that they're playing Night at the Museum. Here's the very important list of who's who...
Bernie is the drinking fountain
Frank is the dinosaur
Gus is the bone
Terri is the telephone
Kate is Larry
Sounds like they had a lot of fun with casting.
Frank just told me that I'm the museum. (Because I'm bigger.)
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Thomas Aquinas College - Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel Photos
The Shrine of the Holy Whapping has posted some recent photos ...
click here
Amazing! When I first arrived at TAC, they had only one permanent building.
click here
Amazing! When I first arrived at TAC, they had only one permanent building.
An Old Favorite
This is from our very full van trip to Duluth last summer (besides our family, we had my sister and brother-in-law and three of the kids' cousins). Frank, of course, is on the cellphone in front.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Another Example of that Balance Thing...Or Lack Thereof
Just happened upon this quote last night from Salt of the Earth by Cardinal Ratzinger (another book that's taking me a long time to finish, but that I'm enjoying very much)...
You are right. There has been a collapse even of simple religious information. This naturally forces us to ask: What is our catechesis doing? What is our school system doing at a time when religious instruction is widespread? I think that it was an error not to pass on more content. Our religion instructors rightly repudiated the idea that religious instruction is only information, and they rightly said that it is something else, that it is more, that the point is to learn life itself, that more has to be conveyed. But that led to the attempt to make people like this style of life, while information and content were neglected.
Prayer Requests
Please pray for:
A teen named April who has been having continuous migraines for the past month and has an emergency MRI scheduled for Thursday
A young mom named Wendy who had a stroke last week and is unable to speak.
UPDATE ON WENDY: She is able to communicate now, but still has a lot of numbness and can't yet drive or work. She will be undergoing testing later this week and would very much appreciate prayers.
A teen named April who has been having continuous migraines for the past month and has an emergency MRI scheduled for Thursday
A young mom named Wendy who had a stroke last week and is unable to speak.
UPDATE ON WENDY: She is able to communicate now, but still has a lot of numbness and can't yet drive or work. She will be undergoing testing later this week and would very much appreciate prayers.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Balancing Truths
A few years ago, when I started reading Thomas Dubay's Authenticity (and no, I'm still not done with it yet!), I came across this somewhat shocking, but in the end quite revealing passage:
I came across a related reference in Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth in our last discussion and thought I'd try to piece together a few of these thoughts. Here's the quote:
This is certainly essential in understanding our Catholic faith and its lack is clearly obvious in the media fiascos that have lately attempted to attack the Church and its members in various ways.
Consider the attacks in the last month or so on Mother Teresa because of what was revealed in her personal letters. The latest is a doctor in Italy trying to claim that Pope John Paul II was euthanized. It makes me feel like screaming, like Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden: "THEY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING!" (end of tirade)
Anyway, the other night in our teen catechism group we discussed this idea of understanding truths within a context and how one truth will balance and even define the limits of another. The only example I could think of at the time was a parenting example - the kids were readily able to understand this one.
If you have a toddler, part of your job as a parent is to try to keep them from hurting themselves and others. Any parent (and many non-parents) understand that this is a tough job! But it's not our only job as parents. As one of the girls completed the thought for me - "You're not supposed to just lock them in a closet to keep them safe."
The point is that there are other truths too - some of them even more important than keeping them safe... like helping them want to be good and giving them enough freedom to grow, develop responsibility and learn to understand consequences. This is something that has always bothered me in society's general reaction to school shootings. Yes, safety the next time around is a major concern, but why doesn't anyone talk about how we prevent our kids from becoming the monsters who go into a school and murder people?
I watched an interesting movie the other week that I really liked - Premonition (starring Sandra Bullock). This was not an easy movie to watch, but I'm really glad I did. It has a quirky premise which includes very tragic circumstances, but it ends up exploring reality in a really wonderful, thoughtful, and even uplifting way. Sandra Bullock is a mother of two who discovers that her husband has been killed in a car accident the previous day. But she wakes up the next morning and finds that he's still alive. After some really terrible days of switching back and forth between premonition and reality, she begins to understand the pattern and realize that she has some ability to affect the outcome. I'm trying not to spoil the entire plot here, but part of what the movie illustrates is that there's something even more important than her husband's life in play. Something more intangible and perhaps even spiritual. (By the way, this movie is PG-13, but probably best for older teens and adults).
This question of "safety" also reminds me of the quote from John Senior's Restoration of Christian Culture that I chose for my essay on apologetics for teens in Maureen Wittmann's The Catholic Homeschool Companion (wow, that certainly was a mouthful):
Most people tend to allow the truth they possess so to dominate their thinking that they see few other truths that place their one truth in perspective and balance it out. There is probably no heresy in the history of the Church that did not have its truth. The problem invariably is that the one truth so took over the heretic's mind that he was committed to cast out any number of other doctrines that clashed with his interpretation of it. (pg. 34)I think it was shocking because it made me particularly aware of how easily we can fall into error, particularly when we become arrogant and believe that we understand everything.
