The Simple Woman's Daybook~12/30/08

FOR TODAY 12/30/08...

Outside my window...
Night. 34 degrees. We haven't been out in 2 days.

I am thinking...
about New Year's resolutions. I've never really cared about them before. I guess I knew I couldn't keep up with them. Low standards, right? Well, like every other mother/woman out there, I'll get on the bandwagon and say "diet and exercise". Ideally, I'd like to do that. I'll probably get this book. And I might start training for this race. As you can tell, I am less than enthused.

I am thankful for...
all of the time I get to spend with my children.

From the learning rooms...
As you can see from the post below, Josie is done! I have revised Ray's lesson plan so he can catch up and be done, too. We have a homeschool review coming up in January.

From the kitchen...
My darling husband made 2 baked ziti's. One for us and one for a family from Church who had a new baby. We will deliver it tomorrow!

I am wearing...
who cares? Pajams.

I am creating...
late Christmas presents for all of my favorite people.

I am going...
to the beach tomorrow!

I am reading...
(re-reading) the Fall issue of Mater et Magistra.

I am hoping...
2009 is as good as 2008.

I am hearing...
Nothing! Everyone is asleep.

Around the house...
I've once again gotten used to the invasion of the Christmas tree. This may sound humbuggish, but I can't wait until our Christmas decor gets packed away into the attic. Hey! We need all the space we can get around here!

One of my favorite things...
the new jacket my sweet husband got me for Christmas.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Brady is 5 tomorrow! Then to the beach, baby! Saturday: Family Christmas party at Sister-in-law's house.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Go check out The Simple Woman's Daybook!

We're Proud of Our Girl

Josie was determined to finish 3rd grade before the New Year! Here is a picture of her today while I laid Evan down for a nap! Yes, she is done and Ryan and I are so proud of her. I'll give her a couple of days before she starts to ask for her new 4th grade work. Way to go, Jos!!! We love you! (Thank you, J, for all of your help!)
(Ray will be following...)

He Really Came!

St Thomas Becket

He was born in London and became a close friend of King Henry II. He was only a deacon when he was appointed chancellor of England. When he was ordained as archbishop of Canterbury, he underwent an abrupt conversion of life and began to defend the Church’s rights against the king. He had to take refuge in a French monastery for six years, and when he returned to his diocese four knights, inspired by careless words from the king, assassinated him in his cathedral on 29 December 1170. He was immediately acknowledged as a martyr and the king later did penance and endowed his shrine. He is remembered for his courage in defence of the rights of the Church. See the articles in the Catholic Encyclopaedia and Wikipedia.

He Came!

18th Duggar child is ‘doing wonderful,’ says mom

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Christmas with Geema!

We need to do this more often...

Remember to Breathe...

and then go read this post over at Holy Experience.

St John of Kenty

He was born in Kenty in the diocese of Kraków in 1390. He became a priest and for many years taught at the University of Kraków; later he became parish priest of Olkusz. He taught and researched in both physics and theology and excelled in holiness and in charity towards his neighbour, in which he was an example to his colleagues and pupils. He died in 1473. See the articles in the Catholic Encyclopaedia and Wikipedia.

The Simple Woman's Daybook~12/22/08

FOR TODAY 12/22/08...

Outside my window...
It is dark, cold. 22 degrees.

I am thinking...
I've been a bit cranky today...I thought a package I ordered would have arrived by now. I am letting the little things get to me...

I am thankful for...
my husband. He was willing to drive home, an hour round trip, to get 2 presents I forgot for my nieces. I'm so glad he didn't go. I told you I was cranky!

From the learning rooms...
Josie was working hard today to finish up. My son does not have her zeal for doing schoolwork. We butted heads a bit today. I have to remember that he excels in so many other areas, though.

From the kitchen...
Today we met my mom and her husband, my sister and her family, and my brother and his family for a Christmas dinner out at That's Amore in Columbia. I know I ate, but I can't remember. There was a lot going on. I'm sure it was delicious.

I am wearing...
my uniform! Jeans, maternity shirt (yes, I still wear some of my maternity shirts), and my sweater.

I am creating...
secrets for Christmas morn.

I am going...
to bed soon.

I am reading...
the same things I listed in my last daybook post. You can see them here.

I am hoping...
I can let go...

I am hearing...
the stupid tv! Nobody is watching it...why is it on? Who is that... Jimmy Carter? Still cranky.

Around the house...
It's the time of the year where the Christmas tree takes over our house. 'Tis the season to be merry! My name is Mary. No, s@!#.

