Fall 2020 Back to School Pics

 

2020-21 School Year of the Masks

Mary's 10th in August (but after school starts so Fall to me)

Mark's 12th in September

Jude's Football Senior Night & 18th! in November

Mark's 6th grade Football pic

John Paul as a Jr. w/ beloved by all, Tessa, on Homecoming

Summer Pics 2020: Gardening & Friends

our non-working fountain turned planter project

spiritual friends & mentors

Farm to Table dinner hosted by a real life friend

Mother's Day hike to the top of Mt. Baldy

Amazing Pics of St.Therese! (for Cate, later)

 https://aleteia.org/2017/03/07/54-incredible-photos-of-saint-therese-of-lisieux-taken-by-her-sister-celine/

June 2020 Reflections

From writer Emily P. Freeman's monthly e-mail...

1. Where did you see God in June?

    Personally, I saw God in the love of my own parents as I took the kids on mostly outdoor, extended  weekend trips with each of them this month and in the love of my husband who remained home busily working to support our own family both times.  We camped at Lake Murray SP, OK with my dad and visited our beloved Port A on the TX Gulf Coast with my mom.  Some of my kids are not easy to live with but my parents love them as grandparents do and we made great memories both trips.  

    In the world at large, I see God in the more open, honest dialogues between people in our country with different experiences and sufferings, in the reaching out and sharing of those with more public personalities as they articulate the inner dialogues and journeys of many of us.  Despite my own struggles, I have lead and continue to lead a largely privileged life.  And any remnant of racism is a sin, especially in 2020.

 

2. What's one thing you've learned?

   I've learned that maybe the time has come for anti-racism, as well as colorblindness.

    Ok, two things I've learned.  I've learned I'd love for us to have an RV camper so that we can continue to explore and adventure together but especially so I can do that somewhat predictably with and for Cate.

 

3. What is the best thing that could happen in July?

    The best thing that could realistically happen is that I could truly embrace this home-centered, more contemplative pace of life for the long-run, in such a way that there was life, Melissa's rhythm of life, our rhythm of life before COVID and there is now a personal and family rhythm since COVID that will not be set aside when school and sports and other activities resume.  Jesse has more naturally been drawn to a less-busy schedule than I at times but I have resisted doing it from a negative perspective.  Now, I truly see this as a choice for a more abundant life personally and for the family.  

    

    

Spring 2020 Daybook: Hiking & Books! Also COVID-19

Outside on our Turkey Ranch...

the Bradford Pear blossoms and tulips have already blown away but the Indian Blanket & irises appeared this week. We also have a mobility van for #catethegreat now parked on the driveway.

From the bookshelves...

I read two books this past winter that really spoke to my heart, Undone and Be Brave in the Scared. Both memoirs of moms with children with special needs. The grace-given yet hard-fought honest insights they each shared were really a balm to my momma heart.  And I also always enjoy anything of Christopher West's.

I’m currently reading a couple good books with the middle kids. One of the blessings of more family time during the Quarantine.

With our hands...

I prepared a web page concept for my consulting project with CCL/Live the Love, FAB Coaching. So excited- we did a soft launch of our fertility awareness coaching pilot program in the last couple weeks! In the kitchen, soup dinners have transitioned to grilling this early spring for my hungry brood.

All four big kids kids helped Jesse construct a room in our horse barn (that he is now living in to protect catethegreat, more on that later) and have started some woodworking projects of their own.  MI has been adding to his origami animal collection and MC has continued cross-stitching, moving on to patterns of saints.

In my head...

the life of Catherine of Siena as imagined by Louis de Wohl, in Lay Siege to Heaven which I just finished.  Also Life from Our Land, perfect for spring, and how to keep myself/us slowed down and outside on our land like we have been so much.

On my heart...

union with God and all I'm learning from some people in my life about that and from a book about St. Therese’s middle sister, called Leonie: A Difficult Life.  I read it with the pair above about special needs families. It fit there well as she was a difficult child emotionally. So, so real. A breath of fresh air when it comes to biographical writing about saintly lives and especially that family out of history.  God's faithfulness does not depend on our good or even best behavior.

