Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Frank the Lion


Frank the Lion
Originally uploaded by Chez VH
I love this picture of Frank in his cozy lion costume.

The Greatest Books We Haven't Read

Kelly at Big A Little A asks a very interesting question:

The Inferno is my "gravest literary omission." I unjustly think I know all about it, so it has never actually made it on to my to read pile.What about you? What is your greatest reading sin?
I think it's interesting to see what people consider worth reading but have a twinge of guilt about not getting to yet.

For me, the obvious answer is St. Therese's Story of a Soul. I'm thinking that admitting it will help me get around to it sooner. :)

One of my other big omissions I corrected only in the last year or two. Before that I hadn't read anything by Flannery O'Connor.

Last night I finished one I've always wanted to read - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

How about you?

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

The Gawain Green Game

We're reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (translated by J.R.R. Tolkien) for our teen literature discussion this week. Like Chesterton's Ballad of the White Horse, it's a story/poem that begs to be read aloud and so I've been doing just that.

According to our T.C. lecture on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it's written in "alliterative verse". Put more simply, we've been delighting in the fun alliteration (repeating of the same first letter in numerous words) and the kids have made a game of me asking them randomly what letter showed up in the previous line. Bernie (almost 8 years old) has taken a particular delight in this and it's rather funny how it's kept everyone interested in the read-aloud. (Even Kate is attempting to get in on the act and has made some actually progress in figuring out what sound comes first in a word).

And now the storyline has gotten just a little more complex. I think I'll take a peek before I share it with all of them. :)

Art Institute of Chicago

Yesterday Ria and I took a bus trip to the Art Institute of Chicago with some other teens and parents from our homeschool group. Though a number of exhibits were closed because of construction, we saw many amazing paintings and historical artifacts, including this lovely Renoir which I was not previously familiar with.

Other highlights included El Greco's "Assumption", "the Crucifixion" by Zurbaran, the incredibly beautiful Ayala Altarpiece (I couldn't find a picture of this one online) and Paris Street: Rainy Day.

The Greek and Roman sections were amazing - particularly after watching the Teaching Company's Archaeology series. There were numerous Greek vases and a category of Roman art I was unfamiliar with - glasswork. Interesting!

Oops - I almost forgot to mention the incredible miniatures, which I posted about here.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

San Diego Fires - One Family Affected

I heard about this family through my brother, who works with Christie's husband. They live in Ramona, a mountain town hit hard by the fire, once home to my parents and two of my brothers (plus families) who moved to Oklahoma since the 2003 fires.

I only visited them (my family) in Ramona once, but it was a very striking place to visit. It's nestled in a little valley up in the mountains (elevation 1391 according to a website I just found) and is quite beautiful in the way deserts can be, but not a place I saw myself wanting to live in. It's not at all a wealthy area (though there are some expensive subdivisions on the outskirts) and many of the houses we drove past had dirt yards - it's expensive and difficult to grow grass! It was an incredible place for star-gazing at night! When we lived (in apartments) in the Poway area, we knew a lot of people who bought houses in Ramona because, despite (or perhaps because of!) the nasty mountain-road commute, the housing was a lot more reasonably priced.

Anyway, the Williams' have three small children and lost their home to the Witch Creek Fire last Sunday.

Christie was interviewed by Al Roker on the Today Show

Christie's Blog: Punky Chicken

Their website sharing their story of loss and need.

Friday, October 26, 2007

What Kind of Reader Am I?

What Kind of Reader Are You?
Your Result: Dedicated Reader

You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.

Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You?
Create Your Own Quiz

I guess that sounds about right. I have to admit I didn't read *all* of the books in any of the categories. I picked the closest one (and the book I haven't read is one of those classics I've always been meaning to get to).

I've seen this in lots of places, but finally got around to doing it after seeing it over at Ana's.

Funny How You Start a Project...

and then ignore it for awhile and it just may grow into something really neat.

A summer or two ago, I started a flickr pool for Well-Loved Children's Stories on Location. I haven't even peeked at it in many months, so I was delighted to find many additions, including some sites from some of the Swallows and Amazons books. What fun!

UPDATE: They allowed me to pick a cleaner link:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/childrensstories/

New Blogger Feature

I don't know when they added this, but I just noticed this morning that you can subscribe to follow-up comments when you make a comment on someone's blog. Sweet!

Thursday, October 25, 2007

40 Reasons to Have Kids


Giggles
Originally uploaded by Chez VH

I started this awhile back, got distracted with reading through our funny kiddie quotes collection on Studeo and just decided to get back to it...

You've probably seen Karen's and Ana's lists of "40 Reasons to Have Kids" (I think someone since turned it into a meme). I couldn't resist getting in on the fun (and you know how much I love lists!) with my own angle. These are real moments or memories that in some way symbolize for me the joy of being a mom - I know that a part of this for me is the freedom that kids offer in the way of making me comfortable being myself (what kid ever cares if your hair or makeup is done or your socks match?) and provide the freedom of being child-like. I guess I should go beyond that and say that they help remind me of how to look at the world in a fresh, non-jaded way. Which is a good thing!

