Hugs and Prayers

I remember *vividly* the events of September 11, 2001.

I was at work and was two months pregnant with my first son.  What was a wonderful, new and exciting time was filled with horror and sadness while I watched the tragedy unfold live on television.  I could not help but sit and cry and wonder to myself "Oh sweet Lord, what kind of world am I bringing this precious little blessing into!"

As time marches on and I now have three precious little blessings, I still find myself wondering the same thing from time to time and more often these days.

Watching the video of the events that happened yesterday at the Boston Marathon brought it all right back and very vividly.  Seeing several explosions, the smoke billowing up in the air and people running frantically in fear brought out the same emotion that came twelve years ago.

When did it become the norm to take such a callous view on human life?

Every person is a gift from God...made in His image and likeness.  Scripture tells us that "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." and "That even the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

So if we are all so special to God and to each other, why then are some behaving otherwise.  I see that commandments are broken right and left all of the time.  It is mostly little incidences of relativism, but, there are big times like Newtown, Aurora, Columbine, and the World Trade Center we are not loving God and we are not loving our neighbor as ourselves!  The first few commandments embraces faith, hope, and charity and much of what I see nowadays does quite the opposite.


People are much more concerned about their Second Amendment rights to bear arms then the health and well being of others and that is truly sad.  

I find that my prayer list has become longer and longer these days and I try to keep all of these people in prayer for peace and healing.

Times like this do make me reflect on what is truly important.

Coming off a weekend when it seemed that most things I touched turned into messes {don't even ask me about the fiasco in my oven from a box of gluten free brownies I was trying to make for my son!}, I realize that the little day to day things that we *think* we need to do are not as important as the *people* we must love!

 I need to remember that the dishes will always be there and I am pretty sure that the laundry is not going anywhere.  The paperwork will always be there waiting for me as will all of the planning for next year's school year.

Time passes much to fast for me these days and we really need to slow down and hug our kids more.  Play more.   Love more!

So... when you are thinking about what happened and continues to happen
HUG those little ones of yours tight and keep PRAYING because He does hear us and is with us among all of the trying times in life.

In the days and weeks ahead, I will try to keep one of my favorite scriptures in mind...
 
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

PEACE to all of you!

Where to Begin...

Well...it has been some time since I have stopped by to say hello!

Many things have happened since February.

If I had to choose, some of the highlights would be...

-my littlest one turned SIX years old in February.  This totally blows my mind.  Time seems to be slipping through my fingers so quickly these days.

--my oldest son just turned ELEVEN years old last Saturday {please refer to aforementioned about time passing much too fast for my liking}.

---We have a wonderful new Pope who I really feel good about!  I really did not know anything about Pope Francis {previously known as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio}.  We were privileged to witness a good deal of the happenings when they were occurring.  One of the perks of homeschooling is that you are able to live in the here and now and bear witness to wonderful life changing events!  I still remember when Pope John Paul II became the pontiff when I was a child.  I did not understand too much about it, but, thought it was so exciting nonetheless!  My boys were absolutely thrilled to be part of it.  They sat in amazement watching and waiting his arrival.  It was a blessed day for all Catholics indeed.
Pope Francis has an aura of goodness about him.  I cannot really put it into words, but, I truly feel he is going to be an important part of history.  You can almost feel his humility and simplicity and caring when you see him.

----We celebrated a joyous Easter and were truly blessed by a fruitful Lent.  I really love Lent.  It probably sounds odd, but, I do.  I love to take the time to slow down a bit and rest in the Jesus' goodness and strength.  It is a time to meditate on the important things in life and to *try* to be a bit more like Him.  I always find that I am a stronger person when Lent is upon us.  I need to try to keep up that work during the rest of the Liturgical Year :-)

-----We are wrapping up our school year and have about six weeks left to go, so, of course as any homeschooling momma will tell you, my mind has been working on plans for next year for the past few months.  We are going to join the Ambleside group and venture fully into Charlotte Mason territory.  I have been drawn to CM and Ambleside repeatedly over the past three years.  I am really excited about it and look forward to a great year!  We made the switch this year to more living books and that has been fantastic and the boys have loved it!

On the horizon there are still three more birthdays before Memorial Day {myself, my dear husband and Kit Kat}.  Hopefully spring will get the memo and bring some warm sunny days our way.  We have been rehearsing for a play the past few months that will take place next month and the boys have been having a ball.  It is really cute and they've been learning the Charleston!  I am eagerly planning my gardens for this year too and getting that itch just to be outdoors!

Love Is...