I came across a related reference in Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth in our last discussion and thought I'd try to piece together a few of these thoughts. Here's the quote:
At this crucial moment, where distinctive and decisive knowledge of Jesus separates his followers from public opinion and begins to constitute them as his new family, the tempter appears - threatening to turn everything into its opposite. The Lord immediately declares that the concept of the Messiah has to be understood in terms of the entirety of the message of the Prophets - it means not worldly power, but the Cross, and the radically different community that comes into being through the Cross.Now, I realize that it's almost a side point in the particular discussion, but it's clearly an important principle that we understand things in a context. If we isolate an idea, it is easy for this idea to become twisted.
This is certainly essential in understanding our Catholic faith and its lack is clearly obvious in the media fiascos that have lately attempted to attack the Church and its members in various ways.
Consider the attacks in the last month or so on Mother Teresa because of what was revealed in her personal letters. The latest is a doctor in Italy trying to claim that Pope John Paul II was euthanized. It makes me feel like screaming, like Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden: "THEY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ANYTHING!" (end of tirade)
Anyway, the other night in our teen catechism group we discussed this idea of understanding truths within a context and how one truth will balance and even define the limits of another. The only example I could think of at the time was a parenting example - the kids were readily able to understand this one.
If you have a toddler, part of your job as a parent is to try to keep them from hurting themselves and others. Any parent (and many non-parents) understand that this is a tough job! But it's not our only job as parents. As one of the girls completed the thought for me - "You're not supposed to just lock them in a closet to keep them safe."
The point is that there are other truths too - some of them even more important than keeping them safe... like helping them want to be good and giving them enough freedom to grow, develop responsibility and learn to understand consequences. This is something that has always bothered me in society's general reaction to school shootings. Yes, safety the next time around is a major concern, but why doesn't anyone talk about how we prevent our kids from becoming the monsters who go into a school and murder people?
I watched an interesting movie the other week that I really liked - Premonition (starring Sandra Bullock). This was not an easy movie to watch, but I'm really glad I did. It has a quirky premise which includes very tragic circumstances, but it ends up exploring reality in a really wonderful, thoughtful, and even uplifting way. Sandra Bullock is a mother of two who discovers that her husband has been killed in a car accident the previous day. But she wakes up the next morning and finds that he's still alive. After some really terrible days of switching back and forth between premonition and reality, she begins to understand the pattern and realize that she has some ability to affect the outcome. I'm trying not to spoil the entire plot here, but part of what the movie illustrates is that there's something even more important than her husband's life in play. Something more intangible and perhaps even spiritual. (By the way, this movie is PG-13, but probably best for older teens and adults).
This question of "safety" also reminds me of the quote from John Senior's Restoration of Christian Culture that I chose for my essay on apologetics for teens in Maureen Wittmann's The Catholic Homeschool Companion (wow, that certainly was a mouthful):
There's little point in keeping children out of Hell if you don't afford them the means of getting into Heaven. So give them solid catechetics, strong preaching, good example, healthful exercise, supervision in a general and determinant way but not in each particular and, by all means, permitting them the freedom of the good, dangerous books as well as the dangerous games such as football or mountain climbing. Given the state of man, some will break their necks and sin; but in good Catholic families with common sense, the falls should be few and the bodies and souls recoverable.UPDATE: My sister has a related post "Also on risk, though from another angle"
Numbers with Frank
Frank has been very interested in numbers and measurement recently. We often giggle at his use of "last year" for anything that seems to him like a long time ago - like the day before yesterday. :)
One morning NOT so very long ago, Frank climbed into bed between John and I while we were still trying to catch a few Zs. He said, "Mommy! How much is dis?" and I turned my head to find ten fat little fingers held up right before my eyes. "Ten," I answered sleepily. He answered with great enthusiasm: "Wow! That's a lot of stuff!!!"
A little while later (he had previously locked the door on his way out) he knocked on the door asking for me. "I want to measure you," he declared.
One morning NOT so very long ago, Frank climbed into bed between John and I while we were still trying to catch a few Zs. He said, "Mommy! How much is dis?" and I turned my head to find ten fat little fingers held up right before my eyes. "Ten," I answered sleepily. He answered with great enthusiasm: "Wow! That's a lot of stuff!!!"
A little while later (he had previously locked the door on his way out) he knocked on the door asking for me. "I want to measure you," he declared.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Frank on Sunday
It's a nice chilly fall morning here and we haven't started up the furnace yet, so Frank brought a big blanket downstairs to snuggle up on the recliner with me. I had been reading a book (Harry Potter #5), but this was prime chatting time, so I asked Frank:
"Today is Sunday. Where do we always go on Sundays?"
He thought for a moment and his face brightened:
"Sou dakoda!"
