Thus spake Betsy.
And I replied unto her (in my best Here's-Your-Catechetical-Reminder voice), "That's Father A., sweetie. And it only says 'Dan' because that's the way his email address address shows up in my Inbox. And I'm wishing him a happy anniversary because Holy Thursday is the anniversary of the institution of the priesthood. Remember?"
"Oh. Yeah. That makes sense."
Don't forget to sensibly wish your priest a happy anniversary today.
Showing posts with label Lent 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lent 2012. Show all posts
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Bits and Pieces of Our Days
* It's Holy Week!
I haven't blogged much about Lent this year, for a couple of reasons. I sometimes feel as if I already said every relevant thing about Lent in the post that is so long it takes you 40 days to read it. And yet, every Lent is different and new, so there's always something to say or observe, right? This Lent, for me, has been about balance (in taking care of my family and myself) and about letting my stomach growl. There's nothing like a loud midsection to solidify one's compassion for those who don't have enough to eat on a daily basis.
* Ramona Update
I'm reading Understood Betsy (previously mentioned here and here) to her. I love this book so much.
She's rereading all the Martha books. Loving them. She read them a couple of years ago, and I read them aloud to her before that. But just as every Lent can bring a new insight, every year of maturity brings something new to light in an old, beloved book, no?
Recent favorite Ramona moments:
Ramona: Mom, drive through my cafe -- It's called Kittens, Cake & Ice Cream.
Me: Ok, I'll take a kitten, a cake & ice cream.
Ramona: No, my name is Kitten!
(Oops.)
She also told me, "Mom, I think you're kinda like ... who's that god of wine again?"
(Obviously, I did not give up red wine this year. However, lest you conjure images of bacchanalian nights -- we homeschooling moms are famous for those -- I'll remind you that I am all about balance this Lent.)
Poor Ramona just got over a bout of stomach flu, which partially explains my absence from the blog for almost a week.
* But only partially.
We've been busy with plenty of other things -- art class taught by the Magical Mrs. M. (it was a fun Paul Klee project). And there's been the regular occupational therapy for poor Betsy, who had such a bad case of tendinitis (and I can't stop thinking I'm misspelling that when I don't spell it tendonitis, but apparently I'm not) that she wasn't writing (and this, believe me, is a tragedy for Betsy -- thank goodness for Dragon software, courtesy of her grandpa), and wasn't playing her violin. She's on the mend!
* Next year, I will not be Anne-with-an-e's teacher. Gulp.
I was putting together an invitation for her graduation party, and I found this photo of her as a baby:
Yeah. That's Heart of Darkness. I blame Atticus.
I haven't blogged much about Lent this year, for a couple of reasons. I sometimes feel as if I already said every relevant thing about Lent in the post that is so long it takes you 40 days to read it. And yet, every Lent is different and new, so there's always something to say or observe, right? This Lent, for me, has been about balance (in taking care of my family and myself) and about letting my stomach growl. There's nothing like a loud midsection to solidify one's compassion for those who don't have enough to eat on a daily basis.
* Ramona Update
I'm reading Understood Betsy (previously mentioned here and here) to her. I love this book so much.
She's rereading all the Martha books. Loving them. She read them a couple of years ago, and I read them aloud to her before that. But just as every Lent can bring a new insight, every year of maturity brings something new to light in an old, beloved book, no?
Recent favorite Ramona moments:
Ramona: Mom, drive through my cafe -- It's called Kittens, Cake & Ice Cream.
Me: Ok, I'll take a kitten, a cake & ice cream.
Ramona: No, my name is Kitten!
(Oops.)
She also told me, "Mom, I think you're kinda like ... who's that god of wine again?"
(Obviously, I did not give up red wine this year. However, lest you conjure images of bacchanalian nights -- we homeschooling moms are famous for those -- I'll remind you that I am all about balance this Lent.)
Poor Ramona just got over a bout of stomach flu, which partially explains my absence from the blog for almost a week.
