a gypsy caravan

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Yesterday, our family had a celebration for Our Lady of Guadalupe.  We have had a party for her almost every every year since Ben was a toddler.  Usually we have enchiladas, spanish rice and punch, sometimes carry out tacos if time is short or there is a new baby.  Often we play pin the tail on the donkey, do the mexican hat dance.  One year we had a pinata.  This year, we used the lovely ideas by Alice Gunther who so generously shares her creative Liturgical Teas at her blog Cottage Blessings.  Last winter some ladies from our homeschooling group got together and used Alice's plans in a group setting.  I vowed this year I would do them at home with my entire family.   My mother came over and helped prepare the food.  I wish I had photos of the food to share with you but I was so caught up in the festivities that I did not take any.  Every thing on the menu was delicious, lovely and meaningful.  

I placed a small potted rose plant next to Our Lady's picture on the table alongside our perpetual candle lit in her honor.  The children behaved well and were attentive, the food was done on time and everyone had a wonderful evening.  That doesn't all happen very often, where everything just seems to fall into place.  In fact, earlier in the day everyone was upset and grumpy.  It did not seem that our party was going to get off the ground.  Children were irritable and our family was sad.  Our dear friend has had some setbacks in his health, on the eve of the day we had hoped for a miracle.  He had to postpone his trip to Mexico City.  So we continue to pray on his behalf and are grateful to those of you who are praying along with us.

When the table was spread and the story of Our Lady was being read, everyone forgot their grumpiness and became quite grateful. Grateful for a home in which to live, for a plot of land on which to romp, for a family who loves them, for the friendship of those who truly care about our family.  All of these things we recognize as having come from God, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of our family.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing a peaceful, delicious holiday to you and your family!
Love,
Rebecca

Autumn in the Blink of An Eye

We were packing for most of the summer and moved to our new home in early autumn.  Then, we were unpacking and now autumn is waning.  Here are some photographic glimpses into our fall season, indoors and out.  It was transitional but oh-so-fun.

 

 

 

  

 

Photos, Photos, Wherefore Art Thou Photos?

Did you think I was going to be writing another Shakespearean poem for you today? I will spare you from that anguish.  :)  

I guess I am a fairly visual person and have been anxious to put up some pictures on the blog.  It has been a long time since I have done so.  My computer is actually plugged in but isn't within range of the wireless router so the photos that I have downloaded onto it won't do anyone a bit of good.  Mike and I set up our desks on opposite sides of the house, masterminds that we are.  Mike has the router in his office with excellent range so  I am typing at you from his computer as we speak.  I could download photos onto his iMac except that I am Mac illiterate.  So the photos will just have to wait. 

Yep, the black squirrel, the tree frog climbing up my side door in the dark of night, the pumpkins, the mantel all decorated for autumn, the vibrant yellow and red leaves out the window, the blurry shot of the antlered buck running through the woods behind the house... all imprisoned in my PC.  But you can picture them all in your mind, can't you? :)  

Anyhow,  my photo-less rambling continues below for anyone so inclined to read.

Around here, in addition to unpacking the schoolroom and figuring out curtains for all the windows, we are getting ready for the weekend ahead.  

Halloween should be easy this year because we have an excess of cardboard from all of those moving boxes.  Our costumes will be largely cardboard-based.  Ben and Mary are going to be M & M's.  The ease of cutting out two cardboard circles, painting them and placing them over their shoulders has me giddy.  Christopher, when asked to choose a costume that could be made out of cardboard, decided to be a candlestick.  He is sort of tall and thin like a candle so that should be fairly simple.  Annie really wants to be a cat.  Like, a real one.  Can't really help her with that but I can provide some sort of consolatory costume.   I am sort of used to my kids wanting to be animals.  Each one has told me right around the age of 3 or 4 that they want to grow up to be an animal.  Mary is still waiting to become a guinea pig in her sleep.   Some days, I think she would be much easier to care for if she were a guinea pig. :)

Kim and I were talking about costumes and she recommended working a sweat suit into a cat costume with felt ears and tail, then pencilling in whiskers on Annie's face.  She is my kind of gal.  I have turned a good many sweatsuits into costumes over the years.  We have had the grey sweatsuit turned elephant (just add ears, trunk and tail), the green sweatsuit turned turtle (just add cardboard shell and green painted face), the yellow sweatsuit turned bumblebee (black felt stripes, wings and antennae finish it off). So, I am off to Wal Mart for a cheap sweatsuit tonight.  Trouble is that Annie wants to be a black cat.  I don't think they make black sweatsuits for two year olds, do they?  Seems kind of macabre.  

