My BOY Overheard at the Breakfast Table

4-year-old Andrew: "Mommy, am I the hungriest person here?" (as he eats yet another pancake after everyone else has left the table.)

To 4-month-old Peter: "Someday you’ll be as hungry as me!"

To me: "Mommy, did I eat sure a lot?"

And as soon as he has swallowed his last bite of breakfast, before he has even put his fork down: "Mommy, can I have a snack?"

Rules of Etiquette

Today my 7-year-old daughter Lucy handed me a list of rules she made up for her sister's upcoming birthday. I thought that many of these rules would benefit society at large, so I will start educating the masses by posting the list here (I have corrected spelling so that the masses may be educated more easily):

Margaret's Birthday Rules
1) Don't stick out your tongue
2) Only one dessert per person, including adults
3) Don't spit! No mean faces
4) Don't say the cake is ugly
5) Don't make personal remarks
6) You shall not touch the Queen's stuff against her will
7) Don't hit the Queen
8) Bow before the Queen!
9) Don't bow sideways backwards
10) Don't kick the Queen out of her throne
11) Don't flick the Queen
12) Don't spank he Queen
13) Don't take any of the Queen's stuff home
14) Don't ask to watch TV!

Punishment:
Be arrested
Time out
Sit in the car
Can't watch the Queen open presents

Homeschooling Carnival 27 is up!

Go here for this week's Carnival of Homeschooling!

What's your Home School's name?

Do you have a name for your home school? I have been homeschooling for 2 years now, but haven't pinned down "the" name for what we're trying to do here. I love St. Therese, and much of what we do is modeled after her "Little Way," but I don't know if my boys would like a name reflecting this as much as my girls might. What are the names of YOUR home schools and why? OR, if you have chosen to remain nameless, why?

Overheard in the Bathtub

Andrew (4) is in the tub, making bubbles with a squeeze toy: "Mommy, look! I can easily kill the bad guys. I am thundering them. Watch me throw a bomb at them."

Me: " "

None of my 4 girls would imagine that bubbles coming from a bath toy were a weapon of mass destruction (well, maybe my almost-2-year-old would destroy the bathroom by splashing it).

Where I'm From

I found this and thought it would be interesting to try it. And interesting exercise in remembering your childhood & adolescence. Where are YOU from?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am from Dorothy Hammil haircuts, from Otter Pops and Star Wars.

I am from the big brick house my father built, from the musty old house of our poverty, and the windy house of our love. From the white house with the picket fence and the lemon tree, the 619 house, and the Wong's house.

I am from the California Poppy, the pink desert primrose, and the dust; from the Texas Bluebonnet, the pecan tree, and the humidity; from the Colorado Columbine, the lilac and the snow. I am from the Rose.

I am from Midnight Mass and unplanned Sundays, from Grandma and Grandpa, from Abuelito and Abuelita, from Borobia & Bodenhammer.

I am from giving till it hurts and praying till it stops hurting.

From "te lo haran tus hijos" and "you can't chew gum and walk at the same time."

I am from Christ Crucified. From Feasts and Fasts, sin and sorrow for sin, loneliness and love.

I'm from Spain, Portugal, Germany, England & Scotland; from spaghetti & Ragu and Enchiladas Suizas.

From the hiding of priests and clandestine marriages in Abuelita's basement, the stone bridge Thomas Skelton Hutchinson built in Scotland, and Tommy's ability to pick up any musical instrument and play it well.

I am from lost heirlooms, memories of long dinners and conversations at my grandmother's table, from the clown blanket Aunt Toni made for me, and the graduation dress my Mother made for my sister, the blue linen Confirmation dress she made for me, and the smocked dresses she made for my daughters.

I am a child of God and hope someday to return Home.

COOKIE!

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

These seem to be great qualities for a mother to have. But you know, it struck me that these "blog things" with quizes that give you fun results are all soothers. I can't imagine one saying "You are a rotten apple and everyone hates you." It is nice to think I am a "chocoate chip cookie" but I can't just be content knowing most people find me comforting. What if my husband or children don't? Then my comforting nature means nothing, since my husband and children are my vocation, not "most people." My cookie status teaches me nothing about how to be what I ought to be. It does not challenge me to be a better cookie or even see any faults I might have (the chocolate chip cookie, in my opinion, is the best just as it is, and does not need any improving). I know it is just a game, but this is blog is supposed to be my spiritual exercise, so bear with me.

Anyway, I am craving a cookie right now so I have to go find something to distract me before I give in!

