I am not going to speak at length about this. Attachment parenting. Extended breastfeeding. I feel so strongly about this, but my words and my heart just cannot convey how I feel about women exploiting their children and putting them on a magazine cover in a very personal position. I am talking about THAT Time Magazine cover. (I will not link to it here. You may google it on your own if you must.) Could they not stop for one moment and realize what they were doing to these poor kids?? Protect your treasure. God has entrusted these little souls to you to keep for Him, to raise up for Him. Not to exploit them. In case you were wondering, YES, I do practice attachment parenting to an extent. And YES, I do practice extended breastfeeding. My last 3 children were breastfed for 3+ years of their lives. I have tandem nursed, nursed one or two while pregnant, nursed a toddler while in the hospital after giving birth. But I would never, ever, go on a magazine cover to prove that I am right, you are wrong, you didn't do it this way, you are screwing your kids up. I would never do that, because it is a very personal choice to make for yourself and your child. Whichever way you decide to parent that is up to you, just protect that treasure.
I will leave you with some postings from another mom who is a much better writer than I am. Her post brings tears to my eyes. You can read it here
God bless.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Without The Cross
It is Tuesday of Holy Week. The holiest week of the year. It's been just a little over 3 months since we celebrated one of the happiest days of the year...Christmas. From crib to cross. From His mother's arms in Bethlehem as that newborn babe that shepherds came to adore back to her arms once again. This time, He is dead. He is covered in blood. No one is there to worship and adore Him. Yet we call this special day, this holy day, GOOD Friday. Good? How can we call this good?
He took up that cross, after such a harsh beating, and carried that cross, through the streets of Jerusalem. People taunted Him, spit at Him, ignored Him. Some wept, some helped. Didn't anyone understand or feel how important this was? He was carrying OUR sins on that cross. Being nailed to that cross and dying on it opened the gates of Heaven that were closed so long ago, again, due to our sin. that is why it is good. He is taking our sin, crushing it, doing away with it. We may sin again, but no longer does this mean our eternity will be spent without Him.
We cannot celebrate Easter, or the Resurrection, without remembering all of this. There is no hope of eternal life without that cross. This is the way God choose to have our debt of sin repaid. We need to embrace His cross, His sacrifice. We need to embrace our own crosses as well. We need to accept that we too, need to sacrifice. At times, during Mass, when my children don't feel like kneeling all through the consecration, I point up to Him on that crucifix and whisper, "Do you think Jesus felt like hanging on that cross?" They silently kneel again.
We all must sacrifice and suffer in some way. How we choose to embrace these crosses that God has laid before us depends on what kind of Easter we will have. Can we tell God that this cross is too hard for us to bear? Can we tell Him we are in pain, please take this away from us? "Father, let this cup pass from me..." Of course we can ask, even beg for it to be taken away, but joyfully, we must accept these pains and sufferings, "not my will, but Yours be done." Joyfully we can look to Easter and realize that one day, we too, will rise. He will gently take our hand and lead us home to be with him for all eternity.
Have a blessed Holy week and a blessed Easter!
He took up that cross, after such a harsh beating, and carried that cross, through the streets of Jerusalem. People taunted Him, spit at Him, ignored Him. Some wept, some helped. Didn't anyone understand or feel how important this was? He was carrying OUR sins on that cross. Being nailed to that cross and dying on it opened the gates of Heaven that were closed so long ago, again, due to our sin. that is why it is good. He is taking our sin, crushing it, doing away with it. We may sin again, but no longer does this mean our eternity will be spent without Him.
We cannot celebrate Easter, or the Resurrection, without remembering all of this. There is no hope of eternal life without that cross. This is the way God choose to have our debt of sin repaid. We need to embrace His cross, His sacrifice. We need to embrace our own crosses as well. We need to accept that we too, need to sacrifice. At times, during Mass, when my children don't feel like kneeling all through the consecration, I point up to Him on that crucifix and whisper, "Do you think Jesus felt like hanging on that cross?" They silently kneel again.
We all must sacrifice and suffer in some way. How we choose to embrace these crosses that God has laid before us depends on what kind of Easter we will have. Can we tell God that this cross is too hard for us to bear? Can we tell Him we are in pain, please take this away from us? "Father, let this cup pass from me..." Of course we can ask, even beg for it to be taken away, but joyfully, we must accept these pains and sufferings, "not my will, but Yours be done." Joyfully we can look to Easter and realize that one day, we too, will rise. He will gently take our hand and lead us home to be with him for all eternity.
Have a blessed Holy week and a blessed Easter!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Advent Planning Updated!
Advent is a little over a week away. I am busy pouring over all my resource books, like A Year With God, to find just what I want to do with our family this year to enrich the season. Here are just a few of our favorites.
Advent candle--have to look for an evening prayer to go with this.
