April | 2011 |

Is God in my computer?

29. April 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: faith, Random · Tags: Eucharist, God is in the Eucharist, God remains with us in the Eucharist, restless, Restless until I rest in You O Lord

My beautiful friend, Mary, had a really great post that led to a great thread about our bad habits of constantly ‘checking’ our emails/messages etc continuously throughout the day. I was going to leave another comment but it was getting too lengthy and I didn’t want to take over her blog. So I decided to share my random and rather all over the place thoughts that came from her post here instead. Remember to go back to her blog and leave her a comment for a chance to win some gnarly prizes!

I’ve been feeling very guilty about my chronic addiction to having to ‘check’ things throughout the day. It’s nice on one hand having a laptop in an accesible place where I can easily check on a recipe or send a quick message to someone. But it’s also like having a bowl of candy or chocolate out for me to dip my fingers into every time I walk by. In a way it’s nice knowing it’s not just me that has a problem with this but it also made me stop to ponder on a deeper level why we do this. For me, I think I sometimes feel it is my lifeline to others or to the world outside of my own. I am restless and hope to find rest when the screen appears. And well, as much as I try to change it, laundry and dishes just aren’t all that exciting so getting online sometimes provides me with some much needed comic relief. But I also sometimes think I’m hoping to find something more, an answer, perhaps or some direction when I go to ‘check things’ on the computer. Then I hear Jesus’ words to Mary Magdalen, “Who are you looking for?” and I realize that maybe I am hoping to find God by brushing my finger across the mouse pad. I yearn for God and am constantly looking for Him. I have found Him first and foremost in others since He is here within us all, and maybe that is why I am constantly pulled to ‘check things’ and interact with others online or see what people think or have been up to. Maybe they have figured out the secret to happiness and peace in a way I have not.

The devil can use the computer and blogs and FB etc to distract us from God and he hopes we will not find Him there but God always wins and sure enough we have discovered Him there too because we are people, and He dwells within us, so we will naturally find Him.

But our quest for God can’t stop there. My daughter commented yesterday at dinner while we were reading the Bible that it would be nice if we lived when Jesus was here so we could be with Him and see Him. We all agreed but then my husband and I reminded her that He is here. In spirit, he is here in our home when we look into each other’s eyes-Christ is there. He is in the Word and we receive His grace through the Church and the Sacraments. But most importantly, though not so obviously, He is constantly here with us, hidden in a simple piece of flat white bread. The Jews before Jesus came were looking and waiting for a messiah-an earthly king to come riding in on chariots of gold to save them from their Roman oppressors. They didn’t recognize Jesus as their hoped-for messiah because he was too plain and ordinary and had no real political aspirations or any fancy weapons. In the same way, it might not make sense for God, who is bigger than the huge mind-boggling universe, to choose a flimsy piece of plain white bread as the host of His Perpetual Sacrifice–His body and blood. He became a man, gave up His life for us and died, rose again, and ascended into Heaven but He is here, with us, in the place where we would least expect it. If you really think about it. It makes perfect sense.

As St. Alphonsus de’Liguroi said, “My Jesus! What a lovabel contrivance this Holy Sacrament was – that You would hide under the appearance of bread to make Yourself loved and to be available for a visit by anyone who desires You

Yet, even while He remains with us here in the Eucharist, it is only a taste. We will still hunger for Him and remain restless until we finally rest with Him eternally. We are on a constant journey towards Him. My daughter and I were sitting on the couch looking at the wallpaper we still had to take down (before we finished it) and I said that it’s been hard and tiring but it will be nice when it’s all done and we can just enjoy the new room. After a few minutes she said, “Yeah, kind of like heaven….it will be hard and we’ll have to pray a lot but then we’ll just be there and everything will just be good.” Yes, daughter, everything will just be good. Until then, I am thankful for the Eucharist and the Sacraments and for family and friends who help me to find God here so that I, and hopefully others together, can find Who we are looking for and enjoy eternal satisfaction and peace and rest with Him.

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And the obsession begins

28. April 2011 · 5 comments · Categories: Around the House · Tags: how to decorate a small living room?

So now that the walls are almost ready for painting, I can start obsessing about paint colors and decorating. I’m thinking about a color like this.