"Today is Sunday. Where do we always go on Sundays?"
He thought for a moment and his face brightened:
"Sou dakoda!"
Friday, September 21, 2007
Some Quotes and Links about Literature
"The highest outcome of an interest in literature is a finer interest in life; and bad literature as well as good may throw a light on life, if we have learnt to know light from darkness."G.K. Chesterton (found in the most recent issue of Gilbert Magazine)
The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us. Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction. To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a corrective as the books of the past, but unfortunately we cannot get at them.C.S. Lewis' Introduction to St. Athanasius "On the Incarnation"
This is almost an accidental, automatic fault. It can be overcome, as Fr. Groeschel points out, by reading good literature and opening your eyes to the plight of the poor and intentionally entering into solidarity with the poor by divesting one's self of some of the incidental benefits of a devout life."Two Traps for the Pious"
The Munchie Man
This is a shot I particularly liked from our little visit to the lake yesterday. I'm rather pleased that Frank has finally stopped shutting his eyes whenever we ask him to smile - even if he is squinting a bit. :)
The pose was all his own. :)
The pose was all his own. :)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Christ the Teacher Icon
My niece wrote this beautiful icon during a week-long seminar in Texas. You can read more about it at the Small Pax guild.
Afternoon at the Lake
Yesterday I think I spent the most peaceful time I've ever had in the company of ten kids. My friend and I met at a nearby lake (and a teeny-tiny beach - this photo encompasses nearly the entire beach area) yesterday afternoon. The lake isn't open for swimiming at this time of the year, but the kids had a wonderful time building sand castles, wading and collecting rocks, etc. The big kids practiced lines from Alice in Wonderland and a little Irish dancing and everyone enjoyed the nearby playset. I think we've discovered a new favorite spot.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity
I loved this little snippet from the First Day of the retreat I'm reading (called "Heaven in Faith") from Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity:
This meeting was also memorable to me because it helped me see the beauty and rightness of a cloistered life while at the same time helping me to recognize that that wasn't my vocation. I pray that my children will have the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of this life whether or not they are called in this direction.
It is there in the very depths that the divine impact takes place, where the abyss of our nothingness encounters the Abyss of mercy, the immensity of the all of God. There we will find the strength to die to ourselves and, losing all vestige of self, we will be changed into love...I first heard about Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity when I was in college and singing during the summer with the St. Ann Choir. We were privileged to sing for the 50th Jubilee of a Carmelite nun at the monastery in Santa Clara. The choir got to meet with her afterwards through the cloister screen (I think that's what you call it) and it was something I will never forget. The other sisters had fashioned for her a wreath of roses which she wore over her veil. She looked completely ageless and filled with love. She had taken the name "Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity". They had in common a love of music, which was why someone invited our choir to sing for her special mass.
This meeting was also memorable to me because it helped me see the beauty and rightness of a cloistered life while at the same time helping me to recognize that that wasn't my vocation. I pray that my children will have the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of this life whether or not they are called in this direction.
Getting My Act in Order...
There always seems to be a lot of things for me to work on in the beginning of the school year - and this year more than others.
I've spent a lot of the last two weeks in the basement, getting rid of things and getting things in order (yes, inspired partly by the mouse problem - which thankfully seems to have diminished/disappeared but also because the annual rummage sale where we take care of most of our clothing/furniture/household needs for the year is coming up in just a few weeks). The place looks a LOT better, but definitely a work in progress.
I've been re-tweaking our daily "learning and helping" list for each of the kids (it comprises a two-page spread in a binder, so it's quite easy to deal with. We started out with three major segments for the day: "Table-time", "Other Learning" and "Misc." This wasn't a bad start and the "Table-time" emphasis (four subjects each - varying according to what the kids have a harder time focusing on, etc.) really helped keep the day in order and get the basics done even when the afternoon was full). The problem was that certain important items on the "miscellaneous" list were getting forgotten on busier days. SO, I added some new sections. Now everyone has a before table-time list (including taking care of pets, making beds, etc.) and a middle of the day chore list. We'll see how it goes. I have a tendency to over-do these scheduling things and then get overwhelmed and give the plan up entirely. I'm striving for a reasonable balance here.
Any reader of this blog probably knows that I love to read. I think it's also true that I love to start books. Naturally, this can get a bit disorganized after a time. I just discovered GoodReads at Melissa Wiley's site and it looks like it will be a nice companion to my LibraryThing organization. Where LibraryThing is intended to keep track of the books you own, GoodRead is for tracking what you've read, what you're currently reading and what you're planning on reading. I opted for the side-bar widget of books that I'm currently working on. I also cleared off most of the mantel in our 'dining-room' (which never gets used as a dining room, but we continue to call it that anyway) so that I can have those books-in-progress handy and try to keep each of them moving along a bit.
