There and back again - shots from the road.

Rest stop.

Somewhere in Connecticut.

Rest Stop.

Stop Amelia from screaming stop.

On the road, again.

It's a Wednesday.

Yep, that's right. Wednesday. And around here that means it was a crazy day. Doesn't matter if the day was actually a Wednesday or not. If it was crazy, busy, or downright frustrating then a Wednesday is what I call it.

I just started calling a bad day a "Wednesday" after experiencing a series of really crazy Wednesdays. Don't know why Wednesday are so crazy around here, they just are.

Well, this week has been a week of Wednesdays. That's right, a whole week of 'em.

I'll spare you the details. Let's just say, that because the rest of the week was soooo busy, crazy and full of surprises, today is even more busy, crazy and full of surprises.

Thankfully, tomorrow's the start of our vacation. So maybe we'll escape the world of Wednesdays, and find rest somewhere in New England. Or maybe not. I'll let ya know when we get back.

Until then may everyday be a "Sunday" for you all. :)

So Funny....

If you like Steven Colbert, you'll think so too. Or if you don't like liturgical dancing. Or if you have any sense of humor at all.

Just check it out here. Then check out the rest of the site. There's some pretty good clips (especially nice for those of us without cable.

Prayer Request

I just found out that the father of one of my friends committed suicide this weekend. She will be traveling to be with her family during this difficult time.

Please pray for her safe arrival, for the repose of the soul of her father, and for peace and healing within her family as they grieve this terrible loss.

A Day at the Park with Friends

Flowers

Growing up.

I always amazes me how the little things during an ordinary day can affect you. For example, today, Maria said grace at breakfast and at lunch right along with me. Now she's been able to say it for awhile, but she's never actually said it out loud with me. Usually she just whispers it, or doesn't say anything at all.

But today she said it out loud, along with me. And I couldn't help but think how fast the time goes and how much she has grown up already. And I have to admit, it brought tears to my eyes, to see her innocence and joy at accomplishing such a simple thing as a prayer.

I said a prayer of my own at that moment. That she would always find joy in simple prayers, and that she would carry her childlike faith into the rest of her life.

Religion: A Form of Abuse?

This article says so.

And I suppose that the author would exempt secular humanists from the proposed age restrictions for teaching religion to the young. And what of Atheism, Confucianism, and Taoism? Are they religions? Or just philosophies?

And what of public education of children? Isn't it just the teacher deciding what the student should and shouldn't learn? Isn't that indoctrination? Couldn't that be considered abusive? Don't most teachers require unquestioning acceptance of their teachings?

"1+1= 2," says the teacher.

"I don't think so, I think 1+1=4," say Johnny.

"No, that's wrong," says the teacher.

See what I mean, very abusive.

Further, schools are violent places. Just look how many school shootings there have been. Surely this proves the point that its abusive to send children to school. They are told what to wear, what to think, what to believe and so they become violent. And by watching the violence of others, they are taught violence. So I think we should ban all schools.


HT: Matthew S at Catholic Dads

Lost and Found

Lost: One tiny band-aid, from Amelia's leg after her vaccination at 2 on Wednesday.

Found: One tiny band-aid, on Mommy's tummy (in bed) at around 11:30 on Wednesday.

At least I know she didn't eat it.

Ain't misbehavin'...

I found this article through one of the groups on Cafe Mom. (Consensual Living, Respectful Parenting, Non-Coercive Parenting, etc.)

Here's a quote that kinda sums it up:

"I think adults say a child misbehaves whenever some specific action is judged as contrary to how the adult thinks the child should behave. The verdict of misbehavior, then, is clearly a value judgment made by the adult – a label placed on some particular behavior, a negative judgment of what the child is doing. Misbehavior thus is actually a specific action of the child that is seen by the adult as producing an undesirable consequence for the adult. What makes a child's behavior misbehavior (bad behavior) is the perception that the behavior is, or might be, bad behavior for the adult. The "badness'' of the behavior actually resides in the adult's mind, not the child's; the child in fact is doing what he or she chooses or needs to do to satisfy some need."

