7 Quick Takes from my week

This last week flew by!  Snuggle Bug's been telling me, "Mama, you need to post!"  So here are a few things we've been keeping busy with since my last post.

1. The snow and ice hung out longer than I can ever remember it doing so.  Being a southern girl, I enjoy it for a day and that's about it!
2. My hubby asked me out for a date last Friday night.   How fun that was!!!  I wish we could do that every Friday night!  
3. Saturday was spent organizing our new master grocery list.  This is one of the time saving tips suggested in Homeschooling with a meek and quiet spirit  which we are reading in our book group.  My honey also put together a new bookcase for "my books" to go in our bedroom.  You can never have too many books! 
4. Sunday we began studying T3 - The Teen Timeline, Thy Kingdom Come, the Gospel of Matthew from Ascension Press, in our PSR class.  My honey and I are really enjoying sharing our faith with these wonderful 7th graders!
5. Monday my honey helped me organize Buck's room.  Boy, he sure is different than the girls!  We labeled bins and made a place for everything.  Now if we can only keep everything in it's place!!!
6. Tuesday, we went and painted for my mom.  The kids all helped and we got 'er done!  She had new carpet put in on Wednesday.  I can't wait to go and see! 
7. I've also been working on finishing up our 2nd Qtr. Progress Reports and making a plan for 3rd Qtr.  I ordered this horse study for Snuggle Bug yesterday.  The House Cat continues to write and has been published in the new Homeschool Literary Quarterly.  Buck is a Star Wars junkie and Honeybee... well, she's still sweet as sugar when she wants to be.  But, look out for her sting when she's tired!  :)  I'd say we had a pretty normal week around here ~ Staying Busy With our Blessings~

God Bless you all and visit Conversion Diary for more quick takes.

7 Quick Takes ~ Wrapping Up ~ 1st Week of Advent

1. Thanking God today for another year lived growing closer to Him! My sweet honey is making Craw fish Fettuccine for my birthday supper tonight. YUM!
2. Shopping with my mom for a while this afternoon. Will be like old times :) Then home for supper with my parents and honey and the kids :)
3. We are really looking forward to confession tomorrow morning. We try to go at least once a month but, haven't been since before my surgery.
4. 3:00 tomorrow - SEC Championship - Alabama vs. Florida - ROLL TIDE! Planning on going to my parents for the game. Got a feeling it will be another nail biter :/ Hopefully we'll get a good family pic. for our Christmas card.
5. Sunday morning we will have our Advent Celebration in the Good Shepherd Atrium. The House Cat's been working on songs to come in and share with us. The kids just LOVE this :)
6. The Knights of Columbus are having a blood drive Sunday morning. My hubby will be in the parish hall sharing and helping after Mass. I tell you, I have a new appreciation of blood donation after needing a blood transfusion in the hospital myself a few years ago. Thank you to all who give blood to help others!
7. The girls and I are reading Beautiful Girlhood and looking forward to joining in a mother/daughter bible study after PSR on Sundays for the next few months.

Visit Conversion Diary for more quick takes. Have a Great Weekend!

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!

7 Quick First Blogging Anniversary Takes

Had I not been Blessed with so much rest lately, I'm sure this day would have slipped by without notice. I've been labeling all of my old posts and was surprised to notice yesterday that I began blogging a year ago today! It's been nice to have the time to travel back through our last year together. I think back to a year ago and remember saying yes to another of God's callings. He has called me to do so many things I'd never dreamed of doing. I always feel inadequate but, know through Him I can answer His call. As always, I've been tremendously blessed in doing so.

So, I thought I'd share 7 ways my life has been wonderfully blessed this first year of blogging.

1. First of all, I must thank my dear friend Mary for telling me about Catholic Cuisine. This was my introduction into the world of blogging. Catholic Cuisine is a wonderful site to visit for recipes to use in celebrating the liturgical year.
2. I wondered who it was that came up with this site and was blessed to click over to Jessica at Shower of Roses. Boy did she open up a new world to me! She is full of inspiration and to think she's way across the country.
3. I also discovered another beautiful blog thanks to Catholic Cuisine. Wildflowers and Marbles is also a treasured site and she's actually here in Alabama! So many of Jennifer's post have been extremely helpful. Her morning basket, A Mother's Rule of Love seeking Harmony, and Pretty Notebook posts are few of my favorites.
4. I've read Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss several times and been blessed by it. Her blog In the Heart of My Home is another of my favorites. Serendipity, home of the Alphabet Path and much more, is also incredible!
5. I'm always on the look out for better ways to be organized. Dawn, By Sun and Candlelight, had a wonderful post on her file crate system and weekly folders. These are helping me to stay on track.
6. Participating in The Simple Woman's Day book helps me to appreciate all of the beautiful people and things around me that are so easily taken for granted. I'm so blessed by reading other day books. They are full of inspiration and comfort.
7. Last but not least, I'm so blessed to hear that so many people read and find my blog helpful. I give all of the glory to God. This is His doing and I pray that you may be blessed by it. Let me say, we are by far NOT a perfect family. We have our trials and imperfections like everyone else. I just choose not to share them here. I feel as though God wants me to share the "blessings" here. Please pray for us. God Bless You

