St Peter of Alcantara

Today is his feast day. He lived 1499-1562

Hey, I only read about this priest last Thursday night, after a woman's group, and after reading about St Teresa of Avila!

St Peter was a Franciscan. He knew and supported St Teresa of Avila, being her spiritual director. He is often invoked against malignant fevers.

And today is the beatification of Lous and Zelie Martin. We prayed this prayer, especially for my friend Sabine's young son Michael, who fell into a pool and is still in ICU.

P.S. This painting is by Giovan Battista Pittoni and is in the National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh. Greg, maybe you can go and see it!

Do I need this t shirt?

No, wait, I'll buy it for the boys!

txtn wen sleepn

Well, at least I'm not this bad, as bad as the link below, ~ yet!

After a recent texting gaffe, I am relieved to find that I am not the only person who suffers from texting mistakes and humilation.

wat am i tlkn bout? Rd link blw.

Texting in your sleep?

It's okay - texting isn't all bad. In fact, it shows good acquisition of language skills. Or so says this link.

Lisa's Report Card

..for Deliberate Family Living...Want to participate? Just visit her blog for details.

Family Prayers Woo Hoo! Said the full rosary; trying to remember to pray a novena as a family..Goal - be more consistent with the Angelus.

Family Time: Pretty good - lots of hanging out time, some talking together, Singstar, DVDs, laughing. Not much family reading together but, hey, you can't have everything! Goal - smile.

Household Routines: We've had numerous visitors ( pretty usual for us) and a rental house inpspection so we've done a lot of tidying up and cleaning this week. Even Thomas and Anthony's room! We've worked well together, only one rant from me when rushed. Goal - encourage T and A to keep their room reasonable. Is it possible?

Meal Preparation: Simple meals as usual but mostly healthy. Eggs, Satay sticks. Rice casserole and pumpkin soup and cake for visitors and leftovers for us. Vegetable Fried Rice. Takeaway Sunday night and Subway lunch Thursday. . Goal - cook more and use what is on hand.

Other: Been talking more to the kids about my childhood - sometimes this is good, sometimes dredging up the past is bad....We are continuing to celebrate the liturgical year together ...Dh and I have had time to sit ....We all worked at the parish working bee and 25th celebration and had a super time!...If I could change one thing, what would that be? Maybe I'd like to live more mindfully - I get busy, forget to be in the moment and to just savour the moment..it all goes so fast. Goal - be present. Truly. Wholly. Physically and emotionally and mentally. People first. [ A tall order! ]

Thanks, Lisa, for the chance to reflect. Anyone else want to play?

On Spiritual Direction

Attended a women's group at our church last night. Our topic was prayer and we looked especially at St Teresa of Avila and prayer.

I read a bit more about this saint last night and about her spiritual director - St Peter of Alcantara.

The Church guides our souls; we all have need for spiritual direction and we receive, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, graces and guidance.

So, to a certain extent, we all have spiritual directors, receive spiritual direction.

But, are we called to have a specific spiritual director , more private guidance, in addition to this more general direction ? A director who can guide us towards perfection?

The Catholic Encyclopedia has this to say on spiritual direction ~

II. Still more frequently is spiritual direction required in the lives of Christians who aim at the attainment of perfection . All religious are obliged to do so by their profession; and many of the faithful, married and unmarried, who live amidst worldly cares aspire to such perfection as is attainable in their states of life. This striving after Christian perfection means the cultivation of certain virtues and watchfulness against faults and spiritual dangers. The knowledge of this constitutes the science of asceticism. The spiritual director must be well versed in this difficult science, as his advice is very necessary for such souls. ...

IV. Whoever the director be, he will find the principal means of progress towards perfection to consist in the exercise of prayer and mortification. But upon the special processes of these two means, spiritual guides have been led by the Holy Spirit in various directions. Different is the type for the solitary in the desert, the cenobite in the community, for a St. Louis or a Blanche of Castile in a palace, St. Frances of Rome in her family, or a St. Zita in her kitchen, for contemplative and for active religious orders and congregations.

Or for a working, homeschooling , busy mother and wife...

