To Scott

Happy Father's Day, Scott!

Thank you for all your hard work, love and support

You're a great dad and we love you lots! 

 Also

Happy Anniversary, my Love

June 20, 1987 

"I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.  I will love you and honor you all the days of my life."

Then, now, and always.

Serendipitous moments

It was a beautiful day yesterday, and while I finished up some school work with their big brother, Sammy and Annie ventured outside with the Alphabet Path books.  Although he is only in second grade, Sam reads at a much higher level and enjoys reading aloud to his little sister (and the rest of us).  After I suggested that they could build a fairy house also, Annie agreed to join Sammy in the adventures of Mrs. Applebee and Michael..  She wasn't a great audience, as her attention span completely disappeared, which frustrated Sammy (which you will see in a very cute picture below:)  In the end, they did enjoy their time together, and my books didn't get too dirty.  Here they are.  I took the pics through the screen door, so as not to disturb them, which is why the pics are a little "cloudy".  The last few pics are ones Sammy took.  I think he's got the makings of a great photographer!

Kindness counts

...sometimes more than we could imagine.

In those bleak moments when the lost souls stood atop the cliff, wondering whether to jump, the sound of the wind and the waves was broken by a soft voice. "Why don't you come and have a cup of tea?" the stranger would ask. And when they turned to him, his smile was often their salvation.For almost 50 years, Don Ritchie has lived across the street from Australia's most notorious suicide spot, a rocky cliff at the entrance to Sydney Harbour called The Gap. And in that time, the man widely regarded as a guardian angel has shepherded countless people away from the edge.
What some consider grim, Ritchie considers a gift. How wonderful, the former life insurance salesman says, to save so many. How wonderful to sell them life.

 Click through to read the rest of the story about how kindness can make a huge difference in people's lives.

HT: The Anchoress

Tonight's dinner menu

Here is tonight's dinner menu.  Can you guess what it is in honor of?

* Grilled beef with Portuguese Marinade
* Brazilian Style Rice
* Baked Bananas with Rum
* sliced Kiwi fruit

I got the idea here.  Thanks Ms. Clavel

Yes, we are in a "World Cup" mood around here.  It's pretty exciting.  When I mentioned my stolen borrowed menu idea to the kids yesterday, before I could get the entire idea out, Sammy said, "Oh no! We're not going to do another folder are we?"  Seems he was remembering the Olympics lap book we did this year. (which was fun and informative, btw!  Sam's just in summer mode now.)  Ethan was all for studying the World Cup, even if it meant another lapbook.  I'm sliding into summer mode also.  We won't be doing a lapbook, but the menu idea seems fun!

Imagine how surprised Ethan was when he began watching the World Cup games and saw that many of the players were sporting these:

The very cleats we purchased for him 2 weeks ago!!  Little did we know!  I'm thinking he is hoping it is an omen of things to come:)





Oh, and we're also rooting heavily for these guys.  All of us except hubby, who likes the Lakers!!!  It gets pretty tricky when a lifelong New England boy refuses to choose the local teams as his favorite.  Luckily, our children are learning the right way.  Go Celtics!

Field trip

Since my plans for next year will not include homeschooling, the co-op my sister-in-law and I have created will come to an end.  We had a good 3 year run.  I am pleased with the work we did with the kids, and the welcome change of pace the co-op offered us on a weekly basis.  Having to show their work to others provided external motivation for my children and that was priceless.  I believe it improved the quality of their work (and also the timeliness of its completion!) 
Having completed our American History studies, we decided it would be a good end-of-year, end-of-co-op activity to visit our local Indian Museum.  I was expecting the museum to focus on tribes local to our area, namely the Abenaki.  I was wrong!  This museum covered all tribes of North America.  I was impressed!  Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures in the museum, so I only have pics from outside. 

