Making Mom Proud

This may not seem

a big deal to others

but this moment

I captured

(pictured above)

makes me

dog gone proud!

Monica's shoe came off.

Mary offers to help.

Mary helps.

Happily.

I believe this is

one more benefit

of homeschooling.

Look! No tooth!

Best Friends

Say "CHEESE"

Gee Mom could you have perhaps cleaned up my face a bit after dinner?

Nah! "Just get out there and play play play" (and sleep good tonight)

Politics

I'm a combination of these political/radio personalities...
Dennis Prager being my favorite








It seems the political season is just beginning...things I'm sure will get pretty interesting in the next 18 months. In many ways I am a political "junkie" as is Tim. I used to subscribe to The Weekly Standard and read it cover to cover in a day. I followed all things political very closely.


Now? Not so much. I found it wasn't good for my health. I told Tim that as I was likely the impetus for him converting to Catholicism that he has made a convert out of me as well. He converted me to political cynicism. Tim lights up when the intro music for Meet the Press comes on...he makes sure he's home in time to watch all the debates (we watched the republican candidates recently). But, ultimately he doesn't trust ANY of them "as far as he could throw them" as they say. I used to be a believer. I voted for Alan Keyes here in Illinois. I had yard signs and bumper stickers...Now I feel that I put to much hope in men and I lean much more heavily on my faith for the answers.


Still, I do love a good debate/argument. I'd describe myself as a Catholic first, an American second. I guess I'd fail the "allegiance test". Oh well! I believe that people are ignorant and apathetic for the most part. Unless that changes the status quo remains. I don't see it changing either. As long as people can go to the store and buy buy buy and drive around their cars and "have fun" when they want to, they don't see a need to make any radical changes. Politicians go on blabbing about the same crap - "a shining city on a hill" "the children are our future" "fix social security" "every child needs to be insured" "we need more educational/school funding" "I'm personally opposed but..." blah blah blah...


Tim's convinced that a Hillary/Obama ticket will run away with the 2008 election. I hate to say it but I think he might be right. It doesn't look good for conservatives. It especially doesn't look good for the unborn, traditional marriage, or a strong defense. But, maybe a real mess, a whole lot of suffering, PAIN is what's needed to wake up a sleeping nation. Just maybe things have got to get a whole lot worse before the masses come home from the malls and start paying attention to what REALLY matters! Didn't JPII say something like "as the family goes, so goes the nation, and the whole world in which we live"? Enough said!

Moms who Hate Motherhood

Occassionaly I get discouraged and burned out and I've been known to say I hate my "job". I feel over worked and under appreciated but I have to say I've NEVER said anything close to this next line...

Danielle Bean: "“I have two kids,” she said. “And I will not be having another. I’d rather eat glass.” "

That quote is not from Danielle but rather a co-worker of her husband's. She writes a great post on those moms who feel the need to publicly proclaim their utter disdain for motherhood and their very own children too it seems!

What Love IS and What it Is NOT

My friend Shelray over at Cosmos Liturgy Sex always has posts that make me think! I am grateful for all that I have learned from regularly reading this blog!

Today I read this over at COSMOS~LITURGY~SEX: "Love is always true. Never a lie. Love is always the glory of God. Never the glorification of man. Love always carries us to goodness. Never to evil. Love always binds us in obedience. Love never frees us to be disobedient. Love always heals, always cleans, sometimes hurts, sometimes casts out. Love never winks at sin, shrugs at injustice, or ignores the poor. Love always looks to Christ, his church, and his Mother."

I just HAD to go to the link and listen to the podcast of the rest of this very powerful homily!
It is this past Sunday's homily given by Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP.
WOW! These were words I'd been longing to hear for far too long! A better understanding of what love IS and what love is NOT is so needed today.
Everyone wants it. Few know where to find it. Love is Truth. Sometimes the Truth hurts. And so we may tell ourselves (with the help of that guy with the horns) that this can't be Love then....wrong!

Love does demand sacrifice - just look at the cross. Go! listen to Fr. Philip! he has now been officially listed on my sites I recommend!

