7 Quick Takes towards living in Ordinary Time

It's that time again...ordinary time.  One may be inclined too think this is a just a drab, numbered time.  Oh, but it is so much more!  The church in her wisdom knows what we need.  We need continual growth ~ Spiritual Growth!  So now we begin this time of "growing".

I've been extremely blessed by the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training I've had.  I learned sooooo much during the classes!  One lesson we share with the children is on the liturgical colors of the church year.  This lesson shares with the children the colors of the liturgical year and the significance of each..  Ordinary time is called "the growing time" and is green.  Of course this is the time where we all take steps to grow closer to Our Lord during this ordinary or non-feast time in our year.

Last night at the supper table I posed the question, "Let's all think of a way we can grow closer to God during this "growing time." 

Here are our 7 quick takes on growing loser to God during this "Ordinary Time."

1. Exercise temperance through diet and exercise. (Dad)
2. Keep your hands to yourself.  (Honeybee)
3. Family prayer time after supper BEFORE the TV is turned on. (Snuggle Bug)
4. No name calling. (Buck)
5. Consistent bed time for all so that mom and dad can have time together.  (House Cat)  8:30 for Buck and Honeybee and 9:00 for House Cat and Snuggle Bug.  The older two can read in bed till 9:30.
6. More couple prayer time.(The Magnificat, Daily Prayer for our Children)   Just mom and dad - praying for our marriage and our children.  Try to do this after dad's home for work before supper.(Mom)
7. Make time for weekly adoration.

Dear Lord, please strengthen our family.  Help us to grow closer to you during this ordinary time.  Help us to loving serve you by serving one another cheerfully.  Protect us from the wickedness and snares of the devil!  We pray for our children's vocations.  Please help us to lead them to love You more than anything else in this world.  Amen.

visit Conversion Diary for more quick takes

A Blessed Woman's Daybook

I'm looking for ~ modest swimwear.  I really like these capri swim pants and tops.  I also like these but not the prices.  Four of them would add up quickly!

I'm hearing ~ Curious George learning about composting.  I have a feeling this will be in my future.

Brings a smile to my face ~ Seeing Buck and Honeybee running around with their bows, arrows, and swords yelling, "For Narnia and for Aslan!"

We're helping ~ my parents move this week.  We just LOVE their new farm!  The land there is sooooo beautiful!  It keeps calling to me.  I can't wait to go back there and stay there if it's God's will.

Science this week ~

Our caterpillars grow and grow and grow.  It's amazing how much bigger they are each day!  When they are ready we will place them in the net.  More to come on that.

Snuggle Bug continues with her bird study ~

The House Cat and I ~ took in our first Shakespeare play, Hamlet, and it was wonderful - the lead actor was incredible.  The grounds were beautiful also!  We agreed it would be the perfect place to lay out a blanket and read Jane Austen!

To be fit and healthy ~ I'm taking a break from counting points.  I've been battling a lot of fatigue lately.  After talking with a new friend recently, I feel like I need to focus on reducing as much sugar/carbs as I can from my diet.  Don't laugh Scott, I know I just had to have that soft serve cone last night! :)

I'm praying for ~ my mother-in-law who will have her shoulder replaced on Monday.  Please pray the surgery/recovery will go smoothly.

Tea and Cake with the Saints ~

The girls did a wonderful job on their spring tea party in honor of Saint Zita, patroness of homemakers.

By the way, Snuggle Bug loves this book!  The copy I ordered from Amazon came in autographed.  She thought that was really cool!

Our guests brought these beautiful flowers.  Thank you!

On the ball field ~Buck's once again playing ball with the BUCS!

They had a great game Sat. morning!   

Celebrations ~ Snuggle Bug and I celebrated our baptism anniversaries

 last week. 

I've also been sharing lessons on baptism in the atrium the past couple weeks.  It is such a blessing to continue to share, learn, and be blessed by all of God's gifts!

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My Thanksgiving Week Daybook Entry

For Today ~ Monday, November 23, 2009

Outside my window ~ The sky is grey and the ground is covered with a beautiful blanket of colorful leaves. Only a few pretty red leaves are left hanging onto the top of our Sugar Maple in the front yard.


I am hoping ~ To get outside with the kids and collect some of these beautiful leaves before they are all gone. I have this wonderful book checked out from the library. I hope to be able to do a little something from it. It's very informative. It tells you how to clean and prepare the leaves you bring in. I also read an article on decorating your home with them. It said to press them in a book and display in small glass beakers and vases. Very Beautiful :)

I am hearing ~ More stuffy nose sniffles and coughs :( We all just finished a round of antibiotics for strep throat and sinus infections. I sure was hoping that would get us through the end of the year.

