We've got a candle lit

for  this little guy today. I can't imagine what it would be like to suddenly hear on the side where all one's life there has been no hearing. Today, I sit in awe and utter amazement at what can be done. When I was his age, they tried to just construct an outer ear for me--just a cosmetic fix. That didn't work. I don't think anyone thought there'd be a day when hearing could happen! God bless Simeon, his brave parents, and the doctors who will make this happen. Bilateral hearing; I can't even imagine it...

A Little Hot Under the Collar

Lisa Hendey, Rachel Balducci and I are talking about a hot topics today: how to choose what to blog and how to handle heated comments in the combox. Drop by ... and leave a comment;-)

Daybook: First of July

Outside My Window

It’s hot, humid, and horribly sticky.

I am Listening to

The sound of vuvuzelas. It’s all soccer, all the time, around here lately. When there isn’t a match being played and it sounds quiet, there’s an app for that;-) and Nicky appears to have downloaded it to every iPod in the house.

I am so Grateful for

I’ve always meant to join Ann’s gratitude community but never got organized to do the posts on time. Ann told me that this Daybook is my gratitude journal. So, with that kind of encouragement, here’s my list for the last few weeks:

1)   Morning quiet 

2)   Mike had two days off in a row.

3)   Date night at a new Asian Fusion restaurant with amazing tuna sushi

4)   A clean house

5)   A clean heart

6)   A clean slate

7)   Gracie. Gracie is spending the summer with us. We’ve created a new blog category called “Summer of Grace.” It’s especially for Gracie’s mom, who is in Colorado, missing her something fierce. I don’t know how long Gracie will be here. Maybe just for the summer. Maybe for much longer. And so, I seek to cram everything I can into this summer—to make it the little-girl summer of our dreams-- because I know not if we’ll pass this way again. And even as I hurl myself headlong into living life to its fullest with this child, I brace myself because I know the sting of goodbye and it might be right around the corner. Come to think of it, this summer is a microcosm of every intentional life with children, isn’t it?

8)   A long, long talk with Bobby, where, among other things, he shared with me some lessons on public criticism and perfectionism and friendship. He’s grown such much and I am ever grateful for him in our lives.

I'm Pondering

Blessedness does not lie in knowing something about God, but rather in possessing God within oneself. ~St. Gregory of Nyssa

I am Reading
Praying the Mass—this a must have for every Catholic household as we look to embrace the changes in the Roman Missal.

Rome and the Eastern churches—not an easy read, but a necessary one.

I am Thinking

That taking time away from the internet was a very, very good thing.

I am Creating

A  haven at home, one that welcomes big kids and little kids, both my own and the ones that come my way for a just a little while.

On my iPod

My Audio School. What a blessing! What a huge, huge blessing.

Towards a Real Education

‘reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmetic and a Family Bible Study. Simple. Worthwhile. Enduring. And yes, we are going to share the Bible Study. Look for it around the beginning of August.

Towards Rhythm and Beauty

Dear Sweet Lord, You have impressed upon me how important the rhythm of sleep is. Please teach me how to get it. The rhythm, I mean. And the sleep. Amen.

Here’s the deal: Michael trains until 10:45 and then drives home, arriving around 11:30. Paddy trains until 10 and Mike brings him home, around 10:30.Christian leaves for work at 6:45 some mornings and comes home as late as 9:30 some evenings. Nicky is up at 7. He and Stephen going running at 7:15. Sarah follows shortly thereafter (with the waking, not the running). I’ve taken to rising around 5, sometimes even a little earlier, in order to frontload my day with quiet, prayer, and exercise. There are an awful lot of us, each with his or her own rhythm. Makes it hard to sleep. Ever.

To Live the Liturgy

I have been reading and reading and reading about liturgy. But more than that, I have been praying liturgy. Really, the praying is more fruitful than all the reading about in the world.

I am Hoping and Praying

For Gracie’s mom.

In the Garden

We’ve picked our first Sungold tomatoes. It looks like our basil has dodged the dreaded blight, so far. The roses are rockin’! Oh my goodness! They are glorious! We have vases of roses all over the house, all the time.  We have a never-ending supply of fallen rose petals for our mudpie kitchen. And I never tire fresh roses.

Around the House

I’m puttering. The house has been clean since the internet break began (hmmm, is there a message there, perhaps?). So, I’ve been puttering and tinkering and thinking about big projects, but not so much doing them, because Mike has some huge projects going on at work. I need to hold off on creating chaos at home until they are well in hand. January, I’m looking at you!

From the Kitchen

 The summer menu is happening around here. And there’s an abundance of summer fruit. We haven’t done too much picking this season. Our van is not so road-worthy that it wants to carry us all out to the orchard and we don’t all fit in the other car. But Costco is well stockedJ

One of My Favorite Things

Thunderstorms. I love thunderstorms in the summer. I loved them when I managed swimming pools and it meant we got to shut it all down and hunker in the guard house playing…I love it now when it means certain respite from the heat and a cooling darkness in mid-afternoon. I love the sounds and the wind and the fact that my plants can always use the rain. Bring it on!

Sarah Annie this week

It’s been two months since my last daybook. My baby isn’t so baby any more. She walks and talks. She flirts. She plays “babies” with her sisters. She “helps” me cook dinner. She burrows herself ever more deeply into my heart.

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week

We’re planning a  4^th of July bash on the 3^rd of July. Our neighborhood fireworks are that night and they are very well seen from our backyard. Cookout, hangout, lookout.

My house has  a revolving door lately! Stephen and Paddy spent a week at soccer camp. The day after they came home, Mary Beth left for the beach with a friend. When she returns, Michael will go to the beach with a friend. When he comes back, Christian will leave for the beach with a friend. And then, I think Paddy goes again. There’s a whole lot of missing going on with these little ones.

