"Mommy, may I have some fair trade chocolate?"

That's how Ramona asked for dessert last night.

Let me back up a bit.

For Lent, I gave up chocolate, among some other things. If you know me, you know that I'm tragically, pathetically addicted to chocolate (thus, the absence of said addiction for 40 days might account for the fruitful Lent I experienced ... it's amazing how much you can ponder and accomplish when you're not looking for the next chocolate fix.)

Over those forty days, one of the things our family did was to follow suggested readings and activities from Operation Rice Bowl. ORB focused on a different part of the world every week, taking us inside the lives of people who have a very different standard of living than we Americans have. My children were struck (as I'd hoped they would be) by the fact that we live with so many luxuries.

And, over those forty days, I read up a bit on where and how the things I so often take for granted are produced. I started making some changes in our buying habits. It's a process, and it hasn't happened overnight. I can't say we're fully converted yet. But, so far, I've found and enjoyed these fair trade products:

A variety of coffees

Divine Chocolate, which is also available in the U.S. through A Greater Gift. (I have no vested interest in this particular organization. I've just found them, so far, to be a great place to buy some fair trade products, including -- shh, don't tell her -- my mother's birthday present.)

You can read more about fair trade practices and products at the Catholic Relief Services website, here.

Poetry Friday

The Writer

by Richard Wilbur

In her room at the prow of the house
Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed with linden,
My daughter is writing a story.

I pause in the stairwell, hearing
From her shut door a commotion of typewriter-keys
Like a chain hauled over a gunwale.

Young as she is, the stuff
Of her life is a great cargo, and some of it heavy:
I wish her a lucky passage.

But now it is she who pauses,
As if to reject my thought and its easy figure.
A stillness greatens, in which

The whole house seems to be thinking,
And then she is at it again with a bunched clamor
Of strokes, and again is silent.

I remember the dazed starling
Which was trapped in that very room, two years ago;
How we stole in, lifted a sash

And retreated, not to affright it;
And how for a helpless hour, through the crack of the door,
We watched the sleek, wild, dark

And iridescent creature
Batter against the brilliance, drop like a glove
To the hard floor, or the desk-top

....

(read the rest of the poem here ... I so wish I could post the entire thing. You must read it all. )

with thanks to Jack ....

Today's Poetry Friday Round-up can be found at A Wrung Sponge. Stop by and leave her your links!

Loads of Good Learning Days

I want to group the posts on "A Good Day of Learning" into one, so please excuse the redundancy of these links. Feel free to mutter, "She's talking to herself again...."

The "Good Day of Learning" posts started here, with Theresa at Lapaz Farm Home Learning.
Then I added my two cents' worth here and here.
The always-eloquent-and-thinking Willa chimed in here.
And Lissa, who had been inspiring us with her posts about Waldorf methods added a bit more to the subject here.


Melanie very sensibly pointed us to Suzanne's Inch-by-Inch post here.

And, Melanie's own thought (even though she wrongly discounts herself as not having any thoughts on the subject), in this post, is spot on:

For me a good day is one when I put my own needs and desires aside and get down on the floor and laugh with Bella. For Bella learning happens naturally as breathing and painfully as the dozen times a day she falls and screams. I hope that learning will continue to be as natural and beautiful but that we can keep the bumping and screaming to a minimum.

Yes! That's my goal as well, even though my kids are now 13, 10 and 4. Natural, beautiful, and with minimal bumping and screaming. (You're a natural at this homeschooling stuff, Melanie.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5/4/07: Updated to clean up and group the following links:

JoVe chimes in
Melanie again
And Willa again
from Ana Braga-Henebry
Willa's post, Of Operas and Sparkling Streams
My quick reaction
Nutmeg weighs in

Ramona at play

The Barbies are all snuggled in for a good night's sleep. One of them is the mom, the others are the daughters. There's not a Dad/Ken to be seen anywhere. Ramona's explanation?

"The daddy had to go on a business trip. He's in Ken-sas. Get it, Mommy? KENsas!"

A Hilda van Stockum newsletter

I recently received a note from John Tepper Marlin, the son of Hilda van Stockum, about a new, free, e-newsletter that he'll be putting together and maintaining.

The first issue is out, and lets us know that Bethlehem books is releasing a 2007 Commemorative Edition of A Day on Skates. We don't have this book, but you can bet I know what one of Ramona's birthday presents will be.

You can sign up to receive the newsletter at the website of Hilda van Stockum.

Related posts, on Mrs. van Stockum:

The Winged Watchman

The Borrowed House

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Her, O Lord

Thinking of Thinking Bloggers

Kathryn, of The Bookworm, and Jennifer of As Cozy as Spring, tagged me as a "Thinking Blogger" and so I've been busy thinking ....

What is the Thinking Blogger Award? Well, it's not really an award (so, don't go away, Becky) -- it's really just another meme. Apparently it started here at The Thinking Blog. And (just as one would think) it took off, as do most memes.

It comes with three rules:

1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to The Thinking Blog so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

Okay, okay, five blogs that make me think ....

Only five? Oh, come now. That's ridiculous. Obviously I could name many more, but I'll play by the rules and get started.

But first, a Major Disclaimer: Many, many, many of you whom I would name have already been named elsewhere, or you tagged me, or you already know that you make me think. So, please don't think that I think that you don't think. Of course you think, and I know that you think, and I think you're great. End of disclaimer. (Can you tell that memes paralyze me because I worry about leaving someone out? Oh, Karen. Get a life.)

I'm thinking I'll name:

Mike Aquilina at The Way of the Fathers ... he makes me think about Church history, and about how much more I have to learn. Always. And, he makes me think of puns, most of which I don't leave in his comment box. But he is, most definitely, the Blog King of Puns.

Jim Manney at People of the Book ... he makes me think about writing and publishing, literature and poetry. He sometimes makes me think about baseball, but never for very long (my flaw, not his.)

