Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Sacred Heart Devotion

All right, I am starting to get a little creative with the art projects.  The book called for a simple line drawing of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  I quickly prepared construction paper templates and let the kids practice their cutting and gluing skills.  I recall doing a lot of cutting and gluing in kindergarten and first grade.  Not only does it improve hand eye coordination, but it is also fun.  

Alex and Kristiana did surprisingly well.  Annie had lots of help.  But, she always has fun when glue is involved.  They were all pretty proud and hung them on the refrigerator. 

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My God, I offer You all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings in union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for the intentions for which He pleads and offers Himself in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in thanksgiving for Your favors, in reparation for my sins, and in humble supplication for my temporal and eternal welfare, for the needs of our holy Mother the Church, for the conversion of sinners, and for the relief of the poor souls in purgatory.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Oddities

This guy was an impulse buy at the grocery store this week.  I had not planned on buying an eggplant this week, but I saw this guy and I just had to have him.  So I brought him home and made baba ganouj.  

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As my daughter and I were walking around the produce section, she saw some peaches with noses.  She thought since we picked an eggplant with a nose, that we had have the peaches with noses too. 

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--Fun at the grocery store with my daughter.  She topped off the trip with a dish of sushi from the deli, which she ate up all herself (spoiled, girl).

Mno Hiya Lita!

Friday, October 11, 2013

"Be of good cheer.  Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow.  You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you preserver; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles.  Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.  What I am looking for is not out there.  It is in me."  -Helen Keller

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I needed to hear this today.  Someone little did not want to be obedient today--a real independent spirit.  The children all bickered a little too much.  Truly it drove me to the brink.  I really was not in the mood to deal with it either.  Halfway through the day, I decided we should sit down and have some ice cream and watch a little T.V. to calm everything down.  My ice cream party did not make life any better.  

Later we all went to the gym so mommy could blow off a little steam.  I felt 100% better about everything.  Then we went out to the parking lot and we were right at the car loading in, when previously mentioned someone little took off on an exploratory expedition of the parking lot.  Someone little is in a lot of trouble.  Let's just say I am putting this person on probation.

This bad behavior and how I felt about it (stressed) made me second guess our decision the home school.  Sometimes I feel like we must be a little too cooped up, because of the bickering and disobedience.  However, I know we would face the same problems whether the children went away to school or stayed home.  I know this is true because my siblings and I constantly bickered even though we went to good schools.  We never had good relationships.  For the most part, my children are friends and have fun. 

Part of their behavior is normal for kids growing up.  Part of it is the kind of environment one fosters.  I hope I can figure this all out, and help my family be holy. 

Mno Hiya Lita!

 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Poor Kitty

A kitten is not a toy.  Tell that to a 17 month old.  I told my husband that I think our kitten is not very smart, because he keeps letting himself be caught be the children.  Although, he already has a favorite hideout--under the TV armoire.  Someday he will learn to run away.

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Mno Hiya Lita!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Art Class

Sometimes I feel I should be doing better things in art class.  I remember childhood art projects so fondly.  However with all the little ones it's hard to do anything special.  

Part of me feels that our curriculum is not very good in certain areas.  While it teaches line drawings appropriate for the age, it lacks the kind of creativity that I feel little ones need at this age.  Then again if it required more than basic supplies I would not do it anyway.

Indeed, I should be able to come up with some creative projects.  There are a few reasons I do not do more creative complex projects.  Firstly, when I sit down to lesson plan on Sunday or Saturday night I am usually pretty tired and not feeling creative.  I just want to slap together the lessons and launch head first into it on Monday.  Secondly, it's pretty difficult to conduct a proper art class with so many little ones around.  Lastly, owning lots of different art supplies is expensive.  

As they all grow more mature, I am sure that we will do more elaborate art lessons.  However, I worry for the older children that they did not get to experience it when they minds are most creatively fertile.  C'est la vie. I am sure they will turn out all right. ;-)

Here were are working on painting a Chalice

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Lucy was getting in the way of the older siblings, so she was banished to eat pretzels.

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Mno Hiya Lita!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Playground

We play in our Cul de Sac a lot in the Fall.

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Sometimes other neighbor children join us.

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But at the end of the Cul de Sac...

  …we have bulls and a white mule.

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I love the way dead tree branches stretch to the heavens so poetically.

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Mno Hiya Lita!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Why I Do Not Wear a Chapel Veil

It really bothers me when devout Catholic women write opinion pieces about wearing chapel veils in the sanctuary as though they were attaining some special  humility before Christ; as though their holiness were greater than those who do not wear veils.  Women practice the tradition of wearing veils in the Byzantine Catholic Church, the Orthodox church, Orthodox Judaism and Islam (to name a few).  Perhaps the arguments they make are true for them, but not for me.  

As an Eastern Catholic Christian I pray everyday the invocation of the Holy Spirit which goes as follows: 

          "O Heavenly King Comforter, Spirit of Truth, You are everywhere present and fill all things.  Treasury of Blessings, and Giver of Life, come and dwell within us, cleanse us of all stain, and save our souls, O Gracious God."

God's presence everywhere is a truth for every Christian.  Therefore, I do not believe one should only show this degree of humility and modesty in the sanctuary.  It should be practiced everywhere as a sign of humility and modesty.  Until women are prepared to do so in the public eye, I see it as hypocrisy and vanity.  You might as well be a pharisee advertising your holiness for all to see.  I prefer the publican's route, come to Christ with humility in your heart not on top of your head.  "O, God, have mercy on me a sinner" (Lk 18:13).

When I go to the gym I might wear a tank top and shorts.  When I go to swim, I wear a modern one piece bathing suit (personally, I could not afford a much more expensive swim dress).  I wear skirts that go to my knees!  All of these practices are considered immodest by historical tradition.  Until I am ready to wear a burka everywhere, which in truth is the only acceptable modest attire by tradition, then I also do not feel it a necessity to wear a veil to church.  All women of the one true faith should consider this question, "Am I as modest and humble in every aspect of my life as I am before the Blessed Sacrament?"  If not, then "Am I a hypocrite if I only do this where other people can see (people who are praying)?"  

Another reason I do not wish to follow this practice are simple ones.  First, I see it as a vanity: the delicate lace, the beautiful patterns, the expensive fabrics.  To own a chapel veil is a luxury for me simply because it is not an essential piece of attire for everyday use.  For me it's a vanity because I would fuss with it all during church making sure it was positioned properly.  One reason I would fuss with it's position is because I have four small children who would tug at it and play with it.  Then if it fell off, or was taken off my head, I would worry about the immodesty of it.  This is not a disruption I need in my worship time.

As far as I understand this is a mere expression of faith and is a more of a tradition of culture rather than a mandate.  If the tradition is rightly intentioned, then we may desire to practice it to do the proper thing amongst our Christian brothers.  As in, we do it because everyone else is doing it as a sign of modesty.  However, in our culture, a veil is not a sign of modesty, but an archaic symbol of oppression.  

Before we start writing devotional editorials on the virtues of veils, I think our time would be better spent teaching young men and women the virtues of modesty in attire in their daily lives.  Before we run out and buy a veil, let's run out and go to confession.   Let's come the Lord with humble hearts and not just humble heads. 

Mno Hiya Lita!