The City Mouse and the Country Mouse

Something fun for Throwback Thursday!

I wrote this article awhile ago. It is power-packed with good information…like what kind of plants to grow (if you like greenery in the house), how to get the most out of your honeymoon and feeding guests on a Sunday morning. It is also filled with deep and inspiring thoughts about the differences between men and women. Hubby informed me it is also filled with much exaggeration….!

Even though I had been raised in a large city in the middle of Canada, where the most prolific crop is icicles, I always wanted to marry a farmer boy.

I thought living in the country would be quite romantic.  Not only that, I really did like the simplicity and the wholesomeness of the country life.  Then when he said, “Will you marry me?” I felt my dreams had come true!

Shortly after we climbed down the church steps we found out we had differences!  BIG differences!  Men are from Mars?  You wanna believe it!

It didn’t take me long to discover a few things about a country guy.  Priorities in HIS life are…(ahem) different to a city girl.

For instance, when I am driving, my priority is to get from point A to point B in good time and in relative safety. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

For him, it’s not the speed limit that counts nor is it if you are veering from one ditch to the next!! 😯 The most important thing is how much the soybeans have grown or whether that *flash* that went across the road is a coyote or a fox!

Safety isn’t part of the picture. Have you ever known any farmer that wore a seat belt in a tractor??  In the field, you didn’t have to keep your eye on the road, there was none!

Let me tell you about our honeymoon. We were tearing through the mountains at break-neck speed, going around curves on what felt like 2 wheels!! Hanging on for dear life, I looked at my husband in amazement. Why in the heck was he not watching the road??!!

He proceeded to ask me excitedly if I saw how many points that elk had on it!!  As I squinted my eyes to see if he was talking about that 4-legged dot in the distance, I thought to myself, “Can this guy be for real”?

At that moment, The words we said at the altar, “Till death do us part” became very vivid to me..  Either he was going to kill me while looking at his jackalopes… …or there may be a murder at the next Rest Stop!

When I got married, I dreamed of a nice, orderly garden, a white picket fence and a wrap-around porch that all the family would gather round in the evening to chew the fat.  You know…relaxed…normal….Isn’t that what country life was?

I was in for some big surprises!  I remember the time that we had company over for brunch.  Everyone was enjoying themselves as I made breakfast.  I needed something from the freezer.  I went to open it and I saw 2 beady eyes staring at me!  I stifled my scream so as not to alarm the guests!!  There was a raccoon in my freezer!  Whole and entire…fur and all!! I couldn’t believe it!  Couldn’t he keep the road kill on the road where it belonged!? What would he do if I had died of a heart attack on the spot?

Then it would’ve been just him and that icy raccoon and all he’d get from IT is the cold shoulder.  Why do guys never think of these things???   😦

To be just, I have to admit it goes both ways.

HE should’ve suspected the day he came home and wondered why his newly purchased bedding plants were… dead!  “Honey, we just bought those bedding plants and they weren’t cheap.  Look at them!”

Everyone knows women are supposed to be able to multi-task, but I try to explain to him what number “multi” means! He gets REALLY perturbed when all I have to say is, “ooops” (again)!! …At least I say it apologetically.

I try to lighten it up. “Maybe we could invest in venus fly traps.  Aren’t they the ones that feed on flesh?  I’ll at least know they need something, when I hear them licking their chops!”  He didn’t like my lame attempt at humor!

I have reminded him that he was imprudent and impetuous for asking me to marry him on our 2^nd date.  Really, it’s his fault for not checking out the credentials!  He should’ve married that cute, stalky farm girl he made googley-eyes with when he was 16!  Sheesh!

I DO have good intentions, though.  Last week I made homemade elderberry syrup.  OK, so it was rather runny…more like purple soup, actually! 😦 Come to think of it I didn’t have much luck with my homemade cheese either. I snuck it out the back for the dogs to eat.  They just walked away.  Maybe I was just imagining it but it seemed they had their noses in the air!  Ungrateful creatures!

I told hubby that tomorrow I am going to try my hand at grinding my own wheat and making bread out of it.  He didn’t say anything….I knew what he was thinking though and he’s lucky he didn’t say it.

It’s too late for my nature boy!  He already said I do.  He’s just going to have to tough it out and resign himself to his city-slicker wannabe country girl.

As for me, I usually take the wheel when we go out together.  That way, he can look at how fast the corn is growing or if that *flash* across the road was a gopher or a hyena or whatever!

I started thinking about our dilemma.  You know, the one between the Martians and the Venetians. Do you know how far Mars is from Venus? 1,990 million miles!  That’s a long way to walk to meet in the middle!

Somehow in this whole picture we have to agree that God has a sense of humor.  He must have – he put man and woman together.

In our case he put the City Mouse and the Country Mouse together on top of it.

As this City Mouse tries to learn the ways of the country, I begin to think that picket fences and wrap-around porches are pretty boring.  When I start veering off the road to see the armadillos in the distance, I’ll know I’m doomed.

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Smell the Roses Along the Way! A Gallery….

I love this time of the year. The roses are blooming and the yard is a galaxy of flowers!

We haven’t always had a yard that looks beautiful. But we have always tried, no matter how hard times were, to eke out a little bit to get some blossoms going. Flowers spread joy and happiness. They are a gift from God and therapy for the soul.

We lived in a very small, one-bedroom home for ten years. We had seven children in that home. We tacked on a couple of little make-shift bedrooms for the kids off of our own bedroom.

