My Domestic Church

St. Sebastian Youth group ladies [Flickr]

2013-06-17T08:42:40-07:00

elliemom posted a photo:

Simple Woman

2013-06-16T21:16:00.000-04:00

Outside my window...

It can't quite figure out what it wants to do - rain or shine?

I am thinking...
about the wonderful weekend I spent at the Franciscan University Youth Conference. I think I needed to go as much as the kids did! One of the speakers had us do a meditation about what it was that kept us from letting Jesus get into our hearts. Once we had focused on the thing or things that could keep us from getting closer to Jesus, we could make the choice to mentally put them in our hands, and when we were ready, we could stand up and open our hands to let them go. It was very powerful. Just the action of mentally taking something that was sinful and hurtful and then making the choice to open my hand and physically release it made me feel much lighter.

A couple of people said some very unkind things to me last week on this blog. Then to make sure I got the point, they sent e-mail as well. I have a tendency to hold a grudge and to ruminate over things like that. And all that does is make me angry and hurt my feelings all over again.

So when I got home, I deleted all the comments and the e-mails - just sent it all to the trash, emptied the trash and set up filters. And that way I have no way to re-read any of those words only to fret, and get worked up over it all again. It was very freeing. That all said, I prefer to think of the positive experiences I had with Izzy and Noah and the youth group at the conference.

I am thankful...

That Calvin graduated from paramedic school and qualified to take the national test!
That I actually drove to Steubenville, there and back without any accidents or mishaps!
For our new parochial vicar! He is a tad older than me but definitely another come-of-age-in-the- 70's type of person, like me and Mr. Pete! When the band at the conference played a theme for the emcee it sounded very familiar - then it hit me!! It was the intro to "Play the Funky Music White Boy!" and when I mentioned it to Father L. he smiled and said, "That's right!"

From the learning rooms...

Gabe and Noah are starting "As I Lay Dying" by Faulkner.

We are sort of in semi-vacation mode this week. Concentrating mainly on math for Noah and reading and math for the girls. Gabe is taking a government class at a local charter school just to get it out of the way.
Spelling program per Dr. Holinga for all four kids.
Instacert for History and start American History part 2
American History at Homeschool Connections Recorded Courses.
Apologia Science - Physical for Noah, Biology for Gabe, and General for Izzy.
Saxon math for all with math tutor for Gabe and Noah.
Rosetta Stone Latin 3 - for Noah and Gabe
Diane Craft reading program for Izzy. Ms. Craft is coming to Ohio next week and I definitely want to ask her what the next step should be for Izzy's improvement.
The Long Winter.

Pathway readers for Rosie and the Wand for Language arts.
Mary Poppins for Rosie and Izzy.

Our Yearly Evaluation is this year too!!

From the kitchen...
I'm thinking pasta salad again tomorrow night!

I am wearing...
gray capris, and my lime green conference shirt!!

I am creating...

Portfolios for our review next week.
Doubling down on my fitness program - there weren't a lot of great food choices at the conference. Iceberg lettuce, two slices of cucumber with a tomato does not make a salad!

I am reading...
The diary of Sister Faustina!

I am wondering...
about something I heard in a talk over the weekend. One of the speakers, Sister Miriam James Heindland talked about her life as a young adult, living a sinful life of alcoholism and fornication. Her mother had done everything she could think of to help her turn her life around, but young Sister Miriam would have none of it - her heart was hardened. So Sister's mother gave her daughter over to our blessed mother and just begged Mary to care for her daughter and to turn her life around and even to make her become a nun! And the remarkable thing is that she did leave her sinful lifestyle, beat her alcoholism and eventually became a nun! It just struck me about how powerful the prayers of a mother truly are.

At the conference, I just prayed and prayed that the guardian angels of all my children and my husband would wrap their wings of sacred protection around them for the weekend - especially Sam and Gabe.

I am Hoping...
I am hoping to sometime hear or see Sam and Gabe. It is 9:00 and Pete has not gotten a text from them in over 24 hours.
On the positive side, that text said they were about to see Sir Paul McCartney! I guess Mr. Pete texted them back and said, "He's older than I am!"
A couple minutes later Sam texted back, "I hope he can make it through his set!"

I am Looking Forward To...
a homeschool conference next week and Calvin and Sarah's graduation party! I will be making a lot of potato salad and other stuff next Thursday and Friday!

I am hearing...
The air conditioner!

A Picture I am Sharing...
The new bishop of Steubenville said the mass on Saturday!!

our super nice new parochial vicar was there too!

I think he's worried that I'm going to use a flash! - I didn't : )

And where else on the internet can you have Sister Faustina, Paul McCartney, Eucharistic Adoration ,and Play that Funky Music in one post?!

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June 2013 118 [Flickr]

2013-06-16T17:17:30-07:00

elliemom posted a photo:

June 2013 116 [Flickr]

2013-06-16T17:17:30-07:00

elliemom posted a photo:

June 2013 111 [Flickr]

2013-06-16T17:17:29-07:00

elliemom posted a photo:

June 2013 110 [Flickr]

2013-06-16T17:17:28-07:00

elliemom posted a photo:

7-Quick Takes

2013-06-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary
1. When this blog becomes a chore, it's going private.

I am almost to that point.

so if you get anything out of this blog, now would be a good time to opine about it.

2. So today Calvin graduates from paramedic school and we are so proud of him. Mr. Pete is armed with our point and shoot camera and he will be attend with Miss Rosie! I wish with all of my heart that I could be there but I am certainly gearing up for his big graduation party later this month!!

3. Instead, I am driving with the youth group two hours away, to the Franciscan Youth Conference.

Yes. I am driving... ugh...

Luckily, I am not taking any of the kids - my van will be full of all of the luggage and belongings which somehow makes me feel much, much better.

I'm actually a pretty good driver. I used to drive all the time to Canton and Cleveland by myself. Long time readers will remember I took a 15-passenger van with all of my kids in it two hours to Columbus two or three times to see the reading specialist. So I have the skill and the experience. I think it just might be the prospect of being responsible for other people's kids that scares me a little bit.

Ok, so here's my horror story about youth groups and camps and driving.

When I was a little girl, living on the farm, we had a family that lived on the south-east corner of our farmland. There were two teenage girls in that family. I didn't know them well but they looked pretty and exuberant. On the other side of our farm was a neighbor with a daughter a few years older than me named Janice. We played together a couple of times and it was fun. Janice and the girls in the corner went to the same church.

One weekend, Janice and the girls were coming back from a weekend church meeting of some sort. I don't remember all of the particulars but one of the corner girls died, the other was horribly disabled. But what I remember most vividly was visiting Janice after she came home from the hospital. Her face was black and blue, her eyes were all swollen and purple, and she was so very weak. I spent time helping her to pick glass out of her skin.

A think like that sticks with a person, ya know?

So that's the horror story. And every year for the last ten years or so, I have cringed and worried while one of my kids, with or without Mr. Pete, went to Franciscan for the Youth Conference.

So now it's my turn to go because it's Izzy's first time and since Izzy is a girl, (and Mr. Pete went with each of the boys when it was there first time) I am going too. I've got the van all cleaned out and Mr. Pete is going to check it out and add oil and the other fluids tonight - I should be good to go. As long as my radio works, I think I'll be fine.

I am looking to be refreshed, renewed and to grow in faith and in my spirit, and that's another reason I'm going with the kids.

4. I am excited to try this with my girls this summer. This craft reminds me of being in upper Michigan near Lake Michigan. I don't know why it just does. It looks fun to make too!
Finger Knitted Tent!:

Here's the ultimate finger knitting project - a tent! Isn't
this amazing?! Read the details at Growing Up Creative.

finger knitting tutorial

5. Slow Cooking in the Summer Months wrote this delightful post about using your crockpot in the Summertime! Here is an excerpt!

The weather has warmed, and we're spending more and more time out in the yard.
The weather has warmed, and we're spending more and more time out in the yard.

