Christmas Day! Happy Birthday, Leigh!

 

Annie and I--How proud I am of this brilliant girl! She is silly, hilarious, humble, sharp as a tack, willing to work hard, obedient, and might I say, gorgeous?! 

Green-bean casserole from scratch. The mushroom cream sauce and even the fried onions (shallots actually), all made with love by hand! That would have made my grandmothers cry tears of joy! By the way, look at that kitchen! One day I will laugh! 

A moment of heaven on earth--our sacred meal together as we are in vigil for the birth of Christ. 

Mary initiated a family photo--I did not even have to ask! Now THAT'S LOVE!

Leigh's birthday present: special pigments from Venice to make her own paints. Fitting for such an inspired artist. How I loved walking through Venice with her this fall!

Happy birthday, Leigh!

Gown for New Year's Eve

Leigh is one of my very favorite people to be with. We laugh all the time. I often think that the move to Italy was worth it even just to spend so much time with Leigh. As a fourth child, let's just say that does not always happen. Our relationship is forever deepened because of our long commutes into Rome. I simply love living life with Leigh! She is incredibly smart, learning 3 languages, so steady and stable and has excellent perspective on tricky life topics. I have utmost confidence that she will be a very happy, joyful person all her life!

Mary, my Love! I cannot thank her enough for the album she gave me this Christmas. She had each of my children write letters of appreciation to me. I sobbed when I read them. They were so heart-felt, so to the point, so articulate. It's as though this is a rare time in our family's life when our kids can look back and reflect, and size things up; Mary knew that and captured it. The album was, by far, the best gift I've ever received, a thank you for the past 21 years of motherhood and a thank you that most mothers would cherish and probably never really get. The messages were just so sincere and heart-piercing. And the photos! The kids went through their own databases and found fantastic shots that I'd never seen before! Loved it. 

I know it doesn't look like much. But believe me. It is a game-changer. Pear and almond braided pastry--my first time. I made the dough 2 days in advance and let it rise and do the yeast thing it likes to do sitting in the fridge for a few days. I ground almonds by hand with a mallet, and made a pear compote with Italian pears (which are the most flavorful in the world). I awoke early and spent 2 hours making and braiding this little delicious delight. For the Christ Child! The Savior has come! Rejoice!

Christmas Eve

One of the best days I’ve had in a looooooong time! 

Mary is here; the sun is shining; Ron made eggnog; we finally got some lights hung (despite Italian lights being impossible to hang); we visited the orphans; our little apartment finally feels a little bit like home. 

We are blessed! 

Reading the Bible

 I have spent this past 3 months reading 42 chapters of the Old Testament per week. I read them 2-3 times each. It is changing my view of God, of humanity, and my life! 

Venice!

 Leigh, Annie and I shot off to Venice for the weekend. 

I had already fallen in love with Venice but I fell in love again. I am a huge Bellini fan, and swooned over his Pieta in the Academia. 

But I had never fallen in for Tintoretto--until this weekend. The ceilings! 

The figures!

The whole trip was magical!

Learning to Pray

Recently I was wondering how to pray. I've been praying all my life and I still feel like I don't know how. When I read sentences like, "St. Joseph was a man of prayer" I realize I am not yet where I want to be. Is prayer what defines me? I deeply wish it were. But I feel like I just don't know how. 

I thought, "I'll try to find a spiritual director." 

Then I thought, "I'll find a really prayerful person and ask them." 

Then I wished I were a monk at Christ in the Desert since the monks there have set prayer times for communal prayer. 

Then I remembered that they chant the Psalms. 

Finally I thought: "I have the Psalms, right in front of me!" My Bible was already in my lap. I have a divinely-inspired prayer book under my nose already in my possession. I opened my Bible to the Psalms and asked God to teach me to pray. I started reading Psalm 1 very slowly. I read it several times, imbibing each word. I felt fear and anxiety melt off my soul, and a fresh spring of healing water flow from within my heart. I did not want that moment to ever end. I sensed God so close. He spoke to my inner self as clear as day. 

Time barreled on inconsiderately: kids burst in the room, the sun rose, and a cock literally crowed (our neighbors have chickens). I had to tell the Lord I would see Him tomorrow. I'd meet Him again in the Psalms. 

And I did. 