It took us a few years to build our new home and we moved in when it wasn’t really livable. But it was all good….an adventure. Maybe some day I will write about it and dig up some old pictures.

Anyway, when we lived in the little house, (which many called “the shack”) we always had flowers, though not an abundance like we do now. I didn’t plant perennials there and I am glad of that so I didn’t have to say good-bye to them. But we managed somehow to have our little annual flower garden.

This year, my husband, Vincent, and daughter, Rosie, along with Angelo, the youngest, have done most of the yard work. Vincent has his own small greenhouse now and is able to start a lot of the flowers…or over-winter them from last year. Their team work has paid off! We have lots of beautiful flowers!

So…if you can, plant some flowers, nurture them, watch them grow and bloom. Maybe each year you can get a perennial or two so you can enjoy them each growing season and one day have an abundance of easy-to-care-for blossoming smile-makers!

And when the winter months come, get yourself some African Violets for the house. They are not expensive and they will bring a smile to your heart. 🙂

I love this quote from My Prayer Book by Father Lasance:

“I have always noticed that wherever you find flowers, no matter whether in a garret or in a palace, it is a pretty sure sign that there is an inner refinement of which the world is not cognizant. I have seen flowers cultivated and cherished by some of the lowest and poorest of people. Where these emblems of purity are found, you may rest assured that they represent a hope, and speak of a goodness of heart not to be found where they are absent.”

These photos are  about flowers….and other tidbits of our summer…just stopping and smelling the roses! I hope you are doing the same. 🙂 Click on the first picture to view gallery. (The gallery ended up being a whole lot longer than it was supposed to be…. )

This is our raised garden in the front of the yard. It awaits some renovation.

Our beautiful zinnias!

Zinnias and tomatoes.

We love the daylilies.

They only bloom for about 3 weeks but what a display when they do!

The end of our driveway.

Vincent grew the petunias…we painted the buckets to put them in.

A lot of hard work went into this wall.

Sidewalk up to Grandma’s apartment.

On the way to Grandma’s, there are nooks and crannies with flowers….

This is called the hyacinth bean and it came up from last year. It’s a beautiful vine that will bloom in August.

Vincent planted dahlias this year. They’re lovely!

Grandma’s apartment.

I’ve showed you this before but it keeps getting prettier. Grandma’s pergola that Vincent built for her. (I call her Grandma because my kids do…she is my mom).

Looking down from Mom’s apartment.

This little sumac tree Vincent found in a dumpster. It still had the price tag on it of $75! It’s very pretty.

Our swing is the most used place in the yard. We gather here for the mercy chaplet, for the rosary, and just to chat.

I got these two wrought iron planter chairs from our favorite Thrift Store for a steal! We ordered the coconut bowls to go in them off of Amazon.

Vincent is proud of his spike plant that he over-wintered from last year.

Beautiful colored petunias!

Another rock garden.

Sedum…and yes, Our Lady is due for another coat of paint.

Beautiful Echinacea!

Our cucumber and beet garden!

Pretty little wishing well. And our poor beheaded St. Francis. Father tells us that it is a tradition in Catholic Families….to have a yard statue of a beheaded St. Francis. Hehe (It has fallen down one too many times!)

Coming down from Mom’s.

And of course, gladiolas and doilies on the table!

Gladiolas, dahlias.

Zinnias!

Gemma models one of Rosie’s wreath doilies… Not quite where it belongs.

Enjoying an evening with the priests.

Father Allen made the trip to the parish to give the conferences for the Traditional Family Weekend

July 4th fun.

Friends….

It was early in the morning and Rosie was up. I knew she hadn’t had enough sleep so I was glad when I couldn’t find her. I thought she went back to bed. Then I looked out at the rain and saw an umbrella bobbing in the cucumber patch!

Sure enough! It was Rosie, picking breakfast! (We love our cukes and eat them like apples!)

Margy and Toby

Rosie went golfing with some of the clan to ride in the golf cart.

Magdalene and Agnes

Jeanette

I texted and asked how Rosie was doing and this is the pic they sent.

Silly girls!

Hannah

Jeanette, Margy, Magdalene and Toby

Grandpa, grandson and chiggers!

Jeanette at her house along the creek.

Her three little ones.

Fourth of July party at dom and Sarah’s.

Colin and Z

Jeanette, Mike and Dom

Madeline and Hannah

Gracie

Sienna and Avila

The new pot-bellied pig!

Ordination of our good friends, Father Janosch Donner and Julius Kappler, in Germany two weeks ago!

Father Donner will be visiting in August!

Take time to smell those flowers!

 

How About a Little Enthusiasm!?

A repost for Throwback Thursday….

Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing when we are enthusiastic about the right things. How important it is for us to be enthusiastic about our lives as women, wives and mothers!

As pointed out in the “Purpose of Finer Femininity” we have the awesome power and responsibility to make or break our relationships! Hey! That means our attitudes affect everyone around us….the most important people in our lives…our families! What a great reason to be enthusiastic! We are not just numbers, our lives are not humdrum, we have an incredible impact on our own little worlds….which will impact society in a much bigger way!! It starts with US!!

The following are a few things that I am passionate about ….and very grateful for! Maybe you will recognize some of  them as your own reasons for enthusiasm!

I’m excited about being a homemaker! I am not the greatest at it but I love to see the end result of keeping my home generally picked up and looking friendly and warm. I don’t obsess (look in my cupboards and you’ll agree…ahem, I probably should obsess a little more) but my home truly is my castle and I love being its queen!!