Becky at Farm School ... she makes me think about all kinds of things related to culture, books, movies and education, including making me think about how much I enjoy her wit and her outlook.

Liz at On Giants' Shoulders ... makes me think about how we all need a homeschooling mentor and friend. She was there in my pre-homeschooling days, when I was asking the most basic questions, and she's there for me still. And, she still ponders our Catholic faith, our conversions, the works of Chesteron, and how to best teach everything from literature to knitting.

Alice at Cottage Blessings ... makes me think about the beauty of Catholic motherhood and about how to teach the depth and riches of our faith to our children by truly living that faith in every way, from crafts for the liturgical year to devotions that come from her heart.

Who makes you think?

A Different Kind of Good

I keep thinking about yesterday's post on A Good Day of Learning. I have the nagging feeling that it's incomplete. I'm still digging into this idea of "What makes a good day of learning?" (as I said in the last post, it's a constantly beginning-and-ending process) and I suspect I'll post more about it.

But, for today, I'm adding these two thoughts:

Sometimes a good day of learning involves only one thing from my list of "a good day." Immersion. Immersion in the book we're reading. Immersion in paints and messes. Immersion in a day by the lake.

And, a good day of learning has to do with the season -- the literal season. Homeschooling runs in seasons, like everything in life, but it also varies by the actual season and weather. What makes a good day when it's three degrees and snowing is very different from a good spring day. I'm still transitioning from three degrees to spring, so I'm still making that mental shift.

And, then, sometimes, delightful things just happen out of the blue. Today, as I read Houses from the Sea, by Alice E. Goudy to Ramona (she loves this book, and can identify quite a few shells just from our repeated readings), she suddenly jumped up, on a quest. She said, "I need to get that book from the library! It ... it [she could hardly contain her excitement] it has a wentletrap in it. I'm sure of it!"


Connections are always a good day of learning.

More pondering will follow, I'm sure, as time allows. In the meantime, read Willa's contribution to the discussion. She says:

When I think about it, I know a good day when I see one, but I can't MAKE one happen.

Yes.

Treasuring those two hours

Visit Margaret today for a beautiful pictorial of a very short, but beautiful life.

A Good Day of Learning

Theresa's post, What Makes a Good Day of Learning? got me thinking. Theresa writes:

"How does one decide how much is “enough” without the aid of a professionally prepared lesson plan or step-by-step curriculum? Good question!"

A good question indeed. Since I have, at times, tagged myself "The Schizophrenic Homeschooler" (as in this definition of schizophrenic: "a state characterized by the coexistence of contradictory or incompatible elements" ... thanks, Dictionary.com), I do get the "How do you decide what to do?" question.

The "contradictory or incompatible" elements, in my case, are:

1. I love to plan, but I don't always like being tied to a plan (Or, as Melissa Wiley might say, "If you love planning so much, why don't you marry it?")

2. I love to unschool, but I don't fully rely on unschooling.

3. I love Charlotte Mason, but I'm something of a failure at certain of the outdoor aspects (ask any of my friends who recently brought up the word "camping" in my presence. They laughed OUT LOUD at my expression. I must be a CM fake ... I don't see the allure of camping. Do I love God's creation? Yes. Do I want to sleep directly on it? No.)

So, if I like to plan but I unschool, and yet I don't rely on unschooling, but love to leave the plan behind, and if, while doing all of the above, I gag at the thought of sleeping on the ground, just how, for Pete's sake, do I decide what to do?

We're back to that good question.

Theresa wrote, after recounting a full day:

So, was this a good day? Maybe. It was NOT AT ALL what I had planned, and not really a typical day, but when I look back, it seems like a good day. The fussy baby made our plans change considerably, but then again it allowed us to get through ALL of our read-alouds, which hardly ever happens!

Like Theresa, I often find that even though our day turned out to be "not at all" what I had planned, it was still a great day. A full day. A learning-is-an-adventure day. Theresa went on, in her post to list what is a "good day" of learning, and what is a "very good day."

Following her lead, I'll make a list. For me, a good day of learning includes:

*Starting with morning prayer. (When we don't do this, I can tell. Seriously.) Also, other reading or discussion that relates to our faith.
*math (like Theresa, I insist that we do this daily)
*reading aloud from our current history book or literature focus
*independent reading for the kids
*some kind of writing (creative, blogging, narrations, work on a story they're writing, letters, anything)
*living books or other lively interest shown in nature or our current science topic (see? I can do this as long as I don't have to sleep on the ground.)

A great day would also include:
*an amazing discussion, these kinds of tender moments, seeing a reflection of our life in literature.
*adding to or finishing a notebook or some other kind of project, and the satisfaction that comes with seeing the fruit of our labors
*painting, drawing, clay or other art

I see, as I compare this to Theresa's lists, that they are very similar, probably because we have very similar styles of homeschooling. We plan, but don't overplan. We are flexible, when life and little people force a change of plans. We like to let the kids follow their interests, but also require certain core subjects or disciplines. We see the value in unschooling days and methods, but don't live completely unschooling lives.

Theresa went on to write:

I gave her examples and listed the components of a good day, but never said exactly HOW I decide whether that day was good enough or not. And I think it is because I am still not sure myself. The closest I can come to the short answer is: “I just feel it.”

Not very satisfactory, I know, and probably no help to anyone, but the truth none the less. Because our days rarely go as planned, and I don’t think we have ever been able to follow a schedule more than a week or so, I cannot rely on plans or schedules to tell me if we’ve done enough. I have had to develop a sort of sixth sense about the fullness of our days. As we go about our activities through the day there is a sort of subconscious weighing and measuring going on. Nothing scientific, but at the end of the day I just know. I feel it just as surely as I can feel a full cup of coffee or a full tummy. Or an empty one. And my goal is simply to try to keep it full.

I love this.