In other words, when the child's selfishness conflicts with my selfishness, and that bothers me, then I am the one who has a problem and not the child. I am the one who has to overcome my selfishness, to be able to see their selfishness, not as bad, but as normal "need" fulfillment.

Oh, and because it's my problem and not the child's problem, I shouldn't punish him. Or at least I shouldn't use, "power" tactics to deal with the behavior. 'Cuz we all know that "power" tactics break the child's spirit.

Sounds great, doesn't it?

Just another day...

Here's some picture's of the girl's from today. Nothing too special just your average day.

Amelia's new skill is standing. She can pull herself up sometimes too.

Maria requested that I take a picture of her, when she saw me taking one of Amelia. So here she is fooling around with her spoon when she was supposed to be eating her soup.

This is an interesting way to eat!

Amelia has discovered Maria's stash of 'credit cards'. She finds them very tasty.

"Don't leave home without it!"

Unanswered questions.

I just don't get what some people are thinking. I had an interview with a potential volunteer for ABB last night. I was expecting to be able to run through the usual drill, explain a little about our services, what volunteer positions that we need to fill, what training will be necessary, the hours you need to commit to, and then have her fill out the forms.

Instead I felt like I was the one being interviewed. But interviewed is too soft a word, it was really more like an interrogation. She rapid-fired questions at me, like she had a specific agenda that she wanted to run through. And they weren't "easy" questions, they were the big questions... the ones that on a good day take an hour or two to really explain in a convincing way.

I felt like I did back when I was joining the Church and had all those, well meaning, fundamentalists trying to "save my soul" and keep me from losing my faith. Just like them she didn't give me a chance to fully answer one question before she was on to the next in her list of "but what if?" extreme scenarios.

She pushed me to be specific, yet didn't really give me time to.

"But what would you say to someone considering an abortion?"

She wasn't satisfied when I said that that's something we learn in the training, she wanted an answer and she wanted it now. Then she wanted stats.

"How many minds have you changed?"

"What percentage of the women who call are seeking an abortion?"

Unfortunately, we don't keep detailed stats, yet. We're working on it, now that we have a database. But my question is, why would you need to know this sort of thing before you volunteer for a place? Or better, why would you need this information on first contact with a place? Why not wait for the specifics during training? At least the for the first question anyway.

Her other more outrageous questions included:

"What would you say to someone who called and said that she was raped and wanted an abortion?"

"What do you tell the clients about birth control?" - Followed by, "You don't tell them about birth control do you?" And then when I told her the answer, chastity counseling for single woman and NFP for married woman, she shot back a line of NFP questions.

"What's that?"

"Do you know anyone who practices that and finds it effective? My cousin used it and had twelve kids..."

"What's the difference between NFP and birth control? I don't see any difference. Do you see a difference?"

I told her about a study done in India which found effectiveness to be 99%. I mentioned this to show that even in places where the participants had less overall education, effectiveness was still high. Even after learning this, and hearing that the Pill can cause an early abortion, she still asked the following question:

"Oh, but what about the poor women in Africa, can you actually say that they shouldn't have the Pill? Those women who are so malnourished that they can't even produce milk for their babies and have to watch their children starve, one after another, shouldn't they have birth control? I'm not trying to argue here, I'm just trying to help you."

Argh. So what do you say to thinking like that? The person has already decided that certain things are true, and will come up with any situation, however extreme, where her view might be justified. And she doesn't really care to hear any explanation that goes against her already decided opinion.

I really do feel badly about it all. Given her age, I imagine that she is in that group of people who was told "the Church is changing the ban on contraceptives..." or "follow your conscience...." Maybe she used birth control herself; maybe she was even told by a priest that it was ok. Or maybe a friend was in one of the unfortunate situations she brought up.

