Mere speech, mere silence, mere action are not enough. (pg. 100)

The "new song" praises his death and resurrection and hence proclaims God's new deed to the whole world: that he himself has descended into the anguish of the human state and into the pit of death; that he embraces all of us on the cross with his stretched-out arms and, as the Risen One, takes us up to the Father across the abyss of the infinite divide separating creator and creature, which only crucified love can cross. Thus, the old song has become new and must be sung as such over and over again. In this process of renewal, however, the song has not done away with the basic cultural decision of faith nor with that which faith has culturally given as a directive but has opened them on the one hand even further while simultaneously defining them more clearly. (pg. 101)

The Holy Father on Sacred Music - Part I

Then-Cardinal Ratzinger has some amazing writings on the purpose, value and norms of Church music. Over the last few days, I read the music portions of Feast of Faith: Approaches to a Theology of the Liturgy (written in 1981 - published by Ignatius Press) and A New Song for the Lord: Faith in Christ and Liturgy Today (written in 1995 - published by Crossroad Publishing). His interest in the subject and the depth of his understanding in the matter make me wonder if he might write an encyclical on Sacred Music at some point. (I'm quite certain it would be fantastic!)

Here are a few highlights from Feast of Faith (I'll leave the other book for a separate post as this is already getting rather long):

It is astonishing to find that in the German edition of the documents of Vatican II, edited by Karl Rahner and Herbert Vorgrimler, the brief commentary which introduces the chapter on Sacred Music in the Constitution on the Liturgy begins with the observation that genuine art, as found in church music, is "of its very nature - which is esoteric in the best sense - hardly to be reconciled with the nature of the liturgy and the basic principle of liturgical reform". It is astonishing because the Constitution on the Liturgy, on which it is supposed to be commenting, does not see music as "merely an addition and ornamentation of the liturgy" but as itself liturgy, an integrating part of the complete liturgical action. (pg. 97)

Comparing the Council document itself with the commentary by Rahner and Vorgrimler, we find a contrast which is characteristic of the difference, in general, between what the Council said and how it has been taken up by the postconciliar Church. (pg. 99)

The years which followed witnessed the increasingly grim impoverishment which follows when beauty for its own sake is banished from the Church and all is subordinated to the principle of "utility". (pg. 100)

As opposed to a narrow, rationalistic theory of proclamation, we would need to point to that cosmic proclamation which finds expression in Psalm 19: the heavens are telling the glory of God. The Creator's glory cannot be manifested in word only: it needs to be expressed in the music of creation, too, and in its creative transformation by the mind of the believing and beholding man. At the same time we would need to remind ourselves that the psalms are also the prayers of the poor, the prayer of the crucified Righteous One, and as such they are to a large extent laments; but here too they are to be seen as the lament of the whole creation, which goes beyond words, transforming them into a music in which the lament becomes both a beseeching of God and a sign of hope: glory, too, but in the mode of suffering.

"Glorification" is the central reason why Christian liturgy must be cosmic liturgy, why it must as it were orchestrate the mystery of Christ with all the voices of creation. (pg. 115)

Thomas says that through the praise of God man ascends to God. Praise itself is a movement, a path; it is more than understanding, knowing and doing - it is an "ascent", a way of reaching him who dwells amid the praises of the angels. Thomas mentioned another factor: this ascent draws man away from what is opposed to God. Anyone who has ever experienced the transforming power of great liturgy, great, art, great music, will know this. Thomas adds that the sound of musical praise leads us and others to a sense of reverence. It awakens the inner man...

Vatican II was well advised, therefore, only to indicate very general standards: music must "accord with the spirit of the liturgical action"; it must be "suitable, or be capable of being "made suitable, for sacred use"; it must "accord with the dignity of the temple" and "truly contribute to the edification of the faithful".

Sacred Music Workshop Notes

I'm giving a workshop on Sacred Music for our Catholic homeschool group parents' meeting this month. Here are the notes (though they're still a bit rough - hope to clean them up and fill them out at some point - suggestions welcome!). The workshop is intended as a starting point for parents and teens to learn some chant and consider the importance of preserving a love for these great treasures of the Church by sharing them with their families. It will be a very non-technical workshop, mostly a few words about Church teaching and some group singing (as well as talking about resources and ideas for cultivating a love for this music in families). As far as resources go, there are many more available; these represent a sampling that are accessible to beginners.

