Daily devotionals, analysis #547 ;-)

Indeed, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. :) I have quite a love affair with daily and seasonal devotionals. I know that I've written about it quite a few times in the history of this blog, especially during Lent and Advent! But here we are in winter Ordinary Time, all fresh into the new year, and this is also a time that I think about dedicating myself to a daily routine with my faith. Especially lately, my kids have been on my mind quite a bit. Both are growing so quickly and going through many changes. A daily prayer ritual is exactly what I need right now to best pray and discern for them, and it always helps to hash things out with friends.

*hug*

Below are two of my favorites. Are you familiar with these? Your thoughts are most welcome!

Living Faith is just the cutest little booklet ever. I first discovered it when I was in North Carolina visiting my sister, and her parish had the current issue available to try out. They are published in 3 month segments, and always have seasonal photography on the front, which I LOVE. Each day lists the daily mass readings (but does not include them in the text, you'd need to look them in your own Bible, fyi), and includes a short reflection on the theme from the readings for that day. You could read these reflections in well under a minute, if you weren't also looking up the scripture readings. I used to have a print subscription, and I have to say that I miss it. I bought the digital copy of the January/February/March issue, and it just isn't the same. Perhaps I should resubscribe? It's a great purse tucker.

Sacred Reading is a much larger book than Living Faith, but it is also available as an ebook. I do have this one in print form, but it doesn't carry around as easily as the other. You need to keep it at your desk. ;-) But I enjoy the format a lot more. It includes the text of the daily Gospel, and several other prompts to lead you in prayer and contemplation on the theme of the text. I like it a lot. It *does* require more concentration to read the entry, which is either a great thing or a difficult thing, depending on your state in life. Once I start teaching, I'm not at my desk nearly as much.

Thoughts? Sacred Reading seems idea for Lent, and indeed, they do have a separate volume just for that season. In fact, that volume is small enough to likely fit in my purse. I'm really thinking I'll use Living Faith every day if I just resubscribe in print. I really do want a daily commitment to something. What would you choose, or do you have another suggestion? 😃 I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

This Catholic parenting thing doesn't get any easier...

Happy mid-January, everybody! How is the winter treating you so far?

⛄

Things are great over here. We're still in winter term at the university for which I work, so the campus is blissfully quiet and peaceful. Classes don't begin again until January 28th, and I don't start teaching my library lab again until 2 weeks after *that*, owing to the drop/add period.

*praise hands*

This quiet winter Ordinary Time has had other benefits. January tends to be a performance lull for dancing, which is fine with me. One needs time to recharge and hone their craft, and I have a bunch of classes and workshops coming up. In faith stuff, I've been thinking a lot about the kids. For the first time, I have a teenager in my house, and I'm finding it a new challenge to think of ways to continue to share the faith with him aside from weekly Mass attendance. I touch upon sharing my faith with my maturing brood of youngsters, as well as this general post-Epiphany winter theme, in my piece over at CatholicMom.com for January:

This time of year definitely lends itself to contemplation for me. Ironically, it's *after* Advent, and yet still before Lent, but there you have it. This year, a big impetus is Henry's 8th grade retreat.

Somehow, my first baby is going to high school next year. 😭 And he'll also be leaving the school that he has attended for 8 years, and has shared with Anne for the past 3. I'm pretty emotional about the whole thing, as you can imagine. The 8th graders have a special retreat just prior to Catholic Schools week in late January, and just prior to when the Catholic high schools mail out their acceptance letters and financial aid packages. Parents were invited to write letters to their kids that they would read, privately, during the retreat. I wrote mine yesterday. Well.

😭😭😭

Let's just say that I cried. A lot. There was so much that I wanted to say, but I also didn't want to overwhelm my 13 year old with the emotional baggage of a woman in her 40's. So it wasn't easy. But I wanted him to know how proud we are of him, how much we love him. How he reminds me so much of myself, and that it's more than OK to be introverted and reserved - he will only continue to blossom into the kind, sweet and empathetic young man that God has so clearly created him to be. How the most important things in life aren't grades or what high school or college you attend, but discerning and making good choices, seeking God's will, helping others, nourishing healthy relationships, and making an impact with the causes and people that you love.

It was a heavy task, both emotionally and spiritually. But one that I am privileged to have. Henry, in particular, challenges me to be a better person because he is my first and oldest child. Inevitably, when something new comes up with regard to his life and development, I have no idea what I'm doing. 😂I feel like I'm winging it a lot. And that's one thing with dance, and quite another when it's your kid, a precious, eternal soul given into your protective care!

This whole parenting thing is a journey, an adventure, and as my mom always said (and aren't moms ALWAYS right about these sorts of things?): "babies don't come with instruction manuals." You just have to figure it out as you go along, and you're going to make mistakes along the way.

I hope that we're doing a good job for Henry. I know that we're doing a good job *with* him since he's always been such a kind and good soul. But maybe that's not really our doing anyway, but God's alone. Deep thoughts for a Thursday morning. ;-)

This year for Lent, I want to single him out for some more mature spiritual time with me. Exactly what this will entail, I do not know. I will wing it. :0 But I'll figure something out!

Any words of wisdom to share for Adventures in Catholic Parenting? I'd love to hear them!

Hills, malfunctioning showers, and lots of family picnicking, on the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time...

*collapses*

Well hello there, dear reader! It's been a bit of a busy stretch over here in Catholic Librarian-Land, and you'll notice that it's been nearly a week since I last posted. I don't like doing that, but life is like a box of chocolates, is it not? ;-) It can be unpredictable, for sure. The start of the fall semester is nearly nigh, and thus I am drawing closeer and closer to full blown Panic Mode. I'm certain that I will be tornadoing around the library next week, but I'm trying not to worry about that now. :0

For the time being, I prefer to panic quietly in the privacy of my office. And *finally* I had a few moments to sit and chat with you all.

This past weekend Mike, the kids and I traveled about 4 hours south into Pennsylvania for a family picnic. This is on Mike's dad's side of the family, and the people are all perfectly lovely and kind. The only problem is that I find it incredibly awkward to socialize with family that I see very rarely. Is it just me? I actually find it EONS easier to converse with total strangers than I do in the family picnic scenario. I cannot explain this phenomena, but there you have it.

It's interesting, because I think that over the course of the past 3-5 years, I have become a LOT more social than I used to be. When I was a young child, I was downright painfully shy. Talking to anybody outside of my close circle of family and friends created a tremendous amount of anxiety within me. In high school, I was voted "Shyest" female in my senior class. The guy who was voted "Shyest"? Had never spoken with him before. Because, you know, we were both SHY. ;-)

Now? Quick anecdote. This past Friday, I had dance troupe rehearsal, like usual. We're currently a group of 7, and we haven't had any new members for a few years. We've remained mostly consistent, but lost a few members about a year ago who decided not to continue. Well now, finally, there are a few dancers from the mixed level class that Claire is going to ask to move up. She was telling us a little about each of them, and regarding one woman in particular, she said:

"She's real quiet, doesn't say a lot. You know, how Tiffany used to be."

:0

This really made me feel happy. Indeed, dancing has helped me to gain confidence and come out of my shell quite a bit. I talk readily to people now, and happily join in the social revelry that is our troupe class on Friday evenings. There is nothing wrong with being shy, but in my case I know that I was that way based upon fear. Now, I don't feel afraid anymore, and enjoy my life so much more. I just occasionally feel awkward when conversing with out-of-town family. ;-)

At any rate, back to our trip. The picnic went well, and the kids had an absolute blast playing with their second cousins twice removed, or however you term such distant cousin relationships. ;-) The kids also LOVE staying in a hotel, in contrast to Mike and I, who, when accompanied by our offspring, brace ourselves for this very same eventuality. There is the inevitable bouncing on the bed. The racing around a tiny space. The constant flushing of the "new" toilet and experimenting with the water flow in the sink. The 6:30 am wake up (while on vacation, mind you), wanting to go down to the breakfast area in the lobby. I suppose there are SOME things in life that are in fact predictable. ;-)

As for me? I love my romantic hotel getaways with Mike each year for our anniversary, but this family adventure to the nearest Holiday Inn Express?

*children bouncing off walls*

*shouts over din*  "Honey, I'm going to go grab my shower, OK?"

God bless that man.

