Nourishing Culture...

I believe that in these multiple forms of popular piety lies hidden the answer to a question that is sometimes raised concerning the significance of such manifestations of local tradition. The answer is simple: when hearts are united, the result is a great force for good. To be rooted in what is ancient, strong, profound, and, at the same time, dear to the heart, gives an extraordinary interior energy. If this rootedness is then joined by a bold and strong intellectual dimension, there is no need to fear for the future of the faith or the prospect for human relationships within the nation. Amid the rich humus of tradition, in fact, culture is nourished and this unites the citizens, enabling them to live together as a great family, sustaining and strengthening their convictions. Our great task, especially today, in the age of so-called globalization, is to cultivate sound traditions so as to promote a bold consensus in thought and imagination, an openness toward the future and at the same time an affectionate respect for the past. It is a past that endures in human hearts in the form of ancient words, ancient signs, memories, and customs inherited from previous generations.

Pope John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way

Love and Think...

Today much imagination is needed if we are to learn how to speak about the faith and about life's most important questions. It requires people who know how to love and how to think, because the imagination lives on love and on thought, as well as nourishing our thinking and enkindling our love.

Pope John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way

This is the first full-length audio book I'm listening to on my iPod and it's really great! Unfortunately the book's predecessor , Gift and Mystery, (which I haven't read yet) doesn't seem to be available from audible.com.

It's May!

I really love these videos (I think the 3rd one is new this year.)...

Blogaversary Week Giveaway Winners!

Thanks for all of your comments - I really enjoyed reading them! Here are the winners of our giveaway. I used a Random Number Generator to match each prize with a winner - allowing no one to get more than one prize. Please e-mail me - love2learnmom at gmail.com to claim your prize (please include shipping information or other contact info as appropriate).

1. mater et magistra Subscription - Robert Gotcher (no kidding!)

2. mater et magistra Subscription - Margaret Mary Myers

3. mater et magistra Subscription - Elizabeth C.

4. I Remember Mama - Princess Annie

5. I Remember Mama - Sarah Reinhard

6. I Remember Mama - Marie, from Early Morning Musings

7. Christmas in Connecticut - Party of Nine

8. Christmas in Connecticut - Sara, from a Shower of Roses

9. Christmas in Connecticut - antonina31

10. The Far Side of the Loch by Melissa Wiley - Beth, from Endless Books

11. Across the Puddingstone Dam by Melissa Wiley - MBCW

12. Across the Puddingstone Dam by Melissa Wiley - Kim

13. The Kitchen Madonna by Rumer Godden - Caroline

14. The Rosary: Keeping Company with Jesus and Mary by Karen Edmisten - Sarah, from More than Enough

15. The Catholic Homeschool Companion edited by Maureen Wittmann and Rachel Mackson - Robynn

16. Homeschool Connections One-Month Subscription Service - Exspectantes

17. The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton - Wiregrass Catholic Mom

18. St. Francis of Assisi by G.K. Chesterton - Gardenia

19. Earrings from Singing Ladybug Jewelry ("Really Cute, Sweet and Sassy") - Kelly, from Gratiae ut Deus

20. Earrings from Singing Ladybug Jewelry ("Subtle Sophistication") - Grace from wigleasons

21. A Holy Hour Offered for Your Intentions (Kindly donated by Grace, but not previously listed) - Ann

Do-it-yourself Senior Photos

DSC_6154.JPG, originally uploaded by Chez VH.

It's astounding to believe that Ria's about to graduate from high school! Last week John took about 250 pics of her at three favorite local spots, including this one - Boerner Botanical Gardens. We got about 30 really good photos out of the shoot, which took about 3 1/2 hours. Will try to share more later.

Also coming up this week... First Communion for our youngest daughter!

Old Studeo Headers

Because Robert made me think of it...

By the way, this is not a complete set as I remember having at least one with a snowy background. These came up with a fairly quick search of the hard drive. I don't think I had a lion picture for the banner. Ria did, though.

Blogaversary Week Giveaway [updated]

As I mentioned in an earlier post today, I'd like to make this week a giveaway week in gratitude for five years of blogging here at Studeo. I know things have gotten quieter on and off, but this blog and those I've encountered through it (and in a surprising number of situations, actually met in person!) mean a great deal to me. I think it's also the case that, though additional teaching, activities, and general hub-bub have reduced the quantity of blogging here, that without this blog, Love2learn Moments and lot of my conference talks and other projects wouldn't exist. This has always been my sort of quiet thinking spot and I've found it to be a tremendous resource in both organizing my thoughts and favorite quotes and looking back later to find ideas and things I've worked on in the past and want to include in the radio spots or talks or whatever.