I am so thankful for the opportunity to stay at home, be my own boss, look after my own children!! I’ve been out in the work world….I don’t like it! When I got home from my job I was so exhausted I couldn’t hardly do anything else. And that was when I was single. I don’t know how mothers do it when they are working!

Running my own home means I am “self-employed” and I am enthusiastic about that!! I need to use my skills, talents and smarts to accomplish all the things a mother and wife need to accomplish in a day! That’s no small task…as you well know!

In a lot of ways I can call the shots in my own home. Of course, I have a General Manager and I need to listen to him, but in many ways I am my own woman! I am very grateful to my husband for this!

I am enthusiastic about my Catholic Faith! Not so much about gathering “head” knowledge (though I know that is important), but more about gathering “heart”-knowledge! I am excited about learning to lean more on Our Lord and His Mother, rather than on my own petty nothingness. I am keen on  learning to give more to Him, knowing He will take care of my needs!

Don’t we all experience the ups and downs of life? Why is it that some people have more enthusiasm than others? Is it a matter of being born with a good dose of it??

“Most people acknowledge the possibility of personality change in connection with hate, fear and other common forms of conflict, but seem to doubt that they can be made over into enthusiastic persons. They argue, ‘Sure I would like to have enthusiasm, but what if you just haven’t got it? You cannot make yourself enthusiastic can you?’ This is always said in anticipation of an of-course-you-can’t agreement. But I do not agree at all. For you can make yourself an optimist. You can develop enthusiasm, and of a type that is continuous and joyous in nature.

The important fact is that you can deliberately make yourself enthusiastic. Actually you can go further and develop a quality of enthusiasm so meaningful and in such depth that it will not decline or run dry no matter what strain it is put to.” Dr. Norman Peale

One thing that can help in regaining and maintaining enthusiasm is reading. We need to read about improving….. becoming a better woman, especially in our vocations! It is great to set goals for ourselves…to read encouraging, uplifting things that keep the attitude up.

Make our list each morning. Let’s not make the list unreasonable but include our spiritual goals for the day, the priorities as far as our duties go and maybe one or two things we’d like to see done that day that is over the norm. We will then enthusiastically check off those items as we accomplish them.

We need to remind ourselves that God loves us and cares about every detail of our life and that Our Lady has us under Her mantle. Pray, Trust. Isn’t that what St. Therese did in her little way? She had such a confidence in God, in spite of knowing what a sinner she was or what was going on in the world around her.

We must do the same, We need to perk up our attitudes regularly for the sake of those around us…each and every day!

(As a side note, I think we need to be careful about the negativity we voluntarily submit ourselves to. Constantly bombarding ourselves with the latest news and how it is playing out can really put a damper on our enthusiasm. We don’t need to hide our heads in the sand, but we have got to protect ourselves from the constant onslaught of evil in the world. In the old days, people did not know about everything that happened in every city, state and country of the world on an ongoing basis. They did not have to carry this load upon their shoulders…..their own daily crosses were attended to and it was enough. Although I am not advocating not knowing what is going on, there comes a point where we need to recognize if this is bringing us down. Instead, we should add some extra daily prayers for those who are suffering. That will do a whole lot more good than reading and watching YouTubes and becoming depressed about the state of the world!)

Know that you have a very important job…the most important job of raising godly men and women. What could be more important than that?! You need to keep on your toes, learn the skills necessary and roll up your sleeves each day and dig in!

“It has been said that every tomorrow has two handles. You can take hold of either the handle of anxiety or the handle of enthusiasm. The continued choice of handle determines the character of your multiplying days. Choose enthusiasm daily and you are likely to have it permanently.”*

“Every man is enthusiastic at times. One man has enthusiasm for thirty minutes, another has it for thirty days–but it is the man that has it for thirty years who makes a success in life.”–Unknown (The Catholic Layman)

“This art of housekeeping is not learned in a day; those of us who have been engaged in it for years are constantly finding out how little we know, and how far we are, after all, from perfection. It requires a clever woman to keep house; and as I said before there is ample scope, even within the four walls of a house (a sphere which some affect to despise), for the exercise of originality, organizing power, administrative ability. And to the majority of women I would fain believe it is the most interesting and satisfactory of all feminine occupations.” –Annie S. Swan Courtship and Marriage And the Gentle Art of Home-Making

The artist of the painting: Trisha Romance, “Spring Wash Day”

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Aprons at Meadows of Grace!

 

 

 

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Musings of a Mother….Just for Fun

A Little Throwback… 🙂  ❤

I don’t have a Masters Degree or a Bachelors Degree in anything. I’m not aspiring to climb the ladder of corporate success nor do I have a management position in my place of employment. I probably SHOULD have some kind of a degree in motherhood. Come to think of it, I DO have a management position, but the wages aren’t too good and I certainly don’t get paid overtime!

With 11 children, I have spent most of my time cooking, cleaning, teaching, and being a referee!  Seems I have spent a good amount of time breaking up petty squabbles between 7 bossy, boisterous, bickering girls!  At least with the boys, one blow from the other guy and it’s over.  🙂 But with girls it sometimes seems like it never ends.

For instance, I remember when my 3 yr. old and 5 yr. old were having a spat.  The 5 yr. old ran up to me and said “Mommy, Gemma said I wish you were dead!”  Seeing the look of horror on my face Gemma quickly said “I did not!  I just said I wished your head was chopped off!”

Aren’t they Angels?My boys used to pose different dilemmas.  You know what they say: The bigger the boys, the bigger the toys.

