Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!  I found a great post over at Tea at Trianon regarding the American origins of celebrating Halloween.

Here is a link to the article mentioned in the post and here is a direct link to Fr. Augustine Thompson's article.  Interesting stuff.  Another good article, Should Catholics Celebrate Halloween is worth the read?

Honestly, I never understood the big deal over little kids dressing up like their favorite cartoon characters or their favorite saints and going door to door for candy.  I don't allow my kids to dress up in anything "evil".  I don't see the point.  I think the "scariest" thing that ever came out of this house was a Ninja and that was because his favorite book at the time was the Magic Tree House:  Night of the Ninjas.  Of course, I wasn't aware at the time that there is also an apparent controversy over the Magic Tree House Books too. Sigh.

Whatever you choose to do tonight with your children, make sure it begins and ends in prayer....and enjoy!

The Pumpkin Prayer

Dan and the kids carved our pumpkins today!  A wonderful friend (Hi Kathy!) sent us this Pumpkin Prayer to say while carving.  It was so cute, I wanted to share it with you.

The Pumpkin Prayer

Dear God,

As I carve my pumpkin help me

say this prayer:

(Cut the top of the pumpkin)

Open my mind so I can

learn about you;

(Clean out the inside)

Take away all my sin and

forgive me for the bad things I do;

(Cut eyes shaped like hearts)

Open my eyes so Your love I will see;

(Cut a nose in the shape of a cross)

I'm sorry for turning up my nose to all

You've given me;

(Cut ears shaped like the Bible)

Open my ears so Your Word

I will hear;

(Cut the mouth in the shape of a fish)

Open my mouth so I can tell others

You're near;

(Place a candle inside and light it)

Let Your light shine in all

I say and do!  Amen.

I think they're trying to KILL me!

So, we had to run to the School Aids store today to get a few things laminated. THIS is the conversation that transpired on the way home:

Amelia: Mom, can you die in a tornado?

Mom: Yes.

Amelia: Well, what if you're in your backyard on a slide? Can the tornado get you there?

Mom: Yes, Amelia. It's best to be in a shelter of some sort when there is a tornado coming. Some cities have sirens that let you know when one is coming.

Amelia: (ponders that for a few seconds) Mom, what if you had a plastic playhouse outside in your backyard with a door that locked? Could it get you there?

Mom: YES, Amelia, it could quite possibly get you there too! (irritation is beginning to make an appearance)

Nathan: Mom, what if you were in a tornado shelter, like the kind that are underground?

Mom: Well, I think that's why they are underground as the tornado just moves over you but you're protected.

Nathan: How about if the door wouldn't lock and the wind blew it open? Could you get sucked out?

Mom: Sigh. I'm not sure if you could get sucked out, but I suppose it's possible.

Nathan: What if the door flew open but you were hiding in the corner under a table...would it suck you out then?

Mom: Forget the tornado!! You guys are seriously sucking my brains out right now! I don't know the answers to these questions but you have a book about tornadoes at home Nathan...look it up!

Some kids have the ability to literally remove every bit of brain matter that you thought you had in your skull....suck it dry and then leave you with nothing but a shell of the person you were before the questions began!

**we recently watched an episode of Storm Chasers**

The Saints!

"Not to know the saints is not to know what it is like to be a Catholic.  Trying to be a Catholic without knowing the saints is like trying to bake bread without flour."  ~Fr. Rawley Myers

A little kink.

Homeschooling only two days a week is really hard.  Much harder than I thought.  There is so much that I want to do with the kids but it's just not possible to accomplish it in the two days we have available.  Thankfully, the curriculum I chose (CHC) includes lesson plans that are well thought out, detailed and allow for situations just like ours!  They suggest concentrating only on the "core" subjects and keeping the enrichment activities to a minimum so as not to become overwhelmed.  This is good advice, however, I find myself somewhat overwhelmed even with the core subjects.  The bottom line:  There is so much I want to do, but I can't and I'm extremely frustrated!

Financially, it's necessary for Dan and I to both work.  Ever since the kids were born, we've worked part time.  Initially, this was so that they wouldn't have to go to day care.  We didn't want to do that for two reasons....#1, we didn't want somebody else to raise our kids and #2, day care is so expensive that we figured most of my salary would have gone to pay for it, thereby defeating the purpose of both of us working in the first place.  A vicious circle.

Then, of course, there's the issue of health insurance.  Both employers offer it, but the plan offered through the Diocese of St. Augustine (Dan's employer) is much, much more expensive than the plan offered by my employer.  So, I guess it would be fair to say that I'm actually working for health benefits.  Dan works Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays and I work Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  I homeschool the kids on Mondays & Tuesdays.  I try to cram as much as I can into those 2 days, but sometimes, I think it's just too much for them.  Amelia (1st Grade) and Olivia (PreK) seem to be doing fine, but Nathan (4th Grade) is staring to have trouble. 