One of my favorite things...
a beautiful sculpture of the Holy Family that my Dad gave to me. It is carved out of a piece of olivewood from Jerusalem.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Christmas Eve Nativity "starring" Bennett as Baby Jesus and Josie and Brady as Angels. Mass following. Christmas at M & P's house. Friday Ryan and I get a chance to go out and meet up with some old friends from high school. I cannot wait. Saturday, R, J, B and I are meeting up with Geema to see "Peter Pan" at the Olney Theatre.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Go check out The Simple Woman's Daybook!

Tell Obama To Stop Supporting FOCA

Click here to ask President-elect Obama to stop supporting FOCA. FOCA would eliminate every abortion-related law nationwide -- even common-sense laws that protect women and minors -- and force us to pay for the radical pro-abortion agenda with our tax dollars.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Here is a nice Christmas story found over at A Concord Pastor Comments.

A buncha' thespians, ain't we?

This can be found in A Year With God.

SSShhhhhh...Hino is sleeping

POP!

Everyday is Christmas with Pop. I don't mean toys...O.K. maybe I do! There is something magical, like Santa, when my Dad is around. The kids climb all over him, there's a magic trick or two and a LOT of jokes and laughs. But a picture like this just sums it up. There is so much LOVE and we never want it to end. We all hate saying good-bye. But I guess that's what makes our visits so special. Merry Christmas, Dad. Love, Cloody!

O Christmas Tree

A Christmas Tree Blessing from Living Catholicism:

Holy Lord,
We come with joy to celebrate the birth of your Son, who rescued us from the darkness of sin by making the Cross a tree of life and light.
May this tree, arrayed in splendor, remind us of the life-giving Cross of Christ, that we may always rejoice in the new life that shines in our hearts. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Kazoo Baby

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~12/15/08

FOR TODAY 12/15/08...


Outside my window...
it's late, dark. Warm, 58 degrees.

I am thinking...
why Sean and Ray are downstairs, because they are supposed to be asleep!

I am thankful for...
my husband! Always putting others before himself.

From the learning rooms...
Nothing today, not much tomorrow, either. Maybe Josie can wrap up some lessons, but Ray has a retreat to go to tomorrow.

From the kitchen...
Ryan made Wayne's Beef Macaroni and Cheese. He used ground turkey instead of beef. We doubled the recipe and now we have a casserole and a half left over. It was good! Everyone cleaned their plates! The verdict: needs more cheese, says Chef Ryan.

I am wearing...
pajamas...what else?

I am creating...
a peaceful and joyous Advent.

I am going...
to bed, after I type up this!

I am reading...
re-reading Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home by Elizabeth Foss. I am also reading The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis. I am reading the Magnificat. And I also like to browse through A Family Journal: A Homeschooling Mother's Companion by Rita Munn.

I am hoping...
all of our packages get here by Dec. 24!

I am hearing...
the usual sound of vehicles on the road in front of our house, the whir of the computer...it's actually quiet around here!

Around the house...
no tree, yet. We decided to wait this year, and you know, it's kinda nice! Probably this week-end. Thanks to Ma and Pap, we got our new coat rack up on our wall. Oh boy, what a difference! We've also added a new shelf in our living room. One might call it a Home Altar, I'd like to call it our "religious shelf". We have a nativity on it, our rosaries, a statue of Mary holding the Baby Jesus, our roses for Our Lady, a small statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a prayer card, and the candle we made for the Immaculate Conception. There is a picture of it in this post. My Mom got us a "new" Nativity. Actually it is an antique from the 1950's complete with a music box that plays "Silent Night" and a light! You can see it here.

One of my favorite things...
Sometimes I feel like the luckiest gal in the whole wide world. There are so many reasons, but just one I will share. Ryan is the most thoughtful person. Last year he did this "12 days of Christmas" thing where he gave me a small gift every day leading up to Christmas. How cute is that? So he started doing it again this year. The gifts aren't big, but they are meaningful. 2 days ago I got a bunch of pens. I am always searching for one, and he notices. Yesterday I got a coffee mug. It is so cheerful and yellow. On the front of it is printed Psalm 118:24. Ray is happy now because he gets his Lego mug back that has his name on it. Today, he got me a subscription to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. I gotta tell ya, I feel spoiled.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Tomorrow: Boys Homeschool Advent Retreat (Ray)
Wednesday: Writer's Workshop (Ray) and CCD (Ray and Josie)
Thursday: Sean's Baptism Anniversary!
Friday: Homeschool Co-op (ALL) and a visit with my Dad

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Check out The Simple Woman's Daybook!

Let's Say Thanks

Saint Lucy, Virgin, Martyr

She was martyred in Syracuse, probably during the persecution of Diocletian (which started in 303). Devotion to her spread rapidly across practically the whole Church and her name is included in the Roman Canon of the Mass. See the article in Wikipedia.