Lord, please teach me to pray and make me "a woman of prayer."

Sebastian and Me

 Sebastian loves to have time alone together. Recently he proposed time together in Rome. We drove into town, parked at the Circus Maximus and talked about the races and martyrdoms that happened there. Then we walked to the Bocca della Verita. Then we strolled over to Trastevere. Sebastian has a book called "Pepe in Trastevere," an Italian children's book about a dog named Pepe who lives in Trastevere. We walked around imagining that each dog we saw might be Pepe. 

Then we met Clare for dinner. She was in Rome for a guitar lab, an intense day of practice with many students in the school. She walked from her studio near LePanto to our restaurant in Trastevere. I picked that one because it specializes in Cacio e Pepe, Clare's new favorite dish. We had a fantastic day in Rome! 

Sebastian got a slingshot as a gift--which he pretended to use on all perceived enemies!

The new Prime Minister of Italy

 This is a real glimpse of our new Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. Wowzers. This video is from 3 years ago. But I will say, it gives a clear picture of who she is. 

https://youtu.be/y_Z1LClnhsk

In our homeschool, Clare and I are working on an Italian newspaper article about Meloni. She is very controversial and we are gathering the facts to learn more. These are wild times! 

Vocation of Being-Together

A new school year brings a fresh opportunity to enjoy my children. Nothing beats just being together. 

I spend all afternoon and evening with Sebastian, Annie, Leigh and sometimes Clare (she is in and out of guitar lessons, working out with a buddy, etc.). Sebastian is taking a giant step in reading and writing, now that he's in 3rd grade. I sit with him after school and work on each cursive letter, each sentence, each spelling word. It is really fun to see him learn. Yesterday he read the phrase, referring to a car, "it tooted its horn." He just laughed and laughed. That sounded like a potty joke to him and he had tears streaming down his face, he was laughing so hard. We all laughed for a good, long time. 

Annie has just begun 7th grade the Swiss School of Rome. Like her sister Leigh before her, Annie is diving into the deep end of classes in German--pre-algebra, history, biology, geography etc. all in German. Then she has one or two classes in Italian (art, p.e., and of course, Italian), and her classmates speak Italian as their mother tongue so all the breaks are filled with middle-school-chit-chat in Italian--and Annie hangs in there and keeps up like a champ. Annie already has a "friend group" of half of the girls in the class, and they are sweet, sweet girls who have completely embraced Annie as their awesome new friend. She occasionally plays volleyball in school and just learned a song in German. 

Each afternoon, I sit with my kids in our make-shift living room on campus. We laugh and joke around. We get through each homework assignment while I make dinner. We pat the dog and fold laundry and talk and talk and talk. Leigh is usually with us and she too lets her guard down and relaxes. 

I'm in a new place which is really just my original place--wanting more than anything just to be together. Kindness, generosity, strength of character, personal fulfillment, and becoming a thriving person are forged in the crucible of loving, committed relationships. Each child needs to know more than anything that their parents know and love them. They need to internalize that their parents see them and like what they see. I see the long road ahead for Leigh, Annie and Sebastian, and the best way to help them in their future endeavors--as far as I can tell--is to spend each moment I can cherishing the little, often silly, seemingly insignificant moments with them as though they were priceless treasures. Because they are. This is my vocation which I cherish and adore: being together. 

A Moving Testimony

 This testimony is truly moving to me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

https://mightyishercall.com/lost-forgiven-and-forgiving-3/

Awesome Grandparents!

 

Love These Mighty Is Her Call Moms!

Catacombs, Monte Cassino and Fossanova

 The University of Dallas Summer Program traveled to the Roman Catacombs where little Sebastian (behind the candle) served at Mass with Fr. Thomas Esposito. What a blessing! 

Then we traveled to Monte Cassino, the Benedictine abbey where Thomas Aquinas began his education and where Saints Benedict and Scholastica are buried--twins buried side by side. Ron gave his amazing talk on monasticism and medieval beer-brewing. 

We also visited Fossanova where I gave my talk, "Who Is Thomas Aquinas?" It was such a joy of a trip! 

Covington Retreat--Mighty Is Her Call

I'm giving glory to God today for a beautiful, powerful retreat for mothers at St. Peter Parish in Covington, Louisiana. It was well worth flying in from Rome to be with--arguably--my favorite community in the world! I can't wait for the professional photos to come in so that I can post the gorgeous ladies that prayed and reflected with us yesterday! 

