Novena: won't you STILL join us?

Do you mind continuing the prayers asked for here ?

After we finished the novena to St. Joseph, we started up again ... and on Tuesday (April 7th) of Holy Week we got an offer on the house in Colorado!

Actually, we received THREE offers on the same day. They were pretty good offers and we chose the best with a closing date of May 11th (exactly two months after we started that novena to St. Joseph and five days into a novena to Servant of God, John Paul the Great).

We started the process of canceling utilities, autopayments and HOA fees and were all set for next Monday's closing. Yesterday evening we got an email from our realtor: the buyers ran into a snag and needed to postpone closing. Thank goodness we have a realtor who is pretty tough -- the powers that be wanted to push closing off to the end of May but he pushed for sooner. So, now we've got closing pushed back one week.

On the 18th of May -- which happens to be Servant of God John Paul the Great's birthday -- God willing, we will close on the house.

Please continue to pray to both St. Joseph and John Paul the Great for us as we head down the homestretch to finish off our Colorado adventure and really begin our Virginia one!

THANKS!

Irene Sendler: A Polish Hero!

How cool is this????

A while back, I mentioned a Polish-Catholic woman who saved 2500 Jewish children in the Warsaw Ghetto during WW2 ...

well....

tomorrow night, on CBS, Hallmark Hall of Fame will be showing a new movie titled The Courageous Heart of Irene Sendler!

Please let me know how it is ... we don't have cable and our "digital converter antenna" that is supposed to help us get all the stations now, doesn't work ....

BTW, the REALLY cool thing?

Ms. Sendler had a Divine Mercy holycard that she kept with her throughout her war years ... a card she kept until 1979, when she gave it to then pope, John Paul the Great.

Tomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday ... I wonder if CBS knew?

Prayers!

WOOOHOOOO!

We just signed a contract on our house in Colorado -- it's less than we paid, but more than we owe so God is so good to us!

Please continue to pray as we go thru appraisals, inspections, etc until closing in mid-May ... and thank you so much for all your prayers on our behalf. The Blessed Mother, St. Joseph and Servant of God JPtheGreat really are coming thru for us ... and we continue to pray thru them for God's assistance.

Feast Day: JP2's anniversary

Today is the fourth anniversary of Pope John Paul the Great's death ... four years ago today I was pregnant with my 6th child (and miscarried on the day Pope Benedict was elected). I can still remember listening and crying as I heard the stories about the Pope dying as he's always been such a large part of my life. It was Fall of my Senior year of high school when he was elected ... we are of Polish descent and this was a BIG deal to have a Polish pope!

I can remember in 1981, walking back from lunch in college and hearing the report that the Pope was shot ... we cried and headed to the campus chapel.

I can remember in 2000, going to Rome for the first time and seeing St. Peter's. LegoManiac was just over a year and String Bean was in the stroller -- you should have seen us going thru security! Oy vey! But then being right there when the Popemobile came thru and JP2 was steps away from us ... the long wait in the hot sun was well worth it!

I can remember in 2003, months before we left Austria with dh and his masters, we got to go see the Pope and a surprise "private audience" with all but Brikhead getting a personal blessing. Our own Bam-Bam, all of 4 months old, got a blessing that I'll never forget -- thank goodness for professional photographers taking pictures as there's no way I was calm enough to take pictures!

And I remember the Saturday afternoon when we heard the Pope died.....

Today, we celebrate that JPtheGreat is most probably up in Heaven helping us out and playing soccer with my dad. We had a Polish day: books, movies and food. Tonight, I made Pierogi for the first time ever (recipe below) and Babka (Polish Easter Cake) ... both were well-received by the family and the Babka will definitely become a staple for celebrating JP2 as his anniversary will always occur during Lent or Easter!

Here are the resources we used for our JP2 Day:
Books –
For the Children: Words of Love and Inspiration from His Holiness Pope John Paul II – great book for copywork quotes that JP2 spoke or wrote specifically to children throughout his pontificate. Great photos of the Pope with children from all over the world.

Karol from Poland: The Life of Pope John Paul II for Children (M. Leonora Wilson, FSP) – written just at the change of the millennium, this book walks children through the Pope’s life from birth up to his 22nd year as Holy Father. The illustrations are a bit simpy, but the text is readable and quite good.

Life Commemorative: Pope John Paul II – a wonderful “photo album” to the Pontiff’s life from birth to death. Wonderful to see formal and informal pictures of the man who led the Catholic Church out of some pretty tough times.

Pope John Paul II (Rev. Jude Winkler, OFM Conv) – a small picture book that leads the reader gently through the Pope’s amazing life right up until his death in 2005. The emphasis in this short book is the love JP held for all children, as well as his devotion to serving God.