1. Younger siblings learning from older siblings.

2. The laugh-out-loud comedic aspects of life with kids that you could never have come up with on your own.

3. Their beautiful, and sometimes hilarious, love for and encouragement of each other.

4. Listening to them confuse the English language in exquisitely delightful ways.

5. Once in awhile their confusion rubs off on their parents.

6. Christmas

7. Easter

8. First Communions

9. Baptisms

10. Toddlers trying to talk with their mouth full (especially while nursing!).

11. Theological (and practical) tidbits the little ones share with you during Mass.

12. Parades any time at all.

13. Reading aloud favorite books to them.

14. Having them start to read books aloud to their siblings and listening to them stop and giggle at the funny parts.

15. The enthusiasm and sense of wonder that kids bring to the world.

16. Having them read (and fall in love with) your favorite books.

17. Halloween costumes (though perhaps not the candy-monster after effects).

18. Costumes any time at all.

19. Silly family traditions - like the little song we sing when we cross a state line and holding our hands up when we drive through a tunnel.

20. Skipping through parking lots.

21. Singing in the car.

22. The famous Van Hecke bird show dash at the Wild Animal Park. (LOL)

23. Learning together, even when we sometimes present a bit of a distraction.

24. The joy of solving problems together, despite grief along the way.

25. Cooking with kids (or even letting kids cook).

26. The beginnings of philosophical discussions.

27. Giggles.

28. May crownings

29. The thrill of seeing them overcome tough obstacles.

30. Kids and animals are always an entertaining mix and sometimes very touching too.

31. The wonderful smell of chrism that lingers in a baby's hair for many days after they are baptized.

32. Toothless grins.

33. Sharing sweets with your kids - it divides the calories and is a LOT more fun than eating sweets alone.

34. Newborn sweetness.

35. Sharing the joy of exciting accomplishments.

36. An incredible amount of comfort in times of sorrow.

37. Watching your kids fall in love with a brand new sibling.

38. Playing Mother Duck (I just noticed that I first reconnected with Nutmeg in the comments of this old post!)

39. The crazy things they do that make you suppress laughter even while remaining, ahem, stern on the outside.

40. Road trips to see family and friends - especially COUSINS!

Ah... I think Karen has the definitive list of other lists.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Reminiscing About Our Days in San Diego (LONG)

We lived in Rancho Bernardo for about a year. I felt the need to blog on it after seeing the list (top link in sidebar) of homes lost in the area linked from Lissa's blog. It's very heart-rending to see a list of lives in upheaval - whether they're in New Orleans or San Diego, regardless of their race or wealth or whatever. I think having lived there just makes me more fully aware of the reality, the fragility of it all.

We lived in some lovely apartments on Carmel Mountain - I think within about a mile of where the fires have hit.

When John finished engineering school around Christmas of 1994, Ria was a year and half and we were just expecting Gus. It was a terrible year for entry level engineers, my parents had just moved into a fairly roomy house in Poway (from Silicon Valley - huge improvement in housing costs!) and so we decided to try the California job market. We lived with my parents for several months - basically during John's job hunt - and moved into one of the Carmel Mountain apartments a month or so before Gus was born.

It was a huge complex and we were a little naive moving into it. We moved into a one bedroom apartment (already a financial squeeze) before Gus was born and then discovered that we were required by law to move into a two bedroom apartment once he was born. We bought our first real mattress on credit ($500 - ouch!). We were paying our own medical insurance and John had no days to take off when Gus was born (double ouch!).

But I wouldn't trade a moment of it. We only had one car, but Ria and Gus and I walked around the apartment complex like crazy (would that I was in that kind of shape again!) and knew all the office staff and, most especially, the mail lady. There was no playset in the complex (unfortunately!), but some of us moms would meet in the tennis courts to let the kids run around. Our two bedroom apartment had noisy upstairs neighbors and the car alarms went off constantly, but the corner bedroom had the most beautiful light and we put a little sand in the "garden" on the porch for Ria to play in.

We were great dumpster divers in those days. We found a beautiful drop-leaf table next to the dumpster (which I later gave to my mom because Gus kept hitting his head on it and he had a way of reacting that scared me to death). We found a free dryer that had literally eaten the previous owners socks (seriously - there was a pile inside the dryer - it might have been a joke, LOL). A few months after we moved in, we managed to squeeze out the cost of a pass to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park and milked it for all it was worth (it literally expired three days before we moved back to Wisconsin) and practically lived there.

I remember meeting with some sort of financial planner in those days (after answering his ad for a free table and chairs). I think he thought we were nuts. We were way in the negative as far as things like "net worth" go, but we were working hard and had confidence that we'd be in a better place some day, somehow (even if it involved moving back to Wisconsin!).

It didn't take long to realize that the complex was out of our league financially. Most of the residents had two incomes AND seemed resigned to never purchase homes AND were comfortable in rather nice apartments, choosing to invest in expensive cars. Our old beater Toyota Corolla (with which we had pulled the smallest possible U-Haul trailer with all our earthly possessions all the way to California some months earlier - see photo) looked terribly out-of-place.