Anyway, I'll be including all of the prizes in this one post, so please leave a comment here if you'd like to be in the drawing. The drawing will take place on Friday, April 30th. Also check back during the week as I'm expecting to be adding more goodies here throughout the week.

P.S. Just wanted to mention that the collection of goodies coming directly from our family are slightly random - many are ones that I picked up on sale in various places and thought were fun and appropriate to this giveaway.

Also, I was originally planning these as gifts of gratitude for the good that has come to me through this outlet. I was surprised and humbled that people were interested in donating items for this giveaway. Feel free to e-mail me if you'd like to be included in some way.

1. Subscriptions to mater et magistra magazine: (3 copies)

I'll be giving away three subscriptions to the one Catholic homeschool magazine in print. I think it's a lovely magazine and a lot of people put a lot of effort into making it a beautiful and encouraging magazine for all Catholic homeschoolers. However, it's fair to say that I might be biased because I'm the reviews editor and write for it occasionally in other ways too. :)

For those who may be interested, I've been helping out with this magazine since its previous existence as Heart and Mind Magazine. One of the interesting projects that came out of that one (though it hasn't been updated in awhile) and actually started out as a unit study for Heart and Mind is our family's Architecture for Kids blog.

And on a funny side note: Some of the students at Latin Convention call their female teachers "magistra" and so my daughter Ria has taken to calling me "mater et magistra" on occasion. ;)

2. I Remember Mama - Irene Dunne, 1948 (3 copies)

I'll be giving away three copies of this hilarious classic film that means a lot to me and my family. Both of my grandmothers grew up in or near San Francisco (both were 1906 earthquake survivors - including one still in utero) and I found out just a few years ago that my Grandma Lawless, who died several years before I was born, especially loved this movie.

3. Christmas in Connecticut - Barbara Stanwyck, 1945 (3 copies)

Though the classic Christmas story on this DVD is fun (and quite a bit silly), our family particularly fell in love with the Oscar winning short, Star in the Night, contained in the special features. It's delightful, hilarious, and rather Chestertonian in spirit. I think I forgot to post about it here on Studeo, but we had to have 4 or 5 showings of it at our big Christmas Day party last year to accomodate all those at the party who wanted to see it. There are three copies of this movie as well.

4. Books by Melissa Wiley (3 books) [UPDATED]

The Far Side of the Loch by Melissa Wiley (1 copy) - This is a beautiful hardcover (unabridged and out-of-print) I just happened to find used (but in nearly perfect shape) today.

Across the Puddingstone Dam by Melissa Wiley (2 copies) - This is one of the unabridged Little House prequels that sadly went out of print a few years ago. I decided to pick them up from Old World Wisconsin awhile ago, thinking someone might enjoy them.

Not only are they great stories, but Melissa is one the many friends I've made via the blogosphere (and hers is one of the handful of Catholic homeschool mom blogs that predates mine!).

5. The Kitchen Madonna by Rumer Godden (1 copy)

When I was a child, I generally didn't enjoy being read aloud to as I'm very much NOT an auditory learner. But there were two books my mom read aloud to us during my homeschool years, despite the fact that I was a teenager at that point and I REALLY enjoyed both of them: The Kitchen Madonna and Alice in Wonderland. I'm thrilled that it's been reprinted by Bethlehem Books to be enjoyed by new generations of homeschoolers and non-auditory learners. ;)

6. The Rosary: Keeping Company with Jesus and Mary by Karen Edmisten (1 copy)

My dear friend Karen, who I also met through the blogosphere (I think I found both hers and Melissa's blogs through Danielle Beans' blog), has kindly donated a copy of her lovely book on the Rosary for our drawing. Thanks much Karen! By the way, I stole the lovely image above from my dear friend Alice's blog.

7. The Catholic Homeschool Companion, edited by Maureen Wittmann and Rachel Mackson (1 copy)

Maureen Wittmann, a long time friend from the Catholic homeschool online world (honestly, I don't even remember how we met anymore!) has generously donated a copy of the Catholic Homeschool Companion for this giveaway. I've known her long enough to have contributed an essay on apologetics for teens. Thanks Maureen!

8. Homeschool Connections Subscription Service (1 month free subscription)

Maureen has also donated a one-month subscription to Homeschool Connections' Subscription Service. If you're not yet familiar with Homeschool Connections, you should definitely take a look. We know many people who have enjoyed, and been extremely pleased with, online classees for Catholic homeschoolers through this great organization. They also offer a number of free webinars (that can still be viewed online) about Catholic homeschooling, including one I did last year on Choosing Worthwhile Homeschool Materials. Thanks much Maureen!

