Solemnity of Saint Joseph
Today, March 19th, all the Catholic World celebrates the Solemnity of Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph was the man chosen by our Father in Heaven to be the foster father of our Lord on earth. Our son, Karol Jozef, celebrates, in a special way, today’s feast, as he was, in part, named after Saint Joseph. In addition to being the patron of our first born, Saint Joseph is also the patron of fathers, the dying, carpenters and the Universal Church.
Tonight, when our family prayed Vespers together, we sang together this hymn:
Look down to us, Saint Joseph,
Protector of Our Lord,
Who followed you through deserts,
And gave you blessed reward;
Our foes are yet about us,
Be strength now at our side,
Be light against the darkness.
Saint Joseph, be our guide!
We venerate your justice,
The gospels praise your name,
You are the saint all humble,
Who gained eternal fame;
In your devoted family
Our souls in trust confide,
Direct our way to heaven.
Saint Joseph, be our guide.
Melody: Dutch Melody 76.76.D
Music: Holland, 1539
Peoples Mass Book, 1966
Text: Michael Gannon
For Real!
The Homeschool Mother’s Journal
In my life this week…
I spent a good amount of time adjusting to DST. I have a hard time with that, do you? I think I finally am adjusted. I am dealing with a strong willed two year old too, and that hasn’t helped. Coffee hasn’t worked either!!!
In other news, our little green car is dead. We have had it for eight years and it has served us well. We have put quite a bit of money in to it over the past three years and with this last repair, it is just time to replace it. We were looking at used, but realized the used car market is pretty expensive and we can buy a new one for the same price, or close to it, so we are praying about that right now.
In our homeschool this week…
We focused on Karol mostly, because I want to finish Kindergarten before the end of Lent so we can celebrate the Resurrection and take a break for a few weeks after that, before we begin first grade!
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Tomorrow is clean up day at the K of C Hall and I know Joshua is going. He is talking of having the whole family go, I am not sure about that. I might have Karol go with him. We are thinking of doing a tour at the Okefenokee Swamp, but I am holding off to see if Kroger has a better sale next weekend. (Waycross has the closest Kroger to us and I do love Kroger, so if we go to a town that has one, I stop and shop.)Â I am making Karol an eye appointment, as one of his eyes sometimes looks like it is not in line with the other. He doesn’t seem to have any problems, but better safe than sorry.
My favorite thing this week was…
Having Karol help with chores. Oh, the kids have things they are expected to do around here, but I added emptying the dryer to the list of things Karol does. He loved it. He even moved things over from the washer to the dryer. (gotta love front loaders!)
What’s working/not working for us…
Staying consistent!
Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…
I have read that Southern Mamas do schooling in the summer time because it is just too darn hot to be outside. I plan on doing that this summer with Karol for first grade work. We have a big trip coming up in August, so I will take time off for that (well, from book work, we will do on the road education then) but I figure for the rest of the summer months, we will just plug along at school work.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
I got nothin’ people, well I have something on my laptop, but it went kaput yesterday and Joshua is working on it for me. 🙂
Help!?!?
Today I post, asking begging for advice. I have a sweet, wonderful, funny and charming two year old girl, who is very strong willed and inquisitive. Right now, I am sitting on one end of the couch, while she is tucked in at the other end of the couch, for her daily nap. Except she isn’t sleeping.
I can hear you now, put her in bed, not on the couch. Well, that is where she normally naps, but the past few weeks, she has decided not to nap but to removed all items of clothing from the dressers, removed sheets from the bed, take mattresses off the bed and lock herself in the closet or, she is walking through the house looking to play with someone/thing. I check on her every three to five minutes, and sometimes, this damage was done in the time it took for me to take a bathroom break. Yesterday, I sat with her for a bit and she fell asleep pretty quickly, but I was unable to monitor the two older kids. Today, Benedict was still awake, so I made the bed for her on the couch.
I have also put her in bed with a swat on the well padded behind, which lead to tears of great sorrow…which only last the time it takes me to walk down the hallway, then she is back to “having fun”.
I am honestly not able to get much work done around the house in the afternoon because of this and am somewhat frustrated by it. I also will admit, it is nice to have 10 minutes to sit and relax in the afternoon, which with her lack of a nap, doesn’t happen. If I let her stay up, we have major melt downs around the time I start making dinner.
In addition to the naptime situation, there is the inquisitive side of her nature, the one the finds her in the bathroom, climbing on things (like from the toilet to the sink, to open the medicine cabinet and play), all done in the time it takes for me to start a load of laundry. I honestly have to keep my eyes on her every.second.of.the day and it is getting old.
She is child #3 and the other two were not so trying. I have tried giving her activities, letting her watch a special movie or putting on soothing music to keep her occupied, but she is drawn to dangerous or bad things.
So, veterans mamas, did you have a two year old like this? What did you do?