We finally did some more apartment hunting and found an older complex in Poway (located in another threatened area, I believe), closer to my parents and John's work and far less expensive. Many of our neighbors were on welfare (and I certainly wouldn't lump all of them into one category - we were quite fond of most of them but one drove us completely bonkers) and our patio overlooked the dumpsters (it also was smaller than the sample unit we were shown) but it worked out beautifully for our second and final year in the San Diego area. It had a little backyard (all cement) that backed up against a grove of olive trees. We filled the front patio with flowers (Scaevola as I remember it) in order to improve the view. When they pulled the pine tree out of the bit of dirt in front of our front window, we found rose bushes in January at Walmart for $2 apiece and they started blooming within about a month (I think). When we visit the area, we still like to drive by and see our rose bushes. It's nice to be able to leave something beautiful behind.

Ria (2-3 at the time) made great friends with the handyman of the complex - a Mexican immigrant named Jesus. The apartment manager refused to call him by his given name. When I was writing out Christmas cards, Ria decided she wanted one for Jesus and made it out in her own unique handwriting and hand-delivered it to him. I don't think we realized how much it meant to him until he brought over a little present for her - a little scented pillow with angels on it. He later told us that all of his family was in Mexico and he would probably spend Christmas drunk. We will always remember him.

The inside of the apartment was pretty bad - in fact a lot worse than we realized. It was heated by little space heaters that were mounted on the walls. I was terrified of having Ria in a room by herself with one of these, so during the winter I made sure she slept in our room. Late in the winter, we discovered horrible black mold all along one wall of our bedroom. A pipe had leaked inside the wall and made a real mess of things there and behind the kitchen cabinets.

We loved our years in San Diego. It was so good to spend those years with a lot of my family, the people there were really wonderful and the memories will, of course, last a lifetime. My thoughts and prayers are with all of them.

(By the way, all of my family except for the one brother and family I've been mentioning in my post have sinced moved away from the area.)

Frank Listening


Frank "Listening"
Originally uploaded by Chez VH
The things I particularly like about Old World Wisconsin is that a) we spend our time there in an unhurried fashion and b) peace and beauty abound in the place.

I love this photo of Frank showing how he likes to stop and listen during our walks (I did ask him to stop and show me again so I could take a picture). Something he's picked up along the way from his siblings. :)

Fires

I feel like I've been glued to my computer all morning following the news on the fires. Don't have much to add, so I'm not blogging much, but I added a link section (feeding from my del.ioci.us account) in the top of my sidebar. It doesn't seem to be adding the new links very quickly, but if you happen to be interested, click through to the entire list on the title.

My brother seems quite safe at his in-laws.

Lissa has been reporting in depth from the area.

Enjoying the Fall Weather


DSC_0500
Originally uploaded by Chez VH
(While we can)

This weekend was beautiful and we all took full advantage of it by hanging out at Old World Wisconsin for most of Sunday afternoon. Lots of walking and more to see than usual because of Autumn Harvest Days (I think that's what they call it) which included all kinds of activities at each site. We saw pig butchering, watched horse teams plowing a field, fed some horses, did quite a bit of hiking (including to this lovely hidden pond) and had a marvelous time with stilts at Caldwell Farmer's Hall.

Here are some more pictures (includes some photos from my visit with the kids last week too).

Monday, October 22, 2007

Keep Praying

Some of the hardest hit by the fires in Southern California have to be the hospital patients who are being evacuated. I just heard that Pomerado Hospital in Poway, the hospital where our Gus was born, is being evacuated...
Patients at Pomerado Hospital and nursing homes in the San Diego suburb of Poway were being evacuated in ambulances and school buses, said Susan Knauss, a spokeswoman for the San Diego County sheriff.
Read the rest of the article
This hospital lies in the midst of a heaviliy populated suburban area - across from the Catholic parish we once belonged to and numerous nursing homes and such (which are also being evacuated).

Please pray especially for them and for the firefighters and other service personnel who are both facing danger and helping save people AND, in many cases, worried about their own families and homes as well.

Jimmy Akin points out that Catholic Answers (and staff) are in the area of concern.

Southern California Wildfires

Please pray for all those affected...

My sister already blogged this morning (she is in fact providing extensive coverage - being a former San Diego resident herself) on the San Diego area concerns and how our family is doing...

The San Diego fire log is extensive with multiple areas burning. My brother has been evacuated from his home in Poway, and all of Ramona has been cleared. His wife and daughter and inlaws are out of town on a trip. Apparently the Barona Casino decided to stay open.

Governor declares state of emergency

11:25 p.m.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in the counties of San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura due to the 11 major wildfires burning throughout Southern California.More than 30,000 acres have burned and more areas are threatened, officials in the governor's office said.The governor's proclamation allows the state Office of Emergency Services to send personnel, equipment and facilities to provide local government help under the California Disaster Assistance Act.

Kristen blogged this morning on this too.

I'm glad to hear that Lissa is okay too.

Here's the latest from CNN (via my sister's blog):

Metcalf said the fires were consuming homes in the communities of Escondido, Rancho Bernardo, Poway, Forest Ranch and Lake Hodges.