One book I've been particularly neglecting is a retreat for mothers by Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity which was recommended by my spiritual director. We haven't met for a few months because both our schedules were crazy towards the end of summer. It's amazing how an upcoming meeting can already start getting me back on track. :)
Also, I joined the Catholic Homeschooling "full circle" group. You can find links to the groups' most recent posts at the bottom of my links page. (It's a long list, so I needed a slightly less obtrusive place for it than the sidebar).
I've spent a lot of the last two weeks in the basement, getting rid of things and getting things in order (yes, inspired partly by the mouse problem - which thankfully seems to have diminished/disappeared but also because the annual rummage sale where we take care of most of our clothing/furniture/household needs for the year is coming up in just a few weeks). The place looks a LOT better, but definitely a work in progress.
I've been re-tweaking our daily "learning and helping" list for each of the kids (it comprises a two-page spread in a binder, so it's quite easy to deal with. We started out with three major segments for the day: "Table-time", "Other Learning" and "Misc." This wasn't a bad start and the "Table-time" emphasis (four subjects each - varying according to what the kids have a harder time focusing on, etc.) really helped keep the day in order and get the basics done even when the afternoon was full). The problem was that certain important items on the "miscellaneous" list were getting forgotten on busier days. SO, I added some new sections. Now everyone has a before table-time list (including taking care of pets, making beds, etc.) and a middle of the day chore list. We'll see how it goes. I have a tendency to over-do these scheduling things and then get overwhelmed and give the plan up entirely. I'm striving for a reasonable balance here.
Any reader of this blog probably knows that I love to read. I think it's also true that I love to start books. Naturally, this can get a bit disorganized after a time. I just discovered GoodReads at Melissa Wiley's site and it looks like it will be a nice companion to my LibraryThing organization. Where LibraryThing is intended to keep track of the books you own, GoodRead is for tracking what you've read, what you're currently reading and what you're planning on reading. I opted for the side-bar widget of books that I'm currently working on. I also cleared off most of the mantel in our 'dining-room' (which never gets used as a dining room, but we continue to call it that anyway) so that I can have those books-in-progress handy and try to keep each of them moving along a bit.
One book I've been particularly neglecting is a retreat for mothers by Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity which was recommended by my spiritual director. We haven't met for a few months because both our schedules were crazy towards the end of summer. It's amazing how an upcoming meeting can already start getting me back on track. :)
Also, I joined the Catholic Homeschooling "full circle" group. You can find links to the groups' most recent posts at the bottom of my links page. (It's a long list, so I needed a slightly less obtrusive place for it than the sidebar).
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Speaking of Gratitude...
my cousin in Indonesia is safe and doing well.
And John has returned home from Taiwan.
And John has returned home from Taiwan.
Love2learn Moments #27 - Gratitude
Fr. Ronald Knox said: "If ever you have felt, in the contemplation of a sunset or any perfect work of nature or art ... in the thrill of good news or in the passion of first love, that it was really worthwhile being alive - then that moment was a revelation to you, if you had the heart to understand, of what you owe to the Almighty for having created you."
Gratitude is an important part of what we want to cultivate in our families and pass on to our children. We do this by remembering to thank each other, by sharing with those in need, by valuing people over things, by counting our blessings and by worshipping and being thankful to God - particularly at Holy Mass and in saying grace before we eat.
Fostering an environment of gratitude and appreciation within the family also tends to lead to peacefulness and contentment.
Gratitude is an important part of what we want to cultivate in our families and pass on to our children. We do this by remembering to thank each other, by sharing with those in need, by valuing people over things, by counting our blessings and by worshipping and being thankful to God - particularly at Holy Mass and in saying grace before we eat.
Fostering an environment of gratitude and appreciation within the family also tends to lead to peacefulness and contentment.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Skype Tag
This happened last night. Only edited for length and to protect the kids' blogonyms...
[6:06:29 PM] johnvanhecke says: you there?
[6:08:33 PM] johnvanhecke says: I am in the airport in TPE.
[6:09:06 PM] johnvanhecke says: They just announced boarding for thelifght to Osaka. Maybe I will catch you there. I think it will be about 3 or 4 hours from now.
[6:09:15 PM] johnvanhecke says: I love you !!!!!!!!!!!!!
[9:26:22 PM] alivanmom says: Why don't you ping me when you're in Japan. I'll come back and check on things in a little bit (the kids aren't all settled down yet).
[9:27:42 PM] alivanmom says: I love you!
[9:39:56 PM] johnvanhecke says: Hello
[9:39:59 PM] johnvanhecke says: In Osaka
[9:40:23 PM] johnvanhecke says: I am thinking you must be getting Frank to sleep based on the Skype logo.
[9:40:30 PM] johnvanhecke says: and the time :)
------------------------------
[9:49:49 PM] alivanmom says: Hi! I think I actually caught you! :)
[9:50:01 PM] alivanmom says: Frank's not asleep.
