National Lampoon's American Vacation

This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest, a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun and your gonna have fun. We're gonna have so much (bleep) fun they're gonna need plastic surgeons to remove the smiles from our (beep) faces. We'll be whistling zippity-doo-dah out of our ....

Sometimes, a movie quote just simply, beautifully describes a day.

(And I removed the expletives to protect my readers....)

A Prayer to the Holy Family

Last night, before dinner, before the wine-and-snakes, we prayed this prayer. Greg found it for me. It is beautiful, and so I am saving it here for next year, for the Holy Family. And sharing it with you, the one or two regular readers....


Act of Consecration to the Holy Family

O Jesus, our most loving Redeemer, who having come to enlighten the world with Thy teaching and example, didst will to pass the greater part of Thy life in humility and subjection to Mary and Joseph in the poor home of Nazareth, thus sanctifying the Family that was to be an example for all Christian families, graciously receive our family as it dedicates and consecrates itself to Thee this day. Do Thou protect us, guard us and establish amongst us Thy holy fear, true peace and concord in Christian love: in order that by living according to the divine pattern of Thy family we may be able, all of us without exception, to attain to eternal happiness.

Mary, dear Mother of Jesus and Mother of us, by the kindly intercession make this our humble offering acceptable in the sight of Jesus, and obtain for us His graces and blessings.

O Saint Joseph, most holy Guardian of Jesus and Mary, help us by thy prayers in all our spiritual and temporal needs; that so we may be enabled to praise our divine Savior Jesus, together with Mary and thee, for all eternity.

(Recite the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory 3 times.)

Amen.

The Holy Family

This Sunday in the liturgical year, our remembrance was the Holy Family.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death.

The Church encourages us to pray such short aspirations; such ejaculations bringing our minds and hearts toward God, towards, heaven, towards eternity.

We remember the Holy Family; we pray and ask for intercession; we see a model of family and family roles; we give thanks that Our Lord became flesh and dwelt among us.

In my own life, the troubles and the upsets, the criticism I receive and , yes, the love and the humour, the joy of Christmas, the connections and the wrenches, I can pray, ponder the Holy Family ...and I can store up these things in my heart and humbly ponder their meaning, waiting for God's light and wisdom and healing touch to arrive.

During Mass, during thanksgiving after Communion, I read some psalms. From a book of psalms. A Christmas present.

O God, thou knowest my rash doings,

no fault of mine is hidden from Thy sight.

Deus, tu scis insipientiam meam,

et delicta mea te non latent

This is strangely comforting for me. Maybe because of the truth it contains. That others, the psalmist, have felt the same as I.

Gotta love this Christmas season, the liturgy, the prayers. And gifts like this book of Psalms.

St Athanasius wrote ~

In the Psalter you learn about yourself. You find depicted in it all the movements of your soul, all its changes, its ups and downs, its failures and recoveries. Moreover, whatever your particular need or trouble, from this same book you can select a form of words to fit it, so that you do not merely hear and then pass on, but learn the way to remedy your ill. Prohibitions of evildoing are plentiful in Scripture, but only the Psalter tells you how to obey these orders and refrain from sin.

But the marvel with the Psalter is that, barring those prophecies about the Savior and some about the Gentiles, the reader takes all its words upon his lips as though they were his own, written for his special benefit, and takes them and recites them, not as though someone else were speaking or another person’s feelings being described, but as himself speaking of himself, offering the words to God as his own heart’s utterance, just as though he himself had made them up.

It is possible for us, therefore to find in the Psalter not only the reflection of our own soul’s state, together with precept and example for all possible conditions, but also a fit form of words wherewith to please the Lord on each of life’s occasions, words both of repentance and of thankfulness, so that we fall not into sin; for it is not for our actions only that we must give account before the Judge, but also for our every idle word.

Let me add, not only give account for our idle words..but for our idle texts ..and emails..and Facebook entries..

Christmas-tide Saints

Yesterday, we remembered St Stephen, the first martyr.

After I came home from morning Mass, on Boxing Day, I served Rocky Road for breakfast. Not nutritional but..hey..St Stephen was stoned to death so the symbolism was there.

We read briefly about St Stephen.

I resisted my children's encouragement to get stoned for the feast of St Stephen...Where do they pick up such ideas? Not from me, I am sure! As if !