Monday Musings – First Monday of Lent
Right now…9:56 am, the sun is shining, the temp is 54 degrees, heading for a high of 82 today! The older kids are chasing each other around the house and Benedict is on the floor spinning wheels on the wooden dog.
This weekend…we cleaned the van, well the inside of the van. Joshua took out the seats and vacuumed then steam cleaned everything. It looks and smells much nicer in there. I took a Magic Eraser and a multi-purpose cleaner to everything and wiped everything down, but forgot windows, oh well. That took us all of Saturday afternoon, but it was certainly worth it. After that we cleaned up and went to the K of C Family Social for dinner and visiting with a few people.
Sunday and the time change. We got up and made it to Mass on time. 🙂 Our friends, the Spotswoods joined us too. I hope to see them more often there. We came home, made brunch, had the kids take naps and hung out. Karol doesn’t nap, so he was playing outside and I sat with him, upon his request. Joshua joined us too, it was a most wonderful day.
I dragged myself inside to make dinner and clean things up from brunch. I managed to get dinner on the table by 630, which wasn’t too bad and adjusting for the time change, the usual dinner time.`
Last night I made a lemon roll cake. I made the cake last night to celebrate the baby we lost about six years ago. Each year we celebrate our short time with her and this year, I made a cake.. Karol is very interested in his sister in heaven. (We don’t know if the baby was a boy or a girl, but I always felt girl, so we named her Gianna Maria, after St. Gianna and our Blessed Mother.) He talks about her a lot and wants to know what color eyes she has. He often talks of Heaven and wants to be good so he can go there and meet his sister.
Some plans for the week ahead: I would like to put together a Stations of the Cross booklet for our family, using this.
If I find some time for myself, I want to…do some spiritual reading. I picked up Frequent Confession from the parish library to read this Lent. I hope to be able to read a bit of it this week, without interruptions.
Prayer intentions for this week: For our clergy, that they may fully and faithfully live the duties of their vocations, even when it is hard and/or unpopular. For an increase in priestly and religious vocations. Finally, for the people of Japan.
Something that makes me smile:
Discovering this writing by Fr. John Hardon, SJ
For more musings check here!
Right now…835 am, the sun is shining, the weather a bit chilly, 46 degrees. Birds are chirping outside and the fish tank is gurgling behind me. The girls are playing and Karol is reading a book at my feet.
This weekend…we cleaned the van, well the inside of the van. Joshua took out the seats and vacuumed then steam cleaned everything. It looks and smells much nicer in there. I took a Magic Eraser and a multi-purpose cleaner to everything and wiped everything down, but forgot windows, oh well. That took us all of Saturday afternoon, but it was certainly worth it. After that we cleaned up and went to the K of C Family Social for dinner and visiting with a few people.
This weekend…we cleaned the van, well the inside of the van. Joshua took out the seats and vacuumed then steam cleaned everything. It looks and smells much nicer in there. I took a Magic Eraser and a multi-purpose cleaner to everything and wiped everything down, but forgot windows, oh well. That took us all of Saturday afternoon, but it was certainly worth it. After that we cleaned up and went to the K of C Family Social for dinner and visiting with a few people.
Sunday and the time change. We got up and made it to Mass on time. 🙂 Our friends, the Spotswoods joined us too. I hope to see them more often there. We came home, made brunch, had the kids take naps and hung out. Karol doesn’t nap, so he was playing outside and I sat with him, upon his request. Joshua joined us too, it was a most wonderful day.
Some plans for the week ahead: Make the covers for the couch cushions, to protect them from little kids. We also have Mass on Ash Wednesday. I hope to go out to our little parish for Mass and hit the seafood market out there, but I am not sure if Joshua will have the day off. If he doesn’t, we will go to Mass here then. I also plan on making it Stations of the Cross during the whole of Lent with our family. The local parish has them at 730 on Fridays, so that would work perfectly for us!
I dragged myself inside to make dinner and clean things up from brunch. I managed to get dinner on the table by 630, which wasn’t too bad and adjusting for the time change, the usual dinner time.
Last night I made a lemon roll cake. I made the cake last night to celebrate the baby we lost about six years ago. Each year we celebrate our short time with her and this year, I made a cake.. Karol is very interested in his sister in heaven. (We don’t know if the baby was a boy or a girl, but I always felt girl, so we named her Gianna Maria, after St. Gianna and our Blessed Mother.) He talks about her a lot and wants to know what color eyes she has. He often talks of Heaven and wants to be good so he can go there and meet his sister.
If I find some time for myself, I want to…do some spiritual reading. I picked up Frequent Confession from the parish library to read this Lent. I hope to be able to read a bit of it this week, without interruptions. I also would like to put together a Stations of the Cross booklet for the kids.
Prayer intentions for this week: For our clergy, that they may fully and faithfully live the duties of their vocations, even when it is hard and/or unpopular. For an increase in priestly and religious vocations. Finally, for the people of Japan.
Something that makes me smile:
For more musings check here!
