A Sedentary Lifestyle?

The other day I had to visit the doctor for a check up. Since I have a history of hernias (in fact the one surgeon told me that my abdominal muscles are shot) the doctor was asking me what type of activities I was doing; i.e. any heavy lifting, shoveling, etc. I said no that I wasn't doing any of that. Her response was, "So then you lead more of a sedentary lifestyle?" I can't even begin to imagine what kind of look I had on my face when she asked me that. How, I wondered later, can you ask a mother of seven children if she leads a sedentary lifestyle? If my life (or any mother with a family) is sedentary, then what is active? Or even moderately active? I really did not know what to say to her, so she moved on to other questions Since then, however, I have spent more time thinking about that.

Why is it that cleaning up the house all day long, doing chores, making three meals a day, chasing after kids, refereeing fights, working out in the yard, running errands, doing the shopping, and basically keeping up with seven children and a husband does not make me an athlete? I've always wondered why homeschooling mothers aren't the skinniest people on the face of the earth. Our kids are always with us, so its not like we can sit around, eat Bon Bons and read a good book all day. For all of the work and activities I do everyday, how come I'm not in great physical shape. There are many days that go by that I don't even really get to sit down and relax. Most nights I crawl into bed totally exhausted. How come I can't run a marathon yet???? It just doesn't seem fair.

So, in answer to the doctor's question - No, I don't feel I lead a sedentary lifestyle at all. I don't have time to be sedentary. Am I in good shape? Well that is a different question. If I am ever granted the opportunity to ask God a question, I think I will ask Him about that. For all the work we do in raising our families, why aren't mothers the most physically fit people on the planet? I think it should just come with the job. Mothers, for all that they do, should just burn more calories per minute than the average person. Don't you agree??

God Bless!

Time - Our Gift from God

I received a visit from the Pope again this morning so I thought that I would share a portion of today's entry with you. Pope Benedict XVI is speaking about the three purposes of Corpus Christi: to counter man's forgetfulness, to elicit his thankfulness and to bring about the unifying power that is at work when many people together are looking at the one Lord. He says that with all of our distractions - the computer, meetings, appointments and the many things that we seem to always be involved in - "we have become appallingly thoughtless and forgetful."

Our rational, everyday consciousness is only the surface of what makes up our soul, but, as the Pope says, "We are so hounded by this surface awareness that what lies in the depths can no longer find expression. Ultimately man becomes sick for sheer lack of authenticity; he no longer lives as a subject: he exists as the plaything of chance and superficiality. This is connected with our relationship to time. Our relationship to time is marked by forgetting. We live for the moment. We actually want to forget, for we do not want to face old age and death...The only way to master time, in fact, is the way of forgiveness and thankfulness whereby we receive time as a gift and, in a spirit of gratitude, transform it."

I can definitely relate to feeling like a pawn to chance when things get so busy that you can't keep your head on straight. It is at those times, thankfully, that the Holy Spirit can somehow break through and help me to see that I need to take a step back, slow down and become more conscious of the Lord in my life. What a great way to look at each moment that we have been given - as a gift. I think that definitely makes me stop and appreciate all that I have in that moment and then it becomes easier to transform that moment into whatever God wills.

God Bless!

Get Out of Bed!

I was talking to a friend of mine last week and we were trying to get to the bottom of some issues she is having. One of the topics that came up was getting up in the morning. I know that it is something that we all have to do, and that some days we do it very reluctantly. My point to her was that I have found that when I consistently get up at the same time each day and I follow the same routine in the morning, my day tends to go much better. I have discussed this before about living the heroic minute, but after our discussion last week, I thought it was worth expanding on.

With summer upon us, it can be very easy to become lax in our usual routines. I know that it happens in this household. Things seem to loosen up just a bit, which I find is very helpful to all of us after the pace of the previous nine months. What I have to make sure that I don't give up on is that essential morning routine that I have developed. My waking time might change a bit, especially because we tend to stay up later in the summer, but I still stick to the same routine. Let's take a look at two morning alternatives:

6:00 wake up and begin prayer time
6:15 continue with prayers while exercising
6:45 take a shower and get dressed
7:15 check email - some children already awake
7:30 wake everyone else who is still sleeping and begin breakfast
8:00 clean up breakfast and get everyone ready for the day

Now the times for this schedule might vary if we are going to mass that morning, but the actual routine does not. Following this really gets me the quiet time I need to wake up and get ready to face whatever the day has in store for me. Contrast the above with the following:

7:00 wake up in a panic because I have no idea what time it is, even though I am still exhausted because I was up too late last night (or storms kept us up!!)
7:05 get out of bed to begin prayers, but some kids are already awake so they begin to come in and out of the room and ask questions, so prayers constantly get interrupted.
7:30 hurry up and finish prayers because kids are hungry and want to be fed, so begin breakfast for little ones and then go run and jump in the shower.
8:00 realize that not everyone woke up early and that there are still some slackers in bed, so get them up and get them going. Unfortunately, they are also now behind, so the kitchen can't get cleaned up because people are still eating.
8:30 sense of peace and calm gone because only some are dressed and ready while others are still stumbling along somewhere in the process....