P.S. Can certain blogs and blogging count as spiritual direction? Wishful thinking? :-)

THINK!

A challenge from the THINK blog.

And what we did for some of the time this morning.

Use the materials below to build a car. No scissors! Then, see if you can make it roll down a ramp.

4 sheets of paper

2 pencils

2 textas

sticky tape

Are You A Hippie?

Hmm, I always say there's a bit of a hippie in all of us......

You're Not Exactly a Hippie...

While you're not a hippie, you've got the spirit of one. Like most hippies, you have deep beliefs and unusual interests. You may not buy into hippie fashions, music, or heavy drug use. But at heart, you are a free spirit and suspicious of the status quo.

Are You a Hippie?

Saints and Food this week...

Tomorrow - St Gerard Majella. Gerry's name day. I'm planning on buying an ice cream cake to help us celebrate this feast day . Why? Because ice cream cake is one of dh's favourite desserts.

Prayer for a Good Confession

St. Gerard, Patron of a Good Confession, who gave courage to souls whom fear and shame had overcome; who gave sorrow to their hearts, resolution to their wills, truth to their faltering lips; help me to make a good confession. Enable me to know my sins, to be truly sorry for them, and to be firmly resolved, with God's grace, never to sin again.
Help me to confess my sins humbly and sincerely, to confess them in the spirit of faith, as confessing them to Our Lord himself.
Stand by me in this confession, O gentle Saint, an angel of God sent to free me from sin. Amen.

Saturday - St Luke the Evangelist, and son Luke's name day. Mass followed by pancakes for breakfast?

And no blonde moments. I promise!

Luke also has a special connection with the women in Jesus' life, especially Mary. It is only in Luke's gospel that we hear the story of the Annunciation, Mary's visit to Elizabeth including the Magnificat, the Presentation, and the story of Jesus' disappearance in Jerusalem. It is Luke that we have to thank for the Scriptural parts of the Hail Mary: "Hail Mary full of grace" spoken at the Annunciation and "Blessed are you and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus" spoken by her cousin Elizabeth. Catholics Online

St Teresa of Avila

One of my favourite saints. Feast day October 15.

I have found her writing to be both helpful and practical.

Our table centrepiece today is a book of quotes from St Teresa of Avila, some rosary beads, map of Portugal (ETA - Spain!) and a pic of the Portuguese ( Spanish) flag.

We shouldn't build build castles in the air. The Lord doesn't look so much at the greatness of our works, but at the love with which they are done.

And ~

Not long ago a very learned man told me that souls who do not practice prayer are like people with paralyzed or crippled bodies; even though they have hands and feet, they cannot give orders to these hands and feet.

ETA ~ I had a blonde moment and confused Portugal with Spain. They're close, right? lol! Anny has since printed out the correct map and flag....

The Weekend..

Parish working bee and twenty-fifth celebration of the opening of the Parish church ( the building, that is!).

What's a Girl To Do?

When she's having trouble sleeping, didn't have time to workout in the morning, has helped at her church working bee and is at home, finishing laundry, feeling drained because of issues?

Well, I don't know what a girl would do but this mother decided to workout. No,.not a hard, kick-ass workout but a fun one. Dancing. Singing. Being corny and camp. Jumping around a bit to increase the impact and the effect.

Which workout? Richard Simmons' Disco Sweat.

Feel better already!

And maybe I'm setting an example for the kids - feel bad? Workout and release endorphins and worries.

Interested in everything?

Yep, I guess I am.

Living is learning and when kids [ and adults] are living fully and energetically and happily they are learning a lot, even if we don't always know what it is.
John Holt ~ in a letter to Joan Pitkin, October 22, 1971 From: "A Life Worth Living, Selected Letters of John Holt", Edited by Susannah Sheffer

Someone said something very nice to me today.

I was cleaning out the fridge at the parish office, as part of the preparation for this weekend's parish celebration and barbecue . I was curious about how the fridge shelves, bits and pieces, came apart and how these were put back together.

I know, little things amuse small minds! lol!

And I was told that I really do live what I write - about learning being everywhere, life being learning, everything being interesting and part of homeschoolling.

