Papa and the Pioneer Quilt
/Rebecca's Papa has wandering feet. He packs up the family in a covered wagon and they head to Oregon. Along the way, Rebecca gathers scraps of fabric from family and friends, meaningful mementoes of their journey together. When they arrive in Oregon, she quilts all the memories into a lovely blanket. The book was inspired by the pioneer quilt pattern "Wandering Feet."
We had a wonderful time with this one. I sat with a handful of 5 inch fabric squares on my lap and handed one to each of my three listeners every time Rebecca gathered a scrap for her collection. At the end, I added a few more. Then we sat on the floor, they did a little trading, and designed their own small quilts. We stitched them all together for some very lucky baby dolls.
Photo credit: Evelyn Hockstein for the New York Times. Used with Permission.
Photo credit: Evelyn Hockstein for the New York Times. Used with Permission.
More books on the Oregon Trail theme:
If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon
If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon
An entire {free} unit study on Pioneers and the Oregon Trail
More books on the patchwork and quilting theme:
Eight Hands Round: An Alphabet Book (pioneer life told through 26 quilt patterns)
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
For a detailed explanation of our Storybook Year and a long lists of ways to talk about books, click here.
Welcome to Needle and thREAD!
/I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.
Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week.
Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us!
If you have any trouble linking up, just email me and I will help you! If you would like to have another color other than what's available, please email me and I'll do my best to get it added quickly.
How to (give up coffee and) add more Hours to your Day
/Last winter, when we returned from our long trip to Florida, I noticed that we were propelled into life in rapid motion. Everything seemed to be moving way too fast. Indeed, there were several crises, many of them urgent and pressing. From the time we got home, early in the third week of January, until the last week of March, I was in our pediatrician's office at least once a week, often many more times. He was a frequent caller at my home. And then there were the specialists to whom he was referring us. They were several and varied. With all this activity came the stress that illnesses visits upon mothers, but also, I noticed a severe interior stress--a straining almost to the breaking point. All these phone calls--and the visits to radiologists, orthodpedists, phlebotomists, cardiologists--all of it was just so much relentless noise to this introvert's spirit. Then, the first week that I didn't visit my pediatrician, my father-in-law was admitted to the hospital. The ICU is not a low stress place. I was more than fraying at the edges. I was unravelling at an alarming pace. I needed time to slow and I needed to quiet my soul. I wanted to stop living in fast forward and to begin to live intentionally again.
During this time of intensity, I did two things that I credit for saving my sanity: I gave up coffee and I returned to praying the entire Divine Office. Neither was my stated Lenten sacrifice. They both just happened as a graced gift of God.
I was very much out of my rhythm and feeling the lack of control that comes with a large family whose members are all suddenly needy at once. I recognized that I need to manage my stress better. I resolved to return to the practice of praying the Liturgy of the Hours. While it was counterintuitive to add this to my "to do list," I knew from prior experiences that this was not a "to do," it was a grace infusion. I trusted. And I set out with a very deliberate, very disciplined plan.
Unlike times past, there was no nursing baby this time to sit with me and pray, to remind me with those most melodious "chapel bells" that it was time again to pray. This time, the bells were programmed into my iPod (a low tech early generation iPod touch with some real scars of its own). The bells on the alarm can be set to sound like church bells. {{Funny aside: I left my iPod at home one day recently when we met two families in the woods to enjoy the bluebells. As we were sitting in the sunshine, I was completely befuddled when I heard "my bells" chiming. Apparently, I'm not the only Catholic mom who uses this method to call herself to prayer. It was my friend's iPhone summoning her!}}
First thing in the morning, I seize that Heroic Moment. Here's where I'm honest and admit that it's not all that heroic for me. I'm totally a morning morning and relish the opportunity to see the sun rise outside my closet window. Yep. My closet. My exercise bike is in my closet and that's where I go for the first forty-five minutes of every day. My bike was a gift from my father, nearly 13 years ago. It is well loved. I pray the Invitatory, Morning Prayer, and the Office of Readings, while pedaling hard and long. Divineoffice.org on my iPod is my companion throughout the day. I listen and pray and pedal and start my day with energy and focus and an infusion of much needed grace.
When I am finished, I've usually burned close to 300 calories;-). Oh, and I've prayed the psalms, the Old and New Testament, and read spiritual reading from the greatest spiritual leaders throughout time. The Liturgy of the Hours is rich with scripture, particularly with psalms. The Catechism describes the prayer of the psalms as the great school of trust in God. When I return to the psalms throughout the day, I am reminded to trust and to give everything to God. In a time of life that is full of pressing demands and unexpected crises, this is a message I need to hear from Him all day long.
Before my prayer time, alone in my closet, is up, I've prayed for the intentions of the Universal Church, for my own intentions, and for you. I think that is a very good--and very simple-- use of 45 minutes. Then, I shower and dress for the day. Usually, no one is yet awake.