Missing this Girl!

 This is the girl I am going to miss like crazy for the next 3 weeks! Clare had a birthday party extraordinaire for her seventeenth birthday. Cocktail-Party-Extravaganza! 

Now she is in New Orleans with me. We spent a spectacular weekend with our friends and had a Mighty Is Her Call retreat. Now I am headed home to Rome while she remains here with our friends for 2 weeks. Then she goes to Alvin to be with her grandad and Gigi for a week. Reuniting after that will be SO GOOD! 

I love you, sweet Clare! 

Happy Corpus Christi!

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u5gleOFomykW4LXe7-8l7lysjMX-PEjf/view?usp=sharing

Santa Maria Antica

 Ron took me on the best date ever--he zipped me into Rome on his motorcycle and took me to the newly-renovated-and-re-opened Santa Maria Antica. It is in the Roman Forum. It is arguably the oldest church in Rome (but I will be asking my Christian Archaeology professor at the Angelicum about that). The frescoes lining the walls are detailed and emotionally powerful images of Mary. If this church dates to the 4th century (think Constantine--legalization of Christianity), then that says quite loudly that the early Church was a Marian Church. There was no such thing as Christianity without Mary for the first millennia or more of Christianity. Standing in that holy site (that none of us have ever seen since it has been under renovation for so long--decades?) says it louder than any book on apologetics ever could. 

Mary Mother of God, pray for us!

Ron is honestly the coolest husband in THE WORLD. 

Best Come-Back

  Our kids tend to have great comebacks. Clare in particular is especially strong in this department. This week, however, it was Annie who really came out on top. 

  One of the boys in Annie's class is particularly annoying. He is often picking on her. She has long suspected that he has a crush on her, but it is hard to get firm confirmation of such hunches. Regardless, his teasing and constant pestering of her is unwelcome. 

   This week, he said to her, "Annie, why do you speak if you know no one likes you?"

   She replied, "Says the guy who likes me." 

   The class loved it, the boy blushed, and the crush was confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt. Now THAT'S a come-back. 

Our New Life in Marino

We have moved into our dorm rooms on the campus of the University of Dallas and are grateful for the people who are making this transition a good one, including Peter Hatlie, Vasile and Alina Chiriac, and J.J. Sanford. 

Leigh and I now commute on a regional train into Rome. We love our station, Pantanella. It is clean, quaint and has free parking. Our train leaves at 7.21am at arrives at Termini at 7.55, just in time to get to our respective schools before they begin at 8.15/8.30. 

Our family now attends church in Castel Gandolfo--such a pretty town!

We are excited to embark on our new life here on the UD campus! May the summer students arrive (which they do tomorrow)!

Last Day in Frascati

Any move can be emotional. Our move away from our home of three years in Frascati was no exception. It was a cozy little nest where our family retreated and many good things happened here. 

• We decompressed from a fast-paced, hectic life in Dallas
• We learned to accept living in tiny quarters and not "need" nearly so much of anything
• We learned how to cook for 8 in a kitchen made for 2
• We learned to be together in a whole new way 

In this house:

• Our family survived an international move and got acclimated to Italian schools, civic life and culture
• I wrote my book, got it published, and began promoting it
• I started a theology program at the Angelicum
• I learned how to live peaceably with neighbors and just let go of almost everything I did not like about the arrangement

On our last night, Ron and I went on a date to one of our favorite restaurants associated with a vineyard. We celebrated all the things that have gone well, and how blessed our time in Frascati has been. These are quick photos I snapped as we returned home. Oh, how I will miss this little place!

 

A Mother's Pilgrimage

I had a wonderful day on Sunday. Ron suggested that we go to the church where St. Monica is buried as a pilgrimage. Then he realized that one of our favorite restaurants from many years ago in Rome is just around the corner. 

As a family, we journeyed into Rome (braving a city-wide shut-down of traffic) and made our way to St. Monica's tomb. I got a pile of prayer cards and wrote intentions on about 20. I unloaded my heart and placed my worries and hopes into a basket placed by the tomb. I asked Monica to pray for me and with me for each of my cares. 

Then we had a wonderful meal! 

I love my family!