I am praying for ~ The House Cat's nerve conduction study to go well tomorrow. I'm hoping it will give us the answers to why her arm is still bothering her after all this time. I'm also keeping a dear friend and her family in my prayers as she takes care of her aged father who was just diagnosed with pneumonia and 4th stage lung cancer.

I am thinking of ~ My time spent in our Good Shepherd Atrium yesterday. I just love working with little children. Seeing the wonder in their eyes as they listen to a lesson on The Land of Israel or The Annunciation is just so enduring. I tried to be a good girl and sit in a chair for my lessons... At one point I found myself down on a mat with a child helping them to paste the symbols on the land of Israel map. A sweet brown eyed 4 year old placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "Mrs. Lori, You're not supposed to be on the floor!" :) Too cute!

The House Cat came in and shared Advent songs with us at the end of class. I am so glad she's able to play her guitar again. The 3 year olds enjoyed learning these new songs and the 4 and 5 year olds picked right up on them from last year. I think their favorite was the Advent Wreath Song....Sitting with my brothers, sitting with my sisters, sitting by the advent wreath. Waiting with my brothers, waiting with my sisters, waiting by the advent wreath. Why are we waiting boys? Why are we waiting girls? Who are we waiting for? Stand up and sing. HE is the KING! He is the Lord of Lords! That's who we're waiting for, that's who we're waiting for!

Preparing for Thanksgiving ~ We are enjoying Reading ~Cranberry Thanksgiving, P is for Pilgrim, One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, and Watching Mouse on the Mayflower, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving,and William Bradford and The First Thanksgiving.


I'm also making our Thanksgiving shopping list. I'll share more on that later :) We will celebrate with my parent's this year. I'm so thankful to have them so close now.

I am planning on perusing Enchanted Learning's Site for activities for Buck and Honeybee. Last year we had fun with this.

Living the Liturgical Year ~ Today we celebrate St. Clement and Bl. Miguel Pro. We read a wonderful poem on Miguel Pro this morning from Cloud of Witnesses II. Once Upon a Time Saints had a great story on St. Clement, the second bishop of Rome. Tomorrow we remember St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions. Wednesday, it's Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Thursday - St. John Berchmans. Saturday we celebrate Saint Catherine Laboure. This will be a great day for a craft on The Miraculous Medal!

Then on Sunday ADVENT begins!

One of my favorite things ~ Music. All kinds. As long as God likes the message :) Right now I'm listening to I'd Need A Savior by Among the Thirsty.

I actually Enjoy ~ Clothing my family. Yes, that includes doing the laundry! I'm so thankful to be back in action there!

May God Bless You and Your Family This Week :) Love, Lori

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7 Quick Takes From A Very Blessed Week

1. The week started off wonderfully. We were all together for Mass on Sunday.
2. I was able to go back into the atrium after Mass and co-listen to God with the children.
3. Sunday evening me and my honey made it to our Teams of Our Lady prayer group meeting. It was so wonderful to see everyone and to pray for our marriages and our families! We felt like we were on a date :) The kids had a good time hanging out at Nae-Nae and Pap-Paw's house.
4. We celebrated my honey's b'day on Monday with a wonderful meal and special time together.
5. Buck and Honeybee both did an excellent job with their reading lessons on Wednesday.
6. I was able to make it to The Confraternity of Christian Mother's meeting last night. Yesterday was the nine week mark since my surgery! It definitely took NINE weeks to feel almost back to normal. I am so thankful to be feeling better and to be able to drive without discomfort!
7. Today I took the kids to gym day. They all had a great time and I enjoyed "watching" them all running around smiling. Who knows, maybe next month I'll be running around with them ?

I'm so glad I took a minute to sit down and think about my week. I am so thankful to be getting back into the saddle again! I so needed to be back in the atrium with the kids, at the prayer meeting with my honey, and at the CCM meeting. These things all fill up my cup!

Visit Conversion Diary for more quick takes:) Have a blessed weekend. ROLL TIDE!

Thanksgiving and Advent are Right Around the Corner

You may have noticed that I posted some Thanksgiving books on my sidebar yesterday. Yep, it's time to get prepared... And... we can't stop there because Advent begins only 3 days after Thanksgiving! It's time to get the book baskets together and decide whats right for your family this year. There are always SO many wonderful ideas out there. But, trying to do too many things will take the fun right out of the season! There are always the tried and true family traditions we enjoy. Each year I try to step back and look at why we do what we do. Is it truly blessing us along our path? If not, I try to take the spotlight off of it and try some new activity I've been inspired by. This year I came across this Advent and Christmas calendar. I'm sure it will be a wonderful addition to our Advent preparations and celebrations.