"We have more houses burning than we have people and engine companies to fight them," San Diego Fire Capt. Lisa Blake said, according to the Associated Press. "A lot of people are going to lose their homes today."

Sunday, October 21, 2007

What Students Owe Their Teachers

I've been dipping somewhat informally into Fr. Schall's Another Sort of Learning and really liked this tidbit:

...to be a student requires a certain modicum of humility.

Yet to be a student also requires a certain amount of faith in oneself, a certain self-insight that makes a person realize that he can learn something that seems unlearnable in the beginning. This trust in the teacher also implies that the student, if he has trouble understanding, makes this known to the teacher. Teachers just assume that everything they say or illustrate is luminously clear. A student does a teacher a favor by saying, "I do not understand this". But the student should first really try to understand before speaking. To quote Augustine again, students should "consider within themselves whether what has been explained has been said truly."

The student ought to have the virtue of docility. He owes the teacher his capacity of being taught. We must allow ourselves to be taught. We can actually refuse this openness of our own free wills.

UPDATE: An anonymous commentor reminded me that Schall's Another Sort of Learning is available online here. He (she?) also recommended A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning which is available online here. Thanks!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

You Call That a Messy Desk?

As much as I love Danielle Bean, I have to disagree with her on a rather significant point.


She calls this (scroll down to see the picture) a messy desk. Ahem.


I'm sorry, but that is not a messy desk.












This....















is a messy desk. :)

Ah, and here's another wonderful example. And this family is always making amazing, creative things - my kids absolutely love their blog.

Old World Wisconsin

We managed to have a very nice visit to Old World Wisconsin yesterday afternoon (hurray for cancelled activities - even ones we love!). Nothing like exercise and outdoors to enjoy a beautiful fall day.

All together there was a great deal of singing and skipping going on.

(photo by Ria)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Too Funny

Frank is always telling Gus crazy things that Gus tells me but I can't remember for very long. So, I've been encouraging him to blog them. Well, it's finally happened. Gus has picked up on an old family blog with funny kid quotes and has a wonderful first post entitled "Chicken Bean".

I think my favorite part is the scare quotes around the tag "dreams". Or maybe the fact that the video is sideways. :)

A Tale of Two Christophers

I ordered Christopher Derrick's Escape from Scepticism (a book I've long-neglected despite its connection with TAC - though I have read a great deal of Words and the Word and really liked it!) a week or so ago and received it in the mail yesterday. When the kids brought me the mail with an intriguing padded envelope, they wanted to know what was in it. I said, "The book by Christopher Dawson... no, that's not it. I can't remember the title."

When I opened the book itself... I found this first paragraph in Fr. Rutler's Foreward to the book and we were all highly amused...

An imp keeps making my pen want to write "Dawson" when I mean "Derrick". He must be wise as well as whimsical because both Christophers have written with profound sensibility and both have much to teach a generation which has not been taught the criteria for profundity.

Please Pray

for Alice's mom who had a stroke yesterday.

Love2learn Now Has a Movie Blog!

Check it out here: http://love2learnmovieblog.blogspot.com

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Everyone Once in Awhile...

You should go back and read all the funny stories about what your kids have said and done that you managed to record on your blog.

Especially if you have way too much to do already. :)

90th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun


Fatima
Originally uploaded by CGoulao

I found this interesting old photo on flickr. It appears to be the gathering from one of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, though it doesn't mention which month it is (it does mention the May apparition, but certainly the May one didn't have such a crowd!).

I think these apparitions have a special place in our family for a number of reasons.

a) My grandmother was Portuguese (spoke Portuguese, worked as as translator for a time and called Portugal "The Old Country" - when showing us old pictures, she always called her aunts "Tia", etc.) She visited Fatima numerous times.

b) I grew up near Our Lady of Peace Church in Santa Clara, California, which has held annual pilgrimages commemorating each of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima for many decades. We were "regulars" at these events for years.

c) My husband visited Fatima with a tour by Fr. Fox when he was in high school.

I'm not generally a huge fan of Wikipedia, but I thought their page on the Miracle of the Sun quite interesting on the whole.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Uh-oh, I think I caught that meme that's going around :)

But seriously, my friend Mary-Eileen whose blog has recently been resurrected from the dead (or perhaps that would be defunct) has memed me.


Here’s a fun quiz made up especially for bloggers. The rules are easy. Just post the quiz on your blog and answer the questions, then pass it on to five other bloggers, and link to them in your post. Be sure to link back to the one who sent it to you.
1. Do you attend the Traditional Latin Mass or the Novus Ordo? Novus Ordo.

2. If you attend the TLM, how far do you drive to get there? N/A.

3. If you had to apply a Catholic label to yourself, what would it be? I've always liked the term I heard from Dr. Mahrt once upon a time - Smokin' Catholic. Not quite sure how to explain that one to the Jehovah's Witnesses who frequent our neighborhood, but it makes perfect sense to me. :)

4. Are you a comment junkie? Um... I like comments - probably even "really like" comments (who doesn't?). Not quite sure what they're looking for here.

5. Do you go back to read the comments on the blogs you’ve commented on? I try to remember, but I'm sure I don't always manage.