*Tiffany examines shower dial*

"Easy peasy, I like my water really warm."

*turns dial*

*presses shower button*

"What the! CENSORED!"

*turns dial a fraction of an inch in the opposite direction*

"Oh gosh!! CENSORED!"

Let's just say the shower appeared to have 2 settings:

(1) Roasting Hot Dogs With Satan, or

(2) Your Own Personal Penguin Will Be Joining You Shortly

And so it seems to go on such hotel-laden trips. ;-)

We did make it to Mass on Sunday morning, which was lovely. The church was super close to our hotel, but given that we were in Pittsburgh, this was no easy trek. I'm from Western New York, and unused to hilly terrain, OK? :0 I struggle whenever we go to Pittsburgh to get over: (a) not having any sidewalks to walk on, because I love getting my exercise that way, and (b) having the roadways be so steeply inclining or declining. How do people make it out of their driveways in the wintertime?! At any rate, the church was close to the hotel, but it was DOWN, and a large shopping center which contained the only access point to the hill on which the hotel sat (I am not making this up) stood in the way, so drive we must!

We arrived, and Henry immediately commented on the stained glass windows, which he liked. He commented on them because they are much different from what we usually see, in that they were of the abstract variety. I prefer non-abstract stained glass, but to each their own. Mike glanced around as we planted ourselves in the padded pew, and whispered:

"Is this kind of...modern?"

Why yes, yes it was. :) But it was a nice parish, and I will say that they had tremendous bathrooms, which I of course toured with Anne, who very predictably had to make use of them during the recitation of the Creed.

So there you have it, our weekend. I will be with you tomorrow for Tea Time, which I'm looking forward to. How was YOUR weekend, dear reader? What's going on with you this late August?

Tea Time with Tiffany #56 - Summer novenas, holiday knitting, birds & blogging: What do all these things have in common?!

Hello all, and welcome to a jam packed edition of:

Today I talk about July novenas, my summer knit-along progress and holiday crafting list, some drama at our backyard bird feeder, and why I started (and keep on) blogging. Join me!




**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

July novena page.
Pray More Novenas, for monthly novena emails.
Busy, crafty plans - The 0fficial Christmas in July 2016 post!
The Sibley Guide to Birds

Are you praying any summer novenas? Planning your Christmas crafting list, or otherwise crafting anything new this summer? Do you have bird feeder advice, please, I beg you. :0 And do you enjoy writing? What is your motivation in doing so? I'd love to hear from you!

Tea Time with Tiffany Episode 9 - Summer Ordinary Time with kids!

Well hello there, gentle readers! I was brainstorming on topic ideas this week for:

...because my legal pad had suddenly become light on ideas for video post topics. Time for a brainstorm! And brainstorm I did, and thus I have fun topics for both this week and next! (And leave comments with your ideas for video posts, because I will gratefully receive them!) This week I'm going to be talking about faith activities with kids over the summer, during this long stretch of Ordinary Time between Pentecost and Advent. I'd love it if you'd also write in with your ideas!


Items mentioned during this episode:

• Saint story books. Henry and I are currently reading a nightly entry in Saints for Young Readers for Every Day, Vol. 2: July-December. This one is great for middle readers!
• Patronal feast novenas. For my kids those feasts both fall in July, the 13th (St. Henry II) and the 26th (Sts. Anne and Joachim). 
• Extensive calendar of saint feast days to plan novenas and other activities.
• Dictionary of Patron Saints' Names is in fact still in print, if you want to find a saint for a name otherwise lacking a patron!
• Think ahead to Advent - Christmas in July, baby! 
• Saint dolls (softies and wood dolls) for the upcoming feasts of St. Nicholas and Christmas. This year I'm thinking of getting both kids a St. Nicholas doll, and also having an Our Lady of Guadalupe/St. Juan Diego theme.
• Good time to buy Advent calendars. This is the wood magnetic one that I am coveting.
• Saint of the week: St. Joseph, patron of families!

OK, now it's your turn: do you have anything special that you do faith-wise during the summer Ordinary Time? Do you have any ideas for future topics for the Tea Time series! Do write in and let me know!

"Mooooooom, is Mass going to be shorter because it's the summertime?!" Catholic parenting adventures on the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time...

Happy Monday all! You're probably wondering how my dance event went, since I talked about that nervously on Friday, and I promise a full and fun recap tomorrow. Lots of amusing anecdotes! And I have a few photos to share. I thought first I'd talk about the rest of the weekend, as this was a jam packed one for my family! Got your tea or coffee? Let's settle in!

Saturday dawned with Anne's swim lesson on the agenda. Given her reaction last week I was apprehensive, but apparently the allure of the post-swim lesson trip to the vending machine won out, because she happily went and did much better:

Yes, that is her, *actually* following directions and using the kick board!

*organ cues up!*

She did MUCH better, and looked absolutely adorable in her Elsa and Anna bathing suit participating in all of the drills that they did. Ten 4 and 5 year olds clinging to the side of the pool waiting their turn to swim across is a very cute sight indeed. So that worked out awesome.

Saturday afternoon was the artisan market that my troupe danced at, and as promised, a full post on that is coming your way tomorrow. I'll just say that Saturday was one of the hottest and most humid days of the year so far, so let it be known that much discomfort was had by all dancers. But dance on we must!

Saturday evening, Mike, Henry and I had tickets to see our local minor league baseball team play (the Triple-A affiliate for the Toronto Blue Jays, if you are into such things :)), and it was their annual Star Wars night. It sounds like an odd combination, but it really works. People dress up, a special video series plays on the big scoreboard between innings, and the players' photos are substituted for Star Wars characters. After my tiring afternoon of dancing, it was stupendous to relax and enjoy the game, eat a hot dog and have a beer. And they had a craft beer kiosk with a decent selection of local beers. Boom.

After the game, there was a light saber show and fireworks, check this out:

Not a great picture, I know, but it gives you an idea of how many people there were wielding light sabers. All of those blue and red lights in the stands along the side are light sabers. Very, very fun.

Sunday dawned with me looking forward to a quieter day. And for the most part, that happened. Sunday mornings are my favorite of the week, but sometimes the kids make those tough:

"HENRY!!!"

"I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything!"

And that's pretty much what we had going on this particular Sunday morning. Then, when it was time for Mass, Henry claimed to not be feeling good again. Let's insert a groan here, shall we?

Henry is 9, he'll turn 10 this fall. It's the age, right? The age causing the reluctance to go to Mass, because "it's so boring!"? I mean, I know *I* felt that way as a kid, and I guess it was around that age, though it did start younger, which is the case for Henry as well. It's not easy to deal with, but I do my best. And happily, this is another instance of Mike being super supportive and backing me up about Henry attending. Per the two of us as a united front, Henry *will* go to Mass. But it certainly makes me feel bad when Henry expresses these things, and I wonder about the best want to handle it. Suggestions?

Given that Henry's "ailment" came on so suddenly, he did not get excused from Mass. He came with us, and very unhappily so. Much whining and complaining in the car commenced. Luckily, our parish is only a few minute drive away, so my torture did not last long. When we arrived, after an excruciating extraction from the car, Henry was fine. He was polite and even reverent. But then Anne kicked in.

Children's Liturgy of the Word is on hiatus for the summer, so she's with us the entire time.

*weak smile*

The INSTANT our butts hit the pew:

"Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom."

"Honey, we just got here. Can't you..."

"I can't wait, Mommy."

*universal Dance of the Pee Pee*

*sigh*

To the bathroom we go, TRIP 1 OF 2.

uggghhhhhhh....

Thereafter commenced 45 minutes of jumping, wiggling, climbing and all around non-stop activity that drained me of any scrap of energy I had left.

So, you could say that it wasn't one of our easiest weeks at Mass. :) But we persevere! For those of you out there with suggestions on how to tackle this issue of kids not wanting to go to Mass, I'm all ears. Let's discuss in the comments!

Lots of summer busyness, parish changes, and the joy of Ordinary Time...

This is kind of a crazy, all-over-the-place title, but I think it's apropos given how things are going for me this month. It's all good, truly, but SO BUSY. I took Friday off from both work and blogging for this very reason. There were plenty of things I could have gotten done, but...sometimes you just need to step back from all that, you know? Recharge and refresh. And so here I am, all refreshed and ready to chat with you. ;-)

On Friday, Mike and I took the kids strawberry picking. We live in Western New York, so as you can imagine, there are some pretty rural areas not far from us. Thus, on Friday off we frolicked to a farm to pick strawberries:

"Henry, DON'T DO THAT!!"

