Just Another Day In Paradise

First day of school distraction

written by our 10th grade student :-)

Trial homeschooling schedule for 2009

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to leave me a comment. I did not schedule PE, Art or Music. I simply ran out of time. I don't function well after 2:00 :-) I might have to add an afternoon cup of coffee.

6:00 Mom- alone prayer time, Mass on Mondays and Tuesdays at 7:00. Mass on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. No school Fridays, Mass at 9 am.

7:00 Kids- Wake-up, make beds, get dressed, 15 minutes spiritual reading alone

7:45 Everyone- Breakfast and chores

8:15 Everyone- Rosary, Spiritual read aloud

8:45 Marygrace- Math
   Cecilia- Religion
 Joseph and Kolbe- Spelling and handwriting
      Mom- 100 Easy Lessons with Angela

9:15 Cecilia- Spelling and handwriting
   Mom- Math with Joseph and Kolbe
   Angela- play with baby

9:45 Marygrace- Religion
   Mom- Catechism with Cecilia
   Angela- The Code B and C

10:30 Everyone- Snack

10:45 Marygrace- Wordly Wise
Cecilia- Math
Kolbe and Joseph- History
     Mom- Math with Angela

11:15 Marygrace- Science
Mom- English 5 with Joseph and Kolbe
Angela- play with baby

11:45 Cecilia-  Reading to little kids

12:00 Everyone- Lunch and chores

12:30 Marygrace- English
Cecilia- History
Mom- Catechism with Angela
Joseph and Kolbe- Reading

1:00  Mom- Catechism with Joseph and Kolbe

1:30   Mom- English 7 with Cecilia
Marygrace- History
Joseph and Kolbe- Science

2:30   Cecilia- Science
  Marygrace- Grammar

3:00 Everyone- Divine Mercy Chaplet, snack and Catholic Mosaic

St. Anne would be so pleased!

Molly's 11 year old daughter Siena made this beautiful St. Anne necklace. She has a few other pieces for sale and Molly will be posting them sometime soon. Please stop by and let her know what you think. She is a very talented little girl.

Ready for Sunday morning breakfast

Each row has its own set of salt and pepper and miniature hot sauce bottles :-) As soon as I can afford it, I'm going to buy 6 pancake syrup dispensers. There are two benches under the left side of the table, which seats three in each bench. Since the table measures 12 and a half feet long,  I wasn't able to find a tablecloth long enough, so I bought 5 yards of fabric and used that as the table cloth. Unfortunately, we had a lot of rain this week and I wasn't able to dry it on the clothesline, so I put it in the drier and it shrunk. I keep the placemats on all the time and it keeps the table pretty clean.  

Oh, oh! Someone got to the markers

can you guess who? :-)

Traditional feast of Our Lady of Czestochowa

The Black Madonna was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist; and it was while painting the picture, Mary told him about the life of Jesus, which he later incorporated into his gospel. The next time we hear of the painting is in 326 A.D. when St. Helen found it in Jerusalem and gave it to her son and had a shrine built for it in Constantinople. During a battle, the picture was placed on the walls of the city, and the enemy army fled. Our Lady saved the city from destruction. The picture was owned by many other people until 1382 when invading Tartars attacked a Prince Ladislaus' fortress, where the painting was located. A Tartar's arrow lodged into through the throat of the Madonna. The Prince transfered the painting to a church in Czestochowa, Poland.

In 1430, the church was invaded and a looter struck the painting two times with his sword, but before he could strike it another time, he fell to the ground in agony and pain, and died. The sword cuts and the arrow wound are still visible on the painting. The miracles worked by Our Lady of Czestochowa seem to occur mainly on a public scale. During her stay in Constantinople, she is reported to have frightened the besieging Saracens away from the city. Similarly, in 1655 a small group of Polish defenders was able to drive off a much larger army of Swedish invaders from the sanctuary. The following year, the Holy Virgin was acclaimed Queen of Poland by King Casimir.

When the Russians were at Warsaw's gates in 1920, thousands of people walked from Warsaw to Czestochowa to ask the Madonna for help. The Poles defeated the Russians at a battle along the Wisla (or Vistula) River. Today, every school child knows the victory as "The Miracle on the Wisla." During World War II under German occupation, the faithful made pilgrimages as a show of defiance. That spirit deepened during the atheistic years of Soviet-enforced communism. Government attempts to stop the pilgrimages failed.

