Nov. 22, 2007
The kids and I were in one of those mega-bookstores the other day, the kind that offers coffee, games, and crafts in addition to books. And I got the bright idea that I would buy a puzzle because that is good for the brain, right? It was really for the kids so I let Olivia pick it.
She, of course, picked the 1,000-piece Christmas scene that has lots of snow (i.e. unindentifiable white pieces) in it. I said, "Why not?"
Well, now I have a goal. I want to have that puzzle worked by Christmas. There are only a few drawbacks. Besides the dog, I'm the only one currently showing interest in the puzzle. Kayla, the dog, showed so much interest that she ate at least one piece, causing Joey to break down in tears and ask to call 911. The only things that make him cry these days (he's 6) are when the dog is hurt or when he breaks a new toy.I assured him a puzzle piece wouldn't hurt Kayla. I ate plenty of paper when I was a kid and it didn't hurt me. Now I figure I will find him eating paper to see how that goes for him.
So, now that we are in the Christmas season, I took an informal family poll to see what our favorite Christmas carols are.
Me: What Child is This
Dad: Chestnuts Roasting by an Open Fire.....
Olivia: Away in a Manger
Joey: Silent Night
It's funny, I have always loved that song even before I was Catholic. Rather prophetic as it is the one that really highlights Mary, too.
Joey, on the other hand, absolutely loves Silent Night because it was his lullaby from the age of about 12 months. He was an absolutely terrible sleeper because of his health (allergy) problems, and I used to sing that song to him at night in great hope that it would be a silent night. Usually didn't work. But the first time we went caroling when he was a toddler and began singing Silent Night, he threw his Blanky Blue over his head and cried to go to bed.
We have been in our new home about two months and I am getting used to living in a smaller community that has fewer Catholic churches. So, today, if I wanted to go to mass I had one choice ( in English). And I went to the small parish around the corner from the local Cathedral.
I really liked it and had wanted to visit it before. It is called St. Gerard's and traditionally has served the non-Caucasian Catholics in the region. But it really reminded me of my old parish near Memphis because it is small and simple and has a variety of types of people in it. Our suburban parish in Tennessee was near a U.S. Naval base so we had a lot of military types there and more ethnic variety than I see at our current huge Downtown parish of 1,500 families. So, I hope to go to St. Gerard's again and even looked up that saint on the Internet. I learned a lot. What a wonderful story of that patron saint of motherhood. You can check it out at www.saintgerard.com
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
In Thanksgiving and Welcoming Advent
Nov. 21, 2007
So, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have much for which to be grateful. I hope that both Mrs. Asbury and Mrs. Klaiber (my 9th and 10th grade English teachers) will be happy that I did not leave that preposition at the end of the sentence.
I am first grateful that Olivia's stomach virus cleared up and that she will be able to enjoy Thanksgiving with us.
Second, I am very, very grateful that our home renovation is complete -- even the insulation in the basement. So we have a real home to live in with floors, no annoying floor staples and carpet and everything. Also, we got a dishwasher.
Third, I am grateful that my husband has the holiday off and I am hopeful that he will not be called in. He has been called in almost every day since we have moved here two months ago. So, again, I'm grateful and hopeful.
Fourth,I am grateful to homeschool as I am becoming more and more convinced that it is best for children during this current age. That sounds preachy. But that is where I am right now. I am a frequenter of the library and many times the kids I run into there are loud, ill-mannered and obviously suffering from their exposure to the media that is marketed to them these days.
Fifth, I am grateful that we do have everything we need.
Now, moving on to Advent, I am hopeful that we can make this a season of anticipation of Christ -- a truly beautiful season that does not get sucked into the vacuum of consumerism.
I hope to be attentive to the season, learn more about it and teach the children the true meaning of it. Note to self: Get copy of The Jesse Tree. Read more saint stories and perhaps incorporate the Angelus into our day. That last is something I have tried before and failed at. The kids just did not get with it.
I sincerely want to make the Life of Christ as important a part of their reality as the American Girl book series or the various presidents that so interest my son.
So, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have much for which to be grateful. I hope that both Mrs. Asbury and Mrs. Klaiber (my 9th and 10th grade English teachers) will be happy that I did not leave that preposition at the end of the sentence.
I am first grateful that Olivia's stomach virus cleared up and that she will be able to enjoy Thanksgiving with us.
Second, I am very, very grateful that our home renovation is complete -- even the insulation in the basement. So we have a real home to live in with floors, no annoying floor staples and carpet and everything. Also, we got a dishwasher.
Third, I am grateful that my husband has the holiday off and I am hopeful that he will not be called in. He has been called in almost every day since we have moved here two months ago. So, again, I'm grateful and hopeful.
Fourth,I am grateful to homeschool as I am becoming more and more convinced that it is best for children during this current age. That sounds preachy. But that is where I am right now. I am a frequenter of the library and many times the kids I run into there are loud, ill-mannered and obviously suffering from their exposure to the media that is marketed to them these days.
Fifth, I am grateful that we do have everything we need.
Now, moving on to Advent, I am hopeful that we can make this a season of anticipation of Christ -- a truly beautiful season that does not get sucked into the vacuum of consumerism.
I hope to be attentive to the season, learn more about it and teach the children the true meaning of it. Note to self: Get copy of The Jesse Tree. Read more saint stories and perhaps incorporate the Angelus into our day. That last is something I have tried before and failed at. The kids just did not get with it.
