Let's Begin "A Dozen for Delight" at the end... #9 & #12.

So, I will do my best to work through the entire list during the liturgical year.  Today I want to start by posting some pics of our family altar, including our All Saint's Day altar.

9.  "Make a FAMILY ALTAR or PRAYER TABLE..."
I use the mantle over our fireplace as our family altar right now.  During Ordinary Time, our altar is often somewhat bare b/c our fireplace is of a huge, southwestern variety.  We've just started using one side as a nature display.  The boys collected leaves and pine cones for that side last week.  I've been so excited to discover this part of Texas does have a fall season, relatively speaking!  :)  Mark added those pine cones at the bottom when we were working on it b/c that is where he could reach.  And he must always do things
all. by. himself.

During Advent and Lent, I usually keep our wreath and Lenten centerpiece on the dining room table b/c then we see them even more often and they become a focal point for the season; so, the Advent wreath is not headed to our mantle altar but the Nativity Scene will go there, without Baby Jesus, who will arrive on Christmas morning, and the 3 Kings, who will arrive on the Feast of Epiphany.

This is a close up of the current right-side of our family altar, remnants of the Feast of Saints Day.  The big crucifix is from our pilgrimmage to Mexico City to see the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The statue of the Blessed Mother is Our Lady of the Atonement, patroness of the big boys' incredible Catholic school when we lived in San Antonio.  The crucifix and statue of the BVM always stay on the altar.  Also, I often keep a cloth and candle of the color of the liturgical season on our altar, too.  We're wrapping up Ordinary Time so the cloth and candle are green, w/ a fallish design on the candle holder.  (Catechesis of the Good Shepard materials call for a prayer cloth that covers your kid-accessible prayer table, but we've moved to this high family altar and I drape or somehow arrange the cloths now b/c they really are too small for the new space.  I'm working on gathering some CGS materials accessible to all the boys at our low prayer table in our school room but it will be more a CGS work space, w/ this remaining as the family prayer space/altar.)

12. "Round out your celebration of Halloween w/ the FEASTS OF ALL SAINTS AND ALL SOULS." 

So, for the Feast of All Saints, I borrowed an idea I read on Elizabeth Foss' blog to gather all the images of our family patrons on our family altar.  Now, we don't all have icons of our name or patron saints yet and this is one reason I wanted to start this series of posts at the end of my "Dozen for Delight" list.  I thought you may not have them either but we can work on collecting them throughout the next liturgical year.  The icon of St. Catherine of Siena, my patroness, was a gift to me from my mother-in-law and she purchased it here: http://www.monasteryicons.com/.  I think it is beautiful and I have already ordered a few more from there for Feast of St. Nick and Christmas gifts this year.  The small icon on the right above is, I believe, a true Orthodox icon and was bought for Jude on his Baptism by a special friend of mine from law school who is Greek Orthodox.  That should have gotten me started on icon collecting earlier!  John Paul chose that photo of Pope JP the Great from a calendar we have and I plan to have it mounted on foam board as his patron image.

Costumes of saints is another, more fun way for the kids to celebrate All Saint's Day.  This could be as easy as adding saint-costume-friendly dress-up supplies to your collection and encouraging the kids to use them often, especially on the Feast of All Saints.  I am not a seamstress and I have not made my children special saint costumes, on top of gathering Halloween costumes, except for those years that we've belonged to a school or parish that celebrates w/ costumes.

Finally, we end our celebration of All Saints w/ a Litany of the the Saints.  This year I wrote a Litany of Our Family Patrons.  To ask the saints to pray for us, the prayer can be as simple as the parent naming the saint and the rest of the family responding with "Pray for us!"

Pics of Mary Constance at 3 mos.

On Thursday, Mary was 3 months!  To celebrate she had a bath & got all dressed up in a precious new outfit I love, complete w/ headband &

fur-lined booties.  She looks sweet in pink but I like her best in blue in honor of her heavenly namesake (as opposed to family members she's also named after) & b/c her eyes are still blue...