Some things we learned about Indians surprised and delighted us.  Everything they made, everything, even the most boring, utilitarian item, was decorated.  A quote from a young male Indian said that his "mother's hands created beauty all around him."  He said that it was her way of showing her love and care for her family.  Not just to provide the necessities, but to bring beauty to them in the process. I, also, feel the desire to do this, but I have sometimes felt a bit frivolous in doing so.  For sure, we need to be prudent and not go overboard in the quest for beautiful surroundings, which could lead to overspending and materialism, but I now realize that it is a mother's privilege and, yes, duty, to bring beauty into her family's life.  If we want to lead our children to Christ, who is Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, we must surround them with these very things.  Native Americans, who are sometimes portrayed as 'savages' or 'heathens', understood and lived this so well.
Their beadwork was incredible!  They used brightly colored, glass, seed beads to adorn their clothing. How much time and love went into this intricate work.  I wish I had pictures to show it.  We also learned that the beads came from Czechoslovakia, and were traded to the Indians by Europeans.
We also discovered that their philosophies of life were very pro-life and completely compatible with Catholicism!  They had deep respect for all life, human and otherwise.  If the hunters brought in some food, it was shared by everyone in the tribe: old, young, feeble, those who couldn't hunt and those who did.  In fact, if a hunter was seen taking a rabbit or other game for himself, without sharing, he was severely punished.  They respected and cared for the weakest among them. 
They believed that all living things were connected to each other (of course, they are) and thus, were incredible stewards of the earth and natural resources.  They wasted nothing.

They worshiped God as they knew Him.  Of course, we, who know the True God, would commit a sin if we adopted the Native Americans' spirituality, but they showed genuine reverence and love for the God they knew.
I came away inspired.  We would do well to imitate some of the Native Americans' ways.

Nature's playground

A couple of weekends ago, having a respite from soccer and/or baseball games, Scott began to do some "yardwork".  By yardwork I mean actually creating a yard from the piles of dirt and rock that still surround our new house.  The lack of grass outside means a lot of dirt and sand get tracked into the house by the kids and the dog.  Plus, green, growing things feed my soul...I love gardening and am really missing my time with nature.  I know dirt is natural, too, but it's just not the same.

Here are some pictures of the side yard after dh spread out a big pile of loam.  I was excited to begin to see the shape of the future lawn.

As he was shaping the back bank, he noticed that the 2 outcroppings of ledge that we could see, were actually part of one large slab of bedrock just below the surface.  So he began scraping off the dirt with his machinery.  Then he hand shoveled out the nooks and crannies.  Now, if you didn't know my stoic husband well, you wouldn't have noticed anything unusual, but I could tell he was getting excited.  It was cute.  Is it only excavating contractors who get excited about rocks?
Anyway, after he shoveled it off, he needed to power wash the ledge to finish cleaning all the dirt off.  He has a powerwasher, but he had the wrong nozzle.  After a trip to my brother-in-law's house to get the right nozzle, he was ready to clean that ledge off.  If any of this sounds time-consuming...it was!! The entire process took most of the day.  Here's the finished product:

The kids (and their dad) loved it!!  The veining in the stone reminded them of roads, so out came the matchbox cars.  They spent a long time climbing on the ledge and setting up cars to race down it, crashing and tumbling over the uneven surface. 

I love the look of it also, and think about how much time we will save mowing! So ,we ended up not planting grass that particular weekend, but we did end up with a new playstructure.  The best kind.  Indestructible.