In the early 1980s, Walesa didn't drape himself in the Polish flag when he was leading the outlawed Solidarity movement; he placed an Our Lady of Czestochowa lapel pin on his jacket. Poles knew it to be a subversive message. Pope John Paul II, a native son of Poland, prayed before the Madonna during his historic visit in 1979, several months after his election to the Chair of Peter. The Pope made another visit to Our Lady of Czestochowa in 1983 and again in 1991.

Why is She Black?

There have been reports for centuries of miraculous events such as spontaneous healings occuring to those who made a pilgrimage to the portrait. It is known as the 'Black Madonna" because of the soot residue that discolors the painting. The soot is the result of centuries of votive lights and candles burning in front of the painting. With the decline of communism in Poland, pilgrimages to the Black Madonna have increased dramatically. Source: Catholic Culture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20 years of blessed motherhood

Happy 20th birthday to our beautiful daughter. We are so thankful that God gave you to us. You make our lives complete. We are so proud of you. God bless you, Adrianna!

Fingerpainting

Organizing the school room- part 3

The Art table

I was inspired to keep our art supplies in clear containers by Jen in her beautifully detailed post about her learning room. I found these pretty little glasses and jars at the thrift store for about .50 cents each. Ever since I organized the art supplies, the kids have been very busy drawing all sorts of pictures. Now that they can see the supplies, they are inspired to use them. It's not much, but it's a start. I hope to get paint brushes, paint, oil and chalk pastels, water colr pencils and lots of paper to keep them busy. Eventually, I plan on putting up a shelf so the baby won't be able to reach them, but for now they will be kept on the table and the kids take what they need to their individual desks.

Mother of Pearl- a child's first Rosary

 

This Rosary is perfect gift for a new baby or a First Holy Communion gift.

6mm Mother of Pearl Ave beads, 8mm crystal Pater beads, 3mm czech glass spacer beads, strung on 49 strands of stainless steel nylon coated wire, double crimped with stainless steel crimps for extra security. 3/4" center medal and 2" crucifix. One of a kind. Only 1 available. $33.00 plus $5.00 shipping

Queenship of Mary/ Trad. feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

 

"And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns: and on his head seven diadems: And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered, he might devour her son. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod: and her son was taken up to God, and to his throne."

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae: vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria. Amen.

Lord, have mercy on us!

Small Successes vol. 31

Here are my small successes for the past week, although the third one is very BIG :-)

1. We've been praying the novena to St. Monica since it began two days ago. Day three, here we go!

2. I survived oral surgery. 'nuff said!

3. I have been able to make it to Mass for twenty-one days in a row as of yesterday. It's been tough going out every day, but it's so worth it! Now, I'm off to make breakfast and then Mass at noon.

Please stop by Faith and Family Live for more of this week's Small Successes. We need to encourage each other.

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Rosa Mystica Rosary

One of a kind pink quartz Rosary. 8mm Hail Mary and Our Father beads. 49 strand stainless steel wire double cripmed for extra security. 2" crucifix and 1" Miraculous medal. $33.00 plus $5.00 shipping.

Not so "Wordless Wednesday"

Look at this pile of clean laundry. Why is it so easy for me to hang the clothes on the clothes line and take them down, but I can't keep up with folding them and putting them away? I look forward to going outside in the mornings and hanging the clothes on the line while listening to the birds singing and watching the baby play next to me. It reminds me of one of my favorite images of Our lady. Doing laundry helps me to count my blessings. 

It's really the kids' chore to fold the laundry and put it away, but I haven't been able to delegate much this month and now it's catching up with me. These are actually my husband's clothes, my clothes and the 4 little kids' clothes from the past three days. The three older girls do their own laundry. How can a family go through so many clothes in less than a week? I haven't even had a chance to wash the baby's diapers and the kitchen and bath towels. I'm doing that after the litltle kids go to bed tonight.

Maybe I should spend more time catching up with housework instead of making Rosaries while the baby sleeps. Maybe not ;-) In the meantime, I will praise God for the messes in my life.

Star of the Sea Rosary

8mm Hail Mary dark blue gemstone beads and 8mm crystal Our Father beads. 2" crucifix and 1" Miraculous medal. 49 strand stainless steel wire, double cripmed with stainless steel crimps for extra security. $33.00 plus $5.00 shipping. One of a kind. Only 1 available.

Novena to St. Monica- August 18th- 26th

Exemplary Mother of the Great Augustine,
You perserveringly pursued your wayward son
Not with wild threats
But with prayerful cries to heaven.