Corpus Christi

Today I have been perusing other blogs, looking at pictures of Pope Benedict XVI's Corpus Christi procession in Rome. Then I saw pictures of like processions in different countries. I hope the US will have some this weekend, but I am sad to think that we might not. Jesus Christ our Lord gave His very LIFE for us, and are we too embarrassed to walk among our neighbors showing the world that we love Him? Or don't we believe that He is here with us in the Holy Eucharist? What a gift God has given us! We can receive our Lord every day if we want to, and yet we ignore Him all week, and can't even acknowlege in public that He is God. If your parish, diocese or archdiocese is having a procession in honor of our Lord, please post about it here! If there are pictures, please post a link. I would love to see them.

I thought I was a Hobbit

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Kids' Novena to St. Joseph

This morning the kids and I decided to write a novena prayer to St. Joseph to sell our house. You see, yesterday a family came to see it and they really liked it! They only need to get their mom's ok and they'll make an offer in a few days, so we are pretty excited.

Anyway, this is what we came up with as Margaret (5) came up with the rhymes, Andrew (4) drew and colored St. Joseph, and Lucy (7) wrote out the prayer (I left in her capitalization).

Dear Saint Joseph to thee we pray,
We start our Novena in the month of May.
Please help us Sell our house Soon
So that we can Move today at Noon.
Today in school we shall say this Novena
today and every Day help me be Good as Gold.
I love you Saint Joseph and all the Saints and Angels. Amen.
And Anne says to tell you we have a new baby.

Since it is already 11 AM, I don't expect St. Joseph to make me pack the whole house by noon, but I have no doubts he will hear the children's prayer and smile.

Selling a House and Finding a Home

St. Joseph, pray for us.

We put our house on the market towards the end of September, 2005. We thought we would sell it within a month and be in our new house by Thanksgiving. I packed up anything I didn't think we'd need until after Christmas to put in the garage, including summer clothes and books I usually use for Lent and Easter. A few people came to see it, but almost always right after a snowstorm, when there was mud on the floor from several pairs of little boots.

Well, the snowstorms are just about over for the winter, and our house is still on the market. I had to go a couple of times to dig through boxes to find that certain cookbook or an extra blanket (thank goodness I labeled most of the boxes before Ian took them out to the garage), but for the most part I haven't missed anything I packed away.

Our house still has too much "stuff" in it, but we have been slowly giving away, throwing away, and finding peace in less. When the realtor's office calls and says that someone wants to come see the house in an hour, we can say yes (the only exception was when I was in labor a couple of months ago), and have the house looking good and the kids in the van to go see their grandmother or Daddy within the time allotted.

I am not sure what I meant to say in this post, except that in spite of being ready to move to a new house since last October, I am at peace with being here a while longer. I hope we can begin the new school year in our new place in September, but I hoped we'd spend last Christmas there, too. I went through a small anxiety attack when I was about to give birth to my youngest son, but Ian assured me that I would not have to lift a finger if we had to move at that time, and since his birth, I have learned to take one day at a time, and fill it with as much prayer and happiness as I can. I really can't live as if this were no longer our home. I must let the kids play and not be afraid that they'll make a mess. This IS our home until we sell it, and we will surely have at least a month to pack things up before we move.

In the meantime, I am trying to finish up the school year with the kids, and give away or toss as much as possible. If something we have is not worth moving to a new place, out it goes. And since I have not missed most of what's in the garage, I am seriously considering just dropping off the boxes at a local charity! That's a lot of storage space that could be used for something we want to keep, or even for keeping it empty. I am sure that a lot of what we have could be more useful to someone else. I am striving to live simply and teach our kids to live simply as well.

If someone comes to see the house today and wants to buy it - GREAT! But if not, I can live with that too. Our novena doesn't end until Thursday. I can hang on patiently until then ;)

Kids at Mass vs. Kids in CLOW

Here is a beautiful homily by Fr. Martin Fox about handing the Faith on to our children.

I often think about how many small children I actually see at Mass on Sunday, besides my own. We used to attend a Mass where CLOW (Children's Liturgy of the Word) was provided. All the kids would troop out to peppy piano music, and go to one of the community rooms down the hall. Later they would all come back and sit with their families. I didn't really know where they were going or what they were doing, but one day they all came back after their activities wearing crowns made of paper colored with crayons. The significance? It was the Feast of Christ the King. I could possibly understand making a crown to put on a statue of the Sacred Heart the kids might have at home, but why were the kids wearing the crowns themselves? I can only guess that they made the crowns while listening to someone tell them about Jesus being our King. As to why the crowns were made for the kids' heads? Maybe they learned that because of our Baptism we are part of the Royal Priesthood of Christ, and therefore deserve to be crowned like Him? Maybe since we make up the Body of Christ, we should wear His crown? Maybe it was just a fun activity for the kids to do while their teachers read to them? In any case, did the kids learn anything true about our Savior? Did they learn anything about the Mass (the "source and summit" of our Faith)? I wonder.