Vatican II Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 1964

Entire document available here

CHAPTER VI - SACRED MUSIC

112. The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy.
Holy Scripture, indeed, has bestowed praise upon sacred song (42), and the same may be said of the fathers of the Church and of the Roman pontiffs who in recent times, led by St. Pius X, have explained more precisely the ministerial function supplied by sacred music in the service of the Lord.

Therefore sacred music is to be considered the more holy in proportion as it is more closely connected with the liturgical action, whether it adds delight to prayer, fosters unity of minds, or confers greater solemnity upon the sacred rites. But the Church approves of all forms of true art having the needed qualities, and admits them into divine worship.
Accordingly, the sacred Council, keeping to the norms and precepts of ecclesiastical tradition and discipline, and having regard to the purpose of sacred music, which is the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful, decrees as follows.

…

114. The treasure of sacred music is to be preserved and fostered with great care. Choirs must be diligently promoted, especially in cathedral churches; but bishops and other pastors of souls must be at pains to ensure that, whenever the sacred action is to be celebrated with song, the whole body of the faithful may be able to contribute that active participation which is rightly theirs…

115. Great importance is to be attached to the teaching and practice of music in seminaries, in the novitiates and houses of study of religious of both sexes, and also in other Catholic institutions and schools. To impart this instruction, teachers are to be carefully trained and put in charge of the teaching of sacred music.

… 116. The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.

But other kinds of sacred music, especially polyphony, are by no means excluded from liturgical celebrations, so long as they accord with the spirit of the liturgical action, as laid down in Art. 30.

117. The typical edition of the books of Gregorian chant is to be completed; and a more critical edition is to be prepared of those books already published since the restoration by St. Pius X.

It is desirable also that an edition be prepared containing simpler melodies, for use in small churches.

118. Religious singing by the people is to be intelligently fostered so that in devotions and sacred exercises, as also during liturgical services, the voices of the faithful may ring out according to the norms and requirements of the rubrics.

119. In certain parts of the world, especially mission lands, there are peoples who have their own musical traditions, and these play a great part in their religious and social life. For this reason due importance is to be attached to their music, and a suitable place is to be given to it, not only in forming their attitude toward religion, but also in adapting worship to their native genius, as indicated in Art. 39 and 40.

Therefore, when missionaries are being given training in music, every effort should be made to see that they become competent in promoting the traditional music of these peoples, both in schools and in sacred services, as far as may be practicable.

120. In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man's mind to God and to higher things.

But other instruments also may be admitted for use in divine worship, with the knowledge and consent of the competent territorial authority, as laid down in Art. 22, 52, 37, and 40. This may be done, however, only on condition that the instruments are suitable, or can be made suitable, for sacred use, accord with the dignity of the temple, and truly contribute to the edification of the faithful.

121. Composers, filled with the Christian spirit, should feel that their vocation is to cultivate sacred music and increase its store of treasures.
Let them produce compositions which have the qualities proper to genuine sacred music, not confining themselves to works which can be sung only by large choirs, but providing also for the needs of small choirs and for the active participation of the entire assembly of the faithful.

The texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine; indeed they should be drawn chiefly from holy scripture and from liturgical sources.

Other sources about the nature of Sacred Music:

Musica Sacra http://www.musicasacra.com/

An Idiot’s Guide to Square Notes: http://ceciliaschola.org/pdf/squarenotes.pdf

An excellent resource for articles on Sacred Music is the Adoremus Society’s music page: http://www.adoremus.org/Musictoc.html

The Feast of Faith by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Ignatius Press)
A New Song for the Lord: Faith in Christ and Liturgy Today by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Crossroad Publishing)

A Few Great Recordings:

Lingua Angelica (Memoria Press) CD and Songbook

Beyond Chant: Mysteries of the Renaissance

Byrd/Tallis: Choral Music (Conductor: George Guest) ASIN #B00004TASB

Josquin Desprez: Motets & Chansons (Hilliard Ensemble) ASIN # B000002SSH

You can also search for recordings by the following composers:

William Byrd
Josquin Desprez
Palestrina

or the following artists (who have many fine recordings of beautiful Sacred Music):

The King’s College Choir
The King’s Singers
The Tallis Scholars
The Anonymous 4

Music in Print and on the Web

Adoremus Hymnal (Ignatius Press)

Treasury of Latin Prayers

Printable booklet of basic chants

Mechanics of the Chant

The Holy Father on Beauty in Education

This seems so pertinent to ideas I've been considering about education for some time. It particularly confirms the highlights of the first books I read on education after Ria was born - especially For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, who encourages parents to surround their children with great art, literature and music. This is an idea I've tried to embrace from the earliest days of homeschooling and one that has encouraged us to avoid materials that have a condescending tone or attitude towards children. I love how the Pope explains the moral value of this concept...