It's harder then, to do the right thing, when you see the suffering that doing the right thing will cause. And it will often cause suffering of one kind or another to do the right thing. Especially when it comes to an crisis pregnancy. This is no easy way out of that situation. There are only moral and immoral choices, and suffering in one form or another.

And that is where we come in. Anyone who works at a crisis pregnancy center knows that our job is mostly just listening while a woman talks out her anger, sadness, fears and heartaches. We do all we can to ease the pain, but we can't ever take it away completely. All the resources we provide can't make the situation go away. And there is fallout for each of the choices that she could make.

Only God can bring good out of these situations, and that's why we encourage the woman we speak with to turn to God for comfort and solace in this trying time. Going against God's laws in an attempt to solve the hardship that these women face, would be doing them a disservice. For there is only more suffering to be had when we choose sin.

As for the questions that the woman asked, I do have answers, but I think most of you don't need to be convinced that abortion in any situation is wrong, and that contraceptives are not only wrong, but they are not the answer to the problems in Africa. However, if anyone wants to hear some explanations of these situations, just ask me. And I'll try to post some answers.

But please, if you ask, take time to listen to the answer.

Parking Lot?

If I were in charge of all things road related like PennDOT, I would still NOT leave my large expensive machines in the middle of the road on a holiday weekend. And if I did, I would definitely put several signs and lights warning people that they were there. A few cones just wouldn't suffice for me.

Pentecost

VENI, Creator Spiritus,
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia
quae tu creasti pectora.

Qui diceris Paraclitus,
altissimi donum Dei,
fons vivus, ignis, caritas,
et spiritalis unctio.

Tu, septiformis munere,
digitus paternae dexterae,
Tu rite promissum Patris,
sermone ditans guttura.

Accende lumen sensibus:
infunde amorem cordibus:
infirma nostri corporis
virtute firmans perpeti.

Hostem repellas longius,
pacemque dones protinus:
ductore sic te praevio
vitemus omne noxium.

Per te sciamus da Patrem,
noscamus atque Filium;
Teque utriusque Spiritum
credamus omni tempore.

Deo Patri sit gloria,
et Filio, qui a mortuis
surrexit, ac Paraclito,
in saeculorum saecula.
Amen.

COME, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,
and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O comforter, to Thee we cry,
O heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;
Thou, finger of God's hand we own;
Thou, promise of the Father, Thou
Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

Kindle our sense from above,
and make our hearts o'erflow with love;
with patience firm and virtue high
the weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread,
and grant us Thy peace instead;
so shall we not, with Thee for guide,
turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
the Father and the Son to know;
and Thee, through endless times confessed,
of both the eternal Spirit blest.

Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven.
Amen.

(Veni Creator Spiritus found here. Fuzzy Holy Spirit picture my own.)

Weekend fun

This morning we all went to the park, Jim and Maria to the playground, Amelia and I to Baby Boot Camp. I was pretty grumpy, because we were late, and it was HOT and HUMID. I am not a fan of summer weather. Luckily for me, the instructor had pulled a muscle in her back and was very willing to take it easy today, so I did a little cardio while she watched, and then we retreated to the shade for upper body work and abs.

After we were done, poor Amelia looked like she was starting to wilt. She looked up at me with big droopy eyes, as if to say "Why?". Poor thing. But we still had to extract Maria from the playground. I found Jim seated on bench under the half-finished gazebo, staring off into space. He looked wilted. "Maria's over there, with her friends," he said, gesturing in the general direction of the playground.

And there was Maria... running around with about 5 or 6 older kids, probably ages 7-11 or so. She was trying to ride one of their mini-bikes. She seemed completely unaffected by the heat. And she didn't want to leave, of course. We bribed her with one more ride down the slide and then dragged her off to the car.

In the car, I get the brilliant idea that since we're up and out "early" on a Saturday, i.e. before 10, we should drive around and check out the yard sale action. Very good idea. I found a silver plated candy dish for $1.50 that make a nice base for a smallish gift basket. We drove to another sale and found a backpack carrier for $5, so now we've got one for each girl. Great for when we go camping with my family. The best thing of all was the toddler-sized swing set. That's it in the picture above. For $30, it wasn't a bad deal, as it looks brand new. Now we at least have something in the backyard other than the sandbox to keep her occupied while I garden.

