'bout time...

DENVER (AP) - Denver Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput labeled Barack Obama the "most committed" abortion-rights candidate from a major party in 35 years while accusing a Catholic Obama ally and other Democratic-friendly Catholic groups of doing a "disservice to the church."

Chaput, one of the nation's most politically outspoken Catholic prelates, delivered the remarks Friday night at a dinner of a Catholic women's group.

His comments were among the sharpest in a debate over abortion and Catholic political responsibility in a campaign in which Catholics represent a key swing vote.

While Chaput has won praise from traditionalist Catholics for stressing opposition to abortion as a foundational voting issue, voices on the Catholic left have sought to apply church teachings to war, poverty, the environment and other issues.

Although the Catholic left is not new, several advocacy groups have either formed or ramped up activities since 2004. Partly, their efforts are a response to attention given to the pro-abortion rights stance of Democrat John Kerry, a Catholic who was criticized by a few bishops who suggested he should be denied or refrain from Communion.

"To suggest - as some Catholics do - that Senator Obama is this year's 'real' pro-life candidate requires a peculiar kind of self-hypnosis, or moral confusion, or worse," Chaput said according to his prepared remarks, titled "Little Murders."

The Obama campaign has been promoting an... endorsement from Douglas Kmiec, a Catholic law professor and former legal counsel in the Reagan administration.

Kmiec wrote a book making a Catholic case for Obama. He argues the Obama campaign is premised on Catholic social teaching like care for working families (by raising their taxes?) and the poor (he won't even help his own half-brother who lives in a hut in Africa on $20 a year?) and foreign policy premised on peace over war. (somehow if Obama is President then the Islamic extremists will just give up trying to kill us?)

While applauding Kmiec's past record, Chaput said: "I think his activism for Senator Barack Obama, and the work of Democratic-friendly groups like Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, have done a disservice to the church, confused the natural priorities of Catholic social teaching, undermined the progress pro-lifers have made, and provided an excuse for some Catholics to abandon the abortion issue instead of fighting within their parties and at the ballot box to protect the unborn."

Pro-Obama Catholics "seek to contextualize, demote and then counterbalance the evil of abortion with other important but less foundational social issues," said Chaput, who wrote a book this year, "Render Unto Caesar," about Catholics and politics.

Chaput emphasized he was speaking as a private citizen and not as a representative of the Denver archdiocese. The IRS prohibits clergy, in their role as clergy, from supporting or opposing candidates. Chaput already has said that Obama running mate Joe Biden, a Catholic, should not present himself for Communion because of his abortion rights position.

National Portrait Gallery

After lunch on Saturday Will, Mary, Maggie, and I hotfooted it over to the nearest Metro stop to see another museum on our "Must See in DC" list. After first getting on the wrong train, scuttling off red-faced at the next station, and then waiting for the train going downtown we emerged at the Chinatown station and walked across the street to the entrance of the Donald Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. We were thrilled to "spy" the International Spy museum catty-corner from the Metro station because Will and one of his aunties are planning on a one-on-one trip sometime soon.

Unfortunately my digital camera's batteries died right as I went to take my first picture, despite reminding myself this morning to put fresh batteries in my bag. Oh well. The first floor portraits consisted of many famous Americans, including inventors, writers, signers of the Declaration, and military men. We skipped the "Women of Our Time" exhibit and instead looked at paintings of Julia Ward Howe (wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic), Harriet Beecher Stowe (wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin), and Juliette Gordon Low (founder of the Girls Scouts). Upstairs we wandered through the America's Presidents exhibit featuring magnificent paintings of Washington, Lincoln, and Jackson. I was impressed by the children recollection of many people from their lessons in early American history including Ben Franklin, Marquis de Lafayette, Daniel Boone, and Meriwether Lewis. Will rattled off the 3 main differences of opinion between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton as we were standing in front of the latter's portrait, a sure sign of homeschooling excellence, that is, if anyone had been around to hear him.

The museum wasn't terribly crowded and we managed to get downtown, tour the portrait galleries, and make it back home in about 3 hours, quite do-able for an elementary age crowd. The little boys would have loved the train ride, but getting anything but a cursory glance at the paintings would have been almost impossible.

another good reason to homeschool

BALTIMORE, Maryland, October 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - At St. Thomas More Academy in Buckeystown, Maryland, students read classical literature and recite the rosary daily as part of an integrated, Catholic curriculum. The school is one that parents typically choose for its outstanding fidelity to Church teaching.

But when the young Academy recently petitioned the Archdiocese of Baltimore for official status as a diocesan Catholic school, they were told this was impossible unless Thomas More implemented the Archdiocese's "Human Sexuality" course. The course is a curriculum for elementary-age children that teaches sexuality "in a spiritual and developmental context as well as a biological context." In the introduction to the "Catechesis for Human Sexuality," the Archbishop writes that "because of the pervasive influence of many of the negative aspects of our society, parents need and should welcome assistance in carrying out their role."

Founder and president of Thomas More, Dr. James Merckel, however, did not wish to use the curriculum. He, as well as a number of Thomas More parents, felt the curriculum would be inappropriate for the public setting of a mixed classroom. When Merckel therefore requested dialogue to find a compromise on the issue, he was told that the curriculum was "non-negotiable." Merckel told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that, were he to accept the sexuality series, alarmed parents would withdraw at least one-fifth of the school's students. "That, financially, would destroy us," he said.

While Thomas More has succeeded in establishing itself as an excellent faith-based school, if not an officially Catholic one, Merckel said there are significant burdens involved in lacking recognition from the Archdiocese. Thomas More recently lost its accreditation status with the National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS) when, desperate to fill a position, they hired a non-Catholic teacher. Though this was the sole exception to the school's norm, which requires teachers to swear an oath of allegiance to the Magisterium, the hire was a breach of NAPCIS requirements.

This, in addition to being unable to celebrate Mass or prepare students for the reception of the Sacraments, has put Thomas More in a squeeze. "It's very awkward," said Merckel, adding, "Ecclesiastically we're correct, politically we're not."

While so far the Archbishop has refused to budge on the issue, documents issued by the Vatican appear to back up the school's position on how human sexuality should be taught. In its guidelines for appropriate sex education, the Vatican's Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education emphasized that all sex education, when conducted outside the home, must be in harmony with the wishes of parents. The Congregation quotes John Paul II, who speaks of the role of the school as "responsible for this education in service of and in harmony with parents."

In elaborating upon the family as being uniquely suited to teaching delicate matters, the guidelines state, "The fact remains ever valid that with regard to the more intimate aspects, whether biological or affective, an individual education should be bestowed, preferably within the sphere of the family. "It being understood from what has been said on the primary duty of the family, the rôle of the school should be that of assisting and completing the work of parents." The Catechism also firmly emphasizes that "the right of parents to educate their children is primordial and inalienable."

While the Archdiocese officially acknowledges parents' "essential role as the primary educators of their children," it has also rejected Merckel's attempt to compromise through a home-based course in chastity similar to ones used in other U.S. dioceses.

To contact the Archdiocese of Baltimore's Division of Catholic Schools:
Dr. Ronald J. Valenti, Executive Director
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Phone: 410-547-5515
schools@archbalt.org

The 2 main textbook options required by the diocese to teach sex education are Family Life, and Growing in Love. A little digging on the internet gave me these reviews:

Catholics United for the Faith (CUF) does not recommend Benziger Family Life because it violates several principles of Catholic chastity education. These principles were stated in The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, which the Pontifical Council for the Family published in 1995.

(1) Benziger Family Life is designed for use in a coeducational setting. Trying to teach chastity in such a setting violates the child’s privacy and modesty, and simply is counterproductive.
(2) Benziger Family Life does not ensure a respect for the different phases of childhood development. In particular, the program runs the risk of violating the child’s “years of innocence,” i.e., “latency” or prepuberty stage, presenting explicit, biological information prematurely and providing other materials that offend modesty. The Church unambiguously teaches that such explicit, immodest presentations can never be tolerated. Even during puberty and adolescence, moral education “must not include the more intimate aspects of sexual information, whether biological or affective, which belong to individual formation within the family”.
(3) Benziger Family Life possesses a flawed view that the primary cause of impurity is ignorance, not sin. This is seen by a continual focus on information, rather than formation. The program tends to inform sinners rather than form saints. BFL is also deficient in its presentation of Catholic doctrine, such as an inadequate treatment of original sin; failing to even mention, let alone distinguish between, mortal and venial sin; and making an inaccurate presentation on the human soul.
(4) Benziger Family Life ambiguously presents official Church teaching on marriage and family, specifically regarding contraception. In addition, the program recommends the works of others who dissent from Catholic teaching on marriage and family. Because of such referrals, and because of the program’s inadequate presentation on sin, the program does not have in place safeguards to help ensure that teachers faithfully communicate Church teaching on sensitive marriage and family issues.