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER BENEDICT XVI FOR THE 41st WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY

Theme: "Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education"

Children exposed to what is aesthetically and morally excellent are helped to develop appreciation, prudence and the skills of discernment. Here it is important to recognize the fundamental value of parents’ example and the benefits of introducing young people to children's classics in literature, to the fine arts and to uplifting music. While popular literature will always have its place in culture, the temptation to sensationalize should not be passively accepted in places of learning. Beauty, a kind of mirror of the divine, inspires and vivifies young hearts and minds, while ugliness and coarseness have a depressing impact on attitudes and behaviour.

Read the entire text here

hat-tip Cause of our Joy

Solutions for Cold Weather Problems

If that pesky weather tool bar you decided to install on Firefox keeps bothering you with pop-up "URGENT WEATHER ALERTS" three or four times each HOUR (which rudely interrupts the flow of your typing or mindless web-surfing) to remind you that it's very, very cold outside and that the very,very cold weather can be very, very dangerous...

AND...

you can't figure out how to uninstall said pesky weather toolbar...

simply reset your toolbar for a zipcode in sunny Southern California climes and bask in the glow of little sun icons with prognostications of 77 degree weather beaming at you from the top of your screen.

Yummy Tax Relief!

I have to bribe myself to do the taxes. Even with such lofty motivations as using the tax refund to replace the washing machine and the dishwasher (which are both roughly 80-90% kaput *), I "need" chocolate or some other delicous munchie to keep me moving.

The taxes aren't quite done, but mostly there, thanks to these.

* I linked to the dictionary definition because I've never actually seen this word in print before, and I didn't know how to spell it at first.

More Winter Fun - Virtual Snowflakes

On this very cold morning, we're enjoying this virtual snowflake-making site.

Hat-tip Ana Braga-Henebry

The Beauty of Winter: Frosted Windows

Window Frost - Frosty Palms
Originally uploaded by maritimelight.

This is a beautiful image of a frosted window that I found on flickr. There are a bunch more here. Aren't they beautiful?

I first heard about sparkling frosty windows in winter when I first read Little House in the Big Woods as a child, growing up in California's Silicon Valley. Definitely no personal experience with this icy wonder, but Laura's vivid descriptions captured my attention and my imagination.

The snow kept coming till it was drifted and banked against the house. In the mornings the window panes were covered with frost in beautiful pictures of trees and flowers and fairies.

Ma said that Jack Frost came in the night and made the pictures, while everyone was asleep. Laura thought that Jack Frost was a little man all snowy white, wearing a glittering white pointed cap and soft white knee-boots made of deer-skin. His coat was white and his mittens were white, and he did not carry a gun on his back, but in his hands he had shining sharp tools with which he carved the pictures.

Laura and Mary were allowed to take Ma's thimble and make pretty patterns of circles in the frost on the glass. But they never spoiled the pictures that Jack Frost had made in the night.

It wasn't until I was an adult with three kids (one still in utero) that I experienced these winter wonders first-hand. We moved into an un-insulated 1890s farmhouse with only one heat-vent upstairs (and single-pane windows with somewhat flimsy storm windows). The house had its share of challenges and LOTS of do-it-yourself home project, but we had the most beautiful frosted windows - particularly on the very coldest of days.


In The Mitchells: Five for Victory by Hilda Van Stockum, the children experience beautiful frosted windows for the first time on Christmas when the heat goes out:

Mother went upstairs again and almost collided with Patsy, who came tearing down the steps in all manner of excitement.

"There are pictures on our windows!" she cried. "Real Christmas pictures, all white and sparkly. Come and look, Mother!" Mother went up obediently, and was greeted by Una and Joan with "Merry Christmas" hugs and shown the windows, on which the night's frost had painted delicate ferns and flowers.

"We used to see those often when I was a girl," she said. "I used to lie awake and watch the moon shining through them. But the hot waterpipes have chased them. Our furnace isn't working today."

"Oh, isn't it lovely?" cried the girls. "Such a surprise for Christmas!"