"Anne's STARING at me!!"

Right. A pretty painful experience. Well, the car ride was. The strawberry fetching in and of itself was actually very lovely. It was overcast and cool and Friday, as well as being uncrowded, so it was ideal picking conditions. We filled three quarts full of strawberries to take home with us. That is to say, Mike and I did. The kids mostly chased each other, but a good time was had by all. I didn't even have to threaten the children again until we got back in the car to drive home.

Saturday and Sunday were much more humid, but we persevered. I started officially working on my festival dance solo, more to come on that later this week. And yesterday, we spent some happy time after Mass chatting with our young friend Kendra and Fr. Joe. I just adore both of them. AND, big changes coming in the parish.

*ominous musical score starts up*

I mean, parish change is fine with me, but it most certainly is not with other people in the congregation. Coming in the new liturgical year are changes to the religious education schedule to accommodate a downsizing in space from the selling of our old school building, plus most crucially, a change in the Mass schedule. We're going to be moving from a vigil and three Sunday Masses down to a vigil and two Sunday Masses. Given the attendance at these Masses, I'm not surprised.  Instead of 8 am, 10 am, and noon, there will be Masses on Sunday at 8 am and 11 am, with religious education classes in-between. I'm not certain how this is going to go over, but it is certainly a needed change. I will miss the 10 am time slot, I really love it, but an hour difference isn't going to kill us. So we'll see how this goes.

But as we sat chatting with Fr. Joe following Mass, he in his bright green vestments for Ordinary Time, I got to thinking about the summer liturgical calendar. Although July is usually my least favorite month of the year weather-wise (this year though, I am embracing all non-snowy months, so July and I have a new understanding...), it is one of my favorites in terms of saint feast days.

Although it is not a special liturgical season, the summer of Ordinary Time has it's own charm. In July, we have the feasts of Bl. Juniperro Serra (soon to be canonized during Pope Francis's fall trip to America!), St. Maria Goretti, St. Benedict, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. July also houses the feasts for both of my children's patrons, St. Henry and St. Anne. I'd like to plan something special for each this year, although I have zero ideas, so if you have any, please do write in. :)

It's a quiet time of year, as it's still a long way off to Advent and there is this lull in the Church calendar, but I love enjoying each of these feast days. I try to remember and pick up my Magnificat each day to read that saint's synopsis in the daily Mass section, and my Divine Office app also has a Saint of the Day feature. Sublime!

Come June/July each year, I also start to think ahead to Advent and Christmas planning, but that's a whole 'nother post, which I'm going to save for tomorrow. And I have lots of posts planned this week! Crafty Tuesday, Catholic Book Club Wednesday, likely a video post on Thursday picking back up with dance, and then 7 Quick Takes on Friday. Yay?!

How was your weekend?! And do you have feast day celebrations for any of the saints that I mentioned above? Do write in, if you please!

Of winter storms and exempted Mass obligations on the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time...

There *is* a street carved out in there...

Monday. And here I am, all freed from my house, WOOOOOOO! :0 The time with my family was good, don't get me wrong, but there is something psychologically difficult about feeling like you *can't* leave. Rabid claustrophobia, anybody? At any rate, how did this all go down, you ask?

Well, before we even get to the weather, let's talk about my poor, poor darling husband. In the 12 years that I've known him, I have never seen him as sick as he was this weekend. I had mentioned on Thursday that he had been very sick the night before with what we believe was the flu, so I stayed home to take care of him (and Anne, who he would have otherwise been handling alone). He was *very* sick on Thursday, but seemed to get a bit better as the day wore on. Friday, he was still pretty sick, but again, the worst seemed behind us. Then Friday night hit.

I was once again woken by a shivering, feverish, coughing Mike. This was a setback, and we realized that he was going to be down for the count for probably a full week when all was said and done. And Saturday morning dawned with a blizzardy looking snowfall. Mike was scheduled for play rehearsal (he has a lead role in the local community theater's upcoming production of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap), I was scheduled on the reference desk in the afternoon, and the entire family was invited to a birthday party in the evening that we were all looking forward to. Well. :)

Play rehearsal was cancelled, the reference desk closed, and travel advisories issued by our county. The party was still on, but we let the hosts know that we couldn't make it. Not only were the conditions a bit dicey, but there was no way we could get out of our driveway. Mike was far too sick to be able to shovel the snow, and I'm going to just admit that I'm *terrible* at shoveling snow. I try, I really do, but lack the upper body strength to make any sort of difference in a timely manner. We were stuck.

As all of this was transpiring, the weather forecast was predicting record low wind chills for Sunday, between 20 and 30 degrees below zero. Soon thereafter, I saw announcements by our diocese on social media that the bishop had lifted the obligation to attend Mass this weekend due to the dangerous weather conditions.

!

I was sad, but I knew there was no way we could make it to Mass. I shouldn't take the kids out in that sort of cold, plus the driveway was an *entity* at this point. Mike does not sit still very easily, and by Sunday he was anxious to start doing things again, but I gave him my stern librarian face. He was still coughing and pretty weak. He should NOT be outside in those conditions shoveling snow.

So we stayed in. Did I mention that I was sad? Because I was. :( We put the EWTN Mass on, and I managed to get both kids to sit still for two decades of the rosary. Anne now has the Hail Mary memorized, and my Catholic sensibilities just sing when I hear her recite the prayer. #cutie! But not being able to receive the Eucharist? That's a big deal, and it made me appreciate the privilege anew.

After that, I did a LOT of crocheting of a giant wool afghan, for obvious reasons:

I love how it's turning out (autumn forest theme ;-)). But seriously, I need ALL THE WOOL. ALL THE TIME. It was so cold yesterday, that I was wearing long underwear underneath my other woolen layers IN THE HOUSE. IN.THE.HOUSE. My hands never fully warmed up such that I actually started to worry and contemplate wearing gloves. I usually don't mind winter, but this year, even I, your resident Winter Evangelist, am sick of it.

The dangerous wind chills continue today, and all week will still be well below normal for us. Sunday we're projected to go up into the 20's, Fahrenheit. We're all reacting to that as if a giant sun beam has come down from from the very beaches of heaven.

The 20's. Still 10 degrees below freezing, but hey, P.A.R.T.Y!!! It won't feel like knives when you breathe anymore! We'll take it!

In other news, I made Valentine cupcakes with the kids:

Because they're cheerful, and there was nothing else to do. :0

"Mom. I'm BOOOOOOOORED."

We persevere. I've already looked up the times on my parish's website for Mass on Ash Wednesday, because now I feel all deprived and teary about it. Let's talk more about Ash Wednesday tomorrow, shall we? But how was your last Sunday in Ordinary Time (until June), dear reader?

Of hazardous snow & unfortunate haircuts, on the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time...

*cue dramatic violin music*

Your Catholic Librarian is VERY SNOWY over here in WNY these days, and while I generally enjoy the winter, things are fairly unpleasant right now in terms of driving. Me no like. My car is constantly getting stuck and I'm getting rather exhausted of the whole thing. But let's not dwell! If there is anything that is for certain, it is that spring will come and the snow will melt. Eventually.

*squints*

In the meantime, we've been keeping busy with indoor activities. Unfortunately, this meant that Anne busied herself when my mother-in-law's back was turned on Friday and cut her own bangs. She has a bit of a Buster Brown situation going on now:

At least she looks contrite...

But we fixed it as best we could, sigh. We had a long talk about scissors generally, but also about scissors and hair, and she has vowed never to cut her own hair again so that it can grow out very long like Elsa's.

Speaking of Elsa, I'm blaming her for the gigantic piles of snow in the church parking lot on Sunday, rendering it an *entity*. It's already a small lot, and the number of available spaces was nearly cut in half. And then people invented spaces, which made it difficult to even navigate through the "aisles," so the kids and I circled onto the street where...the situation was also somewhat dire. :0 We had to park quite a ways up the street, and then tromp over to the church. Whereupon, immediately upon entering, Anne slipped and fell on melted snow, poor babe. This winter is taking it's toll on all of us. :-\

The instant we walked in and saw how crowded it was, I had a flashback to last week's bulletin which noted that our parish was celebrating Scout Sunday this week. I think many parishes observed that last Sunday, so I had forgotten about it, and the extra people explained the catastrophic parking situation. Our favorite usher helped us find seats, and Anne trembled with excitement about going up for Children's Liturgy of the Word. She's really gotten into that, it's very cute.