We sang Good King Wenceslas. Then The Twelve Days of Christmas, since Christmas-tide has begun.

Today, Sunday, I am serving wine, or other drinks, in wine glasses draped wth lolly snakes. As we do every year, for the feast of St John the Evangelist. You know, that story of others trying to poison St John; he blessed the wine and the poison came out of the wine in the form of snakes.

I love the whole Christmas season; the traditions and rituals...from white and gold candles on Christmas day..Christmas Grace...placing the child Jesus in the nativity scene..Mass..food and fun with friends...prayers...baked phone books,.. underpants...carols...pudding and silver coins ( don't get a coin, kids! It means you will be married in the year!)...St Stephen..lolly snakes...tomorrow mass for the Holy Innocents and prayer..St Thomas Beckett and Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral..giving presents..missing friends and family yet enjoying those we are with..it all fits..life and faith and liturgy and tradition and little rituals.

What did you get for Christmas?

What did you get for Christmas?

I got a book. I bought it for myself and David Jones department store wrapped it and I put it under the tree for dh to give to me for Christmas. Along with perfume. Dh hates shopping so this works out nicely!

What book? Cleaving. The sequel, if you like. to Julie and Julia.

Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession. By Julie Powell.

It looks like this is going to be another searing read..Searing as was the book Julie and Julia..Searing in the sense that phrases, paragraphs, sentences will sear, scorch, burn, leave a mark, on my mind and heart..with their aptness.

From the first chapter ~

..The last two slices I set aside, to wrap up and take home after work for a Valentine's Day dinner tomorrow. Once, I thought the holiday merited boxes of chocolate and glittery cards, but in these last couple of eye-opening years, amid the butchery and wrenches of my heart, I've realized life has gotten too complicated for such sweet and meaningless nothings. I've even learned I'm okay with that.

Santa Claus and the kids..um...some not so kids any more!

Back row ( name and son number...not age!) ~ Thomas 6, Gregory 2 , Luke 1.

Front row ~ Alexander 5, Anthony 7, Jonathon 4, Nicholas 3.

Look! I Made These!

I am so proud of myself! I made these for the priests' post Second Rite of Reconciliation supper...and the priests even survived the eating....and, no, I didn't let my dh and kids eat any...they had this (below) for dessert instead! Presents from some of my Kumon students..which I shared, lavishly, with the family.

O Antiphons and Unschooling?

This morning, we lit the fourth candle on our Advent wreath.

The fourth Sunday in Advent.

Advent draws to a close and Christmas draws near.

COLLECT ~ O Lord, we beseech Thee, stir up Thy power, and come, and with great might succor us: that by the help of Thy grace that which is hindered by our sins may be hastened by Thy merciful forgiveness. Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost .

So, what do we do in unschooling households, when it comes to Advent traditions and celebrating the liturgical year..where there are few have tos...but we work on building memories, on learning through life, on relationship?

Do we make family members participate?

Part of the celebration of the liturgical year is just part of family life..so we share and live life together, including praying or making St Lucy Bread or...And we laugh and have fun ( Oh, Mum, you're burning the bread again! Who set fire to the Advent wreath..me, this morning!..lolly snakes in wine glasses for the feast of St John..)

Part of the celebration of the liturgical year is making family memories and thus it helps if the extra activity is pegged to an existing activity ...the extra prayer to dinner time grace..the making and eating of the cake or bread for dinner or to French class with other homeschoolers..the praying of the O Antiphon to breakfast ( for those who eat breakfast!).

I also find that applying an unschooly mindset to the Advent/liturgical year activities helps.

In other words, we do the activity, we pray together, but no one is forced to participate. I usually peg it to a meal or another activity – currently we are praying the O Antiphon and pasting the symbol on the poster in the morning. If a teen is not up yet or not present, that is okay. I just pray and do the activity with anyone who may be around.

And with unschooling, I have seen that doing things that give memories, and spending time together, is what builds understanding and relationship over the years. So, I don’t worry if someone isn‘t enthusiastically into something like the O Antiphons this year – they will probably be more receptive next year. And I don’t worry if a young one doesn’t quite get it or understand it – this , too, will come over the years, with repetition and exposure and maturity.

A bit like learning to read and learning the times tables!

Our O Antiphon Activity

This link has suggestions for making an O Antiphon House - each day, you open a window, read the title, one of the seven Messianic titles from the Old Testament to address Christ, and look at the symbol.

