The Evolution of a Thanksgiving Dinner...

Thanksgiving day dawned snowy and foggy, but as family began to show up, the sun kindly broke through and, though it lit the blonde prairie with its thin November light, it didn't warm it up much! But, the men were warm enough out by the turkey deep-fryer to nurse a couple beers. And all was warm and toasty indoors, where we had the sense to drink punkin spice coffee.

All my brothers and sisters, my parents, my brother's two girls, and two of the boys' friends from school joined our ten children, my husband and me for Thanksgiving dinner. We were cozy with the woodstove crackling and the warmth of comfortable conversation and laughter. And, let me tell you, there were calories to burn!

Everyone contributed to the feast. Unfortunately, we didn't do a bird this year ourselves, because the oven at the old farmhouse is acting up, but we did the pies, the mashed potatoes and the sweet tea. My mom brought her famous Green Beans, Daddy Salad, and Sweet Potato Fluff. My sister brought our family classic, Apple Rings dessert, and her own Basil Dinner Rolls, which were scrumptious! And my brother brought an awesome Portobello Mushroom dish.

I'm sure there was more, but that's all I can come up with off the top of my head. I'll try to get some recipes and post them, as many are wonderfully festive for Christmas, too.

Here's how it looked, in a walnutshell:
Three of my four brothers waiting for the "pot to boil" so they can deep fry one of the three turkeys that were brought by extended family.

The potato-peeling brigade, working on the twenty-five pounds of potatoes to be mashed, the remnants of which have been made into today's traditional VAT of potato cheese soup!
The table set, before the food is all brought in. Don't you love the shabby (really shabby!) chic mix-and-match-chair look? Two farm tables put together didn't quite accomodate the 23 people who shared the bounty and blessings. All the odd chairs and extra table get stored away tonight. The gang just after Grandad offered the Thanksgiving blessing, and before the "Great Devour."Fifteen pies (a couple are missing in this pic), a plate of coconut fudge, and a fruit compote. The great pie-makers (Jon, Michelle and my brother's girls) received a round of applause at the "reveal," and then several moments of silence while everyone dug in!


Missing are the vignettes of the dishwashing and clean-up crew (though I have a video of it that's so hysterically representative of our day that I may have to try to download it), the games of cards, the squealing, playing children, and the grown-ups lying around with their hands on their bellies too tired and full to chase after them.


The day ended with a sing-along. Following, I'm making my first attempt to download a video of some of it, so let me know how it works!

The boys serenading us after Thanksgiving dinner

This is the song I am a Fine Musician in German.

The boys in the choir at the Academy in Omaha use this song as a warm-up. They began our sing-along for us by entertaining us with this one. What a hoot! I wish I'd gotten the whole thing, but I'm afraid, as it is, this video may slow people's computers down.

Please let me know if that happens, and I'll delete it. If it isn't a problem, though, I'll try to add the family rendition of Ave Maria. (Hopefully that one will turn out with brighter picture quality!)

* Just in case you wondered, "doodlesack" means bagpipes.

We made it here!

The actual, physical moving day was Monday, the feast of my namesaint, St. Elizabeth of Hungary. And I would much rather have been sitting in front of the computer writing a post about St. Elizabeth, one of my all-time favorite heavenly friends, than moving, let me tell you!

Though it was way tedious, and we all ended up with backaches and sore fingers from lifting sooooo many boxes and so much furniture, it was a very successful operation. I knew there was a reason God, in His mercy, gave us all these wonderfully strong young men! And bless Jon and Michelle for staying at the farm with all the Littles while Dad and the other brothers emptied out the old house. (I mostly finished packing and did all the cleaning up after, and you would not believe how many crayons and marbles I found in every crack, corner and crevice!)

