What I'm thinking...

It's a most unusual afternoon here at my house. My wonderful , devoted, long-suffering husband has taken all the children ~ nine of our own, and four borrowed ~ to a football game. After the game, they'll go over to a family gathering, so it'll be a long afternoon outing for the whole gang. And here I am, alone, in the quiet of our home.

Ah, blessed peace.

Of course, the house is a mess. No, I mean a MESS. My plea to my husband was that I really would like the time to clean up the disarray and catch up on the mountain of laundry before Sunday's rest. But, I have to admit, having the house to myself to leisurely clean and cook and change over laundry is the dearest rest I could possibly ask for.

===sigh===

The blessed quiet...

Except for I do have Enya's newest cd playing. It's called And Winter Came and it is absolutely beautiful. What we've come to expect from Enya, but better, because this one is a Christmas album! She has recorded a hauntingly beautiful version of O Come O Come Emmanuel in Latin, for instance, that is our new standard for Advent. And among other new music, she sings a song called Journey of the Angels. The words go like this:

Somewhere in a winter night
the angels begin their flight

dark skies with miles to go

no footsteps to be lost in snow.

They fly to You

Oh, new-born King,

They fly to You

Oh angels sing.

One is sorrow,

One is peace,

One will come

To give You sleep.

One is comfort,

One is grief,

One will take

The tears You weep.

New star

In a midnight sky,

In heaven all the angels fly.

Soft wings so true

And all things they will give to You.

Somewhere in a winter night

The angels begin their flight

Tonight all sing.

Oh angels,

A new-born King.

Tonight all sing,

Oh, angels,

A new-born King.

Aren't the words lovely? We highly recommend this album. If you're an Enya fan, especially, it's a must-have!

So, anyway, here I am. Beautiful music playing, the snow falling outside. I've got a fire in the woodstove and turkey soup starting on the stove. I'm getting set to go down-cellar and look for our Advent wreath. By the time the children come home, I'd like to have the Autumn decorations down and the Advent Wreath up and ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the first day of the new Church year! How are you preparing?

Besides getting our Advent Wreath started, we like to start the new Liturgical Year by making resolutions, much like most people do on January 1st. Unlike our New Years' promises, which tend to be of a saecular nature, like resolving to lose weight or keep the cellar clean, our Liturgical Year promises are of a purely spiritual nature. We've already decided on a family resolution, regarding the number of rosaries we plan to say in the year, and how we're going to record our intentions from the rosaries for spiritual bouquets. But, each of us makes individual resolutions, too.

I've been thinking I'd like to take the year to concentrate on one of the three Divine Virtues. I'd like to investigate all the avenues leading to and from either Faith, Hope, or Charity, and by learning, find how best to grow in this virtue. I haven't been able to decide which one I want to do yet, though I've pretty much eliminated Hope for the time being. Being generally sanguine in nature, I haven't had a whole lot of problem with the virtue of Hope, though I know that I probably underestimate its implications in the other virtues.

I expect that I can benefit greatly from a study on Charity, as that's traditionally one most of us (women, especially) struggle with. And of the virtues, St. Paul tells us "...the greatest of these is charity..." Concentrating on Charity would also work beautifully with Advent preparations. But, then, I can't help but think that Faith is the foundation of all the virtues, and would be wonderful to meditate on....

Decisions, decisions. And I've only got a few hours to come up with something!

And a million things yet to do...

So, I'm off

to make an Advent Wreath,

and cut some onions for my turkey soup

and change over a load of laundry

while I think about it some more...

I hope everyone is having a blessed and peaceful day!

Post Script: Hurray for the Olathe Pirates, the home town team of our dear friends at St. Joseph's parish! I just got a text from my husband, from the stands ~ amid a cheering crowd, to be sure. The Pirates just won the AA Football State Championship, 22-21! Wahoo! What a game that must have been! I know I'll be hearing about it from all sides as soon as the troops return this afternoon. &:o) I can't wait to hear how dear, tiny Olathe, Colorado will be celebrating this week!

