Simple Woman Monday, August 18th

Peggy at The Simple Woman hosts this lovely excuse for visiting kindred spirits. Run over there to catch up on a cornucopia of Monday morning thoughts!

Outside my Window.... we finally have a clear, sunny day and after several days of steady rain, the weeds are knee high in the north yard!

I am thinking... we will hear the melodic hum of the lawn mower today...

From the kitchen... I'm steeling myself to break the papertowel habit. The dang things are such an expensive habit, when I know dishrags will do the job just as well! Has anyone else tackled this objective? I may need help with coping techiques while we go through withdrawal...

I am creating... lesson plans and coordinating rides to fall classes for the girls.

I am going... to the open house at the homeschool cooperative program run through the city public schools tonight. They have a program where homeschool children take classes on Fridays with some of the best public school teachers (imagine them loving to teach our homeschoolers!) and complete a week's worth of assigments in their courses during the rest of the week. Michelle (13) will be taking geometry, literature and journalism through this source with several of our Catholic homeschool buddies. This is the first time we've ever tried anything like this, so Michelle is the practice pancake. We'll let you know how we like it...

I am wearing... blue jeans, brown and turquoise tee, brown sandals, my favorite gold earings with the moon and stars on them.

I am reading... Still plugging away at books already started (Ida and my Fr. Brown anthology), but mainly writing my own notebooks full of lists right now.

I am hoping... I can find everything the boys left behind when they left for school Saturday and send it with the traveling priests to Omaha next weekend ~ so I can have it over in one fell swoop and not have to mail things bit by bit as the boys remember things they forgot and text me their requests.

I am hearing... very little since the children are all miraculously still in bed ~ just the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard and the faint sound of the Olympics drifting out from my bedroom. (That has been the background music of our days this past week!)

Around the house... Our old homestead gets real, honest-ta-goodness central heat this week! Welcome to the 21st century little old homestead!

One (or, well, two or three...) of my favorite things... Cocoa and vanilla nondairy in my coffee, evaporated milk and sugar in my English Breakfast tea.

Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Compiling school supplies and rounding up books. Setting up Michelle in her new school routine. Calling the piano and French teacher to make sure I have the right days and times for classes. Working on our perennial beds. Watching the plumber install our boiler and radiators.

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing with you...




Children playing with the camera on the way home from Mass:









See this little man with his tie?


We hadn't added a tie to Gabe's traditional buttoned-down Sunday attire for a while, until this stripy blue one resurfaced last week. And, though Gabey is always a good boy during Mass, I wish I'd gotten him a tie sooner, because wearing it had the sweetest effect. It turned him into a walking, talking miniature Daddy.


He copied his Dad, gesture for gesture, all during Mass yesterday, striking his breast at the mea culpa, tracing the cross on his forehead, lips, and chest at the Gospel, kneeling in deep contemplation after Holy Communion with his eyes closed and his missal on his forehead... Just like Daddy.


After four long years of going to Mass, Gabe was surely and truly in the groove. It was natural. It was right and proper. He could follow Mass like the big boys. Because, well, ya know. He was sitting next to his Daddy. And yesterday ~ they matched.

Eine Kleine Haus Musik

Today is Jon and Dominic's last day at home before heading back to boarding school in Omaha. Our friend, Alena, is visiting and it's raining cats and dogs outside, so everyone is stuck in the house, which is not typical, but everyone is making do. I asked Jon to play some music for me to share and he chose this song, "Mirkwood," which was written by a very talented friend of the boys' (I have to give this young man credit! Bravo, Christoper Goering!). It's my new theme song. Since he didn't have the music, Jon just played the beginning and the end, the parts that he remembered. I panned around a little to show you some typical silliness. Doesn't rattle Jon a bit. He's been so inoculated to distraction, Jon could play the piano during an earthquake and not skip a beat!

=sigh= I'll miss my Jon tinkering away on the piano. I'll miss Dominic's silly faces. Knowing that they're in a healthy place for their bodies, minds and souls is good consolation, but the days can't pass quickly enough until Thanksgiving vacation.

But we're all always close in heart and prayer ~ now, when we're temporarily separated, later, when the children will venture off to build their own lives, and finally, when we'll inevitably be in different camps of the Communion of Saints. It's one of the greatest comforts of our Faith to know we're never really far away from each other when Christ links us.