* But only partially.
We've been busy with plenty of other things -- art class taught by the Magical Mrs. M. (it was a fun Paul Klee project). And there's been the regular occupational therapy for poor Betsy, who had such a bad case of tendinitis (and I can't stop thinking I'm misspelling that when I don't spell it tendonitis, but apparently I'm not) that she wasn't writing (and this, believe me, is a tragedy for Betsy -- thank goodness for Dragon software, courtesy of her grandpa), and wasn't playing her violin. She's on the mend!
* Next year, I will not be Anne-with-an-e's teacher. Gulp.
I was putting together an invitation for her graduation party, and I found this photo of her as a baby:
Yeah. That's Heart of Darkness. I blame Atticus.
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Ramona, Liturgical Calendar Planner
When I made our Lamb of God calendar, I wrote the date for Easter at the bottom. Apparently, however, I wanted Lent to end extraordinarily early, as the date I posted in pretty pastels was:
Yes, wouldn't that be lovely?
But, alas, Easter will not arrive until April 8th. So, I had to make an adjustment -- I redid the date, and just covered that spot with the new one:
MARCH 8th!
Yes, wouldn't that be lovely?
But, alas, Easter will not arrive until April 8th. So, I had to make an adjustment -- I redid the date, and just covered that spot with the new one:
Ramona had another idea, though. She suggested that I put the Easter date on the outside of an envelope and tape that to the calendar -- with an Easter surprise inside.
So that's what I did.
If you'd like to hire Ramona for all your liturgical calendar needs, I'm sure she'll charge a mere chocolate bunny or two.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
"Do Not Put On a Gloomy Face" -- Or, Bits and Pieces of Our Days
It's Ash Wednesday!
Mayhaps Ash Wednesday does not, in your view, call for an exclamation point. Especially if you are giving up coffee. Which I'm not doing this year. So my exclamation points remain.
One of the antiphons in today's Morning Prayer is, "When you fast, do not put on a gloomy face, like the hypocrites." So, you'll find no gloom here on this Ash Wednesday.
And -- also not gloomy, and something Ramona still loves to do during Lent -- the Lamb of God calendar? I just snapped a new picture of our latest one and added it back to "A Meaningful Lent: The Monstrously Long Post." (Blogger sometimes eats up my photos and leaves ugly, blocky exclamation points in their place. It had done so with my old Lamb of God picture. Why do you do that, Blogger? It's not the kind of exclamation point that I wish to have remaining on my blog.)
The Lamb of God calendar this year (color and bell by Ramona):
Last week we went to Mass at a neighboring parish. As we left they handed out baby bottles (which contained instructions to fill them with change) as part of a collection effort to help women in crisis pregnancies. We took one. A couple of days later, Anne-with-an-e told me that before we return the bottle to the church I should take out the message that Ramona had rolled up and inserted:
(Can you tell we've been reading Pippi Longstocking?)
And also? If I'd listened to the announcements after Mass instead of reading them later in the bulletin, I would have realized that the baby bottle project was for the junior high kids of the parish. No wonder that kid looked at me so funny when I took one of the bottles.
Ramona and I continue to have fun with Ancient Egypt projects. An idea I first got from History Links is an archaeological dig into Jell-O:
Anne-with-an-e read the Van Morrison post yesterday.
"Van Morrison is dead, isn't he?"
"I hope not," I said. "He's advertising his latest tour on his website."
"Oh. I guess if he were, that would make him the Rocking Dead."
* As I was typing this up, I was informed by my daughters that Ramona never actually got around to getting the note into the bottle. She claims she never had plans to do so. The whole story strikes me as Pippi-ish.
Mayhaps Ash Wednesday does not, in your view, call for an exclamation point. Especially if you are giving up coffee. Which I'm not doing this year. So my exclamation points remain.
One of the antiphons in today's Morning Prayer is, "When you fast, do not put on a gloomy face, like the hypocrites." So, you'll find no gloom here on this Ash Wednesday.
