Brains Wake Up!

   I was so tired today.  I had to push myself through home school.  We had been at UTD last night, Ron and I giving a presentation on Catholic Family Life to the Catholic student group on that campus.  We brought all our kids.  We all had a blast!  But we paid for it today.
   So we were dragging through the day.
   But then we did medieval history.  We had already begun Mohammed, certainly fitting for medieval history.  We continued with his story today--after his flight to Medina, the formation of the Koran, and the beginning of the Muslim military struggle with Mecca.  Mohammed won.
   So the kids and I got into a long discussion about Muslims.  We talked about current events, and how some of them trace back to this very story about Mecca.
   I could practically see five little lights get ignited in their five little brains.  Even Annie made us all go to the world map, and she showed us Afghanistan--almost correctly, I might add!
   It was strange: it was such a genuine engagement of their minds--all off the cuff, and I had already quit an hour before we began.
   Home schooling is just an unbelievable environment: the chance to catch fire, intellectually, spiritually, and personally, whenever you are least expecting it.  

Family Ties

I sure love my Mom and Sister! 

     What we have been through: the three of us moving to NY when Kim and I were 5 and 7 years old; bringing our goldfish, Fishy and Bubbles, on the airplane with us in a baggy in Mom's purse; rollerskating and having lemonade stands on Madison Avenue;  summer camp family pickup weekends; weddings; graduations.  

    Deep down, these two ladies are the bedrock of my formation as a person. 

    I love you both!!

Embarrassing

    Can you believe how embarrassing it is to have a weed growing in the flower pot by your front door that is as tall as your children??

Dependence on God

    Teresa of Avila says in her Interior Castles (one of my favorite books of all time) that she has experienced 7 stages of the spiritual life, of progress toward union with God.
    I imagine that some would object, as though you could be more or less holy.  We all fall short (Rom. 8:28), right?
   But on the other hand, every new Christian just knows in her heart, I would think, that she has a long way to go, that she needs cultivation of new habits, mindsets, behaviors, etc.  And that is what Teresa says, only she lays out typical steps that she has taken, and as an Abbess of an order of nuns, of what she has commonly seen among younger Christians.
    So to the point: there are these 7 steps, that many people take, more or less.
    The fifth one is characterized by a new and total sense of dependence on God.  I am still working with the first step, and with the second, and the third and the fourth.  I am such a beginner.  I am really still on the first step.

    But as for this issue of dependence, goodness, how desperately God is trying to teach me this lesson, and how terribly I am receiving it!
    Every day, things fall apart.  I get exasperated.  I just do not have enough time in the day to do it all! And then I think, "Oh yes!   Total dependence on God!"  And I throw myself at His feet, and ask Him to solve my problem, or show me the right way.
   It is amazing how much He responds!

Our New Dog!

   
     I love our new dog!  I was so longing for a dog, and we picked the perfect one!  She is a Brittany, and she is very, very sweet!  She is perhaps the runt of the litter, and very docile.  But her breed is energetic, so I am thinking that will be the perfect combo for our family.
    Her name is Franny.
    We love St. Francis, the patron saint of animals.  And Rosie, our family dog of 12 years, passed away on the feast day of St. Francis.  So in a way, it is a sign of our love for her.  There is, additionally, a woman close to my mom and her siblings, from many years ago who was very, very special to them.  I did not know her, but am grateful to her for all she did for my mom, aunts and uncle.  So, Franny is the perfect name!
    The kids are raising this pup. feeding her, taking her out.  I have had to do SO LITTLE.  She is just adorable.  She jumps around, plays with all of us.  She is just a dream.
    Poor thing, though.  In her 48 hours in our home, she has been subjected to cymbals, piano lessons, Annie insisting on calling her "Lily Star," and even falling into the pool once (yikes!)!  For all our efforts, it is just no small thing to be initiated into this household!  It is like hazing. :)
    Well, welcome, Franny!

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

It is amazing that Jake is 12 years old!  I simply cherish raising this boy--who is almost a man.  What a privilege!

Pointe Shoes

   Mary began ballet on pointe this week!  What a huge event!
   All 5 kids are doing music--another big change!
I am blessed, and so grateful for the life given to me and for the life I get to choose.  What a gift.

