Meme

Thanks Christine for including me in a book meme from a book lover, Journey of Truth.

These are the rules: Pass this on to 5 blogging friends. Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that.

My book: Of Mary There Is Never Enough by William L. Biersach

Page 56, sentance 5 -

"When Adam and Eve fell, He held Her up to the serpent as a sign of Satan's ultimate destruction. As the complex twine of history unraveled, Mary remained foremost in His thoughts.
~I was with him forming all things; and was delighted every day, playing before him at all times. Playing in the world; and my delights were to be with the children of men. Proverbs VIII: 30-31 ~
Naturally, as the Holy Ghost "brooded" on His Spouse, awaiting the day when the most perfect of all creatures would fulfill Her destiny, She would emerge in His Revelation as He guided the hands and mouths of the prophets, "leaking out" between the lines and taking gradual form in the cascade of unfolding imagery.
Did the prohpets who spoke the thoughts of God understand them?"

As St. Bernard of Clairvaux said, "Holy Scripture was written for Mary, about Mary and on account of Mary."

I pass this on to...

Just a minute's Jenny, because she's been reading a really good book! :)

Renee at Go East They Said

Cecilia at Little Saints in the Making

Therese at The Musings of a Mom

Nadja at http://patchodirtfarm.blogspot.com/

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing

A lovely table...

Another, laden with desserts....
A day in which the pilgrims....
met the indians.....

and shared in the good times....

3 Catholic reasons to be grateful

THREE CATHOLIC REASONS TO BE GRATEFUL from www.catholicity.com

The Eucharist.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The Doctrine of the Existence of Hell. Hell, you ask? Just think of the moral confusion in your own life if you did not believe that a person will be held accountable into eternity for freely-chosen mortal sins for which he or she was unrepentant at the moment of death.

and there's so many more....

Too REAL to talk about on Thanksgiving.....

If we deny the right to exist to the poorest among us, the unborn, with not even a thread of clothing to call their own…

then how will we respect the poor we can see?

If we allow the murder of unborn children “too likely” to grow up uneducated…

then how will we fix schools?

If babies can be aborted for being not perfect enough due to deformity, disease, or gender…

then who else is not perfect enough to be allowed to continue living: the old, the disabled, the terminally ill?

If we cannot welcome the stranger among us in the womb…

then how can we welcome the immigrant from another country?

If we refuse to acknowledge the right to life of the most innocent, the unborn child…

then how will we ever acknowledge the worth of the life of even the criminal on death row?

If our own children are not worthy enough to garner our protection…

then how will we work to minimize civilian casualties of war in foreign countries?

If we say that 50% of African-American babies dying by abortion is unimportant, even when that rate is drastically higher than the rate among the white population…

then how will we fight racial discrimination among the born?

All of the various social justice issues (like war, the death penalty, immigration reform, education reform, and poverty relief) are based on the idea that human life has intrinsic worth.

Read the rest HERE.

The magnificence that is my crochet handiwork

Don't hate me because I'm so immediately successful at crochet.

The 2nd grade Mother of Divine Grace curriculum suggests the student learn to crochet. It assists with small motor skills. In order to teach my son, I needed to learn how to crochet myself!

I read a little "how to" that came with the kit and watched a few YouTubes on how to crochet. Amazingly, that was all I needed!

First, I made this....

This "coaster" can actually hold two, yes...that's 2 beverages! And just to be clear, by that I mean I can place one beverage beside the other and they are BOTH still on the supersized "coaster"! I think I might be on to something.....

For my next project, again I started out just making rows and yet my natural talent shaped it into this...

See how it subtley comes in at the middle? Like a diaper, or an hourglass, perhaps a giant bowtie? it's truly a crowd pleaser! My daughter loves it and has found many uses for it. We're talking marketablility here, crossover...is that the term?

Finally, here is the piece d'resistance. Of this, I may become a dot.com business. Go ahead and click on this one to enlarge....You're going to want to see MORE of this one....

Buoyed by my previous work and the way those projects took on dimensions not dreamed of by others, I set out once again with the same formula. Just "trying" to crochet some straight lines, seeing if I could "do normal."

I've got to wonder if the shoemaker's elves did more with it whilst I slept because magically it seemed to take a chapeau shape! It rounded. It mushroomed. Certainly by now you can see a dapper cap with a JJ Walker, Kid Dyn-O-Mite lid protruding. Good times!

We've all worn it and it has a "je ne sais quoi pas" quality on all of us, like the sisterhood of the travelling pants! Perhaps this is a sign that I should make homemade Christmas gifts putting more of these on more heads?!

Who knows what I'll make next? I have to keep busy at it just out of curiosity! You know what they say....Idle hands do the devil's work.

Thankful Thursday

Thankful to be home from the hospital, where we spent the morning.