I probably love it because I can identify with it so readily. I, too, cannot gauge how much we're learning by how many pages have been finished in a workbook, or how many tests have been taken. I can't tell you when we'll be "done" with "7th grade."

When people say that they have to keep schooling through the summer because they "aren't done," I'm sure I give them a blank stare that asks, "What do you mean 'done'? It never ends. And yet we're done for now. It's always beginning, but, no, we aren't 'starting school' yet."

My sixth sense, like Theresa's, is always at work. The gauge is clicking. I know when I'm slacking. I know when the kids are slacking. I know when we're all on and when we're so off that we're pitiful. The "off" days aren't necessarily those days when we don't appear to be doing much. Those days can be some of our best. It's a feeling. It's that old "you know it when you see it," thing and it's also the "you just do it" philosophy.

It never ends.

And it is always beginning.

She asks the best questions

from Ramona:

"Mommy, if barbarians are bad people, then why is there barbarian cream donuts?"

On conversion

Pope Benedict XVI and St. Augustine say it all:

Date: 2007-04-22

Augustine a Model of Conversion, Says Pontiff

Visits Tomb of Doctor of the Church

PAVIA, Italy, APRIL 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI presented his theological master, Augustine of Hippo, as a model for conversion in today's world.

The Pope said that today on the occasion of his pastoral visit to Pavia, the Italian city where the saint's tomb is found.

The Holy Father dedicated his homily to the bishop and doctor of the Church (354-430) during an open-air Mass. St. Augustine was the object of the then Father Joseph Ratzinger's doctoral thesis.

Before at least 20,000 faithful, the Bishop of Rome explained that "because Jesus, the risen one, lives even today," it is necessary to follow him along the road of conversion.

"But what is that? What has to be done?" the Pope asked.

Benedict XVI illustrated Augustine's path to conversion, recalling the "three conversions" that the saint experienced, which "in fact were a single great conversion in seeking the face of Christ and then walking together with him."

First conversion

"The first fundamental conversion was the interior road to Christianity, toward the 'yes' of faith and baptism," he explained. According to some historians, Augustine's baptism took place on Easter in 387.

Augustine "was always tormented by the question of truth. He wanted to find truth," the Holy Father explained.

"He always believed -- sometimes rather vaguely, sometimes more clearly -- that God exists and takes care of us," the Pontiff said. "But to truly know this God and Jesus Christ and come to say 'yes' to him with all the consequences this entails -- this was the great interior struggle of his youth.

"He tells us that, by means of Platonic philosophy, he accepted and recognized that 'in the beginning was the Word,' the Logos, creative reason. But philosophy did not show him any road to reach this Word; this Logos remained distant and intangible.

"Only in the faith of the Church did he find the second essential truth: The Word was made flesh. And in this way he touches us and we touch him."

Augustine's "second conversion" took place after his baptism in Hippo, in Africa; he founded a small monastery and by popular demand was ordained a priest by force, the Pope explained.

Second conversion

Benedict XVI continued: "The beautiful dream of the contemplative life disappeared, Augustine's life fundamentally changed. Now he had to live with Christ for all.

"He had to translate his knowledge and sublime thoughts into the thought and language of the simple folk of his city.

"The great philosophical work of a lifetime, which he had dreamed of, remained unwritten. In its place we were given the gift of something more precious: the Gospel translated into the language of daily life."

"This was the second conversion that this man, struggling and suffering, had to undergo," the Pope added. "He must always be there for everyone; always with Christ he must give his own life so that others might find Christ, the true Life."

Third conversion

St. Augustine's third conversion took place when he discovered that "only one is truly perfect and that the words of the Sermon on the Mount are completely realized only in one person: in Jesus Christ himself," the Holy Father said.

He added: "On the other hand, the whole Church -- all of us, including the apostles -- must pray every day: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, St. Augustine wrote.

"Augustine saw the final step of humility -- not only the humility of inserting his great thought into the faith of the Church, not only the humility of translating his great knowledge into the simplicity of proclamation, but also the humility of recognizing that the merciful goodness of a God who forgives was necessary for him and the whole pilgrim Church.

"And we make ourselves resemble Christ, the perfect one, to the greatest extent possible, when we become merciful persons like him."

Benedict XVI concluded with this exhortation: "In this hour let us thank God for the great light that radiates from the wisdom and humility of St. Augustine and let us pray to the Lord that he give all of us the necessary conversion each day and thus lead us to the true life."

With thanks to Zenit.org

Ramona Stands Guard

Ramona was stationed at the top of the stairs, sporting a fierce look.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I'm guarding," she said.

"Ooooh," I nodded. "Against what?"

"You never know!" she said, most seriously.

"That's true," I agreed, "but I know this for sure: nothing bad can come up those stairs while you're guarding them. You would scare it away in an instant."

She nodded, satisfied.

I peeked down the stairs. "What do you think it is?" I asked. "Is it some kind of monster?"

She leaned in, her face close to mine. "No," she pronounced. "It's expired cheese."

More on St. Francis books

When I was looking at Amazon yesterday for the St. Francis books we're reading, I clicked on this great, long list by Suzanne. Suzanne blogs at Gladdest Hours and always has something fun to say, read about, or relay. (Life in a household with four little girls is never dull, is it Suzanne?)

Thanks, Suzanne, for the list of ideas!

A Sweet Carnival

is going on over at Sweetness and Light, and it's all about toddlers.

Visit Meredith and prepare to revel in toddlerhood. Better grab some milk and cookies and settle in ... lots of good reading there today!

Ramona Takes the Lead

in our next saint study.

While at the library the other day, she spotted St. Francis and the Christmas Donkey, by Robert Byrd. She hugged the book and then asked if we could find any others about St. Francis.

So, I picked up Tomie de Paola's Francis: The Poor Man of Assisi

and, we also stumbled onto a true gem, St. Francis of Assisi: A Life of Joy, by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., gorgeously illustrated by Dennis Nolan.