The Homeschool Mother’s Journal – First Week of Lent
In my life this week…
was average. We had a pretty normal week this week. We finished up a round of colds and began our celebration of Lent. We attended Mass and received our ashes. We have been working with the kids on the penitential nature of Lent. They are learning about sacrifices and doing without. We had friends over one day, something I always enjoy. The kids get to play and I have adult conversation.
In our homeschool this week…
we have worked on reading. Karol has made leaps and bounds with reading. It is one thing to be able to read sentences but it another thing to understand what he is reading. This week I started asking him the meaning of what he had just read and he has been able to tell me the meaning, without using words in the sentence.
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
This week will be pretty laid back, not much going on as of this point, we shall see if anything comes up. I may call a friend to see about getting together to play.
My favorite thing this week was…
the beginning of Lent. Without Lent, we cannot have the Resurrection. Penance, sacrifice and hard word are good for the soul.
What’s working/not working for us…
Continuing to work slowly and without distraction of the two year old variety has helped productivity. I look forward to the conference I am attending in a few weeks, one of the talks will be about homeschooling different ages at different times so I hope to pick up tips from there.
Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…
Two questions today: 1. If you have an ants in the pants child, who always wiggles in his seat and stands up, sits down, stands up sit down, how do you handle it? 2. When Karol works on math problems, he will often times come up with the answer, but tell me before he writes it down, to see if it is a correct answer. I am thinking of just having him write down the answer, without my input, to learn to deal with incorrect answers, but I wondered what other mothers did in the situation.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
For more journals, check here!
{this moment}:non-sanctioned experiments in the toaster oven
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Â Hosted by SouleMama.
Thurday Chats
*Lent is upon us. I need Lent this year, badly. Lent sure took it sweet time getting to us too, didn’t it? Sigh. A day in and I am thanking God for this time of renewal, this time of penance and sacrifice. Deo Gratias!
*We went to Immaculate Conception for Mass yesterday and to receive our ashes. The kids were pretty spirited rotten, Caecilia had to be taken out a few times. Karol and Margaret were, well, Karol and Margaret. Benedict was awesome. Paid attention through the whole thing, especially to father’s homily, just like Sunday. We got there early and Joshua kept the big kids out side, running off steam and I went in to pray, for 10 minutes, only having to hold Benedict. Sigh, it was beautiful.
*After Mass we went to a seafood market in Moultrie, at the State Farmers Market. Joshua went in, while I waited in the van and fed the kids their lunch. I told him the budget, he stayed well below it and came out with fish for at least six meals. The fish seemed to be much, much cheaper than the local grocery store and it was fresh too. We had some tonight, baked and I didn’t have to drown it in lemon juice to eat, it was that good.
*Check out Family Hearth, for the recipe I created for the fish.
*Joshua stayed home from work today, so I took Karol and went to Noon Mass, then on some errands. We first mailed a package, then to the furniture store to look at dining room chairs, Target to pick up formula and the grocery store for some other items. If I were by myself, I would have done it all without stopping for food, but Karol had not eaten since breakfast and it was 2 pm, so we stopped at Jimmy Johns. And let me tell you bean sprouts = penitential.
*I finally broke down and ordered Karol some dress shoes, on line. I ordered from 6pm.com. I had never heard of the company until this week, but I can say that they have a nice selection of boys shoes. We also ordered a pair of sandals for him too and both arrived on Wednesday.
*I also ordered some clothes for me from Jessica London. I don’t know about you all, but I have such a hard time finding modest clothing. Add the fact that I am plus sized and there is not a whole heck of a lot out there. I must say, I look at the styles and think “What woman would feel comfortable it that?!” and as a plus sized woman, I can’t imagine sharing that much skin with the world. It doesn’t help that after Benedict was born, my body shifted in ways I never expected, so everything just fits funny now. I ordered a few shirts, a long skirt, and two pairs of capri pants. Everything fits wonderfully. I wish the skirt wasn’t a clearance item because I would order more, in different colors.
*Tomorrow we are having lunch with some kids from St. Mary University Parish at Central Michigan University and their Pastoral Associate, Jeremy Priest (who is not a priest). Jeremy is a friend of our from the PCJ. I will have to apologize to them for the cold weather, lows tonight are in the 30s.
*I made banana nut muffins for breakfast tomorrow morning. I made them with coconut oil and yogurt, with some Georgia Pecans. I will share that recipe if they taste good. 🙂 Edit: They were good, a very filling breakfast! Click here for the recipe.
Fr. Brett A Brannen,
author of To Save A Thousand Souls, was on EWTN Bookmark. This episode is 27 minutes long, but well worth it.
Though the book is written for men discerning the priesthood, Father Brannen tells of hearing from parents and grandparents that the book has helped them in helping their children/grandchildren seek out their vocations.
An easy, yet fulfilling read, this book is, as I have said before, a must have for family and parish libraries!