I know that days like the above are inevitable, but if you set up a do-able schedule for yourself in the morning and stick to it, those chaotic mornings will not be the norm. I realize that not everyone likes to have a strict time schedule to follow, but I am a firm believer that you should have the same routine that you can follow every day, one that most importantly includes some quiet prayer time. Maybe for you it will only be 10 or 15 minutes in the morning, but at least you are consistently starting your day off by speaking with God.

So, take this time during the summer when things tend to be a bit more relaxed and figure out a routine that you can live with that includes some quiet prayer time - just you and God. Try to follow it for a month and see if it doesn't bring some peace to your soul and order to your day (or at least your mornings).

God Bless!

Oyster Cracker Snack Mix

Here is a great snack mix that my second oldest daughter modified a bit and then won a State Fair 4-H ribbon for it. We love to double the recipe and serve it at family parties.

Pretzels - broken into bite sized pieces - as many as desired
1 pkg of oyster crackers
3/4 c olive oil
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning

Place the desired amount of pretzels and the oyster crackers into a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour over crackers and pretzels and mix well. Let stand for 2 hours. Store in an airtight container.

God Bless! Have a peaceful and restful Sunday!

My 100th Post

Well, it is hard to believe I made it this far. 100 posts and it only took me four months to do it! In honor of this momentous occasion :) I thought it might be fun to come up with 100 things that I am grateful for. As Madame Blueberry learned, "A thankful heart is a happy heart!", so here goes:

1. My faith
2. My wonderful Husband
3. 20 years of (mostly) wedded bliss - we are human, afterall
4. Daughter #1
5. Daughter #2
6. Daughter #3
7. Daughter #4
8. Son #1
9. Daughter #5
10. Son #2
11. My mother - the rock in my life
12. My father - who I grow to be more like with each passing day!
13. My brother
14. My Aunt and Godmother
15. My Uncle R - who has been a blessing to our family
16. & 17. My mother-in-law and father-in-law - who have always been there to support us
18. - 24. My wonderful brothers- and sisters-in-law
25. The many wonderful friends that we have - sorry you get to all be lumped under one number!
26. Our parish
27. Our incredible priest - who unfortunately is getting transfered in July
28. The freedom to homeschool
29. Our homeschool group
30. My grandmother - who I am convinced prayed me back into the faith
31. My grandfather - who always thought the world of me
32. My friend Cheryl who I have known since I was four and has stuck by me all this time
33. Our anonymous benefactors that kept us from bankruptcy last year
34. The many trials in my life that have made me who I am today
35. My relatively good health
36. Our big blue van that gets us where we need and want to go
37. Our camper
38. The wonderful vacations we have had
39. Our business - which has allowed my husband to be around us more
40. Living from paycheck to paycheck - which I am sure has kept me from many a temptation!
41. Our spacious home
42. Our property
43. The eight barn cats that kept the mice out of the house this past winter
44. Our miracle chickens - who unfortunately were all eaten by other animals this past winter, but we were grateful for them while we had them
45. Our experience with horses
46. My blog
47. My ability to form coherent thoughts (most of the time) and put them "down on paper"
48. My camera
49. The help of the Holy Spirit when taking pictures
50. The fact that I am half-way there!
51. A love of baking - although my husband sometimes wishes I didn't have one
52. Warm weather - finally
53. Air conditioning on days like today when it is 90 and humid (although I don't have it on yet)
54. Heat in the winter
55. Our fireplace
56. A love for the outdoors
57. The ability to swim
58. My website-in-progress
59. The availability of the internet to spread the faith
60. Our Holy Father
61. Our saintly intercessors
62. Moving out to the country
63. My education
64. Good music
65. My past violin lessons
66. A good sense of rhythm
67. Good movies
68. Pirates I
69. Pirates II
70. Pirates III - I couldn't resist. Our family has had a lot of fun with these movies!
71. Good books
72. A love of reading
73. Food on our table
74. Kids who fight and cause me to grow in patience
75. Sleeping children
76. A big, soft bed
77. Seeds for our garden
78. Colorful flowers
79. The strong wind that cools our house
80. A good sense of organization
81. Garage Sales
82. Thrift stores
83. Hand-me-down clothing
84. Other people's blogs who help me grow and get me to think
85. E-mail - which allows me to tell people things at very odd hours
86. Our food co-op
87. The many people who have helped my children learn beautiful things
88. Cold lemonade
89. Hot chocolate
90. Anything chocolate!
91. A good dinner out
92. My parents' boat
93. Growing up and having a summer home on a lake to go to on weekends
94. All of our nieces and nephews
95. My extended family
96. Our annual barn party
97. The freedom to practice our faith - who knows how long we will have it!
98. The rosary - a gift from our heavenly mother
99. Beautiful churches - they are a rare jewel when you find them
100. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