Growing in Love mentions the Ten Commandments, though only briefly in grades 4-6. It discusses "conscience"; presents a positive picture of "parenting" (though not motherhood or fatherhood). It also discusses the sacraments, the Magisterium of the Church, includes stories about the saints, and even has a "Salvation History" strand. There are also quotations from Scripture and Church documents throughout the series. And Jesus is mentioned on almost every page -- although almost always as a model or an example; usually as our brother, but rarely as our Savior -- and never as our Judge. He is sometimes described as the Son of God and as fully human, but very much in the manner in which all people are described as children of God.

If a bishop, pastor, educator, or parent were to go through the GIL series with a checklist of all the things that are supposed to be included in any truly Catholic treatment of the subject of sex, most -- if not all -- items on the list would be found to be at least mentioned somewhere. One might plausibly conclude, therefore, that the program is really all right, that authentic Catholic teaching about marriage and sex and morality is "in there".This would be very wrong, however. Many of the "Catholic" things in the series appear, in fact, to have been included in order to be found in accordance with any possible Church "checklist" that might be employed. Often, however, the Catholic things found in these books bear little organic relation to the overall framework and content of the program.

..what is really intended to be imparted to children through this GIL series, what is effectively being taught through frequent emphasis and repetition is an almost wholly modern secular approach to the subject of sex. Why is such a seemingly sound and attractive Catholic sex education package unable to deliver the true Catholic goods to young people? After having carefully read through all of the materials, I believe the series would be, in fact, very harmful to Catholic children. This will be apparent in examining a number of "myths" that pervade the entire series, and that effectively supersede and cancel out the superficial Catholic elements it contains.

Now, if the Archbishop of Baltimore really believed what is contained in their strategy for Catholic schools, "the Strategic Plan for Catholic education recognizes the varied choices that parents exercise in determining the best educational environment for their children," then they would allow the parents of a Catholic school to decide what is appropriate without trying to shove a possibly harmful, secular, flawed, and dissenting sex education program onto their precious children without threats of eliminating access to the Sacraments.

carnival of homeschooling

The carnival for this week is up at Homeschool Buzz.

TORCH meeting

Last evening I left Tim and the children home (after we opened my husband's birthday gifts) and went to my first Mom's Night Out sponsored by the local Catholic homeschooling group. Of course I belonged to a local group down in NC, went to get-togethers there, but this was different in a special way.

In this one room was a collection of women with whom I shared a lifestyle that is so different than what is the norm. When I went to the hospital this past week to fill out paperwork for Baby Sunshine I was barraged with, "This is your 6TH baby?" insinuating that I belonged right next to the bearded lady at the freak show. Last night we played a funny introduction game and learned some interesting facts about each other. Best of all we shared how many children we had and how long we had been homeschooling. While there were a few moms just starting, the majority of the 30+ moms almost repeated each other, "We have 6 kids and we have been homeschooling for 8 years."

Here I didn't have the biggest family by far, here I wasn't the only mom foolish enough to attempt to teach 3 different grade levels, I wasn't the only person serious about my Catholic faith. Here were ladies who had put professional careers on hold for almost 20 years to stay home and educate their children. Last night's get-together was a wonderful way to begin our MD homeschooling adventure and I hope to make many friends within their ranks.

Watching a little too much...

Star Wars? Yesterday Will rearranged the structures in the backyard that were designed to hold firewood and organized a Jedi knight training school.

"Feel the Force Maggie!"

Udvar-Hazy field trip

I highly recommend going on field trips on Columbus Day or any other federal holiday when the local public school is still in session. We practically had the entire place to ourselves as well as our own private tour guide in my dh, Tim. As an avid reader of aviation and space history we got the full story of all the space missions, the background of most of the planes, and he had perfect "dad sense" to know exactly when the children's attention was wavering and move on to the next exhibit. Watching the planes landing at Dulles International from the observation tower. I never knew that the jets touch down at about 100mph and there is always a little plume of smoke from the wheels due to friction.Looking at lots of models of helicopters, including ones Charlie deemed, "wheely big."

The Enola Gay which dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima to compel the Japanese to end WWII.

The Space Shuttle Enterprise which was used to test landings, but was never sent into space. While the official posted rules said no food or drink we calmed a fussy toddler with liberal access to the baggie of Cheerios and a sippy cup. This lead to a quieter and more pleasant experience for all the visitors at the museum today. While I wouldn't allow any food in an art museum, it seemed pretty safe here. Next week's trip is likely to be at the National Portrait Gallery and the little ones will stay home, leaving all the famous paintings safe from grubby fingers.

the tourist to-do list

Since we are only going to be stationed in the DC area for 3 years and likely part of the last year the kids and I will move up to Maine to oversee the building of our new home, I felt compelled over the summer to compile "the list," places we absolutely must see. I want to attempt to stuff some culture in these children's minds while I have the opportunity. Once we are ensconced in Maine I don't anticipate coming back to this area. Why ever leave a place millions of people call Vacationland?

Mt. Vernon
Arlington National Cemetery (to visit the grave of my grandfather)
National Museum of American Art
National Museum of American History
National Portrait Gallery
National Postal Museum
National Zoo
Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum
Lincoln Memorial
Capitol (to see the Statuary Hall in the basement) *
National Archives
Bureau of Engraving and Printing *
National Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Phillips Collection
National Museum of Health and Medicine (I like the story of the Congressman who would go regularly to "visit" his leg on display. He lost it at Gettysburg)
National Geographic Explorers Hall
Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
National Aquarium
US Botanic Gardens
US National Arboretum (the bonsai collection is fantastic, I don't think the kids would be interested in much else)

*need tickets from our Senator/Representative

Tomorrow being a federal holiday we picked the easy-to-drive-to Udvar-Hazy branch of the Air and Space Museum as our first tourist pick. Between piano group lessons, Scouts, hour long drives to visit the aunties, and local parks we will be either driving and riding the METRO most weekends.

Any suggestions as to which attraction we should pick for next Sunday afternoon?

background noise

A new part of our homeschooling day is the constant roar of car and truck motors...

Catholic voting guide

Agnus Daily has a funny, yet poignant voter guide for all Catholics, especially those who believe that promoting "social justice" holds the same weight as the evil of abortion.

About a month beforehand I start to become obsessed about the daily ebbs and flows of presidential elections. Checking in with Drudge a couple of times a day, reading The Corner at National Review, listening intently to the sound bites on Rush Limbaugh has become part of my daily routine. However, this is the first year I have put a sign on my van, attended a political rally, or sent folks on the other side of the aisle information to help change their minds. The only thing I had left to do was vote. So I did. The absentee ballot was signed, sealed and delivered a few days ago to our town in Maine.

Go Sarah!

driving anxiety

I love to drive, so much that during college I would hop in the car to travel 300 miles just to have a home-cooked meal. (It helped that gas was only .99/gal.) I love singing along with the radio, arguing back with the talking heads, and imaging the lives of the folks who live along the way. When we PCSed to Italy I quickly figured out the roads and we took many trips to Pompeii, Positano, Sorrento, and the Abruzzi Mountains. I took driving there as a challenge, learning how to pass on narrow curving 2 lane roads, how to avoid the 3 wheeled trucks chugging along the A1 at 35 mph, keeping my eye out for the BMWs flying down the left lane ready to run into anyone that dared get in their way. Other wives refused to go anywhere, afraid of getting killed, but I pretended I was the next Mario Andretti.

Maybe it is because I'm approaching 40, maybe because I'm driving something that is closer in scale to a 18-wheeler than a Maserati, but I'm intimidated about driving here in DC and it is a little embarrassing. I don't want to be one of those grandmotherly types who drive 35mph no matter what the speed limit is. But I have a heightened sense of mortality when I pull out onto the Beltway, this could be our last trip to the Commissary or Costco. I'm afraid of getting lost with all these children in the car, finding a parking space, and even taking the METRO and having one of the little ones jump off the platform.

