7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 115)

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A Montessori Mindset One of the kids at school fell on the way to carpool and got scraped knees.  After tending to the booboos, I was asked a question that I believe to be clearly indicative of this young person’s Montessori education: “What kind of wood do you think those steps were made out of that I fell down?  Are they made of oak?”  Wow!  That was the last thing I expected to hear post scraped knee experience.  The knowledge and questions of children, in general, tends to amaze and amuse me. 

 

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The Loss of Loved Ones Last Saturday Kevin and I went to Mass, prayed the Rosary before the statue of Mary in the garden at Little Sisters of the Poor where he and I have gone and sat together since I was in high school. I went to Reconciliation, then spent some time praying at St. Michael's grotto. Someone had stolen the matches and scattered all the envelopes, so I couldn't even light a candle for my dad. He knows I've been thinking of him a lot lately.
     Lord, I give you this day and all of the prayers and tears mixed together in it, to be used as You wish for the salvation of souls in time and eternity. Amen.

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You Got Mail! This weekend, I figured out how I’m going to display some cards Kevin and I sent each other over the years in a collage so they can be opened and read while hanging up.

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Empty Nest Errs It feels a bit strange going to St. Benedict’s for daily Mass now, knowing that the two people Kevin and I most often attended Mass with at that church have moved to new places as they continue on their faith and vocation journeys.  I won’t hear from Michele until Christmas and that’s if she feels like sending me a letter.  Fortunately, we keep in touch pretty much daily with John in one way or another, even though he’s been on summer assignment in Hampton, Virginia, and is heading back to St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore very soon for his second year of seminary.  

     
Kevin and I have felt in a sense like we’ve had two leave the nest over the past year.  What’s funny is that this summer, we’ve started actually decorating our place a bit.  We now have our dining area devoted to a Rochester, Lake Ontario, beginning of Kevin and me becoming friends and dating theme...Read the rest of this reflection here.   

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Gelati Celesti Kevin and I have been enjoying using our St. Michael's Scrip for Gelati Celesti (and the other bazillion places they have available.  

  

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Step Up Yes, I know I'm silly, but now we have all four of the Step Up movies.  Some of the acting is corny at best, and the stories are very predictable, but I'm really inspired by dance, and Kevin loves it, too, so we've had fun watching the movies and the making of the movies and the choreography.  You can make fun of us if you like, but then you better bring it!  
    

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But I'm on Vacation! For the first time this summer, Kevin and I are both officially on vacation.       

Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 114)

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On that farm, he had a…I’ve been the lead teacher at school for a Nature Camp held for students who are between the ages of 2-6 this week.  We did a number of fun activities including: singing various songs such as “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” reading some educational books, making a mobile from a branch, twine, wooden beads, and shells, using little bits of scrap paper and Modge Podge to decorate wooden frog shapes to which we added googly eyes on the front and a magnet on the back, taking a walk during which we collected items from nature that are no longer living in our paper lunch bags.  (Don’t worry.  That’s not where our lunches were.)  It was nice to be back at school with lots of kids and some really amazing adults.  Here’s a video clip involving Old MacDonald which Kevin told me about that made me laugh:

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Is It Really Love? The lyrics of a French song I really like “Savoir Aimer” by Florent Pagny have been going through my head lately when I think about what genuine love is.  True love gives without wanting or asking for anything in return, even the hope of being loved.  There are no strings attached or conditions that need to be met in order for the giver to give love freely.  It’s just there.  No matter what.  It’s patient, steadfast, persistent, and doesn’t diminish or run out.  If it is even within my capability to give others such self-effacing, sacrificial love as this, it is only because this is the love the Lord gives to me, to each one of us every day.

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Still a Bit Surreal Kevin and I have now gone out twice on his motorcycle.  Here’s photographic proof that I’ve been on the bike:

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God’s Still Working Miracles Read this miraculous true story by USA TODAY’s Madeline Eversley about how a priest no one has been able to identify interceded on behalf of  a 19 year old girl in a tragic car accident no one thought she’d make it out of alive.  

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Man to Man, Dad to Dad My father’s birthday has just passed and the anniversary of his death is tomorrow, August 10.  Around this past Father’s Day, I received a free copy of this book from Catholic Company, for reasons perhaps only the Holy Spirit can explain (I didn’t request it or order it), and though hesitant to read it and write a review, because I knew it would be a tough topic for me, I did read it, and this is my review...
I just read a book written by and for Catholic men called Man to Man, Dad to Dad: Catholic Faith and Fatherhood edited by Brian Caulfield, so I’ve been thinking about my own father and the role of fathers in general.  The funeral I attended recently for William Barrett Sr. reaffirmed that the best gift a father can give to his children are a dedication to the Lord that comes before all else, and a commitment to family that remains strong, loving, tried, and true... Read the rest here. 

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How to Save a Life A few weeks ago, I was inspired to watch the video to a song I’ve liked for quite a while.  I was surprised to discover the lyrics aren’t what I thought they were.  It’s amazing how one word changes everything.  Because of some of the experiences I’ve had in my life with family and friends, I thought that the chorus to "How to Save a Life" by The Fray was:

“Where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend
Somewhere alone in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
cause I know how to save a life.”  