Now we're all hiding out inside though, as it's still hot and humid out there. Jim had planned for yardwork, but I think I'll be happiest if he just gets the air conditioner set up in our bedroom.

Voice-Activated

There are times when I'm really jealous of my husband's ability to fall asleep. Twice in the past week, he has demonstrated his amazing ability to drop off into a deep sleep with little or no warning.

The first time, was Friday night. I had had a really, really and busy day. We were in bed before I really had a chance to decompress and tell him about my day. So, at his request, I started to run through all that had gone on. I made it to ten o'clock, and then he laughed and said, maybe you'd better stop. But I didn't. I plowed on, for another minute or so, until I realized that he was very quiet. This struck me, as Jim is never quiet, unless he's sleeping. So to test my theory that he had fallen asleep I said, "and then aliens landed in the backyard." No response.

The second time, was just last night. I was chatting with him, just after we got into bed. I said something, I don't remember what and he laughed. "What?," I said. I really wanted to know why he was laughing at me. I got no response at all. Just breathing. Argh.

Twice in one week, I was left awake, and stirred up, unable to sleep. I really wish that I had a voice-activated sleep switch like that....

From the mouth of a two-year old...

"Oh, no! I made peanut butter all over my seat!"

"I've got a cold. My nose is running away from me."

"I have a head, and baby Mee-ya has a head. Mommy has a head, and Daddy has a head. Daddy took his head to work with him."

My NFP Post

In the past few weeks, my husband and I, and some of our friends, have been involved in a debate over NFP with some traditionalist Catholics. I have posted a rather lengthly argument for widespread teaching of NFP at Natural Family Life, my husband's blog. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Food!

Intentionally this time, Amelia has had her first taste of real food. Yummy! She really seemed to enjoy it and finished the whole serving that I'd prepared for her.

Ah, the anticipation!

First taste.

"Mmmm, this is good!"

"With two spoons, I can get more food faster!"

"No more pictures, I"m trying to eat!"

* that's avocado in case you're wondering... no rice cereal first here... maybe next week.

Milestones

Amelia's growing so fast that I can barely keep up with her. Here are a few pics from the past few days highlighting her achievments.

Here she is sitting up. She's getting really good at getting into this position and has less and less trouble staying in it without falling over.

Okay, so maybe if you can enlarge this you'll see her teeth. I spent about 5 minutes trying to catch glimpse of them and this is the best that I got.

Here she is sitting up and playing with D. Doesn't she look sporty in her new outfit, all the way from England? (*thanks to Mom-Mom for the new clothes)

The Mary, Mary, Month of May

The month of May traditionally Mary's month. As such, I thought it would be nice to have some resources up for those wishing to honor Mary.

University of Dayton
Blessed Virgin Mary Art Page
Dave Armstrong's Index of Apologetic Posts on Mary
Marian Prayers
Women for Faith and Family - Mary Page

Fair WARNING, I only briefly scanned most of these pages, so I can't be sure that they all contain orthodox info. If you find anything on any of them that is questionable, let me know, and I'll remove it from the above list. If you find any other sites that may be helpful let me know and I'll add them. Really great sites may be permanently added in the sidebar, so take some time this month and read up on Mary and let me know which sites you'd like to see get a permanent link.

Life in the Lap of Luxury

As it's the little things that make life truly luxurious, here's a list of the little luxuries from my day:

1. a nice hot shower, without anyone crying or whining at me (thank you, Barney)
2. both girls taking a nap at the same time
3. sitting on the deck, nursing Amelia and taking in the beautiful spring air
4. planting those bulbs that I've had around for several weeks
5. the feeling of damp earth, the wind through my hair and sunshine through the trees
6. the sounds of Amelia playing and discovering grass.
7. getting to go to benediction on the final night of the 40 hours devotion at church
8. getting to go ALONE to 40 hours (thank you, Jim)
9. the smell of incense
10. singing in Tantum Ergo
11. finishing the day with cake, ice cream, and glass of good wine, and a little blogging

Another Blog Thing

Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking

You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal. You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk. You should major in: Philosophy Music Theology Art History Foreign language

What Should You Major In?

