Reading the Bible Together

One of my top ten favorite things about this unexpected year of homeschooling is our reading the Bible together every school day.  At 8am, four young women and I meet in the living room with our Bibles.  We open to the book we are reading at the time, and each student takes a turn, reading about half a chapter.  We read 2 chapters a day.  Then I ask them, "Would you like to share anything that stood out to you?" Often they each have one or two verses they want to point out. Sometimes we laugh at Jesus's "sassy" tone.  Other times we are encouraged by His promise to be with us, even when everyone else abandons us.  The Scripture through the lenses of a teenage girl is--well, very specific.  I am so glad it speaks right to their heart.

Perhaps one reason this is such a fulfilling experience to me is that these young women are seeing Christianity directly.  They are no longer just hearing about it from me (and their other faith formators).  The Scripture is more powerful than my telling of it.  The are seeing Christ in the Gospels, hearing Paul in his letters.  God is more lovely when He speaks for Himself.  

It is also true that if one of these teenagers grows up and rejects the faith (God forbid), she will be rejecting the God of the Scriptures, not the God of Kathryn, the God of Mom.  Or better put, they are much less likely to reject the faith (thank you, Lord), because now, they are coming into a relationship with Christ Himself in His Word, and that is much harder to reject than someone's second hand account of the faith.

May God continue to draw us in.  His Word is so beautiful.  It is a love song.  Thank you, Lord.

Rombs Train

Sweet Annie!

Who is more joyful, ebullient, or LOVELY than Annie?

Valentine's Day Party

How blessed we are to have gotten to go to a Valentine's Day party with friends!  Thank you, Diana, for hosting, and Celeste, for organizing!

Sebastian’s First Haircut

Homeschool Blessings

We are back to homeschooling for one year only, and what a blessing it is. I think I will always see this year as one that stands out in our family’s best memories.  My goal from the start was to engender a love for learning, which is quite a different thing from a performance year.  I wanted to help them imagine themselves as loving math, being great at science, being an accomplished public speaker, as having a keen intellect.  I bought the textbooks used at Cistercian for their grades, bought the teachers’ manuals, set out 10 subjects a day for each child, identified a few standardized tests they need to master, and assigned a public speaking assignment for each week.
     I promise it is not perfect.  There is a lot not happening as I wish it were.  But these young women have made incredible improvements.  This past Friday, we had our oral reports and presentations.  The standard practice is for each student to give feedback on their sisters’ presentations.  It actually brought tears to my eyes to hear them say: “You have made incredible progress since the beginning of the year”; “That was well-organized and well-written”; “congratulations for not using any filler words.”  They are reading outstanding literature, writing on relevant topics, and becoming great thinkers.  How I love these young women! I would not trade this year for anything.

Thank you Gigi and Papa Ronnie!

Papa Ronnie, Gigi and Gracie were so kind to be at our home with our kids for a whole week while we were house and school hunting in Italy.  Thank you! You (Papa in particular) seemed completely destroyed by our daily life. . . We're SORRY!  Six kids is a lot, eh!?
   It was also a JOY for our kids to be with Anna and Samatha for a few days.  Our kids raved about their time together and what wonderful people they are.  So glad to have you as our FAMILY!!

Blessed Community, Blessed Retreat

Our Catholic community here in Dallas and Irving had a Mighty Is Her Call retreat at Holy Family Catholic Church.  What a blessed morning!  Over 90 moms attended.  It was the first Mighty Is Her Call retreat I did not plan: our Mighty team did a top notch job!  The speakers were amazing. The Mass and opportunity for Confession was a gift—thank you Fr. Philip and Fr. Albert!
Catholic mothers have an in credo important job and need all the encouragement they can get. #mighty!

Speaker Annie Muller: “The Acts of Mercy in Motherhood “

Anne Tierney, Board Member of Mighty Is Her Call Inc. 

Having quite a time!

Ron and I are having quite a time in Italy!  We have worked around the clock, checking out schools and housing possibilities.  We have braved dozens of housing brokers in Italian, asking about rent, square footage (meterage?), plumbing, taxes, internet access and how reliable their furnaces are, all in our self-learned italian.  I must say I am VERY impressed with Ron, who is entirely self-taught (I lived here for a year many years ago).

We have also found out about several high schools, middle schools, primary schools and kindergartens, again, all in Italian.  We are put at ease by the sweetness of the students.  Absolutely lovely.

How can one help but fall in love with the Colli Albani?  These hillside towns are charming, the food incredible, and the people delightful.

Happy 20th Anniversary

Here are Ron and I at the airport in Philadelphia. It's hard to believe that today we have been married 20 years.  And we are on our way to Rome, to look for housing and schools for our kids.  Can you believe it?  What an amazing way to spend one's 20th anniversary!  The travels dates just happened to fall here, based on Ron's work schedule.  But to me, it is uncanny.  If you had told me on our wedding day, "In 20 years from today, you'll be on a plane to Italy, to look for a place to live with your 6 kids," I would have been flabbergasted.  What a life--its one wild ride!  Ron, thank you for marrying me!  I love you!

Happy Epiphany!

Let It Snow!

What a restful retreat in a winter wonderland! We are here in New Mexico with our friends the Hayeses from Louisiana.  What a JOY!