Most recent road trip was...

finally back to the Wichita Mountains for an afternoon of hiking in gorgeous weather during the first week of this extended Spring Break!  And Cate’s first time to go! So beautiful- I had missed that geography so much.  We hope to get back there soon and more regularly.

Of holidays & holy days... 

Lent has been an exceptional one this year, hasn't it?  Much given up but much received in its place.  I have realized anew how distracted I can get, how hard it is to embrace the moments and savor them when we are always rushing on to the next thing.  But case in point- these photos from winter holidays & holy days I've never shared here or on Instagram.

Cate enjoying her work at PT in her birthday crown.

 Cate's first snow!  Several days off school that seem like ages ago and 

that haven't kept us from a good break for the Holy Triduum.

Sissy and Daddy headed to the annual Father-Daughter Dance in their Valentine Best.

 We had potato soup on St. Paddy’s Day and baked little loaves of bread on the Feast of St. Joe, the Holy Family’s “breadwinner.” It was our first attempt at gluten free from scratch and while they looked good... 

Made a baked oatmeal pan cake and waffles (here) for beloved 16 yr old healthiest-son’s b-day.

A Prayer...

from the priest and preacher to the papal household during the pontificate of JPII and on, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa:

Come, Holy Spirit.

Come now.

Come as You wish.

COVID-19 & Fertility Awareness, Medical Help

More FABM-knowledgeable medical professionals available by telemedicine is a positive development from quarantine conditions.

Happy Holy Week at Home 2020!

Holy Week Family Retreat doc with LIVE links 

for a variety of daily activities (reading, watching, making, eating)

from the Catholic homeschool group of MIG’s godmother 

Fertility Awareness & Women's Mental Health

Continuing to post some pieces from Natural Womanhood's blog, a great and trusted source for me.  I have found the points made in this piece to be so personally true.

The Benefits of Charting for Your Mental Health

4 Ways to Boost Your FABM's Efficacy

Great piece from Natural Womanhood's blog and written by another CCL STM Instructor:

When You Really Shouldn't Get Pregnant....

Fall 2019 Daybook- Marriage & NFP Edition

It’s ...

been cold already, with some rain, and windy during the past weeks but beautiful the last few weekends.  These pics below are of our last summer hurrah- Labor Day Weekend at Port A on the Gulf Coast of TX.  Fall is here now.

Cate's first time seeing and feeling the ocean (Gulf).

She loved playing in the water.

We went on an island hike.  Saw lots of nature.  Kids felt tortured.

Outside on our Turkey Ranch...

The ground is parched with dry grass and leaves blowing everywhere this fall. Our stock pond is the smallest (driest) I've ever seen it but I still love my frequent walks around it.  My husband is working to train our newest horse, a pony for Mary that she named S’mores.  I have such a love/hate relationship with the horses...  

From the bookshelves...

Marilyn Shannon’s Fertility, Cycles, & Nutrition.

I love this book and use it a lot personally and with students (because it’s practical yet thoroughly researched), recently gave one to a student couple as a wedding gift. Trouble shooting for irregular or erratic cycles. Time-tested and research-based nutrition advice, including a basic bread (machine) recipe.

With my hands...
Several loaves of my own (Cycle) Healthy Zucchini Bread made with half wheat flour, half sugar & local honey to sweeten, lots of fresh zucchini, half the oil, protein from yogurt & pecans, and ground flax. And it’s still moist and delicious. A favorite of my older boys- don’t tell them the full name.

In my head...
Our monthly Married Couples Group has been meeting for over a year and we are so grateful for that group of friends. We’re on our second good book- Men, Women, and the Mystery of Love by Edward Sri. Started with Forever by Jackie & Angel Francois.  Such a fun read with your spouse and to talk over with friends- one chapter had us all share our meeting/dating/engagement stories.  

On my heart...
Our NFP student couples, from our previous and current class series. Their openness and hard work has been inspiring.  Also, the "Ask Christopher West" podcast. I love the dynamic between the Wests.  Wendy West's gentle wisdom and love washes over me when I listen.  