[9:50:09 PM] alivanmom says: I'm giving him 10 minutes to try to see if he'll get to sleep.
[9:50:26 PM] alivanmom says: If he's asleep I'll tell the girls a story, otherwise I'm supposed to let him come to sleep in our room.
[9:50:31 PM] alivanmom says: I"m tired.
[9:51:11 PM] alivanmom says: Are you still there?
[10:01:47 PM] alivanmom says: Sorry I missed you. I love you!
-------------------------------
A funnier thing about Skyping across the continents happened a few days ago. My audio currently isn't working, so when John voice-Skyped me, he got to listen in on me and the kids and we got to read his responses. It was particularly funny when the kids started telling him knock-knock jokes (and watching their reactions was priceless!).
[6:06:29 PM] johnvanhecke says: you there?
[6:08:33 PM] johnvanhecke says: I am in the airport in TPE.
[6:09:06 PM] johnvanhecke says: They just announced boarding for thelifght to Osaka. Maybe I will catch you there. I think it will be about 3 or 4 hours from now.
[6:09:15 PM] johnvanhecke says: I love you !!!!!!!!!!!!!
-------------------------------
[9:25:58 PM] alivanmom says: Hi! I'm back finally. We got home about 15 minutes ago and I got your voice message.
[9:26:05 PM] alivanmom says: Hope to catch you soon.[9:26:22 PM] alivanmom says: Why don't you ping me when you're in Japan. I'll come back and check on things in a little bit (the kids aren't all settled down yet).
[9:27:42 PM] alivanmom says: I love you!
---------------------------------
[9:39:56 PM] johnvanhecke says: Hello
[9:39:59 PM] johnvanhecke says: In Osaka
[9:40:23 PM] johnvanhecke says: I am thinking you must be getting Frank to sleep based on the Skype logo.
[9:40:30 PM] johnvanhecke says: and the time :)
------------------------------
[9:49:49 PM] alivanmom says: Hi! I think I actually caught you! :)
[9:50:01 PM] alivanmom says: Frank's not asleep.
[9:50:09 PM] alivanmom says: I'm giving him 10 minutes to try to see if he'll get to sleep.
[9:50:26 PM] alivanmom says: If he's asleep I'll tell the girls a story, otherwise I'm supposed to let him come to sleep in our room.
[9:50:31 PM] alivanmom says: I"m tired.
[9:51:11 PM] alivanmom says: Are you still there?
[10:01:47 PM] alivanmom says: Sorry I missed you. I love you!
-------------------------------
A funnier thing about Skyping across the continents happened a few days ago. My audio currently isn't working, so when John voice-Skyped me, he got to listen in on me and the kids and we got to read his responses. It was particularly funny when the kids started telling him knock-knock jokes (and watching their reactions was priceless!).
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Back to Teen Catechism
We had our first discussion tonight and it's nice to be getting back into the swing of things. Everyone did pretty well even though I had all the kids in tow (since John is out of town). We started with our once-a-month movie night (I was planning on showing some DVDs on occasion - but the idea became more of a necessity as two families can't make it once a month - so we'll let them catch up later.
We watched Steve Ray's Footprints of God on Mary. Also instituted a timeline/glossary notebook that will also be used for our co-op Roman culture class. Should be interesting.
Everyone really enjoyed the DVD and I think it was the first time I got to see it all the way through. It's so interesting to see all these wonderful sites on location and I have to admit that Steve does have a way of making many of his points memorable (perhaps to a fault at times - LOL).
One thing that struck me while watching (and stopping for some occasional, very short discussions) was how these locations, these old churches commemorating events in the life of Christ and His Blessed Mother are part of that beautiful, but too-often-shunned-and-misunderstood tradition that has been passed down to us through the millennia. So we have written tradition, oral tradition and tradition-in-stone? :)
Oh yes, and we also celebrated our first discussion of the year and the 90th anniversary of one of the apparitions of Fatima (part of the reason why we chose the Mary DVD to start with) with some delicious lemon bars and cookie bars made by Ria.
I'm really looking forward to finally getting back to Jesus of Nazareth next week.
We watched Steve Ray's Footprints of God on Mary. Also instituted a timeline/glossary notebook that will also be used for our co-op Roman culture class. Should be interesting.
Everyone really enjoyed the DVD and I think it was the first time I got to see it all the way through. It's so interesting to see all these wonderful sites on location and I have to admit that Steve does have a way of making many of his points memorable (perhaps to a fault at times - LOL).
One thing that struck me while watching (and stopping for some occasional, very short discussions) was how these locations, these old churches commemorating events in the life of Christ and His Blessed Mother are part of that beautiful, but too-often-shunned-and-misunderstood tradition that has been passed down to us through the millennia. So we have written tradition, oral tradition and tradition-in-stone? :)
Oh yes, and we also celebrated our first discussion of the year and the 90th anniversary of one of the apparitions of Fatima (part of the reason why we chose the Mary DVD to start with) with some delicious lemon bars and cookie bars made by Ria.