Saturday is All Saints' and we have no plans this year.  I toyed around with attending our local homeschooling group's roller All Saint's roller skating party a week ago but it seemed a bit anticlimactic to celebrate it before Halloween.  Plus a number of kids have been going without costumes which sometimes makes those in costumes feel like a bunch of goofballs.  Imagine being a twelve year old boy, wearing a St. Francis costume complete with bird on your shoulder and having your friends show up in their hooded sweatshirts and blue jeans.  Kind of makes one want to crawl under a rock at that age.

So, I think we are going to hang out at home on All Saints', read some good saint stories and perhaps have an impromptu costume contest.  It should be fun to see what the kids come up with on their own.  I will add some sort of baked sweets and that will be it. 

All Soul's is normally the day our family visits all the deceased relatives' graves in the various cemeteries around town.  The children are accustomed to that tradition, to pray for the dead.  We each try to choose someone different to pray for and to have any indulgences applied.  I also think they enjoy it because I allow each of them a turn driving around the cemetery on my lap.  The cemetery roads are all but deserted.  When I was sixteen, my mother taught me to drive at the cemetery because she said that I couldn't kill anyone there. :)  

Well, this is a long post about nothing and I thank you for reading it in all of its rambling-ness.   It has been some time since I last posted and there were many tidbits that I wanted to share with you.   I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead with your family.   

Love, Rebecca

August Smiles

August is a lazy girl--
lazy and yet sweet,
fingers stained with raspberries,
slippers off her feet.

August doesn't care for work,
doesn't care for sport,
doesn't like too serious talk,
bicker or retort,

likes to lie in grasses green,
half-asleep, beguiling.
When you wake her from her doze,
August wakens, smiling.

--Elizabeth Coatsworth

The rest of the Poetry Friday roundup is at Becky's Book Reviews.

Summer Seasonal Table

The girls and I finally set up our summer seasonal table the other day.  I set one up last autumn but didn't make one for winter or spring.   It is fun for the children to see the table change with the seasons and to add their little touches here and there. 

I found the embroidered cloth at the thrift store for only a dollar.  I think the flower detail is so pretty.  (As a side note, I am amazed at the things people give away.  I cannot tell you how much work just this little section of embroidery must have taken.  The cloth itself is folded in half on our seasonal table which tells you that there are at least fifteen of these flower sections. Can you imagine giving it away after all that work?  My guess, with most of the pretty linens I find used, is that they were part of an estate sale where no one valued the handmade things and donated it.  Oh well...in the words of Jerry Garcia, "One man gathers what another man spills.")

We go to the beach quite often in the hotter months and the kids are always picking up driftwood, smooth  rocks and of course, beach glass. 

Lastly, we made some woolen bees a couple of weeks ago from some leftover brown wool that my friend Chris had given me.  The bee directions are in the book All Year Round by Ann Druitt.  I love that book and use it fairly often for seasonal craft ideas.  That is where I found the directions for last fall's Thistle Hedgehogs.   We had some beeswax  hive candles left over from last summer and the woolen bees look right at home atop them.

Lastly, we gathered a bunch of flowers from our yard.  This time of year there are so many different varieties growing and they all look so pretty grouped together.

Pictured are two types of hydrangea, echinacea, astilbe, white phlox, hosta, balloon flower, goosenecks, and tickseed coreopsis.   The bees in my yard have been in their glory. :)

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful weekend! 

St. John's Nativity/Midsummer Night's Eve

Young John the Baptist by William Bouguereau

The kids and I had a bonfire tonight to celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.  I understand, traditionally, the bonfires are celebrated on the eve of the feast but we had baseball last night so... tonight it was. :) 

I made berry punch with strawberry ice cream floating on top.  We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.  My mom and the neighbors stopped and sat around the fire for a while.

I so needed some down time with the children, to just sit and enjoy one another's company.   We had such a relaxing  time together.

Some great explanations on St. John's Nativity here. 

More info here , and here.

How to build a good bonfire

Our May Altar

The children and I set up our May altar this past week.  It is something we have done for several years and we all look so forward to it.  The embroidered linen was made by my grandmother when she was a young bride. 