Could you see that here?

The problem is, when I start to think of paint colors, I have to think about what purpose I want the room to serve. This room is supposed to be a formal living room. It is right next to our ‘hearth’/family room. Across the hall from it is the ‘office’ which is really supposed to be a dining room. Maybe I could turn it into a library? I’d love it if a piano magically appeared there and it could be a nice music/reading room.

I like our family room being by the kitchen so I can watch the kids and still interact with them and guests when I’m busy in the kitchen.

We usually don’t have 2 couches there, one is from the living room I took out while stripping the wallpaper off. I kind of like the extra sitting space we’ve had though. It’s a little awkward having 2 ‘living rooms’ next to each other so I’d like to turn it into something more useful. I’ve never quite known what to do with the extra space there. I know, a few years and kids later I’ll be singing a different tune.

Maybe it’s time to move the office/homework room into the ‘formal living room’ and use this space as the intended dining room. Or a small parlor for when the Queen comes to visit? It’s worked well for as an office and work area but it is getting slightly crowded.

Any suggestions??? I will drive myself crazy talking to myself about this and my dear husband can probably only take so much of my analyzing and reanalyzing.

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Easter egg hunts, family library time & no more wallpaper!

28. April 2011 · 5 comments · Categories: Small Successes

1. Hosted Easter celebrations at our house and enjoyed it! (I usually get very anxious about hosting lots of people but didn’t get all crazy this time) I offer thanksgiving to God for sending beautiful weather so the kids could play outside and have a fun egg hunt.

2. Finished stripping the walls!!! Alleluia! Now I just have to go back with the squirt bottle and pick of the little pieces that I didn’t get and then wash and smooth out the wall and prep it for painting…which means I also still need to pick out a paint color…

3. Went the library with the boys and my daughter too! She hardly gets to come with us anymore b/c we go when she’s in school and I’ve really missed our library time together but we went in the late afternoon after school when it’s not so crowded it was nice having her there. It was also very helpful since she chased the baby around while I searched for ‘c’ books for the 4-year old. I’m looking forward to the summer when we can come together regularly…although I wish everyone else didn’t have the same idea! It becomes quite the zoo in there!

What can you rock on about this week?

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Easter Monday Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Dark Chocolate M&M Pancakes

26. April 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Food

The kids woke up on a sugar high yesterday after all the Easter candy indulging but for some insane reason for Easter Monday morning breakfast, I treated everyone to some delicious chocolatey pancakes.

Needless to say, they were more than a little wired all day. They thought it would be fun to wear their Easter pails on their heads.

I also finally updated My Recipes page!

Here’s the pancake recipe:

Easter Monday Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Dark Chocolate M&M Pancakes

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 ½-2 cups milk or water

4 TB melted butter

6 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 TB cocoa powder

Beat egg and milk in an electric mixer on high for 3 minutes. While that mixes, in a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.

Mix in the melted butter to the egg/milk mixture when it’s done. Add the flour mixture in and throw in about ¼ cup of dark chocolate M&M’s and about ¼ cup of chocolate chips (as much or as little as you want) and mix this all on low for about 3-5 seconds and then gently incorporate the rest of the flour and the liquids together by hand with a spatula. Make sure not to mix it too much or it will make the pancake batter too sticky. Add more water to achieve the consistency you prefer for making pancakes.

Grease heated griddle if necessary. Sprinkle some water on the griddle and it’s ready when the water drops bubble and frizzle right away. For each pancake, pour about 3 TB or one large scooper-full of batter onto the hot griddle. Cook pancakes on side until puffed and dry around edges and the bubbles on the top have popped. Turn and cook other sides until cooked through, about 1 minute. The trick is not to set the griddle heat too high or the insides won’t cook and the outside will just burn.

Eat and enjoy. If this isn’t sugary enough for you, try adding whipped cream, drizzle it with maple syrup or chocolate fudge…strawberry syrup…what else?