I sincerely want to make the Life of Christ as important a part of their reality as the American Girl book series or the various presidents that so interest my son.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Two and a Half Men?
Nov. 19, 2007
I wonder how many people read First Things and watch Two and a Half Men, an abysmal TV show that includes Charlie Sheen.
I read First Things and enjoy its take on religion and the public square. Until last night, I had never seen a full episode of TV show, which is about a recently divorced dad living with his chubby son and his ne'er-do-well brother (Sheen), who is also a womanizer and alcoholic.
But for some reason I sat through one-and-a-half episodes of Two and a Half Men, and it really made me wonder where all of the grown-ups have gone. I am incredibly out of touch, as this show is already in reruns. But the 12-year-old was delivering lines about the alcoholic uncle's girlfriend such as, "I'll bet she's dynamite in the sack" and "Lydia's a stone cold be-atch" to his father's dismay. The housekeeper's priceless line was "I'm glad I stopped coming to work high." I mean, come on.
And then I read in First Things a review of a book called Marriage and Caste in America: Separate and Unequal Families -- about how the escalation in divorce and out-of-wedlock births has affected the working class disproportionately, which I'm sure is true.
The statistics in the article and the TV show's inappropriate relationships between grown-ups and children just underscored for me how far from normal or healthy our culture has fallen.
In the book, author Kay S. Hymowitz says, "For the first time in history -- not just American history but the history of known human society -- people began to toy with the idea that children and marriage were really two discrete life phenomena."
A selfish idea indeed. We have already seen where it leads.
It seems to me that human beings, as creatures, become our worst selves when we refuse to relate to our Creator, who gave us life, the world and a few rules to follow in our own best interest. And in the cult of individuality that is America, it is a badge of honor for people to thumb their noses at any authority but their own. I really don't hold out a lot of hope that that state of affairs will change.
The only hope in Hymowitz' book is that she notes a small trend back to marriage-mindedness and state-at-home motherhood. But that is found only in the middle and upper classes. What about the rest of the children?
I wonder how many people read First Things and watch Two and a Half Men, an abysmal TV show that includes Charlie Sheen.
I read First Things and enjoy its take on religion and the public square. Until last night, I had never seen a full episode of TV show, which is about a recently divorced dad living with his chubby son and his ne'er-do-well brother (Sheen), who is also a womanizer and alcoholic.
But for some reason I sat through one-and-a-half episodes of Two and a Half Men, and it really made me wonder where all of the grown-ups have gone. I am incredibly out of touch, as this show is already in reruns. But the 12-year-old was delivering lines about the alcoholic uncle's girlfriend such as, "I'll bet she's dynamite in the sack" and "Lydia's a stone cold be-atch" to his father's dismay. The housekeeper's priceless line was "I'm glad I stopped coming to work high." I mean, come on.
And then I read in First Things a review of a book called Marriage and Caste in America: Separate and Unequal Families -- about how the escalation in divorce and out-of-wedlock births has affected the working class disproportionately, which I'm sure is true.
The statistics in the article and the TV show's inappropriate relationships between grown-ups and children just underscored for me how far from normal or healthy our culture has fallen.
In the book, author Kay S. Hymowitz says, "For the first time in history -- not just American history but the history of known human society -- people began to toy with the idea that children and marriage were really two discrete life phenomena."
A selfish idea indeed. We have already seen where it leads.
It seems to me that human beings, as creatures, become our worst selves when we refuse to relate to our Creator, who gave us life, the world and a few rules to follow in our own best interest. And in the cult of individuality that is America, it is a badge of honor for people to thumb their noses at any authority but their own. I really don't hold out a lot of hope that that state of affairs will change.
The only hope in Hymowitz' book is that she notes a small trend back to marriage-mindedness and state-at-home motherhood. But that is found only in the middle and upper classes. What about the rest of the children?
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Serenity
Nov. 4,
Today I am going to share a prayer that many people know:
Applying this prayer to my life every day is just about the only way I know to live well in this world. The prayer is attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr.
God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonable happy in this life;
and supremely happy with Him in the next.
As I write, I can look out my window and see the absolute beauty of a Virginia fall. Gold, red, green-gold and orange dappled by the sun through the trees. And I know that is God. The silly daily trials and tribulations of life are my chance to apply this prayer and allow those hardships to be my path to peace.
So what if we have lived here six weeks -- and only one week with a floor. We'll get the floor and the accompanying chaos this week. And then we'll get the carpet and the accompanying chaos next week.
Life is too beautiful to be squandered staring at a 50-year-old sub-floor when you have 100-year-old trees in the backyard screaming for your attention.
So, out I go to do my lesson planning on the deck.
Have a blessed and serene week. I hope to do the same.
Today I am going to share a prayer that many people know:
Applying this prayer to my life every day is just about the only way I know to live well in this world. The prayer is attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr.
God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonable happy in this life;
and supremely happy with Him in the next.
As I write, I can look out my window and see the absolute beauty of a Virginia fall. Gold, red, green-gold and orange dappled by the sun through the trees. And I know that is God. The silly daily trials and tribulations of life are my chance to apply this prayer and allow those hardships to be my path to peace.
So what if we have lived here six weeks -- and only one week with a floor. We'll get the floor and the accompanying chaos this week. And then we'll get the carpet and the accompanying chaos next week.
Life is too beautiful to be squandered staring at a 50-year-old sub-floor when you have 100-year-old trees in the backyard screaming for your attention.
So, out I go to do my lesson planning on the deck.
Have a blessed and serene week. I hope to do the same.
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