A Dozen for Delight: 12 Ideas for Living Joyful Family Life Through Out the Church Year

Note: This handout I wrote is going out to our 2nd grade faith formation class and others at our parish in the next week.  Welcome to any new readers from SH parish!  I will blog on these ideas in more detail, including some links for materials to do them throughout the next liturgical year.  Feel free to use the comments here on the blog for any questions or to add your own best ideas!

1. Begin anew w/ Advent, the beginning of the Church liturgical year. Use an ADVENT WREATH to mark the 4 weeks of waiting. Even wait to put up your Christmas Tree until the 3rd Sun of Advent, marked by the pink/joyful candle. Then celebrate all 8 days of Christmas.

2. Leave Baby Jesus out of your family NATIVITY SET until Christmas morning. And the three kings as well! Have the kids move the kings around the house & gradually closer to your manger scene to symbolize their journey, finally arriving on their feast day, Epiphany (2nd Sun after).

3. Celebrate the anniversary of your child's BAPTISM DAY w/ a white dessert. Light her Baptismal Candle & look at photos. Remind her that she is a beloved child of God created w/ a unique mission of love & service for Him & others. What can she do this month to serve in a way only she can?

4. Use a LENTEN CENTERPIECE, such as a homemade desert scene, for a visual reminder of the season (like the Advent wreath & nativity set for Christmas). "Undecorate" the house for this season of more sacrificial waiting, including draping purple cloths in appropriate places- such as over the TV, if this is something given up during Lent- and stripping surfaces of clutter & excess.

5. Be sure to link EASTER BASKETS to the Resurrection of Jesus w/ spiritual treats & treasures.

6. Everyone loves (St) Valentine's Day & St Pat's Day- wearing red & green, eating treats, even giving little gifts. Do the same for other FEAST DAYS throughout the year, especially feast days of family patrons, such as those after whom members are named, or any saint your child especially likes. Make a unique dinner related to the saint or just have any favorite dessert to celebrate. Talk about that saint's life & example. Use a Catholic calendar to find the feast dates of saints.

7. May is the month of MARY. Join in the parish May Crowning. Say a decade of the Rosary on Sundays or everyday this month. Add some religious art to your home by hanging an image of Mary.

(She’s a powerful friend. What adult doesn't still need and want their mommy sometimes?)

8. Celebrate the feast day of our parish, the FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS on June 11. Write Fr. Hoa a note thanking him for all he does (or send an e-mail or voicemail). Add some more religious art to your home by hanging an image of the Sacred Heart.

9. Make a FAMILY ALTAR or PRAYER TABLE on or near your meal table or in another quieter spot where you can gather to pray regularly. Use liturgical colors to mark the seasons of the Church: purple for the Advent & Lenten seasons of waiting & preparing, white for the great feasts of Christ- Christmas & Easter, red for feasts of martyrs & the day marking the descent of the Holy Spirit called Pentecost (May 23), and green for the growth-filled Ordinary Time between these seasons & feasts. Keep a Bible there, as well as a candle.

10. Don't take a break from Sunday Mass over the summer just because faith formation classes are over! Use the extra time to MAKE EACH SUNDAY A MINI-EASTER w/ a family dinner & time for family fun. Pre-read the Sun Mass readings. Many special Sundays fall during the summer.

11. BLESS YOUR CHILD w/ words & by making the Sign of the Cross on his forehead at bedtime and on special days, such as the first day of school.

12. Round out your celebration Halloween w/ the FEASTS OF ALL SAINTS AND ALL SOULS.

Mary, Mark, & Afghanistan update

MARK- Maniac Mark has been busy learning to build w/ LEGOs &, of course, w/ trains.  He was a train conductor for Halloween.  He is so independent & outgoing, he asks everyone who comes to the house to read to him (Anxious mom asks herself: Am I not reading enough to him???), including some dear friends from SA who made a surprise visit for Jude's b-day.

MARY- Little Miss will be 3 months on the 18th!  Her cheeks are chubbing up very nicely.  Here she is w/ her great grandmother, the original Mary Constance.

AFGHANISTAN- We think that he's moved from a small chance of staying home to a small chance of going, due to his back/hip issue, giving him time to heal up b/f he does go.  Obviously he's on the short list...