I love it.
But I STILL use my slow cookers more often than not for our family dinners, and I urge you to, too.
Slow cookers take up very little electricity to run when compared to your stove or oven, and they do not heat your kitchen up the way those other appliances do. You're not going to notice that your AC is struggling to keep the kitchen cool, and you're not going to be standing over a hot stove, trying not to drip into your pasta sauce.
(ew. that's really gross, steph.)
I've listed my favorite ways to use the cooker below --- if you've got a family favorite, add it to the list!
FISHLove, love, love fish packets in the slow cooker. The fish steams perfectly in a foil or parchment-paper packet and you get a beautiful, flaky finished result without stinking (or heating!) up your kitchen.

FISH

Lemon and Rosemary ChickenWe make this chicken pretty often, and I like to use the leftovers on top of salads or in chicken sandwiches. If you don't want to mess around with a whole bird, dump in a bunch of your favorite frozen boneless, skinless pieces and then add the seasonings.

lemon rosemary chicken

Pesto Spinach LasagnaThis lasagna rocks. It's vegetarian, so it's automatically lighter than most lasagnas, and because you've got pesto layered in it each and every bite is absolutely bursting with loads of flavor. Put your basil crop to good use this summer!

6 I found a little clip from the old show Thirtysomething, that more eloquently expressed what I was trying to this week.

7. Izzy Art I've been waiting to share.

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The Angst Free Mom of my adult (and almost adult) kids at Bonnaroo.

2013-06-13T11:55:00.000-04:00

I was a little surprised to find that my post on Monday, featuring my maternal angst over two of my boys going to Bonnaroo, was so controversial! Point taken. This is the posting I meant to write!

It started a couple of months ago... I started to hear Sam and Gabe talk about something between themselves. Sounded like banana or bon bon and kangaroo... and then I figured out of course... Bonnaroo!! So I jumped right on Google to learn all I could about it! Here's something I read online about a past Bonnaroo festival.

The 10th Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival ended on Sunday, and more than 85,000 people returned to civilian life, their ears ringing with too much music. Because it is a brand with a mysterious grip on hale young-adult Americans with mystical tendencies, because it broke little aesthetic ground and because it’s a milestone year, let’s do consumer service first.

Oh wonderful - mystical tendencies. I'm old enough to remember all about "mystical tendencies."

The amount of dust on the festival part of the site — maybe a quarter of the 750-acre plot owned by Bonnaroo’s organizers — was staggering, and finally hard to live with. Often, it felt like an effort to find an area without dust; often, the areas without dust were muddy. Camping? Lots of it, well demarcated, separated into areas with funny names, and I heard tales of deer ticks, but otherwise I can’t help you; I was at a price-jacked Holiday Inn.

$250 apiece, with 85,000 other people and a chance at Lyme disease - sign us up!! Mr. Pete wanted to have them make payments from his credit card but I told him no way dude - we're digging into the retirement fund for this adventure! $500 plus another $500 for food and gas and maybe another $500 for spending money... want them to have a good time after all.

Family tent? hecks yea! let's rent them a pop up camper too! With the rental car to pull it. Sam's been driving a couple of years now. He's up for it, even if this is the longest he has ever driven by himself. Trust God. Trust the kid.

And while I wish I could go too, I'm fine staying here not worrying about the weather or road conditions because - well because I'm trusting in God that despite any of our decisions or their plans, it's all going to turn out great! In my brand of Christianity, there are never consequences for our decisions. Not bad consequences anyway. Ever. Not to us. Especially when we're going to let them have such a wonderful adventure and growth opportunity!

And I trust my boys to make good decisions because Bonnaroo is such a wholesome place. Even Frederica Mathewes's son Steven who attended the Bonnaroo festival wrote:

I had certainly been to concerts before and I had a vague idea of what to expect, but the hedonism was so much more rampant than I would have ever expected. They – the festival promoters – they make motions toward try to come off as – well, maybe that’s too harsh – I do believe that they are anti-drugs, and anti- anything that would be illegal or dangerous. I know they don’t want to promote that kind of thing.

But hey! They'll get to meet lots of new people!

and there's shopping too!

wholesome clean environment

and then there's this guy in the middle of this page that I can't bring myself to copy and paste - old hangups... sorry.

Gee whiz- I certainly want to give the blessing to go forth and do whatever at that! I'm certain that when the Psalmist wrote "He'll preserve their going out and their coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore"

something like Bonnaroo was exactly what he was referring too!

At a mere 600 miles away, it' just a chance for some independent fun and adventure.

Oh and I'll just ignore this - it's all good!

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St. Anthony of Padua

2013-06-13T07:53:00.000-04:00

The gospel call to leave everything and follow Christ was the rule of Anthony’s life. Over and over again God called him to something new in his plan. Every time Anthony responded with renewed zeal and self-sacrificing to serve his Lord Jesus more completely.

His journey as the servant of God began as a very young man when he decided to join the Augustinians in Lisbon, giving up a future of wealth and power to be a servant of God. Later, when the bodies of the first Franciscan martyrs went through the Portuguese city where he was stationed, he was again filled with an intense longing to be one of those closest to Jesus himself: those who die for the Good News.

So Anthony entered the Franciscan Order and set out to preach to the Moors. But an illness prevented him from achieving that goal. He went to Italy and was stationed in a small hermitage where he spent most of his time praying, reading the Scriptures and doing menial tasks.

The call of God came again at an ordination where no one was prepared to speak. The humble and obedient Anthony hesitantly accepted the task. The years of searching for Jesus in prayer, of reading sacred Scripture and of serving him in poverty, chastity and obedience had prepared Anthony to allow the Spirit to use his talents. Anthony’s sermon was astounding to those who expected an unprepared speech and knew not the Spirit’s power to give people words.

Recognized as a great man of prayer and a great Scripture and theology scholar, Anthony became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars. Soon he was called from that post to preach to the Albigensians in France, using his profound knowledge of Scripture and theology to convert and reassure those who had been misled by their denial of Christ's divinity and of the sacraments..

After he led the friars in northern Italy for three years, he made his headquarters in the city of Padua. He resumed his preaching and began wrtiting sermon notes to help other preachers.

From American Catholic Saint of the Day

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What a Homeschooling Summer Looks Like

2013-06-12T09:53:00.000-04:00

I've written before about why I homeschool in the summertime. You can see my past articles below:

Successful homeschooling in the summer

Year Round Homeschooling

20 Reasons to Homeschool Through the Summer

But in a nutshell- I homeschool in the summer because I do not want to be stressed out during the school year. I don't want to worry that they aren't going to get done with their math books, or that they are throwing off my timetable, or that we can't spend time doing something we'd rather do because we have to homeschool instead! !

This attitude has served me well through the birth of babies, hospitalizations, and the lengthy illness and death of my mother. We did what we had to do when we had to do it and I did't feel as if some artificial deadline was out there looming at the end of March or the beginning of June!

BUT...

There is something different about homeschooling in the summertime, and I think there should be! First of all, I work the homeschooling around some of the other summer activities - like swimming lessons and sports clubs. Those things only happen once a year and I want the kids to have a chance to participate in them.

My kids have also had opportunities to study more music and art in the summer too!

Summer homeschooling also focuses more on being outside and exploring nature and taking care of a garden. Astronomy is a good one to study in the summer too.

I still push with things like reading and math, but also subtly shift the focus over a little more to art and music.

and movies. Lots of movies. A lot of homeschools talk about the classic books and classical music, but I believe that there are movies that a student should at least know about to be classically literate. Today for example, we watched The Grapes of Wrath! We also hope to catch the new James Franco movie, As I Lay Dying, which should come out after we finish reading the book!

Catch up or move ahead - Summer is a great time for the slower learner to catch up with his/ her lessons and for the faster student to pull ahead and get lessons done so there is time for other things they want to study.