This seems to be some phobia that has just taken hold of my brain, but perhaps this happens to a lot of folks and I will eventually get used to it. Yesterday we managed to get to the hospital in one piece so I could get my "official" pregnancy test and get into the system and this afternoon we have a trip to IKEA planned (if all the schoolwork and piano practice is completed) to finish organizing the girl's room.

Likely I will look back at this post 2-3 years from now and laugh, "What a ninny I was!" but by then we will be headed to Maine for good where there are no traffic jams and even fewer crowds. It might be 3 times as far to the grocery up there, but on the way I might see 3 cars and nobody backs up on the highway.

carnival of homeschooling

The new carnival is up at Corn and Oil. The archives for all past carnivals is posted at Why Homeschool here.

a boy of few words

Timmy turned 2 over the summer and according to the experts he still has a very limited vocabulary. I can't say exactly how many words he should be saying since I threw away the What Your Toddler Should Be Doing guilt-inducing tome, but I would guess that our youngest child's 25 word list is far short of the mark of "what your 27 month old should be able to say."

But what Timmy does say cracks me up daily, "Bad Boy!" to Will when he won't give him a favorite tractor; "Yes Mam," to me whenever I ask, "Do you understand?" and he always comes downstairs in the morning saying, "Hi Frehie!" to the cat. His two favorite animals, Fluffy and Gedene (Geraldine), are mentioned constantly and can name everyone in family pictures except poor Charlie (who luckily doesn't seem to notice). Some of Timmy's favorite words have to do with the farm: tractor, turkey, tree, doggie, and it always makes me giggle when he shouts, "Frehie!" upon seeing a horse or cow.

Since we have been through this phase of toddlerhood before I don't worry half so much about what the "experts" say he should be able to accomplish at a certain age, as I probably have more experience observing children than most college professors who study development. Timmy is a perfectly normal little boy with a rapidly expanding vocabulary, a rapidly expanding appetite, and a rapidly expanding mommy. Before too long he will be saying many new words necessary for his 3rd year: baby, gentle, umbilical cord, cry, shhh, napping, nursing, and hospital.

getting back into the homeschooling groove

It only takes an alcoholic 1 drink to fall off the wagon and it only takes 1 week of not doing schoolwork for our schooling to suffer a similar fate.

Last week we had to clean, pack, and do all those last minute chores involved in winterizing a house, so we packed up the schoolbooks and decided to take a mini-vacation. Today was our first day back to the books in the new house, boy was it a struggle! For one thing it was a mistake to have the play room and the schoolroom be in the same space, but there wasn't another option so the older ones were frustrated by the noise level involved in snapping LEGOS together and stacking blocks.

Some of the work scheduled for the day was more intense than usual with Will finishing up a paragraph about getting lost in the woods and Mary having to study for a spelling quiz. When baby Timmy started screaming and hitting Charlie because he wanted every toy his brother picked up I hauled him up to take a time-out in the crib. We finally finished up the last assignment at 1:30pm and ate heartily of a late lunch.

Tomorrow will be a better day, if only because piano lessons begin again and I can't physically take a day more intense than this one.

better clothes organizing

I have always been a fan of stockpiling children's clothes, buying them at thrift stores and storing them in rubbermaid bins. Every 6 months or so I pull it all out and carry the "new" clothes upstairs to swap out with the too cold/too hot/too small clothes currently occupying dresser space. However, my bins have become a mess with size 12 stuff in with baby items and girl clothes in with boy stuff. Yesterday I discovered 10 pairs of pants that can fit Will in various locations. This was an expensive mistake, but I can take comfort knowing that he will wear some of them out, leaving the rest for Charlie and Timmy to grow into.

Last week I re-read The Tightwad Gazette III, a collection of articles from Amy Dacyczyn's newsletter. While some of the information is dated, I found her clothing organizing system to be the solution to my problem. The mother of 6, Amy made the same mistakes I did until she created a card for each child with the items needed down one side and the sizes across the top. She put a check mark for each item of clothing in its proper spot. This method allows her to see how many shirts/pants/coats are already in storage in each size. Since I just sorted out the winter gear for my brood now is the perfect opportunity to make up these cards for stocking up in the future.

1 day update: I took 2 hours to inventory all the boy's clothes. Now I just have to put the information onto cards. Luckily I only have to do this once, all that sorting wore me out. To recover I had to lie down with a bag of m&ms and a sudoku puzzle book for 45 minutes.

back to civilization

While I much, much prefer to be in Maine (despite the weather forecast for snow flurries tonight), it is nice to be back to a house with high speed internet. Having to drag 5 kids up to the library 12 miles away every week or so to post on their very weak and sporadic wi-fi was not the highlight of my summer vacation. It was spending time in the beauty of woods, fields, open space, and the stunning scenery Maine is famous for. Yesterday the leaves in the central portion of the state were in full color, the maple's red striking against the ash's yellow and the pine and fir dark green.

Our trip back was pretty uneventful, there were no traffic jams or overturned tanker trucks. Our only snag were during the first hour of the trip with Charlie and Maggie having to water the grass in the median 3 times. I also recommend that (and this is important for those traveling anywhere with small children) you do not stop at the Friendly's in Augusta, Maine for dinner on a Thursday night. It took 2 hours from walking in the door to pulling on everyone's jammies in the parking lot and pulling back onto I95. While the food was good and the food wars have expanded the children's repertoire, the folks I felt sorry for were the two blue-haired couples right behind us, smack between our bunch and a family with two truly obnoxious brats. I would guess that the children were about 4 and 6 who climbed on the table, stood in their chairs, whined, fussed, and/or yelled the entire time we were in the restaurant. At one point I overheard this very immature mother say, "Shoot me if I have more than 2 kids." "Lady," I muttered under my breath, "if I was as horrible a mother as you, more than 1 kid would be too much trouble."

Now we are back in suburbia land with instant access to the news and blogs, traffic you have to take into account every time you go out, and shopping opportunities not available in small town America. Only 2 years, 10 months left before we are back in Maine for good. Hopefully by then we can get fancy web access at the farm.

pack 'em up and move 'em out

We are in the midst of scouring every surface in the apartment, packing all our clothes, dropping off books to 3 local libraries, fitting in one last lobster dinner, and saying goodbye to our Maine friends. Please pray that we have a safe trip back down the East Coast on Friday.

Bye farm, see you next year!

Hail mary, Pray for us.. NOW!

While the kids and I have tromped around and explored every bit of the 17 acres of fields on the farm, we have not ventured more than a few dozen feet into the 20+ acres of woods. When we bought the property a few years ago I hiked along the property line with the previous owner and wished to refresh the spray paint blazes. Then on Friday Tim took a walk and reported back 90 minutes later that he had been around the entire perimeter. “If he can do it then I can too,” I thought to myself, but was prohibited by the rain for the next several days. So on Sunday afternoon, with a tropical storm heading our way and Tim off at Lowes with the little ones, I decided to take the two older children and see if we could accomplish my long put-off goal, start some sort of path around the property and refresh the blazes marking the property line.

We started off well, finding four or five orange streaks on tree trunks before we got hopelessly lost. In our efforts to find the clearest path through the scrubby fir and dead limbs we ended up going in a huge circle and I began to go through my list of favorite prayers that I use outside of prayer time when the children have nightmares or while crossing high bridges. After 2 hours had passed I wondered how long it would take Tim to realize that we were missing and call the police to organize a search party. While we were taking a thinking break we heard a car from a nearby 2 lane road, “Let’s go east out to the road and follow it back home,” Will suggested.

It took another 30 minutes of following old logging roads, walking single-file along the narrow median, and cutting across a neighbor’s hay field to get back to our own road. When we finally trudged up the driveway, we were all soaked to the skin and Mary was completely worn out.
Perhaps the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t go into the woods without a compass, a cell phone, and a very good sense of direction because sometimes you can get lost in your own backyard.

barn raising

Our next farm project is the construction of a machine shed/barn so we don’t have to store the tractor in the garage and have the smoke alarm go off every time Tim starts up the motor. There is room for a cow and a loft upstairs for hay storage. Yesterday the concrete crew came with 3 cement mixers to pour the foundation. Maggie and Mary finished their schoolwork in plenty of time, but when Will still had his English assignment left when someone hollered, “They’re here!” I let the work slide.