Soon after we set up the altar Christopher vacuumed the room, bumped the table leg with the vacuum and knocked Mary's statue to the floor, breaking off both of her hands.   The funny thing is that this has happened almost every year! Someone has knocked her over each and every May.   Her hands have been glued so many times but she still  looks as lovely as ever.

This year we sang "Salve Regina" and "Bring Flowers of the Rarest" and said prayers.  Christopher carried in our statue because he is our First Communicant this spring :)  I filled a basket of Marian books for the children to peruse throughout the month. 

The kids think it is fun to keep Mother Mary well supplied with fresh flowers from our yard.  May is such a lovely month for flowers in our region with so many different varieties blooming every few days.

Keeping a May altar is a simple thing to do but means a lot to all of us.  I hope the children will carry on the tradition with their own families,  When they are grown perhaps they will remember fondly the small gifts and prayers of love that they offered throughout their childhood for their little Heavenly Mother.

Palm Weaving

On Palm Sunday, my children bring home the many palms they have gotten at Mass. It seems adults only take one or two but children have a tendency to grab a handful. Because I never quite know what to do with them all, I have decided we will try our hand at palm weaving.  Here are some helpful links to get you started if you'd like to join us:

Palm braids

Palm crosses

Several palm designs and a history of palm weaving

Palm bird

St. Brigid's Cross

 

More Palm weaving tutorials

If ours turn out nicely, I will post some photos. 

Have a happy day today!

Did I Say Green?

I might be eating my words that Spring is just around the corner.  Yes, it is technically less than two weeks away but here on Ohio's Northcoast we are experiencing nothing less than a blustery Winter blizzard.   I think, in my almost almost thirty-eight years of living here, I can say I've never seen a storm like this one.  Over the past twenty-four hours we have received at least two feet of snow.

There have been numerous cars stuck on our street today and despite shoveling/snowblowing the driveway a number of times, Mike was stuck at the base of our driveway when he returned from the grocery store.  One vanload of people whose car had broken down came to help Mike push the car up the drive.  In turn, he helped them jump theirs and push it to safety until a tow truck could arrive.   While the men worked on the cars, I invited the rest of their family into our home to sit by the fire.  Thankfully, we had plenty of hot cocoa mix on hand and extra banana bread to eat.  They stayed for three hours until the men were done.  So, we made some new friends today!

Here are some photos but they really don't do justice to the amazing storm we are having and will continue to have through tomorrow morning.

Chris and Mary making snow angels:

Ben and Chris in the front yard.  The bottom of the light post that you is two feet above the actual base.

The view from my sunroom window:

We have had a fire on the hearth all day long and there is vegetable soup on the stove.   I think we are going to sit tight for a while and enjoy this Winter Wonderland! 

Have a wonderful evening with your family!

Happy March!

I love March.  It is such a time of growth, change and very fickle weather!  :) Just two days ago, on the first day of March, we had several inches of snow and the kids made these...

Today we are hanging out the wash, frolicking outside without our coats and enjoying the clear blue sky!  The birds have been singing all morning long.

(This clothespin bag makes me smile every time I use it.  It is from Firefly Farm.)

Happy Valentine's Day

Wishing my friends and visitors a Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope your day is special and full of love. :)

 

The Feast of Saint John Bosco

My very favorite saint is Don Bosco.  I posted this about him last year. Leonie has a wonderful quote from St. John Bosco at her site and so does Elizabeth.  Helen has two posts you'll want to check out.

Today, we plan to watch this movie  which we purchased for his feast last year.  It is long but the acting is excellent and keeps the attention of everyone watching.  Happy Feast!  St. John Bosco, pray for us.

Little Mother of Guadalupe

Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin of Guadalupe, that in your apparitions on Mount Tepeyac you promised to show pity and compassion to all who, loving and trusting you, seek your help and protection.  Accordingly,  listen now to our supplications and grant us consolation and relief.   We are full of hope that,  relying on your help, nothing can trouble or affect us.   As you have remained with us through your admirable image, so now obtain for us the graces we need.  Amen.

Here is a chronology of the events of Our Lady of Guadalupe as well as the relation of events as they happened.

On the Eve of St. Nicholas

There are many beautiful traditions associated with St. Nicholas Day. Many of them center around the filling of stockings or shoes.   Our family sets out wooden shoes by the fireplace on the Eve of St. Nicholas in hopes that he will fill them with treats, perhaps some gold chocolate coins, a clementine and other goodies.