Dan has never been too keen on the whole idea of homeschooling.  He just feels like he doesn't have the personality or, frankly, the desire to do this.  I work really hard to get as much done as I can in those two days so that he doesn't have to deal with much.  Some weeks we've been able to get everything done.  Other times, I've had to leave him with all the materials and detailed instructions on what needs to get done.  He isn't as structured as I am and there are times when, well, nothing gets done.  Unfortunately, that means that we start a new week with assignments not done from the week before.

Nathan is really feeling the pressure and it shows in his attitude.  I believe myself to be very flexible, but I don't mind admitting that I'm scared to death of getting behind.   Somehow, I feel that if I don't follow the lesson plans to a "T" (and cross off each task accordingly), then he won't finish 4th grade at the same time his peers will and then....and then....and then, well, I don't know what would happen then.  Perhaps I would be labeled as a failure!  Perhaps the county school superintendent will have me arrested!   Perhaps if it becomes necessary to re-enroll in school, he won't be ready for 5th grade and everyone will decide it's my fault!  Perhaps all those who said that homeschooling was a bad idea (and there were a few) would say "I told you so", or, "I knew you couldn't do it"!  Of course, it's all about ME!

The truth is, I wish I could homeschool full time!  If I had 5 days, instead of 2, there wouldn't be so much pressure on me or the kids.  I'm not sure how to rectify this situation.  I've tried saving some of the lessons for the evenings or the weekends, but honestly, life gets in the way.  There's soccer practice, soccer games, Bible study, CCD, art classes, etc.  If Nathan has a lesson to do, but the girls don't, then this causes a ruckus because he's having to work and they don't!  Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah!

I know that a lot of this is my control issues, but, I've only got 8 weeks of homeschooling under my belt so far!  I'm not experienced enough to know what is OK to reduce or eliminate from our school day.  My original intention was to make it to morning mass at least once a week but if I do that, then we don't get started until almost 10am and then we're still working while I'm making dinner and when Dan comes home from work. 

OK, I'll stop complaining now.  However, I would ask that if any of you seasoned homeschooling moms have any advice or words of wisdom, PLEASE SHARE IT!  Otherwise, I would appreciate a prayer or two for the wisdom to do the right thing!  Thanks!

Man of Hope

"It was hard for me to watch him walking in the sacristy or the corridors of the monastery, bent over, dragging his swollen feet, and holding on to the walls so that he would not fall down.  His suffering was tremendous, but he bore it without complaining as he continued to give himself to those who needed him.  When he would lift his head and look around, his big eyes looked like they were burning, not from pain but from a goodness that he could not contain".  ~excerpt from Padre Pio:  Man of Hope by Renzo Allegri

Catching Up

Life has been very busy in our household lately!  I've hardly had time for the computer at all!  I logged on last night for a few minutes and noticed that my Google Reader has over 300 unread blog posts!  YIKES!  I might have to do a quick "mark all as read" and move on!

Here's what has been going on in our neck of the woods:

My sweet Olivia turned 5!!  Can you believe it?  It seems like only yesterday that she made her first appearance in this world!

We had a small party on Sunday with some of her best friends and our family!  She enjoyed herself immensely!  Her favorite part of the party was opening presents (of course) and she LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the dress up clothes!  Here she is in her best princess garb:

I guess we don't need to wonder what she wants to be for Halloween!

Our parish also enjoyed the annual Oktoberfest!  The kids had tons of fun!  They each got a new shirt to wear for the festivities!  Originally, I wanted all three of them to have the skeleton shirt as this goes along with our recent science studies.  However, I couldn't find it in Nathan or Olivia's sizes, so I ended up with two other ones that I thought were cute!

Olivia loves to wear hair bands, so she was extra proud of her new outfit.

Speaking of skeletons, we've been doing tons of fun activities for our science lessons!  One thing (of many) that I really love about Catholic Heritage Curricula is that the lessons coincide with one another.  The first grade (Amelia) and the fourth grade (Nathan) science lessons are both working on the human body at the same time.  As a homeschooling novice, this really makes things easier for me, and more fun for them.

This week, we focused on the 5 senses.  A great resource that I found is called The Body Book!
I can't tell you how much fun this activity was!  Even Olivia and I made one.  Take a look....

Through the magic of paper, crayons, scissors and tape....we can see how all 5 senses work by using flaps!  We saw the inside of the eyelids, the ears, the mouth, the nose and what our skin looks like!  And of course, none of our sense would work without the brain!

By the end of this school year, we will have the entire body put together!  Next week is "The Tongue"!  I highly recommend this book if you happen to be working on the human body or the 5 senses!

We've also been working on our pumpkin decorating craft.  It seems that every year we carve the pumpkins too darn early and they start rotting because of the very warm Florida weather.  So, this time, I decided we would just decorate our pumpkins instead of carving them.  This idea came from Family Fun Magazine.  The are called Decoupage Pumpkins.  Although I don't have a photo of the finished product yet (they are still drying), here are some pictures of us making a huge mess!

Here's what the finished products are supposed to look like.  I don't think ours will look like this, but we sure had fun making the mess!

The Story and History of Saint Agatha (and a Giveaway)!