We all spent the next few hours observing the guys in rubber boots raking wet goo into all the corners up to the blue chalk line,

smoothing it out with huge skimmers, and perfecting the coat with huge machines that looked like fans turned on their sides. To document this moment in our family’s history I pushed each of the kid’s Crocs in the wet concrete in a corner and scratched their initials underneath. David, the builder, won’t start framing for a few weeks, so next summer when we pull back into the driveway we will see it completed and ready for our farming adventure.

off in the little "school" bus

This week must be field trip week with a trip Wednesday to the Cole Transportation Museum in Bangor, ME and an outing on Friday with friends to school day at the Common Ground Fair in Unity, ME. The kids knew that we would go see lots of cars, trucks, and fire engines if they finished their schoolwork quickly so by 10:45 we were out the door.

“Miss Hormonal” here got very teary-eyed when I read about the impetus for this private collection of artifacts. Apparently Galen Cole was a combat infantryman in WWII and lost his entire squad to a German tank gun. He made a promise to God that if he survived he would do his best to leave his community better than he found it. After 50 years of running a trucking company he saved enough money to build this museum.

We had a grand time walking up and down the aisles seeing lots of old snowplows, cars, trucks, soapbox derby winners, plows, railroad cars and a locomotive, tractors, and an authentic train station. I was struck by this line from their mission statement, “to inspire patriotism in young people and help build their aspirations --- after seeing what these Maine pioneers accomplished with hard work, honest endeavor, and primitive tools - to believe that with today’s improved knowledge, advanced equipment, and similar efforts, they also can become creative doers and builders of a bright future for themselves, their communities, and their fellow men.” After just seeing the lumberjack saws I had good reason to fully appreciate the farmers who first cleared the trees and rocks from our farm, planted crops, raised animals, and kept themselves warm in the winter without cars, tractors or efficient furnaces.

Appropriately we finished up our expedition with lunch at Dysart’s truck stop, including a mighty fine apple crisp.

prayer request

Tim is flying down to Florida on Wednesday and taking his sub-specialty boards Thursday. After a year of training and months of intense studying, it all comes down to one test. Luckily he has been through this before- 3 times and passed with flying colors every time. He then will hop on the overnight train out of DC and we will pick him up at the station Saturday morning.

Please join us in praying for his safety and passing the boards, hopefully the last test he ever has to take. If you don’t mind, pray that everything here gets ship-shape for his arrival without me hollering at the children too much. “Get off that just mopped floor! Do you want Daddy to think we lived in squalor all summer?”

real life biology 101

Our first several weeks of school have gone pretty smoothly, especially considering I have two little boys constantly underfoot and not a single toy in the house with which to distract them. Maggie is so enthusiastic about the two subjects she can do alone that she is now on page 95 of the handwriting book and is on page 46 in phonics. Mary and Will finish their assignments in about 3 hours, leaving plenty of time in the afternoons for visiting friends, horse lessons, and constructing a homemade “fair” on the swing set.

Extra science lessons are built in naturally over the course of the day. While touching a blue salamander that now lives under the turned-over wheelbarrow is pretty neat, learning about yellow jacket nests is dangerous, especially for poor Charlie who has been stung 14 times so far this summer. The destruction of these nasty creatures has been my project, yesterday I set out at 6am armed with a shovel and cans of wasp spray to exact revenge on a swarm that had stung me near an old stone wall. Later I showed the kids part of the paper nest with wasp larvae emerging and described the fat queen.

Every day we have at least one sighting of the wild turkeys who slowly stroll through the fields eating bugs and seeds. Today they came so close to the house that I joked to Maggie, “That big tom is going to try out your bicycle. Maybe his friend wants to jump onto the swings.”

One evening last week Will and Mary raced in hollering, “Where’s the camera??” Unfortunately by the time they ran back across the fields, the porcupine that had been lumbering toward them on the mown path had disappeared.

Once we get back to Maryland in a few weeks the children will be sadly disappointed to learn biology from books, with only the occasional trip to the park as a supplement.

September 11

All day yesterday I debated taking the children to see a Sept 11 film being shown at a nearby college. While I didn’t want to expose them to graphic images that would give them nightmares, I wanted to see some of the footage of that day for myself. I recall sitting at the kitchen table listening to the radio 7 years ago and hearing the news reporters make one gasping announcement after another, “A plane has struck the second tower!” and later, “One of the World Trade Towers has collapsed!” Back then I was grateful to be spared seeing live video, but I felt it was time to look back and remember.

Our lives were in a transition that week, having just picked Tim up at the Norfolk Naval Base airport a few days before. The kids and I had come back from Italy in May, packing up before late summer when all Italians go on vacation themselves and getting a crew to show up is next to impossible. The plan was to set out on a trip to Maine before Tim had to check in at his new command on a amphibious ship. We figured on going to the fair, eating lobster, and taking long walks on the rocky beach before gearing up for an inevitable deployment. I remember driving up along the highways in New Jersey seeing Old Glory tacked up at every overpass, but that was nothing compared to the hundreds of American flags displayed along Route 1 once we crossed over into Maine. Every town was lined with tiny flags in their yard, a witness to the patriotism of people who named towns founded during the War between the States Union and Freedom, Liberty and Unity.

So, last night I was a little apprehensive about how I was going to cover 5 pairs of eyes with only two hands, but I needn’t have worried. The film was very artsy, only showing the attack itself for a few moments before focusing on the ash and paper debris, the burned out cars and buildings, the exhausted firefighters walking around in a maze with no one to rescue for the next 40 minutes. There was no talking, no description of the other crashes that day, no record of heroism, or even mention of the 3000 people killed by Islamic fanatics. It was a strange and disappointing movie, but I was grateful we took time out of our day to play patriotic music and sing along loudly in the car, to pray for the souls of the departed and their families still mourning, and to remember the sacrifices of our soldiers fighting overseas so we have do not have another terrorist attack on our soil.

My country,' tis of thee,

sweet land of liberty,

of thee I sing;

land where my fathers died,

land of the pilgrims' pride,

from every mountainside

let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,

land of the noble free,

thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,

thy woods and templed hills;

my heart with rapture thrills,

like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,

and ring from all the trees

sweet freedom's song;

let mortal tongues awake;

let all that breathe partake;

let rocks their silence break,

the sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to thee,

author of liberty,

to thee we sing;

long may our land be bright

with freedom's holy light;

protect us by thy might,

great God, our King.

big announcement

Well, I guess I should make it official: #6 “Baby Sunshine” is on the way, due in the middle of March. While we weren’t expecting this, it is welcome news. What else could a baby be? I suppose we will have to buy a bigger kitchen table so we can all fit, but that is a small price to pay for another soul from God.

This past weekend we told our families and the reactions ranged from, “I thought you would have been satisfied with 5 children,” to “We are just so thrilled!” The one thing everyone agreed on was that the names we picked were just perfect. I had promised Mother 1 year and 3 days ago that if I had another girl I would name her after her Grammy. “Please God let it be Julia, but if Henry appears then we will still be happy.”

As for my running schedule, well it got chucked as soon as I saw that blue line in the bathroom. There is always time to train and compete, after all I saw 80 year old ladies in some of races I was in this past year, but not one of them was pregnant.

the food wars return

My children are picky eaters I admit, but they get it all from their father. The only member of his family to eat vegetables is his younger sister who fell in love with a vegetarian. Tim will eat small quantities of asparagus or green beans when it is socially required, but I don’t think a lettuce leaf has ever touched his lips.

I don’t mind the kids not liking bratwurst or cabbage soup, borscht or scrapple, pickles or olives; foods on my list of things I don’t care for, but my kids turn up their noses at cheeseburgers and luncheon meat, at rice and mashed potatoes, at eggs and oatmeal. It has become unbearable for me because when I cheerfully call out, “Lunch!” I will hear, “No peanut butter on Charlie’s, only apple jelly for Will…”

“Enough,” I say, “with your father still in Maryland, you will eat what is put in front of you or starve!”