Storytime with Maria

Today, as I was getting an outfit for Amelia, Maria came into the room and picked up one of her Bible board books. She opened it up to the first page, the story of Creation and she said, "One Sunday morning, the warm sun came up and, POP! Out came one little Jesus..."

And I nearly died laughing.

When you don't have paper....

...legs will do.

Progress

So this is a little late, but Amelia hit the half year mark this past Thursday. She also managed to pull off another milestone that day, getting her first tooth. Here's a picture from that day of Maria and Amelia playing "together" with Maria blocks. The time flies by so fast.

Run for Life

This weekend marked the 8th annual Run for Life, benefiting A Baby's Breath Crisis Pregnancy Center. Jim and I walked the 5K with Amelia and Maria along for the ride in the stroller. It was a beautiful day for the race, unlike last year which was drizzly and cold. Still haven't heard the total amount collected for the center, but I'll post it when I find out. For anyone wishing to donate to ABB, check out the Angel Club link on the website.

The runners lining up for the start of the one mile "fun run." Hard to see in this pic, but this is where all the other people with strollers were. We had the only stroller in the 5K. Luckily for me, Jim did most of the pushing.

Maria and her "ladies." This group of girls came with a team, so they got matching t-shirts. Maria saw them standing in the field and went running over to them. When they asked her what her name was she said, "I'm two." Later while we were doing the 5K, Maria kept asking where her "ladies" were. She was very excited to find them again after the race.

This old barn and tractor were part of the scenery along the path. Jim really wanted to take the tractor home. I told him he could, if he was willing to push it.

Here's Jim doing the hard work of pushing the girls. I started out pushing them, but gave up after the first half-mile. Luckily, I had Jim to back me up.

Here's the biggest surprise of the day... Jim took third place in his age group! With a time of 53 minutes who'd have guessed that any of us would get a medal.

Beauty and the Fall

A recent post by Dean Abbott, has got me thinking about the nature of beauty and how it relates to the Fall.

He writes:

"The loss of that physical beauty in a woman is no small blow, not something to be dismissed lightly.

Like the weakening of our faculties as we age, the vanishing of much of a woman’s beauty over the years is a mark of the Fall. Our bodies are subject to wear and death not as part of nature, but as a result of the presence of sin in creation."

According to JP II's theology of the body, we show forth the glory of God in and through our bodies. So it makes sense that our bodies would also tell the tale of the Fall. As babies, our bodies speak most clearly of the eternal life God wants for us. Babies glow and bubble forth newness, and vitality. They are (for the most part) untouched by sin, and exude innocence.

As we grow, spending more time in this world, we lose that innocence and beauty that we once had. Our time in this world is a time of encountering more and more sin, our own and that of others. We become more and more marred by the marks of sin, scars that effect not only our souls, but our physical bodies as well. Sin harms the whole person.

This gradual loss of physical beauty serves as a visible reminder of the cumulative effects of sin. Because this loss of physical beauty is symbolic of the ever increasing ravages of sin it is as Dean says, "no small blow."

I have some more thoughts on this, related to why women are most susceptible to this diminishing beauty, but I'll have to leave them for another post.

Days of whine and noses

The past week or so have been rough, as everyone but me (so far) has had a cold. First Maria, then Jim, then Amelia, and now Maria again. I thought it was gone but it's back. So now I've got two little noses to take care of. Fortunately, Maria can blow her own nose, at least some of the time. But she seems more tired and more fussy than usual. And definitely more whiny.