I CAN understand why motors were invented.  I DON’T understand why the motors were put on just TWO WHEELS??

Do these people not like mothers??

With that recipe, add a pinch of teenage boy and watch out!  Every day I would wonder if only pieces of them would come home.   THEY wondered why their machines kept breaking down.  Actually they didn’t wonder.  They knew why…”Mom, have you been praying again??”

Look at those innocent faces: 😛

We live 3 miles down a gravel road where the nearest neighbor is a half mile away.  It’s somewhat secluded and well, hasn’t always been peaceful.  Peaceful is just not the right word.  More like…pandemonium!

Have you ever felt like Chicken Little – that the sky was falling down?

One day my mother was over at our house, visiting.  Our home is a berm home which means the second level is at ground level.  The house wasn’t done yet.  My mother, dear soul, was in another room when we heard an ear-piercing shriek and saw a flash go by!  It was our pig!!!  It had fallen through the ceiling!  The varmint had somehow got in upstairs and slipped through some floor joists!!

Things like that don’t happen to normal people. And if they do, they SHOULD be a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence……but it wasn’t.

One day we came home to find our goat’s legs and udder dangling from the ceiling!  Imagine walking in on that!! It didn’t make for a very nice chandelier! She had fallen through the drop ceiling but didn’t make it all the way down and ended up straddling a pipe!!

I always liked the Ma & Pa Kettle movies!  But I didn’t necessarily want to live them!

We have friends who come over just for the Entertainment Factor.  There’s always someone to laugh with or laugh AT in our home!Do I yearn for some peace and quiet??  Yes I do! When everyone is gone and the house is silent, I think of all the things I could do:  catch up on some work, read a book, take a nap.  After an hour I begin to get antsy.  I COULD take a nap but it’s just too quiet..  Maybe I’ll watch a movie…..nah, that’s no fun when there’s no one to share it with. Read a book? How do you concentrate on a book when there’s no noise to contend with???

After a couple of hours I’m asking myself WHERE IS EVERYBODY??

My children…truly, they are the most wonderful people in the world.  What a joy it is, when they are young,  to have their little, trusting faces beaming at you because, well….they just love you that’s all ….(or they’re just hungry 😛 ).  Mom and Dad are their heroes!  They show it every day in many ways!

For instance, I love to  dance.  I grew up dancing with my Dad.  There’s a problem, though.  My dear husband dances like a broomstick!  So at every parish or wedding dance, my sweet handsome boys would make sure and ask their mother to dance with them.  They had several girls eagerly waiting in line.  But when the right song came on, they would know who to ask.  🙂Courting days have been very interesting around here for our girls!  There was never a dull moment as the suitors stood in line.  Dad and Mom knew why.  Our girls are sweet, lovable and hospitable.  Ok, the real reason is they make killer apple pies!

Was it worth the turbulent teens??  You bet it was!

There have been SO many joys: For example: When our youngest boy was 3 yrs old, he would say, “ME love you, Mommy”, only to repeat it every 5 minutes until his overflow of love was used up…..  Watching my boys as they grow up, pick their spouses, start their new business ventures, as responsible, hard-working adults…. having my 9 yr. old make up her own crochet patterns and coming up with a very nice finished product….. enjoying my married children’s families as we all gather around our table (we can fit 17 at our table)….. having enough people to play volleyball every night if we want to ….playing table tennis with my boys…and sometimes even winning!!

From the outside, it seems we haven’t taken the easiest path.  But every walk of life has its bumps along the way.  We have chosen to share those joys and bumps with the children God has elected to give us, hoping they will take the things we have done right and run with them, while taking our mistakes and learning from them.  That is the legacy we wish to pass on.

My husband and I enjoy our life.  It’s true, the pay isn’t too good but the rewards are endless! We consider ourselves quite wealthy:  Rich in Experiences, Prosperous in Love!

One day, when we are old we will sit in our rockers, surrounded by our children and grandchildren.  They will be hanging off every word we say because of our great wisdom. (OK, THAT was an exaggeration).

We will not be lonely, that is for sure! And we will appreciate every minute of it because we have invested our time in what matters most….our family and friends.

2006:

Virginia (oldest daughter on the right) was married and had one baby when this picture was taken:

2016:

Vinnie and Virginia’s (the Apron Lady’s) Family 2016:

And Now….

Never weary in cheering your family with your smile. It is not enough to avoid depressing them; you must brighten them up and let their spirits expand. Be especially vigilant when the little ones are around. Give them the alms of a smile, hard though it be at times. What a pity when children have to say, “I don’t like it at home.” – Christ in the Home, Fr. Raoul Plus, S.J. http://amzn.to/2rHXstq (afflink)

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Review: Love these!! So far I’m only on the Spring edition but I love it! Short little inspiring blips here and there that a busy mom and wife can pick up and put down and receive encouragement and inspiration for the day to live out her Catholic faith and vocation! Thank you so much for putting these maglets together! The seller is wonderful with communication and didn’t hesitate to fix the problem when I hadn’t received my order. Meadows of Grace is a wonderful, personable, and professional shop that I will definitely return to!