This book includes a print for framing, is a lovely biography and introduces the child to the prayer of St. Francis, which captured Ramona's heart. She asked me to write it down and give everyone a copy so that we could all pray it together at bedtime (she's been paying attention to some of my methods!)

I'm not sure how far we'll take this St. Francis side-trip, but for now, I'm feeling gratified and very happy that little Ramona is becoming an integral part of our homeschool.

Prayer of St. Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
Where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Ramona's joke at my expense

But it was a good one.

I mentioned recently that she's been noticing my cold feet.

The other night, after snuggling up to me, she observed that I once again had ice cubes attached to my ankles.

"Wow!" she said. "Those are cold! This summer, if we can't get to the pool, we can relax on your feet!"

Patient suffering

I'm being redundant.

As you probably know, the word "patient" comes from the Latin root "pati", meaning "to suffer."

Therefore, to be patient is to suffer. What affirming words for a mother.

We moms tend to suffer practice patience all day long.

When you:

change another diaper. Then another. Then another, even though you should have been out the door for that appointment ten minutes ago ...

pick up after a toddler's trail of destruction in the room (or many rooms) you cleaned just a half hour ago ...

mop up the second cup of spilled milk in fifteen minutes ...

give the potty training another valiant try ...

read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?, one more time, even though you are so exhausted you think (and wish) you could sleep like the dead ...

disentangle a tantruming two-year-old from a shopping cart and carry her from the store, even though you really, really need to get these errands done ...

call Poison control in a panic, because you're worried that the little guy just ate some hand sanitizer ...

say, for the 210th time, and as you are placing her in yet another time-out, "We do not bite!" ...

eat the remnants of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and call it lunch ...

fall into bed, are slack-jawed within ten minutes, and awakened ten minutes after that by a toddler crying for mommy, courtesy of a Disney-induced nightmare ...

... then you are suffering. You are experiencing the passion (another word that comes from the same root) of your vocation. And God is drawing you closer to Him through it all. It's through patience, through our small daily sufferings, that we shed the skin of selfishness and emerge a new creation.

So, I want to take a minute to thank Him.

Thank you, Lord, for these simple, everyday opportunities to suffer, to be patient, and to grow in holiness -- one diaper, one sandwich crust, one sleep-deprived night, one tantrum at a time.

And thank you, Lord, for this little tidbit, too: that only occasionally am I the one having the tantrum.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit Meredith at Sweetness and Light to contribute to her Carnival of Toddlers before 6 p.m. tonight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(This post also appears on Catholic Exchange's Blog page, "Friends of Catholic Exchange.")

And one more carnival today ....

Head over to Why Homeschool for the Carnival of Homeschooling -- the Tax Day Edition -- full of stuff to ponder, such as:

"If you are truly serious about preparing your child for the future, don't teach him to subtract - teach him to deduct."

- Fran Lebowitz

Ramona, EMT

Ramona and Betsy collided in the kitchen. Betsy took a dive.

"Ouch!" screamed Betsy.

"Oh!" said Ramona, diving after her and thoroughly surveying Betsy's wrenched expression. After her examination, Ramona pronounced, "There are no scratches. But, you do have head trauma and internal bleeding."

Brighten your Wednesday

at the Carnival of Joy, hosted by the lovely and talented juggler, Angela (mom of five, two of which are little twins, thus the honorary title of Juggler) from Three Plus Two.

What a great idea for a carnival, Angela!

And, if you have toddlers, or just want to reminisce about them, visit Meredith, at Sweetness and Light, for details about her upcoming Carnival of Toddlers (what a fun picture that phrase evokes!) You have until Thursday evening to submit posts.

Treasuring life

My wonderful sister-in-law sent me a link to this story from KansasCity.com -- go here to read about "Zeke's Gift" ... and to see what it means to love and treasure a child no matter how long or how short a time we are given.

Thank you

I'm touched at winning the "Best Cyber Buddy" award.

But here's the best part: one of the best cyber buddies is Alice, who put out a last minute call (for anyone who considered me a cyber buddy) to go vote, because I was just a squeak away from winning. Alice, you are truly a thoughtful and giving cyber buddy!

Congratulations to Alice (who won in three categories), to all the other nominees, to the winners and to all the amazing bloggers out there who do their part to make cyber space a place full of faith, support and encouragement.

Visit the Homeschool Blog Awards website here -- it's a great way to get to know some new bloggers, too.

Blogs on the move

Among Women is moving here and will henceforth be known as Between Daydreams.

Journey of a Mother's Heart is moving here to her new Blogger location.

Off to update my template so that we don't miss a single gem!

Weekend Shower: The Game Show

Contestant: Mom

Object: Initiate, execute and complete a shower without interruption and with a modicum of privacy

Obstacles: Ramona, Betsy, Anne-with-an-e, occasionally Mr. Putter, the cat and (twice a year) a shower that backs up

Let's take a look at how our latest contestant did this weekend!

Well ... she came sooo close, but just couldn't pull it off in the end.

Mom just didn't give enough consideration to the Ramona factor, which is what really tripped her up this time.

First entry into the bathroom came with the gum request, followed closely by the announcement that the dollhouse had fallen over. Soon after came the second gum request (due to the swallowing of the first piece of gum) and then came the fourth entry into the bathroom with the final request to go and play outside with Betsy (who didn't factor into this round at all!)

Mom persevered, though, thinking she may get away with only the Ramona interruptions -- in which case she'd gain a few points before the end of the round -- but when Anne-with-an-e entered the bathroom asking for a computer turn, Mom knew the kids had this round locked up.

Awwww, we're so sorry, Mom! Maybe next time! But, we do have some lovely parting gifts for you today. You did remember to wash all of the shampoo out of your hair, and you get extra points for shaving your legs. Best of all, your shower did not back up and flood the bathroom, causing an unmentionable mop-up situation. These lovely consolation prizes are yours to keep.