Tuesday’s meals: oatmeal, Lunchables (I got Wasses hotdogs with chili and cheese, yum!), and blueberries and peas.
Wednesday’s meals: scrambled eggs, naked spaghetti with lots of Parmesan cheese, and corn and blueberries.
Thursday’s meals: scrambled eggs and bacon, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, and pasta with meat sauce.
Friday's meals: french toast, ramen noodles, and cheese tacos

So far several of the kids have found to their amazement that they actually like the food that I have forced on them. Maggie is the most stubborn of the lot, I recall 3 years ago trying to wean her off baby food and having her go 5 days without eating more than a tablespoon of nutrition.
I have to get them to learn to eat more things than just fruit, dairy, and grains- they need protein to grow and veggies for the vitamins. They just have to be able to eat with other people in their homes and restaurants, and I need to be able to cook just one thing per meal, not 3 separate orders. I am a mommy, not a short order cook. I need to encourage myself to keep strong and not fall back on mac and cheese or cereal because I know they will eat it. On Saturday we will try something exotic after our trip to the big city and stop by the truck stop for cheeseburgers.

One day the children will say, “Gosh Mommy, this meal is really tasty. I’m so sorry I gave you such a hard time at the dinner table all those years.” I’m just not holding my breath it will happen with all of them this week.

“Mommy, Why are you screaming?”

Sarah Palin is a faithful Catholic, pro-life, a member of the NRA, a mom of 5 including a soon-to-be-deployed to Iraq soldier, a dynamic speaker, and a politician with loads of experience. As I drove the kids home from sailing lessons this afternoon listening to her inspiring and patriotic speech in Dayton, Ohio I started crying. This is a politician I can be enthusiastic about, someone to vote for rather than just the better of two bad choices.

God bless John McCain for today’s pick. As a former leftist feminista I want to see a woman succeed - but now I am excited when that woman is conservative. She blows the liberal candidates out of the water with her life experiences and her positions.

I was skimming about on-line and found this great bit from Mark Hemmingway at NRO:

"One of McCain's recurring jokes is that in the Senate he's not known as Miss Congeniality. Well, it turns out that back in her beauty pageant days, Palin actually was Miss Congeniality.

Which is not to say Sarah Barracuda is soft. While I was familiar with her political accomplishments and a few personal details, until I read that piece in the Alaska Daily News linked above, I had no idea how compelling her biography is. Her credentials as a committed wife and mother on top of her political success are excellent and I suspect they will appeal to soccer moms and — dare I say it — those with a feminist streak. As for men, she's a hunter and a former championship basketball player and sportscaster. She clearly knows how to connect with the overwhelmingly male electorate in her state. Also, her husband, who Palin calls "the First Dude", is an oil worker, fisherman and three time winner of the 2,000 mile Iron Dog snowmobile race, who sounds like the kind of manly hombre NASCAR dads will appreciate.

(Remember how giddy people were over the fact that Hillary did a beer and a shot on the trail? I suspect Palin could down a whole bottle of Wild Turkey and still hit six more campaign stops that day.) This is an admittedly informal indicator, but based on the way my inbox is filling up and my phone is ringing, nothing the McCain campaign has done to date comes close to generating the enthusiasm of the Palin pick. "


updated: Gov. Palin isn't Catholic, thank you Karen for letting me know. With no internet at the house, I can't research like I am used to doing. There may be many theological differences between Catholics and evangelical Protestants, but our love for country, God, and family puts us on the same side on many political issues.

the start of school approaches

I had 3 summer homeschool goals: for Will to write his field trip report for history, for Mary to slog through Singapore 2A math, and for Maggie to start Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Despite moving (twice!) and squeezing in sailing lessons, horse 4H time, and expeditions to the beach, we have managed to get most of these goals met.

The whole crew went to Prospect, Maine and learned about Fort Knox which was begun in 1844 against a possible British naval attack and was never finished, much less used. The kids sat on cannons, climbed into dark passages, scaled the roofline, and almost got completely lost.

We also braved our (okay, my fear) of heights and whooshed up 42 stories in the fastest elevator in the state to the top of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. The view was superb as we could see the entire fort, the Penobscot River, the town of Bucksport, and as far as Blue Hill. Later Will and I sat down and worked on his report, sending it in to Seton the next day.

Mary is finishing up week 11 in her math, and despite the moans, groans, and demands for a Skittle for finishing her daily work, she has mastered addition and subtraction. While I am not pleased that we wasted 2 years using MCP workbooks, I have hope that one day she will at least be able to balance her own checkbook. Slow and steady will lead to mastering arithmetic and I am finally willing to back up far enough to accomplish that rather than succumb to my own pride at having a child be “a year ahead.” One of the benefits of home schooling is allowing each kid to work at his own pace- ahead, behind, or the same as kids in public school. Mary is evidence of that by being in 4 different grade levels in her studies.

Maggie is my most eager learner and we have dutifully spent most afternoons plodding through 100 EZ Lessons, having finished #33 today. She has gone from struggling between L and I sounds to reading 2 sentence stories. In addition, I have bought several Random House Step Into Reading books struggling through on the first go-around, only to hear her reading them fluently over and over to Charlie in the following days. She has been my most predictable reader, which I appreciate after “perhaps I will learn to read before I go to college” Will and “ I taught myself to read in secret” Mary.

We will start in earnest on schoolwork in a week or so, but I still want them to be able to enjoy our last remaining month in Maine catching frogs, working on Pine Stump fort deep in the woods, and riding bikes with no fear of cars. The kids have dutifully practiced the piano, worked on Cub Scout pins, and read more fiction than I thought possible. As we start our 6th year of home schooling, I think we are better prepared than ever and sufficiently rested to tackle another challenging, yet fun session of learning.

making Maine memories

Summer in Maine has finally appeared, though a little too late for vacationers and kids going back to school. The sun has been shining for more than a few hours allowing hay to be cut and baled. Our little crew took advantage of the warm weather and headed out to our favorite quiet swimming spot. While it now takes about an hour’s drive, including a long slog through the woods to pull into sight of the water, we were rewarded with hours of fun.

Will and Mary blew up the inflatable dingy and proved their rowing prowess by taking the smaller children on rides.

After Mary took Maggie and Charlie on a hike out to a small rocky point, Will met them with the boat and took them across to a tiny island dotted with scrubby bushes.

While there weren’t any blueberries on the island, Mary and Timmy and I found bunches on the hike back and sampled a few of the dainty treats. I tried to take the boat out, but found out that rowing is a lot harder than it looks. All I managed to do was go in circles.

We spotted a bald eagle soaring overhead, but when 3 cars pulled up I decided that the beach got a little too crowded and packed everyone in the car for the trek home. These sorts of afternoons are what the children remember about their summers in Maine, as well as the days of exploring the woods and fields on our farm. While one day I might be able to push off the beach in a canoe for a peaceful paddle, I will treasure the memories of a noisy day at the pond in my mother’s heart.

the highlight of summer

I love going to the fair. Not the state fair, with hundreds of thousands of people and big name musical acts on stage, but the small home-town Union Fair, held each August in Union, Maine. There are chickens,

sheep...

pigs...

and cows

from local farms competing for prizes, ox and antique tractor pulls, greasy and sticky sweet fair food, the demolition derby, and of course amusement park rides - the kind your mother wouldn’t let you go on as a child because they didn’t look safe.

We have been attending this fair since we only had 2 children, which goes back 5-6 years, always letting the kids have 1 day to get bracelets so they can ride as many times as their stomach will allow. Every year there are the old favorites such as the carousel, the giant slide, and the fun house, new ones such as the Speedway, and surprisingly the “Spooky Ride” returned from a 2 year hiatus to the older children’s delight. Poor Timmy wasn’t tall enough to ride anything but the motorcycles that went round-and-round , but he enjoyed his 2 turns so much that I had to pry his little hands off the chrome handlebars.

7 hours might seem to be plenty of time to see all the sights, but it comes too quickly for little ones. Despite the howls of protest I knew I had picked a good time to go when I looked in the rear view mirror a few miles outside of town and saw 5 snoring children slumped over the seats of the van. By the time we got back to the house it was pitch dark and I had to shake both Will and Mary hard to get them to wake up long enough to climb the stairs and get into their jammies.