All 5 Maglets! Finer Femininity is a small publication compiled to inspire Catholic women in their vocations. It consists of uplifting articles from authors with traditional values, with many of them from priests, written over 50 years ago. These anecdotes are timeless but, with the fast-paced “progress “of today’s world, the pearls within the articles are rarely meditated upon. This little magazine offers Catholic womankind support and inspiration as they travel that oftentimes lonely trail….the narrow road to heaven. The thoughts within the pages will enlighten us to regard the frequently monotonous path of our “daily duties” as the beautiful road to sanctity. Feminine souls need this kind of information to continue to “fight the good fight” in a world that has opposing values and seldom offers any kind of support to these courageous women. Inside the pages you will find inspiration for your roles as single women, as wives and as mothers. In between the thought-provoking articles, the pages are sprinkled with pictures, quotes and maybe even a recipe or two…

Available here.

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My Rule of Life

Before I begin this little excerpt about my own Rule of Life, I would like to say that I have one maxim I go by, reminding myself of it often. It is: “People are more important than things…and schedules, and accomplishments, etc.”

That being said, my thoughts on a Rule of Life:

I never heard of this term before until I picked up the book A Mother’s Rule of Life several years ago. I lived it, to a certain extent, but didn’t know what it was called.
One thing I so appreciated from that book was the part on the Spiritual Life…she talked about tithing your time to God.
She suggested a certain amount of time, 10% of your waking hours, that you dedicate to God …which I thought was pretty neat. It gave me something to go by and some kind of a goal.
It was then that I began to “journal” or write down my list on the spiritual things I wanted to accomplish throughout each day. And I would check them off as I went along. I was hung up on the numbers for awhile (making sure I got my “tithing” in) and then eventually that part fell by the wayside.
This began a habit in me that I have practiced for many years now…the writing down of what I wanted to accomplish spiritually each day. And this list-making reached out into other aspects of my life.
I firmly believe the spiritual duties we do each day are the foundation of any Rule of Life. It is at the top of my page each day in my Journal.

Here’s what mine looks like:
Morning Prayers (private)
Daily Mass, if possible (with children)
Mercy Chaplet (with children)
Family Rosary (with family)
Night Prayers (private)

In order to accomplish our spiritual things and the other things we need to do each day, we need to take care of our body.
How will we say our 15 minutes of Morning Prayer (if that’s what we have committed to) if we don’t get to sleep at a decent hour? It is valuable to put a time for rising on our list and sticking to it as much as we can. This will be difficult if the time for going to bed is ignored.
In the evening, there may be extenuating circumstances in raising a family…but we have to admit, a lot of the time we bring our fatigue on ourselves (talking to myself here). We lollygag at night, putting off going to bed for whatever reason and then, guess what?? We are too tired the next morning to get up and start the day right, with the first thing on our list….Morning Prayers. And then it goes downhill from there….Blah. So, remember, your accomplishments during the day and how well the day turns out begin the evening before!

This is what my “bodily” or “health” section looks like. It’s simple and doable:
Exercise (T-Tapp, a walk, tread milling, etc.)
Take supplements
Water (half a person’s body weight in ounces)

(You can add what time to bed, what time for rising and anything else that is important to you in this category)
Check them off as you do them!

Next is your household duties. The important stuff…and write it down. Mine probably looks different than yours does because I have girls who take over some of the big things. Here’s an example of what yours can begin with:

1.Meals
2. School
3.Laundry
(Add to this section of your list as you see fit but just the important things…the MUST-DO’S.)

Keep things picked up in between time…maybe plan a 20 minute hoopla with the kids as everyone takes a room. This could be done more than once a day…and added to your list.

And then, added to the bottom of your list….one big thing, like clean fridge. ….but only for 15 minutes!

And do it for 15 minutes each day until it is done! Set the timer. Oftentimes we can’t make it through a whole big job…and we tend to avoid it if it is big. So…break it up into doable slots of time. I am always amazed at how much I get done in 15 minutes and how quickly these big jobs get accomplished. A great feeling, indeed!

I think this is valuable…..Zig Ziglar (who is a big guru in the positive motivational field) said to plan into your schedule time with your family. Yes, I know as busy mothers, we are always with our family, working hard for them each day, rubbing shoulders with them, etc. But maybe we could write down…20 minutes with kids…and spend that time building Lego, reading a story, telling a story, crafting or whatever. Those are the kind of things that, built into your rule of life, you will never regret.
Write.it.down.

So a recap of your categories on your list:
Spiritual Duties
Bodily Health
Most Necessary Housework Things we Can’t NOT Do (always excepting extenuating circumstances)
One Big Thing (for 15 minutes)
Time With Family                                                                                                  Other things you’d like to accomplish                                            

Just a mention…try to get in a little breather for yourself each day, whether it is doing a bit of crocheting or looking up a special website online. It’s important we recharge, too!

All the other little things you have to accomplish each day can revolve around this list. This is your go-to, your foundation. It won’t be perfect. That’s ok. And you can write the little things down, too. It’s great when we can check things off! And if you don’t get them done that day, put them on the next day and try again!

An Example List:

This may not be detailed enough for you. Here is the link to Holly Pierlot’s A Mother’s Rule of Life. It has been years since I read it, my daughter-in-law is reading it and loving it!

A quote from My Prayer Book, Father Lasance:
“One of the means,” says a spiritual writer, “of acquiring and perfecting in us the interior life, which raises a man above the merely terrestrial and animal life to the height of the divine life in Jesus Christ consists in adopting and following a rule of life, which does not leave the employment of our time to caprice, but assigns to each moment its own proper duty”
“Let all things be done decently and according to order.” says St. Paul. (1Cor. xiv. 40)
“Where there is no rule there is no order,” says Father Hamon. “We live by caprice and fancies. With a rule of life, on the contrary, all is done in an orderly manner; each duty has its proper time set apart for it; nothing is forgotten; nothing is done in haste or in a careless manner.
Thanks to a rule of life, all is done well; and that which is true in regard to order is equally so in regard to practices of piety.
With a rule of life they are done with exactitude; without a rule they have no fixed hour; we defer them, then we again defer them, and we finish by omitting them entirely.”