We really enjoyed these little connections with real life. Now we live in a more modern, well-insulated (1970s) house with double-paned windows, but my older kids are rather proud that some day they'll be able to tell their children and grand-children that "When we were kids..." :)

Related (and loosely-related) Links:

CalTech's "Guide to Frost"

An Ice Crystals Photo Gallery

Ice Crystal Experiments from the Exploratorium

Snow Crystal Photography

Science Photography

By the way, if you're interested in ice crystals, check out The Snowflake: Winter's Secret Beauty by Kenneth Libbrecht, with snow-crystal photography by Patricia Rasmussen. It's a rather hefty picture book (112 pages), filled with amazing photographs of snowflakes and a detailed (but quite readable) text that explains the science of snow.

Small Numbers and Other Odds'n'Ends

Too busy to blog much today, although I did manage to get a Poetry Friday post up at Love2learn Blog (also posted at the CIN Blog). So for today, just a few odds and ends on this Feast of Candlemas.

Ria has the rest of the results of the Latin Convention posted over at Liber Parma.

These are the weather readings showing up in my toolbar:

Now: Clear and 1 degree F; Tonight: 2 degrees F; Sat. 4 degrees F; Sun. 1 degree F

I'm off to watch Groundhog Day. Good night!

Brrr!

Special Weather Statement

MARQUETTE-GREEN LAKE-FOND DU LAC- SHEBOYGAN-SAUK-COLUMBIA-DODGE- WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-IOWA-DANE-JEFFERSON- WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE- LAFAYETTE-GREEN- ROCK-WALWORTH-RACINE-KENOSHA- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MONTELLO... BERLIN...FOND DU LAC... SHEBOYGAN... BARABOO...PORTAGE...WISCONSIN DELLS... BEAVER DAM... WEST BEND...PORT WASHINGTON...DODGEVILLE...MADISON... JEFFERSON... LAKE MILLS...WAUKESHA... BROOKFIELD...MILWAUKEE...DARLINGTON... MONROE...JANESVILLE...BELOIT... ELKHORN...LAKE GENEVA...RACINE... KENOSHA 148 PM CST WED JAN 31 2007

...ARCTIC BLAST THIS WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK...

A SERIES OF STRONG COLD FRONTS WILL MOVE THROUGH WISCONSIN BEGINNING FRIDAY...ALLOWING SEVERAL SURGES OF BITTERLY COLD AIR TO OVERSPREAD WISCONSIN. THIS ARCTIC AIRMASS IS THEN EXPECTED TO RESIDE OVER SOUTHERN WISCONSIN THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THESE FRIGID CONDITIONS WILL BE THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES OF THE SEASON...AND PERHAPS THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES IN THE PAST DECADE.

AT THIS TIME...THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR FROM SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT WEDNESDAY...WHEN LOW TEMPERATURES MAY FALL FROM 10 TO 20 DEGREES BELOW ZERO...WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES STRUGGLING TO GET OUT OF THE SINGLE DIGITS.

IN ADDITION TO THE COLD TEMPERATURES... DANGEROUS WIND CHILL READINGS OF 25 DEGREES BELOW ZERO OR COLDER WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE AT TIMES.

BEFORE THIS BITTERLY COLD AIR ARRIVES LATE FRIDAY...ANY PERSONS OR INTERESTS SUSCEPTIBLE TO VERY COLD TEMPERATURES SHOULD BEGIN PREPARING NOW. ENSURE THAT YOUR FURNACE AND AUTOMOBILES ARE IN GOOD WORKING CONDITION...AND CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON THESE POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS CONDITIONS.

Once upon a time we were able to just snuggle in and wait out the really cold spells. Life doesn't allow for that these days so we'll have to make do with some extra warm gear and "essentials" like: long underwear from Lands' End (just ordered some yesterday in fact), the World's Softest Socks (should be labeled the World's Warmest Socks IMHO!), Hazelnut Cream Coffee and whatever mittens and gloves we can manage to find. Anyone else have a lot of trouble keeping track of kids' mittens?

More Catholic Quizzes

You are a 100% traditional Catholic!

Congratulations! You are more knowlegeable than most modern theologians! You have achieved mastery over the most important doctrines of the Catholic Faith! You should share your incredible understanding with others!

Do You Know Your Baltimore Catechism?
Make Your Own Quiz

That wasn't too bad - these are pretty tough (both from Catholic Answers):

"The Pop Quiz from Hell" (I got 16 out of 20 right on this one)

"The Quiz from Purgatory" (Ugh - I only got half right on this one)