Back-to-school prayer, and knitting as a distraction from worry...

Welcome back friends! I hope you're enjoying the fresh start to August as much as I am. I am going to freely admit that I am quite odd, and find July to be my least favorite month every single year. I like certain aspects of July, like the 4th of July holiday and swimming/picnics, festival dancing, extra socializing with friends. But the weather?

👎

It's the most humid month of the year here in WNY, and that's my least favorite weather ever. Yes, even more so than winter. So, with July done, besides panicking a bit about the approach of my dance competition finals in late September, I'm enjoying the slight turn in the weather that August brings. There are still warm and humid days ahead, don't get me wrong, but they tend not to cluster so much, and to be less oppressive than July. I'll take it.

August also heralds other changes in our lives. K-12 schools in my part of the world don't start back until after Labor Day in September, but back-to-school is IN THE AIR now, if you know what I mean. Lots of sales and pictures on Facebook of back-to-schoolers, since most other areas of the country start back before we do. This is a situation that I have tucked away firmly in my heart for daily prayer. This new school year means lots of changes for our kids: they will no longer be at the same school, Henry will start high school, and Anne is officially in Big Kid Land as she starts 3rd grade. I have this rosary on my desk at work, made by the lovely Allison, and just holding it and looking at it gives me a sense of peace:

St. Joan of Arc, pray for us!

I have a feeling that I'll be using it for more than admiration purposes as we transition into fall. I think her courage and faith are exactly what I need next month, to be sure. I'm downright weepy about all of these changes, and the worry that accompanies them. So I've been knitting for both children up a storm, because in my mind this keeps them safe.

?

I know, I know. It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to make me feel better! I started a pair of green self-striping socks for Henry (who is suddenly an ADULT LARGE in terms of shoe size), and I made a robin playset for Anne. Not exactly conventional, but that's how we roll in my avian friendly household.

This summer, we had a robin family nest in our neighbor’s yard. Anne, ever the avid birder, kept vigil with her binoculars over Memorial Day weekend, and got to see the entire process - from the parents building the nest, to mom incubating the eggs, and finally three little beaks starting to push up over the top of the nest as mom and dad arrived back with worm reinforcements. The babies fledged a few weeks later, and now we see them in juvenile form, hopping around our back yarn with their spotted breasts, learning how to look for food on their own. It was just so special! So I found a robin pattern to make my Anne her own commemorative robin:

Pattern is Spring Robin, and is available for free!

This is Mother Robin. And she's super inquisitive. ;-)

Never content to leave well enough alone, I made a nest for Mother Robin. She needs a comfy home for her family!

And of course, my little helper is so excited about her new bird friend.

Instructions for the nest are included in the pattern, and it was MUCH easier than I expected! You essentially make a yarn snarl in your lap that you baste together with a separate strand of yarn, threaded through a tapestry needle, into the shape of a nest.

And here, HERE, is the best part. Mother Robin has her triplets!

:-0

I mean, did you ever? Instructions on how to knit the nestlings (squeal!) are included right in the pattern as well. I will admit, I found it a bit more cumbersome to knit a stuffed toy, especially small ones, as opposed to crochet. But this was an enjoyable process that I learned a lot from, and I'm thrilled with the results!

Anne made some "worms" out of scrap yarn, so now we have Mother Robin and babies posing all over the house in various scenes of feeding frenzy. It's all so cute, and I'm glad that I tried out the new skills I had to learn in order to make these. The satisfaction of all of this took my mind off of how freaked out I am about several key dates in September. 😂

So that's what I've been up to. How about you? Do you have any intentions you would like the community to pray for? Just let us know!

A cute saint story podcast...

Yes, I really wish I had come up with this idea myself. :-0 You all know how much I enjoy podcasts, and how much my kids and I also enjoy stories of the saints. This would have been a marketing goldmine, let me tell you you. ;-) At any rate, Shining Light Saint Dolls thought of it first, and I listened the newest episode as well as one of the earlier ones this morning while I was getting ready for work. Let me tell you: SO CUTE. These are not just for kids!

This is a weekly podcast featuring a saint whose feast is celebrated that week. They are short episodes, 4 to 5 minutes each, and begin with a quick description of the saint, followed by a narrated story highlighting something this saint is particularly known for. The stories have sound effects and everything, it's so endearing. :) At the end, the narrator draws a lesson that we can all learn from this saint. The newest episode features St. Scholastica!

I really enjoyed these, and officially subscribed to the feed so that I'll receive new episodes automatically in my podcast app. If you go to the Shining Light Dolls website, scroll down just a tad and you'll see "Saint Stories for Kids", followed by the option to listen to the latest episode, or subscribe via a number of different feed options. They would be perfect to play for your kids, but I have to admit that I'm looking forward to listening to the new episodes as well. They are a breath of fresh air for my morning commute!

In other faith news, I have some ideas for Lent, including a read-along/book club idea that I'm *really* excited about. Look for a post on that next week! 😀

Musings on the New Year, just a bit early...

Well, it's almost the end of 2018, and I'll skip bemoaning how quickly time goes by when you get old and how humbling that is.

😬

Since we've been focusing on the Advent Book Club for the past several weeks, I thought a little update post would be nice, just about general life stuff. That's one of my favorite things about this blog. :)

So, the kids.

😬😬😬

Henry is in 8th grade this year 😭 and has taken the Catholic High School Entrance Exam. We should get his scores and a financial aid package at the end of January. Please pray for us that it is manageable to send him to the Catholic boys high school he'd like to attend, if you please! We would love to send him there, I think he would thrive, and it's literally blocks from our house. But, you know...$$$$. He has also made the basketball team at his current school and has been doing very well. Henry is a more reserved kid, and it's good to see him socializing and fitting in. Warms my heart.

Anne is in 2nd grade and as sassy as ever. She's suddenly very tall and it's hard to believe that this is my little baby. 😭 She's made great strides with her reading abilities, and has a brand new subscription to Magnifikid magazine to show for it. She joined up with a Brownie troop out of a local parish this year, and so far we're both really enjoying it. A good friend of mine is the troop leader, and it's been a fun and warm experience for all. She went camping with them a few weekends ago, and was away from us overnight (without being with a grandparent) for the very first time. 😢 It's hard, but it's so lovely to see her growing and thriving.