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The Grocery Store Tooth Fairy

25. April 2011 · 2 comments · Categories: Comic Relief

My seven-year old daughter has lost 4 teeth now and each tooth has come out with a funny story attached. 4 year old brother knocked out the first one when he slid down the slide and his foot ran into her mouth at the bottom (don’t ask me why she was there) and knocked out her already-loose tooth. The second one she lost when we were at the art museum after she chomped down on a hard sugar cookie. It’s probably in a display case in the anthropology wing now if she didn’t swallow it. The third one was relatively uneventful but still exciting because her daddy got to pull it out for her. And the fourth one had been hanging literally by one little root for about a week until her other brother decided to poke it while we were inspecting the produce at the grocery store a few days ago. My friend, Amy, suggested I make a comic about the story after I told her about it and I started to but then my daughter took over and I think she did a better job than I would have anyway. So here you go…

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Mary: our Heavenly Friend and Intercessor

25. April 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Faith: Mary · Tags: praying to Mary, To Jesus through Mary, why do Catholics pray to Mary

“To pray to Our Lady means not to substitute her for Christ, but to glorify her Son who desires us to have loving confidence in His Saints, especially in His Mother.” -from ‘Behold Your Mother: Woman of Faith,’ National Conference of Catholic Bishops

I read that this morning at the start of a new chapter in Mary and Me: Catholic Women Reflect on the Mother of God (See all Inspirational Catholic Books) by Ginny Kubitz Moyer. This chapter, Our Heavenly Intercessor: Praying with Mary, explains why Catholics go to Mary for intercession and what this has meant to other women and how it has helped them personally grow closer to Christ. I love how Ginny puts all the women’s experiences together to showcase the beauty and power God magnifies to us through Mary’s intercession. Here are some excerpts:

“Prayers to Mary are often misunderstood, both inside and outside of the church. Many are suspicious of those who seem to elevate her power, or put her on a level with God. The church, though, is clear that Christ alone is the source of grace. When we pray to Mary or to the saints, we are asking them to add their prayers to ours, much as we would ask a good friend to pray for us. In the tradition of the church, Mary is viewed as a particularly powerful intercessor, not only because she played a critical role in salvation history but becasue of her unique relationship to Christ. As many Catholics like to say, when a loving mother asks a favor of her devoted son, how can he refuse?”

“When discussing Marian prayers, one of the first devotions that comes to mind is the rosary. With its circle of soothing Hail Marys, it appeals to many modern women, for whom life moves too quickly and quiet time is rare….in addition to bringing peace, the rosary also has the effect of drawing women into a closer relationship with Mary.”

One of the women Ginny interviewed for this chapter shared how her connection and perception of Mary changed after praying the rosary more consistently. She shared that when she prays the rosary she knows she is “praying with Mary, not to Mary..asking her to stand with me in the presence of God and to hold my hand in times of sorrow and petition. She’s [Mary is] stronger than I ever thought possible and her stregnth is contagious.”

The rosary is not really about Mary though. It is about Jesus.

“Though the mysteries of the rosary include some of the most significant moments in Mary’s life..their primary purpose is to draw us into relationship with Christ. As Pope John Paul II wrote in his letter Rosarium Virginis Maria, ‘To recite the rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.” As many women have learned, by meditating upon the events of Christ’s life [by praying the mysteries of the rosary], he becomes more fully present in our own.”

How has your faith life deepened as result of Mary’s intercession?

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I love sleep, dresses, and paperless walls

21. April 2011 · 9 comments · Categories: Small Successes · Tags: getting rid of wallpaper, I love wearing dresses!, Sleep is the best remedy for insanity

1. Scraped down another wall of wallpaper; only one more side left now!! Then I can start obsessing over paint colors.

2. Found and bought a lovely Easter dress–for ME! (I haven’t worn a dress since I was pregnant so I’m pretty excited. I’d like to wear dresses more but they aren’t exactly conducive to modest nursing in public and since I still have ‘leftovers’ I usually look pregnant when I wear them. But for Easter I decided that despite all that, and since my baby can go without nursing in church now, gosh darn it I was going to go out and find me a nice lovely Easter dress to wear. And by golly that’s what I did. )

3. Helped the baby go to sleep ‘on his own’ (read: without nursing to sleep or too much rocking) 2 nights and 1 nap so far! (this was a shared team effort success with my husband). He’s been so restless while sleeping and yes, he is teething, but now that he is older he can understand it better when we tell him it’s time to lay down on his bed and go to sleep and stay there. So we’re hoping to guide him and help him learn how to sleep better so that my husband and I can sleep better and then everyone can be a little happier (and mentally healthier) again!