6. Have you ever left an anonymous comment on another blog? Only once - in such a way that the blogmistress knew exactly who I was and I was thereby able to keep a fun surprise she was preparing from being "leaked."

7. Which blogroll would you most like to be on? I try not to think about that sort of thing too much.

8. Which blog is the first one you check? There are just a few I tend to check regularly outside of Google Reader, either to see what blog posts they've selected (including Ana and my sister) or because their RSS feed isn't working (like Danielle Bean).

9. Have you met any other bloggers in person? Gosh. Yes, I can assure you that the following bloggers do exist in real life as well as on the Net - Mary-Eileen, Nancy, Ana, Willa, Dr. Thursday, Robert Gotcher, Alice, Maureen, Margaret, Nutmeg, Michele Q., Matt Lickona, Chestertonian, Suzanne, MacBeth, Lissa, Elizabeth, Dr. Mahrt and Ed Peters. I won't get into family members for now. :)

This list probably sounds a lot more impressive than it is since some of these I met at TAC long before they were bloggers and a few I only briefly shook hands with at a homeschool conference long before they were bloggers. A number of them I am grateful to call friends.

10. What are you reading? Like M.E., I'm also reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but for the second time. I'm always in the middle of multitudinous books - so here are just a few of the others: Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI, The Aeneid, Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott and We Look for Kingdom by Carl Sommer.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

More 5 Year Old Smarts

Kate: "I was born on winter. So I have a birthday on winter."

:)

Harry Potter x2

I mentioned quite awhile back that I decided to re-read the Harry Potter series. I'm about half-way through book seven and now I can say with certainty that it's much better read over the course of 8 weeks (well, it might have been more like 12) than 8 years. :)

Fall is Finally Arriving

And I'm really ready for it. Here are some of our recent and upcoming highs and lows:

Saturday: 87 68

Sunday: 85 64

Yesterday: 85 58

I woke up this morning and discovered that it's 50 outside. Hoooo-ray! Most of the weekend I was at this massive rummage sale I go to every year. Most years I have to layer sweatshirts and coats and not forget the gloves as everything is set up in tents and barn-like buildings and it's cold and/or rainy. This year the rooms were like ovens! On Sunday at Mass, Gus blacked-out for a few moments (Holy Hill is tricky that way - Mass is on the third floor, no a/c and a long walk back downstairs to the drinking fountain - fortunately he started feeling better when we got outside to a little breeze).

Here's what the projections look like for the next few days:

Today: 66 40

Tomorrow: 50 42

Thursday: 54 40

Monday, October 08, 2007

Some Funnies from the Day...

At the enormous annual Rummage Sale where I spent most of last weekend (and quite a lot of money) I bought a cloth alphabet chart with a little pocket for each letter. Most of the pockets contained a little stuffed object to represent that letter - such as an umbrella for the letter U.

This morning we pulled out all the objects and Terri and some of the littles started to try to sort them out into the right places. Admittedly the seamstress who made the objects (I think this was a kit sold many years ago - I had one when I was a child, but my mom was pretty good at that sort of thing and the figures were MUCH better) wasn't terribly skilled and some were hard to figure out - or perhaps a child made them.

I'd have to attribute it to our homeschool atmosphere, however, that when Terri pulled out a head wearing (what was clear to me at least) a crown (with three big points on it), she decided to put it into the "H" pocket for Hermes (Mercury).


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

This afternoon, while Terri, Gus and Ria were at drama club, I brought Bernie to see our family practice doctor to see if she might be dealing with allergies (lots of coughing at night, but okay during the day). While she, Kate, Frank and I were waiting for the doctor, Frank sat on my lap and we were chit-chatting. We talked about a friend of ours whose coloring book picture was hanging on the wall and was labeled with her age - 2 - at the time she colored the picture.

Frank carefully held up three fingers and told me that he was three. I started playing around with holding up different numbers of fingers. He handled four, five, one and two just perfectly. Bernie held up ten fingers and asked him how many - he said "Ten" and we all cheered (though I should note that later on he guessed 11 once and 8 once for the same number of fingers!). So Bernie showed him ten fingers and then ten fingers again and asked him how many those were. He answered, "Googol!"

The Scandal of the Cross

There was one line in particular that struck me in our reading (from ch. 4 of Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth) for last week's teen catechism discussion. It was this:
The scandal of the Cross is harder for many to bear than the thunder of Sinai had been for the Israelites.
The timing of this phrase was particularly interesting as most of us were reading Fabiola for the lit discussion the following day. Though many were converted by their admiration of the fortitude of the martyrs, others (certainly many in our own time) find it hard to swallow that a good God would allow his followers to suffer and die, or for evil to even exist in the world.

Which reminds me of my husband's recent post on liberty. Which reminds me of a portion of the Sermon on the Mount (which we're studying in Jesus of Nazareth right now) that was quoted in Fabiola:

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Emphasis mine - taken from Matthew 5: 43-45)

Things that make me smile


IMG_9286
Originally uploaded by Chez VH
I looked out my bathroom window the other morning - I think it was Friday - to see the most beautiful sunlight emanating through the light sprinkling of fall colors in our backyard. A light mist enhanced the serenity and beauty of the scene. It was gorgeous!

