Chesterton Talk, in My Neck of the Woods?!?!!

I can hardly believe I get to go to a talk about Chesterton less than 3 miles from my home! BU is not known as a bastion of orthodoxy, so anything good there is rare, but Chesterton, I'm giddy!Pass the word,please.

More on Food -spices this time

I saw this at Family Centered Press, and just had to give it a go. Pretty accurate, plus, It's my hubby's favorite herb!

You Are Basil

You are quite popular and loved by post people. You have a mild temperament, but your style is definitely distinctive. You are sweet, attractive, and you often smell good.

What Spice Are You?

Food and Memories

I've been craving a certain food from my childhood, Chicken and Noodles, and have been unable to find the recipe. For most people asking mom would be the best solution, however, I cannot do that. My mom has severe memory loss. I know she would remember making this dish, but not what is in it. And to complicate matters, she can no longer walk, so she cannot even look for the recipe. Sure this stuff happens as people age, but my mom is 62, and has been like this for nearly 10 years. It bites, to be really honest.

She did not cook much, we did a lot of prepared meals (it was the 80's everyone did). There are very few foods I would like to try to recreate for my kids. My parents are in Florida for a week, so my sister and I took matters into our own hands and raided the recipe cabinet. I sifted through hundreds of recipes, but only found two I ever remember her making, she clipped many, but never made them. I did not find my two favorites, Chicken Paprika and Chicken and noodles. I left feeling really really sad. Like a piece of my childhood is gone forever. My sister never remembers my mother cooking, by the time she was born mom was sick often and worked when she was well, I feel worse for her, she has nothing as foods go to pass on to her 3 kids. I at least can try to re-create some of the recipes on my own.

Its funny, my dad spent most of my childhood talking about this wonderful Polish Cauliflower his mother made. She had died before I was born. He could never find a recipe that tasted like hers, shortly after I was married, I succeeded. Maybe one of my kids will be able to come up with a perfect recipe for me, but I'm impatient and have a chicken in the freezer that really needs noodles.

It is funny how tastes and smells elicit memories, rich, warm, lovely memories. Every time I eat a snowball cookie, I am transported back to my grandmother's kitchen. I can see her, playing cards, hear her voice, even though she died a decade ago. I want this for my kids, to have memories that are brought on my a simple cookie or soup, that makes them smile,and remember a loved one, long passed. My kids will not get this from my mom, but may from my Mother-in-law.

Take the time to write down those favorite recipes, no matter how often you make them, and put them in a special book for each child. You never know how special it might be for them. It is not just recipes, but a collection of memories for them to pass on. If you have a Chicken and noodles recipe to share, email me cdclil at sbcglobal dot net

It smelled like spring!

Here in Chicago we are used to big bad scary winters, but this year, well it was long, too. I say was, because today, it smelled like spring! We were our hunting for snowdrops, a sure sign that the winter is nearly over, sliding around on the iced-over trails, and enjoying every second. The air felt different, less harsh. Water was starting to melt, duck were wading in flowing streams, and the sky was bright blue, the deepest blue I've seen in months. Sure, it was still cold, but it seemed to be less brutal, like the earth is trying to wake from its deep sleep.

I find in really intriguing that Good Friday is the last day of winter this year. It seems so right. All that is death and coldness will fade in the warm light of the Resurrection. All of Creation will wake and sing to His glory, to celebrate the new day and new life. We usually hear Chorus Frog singing the first day of spring, this year I hope they wait a day, and wake the dawn on Easter morning with their joyous song. I hope to see the little glimpses of life, like daffodil shoots on Easter. It just seems the way it should be, earth wakes again as Christ Rises. After what seems like a long winter, and a very dark Lent, I look forward to the brightness of Spring and the Hope of the Resurrection.

If MY kids ever acted like that....

I'm back from Youth 2000. We had an awesome weekend, of course. I was so privileged to attend a Mass Friday night celebrated by His Eminence Francis Cardinal George. I've been to several masses he has celebrated, and each time I've been riveted by his simplicity and wisdom. This time, I was not as riveted, not due to anything he said or did, but due to the bad mannered youth behind me. I was embarrassed for them. They were talking, texting and generally goofing around WHILE THE CARDINAL WAS SPEAKING!!! I gave looks, I signaled my friend Br. Maximilian to plant himself among them, which he did, but these young people did not stop. It was really bad. Even the teens I brought were annoyed and mad, and these kids are just normal teens, but have been taught how to behave in church. Sure, Mass was being held in a gym with 300 teens, and sure, the teens had to sit on the floor, but the Cardinal is a Prince of the Church, and deserves respect.

Bad behavior in Mass is a plague. I've seen it everywhere I go, and I'm not referring to the under 7 crowd, who are still learning how to behave. Texting, i-pods, phones are great things, but not during Mass. I wish I could say that these kids showed more respect to the Priests giving talks outside of Mass, but they did not. The bad behavior continued, to the point that every priest who got up to speak gave a reprimand. It finally took Fr. Bob, CFR, separating any offending teen and sitting them next to the Polish Dominicans to get the nonsense to stop. Don't mess with a 5 foot tall sister in white who can scold you in 3 languages. The offending group's chaperones were as bad as the kids. They did nothing to get the kids to stop, and more than one had to be woken up. All this in the presence of the exposed Blessed Sacrament.