Creating a home filled with order and cleanliness (as much as is possible in your state of life and in your unique circumstances 😊)communicates a heart that is ordered and pure. Take a moment today to make your home more simply organized and see how the sweet savor blesses those around you. -Emilie Barnes, Keep It Simple for Busy Women http://amzn.to/2y2JoN3

Lovely Handmade Doilies by Rosie

Available here.

To the modern mind, the concept of poverty is often confused with destitution. But destitution emphatically is not the Gospel ideal. A love-filled sharing frugality is the message, and Happy Are You Poor explains the meaning of this beatitude lived and taught by Jesus himself. But isn’t simplicity in lifestyle meant only for nuns and priests? Are not all of us to enjoy the goodness and beauties of our magnificent creation? Are parents to be frugal with the children they love so much?

 

 

For over half a century, Catholic families have treasured the practical piety and homespun wisdom of Mary Reed Newland’s classic of domestic spirituality, The Year and Our Children. With this new edition, no longer will you have to search for worn, dusty copies to enjoy Newland’s faithful insights, gentle lessons, and delightful stories. They’re all here, and ready to be shared with your family or homeschooling group. Here, too, you’ll find all the prayers, crafts, family activities, litanies, and recipes that will help make your children ever-mindful of the beautiful rhythm of the Church calendar.

We Will Rebuild!

Yesterday, Catholics from all over the world watched in horror as the great Church of Paris, Notre Dame, was succumbing to flames! Over 800 years of Catholicism….the Masses, the Pilgrimages, the Benedictions and oh! so much more has taken place there!

Some of my own children have been there as they took part in the Chartres Pilgrimage… three times they visited the Cathedral…. a landmark of our Faith!

Some people have said, “Look guys, it’s only a Church. Christ is in our hearts.” And, of course, this is true…and a beautiful thing.

But, as Catholics, we know that this monument of generations of faithful Catholics, this House of God that Our Lord has resided in for centuries was more than “just a building.” It was a symbol of our Faith, standing erect and majestic, in spite of the troubles of the centuries that it has seen.

The secular news spoke of it….

“For generations, Notre Dame has been a place of pilgrimage and prayer, and, even as religion in France has declined for decades, it remained the beating heart of French Catholicism, open every day for Mass.” –

Notre Dame unveils some of the most coveted relics in Christendom. Among them is the Holy Crown, believed by many to be from the crown of thorns placed on the head of Jesus, and which the cathedral calls its “the most precious and most venerated relic.” Catholics have prayed with the Holy Crown for more than 16 centuries, according to the cathedral. -CNN

It was quite tragic to see and it reiterated what many of us faithful Catholics feel in our hearts about the Church these days:

I know that everyone has already said this, but the first thought I had seeing Notre Dame in flames is: This is a physical representation of what has already happened invisibly to the Church in France and in Europe. It seems the fire was caused by “renovation work,” just as the burning down of the liturgy, doctrine, morality, was caused by the “renewal” ….. -Peter Kwasnieski

Another quote, this time from The Catholic Gentleman:

My heart is broken. Today, we lost one of the most beautiful churches in the world. For 800 years in stood as a transcendent reminder of God’s presence among men. Built to house priceless works of art, holy relics, and above all the sacraments, it was made by a world that no longer exists, the world of Christendom in which the holy mysteries of faith permeated everything.

As I watched the images of one of the great landmarks of Christian Europe burning to the ground, I could not help but see a tragic metaphor for the Western church today. We are heirs to so much beauty, so much truth, so much faith. And what have we done? We have squandered it, rejected it, and collectively shaken our fist in God’s face, through bloody revolution and even more subtly through apathy. Rather than setting our eyes on heaven, like the great Gothic arches and rose windows invited us to do, we attempted to drag God down to us, to make him in our own image. We wanted him to accommodate our whims, our appetites, our sins. Plagued by horrific abuses, worldliness, and compromises, the church in the West, despite our veneer of respectability, is very much on fire. We have left our first love (Rev. 2:4), and we are reaping the tragic consequences. – Sam Guzman

 

I sent these words to my daughters and daughter-in-law as we were watching the fire unfold. Some of us were in tears, we all were heavy of heart.

My daughter-in-law wrote back….

A Message of Hope:

One of the reporters just gave an account of several horrible historical things like the Revolution and what this church has withstood over the ages and has SURVIVED!! He said, “Out of the ashes she will rise and RISE she will!” The power of our Christian faith will endure all. Have hope! Now if that isn’t inspiring,, I DONT KNOW WHAT IS!!!! That actually brought the tears on…

And it brought to mind….

Yes, WE WILL REBUILD.

This is what we have been working on throughout the years as we have seen the destruction of our Faith….the watering down of all the Church has stood for since Christ founded it.

We are rebuilding, from the inside out!

This is what we focus on here….learning about the Faith, the sacramentals, the saints, how to live the liturgy within the home and the significance of our relationships in rebuilding Catholic culture.

These things need to be taught and passed on because so much has been lost. These are the true treasures of the Church that we hold in our hearts and that we can live out in our everyday lives.

We are rebuilding Catholic Civilization from within…we parents, teachers, laborers, single men and women. We are renewing our Faith by educating ourselves on what has always been important as Catholics….what our Faith is truly about….And how we can live this out each day…in our families, our schools, our work places, our community.