Most recent road trip adventure...
the Fall Silobration in Waco with my mom and Cate.  Finally, Magnolia!  Fun but also very... sterile?...feeling to me.

I love, love, love this pic of catethegreat.

Of holidays and holy days... 

Mark's 11th birthday pool party.

And the big eleven year old as St. Augustine on All Saint's Day at school.  The Fifth Grade puts together a presentation for the entire school.

A Prayer for this Fall...
St. Therese's feast day is in the fall, Oct. 1.  As is John Paul the Great's, Oct. 22.

Merciful Father, in the name of our lovable Jesus, my Mother Mary, and all the Saints, I ask you to set me on fire with Your Spirit of Love and to grant me the grace of making you deeply loved.

~St. Therese

Summer Highlights Daybook

It’s ...
triple-digit hot outside but I am on our shaded front porch because even when I oversleep the morning cool, I still need to get outside. #catethegreat is napping in her crib in our room.
Also outside...
Dragonflies are abundant this summer and I’m seeing so many of their beautiful double-winged bodies on our property in the blue & green variety.

From the bookshelves...
Mary & I recently finished Hellen Keller from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.  I remember enjoying Florence Nightingale in that series myself and we enjoyed reading this one and talking about our Cate so much.
With my hands...
I’m sipping iced coffee and typing, resisting the urge for another Chessmen with it. I’ve baked a lot of chocolate chip cookie bars lately for our school faculty, Mary’s class for her recent birthday, and the football team but Chessmen are my good & easy go-to for afternoon coffee time cookie, “biscuit” as it would be called on the Great British Baking Show. :)  

Since I'm thinking about food, here's a pic of this summer's seafood feast with My Cowboy.

In my head...
I’m musing on a podcast I recently discovered: Emily P. Freeman’s “The Next Right Thing.” So. Good. Leaves me feeling peaceful and inspired. And empowered. A new favorite of mine, to add to Danielle Bean’s weekly “Girlfriends” and Leah Darrrow’s less frequent “Do Something Beautiful.” (Such a good one recently on integrating faith & psychology! Need to remind My Cowboy to listen to it.)  I’m adding all Emily’s books to my reading list.
On my heart...
Lately? Constantly. How to love Cate and everyone else, beginning with myself, better.  More truly, more resiliently. More humanly. I know with God’s grace that love expands and multiplies to meet the needs. My downfall is still in not trusting enough to slow down and recognize my own needs before I feel desperately overstretched.
Clinging to Christ by the “Little Way” of Cate’s middle-name patroness Therese has become a source of insight and grace in my days again. More on that another time.
#catethegreat update...
She has finally been fitted for her wheelchair seat and back! It was an impressive process involving measurements then vacuum-packing her in two beanbag-type pillows which were 3-D scanned and uploaded right in front of us. A 3-D model will be made from images and her seat/back supports from the model. Her first wheelchair, a manual one, should be ready in about a month. I’m trusting we’ll be ready for it ourselves by then.  

Below is the Montessori space I set up for her this summer, an IKEA trip and my project while M&M were at The Pines.

Recent road trip adventure...
We went to OK City one Sunday this month. It was too hot.  Kids were grumpy.  Parents got that way too.  We visited the cemetery where Bl. Stanley Rother is currently buried- all but his heart which remains in Guatemala.  We prayed there for Cate's healing.  We saw JP’s (and all of ours!) good friend who recently relocated for lunch at his job. We bought a new set of steak knives at a popular kitchen goods store we don’t have at home.

Outside the chapel where Bl. Stanley Rother is interred.  Lake Nocona pic above was our early summer weekend adventure thanks to some friends' sharing their lake house.  Port A vacation still to come this Labor Day weekend...

Quote of the month:
From James Bryan Smith, interviewed on “The Next Right Thing” podcast-
“I am one in whom Christ dwells and delights. I live in the strong and unshakable Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is not in trouble and neither am I.”
It reminds me of St. Teresa of Avila's-
“And all will be well...”. I recently read that her deeper conversion happened at 39! I’m only 42- there’s hope for me yet!!