{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of everyday life ~

round button chicken

Today I am linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real}

{pretty}

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Two weeks ago, we went to the Okefenokee Swamp and took a 90 minute boat tour of the swamp, here the kids are, ready for anything. (we did see a few alligators and a few herons.)

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Have you ever said “I’m going to start going to bed early.”, only find yourself unable to do so, or with so many things to do, you just cannot get in bed before 11? That was me last night. My coffee was a beautiful sight this morning!

{happy}

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Ah, coffee with cream, perfect.

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Karol doing science and Margaret working on Mathmanatics (her word). I started her with the subject yesterday and she has worked through almost 40 (yes forty) pages!

{funny}

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I put potty pants on Benedict during the day, to help aid in potty training. These ones were sliding down his legs just a bit, so I told him to pull them up. He instead pulled them off and put them on his head. Yeah, that’s my boy.

{real}

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Laundry. I have gotten a bit behind and this weekend is full of things to go and do, so I am working on getting it all caught up today. These are the clothes from the kids. I was theirs separably from us, so that folding and putting away is easier. (that also means I have a total of six loads to do, plus diapers later!)

Filed under: phfr, {pretty, happy, funny, real}

Integrity

 

I believe, Mr. Santorum, you were elected, in some part, on your pro-life convictions, therefore, you should have stood up and said that you would not vote for a budget that funded any sort of abortifacient birth control and voted no, it’s called INTEGRITY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyFSXGVX73s&feature=player_embedded

Filed under: American Liberties, Catholic, General Stuff

This Week in Saints

On the calendar this week, we celebrate the feasts of St. Paul Miki and Companions (February 6), St Jerome Emiliani and St. Josephine  Bakhita (February 8), St. Scholastica (February 10) and Our Lady of Lourdes (February 11).

  • St. Paul Miki and his Companions lived in 16th Century Japan. They were martyred by being hung on crosses and shot with arrows. You can read more about them here.
    • Ideas to celebrate the feast day: Pray for the persecuted members of the Church, read of the history of the Church in Japan, or  prepare a Japanese meal for dinner.
  • St Jerome Emiliani, founder of the Order of Somascha, was a soldier prior to his conversion in the early 1500s. After being ordained a priest, he set up schools for children, mostly orphans. He is the patron of orphans and abandoned people.
    • Ideas to celebrate his feast day: Read about his life here, pray for orphans and abandoned people, and read about the order he founded.
  • St. Josephine Bakhita was born in the Dafur region of the Sudan, in the 1800s. At a young age she was kidnapped and sold in to slavery, eventually she was sold to an Italian man in the Sudan who eventually took her to Italy and gave her to a friend. She was the caregiver for this friend’s child and attended catechism classes with her. She eventually entered the Church, taking the name Josephine. In time, she fought for her freedom and won, then entered the Institute of Saint Magdalene of Canossa. She is the patron of the Sudan.
    • Ideas for her feast day: Pray for the people of the Sudan, read the encyclical Spe Salvi, as in it,Pope Benedict XVI discusses her,or read about the plight of the people in the Sudan, and ask for her intersession.
  • St. Scholastica is the twin sister of St. Benedict, the father of Western Monasticism. There is a wonderful story about St. Benedict visiting her at a house and in her desire to spend the evening talking with about heaven, asked him to stay. He told her he was not able to stay away from the monastery and prepared to leave. St. Scholastica then prayed and a sudden storm  blew up. St. Benedict was not able to leave due to the rain and said to his sister  “‘What have you done?’ Scholastica simply answered, ‘When I appealed to you, you would not listen to me. So I turned to my God and He heard my prayer. Leave now if you can. Leave me here and go back to your monastery.” In the end, he stayed and they talked the whole night long. She died three days later. Tradition holds that St. Benedict saw her soul ascend to Heaven in the form of a dove.  She is the patron against rain,  convulsive children,  nuns, and storms.
    • Ideas for her feast day: talk to your children about the brother and sister saints and how much they love each other, color a picture of a dove, pray the liturgy of the hours, and read more about St. Scholastica here. 
  • Our Lady of Lourdes is a feast we celebrate in honor of Our Lady’s first apparition to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France.
    • Ideas for celebrating the feast: bless your children with holy water, place flowers before your Marian statue at home, watch the 1943 version of  The Song of Bernadette, and sing a song to Our Lady 

 

Filed under: Catholic, this week in saints

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of everyday life ~

round button chicken

Today I am linking up with Rosie from Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real}

{pretty}

Sister Joseph Marie

This past weekend, I wen to Birmingham, Alabama for a retreat with the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word. While there, I was able to visit with a family friend, Sister Joseph Marie. Joshua has known her since she was just a child! It was fun to catch up with her!

{happy}

Chocolate Chip pancakes in honor of the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord!

They made everyone happy!