As Henry and I listened to the homily, I remembered that our pastor's time at our parish is coming to an end. :-\ This is not a very uplifting post, is it?! I'm so sorry! :0 I do have fun knitting disasters and dance foibles to report on later in the week (think: me twirling out of, and then wielding in a parachute-like fashion, a gigantic piece of hot pink fabric, sort of like a veil on steroids. Bet you can't wait :0) so do come back for those hijinks! But yes, our pastor, so sad! He's been there for nearly a decade, and is ready to move on to a new situation, so the diocese assigned him to a parish about 20 minutes away. And we don't actually know what will happen to us. There has been no announcement about a new pastor. We do have a deacon, but no other clergy. I'm not certain who will be saying Mass starting a few weeks hence, which is disconcerting, to be sure.

So that was our Sunday. A bit out of sorts, but Lent is coming, we will refocus. :) I also did a LOT of knitting this weekend, and will report in on my Downton Abbey mystery shawl progress during the Read and Stitch post I'm hoping to have out on Thursday! How was your weekend, dear reader? 

Adventures in intarsia knitting and Lent is coming! - The 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time...

Good morning all, and I hope that you are recovered from your Super Bowl festivities. ;-) We had a good time, inviting a few friends over. One of whom Anne has a crush on. :0 When your 3 year old is making valentines and wearing a dress in an attempt to capture the attention of a grown man, oh my. I'm not looking forward to her teenage years.

But yesterday was a fun day for other reasons too. The kids and I were at our usual 10 am Mass for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, one of the final few Sundays prior to the beginning of Lent. I'm still at 6's and 7's about a Lenten plan for this year. I'm sure I'll come up with one, and I will post it here, but so far I'm not feeling ready. I still want to enjoy Ordinary Time for now.

Our parish still has our poinsettia display on the altar, albeit along with the green banners symbolizing Ordinary Time. But Candlemas isn't until today, so everything still fits. :)  I was hoping for the St. Blaise blessing of throats, because this seemed to be the closest Sunday to his feast day of February 3rd, but the bulletin announced that we would be doing that *next* Sunday, so the preference must be for the Sunday following the feast. Our parish also always offers blessed candles for sale following Candlemas, so those will be out next weekend too. A bonanza of fun rituals and sacramentals for the Catholic nerd.

Mass was lovely, the music was particularly good this week. Anne is LOVING Children's Liturgy of the Word, she's asking every day about it. Yesterday, however, she was tired, and that's never a perfect situation. When Father called the kids up to go back into the sacristy, Anne straightened herself up with excitement, but then paused:

"What's wrong, Honey?"

"Where's my duckie?!"

She has this baby chick that I crocheted her for Easter last year, and suddenly he's her best pal.

"Oh. I think we left him in the bathroom, Honey."

Because, of course, our butts can't hit the pew upon arrival before she's asking to go to the bathroom. And duckie had made the trek with us.

"DUCKIE!!"

One would have thought he was trapped in a burning building.

"Don't worry Honey, I'll get him and bring him back to you, ok?"

*dubious expression*

"OK."

After she left the pew, I spotted the duck hiding underneath her coat. I grabbed him quickly, and made my way discreetly along the edges of the church, planning to bring him to her via a side door once she was back in the sacristy. But you know, Anne is 3. Discretion isn't in her vocabulary just yet.

Suddenly, from behind, I feel someone yank the duck out of my hand. It's Anne, and she looks furious.

"I'LL TAKE HIM MOMMY."

The look she gave me conferred the fact that she thought I was duck-napping this thing and was the worst human being on the face of the planet. Before I can stop her, she then proceeds to RUN across the altar to catch up with the class.

Oy.

Back at home, with Anne safely down for what I'd hoped would be a 3 hour nap :0 I was busy at work on this snowman stocking that I've been procrastinating over for months. This is actually a commissioned project, which I rarely do, but it's for a friend of a friend, and came with a heartbreaking story about a grandmother who knit all her grandchildren matching snowman stockings but whose arthritis no longer permits her to knit. So now, this friend has a new baby with no stocking. I mean...I couldn't turn that one down.

She said that she has other friends who knit, but they all said this pattern was too difficult to replicate, which should have been a clue, no, that maybe I was getting in over my head? The snowman is knit onto the fabric via a technique called Intarsia. This is when you are knitting a picture in the middle of a solid color. I have done Fair Isle knitting, which is when you are stranding the colors along as you knit. Intarsia is different. Because the colors are so localized inside the design, you need to have each color segment of yarn sectioned out and hanging there for every pass through the picture. Thus, even if you're using red in three different places within the picture, each of those instances requires a different segment of red yarn, you're not just carrying a strand of red along with you. What this means is that you have a gigantic mess on the wrong side of the fabric, with bobbins of yarn and yarn ends dangling about with abandon.

I finally told myself that Frosty had to get made, and since the weather was too snowy for a walk yesterday, I buckled down. Frosty looks pretty innocent, doesn't he?

But this is what it required to make Frosty:

And this is AFTER I wove in about a hundred thousand ends because I just couldn't take it anymore. AND I'd cut off the black and white bobbins since I was done with them. I mean...I was beside myself on every row untangling active bobbins from other ends and strands coming from God knows where:

"All right, I need the red."

Yes, I was talking to myself.

"Here's a red! No, that's the wrong red, I need the mouth red, not the end segment red.  Wait, what the...*&%$#! Where did that green come from?! And a black strand, I thought I wove those all in! Stop it, stop it, NOW THERE'S A KNOT!!"

Needless to say, I found Intarsia to be pretty stressful. #TypeA However, I'm really glad that I know how to do it now, and it is a cool looking result. Once I got through the color chart *angels sing!* I'm now grooving right along. The heel is done (it's white) and I'm finishing up the gusset. Just the foot and a white toe and we're done! Oh right, then I have to seam it.

*long suffering sigh*

But THEN I'll be done. And Frosty will go on to his new home.

How was your weekend, dear reader? Do leave me a comment. :)

Ordinary Time heralds lots of new things in my life, including my glasses...

Happy Tuesday all! And I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I did. For the most part. The kids fought a lot, that always brings everybody down, but on the whole it was really nice. ;-)

This section of Ordinary Time has felt really refreshing to me, sort of like a new start in my spiritual life in a lot of ways. I've been novena'ing along nicely (new verb, coined right there), and Adoration has been going pretty smoothly, which is great. But I've also noticed some changes with my kids and their spirituality. Anne is suddenly...such a big girl!

*sob!*

She goes up every week now during Mass with the Children's Liturgy of the Word crowd, and is all excited to do so, coloring pictures ahead of time to give to the teacher. I mean, did you ever? She is so cute. This frees me up to actually be able to HEAR the Gospel and the Homily, which I will admit, is a nice amenity. She also brings me rosary beads at home, and asks to pray with me. I'll recite the prayers, and she keeps track of where we are on the beads. Just...

So precious. She keeps asking to go to church, she loves it. Henry, on the other hand, while a very good boy, is definitely going through that "church is boring!" phase. Very age appropriate, to be sure. And he's acting very stubbornly as a result, taking forever to get ready for Mass and to accompany us out to the car. He still loves learning about the saints, but connecting the lives of the saints with Mass attendance just hasn't happened for him yet. I have been praying for him to make a more personal connection with his faith and with God.

As for me, I can feel myself having to adjust and adapt to these new emotions going on with my children. As ever, I'm doing the best that I can, but I fear that I'm screwing it all up somehow. :) Thank God for the guidance that comes from Adoration.

#ThePiecesComeTogether

But in other weekend/changes news, I had my yearly ophthalmology appointment, and we all know how these appointments seem to somehow form an annual ode to my aging process. New year, new me, right? Especially with a milestone birthday coming up in a month. ;-) Happily, I have found a doctor at the practice who is gentle and soft spoken, doesn't tell me I'm old, and also doesn't mandate drops for his patients, so I can actually see to drive home. Brilliant!