This is the one picture we got on moving day before someone packed the camera! See my wonderful washing machine being moved in by Paul and Kevvy? We finally got it hooked back in today, and not a moment too soon! We have dirty clothes piling up to our chins!
These are the roses my most wonderful husband had waiting for me . See how they match the kitchen he painted for me before we got here? What a sweet surprise!
Lacking any other furniture, Jon and Therese made do with the edge of the hearth to play the keyboard. Can't have a day without music!
Furniture in and things are getting a little more back to normal by Wednesday afternoon. The children and my brother, Dave, relax over a rousing game of Pictionary here. Ah, what wonderful noise! I've missed the sounds of my teenage sons laughing and joking and arguing over board games.

Everyone's just happy to be together!

Gabey mugging. (See the crazy burping pencil sharpening monster behind him? This guy is a big hit at our house, and is responsible for some very short pencils around here.)
Anna, has crayons, will travel.
Cathy, just lost another tooth today, and we're all speculating about whether she'll have to gum her turkey tomorrow! Dominic, Theresa and our sweet family friend, Alena, in the middle of Pictionary.

Teaparty Break

The girls take a break from packing to host a teaparty for our neighbor friend. (What are they going to do without their best playmate right next door??) See what great tables and chairs boxes make?

L-R: Anna, Theresa, our friend, Lindsey, Cathy and Michelle

Another Great Saint

Happy feastday of St. Albert the Great, the saint who taught "everthing there is to know" and the instructor of the great St. Thomas Aquinas! I wish I had time to post more about him, as he's one of the great minds of the Church. We owe much to him! Along with St. Thomas Aquinas he's one of the heavenly patrons who's so good to apply to for aid in our studies. And in this day, where knowlege has a tendency to be so misplaced in the world, his wisdom is sorely needed!

Prayer to St. Albert Magnus

Dear Scientist and Doctor of the Church, natural science always led you to the higher science of God. Though you had an encyclopedic knowledge, it never made you proud, for you regarded it as a gift of God. Inspire scientists to use their gifts well in studying the wonders of creation, thus bettering the lot of the human race and rendering greater glory to God. Amen.

Have a Nice Day!

This one's going around the e-mail circuit. Isn't it an amazing "catch"?

H/T: Kate

This Would Have Worked For Me If I'd Had Sense To Do It A Long Time Ago...

OK, just had to pass this one along!

We're in the midst of packing up a four bedroom home, which shelters between 8 and 12 people and all their junk at any given time. While we've been unloading drawers and closets, we've run into a very disconcerting and annoying problem: hundreds of anonymous cords, adaptors and remotes.

Between my husband and me and our four teenage boys and all our electronic equipment, laptops, stereos, and cell phones, we must have collected 100 different kinds of wire-type thingamabobs and remote controls. And I haven't a clue which ones work and can be used, and which ones are broken or obsolete. Aghgh! So, I'm dumping them all in one box and hoping my sons can make sense of it all when we see them next week.

So what's the tip? Here it is: Somehow mark every adaptor and other cord that comes into your house with the name of the equipment to which it belongs! I'm taking a strip of electrical tape and marking with a sharpie all the ones I know for the time being. There is likely a more graceful way to do it, and I welcome ideas!!

Run over to Rocks In My Dryer for lots of great tips!

SAKES ALIVE!!

LOOK WHO'S FIVE!

Happy Birthday, sweetie!

Moving...

OK, so now we're really going... We're packing this week, and I'll be scarce on the computer because of that, um, "distraction." And then, a week from Monday we're loading the trucks and heading east, over the Rocky Mountains, back to the farm on the high prairie.

=sigh=

I've been saying goodbye to my beautiful valley for about two months now. We had the option of moving in September, but my husband, because he's a kind and thoughtful man and he knows his wife's heart, postponed the move for me to see the fall color in my valley.

Isn't he wonderful?

