Best Book about Knights!

Around here we read LOTS of books about knights, dragons, princesses and other cool stuff from the Middle Ages. LegoManiac has been a BIG knights and castles kind of kid since he was a "wee one", StringBean is a big princess fan (especially if they're dressed in pink ;-> ), and BamBam is ready to sit and listen and play war with anyone...

We've read all the standards -- but yesterday we read a book which the Easter Bunny HAS TO bring to LegoManiac: The Usborne Official Knight's Handbook by Sam Taplin. This is the best kids' book on knights and all things chivalrous I have ever seen (and believe me, I've seen lots). A four-chapter book that describes life from squirehood to retirement to a castle, the Knight's handbook addresses virtually every aspect of knighthood that a child could need. Proper terms are used and defined within the text so the children understand immediately the difference between a trebuchet and a catapult ... a destrier and a packhorse ... a lance and a spear.

At the end of the book, the author describes all the different parts of a coat of arms and than challenges the reader to create his/her own coat of arms.

The only slight irritant is the author's tounge-in-cheek (bordering on sassiness) in describing things, especially things about the Church's role in the Middle Ages. These are slight annoyances that can become "teachable moments".

Overall, though, this is the best book on all things chivalrous!

Another argument for teaching kids at HOME!

Thanks to a post on Semicolon's blog, I found out yet another reason why I really like Harper Lee, author of the classic southern novel, To Kill a Mockingbird (a book EVERYONE should read at least once and a movie, starring Gregory Peck, that EVERYONE should see at least once)

Here's what Ms. Lee says about schooling:

I could only look around me: Atticus and my uncle, who went to school at home, knew everything —at least what one didn’t know the other did. . .

As for me, I knew nothing except what I gathered from Time magazine and reading everything I could lay hands on at home, but as I inched sluggishly along the treadmill of the Maycomb County school system, I could not help receiving the impression that I was being cheated out of something. Out of what I knew not, yet I did not believe that twelve years of unrelieved boredom was exactly what the state had in mind for me.

Sounds like a fabulous example of the benefits of living/loving/learning in the home, doesn't it?

First Full Week of Lent

Sunday's Gospel reading (Luke 4:1-13) talks about Jesus' time in the desert - 40 days of fasting and prayer, 40 days of mostly being tempted by Satan to alter God's plan, 40 days of being very human. Why? For us; to save us from our sins...

How cool is that?

And what does God ask in return? For us to spend 40 days fasting and praying and sacrificing; 40 days of ignoring the lure of the secular world; 40 days of trying to die to ourselves.

Don't get me wrong -- it's hard to fast, it's hard to sacrifice, it's hard to give up the things I WANT. But, in the long run, it makes me a better person, a better mom and wife, and it brings me a step closer to living the life God wants me to live. And we GET TO DO THIS every year. We get a "new lease on life" each Lenten season.

How cool is that?

Music to Enrich the Lenten Season

My dh is a BIG fan of classical music. He streams WCPE into his classroom at school and listens all day to beautiful, classical music. He also has requested that we buy St. Matthew's Passion by Bach for our home to enrich the kids' understanding and love of Lent and classical music. So, of course I obliged. In addition, I've found this wonderful site, ArchivMusic(see their little banner in the sidebar?) where you can search on composer, conductor, performers, etc.

Give it a try and enrich your home today!

LENT Starts Today!

Today, February 21st 2007, begins the amazing liturgical season of Lent. In the shadow of the Cross, we Catholics are asked to spend the next 40 days sacrificing, praying and contemplating just exactly what Jesus did for us all when he willingly gave up his life for us on the Cross.

Some folks look on Lent as a time of "sack cloth and ashes" where we mope around, denying ourselves of all pleasures and bemoaning our fate and that of the whole World.

This is aboslutely ridiculous -- Lent is a wonderful time for ME to reflect on my life and to spend the next 40 days preparing for the Lord's resurrection. Yes, I will deny myself things that I want to do -- but not for the denial itself, but for the chance for God to get to work and help me to do what He wants me to be busy with.