It is sad, the kids had the opportunity to sit in front of the Blessed sacrament, to go to confession and to hear some of the coolest priests around. God was calling them, but their ear buds were too loud. Sean at Blue Boar was commenting on bad behavior during a Fr. Loya talk by him. I love Fr. Loya, he gave an art tour to my kids at his Byzantine Parish. He has a great message, one teens need to hear, but they wasted that chance. I wish I had some brilliant solution, but sadly, I do not. All I can do is try to make my 3 appreciate all the gifts they are given as Catholics, so they love the Mass, the Priesthood and the wisdom of those who truly can educate them. Pray for our teens, there are so many great ones, but so many who will be lost if they do not see the great gifts the church has to give. It is hard to see those gifts when your eyes are focusing on what you are texting.

Off to Youth 2000

I'm headed out tomorrow to chaperone a group of teens from my Parish to the Chicago Youth 2000. I've chaperoned 3 years now, but this year I do not know all of the kids I am bringing, so pray for me, please. I love Youth 2000. It is such a great experience for teens and young adults (I'm just outside of this age range). My dear find Br. Maximilian Mary,CFR, is coming in to MC, being the hometown boy. All the kids I am bringing have met him, which makes it really fun, he can joke with them, and tease me, it turns out, I act "motherly" now and am not as much fun as I was at 16, when we met. Go figure. The downside is I have to leave my kids with a friend, they are years from being old enough to go. My middle kid will get to go on Sunday to see Br. MM, who is his godfather. If Youth 2000 is in your area, check it out. I know several vocations and even more miracles that have come from it. Plus, it is a good way to see the beautiful diversity of people in the Catholic faith.

The Simple Joy of Service

Today my daughter and I , along with her pre-teen girls club, visited Feed My Starving Children. Together, we made 28 boxes of food to be sent to missions in developing countries. That food is enough to feed 16 children for 1 year. I cannot say enough good things about our experience. We spent a mere 2 hours at the facility, and we are feeding 16 kids for 1 year.

FMSC is an organization that makes high vitamin, high protein meals to be sent to missionaries in Haiti, Sudan, Bolivia and to the Mississippi Delta of the US. 18,000 children under die each day from starvation world wide. FMSC provides 15 million meals a year. They are firmly based on Christian principles, and by partnering with missionaries, they ensure the children not only get food but medical care, education and spiritual food.

We are very fortunate to live very very close to their new facility. We will be visiting them again, regularly I hope. Why? Not just because we are helping people, but we had a blast. 23 kids made meals, they packaged rice, soy and veggies to feed other kids, and they had so much fun. The kids got competitive, and were trying to fill more boxes at one table than another. Most of the kids want to go back, most didn't want to leave. According to FMSC, most of the food is packaged by children. You can see from the photo our group was mostly pre-teen girls, with a few older male siblings. That is so incredibly awesome to me. I'm so glad we were able to take part in this. If FMSC is in your area, consider volunteering, if they are not, pray about a donation, 95% of the money donated goes directly for food.

Our Journey to Rivendell

I'm sure I first saw this on another homeschool blog, but my kids and I are preparing to join the Eowyn Challenge. It is a really neat website to encourage families to walk more. We walk a lot, but I'm up to a challenge this year. We will be reading the Hobbit aloud this spring as a family, and this seemed a nice fit. If it goes well, we will do more, as we read the LOTR books aloud. If anyone would like to join us, we'd love, even if we just walk together virtually.

I've Returned

From where you ask? In the magic world of a very warm blanket. Its been darn stinking cold here in Chicago! Life has been very busy, and very cold. I've become one of those mothers who spends a great deal of her day carting a children around to lessons, Ballet, band, Science club, cooking class, calligraphy, and boys club. Most days of late it has been snowing, so the trips take three times as long, and when I return to my nice warm house, I usually just want to curl up with my presshooler and try to get warm. Unfortunatly, 3 year old toes are usually sub-zero and make me colder. Anyway, I'm back. I promise not to disappear for so long again.

I could kiss my mail man

As I was running out the door to sit through a 3.5 hour band dress rehearsal with my daughter, the mail mail left me a little present, MY GILBERT! JOY!!! Not that going out in below zero weather to sit through a concert I have to go to again tonight would be tedious, it just that I have to not talk to my momma friends and sit still. I'm a bit hyper as an adult and sitting still and quiet can be a challenge sometimes, especially when I'm freezing cold. Did I mention I could not bring my trusty mug of hot coffee or tea?! But, alas, I had my Gilbert to keep me happy. And that it did. I finally got to sit and read an issue without multitasking, no dinner being prepared while reading this time! I did stop reading once in a while to find out if my child was sitting still and not talking as well(she was not, like mother like daughter).

I barely noticed the time fly or the extreme cold, well, the later was more noticeable as I read about Mr. Alquist's trip to a much warmer state, CA. but he, too lives in the bitter midwest, so all is fair. All in all the evening was much improved my good reading material, and tha fact that the homeschool band is playing a Danny Elfman piece, the Batman Theme.We won't tell them that he was in a rock band before he started composing for the movies, oooh, better not mention the Simpsons, either. Tonight's concert will be great, and having not seen the bulk of the prep for it , I will better enjoy hearing all the results.