I arrived Friday afternoon apprehensive as ever, because I feared that this would be the year. You know what I'm talking about, right? THE 'B' WORD. Bifocals.

*glares*

I have reading glasses, and at work I'm constantly taking them on and off my face. I need them to see my computer screen crisply, but they makes the person coming to the reference desk to talk to me somewhat blurry, so then I have to remove them. But I don't want to move to bifocals. I'm afraid of change, OK, don't judge me. :0

At any rate, I was called back, and the nurse first had me do this peripheral vision test whereby I had to click a clicker thingy whenever I saw a flicker of movement on this little screen. This test is my favorite part of every appointment, because it involves zero discomfort, and I'm certain that I scored 100%. *gold star!* I then had to do the chart reading thing, which I hate, because my left eye is so much weaker and it's depressing how the letters jump around when that eye is the only one I'm using. This is followed by the ever fun pressure test wherein a large wand is pressed to your eyeball and you're told to "just relax!" as if that was remotely a possibility. Then I moved over to the doctor, and he did the usual: "A, or B? B? Ok. B or...C!" thing. The verdict?

"Just a small change. Head out to Ed and he'll help you order new glasses."

Weellllll, that sounds *not bad* I suppose, but small changes in the negative direction over time could mean I'm blind by age 60, right? That's a little worrisome.

Ed is helping someone else when I make my appearance, so I busy myself looking at new frames. It's a good thing I started early, because I took a freakishly long time to make a decision, finally just deciding to be done with it and go with my instinct. Which was to text selfies to a friend:

"Do you like the brown? Or purple?" Wait. Maybe I should ditch both the brown AND purple and go back to the thicker red ones. What about...

Ed was amused. But I finally made a decision:

This is my scholarly look :0

Then Ed tried to ruin my day:

"Oh. Did you know that he wrote the prescription for progressive lenses?"

*look of pity*

("Progressive," you see, is ophthalmology code speak for "BIFOCAL.")

"Oh. Well. I guess that's what I'll get then."

*look of misery*

"For progressive lenses, there is a minimum size, so let's see if these frames meet that..."

Uh oh. After 30 minutes of agonizing frame-trying-on, now they might be too small?! I definitely favor narrow lens sizes in my frames. Luckily for both Ed and I, my selected frames squeaked in at the minimum. Now to wait two weeks for them and see if I hate them when they come in, huzzah!

How was your weekend, dear reader?

Winter Ordinary Time, how shall we spend it?

Happy Tuesday everybody! Still cold here :) but a beautiful, sunny winter day. I was thinking as I was driving into work today about the fact that we are now officially back in Ordinary Time. Yet far from being boring, this beginning segment (if you will) of Ordinary Time is always interesting to me because it varies in length each year depending upon the placement of Easter. This year we have from now until February 18th to savor the non-penitential nature and saint feast days Ordinary Time has to offer. So, even though it isn't a "special" liturgical time the way Advent and Lent are, this period of Ordinary Time has a lot going for it. So, what are my plans (and yours!) for how to spend it?

As I mentioned, there are some rather awesome saint feast days coming up, so the first thing(s) that came to mind are novenas. Keep an eye on the top navigation bar on the blog for what I'll be praying in case you want to join in! :) You'll notice that the current listing is for the novena to St. Francis de Sales, and that starts this Thursday, January 15th! He is the patron of teachers and writers, so lots of great fodder there to work with in terms of intentions. As soon as his feast day rolls around on January 24th, it's time to start another novena, this time St. Blaise (feast: February 3rd), and then Our Lady of Lourdes (feast: February 11th) and I plan to incorporate the kids into both of these, so stay tuned for information!

I'm very excited about all of this, and I will be incorporating in some feast day celebrations with the kids which I will also write about. I have decided that each year (I will try) to set "saint themes" for each child, and select a few other feast days to draw special attention to. I think I can write a whole post just on this whole nerdy saint theme business, so we'll come back to that. ;-) I'll have a big reveal as to who Henry and Anne's theme is for the year, oohhhhh...

*excited!*

But there is one other thing I want to focus on for this stretch of Ordinary Time, and that is Eucharistic Adoration. Over Christmas I started going weekly, and I am quite determined to keep this habit up. What a *difference* it makes in terms of how I feel spiritually and emotionally when I'm able to work this into my weekly schedule. It's almost guaranteed that I won't be able to make it at the same time each week, but just so long as I get it in once per week, I'm a happy girl.

So, those are my goals. How about you? Any ideas for this short stretch of winter Ordinary Time?

I wanted to mention that I have a book review coming tomorrow, a non-fiction title about a man who walked the Camino de Santiago called Humbled by the Journey, a fascinating subject, to be sure. I hope that you'll join me tomorrow to hear more about it!

Parking kerfluffles & adorable kid time on the Feast of Christ the King...

Happy Monday everyone! I'm absolutely buzzing from an early morning sale at my favorite online yarn shop, but I'll talk about that more tomorrow. I have a busy couple of days here at work, since we were all off last Thursday and Friday due to the storm, and I'm only here for a few days this week due to Thanksgiving. So, blogging-wise, I'll be posting today through Wednesday, which is book club day. The posts will likely be a tad more brief than usual since I'm more pressed for time. But it's a treat for me each day to write, and so here I am, at your service!

You're welcome. ;-)

Yesterday was the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday prior to Advent. :0 Super exciting. I was telling the kids about that as we drove to Mass. Whereupon we arrived in the parish parking lot to find it stuffed full. This was a mystery. Unless there's a baptism taking place during Mass, or it's Christmas Eve, the parking lot is rarely completely full. I circled, then quickly parked in a neighboring lot which is for businesses that are all closed on Sundays. We hustled into the church and noted the setup on the altar: a chair covered by red and gold vestments, and a small table with a crown of thorns. Nice touch. :)

As we got settled in a pew, I pulled out the bulletin, which contained a warning not to park in neighboring lots, as the parish had been warned that tickets would be issued.

:0

Ugh, I was torn on what to do. I didn't feel like schlepping Anne back to the car to move it (Henry could stay by himself just fine, but I knew Anne wouldn't), plus then I'd have to find a spot on the street. A conundrum. I decided to take my chances and leave it. I'm thinking the bigger problem is likely the Saturday vigil Mass, which is better attended with the added factor of the neighboring businesses being open. It all turned out fine, by the way, no ticket. :) But I won't park there again! It distracted me for all of Mass.

At any rate, Mass was lovely. Father's homily addressed how this is the triumphant end of the liturgical year, and a time to be generous and give to others as we approach the expectation of Advent. He mentioned the 10 am Thanksgiving Mass, which I always want to go to but never do, and how everyone can bring a donation for the food pantry up to the altar during the Offertory. This seemed up Anne's alley, so I asked her if she wanted to go, and she said yes. :) So those are our Thanksgiving morning plans. I always want to just veg and watch the parade, but let's be honest: the parade is lame. :0 I do still like watching it, but one certainly can't watch it continually from 9 am until noon lest we die from the cheesiness, so this will break things up nicely. We'll be back long before Santa makes his grand entrance in front of Macy's.

When we got home, both kids wanted to break out their nativity sets, which I put the kibosh on right away. Henry acquiesced to getting one item out per day until next weekend, and in the process of going through his Bethlehem village pieces took out a Fontanini music box he received last year. Anne was *very* taken with it, and cradled it for the rest of the night, photo above. :) She kissed each member of the Holy Family for good measure. She is absolutely adorable.

We all have our Advent calendars and music at the ready for next Sunday. I have my Magnificat Advent Companion all set to go, and my plans firmly in place. Bring on Advent!

How was your Feast of Christ the King, dear reader? Do detail in the comments. :)

Ordinary Time is coming to an end...do you all have your Advent calendars ready?!

It certainly appears that Anne is ready to do battle as she prepares for Advent, no? :) We were having dinner with some friends last night and Anne dug this getup out of their toy basket. Heart-stoppingly cute, that she is.

Anyway, yesterday morning our parish was hosting a small Advent goods sale in the back entryway, and naturally, my Catholic tchotchke-loving children had to have a perusal.

#SoProud

New Advent calendars for everybody! They now each have a traditional paper calendar in addition to chocolate ones (we haven't showed them those yet, otherwise we'd never hear the end of the pleas for an early break-in). And Henry has a Lego one. Whew!

