7 Not-so-quick Quick Takes

1 - Well hello, 1990's. So nice to hear you again.

In high school I never knew what in the world this song was about but - thank you, Wikipedia! - now I know it is not about drugs. I guess I'm pretty sheltered or innocent or both but I was fairly certain someone was snorting a brimful of asher off a 45 record. And I thought "that's a good way to ruin a record" but no vinyl was actually hurt in the making of this song. whew.

And in case you don't want to click on the link, Asha (not Asher) is the first name of a Bollywood singer/back up dancer who would record vocals for lead actresses who could act but not sing.


2 - And that makes me think of this:

Gosh I just love this movie. Gene Kelly - wasn't he dreamy? And look at Debbie Reynolds - she had no idea she'd grow up to be Princess Leia's mom.


3 - For the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart we attended Mass at Sacred Heart Church in downtown Peoria. A few years ago they renovated the building and it is gorgeous.

The frescoes above and around the altar show all the major events in the life of Christ. Above the side altars, and adding to the story, are frescoes of the Annunciation and Pentecost on the far left and right, respectively.

Close up of the Sacred Heart statue above the tabernacle.

Image of the Sacred Heart in the middle of the marble floor.

We also had a Sacred Heart pizza for supper.  

I confess, while we did appropriate activities to celebrate the solemnity I never actually sat down and explained to my kids what the Sacred Heart is and why it's so important. 

So if this looked like a parenting WIN, rest assured, it was like a 50%.

Lord, have mercy.

4 - Now I'd like to offer a translation of the above for my non-Catholic readers:

For the Solemnity (think: High Holy Day, super big feast day where we live it up because it's so important) of the Sacred Heart (Jesus' Heart. It is burning for love of us. His heart is bursting out of His chest He's so full of love for us. His love is sacrificial - often there is a cross at the top of it - and it brought about the Church - the water that gushes from where it was pierced.) we attended Mass at Sacred Heart Church in downtown Peoria. A few years ago they renovated the building and it is gorgeous. (Gorgeous and lavishly decorated to help us focus on God. Getting bored during the homily and your eyes start to wander? Boom: there's a picture of Jesus - look at it and meditate. Not paying attention and praying the Mass? Boom: there's a picture of the saints looking at you, saying, "Dude, this is important. Focus. Pray. I'll pray with you." Thinking about the errands you need to run instead of worshipping God? Boom: everywhere is something beautiful to remind you that God is Beauty, something lovely to remind you that God is Love, something majestic to remind you that God is King of Heaven and Earth.)

The frescoes above and around the altar (there's actually two altars - the table-like one in the front where Mass is celebrated and the Main or High Altar which is the tall beautiful one against the back wall. It houses the tabernacle - which is where consecrated hosts, aka the Eucharist, aka Jesus [John 6:25-68] are located.) show all the major events in the life of Christ. Above the side altars (not shown), and adding to the story, are frescoes of the Annunciation (When the angel told Mary she would bare the Son of God) and Pentecost (When the Holy Spirit came down on Mary, the Apostles, and others as they were gathered in the upper room, after Jesus had ascended back to Heaven.) on the far left and right, respectively.

Close up of the Sacred Heart statue above the tabernacle.

Image of the Sacred Heart in the middle of the marble floor.

We also had a Sacred Heart pizza for supper. (Catholics are weird, kitschy people sometimes. Maybe this seems tactless. I like to think that it's Jesus and Mary approved. Also, because it is ordinary time [not the Season of Christmas or Easter, Advent or Lent] in the liturgical calendar we try to follow the suggestion of the Church and have meatless meals on Fridays. [It's a obligation during Lent and a suggestion during the rest of non-celebratory seasons.] So it was a big deal to have pepperoni and sausage on our Friday night pizza, but that's what feasting on a solemnity looks like, yo.)

I confess, while we did appropriate activities to celebrate the solemnity I never actually sat down and explained to my kids what the Sacred Heart is and why it's so important. 

So if this looked like a parenting WIN, rest assured, it was like a 50%. (This is not Catholic guilt, it's just me realizing that I need to spend as much time planning and executing teaching moments as I do actually teaching in those moments.)

Lord, have mercy. (I'll get it right next time, God. Please be patient with me.)