Jesse Tree--Several years back, several home school families got together and made ornaments. One mom provided a list with the scripture for each day and a suggested ornament theme. Each family chose the day, or days, and made 20+ ornaments of all the same kind. It was so much easier to make 20 of the same as opposed to one for each day on your own. If you ever have a chance to do a co-op project like this, DO IT!! I love all of our ornaments. Each family used a different medium: glass, clay, cardboard, wood, cloth, you get the picture. I will attempt to post pics as we go through Advent.
Advent calendars--Yes, I buy each child one of those silly, chocolate filled calendars you can buy anywhere for a buck. They love 'em. I also have a window cling tree that gets an ornament each day of December through the 25th. Then, I have this one which has magnets you attach to the magnetic back with all the nativity people and animals. I admit, I also fill each day with candy. The children rotate days, so every 6th day, you get the candy and hang the magnet.
Reading--Christmas Mosaic by Cay Gibson I discovered this jam-packed gem a few years back and love it! I dig into all her suggestions and start putting holds on all the books at my library.
There are also so many beautiful feast days sprinkled throughout the month of December: St. Nicholas, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, St. Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Lucy and so many more. Not to mention our first baby surprised us 5 weeks early on December 14. He was an early Christmas present that year! Now he will be turning 15!
I love Advent, and I try to make it an exciting time for my children. Teaching them to focus on our newborn Savior, as opposed to our shopping obsessed culture, I believe, will benefit my children for years to come.
Advent candle--have to look for an evening prayer to go with this.
Jesse Tree--Several years back, several home school families got together and made ornaments. One mom provided a list with the scripture for each day and a suggested ornament theme. Each family chose the day, or days, and made 20+ ornaments of all the same kind. It was so much easier to make 20 of the same as opposed to one for each day on your own. If you ever have a chance to do a co-op project like this, DO IT!! I love all of our ornaments. Each family used a different medium: glass, clay, cardboard, wood, cloth, you get the picture. I will attempt to post pics as we go through Advent.
Advent calendars--Yes, I buy each child one of those silly, chocolate filled calendars you can buy anywhere for a buck. They love 'em. I also have a window cling tree that gets an ornament each day of December through the 25th. Then, I have this one which has magnets you attach to the magnetic back with all the nativity people and animals. I admit, I also fill each day with candy. The children rotate days, so every 6th day, you get the candy and hang the magnet.
Reading--Christmas Mosaic by Cay Gibson I discovered this jam-packed gem a few years back and love it! I dig into all her suggestions and start putting holds on all the books at my library.
There are also so many beautiful feast days sprinkled throughout the month of December: St. Nicholas, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, St. Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Lucy and so many more. Not to mention our first baby surprised us 5 weeks early on December 14. He was an early Christmas present that year! Now he will be turning 15!
I love Advent, and I try to make it an exciting time for my children. Teaching them to focus on our newborn Savior, as opposed to our shopping obsessed culture, I believe, will benefit my children for years to come.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
November Gratitude pt 3
Oh my, I am really bad at this, aren't I??? :) Now I have another whole week to post.
Day 9: Beautiful, blustery, blowing snow! My littles were SO excited!
Day 10: Had a bunch of errands to do and Jake, (my almost 15 yr old son) volunteered to come with and stay in the van with the 3 little boys!
Day 11: My girls had their groups: Lizzie had All Things Girl, Susanna and Abbie had Little Flowers. I got to sit and chat with some of the moms.
Day 12: Jake was able to buy his very own Xbox 360 with his very own money. Happy boy :)
Day 13: Mass at 7:30 am with Lizzie and Alex.
Day 14: No out of the house activities--get to stay home with my kiddies--big and small. I love that.
Day 15: Read a pile of train books to my 2 little guys, Matt and Jason, quite early in the morning. Nice and quiet for once.
Day 16: My oldest and dearest friend took me out to lunch for my upcoming birthday. She is so good to me.
Day 17: Yet another great religion discussion with Jake. His chapter was on Christ's kingship, very ironic, considering it will be the Feast of Christ the King on Sunday. I learned a lot right along with him. Praise God!!
"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father." Luke 1:31-32
Blessings.
Day 9: Beautiful, blustery, blowing snow! My littles were SO excited!
Day 10: Had a bunch of errands to do and Jake, (my almost 15 yr old son) volunteered to come with and stay in the van with the 3 little boys!
Day 11: My girls had their groups: Lizzie had All Things Girl, Susanna and Abbie had Little Flowers. I got to sit and chat with some of the moms.
Day 12: Jake was able to buy his very own Xbox 360 with his very own money. Happy boy :)
Day 13: Mass at 7:30 am with Lizzie and Alex.
Day 14: No out of the house activities--get to stay home with my kiddies--big and small. I love that.
Day 15: Read a pile of train books to my 2 little guys, Matt and Jason, quite early in the morning. Nice and quiet for once.
Day 16: My oldest and dearest friend took me out to lunch for my upcoming birthday. She is so good to me.