We look forward to seeing you compete again on "Weekend Shower" and, hey, Mom -- don't forget -- those kids are going to grow up eventually and then this game will never be the same.

Once they're gone, you may shower in peace, but we're betting it won't be long before you join us for our newest show, "Empty Nest -- Watch Mom Cry!"

Tune in next time, and keep those obstacles coming!

Jesus, I Trust in You

A blessed Feast of the Divine Mercy
to you all.

Dawn is having another Field Day!

Go check it out this instant! It is soothingly gorgeous, as always.

Ramona prepares for the future

Me: Sweetie, you need to stop banging back and forth on the rocker like that.

Ramona: I'm practicing for if I ever do horseback riding. Giddyap! And, I know what "whoa" means!

Alrighty, then.

We're set.

My bare bookshelf

In the post below (Betsy's before-and-after pictures), I noticed that the top of my bookcase looks a little bare. If you look closely, you can see a couple of homeschooling/mom books there, but where are all my favorites? I realized that I currently have a number of books out on loan. I might have to start a LibraryThing after all (I just haven't had time to check it out -- bad pun not intended.)

On loan:

To a friend who is considering homeschooling in the future:

Real Learning, by Elizabeth Foss
Catholic Education: Homeward Bound , by Kimberly Hahn and Mary Hasson
Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum, by Laura Bergquist

To a friend who was looking for a bit of recharging in the mom department:

My Cup of Tea: Musings of a Catholic Mom, by Danielle Bean
101 Devotions for Homeschool Moms by Jackie Wellwood
Seasons of a Mother's Heart, by Sally Clarkson

To a friend who just wanted to read Danielle Bean's new book:

Mom to Mom, Day to Day (and don't you agree with my friend and me that the covers of Danielle Bean's books are always so pretty?)

And while I'm on the subject of borrowed books, currently on my nightstand, borrowed from friends:

Please Don't Drink the Holy Water, by Susie Lloyd (I'm just a few essays into it ... very funny ....)

Retreat with the Lord: A Popular Guide to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, by Fr. John Hardon (not at all funny ....)

By the computer, patiently waiting to have reviews written:

Swimming with Scapulars: True Confessions of a Young Catholic, by Matthew Lickona (short version of review: loved it)

Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul, by Tony Hendra

A big stack of other stuff

Winging its way to me as I type, because I told Atticus he was giving it to me for my birthday:

Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life, by Mike Aquilina

On the to-read list:

Too many to name, and enough to break the budget. Sigh. But, thank goodness for those library things.

More locks full of love

Betsy was tickled pink to find that e-pal Mary Beth also donated her hair last week -- check out Mary Beth's adorable "after" picture here.

John Paul the Great: The Notebooks

We're finishing these up this week, and I want to pull together a final list of all the resources we used. (Don't forget to check out the surprise resource at the end of this post!)

Resources used:

The Young Life of Pope John Paul II, by Claire Jordan Mohan (the girls read and narrated it)

The Jeweler's Shop , by Pope John Paul II (I read the play, and we included a page in our notebooks about JPII, the playwright)

The Poetry of Pope John Paul II , by Pope John Paul II (I read a couple of selections to the girls, and they did part of one poem as copywork)

From Pflaum Publishing Group:

A wealth of resources! These are all pdf files, so I won't put the links here, but they're easy to get to through Pflaum. We used their biography, Encyclical summaries, Fascinating Facts quiz, Pope's Crest coloring page, Spreading the Word and Teach All Nations pages (geography sheets), another printable quiz as well as the pop-up online quiz, an "FYI" sheet and some of their information about electing a new pope.

The Young Life of Faustina Kowalska by Claire Jordan Mohan (with discussions on John Paul the Great's involvement in spreading the devotion, officially establishing Divine Mercy Sunday and canonizing St. Faustina ... many thanks to the beautiful website, Marians of the Immaculate Conception)

We are praying the Divine Mercy Novena, which began on Good Friday and is prayed through Divine Mercy Sunday

Visited Divine Mercy Images to see a number of different renderings of the Divine Mercy image

Viewed a short video/photo compilation at The Daughters of St. Paul website

Read and clipped articles about Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, who has been healed of Parkinson's disease

Printed out this coloring sheet of the pope (and when I explained the Latin phrase "Totus Tuus" to the girls, Betsy said, "Oh! Totus Cool!")

Printed out pictures of Our Lady of Fatima, of the Holy Father meeting with Sister Lucia, and of Our Lady of Czestochowa, in order to include a page on special devotions of John Paul the Great. We also discussed, in the context of his devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, the 1981 assassination attempt.

We also looked through all the pictures in Witness to Hope, by George Weigel

And, finally, what study on a great pope would be complete without Marvel Comics? (H/T to Mary at Our Domestic Church)


Special thanks to Alice and her notebook ideas, and to Heart and Mind magazine (whose link I cannot seem to access right now) for the wonderful unit study by Cay Gibson, Maureen Wittmann and Nancy Brown.

(Postscript: to include this link -- it's a pdf file -- to the Heart and Mind unit study. Thank you, Ana! For some reason the bookmark I'd saved was not working earlier today. )

Another prayer request

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Tony Benkovic. Tony is the husband of Johnnette Benkovic, of Living His Life Abundantly, and Women of Grace. Please pray for Johnnette as well, as she has experienced immense loss in recent years.

Prayer requests

* for a dear friend's spiritual director. Fr. Bill is in the hospital, and both he and my friend will appreciate your prayers so very much.

* for Heather, one of the organizers of the Homeschool Blog Awards. Heather has just learned she has a brain tumor ... please pray for this wife, mother, daughter of the King.

Locks of Love

Before Betsy's hair donation







and ...