9. Two Books by G.K. Chesterton

A giveaway here really wouldn't be complete without something by Chesterton, and I've decided on two of my person favorites - The Man Who Was Thursday and St. Francis of Assisi. (1 copy of each)

The blogosphere has been a terrific place for me to fall more in love with Chesterton and had a particular strong effect on my children. I'm particularly grateful to my friends Nancy Brown and to Dr. Thursday and also to the American Chesterton Society on the whole who have been wonderful Chestertonian mentors to our family.

10. Two Pairs of Earrings from Singing Ladybug Jewelry

My sweet friend Maria has kindly donated two pairs of earrings from her Etsy shop, Singing Ladybug Jewelry, for our giveaway. One pair is the "Really Cute, Sweet and Sassy" and the other is the "Subtle Sophistication." Thanks Maria! :)

Coming Soon...

I can hardly believe that this Friday marks Studeo's 5th Blogaversary! Out of gratitude and partly just for fun, I've decided to have a week-long giveaway. Prizes will be picked on Friday. Stay tuned for a list of goodies later today and if you'd like to contribute anything to the fun (even after the initial list goes up), please e-mail me at love2learnmom at gmail.com.

Frank Fashions

After putting on a bright red Hawaiian shirt (complete with surfboards and palm trees) for a trip to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner a few nights ago, Frank confidently announced, "I look handsome in Venice."

Seven Quick Takes

1. While I was in Memphis, I did a radio interview on homeschooling and Catholic culture in the home Deacon Jeff and Tom Dorian of the Catholic Cafe. The interview will be playing on Relevant Radio this Sunday at 1 pm Central Time. (You can also find it in the websites archives, entitled "the Catholic home.")

2. We hosted our monthly Latin club meeting at our house earlier this week. It included the presentation of National Latin Exam awards (all of our high schoolers received medals or certificates - and 5 of them earned gold medals!). The members (and my younger kids) split into two teams for a skit competition on the Battle of Milvian Bridge. They were really great skits (with some delightfully funny moments) and my kids were delighted that the Battle of Milvian Bridge ended up coming up in Father's homily for Daily Mass earlier this week. I love it when those connections happen!

3. As I've alluded to in some previous posts, I had to make some fairly drastic dietary changes earlier this year in order to get my low blood sugar under control. It involved dropping most sweets (fortunately moderate quantities of dark chocolate seem to be okay), breads and potatoes. It was also recommended that I exercise every day since exercise has a huge impact on blood sugar. I'm happy to report that I've been walking 3 miles nearly every day and that I'm down 20 lbs. since last summer!

Ah, and a side benefit that was rather unexpected is that my seasonal allergies, which have gotten worse every year for the last few years, seem to have almost disappeared this spring, in spite of it being a particularly bad pollen season.

4. It's all my daughter's fault, really (well, I guess I can blame my big sister too). ;)

While we were in Memphis, Ria was on my case about starting a commonplace book for favorite quotes. After all, she had her quote book with her and it came in handy when we were setting up the conference table as she had the last-minute (and brilliant) idea of scattering favorite quotes around the table cloth. And since we found lovely notebooks in the airport on the way home, I've been collecting some of my favorites by hand in there over the last month or so. I really enjoy having them handy in my purse all the time (handy for certain discussions and such) and it's a great place to collect new ones too.

5. Working on this commonplace book naturally led to brushing off an old project I haven't touched in about a year - an online notebook for favorite quotes, photos and videos. Basically it's the commonplace book plus, um, illustrations. (The order is pretty random on the whole.) You can check it out here: Love2learn Notebook. I'm not quite satisfied with the name. If you have any ideas, please pass them along!

6. I'm always interested in learning more about sensory sensitivity as it's an issue for some of my children and for myself. I found this post on Sensory Perception Sensitivity at the Eide Neurolearning Blog particularly interesting and then jumped from there to the self-test on a site about "the Highly Sensitive Person". They say if you score 14 or higher, that you fall into this category. I scored 24 out of a possible 27. Interesting. And yeah, it seems to make sense out of a number of things.

7. I just started reading (meaning, I just finished the introduction to) Christ Our Joy: The Theological Vision of Pope Benedict XVI by Msgr. Joseph Murphy. It looks like it will be an amazing book. Can't wait to dig in further. Here's a great quote by Cardinal  Ratzinger that showed up on the back cover:

We need to have it said to us that only with Christ has true joy made its appearance and that, in our own lives, nothing matters apart from learning to see and understand Christ, the God of grace, the light and joy of the world. Indeed, our joy will only be true if it is not based on things, which can be taken away from us and destroyed, but thrusts its roots into the intimate depth of our lives, into that depth which no worldly power can take away from us. In addition, every external loss should become for us an initiation into that interiority and should make us more mature for living our true life.