All those little things around the house- re-calking, re-painting, re-tiling - any and all of that is homeschooling, especially for the high school student.

Family reads should dominate!

But the biggest thrill of summer homeschooling is discovery - whether it be history and science,

to zoology!

or just stopping anywhere that seems unusual and interesting!

And if we do it right, the kids should be looking forward to what summer school at home with mom and dad is going to look like every year!

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Wordless Wednesday

2013-06-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

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Simple Woman

2013-06-11T07:58:00.000-04:00

Outside my window...
A great weekend weather wise! Mr. Pete and Rosie at PorchRockr - a great idea featuring the wonderful front porches of Highland Square and the music community!

I am thinking...
that I am not looking forward to the two big driving quests that face the family this week - Bonnaroo and driving to Steubie! I know that once the boys arrive at their destination and the kids and I arrive at ours, everything will be fine and we'll be glad we went - but it's the "to and from" that worries me.

I am thankful...
I have a lot to be thankful for today!

Rosie's bike was stolen right in front of her. She ran into the house sobbing that some one had just taken her bike away, so I grabbed my purse and headed out the door to track it down. Mr. Pete was just pulling into the driveway so we just jumped into his van and within two minutes had apprehended the 12-year-old thieves and retrieved the bike! I've lived here over 25 years and every summer we have had a bike stolen - a couple times right out of our own garage. More often than not, we haven't gotten them back or caught the thieves, but this time, for Rosie, we got em and even turned them into their own moms - it's a great feeling!
Calvin finally graduates from paramedic school on Friday!

Our parochial vicar has left for his new assignment, but we certainly gave him a nice send off before he left! He will certainly be missed.

From the learning rooms...

Gabe and Noah are starting "As I Lay Dying" by Faulkner. Interestingly, this book too is a sort of quest!

We are sort of in semi-vacation mode this week. Concentrating mainly on math for Noah and reading and math for the girls. Gabe is taking a government class at a local charter school just to get it out of the way.
Spelling program per Dr. Holinga for all four kids.
Instacert for History and start American History part 2
American History at Homeschool Connections Recorded Courses. Done with Michael Medved's recording on World War II which was very good and I highly recommend.
Apologia Science - Physical for Noah, Biology for Gabe, and General for Izzy.
Saxon math for all with math tutor for Gabe and Noah.
Rosetta Stone Latin 3 - for Noah and Gabe
Diane Craft reading program for Izzy. Ms. Craft is coming to Ohio next week and I definitely want to ask her what the next step should be for Izzy's improvement.
By the Shores of Silver Lake.

Pathway readers for Rosie and the Wand for Language arts.
Mary Poppins for Rosie and Izzy.

which is much, much better than the movie - and I loved the movie!!

From the kitchen...
Chicken pasta salad last night. Pot Roast tonight.

I am wearing...
black pants, white and pink shirt and my new shoes from e-bay!

I am creating...
Last week we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary - and so inspired by this idea at Catholic Icing, the girls and I tie dyed some shirts and decorated them for the feast.

Last week was

I am reading...

I am wondering...

How I will like the Youth Conference at Franciscan. I've been sending a kid or two there for almost ten years with one group or another. Will it live up the hype? Will it give my spiritual life a boost? I wonder? And how will Mr. Pete and Rosie and the dog manage as a threesome here at home?

I am Hoping...
For everyone to have a safe trip and speedy return.

I am Looking Forward To...
a homeschool conference next week and Calvin and Sarah's graduation party!

I am hearing...
The air conditioner!

A Picture I am Sharing...

Gabe performing at Porchrockr

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The Woes of Mothering the adult, (or nearly adult) child.

2013-06-10T10:07:00.000-04:00

It started a couple of months ago... I started to hear Sam and Gabe talk about something between themselves. Sounded like banana or bon bon and kangaroo... I didn't think much of it. Then I saw in one of their Facebook statuses that they wanted to go to something called Bonnaroo. And again, I didn't think much of it. It seemed to cost more money than they had and I knew Gabe would never be able to swing it. I couldn't imagine them going in Sam's old car either.

Nor could I imagine that Mr. Pete would actually enable them to make it happen!!! But on this one, it turns out we are NOT on the same page. Mr. Pete allowed them to make payments via his credit card and have Sam pay him back in cash. Mr. Pete also told them to, "Go ahead!!!... use the family tent - we won't need it until later in the summer!"

And to my horror, gradually things started to come together. Sam has a great gig this summer as a landscaper and he easily has the money to spend. Gabe also got in a lot of reffing games the end of the season and also spent some time landscaping. Mr. Pete pronounced the old car road worthy - and so despite my protestations (i.e. "It's too far." "It's too expensive." "What if something happens?") They're going.

My next hope was that I myself would be out of town when they were out of town - thus sparing me the anxiety of wondering if they made it and if everything was alright. That ain't happening either. Since this festival starts Thursday, they are leaving Wednesday. Unfortunately I am not leaving until Friday. So I will have two days to think and stew before I have another distraction.

But what we're really seeing here, so late into our marriage, is another difference in the way Mr. Pete and I look at things. He is looking at this, remembering his own desire to be adventurous and free as a young man in his late teens and early 20s. I am looking at it as a potential disaster waiting to happen.

Long time readers might remember my somewhat high familiarity with terrible car accidents. (See here, here, here, and here!). That's probably why the idea of this just makes me bristle.

and I probably don't need to mention that the seed to this adventure started with a particular girl - a young lady who now holds more sway and persuasion than I do any more - especially with Sam and Gabe.

So Wednesday morning they will take off with our tent and cooler, and all of the water and food they could afford. And Mr. Pete and I will probably get up to see them off. I don't know how I will feel then - probably numb. I'm not sure how I will feel towards my husband - probably dumbfounded.

I'm feeling very nostalgic for the days when my problems with the kids could be solved with a cookie, and a nap!

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7-Quick Takes.

2013-06-07T18:43:00.000-04:00

Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary
1. I finally went to the doctor on Tuesday. I have only been to see a doctor once or twice in the last four years, and that was for my knees. So I was a little afraid to go. My thinking went something along the lines of all the terrible things that could be wrong with me, from cancer to kidney failure to a huge unknown mass in my abdomen that was giving me a problem. My anxiety was only heightened by the hour-long wait to see the doctor. But as soon as my doctor walked into the room, I was relieved. She gave me a big hug and we caught up on our news very quickly and then she examined me. My problem was a simple (and yet pretty significant) urinary tract infection. She was kind of surprised I wasn't having more symptoms. A week on Cipro should clear it all up within a week - which is a good thing because next Friday, I leave with the youth group for Franciscan University!

2. I have noticed at the last few doctors' visits I have had, either for the kids or myself, that the doctor's laptop gets more face time than I do. My doctor is kind of new to the technology and I swear half of our time was eaten up with trying to figure out the computer interface. And I understand it's going to get even worse as Obamacare takes over. I even joked with my doctor as she was typing my words into the tiny box they gave her at the top of her screen, that she was doing my job!

It seems to me that in the interest of saving money, the powers that be have removed the medical transcriptionist, who made probably between $15 and $25 dollars an hour, and given that responsibility over to the doctor. So a person who went to college and then medical school is doing this clerical job. I can't wrap my mind around how this is supposed to be cost effective or good for patients??

And I'm not the only one who sees it that way:
11 Reasons why EMR Should not Replace Medical Transcription
Is the EMR really cutting costs?
Why is Your Doctor Typing?

3. Once in a while something happens to keep me humble in a big way.
Three years ago I resurrected our local Catholic Homeschool group. I organized two picnics, organized at least two meetings with speakers, lead regular support group meetings, got a board of directors together (twice), moved us over to a regular Yahoo group and regular e-mail correspondence and did presentations like this

and this.