Both of my kids are precious souls with good hearts. They drive me crazy more than 50% of the time, but this means that, you know, they're NORMAL. Anne helped me set up our new Shining Light nativity set back at the beginning of Advent, and she now has the wise men slowly traversing the dining room each day to get to the manger in time for the Epiphany. This means that daily, I accidentally kick them over because they're walking right in the path from the kitchen :0 but it's SO ADORABLE that I don't have the heart to move them. It's moments like that that I remember why life is so good.

My Mike is between semesters of teaching and enjoying the time to refresh and recharge prior to the new semester. He's teaching something in the spring called Phenomenology and Existentialism.

!

If anybody can decipher that for me, I'd be much obliged. :0 Our 14th wedding anniversary is coming up in early January, and we're planning a little weekend trip away!  *heart*

In other news, I'm dancing again on New Year's Eve, and I'm actually looking forward to it rather than being frozen in fear, that's a nice change. ;-) Granted, the morning of December 31st, I'll wake up feeling like I'd rather face a trip to the gallows, but no need worrying about that now! :0 I have lots of dance workshop plans in the new year, and I'm SO EXCITED. In addition to Egyptian belly dance, I've been really into studying folkloric dance lately. I study Egyptian folkloric dance as part of my regular classes, but I'm wanting to really delve more into these as there are quite a few different styles in Egypt, (can one procure an advanced degree in belly dance history? 🤔) as well as into Turkish folkloric dance. I took a workshop a few weeks ago on Turkish Roman dance, and I LOVED IT. I've never studied Turkish style dance at all, and this is just one very specific folkloric style. It's wonderful to learn about a new-to-me culture and their dance, the possibilities are endless! But I'm a dance nerd, I can't help myself. ;-)

So, lots of dance research and fun in the new year, and just generally a Life Is Good mentality. I have a lot to be thankful for, and I never want to take that for granted. There were some hard things this year, but I made it, and most importantly, I learned from them. Not all lessons are pleasant, but they are important and vital to our long term well-being. Maybe we won't make the same mistake again next time, you know?

I suppose this is a New Year's Resolution post just a tad early. In the near year, I want to:

• practice a lot of gratitude
• take advantage of every opportunity to grow in my dance hobby that I am so passionate about
• take time, with intentionality, (is this even a real word?!) to be the best that I can be in my main vocation as wife and mother, and in my career as a librarian

How about you? Any goals for the new year? I'd love to hear them!

The final Advent Book Club will be up tomorrow morning!

Tea Time with Tiffany #69 - Loose teeth & banishing stress!

TGIF everyone, and welcome to this week's perkier edition of:

Today I talk about my nostalgia over loose teeth, how the Fall 2016 Managing Stress is going, and how remembering dance choreographies is a point of creative pride for me (mostly because I cannot remember anything else :0). 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:

• St. Apollonia wood doll
• Himalayan Salt Lamp
• My Scentsy page, where you can find lavender scented wax and oils out the wazoo ;-)
• The joy of diffusers

How is your October faring, dear listener? Do you struggle with loose teeth in kids the same way I do? How is your stress management going? Do write in!

Cafeteria ladies & tears...

This morning, when Mike came back from dropping the kids off at school, he walked in with Anne's water bottle for snack time, as it had unknowingly fallen out of her backpack during the drive. Want to know what I did?

I started to cry. Because it's just that kind of day.

I feel overwhelmed at work. I don't like the lesson I'm teaching (it's standardized), I don't feel confident with it because I barely had time to look it over in the midst of last week's teaching fray, and some of the students are being super lazy and teeing me off. As in: if you're going to come into the room, immediately put your head down on the desk, and then sleep for all of class, DON'T BOTHER COMING!!

*glares*

All this, on top of my baby bean not having her Frozen water bottle for snack time? Too much. Over the edge, here I come!

And it's only Monday. *weak nostril flare*

Then I thought back to the weekend. Mike and I were talking while we were making dinner, and we segued into something having to do with the kids. I happened to mention to Mike that I've been noticing more and more how much our kids look alike. They really do. Their little faces hold such a family resemblance. And from behind me, bursts out:

"THAT'S what the cafeteria lady said!! She said I look JUST LIKE HENRY, and Mom, I don't think that's true! Henry's a BOY! And I have long hair!" *flips aforementioned hair saucily over shoulder*

Yep. That's my daughter, for you. It made me smile to think back on it. And on a day like today, I really needed that.

I'm also freshly back from my second class of the day, and nobody fell asleep. I was planning to physically jar them awake if they did, SO DISAPPOINTING. Ah well. I'm calling this a win and heading home for wine. Who's coming with me?!

Treasuring the dandelion moments...

Yesterday evening, after a very enjoyable day, I gave Anne a bath. She lingered in there for a bit like she always does, playing with various water toys, then demanded that I put her into a sleeper. She's a very demanding child. ;-)

As I was cleaning up the post-bath mess, she went downstairs in her reindeer footed sleeper. Mike was outside mowing the lawn, and I could hear Anne opening the door to join him.

When I peeked out the window, Mike was pushing the lawnmower through the grass, while Anne, reindeer feet stuffed into her Elsa and Anna sneakers, was plucking cherry tomatoes from our backyard garden.

After they finished, I could hear Anne calling me outside. I obliged her.

She's standing in our driveway, all sleepered up still, with 3 dandelions in her hand that have gone to seed. She thrusts one towards me:

"Mom. Make a wish. Then you have to whisper it to yourself so that no one else can hear you, then blow the fluff off the dandelion. If all the fluff doesn't come off, you have to take it off with your fingers."

#bossy

"All right, honey."

*I follow the instructions*

"What did you wish for?"

"For my job to make me less sad."

*Anne looks contemplative*

"OK. Here is another dandelion. Do you have another wish?"

"Um, sure, let me..."

"Never mind, I will give you a wish. Wish for...a balcony on our house."

"A balcony?"

"Yes. I see lots of houses with them. Up there on top of the house."

*gestures towards the second floor*

"Um hum, yes."

"Balconies. They are nice. We could stand on it."

"Yes, indeed. We could do that."

"So wish for a balcony Mom."

"All right."

*follow instructions*

"Good. There is only 1 dandelion left. I will make the last wish."

Well. Now that that is settled. ;-)

So there Anne and I were, both in our pajamas, standing in the driveway holding empty dandelion stalks, and I thought to myself that in the end, those are the moments I will cherish and remember. Not the 25 frustrating student emails that were waiting for me when I logged in this morning. Not how tired I felt after my recent work days with this chaotic new teaching routine in tow. I'll remember dandelion fluff and wishes for balconies. And thank God for that.