Some of the books I'll be reading over the next 40 days include:

• The Faith Explained by Fr. Leo J. Trese -- a wonderful, readable explanation of all things Catholic
• True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis Marie de Montfort -- a classic text about the Catholic devotion to Mary -- what is owed her and how best to show her our love
• Magnificat's Lenten Companion -- daily readings for Lent

For the kids, we'll be spending our after-dinner time doing family read-alouds rather than watching movies or dispersing. Lent is a wonderful time to spend with family, encouraging the values and togetherness so important in today's world.

Some of the read-alouds in the basket:

• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Mitchells: Five for Victory , Canadian Summer, or Friendly Gables -- all by Hilda vanStockum
• The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
• Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
• Mossflower by Brian Jacques (2nd in the Redwall series)

All of these books have good family values, are wonderful adventure stories and teach lessons without being too didactic. They also have the benefit of being such good stories most will want to listen!

So, please dear reader remember that Lent, although a time of penance and sacrifice, can also be a time of joy and getting rid of baggage that keeps us from being the people of Faith that God would have us be!

One of the absolutely cool things about being Catholic

is being able to live and celebrate the liturgical year. Even better is being a Catholic home learning family -- it gives so much more time to really celebrate!

For instance, for those who are Polish (or those who wannabe), today is known as Tlusty Czwartek (or "Fat Thursday" for those of us who are Polish but have no idea how to pronounce the Polish words!). This means that this is the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, the last week before Lent starts.

So what does any good, self-respecting Pole do today -- eat Paczki (pronounced "punch-key") or Jam Donuts! Because we live/love/learn together at home, we can't just go out and buy these ooey, gooey balls of fried dough -- nope, not us! We turn it into a "cooking math" lesson and make them ourselves!

And they are delicious! Like a jelly donut but something tastes just a bit better. We didn't use lard (I don't have any in the house) but we used canola oil and they were just fine. Here's a link to a site with a couple of recipes and another site that has just one recipe (but a bit of background on the day, too!).

And, since I'm of mixed ethnicity -- Polish, French Basque, Irish, Slavic -- and my dh is pretty much British Isles and grew up in Louisiana, we get to celebrate all kinds of different traditions for the rest of the week before Lent starts .... Mardi Gras, King cakes, Gateau des Rois ... sounds like lots of cooking math over the next few days!

Better Late than Never

February 11th is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. However, this year, the feast occurred on a Sunday so we kinda lost track of it. But, we were planning to visit the Lourdes Marian Center here in Denver for a field trip today. That fell through, but we went ahead with the craft we'd planned -- holy water fonts for Our Lady.

A bit of foil, some Sculpey in shades of blue and white, some polished garden gravel and an image of Our Lady and St. Bernadette and VOILA!

We used the foil -- which we'd shaped into a shallow bowl and an upright area for the image of the apparition at Lourdes. We covered the foil shape with a thin layer of Sculpey, using the foil as a mold (you can see the foil on the back in the pictures). Once the foil was covered on the front (making sure to avoid holes or gaps -- which of course would leak!), we imbedded small rocks to give the feeling of the Lourdes Grotto.

After baking in a 275 oven for 15 minutes or so, we let the "grotto fonts" cool and carefully removed the foil. Many of the rocks came unstuck as the fonts dried, but we'll glue those back into place.

Once the fonts were cool enough to handle, we glue the trimmed apparition picture to the font and once that has set for a while, we'll seal the entire piece with matte varnish.

Now we're ready for that holy water! We're trying to reschedule the trip to the Center for next week -- Ash Wednesday!

One of the best parts of this activity was that we did it in company with another homeschool family -- after sharing heart-shaped pizzas, cranberry juice (which wasn't quite as red as we would have liked) and Valentine's Day cookies!

Mary M, y'all can come over to play anytime!

What is Harper Collins Thinking?

Or maybe they're not and that's the point. Fellow 4realer and author, Melissa Wiley explains on her blog about the changes to the Little House books and her prequels. Sounds goofy doesn't it? Why would they mess with a good thing? What's the point?

Well, I thought they were a bit short-sighted when they didn't jump at my idea for a Knitting the Little House book; but, here they're taking a proven success and denuding it! Why?

Anyway, my suggestion dear reader is to run, don't walk, to order Melissa's versions before they're revised. And if you order three, you can get the fourth free! Don't let these books get away, they are great additions to the Little House panoply of wonderful living books!