And we did get to see the aspen change in the mountains and hills that surround us here. We got to go through the corn maze up on the mesa behind us, and taste the fruit of the orchards around our town. We've had the pleasure of watching the yearly procession of deer that meander down from the hills in herds to fatten on the leavings of the farmers' fields before the winter cold draws them back in to the high country. They come early every morning and at dusk to check for fruit under our fruit trees, and follow the river south to the harvested fields of hay and alfalfa just beyond the town. Though we see them often, the deer are never commonplace to us.

While on a rosary drive last week, just as we rounded a slow corner up top of the mesa behind our house, a grand, three-point buck stepped out of some trees, walked majestically into the road right in front of us and stopped. He looked at us, as we slowed almost to a stop. Then, out of the woods, leapt one beautiful doe. She cantered across the road and into the field opposite, and was followed by her "husband," her crossing guard. We were awestruck. My goodness, God has made a beautiful world, and filled it with such wonder and grace!

(Not the actual deer, though a reasonable facsimile...)

Though we'll be glad to be closer to our family and old friends, we're sad to have to leave this place. After two and a half years, we're only just now getting familiar with all the geographical placenames: Grand Mesa, Garnet Mesa, Sunset Mesa, Peagreen Corner, Shavano Valley, Tabeguache Trail, Log Hill... And we've only just begun to explore the vast forested wilderness of the Uncompahgre Plateau.

We're absolute suckers for a beautiful view, and there are plenty here, in every direction

But it's not just the natural beauty, we've fallen in love with. It's also the slower, country pace. Though it's growing to be rather a big town, with a population of over 16,000, Montrose still has a small town heart. One day I watched rush hour traffic come to a dead stop on the main road through town, the highway that connects the rest of the world with Telluride, in fact. A little old man had inadvertently stranded himself on the center median, as he was very slowly crossing from the grocery store. He was not even at an intersection, but traffic stopped for him. Not a horn was honked. In fact, many people smiled and waved at him as they proceeded past him after he'd crossed.

You understand, I grew up in the suburbs of large cities where this would never have happened. It brought tears to my eyes. I half expected Norman Rockwell to appear with his pipe on the steps of the courthouse across the way.

Everything here in this tucked away little corner of the Rocky Mountains feels like a shadow of another time rests upon it. It's a modern town in many ways, with a super Walmart and even a good handful of popular restaurants, but more than half the local businesses are closed on Sunday. The only two drive-in theaters in Colorado survive here in this one valley. And cars full of little kids in pajamas fill them up on warm summer evenings. The carefully preserved Egyptian Theater in the next town over still employs ushers who walk the aisles during movies with little flashlights, and fuss at you if you have your feet on the seats or are talking too loudly.

Strangers ask you how you are and are interested inyour answer. And they don't stay strangers long. Friends congregate in the aisles in the grocery stores coffeeklatsching and the check-out clerks make a point to know you. It's unusual for the driver of a car passing on the side roads not to wave at you as they pass. Neighbors look out for all the neighborhood children and expect you to look out for theirs. Life revolves around the football games at the local high schools. And everyone, Catholic and nonCatholic, knows and loves the sisters that teach in our little Catholic school.

Our teaching sisters. We'll miss them so much! And our sweet little chapel with the cherubs all over the altar. And the school children at weekday Mass in their neat blue-plaid uniforms and navy blue berets. And the friends we've made here.

So I'm saying goodbye to my valley. Goodbye, at least for now. I've taken its chin in my hands and looked it in the eyes with you, somewhat sentimentally here. I hope you understand that love has smoothed over the faults and is fondly forgetful of any troubles we may have had. And it's not like there aren't many beautiful places in the world, and many we've been to and enjoyed thoroughly. But this is a place that's touched my heart; I'll always think of it as "my valley."

We'll be back, if nothing else, just to vacation and see our friends. We hope to retire here someday, if God wills it. But right now, He's got His hand on our backs and is moving us back over the mountains to the farm. There must be something important there that He wants us to do, or that He wants to do for us. You just never know.

And if He wants it, it's good. That's the only thing we can rely on in this life.

So, we'll be up to our elbows in packing boxes this week and physically moving next week, then settling in the week after that.