Wow. To me, that is a great compliment. Almost as good as being told I look thin or young! ( Laughs!).

It is true, everything is connected and everything counts towards learning.

The good times, the sucky ones. The cleaning and the partying. The reading and the talking. The writing and the singing. Doing maths and cooking dinner. Praying and laughing. Crying and fighting. Sharing.

What makes people smart, curious, alert, observant, competent, confident, resourceful, persistent - in the broadest and best sense, intelligent- is not having access to more and more learning places, resources, and specialists, but being able in their lives to do a wide variety of interesting things that matter, things that challenge their ingenuity, skill, and judgement, and that make an obvious difference in their lives and the lives of people around them.
~John Holt~ Teach Your Own

Okay, I should be working..

..should be doing my Kumon prep, but I've been wasting time reading Life With My Sister,Madonna. In between replying to phone calls and emails from Kumon parents.

The kids are diligently doing Kumon maths and I am busy being a terrible example to them. Note to self ~ DON'T start reading a can't-put-down book on a week day, working day.

I'll just share this quote and will move on, onto work.

Madonna has written to her brother, after his relationship has broken up. He writes of this letter :

Moreover, she has demonstrated such sisterly love toward me that I am deeply touched. I guess that's how it is with siblings - we disappoint the hell out of each other one moment and shower each other with unconditional love the next.

Not just with siblings, but with family relationships in general.

Annoyance and disappointment can be, kind of, a fact of life, yet we know that unconditional love is always there, always makes up part of that vertebrae of relationship.

Deliberate Living Family Report Card

An idea from Lisa.

Deliberate family living? Living with purpose, mindfully.

Something I often fail at, but to which I aspire.

Lisa's report card idea is to, regularly, publically, while being accountable , do a self examination of one's role in helping the family live deliberately. Look at where one is doing well. Where improvements can be made.

Her reporting areas are below. And my comments.

Family Prayers: Okay, I guess. A pass. We prayed together this week, but more often than not it has been only while in the car together.

Church: Good, in addition to Sunday Mass, the kids and I went to 7.00 a.m. Mass on Tuesday for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. And I went to Mass this morning. And we'll pray together at our usual as-many-of-us-as-possible-go-together-to-9.15-Friday-Mass tomorrow.

Family Time: So-so. A few sucky, dysfunctional family type of things going on. Yet, it was fun late last night, laughing about culture with the kids and one of their friends, when three sons came home from the movies. Mmm, maybe I need to plan to connect more. But then again, maybe not. Sometimes the best family connections are made when I least expect it, when I let go, when the being together and talking just happens. But will it??

Household routines: Chugging along. Our philosophy is everyone just pitch in and help, good enough is good enough.

Meal preparation: Well, I am cooking dinner tonight after work! Yay! And we haven't eaten take away since Monday lunch...

Other: Kids haven't done ANY Kumon Maths this week - time for a chat about goals, do you think? We've had some nice times of being with friends. Watched some movies together on the weekend. Dh and I had lunch together on Sunday and worked together on Monday. I've had some lectures from others ( and some of them well deserved!) but am learning to hold my tongue ( and my email!). We celebrated some feast days and read about saints and about Labour Day. I've talked to eldest son Luke about things, chatted to Greg on the phone, kept up with Nick via texts. Overall, we are doing okay. Probably not your super duper homeschooling family but okay. Could be better - maybe that's a goal for next week?

Today..

What do you do all day?

We all know about Ferris and, no, I don't have a day like that planned.

But here is today, anyway....

A Daybook, courtesy of Peggy.

Outside my Window... Many birds, perching on the neighbour's roof. It is chilly but I expect it to turn out another warm spring day. Like yesterday.

I am thinking... Today is the anniversary of my dh's Confirmation. Unlike me, he was confirmed as a child, a twelve year old boy. I am thinking about a cake or dessert to buy or make, for dh, to mark this anniversary.

From the learning rooms...I have been doing some strewing of books - Dante's Divine Comedy, Jules Verne Journey to the Centre of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

I am thankful for..Anthony, youngest son, who is making a pot of tea right now!

