12 /Year - January

Since you've not had enough of my photo blogging, I decided to join my real-life friend and blogger Barb at Praying for Grace in making a monthly photo diary.  I promise not to re-post from previous blog entries, coz that would just be redundant :-)

January was brrrr cold!These pictures speak of how we survive Winter around here:

goofing around with the webcam, this is what happens when we are stuck at home

my funny husband's glasses on the tomato, I found this photo on his cellphone

"this is not a robe, it's an outfit!" according to the feisty baby

the kitchen princess bakes a delicious treat

the girl's to-do list for a surprise breakfast, my children spoil me

my P90x notes, this is the first two weeks of chest and back workout.  As you can see the second week was pretty painful

my Spring cleaning list looks good on paper, the execution of which will be my canonization :-)

That wasn't too painful was it?  Now looking forward to February!!!

An Unusual Bedtime Storybook

A couple of  nights ago, the five-year-old handed me a book he chose as a bedtime story - the Stations of the Cross by Fr. Lovasik.  All the talk of early Lent preparations might be the impetus for this so I told him that if he really wanted this book then I will read it to him.  Truth be told, we've had this on our shelf for years, unread and possibly even untouched.  We use a couple different books/pamphlets to pray the stations but we have not used this one.

I've sometimes (wrongfully) dismissed some children's (catechism) book as lightweight or benignly inadequate, sweet for children with not much theological bite which gives me the opportunity to pontificate.  So imagine my surprise when not even halfway through this book I am trying to control my emotions so I'm not bawling over a bedtime story to my child! This tiny book, geared for children got me so choked up I don't think I've ever prayed as earnestly as I did after reading it.

The following morning I decided this was going to be our topic for Religion.  I read it to the children and offered some reflection as fitting.  My oldest was teary-eyed, the middle-child was mesmerized and the girl was solemn (she's hardly ever solemn!).  They were so taken by the beautiful and heartbreaking imagery in words. It was probably our longest Religion class ever (with no one complaining!)

It is helping reinforce our Lenten preparations over here, for that I am so thankful.

Last night, I asked the child why he wants to keep reading this book every night.  The beauty of his answer struck a chord in me: "mom, every time you read this book I feel closer to Him"
 
And that's exactly how I feel!

treasure in a small bundle

Winter at the Zoo

One of the things I truly appreciate about homeschooling is scheduling flexibility.  We are able to take advantage of pretty days, especially in the Winter, to go on (field) trips for a much needed break from the books and the stifling indoors.  I look at it as a day retreat to re-charge but at the same time to give the kids the opportunity for real-life learning.

Today was a good day to go to the zoo, it was practically empty but the animals were awake and playing.  We originally planned to go hiking but with the recent rains/melting snow we really didn't want to deal with the mud.  Plus there was a little girl who just got new (bright orange!) runners that she didn't want to ruin.

Here are some snapshots of our day:

baby watching a wolf

running after the others with his exaggerated (cute) stance

goofy kids

love this shot

bison

who's the fairest of them all?

the only animal he's allowed to feed: sculpted ones

mama bear with her cubs minus one

polar bear

gnarly!

black bears

middle child trying to make me laugh

five-year old fascinated by this showy tiger, it kept marching in front of the kids

figuring out who can reach up the highest

king of the jungle

her shoes almost match the pink (more orange really) flamingos

the aquarium is his favorite

Happy Winter!

Pondering Lent

This year Lent comes early with Ash Wednesday falling on February 13.  Every year it seems, I wait 'til the last minute to decide what I'm giving up and what virtue to work on.  I know it cannot work that way this time around.  Plagued by an addictive personality, quitting anything (especially vice) cold turkey is a struggle for me.  This early I'm already (slowly) working on my Lent resolutions so come Ash Wednesday I am not falling flat on my face with 39 days yet to go.

I love Lent.  The season of alms-giving, fasting, penance and prayer is truly humbling and quite frankly humiliating (in a good way).  I'm also looking forward to a lot of reading to tie in with the church's celebration of the Year of Faith. 

I'm not the only one starting early.  We talked to the kids about praying now and really thinking about what to give up and what virtue to work on.  Like me, I don't want them to be scrambling on Ash Wednesday morning in figuring out what they are going to do. As time permits, I will share our Lenten progress or lack thereof and resources.

We try to have a big to-do on Fat Tuesday.  We bake (fattening) goodies and invite friends over to celebrate with us.  If the weather cooperates we hope to do it again this year.

With the early arrival of Lent is also an early arrival of my Spring cleaning list!  We always host Easter in our house so I take that opportunity to get my cleaning schedule in gear.  These past couple of years have been a breeze since my oldest three have been willing and able to take over some of the bigger chores.  When my husband saw the list he commented that we do all those things regularly anyway.  That made me feel a little bit better as I feel like things never get done around here.

Are you ready for Lent?

Valentine's Day Prayer/Craft

I'm not a naturally crafty person so when my children are in classes where they make crafts I save the best ones for inspiration. This is one of my favorite from PSR (Parish School of Religion) when the girl was in first grade. Made with craft foam, the printed prayer is so simple and sweet (and it never occurred to me that you can put print on craft foam!)

Jesus, please be my Valentine!

You make my life complete.

I can take my cares to You

and lay them at Your feet.

You give to me the blessings

that I cannot live without.

This is the kind of love that Valentine's Day is about!

Cabin Fever!

Knowing that the temperatures were dipping this week, we took advantage of the warm(ish) weather over the weekend to do what we love to do - hiking and geocaching:

play before we hike

hubby and baby joins in on the fun

found an interesting rock

skipping rocks

a hawk overhead

uphill in search of the geocache

he wants to be as tall as a tree

girl giving the tired baby a piggy-back ride

 

and now going downhill...

the geocache was near the Adena burial mound

these two never tire, by this point I had to rest


Not minding the chill so much after looking at these pictures. Hope you are all keeping warm!