Pope John Paul II: Comic Book – although this is labeled a comic book, the details and information covered in this book are wonderful! The books covers his life from Wadowice to Krakow and on to Rome. The original has been revised to include his death in 2005.

Videos –
The Jeweller’s Shop – a video dramatization of JP2’s play that seems to be semi-autobiographical as a young priest helps his young friends through engagement to marriage and through marital problems to fully experiencing the sacramental bond of a true marriage. Wonderful cast including Ben Cross and Olivia Hussey.

Pope John Paul II – a movie about the Pontiff’s amazing life. This is my kids’ favorite movie (and we have to limit viewing to only once or twice a year!). Cary Elwes (Wesley from Princess Bride ) plays a wonderful younger Karol while Jon Voight does a phenomenal job as the aging and Parkinson-ridden pope. Ben Gazzara, Christopher Lee and James Cromwell (Hoggett in Babe) round out the cast in this wonderful movie.

Witness to Hope – a movie summarizing George Weigel’s ground-breaking work about the Holy Father and his life. Excellent summary, especially if you don’t have time to read the rather heavy tome.

We also did some Math real living books -- after all, JP2 was a very learned man (so much so that Polish jokes even ceased once he gave his first audience!) -- and had a lot of fun reading Cindy Neuschwander's Sir Cumference books:
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the First Round Table: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of how to create other regular shapes from a rectangle as well as a description of diameter, radius and circumference.
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of Pi and proves the measurement is always 3.14159…...
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of how to measure angles and describes acute, right, obtuse and straight angles.
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of how to create other regular shapes from a rectangle as well as a description of diameter, radius and Euler’s Law that says that any straight-sided, solid shape that, if the numbers of faces on a solid is added to the number of points (or vertices), then subtracted from the number of its edges, the answer will ALWAYS be two – works for every polyhedron.
Neuschwander, Cindy – Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter: A Math Adventure – tells the tale of Per and her cousin Radius and their discovery that an area of a circle equals half the circumference times the radius (also, area = pi x radius-squared).

What a great day!
=================
Recipes:

Pierogis
Dough:
3 cups flour
2 egg yolks
1 tbs oil
1 cup water
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and begin to knead/mix it together. When you've gotten it all to stick together in a ball you can remove it from the bowl and begin to knead it on a clean surface. It may still seem to stick to your hands and the counter but don't worry. After ten minutes or so of kneading it the dough should be smooth and only a little tacky. Put it back in the bowl and cover with a damp (not wet) towel until your ready to use the dough.

Cut your dough in half. Place half back in the bowl and recover. Roll pieces into flat circles (altho there is no great art to this!). Fill with a filling (see below for the potato mix) -- about a tbls or so -- and then fold them over and pinch them together. Make sure that they are completely sealed all the way around. Boil these in a pot of water with a little oil added to it. I recommend only boiling about five or six at a time so they don't end up sticking together. It will only take about 5min before they float to the top. Remove them from the water and place on a baking rack to cool and dry. You can go ahead and eat them at this stage. Or you can fry them
in a pan with butter or even bake them at 325 for about 30 minutes or till "toasted".

Filling: Potato and Cheese
4-5 potatoes
1 onion
1 8 oz package of “cream cheese”
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 pound of bacon
Peel cut and boil your potatoes until done and drain. In a separate frying pan fry bacon till crispy. Drain bacon slices, reserving grease to fry onions. Add your onions and bacon fat to the potatoes and begin to mash them. Slowly add the cream-cheese, cheddar to the mixture. Add bacon pieces (broken to small pieces) and then set aside to cool. Place a tbls or so in each Pierogi. If extra potatoes, add a bit of milk and maybe a bit more butter and whip together -- serve mashed potatoes with the pierogi or save for another day.

BABKA (Polish Easter Cake – babka = grandmother)

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbls baking powder
1 tbls grated orange peel
1 tbls cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter (1 cup)
1-3/4 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tbsl finely ground bread crumbs (for dusting pan)

Glaze: 1/8 cup warm orange juice + 1 cup powdered sugar

Combine flour, baking powder, orange peel, cornstarch and salt. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

Gradually add flour mixture, vanilla, 1/4 cup of oj. Mix thoroughly. Stir in raisins.

Lightly grease a 10-inch bundt pan and dust with bread crumbs. Pour in batter. Bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until done. Cool 10 minutes in pan and than place on a rack. Make glaze by combining ingredients. Poke holes in top of slightly cooled cake and spoon glaze over top. Cool completely on a wire rack.

From: Kathy Cutler’s Holiday Dessert Book

Remember the words of John Paul the GREAT: BE NOT AFRAID!

JP2 we STILL love you!