Ok, so Mass itself. In a sense this was the "last" Sunday in Ordinary Time, since it's the final Sunday so named, the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. Next week is still technically Ordinary Time, however, with the feast of Christ the King. Advent *really* feels close at this point though!

Our parish still has the November setup of saint relics on the altar, and the Book of Remembrance for us to write in the names of our departed loved ones. I so love this tradition. We're lingering on this theme, and as well we should, until the official start to Advent on November 30th.

The kids and I arrived at the church for 10 am Mass pretty chilled, it's certainly gotten wintry here of late. In fact, we're going to be under a lake effect snow watch Tuesday night and Wednesday, but that's a subject for another post. ;-) The church was nice and warm, and we settled in.

And, ladies and gentlemen, drum roll please... For the very first time since Anne reached non-diaper wearing status, we had ZERO TRIPS TO THE BATHROOM DURING MASS!!!!

*wild applause*

Wow, was that a treat. :) The kids were both very good too, just a little bit of elbowing each other to contend with. For the most part I got to hear the readings (the Gospel was the parable of the talents), although during the homily I was dealing with a few Anne-isms, which is to say answering "whispered" questions and commentary:

"Mommy, LOOK AT THAT PRETTY GIRL IN THE YELLOW JACKET!"

This was an older woman sitting behind us who positively beamed with Anne's praise.

Unfortunately, the opposite was bound to occur as well:

"Mommy, HOW COME THAT MAN HAS SUCH BIG EARS?!"

Oh my. Luckily, that person was sitting far enough away that I'm hopeful he didn't hear her. Even with his allegedly large ears. :0

I'm praying the Novena to Christ the King right now (in addition to the 54 Day Rosary Novena, novena overload! :0), and so I had all of those intentions in mind as we prayed following Communion. Speaking of novenas, allow me to detour for just a moment: I think that following the 54 Day Rosary Novena (which ends Sunday November 23rd), I will reserve a spot on the top of the blog as a general "Current Novena Page." So, whatever novena I'm praying at that time, I'll label a page that will display there so that anyone who would like to join in can, or could ask me to pray for their intentions. If I'm not praying a novena at a given time, I'll have the Our Lady Undoer of Knots novena information listed there, since one could start that novena at any time, it's always a winner. :) I'm excited about this idea! We all benefit from praying more often, and from praying for each other. Yay. :)

Following Mass we went to the Advent sale mentioned above, and then headed home. We had dinner with friends, and a grand time was had by all. I am very glad that this is the last full week of November prior to the Thanksgiving break. Since Mike and I are perpetually on an academic calendar, I still think of Thanksgiving this way. :) I'll be off starting on Wednesday next week, and I'm very much looking forward to it. Thus, blogging will be light next week, but you'll all be too busy eating pumpkin pie anyway, right? ;-)

Tomorrow, I have a dance update, which is always fun. I'll report in then, but in the meantime: how was your 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time? Leave a comment. :)

Birthday party frivolity and priesthood aspirations?! - on the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica...

Happy Monday everyone! I had a jam-packed family weekend, and a beautiful Mass yesterday, and I hope you did too. We had Henry's birthday party on Saturday (dance on Friday, will talk about that later this week :)) and the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica on Sunday. Ready? Let's chronicle!

So, Saturday we hosted a small family party for Henry. We were keeping it simple with regard to food: ordering pizza and wings, having a cheesy dip as an appetizer with assorted veggies, chips and crackers, store bought cake, and lots of alcohol. I mean, that's a winning menu right there, folks. ;-) When I host things, I get all neurotic, so I like to keep things as simple as possible. That way I can just flit around and assure that everyone has enough to eat and drink without *also* worrying about setting the oven aflame or otherwise poisoning everyone accidentally. Before everyone arrived, Mike was bemoaning the lack of space in the refrigerator as he tried to wedge the cake in there, and I noticed my box of nearly empty Chardonnay in the corner. Well, Tiffany to the rescue! I cleared space in the refrigerator while also relaxing a bit before guests started arrived.

#halo!

And everything went great. I got to see an aunt and uncle from out of town that I don't get to visit with often enough, and a great time was had by all. Henry got some fun gifts, including this year's Lego Advent calendar, a few movies, a Lego Arctic set, and a new piece for his Fontanini nativity village. He was happy. His birthday is always a nice prelude into the holidays and time spent with family.

And so Sunday I was feeling in excellent spirits as we headed out to Mass. Both kids behaved very well, we just had one incident of Anne's baby doll (remember Tennis Baby?) losing her plastic bottle as it was dropped and bounced up about 3 pews, and apparently they engineer such things to be *as loud as humanly possible*, but other than that, things were good. As the feast day name indicates, our priest spent the homily talking about the history of the Lateran Basilica in Rome and it's place as the papal seat in Rome. When Mass was over, I let the kids collaborate to light a candle again ("Here's the money, but you have to take Anne with you." "MOMMY. Do I *have* to?!") while I wrote our deceased relatives names in the Book of Remembrance, which our parish has out every November.

Throughout Mass, I had been thinking about how I'd like to make Henry the subject of my next novena. :) He's going through what I remember going through very vividly as a child, which is Aversion To Mass Syndrome.

"Do I HAVE TO go?" is asked each week, with a look of torture present. "Mass is BORING."

For awhile, he would follow along in the missal, and that seemed to help, but lately he's been uninterested in doing that. I don't want him to see church as a bad thing, something I make him do and he doesn't want to do. And, you know. That's pretty much how it works right now for him. :0 Because yes, I do insist that he goes and Mike backs me up on this. But I'm hoping that his love for Catholic traditions and saints outside of Mass will open his heart to having a prayer life and a relationship with God that he relates back to the Mass. That's pretty ambitious hopes for a child of 9, but I think it's a worthy goal. Hence the novena.

But adorable anecdote here, and it brought so much hope into my heart. God indeed does have a sense of humor, and seriously, that is a quality that I LOVE in a man. :0 Later Sunday evening, I was upstairs putting Anne to bed. Mike and Henry were talking downstairs. As I joined their conversation, Henry was saying something about jobs some of the boys in his class want to pursue when they grow up. So I asked him if he had ever thought about what *he* would like to do for a career when he grows up. I was especially interested in his answer, since Henry has never said or shown any interest in any vocation or career up to this point. He mentioned something about construction and electricians, and so we talked about that for a few minutes. Then I asked him about his friend Raymond:

"Hank, have any of your friends at school mentioned wanting to be priests when they grow up? Maybe Raymond?"

Raymond seems an ideal fit to me, and the Catholic mother was being nosy. :0

"Raymond? No, he's never said that. But last year, Mrs. W and Miss S? (his third grade teacher and the teacher's aide). They both said that I should be a priest. They said it a bunch of times."

Well. I nearly fell off the couch with my partially knitted sock in hand.

"Really?! Why did they say that?!"

I was trying to keep my excitement contained, but was doing a pretty poor job of it. ;-)

"Well...I won that religion award. Three years in a row. And they said I know so much about the saints and stuff."

He looked pretty sheepish as he was explaining this, but I couldn't help my reaction. So here goes:

*nostrils flare with pride*

I am far from perfect in all ways, especially in my abilities as a mother. And God knows that I am no saint-in-progress and that I could do so much better with raising my kids up in the faith. But I do try, I do, very hard. And sometimes, trying hard is all we need to do. God will do the rest.

Certainly, I don't know that Henry is actually going to be a priest. He'll figure this all out when he is an adult. But just that someone else suggested it to him based upon his knowledge of the faith? That meant the world to me. I was glowing for the rest of the evening. Somehow, I think that everything is going to turn out all right with this intention, even if the route is roundabout. :)

*contented sigh*

How was your weekend, everyone?

Rainy Halloween fun, and the feast of All Saints & All Souls...

Morning everyone, and happy Monday. :) I'm not really feeling very bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but that's just the way things go sometimes, it *is* Monday after all. But I had a very pleasant weekend, so let's chronicle!

Halloween, for the second year running, was rainy here in WNY. But I was armed with my drinky drink, so I was happy. ;-) Although Anne did shed a few tears at dinnertime because she didn't want to eat what we had made (this is a very common occurrence these days, unfortunately), no full out temper tantrums came into play, for which I was supremely grateful. After dinner, we costumed the kids up and waited for it to get dark. Mercifully, both got into their costumes and wore them without incident:

Moment before heading outside, everybody is happy. Including the photographer, with her "water" bottle in tow...