So I chuckled when I got an e-mail from a member who had some concerns about our group but brought them to someone else's attention instead of directing them to me:

"I would have e-mailed you first but I haven’t been keeping up with things and didn’t realize you were president."

sigh...

4. Calvin passed his last paramedic school exam! It was comprehensive, covering everything from the beginning of the course starting in September. Next week, if all goes well, he will graduate from paramedic school and then take the national exam.

Calvin made the grand announcement that he had scored 85% on the test and one of his cousins piped up with, Will 85% work in the back of an ambulance?

Well here's the thing - being able to memorize information and then use that information to answer questions on a written or computerized examination is a specific skill set. Some people are naturally gifted and do wonderfully well at it and we are training the next generation to be extremely competent in it. But when I'm pinned in an automobile after an accident bleeding profusely with body parts missing, or gasping for breath and clutching my heart while my body starts to shut down - that's not the skill set I'm going to be really looking for!

Just sayin.

5. Barbara Nicolosi blew my mind last week - saying in very strong terms something I have felt for a very, very long time about Catholic Education.
It's long past time for the Catholic Church in the United States to acknowledge and address the fact that in many, possibly most, dioceses, parish-based catechesis has been an abject failure. In the vaunted Year of Faith, it should sting all of our leaders and pastors that few of the ever-dwindling percentage of Catholics in the pews on a Sunday morning could pass a basic catechetical quiz. How many Gen X Catholics could name one of the precepts of the Church or recall any one set of the Mysteries of the Rosary? How many of our teenagers could list all Ten Commandments? How many First Communicants could recite the Acts of Faith or Hope, or name the Seven Sacraments? The terrible, tragic, and fundamental truth for 21st-century Catholicism is, not many!

It's beyond my scope here to say how devastating and even cruel it is for the Church Militant to perpetuate Her systemic failure in this area. Ignorance leads to suffering. Religious ignorance leads to eternal death.

We are awash in a broader culture of banality, ugliness, and stupidity, and we have several generations of disciples who are completely incapable of coping with it because of their double ignorance of their faith. Double ignorance, from Plato, means they don't know, and they don't know that they don't know.

6. Our parochial vicar is leaving this weekend. He has been with us for four years. When he came I made up my mind that I wasn't going to get too attached to him because this wasn't a permanent gig. But... well you know how it is.

He officiated my sister's wedding

and helped Mr. Pete and me renew our vows.

He also officiated at Sam's high school graduation
and counseled Gabe when he was having doubts
and entombed my mother's ashes
and gave a talk to my homeschool group at my request

and left an imprint on our lives.

darn it... I'm going to miss him.

7. and Rosie, sweet Rosie turned 8.

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Sacred Heart of Jesus

2013-06-07T09:52:00.000-04:00

History of the Sacred Heart from Catholic Culture:

The early Church Fathers clearly cherished this meaning of the Sacred Heart of our Lord. St. Justin Martyr (d. 165), in his Dialogue with the Jew Trypho said, "We the Christians are the true Israel which springs from Christ, for we are carved out of His heart as from a rock." Likewise, St. Iraneaus of Lyons (d. 202) said, "The Church is the fountain of the living water that flows to us from the Heart of Christ" (Adversus Haereses). Paulinus of Nola (d. 431) added, "John, who rested blissfully on the breast of our Lord, was inebriated with the Holy Spirit, from the Heart of all creating Wisdom he quaffed an understanding which transcends that of any creature." Although these are just a few brief examples from the times of the early Church, we find a profound respect for the Sacred Heart of our Lord as a font of His love which gave birth to the Church and continues to nourish its members.

The devotion continued to grow during the Middle Ages and in 1353 Pope Innocent VI instituted a Mass honoring the mystery of the Sacred Heart. During the age of the Protestant movement, devotion to the Sacred Heart was practiced in hope of restoring peace to a world shattered by political and religious persecution.

Shortly thereafter, the devotion escalated due to the fervor surrounding the apparitions of our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90). For example, on Dec. 27, 1673, our Lord revealed, "My Divine Heart is so passionately inflamed with love... that, not being able any longer to contain within Itself the flames of Its ardent charity, It must let them spread abroad through your means, and manifest Itself to man, that they may be enriched with Its precious treasures which I unfold to you, and which contain the sanctifying and salutary graces that are necessary to hold them back from the abyss of ruin." The four apparitions provided the catalyst for the promotion of the devotion to the Sacred Heart: a feast day in honor of the Sacred Heart and the offering of our Lord's saving grace and friendship if the individual attended Mass and received holy Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays of the month.

In 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Since then, his successors have exhorted the faithful to turn to the Sacred Heart and make acts of personal consecration. They have also begged the faithful to offer prayers and penances to the Sacred Heart in reparation for the many sins of the world.

The 12 Promises of Our Lord for Souls Devoted to His Sacred Heart
as told to St. Margaret Mary
1. I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their houses.
3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all in death.
5. I will bestow a large blessing upon all of their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
9. I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened of hearts.
11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
12. I promise thee in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their sole refuge in this last moment.

Litany of the Sacred Heart

V. Lord, have mercy on us.
R. Christ, have mercy on us.
V. Christ, hear us.
R. Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mother's womb, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, united to the Word of God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, King and center of all hearts, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, keeper of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, where dwells the fullness of God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, in Whom the Father is well pleased, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, in Whose fullness we have all received, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, bruised for our sins, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, obedient unto death, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, pierced by a lance, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in You, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in You, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, delight of all the saints, have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart,
R. Make our hearts like unto Yours.

Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Your beloved Son and upon the praise and satisfaction which He offers You in the name of sinners. In Your goodness, grant all people pardon when they seek Your Mercy, in the Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with You forever and ever. Amen.

Delicious Links for the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

7-Quick Takes

2013-06-03T12:25:00.002-04:00

Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary

1. Saturday was my birthday. I am now almost, but not quite, in my mid-50s. The mid of the middle. Geez. Not that I had a lot of time to ponder it. Saturday morning the special choir Mr. Pete and I belong to was supposed to sing a memorial service at the exact retirement home where my mom died. It was sponsored by the hospice company that was supposed to help us in mom's final days - a company that, to my mind, was a complete waste of time and money. So, I wasn't exactly looking forward to going back there. Especially since on my birthday four years ago my mother made a special effort to wish me a happy birthday from her death bed. Nope. I wasn't going back there to play and listen to songs consoling other people for their losses while I was still feeling mine so acutely - and especially on my birthday. So Mr. Pete went and I went to mass and then to get Noah's race packet for his 5K instead.

2. I also had a chance to talk to a second cousin of mine from New Mexico This young lady (who seems very sweet on the phone) grew up next door to my father (as next door as you can living in a vast ranch land with many acres between homes). Anyway, she shared with me what it was like to visit my father and all of the good family times they had. Then she told me that my father always spoke so highly of his wife and his daughters and talked about how much we meant to him - it really almost broke my heart. I only saw my father a handful of times growing up. We never went out to visit him. He missed most of the big milestones in my life except for my wedding and the first time I tried to get my new baby to latch onto my breast to nurse (and frankly, that was one of the milestones I really didn't want my dad around for!) And then in the feebleness of old age and dementia of alcoholism, he allowed everything he ever said would be ours, to be stolen by my EFC. So this news about all of his fondness for me and my mom and sister was kind of hard to listen to - especially on my birthday.

3. But the day had its consolations. Noah played a difficult piece pretty well for his recital.

4.

And then he did an awesome job on his 5K the following day!

5. Mr. Pete and I played a concert on Sunday. This is one of the numbers we did although this particular video is from a different concert a couple of weeks ago. It's one of my favorites.

6. The other delightful thing that I noticed as my birthday approached was that things aren't quite feeling right "there." You moms and menopausal ladies will know what I am referring too. Pushing those big babies out took a toll and now I think my body is literally saying that the foundation is a gonna go! The weird thing is that the feeling like the basement of my pelvis is about to fall out comes and goes. It's bad for a few days and then I don't even think about it. But last week when it was getting bad I made an appointment to see my doctor, so I can find out what is really going on. In the meantime I ordered Pfilates, because it seems to make sense, it's something I can do to help myself, and it was reasonably priced. We'll see.