As we watch and wait for the birth of our Lord may will stay focused and prayerful.

The calendar has one or more doors to open each day.

It also comes with a booklet of readings and prayers.

I ordered it from the Cathechesis of the Good Shepherd catalog. (It's down towards the bottom on the left if you are trying to find it.) If you've read much of my blog, you know how blessed I've been from this catechesis. It has truly brought so many of God's words to life for me. To be able to share it with my children and others is worth more than diamonds and gold!

I hope to add an Advent book/link list to my sidebar soon :) God Bless!

Baaaaa Fun

Today we made these cute little sheep. I came across these the other day and decided today would be a good day to make them since Buck and Honeybee both have congested coughs. I'm hoping this isn't going through the house but, I'm not feeling to assured since dad had it about a week or so ago. So... instead of going outside to play in the water we made these adorable sheep and sang. Snuggle Bug started us off with Lamb of God and we continued with The Lord is My Shepherd, I'll walk with Him always (from the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd).

Hope you are all having a blessed day!

A Rose of A Grandmother

It's hard to know where to start with this post. So much has been happening - I'm still trying to digest it all. My May was spent recovering from surgery hoping to be up for our trip to Myrtle Beach to see our niece graduate from high school. She is such a miracle child - A brain cancer survivor! We had a great time staying on the beach and seeing family who we rarely see.

The hard part of it all was that God decided to take my sweet grandmother to her eternal reward while I was so far away. I'm so happy for her. She was such a special lady - full of love of God and family. I loved visiting her in the summer and helping out on the farm. It was so different from my day to day routine. Even though I was one of 25 grandchildren she made me feel like I was the only one. I'm sure each of her grandchildren would say the same for themselves. She loved to tell me about Jesus and how she lived for Him. At night she would write in her diary and then read from the Bible to me. She wasn't Catholic, I doubt she ever knew anyone who was, but she was one of the most Christian people I've ever known. I have vivid memories of her reading the 23rd Psalm to me. It always spoke to me in ways I couldn't understand. Now with my training in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd I see why. I only wish I could put the emotions in my heart to words.

Her eight children all came together for the visitation. Only God knew that He would also call one of them home that same night. My mom took her brother back to his hotel after the gathering. He hadn't been feeling well and had told his wife that he just wanted to go and be with his mama. God heard this request and took him too. It was his 68th birthday.

They had a double funeral the next day. I can only imagine how difficult this was for the siblings. The hardest part of it for me was being so far away from my mama. I'm her only child and so wanted to be there to comfort her. However, I know God has His reasons and that's that.

Now a special cousin of mine has been diagnosed with a fast moving cancer and given a couple of months to live. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. He is the son of my aunt who lived with my grandmother. May this prayer remain on my lips "Jesus, I Trust In You!"

My sweet mama brought this rose home to me from my grandmother's casket. It is a perfect image of her - soft, sweet smelling, feminine, BEAUTIFUL CREATION OF GOD!

Honeybee Noticed

This morning I gave Honeybee this picture to color. She said, "She's getting ashes like I did last night!" Then she told me she had seen people with green hair before? What impressed me about the coloring was she got the color of the priest's chasuble right. When the priest came out last night she looked at me and said, "He's wearing purple!" She and Buck have been studying the liturgical colors in atrium. It looks like she's been paying attention.

7 Quick Atrium Takes

This afternoon I begin my third training weekend of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Here are seven quick takes on the atrium:

1. Children gather in a room specially prepared for them, called an atrium, which contains simple yet beautiful materials that they use to draw near to God. In the early church, the atrium was the place where the catechumens were prepared. For the child, the atrium is a place of preparation for involvement in the larger worshipping community.

2. Older children who read often copy parables from the Bible, put in order the prayers from the rite of baptism, or label a long time line showing the history of the kingdom of God.

3. In an atrium the child can ponder a biblical passage or a prayer by taking the material for that text and working with it – placing wood figures of sheep in a sheepfold of the Good Shepherd or setting sculpted apostles around a Last Supper table.

4. The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is the result of a long period of careful observation of children by Sofia Cavalletti and her Montessori collaborator, Gianna Gobbi, in Rome.

5. The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd has grown and spread amazingly. At last count it is in 32 countries: Australia, Austria, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico, Serbia/Bosnia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Uruguay, and the United States. In the United States there are hundreds of atria in Catholic and Episcopal settings, as well as several other Christian churches.