Martha Years (Laura's great-grandmother):
• Little House in the Highlands
• The Far Side of the Loch
• Down to the Bonny Glen
• Beyond the Heather Hills

Charlotte Years (Laura's grandmother):
• Little House by Boston Bay
• On Tide Mill Lane
• The Road from Roxbury
• Across the Puddingstone Dam

The evolution of quiet time

Everyday, I have the kids on their bed for at least an hour -- the downtime is necessary for ALL of us. Well, today (a balmy 39 degrees!) the kids asked if they could have quiet time outside "like the cowboys do Mommy" (we'd just finished a video about real-life cowboys and life on the range).

Here's a photo-record of their quiet-time today:

"Oh, did you want us to lay down? I didn't know we weren't supposed to play during quiet time...."

"Quick, lay down -- we're supposed to be sleeping..."

"OK, the coast is clear, where were we ...."

I wish grammar had been this fun when I was a kid!

Practicing parts of sentences (and reading) using DK Games' Silly Sentences. They played this game for an hour!

FINALLY!

It's 68 degrees outside and we're starting to see the grass!

The BEST and FASTEST Bread recipe ever

Thanks to Jenn at Family in Feast and Feria who started it and Mary at Our Domestic Church who passed it on to me, I got involved in one of those crazy, recipe exchange, chain letter things where you have to get 10 of your friends to cooperate otherwise it's your fault the chain is broken. Oh, the STRESS!

Anyway, I went ahead with it all and don't tell the ladies, but I'm so having fun getting recipes in my email box! One friend actually emailed me her 86-page collection of tried-and-true recipes -- and she's a great cook.

But there's one I want to focus on today. A while back 4real friend, Lissa, started a blog to talk about making bread with her daughters. At the time, she asked for recipes and assistance, I didn't have any to give. Well, Lissa my friend, here's a bread recipe that would be great for you and the girls.

I'll call this one Kristie's One-Hour Whole Wheat Bread, as a friend from South Carolina named Kristie sent it to me (aren't I creative?). Enough chit-chat, here's the recipe:

Kristie's One-Hour Whole Wheat Bread
Heat to body temp: 1 c milk + 1 c plain yogurt
meanwhile prove yeast: 1/2 c hot water + 1 T yeast + 1t sugar

Transfer liquids to a large bowl and blend in: 2 c whole wheat flour + 1 T honey

Cover and let rise 15 min in warm spot. . . . .
While waiting, sift into a separate bowl
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 t salt
4 c white flour

When the bowl of batter has sat for 15 minutes (should be bubbly or frothy), then add: 1T oil and the sifted dry ingredients, 1 c at a time, until you have a nice, stiff dough.

Divide into two and knead into 2 stumpy footballs and place on baking sheet.
Cut slashes across the top with a knife and allow to rise another 10 minutes in a warm spot. Bake 400 for 25 minutes.

This makes the BEST wheat bread! One loaf was GONE at dinner and I tried to hide the other loaf, but dh found it and had some for breakfast! It is great with a bit of butter and honey, plain or toasted. And it's so fast to do!

THANKS so much Kristie for this bread recipe! And to all the other wonderful folks who passed on their favs -- my family will be eating really well for a long time!

Housekeeping (don't laugh) meme

OK, so Leonie tags me -- with my first ever meme -- and it's for HOUSEKEEPING! I finally broke down and scrubbed the kitchen floor (on my hands and knees no less) on Saturday and made the kids PROMISE not to go in there till Daddy saw (and was sufficiently proud of me).

So anyway, thanks to Leonie, here we go:

Aprons – Y/N?
I'm with Leonie -- I have a few hanging available in the kitchen (and tons of sewing patterns upstairs if anyone wants them), but I never put them on. When I cook with the kids, I always make them wear 'em, but never do myself ... unless it's REALLY messy/greasy or I want to get a rise out of dh.

Baking – Favorite thing to bake:
I love to bake ooey-gooey things for the kids, but don't really care for them myself; love to bake bread -- that's a fun, agression-releasing activity with the kids altho I often have to fight them off so that I can do all the kneading!