And -- also not gloomy, and something Ramona still loves to do during Lent -- the Lamb of God calendar? I just snapped a new picture of our latest one and added it back to "A Meaningful Lent: The Monstrously Long Post." (Blogger sometimes eats up my photos and leaves ugly, blocky exclamation points in their place. It had done so with my old Lamb of God picture. Why do you do that, Blogger? It's not the kind of exclamation point that I wish to have remaining on my blog.)
The Lamb of God calendar this year (color and bell by Ramona):
~~~~~~~~~~
On with the recent bits and pieces:
Last week we went to Mass at a neighboring parish. As we left they handed out baby bottles (which contained instructions to fill them with change) as part of a collection effort to help women in crisis pregnancies. We took one. A couple of days later, Anne-with-an-e told me that before we return the bottle to the church I should take out the message that Ramona had rolled up and inserted:
"Help! We've been on this island for three days with no snuff." *
(Can you tell we've been reading Pippi Longstocking?)
And also? If I'd listened to the announcements after Mass instead of reading them later in the bulletin, I would have realized that the baby bottle project was for the junior high kids of the parish. No wonder that kid looked at me so funny when I took one of the bottles.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ramona and I continue to have fun with Ancient Egypt projects. An idea I first got from History Links is an archaeological dig into Jell-O:
 |
| The remains of ancient civilizations appear to include little green army men. |
 |
| Our Jell-O layers of terra not-so-firma |
Ramona's sugar cube version of a pyramid:
~~~~~~~~~~
Anne-with-an-e read the Van Morrison post yesterday.
"Van Morrison is dead, isn't he?"
"I hope not," I said. "He's advertising his latest tour on his website."
"Oh. I guess if he were, that would make him the Rocking Dead."
~~~~~~~~~~
Betsy bought something that she calls a hoodie and I call her new Obi-Wan inspired clothing. ("Obi-Wan" is a more flattering description than, "That thing makes me think of the Emperor! Ewww!") But it does look incredibly cute on her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* As I was typing this up, I was informed by my daughters that Ramona never actually got around to getting the note into the bottle. She claims she never had plans to do so. The whole story strikes me as Pippi-ish.
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Lent is Coming! Lent is Coming!
My past Lenten series -- "A Meaningful Lent" -- is here. (I've also moved it up in the sidebar. Just click on the desert and you're there.)
You'll find everything from the Lamb of God calendar for young children to my crown of thorns, to confessing the messes, to thoughts about why we give up the things we do and whether or not we should talk about them.
(Updated to note: Blogger has gobbled up some of my photos and I have no idea why. Please bear with me as I try to recover them ... parts of the post reference adorable, must-see pictures that aren't so adorable when they aren't there and you can't see them ...)
The title of the series comes from then-six-year-old Ramona's protest that she did not plan to give up something trivial (such as talking back to her sisters) but rather she planned to give up something meaningful.
That's what I'm going for, too. Still discerning what "meaningful" means for this year. Jesus usually plops something horrible in front of me (such as the idea of giving up coffee.) Then He exasperates me by teaching me something through my sacrifices.
Who does He think He is? Does He always have to be so right?
You'll find everything from the Lamb of God calendar for young children to my crown of thorns, to confessing the messes, to thoughts about why we give up the things we do and whether or not we should talk about them.
(Updated to note: Blogger has gobbled up some of my photos and I have no idea why. Please bear with me as I try to recover them ... parts of the post reference adorable, must-see pictures that aren't so adorable when they aren't there and you can't see them ...)
The title of the series comes from then-six-year-old Ramona's protest that she did not plan to give up something trivial (such as talking back to her sisters) but rather she planned to give up something meaningful.
That's what I'm going for, too. Still discerning what "meaningful" means for this year. Jesus usually plops something horrible in front of me (such as the idea of giving up coffee.) Then He exasperates me by teaching me something through my sacrifices.
Who does He think He is? Does He always have to be so right?
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