Baby Funnies - Part Deux

It is common in our home for our prayer time to double as a catechesis session.  As much as I would prefer an uninterrupted prayer time, sometimes the kids bring up questions that need to be answered ASAP (before they forget what they were going to ask!) The questions are normally related to what we're praying (about) so it tells me, at least, that they are paying attention to what they are saying. 

After announcing the Second Sorrowful Mystery, the five-year-old asked:  "what does Scourging mean?"  We proceeded to explain to him what it meant and illustrated the brutality of the Roman Empire in the various tools they used for scourging.

middle child: " it can be a cane, mace or rope whip - the mace has spikes on it and you know what a rope whip is" 
five-year-old:  "Did Jesus get scourged by Indiana Jones' whip?"

Oh boy.

two funny children and their very sleepy mama

Party's Over!

Mid-way through January we are still on the mend over here.  Whatever this bug we caught is slow in leaving our house. A couple of warm days got us out of our sickbeds to get some fresh air in our lungs.  It's days like these that I am so thankful about where we live, so many opportunities for outdoor fun:

they don't look like they are sick

laughing at their goofy dad whose reflection is on the upper left corner

we love hiking especially in the winter when the air is fresh

he was such a trooper, runny nose and all!

As for me, well I no longer have an excuse to sit on my behind and eat cookies and truffles all day.  With much reluctance and a boost of inspiration from my marathon running family in Texas, I re-started P90x.  I have done it before with great results but eventually dropped out due to an arm injury (not related to p90x).  With that arm healed and the extra weight to prove my laziness, I knew I had to get back to doing something.  So as of today, party's over:

that's the YEAH! of triumph on my worksheet from all the push ups and pull ups - ibuprofen here I come!

My Word of the Year

A new (to me?) trend I've noticed this year among my favorite bloggers are posts about their Word Of the Year.  It is a resolution/motto pared down to one word.  The idea intrigued me enough to seriously ponder how to describe in one compelling word that which I hope to accomplish this year.  The process was part examination of conscience part vocabulary challenge ;-)  Alas, after the fifth load of laundry and the innumerable chores later it came to me - SERVIAM, Latin for "I will serve", a heroic word uttered by St. Michael at the great battle to contradict Lucifer's "Non Serviam" ("I will not serve"). 

Serviam is a formidable word.  It is challenging me not to take what I do on a daily basis as unimportant or meaningless.  It is making me think of how best I could use my time instead of total squander. It is making me look at my vocation in the light of service not just to my husband and children but ultimately to God.  It is making me look at that fifth load of laundry as an act of love.  It is stopping me on my tracks as I begin to whine and descend into self-pity at the end (or beginning!) of a very long day.  It is making me look outside the comfort zone I have so carefully built around me.  It is making me think of how best to live out the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It is making me think I chose a very hard word!

Scripture images were in the heart of the choosing of this word - the story of the Good Samaritan, of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples - His laying down His life for His friends and the mystery of the Incarnation itself - God becoming man in the ultimate service/sacrifice of love.

This word also had me questioning a lot of things - why does God love (me), why did He lay his life down for me, why was I worth saving?  That is another post for another time!

Don't clap your hands just yet.  I am not a natural when it comes to service.  As the matriarch of this household, I see myself more as a queen and not a servant!  Sure, things get done around here and they are for the most part like clockwork but it is not always in the spirit of loving service.  Not that getting things done is bad in itself but it could use a dose of divine charity. Duty covered in love. And that's where serviam will challenge me.

The more I think about this word, the more it becomes alive and active, full of hope and joy.  It will keep me pondering, working, reading, praying and possibly crying ;-)

Serviam, it is my master this year.

Baby Funnies

In an earlier entry I mentioned that my youngest two have been making us laugh a lot over here.  Here's one of those episodes from the two-year-old (who is currently sick):

Praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart, the child takes over the responses -
me: "Heart of Jesus, obedient unto death.."
baby: "Have mercy on us!"
me: "Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance"
baby: "Have mercy on us!"

So we finish the full litany and I move on to the prayer of St. Augustine, this is midway: "Christ Jesus, my sweet Lord, why have I ever loved, why in my whole life have I ever desired anything except Thee, Jesus my God?"
baby: " I don't know!"

What an appropriate response! :-)

he is ornery!

Our Year in Pictures

Inspired by a couple of bloggers I follow, here is a our year in photos.  Going through the albums made me laugh and remember how 2012 wasn't really that bad as I claimed in an earlier post.  Enjoy!

January: white-knuckle driving it out in the country to visit friends. I love my friends like that :-)

February: the middle child celebrated a seventh birthday

March: the boys finally agreed on a color for their room, sunrise orange

April: the front room got a new coat of paint, bad cellphone photo, sorry!

May: bringing our schoolwork to the outdoors

June: baseball fun begins

July: my family from Texas came to town.  We always have a good time when we're together.

August: camping before school starts and to watch the meteor shower.  My husband is particularly enamored with my ensemble, purple mumu dress with bright pink socks. I'm stylin'!

September: my niece from Texas who wasn't able to come in July came in September.  My children do not lack for loving relatives.

October: an annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Trying to redeem my August camping fashion-crime with sweet suede boots that promptly got muddied.  

November: perfect night for a backyard marsh mallow roast and I just noticed the funny look on the five-year-old!

December: we love our fires. Relaxing after putting up the Christmas decorations.