I was proud of my crew, they were well behaved and responsible for each other so there were no temper tantrums or frantic searches for lost children. In fact, since they were so good I promised a return on Saturday for the pedal tractor races, the parade, and another shot at the free bicycle raffle.

A fine day in Maine

The other day we had some old friends visit the farm, and we all had a fine time showing off the apartment/garage, the garden, the fields, and the new building project. For the past few mornings two dump trucks, an excavator (which I always call a steam shovel in honor of Margaret Wise Brown’s Mike Mulligan), a bulldozer, and a roller have all been in place in our front yard. Our machine shed/barn is now well under way with at least 15 truck loads of gravel already spread and packed down. When we found that 6 year old Daniel was coming, I exclaimed, “You picked the perfect day, it is construction central around here!”

My favorite scene was seeing all 4 boys lined up against the garage doors for over 30 minutes staring at all the equipment in use. First the dump trucks took turns backing up and letting go of their load, the bulldozer scraping it all smooth, followed by the roller smashing it all down to a shiny finish.

Later all the kids played on the swing set, picked huge bouquets of wildflowers, and erected a rope swing in an old oak tree. Will got out several saws and the boys hacked down enough saplings from the edge of the woods (I wanted them down anyway) for everyone to have their own. For the next 20 minutes they raised them up to standing, only to shout, “Timber!” and giggle as they crashed to the ground. Amazingly enough, no one lost a finger from the sharp saws or an eye by the plethora of falling branches.

Our little guest very politely walked up to me next to the garden and said quietly, “Thank you Katherine for the nice time. I liked playing on your farm.”

Anytime Daniel, anytime.

switched at birth?

After the past few weeks I am convinced that none of the children living here actually belong to me. Oh yeah, they are all the spitting image of Tim and I, they all share common traits, and Mary was actually the only baby present at the Naval Hospital in Naples during our 2 day stay, but their behavior recently has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are strangers.

I am a relatively quiet person, introspective and needing blocks of quiet time each day to recharge. I cringe when immersed in constant upheaval and noise. The cramming of 6 people in 4 rooms for rainy days on end has resulted in my head pounding from the bickering, the fussing, and the mess I have been subjected to by these little creatures. Tim is even more of an introvert than I am, so it would make sense for us to have 5 bookworms who love to read for hours, take long rambles through the woods, stay neat and tidy, and finish what they start. The only place these children are quiet is at Mass, which I am grateful for, but it would be nice if they were like that all the time. My other proof, backed up by elementary genetics is that NONE of the children are left-handed, despite the fact that both their so-called parents are, two recessive genes automatically result in that recessive trait in the offspring.

So, there you have it. If you know of any quiet, nerdy left-handed children that don't seem to fit into your household perhaps we could consider switching them back to their proper families. I would enjoy the reduced noise level, but would miss hearing, "I love you Mommy," and, "Goodnight, sleep tight, see you in the morning."

blueberry pie

So far this month I have not had any lobster, but I have made blueberry muffins, blueberry bread, and yesterday undertook the baking of my very first blueberry pie. The children practically inhale both the bread and muffins, but the 5 cups of blueberries enclosed in flaky pie crust were for my enjoyment alone. Every summer I wait anxiously for the first week of August when the fields are filled with backs bent low raking through the shrubbery. It appears to be exhausting work, I willingly skip the pick-your-own fields to buy a large box already winnowed and pack them up in the freezer to enjoy all summer.

This afternoon we are in town yet again, this time to visit the car dealership and visit the local diner that serves delicious soups on yet another rainy cool day. Will had been clambering all week for the opportunity to camp out in the tent, but at 4am was driven inside by drizzle. I can only be grateful that we have plenty to keep us occupied after I decided that the children were better served by starting school than staring out the window or playing computer games. Several acquaintances have related stories of vacationing friends who have been forced inside during their entire stay, not being able to swim, bike, sail, or hike due to the horrible weather. I am expecting that the sun will begin to shine again and the temperature to rise once the public schools officially begin, leaving the parks, beaches, and beauties of Maine for those of us unconstrained by the rigid schedule of such institutions.

oh where, oh where is that global warming?

Since arriving in Maine 3 weeks ago we have experienced only 1 day of summer. I am so grateful we took full advantage and spent the afternoon paddling in the surf, digging holes, and getting sunburnt at the lake since almost every other day we have experienced mist and rain and temperatures more in keeping with October in New England.

Yesterday we were all trapped inside with the heat turned on and with a background symphony of tinny music punctuated with a frequent honk of blowing noses and sneezes. I only brought one computer game to help entertain the children, but even The Oregon Trail gets boring after playing it daily for 2 weeks. Perhaps it was a bad idea but in desperation, I taught the older kids to play Spider Solitaire- a time-sucking, mind-numbing game if ever there was one. Tim promised that he would find and send several old favorites such as I Spy, and even the builder offered to look through his kid's stash for anything appropriate. I only hope for a return to blue skies and the opportunity to kick all the children outside and enjoy a currently elusive beautiful Maine summer.

light blogging ahead

Well, we are up in Maine and Tim left this morning to head back to check in at his new command. He certainly enjoyed driving his tractor, moving dirt piles and mowing the acres and acres of grass. He also bought a rototiller attachment so I now have 300+ square feet of garden to rake and plant. The apartment is almost finished and it is so bright and easy to clean that I actually look forward to dry mopping all the rooms and sweeping it all up in the mudroom at the bottom of the stairs. However, one piece in the puzzle is missing, the internet one. I tried for 4 hours to get simple dial-up installed on my ancient computer, but gave up for good when the modem crashed and burned. My next step is to convince Tim that a laptop would be simple because so many libraries and and places have wi-fi and I wouldn't have to sit on hold for 30 minutes with the phone company again. So, for now my only access to email or the blog is at the library while listening to a riot in the background, "Can I play on the computer now? " "Mommy help me look for a new Littles book." "I need help in the potty!"

So bear with me and soon I shall be back on-line with time to read and write about what is going on in the world, at least the large Catholic homeschooling family part.

Are the kids having any fun?

My dear sister-in-law was quite concerned last week when we called to chat, "What are the children doing up there on the farm? Do they have any toys to play with? Are they having any fun?" Perhaps it sounded like a labor camp when I described having to move the 100-odd moldy and soggy hay piles that were left on the fields by the tractor mower because we couldn't get up to Maine until the grass was 4 feet tall. Or maybe it was the distance to town and lack of regular opportunities to play with a myriad of other children. But I can reassure her and any other worriers that the children are having a wonderful time, despite the chores and days of downpours we have been having.

Fun activities this past week:

pitching hay into a cart
sleeping on blowup mattresses and bouncing on them in the morning
sitting on Mommy's lap on the riding lawn mower and steering
picking up rocks out of the new garden and firing them them at dead trees in the woods
discovering baby field mice under a hay pile
finding little snakes, but not the stabbing them accidentally with the pitchfork (Poor Mary was traumatized until we saw the snake later doing just fine)
sliding down the giant dirt pile until all their clothes and skin turned a deep rich brown
climbing all over the tractor turning all the lights on and off
tromping through the fields on an "explore"
picking unripe apples and seeing who could throw the furthest
shooting Will's new BB gun
visiting our friend Jennifer and her relations: 17 children playing outside together
chatting up the builder and helping him paint trim
playing pirate ship on the new bunk beds
going to sailing class in town
collecting bucketfuls of orange slugs and crickets
following paths in the woods along the old rock walls
building ships, birdhouses, and lots of other stuff out of wood scraps
watching the linesman hook up the new phone by raising himself in the giant bucket
going to the library, checking out 4 bags of books, and reading them all in 3 days
watching their Daddy set off illegal fireworks that echoed off the trees

Nope those kids aren't having a bit of modern day fun. No TV, no computer games, no toys except a few stuffed animals and some stacking cups in the bathtub. Only good old fashioned creative and imaginative fun allowed here. I am determined that their summer up in Maine is only an opportunity to torture and break their little spirits. However, it could have the opposite reaction and they might never want to leave and return to suburbia.

more price increases

I like listening to Clark Howard on the radio, but don't care for the commercials and the whiny callers, "I have $10,000 in credit card debt and I can't stop buying stuff...help!" It is much more efficient to read his daily show notes at his website and be able to read the week's highlights in 5 minutes. I found this little blurb particularly gratifying, especially after unpacking 30+ containers of shampoo and shaving cream acquired for pennies by combining coupons with sales. Somehow I didn't get any conditioner, but now am glad because I will just get the big bottle of Tressame, which works wonderfully on long straight hair like Mary's and mine.