Ugh.

I may be scarce here on the blog for a while. But, I'll take pictures and pop in when I can. I'll have to see what everybody else is up to, if nothing else!

Blessings to All!

And, please, pray it doesn't snow next week!

Is this Homeschooling High School Level, or Public School High School Level?

Get a Cash Advance

Because if it's homeschooling high school level, I can vouch for the fact that this blog qualifies, as I know I must mention poopy diapers or fussy toddlers about every fourth post...

H/T: Let the Little Ones Come

How Do You Re-energize?

I remember taking a quizlet at a Homeschool Conference years ago to determine how best to avoid Homeschool Mom Burnout. One of the aims of the quiz was to point out to us moms where each of us found her best true "down time." And, then, of course, we were all encouraged to have no guilt about indulging prudently in whatever this was.

For some it was going out and spending time with girlfriends. Some needed the peace and pampering of long tub soaks ~ away from the crowd. Quite a few loved to lose themselves in books. Some needed to be in tune with nature. Plenty loved to go shopping, of course!

My problem was that I couldn't fit myself completely into any one of those re-energizing niches. The idea of every one of them appeals! But, I have to be in the mood; any one of them wouldn't be the ticket for me every time. (Though time alone with my wh with a pint of Guiness on Billy Goat Gruff's patio in Ouray comes very close.)

But, I've found the one perfect thing that I can access at any time, which does combine and nurture all the above interests, and is perfectly relaxing to me, though somewhat addicting.

Well, yeah, of course, it's blogging. As a non-stress pastime that enhances my other vocations and interests, it fills the bill nicely. If I could only somehow connect it with exercise, it would be the perfect hobby.

How do you re-energize? (Is coffee part of your routine, like it is mine?)

Our Little Prairie Chicks

So, we're living Little House on the Prairie these days. Using the Prairie Primer unit study guide as a roadmap for ideas and "prairie chicken paths" to follow, the girls and I are having too much fun to call it school.

Two little prairie chicks, Theresa (8) and Anna (5 this week).

My time and attention span being limited these days by our upcoming move, we're not getting in as much of the cooking and sewing, and deeper study that I'd like, but just reading these books together is such a wonderful bonding thing for us. We all cried together today, for instance, when Laura found her dear ragdoll, Charlotte, abandoned in the mud outside the house of that dratted neighbor child, near Plum Creek ~ and Charlotte was missing one shoe-button eye! =sniff=

(Above, a pic of 7-year-old Cathy, showing off her beloved ragdoll, Audrey Anne ~ This child, who almost never gets teary-eyed, definitely empathized with Laura's sorrow!)

A shot of the high prairie near where we live ~ west and over the mountains from where Laura's little house was on the prairie.

Especially since our girls were born on the prairie, and will be moving back there in a couple of weeks, we can associate with so much of the nature in Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. And her descriptions are always so perfect, so poetic. Everything about this read is good learning for the girls. The corner where we read about Laura's adventures every morning.

What better way to learn to write well than to read well? By reading the rhythm of words well written? These books are so alive with a sense of place and time, too. How better to gain an interest in natural science? And in the homemaking arts? In frugal living? In proper manners and respect? The Little House books are full of lessons. Every time I read them, I appreciate that more. They're a little blunt sometimes about the harshness of life in the days of our ancestors, but how better to learn the truth of history? The real-life characters who people these books suffered and sacrificed, but exhibited great patience and faith through it all.

What a good example they are to us who feel put out when the vcr doesn't work right!

And, talk about "prairie chicken paths" to follow! There's a Little House Cookbook, more than one Little House craft book, miscellaneous guides and historic accounts and picture books. There's even a Little House Paper Dolls book.

Paula at A Catholic Harvest suggested A Tribute To Charles "Pa" Ingalls, a recording of Pa Ingall's fiddle with Bruce Hoffman playing. We checked it out, ordered it and got it yesterday, then listened to it today while we worked. Even our little two-year-old danced to the fiddle. And it was perfect background music for our theme.