5 - So that was really long. This will be short:
Children of mine, please understand the following:

6 - Let's go back to Sacred Heart Church, shall we. I took a bunch of pictures of how beautiful it is, but one of the things I think is most awesome is that the side walls have huge frescoes of modern saints.

You want the North American martyrs. 

Say hello to Isaac Jogues and friends.

You want St. Damien, the man who moved to a leper colony in Hawaii so he could serve the people there and eventually succumbed to the disease himself? 

Well, there he is.

What about Miguel Pro, a Mexican priest who disguised himself as a mechanic while the Catholic Church was persecuted? Yeah, the guy who shouted out "Viva Cristo Rey!" as the firing squad killed him for his faith? 

Representin'.

You want Katherine Drexel and Marianne Cope and Philip of Jesus? 

Well, look who came to the party.

Kateri Tekawitha - the Lily of the Mohawks?

Present!

And what about the man who gave us the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Juan Diego himself?

There he is: holdin' his tilma.

Seriously, except for the fact that about 1/3 of the regular daily Mass attendees at this church do not appreciate babies and little children at Mass, I love this church.

7 - So without being called out by name I was pretty much called out for recommending the movie Silver Lining Playbook. 

"But if you like movies with nudity and language and disturbing implied violence and described aberrant sexual behavior and onscreen sexual activity and the breakdown not only of one man's marriage but of his deeply held belief in the sanctity of marriage itself, then you probably shouldn't keep reading, because there are going to be spoilers."

So if you can't tell, Kendra did not like it and thought it was smut.

In defense of myself I will say that I only recommended the movie to people who like the show New Girl. That show has way too much sex and sexual humor (two things I dislike) and the humor is quirky (one thing I love about it) so obviously it's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea. Which is probably everyone who watched Silver Lining Playbook and hated it.

I really do need to apologize though for one thing I did say - which was that there are no sex scenes in the movie. As Kendra and her commenters point out there is a sex scene that shows an adulterous couple being confronted by the character who is being cheated on. Honestly the scene didn't bother me because it wasn't titillating, what they were doing was obviously wrong (adultery), and it ended in a violent confrontation between the two men. That's the impression it left on me - as a confrontation - and when I said there were no sex scenes I honestly didn't even remember the adultery. There was not a sex scene in that the main characters didn't jump into bed together - which is what I was applauding. But I'm really sorry that I got that so wrong and I apologize to those who watched the movie and then were scandalized in part because of what I said.

As for the rest of what Kendra mentions in the above quote - well most of that was what I was talking about when I said, "I like that it shows how people do stupid, dangerous things when we're in a bad place." I definitely understand her perspective and I'm glad she gave it, but I still feel the same way. 

But if you watched the movie because I said it was good and then you hated it, I'm sorry you wasted your time and possibly your money. And I sincerely hope I didn't scandalize anyone.

7 quick takes

1 - I was so glad when he won American Idol.

2 - Completely different than Mr. Phillips: I've been listening to Andrew W.K.'s Party Hard a lot lately. What's up with that?

3 - Do yourself a favor and read this: Worse End of School Mom Ever. It is so. freakin. hilarious. And I don't even have kids in school. I'll quote my two favorite parts:

I haven’t checked homework folders in three weeks, because, well, I just can’t. Cannot. Can. Not. I can’t look at the homework in the folder. Is there homework in the folder? I don’t even know. Are other moms still looking in the homework folder? I don’t even care.

Then Ben tells me Tuesday that he needs a Ben Franklin costume for the Living History Museum today, and I’m like what fresh hell is this??

4 - It's tornado season here in central Illinois. In the house I grew up in we had a finished basement so on tornado watch/warning nights I'd usually sleep on the couch down there. In the home I live in with my 4 small children we sleep on the second story and have a cellar. I asked Travis what his plan was if there was a tornado and the kids were in bed: who would he grab, who would I grab? His answer: I've never thought of it. My plan is to follow my instincts.

So I told him I'd get the girls and he could follow his instincts to the boys' room.

Also, it makes me nervous that we live right across the street from some railroad tracks. Shortly after the Oklahoma tornadoes we slept with the windows open and when the train went by in the middle of the night I jumped out of bed, looked out the window, and tried to figure out if it was the infamous sound of a tornado or just some freight moving on down the line. 