Anne was so excited that as I was getting my coat on, I could hear her outside having a lengthy conversation with one of our neighbors about the merits of chocolate vs. non-chocolate candy. It's been clear for quite some time that Anne is the sole extroverted member of my household. :0

Sooooo, Mike goes out on the porch to hand out candy with our lit Jack O'lantern, a chair, and a bottle of beer, and I head down the street with the kids. The rain did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm, to be sure. I had my rain jacket on complete with hood covering my hair, and was sipping my drink. ;-)

Both kids were very good, saying "thank you!" at each house. Anne's costume, especially her glittery purple mask, earned rave reviews. In lieu of saying 'trick or treat!' she just said "May I have some candy?" and she's cute enough to get away with it. Henry, of course, was horrified by this. :)

We get down to the furthest point of our journey, the very end of our street, and the inevitable happens:

"Mommy, I have to go pee RIGHT NOW! I AM GOING TO PEE IN MY COSTUME!!"

#longsufferingsigh

Back to our house we go, Anne doing a careful pee pee walk, Henry with a sour expression. We do what we need to do at the homefront and head back out. We get to most of the houses on the other side of the street before Anne declares that she is "so tired Mommy!" I drop her back at our house to hand out candy with Mike. I took Henry out for a bit longer, and all went well.

The only difficult part was the inevitable wrangling into bed for Anne, who despite being exhausted, did not want to go to sleep. She relayed the story to me the next day as follows:

"Mommy, I was so tired last night. So I got on the floor and cried."

"How come you didn't just go to sleep if you were so tired?"

"I did not want to go to sleep. So I threw my toys instead."

"But going to sleep would have made you feel so much better."

*thoughtful silence*

"Next time I will go to sleep, Mommy."

Interesting insight into the toddler mind, no? :0

After that big night, I was rather contemplative about it being the weekend commemorating the feast of All Saints, and then All Souls.

I really wanted to go to Mass on Saturday morning (I was sad that there was no official Holy Day of Obligation this year), but didn't end up making it because we had a ton of household chores needing our attention. I eagerly anticipated the feast of All Souls on Sunday, and got my new issue of Magnificat all ready.

#Catholicnerd

The kids were both really good at Mass, Anne even respecting my request to keep the bathroom trips down to one. :0 And it was just one of those Masses that seemed particularly meaningful to me for no specific reason at all. I mean, the feast of All Souls has been significant to me for some time now that I have relatives who have passed away, and I remember them in a special way each November. I write their names each year in our parish's Book of Remembrance. But yesterday I felt it even more so. I just felt very connected to my Catholic community yesterday at Mass - both here and around the world, and from the great cloud of witnesses in heaven. I was able to pay more attention at Mass and simply appreciate everything more, especially the Eucharist, and it made me feel so happy to be a Catholic. So, that's the sappy part of my weekend. :)

I have other good fodder to discuss, such as my ideas for making this upcoming Advent a prayerful one (hope springs eternal!), and I will discuss that tomorrow, so come visit me again then. How was your Halloween and feast of All Souls? Do leave a comment. :)

Great commandments & loss of sleep - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time :0

Little girls with sassy faces have been making things difficult for me of late. ;-) Let's chronicle, and I already have a GIANT mug of tea due to the fact that I am freezing my face off  in my office as the heat is not working. AGAIN. It seems to me that this happens every single year in the library as we move from autumn to winter, but who's counting?

*glares*

At any rate, I had a beautiful weekend. We raked leaves and pulled up the vegetable garden for the season. We made tea and hot chocolate to keep the chill out. Every October, Mike and I watch classic scary movies leading up to Halloween, and this weekend we watched Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. We made drinks and had a grand time. We also watched a bit of the World Series and some football yesterday.

Our daughter, however, at three and a half, is going through one of those spells whereby she suddenly is getting up in the night needing intervention. I remember going through this with Henry too. Our children seem to do the following with regard to sleep:

Year 1: They do not sleep. They nurse and wake frequently and I cry a lot.

Year 2: A switch is flipped. They sleep a normal night and I give thanks to God. *angels sing*

Sometime shortly before Year 3: Insidious fears creep in and they start to (a) refuse to go to sleep at bedtime, and/or (b) wake in the night crying, wanting to be soothed. I begin to wonder if I have done something to offend God. :0 Although much easier to manage than Year 1, after a year of getting normal sleep, it is difficult to transition back to the wakings.

And that's just how it goes. Sometimes, she only wakes once in an entire month. Other times, like what we're going through right now, she wakes every single night for weeks on end. And when I'm out of practice on this boot camp-like interrupted sleep thing that all parents go through, I feel so much more out-of-sorts when I wake. I'm dreaming, and suddenly somebody else's baby is there, crying. Dream Tiffany thinks "where did that baby come from?! Nobody was in this weird, ethereal building a minute ago!!" And then I realize that I am not dreaming, and that that baby is my very own real life toddler who is starting to get angry that nobody has come to her rescue yet.

Last night, Mike was the knight in shining armor by offering to get up instead of me. I hear him open Anne's door and greet her sweetly, and I then I hear:

"I WANT MY MOM."

Anne has this way of making you feel like she doesn't even know you if she's in a bad enough mood. :0 Mike soothed, and she was quiet when he left the room, but 10 minutes later...

*wailing*

I go in, and apparently the situation was quite urgent:

"MOMMY! Ernie has shoes on. How can I take them off?!"

Poor stuffed Ernie. Doomed to permanently wear shoes for all eternity. But more so than Ernie, POOR MIKE AND TIFFANY. It was over an hour before we were all back sleeping. And this morning she was an absolute *entity* of overtired, negative energy.

So, let's backtrack to Sunday Mass. She hadn't sleep well Saturday night either, so apply the above to 10:30 am Mass. :0 We are exhorted in the readings to love God and our neighbor, and so your beleaguered Catholic Librarian was trying to implement both. We had:

• 2 demands to use the restroom.
• Lots of climbing.
• Arguing with, and pushing of, Henry.
• Refusals to sit down.
• Loud stage whispering involving when she will be big enough to ride roller coasters. Really pressing issues such as those.

It was a LONG hour. :0 We did have one nice moment in which, after snatching the prayer cards I use as bookmarks in my Magnificat, Anne proclaimed that she loves the image of Our Lady Star of the Sea, which pleased me greatly. :) I needed the encouragement at that point.

We made it through, but barely. I'm hoping that this stage passes mercifully quickly.

How was your weekend dear reader? Leave me a comment. :)

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - The power of the Holy Spirit...

Morning all! My day is absolutely nuts today, and tomorrow isn't abundantly better, so I'm trying to squeeze in some blogging while I have the early reference shift, which is always quiet. I had a very nice weekend, and Mass yesterday was just sublime, so I wanted to write about that if even for just a short spell. At left, you can see a blurry photo of Henry lighting a candle after Mass, which is one of his very favorite things to do, with Anne's pink pants and bright blue sweater behind him. We won't even talk about what a production it was for her to get dressed yesterday morning, because that would be categorized as one of the *low* points of the day. :0 Just picture an unruly scene featuring a toddler streaking around in her underwear screaming "NO!! I AM NOT WEARING *THAT*!!" for 20 straight minutes. Good times.

But Mass really did turn out well. Eventually.

I think I have finally come to terms with an important factoid about these Monday morning Mass reflection posts: I would really like for them to be all theological and prayerful, discussing how the readings apply to our daily lives. Well...the problem with this goal is that I rarely HEAR the readings, because I'm either taking Anne to the restroom or otherwise dragging her out from underneath a pew. :0 And I've finally realized that...that's all right. This is my state in life right now. This is what God is asking me to do. And I have always known that I get so much out of Mass whether or not I am able to hear and reflect upon the readings. Just the beauty and comfort of the liturgy, the Eucharist, all of *these* things are what buoy my spiritual life. Certainly, I need Scripture as well, but I can always fit that in when I have other quiet time. Given that Anne had woken up yesterday practically having the word "SASSY!" tattooed on her forehead, I knew that the chances of me reflecting on the Gospel message were low. But I was ok with that. I armed myself emotionally for battle and loaded the kids up in the car. :)

It's finally turned cold around here, and yesterday featured temperatures that never got out of the 40's. We arrived chilly and pink cheeked in our pew before the start of Mass, while the music ensemble warmed up. Anne announces:

"Mommy! I am going to pee my pants!"