I made my way downstairs and onto the back deck. I couldn't help smiling when I saw that Ria had beaten me to the punch. She was outside, walking around, soaking it in after having already taken a few lovely pictures (including this one).

The Great Reading Challenge of ... Last Week

...was to get through Fabiola by Cardinal Wiseman as a read-aloud in time for our discussion on Friday night. Gus has a hard time getting through entire books on his own anyway, but the language in this one made it particularly challenging. Happily we finished it - all 615 pages - and enjoyed it very much. For those unfamiliar with the title, it's a novelization (dating from the 1850s) of the stories of a number of Christian martyrs in Rome around the year 300. Very engrossing and complex in a good way. Gus loved it and so did the others in our lit discussion group.

Though Ria read this twice before this week, it was my first time to read the book. It moved very nicely as a read-aloud and provided an excellent first-glimpse into the time-period for those who weren't very familiar with it.

I was rather surprised to stumble across a Wikipedia page about the book where I learned that Cardinal Newman wrote a prequel to Fabiola called Callista.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Rest in Peace

Christopher Derrick (1921-2007) author of Escape from Skepticism: Liberal Education as if Truth Mattered, Words and the Word and many others.

Fr. Burns Seeley, SJC (1932-2007) Married Episcopalian Clergyman who entered the Catholic Church in 1978, later became a Catholic priest and served most recently as associate pastor of St. John Cantius in Chicago. I never met him, but knew several of his children through TAC. His conversion story can be found here.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Update on Andy Meier


Andy Meier
Originally uploaded by Chez VH
You may or may not remember me blogging about Andy Meier - a man from our town gravely injured in bus crash near Medjugorje last June. Ria took this picture of him at the John Bosco Youth Day at Holy Hill last weekend. It was so exciting to hear how far he's come. Here's an update from his wife from their website:

Yesterday was the 7th annual John Bosco Youth Day at Holy Hill (Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians). 2000 kids were in attendance. Andy has played this event since it began and was supposed to play this year. We just didn't think it would happen. Fr. Don Brick and Tim Scanlan had made arrangements for Andy to be there, and Gregg Brunclik (Clearwing Productions) had the congas there and a ramp leading up to the stage. Martin Doman and his band had asked if Andy would be available to accompany them, but again, we just weren't sure. Well, Gregg called Andy on Thursday to confirm what equipment Andy would need, and things started to get exciting. It was decided he would play a song or two in the afternoon. We knew the whole day was out of the question, but the afternoon would be good. Fr. Don called to confirm the exact time we should arrive. So we get there, and WTMJ4 had a camara man there filming as we drove up. He asked Andy for a short interview and then several men came and whisked Andy away to the stage, where Tim was giving him a beautiful introduction which included part of the interview Andy did with Mike Jacobs. The crowd went crazy! Standing ovation- it was so moving. I saw lots of grown-ups with tears in their eyes. Andy was so emotional too. Me too. As Tim was talking, Andy grabbed the microphone and said the cheering crowd- "I know you're not clapping for me, but for God Who saved my life" (something like that)- it was really amazing. I can't even remember what song they played, but everyone was on their feet. It's so hard to describe all the emotion- euphoria, joy, gratitude- Andy was so happy to be doing what he loves to do- playing for Jesus! He was presented with a beautiful plaque that says "Give Praise with Crashing Cymbals" Ps 150:5 and included a great picture of Andy with Fr. Stan Fortuna after they played together last year. Andy ended up staying to play for Eucharistic Adoration and Mass- four hours! Needless to say, today he's pretty tired. This day was such a beautiful gift to our family. We had an opportunity to see him truly joyful for the first time since the accident. He's had happy moments, but this was so much more and so much deeper. Another consolation from God. We are so blessed. And the kids were so sweet! They lined up to meet him and talk to him- he was so humbled by it all. Tim said his goal was to get 2000 more intercessors for Andy- we have to keep praying! It's as important now as ever. Let's keep praying that God will heal Andy if it is His will! Let us praise God in all things! It's so easy when things are good, but sometimes hard to praise Him when things aren't so good.
Read the rest of the update (with a link to the news article) at prayforandy.com (scroll down to "Kirby Conga is back").

Happy Feast of St. Francis

For those who might be interested, I've been posting new pictures to the Architecture for Kids blog relating to specific feast days like today.

Frank the Fireman


Frank the Fireman
Originally uploaded by Chez VH
A few days ago I picked up a fireman costume for Frank at the store. I gave it to him right away so he could play with it until Halloween. It came with a coat, helmet, a little ax and a fire extinguisher/squirt gun and he enjoys it a lot (as you can see here from his own unique pose in a photo taken by his seven year old sister).

The funniest part is that he calls his ax his "wax", I think because you can whack things with it. :)

5 year old smarts

Kate announced today at the breakfast table: "Mommy...Adam and Eve was not a baby."