Turkey Day Stats

Twenty-five people,
*Eleven of which were teenagers,

*Six in the ten-and-under crowd

One long, long table, consisting of

*One eight foot table and

*One six foot table pushed together,

plus

*One four foot "kids' table" in the kitchen

*Besides all the folks who propped their plates on their knees

*and ate while sitting on the couches in the living room

Three turkeys
*One baked traditionally with stuffing,
*One baked traditionally, stuffed with herbs and oranges,
*One fried by the "uncles" in the driveway

~ 57 lbs total

Thirty pounds of potatoes,

*Peeled by the children while watching the Macy's parade

*Half for mashed potatoes,

*Half saved for Thanksgiving Friday's traditional vat of potato soup.

Mushrooms

*Awesome baked recipe of my sister's I'll have to share!

Two kinds of stuffing

*One without nuts, one with

Three cans jellied cranberry sauce

One large serving bowl cranberry/jello/apples/celery/nuts stuff

One vat green beans

*Grandmom's scrumptious, southern-style green beans!

Two kinds of rolls, *Four dozen total

Sweet potato fluff

*With "smarshmellows"

Apple rings

*A family recipe, made with spiced apple rings,

Five gallon cooler of sweet tea

*And two gallons, non-sweetened

Pies

One apple

One cherry

One pecan (actually two, but I forgot about one of them and burnt it to a crisp...)

One chocolate cheesecake

One blueberry cheesecake

One plain vanilla cheesecake

*made by me...

Three pumpkin

Two oreo mud

*made by Michelle and our friend, Lisa...

One lemon meringue (that never did get its meringue...)

Two cookies and cream

One chocolate-peanutbutter

Three chocolate m&m

Two banana cream

*made by Jon...

Schedule

*Started cooking pies Wednesday afternoon, finished sometime in the wee hours, after Mom turned the kitchen over to Pie-man Jon.

*Started preparation of turkey by 8 a.m. Thursday, and finished with the savories by app. 2:30 p.m..

*Grace said at about 3 p.m.

*Meal finished and dishes washed by 5 p.m.

*Dessert still not finished...

Sum total

25 Happy, Stuffed Friends and Family

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Cheesecake Quiz!

You Are a Chocolate Mocha and Orange Cheesecake

Enthusiastic and intense, there's so much you love in the world... it's hard to do it all. You are good at getting things to mix - friends, flavors, hobbies. You're the master of fusion!

What Kind of Cheesecake Are You?

This and more before 10:00 this morning...

Happy Thanksgiving Week, Friends!

To share in more Gratituesday blessings, make sure and run over to Laura's today!

Well, of course they have a pie quizz!

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality. You're able to relate to many types of people with many different tastes. But you're by no means generic or ordinary. In fact, you're one of the most original people around. Those who like you are looking for something (or someone) special. You tend confuse people when they first meet you. But you're not as complicated as you seem. Even though you have a lot of spice and flavor to you, you're never overpowering. You are a calm and comforting force in people's lives.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Simple Woman Monday, November 24th

Outside My Window ... Ahhh.... At first glance, I'm filled with gratitude: It's a beautiful, crisp clear Colorado morning; a beautiful day to be alive. At second glance, grrr.... I see that the yard which was cleaned on Saturday is littered with a bunch of scraps of blue paper that Bella the dog has scrounged up from somewhere and torn to shreds. Sigh.... I guess that just makes for a good excuse for some fresh air and exercise later!

I am hearing... chatter and banging around upstairs where the girls are supposed to be cleaning their rooms. Sounds like they're having a lot of fun while they're cleaning...

I am reading... Cookbooks right now and not much else. Looking for a cranberry relish recipe that's not too tart, not too sweet.

I am wearing... A long, multicolored gypsy skirt (lilac, navy blue, green, brown) a lilac sweater over a white tee, and my trusty old slippers, which, as they are barely being held together with super glue, just might make it 'til Christmas (honey.)