I have decided to make a St. Valentine's Day post a few days early.  Today is the 15th anniversary of my Mom's death and the day before Ash Wednesday.  Each year this time of year reminds me of the important things I have been blessed with in my life.  I am now at a point in life where I can think of my Mom today with more thoughts of happiness, thankfulness and joy than of sadness.  I am a better person {and mother} because of her and for that I am thankful. 

I have decided that this month I am going to memorize 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

I've always loved that particular scripture and it was part of our wedding too.

So...Jenny  kindly took the time to make it even easier for anyone to memorize this scripture as she made some post-it notes that can be easily placed around your home {or office} to look at from time to time during your day.


This is why I like it best...

Love is patient and kind; 

love is not jealous or boastful;

 

 it is not arrogant or rude.  

Love does not insist on its own way;

it is not irritable or resentful; 

 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. 

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

  Love never ends.

 

Catholic Woman's Almanac

I want to take a few moment to reflect on things and remember what is truly important.

With these lovely ladies...

Moments of Gratitude


...gorgeous January sunrises and sunsets! I am convinced that God saves them for the coldest part of the year for a reason!
...the choice I made six years ago to homeschool my boys.  Sometimes I see it more clearly than others and Saturday was one of those eye opening days filled with tons of gratitude!
...sunshine on cold winter days...
...Re-energizing mentally and spiritually in His Word each and every day,  It keeps me focused on doing His will, not mine.
...little boys who still like to make Saint Valentines Day decorations with their momma
...still feeling blessed by the graces showered on my husband and myself over the past 13+ years. The Holy Spirit is a constant companion to us both and I am eternally grateful to have been blessed with such a wonderful man.
...a warm home that protected us during the cold winter days the past few weeks
...old and  new friends {really and bloggy!}
...having the Holy Spirit always by my side, whether I feel Him or not

...sipping steamy peppermint tea on a chilly winter day while the sun is basking in through the window









Beauty in the Ordinary

 

 

I love Saint Valentine's Day and all of the love that comes with it!

~~~

From the Kitchen

Roasted vegies
Italian bread
Allergen free brownies and Chocolate chip cookies {I know we did these last week, but, they were so yummy and it is almost time to give these up again for Lent}
Homemade Macaroni and Cheese {a family favorite}

~~~

Praying
  for the little five year old being held hostage in Alabama.  This really is weighing heavily on my heart as I have a little five year old boy.  I am also keeping in prayer the family of the hero who tried to stop it all.

~~~

Meditating

8^* Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. 9For we know partially and we prophesy partially, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.^g 13^* So faith, hope, love remain, these three;^h but the greatest of these is love. 

 1 Cor 13:8-13

Pondering

how the heck am I *19* days away from my littlest man turning SIX!  That really blows me away.  Momma needs to start planning a party.

Still pondering various school choices for the upcoming year too!

~~~

Reading

Small Steps for Catholic Moms
Smooth and Easy Days

For the Childrens Sake

 

A little bit...each day...just to relax and regroup.

~~~

Memorizing

Working on the Apostles and Nicene Creeds with the little ones, as well as 1 Cor 13:8-13.  This has always been one of my favorites and would like to commit it to memory.

 ~~~

Captured

Another gorgeous sunrise.  I love to take pictures when the sun rises and sets.

Teaching Reading with Bob Books

I don't know why, but, for some reason when I began homeschooling 6+ years ago the idea of teaching my child to read made me sweat!  The other things didn't bother me, but, for some reason if my child was able to read {and read well and enjoy reading} seemed to qualify me as a teacher.

Six plus years and three boys later and I have a whole different view on reading.
I really don't know why I was so worried about it, especially seeing that my oldest son really taught himself to read.  We reviewed phonics quite a bit since he was two because he thought it was fun, not that we were actually thinking of it as something that needed to be taught.

Then enter child number 2, which of course is totally different from first child and the worry really began.  This child has always bounced walked to his own drummer since before we met.  This is the child that has taught me SO much and some days can be a real challenge, but, I have learned through patience and prayer SO much can be accomplished.

With both boys we used the Bob Books.  They both loved them and thought they were fun and fun is important when a child is learning or mastering a new skill.  Drilling and repetition get old fast!

I never did anything formal in the way of reading the books.  Like I mentioned Handsome really hopped into reading quite quickly and breezed through these.  KitKat took his time and we read them over and over again while he learned and enjoyed.  Handsome then moved on to some primers after this, while KitKat stayed with a phonics program to keep working on his skills.

Now on to Lovey Dovey.  He is quite excited about reading the Bob Books.  He is very good at sounding words out and almost where Handsome was in K, but, still needs a little practice so this is fun for us both.