This Advent, we have modified the activity. Each morning, we read the O Antiphon in Latin and in English, cut out the title and symbol and paste these onto Advent purple posterboard. We are building the poster as we go through these last days of Advent 2009. And displaying the same on the fridge, the hub of all activity.

The O Antiphons

Beginning these today, as Advent draws to a close, and as we get close to the joy of Christmas.

With Life ( with a capital e, our life is like that!) and with the liturgical year..why would we need the school part of homeschooling?

Although my kids are doing Maths today.... And isn't that picture, of Mummy with the O Antiphon house, just me?

The seven "O Antiphons" (also called the "Greater Antiphons" or "Major Antiphons") are prayers that come from the Breviary's Vespers during the Octave before Christmas Eve, a time which is called the "Golden Nights." Each Antiphon begins with "O" and addresses Jesus with a unique title which comes from the prophecies of Isaias and Micheas (Micah), and whose initials, when read backwards, form an acrostic for the Latin "Ero Cras" which means "Tomorrow I come." Those titles for Christ are:

Sapientia
Adonai
Radix Jesse
Clavis David
Oriens
Rex Gentium
Emmanuel
O Antiphons..Fish eaters

Link HT: Fr B

Spiritual Sacrifices

Found this quote today, while writing an essay for a course I am studying...And immediately thought, Wow!

Lifts my daily existence, my day today of mass, workout, tidying, taking kids to appointments and music lessons, essays, talking to dh, trying to listen to dh and kids (really listen!) , laundry, housework (Oh but no cooking!) and junk mail delivery and Kumon prep..and Facebook and texting and phone calls...makes my day, this day, have more importance and pertinence. You know?

Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the Spirit maybe produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if patiently born - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. And so, worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (901)

St Lucy Bread..and Christmas Trees

More on rose vestments...and Gaudate Sunday

Advent has the characteristics of a penitential season which makes it a kind of counterpart to Lent, the middle (or third) Sunday corresponding with Laetare or Mid-Lent Sunday. On Gaudete Sunday, as on Laetare Sunday, the rose-coloured vestments are allowed instead of purple . All these distinguishing marks help us remember that Gaudete Sunday, therefore, makes a breaker like Laetare Sunday, about midway through a season which is otherwise of a penitential character, and signifies the nearness of the Lord's coming.

We recall the hope we have because of the coming of Jesus.
In Advent, we not only celebrate the first coming of our Lord, but eagerly prepare for His Second Coming as well.

What are we unschoolers doing today, after a busy Gaudete Sunday with Mass, installation of our new parish priest, morning tea at the parish and carols at the oval in the parish last night? Well, we went to bed after midnight, after clean up after carols and after midnight snacks with others at Macdonalds.

Today I went to early mass...we have done junk mail delivery..been to the post office and made phone calls.....we are sharing the readings from the 1962 missal for Gaudate Sunday..the kids are putting up the Christmas tree, something we always do mid Advent..I am doing Kumon work and preparation...we all work at Kumon and have a parent meeting..and we hope to make Santa Lucia bread.

Who needs school???

Gaudete Sunday

Gaudete in Domino semper

Rejpice in the Lord always

As Christmas draws near, the Church emphasizes the joy which should be in our hearts at all that the birth of our Saviour means....

We light the third candle in our Advent wreath. The rose candle.

Rose marks a break from the usual violet or purple of the penitential side of Advent.

We pause. We rejoice. We realise how close we are to Christmas, to the joys of celebrating the birth of Our Lord.

The lighting of the third candle in the wreath, the priest wearing rose vestments, the readings about St John the Baptist, all these remind us to prepare for Christmas, for the coming of Our Lord...and of joy and rejoicing.

Externals mirroring our internal life of prayer as Christians.

And lest you think that simple things like lighting a rose candle or wearing rose vestments be of no significiance to our lives as Christians..well... Here I would simply make note that vestments are another branch of the sacred arts and we should not be reductionistic and secularize our considerations of them. Their symbolism, their dignity and beauty are equally as pertinent to the matter of the sacred liturgy as the matter of sacred architecture, music, painting or sculpture; they too can be bearers of the sacred, lending to (or, indeed, taking away from) our liturgical worship. We should indeed give them thought then, considering what does and does not lend to the dignity and gravitas of the liturgical rites; the rites in which the Church offers her public worship to God, and where we give our public witness and expression to that divine worship.
New Liturgical Movement

St Lucy December 13

...And we will make Santa Lucia bread this week...