5 - I'm really bad at meal planning and grocery shopping when I'm pregnant. Nothing ever sounds good except food in general and I'm just too tired to think about recipes, let alone actually prepare them. Thankfully I married a teacher, his summer break has begun, and he's taken over the dinner prep.

Last night something really awesome happened and he made supper; loaded, ran, and unloaded the dishwasher twice, baked chocolate chip cookies, folded a bunch of laundry, dug some trenches in the mud pit between our kitchen and garage that's supposed to be a patio so the crazy rain would drain away from the house, and worked in our basement.

A little science humor in honor of my science teacher husband. 

I told you it was awesome.

6 - I'm finishing these up during quiet time but I need to stop because Travis and I are watching Beautiful Creatures. Witches and the Civil War and good and evil and teenagers and the south. So far it's interesting.

7 - Thanks, Jen, for hosting! Happy weekend, everyone!

Five Favorites

Thanks to Grace for hosting!

#1 - Emeli Sande's song Next to Me.

Love this one.


#2 - Birthmother's Day

Source

This coming Saturday is Birthmother's Day, the day before Mother's Day when we commemorate the women who lovingly placed their children with adoptive parents. It falls the day before Mother's Day because their motherhood came first and allowed for the motherhood that is celebrated on Sunday.

I stand in awe of birthmothers and if there's any birthmoms out there reading this I just want to say YOU ARE AWESOME! THANK YOU for your bravery and love.


#3 - Naps.
I've already had one today and it's not even 9am!


#4 -  This girl.

#5 -  Silver Lining Playbook

I've been waiting for this one to come out on video and it was SO worth the wait. I may actually need to own this film because I liked it so much. I like that it shows how people do stupid, dangerous things when we're in a bad place. I like that it doesn't have a sex scene (well, there is a sex scene and some nudity but it's in a different context where the people are obviously in the wrong). I like that the characters and situations seem fairly real and are believable. I love the dialogue and I laughed out loud through much of the film. I love how quirky it is. If you like the tv show New Girl I think you'll like this movie.

UPDATE: Please note that if you do not like New Girl you will probably hate this movie and find it vulgar and unfunny.

7 Quick Takes

1 - Love this song. I know some of you play the songs for your kids and if you're not already familiar with this be warned that "Give them hell" is part of the chorus.


2 - I give that warning in case your kids are like my kids. Because Ben walks around the house saying, "Oh damnit." And his dad doesn't cuss.


3 - Last night my friend Katie was over and she was asking her goddaughter, L, what she wanted to be when she grew up. "Well, my first choice is to be a princess in a large castle. Or a farmer." Katie, who grew up on a farm and is very much a farm girl asked her what kind of farmer she would be.  L rattled off some veggies she would grow and then changed her mind.

"Maybe I will have unicorns and they'll make rainbows," she said so sweetly. And then I lost it and started laughing because I thought "out their butts." Except I didn't think 'butts'. What kind of mom am I?


4 - The reason Katie came over was to help make invitations to L's 5th birthday party. Here's a little glimpse of the cards for the Lorax themed party.

I don't know if people will get the whole "We thneed to celebrate" or the "where the grickle grass grows" parts but hopefully they'll just assume it's from the book/movie and roll with it.

Roll with it, people!


5 - Confession: I finally watched Les Mis... and I only sorta liked it. I had never seen it before and didn't know that it was a musical in that every blessed thing was sang. There were many parts where I thought, "If only this were dialogue I wouldn't be bored."

Are you gonna throw something at me?


6 - Earlier this week I visited Katie's 5th grade classroom (she's a teacher at a Catholic school, a DRE, and her parish's youth group leader, which is why she has so many awesome crafts/lessons for so many age groups for free on her blog). They've been learning about Fulton Sheen and so I spoke to them about JF's alleged miracle and the canonization process. They were awesome, awesome kids and I had a lot of fun.

7 - And here it is, your moment of Zen:

Five Favorites

1 - Best zombie movie ever. Many thanks to David Ives at B-Movie Catechism for featuring this at Catholic Exchange. In case the link disappears on the blog head over to YouTube and watch Cargo there. You'll be happy you did.



2 - All these blogger babies. Yay for Hallie, Dan, and Charlie! And Yay for Jen, Joe, and Joseph, with lots of prayers for a short NICU stay for Joseph.