Favorite 60s Movies

101 Dalmatians (1961) - Though I like the 1990s live-action remake better (the original book is wonderful!)

Becket (1964) - Haven't seen this in a long time - haven't let the kids watch it yet

The Great Escape (1963) - Not the most well-crafted movie ever, but tells an important true story and I've always liked the music.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) - Fascinating exploration of racism through the story of a liberal white couple (Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn) whose principles are challenged when their daughter decides to marry a black man. A little on the mature side as I remember it.

Lilies of the Field (1963) - Haven't seen this in ages, though I remember liking it a lot.

The Magnificent Seven (1960) - Classic Western based on the Japanese movie The Seven Samurai. I believe this had the same director and the same composer as the Great Escape (a number of the same actors as well).

A Man for All Seasons (1966) - A well-loved favorite in our house.

The Miracle Worker (1962) - One of my all-time favorite movies. Intense. Almost allegorical.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - Great movie. Great book. Too intense for the littles.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

I was rather astonished to discover...

that Studeo comes out #1 on Google for the search phrase *ratzinger chesterton*.

Naturally, the same is not true if you try *Pope Benedict XVI Chesterton*. :)

Speaking of Old Movies

I just came across this fascinating article on Frank Capra by Rod Bennett on Godspy.

Favorite Pre-1960 Movies

(Partly in response to the comments from my last post.) These might be of interest to those wishing to acquaint themselves with some older movies. I do think it helps to be somewhat familiar with the context of the movie - for example, movies made during World War II - like The More the Merrier - will be better understood as having a particular context.

Most of these movies were made for grown-ups (I hate to use the word "adult" in this context!), but I believe Ria is old enough to see all of them:

Movies Made for Kids:

Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959)
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)

Silent Films:

The Passion of Joan of Arc (very intense!) (1928)
Modern Times (1936)
Safety Last (1923)

All-Out Comedy:

The Awful Truth (1937)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Duck Soup (1933)
It Happened One Night (1934)
The More the Merrier (1943)
You Can't Take it With You (1938)

Lighter Drama or More Serious Comedy:

The African Queen (1951)
Casablanca (1942)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
I Remember Mama (1948)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Meet John Doe (1941)
North by Northwest (1959)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Pride of the Yankees (1942)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Seven Samurai (1954) - from which sprung The Magnificent Seven (1960) and a Bug's Life (1998)

More Serious Drama:

Ben Hur (1959)
High Noon (1952)
I Confess (1953)
Ikiru (1952)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Rear Window (1954)
The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Song of Bernadette (1943)
Twelve Angry Men (1957)

Also see my post from earlier this year on Essential Classic Movie Directors

Monday, October 01, 2007

A Movie Meme

AFI 100 Years, 100 Movies

The movies I have seen are in bold, the ones I loved in red - keeping in mind that some I saw ages ago and can't remember if I loved them or not. I should probably also mention that some movies might have been highlighted as "loved" if I hadn't already seen them so many times, which is not at all the fault of the movie. Sound of Music and Star Wars may very well fall into this category.

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. Casablanca (1942)
3. The Godfather (1972)
4. Gone With The Wind (1939)
5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
6. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
7. The Graduate (1967)
8. On The Waterfront (1954)
9. Schindler's List (1993)
10. Singin' In The Rain (1952)
11. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
12. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
13. The Bridge On the River Kwai (1957)
14. Some Like It Hot (1959)
15. Star Wars (1977)
16. All About Eve (1950)
17. The African Queen (1951)
18. Psycho (1960)
19. Chinatown (1974)
20. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
21. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
22. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
23. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
24. Raging Bull (1980)
25. E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
26. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
27. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
28. Apocalypse Now (1979)
29. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)
30. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
31. Annie Hall (1977)
32. The Godfather Part II (1974)
33. High Noon (1952)
34. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
35. It Happened One Night (1934)
36. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
37. The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)
38. Double Indemnity (1944)
39. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
40. North By Northwest (1959)
41. West Side Story (1961)
42. Rear Window (1954)
43. King Kong (1933)
44. The Birth of a Nation (1915)
45. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
46. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
47. Taxi Driver (1976)
48. Jaws (1975)
49. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
50. Butch Cassidy and the Sunshine Kid (1969)
51. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
52. From Here To Eternity (1953)
53. Amadeus (1984)
54. All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)
55. The Sound Of Music (1965)
56. M*A*S*H (1970)
57. The Third Man (1949)
58. Fantasia (1940)
59. Rebel Without A Cause (1955)
60. Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
61. Vertigo (1958)
62. Tootsie (1982)
63. Stagecoach (1939)
64. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
65. The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
66. Network (1976)
67. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
68. An American In Paris (1951)
69. Shane (1953)
70. The French Connection (1971)
71. Forrest Gump (1994)
72. Ben-Hur (1959)
73. Wuthering Heights (1939)
74. The Gold Rush (1925)
75. Dances With Wolves (1990)
76. City Lights (1931)
77. American Graffiti (1973)
78. Rocky (1976)
79. The Deer Hunter (1978)
80. The Wild Bunch (1969)
81. Modern Times (1936)
82. Giant (1956)
83. Platoon (1986)
84. Fargo (1996)
85. Duck Soup (1933)
86. Mutiny On The Bounty (1935)
87. Frankenstein (1931)
88. Easy Rider (1969)
90. The Jazz Singer (1927)
91. My Fair Lady (1964)
92. A Place In The Sun (1951)
93. The Apartment (1960)
94. Goodfellas (1994)
95. Pulp Fiction (1994)
96. The Searchers (1956)
97. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
98. Unforgiven (1992)
99. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)
100. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

hat-tip A Catholic Mom in Hawaii

Exactly What I Needed to Read Today...

