Fall High Adventure Weekend

Neleh















 Trying to Balance












Finding Balance on the Challenge Course














All Aboard!













Get cozy!











Waiting for the next activity















Walking through the Spider Web
















Don't make the bells ring









Moving blindly through the maze














Amanda finding her way














Neleh and Eliza












Rebekah & Olivia














Finding the way through the maze











Guiding one another through the maze














They were supposed to just be bodyguards












They did more directing than guarding












Moving through the maze













Roles reversed













Rebekah ready to climb




















Neleh getting ready to climb

Wordpress Baby Catholic Blog

I love my new wordpress blog. Come see me there! babycatholic.wordpress.com

I'm Moving

Fr. Noel has convinced me to switch to wordpress.com for all of my blogging needs. Sorry, blogger. This morning at church he told me about some features of which I was not aware. My newest "thoughtful" post is now at babycatholic.wordpress.com.
Please update your bookmarks. I love you, readers! See you at wordpress!

First Sunday of the Month

As I was dunking Oreos this afternoon, I was perusing through the Sunday paper & coupons. The P&G Brand coupons were there today. Yay for the First-Sunday-of-the-Month coupons! It as I thought "First Sunday of the Month" to myself, another LOUD THOUGHT smacked me in the face. Just a year ago- LESS than a year ago, the first Sunday of the month meant something other than just special coupons. In the United Methodists Churches that I attended growing up, the first Sunday was Communion Sunday. As I understand this, the UMC doesn't really have a set "standard" for frequency of communion. Some places serve communion every week, some once a month, some less often. If you are curious about John Wesley's views on the matter you may be interested in John Wesley, Sermon 101- Duty of Constant Communion. Of course, I'm not a part of the UMC anymore, but I dare say that many who are would be surprised at what Wesley said about Communion!

Growing up in the UMC, I've had various "forms" of "communion." We did hot dog buns with grape kool-aid at camp one year. Goldfish crackers and grape juice were popular in children's ministry. At some churches my dad pastored, we had homemade bread. At my last UMC, we used Matzoh.

I was listening to the conversion story of a man who joined the Catholic Church on Easter. He said that he attended Mass with his wife for many, many years. Because he was not Catholic, he was not able to receive the Eucharist. This was a big hurdle he had to overcome. At one point in his life he thought, "I could just bring my own packet of saltines to church." He admitted that this type of thinking came out of the chip on his shoulder from having to refrain from receiving the Blessed Sacrament. The man said that he now, as a Catholic, understands the severe error in his thinking, but at the time he thought his saltines plan was hilarious.
When I was coming into the Church last year, Bill and I talked about how you could eat crackers anywhere, but could only find Jesus in the Eucharist in the Church.

How blessed I am now to be a part of the Catholic Church! We receive Jesus Christ, Body & Blood, Soul & Divinity at EVERY MASS through the gift of the Eucharist. We don't have to wait for the first Sunday of the month! Jesus is available to us every day in the Mass!

P&G Coupons are only available the first Sunday of the month, so you'd better go dig those out of your recycle bin! Unlike the Eucharist, those coupons represent "limited time" offers with "expiration dates"!!

More affirmation

We had our final First Friday Mass of the school year with our homeschool group yesterday. After Mass, we enjoyed a time of food and fellowship. As I was talking to one of the moms, she started saying everything that I had been needing to hear lately! Of course, she had no idea. We were just talking about our kids, our schools, etc.-- the stuff homeschool moms talk about. But the way she described things that her kids do at school sounded much more like what I do! Her school is much more like mine than some of my other homeschool friends'.

I mentioned in a previous post that I tend to compare myself to other moms so easily. Now this was a mom that I could relate to! She also talked about how easily her older children adapted to attending our parish school after having been homeschooled. It was so nice to hear that the transitions seemed fairly simple. (I'm not sure how long we'll homeschool- other than "until God tells me to stop.")

I breathed a sigh of relief during our conversation. "I'm not doing it 'all wrong.'"

God has answered my prayers for affirmation of my homeschooling vocation. Yes, this is my calling and my vocation at this point in my life. I just need to continue to trust in God and keep doing what He tells me to do until He says to stop.

Sometimes God Answers Prayers REALLY Fast...and sometimes not...

It's that time of year again when I start doubting my homeschool abilities and consider putting my kids in "real" school. Woe is me. I can't teach. I'm tired of this. Help!

During the Divine Mercy Chaplet yesterday, this was my prayer intention. I need to talk to somebody about this for guidance. I'm not sure who to talk to about this. Who should I talk to about this? I'm once again torn. And on and on. FIVE MINUTES after the end of the Chaplet, one of my friends called me. Just the type of person who I needed at that time. She doesn't realize that the timing of her call was certainly "perfect." The timing often helps us to realize if it is God trying to tell us something. If her call had come at any other time of the day, I may have just dismissed it as just a friend returning a call. (I'd left a message the previous afternoon).

