Job Description
/Karoline to Katie: Let's play "Babies." You be the mom and I'll be the girl. You drive me to soccer. Bring your checkbook.
Daybook~Easter Week
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Outside My Window ...
it's cold and rainy and promises to remain so for the next couple of days. We've just seeded our lawn, so the rain makes Dad happy.
it's cold and rainy and promises to remain so for the next couple of days. We've just seeded our lawn, so the rain makes Dad happy.
***
I am listening to...
Sarah Anne breathing in her sleep across my chest.
***
Sarah Anne breathing in her sleep across my chest.
***
To Live the Liturgy...
It is Easter Week! We're off to a good start in the celebration department. We spent part of yesterday hiking the Bluebell Trail at Bull Run. I suspect there will be much more nature ahead of us this week, just as soon as the rain clears out. Nothing like celebrating spring with lots of mud!
We are praying the Divine Mercy novena this week and will take advantage of Mercy Sunday celebrations at our parish.
I am determined to celebrate 50 Days of Easter this year. I'm using Jessica's plans for the Garden of the Good Shepherd as a starting place.
***
To Fit and Happy...
Yesterday, I hiked more than two miles carrying a 15 pound baby and lunch and drinks for eight (it's a long story).I did it in pretty good time. I'm not sore today and I'm feeling pretty fit.Next time I go to the bluebells however, I'd prefer to plop down on a blanket and gaze upon the flowers for hours.
It is Easter Week! We're off to a good start in the celebration department. We spent part of yesterday hiking the Bluebell Trail at Bull Run. I suspect there will be much more nature ahead of us this week, just as soon as the rain clears out. Nothing like celebrating spring with lots of mud!
We are praying the Divine Mercy novena this week and will take advantage of Mercy Sunday celebrations at our parish.
I am determined to celebrate 50 Days of Easter this year. I'm using Jessica's plans for the Garden of the Good Shepherd as a starting place.
***
To Fit and Happy...
Yesterday, I hiked more than two miles carrying a 15 pound baby and lunch and drinks for eight (it's a long story).I did it in pretty good time. I'm not sore today and I'm feeling pretty fit.Next time I go to the bluebells however, I'd prefer to plop down on a blanket and gaze upon the flowers for hours.
***
I am thankful for ...
a glorious First Communion Day for Katie. She was utterly beautiful. When it was time for the consecration, she looked at me and literally hopped up and down with joy. We'll do a picture post just as soon as I gather from all my different camera sources.
***
a glorious First Communion Day for Katie. She was utterly beautiful. When it was time for the consecration, she looked at me and literally hopped up and down with joy. We'll do a picture post just as soon as I gather from all my different camera sources.
***
From the kitchen ...
Hard boiled eggs for lunch
Easter Ham tonight. I didn't cook for Easter and we have a ham that was a gift. We'll have our Easter Menu tonight.
Hard boiled eggs for lunch
Easter Ham tonight. I didn't cook for Easter and we have a ham that was a gift. We'll have our Easter Menu tonight.
Honeybaked Ham
Corn Casserole
Mesclun salad with roasted beets and goat cheese
Roasted Asparagus
Strawberries and Cream
***
I am wearing ...
a bathrobe, pjs, very soft, baggy pink socks and a ponytail (that's exactly what I was wearing this time last week:-). I have gotten a haircut since last week, so the ponytail is shorter and perkier, I think.
a bathrobe, pjs, very soft, baggy pink socks and a ponytail (that's exactly what I was wearing this time last week:-). I have gotten a haircut since last week, so the ponytail is shorter and perkier, I think.
***
I am creating ...
a list for our Garden of the Good Shepherd activities. Tomorrow, I'm going to drop a couple of bigger kids at the movies and then do a craft store run to stock up for the next six weeks. I'd like to stock my drawers and get my act together much like this lady. I want my learning room to serve us again.
a list for our Garden of the Good Shepherd activities. Tomorrow, I'm going to drop a couple of bigger kids at the movies and then do a craft store run to stock up for the next six weeks. I'd like to stock my drawers and get my act together much like this lady. I want my learning room to serve us again.
***
On my iPod...
Easter music from the Basilica.
***
Towards a real education ...
Nature drawing, botany, creeks and pond study...
Does that sound official enough to justify taking the week to hang out on the banks of the creek and watch flowers grow?
***
On my iPod...
Easter music from the Basilica.
***
Towards a real education ...
Nature drawing, botany, creeks and pond study...
Does that sound official enough to justify taking the week to hang out on the banks of the creek and watch flowers grow?
***
Bringing beauty to my home ...
Ever notice how beautiful a house becomes when Mama smiles? I have and I'm endeavoring to make my house so beautiful much, much more often.
Ever notice how beautiful a house becomes when Mama smiles? I have and I'm endeavoring to make my house so beautiful much, much more often.