The girl and I have been working through cough, congestion and fever this week. For a little asthmatic, that can become complicated. The albuterol makes her seem happy and energetic (read "jacked up") but her wheeze and skin color prove otherwise...

Grateful for the calm brothers as Mommy isn't so cool when scared, grateful for friendly, helpful medical staff, grateful for a husband to meet us in the ER and take home the bored and be their teacher, grateful for the medicine that helps her breath.

Charmed that she kept spelling her name for everyone who came in to assess her, charmed that she made them laugh with her descriptions of frogs stuck in her throat and how she needs her "smoke". Charmed at the reception she got from her brothers as we pulled into the driveway and they ran out to greet her home.

Home.

Want to close my eyes and have it be tomorrow.

God bless all those parents who are still at the hospital with their child. My heart aches for them.
God BLESS them!

Wordless Wednesday - it's cold, but not THAT cold!

A Great Divide in the Catholic Church?

A chasm.

A great divide.

Splitting apart....can you sense it?

We are not of like mind. LINK and LINK

It's coming....

Believe or leave?

Ahead -> persecution.

BOXES of it

3 down, 3 to go? (That's virually infected, not box consumption...)

Sunday Silence

and pray that our Catholic shepherds lead and speak as one.....

Homeschool Lego Club

We found a local, classical education homeschool group where a Mom was starting up a Lego club! My 11 year old and my 4 year old joined. So sweet that they have this special hobby to share.

The group meets once a month. This very organized lady held her first meeting today. She had the kids bring their own lego creation to show the others. I was, as always, impressed with the eloquence of homeschoolers. My 4 year old, who has never participated in a "class", charmed me so by following every direction, raising her hand, excitedly participating in the speaking in front of the group as the oganizing mom even asked questions!

Then our hostess held a challenge for teams. (My 4 year old was not at all disturbed being on a different team than her brother!) Each team was to make a lego boat capable of floating and the boat to hold the most pennies before sinking would obviously have the best design.

Afterwards, our organizer served a homemade lego cake. Those are marshmellows on the top! How clever.

Finally, it was creative building time as buckets of legos were poured on the floor for young minds to play with as they wished.

Looking forward to next month!

As we prepare to prepare

Enjoyed reading these great Advent recommendations, hope you will too.

http://fisheaters.com/customsadvent1.html

http://fisheaters.com/customs.html#advent

Wordless Wednesday - Sunday with my Nana

Like heaven on earth

well, for this boy!

A Catholic revolution

This program is from RealCatholicTV.com

Second sons

For Angela, Peter and Isaac ... and for anyone celebrating the birth of a second son...

O how I remember well loving this song at that time in our lives!




Peering out of tiny eyes
The grubby hands that gripped the rail
Wiped the window clean of frost
As the morning air laid on the latch

A whistle awakened someone there
Next door to the nursery just down the hall
A strange new sound you never heard before
A strange new sound that makes boys explore

Tread neat so small those little feet
Amid the morning his small heart beats
So much excitement yesterday
That must be rewarded must be displayed

Large hands lift him through the air
Excited eyes contain him there
The eyes of those he loves and knows
But what's this extra bed just here

His puzzled head tipped to one side
Amazement swims in those bright green eyes
Glancing down upon this thing
That make strange sounds, strange sounds that sing

In those silent happy seconds
That surround the sound of this event
A parent smile is made in moments
They have made for you a friend

And all you ever learned from them
Until you grew much older
Did not compare with when they said
This is your brand new brother
This is your brand new brother
This is your brand new brother


WELCOME WILLIAM!

Sunday Silence

(Guess we should rake...)

Damascus....Pray it be God's will

It's the Year of St. Paul and I pray that God has plans for a certain man who, like Paul, needs to be struck off his high horse.

A mighty conversion, God chooses the unlikely.

There's a big event happening right before the feast of the conversion of St. Paul on January 25th. Historic.

St. Paul, intercede for us to the Lord who called to you when you were on your way to kill Christians. You were converted.

We pray for the conversion of the one who can effect the killing of many...4,000 a day....

Novena to St. Paul the Apostle
Entrust your special intentions to St. Paul and offer the following prayer,concluding with an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.
O St. Paul the Apostle, preacher of truth and Doctor of the Gentiles, intercede for us to God, who chose you.

You are a vessel of election, O St. Paul the Apostle. Preacher of truth to the whole world.
O God, you have instructed many nations through the preaching of the blessed apostle Paul. Let the power of his intercession with you help us who venerate his memory this day.

Our Motto

That's how we roll...

USCCB meeting November 9th & 10th - wake up call

Dear Bishops,

Please consider this, from Catholic News Service when the USCCB meets this Sunday and Monday.

Based on Catholic population, Obama won in 12 of the 15 most populous Catholic states. McCain took Texas (third most populous), Louisiana (13th) and Arizona (15th), but Obama captured California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Minnesota.