I told her what I was going through. She is also a homeschool mom. Her kids haven't always been homeschooled, so she can see both sides of the coin. She reminded me that I am not alone in my feelings. A lot of homeschool moms often doubt their capabilites as teachers and parents. Many feel "confused" about their role. I knew one mom a few years ago who gave up on homeschooling because she felt "unfulfilled" and "needed" to work, for herself.
I know that some moms don't have a choice. A lady in one of our homeschool groups was recently and unexpectedly widowed. That is completely out of her control, but now she has to work full-time to support her household and the kids are headed to public school next year. (Her 2nd grade son seems to be excited about it.)

My thoughts about the benefits of homeschooling haven't changed. They never do. I just do what my mom always told me not to do- compare myself to other people, other moms, other homeschool families. At times, this can be beneficial. However, when I start thinking, "Oh! Look at that family. They have it all together. Their children are brilliant and well-behaved. They are involved in so many things! They seem to get so much done in a day! Wow. We really don't cut it, do we?"

I have to remember that I'm not that mom. We aren't that family. Could I do things better? Certainly I could!!!

Well, I need to go feed the little people now. I will, hopefully, revisit this again soon.

THE ORIGINAL POINT OF THIS POINT, was the timing of my friend's call. Couldn't have been more perfect.

Holy Week 2009

I am a bit late on posting this, but there is just too much to say and I could never figure out all I want to say!! Still don't know!

If you've read more of this blog, you know that I attended Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary on Good Friday last year. While sitting in that back pew last year, I NEVER would have figured that I'd be sitting near the front this year!!

It was an awesome week for me! Holy Thursday was amazing!!! To cut to the chase, I was completely awed by the True Presence of Christ that I just fell to the ground and could have stayed on my knees & face for days. However, I had some squirmy girls with me, so that wasn't an option. It was an experience that I will relive many times! I hope to make a special post about it someday.

On Friday afternoon, the girls and I went to the church to pray the Stations of the Cross & pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I am a "fan" of the Chaplet, so to be able to pray it in a group was wonderful! I had never prayed the Stations of the Cross in that way before. We had been reviewing the Stations during school each day & I was trying to learn. The kids caught on much quicker than I. However, we were all lost when it came to praying them in the group. There was standing, kneeling, singing, praying, etc. Maybe next year I'll have a better idea of what is going on!!

The Good Friday service was also very powerful. As I watched folks venerate the cross last year, I thought, "Ok. Well, that's different, but I can see how it could be very powerful."
This year, I participated in this. The part of the service that affected me most was during the veneration, but not of my direct participation. Once I was back in my pew, I knelt, reflected, & watched other people. Hey, I'm still new at this so I want to see how other people "do" this. I've learned a lot in the Mass by watching. There is a man who is always at Mass on Sundays. He sits in a wheelchair at the back. I see him wheeled up for communion every Sunday. But on Good Friday, he was not in the wheelchair. He was walking with assistance and forearm crutches. It brought me to tears! Venerating the cross was so important to him that he wasn't wheeled to the front this time.
Jesus had to carry His cross up a hill just to suffer and die. It probably wasn't an easy walk up the aisle for this man, but he wanted to show his affection and thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ. Wow. I hope that someday I can set that kind of example.

Easter Vigil was awesome! Yes, it was long, but worth it! If you've never been to Easter Vigil, you should make it a point to go next year!!! It was sad that the place wasn't totally packed.
Seeing the people who I'd been in RCIA with receive the sacraments transcends emotions that I can express in a mere blog.
The whole service was beautiful. The music. The message. The candles.
Ah, the candles. We had plastic candle holders to keep the wax from dribbling everywhere. At one point in the service, Rebekah's candle had tilted a little and her wax holder was melting! Oh my. I shook my head.
A little later in the service, as I was turned toward the back of the church for the baptism, Rebekah brings to my attention that I had also melted my candle holder while turned the other way! There's humility for you!!!

Easter Sunday was lovely, but after Vigil, it was nearly a let-down!! Just a very crowded Mass. The other events of Holy Week involved multiple priests & deacons. There was only one priest on Easter Sunday. Can't remember if there was a deacon at the service I attended or not.
It was very crowded. Because we were at church past 11:00 PM the night before, I decided that we shouldn't worry about getting there for the 7:45 Mass. We went to the 9:15.
I hate to refer to it as a let-down, but after all of the beauty and wonder of Vigil...well...that's just the way it is! More people should come to understand and appreciate the magnificence of that service, they wouldn't be afraid of the facts that it is late and long!!!

Perhaps I should have posted this closer to the actual time of events, but there is just too much I could say & it has been hard to sort through in my head! This is all I have to offer at this time.

Continue to enjoy, experience, appreciate the mysteries of this glorious Easter season!!