And here is our church choir singing Jesu Rex Admirabilis. Dominic, Jon, and Kevin were singing bass this day, and Michelle was in the soprano section.

Feast of the Assumption

Mary's Assumption

There was silence in heaven, as if for half an hour-
Isaiah's coals of wonder sealed the lips Of Seraph, Principality and Power,
Of all the nine angelic fellowships.

The archangels, those sheer intelligences,
Were silent, with their eyes on heaven's door.
So must our fancy dower them with senses,
Make them incarnate in a metaphor.

There was silence in heaven as Mary entered in,
For even Gabriel had not foreseen
The glory of a soul immune from sin
Throned in the body of the angels' Queen.

Blessed be God and Mary in whose womb
Was woven God's incredible disguise.
She gave Our Lord His Body.
In the tomb He gave her hers again and bade her rise.

Bright from death's slumber she arose,
the flush Of a chaste joy illumining her cheeks;
Among the motherless in heaven there was a hush
To hear the way a mother laughs and speaks.

Eye had not seen, nor ear of angel heard,
Nor heart conceived - until Our Lady's death -
What God for those that love Him had prepared
When heaven's synonym was Nazareth!

Her beauty opened slowly like a flower,
Beauty to them eternally bequeathed.
There was silence in heaven; as if for half an hour
No angel breathed.

Alfred Barrett (1906-1985) Lentfoehr, Therese, editor. I Sing of a Maiden. New York: Macmillan Company, 1947.

The Assumption of Mary

Fly, my soul, with Mary fly,

Soar beyond the golden sky,

Mount to Mary's throne on high.

Bright the queenly crown she won,

Sweet the reign she has begun,

As she stands beside her Son.

Fly, my soul, with Mary fly.

How endure this long delay?

Living here how can I stay

From such beauty far away?

Fly, my soul, with Mary fly.

Sad my lot is here below;
Who can hope or life bestow?
Who will help or pity show?
Fly, my soul, with Mary fly.


But though far away from me,
Still our sovereign Queen will be
Full of love and clemency.
Fly, my soul, with Mary fly.


With a mother's loving care
She will lift those hands so fair,
And will save us by her prayer.
Fly, my soul, with Mary fly.


Mother's heart can ne'er forget
That we are her children yet,
By such dangers fierce beset.
Fly, my soul, with Mary fly.


Gently, still, she bends her eyes
On the soul that longs and sighs
For her love, the heavenly prize.
Fly, my soul, with Mary fly.


Blest the soul who, like the dove
Borne upon the wings of love,
Follows her to heaven above.
Fly, my soul, with Mary fly.


St. Alphonsus de Liguori

The Glories of Mary. New York: Redemptoris Fathers, 1931.

Photo Friday

Fasten your seatbelts! (snicker, snicker) Here comes our vacation slideshow, folks.

Actually, just a few sights from last weekend's trip to D.C. Since our main purpose was to be in Quantico for Paul's graduation from OCS, and because we spent a good amount of time ferrying people to and from the airport, we only had a couple of hours snuck in here and there to go sight-seeing, but we did get to see a few of the more iconic tourist destinations.

We picked Paul up in Quantico Friday morning, and before his 6:30 p.m. curfew, we had some time to doodle around. We drove through old town Alexandria, on up to D.C., and stopped at the mall in the heart of our nation's capital. Here's one proof of our visit ~ the Washington Monument:
And here it is coming out of the top of Paul's head:

(Oh, that must be his mom there next to him... &:o)

And here's my sis, Donna, with Paul. Can you tell he's just a little doted on?

We were so surprised by the haunting Korean War Memorial. You never hear about this one! But, it was a strangely touching and personal tribute to the men and women of that war.

We were thrilled to get to stop at the Lincoln Memorial for about five minutes:

And here's the famous (and, boy, is it huge!) statue of Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln became my favorite president when I was about nine years old and read a book about his wit. Then, I read more and learned more, and he's still my favorite. To know him is to love him. I wish we'd had more time to spend here at the museum.

Here, below, is a monument particular to our family ~ the dorms at Quantico USMC base, where Paul spent ten weeks at OCS.