Lots of sniffling going on here, it's the first day of school...

*emotional*

It's just one of those things in life that there are certain events that ALWAYS seem off in the distance. Certain milestone ages. Your parents passing away. Retirement. For me, so far in my life, today was one of those milestones: my baby is starting Kindergarten. And she and Henry are finally at the same school, which given their 5 year age gap, always seemed like it may never come. And now it is here.

*tears!*

It seems like a poignant day, to be sure. There's a larger life lesson going on in the midst of the actual First Day of School melee. And that is that time marches on, regardless of what else is going on in your life, and regardless of how it just seems like yesterday that I myself was the ages of my children.

I remember very clearly, my dad talking to me the night before I started Kindergarten. And at that time, I had not been in daycare or Pre-K prior to that, so this was my very first school experience. I was nervous about starting school, as I was a shy kid, and my dad was teasing me that he would try to "blend in" with the other kids so that he could go with me:

"But you're so much taller than all of them!"

"I'll kneel down like this, and walk around on my knees, so that they'll think I'm only this tall!"

I'm getting a little emotional typing that all out, and if you're one of my sisters, you're probably getting emotional reading it! At that moment, I would have been 5. My dad, doing a little quick public math, would have been 30. That's a decade younger than I am right now. But when you're a kid, everyone just generally seems OLDER than you. And now, everyone mostly still seems older than me, or generally the same age as me. :0 But in point of fact, of course, the percentage of people younger than you is always increasing. It's a humbling, humbling reality. My dad seems so much the same to me now as he always has. But at that time, he was YOUNG!

I've been thinking about that off and on throughout my morning today, as I was teaching. It's an emotional day, and it's setting off a time of major change. The mornings will now consist of a lot of rushy rushiness, prompting children to get dressed, to brush their teeth, and remembering to pack lunches, snacks and needed paperwork.

I'm trying to hold on, but I tell you, I'm on the brink of bursting into snotty tears right in the middle of a class coming up here. For posterity's sake, here is the picture from last year, when Henry was going into 5th grade, and Anne was starting Pre-K:

Anne didn't look too happy...

And just this morning, Henry is starting in the middle school wing, and Anne starting Kindergarten. Thankfully, they are both now enrolled in the same Catholic school:

Much happier faces this year.

Sniffling. So much sniffling over here. How is your post-Labor Day week/first day of school starting out, dear reader?

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?

"MOOOOMMMMM! Could you COME IN HERE!!!"

I suppose I should mention the time that this conversation was initiated:

2 am.

When one no longer has an infant in their home, being woken in the middle of the night by something other than your own bladder is rather unexpected. But, you know, it's just one of those things. I dragged myself out of bed, and stumbled down our short upstairs hallway to Anne's room. I open the door. Anne is sitting up in bed:

*hands me colored drawing of a rainbow*

"I made this for you, Mom. You were supposed to come get it when you got home."

*stern look*

Apparently I was in trouble, hence the late night wakeup call. I was at a photoshoot for my dance studio when she was put to bed by Mike earlier.

"I did come in here, darling, after I got home, but I did not see this drawing. Is that why you called me in here?"

"I need fuzzy socks, my feet are cold."

*long suffering sigh*

Is it any wonder why I feel like I'm dragging my way through this week? If I'm being honest, I'm struggling with a few things right now, and that feeling of overwhelment (is that a word? If not...I don't care :0) and spiritual dryness is threatening to consume me. I'm going to talk about this a bit on the next Tea Time.

Until then, the kids do make me smile:

Christmas in July train set up and running

...AND, I finished my summer knit-along shawl!

*drum roll*

I bought blocking wires that are designed to stretch out lace fabric in a pleasing way, and I have to say that I'm quite happy with the results. I'm also very happy to have this shawl off of my needles, and to have moved onto something else! I'm in manic finish-it-up mode, trying to complete in-progress items so that I can feel good about myself and deny my own lack of commitment to craft projects prior to the onset of fall. Hey, I can try, right? ;-)

How was YOUR weekend? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

The art of the social interaction...

We wear matching shirts sometimes. Because we are nerds.

I am an introvert, you all know this about me, though I am now a lot more social than I used to be. And with all of the interviews I've sat in on lately, I've been thinking a lot about social skills. I'm still far from perfect in my own, but I have come a lot way from the shy teenager I used to be. I really notice more, as an adult, how other people navigate these same social waters and how at ease they are with it. With children, I can see how they are, of course, not born with this skill, and need help in refining it. Right now, it seems like both of my children have not yet honed their ability to initiate and pace conversations. This is totally normal. It is also, after a time, incredibly irritating. I really need to get this off my chest. :0

I don't know about you, but I'm often absorbed in my own head. I'm thinking about lots of different things, I'm also trying to read something, plus I'm stirring something on the stove. Some people call this scattered, but I just call it multi-tasking. ;-)

When you're lost in your own thoughts, and another introverted adult (who also happens to be my gorgeous husband) happens upon you, wanting to start a conversation with you, it generally goes something like this:

"Hey hon. Did you remember to pick up that cheese we need for tomorrow?"

It is now the generally accepted social norm that there will be a pause as you think about your answer:

"Hum? Oh, right. Yes, I did. Though they didn't have the goat cheese I wanted, so I got feta instead. I think that'll go fine in the recipe."

"OK great, thanks."

We both go back to whatever we were thinking about previously. We co-exist in the kitchen together in companionable silence. We are both happy.

The following is what happens when one of my children happens upon me lost in my own thoughts:

"MOM!"

There is no expectation of a pause of any sort. If you do not immediately respond, they will continue shouting your name at you until you do.

"WHAT?!"

I can't help it, I have a low threshold startle reflex. :0 They always catch me off guard.

"I have to ask you a question!"

I had already clued into that, but no matter. You must acknowledge, or they will not proceed. I now have to respond a second time, and let the record reflect that NO QUESTION HAS YET BEEN ASKED.

*martyr!*

"Yes, Dear, what is your question?"

"Can I (fill in the blank. Usually something they know they are not allowed to do)."

"No honey, we've already talked about this."

"BUT...*insert incessant whining here*"

There is no end to this painful social interaction. :0 It goes on and on until either (a) the child is satisfied (pretty unlikely), or (b) they are sent to their room in tears.