I am hoping... and praying all our children and their friends arrive safely from Omaha tonight

From the Learning Rooms... Not much going on this week, with all the company coming in. Planning to keep up with our Math through Wednesday and read Thanksgiving storybooks together, while concentrating on lots of home economics.

From the kitchen ... We will have between 25 and 30 people here for Thanksgiving, but all our family members split up the cooking chores so it's not really overwhelming. Our family unit is in charge of one 22 pound turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce/relish, and pies. Pies, pies and pies. The boys and Michelle will turn the kitchen into a pie factory on Tuesday and Wednesday and crank out between ten and twenty pies. (Not that we need that many, but they can never make up their minds about which ones to make, so they just make them all.)

One of my favorite things... Having my boys home! Kevin (19), Jon (17), and Dominic (15) will be home, with four of their friends (from Catholic boarding school in Nebraska) who can't make it to their own homes for the holiday. It's always so much fun having so many young people around! We wish our oldest son, Paul (21), could be here, but he's spending Thanksgiving with his girl, Nicole's, family. Alas! It won't be quite everyone home for Turkey Day, but it'll be close!

I am thankful for... My great big goofy American Family!

Around the house... Blowing up air mattresses, hoping we have at least one or two that don't have pinhole leaks. Cleaning the refrigerator today to get ready for the busy week of cooking.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Aside from all the cooking and cleaning, and Thankgiving Day itself, we have chiropractor appointments on Wednesday and Friday and are getting to meet for the first time the wife of an old family friend on Saturday at a family barbeque, and then the high school football team of our former home town across the state made it to the State Championship final game, which will fortuitously be played near us in the Denver area ~ so we'll be taking in a football game on Saturday, too! And, then, with all the teenagers around for the whole week, who knows what else will come up!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing:

Links to this and other last minute Thanksgiving projects here.
Run over to Peggy's to meet a world of kindred spirits at her Simple Woman Monday gathering!

Fun Projects for Thanksgiving Week

We found a few things to try out for next week through our favorite crafting headquarters, Crafty Crow.

We'll most definitely make this simple bead bracelet that tells the Thanksgiving story. I know the little girls will love that one! And this collage turkey project looks like lots of fun. And, of course, handprint/footprint turkeys are a must do! So easy for the little ones. Check out the pictures of our finished products here.

And for edible fun, we're going to have a hard time choosing between these super easy chocolate kiss acorns, these adorable turkey cookies these corn on the cob cupcakes, and these oh-my-gosh-adorable oreo cookie turkeys. We may have to make them all!


Last but not least, if you're looking for recipes for the Big Day on Thursday, Catholic Cuisine posted its Holiday Food Fair last week! Lots of fabulous ideas over there!

Question

I have a problem, a recurring one.

And I have guilt about this one, no matter which way I decide to go. Here's the scenario. Yuyum has had a cold. But, this morning, we brought him to Mass without really giving it a second thought, because, though he was sniffling a little, he'd been much better yesterday, almost over it. It seemed like a no-brainer; of course we'd bring him to Mass.

But by the time we got there and dipped our fingers into the holy water at the back of church, he was serial coughing ~ big ugly coughing. Nonstop. And the nose was dripping. And the eyes were tearing. It was yucky. And distracting for everyone, so I ended up taking him out to the vestibule and holding him there the whole time. He felt better snuggling with Mommy back there, anyway. Poor little guy.

In hindsight, I realize I should have just stayed home with him and sent the rest of the gang to Mass with their Daddy. If I'd have known his cold was still that bad, I would have kept him home. I think. Maybe.

Gosh. It's just not so easy.

What do you think?

I've gone back and forth on this cold problem for years and need some objective opinions. It's easy if the child has the flu or a stomach ailment. But an old fashioned cold never seems to warrant the same quarantine. If I stayed home every time someone had a cold, I'd miss Mass most of the winter. But, then, is it fair to subject the whole church to my wheezing, sneezing, sniffling, hacking child? And his germs?