The wooden shoes were given to us by Mike's mom, who has purchased them for each of our family members from the  Wooden Shoe Factory in Holland, Michigan.  Mike brought his boyhood pair with him when we were married and his parents bought me a pair soon after.   With the birth of each grandchild, Mike's mom drives to Holland for a "field trip"  to pick out a pair of shoes.  This year, a new little baby girl was born in Mike's brother's family so she made the long drive again.  Ben was thrilled to be invited along and spent a wonderful time with his Grandma at the factory and outlying shops in the village.

 

Our wooden shoes are lying in wait for that bearded saint to fill them with scrumptious delights!

For more information on St. Nicholas books, cookie cutters and artwork, visit the St. Nicholas Center.

(Topmost Hungarian St. Nicholas image from St. Nicholas Center website.)

Thoughts on All Soul's Day

Yesterday we visited the city cemetery, as we do every year on All Soul's Day.  My father is buried there, as is my grandfather and my great grandparents.  The children and I clean the graves, pull any weeds and tidy up the family plots.   We say prayers, pray for indulgences for those who have died and talk some about death. I usually cry for a while. 

I grew up in a family that went to the cemetery each and every Sunday.  First we used to go to Mass, then out to Howard Johnson's for brunch and then we visited the cemetery, bringing flowers to adorn the graves.  So, I have a lot of guilt that I don't frequent it more now that I am an adult.  All Soul's Day is the only day I faithfully go.  It is the day that I allow myself to grieve all over again.   Maybe it is the sight of my father's name engraved in stone that sets the tears streaming.  His death is still fresh on my heart, though he died over six years ago.  My grandfather is buried close by and I remember him fondly.  He died when I was seventeen.

After all that crying and cleaning of graves, you'd think the day would be too sad to resurrect.   I am able now to leave the tears at the gravesite and move ahead.  The entire day used to be a wash in the years following my father's death.  Now the pain has lessened, though it is never gone. 

This year I re-established my mother's tradition from when I was a little girl of allowing the kids to sit on my lap and "drive" around the many wandering, remote roads of the cemetery.  There were only one or two other cars there on the single lane road.  The entire cemetery is surrounded by a fence and is way off the beaten path.  When I was fifteen, my mother taught me to drive there because she said I could not kill anyone <g>.

While All Soul's Day is certainly not the most fun filled day of the liturgical calendar,  it is a necessary part of the rhythm of the year.  The children and I pray for our family members buried in that cemetery.  We pray for all the Holy Souls who are waiting for their entry into heaven.  We pray for people we know and people we don't.   I hope when I am gone, my children will bring my grandchildren there, drive around with them on their laps and remember to utter an Ave for me.   

All Saints' Day Costumes

We spent the day with friends at an All Saints' Day Party.  We weren't able to pull together costumes until an hour before the party so they are kind of a hodge podge but here are the pictures nonetheless. :)

St. Martin of Tours (who is looking a tad underwhelmed if you ask me...Anyone else have adolescent boys who are not fond of having their picture taken?)

St. George

St. Therese the Little Flower

Annie the Angel who would not wear any part of the costume except the wings. :)

All Hallow's Eve Highlights

Annie as a pink poodle...

Mary as a fierce mountain lion...

Christopher as a cowboy ghost...

Benjamin as a glow in the dark Stick Man...

Without the flash... :)

Hope you all had a fun and Happy Halloween!

Wishing you…

...a very happy and blessed Easter!

Love, Rebecca and family

A Blessed St. Patrick’s Day!

Lorica (Breastplate)of Saint Patrick  I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation. I arise today Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom. I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In obedience of angels, In service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In preachings of the apostles, In faiths of confessors, In innocence of virgins, In deeds of righteous men. I arise today Through the strength of heaven; Light of the sun, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of the wind, Depth of the sea, Stability of the earth, Firmness of the rock. I arise today Through God's strength to pilot me; God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's hosts to save me From snares of the devil, From temptations of vices, From every one who desires me ill, Afar and anear, Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil, Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of women and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul. Christ shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that reward may come to me in abundance. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in the eye that sees me, Christ in the ear that hears me. I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the Threeness, Through a confession of the Oneness Of the Creator of creation St. Patrick (ca. 377) (Note: I think this would make a beautiful morning prayer. )