It is all quite exhausting. Parents, let us BAND TOGETHER IN SOLIDARITY! Which translates to a virtual community glass of wine after the children go to bed.

On this same social note, Anne and I were out for a neighborhood walk together this past Sunday afternoon. I was pulling her along in her little wagon, her multitude of saint dolls also along for the ride. Suddenly, a women who was headed out to her car calls out to us:

"Do you go to St. Paul's?"

See, I had the pausal expectation on my side, so we were all good. I had no idea who this woman was, but she clearly goes to our church. I processed this all for several blissful seconds.

"Yes!"

"I see you and your children there all the time! How lovely...(lots of highly pleasant talk of the parish and Catholic family life).

In the past, I would have been terrible at navigating such a scenario. While I was talking to the original lady, another woman came out. A mother/daughter conversation team! Talking to people that I do not know used to fill me with anxious awkwardness. Now, though I don't seek out such opportunities (who else hates ordering takeout over the phone?! Online reservation form COME TO MAMA!!) I actually enjoy putting myself out there and talking to other people. We now have a new friend at the 11 am Mass, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

How about you, dear reader? Do you relish or dread social interactions with unknown fellow humans?

Fun times with St. Kateri & a lot of rain...

HELLO, you fabulous person, you! I am very glad to be with you again in our happy little life journal universe. My week is rather insanely busy, and thus I really wanted to carve out time to chat with you today. I'm on a search committee at work, and we have candidates coming in for interviews, so I have whole days blocked out with no writing opportunities. Hence, there will be no post tomorrow, I am certain that you are just devastated. ;-) But we have some time together today, and Tea Time on Thursday, so that's a yay, right?

I had a super exciting weekend filled with family and Catholic activities, so let's chronicle, shall we?

#CatholicFun!

This weekend we journeyed by car to the National St. Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine, and to Adirondack State Park. We don't take road trips very often, so the entire family was simmering with excitement. That is, until the kids got to the end of the movie they had packed to watch on the portable DVD player:

"MOOOOOMMMMMMM. Are we there yet?! We've been in the car for 500 hours!"

"Anne, it's been an hour and a half. Buck up."

"I feel car sick!"

"Henry, take a nap."

#exhausting

When we got to the shrine, everyone was anxious to stretch their legs. And the chapel was everything I dreamed it would be:

I love the earthy feel and the Native American art. And immediately to our right, was a stunning representation of the guest of honor:

St. Kateri is incredibly important to me for a number of reasons. She's part of the communion of saints, our family in the faith, and a woman, so I relate to her. But the fact that she was a Mohawk is so personally meaningful to me and my heritage. I felt very close to her, and to my Mohawk ancestry, this weekend. I procured a medal bearing her image and a third class relic from the gift shop, and I've barely taken it off since.

Also featured prominently at St. Kateri's shrine was our good friend, St. Maximilian Kolbe:

We came across him in the chapel, as you see above, but we encountered him again, I'll come back to that. He is Henry's favorite saint, so I was pleased to see him. :) The altar itself featured a gorgeous painting of St. Kateri in prayer:

I could have lingered in that chapel for hours, but I did have my less patient family with me ;-) and so after some exploring and a short spell of prayer, we headed outside:

We walked around and spotted some birds. Anne picked some weeds flowers for other saint statues that we encountered:

More St. Kateri. Hey, it's her shrine, right?

I also forced the kids to pose for a photo with yet another St. Kateri:

They look thrilled.

There was a beautiful outdoor scene of the Stations of the Cross up on a hillside behind the chapel, which the kids delighted in running on. We paused for a short spell in a gazebo at the top. Then we ventured down to the outdoor chapel, named for St. Maximilian Kolbe:

Henry took a vested interest out here, wanting to explore the St. Max literature and statues that abounded. Of course, St. Kateri cannot be left out:

And the kids were happy to cozy up with St. Max and actually look like they tolerate each other sometimes:

After some more exploring, it was time to head back to the car, much to the consternation of our offspring:

"MOOOOOOMMMMM. We've been in the car for DAYS AND DAYS!!"

We only had an hour to go to get to the little motel we booked in the Adirondacks, and I was all energized from my St. Kateri encounter. Mike and I happily chatted about dinner plans. We headed off, feeling sublime.

Then we got lost. :0

And we don't have GPS. But we have Mike, the Map Guy. He figured it out, but it took a little more time than we were originally planning. It didn't help that we were in the middle of the woods and signage was at a premium. We got to the motel, got into our cute little efficiency room (kitchenette!) and contemplated our dinner options. Let's just say that this was a very small town, and there weren't that many. ;-)

"Honey, remember when we were in Niagara-on-the-Lake for our anniversary, and we ate at that little pub? I loved that trip, it was so romantic."

We gazed at each other lovingly. Suddenly, from the bathroom comes a high pitched voice:

"COULD SOMEBODY COME WIPE ME?!?!"

See, this is the difference between the romantic interludes and the trips with kids. But oftentimes the romantic interludes *cause* the future trips with kids, so there you have it.

We found a small restaurant that night, and afterward enjoyed our view of the lake from the little back patio on our room:

The kids loved the lakefront. They could stay down there for hours, just playing at the water edge, trying to skip stones. We headed to bed, fairly exhausted.

Saturday morning, we made breakfast, excitedly rented a row boat, and got ready for our adventure. And then...it rained.

:0

As in, it poured. We had to wait it out for a few hours. Thankfully, I had packed Jiffy Pop, which I popped for the kids while they watched a movie. Nothing like being trapped in a tiny room to make everyone want to crawl out of their own skin. We had to be a little creative, but we managed.

Finally, it stopped raining, and we did get out on the boat, plus snuck in a short, albeit wet, hike. We also found the local Catholic parish, and attended the vigil Mass:

"Oh look, VISITORS!!"

In a town as small as this one, new people were definitely noticed.

When we got out of Mass, oh look, IT WAS RAINING AGAIN!! I heated up some soup for dinner and made sandwiches. This is about as Gung Ho About Camping/Roughing It as I like to get. ;-) When it stopped raining, we took the kids up to get ice cream at the restaurant that we had eaten at Friday night, given that there wasn't exactly another dining option. So we made it.

Sunday morning, Mike and I were DYING to get back home and to our usual routine. And to privacy. :0 Though the kids were sorry to see the adventure come to an end:

"MOOOOMMMMM!"

"Guys. If you want to go on more trips next summer, you're going to have to toughen up!"