Share your simple successes!

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Pizza Casserole

19. April 2011 · 3 comments · Categories: Food · Tags: Cresent Roll Dough, Easy Pizza Casserole, Erika Marie's Pizza Casserole, Inside Out Pizza, Pepperoni, Pizza Casserole, Shredded Cheese, Spaghetti Sauce

This is an invention of mine that actually turned out well! It’s super easy and scrumptious. I was inspired by Mary’s bierock casserole and these pizza croissants from Once a Month Mom.

You need: 2 cans (tubes?) crescent roll dough, or make your own if you’re just that cool. Shredded Mozzarella cheese, about 1 cup depending on how much you like/dislike cheese. Sliced pepperoni. I used about half of a little Kroger bag of small sliced pepperoni. I’ve also bought sliced 1 lb of sliced pepperoni from the butcher and used maybe 1/4 of that for one casserole. Just use as much as you want for the casserole and reserve the rest for snacks or lunches. Oh and you’ll need just a teensy bit of spaghetti sauce (or pizza sauce again if you want to be all precise).

In a 9×13 baking pan (or really whatever size you want), lay the slightly greased bottom with the rolled out crescent roll dough from one of the cans. Then dabble a teensy bit of sauce onto the dough. (You don’t want to do too much or it will make it all soggy) Then sprinkle some cheese on, next lay the pepperoni slices on, then sprinkle a little bit more cheese and another light layer of pepperoni slices. Dab a teensy bit more sauce onto that and spread the 2nd can of crescent roll dough over the top. In the picture I somehow ended up short and so just arranged it with the triangles so this could also be called Inside Out Pizza if you do it like that.

You could follow the baking directions on the crescent roll dough cans but for me I usually have to bake mine for about 18 minutes. My husband doesn’t like it when the dough is soggy so I have to watch it carefully to make sure the bottom is cooked enough without burning the top. It’s really the only tricky part about this recipe. Reading these directions will be harder than actually making this. It’s not super healthy but you know, sometimes it’s ok to just make something easy that tastes delicious, makes the kids jump up and down with glee when I make it, and gets a double thumbs up and request for seconds from my husband. The only problem with this recipe is that it goes too fast and everyone always wants more!

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Real Learning and School Reality

16. April 2011 · 7 comments · Categories: Elizabeth

Elizabeth pulled back into the garage after dropping Emily off at school and then quietly walked into the house and started to clean up the kitchen from last night’s dinner. She hoped her sons, four-year-old Thomas and eighteen-month old Henry, were still deep in sleep upstairs with their daddy who was getting ready for work. Her hands and body moved quickly to put all the dishes away but her mind was still deep in her little reverie about the perfect dream day with her daughter.

She reached for the towel on the counter and almost knocked off a book sitting next to it; The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. She read this to the boys yesterday after lunch and remembered when she read this to the kids at Emily’s school for a special project she helped them with. Elizabeth helped in Emily’s classroom about twice a month and enjoyed these times immensely. Naturally, she loved being there with Emily but she also enjoyed getting to know her classmates and teachers while working with them and the kids. Elizabeth thought about how much all the children had grown and developed since the beginning of the school year and even since last year when they all started kindergarten at the school together. Then she realized how much she herself had grown and changed since then. She was pregnant with Henry when Kindergarten started and he was born in the fall of that year so of course her body had physically changed during that time and since but she knew her mind and heart had transformed even more.