I'm certain everyone in the pews around us was so happy to learn that little piece of information.

I scooped her up and hurried her to the sacristy restroom. We took care of her business and made our way back to the pew. She insisted on walking herself, and I didn't want to set her off, so I let her, and it actually went fine. As soon as we got back, the climbing began.

On the pew. Off the pew. Attempt to swing from the end of pew. Climb over feet on kneeler on way to opposite side of pew. Climb over feet on kneeler to make way back. Sit on floor and crawl under pew. Suddenly, she's eating a Goldfish cracker. WAIT, WE DIDN'T PACK ANY GOLDFISH CRACKERS!!!! Good God. We have another request to use the bathroom, and attempts to dissuade go *very poorly*. Back to the restroom we go. I was serene, but starting to feel exhausted.

We get back to the pew, and hark! It was like an angelic beam of light directed Anne's gaze to something on the floor. It was...a sequin.

"MOMMY! Look what I found! It's a beautiful, sparkly diamond!"

Children are so easy to please when it comes to shiny things. :) She refused to call it a sequin, it was "a sparkly!" and she cradled it like a baby kitty cat for the rest of Mass. Which meant that she actually sat and stood in ONE PLACE for the duration.

God.Is.Good.

Thus, I was able to go back after Communion and glance through the readings in my Magnificat, picking out a sentence in St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians:

"For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction."

The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!

Mike has suggested that I acquire about a pound of sequins from the craft store and discreetly drop them when needed at Mass in the future. Oh look!! A runaway sparkly needs Anne's attention and nurturing. :0

How was your Sunday Mass, dear reader? Leave a comment if you please!

Sometimes, you just have to get through things :) - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Hi all! This is not going to be a very long post. I am home sick today, and this is a rarity for me (I thought blogging might perk me up, so here you are :)). I almost never use my sick time unless I've just had surgery and/or a baby, which makes me sound a bit martyrish, but the reality is much different - what I am is TYPE A and ANAL. :0 I don't like my routine disturbed, and I don't like to miss things. I'm insane, you see. But this weekend? I had a horrible weekend. I'm not going to discuss it on the blog, because it's personal, but it relates to something in my extended family, and it has disturbed my soul quite deeply. Mike and the kids have been sublime, thank God for them. See the flowers at the top of this post? They're from Mike, and there wasn't an occasion that he bought them for. I just came home on Wednesday, October 2nd, the day after the feast of St. Therese, and found them in a vase on our dining room table. He didn't know I had prayed the novena, he just got them because he thought I'd like them. And that's the kind of guy he is - I am so very lucky and blessed.

So, this weekend, a bit more generally. It was a rough one, and the second reading this week at Mass really lifted my spirits. It's from Philippians, chapter 4, and it's one that I'm very familiar with because of its soothing nature:

"...Have no anxiety, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Very lovely. It helped a lot, especially since my daughter chose to test me a bit at Mass. :0 Henry was being angelic out in the pew (not that he always is, but you know, he's almost 9, so he can control himself a bit better, lol) and Anne made 2 requests to use the potty. She had just gone at home, but I took her anyway. I will say that she did pee. :) This was at the beginning of Mass. Then right before the Eucharistic Prayer, we get another request.

"Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom."

"We already went, Honey. Can't you wait until we get home?"

"No Mommy!" *grabs crotch*

When the public crotch grabbing and dancing begins, obviously I have no choice. To the bathroom we go. Everything goes fine. Then we exit the bathroom. We're back in the sacristy.

"Mommy I don't want you to carry me."

"Ok Honey, just hold my hand until we get back to the pew."

Setting Anne loose in public never works out well.

"NO!"

Well. This isn't going to end well, is it?

We spent 5 full minutes during the Consecration back there, her deliberately not looking at me and occasionally shouting "NO!", me debating my choices. Set her loose to avoid public scene? Grab her and hope she calms down quickly? Drag her out to the car in disgrace? None of these seem like good options. I choose bribery. That works.

:0

And the rest of Mass went fine, with Anne, clearly tired, resting her head on my shoulder. I set Henry loose (because he can be trusted :)) to get us a candle to light after Mass, and that was very lovely. Our Lady Undoer of Knots, please pray for my intention. :)

All right, back to the couch with tea for me. I'm feeling a lot better, but I'm not often home sick, so I secure "Golden Girls" marathons wherever I can. :0  I should be back to my normal routine tomorrow. And thank God for that.

How was your weekend, dear reader?

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - It's all about grace...

Happy Monday everyone! Although, I admit, I'm not all that thrilled that it's actually Monday. I had a meting at 9 am this morning, and I just didn't feel quite ready for work socializing yet, PLUS it didn't leave me enough time to make tea, and so now I'm on chat reference and writing this post, tea-less. That's not exactly a good combination.

:0

But at any rate, we had a very active weekend for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, which I will chronicle here. I can't leave my desk to go get hot water for tea, which seems profoundly unfair, but you go ahead and enjoy yours as you read.

*martyr*

Ok, so Saturday morning Mike and I took the kids apple picking. This is a fall tradition, and this year we tried out a farm that is much closer to our house than we've journeyed to previously. It was about 30 minutes away, rather than an hour, which translated into SO MUCH LESS bickering our back seat from our offspring. *sighs* It worked out very, very well. The children cavorted on a hay maze and interacted with turkeys. The turkeys were happily pecking away at several pumpkins that were hung up for their ease, and were very friendly. I found it a big discomfiting that there was a sign up advertising fresh, organic Thanksgiving turkey. :0 This is why I could never work on a farm. #wuss We all picked apples, and there was a nice variety in season. We came away with about 12 pounds of apples, some of which Anne and I used to bake an apple cobbler yesterday, see baking selfie above. :) Which resulted in this cuteness happening:

Anne in her new apron. Precious.

We ended up at the vigil Mass, since Henry was spending the night with his grandparents and I told him he still had to go to Mass. This wasn't exactly a popular decision with Henry, but I explained that now that he's received his First Communion, he has a lot more responsibility with regard to Mass attendance. Not attending means that he has to go to confession and tell the priest why he didn't go. That, and Mike backing me up, seemed to make all the difference, and Henry got ready for Mass. :)

Anne was actually out for a girls afternoon with my mom, so it was just Mike, Henry and I at Mass. It's been so long since I went to Mass without a sassy little one climbing all over tarnation that I almost didn't know what to do with myself. :0 I could actually *pay attention* and follow along in my Magnificat, bliss! I enjoyed the Gospel reading very much, from Matthew Chapter 21: Which of the two sons does his father's will? The one who said he would go work in the family vineyard, but then didn't keep his word, or the other who initially refused, but later changed his mind and silently went to work? God appreciates our honesty, and will always welcome us into the fold, even if we were originally pretty stubborn about the whole thing.

This related back to the Gospel reading from last weekend, and it made me appreciate the sentiment anew. The Magnificat reflection following the Mass readings was penned by St. John Vianney, and focused on the danger of lukewarmness in faith. A sinner laments his sin when his conscience kicks in. A lukewarm person, on the other hand, thinks that their relationship with God and their actions are just fine, there is no need to change anything. You suddenly develop a habit of sleeping in on Sunday mornings. "God's ok with it, He knows that I still love Him. I'll go back to church when I'm feeling better." One week becomes another, and next thing you know it's been months since you've gone and received the sacraments. But you're still convinced that God is cool with this.

Been there, done that, my friends. :0 The reflection was a refreshing reminder that even when I get down on myself about the things that I just can't seem to get right, the fact that I still keep trying to do better is a really good thing. I recognize that I continually need improvement, and this fact alone doesn't put me outside of God's grace, you know? It's actually a *good* thing.

After Mass, we dropped Henry off at my in-laws for his sleepover.  This meant that Mike and I had a few hours to go out to dinner, and we had plans to go to a local Mexican place we had been wanting to try out. We had originally planned to bring Anne with us, but she was still with my mom. You know what this means, don't you?

HHEEEELLLOOOO MARGARITAS!!!!

A fun time was had by all. ;-)

How was your weekend, good and gentle reader?