Clothesline – Y/N?
Yeah, right -- why would I have a dryer?

Donuts – Have you ever made them?
Nope -- it's so much easier to head to Safeway and buy 14 = dozen.

Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day:
LAUNDRY and it truly is the bane of my existence. Nothing irritates me more than having just finished the two daily loads and then the kids come and bring something they "forgot" to put in the laundry but need tomorrow.....

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?
We used to but we don't now; I wish I did though as they really are useful!

Garbage Disposal – Y/N?
Yep, and love it -- much better than that biodegradeable stuff rotting in the garbage!

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?
I reallly like Martha Stewart's new one -- Homekeeping Handbook -- is great but I (honestly now) don't reference it that much.

Ironing – Love it or hate it?
It can be quite relaxing to iron, but I'm usually doing it 10 minutes before needing the item, so it's not as relaxing as it could be!

Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it?
We have so little drawer space in the kitchen that our junk "drawer" is actually in the big hall closet/pantry.

Kitchen: Design & Decorating?
We just moved in in August, and the kitchen is currently a long narrow galley style kitchen with goldy yellow walls and pale laminated cabinets; we're hoping to increase cabinet and counter space this summer (when dh is off school).

Love: What is your favorite part of homemaking?
The best part is having folks notice that I've done SOMETHING, ANYTHING!

Mop - Y/N?
Yes, but prefer to get down on my hands and knees and scrub -- I KNOW it's clean then!

Nylons - Wash by hand or in the washing machine?
Duh, washing machine of course

Oven - Do you use the window, or open the door to check?
I didn't realize how dirty the oven "window" was until I self-cleaned it about 2 months ago -- but I got so in the habit of opening and checking that I rarely use the window.

Pizza - What do you put on yours?
Lots of cheese (sorry Leonie!) and pineapple.

Quiet - What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Read. Go on the internet. Knit if possible.

Recipe card box - Y/N?
No. But I do have lots of bits of paper in various folders and as bookmarks in cookbooks; altho, honestly the best place to go for recipes is Cooks.com or for Liturgical Year cooking ideas a great starting place is Catholic Culture.

Style of house -
4bed/2bath duplex that is a renovated old officer's quarters. We love the hardwood floors and thick walls of this military housing from the 1950s!

Tablecloths and napkins - Y/N?
Rarely but we do use placemats and cloth napkins for a, company or b, we ran out of paper!

Under the kitchen sink - Organized or toxic wasteland?S
More semi - than organized.

Vacuum - How many times per week?
We mop more or sweep cuz most of the house is hardwood, tile or lino.

X’s - Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off?
In my mind but rarely on paper, unless I'm feeling particularly swamped!

Yard - Who does what?
Dh and String Bean love to plant and putter; Brikhead is teaching LegoManiac how to use the pushmower and the leafblower; I just enjoy going out to see it and make suggestions...

Zzz’s - What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?Clear up and rinse the last few dishes, load the soap and run the dishwasher. Pickup the living room if I'm feeling particularly energetic. Check email just before heading up.

I tag: MaryM at Our Domestic Church!

As these tapers burn with visible fire and dispel the darkness ...

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,

Winter will have another flight

If on Candlemas Day it be shower and rain,

Winter is gone and will not come again.
If Candlemas Day be damp and black,

It will carry cold winter away on its back.

If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,

There’ll be two winters in the year.

Hmm, I guess this means we're in for another winter as it's bright and clear and -1(!) this morning here in the Big Square State! But, that's ok as it's Candlemas Day which means we get to spend the day, cozy inside, making candles to be blessed tonight at dinner (and we'll use them all year for our various celebrations and feasts). Here's the blessing we'll use:

O holy Lord, almighty Father, eternal God,

you have created all things from nothing;

you have commanded the bees to produce this liquid of wax which has been made into a perfect candle;

you have on this day fulfilled the petitions of the just Simeon:

We humbly implore you through the invocation of your holy name and through the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin, whose feast we devoutly celebrate today, also through the prayers of all your saints:

Deign to bless and sanctify these candles for human use, for the welfare of body and soul both on land and on water.