3 - Bloglovin'. I love this site way more than I ever liked Google Reader.

4 - Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

People who hate Sheen will leave comments on my blog or on articles related to JF's story about how the man was nothing but a self-centered jerk. Ummm... the guy is a huge part of the healing of my son - who should be DEAD - so I don't really care if 60 years ago you met him and thought he was a snob. The fact that all these people go around trying to convince me that Sheen was a jerk says more about them than it does about Sheen. And you can't change my mind - I love Fulton Sheen!


5 - When the other track coaches tell Travis he doesn't have to go to the meet and instead should stay at school and run the practice with the other kids. This means he gets home at 5:30 instead of 9:30. Thank you, dear coaches, for giving me my husband in time for supper and before bedtime.

7 Quick Takes

1 - If you rightfully began your 7QT adventure at Jen's then you know that she mentioned my Twitter profile picture in her #5.  I have to confess that when I read the first sentence, "Bonnie‘s photo is one of the rare ones that looks even better in a small format," my heart dropped a little bit and I immediately thought of this:

If you're not familiar with A League of Their Own I'll give you some context.  In the film, a news report about the all women's professional baseball team is shown and it highlights all the players who are both very good and very attractive.  There's close-ups on all their pretty faces except for poor Marla Hooch who is not a looker.  For Marla there is just a long distance shot.
Of course my wounded pride quickly recovered when I read the rest of Jen's very kind words, but I still thought the whole thing was funny and wanted to share it with you all.

2 - How about a song now?  Florence's videos are a little weird and I don't let my kids watch them.  They're not bad necessarily; they're just weird.  And I was pretty much scarred by watching Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer, Genesis' Land of Confusion, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Don't Come Around Here No More when I was a girl so I'm probably a little overprotective about such things.
But the song is really great.


3 - On this coming Tuesday I will be 20 weeks pregnant and today I saw my midwife for the very first time.  How's that for putting things off?  I had this horrible feeling that something was wrong with the baby and I wanted to put off knowing for sure for as long as possible.  Ignorance is bliss, right?
But the good news is that the baby looked great in the sonogram.  This cute, squirmy little thing.  She wouldn't let me see her face but she was beautiful - all 13 ounces of her.

4 - In honor of my red lips being included on Jen's blog I thought I'd pass on a little tip about wearing lipstick.  I loved my "Red Revolution" lipstick (it looks pink, though, doesn't it?) but it wouldn't stay long, filling in all these new cracks in my lips and looking not so great.

After getting over the fact that I'm getting older and that's why my lips have valleys for lipstick to drain into, I did some research and was told to invest in some neutral lip liner.  That has made a HUGE difference and I'm so glad I did it.  I bought a shade that matched my natural lip color in the Cover Girl line.  There's probably better stuff out there but this is nice.
And if you've wanted to wear some bold color on your lips I say DO IT!  I wanted to for a long time but just felt like I couldn't pull it off.  And then I decided that I could risk looking like a fool or I could risk wasting all kinds of time of not wearing lipstick that made me happy.  So I took a risk.

5 - This Lent I wanted to step back from things online and so I deactivated my Facebook account.  It's been nice and not-so-nice.  The nice: it's forced me to reach out to people and connect.  For example, I've talked to my friend Lisa more this Lent than I did in the last year.  The not-so-nice: Facebook is the only way I have to keep in touch with many people.  For example, today the kids and I were building snowmen and it reminded me of a a time when my cousin and I built a snowman in my backyard.  I wanted to message her and say, "Hey I thought of you and I hope you're well," but I don't have her email address or phone number. So here's hoping she reads my blog!
MW, I miss and love you and wish you the best!

6 - Tuesday, February 26th I'll be speaking at the Knights of Columbus Hall on the square in Washington, IL.  I'll be sharing JF's story, plus talking about Fulton Sheen and the canonization process.  The event, which is hosted by the Elizabeth Ministry group of St. Patrick's Parish, begins at 6:30pm and is free.  If you're in the area it would be great to see you!

7 - Lastly, here's a cute, funny picture of Resa.  That girl makes me so happy.

Many thanks to Jennifer at Conversion Diary for hosting!  Have a wonderful weekend!

7 quick takes

 1 - Once again I have to say 'thank you' to Pandora for introducing me to new music.  Thank you!