Make a fruit scone or bread dough..braid...brush with beaten egg..bake..ice or glaze and add small candles.

Our bread never looks this good. But it always tastes nice..... Says she who is stll trying to lose that dreaded 10 kg!

Saint Lucy, also known as Saint Lucia, (283 – 304) was a wealthy young Christian martyr. Saint Lucy is one of seven women, aside from the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.

Happy birthday Greg!

December 9

St Thomas More

No, it isn't this saint's feast day.

I am just remembering him tonight. Remembering his sage advice. His wisdom. After an exasperating evening.

Sometimes, people just don't get things. Who you are. Why you do and say the things you do.

Sometimes life is just plain and simply Battlestar Galactica fraky. ( Okay, I know already...I am giving up that word for Advent. Or maybe Lent.)

And sometimes we just do the best we can. Even when mis-judged by others.

The wisdom of St Thomas More?

You must not abandon the ship in a storm because you cannot control the winds….What you cannot turn to good, you must at least make as little bad as you can. Utopia.

And ~

We cannot go to heaven in featherbeds...from a letter to his children.

Oh - and one from the film, A Man For All Seasons...Silence is assent.

I should remain silent. More often. Than I do.

A successful life?

If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, where X is work, Y is play, and Z is keep your mouth shut. ~Albert Einstein

I haven't yet worked out the Z, keeping the mouth shut, part....

Are you unschooling or neglecting your children?

Remember, Leonie, you are unschooling? Helping to educate your children?

There have been so many things going on lately, that unschooling has had to take a back seat.

Am I brave to admit that?

However, to the trained observer, learning and education has been happening. ( Please don't laugh at the trained observer comment..trying to talk education-speak here!)

Learning the art of co-operation, in everyone working together, supporting one another.

A priest said to me the other night, that I seemed to have “docile” kids. I reeled in horror. Docile? Gasp! Dismay!

Fr then explained that maybe he didn’t mean docile, he meant co-operative. The kids don’t seem to balk a lot at what I ask them to do.

I explained that they, for the most part, are nice kids who do co-operate but we certainly have our moments and some kids are different to others in this aspect. But I also explained that we are a family with very few rules, so the kids have a lot of freedom and choice, we do things together, and so the few things I really want them to do are not onerous.

Like all pitch in to help with clean up.... No being mean! .....But I don’t police food or bedtimes or computer time and only rarely censor books or movies.

Anyway, it occurred to me that maybe unschooling principles, respecting the child, and being child and family centred, doing a lot of things together, always, well, maybe has made this difference over the years, has helped with co-operation.

Students value and implement practices that promote personal growth and well being.

We have been reading about the saints - St Andrew, St Francis Anthony Fasani, St Elizabeth of Hungary, St Francis Xavier; reading about Advent; choosing spiritual reading for Advent ( Heretics G K Chesterton, Mass and the Sacraments Fr Laux, Mere Christianity C S Lewis, Pius X, The Way of Perfection St Teresa of Avila); praying the novena to Our Lady for the feast of the Immaculate Conception; discussing mass and rubrics and prayer...

Students value and implement practices that promote personal growth and well being.

Students understand cultural, geographic and historical contexts and have the knowledge, skills and values necessary for active participation in life in Australia

Maths has continued with Kumon Maths study ( volume, graphs, quadratic functions) ; game playing; planning budgets and comparison shopping; talking about the family budget, about house buying and shares...

Students select,integrate and apply numerical and spatial concepts and techniques.

Lots of discussion - liturgy, movies, decision making, relationships,,,and movies with friends, family friends, family , online - Star Wars nerd quotes, quips, The Kingdom of Heaven, Alien Vs Predator 2, Alien, 310 to Yuma, Christmas With the Cranks.

Students use language to understand, develop and communicate ideas and information and interact with others

Students understand their cultural, geographic and historical contexts and have the knowledge, skills and values necessary for active participation in life in Australia

Students understand and appreciate the physical,biological and technological world and have the knowledge and skills to make decisions inrelation to it.

Students select, use and adapt technologies.

We have sung Latin hymns and carols..studied Latin with Lingua Angelica and Latina Christiana..some Latin translation..some Italian translation..Chinese study and exam...essay for course for Catholic Education Centre..French class with other homeschoolers.