So, my question is: Should you bring a child to church with a cold? Is there a litmus test for church-suitable snottiness? Just how bad should a cold be to justify staying home? What do you do? What would you like to see other parents do?

PS~ I should add that we drive approximately an hour to and from Mass, and can't really split Masses so my husband and I can both get there...

Hair-Doo Wop Ditty

Cathy-doo
Mommy-doo

Shelly-doo
T'reesa-doo
Anna-doo
An old favorite of hers... She did it all by herself!

On the Feast of Our Lady's Presentation

It is traditional belief that St. Anne and St. Joachim dedicated their only daughter, Mary, to God in her earliest years, offering the great sacrifice of having her brought up in the Temple. Not in their own home. It's a difficult concept for loving parents to get their brains around.

Having done it myself, I can understand and sympathize with the difficult decision to send older children ~ teenagers ~ away to be educated. But toddlers? It's hard to imagine.

But Mary was no ordinary toddler.

We have to understand that Our Blessed Mother was singularly blessed, not only in her spotless person, but in her parents. They obviously heard God's Will and had the courage and faith to obey it. The place for their extraordinary little girl, the woman who was to be the Mother of God, was away from the world, being raised as close to the Father as it was possible. There were some of the saints who were dedicated in the same way as small children, and it was surely no easy decision for their parents to make, either. But, it's heart-rending, isn't it, to think of it in terms of our own families, our own small children?

Sure, we want our children to be saints. But, to dedicate them to God so completely that we give them up? In this day and age, the practical application doesn't even exist. Maybe that's a good thing. Who on Earth could we trust so completely?

But, we can dedicate our children to God without sending them away. In fact, in our times, one of the best ways to dedicate them to Heaven is to keep them centered in our homes, steeped in our Faith.

We can teach them service to God through our example in practicing the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

The boys can learn to serve at the altar, the girls can learn to arrange the altar flowers and take care of the linens. (These are things young Mary undoubtedly learned to do!)

When we educate our children, we can be sure to teach them also the universal interrelationship with Divine Providence ~ in all that they learn, in math and the sciences, language, art, and music, even shop class, home ec and PE.

By our example, we teach them habits of goodness and respect for the discipline of faith.

We pray for them and teach them to pray.

It all comes round in a circle, back to God, cause, effect, and purpose. When our children laugh and play they can send their wholesome happiness heavenward, and it will be received as prayers. When they sleep, when they wake, when they celebrate, when they suffer, our children can be gaining merit. Every minute of the day. We dedicate them to God by teaching them to dedicate themselves to Him. Whether they are two or twenty-two, we, as their parents, can and should teach them that their identity is with and through Him. And that, whatever their eventual vocation is, saecular or religious, they will find no greater happiness on this earth than they will knowing, loving and serving God.

Teaching them these things, and living with Christ the King as the center of our family universe ~ this is how we dedicate our children to God.

In this day and age, it's not an easy thing to do. The world, the devil, and our own bad inclinations all conspire against us. It's not easy overcoming the message of the average American saecular humanist ~ who doesn't understand that goodness is happiness and worldliness is not. But, it's well worth the trouble; the rewards are eternal!

Saints Anne and Joachim are ideal patrons for parents whose goal is to raise their children above the world. And the Blessed Mother, herself, is the tenderest guide.

Prayer for Mothers

Father in heaven, grant me the grace to appreciate the dignity which you have conferred on me. Let me realize that not even the Angels have been blessed with such a priviledge - to share in your creative miracle and bring new Saints to heaven.

Make me a good mother to all my children after the example of Mary,the Mother of your Son. Through the intercession of Jesus and Mary I ask your continued blessings on my family. Let us all be dedicated to your service on earth and attain the eternal happiness of your kingdom in heaven. Amen.