 

About 18 months ago I happened to come across a FABULOUS site for Teaching Reading with Bob Books.  Although Lovey Dovey was not quite ready at that time to begin, I did bookmark the page and place it on my blog to jog my memory.  Homeschoolin' mommas have so many things running through their minds most days and I know I need visual cues not to forget something this good!  Brandy also has another fabulous blog which I love to read as well and have gathered so much information there too!  These two blogs are definitely worth checking out sweet friends!

Although we have ventured into the Bob books a bit we are backtracking back to Set one, book one and using Brandy's lessons.

 

I wrote out the letters that we introduced today, along with their sounds and a word that begins with that letter {LD provided the words}.  He looked at the letters while reading the book.  He actually on his own spelled out each word before reading them too which I thought was pretty cool.

The books are really sweet, simple and funny too!  My eight year old saw us working on them and joined in on the fun!

Once Upon A Time...

 
in a land not so far away, there were three little boys who loved fairy tales.  These little boys also received the Shrek: The Whole Story Boxed Set collection of DVDs for Christmas from their uncle.

 

Oh how these boys loved to watch their favorite fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters come to life over and over again {I think we are in the middle of our third time around with the set!}.  Each time they watched the movies, the little boys would sit there with eyes wide open and laughing so hard at the funny characters.  Who can blame them with an Ogre whose favorite phrase is "Better out than in I always say" gets lots of laughs from silly little boys when Shrek is talking about the ways of expelling gas from his body!

Okay back to the land of not so make believe...

Since we all love the stories {movies and DVDs} so much, I decided to compile a list of fairy tales and nursery rhymes to read from all of the characters from Shrek.

So here is my running list that we have just started this week:

List of Fairy Tales to Read Based on Shrek

 ·      Puss in Boots

·      Rumpelstiltsken

·      Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

·      Cinderella

·      Sleeping Beauty

·      Rapunzel

·      Pinocchio

·      Gingerbread Man

·      Little Red Riding Hood

·      The Three Little Pigs

·      Three Blind Mice

·      The Pied Piper

·      Goldilocks and the Three Bears

·      Robin Hood

·      Humpty Dumpty

·      Captain Hook, Wendy, Tinkerbell and Peter Pan (Peter Pan)

·      Sir Lancelot

·      The Muffin man

·      The Headless Horseman (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)

·      Jack and Jill

·      Sir Lancelot

·      King Arthur

·      The Muffin Man

·      The Golden Goose

·      The Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz)

The ones in red we have read this week, with the exception of Peter Pan and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  We read those two earlier this year and *LOVED* them too!

The boys really are enjoying reading a few of them each morning and I love getting out my copy of The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.

Love when I am able to sneak some more literature into our daily activities!

    

Catholic Woman's Almanac

I want to take a few moment to reflect on things and remember what is truly important.

With these lovely ladies...

Moments of Gratitude


...sweet kisses and hearing the sound of laughter
...temperatures above freezing...
...sunshine on cold winter days...
...finding new recipes that turn out great..
...little boys who love watching movies about Ogres and fairy tale characters...over and over again
...little boys that still love to snuggle and cuddle with their mom
...a warm home that protected us during the cold winter days the past few weeks
...good friends {really and bloggy!}
...having the Holy Spirit always by my side, whether I feel Him or not
...a nebulizer that works well!  I am convinced that this is the *best* invention ever known to man {well at least to mommas with little ones with asthma}  Breathing is very good!
...Re-energizing mentally and spiritually in His Word each and every day,  It keeps me focused on doing His will, not mine.


 

~~~

Beauty in the Ordinary

Nothing prettier than a cardinal in the snow!  Very simple...very pretty!

~~~

From the Kitchen

Roasted vegies
Sausage bread
Italian bread
Allergen free brownies
Chocolate chip cookies {almost time to give these up again for Lent}
Spaghetti and meatballs {a family favorite}

~~~

Praying
 for my family and friends that they will be safe and Christ centered in these times that we live in.  We all live in such a chaotic and relativistic times where everyone seems to have such little time and so much to do that family life takes a back seat at times to the many things that occupy our minds.

~~~

Meditating

How the choices I make are really not totally in my control. 
I need to Let Go and Let God more often. 

"The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still."
Exodus 14:14~~~

Pondering

I find myself thinking and planning for the upcoming school year as we begin the new year.  As visions of fun things dance through my mind, the thought that I need more bookshelves comes to mind as well!  Fortunately my husband made me a wonderful bookshelf last year and I hope I can get him to make another ;)

~~~

Reading

Small Steps for Catholic Moms

For the Childrens Sake

A little bit...each day...just to relax and regroup.

~~~

Memorizing

Working on the Apostles and Nicene Creeds with the little ones.

 ~~~

Captured

 I already posted this picture last week, but, love it so.