By the other measure, percentage of the population that is Catholic — which includes smaller states — Out of the top 15 of those states, Obama swept 11: Rhode Island (the nation’s only Catholic-majority state at 59.5 percent), Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Nevada, Illinois, Delaware, Wisconsin, California, New Mexico and New Hampshire.

We need better, more effective religious education and faith formation...of adult Catholics. Shepherds need to see that their flock is divided, choosing paths erroneous to Catholic teaching.

Homeschool, Christmas and Lord Vader?!

Ahhhh, the 4 year old homeschool "curriculum"...

The joys of painting...

The joys of learning computer typing games from your brothers....

Our youngest student is much more interested in doing some school everyday. If I write something on the wipe board she is quick (and accurate!) to copy it. This year she may even participate in our homeschool group's Christmas play. When I was going over the parts and characters available for the students to act as in the play she was quite adamant that she would be Darth Vader. I'm going to have to read the Christmas story again to her and often to prove that the evil Lord Vader is not a part of the story!

And when images like these mix in your head it makes sense to go to YouTube, right? There you can find anything.

Is this just wrong?

A Gift from God

..a new Catholic, On The Road to Rome!

Meet Jennifer and read her conversion story. Visit her, encourage her, leave her a note. Our Church is envigorated by the zeal of converts searching for and finding The Truth!

Her faith journey and conversion can be found HERE. Prepare yourself to feel better than you have all week, praise God!

2012

visitors

They came from here....



4 visitors from our woods, a rare siting for us. We were excited to imagine that they may be living behind our house.

There's got to be a morning after, it's always darkest before the dawn

Helpful to me today...in different ways....

Links to Kimberly and Fr. Richtsteig.

Patroness of the Americas, pray for us....

Bishop Finn on your vote and your ETERNAL SALVATION!

"I would say, give consideration to your eternal salvation. Because to vote for a person who has expressed a fanatical determination to not only support abortion as it exists now, but to remove all limitations on it through the Freedom of Choice Act and to extend it without any recourse, throwing out all the efforts of citizens over the last 35 years to place reasonable limits on abortion; that you, by voting for a person who has expressed his determination to do this, to Planned Parenthood, to NARAL, that you make yourself a participant in the act of abortion. That's gravely wrong and you mustn't do it because your eternal salvation is tied up with that important choice."

Catechism has failed many "Catholic" voters

At our homeschooling party for All Saints Day a friend made an excellent point.

We were incredulous of the "Catholics" we know who are voting for Obama....who park in church parking lots with Obama bumper stickers.

Is there a better or stronger reason for homeschooling/taking FULL responsibility for religious education of our children this friend asked? When studies come out like this one, http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0506433.htm it is clear that catechism classes are not working. Our youth need to be taught CORRECTLY, UNEQUIVOCALLY what the Catholic church teaches!

Immediately it also became apparent that this election was proof and condemnation of how the catechism of the last generation has failed Catholics. That Catholics don't know God's opinion on LIFE and how to LIVE their Catholic faith is the devil's work. How is it that we're not more outraged by the holocaust of soon to be 50 million babies?! This is the generation that created cafeteria Catholics who live hypocritically to what the Catholic church teaches. Let us pray that the grace of God will open our hardened hearts to defend the defenseless.

Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. ~ Matthew 25:40

LINK to the over 100 Catholic Bishops and their election statements on LIFE issues.

LINK to a Bishop on how this election effects our Judgement Day.

LINK to why Christians can not vote for pro-abortion Obama or be complicit in the sin of murder.

The image that Cardinal Egan wants voters to consider, the 20 week old baby of which he asks, "Is there any doubt that it is a human being?

Our Church should see and address this catechism issue with firmer messages required from the pulpit to enlighten and convert the adults, they are the ones who need religious education. Our Church is failing in religious education that arms, envigorates and empowers the next generation.

Hearts on fire to LEARN and LIVE the Catholic faith is the TRUE *Change* we need.

Saint cake

Our homeschool group had an All Saints Day party this weekend. We played Saint Bingo, Saint musical chairs and pin the flame on Saint Jude!

Pictured above are some tasty tombstones from our saint cake. Each child's dessert had a laminated holy card for their remembrance of the day.

As golden to us as these leaves...

Was there ever a more lovely day?

After our Latin Mass for All Saints Day we continued our fellowship with a luncheon and a day outdoors. Father and the families watched the children explore and laugh and love each other's company.

Great conversation meandered for 4 hours as we sat on lawn chairs and soaked up the Fall.

In a movie version of the day there would be classical music and perhaps we'd all be dressed in Gatsby white, that was happening in my head... but the reality was even better!
Our friends are as golden to us as these leaves! The Latin Mass is a gift enough. But God, in His generousity, has given us amazing families to share it with!

Thank you Lindsay for organizing what will be at the top of my favorite days this Autumn.