Prayer to St. Joachim and St. Anne

Great and glorious patriarch, St Joachim, and good St Anne, what joy is mine when I consider that you were chosen among all God's holy ones to assist in the fulfillment of the mysteries of God, and to enrich our earth with the great Mother of God, Mary most holy. By this singular privilege, you have become most powerful with both the Mother and her Son, so as to be able to obtain for us the graces that are needful to us.

With great confidence I have recourse to your mighty protection, and I commend to you all my needs, both spiritual and temporal, and those of my family. Especially do I entrust to your keeping the particular favour that I desire and look for from your intercession.

And since you were a perfect pattern of the interior life, obtain for me the grace to pray earnestly, and never to set m heart on the passing goods of this life. Give me a lively and enduring love for Jesus and Mary. Obtain for me also a sincere devotion and obedience to Holy church and the sovereign pontiff who rules over her, in order that I may live an die in faith and hope and perfect charity. Let me ever invoke the holy Names of Jesus and Mary. And may I thus be saved. Amen.

Truth or Consonants

Anna (6) and I have been working on the letter H.

So, this afternoon, we were playing a little game together where she tried to think of everything on her person that began with the letter of the day. And she was doing very well, with only a little bit of hinting on my part.


She got "Heart" right away.


And "Hands."


And "Hair."


But then she was stumped.


So I gave her a little Hint, pointing to that area on the side of her little frame, between her waist and her thigh.


And, you know what she said?


Take a guess.



*



*



*



*



*



*



*



*



*



*



*







Nope.


Seriously, you couldn't possibly guess.



She said



SPLEEN!





Ahahahahahaha!


I didn't know she had ever even heard that word!

(And, NO, I was not looking for the word you're thinking, kids! Sheesh!)

It was Hip. I wanted her to say Hip.

But, spleen? Where did she get spleen?

snickersnicker


I still laugh every time I think of it.

(But, yeah, we need to work on that H sound a little more...)

A Quiz for the Christmas Shopping Season

Myspace Quizzes at WishAFriend.com

I came out as a wise spender. Though, I have to admit, it's only because my husband makes me be. If left to my own devices, I'm afraid I'm the worst of spendthrifts...

How Obama Got Elected

Have you seen this yet?

Fascinating.

Today we remember...

...the dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul.

St. Peter's Basilica, the "home base" of the Pope, so integral to the history of our Faith, also has a fascinating architectural history. Old St. Peter's was started by Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, but, having fallen into disrepair by the 16th century underwent extensive renovation (actually rebuilding). Starting in the pontifical reign of Pope Julius II in 1505, and continuing over the next 120 years, the basilica finally reached completion under the reign of Pope Innocent X in the mid 17th century. Much drama surrounded the entire project, but God's Will prevailed, and the Basilica of St. Peter is celebrated today, and rightfully so, as the greatest of all churches in Chrisiandom, and the seat of the true Faith.

These first two images are of "old" St. Peter's...

(Notice there's no dome?)

This is "new" St. Peter's ~ how it looks today...

A detailed blueprint of the basilica today can be found here. And a "tour" can be found here.

Above is a drawing of the 16th century reconstruction by architect, Bernardo Rosellino. And, below is a model of Michelangelo's plan for the dome.

Pope John XXIII offering Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in 1962.

And now, St. Paul's Basilica

The Basilica of St. Paul "Outside the Walls," was originally built by Emperor Constantine over the burial place of St. Paul, and, like St. Peter's, has a long history of renovation. You can find a very complete history at the Catholic Encyclopedia site.

Here is what St. Paul's looks like today...

Must-see movie for today: Charlton Heston and Rex Harris in The Agony and the Ecstacy! If you don't own it, as it's considered a movie classic, it can be found in most video rental stores.

For a coloring page for the day, you can save the above black and white image of Saints Peter and Paul to your computer to print out. It works beautifully as an 8x10.

The beautiful images used here are from Sacred Destinations.