Day 17: Yet another great religion discussion with Jake. His chapter was on Christ's kingship, very ironic, considering it will be the Feast of Christ the King on Sunday. I learned a lot right along with him. Praise God!!
"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father." Luke 1:31-32
Blessings.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
November Gratitude part 2
Here it is, 3 days later and I must play catch-up again!
Honestly, I have so many things to be grateful for, it is difficult just choosing 1!! So please, be patient with me if I list more than 1.
Day 6: Shopping with 2 of my girls. Successful trip for one girl and we didn't spend much! (my #2 for that day is the Packers winning their 8th straight game this season! I do love football)
Day 7: Spending an hour and a half discussing his religion class with my almost 15 year old son, Jake. What could be more meaningful to a homeschooling mom?? "Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." 3 John 1:4
Day 8: Zoo class today. The kids are really looking forward to it and I am glad I finally signed them up! AND, my little baby, Alex, is 7 months today. What a happy little guy he is. Such a blessing and a joy.
"We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ." Col 1:3
God bless!
Honestly, I have so many things to be grateful for, it is difficult just choosing 1!! So please, be patient with me if I list more than 1.
Day 6: Shopping with 2 of my girls. Successful trip for one girl and we didn't spend much! (my #2 for that day is the Packers winning their 8th straight game this season! I do love football)
Day 7: Spending an hour and a half discussing his religion class with my almost 15 year old son, Jake. What could be more meaningful to a homeschooling mom?? "Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." 3 John 1:4
Day 8: Zoo class today. The kids are really looking forward to it and I am glad I finally signed them up! AND, my little baby, Alex, is 7 months today. What a happy little guy he is. Such a blessing and a joy.
"We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ." Col 1:3
God bless!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
November gratitude journal
I realize November started a few days back, but I think I can do a quick catch-up of some things I am grateful for!
Day 1: Mass at 8 am with my family. Yep, 8 am, 7 kids 2 adults. WOW!
Day 2: Friends who offer to feed my kids dinner and then drive them to their youth group rosary prayer group. Without the generosity of others, I don't think my 2 older kids would make it to this. And we know how important it is.
Day 3: Saint painting wooden peg people. I have wanted to do this for a long time and now a new family in our Little Flowers group hosted a get together in her home. How fun!! 2 of my girls and I painted St. Therese, St. Patrick, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Matthias, and St. Agnes. They turned out so cute. I will be running out to buy our own supplies!!! :)
Day 4: Our oldest son is in a Catholic youth group. We had 2 extra teen boys for dinner, then my husband drove them and 4 other teens to their youth meeting. What a fun, safe environment for these teens on a Friday night. God has blessed us.
Day 5: My two little boys (aged 4 and 2) had been playing quietly on the floor with their wooden train set. So much fun!!!
Well, hopefully I will be able to keep this journal up. It's not difficult to count the blessings, but having time to write them down!!!!
God bless.
Day 1: Mass at 8 am with my family. Yep, 8 am, 7 kids 2 adults. WOW!
Day 2: Friends who offer to feed my kids dinner and then drive them to their youth group rosary prayer group. Without the generosity of others, I don't think my 2 older kids would make it to this. And we know how important it is.
Day 3: Saint painting wooden peg people. I have wanted to do this for a long time and now a new family in our Little Flowers group hosted a get together in her home. How fun!! 2 of my girls and I painted St. Therese, St. Patrick, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Matthias, and St. Agnes. They turned out so cute. I will be running out to buy our own supplies!!! :)
Day 4: Our oldest son is in a Catholic youth group. We had 2 extra teen boys for dinner, then my husband drove them and 4 other teens to their youth meeting. What a fun, safe environment for these teens on a Friday night. God has blessed us.
Day 5: My two little boys (aged 4 and 2) had been playing quietly on the floor with their wooden train set. So much fun!!!
Well, hopefully I will be able to keep this journal up. It's not difficult to count the blessings, but having time to write them down!!!!
God bless.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Learning to Read
So far in my homeschooling journey, I have successfully taught 3 children to read. I realize that compared to most "teachers" that this not a very high number considering they usually teach 20 or so kids to read at one time, but as a mom I feel a little proud of this accomplishment. I am now teaching my 4th child to read. She is doing fairly well and is enjoying Catholic Heritage Curricula's "Little Stories for Little Folks" so much. She really feels as if she has accomplished something when she has successfully completed one of her "little pink books" as we call them around here! She loves reading about Nan, Ann, Tom and Pat and their adventures, and sometimes, misadventures!
I don't think I will ever switch to another phonics program to teach any of the rest of my children to read. "Little Stories for Little Folks" is just a perfect fit for our homeschool and for my children.
I don't think I will ever switch to another phonics program to teach any of the rest of my children to read. "Little Stories for Little Folks" is just a perfect fit for our homeschool and for my children.
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