More Adventures in Homeschooling: Oct & Nov

Took some pictures today as we put on a "Daddy Expo" to show him everything we've been working on the last 6 weeks or so.  (Jesse is home for Veteran's Day.)  From the top: calculating area & perimeter; our infant timeline; a lot of geography b/c the boys love it including quizzing them w/ wet-erase markers on their old shower curtain re-purposed in our schoolroom, Montessori continent boxes, & clay models of all the continents; a homemade bird feeder & butterfly feeder actually made not at home but at our local nature center's awesome Science Sat. which my even more awesome homeschooling neighbor takes our boys to w/ her own boys, and the elephant masks the same neighbor-friend designed when it was her..um, our... turn to lead the HS Book Club craft for our leisurely reading of The Jungle Book this fall.

A Pumpkin & Apple Daybook

A photo I'm sharing...two stuffed pumpkins in the oven right now!  A fun recipe I heard on NPR.  Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130704456&ps=cprs.  "Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good" is a name hard to resist.

Outside my window...baseball in the dark for my boys with Daddy (who isn't really playing b/c he can't run right now).  Don't like this time change already...but I do like the baseball fever that has kept the boys happily playing outside since watching the Rangers play in the World Series.

I am thankful for...unexpected joyful moments today including stuffing the pumpkins together, drinking tea from Ceylon while reading about Asia w/ the big boys, a surprise soccer award for Jude who is our birthday boy this week.  We had a small, fun party for him over the weekend.  It is almost always fall-themed: often pumpkin pie for his cake (although this year it was a cookie cake & we had the pie for his feast day last Thurs.), apple bobbing, caramel apples for one of the party favors.  John Paul jas eaten 3 apples today!

I am hoping for...a quiet week!  Soccer is over, we're in the off week for my Mom's Book Club at church & the boys' HS Book Club.  (Are we big nerds or what?)

On my mind...Jesse's imminent deployment to Afghanistan.  He leaves for combat training in less than a month and for Afghanistan in February.  We found out a little over a week ago, still can't believe it b/c he has a back injury, are praying for an 11th hour reprieve so that he can completely recover from this back injury that is keeping him from running, but are also making plans for him to leave per his commanding officer's instructions.  I think I need to start a perpetual novena to St. Joseph.

Noticing that...Mary is taking a long nap & I'm about to have to get dinner on the table...

A few plans for the week...tomorrow will be our off day b/c Auntie Carrie is coming for the day for Jude's real birthday.  Should be fun.  Other than that...finding some help for when my husband is gone, holiday plans once we know where he will be training..

From the bookshelves...The Children's Homer mostly for our read-aloud, still finishing St. Dominic too.  We have to return all our good Ancient Greece & Asia books this week b/c 've maxed out our renewals...going to buy a few of our Ancient Greece read-alouds to finish up w/ & have for the younger pair one day.

In the kitchen...those pumpkins!  And some leftover pumpkin & banana breads from our awesome neighbor & healthy baker-who-loves-to-share.

On the Church calendar & in our home church...w/ Feast of St. Jude/Halloween/All Saints/All Souls over, I get a short break to prepare for Advent.  I love St. Elizabeth of Hungary, whom we remember on the 17th.  Jude makes his First Reconciliation on the Feast of Christ the King, which we will celebrate w/ a feast & crowns that we need to make & start filling w/ jewels for the last Sun. of Ordinary Time b/f Advent- a big feast day for us, as Regnum Christi members we have a devotion to Christ Our King.

Blogging My Way Through Beloved Snail...

In the sidebar, you can see a link to a great book I'm slowly reading on-line, Turn Not Pale Beloved Snail. The blogger who originally linked to it was so excited to find it again after having read it as a child because, you see, it is a book on writing for children; however, writers of any age would benefit from working through its fun exercises. But only. if. they. wanted. to. As was originally intended by the author, Jacqueline Jackson...

Chapter 1- Woodies
"Woodies" are poems from everyday life, captured by learning to listen to insightful, funny, ironic, etc comments made, esp by children. Here's my first attempt:

"Privileges of Age"

When I'm older
I'm gonna do whatever I want.
I'm going to make a whole batch
Of cookie dough and eat it
Without making any cookies.

-Melissa Muller, age 11, 1988


When I'm a grown-up
I'm gonna do whatever I want.
I'm going to stay up late
And eat popcorn
Every night.