We dropped him off here Friday at about 6:30, after sitting in traffic for an hour to go two miles to the Quantico off ramp. Argh!
Then, after Paul's graduation ceremony Saturday morning, we drove back toward Alexandria and had lunch...

Here are Paul and Nicole at Red Robin. (I'm a shameless mom and take every photo op... They're good sports, though!)

Then we dropped Paul, Nicole, and Donna at the airport, and drove around DC a little more. We couldn't find parking, so just took pictures from the car window.

This was cool: A carriage preparing to meet a newlywed couple outside a courthouse on one of the Washington DC streets. You don't see this every day! (Well, at least not in our neck of the woods...)

And here' are the very impressive spires of the National Cathedral against the very impressive Virginia blue skies... We wanted to find Immaculate Conception, but didn't have time, and we did drive by St. Patrick's but the traffic hurried us by so fast, I couldn't get a picture.
We'd saved most of our time to visit Arlington National Cemetery and were not disappointed in the least. The solemn beauty of this place...
The soldier at the Grave of the Unknown soldier ~ there are not words to describe the touching ceremony of this lone sentry. Then, Sunday, after Mass in Vienna, Virginia, we had lunch at a Chinese seafood buffet, where I got a taste of a crawdad. Better shot of my chin than the crawdad, but you get the picture. We make a point of trying new and unusual menu items when we go on trips together. Last trip, we tried squid. Don't ask me which we preferred. They actually were equally unremarkable!

And, then we had about two and a half hours to spend at Mt. Vernon, before we had to leave for the airport and home.

But, I'm so glad we took the time to visit this site! What a perfectly preserved historic home, and a wonderful museum. Let me tell you, if I didn't already feel the utmost honor and regard for George Washington, I do now. His home and grounds are the most lovely example of efficiency and beauty I can imagine. Mind you, not that his military and political achievements for our country aren't really, really important, but, seriously, as a homemaker, I can appreciate his taste, organization, and care through his home. God is in the details. What an amazing man!

Two and half hours were not nearly enough to visit here. I would live here if I could! Here are a few sights, sounds, and smells of Mt. Vernon:

Welcome!

Jogged over here into August to preserve space in September... Does that make sense? Too bad we can't do things like this in real life! (Like ~ Oh, I don't have time to deal with this now... Let's just put it back in August....)

So, anyway, let me set the scene... It's really Sunday, September 14th, 2008. We've been to Mass already, had eggs, bacon, and fruit smoothies for breakfast, and now we're dispersed for the afternoon.

Dad's working on bills...

Michelle's doodling on a sketch for her art class...
(Rumor is that it's a portrait of Uncle Dave.)
Catherine is playing daredevil games on the swing...

Setting an example for Theresa...



While Anna plays in the dirt.
Here's the Parable of the Volcano Queen...


And Gabriel and William prepare a mid-afternoon snack...


And, you can see what I'm doing, right?

I'm just enjoying it all.

I love slow, unstructured Sunday afternoons.

Just poppin' in here to make note that there are a few...

Things I Cannot Eat Just One Of:

(One handful, that is. )

(Oh, and, um, please 'scuse the dangling preposition there...)

1. Peanut M&Ms

2. Fiddle Faddle

3. Fig Newtons

(So much for the diet this day. I just ate a sleeve...)

Simple Woman Monday, August 11th

Peggy at The Simple Woman hosts this lovely excuse for visiting kindred spirits. Run over there to catch up on a cornucopia of Monday morning thoughts!

Outside my Window.... Sunny and fairly cool today! Everything is moist from the thunderstorms here over the weekend. Our trees and shrubs are dripping with happiness! Our high prairies suffer from a scarcity of rainfall through periodic drought years and we're hoping these weekend storms are a sign of a turn toward wetter weather, in general through the end of the summer.

It's so funny that it was cool and rainy here over the weekend (SO not the norm!), while it was cool, sunny and dry in Virginia (the reverse of usual I'm told). We told Paul we brought some Colorado weather to Virginia for him in celebration of his graduation ~ and it would appear that Virginia weather came to fill the gap here.

I am thinking... We loved visiting the beautiful and historic Washington DC/ northern Virginia area this past weekend, but we are soooo glad to be home in Colorado. (How do y'all in the DC area stand all that traffic!?)