We are heirs to so much beauty, so much truth, so much faith. We must not squander it.

Yes, Notre Dame will be rebuilt. But the real icon of our Faith is in us. And we have been rebuilding and will continue to rebuild. The Faith, our Catholic culture will come back but it is up to us.

This life is very short. Let us do what we can, with charity and zeal, to rebuild our beloved Catholic Faith!

The awesome sight within Notre Dame after the fire…

 

 

Questions/My Answers & A Gallery

I have had some ladies ask me questions that I have not had the time to answer. So I thought I would take this time to answer them here. Please forgive me for not getting right back to some of the questions. There are too many things to do and not enough time.…

Question:

I would like to ask for advice…. because my family also believes that daughters stay at home until marriage. Would postponing a career still be wise if you’re still single after your twenties, yet feel that God is not calling you to religious life? Also, what if you are the youngest or one of few siblings, how would you keep yourself busy at home without young brothers and sisters?

Answer:

I think one question to ask is…Does your daughter WANT a career instead of marriage? When you say a career, do you mean the time and money put into a college degree in order to pursue a particular field? Or do you mean a job for “something to do” or to earn some income until she finds Mr. Right?

We encourage our girls to find many things to keep them busy….in a more organic atmosphere. Helping the parish, volunteering (or being paid) at our little school, working for their siblings with the nieces and nephews all fall into the category of “organic”. They have also had jobs in our town close by, and this is a good chance for them to learn responsibility and how to handle the world…mind you, we are picky where they work. Once they get of age, though, this is their decision, but hopefully they will listen to our advice.

I do believe it is important, if they have a job, that they still live at home. They need our support….and I don’t think it is a valuable thing to live on their own (or with a friend) unless needed….(and there may be times when it is.) Too much independence is not necessarily a good thing. The world and its maxims pull and pull….

So back to your question…no, I don’t think college and a career are an answer to filling in time. There are so many fulfilling things that can help a young lady grow…spiritually and mentally….that she does not have to seek her fulfillment in a “career”.

As far as keeping busy at home….your daughter can learn a craft….and sell her wares. This is always exciting (well, not all the time…but when it’s not, then it’s called “character-building”). But to make something beautiful is therapy…and to sell it is satisfying!

Every girl has skills and talents that can be tapped into in order to fulfill her own life and bring joy to others. This must be cultivated! And then pray that the flowering of her vocation comes to fruition!

Charity is huge for the fulfillment of a young lady still at home. If she makes herself busy at the service for others, her inner happiness will grow. In turn, she will “turn heads” and Mr. Right may be just around the corner!

A beautiful balance of prayer, outside activity (whatever it may be…going to a community function, babysitting or cleaning house for someone, etc.), home chores, self-improvement (books, online classes, learning home-skills), and a fulfilling craft can fill up each day. When offered to God in the morning, it will serve her tremendously better than seeking a career.

On a side note – Yes, we need good nurses and good teachers. If your daughter wishes to pursue these noble careers, she should also be ready to leave it aside to raise her own children, should she get married.

Here’s a post to peruse that I wrote a while back.

If You Want to Find the Right Person…..You Must BE the Right Person

 

Question:

You mentioned in your second point (in the post, Raising Girls) that if the kids ever said no or struck you they would be swiftly punished. Can you elaborate on that?

Answer:

I am not against spanking used with discretion, balance and without anger. So…if my child said no to me or struck me they could see, first off, through my expression, that I was horrified…this was no little thing, it is not acceptable, I am your mom and you DO NOT step over the line!

Then I would spank their hand or their leg. Nothing terrible. If they began to cry and kept it up, they were sent to the office (right off the kitchen) to calm down. When they were done, they could come out. For the most part, this lasted 1 – 5 minutes. I was always checking on them….and never left them in there too long…though I found that generally wasn’t a problem.

Consistency is important. I know there are strong-willed children out there that are difficult. Keep it up….your own consistency will pay off.

Remember….this consistency is not all about spanking.

There are other areas to be consistent. Are you letting them get away with being controlling and pushy throughout each day? If you have a child that gets very angry when he doesn’t get his way, take away the object that is desired….or some other consequence. This won’t be perfect with so many littles but keep trying. (Believe me, my consistency wasn’t perfect!)

It is important, too, that you are surrounding them with joy and love in between times. Then they won’t want to break friendship with you and will want to get over the “bump” in order to have that mutual bond. This doesn’t mean you have to be continually saying encouraging things, doing stuff with them, etc.. No. Just a general atmosphere of love and joy. Not easy. Not perfect. But something to strive for.

Pray for guidance from the Holy Ghost…and strength from Our Lady who sees it all.

Question:

In your post of Raising Daughters you did not mention about boys. Any tips?

Answer:

Boys need men. When my boys were able to help their dad on his construction work, they were encouraged to work with him, in between schooling. In my estimation, the work becomes more important. Sitting in a desk for long periods of time as the boys hit puberty is not necessarily bad but they had better be wearing off some of that testosterone with some good, sweaty, self-fulfilling work!

Mom oftentimes has to take second fiddle as the boys learn to work. In other words, we begin to encourage them to take flight (in controlled circumstances) and don’t get personally offended when the men are their idols. They still love us, but they are learning to be men. And we have to let go of that control that we used to have, to a certain extent. Not that they don’t have to listen to us and do their daily duties, but it may become harder for them to listen to Mom. Insist on it, but don’t think that isn’t normal.