The actual lyrics are: “had I known how to save a life.”  This deeply moving music video contains a message that can save the life of someone you love.  I invite you to watch, listen, and learn, so perhaps you’re less likely to find yourself in the position of regretting that you could have saved a life and didn't.

For more information on suicide prevention, check out this info-packed website for the signs that someone might be suicidal and tips on how to help them.  Don’t ignore them.  Seek help and support for your loved one as well as yourself.  Suicide prevention is everyone’s business!

    

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A Life-giving Birthday Gift Since my mom has learned and done so much over the years to help give people life, I figured a good present for her now that she is a grandma is Infant First Aid and CPR classes.  

     My mom’s been very involved in the respect life movement (from womb to tomb) for a number of years.  Among many other things, she has kept vigil with those who have lost their will to live, visited the sick and home-bound, given shelter to the homeless, fed the hungry, cared patiently and gently for those who are imminently dying, comforted those who are in mourning, prayed for an end to abortion, supported unwed mothers and helped them get the resources they need, fought doctors and anyone else who has refused to recognize the sanctity and dignity of every human life, shared the Gospel with others…

     Pretty much the only life-giving/saving activity I could think of to add to her repertoire is a couple courses on what to do in the event that a physical emergency arises in which she could be the one to keep her grandson or another young person alive.  I was impressed with the class I took through this company.  If you haven’t been trained in Infant or Adult First Aid and CPR or could use a refresher, I encourage you to check out Enjoy CPR.  

                  

Check out Jen Fulwiler’s tradition of 7 Quick Takes Friday at her tremendously popular blog Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 12)

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Mark Your Calendars!  One of my absolute favorite Catholic singers/songwriters Danielle Rose is coming to St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church to do a concert on Saturday Sept. 17, 2011 at 7:30pm.  Admission is free.  A goodwill offering will be collected for the orphanage Danielle sponsors in China.     

     Danielle Rose has clearly been open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit working in and through her in many ways.  One of her greatest gifts has been that of her complete devotion to carrying out God’s will for her life.  She has produced beautiful music, songs to inspire the hearts and minds of us all, so that we know that we are wonderfully and fearfully made by the Lord.  She rejoices in the Lord’s abundant blessings of compassion, joy, peace, forgiveness, mercy, love, guidance, wisdom, and Truth. 

     Few modern singers/songwriters have expressed the Truth of the Gospel and the beauty of Catholic beliefs in a manner so inviting as this amazing performer has.  Her lyrics are thoughtful, divinely inspired reflections on Christ’s life, love, and legacy.  She masters varying styles of music and tailor fits each one perfectly to the tone and spiritual subjects of each one of her songs… click here to read full post.

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Watch out for me!  For a number of years, I’ve told my husband that he needs to “Watch out for me!”  I’ll remind him of this part of his vocation after I have forgotten something at home that I need for the day, if I bump into furniture, or drop some item when my hands are too full to pick it up…This week I ended up leaving some things home I needed for the day which I didn’t realize until my husband texted me asking if I’d brought them.  I hadn’t, so he brought the items on his way to the office, so I wouldn’t be late to work.  Prince charming indeed! 

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Make a list and check it twice.  A very dear friend/surrogate sibling invited us over for dinner this week.  When asked what we could bring, he joked about wanting us to come with a live chicken, but later conceded that stuff to make salad would be just fine. 

     The evening we went to the grocery store I reminded Kevin of this exchange, thinking I need to pick up a bag of salad greens.  I told him I’d also asked our friend if we should bring salad dressing, and the response was no.  (I got the Ranch dressing mainly for laughs.  A while back when we were at this friend’s place, we found an opened bottle of dressing hidden in the seat cushions of the couch.  No one’s sure how it got there, but I took note when it was opened, smelled, and then put back in the fridge.) 

     Don’t I get all the way to the check-out line with a bottle of Ranch dressing and no salad greens? Yup!  Fortunately my husband was again looking out for me, and asked before we’d finished checking out where the salad stuff was?  Further proof, I still need him to look out for me (and vice versa).

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Explicating Nursery Rhymes.  My husband and I were laughing hysterically at Matthew Archbold’s article, “The Horrible Meaning Behind Nursery Rhymes.” My husband learned nursery rhymes to some extent, but I learned practically all of them while growing up and subsequently working with young children.

     A couple weeks ago, my sister-in-law Wendy was saying to me that she wasn’t teaching nursery rhymes to her grandkids and didn’t teach them to her own children because of how violent and awful they are. I’m definitely sending her this article. Her fears confirmed with a laugh. Priceless!

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We’B’Scrapbookers. I've always had a passion for paper, stationery, kids, teaching, arts, and crafts, so this week’s scrapbooking camp has been a recipe ripe for fun! 

     On Monday we began with an overview of scrapbooking and talked about the importance of selecting good photographs (which had already been done for us). 

     Before they began cropping their own photos, we practiced different cropping techniques using some summer camp photos I’d printed out along with the stencils and other neat materials available to us this week.