Procter & Gamble is soon to bump up prices by as much as 16% on brands like Tide, Ivory, Gillette shaving cream, etc. (diapers are going up in price too) That means there's never been a better time to try off-brands or store brands; in many cases, the quality of the product is just as good. For example, there's little difference between cheap and costly shampoos. In his TV work, Clark once interviewed a professor who chemically analyzed different shampoos and confirmed their sameness. Conditioner, however, is a different story. So if you must blow money, buy a cheap shampoo and splurge on a nice conditioner. But Clark's message stands: Ignoring store brands is risky for your wallet. You could save between 30% and 60% by going the generic route.

unpacking and getting settled

A wonderful sight greeted us at breakfast this morning, two hard working men in grey proceeded to spend 10 full minutes shoving this mountain of boxes,


into the back of the County recycling truck. Yesterday while I was on the phone chatting with Michelle of rosetta stone, the kids dismantled my carefully stacked piles and made a huge fort spreading across the yard. Of course they all helped stack it back up, even though a certain 8 year old's attitude needed a tiny bit of adjusting.

My energy level and attitude have been flagging too, it is impossible to go-go-go day after day without some down time. However, I can't wait to get to Maine and get started on all the projects I have planned for the farm. Of course first I have to unpack two POD storage units sitting in the front yard and organize yet another house. But I'm sure that a few walks along the shore will restore my spirits.

I only have a few days left to give the house here needed a little more TLC so we invited Cousin Ann to help hang pictures. She has a fabulous eye for color and I have to say that her idea of putting the Chinese ancestor paintings over the mantel in the kitchen was terrific.

Many of the pictures and pieces of furniture we have acquired have come from family or have an interesting story (at least to me) and this set is no exception. The originals belonged to my grandfather and because my mother loved them so, her mother and sister made copies - painted them by hand and gave them to her for Christmas about 10 years ago. When mother died I so much wanted to feature them prominently in my own home to remind me of these 3 very special women in my life. Now I will have sweet memories of the past while I share bread with the family God has entrusted to my care.

Kumon workbooks

Last month Mary and I went out shopping for Charlie's birthday gifts. He was turning 4 and I found it difficult to find something for a child already inundated with matchbox cars, tractors and dump trucks, and a passed down complete Brio train set. Finally after Mary picked out her gifts of Thomas the Tank Engine Stickers and a Pooh workbook at the $1 store, we found the perfect thing: "schoolbooks" just like the big kids get to use but designed for little people. I bought My Book of Easy Mazes and My First Book of Cutting, both geared for the 3-4 year old crowd.

Charlie so enjoyed his gift that after unwrapping them he immediately decided to get started, plowing through 2/3 of the Mazes book by lunchtime. The cutting book was a big hit while we were waiting at the pediatrician's a few days later. Unexpectedly I found an email shortly afterwards from Kumon, asking me if they could send me some of their products in exchange for a review on the blog. I replied, "This is so coincidental..."

When the box arrived, it contained 5 workbooks and a box of letters on cards to trace with dry erase markers. The little ones have already finished 3 of their workbooks and the rest are in the box to haul up to Maine so they can "do school" while Mary works on her math. I really like that Kumon focuses on one task and is full of colorful, but not cutesy-commercial pictures. While I'm not much on structured work for the preschool set, I like these workbooks to give a child a low key, but effective learning activity.

carnival of homeschooling

Last week's carnival was hosted by Super Angel, while this week's carnival is hosted by red sea homeschool.

soon to be a published writer!

As I scrolled through the 80+ emails in my inbox yesterday I found one very exciting one from an editor at Cricket Magazine. Way back when I was expecting baby Timmy, I signed up for one of those writing classes you find advertised in the back of magazines, "Take this test and see if you would make a good children's book writer." My mother poo-pooed the idea, but Tim encouraged me to give it my best shot, despite my already busy schedule. Two years later I received my little little diploma and only a few days later this email appeared:

Thank you for sending the revision of “Beachcombing: A Window into the Past” for our review. Our editorial staff has now had the chance to discuss the new manuscript, and I’m happy to report that we’d like to accept your article for publication in Spider, with your permission to edit it in-house.

Editing is standard practice at Cricket Magazine Group... The editing process takes from four to six months, after which time you will have an opportunity to see and approve all changes.

At this time, I’m unable to tell you when the story will appear in print. We work eight months in advance of issue date and have a number of manuscripts awaiting assignment. After I receive your go-ahead, I’ll begin editing the manuscript and will send you an edited copy within the next few months.

I'm thrilled that a professional thinks my writing is pretty good, this acceptance will give me the nudge I need to start working on a new piece. Tim has been our resident writer with a dozen articles under his name, but he will be happy to share the spotlight, especially if it is followed by a check arriving in the mail.

a very long internet-less week

I meant to write a farewell from North Carolina post, but I had been so efficient in my pre-packing boxing up of stuff that Monday morning I was informed by the moving crew that they could condense our last 4 days in Chapel Hill to 2. I jumped at the opportunity to save leave and get to Maine faster. Now we are safely up in Maryland with 99% of our things unpacked and unscathed, I can give you the condensed version of our adventure in moving.

Monday: The packers were so fast that I had to run from room to room pulling items out of boxes that I had forgotten to set aside- like the big knife to cut the watermelon I was planning on serving Tuesday at lunch. I rescued the knife (imagine trying to cut up a watermelon with plastic cutlery), but wasn't so lucky with the coolers. To transport all our condiments in the car for 6 hours I hit Target one last time for a new jobby on wheels. I'm not so sure it wouldn't have been cheaper to just buy new ketchup, so don't mention it.

Tuesday: A pretty uneventful day other than watching all our items roll onto the truck, though seeing 4 men strain to push our piano up the ramp made me very grateful I am a mommy and not a day laborer. We said goodbye to all our friends at the pool and camped on the floor in an empty house.

Wednesday: The kids and I hit the road in the rain for the trek northward, stopping at the National Battlefield in Petersburg to show the kids where their great-great-great-grandfather fought during the Civil War. I think the kids will remember eating the bag of Cheetos in the rain more than the historical aspects of the walk. The trip was lengthened considerably by the fact that we had to stop every 50 miles so Charlie "tiny bladder" C. could use the facilities. Usually we just pulled over and just let him water a bush, but Maggie was joining him on the little blue pot (stashed under the seat at all times for such emergencies as this) about every other time. Luckily I didn't hear any whining from the backseat after Fredricksburg, as the Capitol Beltway is not known for a a supply of places to pull over without getting in a wreck.

Thursday: We waited impatiently for the movers to arrive and then assisted them in unloading the truck under the assumption that "the faster they get finished, the faster they will leave." Finally the truck pulled away at 5 pm, leaving us in silence and surrounded by mounds of boxes up to the ceiling.

Friday: Tim and I were awakened at 5am by our king size bed collapsing. We took the bed apart and reassembled it to only find it gone wonky again by midday. We must have set a record of the number of boxes unpacked in one 8 hour period as the basement would have been awash in cardboard until Will started breaking them down with his trusty pocketknife. In no time there were a half-dozen tidy stacks in the carport awaiting trash/recycle pickup day. Timmy felt very warm and while Tim went to the grocery to pick up some baby Tylenol, I checked his temperature- 103.4. Right after he reluctantly swallowed the grape goo he promptly vomited it all down the front of my shirt. Since the baby was the sickly one, he got first dibs on the bath and I had to wait patiently for my turn to scrub with Softsoap. The mango scented gel works great to eliminate any unwanted odors I'll have you know!

Saturday: Finally we discover and remedy the bed issue with a rug pad on the floor. Previously we had carpet and the rounded posts had something to grip, on wood floors they slipped under any pressure. Another day of unpacking and hefting boxes of books that were misdirected by the movers. Since the adult books are mostly on the first level and the children's tomes are in the basement, my muscles got a real workout.

