Happy Feast Day, St. Pio

“Pray, hope, and don’t worry! Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer. Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips but with your heart. In fact, on certain occasions, you should speak to Him only with your heart.”--St. Pio

Read all about him here.

It Smells Like Fall

There's something about the autumn season...   it just has that smell, you know?  
There is a crispness when you walk outside, of course, those leaves meeting the coolness of the season. I just love the smell of the great outdoors in the fall...

But I'm talking about the smells inside the house today.  I took the summer-ish decorations down and packed them away, brought out the pumpkin spice candles, the silk mums for the front porch, the little pumpkins scattered here and there throughout each room... 

I just love these warm, welcoming, relaxing colors...

                                          

...and the food.  Mmm.  Fall has its own food.  I made Apple Crisp the other day.  I only make it in the fall.  I'll make Apple Pie all year 'round, but not the Crisp.  Hmm.  Pumpkin Bread.  I make that each fall, when the crispness hits the air.  Potato Soup.  Definitely in the fall.  Rice Pudding.  Homemade Chicken Soup...

We've been enjoying the delicious smell of chicken soup simmering since lunch-time today.  (Actually, I began this pot of soup yesterday afternoon, as that enabled me to chill it overnight and skim off all the coagulated fat before we ate it.)   Is there anything quite as comforting as a big bowl of homemade soup?  I can't think of anything at the moment.  Of course, I had to make drop dumplings to go with our soup.  When asked if we'd have dumplings tonight,  and I answered yes, we would, children's cheers were echoing throughout the entire house!  Funny thing though, I only make these dumplings with my chicken soup.  I'll make biscuits with stew.  Fresh bread goes so well with my Beef Vegetable Soup.  Cornbread with Chili.  But with Chicken Soup, it HAS to be these dumplings.

Every time I make my chicken soup and dumplings, I think of my in-laws.  This was my father-in-law's absolute favorite meal I made.  My mother-in-law raves about my soup, but my father-in-law could've eaten just the dumplings and been completely happy.  He loved the dumplings.  His mother made dumplings like these when he was a boy...  need I say more?  It truly warmed my heart to make him so happy, and by doing such a little thing as making dumplings with chicken soup.

So I'm thinking that the love of the dumplings must be in the blood - but, oddly enough, it skips a generation.  My hubby graciously leaves all the dumplings for the rest of us.  He does not like them - at. all.   

As we were settling in at the dinner table tonight, Crash said,  "Mommy?  I'll just eat those (pointing to the dumplings) and not that (pointing to the soup pot), okay?"  So sorry, Little Man.  He had a bowl of chicken soup, then asked for a second helping!  And he darn near ate his weight in dumplings tonight.  Liza was a close second...  and Mimi ate whatever was left.  Their Grandpa would have been so proud of them!        

New On-line Friends

If you haven't met Jessica yet at Shower of Roses, now is the time.  She's giving away a Faith Folder on St. Therese the Little Flower.   Click here for the scoop!

Jessica has a house full of lovely children, and she is quite the inspiration for young Catholic home schooling moms.  Go meet her.

I Like my Kids

Sorry, but I need to vent a bit.  I've heard from two different women within the past week a couple comments that have really been troubling me.

The first was when I'd gone to a medical facility the Friday before school began for routine immunotherapy.  (Allergy shots.)  This is the first time I've ever seen this particular woman, and she was just making small talk while we were both waiting.   The first thing she said to me was, "Are you ready for Tuesday?"  (The upcoming Tuesday would be the first day of school for the public schools in the area.)

I told her that yes, I was.  I didn't elaborate that we home school, or that we'd be beginning our school year on Wednesday, which meant that Tuesday would be our last day of 'summer vacation'.

Then she said, "I'll be waiting for that big yellow bus with bells on!  I can't wait for school to begin - this was such a long summer.  In fact, I took Tuesday off of work so that I can celebrate and enjoy the whole house to myself!  Aren't you glad that the kids are going back to school?"

Hmmm.  Now I had to say something.  So I said with a smile, "Well, we home school, so they aren't going to be leaving the house anytime soon..."  

At this point, she puts her hand up, palm toward me,  lowers her head and says, "You are a much better woman than I!  I could never home school my kids.  They would drive me crazy and I just have to work to keep my sanity."  And she said this matter-of-factly, with a slight smile on her face, and not the least bit upset about it.

I sat there for the split-second before they called her name thinking, How utterly sad.  

She got up, we quickly said polite good-byes and she was gone.

I really felt a sadness for her (and her children) while I was left waiting there.  This woman doesn't want to spend time with her own children.  And its been bothering me for an entire week.

Then another dear lady and I were talking several days ago, and I told her that I had run to a neighboring town to purchase bookcases for our school room/dining room.  She was saying how great it was that I got out alone because, "no one should have to be with their kids 24 hours a day."   Excuse me?  Like this is a punishment.

