News?

I was watching the noon news today and heard a story about how some archaeologists found Jesus', Mary's and Joseph's bodies in a tomb outside of Jerusalem. So, I decided to check out some blogs for the real scoop. But it took my a while to find anything anywhere. Then I found this.

So it turns out the real story is 26 years old, and it's just now being made into a documentary which will air today. Hmm.... that's really relevant news for you. Sometimes I wonder why I bother with watching the news at all.

Ash Wednesday

At our Ash Wednesday Mass yesterday I couldn't help but notice that some children were given ashes and others were not. Neither Maria nor Amelia received them, but a little girl Amelia's age who was sitting in a different section of the church did. I saw one mom take her children back through the line in one of the wings of the church after her three year old twins did not receive ashes from the center line.

Now I've consulted with a few people (and the EWTN Q & A page) and it seems that anyone, even the unbaptized can receive ashes. So this left me wondering if maybe I should have done as that other mother and taken Maria and Amelia back through to receive ashes. Then I went to the Vatican Website and found this:

Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, Part Two, Chapter IV:
125. In the Roman Rite, the beginning of the forty days of penance is marked with the austere symbol of ashes which are used in the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday. The use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according to which converted sinners submitted themselves to canonical penance. The act of putting on ashes symbolizes fragility and mortality, and the need to be redeemed by the mercy of God. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has retained the use of ashes to symbolize that attitude of internal penance to which all the baptized are called during Lent. The faithful who come to receive ashes should be assisted in perceiving the implicit internal significance of this act, which disposes them towards conversion and renewed Easter commitment. (italics added)

That last sentence struck me. While I think that I might be able to bring Maria to some understanding of what the ashes mean, Amelia would have no clue. So now my question is this, while children can receive ashes should they and if so at what age? Should you wait until they reach the age of reason? Or just until they have some basic understanding of what the ashes mean?

Anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

Storytime

Just one reason that I love my husband.

The ups and downs of stock...

So I recently attempted to make my own chicken stock. I got the idea several months ago when CCL's Family Foundations magazine had an article about how to do it, and how much more nutritious it can be compared to store bought stock. Well, always wanting increase my "crunchiness" I decided to give it a go.

I combined two recipes, one from Nigella Lawson and one from the La Leche League cookbook. Here's what I did: When I first read the article, I started saving up chicken bones (when I remembered). So I ended up with three frozen carcasses, with some meat and skin left on them. I took these and threw them in a large pot. Then I added a sliced onion, some chopped carrots and celery, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, celery seed, a bay leaf and nine peppercorns. Then I put in enough water to cover, and set it to boil for about three hours. At that point I strained it and put it back on to boil down to about 6 cups of stock. After it cooled, I put it in the refrigerator to chill in a large bowl. Then the next day I skimmed the fat off the top and separated it into cup size portions to freeze for later use.

Now here are the problems that I had: I was interrupted several times in the beginning when I was chopping the veggies...first by Maria, then by Amelia. At one point I was frantically trying to get things into the pot and get it starting heating while I was holding Amelia and trying to nurse her. The books don't tell you how to deal with a situation like that.

Once it was on the stove, things went well, since you really don't have to watch it. It was only later, trying to decide where to put it (the downstairs fridge was the only place it would fit), how to skim the fat, and wondering why it looked like gello, that I began to question my sanity. I had to call my mom to find the answer to the last question. Apparently, if you want it to be a thin, non-gelatinous liquid, you have to strain it through a cheese-cloth. Ah, if only the recipe had mentioned that. Now I'll have to buy a cheese cloth and strain the stock before I use it. All-in-all though it was an interesting experiment, one worth trying again a I think.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

...watch that baby rollin'! Roll-on! Yeah!

Yep, Amelia's made her first moves...yesterday one roll, today many. Now she just has to figure out how to get back.

Here's a pic of how I found her after her first roll.

"Hey, how'd I do that? That was pretty cool!"

And here's a pic of the magical rolling outfit from the front. See, it just so happens that Maria was wearing the exact same outfit for her first roll. There must be something about that giraffe.

"Oh, ya! I'm doing that again as soon as I get a chance."

A shoulder to spit on...

Amelia: WAAAAAH! WAAAAH!

Me: It's okay Amelia, Mommy's got you now.

Amelia: Spluuup!

Me: Arrrhhh! Not again! Just needed to spit, huh?

Amelia: (BIG SMILE) Ga!

Yep. Lots of laundry around here.