     The kids had the opportunity to look at some scrapbooking pages in magazines and books to get an idea of what appealed to them, what looks best on what paper, etc.  We encouraged creativity and inspiration, while offering suggestions for design, lay-out, cropping techniques, and page decorations. 

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Satellites are linking up in outer space, but someone can’t figure out our church database.  This week my husband received a letter from the parish asking him if he’d be interested in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults).  I find it hilarious and quite ironic that at a time in Kevin’s life when he is more involved, devoted, and interested in the Catholic faith, more active in ministry, attending daily Mass, they are asking him if he wants to become fully initiated in the church.  He was Confirmed in eighth grade, so he finished the Sacraments of Initiation quite some time ago.  What amused me even more is that Kevin has served as one of the leaders for Christ Renews His Parish retreat, and what’s more, has served for many months at our church as an Extra-Ordinary Minister of the Eucharist.  In order to be a Eucharistic Minister, you must be a full-fledged member of the church, attend Mass each week, and be a Catholic in good standing.  Kevin’s comment to that was that he’s wearing a boot right now, but he’s still able to stand okay.   

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So long, farewell!  I can’t believe that today’s the last day of summer camp.  This summer, I taught two Nature Camps, two French Camps, one Paper Camp, one Scrapbook Camp, and monitored a few weeks of nap/rest Extended Care shifts thrown in for good measure.  Kevin and I got to spend over three weeks in Rochester, New York visiting friends and family in the place where we first met and fell in love.     
     Check out Jennifer Fulwiler’s 7 Quick Takes Friday series and her high-traffic for good reason blog Conversion Diary.

Pilgrimage to the Basilica National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

     Back in the middle of July, Kevin printed out directions to get to the Washington National Cathedral, but I’d been pretty sure our best friend/brother in Christ John had decided he wanted to go to the Basilica National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the day-trip pilgrimage

 we gave him as part of his birthday presents back in April.       Fortunately, I caught the mix-up by around 10pm the night before.  Unfortunately, our GPS has maps that are five years outdated in it and our printer decided not to work, so we weren’t quite as prepared as we could have been.  We also found out that John’s youngest brother Matt wanted to ride up to Northern Virginia with us to stay at his sister Catherine  (Cat) and brother-in-law Chris’s place for the weekend.
     The day ended up turning out to be

Here’s Your Hint

     As my husband can attest, I’m not someone who goes gaga over cars, motorcycles, trains, planes, and other vehicles like he does.  My main interest is in that they work properly when I want to use them and are fixed properly when they don’t, preferably without completely draining our bank account.  My willingness to indulge in Kevin’s careful car maintenance rituals the second year we came up and stayed for two weeks at the cottage on Lake Ontario was another not-so-subtle hint I was already interested in Kevin thirteen some years go...      

     One afternoon Kevin said he needed to wash his car.  I wasn’t quite sure why, but I volunteered to help.  Mary and Theresa also pitched in.  First, we sat down in front of his ’95 black two door Monte Carlo and attempted to scrub the entire bug community of Lake Ontario off of the car.  Later, he and his friend figured the only way to get the embedded bugs off was to

It’s a Jungle Out There!

Today a parent whose child was in my Nature Camp last week told me this morning that her daughter’s friend, also in my camp, had informed his parents he’d gone on the school bus to a jungle with my class.  Of course, the mother was a bit disconcerted to hear this, since nothing had ever been mentioned about an off-campus field trip anywhere, certainly not to a jungle. 

     
I laughed and said he had quite an imagination.  I assured her we didn’t go on a spur-of-the-moment, no-permission-slips-needed trip to the jungle.  We did, however, talk about different animals who live in the jungle, because some of the children’s foam visors to color with markers had a jungle theme. 

     
We explored nature around campus and in the classroom, but we didn’t exactly go on safari.  What’s even funnier is that, though I checked out a number of books from our school library, I didn’t end up reading a single one of Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus books I got during last week’s camp. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I love Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus series, where the class always goes on exotic field trips, and they get there by their transformer-like school bus which can morph into all sorts of cool things.  Ms. Frizzle, the teacher in the book, always has really strange outfits and seems oblivious to the fact that the excursions she takes her students on are a bit out of the ordinary. 

     
The series of books is great as a fun educational tool.  I could understand a child perhaps getting a bit confused if we read one of The Magic School Bus books and pretended to go to the jungle, but that’s quite a jump from a foam visor with a monkey, an elephant, a snake and some plants on it.  (Maybe he’ll join me for creative writing club in a few years.) 

     
Perhaps I should send home a disclaimer on the letters to parents about what we did at camp during the week.  Maybe I need to emphasize that we didn’t go on any exotic, unannounced field trips: not to visit the jungle, nor the Eiffel Tour, nor the zoo. 

     
My camp this week is called Trip to France, though no parents have brought in their child’s passport and suitcase, so I think we’re good.    

Disclaimer: Your child will, at no time while under our supervision, be leaving the school campus, the state of Virginia, or the United States of America without your expressed written permission, required stuffed animals, and a current passport.