Sunday: We wake the kids up early for Mass, explaining to them as they whined about their lack of sleep, "We can go to Mass 15 minutes away at an inconvenient time or we can go to Mass later and spend 45 minutes getting there. Mommy and Daddy pick the closer one. Brush your hair and teeth and get dressed." Good behavior was rewarded with doughnuts in the social hall afterwards and we were home by 9:30am. After a year of spending our entire Sunday in the car getting to and from Mass, this was a real treat. I took the opportunity to take a long nap and thoroughly enjoyed it.

and finally...

Monday (today): As we pull out onto the main road heading for the grocery store Tim called to say that he and Will safely arrived at the farm in Maine. It is still a 15 hour trek since there is traffic no matter what time you drive through New Jersey (even 2am), but he told me that the yellow siding looks great and the neighbors have commented on how pretty our little apartment/garage is. All afternoon we waited patiently for the Verizon guy to arrive to hook up the phone and internet, finally pulls up at 4:30pm, and staying 3 hours before informing me that my ancient 7 year old computer will not work with our new fancy wireless system. (Well, Tim promised me a new laptop soon anyway). The phone/internet up in Maine won't be working for 2 weeks so I will be dependant on trips to the library to email and post. Well, such is just one small sacrifice in the life of a military spouse, I hope you will understand my sporadic posting in the next few weeks until I get everything running smoothly again.

As our good friend Tigger says, Ta-ta for now!"

helicopter vs free-range moms

I admit that I try to be a 1950's mom, letting my kids have a good deal of freedom that seems to be lacking in the lives of many of today's children. The older kids ride their bikes to piano lessons and scouts, are allowed to walk to the pool by themselves, and hang out with their friends outside for hours each day. I don't overscheldule their days, giving them plenty of free time to goof off, read, and be kids. At the playground I have always been the mommy who sits on the park bench reading a book or chatting rather than hovering beside each child. If they get hurt I encourage them to pick themselves up, dust off, and get back to playing. I have found that they end up being more resilient and not as prone to theatrics. I like to have a general idea of where the children are, but have never contemplated getting any of them a cell phone or installing a GPS chip under their skin.

After reading this article in Newsweek I took a "mommy quiz" to determine my parenting style. The results confirmed what I suspected, how we parent is based primarily on our distinct personality and so there is no "one right method" of raising children. Many times I have read a book or article that states in bold print, "The Best Way to Not Raise Brats!" and every paragraph assumes that all mothers tend to be too much of a push-over. If we can remember that each of our children were given to us by God himself and learn our parenting "style" then we can become the wonderful parent to the children entrusted in our care.

My quiz results: intj -The "Individual Integrity" Mother

Individualistic and independent, the INTJ mother is both a role model and teacher of how to be an individual and live life with integrity. She is introspective, defining her own success from within, and generally confident in her decisions. She is unlikely to be persuaded by her children saying, "But all the other mothers are doing it."

The INTJ is competent in providing for her children's basic needs, but she is likely more focused on developing their self-esteem and confidence. Observant and insightful, she puts great importance on independent thinking and self-sufficiency, yet she is comfortable providing protection and boundaries.

Self-motivated and intense, the INTJ works hard and takes life seriously. As a mother, she lives for those moments when she can impart knowledge and offer her children perspectives on life and important issues.

Knowing that not any style is "best," what kind of mom are you?

a true red, white, and blue 4th of July

The fire engine at the head of the neighborhood parade was red,

The spray coming out of the back of the engine during our rest stop was white,

and the water in the pool was blue. Mary collected the most money in the dive for coins contest, Maggie won the smallest splash contest, and Charlie decided to be the youngest swimmer in the pool - doggy-paddling 4 feet to the side all by himself! Tonight we will set off fireworks in the driveway and finally tuck 5 very worn-out children in the bed.

I hope you had as wonderful Independence Day as we did!

want to rethink that desire for socialized medicine?

Mrs. Ellen Westwood, 88, was in Birmingham's Selly Oak Hospital for two months after she had been admitted into Birmingham's Royal Orthopaedic Hospital for routine shoulder surgery. The woman ended up being treated for dementia and C.difficile, which Westwood's daughter alleges she contracted at the Orthopaedic Hospital after the surgery. The bacterial infection soon spread to her cheeks, face and throat, making it difficult for her to swallow.
Doctors at Selly Oak Hospital then told the family that all food, fluids and hydration were to be stopped and that Mrs. Westwood would be given morphine "because she is dying".

The family, however, brought the woman food and water. Hospital officials responded by threatening to report the family to social services for feeding Mrs. Westwood.
Eventually the family obtained a second opinion and Mrs. Westwood was able to go home, where she is recovering well and is celebrating her 89th birthday today.

While active euthanasia officially remains illegal in Britain, some are saying that the NHS standard procedure of issuing elderly and vulnerable patients with an "end of life plan" that includes dehydration, is simply euthanasia under a different name. Lifesitenews.com

IHM Conference notes: Taming the Tough Teens

Dr. Ray Guarendi is the funniest guy on the homeschool/family life circuit. He imparts great words of wisdom in between jokes, sometimes making the point about discipline the punchline itself. He is the father of many children, all adopted I believe, and can have a 4 year old saying, "Yes sir, anything you say sir," in about 20 minutes. This talk really struck home as I am one of those relatively strict parents he harps on, my kids are good about 85% of the time, but that isn't good enough for Dr. Guarendi. No way, he wants everyone's kids to be kind, respectful, charitable, and gentle all 24 hours of the day.

"Teenage angst" is cultural not developmental. We have permitted a great deal of bad behavior in the name of "kidhood." We are at the point of such lax parenting that now we have an epidemic of battered parent syndrome.

We need to have zero tolerance for nastiness, disrespecting a sibling, and many behaviors that we wouldn't tolerate from anyone else. If they ask to do something fun, "Can I go to the movies...?" They should be given a chore first, "Sure, but the lawn needs to be mowed." If they are rude then add on more labor.

We do the same sins over and over but we expect our kids to reform instantly, "Oh, I never thought of that, I'll be sure to follow your advice next time Mom." Let's get real, they are children and will try the same stunts again and again.

Many of the parents here have kids already in the top 5% of good behavior. They don't do drugs, smoke, drink, swear.... compared to everyone else we are "Amish." But do you want to raise a comparatively decent kid or do you want to raise saints? This relatively strict syndrome is only an illusion of strictness. Compare it to saying at the Particular Judgement, "But, God, 99% of the time I didn't commit a mortal sin!" Our children need to be respectful of their parents and siblings first and foremost, don't let them slide just because they are nice to everyone else but nasty to members of their family.

Carnival of Homeschooling

Beverly is hosting the carnival this week at About Homeschooling.

pre-packers packing

In less than a week we will welcome strange people into our house to touch everything we own, wrap it all carefully in newsprint, and seal it in boxes. Then another set of people will put all the boxes in a big truck and drive away. Can you tell I have issues about this? Perhaps it is because I have always moved while either pregnant or nursing save once. Perhaps it is because I consider my home a fortress from the many worldly evils and when we move that feeling evaporates.

My coping mechanism is to become uber-organized mama, starting by making lists of what needs to be packed for Maine, what needs to come with us in the van, and what we need to eat for supper to use up everything in the freezer. I then organize every junk drawer, every shelf, every closet so the loose game and puzzle pieces are not mixed in with other junk and lost forever. Finally, I hit the liquor store for boxes to pack up everything that is not breakable or nailed down.

Unfortunately the kids undo much of my work by playing with the toys I put away, piece together the puzzles I stack on the shelf, and sneak the books I am trying to pack so they can read them by flashlight in bed. After two weeks of sorting and packing the house looks much the same as it did when I started but with the addition of a multitude of stacked whisky boxes. I have to remind myself to be gracious to the folks who we will entrust our worldly goods to and that in two weeks it will all be unpacked again in our new home. Lastly, if that isn't enough to put me in a better frame of mind I need to recall that in just 3 weeks we will be headed up to Maine for picnics, visits with old friends, and walks to acquaint ourselves with the farm. This is our last military tour so in the not too-distant-future I see the end of this seemingly endless packing and unpacking that has been the backdrop of my 12 year career as a military spouse.

future vocation...or not

Maggie: "Charlie, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Charlie: "A fireman."

Maggie: "You could be a priest."

Charlie: "No, I want to be a fireman."

Maggie: "Priests love God best. Don't you want to be a priest?"

Charlie: "No! I want to be a fireman!"