I'm really looking forward to finally getting back to Jesus of Nazareth next week.
Good Old-Fashioned Fast Food
I was at Target yesterday, on the way home from a long (but fun) afternoon of Irish dance at a friend's house. John is out-of-town and I was starting to think about dinner somewhere around 5:45.
I decided I needed something easy but not terribly unhealthy. Too much of that lately and I wasn't feeling so good after all of that!
I decided to think a little European. (At least it sounded sort of European). We had lots of cheddar cheese at home. I picked up a large can of fancy mixed nuts at Target. Then I dropped by our new local grocery store and picked up apples, grapes, a couple loves of nice bread, grape juice and a little bit of some fancy cheese that the kids love (strawberry peach stilton).
When we got home, I popped the bread in the oven 350 degrees for 15 minutes (including preheating time) while I cut and washed the other things as needed. The spread was colorful, tasty and reasonably healthy - and the kids loved it!
I decided I needed something easy but not terribly unhealthy. Too much of that lately and I wasn't feeling so good after all of that!
I decided to think a little European. (At least it sounded sort of European). We had lots of cheddar cheese at home. I picked up a large can of fancy mixed nuts at Target. Then I dropped by our new local grocery store and picked up apples, grapes, a couple loves of nice bread, grape juice and a little bit of some fancy cheese that the kids love (strawberry peach stilton).
When we got home, I popped the bread in the oven 350 degrees for 15 minutes (including preheating time) while I cut and washed the other things as needed. The spread was colorful, tasty and reasonably healthy - and the kids loved it!
"Two Traps for the Pious"
I found this post at Robert Gotcher's Classic Catholic (with a number of thoughts from a book by Fr. Groeschel) both interesting and enlightening.
This also reminds me that I've read and not-yet-reviewed an excellent book of Fr. Groeschel's called The Virtue-Driven Life. He covers each of the theological virtues (faith, hope and charity) and cardinal virtues (prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice) in detail of a very practical and understandable sort. I particularly appreciated his distinctions between each virtue regarded naturally and supernaturally.
Unfortunately piety has a bad name, primarily because there are a lot of people in the world who try to conform their lives to the manifest will of God in a way that simply kills charity in their souls. We've come to call them pharisees and we are fools if we presume the proper pronoun is "them" rather than "us."I also thought it was fascinating that Fr. Groeschel recommends great literature as one of the potential antidotes to a lack of charity (I think because it both gives us an opportunity to "walk in someone else's shoes" for a time and tends to help us better understand human nature). This makes sense to me, but I had never thought about it in quite this way before.
This is almost an accidental, automatic fault. It can be overcome, as Fr. Groeschel points out, by reading good literature and opening your eyes to the plight of the poor and intentionally entering into solidarity with the poor by divesting one's self of some of the incidental benefits of a devout life.Read the whole post here
This also reminds me that I've read and not-yet-reviewed an excellent book of Fr. Groeschel's called The Virtue-Driven Life. He covers each of the theological virtues (faith, hope and charity) and cardinal virtues (prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice) in detail of a very practical and understandable sort. I particularly appreciated his distinctions between each virtue regarded naturally and supernaturally.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Please Pray for the People of Indonesia
...who are suffering from a series of devastating earthquakes.
I have a cousin who lives there (along with his wife and two children), but I expect that he's doing all right in Jakarta. He's over there working on water systems in the wake of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami.
I have a cousin who lives there (along with his wife and two children), but I expect that he's doing all right in Jakarta. He's over there working on water systems in the wake of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami.
Sometimes It's a Little Hard to be Grateful
For instance, when you have a cat who's a great hunter... but perhaps a little too proud of it ... and likes to show off her "trophies" in odd places around the house. Ugh!
We're still alive here by the way. Just trying to keep up with mouse problems, starting school, co-op planning, mosquitoes, editing the new love2learn site (which is not up at love2learn.net quite yet, but I am thrilled to be able to work on once more!), children who manage to lock themselves outside before anyone else is up (Danielle dear, I've got you beat - 8:40 this morning to the sound of the telephone with poor Kate pounding at the back door) etc. etc.
We're good, though. Kate, who's finally getting "formal" phonics lessons (formal meaning practicing some phonogram cards each day and a little handwriting - with stencils or the Red Letter Alphabet book) is taking off and really excited about learning. The kids all were playing with balloons today (another long and slightly ridiculous story if I had the time) and she decorated hers with letters and backwards numbers. It took me a minute to realize that she had copied her numbers from the other side of her balloon (which big brother Gus had obligingly written out for her). I should've gotten a picture of the balloon. It really speaks volumes. :)
Ria and Gus had their first drama group get-together yesterday with some other homeschool friends. It's being entirely organized by several teens and they had a lot of fun. Among other things, they showed a clip from Men of Boy's Town with a really hilarious slow-motion wrestling skit. They broke up into teams and tried acting out some humorous slow-motion segments. The boys group (who naturally did a fight scene - the girls all chose tumbling and dancing and such) got the most laughs hands-down. I never realized quite how good our quiet Gus is at physical comedy!