Thanks Cindy Lou!

Haircut for Evan

Evan finally got a haircut!

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, near Mexico City, is one of the most celebrated places of pilgrimage in North America. On December 9, 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to an Indian convert, Juan Diego, and left with him a picture of herself impressed upon his cloak. Devotion to Mary under this title has continually increased, and today she is the Patroness of the Americas.
See also the article in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Today we celebrated this feast day by placing roses at the statue of Mary at CHA.


Then, we had Mexican food for dinner!

Fun with cloth napkins~

Playdate!

Kerry came over with Della today for a playdate!

Pope St Damasus I

A Spaniard, he was born about 305. Joining the Roman clergy, he was elected Pope in 366, in calamitous times. He held many synods against heretics and schismatics. He promoted the cult of the martyrs. He died in 384.
See the article in Wikipedia and the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

He was born in about 1474 in Cuauhtitlan in the kingdom of Texcoco, part of present-day Mexico. As an adult he embraced Christianity and he and his wife were baptized. In 1531 the Mother of God appeared to him, on the hill called Tepeyac near Mexico City, and told him to ask the bishop to have a church built on the spot. Through the purity of his faith, his humility and his fervour, a church was built, in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe (whose feast is celebrated on 12 December). He left everything and devoted himself to the care of the sanctuary and the reception of pilgrims until his death in 1548.

Catholic Culture has a wonderful description of this Saint as well as activities to help you celebrate his life.

To Celebrate

To celebrate the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, we decided to make Miraculous Medals of Our Lady, thanks to A Year with God.



We used cardboard, tin foil, holy cards of Mary, glitter, blue ribbon and gold stars. On the back, we wrote out the Hail Mary, but Ray decided to draw a picture instead.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin, that twist in our nature that makes our will unable to follow what it knows to be right. It was this grace that enabled Mary to give a true and considered “Yes” to the request, conveyed by the Angel Gabriel, that she should consent to be the mother of the incarnate God.

The doctrine was almost universally believed over the centuries and but was only formally defined as a doctrine of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1854. It is one of the Marian doctrines that Islam shares with the Catholic Church.
See the articles in the Catholic Encyclopaedia and Wikipedia.

A Hodgepodge of Festivities

St. Nicholas came to our house last night for the first time. The kids lined up their shoes, and when they awoke, they found chocolate coins and Catholic card games, books, and coloring books. Each of the oldest 4 received a new rosary as well.

We then actually met St. Nicholas at CHA's Breakfast with St. Nick. The kids were all excited, especially B & S. St. Nicholas was quite impressed with all of the facts the older kids knew about him. He gave each child a candycane and a card with this prayer on it:

Loving God, You gave Nicholas a heart that was generous and kind. By his prayers keep all children safe from harm. May St. Nicholas help me to be generous and helpful to others for the Love of Jesus alone. Amen.


After breakfast, we headed over to Arbutus for a geocaching event. It was called a "holiday swap meet". It was a potluck lunch and a very minimal gift exchange/swap. Afterwards we found a cache nearby at UMBC.

We got home and "Fred Clause" was in our mailbox, thanks to Netflix. We settled in to watch that, and shortly after, as per our usual St. Nick's eve tradition, Santa's elves left a bag of candy outside our door for the kids.

St. Nicholas!

Today we prepared for tomorrow's famous Feast Day of St. Nicholas. Thanks to O Night Divine
and Catholic Cuisine, we are getting some ideas to celebrate the season. Today we prepped our cookie dough to make some St. Nikolaus Speculatius (Kris Kringle) Cookies (German Spice Cookies).
We will finish them tomorrow.




This guy was too tuckered out to help...he fell asleep in his Jail!

To Prepare...

To prepare for the birth of Jesus, we are preparing his "manger". The girls and I cut up strips of yellow construction paper to use as "straw". Whenever the children do a good deed, or a sacrifice, they get to place a piece of straw in the manger. The point is to make the manger as fluffy and comfortable as possible before Christmas Day, so the baby Jesus has a warm place to sleep. They are eagerly doing their chores and little "extras" so they can add more and more straw.





Hopefully, we will empty this bag by the end of Advent!

Saint John Damascene

He was born of a Christian family in Damascus in the second halt of the seventh century, where his father was a high official under the Umayyad caliph; a post which he inherited. When the Iconoclast movement (seeking to prohibit the veneration of icons) gained acceptance in the Byzantine court, John, being under Muslim rather than Byzantine rule, was able to write effective treatises attacking Iconoclasm and attacking the emperor for supporting it. At about this time he retired to the monastery of Saint Sabas near Jerusalem, where he became a monk and was ordained. He died in the middle of the eighth century.
He wrote many theological treatises in a dangerously clear and accessible style which made the issues understandable even by non-experts. His name was reviled and execrated by the imperial Iconoclast party even after his death. Sometimes known as “the last of the Church Fathers,” he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIII in 1883. See the article in Wikipedia.