:0

How was YOUR weekend, dear reader? Do I have any other St. Kateri fans here?!

Spiritual setbacks during Easter season, & Holy Spirit moments...

All! I've missed you.

*hug*

I'm all emotional today, so expect lots of sappy lapses like that one. As is so often the case with situations such as this, I'm fine one minute, and struggling the next. What am I talking about? Spiritual darkness with a just a touch of depression mixed in with it. Picture me walking about, looking anxious, with a small rain cloud following me directly overhead. That sums it up really well.

This tends to happen when I'm praying 54 day rosary novenas, interestingly. And we're just past the halfway point, which seems significant, somehow. And it just...happens, you know? There isn't just one reason, it's not that I'm a weak person, it just happens sometimes. All of a sudden, ordinary things seem to be more of a struggle, and it gets me down. I always climb up out of it, but for a day or two, all I want to do is sit around and feel sorry for myself while eating Cookies 'n Cream ice cream. It happens.

So this weekend I was feeling a bit fragile. On Saturday I forgot not only to pray my rosary but to pray the St. Gianna Beretta Molla novena.

#epicfail

Then I felt guilty as well as a bit down, and oh so forgetful, and it was just a whole snowball situation. ;-)

But here's the interesting thing. Grab your tea. We're going to go on a full circle journey together.

So, Thursday I recorded Tea Time. And I was fine. I felt a bit scattered, but I was fine. That's not exactly an unusual situation for yours truly.

*halo*

Between Thursday and Friday I started to feel not so fine. I began to worry about a whole assortment of things, and my heart felt heavier. By Friday, I was definitely not fully myself, and that lasted the entire weekend.

But it's what ELSE happened this weekend, in the midst of all of this, that I find interesting. On Friday afternoon, I received a package containing the gift I'd ordered for a First Communion gift. It's a St. Gabriel the archangel saint doll:

He looks very stoic, yes?

As you might expect, I was very pleased to see him. :) I pulled him out of his wrappings for a little photo shoot, and Anne wanders in. She becomes entranced with him:

"Mommy, he has WINGS!"

Wings ;-)

"Yes Honey, he's an angel."

"I want wings too, Mommy. Can I keep him?"

"No darling, he's a gift."

This was most disappointing to her, so she retreated to her room to pull out her own saint doll collection, which had been languishing for a time having fallen under her bed. She does not yet have any wooden dolls, but she has a plethora of felt dolls. All of a sudden, Anne's tiny body disappears beneath her bed, and out comes St. Therese, St. Kateri, St. Blaise, Our Lady Star of the Sea, and Our Lady of Lourdes. I could see her examining each carefully, becoming re-acquainted with them. She begins toting them around the house with her.

On Saturday, I find this on the dining room table:

Apparently St. Therese and St. Kateri are down with the sledding

She had become so enamored with her new saint friends that it was like a whole new relationship blossoming with them:

"Mommy. Can you...make me a saint? Like, can I dress like them?"

I mean...

*heart!*

So this is what we came up with:

Future saint ;-)

Yes, those are butterfly wings, inspired by our archangel friends. But she picked out a head covering, and carried that crucifix and a pair of plastic rosary beads around with her for the entire weekend. I even heard her in her bed praying a Hail Mary Saturday night.

*collapses from the cuteness*

So Anne is on this saint kick, and Sunday morning the kids and I head to Mass with me still not feeling myself. We get out to the car in the garage, and what do you suppose happens?

The car won't start.

I was about to go into the house to fetch Mike's kind assistance, but I gave myself a few tries and gave the car a little gas. It started.

My car is ancient, so this isn't exactly a shock for it to act this way, and in the past it's always been fine afterward, so we press onward. We are now running late, but away we go. When we arrive at our parish, our usual spot on the far right side of the sanctuary was full, due to us getting there later than usual. I tell Henry to choose a new spot, and he picks an area in the middle of the church, just past center.

On we proceed, and Anne goes up for Children's Liturgy of the Word. During the homily, Father devoted part of the time to a nun who came to speak about an appeal for her missionary order of sisters. Part of her discussion was about vocations, and she indicated that some of the children in the parish could be future priests, bishops, nuns and/or saints. She brought the young altar servers in as examples. :)

"And that young boy over there!" *points* "He could be the pope someday!"

I turn to see that she is pointing directly at Henry, and that he is weakly raising his hand to acknowledge her. If we hadn't sat where we did, she never would have seen him. And we wouldn't have sat where we did if we weren't running late due to the car not starting and me being in a general funk. It just seemed terribly fortuitous.

This is not to say that I'm taking this as a sign that Henry will be pope. ;-) It just warmed my heart to see my children engaged in their faith, and at a time when I really needed the boost. The Holy Spirit is always alive and well, even when things seem a bit more difficult than usual.

After Mass, I felt a little better. We took the kids on an afternoon hike after lunch, and Anne tripped, fell and skinned her knee about 2 and a half minutes into the walk. *long suffering sigh* We had to take turns carrying her for a spell. But I felt a little better still. I've been improving ever since. I'm going to try and get to confession this week.

Does this happen to you all as well? Spiritual dryness or darkness or however you want to term it? How do you handle it? I would love to discuss it with you in the comments.

Tomorrow is book club day! If you read Divine Mercy for Moms or are otherwise interested to learn more about it, stop in to chat with us then. :)

Praying with a 4 year old...

This morning, Anne woke up clutching this little foldout pamphlet with all 20 mysteries of the rosary printed on it that she had picked up after Mass yesterday. For each mystery, there is a tiny, color illustration, which is what I think captured her imagination the most.

I caught her "reading" it, still in her sleeper, when she was supposed to be getting dressed this morning. :0 25 minutes later...

"I'm ready, Mommy. Don't forget my little prayer book!"

She kept it with her throughout breakfast, then asked me for rosary beads so that "we could pray in the car on the way to school." I was absolutely delighted, but then remembered that I wasn't driving her to school today.

"Sorry darling, we can't pray in the car today. But how about while I pack our lunches?"

"Yeah!"

Score.

I fetch her a set of St. Kateri rosary beads that were hanging out in my purse, and hand them to her.

"I like the blue beads, Mommy!"

"Those are for the Our Fathers. We pray a Hail Mary on the other beads."

"I do not want to use the other beads."

"Well, that's how...OK, it doesn't matter right now. It's just good that you are holding the beads and want to pray the rosary. Let's look at your little pamphlet and you can pick one picture for us to pray about."