...and perhaps you'll appreciate it too.

We're just beginning to study the Sermon on the Mount for our catechism class and so I read this today:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day. (Matthew 6: 25-34)

Love2learn Moments #29 - Attitudes and Actions

We live in a society that tends to value people according to how much money they earn. Society tends to devalue people and vocations that fall outside their narrow formula. This can include... the disabled, stay-at-home moms, the poor, priests and religious, the sick, the elderly, and even ... children.

Because our attitudes tend to be shaped by society and our own attitudes in turn play a major role in the formation of our children, it's important to examine and consider how our words and actions reflect what we value most.

For example, being pro-Life includes not only opposing abortion, but also supporting the disabled and seeing Christ in them. Being pro-child and pro-family includes exercising patience with little ones we come across in church or in a restaurant.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:"Parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons."

See all of my radio moments on the Love2learn Moments Blog.

Feast of Saint Therese

"Marie-Francoise-Therese Martin, known as "The Little Flower of Jesus," was born at Alencon, France, on January 2nd, 1873. Reared in a home of comfort and surrounded by refinements that would have spoiled an ordinary child, Teresa's intelligence had an early dawning which enabled her to comprehend the Divine Goodness far in advance of her tender years. Our Lord visited upon the child a severe trial--a strange malady from which there seemed no recovery. Her implicit confidence in God, however, overcame her infirmity and she progressed rapidly toward sanctity.

Teresa adopted flowers as the symbol of her love for her Divine Saviour and offered her practices in virtue, sacrifice, and mortification as flowers at the feet of Jesus. At fifteen she entered the Carmelite Convent at Lisieux, France, where she distinguished herself by punctual observance of the rule, burning love for God and wonderful trust in Him. Before she died, this "lily of delicious perfume"--as Pope Pius X. called her--revealed to the superiors her life story in pages of rarest beauty.

She died in the odor of sanctity on September 30th, 1897, at the age of 24. Since her death countless graces have been attributed to her intercession. Pope Benedict XV, in 1921 opened the way for the process of her beatification and she was declared Blessed by Pope Pius XI. on April 29, 1923, and was canonized on May 17, 1925."

(from a very ancient copy of Lives of the Saints Compiled by Rev. Alban Butler)


Happy Feast of St. Therese - one of our family's favorite saints. She is one of Terri's patron saints and one my children enjoy learning about over and over again through some of their favorite books and movies.

Here are some interesting tidbits for the day:

Earlier this year, my sister shared a family story about St. Therese that made a deep impression on me as a young teen.

Divini Amoris Scientia The Apostolic Letter of Pope John Paul II which declared St. Therese a Doctor of the Church (1997)

Beautiful photo of the Basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux, France


Back road into Holy Hill


Back road into Holy Hill
Originally uploaded by Chez VH
I love this picture that Ria took on her way up to Holy Hill for John Bosco Youth Day on Saturday. John went along too and ended up getting recruited (by his brother) to run one of the video cameras.

Pro-Life Dinner

I attended the annual banquet for Pro-Life Wisconsin on Friday night. It was a nice evening, though I always enjoy these things more when John is able to go with me. Ria was helping out at the event - selling raffle tickets and such.

I enjoyed visiting with many friends (some of whom I only see once a year at this banquet) and browsing through PLW's unique selection of silent auction items (I managed to come home with a little purse).


I also met an interesting young woman who reminded me that we had met at the Minnesota Catholic Homeschool Conference the previous year. Her name is Sabitha Narendran and she and her friend, Andrew Salzmann have written a book that I'd like to take a look at one of these days. It's called Catholic and Loving It: Traditions for a New Generation (published by Servant Books). Sounds fascinating, even though my to-be-reviewed stack is awfully tall right now!


Our local Sports guy on Fox NEWS - Tom Pipines - was emcee. How cool is that!


The featured speaker was David Bereit, the national director of 40 Days for Life. His talk was fascinating and I was introduced to the dramatic story unfolding in Aurora, Illinois. Earlier this year, a huge medical facility called "Gemini Health Care" was being built in Aurora. Sometime during the construction process, one of the workers noticed that the equipment being put in seemed incongruous with a health care facility. He and his parish priest did some research and discovered that it was simply a Planned Parenthood clinic, sold to the community under false pretences. They discovered this 43 days before the clinic was scheduled to open. Someone from the community asked if they could set up a "40 Days for Life" with just three days notice. They did, and on the 40th day, the judge refused Planned Parenthood's occupancy permit. (This was almost two weeks ago). Naturally, the story isn't over and the community continues to pray in front of the site 24 hours a day. Official website of those opposing the clinic is here.