Purpose and Passion

Had a great weekend. Friday night I met a bunch of women who home school.
Not all were Catholic. Not all were white. Not all were Amish-like.
It was nice! We discussed curriculum.
I didn't have much to offer considering
I haven't been very happy with my curriculum.
I got a LOT of helpful advice/tips.
Most of all I gained something I've been lacking of late. Hope.


Lately, I've been feeling like there's no place I "fit in" in this world.
I'm too "wacky" for the strictest conservative Catholic moms,
and too "weird" for the mainstream
American moms here in suburbia.





Where exactly does a Jesus adoring, JPII loving,
homeschooling, open to life NFP practicing,
jean wearing, formerly smoking, Nickleback listening,
Seinfeld watching, pro-life, scapular wearing,
loud mouthed, middle class suburbanite belong?
It seems I might have just found my niche!


The ladies I met on Friday weren't "just like me"
but they did have a very necessary ingredient
- they didn't take themselves so seriously!
That, and many of my comments, stories
produced laughter not strange looks or mild condemnation
which have been known to occur in the past.
Ah, to be able to let your hair down a little
in the company of others....what a blessing!





Mom and dad spent the night on Friday to babysit.
Saturday Tim and I went to a matinee to see Spiderman 3!
It was great. Sunday we went to mom and dad's to pick up
the rest of our gang who had spent the night over at their house.
All in all it was a nice weekend. Most importantly,
for me at least, was meeting those women on Friday.





If nothing else I learned that there ARE other people out there
with purpose and passion (and humor). Far too many
good people lack purpose and passion in their lives.
They work hard, cut their grass, go to little league games,
pay their bills, help their neighbors out, and may even attend
some kind of church service now and then.
But without purpose and passion life is not complete.


You may live a "full life" by the world's standards but
all the while be feeling kind of empty deep inside.
Some may say that they have purpose in their life.
I believe them. But both purpose AND passion are required.
I know many who go beyond the normal "good citizen" requirements
and go to mass and pray for their families. They sacrifice worldly
comforts for higher purposes. But that's only half the story.


Passion! Passion is what is so lacking today.
This world needs it desperately.
We have far too many people living their lives
filled with passion without PURPOSE!
Liberals are for the most part all passion and no purpose.
Secular humanists are all passion no purpose.
Hedonists and pleasure gluttons are prime examples too.
Many in the "purpose driven life" camp may
look over at the passion without purpose camp and say
Hey! they're havin' a hell of a lot more fun over there...





This is why those with purpose MUST have PASSION!
If Jesus truly is the center of our lives then we must live it! Shout it!
If we have purpose in our lives then live it out with passion.
If we have the Truth. If Jesus is real and all that
stuff the priest tells us at mass on Sunday matters - really matters.
Then be joyful! Laugh. Smile. Take a stand. State your positions.
Be bold. Be on fire. Be a light! Don't just go through the motions.
To those who much is given, much is expected.
We are called to be great.
Not average.





And so, it fortified me to meet a group of women
with purpose and passion on Friday. They are not the first group
of people I have met who live life with both but
I have found that lightheartedness and humor can
often get lost in the mix. I have been victim to this myself.


Sometimes our passion for our purpose leads us into battles.
This is good. We are His soldiers of course!
But all that fighting, constant swimming upstream,
"going against the grain" can leave you humorless.
This is the one danger of a life lived with purpose and passion.
I must remember to always take my purpose, my calling
seriously. I must take seriously my obligation to maintain passion
- to keep that fire burning. But never, in the process,
take MYSELF too seriously. Life is such a blessing.
Life is far too important to be spent scowling at the world
and brooding over injuries. So I try to fight the good fight
and then laugh at all my awkward moves.





Friday night I met some fellow battle scarred warriors who
could sit around our encampment and tell
funny stories and laugh at all their missteps from the battles
they've been in.


Purpose, Passion, (and Humor too!)
Thank God!

Why Wear The Habit?