April 2nd, 2005 ... the pontiff who affected so many people died a slow, painful death with these words on his lips:

BE NOT AFRAID!

These were also the words John Paul II said at his first audience ... and repeated throughout his twenty-six and half years as pontiff. JP2 was always admonishing the faithful to be faith-filled and fearless as God is in control and is a loving Father to us all.

JP2 was a loving father to Christ's Church on Earth ... he particularly loved the little ones. I will never forget the look on his face when we were fortunate enough to meet JP2 in 2003. Crippled with Parkinsons, the Pope still had a light in his eyes that was a beacon of love. As Cardinal Schoenborn introduced BamBam and I, the great pope reached his hands out to my 4-month-old son and namesake, and the light and love was there! A smile as big as his heart lit up his pain-wracked face ... and my 4-month-old responded in kind. Both the good Cardinal and I had tears in our eyes during the short blessing that has left an indelible mark on us all.

Today, there is talk that this great man will receive beatification next year -- on the fifth anniversary of his death -- declaring him a Blessed of the Catholic Church. Here is a prayer for his beatification and ultimate canonization:

God our Father, you reward all who believe in you.
May your servant, John Paul our Pope,
vicar of Peter and Shepherd of your Church,
who faithfully administered the mysteries of your forgiveness and love on earth,
rejoice with you for ever in heaven.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN!

May I always remember John Paul the Great's admonishment to all the faithful to BE NOT AFRAID ...

Charity: A great cause to pray for and support!

The following letter is from a teacher at dh's high school. As many of you know, my first husband died of lymphoma 17 years ago and we all know many people who are suffering from cancer right now. This is such a worthy cause ... and I hope you'll be able to donate in some way to this cause.

Dear Family and Friends,

Many of you who know me well understand my passion for good health and my desire to run for fun. The idea of running for fun can definitely sound a little foreign, but I’ve felt very drawn recently to run for a different reason. I'm training to participate in the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.

Personally, I am running in honor of my cousin, Kevin, who was diagnosed very recently with Leukemia and a good friend of mine’s father, Jim, and for all individuals who are battling blood cancers. I’m including a link below to both Kevin’s progress and daily journals which he updates with great detail. I’m inspired by his strength, attitude, and grace in all of this in his pursuit to return to Cornell University where he previously attended as soon as possible.
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Over $600 million in research has been raised since 1949 - over $71 million in 2008 - specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Last year alone, LLS made 6.3 million contacts with patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals.

The idea of joining this team and sending out letters is a leap of faith. I have faith that this purpose and cause will help in some way to the people fighting these diseases, their families, and to the doctors offering care. I thank you for your prayers and support and ask you to offer up any kind of donation and hope to support this mission.

I’m also including a website which can keep you updated on the fundraising progress and allow instant access to make donations. Please feel free to visit the websites as often as you please as the goal to reach the $3600 goal by April 25th will be monitored. You also have received an addressed envelope to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society which can also be used as a means of direct donation.

Thank you again and God bless!

Maureen Pfahler
http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/cmc09/mpfahler

http://kballantine.wordpress.com/

Kids: Amazing what they absorb!

The idea that children are always aware and learning and soaking up really came home to me today with my youngest.

We've been spending lots of time over at dh's new high school, talking about dh's new school and basically revolving our lives around their schedule. We have gone to as many home-games of the various teams as possible; we've been to the dedication and weekly school Masses; we've immersed ourselves in helping to build the culture of life within the new school that opened in August 2008.

Well, seems Bam-Bam (six years old in November) has picked up quite a bit of this and he spent much of today (with us roped right in) deciding the following for our homeschool, St. Athanasius Academy:

1. Mascot: knight eagles – a mascot LegoManiac will draw
2. School colors: black and gold
3. Motto: semper pugna pro iustum (“always fight for what is right” -- we translated it into latin using InterTran so it might not be EXACTLY right, but it looks right!)
4. Prayer for when we win: 3 Our Fathers & 3 Hail Marys
5. Fight song: I couldn't get all the words but I know it ends with “win for Jesus”
6. Administrative staff:
□ Headmaster: dad
□ Lead teacher: mom
□ Athletic Director: Bam-bam
(he’s the head, but he’s made me the “neck” – I can turn the head anyway I want!, and Dad is the heart; String Bean and Lego Maniac are the toes … well, actually the "toes in training" – wait, late breaking news: String Bean has been moved up to “stomach” of the Athletic Dept, while LegoManiac is still “toes in training”... then when Lego Maniac complained, he was promoted to the "shoulders", which is "really close to the head")
Coaching Staff:
□ Football – Mom
□ Soccer – LegoManiac
□ Cheerleading – String Bean
□ Baseball – String Bean
□ Swimming – Kotch
□ Tennis – Kotch
□ Lacrosse – BamBam, Dad - assistant
□ Hockey – BamBam, Dad – assistant
□ Gymnastics – Dad, LegoManiac - assistant
□ Golf – Mom

Bam-Bam is quite proud that he is the AD for the SAA Knight Eagles ... he even dressed up for a "press conference" and kept the attire on for dinner with our newly named chaplain, Fr. Z. (who is also the chaplain at dh's school, so that makes it easy!).