Before Emily started kindergarten Elizabeth was very anxious and reluctant about the whole school thing. She had fallen in love with the idea of home school and had many reservations about the type of education she thought Emily would receive in a school setting. Emily was a social butterfly so Elizabeth was not worried about her making friends only about the type of friends and the types of kids and influences she would be exposed to. Even though she herself had gone through thirteen years of Catholic school education, Elizabeth had been reluctant and convinced she could give Emily and a better education and a better life at home. However, since John, her husband, didn’t exactly share her enthusiasm and vision for this home school life, Elizabeth submitted and enrolled Emily in kindergarten at St. Gianna Beretta Molla Catholic School. The night before Emily’s first day of school, Elizabeth clicked through pictures of Emily on their computer and sobbed. She was not ready for her little baby girl to grow up. She wasn’t ready to let go. John had wrapped his arms around her and her bulging belly and assured her that everything would be ok.

Thankfully, that first year turned out to be a wonderful experience and by the time first grade started, many of Elizabeth’s worries had diminished. Much to her surprise, Elizabeth actually liked the school and appreciated how well they communicated between school and home. The teachers and staff of the school made it their priority to keep the parents involved and firmly believed what she did: parents were the first and primary teachers in their children’s lives. There was never a time Elizabeth went to the school and did not see other moms or dads there also. Most importantly, Jesus Christ permeated the school through their focus on keeping the lessons of the Catholic faith alive in every part of their academics and school activities.

Even while Elizabeth still clung to her fantasies about home school she had learned to let go of that as a reality and opened her heart to let God humble her. Through her time helping in the classroom she had gotten to know a lot of the kids and they were all good and innocent (for now). Emily had made some good friends and Elizabeth saw how well her and her classmates worked in class together and challenged each other. She knew she would not be able to protect Emily from bullying and peer pressure but had found friendship with the other families of the school who were just as dedicated and committed to teaching their children good morals and values. She also saw that the teachers and school staff were doing their absolute best to teach the kids in the way they knew how. Of course, if it was up to her, schools would still be one-room classrooms with no more than fifteen children (of different ages) per teacher. They would do lessons and class work only in the morning and reserve the afternoons for prayer and nature walks, free reading or art time and time for hands-on experiments and enrichment. They would never use textbooks but would learn about the world through living books and real world applications. The teacher’s focus would be placed on helping the children learn how to apply lessons to their everyday lives and not just how to memorize empty facts for the sake of achieving satisfactory or exemplary test scores in order to remain accredited. Competition would be encouraged by practicing self-mastery and self-reliance but without downplaying the importance of teamwork and humility. Elizabeth knew that she could not expect the school system to change to meet her own ideas. Instead, she was learning how to incorporate her own ideas and methods for education into their lives.

Emily was flourishing at school but her teachers and other parents reminded Elizabeth that this wasn’t only the school’s doing-it was because of the strong foundation she and John had laid down for her and a love of learning and discovery they inspired for her at home. She knew she could have done it all by herself at home only, and still would if it became necessary, but she had to admit that this form of education with the school and this lifestyle wasn’t all that bad after all and she enjoyed having one-on-one time with Henry and Thomas now that he was ready to start his own learning adventure. Sure, she did miss Emily while she was away and still wished they had more time together but she also was learning that life could still be good and they could still be a strong and happy family together even when they were not with each other all day long every day. She hated to admit this but she knew she could never replicate the classroom in her own home but was finding joy and goodness in continuing to learn together as a family at home and with the aid of the school. Life wouldn’t be perfect but they weren’t in heaven yet.

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The good times

14. April 2011 · 1 comment · Categories: Small Successes · Tags: mom small successes

1. Vacuumed upstairs.

2. Got all the wallpaper off one more wall and started another.

3. Yard work-got rid of weeds and some ugly bushes we didn’t want anymore and cleared up the way for our hostas to come out! (That was more of my husband’s success than mine though–thank you!!)

Welcome to the Extended Small Successes/Small joys

Since my whine was a little over the top yesterday I thought it would be fair to counterbalance that with a pictorial display of the small joys my kids bring me that I am thankful for. Lucky for them, and me, these little things are enough to make up for their more annoying qualities. Despite how much they can get under my skin by getting under each other’s skin, they really do love each other a lot and I love them more than anyone could ever know. I am thankful for my husband who supports me and loves me and them so much and for the family and friends and God’s grace that keep me afloat even when the waters get stormy.