I said, "Well, you know that we really aren't together every minute of every day...." trying to lighten it up a bit.

She said, "But no one should have to be stuck with their kids every day, all day."

Now just wait a minute.  'Stuck'?  I'm not 'stuck' with my kids.  I choose to spend my time with my kids.  Yes, it's great when Hubby and I get the rare opportunity to go out for a date: dinner, movie, etc.  We really appreciate those occasions!  

But I'm not STUCK with my kids.  I like my kids.  A lot!  And I like spending my time with them.   Sure, I'll send the kids outside to play when I get tired of the non-stop commotion.  But they often do their own things: they go off on their own to read a book, they write to pen-pals or they do an awful lot of drawing, they climb trees or make forts in the woods,  and they even play at the neighbor's house.

No matter how dear this lady is to me, I really take offense when it is portrayed that I am having to spend time with my family against my will, like its a less-than desired way to live.  She knows me.  She knows how I feel about my kids.

I enjoy spending my days alongside my children.  In fact, I thank God daily for allowing me to spend my days with my family, and for the blessing of a hard-working husband who allows me to be 'stuck with the kids' on a daily basis.

I wanted to shout to her and anyone who cared to listen,  "I like my kids and I like being with them!!"

I just politely answered her with, "I'm not stuck with the kids.  You know that I really like having them home with me."

And she said, "Well, you know what I mean," and promptly changed the subject.

A New School Year Has Begun

We've officially begun our 16th year of home schooling and I'm posting a few highlights from our first week.

This has been a really fun week... the excitement was building for the first day of school and the kids were so happy to awaken to Schultütes waiting for them on the table!  (Click here for an explanation.)

 Several snacks for the week and a few fun-ish school supplies were found inside.

Crash was a bit perplexed at first, but once they were opened, he had as much fun with the empty posterboard cone as he did with the goodies!

  Then he got the girls going...     They thought they were being gnomes; Dad was thinking dunce caps! Too funny.

We pulled the math manipulatives out.  

 Once we had a bit of fun by creating cool designs, we got down to business.  

 While the girls were geared for buckling down to their studies, Crash got to work on a few pre-school activities I'd made ready for him, as well as a good dose of playtime. 

So far he's worked with the math manipulatives...

 and some of his math...

And some really cool pompom work!  Here he's using tweezers to place the pompoms into muffin tins.  Later in the year we'll work on sorting them by color, but for now, we'll just work on manipulating those tweezers.  This was his first try, and he did a great job!

 One day this week, while we had a bit of quiet time before lunch I caught Liza reading to Crash. 

This is just one of the reasons we home school.  I love the relationships that develop between siblings.  They truly are the other's best friends.  That's just the way its supposed to be... in my mind, anyway.

Quote

I came across a beautiful quote on another blog I happened upon the other day, and I want to share it with you...

"Jesus is waiting for you in the chapel.

Go and find Him when your strength and patience

are giving out, when you feel lonely and helpless.

Say to Him, 'You know well what is happening,

my dear Jesus. I have only you. Come to my aid ...'

And then go your way.

And don't worry about knowing how you are going to manage.

It is enough to have told our good Lord.

He has an excellent memory."

—St. Jeanne Jugan, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor

 

A New Beginning

My first post on my first blog.   Who would've thought?!  Why am I even creating this blog?  Really, I think I am intending it to be a record of sorts for the kids.  And for me.  A record of our schooling adventures, of our every-day-life activities, of my thoughts, plans and hopes for the kids and for our family.   

I have high hopes for school.  I am really looking forward to this school year.  It is full of promise.  And the kids are full of excitement.  They are on a count-down.  After dinner this evening Mimi asked me, "How many more days til we start school, Mom?!"   She asks me daily.  Six.  Only six.  Boy, I've got to get in gear!    There are plans to complete, and still art supplies to purchase!  But I've got tubs of books sorted and organized and just waiting for that first day of school.  And waiting for some new bookcases to be purchased so that they can find a home on the new shelves.  

I'll have to get in the habit of taking more pictures of the everyday stuff, so I can show the before and after photos.  Especially in our school room/dining room.  I am hoping to create a major change.  Everything now feels so cluttered and strewn!   My hope is to organize and create an eye-pleasing setting.  At least in this one area.  (I'll attempt to link the blog where my idea was born-but I am so new at this!) 

We are still in the midst of the on-going remodel of the house.  Hence the cluttered and strewn feel in most of the house.  Oftentimes it seems we'll never get it complete.  And I hope that some day we will.  But with all the activities and traveling we did this summer, there's little doubt as to why nothing was accomplished.  Oh well, now that summer is over (in my book) -- it is my hope that we'll get motivated to begin again on the house - one little step at a time.