Amelia, on the other hand, had no idea why I'm always coming at her with a tissue, or worse yet the "snot sucker." She just knows that she hates it and wants not part of it, thank you very much. As soon as she sees me coming for her nose, she begins tossing her head all around, and usually ends up wiping a good amount of the snot on me, the couch, the pillow... anywhere but the tissue. Ah, what joy!

But spring is here! And with it comes an end to the cold season, and hopefully the only nose I'll be wiping is my own (darn allergies).

Lunchtime woes

Maria: (Crying) Oww...

Me: What's wrong sweetie? Did you bite your tongue?

Maria: No, I not bite my tongue... I bite peanut butter and jelly.

Me: (stifling a laugh) Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

Ready to Go.

Amelia is becoming much more mobile, and is starting to be able to scoot across the floor on her stomach. When she wants to move, she first gets up on her hands and toes, then lunges forward. This picture shows her starting position... it just happens to also be a Pilates position called the Plank. Try it out sometime, it's great for developing your abs.

More Easter Pictures.

Maria's giant "Bob" basket.
Lovely ladies in "boo-tifool" bonnets

The girl's in their matching Easter dresses. Matching Easter smiles not included.

Amelia discovers a camera case and finds it "oh, so yummy."

Easter Pictures

Coloring eggs for the first time. Maria liked drawing on the eggs with her crayons... unfortunately eggs are round and hard to hold , so she dropped a few in the process .
Here's a picture of some of the Easter booty.

And here's a shot of the finished eggs, all arranged in Amelia's basket.

Too much fast food

You know that you've stopped at the drivethru one too many times when your two-year old starts saying, "I want to go in french fry house!" as soon as she sees anything that resembles a McDonald's. Another clue is when the same two-year old is playing with her "money card" and asks "I'd like a #1, peez."

Gardening

Since it we had lovely weather the past few days, I've been spending much of my time outside attacking the weed pit that I call my flower garden. Here's a picture of the garden halfway through weeding.
And here's a picture of some of the "good browns" that I got out of the garden for use in the compost pile. These are the remains of flowers from last year and leaves from the oaks out front. Anything else, like dead weeds etc., I'm not using on the compost heap this year since I don't want to inadvertently spread the weeds via left over seeds.

These are some of the bulbs that I plan to put in this year, begonias, dahlias and a shady mix including ferns for out front.

I really want to get a few more roses to put in, but I can't decide where they should go. And I haven't had much luck keeping the roses that I do have looking nice for the whole summer. I keep trying but something makes the leave fall off after the first bloom. Any advice is appreciated.

Spring

Here are some pictures to cheer everyone up as we are once again experiencing chilly weather and in some places snow.

The good, the bad and the ugly.

This past weekend was fairly busy for us. There was the retirement party for Jim's dad, which my parents came down for. Then there was Palm Sunday and Becky's choir concert.

Here's a summary of the good, the bad and the ugly from this weekend.

The Good: my parent's visiting, seeing family and friends at the party, lots of yummy food, making it to Mass on time, a Sunday afternoon nap, Becky's choir singing in Latin :)

The Bad: staying up way too late, eating too many desserts, a stranger striking up a conversation with Maria during the Gospel reading (then saying "She's ok." when we pick her up and tell her to be quiet, grr...), Amish kids on Rumspringa (thank you netflix)

The Ugly: Maria after missing several hours of sleep, seeing a half-moon from a man in front of us at Mass...eww.

Check it out...

I added a new site to my "Fun Stuff" link on the left. Kunst der Fuge has midi files of various composers' works. It's not like listening to a great orchestra performance, but you can get a good idea of what the music is supposed to sound like. And to my great pleasure, they have Gustav Holst's Suite in E flat, something I've longed to hear since I played in in District Band, many moons ago.

Happy listening folks.

Note to Self:

When you let Maria play in the sandbox, be sure to shake her off, take off her sandy clothes and hose her down before you let her take a nap in your bed. Unless you enjoy sleepy between gritty sheets.