2 - I made the Santa Lucia bun recipe that Grace shared with us yesterday on the Advent series.  Yum-o.  Everyone in the family loved them.  I ran out of all purpose flour and had to use 1 and 1/2 cups wheat flour and they were still good!  You'll want to Pin that recipe for next year, friends!

3 - So I don't know what you're doing this weekend but Travis and I have an afternoon date with The Hobbit.  WooooHooooo!

4 - Did you watch Minor Revisions last night?  Ahhh - loved it like the Jen fan that I am!  I suspect there will now be a bunch of Catholic women rockin' the low side pony just like Jennifer did at the coffee shop.  While watching it I kept wishing my brother and sister-in-law, fallen away Catholics who now attend a megachurch that literally had ribbon dancers at their Easter service - oh sorry, I got off on a tangent there, didn't I?  Anyways, I kept wishing they were watching it with me.  So many of the things Jen and Joe said (about looking for a church they wanted vs. considering if there was a church God wanted them to join) and Jen and her dad discussed about their conversion were great points to consider.  I would love to hear how my brother and his wife would answer those questions in light of the Fulwilers' commentary.

5 - Did you celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe?  Inspired by Lisa's post about Our Lady and the feast we did, though we kinda spread it out.  Tuesday we read the book The Lady of Guadalupe, which is a book I highly recommend.  The book is a little longish but it does an excellent job of telling the story of OLOG so I didn't have to.

Then we made paper bag tilmas, which the kids looooved.  They were really proud of them and didn't mind wearing them.  L even went back and colored roses on hers and then acted out the story, having me be Our Lady and Travis be the bishop.

We had tacos and chips and guacamole for supper.  We were going to have crispas and Mexican hot cocoa for dessert but I ended up not feeling well and so we just called it a night.

So we had crispas for breakfast today.  :)

6 - Did you notice how JF isn't wearing pants in the above picture?  That happens a lot here.  JF is always taking off his pants.  Ben is always taking off his shoes and socks.  And then there's L, who is usually dressed in layers, sitting under a blanket.

7 - Thursday was the best day the kids and I have had for a long, long time.  We played a matching game, worked on puzzles together, read books, played with trains, made the St. Lucy rolls, did our Jesse Tree ornament and prayers.  I think I only became upset once and no one peed on the carpet.

I'm pretty sure the secret to the success was that I never showered, changed out of my pj's or brushed my hair or teeth.  Really, that was the only thing that was different than every other day but for some reason it made a difference.  I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this phenomenon.

7.5 - Make sure you check out Lisa Schmidt's contribution to the Advent series: A Perpetual State of Advent.  It's all about low key living and it was a great read during this crazy time of year.

And thanks to Jen for always hosting!

7 quick takes

1 - I need something beautiful, so we're going to listen to this song.
I look at the people around me and I wonder what we are all doing.  What in the world have we done, and what are we going to do?  For weeks now I have been heavy hearted.  I walk around feeling discouraged most of the time and occasionally even abandoned.  I am trying to choose hope.  I know that sometimes in life we have only hope or despair.  The two are laid out before us, ours for the taking.  I have tried to hope.  But I am tired and I feel defeated, worn down, and alone and so sometimes it is hard to hope.

2 - Sorry to start out on such a sour note.  If I've been grumpy about you putting up your Christmas tree last week maybe now you understand my scrougeyness.  Now that Thanksgiving is officially done with I am much more tolerable of Christmas music and merriment, though I'm not really "feeling it".  (I read the article "An Advent Plan for a Non-People Person" and laughed a little and nodded my head a whole lot.)  I am ready for Advent, though.  I am asking God to give me a fruitful Advent and then a joyful Christmas. 

3 - On a happy note, the song above is called "Grace's Waltz" and it was written by Fernando Ortega in honor of his grandmother Grace, which is sweet and lovely.  The first time I heard it I was enchanted and I swore I would walk down the aisle to it when I got married.  I did, and it was perfect.

4 - On Wednesday I was able to attend the funeral of a wonderful woman, whom I had the pleasure to call Grandma Ba.  She wasn't my grandmother, but my friend Sarah's.  My first day of high school I met Sarah - our lockers were next to each other - and we have been friends ever since.  Sarah is great about sharing her family with her friends and so I got to know Grandma Ba fairly well over the years.  She was kind, funny, and so proud to be Swedish. 