Yuyum (almost 2) kicking up his heels. He'll do anything for applause...

The girls, inspired by Laura and Mary's craftiness in On the Banks of Plum Creek, went out back and found some reeds, and were delighted to find them hollow and "telescoping" just as Laura describes in the book.
So they gathered a bunch.
... and made necklaces out of them. Too much girly fun!

The Question Is...

On Backwards Works-For-Me-Wednesdays, where I get to ask you all to help me...

Can you help me with

my Meatless Friday Rut?

We're just plain old sick of the two or three meals we fall back on every week. We've got tuna casserole, popcorn and cheese, and broiled salmon down pat. Any other ideas that are easy and quick enough for a hurried mom who's not a gourmet? That's healthful, but that the kiddos will actually eat? Can you help me add to my menu list? Then run over to Rocks in My Dryer and see who else you might be able to help out today!

It Really Is True

Yes, children. We really do have eyes in the backs of our heads.

It's not just me. It's true of all mothers. It really is.

I can detect Gabe pinching Anna from the next room, and really do know that Anna started it.

I know when someone is making rude faces out the back window of the car. Don't even have to look.

I can tell when a teenager is mouthing a snide comeback behind my back, even though not a sound has issued from his mouth.

Not only that, but I can smell a poopy diaper a mile away. And know whose turn it is to change that diaper by the swift rustly sounds of a big kid trying to make a quick getaway.

I know who left the bathroom door open, too.

And who stole the rest of the Halloween candy out of its hidden place in the top of the cupboard.

I know where Gabe's lost shoe is.

And what happened to that awful, holey black shirt that somebody insisted on constantly wearing.

My sons aren't on the phone 30 seconds before I know what they want. (This isn't hard, is it, Moms of college-age children?)

I can detect eye-rolling from miles away.

I know my husband is going to call before the phone rings.

I hear the baby the moment he wakes up. And I know whether or not he's going to go to back to sleep.

It's not brag, it's fact.

In addition to the eyes on the backs of our heads, all mothers are equipped with special invisible antennae, an outgrowth of instinct and senses sharpened with experience and mother-love.

We also have an invisible cord which attaches us to each of our children and our husbands, somewhere in the region of the heart. In an emergency that cord is pulled, and no matter where we are, or where our loved ones are, we know that somehow we need to spring into action. First by prayer, then with contact.

And, then there are, of course, the angels. The guardian angels of children and mothers must stay in constant contact, with each other and with the mother. We all have the duty of safeguarding these children, body and soul. It's a team effort.

So, you see, kids, we moms are better equipped than 007 with invisible mother gear and secret agents.

All for your safety and well-being.

Because we love you so much.

(Stop rolling those eyes!)

November

A Child's Calendar

November
by John Updike

The stripped and shapely Maple grieves
The ghosts of her
Departed leaves.
The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown.
And yet the world,
In its distress,
Displays a certainLoveliness---

Save on Crafting Supplies

Getting started with Christmas handmades, or gearing up to decorate for Thanksgiving? Click here to get printable 40% off coupon for single item at Hobby Lobby, good til Nov 10th. This site regularly updates with new coupons, as well.

Hobby Lobby is one of those Christian organizations (closed on Sundays even!) that we go out of our way to do business with! There are too few businesses that openly acclaim their Christianity. I'm pleased to fall hook, line, and sinker for it, even if ~ no, especially if ~ it's a marketing ploy, looked down upon by the saecular business world.

Tinker, Tailor, Artist, Accountant, Food Stylist?

" Yuyum" (almost 2 now!) has taken, just in the last two or three days, to manipulating and organizing, in the most unusual ways. See the concentration here, as he arranges bits of cheese into patterns on the fall tablecloth. Definitely a tactile in the making. He sat there, arranging cheese for about a half hour! That's major attention span for this little whirlwind, let me tell you! Isn't it fun to watch them developing talents and interest?

