Could it be?

Snowdrops! It's almost spring!! Amid the dead and decay new life gives hints that the darkness has almost ended.

Begin Again.

I'm glad it is Christmas, this was quite possibly the most trying Advent for me in my adult life. Trying does not mean bad, just draining emotionally. I was challenged to change, lost a loved one, and had to deal with a few pedestals I'd put people on.

Change sucks. I'm bad at it, and prefer my old ways, however, once in a while it becomes necessary to examine one's actions. Sometimes in doing so, we realize, we have already changed. Then the difficulty comes in knowing although you are content with the change, others preferred the "old you". What to do, what to do? If I had my way, which I never do, I would force change upon others, but this is not practical. How can the blow be softened to others. First prayer seems to work wonders, secondly, patience. Thirdly, wine. Yep, a little vino goes a long way, for both parties.

Every day is a new chance to begin again, not just projects that go unfinished, but relationships, resolutions, and life. Every day is a clean slate, full of opportunities to do good, have fun and love. Christmas is the greatest ever reminder of this. For generations the people of God turned away from him, but in one moment, because of one child, they ( and we) could begin again.

Merry Christmas!

The simple joy of Soup

Soup, a hot liquid, a plain and simple food that warms the heart and soul. I love soup, I make it far too often, but, there is something about the making and eating of it that makes me so happy. I have a reputation among some for my soups, its pretty much a given that if you give birth ,I'll give you soup. Every mama needs homemade soup.

But what is it about it? I've been thinking about it. What other substance can please a picky eater? What else can turn a whole lot of nothing into a great meal? What else says I hope you feel better like soup?!Soup is love in a bowl. Even a "quick" soup says I love you.

I've probably written about this before, but with old age setting in, the memory goes!

Rejoice!

Regina Caeli, Laetare, Alleluia.

Quia quem meruisti portare, Alleluia, 

Resurrexit, sicut dixit, Alleluia, 

Ora pro nobis Deum, Alleluia!

O, Queen of Heaven, Be joyful, Alleluia, 

For He, whom you humbly borne for us, Alleluia, 

Has arisen, has he promised, Alleluia, 

Offer now our prayer to God, Alleluia!

A child's laughter

You hear all sorts of anecdotes about a child's laughter, but some are just too cute for me. I'm not a big fan of cute. My son sits next to me as I type ROARING, folded over in laughter, his laugh is LOUD, and he extends the end quite a bit, but I am laughing at him laughing. His laugh is almost maniacal, it is not a giggle, but a full body laugh. His laugh has made the whole house brighter, we are all laughing, mostly at him, but it is a most amazing thing. A dull tired Saturday night has been transformed by the sound of his laugh, for nearly the last two hours we all have been much happier, no kids are fighting, no kids are complaining, but everyone is light, all because of my son's good sense of humor.

If you are curious about what he cannot resist laughing at, Snoopy. Yep, 40 year old Charlie Brown cartoons on ABC family have my son doubled over in tears of laughter. 

Some books never go out of style

Recently my daughter started reading the Anne of Green Gables series. I'm trilled, these books were my favorites when I was her age. Not only were they favorites, but I got completely lost in them, they preserved my girlhood and gave me a great love of poetry. How can a few books, especially lite reading, have an impact? Simple, they were good, and held my interest.

We read plenty of newer book, some good, some not-so-great, but again and again, my daughter comes back to my childhood favorites, The Secret Garden, the Little House books, Heidi and now my beloved Anne. Anne was a springboard book for me, Anne read poetry, Tennyson, in particular, so I read Tennyson. In reading Tennyson, I moved onto Wittman, and far more poets. I read and read, I loved the romance of it all, I loved the art in the books, I loved the time period written about, I loved escaping from my dull suburban life.

 I see my daughter excited in the same ways. Good literature can lead to whole new worlds, both real and imaginary. I see her imagination growing, as her understanding of history and culture also grow. I see her laughing as Anne dyes her read hair, and she will cry when Matthew dies, just like I did. And I see her maturing, as she can experience though the books joy and sorrow, while she is in a safe, loving home, but at the same time is being prepared for her own sorrows and joys. 

Squeaky Clean

My son made his First confession this morning. Despite being nervous, and having a 4 year old brother who would not behave, he did great. I love being a mom just for moments like this. He came out, all smiles, and announced, "My  soul was so clean I could jump super high." He then announced he needed a shower, so his body was as clean as his soul. After a shower, he asked for the first time in months, if his siblings would play the "Jesus Game" with him. This game is where the 3 act act out different scenes from the Life of Christ. A little sacramental grace goes a long way, my boy is squeaky clean once more!