***
I am reading ...
The Anne of Green Gables series. Re-reading it and pre-reading it, actually. Did you notice that someone else is, too? We've got some grand ideas, we do! I have lots of wonderful literature choices to pre-read this spring and summer. I'm falling in love with my favorite books all over again as I relish the thought of sharing them with the daughter-who-is-a-young-lady.
The Anne of Green Gables series. Re-reading it and pre-reading it, actually. Did you notice that someone else is, too? We've got some grand ideas, we do! I have lots of wonderful literature choices to pre-read this spring and summer. I'm falling in love with my favorite books all over again as I relish the thought of sharing them with the daughter-who-is-a-young-lady.
***
I am hoping and praying ...
that my poor husband feels better soon.He herniated a disk while working in Salt Lake City on Saturday. Then, he flew to LA to catch a red-eye and flew home all night long. Heroically, he made it the the Basilica in time for Katie's First Holy Communion. The man is in excruciating pain and has a whole week (or more?) of doctors and therapy ahead of him.
that my poor husband feels better soon.He herniated a disk while working in Salt Lake City on Saturday. Then, he flew to LA to catch a red-eye and flew home all night long. Heroically, he made it the the Basilica in time for Katie's First Holy Communion. The man is in excruciating pain and has a whole week (or more?) of doctors and therapy ahead of him.
***
Around the house ...
the house is not so bad. We pulled a couple of long nights last week and made some progress on the Lenten Cleaning. I consulted with my favorite domestic inspiration, and decided it was time to switch to a more practical maintenance mode. I'm re-working my notebook system slowly, drawing Mary Beth into the process this time. I think that if I can think my way through re-organizing the learning room and re-working the housekeeping routines, we'll finally be out of the bedrest-then-postpartum domestic funk. If, if, if...
***
One of my favorite things ...
Bluebells. But you knew that, didn't you? Actually, my favorites are roses and bluebells. My dear husband tells me that he's made arrangements for some help putting in a proper rose garden this week. Roses and bluebells in the same week. I live a beautiful life.
the house is not so bad. We pulled a couple of long nights last week and made some progress on the Lenten Cleaning. I consulted with my favorite domestic inspiration, and decided it was time to switch to a more practical maintenance mode. I'm re-working my notebook system slowly, drawing Mary Beth into the process this time. I think that if I can think my way through re-organizing the learning room and re-working the housekeeping routines, we'll finally be out of the bedrest-then-postpartum domestic funk. If, if, if...
***
One of my favorite things ...
Bluebells. But you knew that, didn't you? Actually, my favorites are roses and bluebells. My dear husband tells me that he's made arrangements for some help putting in a proper rose garden this week. Roses and bluebells in the same week. I live a beautiful life.
***
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
lots of nature study; a spring break visit from a favorite friend; Easter craft planning; soccer game at GMU on Saturday, followed by the Championship Ring Banquet; Little League Opening Day.
lots of nature study; a spring break visit from a favorite friend; Easter craft planning; soccer game at GMU on Saturday, followed by the Championship Ring Banquet; Little League Opening Day.
***
Picture thoughts
Easter was beautiful, glorious, despite the monkey wrenches thrown into the machinery. We gathered with all our children and Mike's parents and his sister and her family at the Basilica and then we went to brunch. Mike was in terrible pain, but persevered through the day with astounding dignity and grace. Sarah Anne smiled though her first Easter, when she wasn't sleeping peacefully. Katie was a beautiful first Communicant and her day was everything she'd hoped it would be.
Divine Mercy Novena~ Day 4
/
"Today bring to Me Those Who Do Not Believe In God and Those Who Do Not Yet Know Me. I was thinking also of them during My bitter Passion, and their future zeal comforted My heart. Immerse them in the ocean of My mercy."
Most Compassionate Jesus, You are the Light of the whole world. Receive into
the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who do not
believe in God and of those who as yet do not know You. Let the rays of Your
grace enlighten them that they, too, together with us, may extol Your
wonderful mercy; and do not let them escape from the abode which is Your
Most Compassionate Heart.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze
upon the souls of those who do not believe in You, and of those who as yet do
not know You, but who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of
Jesus. Draw them to the light of the Gospel. These souls do not know what
great happiness it is to love You. Grant that they, too, may extol the
generosity of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Image available at Saints Market
Divine Mercy Website
In Honor of This
/MSNBC garbage, which completely distorts the point of marriage and then persuades readers that babies are bad for marriage, I'm republishing the column below. Babies might be bad for distorted marriage, but they're not bad for good marriage. They're good--all good. And we're better for having them.