After Betsy's hair donation








Look into Locks of Love for more information, or to donate your hair for those in need.

Updated on 4/12 to note:
Earlier this week, KC of the Cabbage Patch lopped off her locks, too, and looks beautiful.

And, remember way back when I first mentioned that Betsy wanted to do this? Minnesota Mom was busy cutting that month, and posted her great before-and-after pictures here.

Is beauty irrelevant?

Fascinating article in the Washington Post: What will happen if Joshua Bell, violinist extraordinaire, plays in a D.C. subway station during rush hour?

The Washington Post found out.

h/t: MacBeth

Stop, Ramona! You're killin' me here ....

I've got to post these before I go to bed ... they're too good to forget (if I may say so myself):

At dinner tonight, as she attacked her romaine lettuce:

"Salad ... you're goin' down!"

******

As I tucked her in bed tonight, she snuggled in close, heaved a huge sigh of the utmost contentment and said, "Oooohh ... and I didn't think my life could get any better."

Me, too, my darling. Me, too.

I love Theresa

A couple of great posts from Lapaz Farm Home Learning:

Are you the homeschooling "type"?

and

What makes a good day of learning? That's something I ponder at this time of year, as the end of one school year is in sight, a summer (of planning?) looms before me, and a new school year beckons from the future (we tend to live a little more "by the school year" than some homeschoolers, simply because Atticus is a teacher in a public school.) What does make a good day of learning? A good month? A good year? A good education? (Oooh, I see a series of posts in the making ....)

And, speaking of Theresas I love, I'm throwing out a "Happy Birthday" to another local Teresa ... happy birthday, dear friend (a few hours early)!

Free books from Alibris

I like Alibris.com for out-of-print or otherwise hard to find books.

And now, when you write reviews for their website, you'll be eligible for a monthly drawing and the chance to win a $100 Alibris coupon.

I'll see you there.

Ramona Bumps her Lip

And so, as I was cuddling her in my best mommy-style, I asked:

"Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?"

and she replied:

"You can let me go the bathroom, because I really need to go."

Easter with Ramona

While at the Easter Vigil, Ramona whispered to me, "Mommy, when we get home, can we read some books?"

Me: "It will be awfully late when we get home. I think we'll just go straight to bed."

Ramona, holding a finger to her chin, as if deep in thought: "I'll think about it."

Me: "No, I'll think about it."

Ramona looked at me, doubtful about my conclusion. "We'll both think about it," she pronounced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A girl after my own heart:

Upon arriving home from the Vigil Mass, Ramona -- still clad in her winter coat, hat and scarf -- immediately shed her shoes and her tights.

Bundled, but with bare feet, she announced, "That's better!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Easter Sunday: "Mommy, may I have some more of this delicious and delectable chocolate?"

The answer (but then, you knew this) was a resounding yes. I joined her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have a delicious and delectable week-long celebration of the Octave of Easter! There are so many ways to celebrate.

Why do you look for the living among the dead?

"He is not here ...
He is risen."
~~ Luke 24:5-6

Alleluia!
He is risen indeed!
Alleluia, alleluia!

Coming Home to Stay

As I continue to pray today for Jen, Amber, Mark, Matt and Angie, (as well as Maralee and her husband, Jennifer, Martha, C., another Amber, Elizabeth and Hailey) I'm recalling the days just before I was received into the Church.

Considering my first Communion, I wrote in my journal back then:

I still feel humbled when I have to sit back while everyone else goes forward for the Eucharist, but it’s a different feeling than I had several months ago when I began RCIA.

Then, I felt left out, conspicuously different. But I’m on a journey in and I’ve come to see it that way. Or, I should say, God has allowed me to see it that way. It’s been a fast (as Jack once described it), a fast that’s strengthened me and sharpened my beliefs. It’s a fast I can’t wait to break. Which will I be craving more by the time Easter arrives: the chocolate I’ve given up or the Body of the Lord?

These preparations make this a very different Lent than I’ve ever had. The things I’m giving up (and I don’t just mean chocolate here) seem like nothing in comparison to what I’m preparing to receive. My efforts seem very small, very tiny and weak. They are strengthened only by God’s goodness and mercy and love for me. I am overwhelmed by what He has done for me and to me.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior... The Almighty One has done great things for me and Holy is His Name.”
-- Luke 1:46-47, 49

I’m happy to report that when I was received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil of 1995, I was craving the Eucharist much more than the chocolate (though there was plenty of chocolate on hand to celebrate.) I anticipated that first true Holy Communion with a hunger that had become an ache.

May all catechumens and candidates coming into the Church experience the same profound joy that I felt on that night, and may you continue to experience it in the years to come.

And, although this precise feeling of joy won't last forever -- we all know that isn't realistic -- life will henceforth be different. There will be mountain tops and valleys, deserts and oases in the years to come, but the foundation will remain. My foundation -- my faith in Jesus Christ, as taught and passed on to me through His One, Holy,Catholic and Apostolic Church -- has seen and will continue to see me through every struggle and cross in my life.

"Behold, I make all things new."
~~ Revelation 21:5

To Jen, Amber, Mark, Matt, Angie, Maralee and her husband, Jennifer, Martha, C., another Amber, Elizabeth and Hailey and every other catechumen and candidate ...

Welcome Home. All things are new.

Holy Saturday

We spend today in quiet preparation for the great feast of Easter.

Ideas and more information can be found here, here and here.

Were you there?

Read more about observances of Good Friday here and here and here.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh,
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh,
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?
Oh,
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they pierced him in the side?

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh,
Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

~~ traditional African American spiritual

Lenten caterpillars ...

... which we planned way back when were made and painted yesterday.

They are now patiently awaiting their cocoons, (I find that round coffee filters work well) into which they will retreat on Holy Saturday. On Easter Sunday, the children will find their caterpillars have been replaced by something bright and beautiful.