From the kitchen..Nothing. Seriously. I have a busy day with work meetings, junk mail delivery with kids, going to a meeting at church, some of the kids are seeing movies with friends tonight. So, leftovers look like the thing..Or heat your own frozen meat pies and fruit/salad..

I am wearing..some old clothes ready for my workout..khaki board shorts, blue workout top, green hoodie, workout shoes and socks.

I am reading..that biography of Madonna ( see sidebar).

I am hoping.. that everything goes well this weekend, with the parish newsletter and twenty-fifth celebration...

I am creating..blogs! One for our Catholic homeschooling group ( Saintly Warriors); one for our email list Unschooling Catholics and, sometime this week, one for our French class ( stumped for a name,btw). Check my blog listings.

I am hearing.. the inane music of the Wii game Super Mario Galaxy..Thomas is playing the game while I sip tea and write.

Around the house...Well, it is pretty neat, pretty tidy-ish. Need to nag Thomas and Anthony about their room and , as usual, need to fold, wash, hang out, bring in laundry.

One of my favourite things...My morning prayer time. Really. I sound holy but, as you know, I am not. It is simply that I love starting the day with either Mass ( didn't make it this morning; a late night after a friend's son's birthday party) or with my morning novena books. St Anthony and St Joseph. A peaceful, quiet start, before the bombardment of kids and things-to-do. And blogging.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...Kumon work tomorrow, coffee with Kumon Supervisors Friday and then shop for the parish BBQ, pick up and staple the newsletter, finish off the prayer booklet...Work on diet and exercise..Hang out with dh and the kids..maybe some summer clothes shopping...Work on that dreaded budget...parish working bee..finish sending out Kumon newsletters...pray the full Rosary more often, especially this week, with the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary .

Our Lady of the Rosary

We made a Rosary Cake. In a ring tin, with flowers for Our Lady..The cake was supposed to be blue. We added blue food colouring to the recipe but during cooking the cake turned green. A green cake, not a blue cake, for Our Lady!

Living Without School

I recently tried changing our blog name. It has been Living Without School since 2005 but I liked a term I coined in a post describing our unschooling. Life, liturgy and learning.

Well, some of the family didn't approve. Specifically one son.

So, it is back to the mundane traditional name.

Recently, it was also pointed out to me that the blog is supposed to be about our homeschooling. Yet, lately, there has been a lot about me.

Hmm, you mean it is not all about me? I am shocked! I even have a Felix the Cat pyjama t shirt that says please let it all be about me...

So, in the interest of returning to my blogging roots, I will write a post on unschooling. On homeschooling.

Except I have nothing to say. Really.

I have been homeschooling for what seems like forever . And I say this in a positive sense. I love homeschooling. I am a different person than I was, because I have spent years homeschooling, learning with my kids. And I worry sometimes about who I will be when everyone is grown and we are not official homeschoolers any more, just unschoolers learning as adult.. Hopefully talking and connecting to each other, but maybe not...

But I digress. It's not about me, remember?

Since we have homeschooled, like, forever, I find it hard to write about our days. About the topic of homeschooling in our life.. We lead pretty dull unschooling lives, I guess. We just live. We learn. You can't stop learning, can you? We get on. We don't get on...

No exciting news here.

I will, however, share some of the homeschooling books that I am currently flicking through. I've read these before, but picked them up again to glance through.

As articulated by Pliny the Younger, the principle is multum non multa: not many things ( multa) but much ( multum)...Formal education should not merely introduce us to many things - the multa, which can by necessity lead only to superficial knowledge - but should encourage us to drink deeply at the springs of our culture. ...the number of subjects is limited to a few key disciplines...In the wry words of Jacques Barzun, we expect our schools to turn out "ideal citizens, supertolerant neighbours, agents of world peace, and happy family folk, at once sexually adept and flawless drivers of cars." The classical curriculum insists on a limited number of subjects taught in depth... The Latin Centred Curriculum, Andrew Campbell

You know what happens in the average school..They take the attitude that children are little brats who don't want to learn. Then they shove the stuff down their throats, and pretty soon they're right!...Our children are learning all the time. ..All day long. They're learning what interests them. What doesn't interest them they're not ready for, so they'll learn it later. Maybe next year or maybe at age fifty. When they're ready...The reason they're not in school..is that we want them to be educated. And we want their education to go on till the day they die. That means self-education, and it means preserving the love of learning they were born with. We believe all children have a great desire to learn..until they go to school, and get it systematically destroyed. And The Children Played, Patricia Joudry

These two quotes, these two books, these ideas, may appear to be in opposition to each other.