Agatha (Virgin and Martyr) was born in Sicily, of rich and noble parents - a child of benediction from the first, for she was promised to her parents before her birth, and consecrated from her earliest infancy to God. In the midst of dangers and temptations she served Christ in purity of body and soul, and she died for the love of chastity. Quintanus, who governed Sicily under the Emperor Decius, had heard the rumor of her beauty and wealth, and he made the laws against the Christians a pretext for summoning her from Palermo to Catania, where he was at the time. "O Jesus Christ!" she cried, as she set out on this dreaded journey, "all that I am is Thine; preserve me against the tyrant."
And Our Lord did indeed preserve one who had given herself so utterly to Him. He kept her pure and undefiled while she was imprisoned for a whole month under charge of an evil woman. He gave her strength to reply to the offer of her life and safety, if she would but consent to sin, "Christ alone is my life and my salvation." When Quintanus turned from passion to cruelty, and cut off her breasts, Our Lord sent the Prince of His apostles to heal her. And when, after she had been rolled naked upon potsherds, she asked that her torments might be ended, her Spouse heard her prayer and took her to Himself. She died in 251. Her feast day is February 5th.

Saint Agatha is the patron of Sufferers from diseases of the breast and she is also protector against fire. Why is Saint Agatha is the patron of Sufferers from diseases of the breast and protector against fire? St. Agatha is invoked by sufferers from diseases of the breast, because her breast was ordered to be torn by two slaves with iron shears. She is protector, also, against fire, from the particular mode of her martyrdom, her body being exposed to the flames, although, to increase the torture, she was not permitted to be burned to death, but taken back to her dungeon to die in agony. A year after her martyrdom, when Mount Etna was in eruption, the terrified inhabitants of Catania, in the district, took refuge at her shrine, and finding there her veil, they stuck it on a lance and marched towards the mountain, invoking her intercession, with a result that the fire was at once put out.

It is helpful to be able to recognise Saint Agatha in paintings, stained glass windows, illuminated manuscripts, architecture and other forms of Christian art. The artistic representations reflect the life or death of saints, or an aspect of life with which the person is most closely associated. Saint Agatha is represented in Christian Art wearing a long veil. The veil of St. Agatha was drawn tightly round her lacerated bosom when, by God's command, St. Peter came into her dungeon to heal it with precious ointments. Hence she is usually represented wearing a long veil. The shears are always in evidence, either in her hand or lying beside her. Sometimes she has a dish or salver containing a female breast. (Information Source: http://www.catholic-saints.info/)



I have always been intrigued with St. Agatha. However, it wasn't until I was diagnosed with breast cancer in mid 2008, that I thought it would be a good idea for she and I to get to know each other a little better! If the truth be told, some images of this virgin-martyr really creep me out! I mean, I realize that she was brutally tortured and she died a very painful death, but seeing her breasts lying on a tray (as if they were newly baked loaves of bread) is almost too disturbing for a newly diagnosed patient to see. It was as though I could almost visualize my breast being sliced off and put upon a tray for all to see. I know that probably seems weird to you but it was very scary and very depressing. Here are a couple of images that I find particularly alarming:

See what I mean?

And this! Well, this is just frightening!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I'd like to host a giveaway for this Pink Prayer Book! I think all of us have been touched by breast cancer in some way. Either personally or by a family member or a friend. This is a wonderful little book of encouragement and I'm sure you know someone who would love to receive such a blessing. If you want to enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment or send me an email. I will choose the winner on November 2nd in honor of all the souls lost to breast cancer!

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, (for) the old order has passed away." Rev. 21:4

You can find more information about St. Agatha at Life of St. Agatha.



Wordless Wednesday

Brother helping Sister

Olivia learning to spell

Amelia doing her math

Angel Craft

Columbus Day

We are playing "catch up" this week because of our field trip to the zoo last Tuesday!  While I love the fact that homeschooling has allowed us some flexibility for side trips and all the things that life throws at us, in the end, I prefer sticking to a schedule.  I'm still learning how to let go of the little things and to focus on the fact that learning takes place everyday regardless if we actually use books or not!

Speaking of books....here are a few we will be reading today in honor of Columbus Day:

A Book About Christopher Columbus by Ruth Belou Gross

In 1492 by Jean Marzollo

Where Do You Think You're Going Christopher Columbus by Jean Fritz



Nathan will have a writing assignment about Christopher Columbus and the girls will get to draw!

What are your plans for this holiday?

A most EXCELLENT post!

You have GOT to read this post:  14 Ways to Be More Joyful!  I'm going to be working on #8 this week!
What about you?

Happy Sunday to you!

Our Lady of the Rosary...

....Pray for us!

Photo Credit

The flowers are still blooming!!

It looks like spring here in Jacksonville! We had a wonderful trip to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens with some very special friends. The weather was perfect (about 78-80 degrees). Apparently, I took more pictures of flowers than I did of the animals...or my kids! You can visit my other blog "Widener's Wilderness" if you want to see the animal/kid photos.  I have no idea what most of these are called, I just know that they are yet more evidence of God's handiwork!!

I think these are called Lantana

Can you spot the catepillar??

I'm pretty sure these are Pineapple Ginger

Whatever this is, the butterflies love it!