Big Changes

I have hinted at big changes happening around here, and the recent lack of activity on this blog is a testament to the fact that events are occurring rapidly. I wanted to let the "dust settle"before I wrote about it. I guess the dust is as settled as it is going to be, in my heart anyway, so I am writing.
After 21 years of staying home with my children, and 16 years of homeschooling, I will be embarking on a new adventure in the Fall. I will be teaching 5th and 6th grade at the new Catholic school in our town, New England Classical Academy. With both Lexi and Isaac in college next year, it will be just Ethan, Sam and Annie at home. It is the first time since I started having children that I do not have a baby, and all children are school-aged. The three youngest will attend NECA (with me) in 6th grade, 3rd grade and Kindergarten. (yes, that means Ethan will still have me for a teacher:)
I cried for a week when Scott and I decided I would apply. I cannot say that I discerned God calling me away from homeschooling (that would have required a really big "nudge" from Him, and He knew I would probably have ignored it). Rather, the circumstances the economy has generated for my husband's business and our family have necessitated it. For months I looked for part-time work or something I could do at home and everything fell through. When this position opened at NECA, and I realized they would possibly hire me, I felt as though I had been painted into a corner and this was the only exit. For some time I questioned whether God really works that way, and I have come to believe He does. He does speak through circumstance; especially when hearts are resistant.
So, I cried. I mourned the loss of the time I've had at home teaching my children, living our faith. As never before, I saw in sharp focus what a privilege and what a gift the time at home with my children has been. My heart broke at the loss of it. Then my heart trembled with fear. Fear of what these changes will mean for my family.
When my focus cannot solely be on my home and family, what will happen?
Will family closeness suffer?
What about our shared faith, when it is no longer part of what we are learning all day, every day, but relegated to short moments of family prayer in the evenings, will our faith weaken?
Will my children develop the "hard crust" I see in so many who spend their days surrounded by lots of other children and adults who are not their parents, and the natural strife and "bumping and grinding" that goes with it?Will their hearts harden?
Will I come to resent their involvement with sports as just one more activity taking them out of the heart of our family, instead of the welcome respite at the end of the day as it is now?
And how on earth will I keep my house clean, grocery shop, pay bills, make phone calls, Dr. appts., do laundry (!), when I am not home?
I am still fearful of these things (and others), but I am learning that I need to trust them to Him who carries our family in the palm of His hand. If this is His Holy Will for our family, He will bless us and bring good from this.To be fair, I am grateful that this opportunity was available to me. NECA has only been operating for 1 year. Prior to that, the Catholic school which occupied the same building would not have been a place at which I would have considered teaching or sending my children. God's timing, as always, is perfect. NECA is a truly Catholic school, with Catholic teachers and a solid classical curriculum. I did my research and kept watch over the past school year. Good things are happening there. I feel very fortunate to be able to have this opportunity for my children. Even though abandoning homeschooling is not my first choice, given the circumstances, teaching at NECA and sending my children there, with me, is a best-case scenario. For this, I am truly grateful. God is good.Ethan and Sam have met many good friends through sports and drama at NECA. They are excited to go. Annie also says she wants to go. I have a hard time thinking of my "baby" spending her days with someone other than me. This, more than anything else, brings sorrow to my heart. I've never sent a child to Kindergarten before. She seems so young and so tender. I am very thankful that I will be in the school. The thought that I won't homeschool Annie knocks the wind out of me. I can't think of that. I have to trust. God, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, has given Annie a teacher who completely understands. She, also, began teaching 5th and 6th grade when her youngest was in Kindergarten. She told me of having to wipe away tears as she taught. She understands my mama's heart and, again, I am grateful.
I have dreaded writing this post. How can I assure my friends that my beliefs and my convictions are unchanged, when this huge change is happening in our lives? I almost felt I was giving bad example to other homeschoolers. I am becoming something I never aspired to be--a full-time working mother. It is still inconceivable to me. Also, oddly enough, I have never been so convicted of the benefits and blessings of homeschooling as I have been in the last 3 years or so! I guess what I have learned is that my convictions are of little consequence. If we truly follow Our Lord, we have to be willing to follow wherever he leads, whether it is pleasing, expected, or makes sense to us. Even if it means giving up something so dear to my heart that it feels like giving up my heart itself. He has led me places I never expected in the past 4 years; places I did not want to go. But, I can look back and see how he "stretched" me, and the blessings that have come from following Him.
As I write this, I see more clearly God's loving care for us. He has provided for all our needs, down to a sympathetic Kindergarten teacher who understands exactly my greatest sorrow. He has raised up a good, solid, Catholic school and filled it with wonderful staff and families. He has called us in a new direction, and with a grateful heart, I will follow Him.

The Bread from Heaven

For the fourth time we have prepared one of our children for their First Holy Communion, and for the fourth time I cried as the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord came to dwell in my child's waiting heart. Yesterday, it was Sammy's turn.

He was ready. He was eager. He was adorable.

He answered the questions.He fulfilled his duties.(big brother Isaac is the altar server to the right of Father)

Best of all, he opened his heart to the Grace awaiting him.
It was beautiful.
"Let me solemnly assure you,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood,
you have no life in you.
He who feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood
has life eternal,and I will raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drinkl.
The man who feeds on my flesh
and drinks my blood
remains in me, and I in him. " (John 6:53-56)

Welcome to the feast, Sammy!

The day was made even more special by the fact that it was the 23rd anniversary of Fr. Shawn's Ordination. Father was ordained exactly 2 weeks before Scott and I got married. We've known him since he was a deacon and are so thankful for his friendship and his priesthood. Father's orthodoxy is solid as a rock, and we know we can trust him to guide us in the Truth.
Thank you, Father and congratulations!
Father and Sammy celebrating:)

Emmalee turns 11!

A happy birthday post for my niece, Emmalee Rose.  She turned 11 on Friday (sorry this post is late, Em!).  Emmalee has quite the fashion sense and loves basketball.  Hope you had a great day! Happy Birthday, Emmalee!