Bennett Talks!

St Francis Xavier

He was born in the Basque country of Spain in 1506. He met Ignatius Loyola when he was a student in Paris, and he was ordained priest in 1537. In 1541 the Pope sent him as part of a mission to India, and he spent the rest of his life in the East, preaching the Gospel in Goa and Malacca. He made many converts and fought against the exploitation of the native population by the Europeans. He spent two years on a successful mission to Japan, laying the foundations of many Christian communities; and in 1552, after entering China secretly to preach the Gospel there, he died of fever and exhaustion on the Chinese island of Shangchwan.
See the article in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights petition needs signing

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Spread the Word!

I just came back from an incredible mission at Holy Family in Davidsonville. I believe it was for 3 nights, but I attended the last night. When Aunt J came over today she was telling the kids and I about this priest, Fr. Leo, and his website: gracebeforemeals.com. Fr. Leo's Mass tonight was a "teaching Mass". I was able to go by myself (thank you, hon) and for an hour and a half soaked in what he had to teach us about the beautiful tradition of the Catholic Mass. So, go check out his website and sign up for his newsletter! I got the book after the Mass and I will let you all know how it is after I read it.

Born in the Philippines and raised in the Baltimore area, Fr. Leo actually developed his love for cooking while attending the seminary at the North American College in Rome. There, he became friendly with several Italian restaurant owners and would often invite them back to the student kitchen to trade cooking secrets. They would teach him about rigatoni and lasagna; he would show them how to make hamburgers and ribs. Today, he is a skilled cook who still enjoys learning how to make new dishes, and loves the process of preparing a meal, as much as he does sharing it with a table full of friends.

Fr. Leo was ordained in 1999 and served as a parish priest for five years at St. John’s Church in Westminster, Maryland. He was often invited to his parishioners’ homes for dinner. To their surprise, he would turn the table and cook for them, using these opportunities to build friendships and engage in relaxed conversations in the kitchen. Those memorable and unstructured times spent making a meal together provided the inspiration for Fr. Leo’s first book, Grace Before Meals: Recipes for Family Life.

Currently, he is a member of the faculty at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary where he directs the Pastoral Field Education Program for future priests.

Before becoming a priest, Fr. Leo pursued degrees in writing and political science with the intention of studying law and journalism at the University of Maryland. He also taught high school speech, debate and drama. Along with his brother, he founded a martial arts school in 1988.

Fr. Leo studied philosophy at Theological College at Catholic University in Washington, DC. He holds advanced theological degrees from the Pontifical Gregorian University and Pontifical Maranium Institute in Rome.

A popular conference speaker with a growing national reputation for his ability to connect with teens and their parents, Fr. Leo has appeared at events across the United States and Canada. His enthusiasm has frequently earned him invitations to return and speak about topics like the theology of beauty, teen spirituality, spiritual combat and praying as a family.

Along with cooking, Fr. Leo’s hobbies include writing, singing and jogging. He especially enjoys traveling, viewing it as an opportunity to broaden his multilingual talents. He holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has won a national competition in Arniz, a form of full-contact stick fighting.

He also enjoys working with students in youth groups and on college campuses, as well as actively participating in prison ministry work.

This and That

You 'da Dad! Ryan read the kids

Cootie McKay's Nativity by Todd Wilson

after his snowflake craft that he did with them yesterday evening. He gets great ideas and supplies from the Familyman Ministries. I came across this website one day, then forwarded it to Ryan. He in turn could really relate to Todd, so now Ryan receives Todd's weekly e-mails, which have truly blessed our family through Ryan specifically. Here is a little about the man behind the Ministry:

TODD WILSON, author of Help! I'm Married to a Homeschooling Mom and The Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons, is a dad, writer, conference speaker, and former pastor. Todd's humor and gut-honest realness have made him a favorite speaker at homeschool conventions across the country and a recent guest on Focus on the Family.

His articles have appeared in various magazines, including Christian Parenting Today, Men of Integrity, and Stand Firm. Christianity Today also posts his weekly column (The Familyman Weekly) on their website.

Todd and his wife Debbie, along with their seven children spend several months of the year traveling the country encouraging moms and dads. His humor, realness, and straight talk to men (& women) have become his trademark.

Here are a few pictures of the kids working on their handmade prayer books today. We had a really fun time doing these, and it took a little longer than we thought, so we will be finishing them up tomorrow. I got the idea from A Year with God.