My husband is a television producer-director. He is conscious of "hard breaks," usually commerical spots that are already programmed into the broadcast. Whether the on-air talent is finished or not, that show is going to go to break at the pre-programmed time. When I was nursing babies, my spiritual director encouraged me to think of every time I stopped to nurse as a call to prayer. That strategy worked beautifully for many, many years. Now, I need my chimes. I've grown to think of my preprogrammed chimes as my hard breaks. Throughout the day, the chime of the bells compels me to stop what I am doing and redirects my efforts towards God. The effect of this intentional stopping is to slow time. Instead of the hours skittering away, the habit of intentional stopping for prayer focuses me.
Praying the Liturgy of the Hours was a very good way for me to get into the habit of stopping intentionally to refocus my day. After several weeks of this practice, I wanted to add other devotions, but I could sense that it would be impractical for me to add additional prayer time to praying all the Hours. I wrestled with the dilemma for awhile on my own with Jesus and then I sought spiritual direction.
My good and holy priest smiled when I explained the dilemma and reminded me that I was praying more hours of the Divine Office than parish priests are asked to pray. We talked a bit about which devotions best suited my spirituality and my state of life. And we came up with a new prayer plan. I kept the morning routine, but changed up the rest of the day.
The next time my iPod chimes, it's 10:00. By this time, Mike has cleared the bedroom and gone to work. I leave whatever I am doing and go back upstairs. iPod in the dock, I pray Midmorning Prayer while I make the bed and tidy our bedroom. This is usually under 15 minutes of prayer time, but it's a very effective booster shot midmorning. Depending on my household and how schoolish things are coming along, I might gather up my little brood for a morning walk. The iPod goes into the cup holder in the stroller. My littlest usually plops herself down to be pushed, and we go for 20-30 minutes, listening to and praying the rosary. There is a free app here and there are several beautiful versions of a longer sung rosary on CD here. Then, back home and back to work.
We usually say grace and pray the Angelus at lunchtime (the Regina Coeli during the Easter season) and there's an app for that. There are several apps, actually. The one linked is a very simple one that has a chime that rings at noon (it can be programmed to ring at 6 AM and 6PM, too). If you have a favorite Angelus app, please chime in and let me know.
The next chime goes off at 3:00, the hour of mercy. There's an app for that, too. (And it's free;-) Back outside for about 25 minutes or so, depending on what I choose to use to pray the Chaplet. My favorite version of the Divine Mercy Chaplet is about 11 minutes longer than the spoken version. But even if I use the long version, that's only an 18 minute walk. Usually, I just keep walking and praying. Somehow, being outside is really important to slowing time and the movement of my body helps my to focus.
If this moving and praying is liturgically incorrect, I beg the Lord's grace. I think of Jesus as my exercise companion. He goes along with me on bike rides and long walks. I'm not a monk. My religious community is a motley crew of children with incessant needs. I need this outside break to my inside day and so do they. I need to move. This is where a 2:00 cup of coffee with sugar used to go. No more. I was never a huge coffee drinker. A cup in the morning, maybe, and then that 2:00 shot of caffeine. But with the increased exercise and the loss of sugar for Lent, all my desire for coffee evaporated. Vanished. Now I let God's mercy and the great outdoors fuel my late afternoon and evening. And I have found that our Lord is abundantly generous!
The bells chime again at 5:30. Evening prayer. This one is tricky. Always has been. We might be driving at this time, or I might be making dinner. If we are in the car, an iPod port makes it easy to listen to my iPod and go right on praying. At home, earbuds in the kitchen work just fine. My prayer time is rarely still. It's almost always active. Honestly, I find it easier to focus when I'm moving, but I do worry on occasion that our Lord asked that we "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalms 46:10) I try to get to Mass several times a week and I'm pretty still there...
While I cuddle my little ones to sleep, we listen to the rosary, if we haven't yet prayed it that day. Or we listen to favorite lullabies. I love this time. There is a peace to watching them drift to sleep, accompanied by prayer and song.
Night Prayer requires no alarm either. This is a well-established habit. I am in bed and still. Often, instead of my iPod, I use this lovely book. (Ouch, that's an outrageous new price. I do wish they'd publish these books again. They are so beautiful and there's nothing else like them.) It's all the better if I pray Night Prayer with my husband. It's a beautiful, peaceful way to end the day. No coffee. Lots of fresh air and exercise. An abundance of prayer. Even the sleep hours are so much more effective that they are mysteriously multiplied.
All good. All grace.
Above is the outline of a day gone well. It's the ideal. Some days are less predictable. Some days are cranky and out of sorts. Some days, it's all I can do when the bells chime to throw my apron over my head and whisper, "Jesus, mercy!"
That works, too. For me, I've found that the habit of constant reconnecting with the Lord is the "how" of living an intentional, striving-for-holiness life. It's a habit I mean to keep.
In the Moment: Easter Monday
/I find myself:
::noticing God's glory
It's early April. The tulips are already spent. The bluebells have bloomed and gone. Patrick has readied the rose garden for its moment of glory. Thankfully, the rose's season will last a long, long time.