From the kitchen... Got the BEST cookbook on sale at Borders over the weekend. It's called Cooking Thin with Chef Kathleen and I'm very excited about using her ideas and recipes! I highly recommend this book for anyone who hates the word diet, but knows they need one...

I am creating... snowflakes with Catherine (7) today ~ Don't ask why; Cathy just thought it would be a fun thing to do...

I am going... to bed early tonight. I'm pooped out from our non-stop weekend on the east coast! Stay tuned for a few pics of the sights we squeezed in while we were in the DC area...

I am wearing... Total comfort wear today: black stretchy capris and a long white t-shirt that says "I child proofed my house... but the kids keep getting in!"

I am reading... The cookbook mentioned above, plus curriculum information for starting the schoolyear in a week or two.

I am hoping... Paul gets settled back into his daily routine with relative ease. He still has a couple of semesters before he graduates from college, at which point he chooses whether or not to sign on as a second lieutenant in the Marines. Having graduated from OCS, he has their welcome; now it's up to him.

I am hearing... the swamp cooler humming, occasionally tickling the chimes in the dining room... Cathy and Anna at the table cutting out snowflakes, Anna wanting to read a book with me ~ which we'll be doing here in just a minute.

Around the house... The children left the house so nice and clean for us when we got home from the airport last night, that the only thing I have to do is catch up on laundry. Thanks, kids!

Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Getting our sophomore and our senior boys ready to head off to Omaha for school this weekend. Gearing up for homeschooling with our four girls in kindergarten, second, fifth and ninth grades.

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing with you...
A happy reunion! ~ Paul and Nicole right after Paul's graduation from OCS on Saturday. That ten week separation was way too long!

Hoo Rah!

My husband and I got to spend this past weekend in beautiful Quantico, Virginia, where our oldest son, Paul, graduated from Marine Officer Candidate School (OCS). And I gotta say ~ What a wonderful experience!

Whether you are for or against our military involvements, liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, it'd take the worst kind of curmudgeon to miss the strength and goodness radiating from the Quantico parade deck Saturday morning. The young men and women in our armed forces represent a small sampling of what is right and good in our country and I have never been so pleased and proud as I was this weekend to meet these fine young people ~ every one of them strong, confident, cheerful, respectful, and willing to sacrifice for the good. If you don't believe it, check out what they had to endure to reach graduation day!

These men and women contradict every dire prediction about the future of our American youth. And it heartens me to know that for everyone of these 800-some fine young people there are scores at home, just as wonderful, who have not been called to military life. These are the children who don't make the headlines ~ except as one in a figure that is a graduating class ~ from military school, from college, from the seminary... On the homefront or on the front lines, behaving with honor and responsibility. They're out there, folks; have no fear.

There are a lot of things in this world to worry about; I won't even start a list, because you know what they are. But, our weekend in Quantico, Virginia has left me with one overwhelming impression: we have more in this country to be grateful for than to worry about.

Meet the 2008, Marine Officer Candidate School graduates, the largest graduating class in USMC history!

Congratulations, Paul!

We're so proud of you!

"Hoo Rah!"

Feast of Our Lady of the Snow

Our Lady of the Snow is such an unusual feast to be celebrated on August 5th, isn't it?

In the heat we've been suffering here in Colorado lately, just the cool thoughts of this feast day are welcome! But the origins of this feast are really interesting, too, and it's always wonderful to learn of Our Lady under each of her many titles.

This, the oldest image of Our Lady in Rome, kept within the "Lady of the Snow" basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, is known as Salus Populi Romani (Well-being of the Roman people).
It was brought to Rome from the Holy Land from St. Helen, mother of Constantine, and is said to have been painted by St. Luke!

Needless to say, today is a day of great celebration at St. Mary Major. Imagine attending the patronal high Mass at any of the great Roman basilicas! At any church, it would be a beautiful honor, but I would love to be at St. Mary Major to see Mass today. In celebration of the feast, a snowfall of white rose petals will descend from the ceiling!


Our Lady of the Snow, pray for us!

August 4th, Feast of St. Dominic

Founder of the Order of Preachers, or Dominicans, the patron of our fifth son, Dominic Alan, and a dear helper. We 've been blessed with his aid on many occaasions, but have been blessed especially in his particular intercession in purchasing cars. We think he would have been a hobby mechanic if he had lived today.