Encourage them in their hobbies…even if it means a mess. Oh boy! How many times have my boys made a mess in the yard working on something! It was irritating…but oh! so valuable!

Don’t let them spend time in their rooms besides sleeping and getting dressed. Technology? Well….pretty much nil! Boys are better off without it…unless highly monitored. Right now, my Angelo is working on painting a picture on the counter….watching a Bob Ross Youtube. But he is right here where we can see everything. He looks for airsoft guns on Amazon….but right in front of us. Never let them have at it with technology!

The hardest thing for me with my boys was letting go. As a homeschooling mom I had much control. With the girls, they still stuck pretty close by and listened, for the most part. The boys were much more independent and it was hard. Our oldest son was pretty much on his own by 17 years old and was building a wall for the monks in Wyoming by 18. He met his future wife there and ….well, that was it! Ouch! but it is what we have raised them, for, right?

So, my point in this is, encourage healthy and wholesome independence….not without respect for Mom and Dad, but just knowing that, when done the right way, it is a very good thing!

I know there is much more….purity (which is huge for a boy), work ethic, etc. It would make a long post and I am hoping that you are tuned in to this website because I do have lots of posts on this type of stuff. Look in the different categories (especially parenting) or put it in the search bar.

And now for the gallery that I wanted to put before you so you can see some progress in the Lenten Activities (and other stuff)….

 

Haha! Huckleberry (the dog) is making sure Ethan can’t go anywhere!

I just had to laugh when Z sent me this photo! What precious, pooped little people! haha

Grandpa and Toby…

Rosie has had a couple of better weeks. She has taken a downspin the last week but we are hoping it is very temporary.

Painting her trunk.

Mom lives in an apartment attached to our home. What a blessing she is to us! 💖Here is the little gazebo that Vincent built for her this year using an old picket fence. It is so quaint and pretty and will look beautiful once the vines start growing up the sides and all the flowers are in full array!!

Rosie is blocking and starching new doilies!

Rosie and Agnes happened to have the same pattern on their dresses!

Rosie and Margy…

Lots of new baby kids at Colin and Z’s.

New puppies over here!

Cottage cheese pancakes are one of our favorites! And you don’t feel all carbed out afterwards! 1 1/2 c. oats, ground in blender, 4 or 5 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese.

Put in blender and you have batter for some lovely and delicious pancakes.

Slather with good butter (Kerry Gold) and organic 100% maple syrup. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Mike and Jeanette’s littles!

Helping in the garden…

Kansas is not Kansas without spring prairie fires.

It can be very beautiful.

Our neighbor farmers burning their field out our front door.

Lovely!

Unfortunately, during a burn, our son-in-law, Vinnie got badly burned.

The unfamiliar four-wheeler he was driving stalled amid the flames.

Here he is ….healing up.

Laetare Sunday…with Rosie’s lovely doily underneath the Infant of Prague.

Passion Sunday, the Infant of Prague is donned with the purple of Lent once again. And a purple doily created by Rosie.

Agnes is working on her Lenten pathway to the cross.

Our own Crown of Thorns is being filled up with the flowers of sacrifices.

Theresa’s Crown of Thorns is getting filled with flowers, too!

Agnes has her Resurrection Garden prepared!

Just had to share. Here men are kneeling in Poland, praying the Rosary, led by the priest.

Raising Girls…My Story

A Thursday Throwback….

How did you raise such wonderful girls?

I’ve been asked that a few times. I can tell you that I sometimes am as surprised as the people who ask me. 🙂 It’s like I just woke up one day and said, “Wow we’ve done okay! How did we do that?”

It’s not that our training wasn’t purposeful…it was. But with human weakness so apparent in our parenting, with imperfect circumstances, etc., it was hard to know the outcome.

And, things are not picture-perfect (it looks so good online, doesn’t it?) My girls are human and have many faults, like all those born under Eve’s lineage.

Also, life is not done yet and I have children at home. Dynamics are different than they used to be so I don’t know the outcome. At this point, though, I am very grateful for how things have transpired.

I’ve tried here to pinpoint along the way some of the things that we did… to actually be able to put them into words….and I do feel I have a few things I can share with you.

The Golden Nuggets of Suffering

Lent …a good time to meditate on suffering. A Throwback for Thursday:

by Leane VanderPutten

Lent makes us pause, gives us a chance to think of Our Lord’s suffering….a suffering we, as mere mortals, have a hard time wrapping our heads around.

I don’t pretend to understand the problem of human suffering. At times, it seems pointless, endless and utterly self-defeating…at times.

Those are the moments we are tempted to look up and say, “Ummmm….Dear Lord, are you SURE You know what You are doing here???”

But, good Catholics that we try to be, we resist the temptation to ask God what He is about, or why He does what He does….at least we try not to do it in accusing tones.

I believe God understands because, after all:

“Evil is a mystery, a scandal and it will always be so. It is necessary to do what one can to eliminate it, to relieve suffering, but it always remains present in our personal lives, as well as in the world.”

My Morning and Night Prayers – Sharing With You….

Vincent Vidal. French (1811-1887)

I am going to share with you something close to my heart, rather personal, and that I do every day….

It is my Morning and Night prayers.

Someone wrote to me about a year ago and asked what I say for morning and night prayers and it made me think that not everyone has a guideline for this sort of thing.

Through the years and my own research…good prayer books, wise mentors, etc., I have come up with some basic prayers that I say for morning and night prayers that I think could be helpful to some.