-Jude Gorley, age 7, 2010 (son of Melissa)

My Own Copywork for the Feast of All Saints

Christians believe that a mysterious, spiritual solidarity exists among themselves and all other children of the same God. We call this solidarity the communion of saints; the efforts, merits, sufferings of each individual benefit the rest. A similar law exists in the natural order, and if we think about it a little, we shall be convinced that our words and actions have a deeper and more far-reaching effect than we often imagine. Therefore, it is an absolute duty for everyone who understands what "absolute" and "duty" mean, to say and do nothing that is evil or even indifferent, since there is no neutrality in matters of morality. From that arises the obligation to make a sustained effort on a daily basis to work at interior perfection, because, whether we intend to or not, the effect we have on others will be the reflection and expression of what we are within. Let us create an interior treasure of noble thoughts, energy, and strong, intense affection, and then we may be sure that sooner or later, perhaps without our being aware of it, the overflow will affect the hearts of others.
I am not hiding the fact that this is a difficult task for one who relies on reason alone, which is itself to some extent only a tool, and many circumstances may falsify it or impede its action. I have, however, total confidence in God's ways of working with each person, even with those who never address God personally, and yet offer genuine homage by their love of the good, the just, and the beautiful.
-Elisabeth Leseur (d. 1914), whose cause for canonization is underway

A Three Day Weekend Daybook

Starting off with several photos I'm sharing- Jude suiting up to play goal keeper, a new love for this season; John Paul lost his first tooth this week, he is also the family artist & so good with Mark, and Mary started smiling this past week (I rotate these pics but they don't post that way!?).

Outside my window... another beautiful fall day, although I haven't been out.

I am thankful for... a fun weekend at home, including fun dinners b/c we've had extra time w/ Dad and I feel relaxed. I'm always trying to make dinner a priority: good food & good time connecting, especially w/ Dad who isn't home all day & who is a big "dinner guy." It also makes it not the bane of my existence to get dinner on the table if I change the focus to raising the bar! Fri. night Jesse & I had a fondue date night at home after the kids went to bed, Sat. night we had a picnic in our back acre, and last night we grilled steaks & had the boys' friends over to eat with us.

I am hoping...to start writing more, especially prayers & things for Jude's 2nd gr. religious ed/faith formation class we are teaching and NFP articles b/c we are doing some promoting for friends who are NFP teachers here.

On my mind...where those old NFP articles, etc. are that I wrote, either digital copies or hard copies?

Noticing that...John Paul is a really special kid who loves to study his faith. I wanted to incorporate some workbooks into our learning, so I sought out specifically Catholic ones from CHC for him especially. Both boys love them and other materials from CHC.

A few plans for the week...soccer, more soccer. The big boys are playing a combined indoor/outdoor season. After a couple of rough nights of taking all the kids (which took me 40 min to pack up for!), we now alternate who stays home w/ toddler Mark and I do most of the indoor practices/games w/ Mary.

From the bookshelves...we're studying ancient Greece: D'aulaires' Greek Myths, Archimedes and the Door of Science, The Jungle Book, St. Dominic and the Rosary. Mark is obsessed w/ train books.

In the kitchen...some leftovers, I think...

On the Church calendar...Feast of St. Luke, St. Isaac Joagues , St. Jude! b/f the end of the month. We're focusing on the Rosary this month of the Rosary and Respect Life issues.

Adventures in Homeschooling: Sept.

The boys' own attempt at a ladder.

Dad to the rescue. Woodworking 101.

Fun with a red-eared slider. Demonstrating "plaston" for me.

And no, not a cooking lesson. Just a fun kick-off to bird watching with "Birds in a Nest" for breakfast.

For my sister, who thinks we never do any real work or lessons. It sure looks like we don't, doesn't it? :)

Mary Constance at 6 Weeks (aka I like lime green.)

She was about to start fussing as I took this picture earlier today (Weds. 9/29). It looks like she was smiling but she wasn't really!

This green dress below swallowed her the day she came home from hospital. The little bottoms would fall off! Then...

Now...

(These are for you, CM in San Antonio. She is beautiful in it. Thank you!)