I love meeting these little people as they grow!

How could anyone think that this number 11 child should not be here in this world! Though there is no doubt that it's a struggle in many ways ~ not the least being the world's disapproval of our lifestyle ~ we have never felt anything but blessed by God's bounty in all our children. Every single one, and the entire as a group belonging to us.

I found the most wonderful blog this morning that expresses our feelings so perfectly. Christy, at Mum2Twelve, eloquently answers that oft-posed question: What, are you crazy? I couldn't possibly state it better myself! Run over and have a read if you haven't already seen this one!

A Visit a Day

While we can, anyway... The weather has been so glorious, and it's been a pleasure to visit cemeteries and pray for the souls so far during the octave.

This cemetery is on top of "Sunset Mesa" overlooking Montrose, Colorado, and is one of the older cemeteries in the area. The views of the San Juans are spectacular from up there! This is where I told my husband I want to be buried, so that people will linger, enjoying the view, and maybe end up saying more prayers for my soul... Daddy, with little Gabe on board and all the girls plus William. We figure that, including me, if you can count the pure souls of our under-seven crowd who prayed today, that's seven sets of plenary indulgences!
A view of the San Juans over the gravestones.
We hope it's not considered disprespecful for a three year old to play peek-a-boo from behind the tombstones. He did always want to know, "What does this sign say, Mommy?" And when we told him to say,"Bless Thomas" or "Bless Beatrice" he was always happy to do so ~ over his shoulder, as he ran to the next tombstone.

100 Things We Learned the Hard Way

41) Old house "charm" is not all it's cracked up to be. (This snuck in by my wonderful husband in the midst of caulking up cracks in this charming old house.)

42) If someone offers you a free cell phone, run the other way.

43) Appreciate every moment you have together with your husband. Even doing mundane things like cleaning off the dinner table mean the world when you lose that most precious and overlooked commodity, time.

44) Fold inward the front of infant boys' diapers and the back of infant girls' diapers.

45) Always keep a set of spare keys for all important vehicles and your home with a close-by neutral party, like grandparents ~ just in case.

46) It's always better to save up than to use credit, especially for luxuries.

47) Always double check on directions and times for Mass when traveling out of town; never trust the internet information!

48) Be prepared to remove all 14 ponytail holders with scissors after letting your five-year old make you a "hair-do."

49) You can't appreciate phonics until your eight-year old challenges you to prounounce: PBTHL! (Try it and see what you come up with! &:o))

50) Everything'll be alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end.

All Soul's Day Visit

We went on a beautiful fall drive today while our house was supposed to be in the midst of a buyer's inspection. (Don't even get me started on how rude it is for people to schedule this kind of a thing and not show up! Grrr.) Anyway, we made the most of our day, and wound up high above Hotchkiss, Colorado (those are the West Elks in the distance there) in a mesa-top cemetery. We hope that we were able to pray some souls into Heaven today! The views from up top there were very distracting!

Our Saints' Day Party

Here are a couple shots of our All Saints' Day party decorations and goodies.

First we changed out our fall tablecloth for a blue one and set up a display to remember our guests of honor. A box and a little cotton batting did the trick. Then the challenge for the children was to find as many statues and holy cards as they could find to fill up the "cloud" under the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts statues decorating . This was quickly and happily done.

We then shared a lasagna dinner, followed by a plate of goodies. As much of our bakeware, etc., is packed for our upcoming move and we had an inspection scheduled for the house this morning, ease of cleanup was the name of the game, so we didn't bake, but went to the grocery story and bought the most cloud-like, fluffy goodies we could find for "Heavenly" dessert treats.

That ended up being cotton candy and those pink puffball things the children have been eying for some time now. (These won out over angel food cake even.) Everyone wanted eggnog, so we got some of that, too. That vanilla spice eggnog is Heavenly!