7. And as I was cleaning up somethings in my office I came across these two cancelled checks from 1959 that my mom wrote. Even as a young newlywed with very limited income she had the will and the resources to buy books and music!

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Feast of Corpus Christi

2013-06-02T11:45:00.001-04:00

Catholic Culture : Liturgical Year

Our Daily Life and Work

The Real Presence

It's a great day for making bread!

From the Archives - Christians and Contraception

2013-05-30T12:52:00.003-04:00

I'm digging into the archives here to share a post from May 9, 2007 As timely now as it was then and maybe even moreso considering the HHS mandates for Christian organizations to cover contraception.

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GreasyJoan over at Keel the Pot sent me this very interesting article about the history of contraception and protestants. Here are some excerpts:

Children of the Reformation
A Short & Surprising History of Protestantism & Contraception

by Allan Carlson

It is a reckless analyst who risks reopening sixteenth-century disputes
between Roman Catholics and the Protestant Reformers. I do so in the interest of
a greater good, but my purpose is not to say who was right or who was wrong. I
would simply like to explore why the Protestant churches maintained unity with
the Catholic Church on the contraception question for four centuries, only to
abandon this unity during the first half of the twentieth century.

I write as a historian, not an advocate. (I am a “cradle Lutheran,” but one who
believes Martin Luther was wrong about what he called the impossibility of
lifelong celibacy; I have come to know too many faithful Catholic priests to
accept that.)

The key figure in developing a Protestant family ethic was Martin Luther.

For Luther, God’s words in Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” were more than a blessing, even more than a command. They were, he declared in his 1521 treatise on The Estate of Marriage, “a divine ordinance which it is not our prerogative to hinder or ignore.”

Addressing the celibate Teutonic Knights, he also emphasized Genesis 2:18: “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper who shall be with him.” The “true Christian,” he declared, “must grant that this saying of God is true, and believe that God was not drunk when he spoke these words and instituted marriage.”

Except among those rare persons—“not more than one in a thousand,” Luther said at one point—who received true celibacy as a special gift from God, marriage and procreation were divinely ordained. As he wrote: “For it is not a matter of free choice or decision but a natural and necessary thing, that whatever is a man must have a woman and whatever is a woman must have a man.”

Marriage with the expectation of children, in this view, represented the natural, normal, and necessary form of worldly existence.

Essential Procreation

Marriage with the expectation of children was also a spiritual expression. Luther saw procreation as the very essence of the human life in Eden before the Fall. As he wrote in his Commentary on Genesis:

Elsewhere, Luther called procreation “a most outstanding gift” and “the greatest work of God.”

Accordingly, Luther sharply condemned the contraceptive
mentality that was alive and well in his own time. He noted that
this “inhuman attitude, which is worse than barbarous,” was found chiefly among
the wellborn, “the nobility and princes.” Elsewhere, he linked both
contraception and abortion to selfishness:

How great, therefore, the wickedness of [fallen] human nature is! How many girls there are who prevent conception and kill and expel tender fetuses, although procreation is the work of God! Indeed, some spouses who marry and live together . . . have various ends in mind, but rarely children.

Regarding the sin of Onan, as recorded in Genesis and involving the form of contraception now known as “withdrawal,” Luther wrote: “Onan must have been a most malicious and incorrigible scoundrel. This is a most disgraceful sin. It is far more atrocious than incest and adultery. We call it unchastity, yes, a Sodomitic sin. . . . Surely at such a time the order of nature established by God in procreation should be followed.” Onan was “that worthless fellow” who “refused to exercise love.”

On this matter, Luther was again joined by Calvin. In his Commentary on Genesis, he wrote that “the voluntary spilling of semen outside of intercourse between man and woman is a monstrous thing. Deliberately to withdraw from coitus in order that semen may fall on the ground is doubly monstrous. For this is to extinguish the hope of the [human] race and to kill before he is born the hoped-for offspring.”

A few decades later, the Synod of Dordt would declare that Onan’s act “was even as much as if he had, in a manner, pulled forth the fruit out of the mother’s womb and destroyed it.”

In only three decades, the Lambeth Conference’s qualified approval would turn into full celebration. At the astonishing and deeply disturbing 1961 North American Conference on Church and Family, sponsored by the National Council of Churches (successor to the Federal Council), population-control advocate Lester
Kirkendall argued that America had “entered a sexual economy of abundance” where contraception would allow unrestrained sexual experimentation.

The Evangelical Turn

It would be the eventual turn by Evangelical Protestants to the pro-life position on abortion that would for some also reopen the ontraception
question. When in 1973 the US Supreme Court, in its Roe and Doe
decisions, overturned the anti-abortion laws of all fifty states, relatively few
Protestants voiced opposition. Indeed, some mainline denominations had already
endorsed liberalized abortion.

The prominent Southern Baptist Pastor W.
A. Criswell openly welcomed the decision. Representing a position many
Evangelicals then took, he claimed: “I have always felt that it was only after
the child was born and had life separate from its mother that it became an
individual person.” Others drew the line at some point before birth, but few
rejected the decisions outright.

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)
itself had in 1971 urged its members to work for legislation that will allow the
possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of
severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of
damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.

However, reflecting the movement of Evangelicalism as a whole (though
not mainline Protestantism), in 2003, the SBC declared that this and the 1974
resolution “accepted unbiblical premises of the abortion rights movement,
forfeiting the opportunity to advocate the protection of defenseless women and
children” and that “we lament and renounce statements and actions by previous
Conventions and previous denominational leadership that offered support to the
abortion culture.”

An early sign of this shift occurred in 1975 when a
young editor at Christianity Today, Harold O. J. Brown, authored a short
anti-abortion editorial. From his home in L’Abri, Switzerland, the neo-Calvinist
Francis Schaeffer mobilized Evangelicals against abortion with books such as How
Should We Then Live?. This campaign grew through the founding of new Evangelical organizations with pro-life orientations, including Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, and Concerned Women for America.

At first, this pro-life Evangelicalism avoided the issue of contraception. However, over time, it has become ever more difficult for many to draw an absolute line between contraception and abortion, because—whatever theological distinctions they made between the two—the “contraceptive mentality” embraces both, and some forms of “contraception” are in practice abortifacients.

A Major Rethinking

“ It is clear that there is a major rethinking going on among
Evangelicals on this issue, especially among young people,” R. Albert Mohler,
Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently told the
Chicago Tribune. “There is a real push back against the contraceptive culture
now.”

In his last years, Francis Schaeffer seemed to be moving toward
the historic Christian view of contraception.

There
have been other signs of Protestant rethinking on this question, including individual pastors and their wives who have opened their lives to bringing a full quiver of children into the world. For example, Pastor Matt Trewhella of Mercy Seat Christian Church in Milwaukee concluded that “we have no God-given right to manipulate God’s design for marriage by using birth control.” He had his vasectomy reversed, and he and his wife Clara have had seven more children.

For more on this topic see my archives
here
here
here
here
here (a discussion with a Protestant mom on the topic in depth)
and a bit on logical fallacies here and birth control here.

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Gabe and his great, great-grandfather

2013-05-29T21:51:00.000-04:00

Simple Woman

2013-05-28T17:32:00.001-04:00

Outside my window...
It's actually hot and humid - which is a nice change from frigid and freezing.

A picture from Saturday at the soccer field of Mr. Pete and Rosie

I am thinking...
about a job I applied for a couple of weeks ago as an online writing teacher. I made it through a couple of cuts and hoped I might get the job. My thought was that experience like that would help boost my work experience on my resume and give me more expertise in the homeschool field - because I'm starting to look at 10 years from now when I no longer have anyone at home to actually homeschool! And since I think I might live longer than another 10 years, I am starting to plan for the time between then and the end of my life. But I didn't get that job.