Though school at times feels like something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed (what else is new?), our new lists and morning table time are working out quite well. Oh yeah, and the gum during morning Math doesn't hurt either.
And those are the sorts of things I can be truly grateful for!
We're still alive here by the way. Just trying to keep up with mouse problems, starting school, co-op planning, mosquitoes, editing the new love2learn site (which is not up at love2learn.net quite yet, but I am thrilled to be able to work on once more!), children who manage to lock themselves outside before anyone else is up (Danielle dear, I've got you beat - 8:40 this morning to the sound of the telephone with poor Kate pounding at the back door) etc. etc.
We're good, though. Kate, who's finally getting "formal" phonics lessons (formal meaning practicing some phonogram cards each day and a little handwriting - with stencils or the Red Letter Alphabet book) is taking off and really excited about learning. The kids all were playing with balloons today (another long and slightly ridiculous story if I had the time) and she decorated hers with letters and backwards numbers. It took me a minute to realize that she had copied her numbers from the other side of her balloon (which big brother Gus had obligingly written out for her). I should've gotten a picture of the balloon. It really speaks volumes. :)
Ria and Gus had their first drama group get-together yesterday with some other homeschool friends. It's being entirely organized by several teens and they had a lot of fun. Among other things, they showed a clip from Men of Boy's Town with a really hilarious slow-motion wrestling skit. They broke up into teams and tried acting out some humorous slow-motion segments. The boys group (who naturally did a fight scene - the girls all chose tumbling and dancing and such) got the most laughs hands-down. I never realized quite how good our quiet Gus is at physical comedy!
Though school at times feels like something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed (what else is new?), our new lists and morning table time are working out quite well. Oh yeah, and the gum during morning Math doesn't hurt either.
And those are the sorts of things I can be truly grateful for!
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Love2learn Moments #26 - Old Books
C.S. Lewis said: "Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books."
What does this mean for the education of our own children? Instead of just textbooks - written by modern writers, make room for some of the old greats - and these are great for parents too!
So make room for Shakespeare, for G.K. Chesterton and for Charles Dickens. Make it a priority to read C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien with your children. Hilda Van Stockum and J. Henri Fabre are terrific, and don't neglect the old fairy tales and the old myths.
C.S. Lewis also said: "Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction."
What does this mean for the education of our own children? Instead of just textbooks - written by modern writers, make room for some of the old greats - and these are great for parents too!
So make room for Shakespeare, for G.K. Chesterton and for Charles Dickens. Make it a priority to read C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien with your children. Hilda Van Stockum and J. Henri Fabre are terrific, and don't neglect the old fairy tales and the old myths.
C.S. Lewis also said: "Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction."
Thursday, September 06, 2007
What Frank brought me this morning
...about a third full of cold water. (Notice the Folger's coffee "bag")Yumm!
Sometimes it really is the thought that counts (especially when you're three) - and this was a really sweet thought!
Sometimes it really is the thought that counts (especially when you're three) - and this was a really sweet thought!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
My New Favorite School Thing
I went to the teacher's store a few days ago and had in mind some sort of plastic thing to hang on the wall and hold a few flash cards at a time. I found this double-sided table-top version instead (about $20) and we love it! We always have a lot of flash cards around, but don't always make good use of them. So far we've been using it for a crazy mixture of various age levels and subject matters. Just on the first day, Ria's two biology words on a flash card came up in Gus's science book. What fun!
By the way, it also folds up to put on a shelf - with the cards still in place. This is nice to keep Frank out of trouble.
By the way, it also folds up to put on a shelf - with the cards still in place. This is nice to keep Frank out of trouble.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Frankly Speaking: New School Year Edition
Frank came upstairs, filled with excitement, to share an important piece of information with me. (We've been calling him "Master of Reality" lately. LOL) He said, "Mommy! Mommy! We have five blender puzzles!"
It took me a minute to decode this fascinating piece of information. The reality is that we have a blender, currently all in pieces from going through the dictionary.
Oh man, I'm gonna go ahead and leave that typo (Freudian slip?) in, just for your reading pleasure.
It took me a minute to decode this fascinating piece of information. The reality is that we have a blender, currently all in pieces from going through the dictionary.
Oh man, I'm gonna go ahead and leave that typo (Freudian slip?) in, just for your reading pleasure.
Catholic Textbook Project - 3rd Volume Available Soon
The Catholic Textbook Project is accepting orders for the third volume in their history series - Light to the Nations: The Development of Christian Civilization Volume 1.