A priest once said, when asked why his parish did not offer much in the way of a "Sunday School" program: Parishes that have extensive Sunday school are parishes where the parents are not doing their job.

Now, I am not saying that CCD and other religious education programs do not have a place in parish life. I do wonder about the efficacy of sending our young ones out of Mass to do a fun activity (perhaps related to the day's readings) instead of teaching them about Mass (and how to behave there) ourselves. Where better to learn about the different parts of Mass than sitting in the pews? They can make paper crowns at home, can't they? Should Mass time be the time for that sort of activity? When they are too old to go to CLOW, will they be prepared participate in Mass? Will they know what the Mass is all about? Will they want to go anymore?

Multiple Personalities

My daughter Annie, who just turned three, is hardly ever herself. Every day, indeed, sometimes every hour, she corrects me if I call her Annie or Anne or even Sweetie. "No, Mommy, I am is _______."

Sometimes she is "Sleeping Beauty," sometimes she is "Beauty and the Beast." Yesterday she threw me a curve when she came up to me and solemnly announced, "Mommy, I am is Father Gene." Father Gene is a holy priest who assists our pastor. He often says the 11:30 AM Mass we attend on Sundays, and he baptized our newest baby Peter a couple of weeks ago.

One day as I was changing her diaper, I asked Anne who she was today. I asked her if she was Sleeping Beauty or Princess Aurora, or a fairy, or Snow White. To each she said, "No." I finally asked her "Well, who are you?" My usually-feisty, "don't hug me too tightly I need to run around" little girl said "I your Baby. Just your Baby." I cried and held her as long as I could before she ran off to be Robin Hood.

Got Kids?

My oldest child just turned 7. No twins, although I do get asked that a lot! I rarely go out with all 6 of them alone, but when insanity strikes I have been known to enter Walmart or go to a park without another adult.

I try to have a Mother's Sabbath once a month (read the wonderful book A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot). That means that I go out without children (except for whoever is nursing at the time), go to confession and/or see my spiritual director, do the grocery shopping for the week, go out to lunch, and then do whatever I need to do to "recharge" my batteries. My husband does not like to window shop, but I really do, so I walk around one or two of my favorite shops. I was given a bunch of gift cards for Christmas, and I haven't redeemed them all, so I sometimes buy something with one of them. When the weather is nice I might take a book of a spiritual nature to a park or other nice outdoor place where I can sit and read. Meanwhile, my husband keeps the kids at home.

When I do have to go out with all the children (usually WITH my husband), I have a secret weapon: Put on lipstick and smile. I recently got my hair cut and intend to keep it looking nice so as to be a better witness! If I look better, I feel better and I stand up straighter and somehow this gives me greater confidence. If anyone asks about our family size, I smile and say my kids are a blessing from God, and we would not have it any other way. Usually they don't say anything derogatory after that. Sometimes someone will say "I don't have the patience for so many kids" and I say, "Neither do I, but God is teaching me."

Holy Saturday Musings

What is Holy Saturday all about? What significance should it have in my life?

On the first Holy Saturday, the followers of Jesus were scared. They didn't understand what had happened the day before, nor did they know what would happen the day after. 2000 + years later, we know that Christ rose from the dead on the first Easter Sunday. We know that Lent is a time to examine our lives and try again to get back on the road to the Cross and beyond with Christ.

But what about Holy Saturday; this day between our Lord's Passion and His Resurrection?

I am a procrastinator. Perhaps Holy Saturday is a Grace day so I can catch up on all the things I should have done during Lent. Can I put all of Lent in one day? Maybe not, but Holy Saturday seems to be a "last chance" to get into the spirit of Christ's life, Passion & death before His glorious Resurection.

That reminds me of the parable of the vineyard workers. The owner of the vineyard goes out throughout the day to find workers. The workers who come late get the same reward for their work as the ones who have been working all day. Seems unfair to the early workers, but God's mercy extends to all of us, if we will just get to work at some point before the end. Holy Saturday may just be the last hour before sunset for some of us!

So what work does God have for me to do? Well, I find myself a wife and mother. My husband is a holy man who works hard to ensure that I can stay home with our 6 children. My children need their diapers to be changed, they need to be fed, clothed, taught their letters and their Faith. Our home needs straightening, and clothes and dishes need washing.

As I said, I am a procrastinator. It is almost 5 PM on Holy Saturday, and I have not yet helped the kids make the Easter gifts for their aunts and uncles which I said we'd make today. I haven't put a load of laundry in the washer. I haven't put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I haven't said my daily prayers. Instead, I started this blog. I was putting off the work that God has laid out for me, but it has served as a reminder of what I need to be doing every day. Hopefully from now on I will blog AFTER I do my daily work! May God have mercy on me, a sinner.

Now, to work! I still have an hour before my husband gets home. I can at least put the clean laundry from last week away.