"I get to pick one of the pictures?!"

 That was a real crowd-pleaser.

"Yep! How about one of these on the far left? Those are the Joyful Mysteries, which we pray on Mondays."

"I like the one with the angel!"

"The first one, great!"

I got a child who enjoys chronology as much as I do. I see this as a blessing. ;-)

*I read the short blurb next to The Annunciation*

"All right, now we pray an Our Father."

"I don't know that one all the way yet."

"I know, that's OK. I'll pray that one. You just hold one of the blue beads."

"OK! I can pick whatever blue one I want, right?"

"Um, sure. Go ahead."

Why not, right?

*I pray Our Father*

"All right, now we move onto the Hail Mary, and you know that one really well. Do you want to pray those out loud for me?"

"No."

*surprised pause from Mommy*

"But you love praying the Hail Mary."

"I know, but I want to pick a new picture now!"

"Well, we we're not quite ready to move on yet, Dear..."

"Mommy, what's this one? Jesus is carrying this big cross. I want to pick that one!!"

"Well, OK, Darling, but then we do have to pray the prayers."

"OK!"

"Here, hold onto this red bead and keep track for Mommy since I have to pack our lunches."

"I do not want to hold that red bead."

"Well, fine, pick a different bead, but you have to keep count while Mommy packs. That IS the reason we have the beads, so that we can keep count."

"I do not want to do that. I want to pick one of the blue beads again!"

As you can likely surmise, we didn't get a whole lot of praying done. But any opportunity to talk to my kids about the rosary is a good thing, in my estimation. Right? We'll go with that.

But what about our own prayer lives?! I wrote about taking on "Easter Resolutions" over at CatholicMom.com this month. Want to take a peek?

I would LOVE for you to leave a comment with your thoughts over at Catholic Mom. Just like our dear Samantha has done, HI SAMANTHA! :0 What are you spiritual resolutions this Easter season? Write in!

"Mommy, Henry LOOKED AT ME FUNNY!!" Good times on sick days. Oh, and a new novena is brewing. :)

Happy Wednesday everyone! :) I'm back at work following a day at home nurturing my offspring. Henry has been coughing, and given that we have a trip coming up this weekend, I didn't want him to be miserable and sick for it. Plus, I knew that Henry and I would be sharing a room, and I really didn't want his cough keeping ME awake. :0

So, this entailed a decision Tuesday morning to keep him home from school to rest, and then me ferrying Anne to and from Pre-K so that Mike could get some grading and lesson planning done. Henry laid around a bit, but quickly perked up and I could tell that his cough was now productive and breaking up. This meant that he was on the mend *just* in time to start fighting with Anne when she got home from Pre-K. My afternoon was filled with:

"MOOOOOOOMMM! Anne just (fill in the blank with various and sundry nefarious and dramatic deeds)!"

"Mommy! Henry just (fill in the blank with any number of annoying behaviors that he knows Anne hates)!"

SO much whining and bickering. No fun for anybody. And then Anne pitched a fit about something that I cannot recall and stomped upstairs. Next thing I knew, it was quiet, which is a bad sign 99.9% of the time. I went upstairs to check on her, and found her face down on the hallway floor, sound asleep. Well. See, that's the .1% of the time when the quiet is GOOD. ;-) She slept for over an hour, and then was considerably less saucy when she woke up, thank the good Lord.

This morning, both were back to normal and at school, thankfully. Mommy needed a break from that "respite" at home. ;-)

In other news, I'm plotting a new novena. Details are now up on the official St. John Paul II novena tab! The novena starts next Tuesday, October 13th, and goes through October 21st. I have links to a few different versions of the prayers, and I created an audio file of the novena prayer that I chose plus his chaplet prayers. The chaplet (pictured above) is super short, only about three and a half minutes, so download and pray along in your car if you like! I have a short video explaining the chaplet a bit more and the prayer configuration down at the bottom of the Chaplets page. The link to the audio is there as well. I hope that you'll join in!

All right, I'd better go. *feels beleaguered* I have a lot going on at work lately, October is always a busy month here. I have a video for you tomorrow discussing my trip and my anxiety about traveling by air generally, so if that resonates with you, come on back in the morning! In the mean time, are you going to pray the St. John Paul II novena? Write in and let me know. :)

Of firework frights, summer hats, & pool-related tantrums: an Independence Day journey with the Catholic Librarian family...

Well, HELLO THERE, you dear reader, you! I have missed you.

*hug!*

I had quite the busy weekend, and I imagine you did as well. I'd love to hear about your weekend, and I'll also tell you about mine. So why don't you settle in with your beverage and we'll chronicle together, shall we?

Well, OK, that's not what I'm drinking NOW, at 11 am, but it was what I was drinking Sunday night while watching the FIFA Women's World Cup championship game with Mike and Henry after a super long weekend with the youngest member of our clan. OK truth? I had TWO. It really wasn't that bad, just long, did I mention that?

Let's start back on Thursday night because, for unfathomable reasons, that's when our town did fireworks. Being only July 2nd, it seemed rather early to me, but we went with the flow, and for the first time we brought Anne. This meant keeping her up for an excruciating 2.5 hours past her usual bedtime, but we were strong.

Mike and Tiffany: 1
Children, led by Anne the Crankinator: 0

Both children were somewhat surly by our designated departure time, but again, we persevered. Finding a parking spot was a near occasion of sin, but we managed. We trekked to the community field.

Both kids relaxed then since they could run around a bit. The fireworks began. Anne immediately jumped into my lap and covered her ears.

"Mommy, this is SO LOUD!"

She refused to budge for the duration, cutting off circulation in my arms.

Oy.

The fireworks were lovely, and even traumatized Anne seemed glad that she went. But I was just relieved that it was over. :)

Friday? Let's just say Friday wasn't a good day. The kids fought the entire day, ruined a lunch out at a local restaurant, and generally made the adults miserable.

Mike and Tiffany: 1
Children, led by Anne the Instigator: 1

I drowned my sorrows in my knitting, and finished a brightly hued hat for myself:

I will grant, it's not exactly hat weather right now, but I know I'll be very grateful for these efforts come fall. ;-) I also crocheted a hat for my nephew, and I'm hoping it won't be too big for his little head:

Naturally, Anne refused to try it on, which would have been super helpful since she's only a year older than aforementioned nephew. Some battles, however, just aren't worth fighting.