There, that wasn't so tough. It didn't take me near as long as I thought it would. This is a great exercise; one that I think we should do more than once in a great while. Hope you enjoyed it, too and thanks for sticking with me. Here's to the next 100....

God Bless!

Congratulations Graduates - Class of 2008

Last night we had the privilege of having the auxiliary bishop of our diocese preside over what has come to be our annual graduation mass. We had 5 eighth grade graduates and 10 high school graduates participate in the ceremony. Some might argue that having a graduation ceremony for homeschoolers makes it too much like the regular school system. I like to think of it as taking the good from two different situations and combining them into one beautiful event. We began the evening with Mass presided over by the Bishop. There were two high school graduates who gave short addresses before mass and two that gave them at the end of the ceremony. Each of the graduates was called forward to receive their diploma (made by the parents) from the Bishop and then had the opportunity to kiss his ring.

What a blessing these students received as they move forward to begin the next phase of their lives - whether it be high school or where ever God calls them. It is also a nice way for the students, who are used to being in a school setting with only their siblings, to form a common bond with others their own age. The parents, meanwhile, got a chance to watch proudly as their students processed in and out. We even got a pat on the back from the Bishop. The best part was that we got to be spectators and not the ones in charge.
Overall, I think this is a wonderful tradition that our homeschool group has begun. If you are part of a homeschool group who does not do something like this, I would highly encourage you to give it some thought. Even if you aren't part of a group and are interested in being involved in something like this, look around your area for other homeschoolers who might be interested and see if you can get it started. It is a great way to celebrate your child's achievement as well as bring glory to God through the celebration of the Mass.

God Bless!

The Continuing Saga of the Fairy Tale Novels

Last week, which was the last of our overly-booked weeks for awhile, my daughter asked me when she should tell me that she and her sister had finshed reading "The Midnight Dancers" (Regina Doman's newest fairy tale novel). I told her to wait until Monday, as we had way too much to do. So yesterday morning she gaily announced that both she and her sister had finished "The Midnight Dancers" and I was free to read it. Therefore I decided that yesterday was going to be my day off so that I could tackle this newest book.

Veni, Vidi, Vici - I came, I saw, I conquered. The book was fabulous. The thing that I found so interesting about this book is that it spoke to me in a different way than the other three books did. Based on my experiences (my past, the people I know and what I know of their past, as well as the lives of my children and their friends) I felt that Rachel was someone I could relate with just because of how I grew up and the type of society/culture I grew up in. When I was in high school, I really knew nothing of God and His love and His beauty and what it was He created men and women for. My experiences were totally dictated by the 80's society I grew up in. My children, on the other hand, are growing up with a different belief system. We are trying to teach them just how loving God is and the beautiful things that He has in store for a man and a woman who love each other and commit themselves to each other in Holy Matrimony. When I was in high school, dating was something you did just to have something to do. I never thought of high school dating as a precursor to marriage. My friends and I saw what happens when that special love that God created is degraded. Since my children have very little experience with this ugly side, I think they are naive as to how ugly it can be "out there in the real world". Therefore, I think this book is a good way to reinforce what it is we are trying to tell them.

We can tell them that there are people filled with evil in the world, but sometimes I wonder how much credence they give us. Reading a book by someone they look up to that tells them this same thing is a great way to reinforce these important lessons. On the flip side, the book also does a great job at showing the beauty, goodness and purity that can exist between a young man and a young lady and how God's light can illuminate their relationship and make it holy.

Thanks, Regina, for another great book!

God Bless!