The story of my life. I tend to like opposing ideas, I tend to think that such ideas can be played with, twisted, squashed, perhaps assimiliated and than made to fit together.

But it is not all about me, is it?

I find that children, and teens, and adults can mix the ideals of classical education, of studying the classics, if you like, with a life filled with lots of play.

Just ask St John Bosco.

What to do with empty pizza boxes?

Give them to our cat, Belle, of course!

Ain't she cute?

Toxic Mothers

We have been talking about Donna and Dr Who in the comments of the linked post.

Donna's mother is definitely what I would call a Toxic Mother.

Toxic ~ acting as or having the effect of a poison; poisonous

I definitely had/have a Toxic mother. I love her, I can't tell her that, she doesn't talk to me. But in loving and praying for my mum, I casn still see her toxicity. Mommy Dearest ?

Think Donna's mother magnified many times over.

And sometimes I think I'm repeating that toxicity.Okay, not to similar high toxic degrees, but toxic nevertheless.

Many times, I think the family is okay and I've done an okay job. But then things happen and I see how f-ed up we really are.

No Carol and Mike Brady here.

At a women's group tonight, I mentioned that we women sometimes just have to do what is right and not feel responsible for eveyone else's happiness.

And yet, I do feel responsible.

And when things happen, less than stellar things, I take it personally.

I know my family carries the weight of my personal baggage ( how I hate that trendy yet so descriptive term!), from me having a Toxic Mother. Just when I think I have got away from it all, the poison reaches out and reminds me that my past is still a part of me. And try as I might to the contraire, I have passed some dysfunctional family crap onto my kids.

Okay, enough with this vague posting. I can't share the toxicity here but I remind myself of the powerful influences of mothers.

Get your act together, girl!

Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials. ~Meryl Streep

Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What's that suppose to mean? In my heart it don't mean a thing. ~Toni Morrison, Beloved

The best conversations with mothers always take place in silence, when only the heart speaks. ~Carrie Latet

Laying down arms

Upon laying down of arms .

If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country,I never would lay down my arms o never o never o never!
—Pitt,William, 1st Earl of Chatham known as the Elder

In my life, I can find it hard to lay down my arms. To surrender myself, my desires, particularly with regard to my vocation as a wife and mother. I tend to be like the first Earl of Chatham, mentally shouting never, never, never!

Or, usually, in my mind, Sh*t, Sh*t, Sh*t! I am so holy!

At least I can laugh at myself ..

Karen E. has a very thoughtful post on vocation and surrender.

She writes In striving to practice obedience and self-surrender, I've been granted the greatest freedom I've ever known.

It is paradoxical and yet it is true. I give, I give up a desire, I struggle, I pray. And , eventually, there is a sense of reward, of fruitfulness, of this is right, of being content. Perhaps, too, of joy.

Nearly always. Eventually. Although eventually might mean a very long time.

And I don 't do this laying down of arms all the time, I don 't always surrender my desires. I don't believe I am called to do so.

Am I?

P.S. Pics are from Saturday's RAAF Family Day. I thught the military theme fit in with the laying down of arms!

Saints and Centrepieces.

Table centrepieces.

This week, I am having a different centrepiece for the dining table, for each feast day. For most of the feast days.

Yesterday, St Jerome. The Dhouay-Rheims Bibke

Today St Therese of Lisieux. A vase of flowers for the Little Flower.

Tomorrow, the Guardian Angels. Some butterfly ( angel wing) cupcakes.

Saturday, St Francis. Our statue of St Francis.

Tuesday, the Most Holy Rosary. Rosary Beads, of course!