{funny}

Can’t get these kids to smile all at once. (Or even the baby to show up for pictures!) 🙂 This is the kids waiting for the pancakes to be done. Karol helped them all get dressed this morning. His shirt is askew and inside out, Caecilia’s dress is on backwards and Margaret’s shirt it stained. 🙂

{real}

Yesterday, my friend Margaret came over so we could make spaghetti sauce for our parish’s fundraiser, which is tonight. Our job was to make sauce using 10 pounds of ground beef (that’s each). This here is what fat from 20 pounds of ground beef looks like.

Besides throwing it away, any ideas of what I can do with it? It is almost pure fat.

Filed under: General Stuff

Lofty Thoughts…

….just wondering….

 

If you really want to have another baby and “everything” is in place to have another one (think health, money, house, job security, good wages, other children out of diapers.) then why not have another one?

I don’t, I don’t, I DO NOT, get it when a woman goes around moaning about wanting to have another baby, but then says she is done having children…then goes on to talk about being jealous of women with babies.

Just have another baby already.

#ireallyneedasoapboxtab

Filed under: General Stuff

Santorum and Just War

Reading through the quotes and information from and about Rick Santorum regarding his position on war, I saw that he supported the sending of troops in to Iraq. (H.J.Res. 114; Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. The administration would be required to report to Congress that diplomatic options have been exhausted before, or within 48 hours after military action has started. Every 60 days the president would also be required to submit a progress report to Congress.)

Blessed John Paul II spoke out against actions in Iraq in an address on 12 January 2003 “War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations” and reiterated that “war cannot be decided upon . . . except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions.”  Address of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II to the Diplomatic Corps

He also stated in his Angelus on Sunday, 16 March 2003, “There is still time to negotiate; there is still room for peace, it is never too late to come to an understanding and to continue discussions.”
Then Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict,  said of the use of military force in Iraq:
Pope John Paul’s position on the war to be “the thoughts of a man of conscience occupying the highest functions in the Catholic Church” and “the appeal of a conscience enlightened by the faith.”  And “reasons sufficient for unleashing a war against Iraq did not exist,” in part because: “proportion between the possible positive consequences and the sure negative effect of the conflict was not guaranteed. On the contrary, it seems clear that the negative consequences will be greater than anything positive that might be obtained.”
If you still think that Santorum takes just war seriously, according to the mind of the Church and her Magisterium, please make a real argument based on fact.
Filed under: General Stuff

I Need a Soapbox Tab

soapbox {Informing people about our religious freedoms being eroded and the United States Constitution being ignored is far more important then Catholic Schools Week and the lame-o activities that surround it.

That is all.

Oh, wait, one more thing….when attempting to promote vocations in a diocese, via social media, you might want to actually do that and not promote crappy music and coffee houses. Just sayin’.

Now I am done. } soapbox

*and yeah, I’m talking to you a certain central Ohio diocese*

Filed under: General Stuff

Bishop Hartmayer vows to fight conscience rights ruling

+ Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., Bishop of Savannah has issued a letter regarding the HHS mandate that all employers required to provide health insurance to its employees under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), must provide health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Here is the letter read in many, if not all the parishes in the diocese this past weekend:

 

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am writing to you on a matter of grave moral concern — freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception.  Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write.  And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Obama Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty.  And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so).  The Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

I stand in unity with Catholic bishops throughout the United States and other religious leaders vowing to fight this mandate.

Along with my brother bishops and other religious leaders, I insist that this is a direct attack on our religious freedom and our First Amendment rights.  I will work with the bishops, other religious leaders and our fellow Americans to remove this unjust regulation. 

If the Administration will not rescind this violation of our First Amendment rights, we must call on our elected leaders to do so.  I ask you to pray that wisdom and justice may prevail, and work together to restore our religious liberty.

Please join me in continuing to follow the development of this important issue and contacting our elected representatives to seek a just resolution.

Through the Southern Cross, diocesan and Georgia Catholic Conference websites and other media, I will keep you up to date on the progress of this important issue.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
+ Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv.
Bishop of Savannah

Filed under: General Stuff

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Today I am joining Leila over at Like Mother, Like Daughter for this week’s

{pretty}

I wrote earlier this week about visiting the Carmelite Sisters in Savannah, Georgia. They were all so beautiful that I wanted to share the picture again.

{happy}

A few weeks ago, we made homemade from scratch bolognese sauce and noodles. I was pretty happy with the outcome and look forward to trying different bolognese recipes. Do you have a favorite?

{funny}

Yesterday, I sent the kids outside to play as it is summer still in South Georgia. Karol brought this to me and told me flowers make me happy. This is both beautiful and funny, because Karol is a funny boy.

{real}

Our faith is real! Our faith is serious! Now is the time to stand up and take ownership of the graces God has given us.

 

Filed under: Catholic, {pretty, happy, funny, real}