And the boys have built a raised bed garden. It's just waiting. Isn't that a happy, hopeful thing? A brand new garden, filled with soil and ready for seedlings. What a gift!
::listening to
birds. So many birds under the pear tree in my front yard. They sound just lovely.
::clothing myself in
His infinite mercy.
::giving thanks for
a very fruitful Lent--the grace of a silent retreat and some time away alone with my husband. I'm so grateful to the people who made it happen.
::pondering prayerfully
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us. … O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You. (Diary of St. Faustina, 84, 1319)
::turning the pages of this book
I spent Holy Week reading Consoling the Heart of Jesus. There are a small handful of books in my life where I remember exactly where and when I read them because those times and places are turning points. This book is one of those. It is easily at the top of that list. This incredibly readable volume makes some of the most beautiful truths and devotions of the Catholic faith understandable (at last) and accessible (even to busy mothers of large families). Fr. Gaitley brings together fine threads of several spiritual traditions and weaves them into a beautiful and exceedingly useful tapestry of a do-it-yourself retreat. It is Ignatian spirituality made accessible. It is the Little Way of St. Therese for all of us. It is consecration to Mary and devotion to Divine Mercy explained in plain language and made clear to little souls. Mostly, it is a rich volume of Merciful Words that brings Merciful Love to its readers. You don't have to have a weekend to make the retreat. You can just read a little each day until you are finished. If it's your heart's desire to get to know and understand Jesus better, tell Him. He'll help you find the time. I heartily recommend that you hurry and get yourself a copy of this book--what a beautiful way to spend the Easter sason.
::creating by hand
I think this is the week I will attempt to sew a garment for myself. More on that on Thursday. (A quick St. Anne prayer would be appreciated though;-)
::learning lessons in
re-entry. I was away last week. Now I'm back. You'd think after making every re-entry mistake in the book when I came back in January, I would have learned. But I'm still learning.
::encouraging learning
We have a few little Easter week happy things planned, but we also have some lessons to do this week.
::carefully cultivating rhythm
I'm back in step with the rhythm of prayer. Lent is so good for that. I've resolved to keep all my Lenten resolutions. I made quite a few and they've born great fruit. I looked at every single one and decided that there was no better way than to celebrate the Easter season than to just keep doing what I've been doing.
One thing, though. I found, about half way through Lent, that I didn't really have time to write. I'd like to have time to write. I spent a good chunk of time alone last week and I had an opportunity to get some posts for this week written. Beyond that, I'm praying I figure out the writing time piece of the puzzle.
::begging prayers
for my friend, Leslie who carries a heavy cross into the Easter season and for her children: I pray that the joy of the Resurrection will be theirs even as the grieve. And for the repose of the soul of her husband:
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
::keeping house
Yeah. That. I'm doing it, I promise;-).
::crafting in the kitchen
this early spring has me befuddled in the kitchen, too. What local vegetable season is it, anyway? Farmer's Market is supposed to open in April. Any locals know which weekend?
I'm also planning meals to bring to my mother- and father-in-law. I need to think of things which are easily re-heated and provide some variety over the course of a few days. Any ideas?
::loving the moments
::I took lots of long walks in Coral Gables while Mike was at work. While the sights and sounds were wonderful, it was the feel of warm sun that especially blessed me. Oh, how that sun felt good!
::I had lots of uninterrupted time alone with Mike at te end of his work day.
:: After the feast and the Easter egg hunt yesterday, Karoline, who is five, organized all the cousins and siblings to put on an Easter play. From the Last Supper to the Resurrection, she scripted and directed the whole thing. It was a child who reminded us at the end of the long day exactly what the day was meant to celebrate. How happy she must have made Jesus! How He must have smiled at Nicholas carrying the seven foot cross and then curling up in the soccer-goal-turned-tomb. And Karoline, insisting it all happen and then bringing it life. Oh, to have the unabashed faith of a little child...
::living the liturgy
I'm determined that my family know that we are living the Easter season, just as surely as they knew that we were living Lent. What does that mean, exactly? How best to make it fifty days of bright hope and joyful prayer?
For us, Easter has always meant an abundance of time out door in the sunshine. Our beloved bluebells have come and gone, so this year, we will spend April getting to know some of the later blooming flowers (which are also blooming early--we'll get to know traditional may flowers this April).
It's also a season of blessed candles, holy water, and light. That means that candles will be lit on the mantel where the golden Alleluia letters shine, all the holy water fonts will be filled, and windows will be washed inside and out to let in the light.
The Eastertide hymn will be rung (or sung lustily as it may) and my children will be belting out Alleluias at random times for the foreseeable future, just because they can...
And we are looking joyfully forward to the Feast of Divine Mercy.
::planning for the week ahead
I plan to spend lots of time hugging on these sweet children! I missed them when I was away from them and I'm looking very forward to launching into this new season with them.
Many thanks to Emily DeHority for taking my camera in her hands thorughout the weekend. Some of these photos are hers. I'm not really sure who clicked what:-)