This weekend I saw people

Okay, dumb title, but true. I got to see, and spend time with some of the loveliest people around. The ILCHC was held this weekend, and it was the place to be, if you are a Catholic blogger, or related to one.

I saw the parents of Sean over at Blue Boar, who always used his middle name, which I found cute, but it made me wonder what kind of a child he was! Then I got to meet John at Lunch Break's very lovely wife and adorable baby. Next up was Maureen Wittmann and her beautiful daughters, who sold me a book I've been reading since I got home. Then of course, there was Regina Doman, of House Art Journal, whose books my daughter and I are fighting over, I want them first! I'm sure there are a few I've missed. It was great conference, one of the best I've been to locally.

I met SO many wonderful people, I forgot HOW MUCH I really thrive on being around lots of different people. I was so fortunate to be able to work for CHC this weekend and meet so many. I loved how many people I already knew, but hadn't seen in years. My husband, who helped me out, is convinced I either knew everyone there, or knew someone that they knew. He keep teasing me that that old Kevin Bacon game could be played with me. I beg to differ, but I can't help being social!

All in all it was a great weekend, oh, I got a ton of books, too, but stayed in my budget, which thankfully was pretty high this year. I'll post about some of the books I got later, quite a few are newer and look really interesting.

15 years

Today is a momentous day for my husband and I, we have "officially" been together for 15 years. I say officially, because my husband and I dated long before we officially dated. I remember the day very well, it was the last concert of the season I had to sing, and the first one he came to. The poor guy never liked madrigals. He asked me to "officially" be his girlfriend, in a 1957 Studebaker President, and sealed the deal with a kiss. After that, there was no turning back, we both already knew we would spend our lives together. I always suspected he did not make it official sooner because he wanted to be sure we would last forever, and at 17, he needed a few months, and an eighteenth birthday to decide.

We measure our lives, BC, before Chris, for me and AD, after Deb, for him.We've only been married almost 11 years,. but our life together began well before the rings were on our fingers. I cherish everyone of the days of the last 15 years. Some have been hard, like the days we spent apart when I was pregnant and hospitalized, but most have been fun, like our past weekend, camping. I look so forward to the next 50 years, I cannot imagine my life without Chris, my best friend, my true love, my husband.

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.

Sharing a note I received...

Some may know that one of my best friends since I was like 16 is Br. Maximilian Mary, CFR. He lives in the Bronx, in a really really rough area. His primary job, through his vocation is to serve the poor. Given he has a vow of poverty, he only sends us notes to treasure for Christmas. This year the Brs. got email, this is from him....(side note..if you are looking for something to do with any old Gilbert's you may have, he's happily take them!)

Merry Christmas! I thought a Christmas poem from G.K. Chesterton would be a gift that would be both deeper than most greeting cards, and in my price range :

The House of Christmas by G.K. Chesterton

“There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honour and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the yule tale was begun.

A Child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost---how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky’s dome.

This world is wild as an old wives’ tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.”

The Simple Joy of Playsilks

I mentioned a few weeks ago I was getting my kids playsilks for Christmas. They arrived yesterday, and because I had run a co-op for them, my kids saw all of them. They know they are for Christmas, from Mom and Dad, but being kids, they could not wait. I was as excited as they were to play with them, so they each got one, as an early Christmas gift.

For the past 24 hours, my kids have been in one fantasy after another, all involving the silks. They have been pirates, knights, super kids, mountain climbers, the Nativity scene, and ghosts. The silks have also been pools of water for toy boats, lava, parachutes, and canopies. Basically, you can do anything with a silk.

What is a silk? Well, a 36x 36 inch of colored silk. It is soft, and the colors are beautiful. The lady who I bought these from hand-dyes hers, so there are variations of the color in each silk, the blues look like flowing water. The silk is from China, but dyed by hand in the US. I just regret I did not buy these 8 years ago when my oldest was little, but even at 9, she has been having a blast. The boys are having more fun than I thought they would. My husband thought the silks might be too girly, but he has decided not, once the boys tied him up in the silks so they could shoot him better with imaginary guns.

We also got these cool things called "ribbon wands". They have become the new wand of choice in the Harry Potter plays that occur daily (they are too young for most of Harry, but can make up hours of his adventures). The combination of the silks and the wands should bring hours and hours of fun this winter.

The lady who made the ones I bought is a small home based business, and she really did a great job. Just another way to support small business, encourage creativity, and live a life of beauty.

We won in Court, for now.

I know it is not the end of this battle, but for now, the death center will not open. I have Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow stuck in my head. I think I will take that as a cue, to give Him the praise due today.