Students interact with people and cultures other than their own and are equipped to contribute to the global community.

Students use language to understand, develop and communicate ideas and information and interact with others

Anne of Green Gables literature class...vocabulary, reading, discussing, drawing descriptions, poetry, learn about medieval times, writing reviews, talking about editing writing precisely and specifically, learn about wincey and geography and nature.

Students use language to understand, develop and communicate ideas and information and interact with others

Students understand their cultural, geographic and historical contexts and have the knowledge, skills and values necessary for active participation in life in Australia.]

Students understand and appreciate the physical,biological and technological world and have the knowledge and skills to make decisions inrelation to it.

Students participate in creative activity of their own and understand and engage with the artistic, cultural and intellectual work of others.

Discussion about politics, Church politics, the Liberal Party, new leader.

Students understand their cultural, geographic and historical contexts and have the knowledge, skills and values necessary for active participation in life in Australia.

Junk mail delivery, Kumon assistant work, attend Mass, serve at mass, chores, cooking, housework!

Students value and implement practices that promote personal growth and well being.

Fitness exercises, walking, trampolining, Bocci, park equipment play, active games with friends.

Students value and implement practices that promote personal growth and well being.

Computer and video games; Singstar; listen to music; band practice, piano practice, play at Youth Mass, music lessons.

Students select, use and adapt technologies.

Students participate in creative activity of their own and understand and engage with the artistic, cultural and intellectual work of others.

Volunteer work and meetings in the parish.

Students select, use and adapt technologies.

Students value and implement practices that promote personal growth and well being.

Students interact with people and cultures other than their own and are equipped to contribute to the global community.

Students use language to understand, develop and communicate ideas and information and interact with others

Students select,integrate and applynumerical and spatial concepts and techniques.

Map making and map comparisons, role playing games, writing on their novels, reading - The Water Babies Kingsley, Skipping Christmas John Grisham, Coming Up For Air George Orwell, The Secret Life of Bees, Ballet Shoes Noel Streetfield.

Students use language to understand, develop and communicate ideas and information and interact with others

Students understand their cultural, geographic and historical contexts and have the knowledge, skills and values necessary for active participation in life in Australia.

Students understand and appreciate the physical,biological and technological world and have the knowledge and skills to make decisions inrelation to it

Students participate in creative activity of their own and understand and engage with the artistic, cultural and intellectual work of others.

Phew. I am unschooling, not neglecting. I think.

(Cartoon from the Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons www.familymanweb.com. )

Feast of St Andrew

And Thomas' birthday...November 30.

Isn't this more fun than dieting?

A quote from the old classic FIRM workout Volume 1.

Such an 80s workout classic. Yet so effective. Cardio and weights. You can do the whole 70 minutes or break it up into parts. I'm addicted to the high impact cardio, the push ups on the dumb bells, the killer legwork, the chest work, the abs....I don't often do the whole workout but have been doing parts since Wed of last week, every day, after I heard of the untimely death of the workout's creator.

The FIRM used to promise visible results in ten workouts. And it is kind of true. I've done six days of the FIRM Volume 1 in a row and people have already asked me if I have lost weight.

It is more fun than dieting..I find I need tough-ish workouts to help me lose weight, to keep that waist line in shape...And I need to watch what I eat...That is the tricky part right now!

I am reading the book I mentioned a few posts back - Finally Thin.

At first, I didn't feel the book was helpful for me. She lost a lot of weight, as I did, but she looks thin and gorgeous while I look...fat and ugly.

The author raves about never having to worry do I look fat in this? But I worry about that most days.

And she doesn't do a lot of talk about emotional eating. Eating to cover up emotions.

But then, I gave myself a mental shake up. A mental slap. Come on, girl!

I realised that maybe I was just being way too negative and that this negativity was attributing to my inability to lose a few more kilograms.

Now, I am reading the book with a positive frame of mind. I might be old. I might be fat. But I am not as fat as I was. I might never be as thin as the author. I might never rejoice at what I see in photos.

But I can learn some more positive food habits .

Like - thinking, really thinking, before I eat. And allowing myself to feel...well, stuff.

And returning to my own, personalised sort of food plan..meals and calorie allowances that suit me. Not someone else.

Knowing there is never just one way.

And learning that it is okay to take care of myself, too.

Ouch!