6. There are three levels of courses, focusing on children ages 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12

7. The atrium is a place where children fall in love with God.


All information provided can be found at the CGS website

My Daybook Entry for Jan. 26, 2009

Outside My Window...

A new day has begun. The birds are singing, squirrels are scampering, and I'm feeling blessed to be here.


I am thinking...

About seeing so many wonderful friends yesterday at our home school faculty meeting.


I am praying for...

My close friends who have life growing within and those who did and now have given that life back to God.

I'm creating...

A list of books from the Mater Ambalis site. I'm also starting a list of wants/needs for next year.


From the kitchen...

Sugar free French Vanilla liquid creamer in my coffee. It's a BIG change for me to give up the sugar. However, the results are worth it! I feel like a new person. My family's wondering about me. "Whys mom up at 6am????"



I am going...

To stay home Mon-Thur this week and get things in order for the weekend. My next training session for The Catechises of the Good Shepherd start Friday afternoon.

I am reading...

The Religious Potential of the Child: Experiencing Scripture and Liturgy with Young Children, How to Get the Most out of the Eucharist, For the Love of Literature


I am hoping...

My dear Sister in Christ, Lynn, has good news today



Around the house...

A few sniffles. Otherwise all is well and hopefully tonight we'll continue to Walk Away the Pounds together.


One of my favorite things...

Family Rosary by candlelight


A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Dig into our schoolwork, catch up the laundry and keep it going. Stay away from sugar and exercise. Then my "mini" retreat begins on Friday.


Here are a few pics I'd like to share...











Finally the computer recognized the camera and uploaded the pics. The first one was done by Snuggle Bug, the next ones are The House Cat's Christmas lap book. Good work girls!

Advent Prayers

Advent Prayers You Can Use When Lighting The Candle Each Night.

We also enjoy singing our atrium songs. From Sing with Joy (The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, Light one candle for hope, and Sitting by the advent wreath) I continue to be incredibly blessed through my work with the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. I highly recommend learning more about this if given the opportunity.


1. O God,
as light comes from this candle,
may the blessing of Jesus Christ come to us,
warming our hearts and
brightening our way.
May Christ our Savior bring life
into the darkness of this world,
and to us, as we wait for his coming.


2. How dark outside!
but see -- a star's in the sky;
Mary and Joseph are passing by.
So let's light a candle to welcome them
as they go on their way to Bethlehem.
We'll light a candle in church each day,
We'll light one candle each week and pray.
We'll light a candle at home each day,
We'll light a candle each week and pray


3. Children and Their Families Pray:

Each Week of Advent
The prayers for each week of Advent are based on the "O" antiphons, found in the Old Testament prophets' writings. In medieval manuscripts, the first letter was elaborately ornamented. The first prayer each week is for adults; a prayer for children follows.

First Week

O Jesus Christ,
Emmanuel, come and dwell with us.
Desire of all nations;
Gift to every generation,
Come, make your home with us.

All nations, everybody,
is waiting for you,
Indians and Esquimos
are waiting for you,
People in New York
are waiting for you.
People in Beijing
are waiting for you.
Jesus, come to us.


Second Week

O Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace,
come and save your people.
Joy of every heart,
Strength of those who are poor,
come quickly to help us.

Prince of Peace,
teach the lion and the little lamb,
teach the cat and the mouse,
the the hawk and the tiny bird,
teach everyone who doesn't get along
to live in peace.


Third Week

O Jesus Christ,
Key of David,
come and set your people free.
Open the gates of heaven for us;
come, deliver us from evil.

King David was a mighty king
who built a city long ago.
He left a key
that Jesus found in the manger hay.
Key of David, Jesus Christ,
open heaven's gates for us.


Fourth Week

O Jesus Christ, Holy Wisdom,
come and teach us your way;
Word of life, Word made flesh,
come, speak your truth.

Jesus, come and teach me,
how to sing and play,
how to learn new words;
tell me what to say.
Teach me how to be a child,
for you know the way.

Advent has arrived!

We are all so excited that Advent has begun! We have our Advent wreath ready for tonight. We will have Dad bless the wreath using this blessing. Then we'll light our first candle for HOPE and sing Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel and Light One Candle from The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. We will also begin work on our first Jesse Tree. Jessica has an awesome post on the readings used and also includes links for coloring sheets, etc. Thanks so much for sharing all of your hard work with us! It looks like our tree will be made out of construction paper this year, which I'm ok with. I'm just looking forward to traveling this path in preparation for CHRISTmas. May we all draw closer to HIM and the TRUE meaning of Christmas! God Bless.

The Good Shepherd

Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and they know me."