Intercede for all mothers in our day
So that they may learn
To draw their children to God.

Teach them how to remain
Close to their children,
Even the prodigal sons and daughters
Who have sadly gone astray.

Dear St Monica, troubled wife and mother,
Many sorrows pierced your heart
During your lifetime.
Yet you never despaired or lost faith.
With confidence, persistence and profound faith,
You prayed daily for the conversion
Of your beloved husband, Patricius
And your beloved son, Augustine.

Grant me that same fortitude,
Patience and trust in the Lord.
Intercede for me, dear St. Monica,
That God may favorably hear my plea
For

(mention your petition here)

And grant me the grace
To accept his will in all things,
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
In the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God forever and ever. Amen.

My thoughts about oral surgery

Oral surgery is more painful than my last 5 unmedicated births. At least I get to hold a beautiful baby when it is all over. I am beginning to see the need for prescription pain killers. I feel like I have been hit in the face with a baseball bat.

Yogurt and pudding are not very filling, especially for a nursing mother. Maybe ice cream will help me feel better, even if I don't feel full.

When the dentists tells you to use an ice pack to reduce swelling, take his word for it and use an ice pack. My face is a little deformed at the moment. I look like a "Who" :) I'm thinking a bag of frozen corn might come in handy right now.

Oral surgery gives you an oportunity to catch up on your emails and reading blogs. My google reader has no more items to be read. Thank goodness for laptops and wifi.

My husband is trying to make me smile laugh now. He's doing a silly dance and put on a comedy. What did I ever do to him? : ) : ) : ) : )

I'm not going to worry about the mess downstairs. I'm staying in bed until tomorow and deal with it in the morning. Thank goodness for the Wii, Netflix and pizza delivery.

Mary Ellen's words

A letter written by Ryan's mom, Mary Ellen:

Ryan was a light in our lives and now that he is forever at the feet of Christ his light will shine even brighter for us.

I know it’s been difficult for everyone, getting information
piecemeal. Here are some details, please feel free to share them or any part of this email.

Ryan was playing in a little stream a few yard from the campsite.
His father and the others knew where he was and he was in view.
Other kids were near him but after a bit they spread out. They were all very excited to be in the campsite, they had only just arrived. When they called the kids for prayers Ryan didn’t come and after a very short time the rangers were called and then the state police and fire marshals. They searched with dogs (my poor Ryan so terrified of them).

Dave called me at 11:30pm and then every hour until our dear friend, who was scheduled to go up there Sat with his four boys, drove me up at 4:30am. I arrived there at about 8:00 and they were searching with a helicopter and infrared radar as well as divers. He was found at about 10:30.

In the five minutes between the other kids being there and his being called Ryan had a grand mal seizure and slipped into the stream, his body was found a few feet away in a drain in a culvert. It is believed the seizure is what killed him although we don’t have confirmation of that yet.

When Dave and I saw him, he looked very peaceful and that was of great comfort to us.  Ryan received last rites at the campsite, two priests against all  odds showed up in the middle of the woods at exactly the right time to administer the sacrament. Only Ryan could have arranged that.

It was reported that Ryan wandered off and some reports were quite cruel in their tone. It just is not true. We did a brief interview with Newsday to try to correct that and have since had my brother dealing with turning away all of the news agencies. They have been like barbarians at the gate.

In the last 48 hours we have been so blessed by all of the prayers and love that we have received. My friend Chris has completely taken over and has made it possible for us to not have to think. The Knights of Columbus and Squires have also been incredible. I know all of the people on IHM and MO have been contacting Chris and lining up to help and we are just so grateful.

The pain that David and I are in is too unbearable to speak about. I ask for your prayers for us and our children. Katie and Erin in particular are old enough to understand and are completely devastated. Every time I look at them my heart breaks all over again. The little ones are sad and confused, not really understanding.

We are very mindful of how sad this is going to be for all off Ryan’s friends in IHM. For many it will be there first experience with losing a friend and Dave and I are offering up some of our sorrow for their comfort. They have lost a dear friend but gained mighty intercessor.

In the coming weeks we will read all of the emails and posts and do our best to respond to everyone, in the meantime please be assured of our gratitude and love for you all.

Love,
Mary Ellen

Mater Purissima Rosary

8mm Hail Mary and Our Father Riverstone beads. 2" crucifix and 1" Miraculous medal. 49 strand stainless steel wire, double cripmed with stainless steel crimps for extra security. $33.00 plus $5.00 shipping. One of a kind. Only 1 available.