So then last week I found out that Mr. Pete and I are going to be running a homeschool soccer league! An actual league which includes tons of organizational things like ordering uniforms, getting refs and coaches, lining the fields, running the bake sale- stuff like that. This too will boost my work experience and expertise in the homeschool field - I'm not sure how it will help me 10 years from now when I'm almost 64, but I'm sure there's a plan there somewhere.

I am thankful...
for the opportunity - I guess. I'm already the head of our homeschool group which is always and adventure in human relations. But I'm thinking there might be some skill in running this league that one of my kids needs to experience?

From the learning rooms...

Gabe and Noah are reading The Grapes of Wrath! 90 % of the way through! Kindle says it takes 22 hours to read this book and I believe it. Every kid should read this book in high school - it really makes you appreciate every material thing you have in your life.
Spelling program per Dr. Holinga for all four kids.
Instacert for History and start American History part 2
American History at Homeschool Connections Recorded Courses. Done with Michael Medved's recording on World War II which was very good and I highly recommend.
Apologia Science - Physical for Noah, Biology for Gabe, and General for Izzy.
Saxon math for all with math tutor for Gabe and Noah.
Rosetta Stone Latin 3 - for Noah and Gabe
Diane Craft reading program for Izzy. Ms. Craft is coming to Ohio next month and I definitely want to ask her what the next step should be for Izzy's improvement.
By the Shores of Silver Lake.

Pathway readers for Rosie and the Wand for Language arts.
Mary Poppins for Rosie and Izzy.

which is much, much better than the movie - and I loved the movie!!

From the kitchen...
Teriyaki chicken with baked beans and salad.

I am wearing...
black pants, green shirt and my new shoes from e-bay which are very comfortable!

I am creating...
a graduation party for Calvin and Sarah. Sarah's mom and dad came over and we ironed out who was doing what! Now if only Calvin could pass his exam...
Anyway, that's next month and it will be in an outdoor pavilion. I hope it will be a lot of fun.

I am going...
to walk tonight, workout with a video tomorrow and Friday morning. And then a bit of both over the weekend!

I am reading...

and

I'm a slow reader I guess...

I am wondering...
how I'm going to like being a chaperon for the youth group when they go to Franciscan University in a couple of weeks. I'm such a home body that I really am NOT looking forward to it in a way. On the other hand, I want to be there for Izzy since it is her first time and Pete went when each of the boys had a first time. Still... I might have to sleep on the floor and I'm not sure how my body is going to be the next morning after that!!

I am Hoping...

that Calvin passes his last test.
that I have the strength to manage a homeschool group and a soccer league.
that I survive my upcoming birthday!

I am Looking Forward To...
Piano recital for Izzy and Noah, soccer reffing games for Gabe (five of them!) and a concert for me and Mr. Pete on Sunday.

I am hearing...
the buzz in my left ear, the air conditioner and the computer - all white noise!

A Picture I am Sharing...

I love to watch Noah Run!

My handsome Gabe.

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7-quick takes - the Memorial Day - Prom edition

2013-05-27T11:32:00.000-04:00

Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary

1. I think I have written before that my father-in-law was a very sweet man, a good husband and father, and very devout in his faith. He was also a WWII veteran. When I asked Mr. Pete about his father's service, he said that he didn't really know much about it except that his dad was a scout for Patton and that he had seen action in Europe and Africa before he was finally wounded in France. When my sister-in-law asked him once why he didn't have reunions with his war buddies the way other dads did, he said it was because none of his war buddies from his unit made it back from the war. But the war didn't define him and he lived his life with grace and a lot of humor before his sudden death decades later from an old war injury that left shrapnel near his pericardium.

2. I liked him because he had such a great sense of humor and was always so kind to me. One of my memories involving my father-in-law involved Bingo at our Catholic High School to raise funds. Our high school, Luke M. Powers Catholic High School, had bingo every Saturday night to help pay off the building debt. My FIL frequently ran the kitchen on BINGO nights. I remember when I was still in high school getting dressed up to go on a date with Mr. Pete and for some reason before we left for our date, we stopped by the high school kitchen. The first words out of Mr. LaVictoire's mouth when he saw us was, "Oh thank goodness!!" Because it seemed that his kitchen help for the night didn't show up. So instead of going on a date, Mr. Pete and I hawked hot dogs, sausages, and cold drinks all night in the smokey BINGO hall. I probably remember this because I was wearing high heels and was on my feet all night! Still, I remember how grateful my future FIL was and in looking back I'm glad we were able to help.

3. I blogged about my Pentecost craft and then I never quite got it finished and posted. Well that's because on Pentecost Sunday there were games to ref and a concert to play and then all week there was something! So I didn't get it actually lit and photographed until yesterday, Trinity Sunday! Still Mr. Pete and the kids liked it. Mr. Pete said he appreciated seeing the flames floating over the heads of the apostles, just like Pentecost! Since my bowl held up this year, I decided that this is going to be a great little dish to have on all Apostolic feast days! I can just fill it with candy, or appropriate treat depending on the apostle!

4. For about six years now, my family has been participating in a Christian Soccer League that meets on Saturdays at a local park. We used to pass this group playing in the park on our way to regular "official" soccer games run by our "official" soccer league. And I'll admit they seemed very innocent and not as competitive and having too much of a good time - I'm ashamed to admit that we sort of laughed at them and by "we" I mean me. Because after all, I was taking my kids to two or more practices a week and then driving all over Northeast Ohio to obscure soccer fields and was paying a fortune in gas and for fees and equipment. There were times I just didn't know how we were going to handle paying for all of it.

Then when Sam got to be high schooled age and still home schooled and I knew the local high schools weren't going to let him play sports, I took a closer look at this little Christian Soccer League, did some digging around and found out how to put him on a team. And we loved it. We loved the coaches and the players and the families. It was just great. So the next year, instead of shelling out $300 plus to put our kids onto the regular soccer leagues, we paid a fraction of that to put them into this league.

And then Pete started to coach.
And then Pete offered to store all of the goals and nets and flags.
And then Pete and I started striping the fields every week before the games.

And now we will be the new leaders for the League starting this fall.

This is how God continues to keep me humble.

oh and Noah and Gabe's team won the championship yesterday.

5. In fact God has let me eat my own words in a big way several times. Like the "Homeschooling is stupid, what kind of idiot would ever want to do that to her kids?" and then time I toured a local hospital's new maternity suite complete with a state-of-the-art Cesarean surgical center and sniffed my nose at the whole thing because, I would, "never ever have another Cesarean - let alone an elective one!" Words that I remembered vividly as I was wheeled into that very suite, for an elective Cesarean, 12 years later. I wonder if God looks forward to my silly pronouncements?

6. Well Gabe went to his first prom. Since he neglected to get the corsage, I ordered one from our local grocery store and I think it turned out very nice! Gabe and his date had a great time and she even came the next day to watch him play soccer

7. Prom pictures through the years
Calvin

Sam

Gabe

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Remembering on Memorial Day - The Five LaVictoire Brothers Serving in World War II

2013-05-27T10:21:00.001-04:00

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5 things to consider before putting your homeschooled student into regular high school.

2013-05-22T16:54:00.000-04:00

I have two kids in homeschool high school, and one kid about to leave eighth grade. I also have two sons who have graduated high school, one from my homeschool and one from a local digital school after being homeschooled for eight years.

When I attend homeschool high school events, I discover that many, many of the student participants ARE NOT HOMESCHOOLED ANY MORE!! They were at one time and they have made many homeschooled friends, but they are now either attending a public or private school or doing their school work through a government funded digital school online, which means they have to follow the rules of the state of Ohio for their education and degree.

My children are keenly aware of this.