In Covenanted Happiness, Msgr. Cormac Burke writes,
Spouses need to improve in life--to rise above their present worth--if they are to retain their partner's love. It is good therefore--it is essential--that each spouse sacrifices himself or herself for the other.But it is doubtful if any husband and wife, on their own, can inspire each other indefinitely to generosity and self-sacrifice. Children can and do draw from parents a degree of sacrifice to which neither parent alone could probably inspire the other. It is for the sake of their children that parents most easily rise above themselves. Parental love is the most naturally disinterested kind of love. In this way, as they sacrifice themselves for their children, each parent actually improves and becomes--in his or her partner's eyes also--a truly more loveable person.
What does that mean, exactly? What does it mean, practically? Msgr Burke is a priest. What can he know about the daily sacrifices made by two people who live together in marriage? Well, he knows what doesn’t work. In his position as a judge of the Roman Rota, he’s seen a lot of failed marriages, listened to a lot of sad stories. And he can draw on the collective experiences of many couples who didn’t grow. But he’s never gotten up in the morning to discover the toilet seat up and the toothpaste top discarded—by someone else. He’s never had to choose whether to stay up and resolve the argument or go to bed angry. So the lofty philosophy above might need a little practical illumination.
In the beginning, it’s easy to serve your husband. The sun rises and sets upon his shoulders. Everything about him draws you closer. Serving him actually serves you; there is so much romance to be had in return for your good will. But as time goes on, the rain falls occasionally and every good turn isn’t always met by a better one. A child is born. A husband might actually panic at first. This eight pound wonder seems to draw so much attention, so much affection, away from him and towards the baby. How is learning to be a mother going to make us better wives and lovers?
When we commit our mothering to our pursuit of holiness, it all falls in line. At first, it’s physical. We carry the child within in us and so we abolish all physical vices. Now, we eat according to that impossible chart in What to Eat When You’re Expecting. We don’t even dream of sipping the foam off our husband’s beer. We gulp down cod liver oil when just the thought of it makes us gag. We smile when people assure us that nausea and vomiting are “good things.” Giving up chocolate for Lent is easy compared to this new offering of physical sacrifice. We begin to understand what self-sacrifice really looks like. Every day is a little Lent, a little more leaning on the Holy Spirit, a little less leaning on ourselves.
And then the baby is born. We learn that we never have to set an alarm again and that five hours straight is a good night’s sleep. As regularly as the monastery bells, the baby calls us to physical mortification--to hours upon hours of quiet prayer accompanied only by the squeak of the rocker and the swallows of baby at the breast. And somewhere, in the quiet of the early morning, just before dawn breaks, we look at the baby and we recognize that we want to be a better person because of her. We pray for strength and grace and wisdom; we ask for holiness.
We know that we are tired and so we beg for patience because we don’t want to be cranky and demanding mothers. Nor do we want to be cranky and demanding wives. We begin to recognize that in order to shape our children into holy little beings, we have to be holy beings. We can’t ask of them what we don’t ask of ourselves. We want nothing more than to deliver them safely to heaven, so we begin to look carefully at our own journey. And we learn to pray, really pray.
The children grow. We begin to recognize that in order to inspire good attitudes and cheerful cooperation, we have to have good attitudes and cooperate cheerfully. When we are tired, when we are pulled in a million directions, when we are crucified--just a little--a dozen times a day, we pray that we can be kind and gentle and good. We notice that when we treat our husbands with kindness, our children treat each other with kindness. Those little people who look so much like us challenge us. They reflect us. They beg us to work on our own sanctity—for their sakes, for our sakes, for heaven’s sake.
A house full of children requires all the sacrifices of a small household multiplied many times over. There is more of everything—sleepless nights, illnesses, laundry, meals, sacrifices. More opportunities to die to oneself provided graciously by our loving Father and Creator. And more grace. More is required of everyone to get along with so many personalities. More is learned by everyone about how God is diverse and complex and reflects His image in a myriad of people right under our own roofs. Each one unique. Each one precious. Each one challenging us to learn to love more, to learn to love better.
Our edges grow softer. Our hearts open wider. With each baby, as our bodies grow a bit rounder, a bit more feminine, true grace begins to grow. And that grace allows us to be a more empathetic wife, a more tender lover. It allows us to push beyond the fatigue to listen to the long story at the end of the long business trip. It reminds us that a backrub and a warm mug are comforting whether you are 4 or 14 or 40. The infinite grace for which we pray with every squeak of the rocker is poured generously into our souls. God knows that mothering a large family requires heroic effort. God knows that providing for a large family requires heroic sacrifice. God knows that keeping a marriage healthy and holy in the midst of the cacophony and chaos of many children is a challenge no couple can meet on its own. And God smiles on those couples and grants them every grace they need. He so wants them to ask—sometimes to beg-- to be totally dependent on Him. To be sure, they will fall to their knees in utter desperation. And as surely as the sun rises, with every baby, He showers a bounty of blessing and more than enough of everything needed for the journey to heaven.