At the funeral we sang the hymn "This Is My Father's World."

Sarah and I actually sang this song in our high school choir and I've always loved it.  The last verse always brings a tear to my eye but in the context of Grandma Ba's funeral - well, let's just say there was more than one tear!

This is my Father's world. 
O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet. 
This is my Father's world: 
why should my heart be sad? 
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! 
God reigns; let the earth be glad!

5 - Thanksgiving.  I took pictures to join Grace's link-up.  I took pictures to post of our awesome food.  And then I forgot the camera at my mom's house.  oops.
I wore jeans, a muted magenta top with cloth roses around the neckline, and a grey cardigan with small white dots.  I looked cute.

6 - I have a goal of getting Resa to take a bottle by December 14th so I can see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Oh seriously.  You can call me a nerd and I won't care.  WHOA buddy!  I am excited!  I really, really loved reading the book, and as a fan of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" I am certain that this will be visually beautiful and intelligently done. 

Did you know Benedict Cumberbatch (he plays Sherlock on the BBC series that I love!) is in it? 

So is Martin Freeman, of course (Watson from BBC's Sherlock), and for some reason I have a small, silly crush on that man. 

(Okay, I know the reason.  It's because he always plays a kind man.  I like kind men.  But don't tell Travis about this crush because then he will tease me to no end.)  And James Nesbitt is also in the movie and I love him!  Okay, enough rambling.  I'm happy.  I'm looking forward to it.  The end.

Okay, ps. I told Travis.  He made fun of me.

7 - Here's a couple of recipes I tried recently and they were all hits.
Sweet and sour chicken.  I didn't use the eggs because JF is allergic but the cornstarch was enough.  They were great and everyone asked for more, and more.
Sweet dinner rolls.  I tried these last year for Thanksgiving and they were so popular I brought them back for Christmas.  Bread machine friendly recipe, but it can easily be made "the old fashioned way."

Have a good weekend, and thanks to Jen for hosting!

7 quick takes

1 - Originally I was going to put up a video by Weezer.  There's something about warm weather that makes me want to listen to Weezer.  But my duaghter said I needed to play a "girl song" and so heeding the advice of a 4 year old I looked up some Regina Spektor.  She watched the video with me and said, "That lady is making a mess."  True dat.

2 - Last night I decided that I wanted to do a movie night with the kids tonight.  I went to Family Video and got The Road to El Dorado and The Prince of Egypt so the kids could chose.  Then I went to the grocery store and bought snacks to make this edible necklace.  I'm hoping the kids enjoy it all.  I figure we can have some homemade veggie soup for dinner and then pig out a little bit on popcorn and sweets.

3 - Last night Travis and I talked about inviting some friends over to join us in the movie night.  Our kids could make their necklaces together and sit in their pj's, watching a movie and eating while we grown ups sat at the dining room table, playing cards or Scrabble, and having a beer.  We went through all our friends who would maybe want to come over and then I gave a reason why most of them wouldn't want to come and swore off calling any of the other ones.  Because I enjoy hosting things but I'm also an insecure introvert this happens to poor Travis on a fairly frequent basis.  It's a ridulous combination to have in a person.

So unless someone invites themself over we will be watching our movie alone.

4 - So yesterday had some sad news.  I really like Ann Curry.  I read this press release from my Bishop, Daniel R. Jenky, and I wanted to share it here as I think it is a little more positive than some people (myself included) first felt.  You can see the press release here.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, Bishop of the Diocese of Peoria, believes that today's Supreme Court ruling will have no impact upon the Catholic Church's legal case regarding being forced to fund abortions, sterilizations, and contraceptives in our religious institutions. The church's pending lawsuits are based upon our First Amendment right to freely practice our religion and to define for ourselves what constitutes a Catholic ministry. Today's Supreme Court ruling addressed other legal issues that are not the direct concern of the Church.

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria is now considering joining other Dioceses and Catholic entities suing the Federal Government. Bishop Jenky calls upon the Catholic faithful to participate in "Fortnight of Freedom" observances and to continue to pray for religious liberty in America. Under no circumstances will the Catholic Church ever abandon its absolute commitment to the Gospel of Life.

5 - In case you didn't hear the super great news let me introduce to you the VENERABLE Fulton J. Sheen!