(I need to get to work ... where are the sequins?)

Don't forget to wish your priest a happy anniversary

From John Paul the Great's Letter to Priests, Holy Thursday, 2004:

We were born from the Eucharist. If we can truly say that the whole Church lives from the Eucharist (“Ecclesia de Eucharistia vivit”), as I reaffirmed in my recent Encyclical, we can say the same thing about the ministerial priesthood: it is born, lives, works and bears fruit “de Eucharistia”(cf. Council of Trent, Sess. XXII, canon 2: DS 1752). “There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist."

"You had to eat the lamb"

What, exactly, does Holy Thursday commemorate and celebrate?

The Last Supper, yes.

The washing of the feet, certainly.

The Institution of the Eucharist, of course.

But for deeper insights into the Eucharist, we go to Scott Hahn:

Now you can't eat a lamb cookie in Egypt. If you didn't like lamb, you couldn't have your wife make lamb bread, little biscuits in the shape of a lamb and say, "God, you understand, we just can't stand the stuff." No, you do that, your firstborn would die. You had to eat the lamb. Jesus Christ has said to us, "My flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life."

Read more at "The Institution of the Eucharist in Scripture", from a talk by Scott Hahn.

Ramona notices a few things

While running errands:

"Mommy, did you ever notice that almost everything in Target is red? That's too much red."

While snuggling up to me:

"Mommy -- are you wearing socks? Mommy, did you ever notice that you are permanently cold?"

While reading a Barbie book (don't throw daggers ... she picked it out at the library and I said, "Ohhhhh ... okaaaaay .... ") in which Barbie drops her little sisters off at their classrooms, and then goes in to teach her own class:

"Mommy, Barbie should just quit that job and homeschool them."

Amen to that, my dear.

And one thing I've noticed?

Life with Ramona is good.

John Paul the Great ... Loveliness Defined

Visit Sarah, at Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering, for a beautiful collection of posts on John Paul the Great. Thanks for putting together this perfect Loveliness Fair, Sarah!

No longer strangers and sojourners

I tend to have tears during Holy Week (this is the sort of thing that makes my friend, Jack, say, "Well, of course I like your blog, but it's all just a little too ... um, what? ... feminine for me.")

I cry tears of gratitude for my conversion, courtesy of God's goodness.

I cry tears of gratitude that, even though Atticus did not attend the Easter Vigil at which I was received into the Church (which was okay -- I so respected his integrity on the matter, and he had made it clear to me that he had no interest in Catholicism and not a bit of comfort with the Mass), five years later, I was attending his Vigil reception, courtesy of God's lavish goodness.

Then, I cry tears of gratitude for the conversions of so many others as I remember my years as an RCIA team member -- I felt such intense affection for the candidates and catechumens. I remember my friend, Theresa, saying that she had seen me at confession, ushering candidates along and taking care of them like a mother hen. And I felt like a proud mom at every Easter Vigil: "That's my candidate up there! I walked this walk with her! I cried with him! I saw her breakthrough!"

This Holy Week, I'm praying for some bloggers who will be received into the Church:

Jen, at "Et tu, Jen?"
Amber, at Rutabaga Dreams
Mark, at Rise and Pray
Matt, at Absolutely No Spin

Anyone else?

I'll be praying for you, even if I don't know your name. And, probably shedding a few tears, too, in gratitude for God's prodigious goodness.

Because that's just the kind of feminine blog this is.

I'm such an idiot

So, I've been really focused on John Paul the Great lately. I'm reading to my kids about him, and finding new resources to share with them as we work on notebooks about his life and his pontificate. I'm devouring his insightful play, The Jeweler's Shop, and generally feeling the enormous and immense love for him that I have felt since sometime before I entered the Catholic Church.

So, you would think that it wouldn't have surprised me to suddenly read a bunch of beautiful John Paul the Great tributes today on many of my favorite blogs, as they all commemorate the second anniversary of his death.

You would think.

But no, this is me. I can't seem to keep track of things that normal people keep track of. Like dates. And anniversaries of things that are important to me (though I always remember ours, Atticus.) I'm not very good at commemorating things that happened in the past.

You see it on a small level ... such as on this blog. I have no idea what the exact date was that I began this blog (oh, yeah, I could go back and look, but the thing is ... I don't know. It was fall-ish, 2005.) And I don't know how many posts I've put up, how many comments I've received, or exactly how long I've been doing this.

The blog just is. This writing exists now, as a part of my present, part of who I am, a part of what I do every day. I don't look back (except to dig for decent material on a day when it's all I can do to wake up, shower, drink coffee and tell you about You Tube. )

I do it in other ways, too. I can't remember what life was like before Ramona, or before Betsy and Anne. Sometimes I recall something from early in our marriage, and I think extraordinarily stupid things, like, "Gosh, how did all five of us fit into that tiny one bedroom apartment?" and then I remember that there weren't five of us because Atticus and I didn't have any children yet.

I can't remember things I should commemorate. I live in the present because most of the time, my fuzzy, caffeine-addled, mothering, homeschooling brain can't handle anything more than that. So, instead of specifics, and anniversaries and commemorations, I live in a more, ummm ... conceptual world. Yeah, that's it.

So, I get up one day, and even though I love my Papa, John Paul the Greatest Ever, I forget that it is the anniversary of his death. Because I'm living in a concept, instead of a normal life. But, here's the concept, and when I put it this way, it doesn't seem half bad:

In the days after my dearly beloved Holy Daddy (as Ramona called him, and as I felt down to the core of my being) died, I felt his presence and his prayers for me so closely, so sharply, that I stopped thinking of his death. I felt his life, and I continue to feel it.

As I wrote that year:

... although I knew his prayers for “all the faithful” included me, I also knew that on a practical level, JPII didn’t know me. He didn’t know for whom or for what I prayed, he didn’t know my private struggles and many weaknesses. He didn’t know how much I personally needed him. Now he does.