Simple Woman Monday, August 4th

Peggy at Simple Woman hosts this lovely excuse for visiting kindred spirits. Run over there to catch up on a cornucopia of Monday morning thoughts!

Outside my Window.... Sunny and cloudless; looks like another scorcher.

I am thinking... Gosh, I have a lot to do this week!

From the kitchen... Have to figure out what to take to our church potluck tomorrow night and have to figure out how to stock the fridge for the kids while their Dad and I are in gone this weekend.

I am creating... A bulletin board at our church detailing the progress in transforming our new building from Baptist to Catholic. Also working on the flowers for the altar for the big dedication ceremony tomorrow night.

I am going... To Quantico, Virginia, to see my oldest son graduate from OCS. We're leaving Thursday morning and coming home Sunday afternoon.

I am wearing... denim skirt, white tee, with a bright pink flowered button down over it and matching pink flipflops.

I am reading... Still reading Ida: a Labor of Love ( a true story about the life of a pioneer woman, a mother of eight children, in the mining camps of Colorado in the late 1800s.)

I am hoping... To get over the insomnia phase I've been suffering lately and get some sleep before we go to Virginia.

I am hearing... Gabriel and William trying to wake up big brother, Kevin, who's asleep on the couch doing an excellent job of ignoring them.

Around the house... Monday stack of laundry, as usual. My pantry is getting to be quite the mess, but I don't think I'll get to it this week. Maybe I'll assign that job to one of the big kids...

Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Church work preparing for our church building dedication through Tuesday, lunch at a dear old friend's house on Wednesday, then scrambling to get packed and prep the kids for our trip on Thursday.

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing with you...

Our Dominic on the Feast of St. Dominic!

Relaxing on a floating log after we climbed up to St. Mary's glacier last Wednesday. You can't tell by the way he's lolling there, but that glacier lake water is COLD!

Bad Haiku Festival!

Finally, it has arrived ~ the long-awaited, eagerly-anticipated Haiku Festival over at Haiku Queen Laura's! Here are our contributions. It was good to stimulate a little brain activity around here! Can you tell by some of our haikus that this might have been needed?

Make sure and run over to Catholic Teacher Musings for scads of good Bad Haikus!

Theresa's (9):

*

Summer

I go to the pool.

I don't need to go to school

Summer is so cool.

**

Mine:

*

Sunny, hot, and slow
Still a million things to do
It's frying my brain...

**

Dominic's (14):

*

I write a poem.

Even though I cannot think

I still have to write.

**

Michelle's (13):

*

The pain in thinking...

Oh how often must you think,

"Oh, why must I think?"

&

What wonder fills me

in the vast forest of words

and song in the sea?

**

Jon's (17):

*

Oh the joy I've had

Working my weary bones bare

Having made beauty.

**

Kevin's (19):

*

If few are love's words,

In these few you should believe ~

To give without thought.

Just About Finished!

Befores and then Afters:



















We had used this central room as a living room for a while, but we decided we like it as a dining room. The ancient gas furnace is gone; central heat is coming to the old farmhouse for the first time the middle of this month. Hallelujah!



















We have yet to choose light and outlet covers and have a couple trim issues to tweak. I still want to make a flower arrangement for the top of the piano and find a painting for the right side of the fireplace. Also, the yellow below the chair railing will be tempered with a subtle sepia and copper paint wash technique. We hope to get to that next week when we have more time to play with it. I'll post some pics as we finish up.

Jon is my artist and I'm counting on him to help me get it right! (You hear that, Jon?)




















You can see where we covered a small doorway into the kitchen on this wall. Since we added the big arch on the opposite side of this room over Christmas vacation, it wasn't needed for flow, and the extra counter space we'll be able to add now on the kitchen side will be fabulous!




















Ta Da! Our new piano fills this space much better than the old furnace, we think. You wouldn't believe how much exercise this old girl is getting in our house!



















This book case balances out the heavy furniture on the other side of the room, but kinda dwarfs the doorway into the next room.


















Adding the trim and color seems to help with the proportion over there, but I don't know... Still working on that.

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

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My undying gratitude to my husband, and especially to Jon and Dominic, who really did most of the work and trouble shooting on this project. You guys never cease to amaze me! I love it, love it, love it!

(The kitchen is next, right?)