Dog's Name

We're about to get a puppy--I am so excited!
She is a Brittany.
We've been working hard on dog names.
After many suggestions--Molly, Meg, Pippi,Astred, Minnie (for Minerva), a hundred variations on the theme of her being a caramel color--Clare shouts out, "Nipples!"
Ron and I laughed so hard that we cried.  We kept laughing all day--can you imagine petting someone's dog, asking her name, and being told, "Nipples,"??  I can roll with a lot.  But I think I would be unable to keep composure with that one.

(We asked Clare why that name, and she said because she was thinking how puppies nip at you.  Very intriguing!)

The Love Languages: A Sixth!

    Gary Chapman's book on the Five Love Languages says that there are five: gift giving, acts of service, personal touch, quality time, and words of affirmation.
    But I say that there is a sixth: baking!  It is a whole language of love to cook all day--or for several days--to show your love for someone!
    We cooked all day for Papa Harville's birthday: to show him our love for him!
    It was blessed.  A rare treat of an evening.

Leigh loves playing piano!

   I am teaching Leigh an introduction to piano.  She cannot get enough!  She is really good at it--playing the right and and let hand at the same time, but doing different notes.  She works hard, and you can see her little head laboring to get it.  And then she does!  She is so proud of her little songs!  She goes around the house humming the simple tunes.  
    This morning the first thing she said to me was, "Mom, can we start the day with a piano lesson?"

Talents

       Clare is so unique!  So far behind in reading, so peculiar in her questions that lack any and all common sense.  :)
       Her strengths, however, are excellent!
1)  She is fantastic at cursive
2) She is fantastic at baking
3) She is excellent at washing dishes
4) She is fascinated with science--biology
5) She has a tender heart for all animals
6) She loves Bible stories

     Her newest talent, however, appeared today!  I began a Charlotte Mason style grammar book with Mary and Clare.  That means, sitting with them on the couch, reading this book, and discussing it aloud.  They were doing subjects and predicates: filling in missing ones.

    Clare was filling in the most hilarious subjects or predicates!  Mary, Clare and I were laughing to the point of tears.

   "My cousin Kenneth___________" and Clare says, "has a gorilla eye."
   "My cousin Kenneth __________" and Clare says "has spiky hair."
   "The white pony __________" and Clare says "has a big bottom."
   "The poor sailor ___________" and Clare says "broke his deck."

     She was so quick and funny--perhaps she will be a creative writer!

I love my Clare.  I have never had anything be so rewarding as watching her, after a hard start in her first few years, come to life.  

Rat-A-Touille

    At dinner last night, we decided to make ratatouille for PaPa Harville's birthday dinner.
    The entire rest of the conversation was horrible jokes about rats that are chewy!
    Yuk!

An Order of Carmelite Moms

    I love the Carmelite nuns and monks.  I keep wanting to join the part of their order that is for single and married lay people.
    But they have requirements that are so time consuming, that I am yet unable to participate.  My children are too young and my time is too limited.
    I keep thinking: but I am the one who needs the grace the most!
    We need to invent an order of Carmelite Moms, who have fewer time commitments but who are encouraged to transform the intensity of their daily challenges into intense offerings for God!

Metaphysics of Motherhood

    I have just written the first 53 pages of a book, The Metaphysics of Motherhood.  It is a Chariots of Fire moment: just like the runner was born to run, I was born to write this book!

Being a true "Progressive"

    This week we celebrated the feasts of Augustine and his mother, Monica.
    Augustine is the one who reminds me that our faith, faith in the Person of Christ, is not only for the poor, the weak and the humble (which it certainly is) but is also for the most progressive, the most intelligent, and the most sophisticated.
     Progressive people are often people with their minds turned "on," discerning how to make the world a better place, whether that be through education, politics or social change.  They are people who use their minds to some good purpose.
     But St. Augustine beckons us toward the highest of the available positions, toward honestly recognizing that the human heart cannot be its most successful without acknowledging its need for God and for the peace of Christ.
     "My heart is restless until it rests in Thee," Augustine writes in the first chapter of the Confessions.  This is the confession of a brilliant mind who had climbed the ladder of success and won the favor of the secular elite.  With all his worldly gains, he was left with a restlessness that could only be satiated by resting in the heart of Christ.
     In its most pure moment, the human person realizes that all the advancement imaginable is worthless unless it is an advance toward and with God.
     And let us applaud his mother, Monica, without whose persistent prayers, her progressive son would never have found what true "progress" means.