Saturday was a better day, capped off by Mike and I enjoying some film noir that TCM is showing this summer. The night drew darker and the film noir happily creepier, when suddenly:

"What was that? Is that Anne?!"

Why yes, yes it was. Wide awake, standing up on her bed and watching fireworks out her window at 10 pm. Suddenly, she wasn't scared by the noise anymore, just fascinated "by all of the pretty colors, Mommy!"

Mike and Tiffany: 1
Anne the Sleep Shunner: 2

It took some doing to get her back to sleep. Thus, guess who was super grumpy just in time for Mass the next morning?

"Anne, you can't lift your dress up in public, Honey, come sit down on the pew with me."

"NO!"

*long suffering sigh*

Mike and Tiffany: 1
Anne the Grumptopus: 3

After Mass, both children and I lit one of the new candles at our parish. Due to cost of the traditional wax candles, a decision was made to replace them with battery-operated candle-like cousins. I don't dispute that cost is an issue for the parish, certainly, but I have to admit that lighting one of these "candles" is rather anti-climactic:

"Go ahead and put the money in, Honey. Right there, you may have to fold it up."

*Henry complies*

"OK, now I think you just...push the button?"

*Henry pushes*

"Did you...Oh. Yeah, I guess it's that one."

We all look forlornly at the now "flickering" electronic candle. Not nearly so symbolic as lighting the little wood stick from one of the other candles and setting your chosen candle aflame, the smoke rising to heaven. Bummer.

The rest of Sunday was quite lovely, if a bit action-packed. The four of us loaded up and headed about 20 minutes north to visit and have a cook out with my parents. We arrived in the late afternoon, and the instant we got in the door, the children wanted IN THE POOL. And pools with kids are, you know, a bit of an entity. There's the swimsuit tugging on process, the application of sunscreen amidst a chorus of protestations, and the inevitable "I have to go PEE!" the moment everyone is in the pool and soaking wet.

If Anne goes in the pool, that means that I must go in the pool too, and I don't really love going in pools. My current bathing suit was purchased, no lie, LAST CENTURY, and while it still fits, it's seen better days. I'd much rather sit by the side of the pool sipping a cold beverage, but such is my lot in life with a 4 year old right now. Mike always gamely gets in to roughhouse with Henry, so I took on Anne. Immediately, it was clear that my little swim session would be anything but relaxing.

Anne had on brand new water wings, but decidedly did NOT take to them. She instantly suctioned her little body to mine and hung on like a koala, complaining the whole while. We remained in that position for quite some time before she finally worked up the courage to branch out a bit. By the time I was feeling wrinkly and ready to get out, she was in full on pool mode and did not want to evacuate. My dad stayed with her so that the rest of us could eat, and even after that spell there was distinct reluctance. She sat with her feet in the water and generally splashed around on the stairs until it was time to go, and then:

"Anne, we have to leave now, Sweetie."

"NEVER!"

Her sundress-laden countenance was all Defiant, Sanctimonious Sass.

This was quickly remedied by Mike scooping her up against her will, skinny little legs and tiny feet kicking over his shoulder the whole while.

Mike and Tiffany: 2
Anne the Sassinator: 3

And then we come to the small side hallway where we were all jammed in, attempting to put on our sandals and say goodbye to my parents. I have to say, at the expense of my poor, cute husband, that this was my favorite part of the weekend. I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard...

Seated on the stairs in the hallway we have Henry. His thought bubble reads as follows:

"I haven't stopped talking for the past 20 minutes, but that won't stop me from asking a series of new questions about all of the stuff that is piled in this hallway! Hey, what's this?! It's a big, interesting-looking bottle with an enticing spray valve! I'm asking what this is, but before anyone can possibly answer, I'm going to hold it up and press it really, really hard!!"

Standing in the middle of the hallway we have adorable Mike, fielding a stream of questions from Henry, and momentarily distracted by Anne throwing her sandal in protest of her pool-abandoning fate:

"What did you say, Henry? Anne, you have to put on your..."

*long, distinctive squirting sound*

He is cut off by an absolute CLOUD that has descended over the hallway, the epicenter of which is approximately his mouth. I'm standing at the top of the stairs with my parents trying to wrangle Anne into submission and I glance up to see Mike coughing and looking stunned. The offending spray that has currently robbed him of his ability to breathe?

Febreze. Henry had just Febrezed him right in the face.

I don't know that I would have handled the situation nearly as well as he did, because the rest of us started laughing so hard we were soon crying. There was something about that moment of Henry innocently holding up that can and poor Mike practically choking on aerosol odor eliminator that was ridiculously hilarious.

Mike, looking amused, and luckily with no loss of vision :0, recovered and was a heck of a good sport about the whole thing. I encouraged him to go outside and air out while I got Anne's sandals on. The entire 20 minute ride home I couldn't stop snickering, my eyes tearing up, as the overpowering scent of wildflowers permeated our car.

And then we went home, tossed Anne into bed, and drank a LOT of beer. Community Beer Works American Brown Ale, to be exact. Full circle right there, people!!

So, that was my weekend. It had it's ups and downs, but with my Mike by my side, all is always well. How was YOUR weekend, dear reader? Do write in to tell me all about it!

This is why I sometimes drink before we even have dinner...

In the home of the Catholic Librarian yesterday evening:

"Hi, I'm home!"

*nobody greets me*

Well, within a minute Mike does, as he comes down from upstairs, but the kids are watching TV together, and you know, PRIORITIES.

I give each of them a squeeze, but return to the kitchen to chat with Mike as we begin dinner preparations. Shortly thereafter:

*argument breaks out in the living room*

"Stop it, HENRY!"

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

Denial is Henry's favorite pastime.

"Guys, if you can't get along, the TV is going off."

"We're not doing anything!"

*sigh*

*one minute elapses*

"HENRY!! STOP STARING AT ME!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Henry, whatever you are doing STOP IT! Anne, stop screaming! And stop yelling 'stop it!'"

Which I, you know, yelled into the living room. Always setting a good example.

*one minute elapses*

*another argument breaks out*

"Anne, Mom told you to STOP SAYING STOP IT!!"

This time Mike intervenes, and the TV goes off. As he turns to come back into the kitchen, I can see Anne's mutinous face in the background, looking like something straight out of The Exorcist. I expected pea soup to shoot out of her orifices at any moment.

*angry whispering commences in the background*

"Stop getting me in trouble!"