Suitable for grades 7-11
Sample chapters and ordering info can be found here
Ten Years Ago Tomorrow...
Blessed Mother Teresa died.
I clearly remember hearing the news out on the street from my neighbor. It was one of those rare "news" events that tended to draw people together.
Here is one of her many wonderful quotable tidbits:
I was expecting Terri at the time and Mother Teresa became one of her patron saints (along with St. Therese, who was named a Doctor of the Church about a month later).
I clearly remember hearing the news out on the street from my neighbor. It was one of those rare "news" events that tended to draw people together.
Here is one of her many wonderful quotable tidbits:
It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.Lots more quotes can be found here
I was expecting Terri at the time and Mother Teresa became one of her patron saints (along with St. Therese, who was named a Doctor of the Church about a month later).
New School Year... Friendship with the Saints
I've realized that my work on the Love2learn Moments for Relevant Radio (currently playing only in the Milwaukee market, I believe) has forced a cut-back in some of the "substantial" content on Studeo just a bit. And so, I've decided to start cross-posting those pieces here as well. Here's #25 (if you're interested in reading the earlier ones, please click here - you can even hear a couple of the audio files on the Relevant Radio site)...
Among the saints children will find friends of every personality, description and race - warriors, princesses, scholars, entertainers and much more. Some had amazing adventures and earned renown through the whole world, others lived quiet lives but handed down great works to future generations. And perhaps the greatest thing is that their help is available just for the asking.
Bishop Robert Finn said: "Ask God to give you the fervor of St. Albert the Great for science, the joy of St. Cecilia in your music, the diligence of Jerome for translating, and the clarity of St. John in writing. Run and play with St. Don Bosco, debate and persuade with St. Catherine, and fish with Peter himself.
Holy Mary, who taught our Lord...in the school of Nazareth, accompany us on our new school year. St. Joseph, headmaster and guide for the boy Jesus, lead us on a sure and safe path to Him."
By the way, I found this lovely quote awhile back on my friend Ana's blog.
Among the saints children will find friends of every personality, description and race - warriors, princesses, scholars, entertainers and much more. Some had amazing adventures and earned renown through the whole world, others lived quiet lives but handed down great works to future generations. And perhaps the greatest thing is that their help is available just for the asking.
Bishop Robert Finn said: "Ask God to give you the fervor of St. Albert the Great for science, the joy of St. Cecilia in your music, the diligence of Jerome for translating, and the clarity of St. John in writing. Run and play with St. Don Bosco, debate and persuade with St. Catherine, and fish with Peter himself.
Holy Mary, who taught our Lord...in the school of Nazareth, accompany us on our new school year. St. Joseph, headmaster and guide for the boy Jesus, lead us on a sure and safe path to Him."
By the way, I found this lovely quote awhile back on my friend Ana's blog.
Monday, September 03, 2007
It's Been Quite A Summer...
and though we didn't accomplish everything I ... dreamed... we might...
Bernie finished her extra credit list this afternoon and will be going out for some Cold Stone Creamery with Mommy later today.
On the way home we will pick up some ice cream for everyone to celebrate a combined total of over 200 hours of kid-reading this summer!!!
Bernie finished her extra credit list this afternoon and will be going out for some Cold Stone Creamery with Mommy later today.
On the way home we will pick up some ice cream for everyone to celebrate a combined total of over 200 hours of kid-reading this summer!!!
Gus has been doing lots of old photo scanning...
and I particularly liked this one of my grandmother.
Today I'm working on lesson plans, school organization, group "school" planning ( in "real" life and online) and getting some more Love2learn Moments ready to record this afternoon.
Have a great holiday!
Today I'm working on lesson plans, school organization, group "school" planning ( in "real" life and online) and getting some more Love2learn Moments ready to record this afternoon.
Have a great holiday!
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Visiting Katrina
I had a nice, though short, visit with my friend Katrina. We visited, went shopping and enjoyed a wonderful little picnic (with a lot of help from Trader Joe's) at one of my favorite parks.
She was in very good spirits and very much appreciates all the prayers!
I received these lovely little messages from her children after I returned home:
K - I miss you and I hope you come back soon! You can come anytime you want because our house is free for anyone.
E - How are you? What are you doing right now?
R - I love you Leasha and I hope you have a nice day!
She was in very good spirits and very much appreciates all the prayers!
I received these lovely little messages from her children after I returned home:
K - I miss you and I hope you come back soon! You can come anytime you want because our house is free for anyone.
E - How are you? What are you doing right now?
R - I love you Leasha and I hope you have a nice day!
Another lovely old photo
This is an old photo of my great-aunt Mary before she entered the convent (Sisters of St. Joseph - a teaching order). I just love this picture - the dress, the flowers, the shoes, the hair. :)
My sister also blogged about Sister Rose Marie and this beautiful photo.
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