Then, we played the "Path to Heaven" game we made.

Using bits and pieces of scrapbooking paper, doilies and some print-outs off the 'puter, we fashioned a village with seven houses in it, each one representing one of the seven deadly sins. For instance, for the sin of wrath, we had the "Put Up Your Dukes Gym," and for gluttony, the "All You Can Eat & More Buffet."

At the top of the village is the church. Over that is Heaven, represented by the doily "clouds" and a fancy white castle, with the Holy Trinity in front of it (Can you make them out there?) At the bottom (horror and dread...) are the flames of hell, with a couple little cartoon devils even. Running from the bottom to the top is a narrow path... You know. Narrow and steep.

We printed out real life pictures of each of the children and "laminated" them, as well as the whole poster-board village with contact paper. Then we rolled up some tape to stick to the backs of each of the children's pictures.

The point of the game was for each of the children, blindfolded, to stick "themselves" somewhere on the village, hopefully avoiding any of the dangerous houses of the 7 deadly sins. You did well if you landed on the narrow path, or, of course in the church or in heaven. It was abysmal despair to land in (shudder...) the bad place. Everyone had a good time with this game, needless to say. But, we had to curtail the inclination of siblings to move each other around in the village when others had their backs turned... Kids.

We also played St Therese's Roses, a simple game, where one child held a small cloth bag open while another threw roses from several paces away and tried to hit the bag as many times out of five as possible.

And we played the St. Anthony Seek and Find Game, where one child hid the little felt angel you can see in the middle of the candy (above), while the others closed their eyes. Then called out "Dear St. Anthony, please come 'round; something's lost that must be found." And the others searched 'til someone found the little angel. The finder got to be the next hider.

Simple games, not much fuss, but everyone had a good time, I think. The saints had to be smiling.

Even at the Path to Heaven sabotage and silly pranks.

Don't you think there must be a lot of laughter in Heaven?

Send Souls to Heaven This Week!

Let's get out there and and be heroes to the Souls in Purgatory! They, in turn, will pray for us here in the Church Militant. There is no greater service you can do a human being. And you'll benefit, too!

To receive a plenary indulgence for the souls in Purgatory: While visiting a cemetery during the Octave of the Feast of the Holy Souls, after a pious Confession and Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Church, and offer prayers (silently or out loud) for the dearly departed. A traditional prayer for this occasion is the beautiful de Profundis. Some pray six Our Fathers, six Hail Marys and six Glory Bes. There is not a set of prescribed prayers for the dead that is necessary, so it's really up to you. You may gain this plenary indulgence once each day during this octave!

Cemetery Learning

Visiting cemeteries is an eternal work of mercy, and makes for wonderful field trips with our children. Not only does it bring uppermost to all of our minds the shortness of this life, and the reality of death, but cemeteries are actually just wonderfully peaceful places to visit. Many are actually registered arboretums.

We often combine Faith with science and history at graveyards. There are wonderful leaves to be collected this time of year, and we are literally surrounded by history. It's always interesting, for instance, to note the many graves from the influenza epidemic around 1917, as well as the wartime graves, and the high infant mortality rate is so sadly evident a hundred years ago.

Believe it or not, we do some math practice at the cemetery, too, by having the children cipher as quickly as they can the ages of the dearly departed, and how long ago they lived. While it may seem morbid to some, we think death should be understood as a natural part of life. And the departed are looking down from Purgatory, we just know, and are delighted to have us there praying for them!

Happy Feast of All Saints!

Isn't it a wonderful thing to think about the fact that we very well may have relatives and friends that have already made it to Heaven? The Church celebrates today, not only the great saints that have been listed by the Church, but also the millions of souls that are in Heaven whose names we don't know.

There is no end to the help we have available to us! We may have relatives from generations back who pray for us daily and help us with our trials. Isn't that wonderful?! I need all the help I can get!

Praise God, in His angels and in His saints! All of them! Please pray for us!