Sometimes their parents put them back in school because the parents were afraid that they wouldn't be able to teach high school. Sometimes they put them back in because the parents thought there were better opportunities for their children in the institution of school. Many times they put them in because they want to play sports. I know one mom who has her daughter in a school that will give her an associate degree when she's done with high school.

But what I never hear from these parents is what they gave up to put the students into regular school after homeschooling. And having done both and after comparing and contrasting the results, I think what is given up is worth at least considering!

1. You're breaking up the family. Literally. The best parts of the day the regular schooled students will be away form his or her parents and siblings. And yes I realize the rest of the society already does this and accepts it as normal. But if you've been homeschooling it might be a bit of a shock. No longer will the opinions of the parents and relationships with siblings be the most important part of the high school student's life. Teachers will also get a say and have sway. And so will peers. Having and keeping "friends" will be more important than keeping up relationships with parents and being with siblings. It's just part of the price.

2. Mom and Dad will no longer control the curriculum. Oh, there can be meetings with the teachers and principal and maybe there will be attempts to sway the school board from time to time if things get too out of hand, but for the most part, you won't know what's in the novels that are assigned (because for the most part, they won't be classics that you're familiar with!) and you won't know what's being presented in class that's NOT on the syllabus.

One of my friends was buying a book for her daughter that she needed for a literature class. While waiting in line, she opened the book and started reading about a pretty explicit sex act! She had no clue something like that was going to be covered in class at this particular Catholic School.

But more importantly, if the student comes to something in his or her studies that they find fascinating, there won't be any time or inclination to study it in depth and even if there is, there won't be any credit for it! at least not in this class. What the school, teachers and school board feels is important is what will be presented for study. Everything else will fall by the wayside.

3. Lots of parents give up because they think they can't teach this that or the other thing. Well news flash - there are teachers in schools that can't teach them either. I still remember Mr. Ball, my 9th grade religion teacher that made discussions of theology so dull and boring that I didn't want to take up the topic again until I was in my early 30s. Then there was Mr. Drum the math teacher - not so affectionately known as Mr. Hum Drum.

But my favorite of the unfavorites was a science teacher with a Ph.D. behind his name that giggled when he was trying to explain to me about fruit flies mating and passing on genetics. Seriously. And I'll bet if most of these parents who are so willing to pass on the task of teaching thought back, they could think of some not so stellar performances from their academic background as well. It's not like we're homeschooling back in the 80's! If you need help teaching a subject, there are plenty of ways to find help! This is one of the lamest of excuses these days.

4. Passing on morals and values. My 9th grade son and 8th grade daughter do not know what twerking is. I'd like to leave it that way.

They also know what the church teaches about sexuality and marriage, something even their Catholic high school counterparts seem a bit shaky on. Which is not to say that they'll always stay on the right path, but if they veer off it will be a conscience decision and not a straying due to ignorance.

5. You won't reap the values of all of your hard work to date. The hard part of homeschooling is getting these kids to read, write and get to grade level in math. The rest of it is cake. But we get these kids to master the mechanics of reading and English Grammar, and then we pass them off to someone else to reap the benefits!!

Why?

After all of these years we can finally read the great books and delve into them for analysis and discussions with our own children! Our kids can finally write something that is actually interesting!! and the science and math are actually challenging! Why on earth should I let someone else get my students when it's finally getting to be less of a chore and more of a pleasure? It's like being in a two man relay and letting someone else finish the winning lap and get all the glory. Nope. I've enjoyed crying through Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Call of the Wild and next year I can't wait to do Shakespeare and read my kid's research papers. I'm invested in the curriculum financially, intellectually, spiritually and emotionally - a lot more than I would be if I was just waiting for grades to come out a few times a year.

And that's what I would give up if I gave up homeschooling for the high school years.

A funny homeschooling moment

2013-05-22T13:05:00.001-04:00

For years I have used the Pathway Readers to teach my children how to read. These are delightful little books that focus on family and farm life with stories that have morals applicable to children of any time and place!

The Timberdoodles company describes them this way:

Here the children are expected to obey their parents, respect their teachers, ask forgiveness when they do wrong, and humbly submit to the discipline of those in authority! Yet they still enjoy life!!

Because the Amish don't use electricity, you won't find stories dealing with the latest in films, computers, or TVs. Instead, the stories are centered around farm life, with horse auctions, harvests, and LARGE families.

I have been in love with mine for years and am savoring each story this year since this will be my last time through - at least until the grandchildren are ready for them!

Recently Rosie and I were reading a story in the More Days Go By Reader. Peter and his friend Levi, were going to be late to school because they had gone into Levi's barn to see the new born twin calves. Knowing that they had a few minutes left to make it to school, they were hurrying down a country road when an Amish buggy pulled up behind them and and a gentleman asked them if they wanted a ride to school.

Suddenly Rosie's eyes grew large and serious as she smacked her head and screamed out. "No, don't!! STRANGER DANGER!!!"

Talk about two worlds colliding...

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Prayers for Oklahoma

2013-05-21T09:37:00.001-04:00

My brother-in-law and his family live in Oklahoma City. In reading my sister-in-law's facebook page it appears they made it through okay but they face a lot of challenges in the community and the devastation. My SIL is also a physician's assistant so I know this will impact her this week through her work.

Keeping Oklahoma in our prayers

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7-Quick Takes - the Holy Cow it's next week already- edition

2013-05-20T08:26:00.003-04:00

Join Jen and the other Quicktakers over at the Conversion Diary

1. The punishing month of May continues! Although the weekend was supposed to be somewhat restful, we still had to get up at 7 on Saturday to go get the soccer nets and frames out of Mr. Pete's storage area, take them to the field and set up, then go get our kids ready to play soccer, play soccer until 11, and then take all the nets and frames down.

2. Then blissfully there was nothing until 4. Well 4:15 actually, which is the time I realized Noah was supposed to serve 4:30 mass, ran down stairs to see if he was ready to discover he wasn't even in the house! I did find him and we were able to make the 6 minute drive to church in about 4 to church just as the church bells were ringing, but before the priest et al had left the sacristy to process up for the first hymn!

3. Back on the home front, Izzy was making peanut butter cookies to take to the annual Homeschool Dance! Around 5:30 she came down in her beautiful dress with these ugly black shoes on - because she had lost the mate to her beautiful sandal!! UGGGGHHHH!!!! So I grab Izzy and we run to pick up Noah and then we make a super fast trip to Gabriel Brothers to get her some more shoes that at least look as if they are somewhat in touch with the rest of her outfit!!!!

4. Then Noah has to go home and get dressed for the dance, which started at 6:30 p.m. We made it there by 6:45. And they had a blast.

5. Sunday Morning, Mr. Pete and Rosie had their very last PSR meeting- complete with the rosary. Mr. Pete had to lead the singing and rosary recitation for that since he is the most senior of all PSR teachers with 11 years of service in. Then he had to cantor for mass - and if you were at Pentecost mass yesterday, you might have noticed there was a bit more singing than usual!

6. Then Mr. Pete and I had to perform at a Memorial Service at a local church for all of the hospice patients who had died this past year.

7. And then we collapsed. After getting the groceries, fixing dinner and getting the wall air conditioner in. And I didn't even mention getting Gabe to a soccer game to ref, only to have it cancelled, and then trying to reach my sister to let her know she didn't need to pick him up at the field!!

Luckily next week we only have soccer championships and the prom...

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A Pentecost Craft with an improvement coming later today!

2013-05-19T09:07:00.002-04:00

I am a great crafter! I can craft someone else's idea- and even improve on it! But I am not an original craft thinkerupper. So when I got an original idea last year for Pentecost, I jumped on it!

So here is my post from last year:
I wanted to do something simple but pretty and meaningful for my Pentecost Centerpiece and this is what I came up with.

I took a plain glass bowl and filled it with water and floating candles. I got all of it from Pat Catan's for under $12.