Bam-bam is taking his job a bit seriously: firing the "coaches" who don't do what he wants, creating contracts for them to sign (altho he's signing the contracts for them as many have mutinied), deciding who will play on which teams and when we'll play (don't tell him we only have a total of six people in the house -- he sees us fielding a "real" team). He even made a sign today that "the new teams will be introduced on Friday, Oct 31st at 10:00pm on FOX sports" (he was quite proud he didn't need help spelling FOX!).

I'm thinking this youngest is going to go pretty far in the world of management! As the Young Marines put it, he just "adapts, improvises, overcomes" EVERY obstacle to his imagination and plans.

[BTW, the scratch-looking mark below his lip is from playing "football" with his brother yesterday afternoon and almost biting all the way through to give himself a nice fat lip/bruise and generally look really bad!]

So, we'll probably have a new banner for this blog soon -- once LegoManiac designs the "Knight Eagle" and we get it scanned in!

Why St. Athanasius?

Many people have asked us, "why is your home learning adventure called St. Athanasius Academy?"

Eight years ago, when we were looking at moving to Austria so dh could get a Masters in Theological Studies (which he's now using to teach at the new John Paul the Great Catholic High School), we began looking at home-educating the older two, Brikhead and Kotch. They were in Catholic parochial school, but not knowing what we'd find in Austria, we looked to home school them.

As we read book after book on Catholic homeschooling and Christian world-view homeschooling and secular books on homeschooling, we became more and more enamored of the idea of steeping the children's day in Catholic teaching while also giving them all the subjects of traditional school. We read more and more about education and began to get involved with online home-education communities.

At the same time, dh was applying to the Masters program in a small village in Austria. He needed to write a divisio textus on a sermon by St. Athanasius of Alexandria. He and I became enamored of this 4th century bishop who fought against security, fame and fortune for the Catholic faith -- being exiled at least three times for his defense of the Catholic faith against the Arian heresy . He did what was right. We decided then and there to place dh's application, our move to Austria and our homeschool, under the patronage of one of the greatest defenders of the Catholic faith.

Eight years later, as we start out seventh year of "living, loving and learning in the home" we again place our school under St. Athanasius' patronage -- asking him to intercede on our behalf, helping us to be good defenders of the Faith, and (most importantly) helping me to raise the now younger crew steeped in the Faith.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria, Pray for US!

John Paul the Great -- is now open!

There was MUCH celebrating today as Bishop Paul S. Loverde officially blessed the new high school -- Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School. We've only been here since June and yet it seems like forever since we were given a "hard hat" tour of the not-quite-complete building.

Today it was marvelous! The new paint, custom millwork and spotless carpet attested to the newness -- a newness that carries a promise of the New Evangelization as preached by the school's patron, Pope John Paul 2 on the eve of the new millenium. The empty shelves in the library* will soon be filled as will the science labs and the other classrooms -- after all, school offficially starts one week from tomorrow.

But today, for the first time, all the staff, faculty, students, families and friends were together to celebrate and pray for the next school year. The Dominicans of Nashville to whom the administration of the school has been trusted, are well-loved by my family and obviously by many others too. The "love fest" today was amazing proof of the power of the Holy Spirit to move people toward the good, the true and the beautiful.

We are so blessed to be part of this new school ... part of this community ... part of this family who came together today. We are so blessed with the chance to help form the leaders of tomorrow in all aspects of their secondary education -- particularly in their learning about bioethics and the tough questions of today and tomorrow.

Dear Lord,

We know that every good and perfect gift comes from you. Thank you for the gift of Catholic Education, in particular the gift of this new high school, Pope John Paul the Great.

In your kindness Lord, grant us, the faculty, staff, students, families, and friends faith enough to know that you are at work in us and through us.

Bless all of those who are working to build this school and give us sufficient grace to complete the many tasks set before us.

Mary, Mother of God, intercede for us so that we may enthusiastically give our daily fiat to the work that is to come.

Let the zeal of St. Dominic live on in our mission for the new evangelization that has begun.

Pope John Paul the Great, Pray for us!

Amen!

*If you're interested in helping to stock the library shelves, Cynthia Trax, the librarian, would greatly appreciate donations of books or Amazon gift cards (send to c.trax at jpthegreat.org)