"Stop it, HENRY!"

Chardonnay, wherefore art thou? I don't know if it's their ages or what (9 and 4, for the record) but the arguing and general back sassing of the other person has been excruciating lately. Anybody out there with any words of parenting wisdom or commiseration? :)

How is your Advent going so far?

I know it's still just the first week of Advent, but it's a pivotal week, no? We're gearing up, trying to stick to our Advent plans of prayer and almsgiving. It's Thursday, so the second weekend of Advent will fast be upon us, right beside the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th (and a retained holy day of obligation in the United States even though it falls on a Monday, so make sure not to miss Mass!) All within the coming week and a half we also have the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6th, Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th and St. Lucy on December 13th. This has become one of my favorite run of feast days in the entire Church year. We should be strong in our Advent goals at this point with all of this great fodder coming up to keep us focused on the upcoming birthday of our King. So, how am I doing?

Pretty good. :) I'm enjoying the season, for sure. How is that Divine Office app for Morning and Evening Prayer working out, you ask? Well. :) I still adore the app, but I haven't been availing myself of it on a daily basis, that's for sure. I need to start afresh on this one. And if I have learned anything in my faith life as an adult, it is that if one falls off the bandwagon with a spiritual resolution, it does no good to bemoan how much of a failure we are and feel guilty. Just try again! Even if it's a special liturgical season like Advent ot Lent, and the dates for your perfectly devised resolution are now all jacked up, it matters not one whit. Just start again. So that's what I'll do.

In other avenues, I have been studiously reading my Magnificat Advent Companion reflections each day and loving them. #goldstar! I've also been making an effort to pray more during the day, squeezing in a decade of the rosary where possible and sticking to my Immaculate Conception novena prayers. I'll be planning a Christmas novena too, stay tuned to join me. :)

I have my Advent music playing daily and my Advent calendar hung up prominently. I already forgot to open the window on December 3rd, oops! So I caught up today. The issue is that I'm having a hard time reading the small text inside each window *actual pause in typing to call to schedule my yearly visit to the ophthalmologist, don't laugh!* and I need to take it off the wall to hold it closer to my face or get my glasses, and so...sometimes I forget. :) But no matter, it's lovely, and I'm all caught up.

The children are loving Advent. Both chocolate Advent calendars are being consumed eagerly and appropriately each evening because we keep them tucked out of their reach until the designated time. As for the other calendars, we have Henry earning a gold star and a glowing halo for his superlative effort and restraint. Here is his Lego Advent calendar so far:

And his paper calendar atop his dresser:

He earns an A for Advent so far. :)

And then we have Anne's Advent calendar:

That would be the floor that it's positioned on, and that would be every window forced open by tiny little fingers. :0 But it isn't fair to give her a grade because she's only three. ;-) We'll try again next year with the Anne calendar!

How has your first week of Advent been, dear reader? Do detail in the comments. :)

Ordinary Time is anything but ordinary in the journey of Catholic parenting...

Hello all, and happy Tuesday to you! I was in fact tied up with the electrician yesterday (as I suspected I would be), and after that crew left I was home in the hot house, sweating, so I wasn't exactly in the mood to sit at our computer and blog. In our non-centrally air conditioned house, if I'm alone I just walk around in as few layers as possible and hope that I don't accidentally scandalize anybody coming to deliver a package.

But at any rate, we had a lovely weekend, and in particular a lovely Sunday, the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This is that long stretch of Ordinary Time that spans the entire summer and fall, all the way to Advent in late November or very early December. Each year, I try to find the specialness in Ordinary Time, since it doesn't have any crescendo-like solemnities in it, and there are plenty of special things, to be sure. One of them are awesome saint feast days, and we'll be revisiting that throughout the season. :)

This weekend I was feeling very happy and content to be headed back to Mass at my regular parish. For a few weeks leading up, I hadn't attended Mass there. One weekend, we went to Mass as a family to a vigil at a different parish, a historic building that Mike loves, and another we were in Pittsburgh where I attended Mass at a fairly new and much more modern parish building. Finally, I was back at good old St. Paul's.

The kids were with me and had their usual faces going on: Anne - happy and excited, Henry - stoic and long suffering. ;) We took our usual place near the front at the right side of the church. The green banners are back up above the altar denoting that we are in Ordinary Time. I noticed that there was a red altar cloth, which marked the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, martyrs. I just love details like that. *swoons*

The kids were very well behaved, although Henry seemed to be worrying that he was looking decidedly uncool if he actually used his missal. I suspect it had something to do with the fact that cute Cora was one of the altar servers this week. :0

When it was time for communion, Anne requested to walk up with Henry, as she has for several weeks now. She *adores* her big brother, and looks up to him, so I said that that was fine, and I just walk behind them. This is a nice development in that it frees up my hands to receive the Precious Blood. I personally never receive communion in either form with one hand, I'm too afraid of dropping or spilling (I'm clumsy). So when carrying a child I receive the Host on the tongue, and skip the Precious Blood. With Anne walking on her own, this is no longer an issue.

So the kids go up. Hank receives communion and Anne gets a blessing. They look completely adorable through the entire proceedings. I go up to receive, feeling happy and serene. As I turn from the priest and look toward the line for the chalice, I see a sight that I suppose I should have been more prepared for, knowing my daughter: Henry and Anne are casually headed back to our pew, right at the front of the church. For reasons that will never be understood by anybody over the age of 10, Anne has decided that she needs some more air flow and movement in the vicinity of her legs. She has hiked her dress up, oh, to the area just south of her armpits.

:0

All I can see are Hello Kitty underpants, and she is too far ahead of me to grab quickly. I hustle past the Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion holding the chalice and race to snag her. I quickly yank down her dress and she looks all offended, like *I've* done something to embarrass *her*.

*unladylike snort*

We made it back to the pew with minimal scandal in place. Anne did not seem deterred in the least, and waved to every person coming back from the communion line from her station at the end of our pew. It was our more amusing forays at Mass, to be certain. :)

Coming up this month, we have lots of fun Catholic stuff to look forward to. July bears the feasts of St. Henry, St. Anne, and St. Kateri Tekakwitha, all dear to my heart. I will post on all of them. We also have the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on July 16th. So exciting! I just love those Carmelites, that may warrant a post as well. The weather is heating up here, but we'll be doing lots of saint talking and book reviewing. What are your favorite summer feast days? Leave me a comment!