As I prayed at Mass, on Divine Mercy Sunday, I felt an overwhelming need to cry out to my papa. I asked him to pray for me. I felt drenched in his love and paternal concern as I imagined his beaming face. I felt convinced, down to my bones, that he now knows. He knows every private struggle that I reveal to him in prayer and he will lay them before my Heavenly Father’s throne, in urgent and loving intercession. He is now present to me as never before.

He is present to me as never before.

And, mercifully, he knows how much I loved him and love him still. He knows that my forgetting the anniversary of his death is not because I don't care, but because I care so much about the present, and his presence in it.

He didn't go away two years ago. He's still here. Closer than ever.

We love you, Holy Daddy.

Because I'm feeling guilty about having nothing to say...

... I decided to rerun this post from last year's Holy Week. As I did last year, I will pray this week to pay attention ... to more than my hot showers, coffee, and a You Tube clip.

Last year, I called this post Mr. Putter, Narnia and Prayer:

Mr. Putter is a social eater.

This cat doesn't like to dine alone. Each morning, although there are leftovers in his bowl, he talks to me until I indulge him in his breakfast habit. I must add fresh food (though I sometimes cheat, picking up the bowl and shaking it, as if something delectable somehow enters through the shaking.) But, wait. The food isn't the only issue. If I do not sit with Mr. Putter for a moment and scratch his back, he will not eat. He will look at me expectantly, as if to say, "You know the routine ... why do you torture me so?" until I pet him, at which point he will finally, happily dig in to his meal.

On a related note, Atticus rented the Narnia movie for us to watch with the kids this weekend. During Family Movie Time, he was trying to sneak in a little bit of grading (he's a teacher, you know ... and no, it's really not so odd that a public school teacher homeschools.) Anyway, it's a brutal time of year for an English teacher, and I couldn't blame him for his attempt at multitasking, but the kids, of course, noticed.

"Daddy, you're not really watching! Watch this! Watch this part!" And so he did. Because the kids know that it's no fun to watch a movie with someone if he isn't really there.

And, further related, how many times have I done this: I am typing furiously at the computer when a child approaches me with a question.

"Yes?" I ask, not looking away from the screen.

"Mom, you're not listening."

"Sure, I am ... just let me finish this sentence." And when I do finish that sentence, I turn to the child and must admit that she was right. I wasn't listening.

Mr. Putter at breakfast ... Dads and movie time ... a mother only half tuned in to her child .... The common thread here is, "Am I fully present? Am I really here? Am I listening? Do I care about what these people (and this cat) need from me?"

And all of this led me to think of prayer, and of how easy it is to become distracted. How often do I sit down with God only to cheat, with a metaphorical shake of the bowl? To mentally multitask as I petition? How often do I fix my eyes on something other than Jesus? How often does Jesus have to say to me, "You're not listening"?

Now, I know that we moms do not always have the luxury of a formal prayer time, but the reality of my life, right now, is that I do sometimes have that luxury. I try to use it wisely, but I often fail. I'm sometimes only half-there, not fully present, not truly centered on the Lord and Savior of my life, but rather am allowing my mind to wander to things that are of absolutely no import to my eternal salvation.

God, like Mr. Putter, doesn't like to be alone. That's why He made us. He loves our company, and wants our genuine interaction. He wants to share the movie with us, get us to turn our faces from the screen, and He wants us to listen.

This week, as Holy Week continues, I pray for the grace to pay attention ... I pray that when God says, "Watch this part! Listen! Be with Me," that I will do just that.

I have no reason to post this

other than my complete lack of anything meaningful to say today.

Perhaps I just need to clear my head, through some mindless activity, before fully plunging into the beauty and depth of Holy Week.

Perhaps I'm just a moron.

But I laughed and laughed at this clip from You Tube when my sister-in-law sent it to me.

The only thing better ...

... for really waking up in the morning than a cup of coffee and a hot shower, would be a cup of coffee in the hot shower.

This is the kind of deep insight to which I am privy at 5:45 a.m.

Walking into Holy Week

for Palm Sunday:

"Today, you adore the Cross of Christ, which you carry across the world, because you have believed in the love of God that was revealed in the crucified Christ."

~~ John Paul the Great, to young people on Palm Sunday, 2005 (the address was read by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, as the Holy Father was too weak to deliver the address himself)

~~~~~

and, from Fr. John Hardon:

There is a passage in the writings of St. Ignatius that I almost hesitate quoting for fear of having him misunderstood. The saints sometimes said strange things. But it is worth the risk in order to make clearer what I think is so much needed today to protect people from what I consider the heresy of instant mysticism. When all sorts of fads and gimmicks are being sold to the faithful as means of becoming "their oneness with the Absolute." I quote St. Ignatius:

"If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of great holiness which He desires you to attain. Do you want to become a great saint? Ask God to send you many sufferings. The flame of Divine Love never rises higher than when fed with the wood of the Cross, which the infinite charity of the Savior used to finish His sacrifice. All the pleasures of the world are nothing compared with the sweetness found in the gall and vinegar offered to Jesus Christ. That is, hard and painful things endured for Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ."

We may object that these are the sentiments of a great mystic who, as all mystics, spoke in symbolic terms and are not to be taken literally. Not so. They are the prosaic words of all those who believe that the most pleasing prayer to God is one that proceeds not only from the lips or even from the heart indeed, but one that is suffering in union with the heart of the innocent Lamb of God. Not all the faithful are called to the heights of this kind of prayer, although no Christian is exempt from his share in the life of the Master whose prayer to His Father was so elevated by the Cross.

Other things being equal, the more my prayer life is crucified, the more meritorious it becomes. The more what I say to God is combined with what I offer to God, the more pleased He will be. The more my petitions to the Lord are united with sacrifice willingly made, the more certainly what I ask for will be received.