These your servants desire to carry them in their hands while they praise you with their hymns:

Hear their voices graciously from your holy Heaven and from the throne of your majesty;

be merciful to all who cry to you,

whom you have redeemed by the precious blood of your Son, who lives and reigns with you, God for ever and ever.

Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, true light that enlightens every man who comes into this world, bestow your blessing upon these candles, and sanctify them with the light of your grace. As these tapers burn with visible fire and dispel the darkness of night, so may our hearts with the help of your grace be enlightened by the invisible fire of the splendor of the Holy Ghost, and may be free from all blindness of sin. Clarify the eyes of our minds that we may see what is pleasing to you and conducive to our salvation. After the dark perils of this life let us be worthy to reach the eternal light. Through you, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, who in perfect Trinity livest and reignest, God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

We will also spend the day, while letting candles cool, snuggled on the couch with a stack of read-alouds I've been meaning to get to and just haven't yet. We'll start one and either finish it or move on.....more later!

Happy St. Brigid's Feast Day!

Today is St. Brigid of Ireland's feast day. Born around 450 and died around 525; her first years of life were coincident with St. Patrick's life. Which is why Brigid's mother was Christian. Brigid lived a devout life as the daughter of a slave and the lord of the manor. He made sure she was educated and tried to arrange a good marriage for her -- but Brigid had other ideas and eventually was allowed to become a nun. She founded many convents throughout Ireland and is probably only second to St. Patrick as well-loved Irish saints go.

This is one of StringBean's patron saints, so we always do a bit more for those. Today we read a lovely book called Brigid's Cloak -- which is an interesting blend of pagan and Christian legend. We will act out this story tonight for Dad, Granmere and Kotch -- aren't they lucky? We also made Brigid's Crosses -- which traditionally are made with rushes or grass, but which we made with chenille stems (used to be called "pipe cleaners"). The benefit of the chenille stems is that they're a bit easier to maneuver and you can mold them a bit to what you want the cross to look like.

We'll make spaghetti (after all, the feast day beneficiary is the one who chooses dinner), BarmBrack (which is REALLY good and then we get in a spot of "cooking math") and watch Darby O'Gill after the first (and only) performance of our version of "Brigid's Cloak".

Speaking of color ...

... here's a full view of the knitted wall hanging in the living room. This was a shawl I'd done as a sampler of some Austrian knitted lace patterns. After wearing the shawl in 2002 when we had an audience with JP2 (!) in Rome, I couldn't bear to have it just another "wearable" -- so my FIL made a frame for it (with oak strips) and hammered a gazillion black finishing nails into the frame. I occasionally take it down to launder it and then dry it on it's own frame. (NOTE: we found a tiffany-style desk lamp that has the perfect colors to complement the hanging! Isn't God good?)

I now call it -- "The Blue Ridge Parkway" -- and if you've ever seen the Blue Ridge, especially down near NC/SC, you'll know why.....

Colors in the Home

Molly on 4Real asked about colors in the home -- that is, on your walls.

Well, I had mentioned that we moved into our house and the walls were already painted, lots of colors that I would NEVER have used. As we've been in here 6 months now, and we've put up our cherished pictures, I've come to realize that although I would never have thought to use these colors, they work with what we have and like....

See for yourself:

This is the paint in the master -- note that the two walls are actually different shades of red-burgundy!Boys' room is actually a bit deeper blue-green than this picture shows, but the team banners sure look like they were made to go in this room. (BTW, we're NOT Dodger fans; it is from the game they went to against the Rockies).Here's the girls' room -- StringBean's "Cinderella" print looks great on these darker blue walls!Here's the upstairs bath, with its pale lilac walls and purple stencilling. The tile and all fixtures are white.The bath downstairs is a rusty orange tone -- and note that the ceiling is the same color. The tile and all fixtures are white. This is the only room we haven't found something to hang up -- the color is a bit odd.

The living room is a green that is somewhere between the two green panels on the knitted wall-hanging (the camera had a hard time picking up the shade of green). But if you'll notice the wall-hanging and the Guadalupe print are complementary shades of green.This is the dining room. My camera just can't get the color right -- a cross between mustard yellow and brownish gold. But our icons look great on this wall! Burgundy goes well with this color too, so our table runner and candles are burgundy.

So, there you have it -- color that seems odd, but works!