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7 Quick Takes ~ Friday Oct. 8, 2009

I'm so excited to feel like using my camera again! Here are some sneak peeks into what's been going on around here:

1. A wonderful welcome home from the hospital. Three weeks ago now but, I still wanted to share!

2. Celebrating The Feast of the Holy Rosary. Beautifully set by Snuggle Bug.

3. A card for Mary by Snuggle Bug.

4. A drawing by Dad and Buck.

5. Respect ALL Life - No Matter How Small!


6. The House Cat in her element.

7. Our library basket.


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7 Quick Takes from a Blessed Week

1. This week started off wonderful as all do. We got to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!
2. After Mass, we ate the picnic lunch I had packed as we drove to our first faculty meeting of the new school year. It was wonderful seeing so many beautiful friends who are walking this adventurous path of home schooling with us!
3. Monday morning we started our "official" new school year. We are really enjoying our new school area. Our morning gathering time has been so blessed. My morning basket is coming together. I hope to do a post on that soon :) We had fun bowling again this week. It was good to spend time with old and new friends.
4. Buck's doing great on his reading! I'm amazed at how much he remembers after taking time off for summer. When I asked him how he remembers certain things, he says, "Mom, I sound them out!" :)
5. We survived another one of dad's business trips. He's started having to travel some with his job :( We are keeping a grateful heart though. A friend once told us. "The devil has no room in a grateful heart."
6. Took the kids to the library. I normally run in and out picking up and dropping off books. This time, however, we all went in for a leisurely visit. The House Cat went over to the teen section with her sketch pad. She's finding Drawing For Older Children and Teens very helpful. Snuggle Bug gathered a few horse books and The Hobbit to read. Buck had fun gathering movies, books, and creating a leaning tower with them all:) Honeybee found a Cinderella book and a rocking chair her size. As I perused the books, I heard her "reading" the book to herself through the pictures. I wish I had what happened next on video. "They've got it all wrong!" she says to herself. "They've got it all wrong." She proceeds to find the librarian and explain to her how the book she's looking at isn't telling the story the way her Cinderella movie at home does. It was priceless! :)
7. Yesterday was once of those days that explains the title of my blog. My honey's out of town working. Through the grace of God I was able to have a productive school day, cook supper, bathe Buck and Honeybee, put them down for a nap, shower myself, iron all of our clothes, and make it -with the kids- to my monthly Confraternity of Christian Mothers meeting. God truly does give us all we need - When we live for Him!

Have a blessed weekend! Love, Lori

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7 Quick Takes on a Blessed Friday

I have definitely been busy with my blessings lately. We are preparing to start school next week. I feel like I've been preparing for months :) Anyway, here are some things that have been going on around here. Hope your week has been busy with your blessings too!

1. Joined some other homeschoolers for bowling on Monday. Only had to pay for the shoe rental $2 per child! Had a great time! Looking forward to next Monday.
2. Finished ordering our school books for the year. At least for now :) Can't wait for the new ones to come in. (Angel Food for Boys and Girls, CHC: A Year With God, Our birds and their nestlings to name a few.) These will all be part of our morning basket. Thanks Jennifer for such a beautiful idea!
3. Took Snuggle Bug and Buck to meet my parents at the tack shop on Wednesday. They bought a saddle and all of the fixins for Buddy. He's been at the trainer for a few weeks now. We are planning on going out for a visit/ride on Saturday. The kids are super excited about this!
4. Wednesday morning began with Children's Adoration and Benediction at our parish. It was so good to be there. Father Booth did such a nice job talking to the children. He encouraged them to talk to Jesus just as they talk to us (mom and dad). When this was over we walked across the street to the library. We were blessed to spend the day with special friends. I even got to love on my God daughter while she napped :)
5. Got my hair trimmed with my mom.
6. Had a wonderful book group meeting last night. We were finally all able to get together and discuss the first section of Graced and Gifted by Kimberley Hahn. On page 29 she states, "The Proverbs 31 woman ...works with willing hands. Another translation - makes cloth with skillful hands." She asks if there are skills we can acquire from others to help us cloth our family. Come to find out, we have several seamstresses in our group! I'm really hoping to learn to sew skirts with my girls. We all feel so much more feminine dressed in skirts!
7. Today I'm finishin' up our school supply shopping list. We are having a tax free shopping weekend so we are hittin the stores! Have a blessed weekend!

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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

Seven Quick Takes on Baptism Anniversaries

Today is Bucks 5th Anniversary of his Baptism. So Happy Christian Birthday Buck!

Here are 7 quick takes on celebrating:

1. Thank God for this gift.

2. Make a special meal to celebrate - Buck's favorite. Pancakes and Bacon. YUM




3. Light the baptism candle


4. Renew your baptismal promises

V. Do you reject Satan? R. I do. V. And all his works? R. I do. V. And all his empty promises? R. I do. V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth? R. I do.

V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father? R. I do.

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting? R. I do.

V. God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

5. Look at pictures/video from that special day.

6. Talk to or invite godparents or baptizing priest over for a visit.

7. Enjoy being together as a family on this day. Make sure to continue to emphasize how important this day is. Rejoice! You Are A Child Of GOD!!

Thanks Jessica for sharing this fun way to share.