Standing on My Head: Get in the Habit: "That's the value of the habit. It's an evangelistic outfit. It preaches on it's own. It says to the world, 'There is another set of values. There's another set of beliefs. There's another way of looking at everything.' It says to the world, 'Think again. Stop, Look and Listen.'"

I LOVE to see religious in the habit. I prefer them to the polyester pants, sweater and large crucifix on chain, I see many women religious wear instead! We are very lucky to have a monastery for the Poor Clare's nearby. My kids, my girls especially are mesmerized by the nuns there. When they see them behind the "wall" (the metal screen divider) in their full (very elaborate) habits they feel like they just got a peek at a great mystery! And what do ya know? They did! For myself, seeing the sisters (my sisters in Christ) there wearing there long heavy habits is so moving. I actually tear up and feel so much joy/relief/comfort/love just from the sight of them! I found a great post on the wearing of the habit at http://gkupsidedown.blogspot.com/2007/04/get-in-habit_27.html That's where the above QUOTE comes from...

May - Month of Our Mother - Mary

My entire conversion and the subsequent conversion of my husband, Tim (then boyfriend) is due to the intercession and help of Our Blessed Mother! She is the reason I am here today! She is the humble servant who went to her Son and pleaded my case before Him. She is my Most Merciful Mother. She saw good in me when I didn't see it in myself and she must have lifted me up and opened me to grace a million times over. My (earthly) mother is a dedicated pray - er of the rosary. Whenever I come to her with some trouble or concern of mine her response is always the same. "Are you praying the rosary?" Sadly, most often my response is something like "Well, not very much." It's a scandal in the circles I run in to admit that you don't regularly pray the rosary. Rightfully so I believe. You'd think that considering all that this Woman has done for me and my family I would take on the simple task of praying the rosary. It only takes 20 minutes. Why don't I make the commitment and stick to it? Laziness? Pride? Lack of self discipline? All of the above. The rosary in this house is often attempted, rarely finished. We will get to the third Hail Mary of the second decade and someone or something will inevitably interrupt us. I should pray it by myself at least then you say. Right. I'm 33 years old and the mother of 5 and still I lack enough self discipline to sit down and be still and quietly pray for 20 minutes! What's wrong with me? Now, I don't neglect prayer. I pray. Often I tearfully pray. I call out to my Jesus and speak to Him. I speak to My Mother and tell her how much I love her. I sometimes can get so filled by the Holy Spirit that I actually feel like I will explode! I am awestruck, emotional, and lifted up very high in times of prayer. But I just can't seem to conform to the rosary. I think he ( the guy who I won't speak his name) helps to keep it that way. I'm sure "he" wants me to continue to avoid the rosary. Considering that it is considered the most powerful prayer there is only second to the Holy Mass itself!, I know why "he" likes it that I don't and my family doesn't pray it enough. Padre Pio is said to have called his rosary "his weapon". He'd say "go! get me my weapon!" Indicating that he wanted his rosary so that he could pray. I, myself have told my kids that with each Our Father and each Hail Mary they help to create a chain that binds up "him" and weaken "him". Fr. Corapi, Bishop Sheen, JPII, and many others whom I love and respect ALL speak of the importance and power of the rosary. I MUST commit to it again this month of May. I will try to pray it daily. I owe her - My Queen that much. Oh, and the things that she can, and will do with those prayers! She is truly a good and merciful Mother to us! If only we would use her simple prayer, her rosary, to ask for her help. No one has the ear of the Son like His Mother! Mary - I love you.

The kitchen I wish I had

Just a quick note on how annoying it is for me to feed my kids and have to settle a fight every time over who gets to sit at the island. You see our island seats two and there are four little rear ends that want those swivel stools for themselves! If I had it to do all over again I'd have told Tim to forget about buying our (way over priced) extension table that seats 10 and just put an enormous island in its place with a whole line of stools! Our dinners here often end up with me workin' the "griddle" and servin' up the plates "diner style" anyhow. Along with the diner type counter I'd like an industrial sized dish washer as well. Our dishes always require two loads instead of one! And just think, I have a SMALL family compared with many of the moms I know!! How do they do it?