Picture thoughts:

Michael's biggest fans critique his latest piece for USAToday

  
 

 
 

In an instant

From summer 1998

In bed, asleep, shortly after midnight, my husband and I wereawakened by the frantic barking of our dog in the basement. As abruptly as the barking began, it ceased. It was followed by a long, low, rolling boom that jolted me out of bed and in to check on my children instinctively. Over the next half hour, we watched through the large foyer window as rescue equipment rushed in the direction of the billowing smoke a mile away.

In the light and relative calm of the following morning, we learned that a new home had exploded. Two children were thrown from the third story where they had been asleep in their beds. Their parents, who had not yet moved their bedroom furniture into the house, were sleeping on a sofa on the main floor. The children’s father survived the blast, sustaining life threatening burns over his entire body. Their mother perished in the blaze, calling for help, as new neighbors stood by helplessly, awaiting fire and rescue equipment.

Before the questions and angry accusations of incompetence began, an entire small town struggled through the shock to make sense of the tragedy. I spent the day wondering. I recalled a woman I’ve known all my life who always makes sure the entire house is immaculate and even the bathmats are freshly washed before she leaves town on a trip. Her theory is that one never knows if she might not return and she wouldn’t want the people who come to her house after her demise to find a mess. I guess the bathmats don’t matter much in the house down the street. I wonder if the mother’s relationship with her Lord was a strong and vital one. I wonder if she met her maker with confidence in His goodness and mercy.

Did the mother spend a few extra minutes with her children that night, snuggling and talking before they went to sleep? Or was she feeling pressed to continue with the myriad of chores associated with settling in a new house, trying to make it feel like home.? Those children have no tangible mementos of their mother. There are no family photographs or videotapes left in the house, no carefully written baby books, chronicling how her love for them grew as they did. All they have left is the memories of her time with them. I wonder; did she spend that time as she would have had she known how short it was to be?

Did she give her husband a kiss before they went to sleep that night? Did they have time to talk together and to reflect on their new life in their new home? Or did they sink into bed, exhausted by the physical and emotional exertion of moving? He is lying in a hospital as I write, fighting to recover from severe burns. If he survives, and our fervent prayer is that he does, he will be left to raise his children alone. He alone will live out this couple’s greatest life’s mission. I wonder; will the foundations of his relationship with his wife, the investments that they made in their marriage and their family before her death, be strong enough to sustain him in her absence?

A new house is a huge investment. Financial experts agree that, for most people, it is the largest single investment they will make in their lifetimes. It shouldn’t be. The largest investment should be in the relationships one has with the people live who live in the house and the God who created them all.

Bored Yet?

From sometime in the 1990s

"I’m bored. There's nothing to do." Have you heard that yet?

"I can't wait for them to go back to school."

Have you said that yet? Injust a few weeks, the big yellow buses will lumber around the corner again and the secular press wi11 be full of predictable columns about parents who are so relieved that summer is finally over. Before it’s too late, take some time to take advantage of the relaxed nature of the season and the warm weather to make some memories. Here are some ideas to get you started:

— Go for a pajama ride. This one comes from the home of Len and Barbara Rice, who surprise their kids by hustling them out of bed, pajamas and all, shortly after lights out to go on an adventure. The Rices have done pajama rides in the dead of winter (once to get a guinea pig they named Valentine), but there is certainly an advantage to summer rides. In the Foss household, pajama rides are in the morning. We get everyone up early and take them to breakfast in their pajamas. Obviously, we make sure that pajamas are suitable for the occasion before they go to bed.

— Give baths outside. This only works if your children are very little. Fill the wading pool, grab the shampoo and avoid the bathtime mess indoors. They will get just as clean with the hose outside and it wil1 be a treat instead of a chore.

— Go to a yard sale or flea market. Give your children each a dollar and set out early on a Saturday morning. A dollar is plenty to find a treasure, and children love the thrill of the hunt. You may find something good, too. If you have an aversion to yard sales and don’t care to recycle someone else’s junk, go to a farmer's market. This is really a case where the early bird gets the worm. Be sure to buy fruit and go home to make cobbler for breakfast.

— Go to a duck pond or park and let them feed the birds. When I was in high school, a girl my age came from New Mexico to spend a couple of weeks with me in the summer. She had never been east before, and she commented daily on how green my world was. I have never forgotten her awe at the landscape I took for granted. There are beautiful parks in this area; take advantage of them. Enjoy the trees and the water and give voice to the wonder of God's handiwork.

— Go to a museum or art gallery. On a day that is too hot to commune with nature, when you are tiring of the same pool routine, play tourist in Washington. The museums are very cool, both literally and figuratively. They are wonderful places to find something of interest for varied ages, and we locals tend to overlook them. If it is a hot day, you might want forego the zoo until the fall. My children refuse to go in the heat because they can't stand the smell.

— Go for a walk before sunrise or after dark. We have done a lot of walking this summer. I can take up to two children under 50 pounds each in a double jogging stroller, and they lobby for position. My oldest child, who is ineligible for a ride, loves to run bulge me. For the little kids this is often a pajama ride. We walk at a pretty fast pace, but not too fast to talk. The quiet of that time of day and the rhythm of the wheels seem to inspire conversation. Nighttime walks are nice for stargazing,

Finally, go camping. If you have never camped before, I strongly recommend a tent in the backyard or a nearby park. Keep it simple. According to my five-year-old, the only essentials are that you sleep on the ground and you roast marshmallows. Chances are, this idea and the others will only be the beginning. Your family will add its own embellishments and some summertime tradition. will be born. You might even find yourself wishing that the big yellow bus hold off just a little longer.