Then I surrounded the bowl with a holy card for each of the apostles and Mary. And let me tell ya- some of those apostles aren't easy to find, particularly St. Bartholomew, St. Simon and Saint James the Lesser. Those I found on the internet and printed them out in color. Izzy reinforced them for me with that craft foam. Then we put them around the bowl, and lit the candles.

The idea is that the floating candles are like the tongues of fire that hung over the apostles head at Pentecost. Izzy also made me a dove to hang from the chandalier over the bowl tomorrow. I'll have the full effect then, but for a test run, this is what it looked like!

The idea is that the floating candles are like the tongues of fire that hung over the apostles head at Pentecost. Izzy also made me a dove to hang from the chandalier over the bowl tomorrow. I'll have the full effect then, but for a test run, this is what it looked like!

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OK, here was the problem - that curved bowel got too hot with all of those candles in it and sometime during dinner - the bowl burst!!!! and all of the water and candles burst forth from the centerpiece. I guess that is kind of symbolic too for the apostles bursting forth after the Holy Spirit comes to them... but it made for an exciting and messy dinner!

So I have improved on the bowl and on how I displayed the apostles - pictures will be appearing shortly!

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Works for Me Wednesday - iPiccy free photo editing.

2013-05-15T19:07:00.000-04:00

Last April I wrote that I had found a photo editor online to replace Piknik, which was bought up and discontinued by Google. That editor is iPiccy.

I love that it:

Easily allows me to crop my photos.
I can edit the exposure, light and dark effortlessly.
Enlarging is no problem.
It has a lot of very nice special effects and...
I can save directly to Flickr and Facebook from the iPiccy site. Now if only I could go from Flickr or Facebook directly to iPiccy, that would be great! For now I have to upload from the computer.
And it's still free!

So here are some of my creations over the year via iPiccy as saved to my Flickr account.

Works for Me!

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St. Isadore

2013-05-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite saint pictures! Good Saint Isadore who was so good and holy, and such a good worker, that God sent an angel to toil in the field so that St. Isadore could keep going to daily mass! Isadore's employer saw the angel working away and he converted to Christianity. And the story has it that Isadore and his boss started going to mass together.

Isadore's wife is also a saint. They too suffered the sorrow of losing a child, their only child, a son. They were noted however not for how they grieved, but how they incorporated that grief into living a full, holy, and even happy life afterwards.

St. Isadore loved the poor and loved the animals. The miracle of the multiplication of food occurred when Isidore fed a flock of starving birds and on another time when Isidore shared his food with a large group of beggars.

Isadore died on May 15, 1120 at 60 years of age and was canonized in 1622 along with four very notable Spanish saints. The group, known as "the five saints", included St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis Xavier, St. Phillip Neri, and St. Isidore. His body has been found incorrupt. His memorial is celebrated on May 15th on the Roman Calendar.

My daughter's name is Isadora, so today is her feast day. She is named for her Grandpa Isadore, Mr. Pete's father. He was a delightful man with a wonderful sense of humor and fun. I remember in high school he drove the family station wagon to pick up Pete and his friends wearing a blond Farrah Fawcett wig. Of course everyone pointed and stared but he pretended he had no clue what they were laughing at. Mr. Pete and his friends had no choice but to get in the car with him if they wanted a ride home. Ah... the fun of embarrassing teenagers!

Another time, after we were married, my father-in-law Isadore wore a pair of dark sun glasses to a New Year's Eve party. The glasses lit up when he pressed a button in the pocket of his leisure suit. He spent a good part of the evening flashing his glasses and surprising people. The DJ that evening then found a record about cheap sunglasses and my father-in-law took to the floor, dancing by himself and flashing his sun glasses while the crowd watched and applauded. Boy, that was so fun! I really missed him after he passed on.

Lest you think he was just a jokester, my father-in-law was with General Patton in WWII. He was with him during two campaigns, but was hit by shrapnel in Africa and was out for the rest of the war. That's how he met my mother-in-law. A girl was writing to him, but she had too many soldiers to write to, so she gave Isadore off to my mother-in-law Virginia. Their letters clicked with each other. They met, married and had nine children. The rest is history!

My kids know all of these stories. So in honor of St. Isadore, and of Grandpa Isadore, we are going to plant some flowers today. St. Isadore was a farmer, so that is very appropriate.

Happy Feast Day St. Isadore, Grandpa Isadore, and sweet little Izzy!
Litany to St. Isadore here
Great day to do some planting! Like a Marian Garden

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Simple Woman

2013-05-13T20:09:00.000-04:00

Outside my window...

I am thinking...
about the things I got for Mother's Day -
Noah ran the 5K I asked him to run with great results!

4th in ages 15-19 Noah LaVictoire age 15 over all place - 36 time of 24:27 pace of 7:53 minute miles.

Calvin bought me cheese cake.
Izzy made me a carrot cake - both are favorites of mine!
Sam bought me some golden chicken wings - also a favorite
and my god son bought me two diet cokes and a bagel.

So I got a lot of my favorite foods - which I shared of course!

I am thankful...
for the example of my mother and my grandmother, and that I had the opportunity to be a mother myself!

From the learning rooms...
Last week was very hard! The schedule was packed. The kids and Mr. Pete and I had to travel to Cleveland on Tuesday and Thursday evening for a choir competition. Wednesday night was the normal art class/ drum lesson with a wedding rehearsal thrown in for good measure. Friday was a wedding rehearsal and a wedding right after with a different bride and groom! So it was intense and we took Thursday and Friday off just to regroup.

Gabe and Noah are reading The Grapes of Wrath! 60 % of the way through!
Spelling program per Dr. Holinga for all four kids.
Instacert for History and start American History part 2
American History at Homeschool Connections Recorded Courses. Listening to Michael Medved's recording on World War II
Apologia Science - Physical for Noah, Biology for Gabe, and General for Izzy.
Saxon math for all with math tutor for Gabe and Noah.
Rosetta Stone Latin 3 - for Noah and Gabe
Diane Craft reading program for Izzy. Ms. Craft is coming to Ohio next month and I definitely want to ask her what the next step should be for Izzy's improvement.
By the Shores of Silver Lake.

Pathway readers for Rosie and the Wand for Language arts.
Little House in the Highlands for Rosie

Izzy's dress is a discount store find! I got it for $2 but the zipper was broken. So I taught Izzy how to take out the zipper and put in a new one. I thought she looked really cute in it~

From the kitchen...
Baked chicken with cheesy potatoes and salad.

I am wearing...
Gray pants and pink T-shirt with pink hoodie.

I am creating...
a soccer league apparently. The homeschool Saturday Soccer League has been in existence for many years. Mr. Pete started to help the leaders by striping the fields every week and hauling the nets and goals back and forth to the field. Well, the leaders resigned and an e-mail went out that we were the new leaders!! a prospect that caused me to lose a bit of sleep Sunday night!

I am going...
work out in the morning- probably by getting Noah up and having him run/walk - since we are not going to be able to do that at night next week. Have to work in some abs and arm work though. Last fall my left shoulder was almost frozen - it hurt so much to move! and now since I have been actively working in upper body work with weights it is almost 90%. and absolutely no pain now at all at night.

I am reading...

and

I am wondering...
if I am making the best decision. Calvins' graduation is the same day that Izzy and Noah leave for Franciscan University's youth conference - and I am going as a chaperone. But I wonder if that's the right choice? I really would love to see Calvin graduate and I was ready to - last year!! and then he didn't make the cut. But we have always gone with the kids when they went to Steubenville for the first time - so... I guess I feel conflicted.

I am Hoping...
That now college is over for Sarah, that Calvin can graduate in a few short weeks - one major test away!

(next - time for a ring and a date!)

I am Looking Forward To...
the homeschool dance this week - with Izzy and Noah going!

I am hearing...
the buzz in my left ear and Rosie playing outside with her friends.

A Picture I am Sharing...

One of my favorites from the First Communion photo shoot!

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