6 - Big prayer request: A friend of mine's mom is battling cancer.  The cancer is pretty aggressive and there have been some issues with the insurance company wanting to deny treatment.  Please pray for my friend, her mom and doctors, their entire family, and all the insurance issues.  Our Father...

7 - One more prayer request: The feeding therapist and I will be scheduling another swallow study for JF.  Our little boy is eating normally now, except for all the things he can't eat because of allergies, but he still isn't drinking normally.  We were given the go-ahead from his feeding therapist to give him little sips of water so he is accustomed to drinking that way in time for the study.  I don't want to expose him to radiation and not even have drunk from a cup.  Hopefully we can get rid of the thickened formula and the bottles forever!

movies to watch

With a new baby we watch a lot of movies.  I thought I'd give you a quick list and simple review of the things I've watched recently that have been good enough for a recommendation.

Netflix watch instantly:
True Grit:  This is the new one which I've watched this over and over again.  Love it.
Thor:  You should especially watch this if you've seen or plan on seeing The Avengers.  Parts that did not take place on Earth were a little more boring but I liked the rest.
Being Elmo:  This was really interesting and very, very sweet.  I have a whole new appreciation for Elmo, which is nice because that puppet can drive me crazy sometimes.
The Conspirator: Based on actual events surrounding Abraham Lincoln's assassination.  I thought the acting, costumes, and story were all good.
The Way: I thought it was a great representation of Catholicism and the people who practice it, each with our own little history, sin, and burden, all looking for forgiveness and peace.

Rented:
Machine Gun Preacher: The beginning was really tough for me to watch, as were various scenes of violence, but an amazing story overall.
Morning Glory: Cute, funny, light-hearted.  Even Travis liked this chick flick.
Captain America: Thought I wouldn't like it but loved it.  Another must if you're going to watch The Avengers.
Safe House: Didn't think I'd like it one bit because of the violence.  I was wrong.  Also, I totally prefer Ryan Reynolds to Ryan Gosling. Any day.

What about you?  Do you have any movies to suggest?

7 quick takes

1 - The Boat Song!  Parents who love Margaret Wise Brown, and I'm lookin' at you, Laura Beth, I think you would like this song.  It was inspired by The Runaway Bunny and it features the bird wallpaper LB has in her kitchen and hallway.  Everyone else, it's such a cute song, I really think you should listen to it.  And then love it.

2 - For those of you who do not know my friend Laura, let me show you a picture of her arm.

Now do you understand why I think she'll like a song that was inspired by The Runaway Bunny?  You can barely see it, but there's two bunny birds, one for each of her sons.  Also, I don't really like tattoos but this is seriously the most amazing thing I've ever seen on someones body and I really appreciate the craftsmanship of this tat.

3 - Did I pull that off - calling it a "tat"?  Do people even call them "tats" any more?  It's tragic how unhip I am.  Wait....

4 - L Anne turned 4 yesterday!  Four!  Her Strawberry Shortcake themed party is tomorrow and she is so excited.  What a cutie.  What a joy.  What a bundle of energy.

5 - Tonight Travis and I are going on a dinner and a movie date.  We're going to see the new Avengers movie and I think Travis is half-hoping I'll go into labor the way I did as I watched Iron Man 4 years ago.  We'll see! 

I'm excited about our date night but I do think I should probably tidy up the house a bit.  Our babysitters will be a couple of his students and I feel pressure to have the house clean.  I should have thought of this yesterday when all I did during quiet time was sit on my butt and surf the internet, telling myself that 9 month pregnant women with occasional contractions should keep their feet up so they don't get too swollen.  But now it's 9:30am and I've napped once already today, haven't showered, and need to clean and bake L's birthday cake for tomorrow's party.  We'll see how all this goes.

6 - Ben does this absolutely adorable thing where he sits on the back of the sofa, recites the first half of Humpty Dumpty, falls back onto the sofa, and recites the second half of the nursery rhyme.  I love it.

7 - Ben wants a picture of himself on the blog so I will post one.  Happy Friday, everyone!

we've been watching Disney movies

Today my sweet little three and a half year old oh-so-sincerely asked me,

"Mom, do I have a Cave of Wonders in my mouth?"

So we've been watching Aladdin...  But we also were on a Sleeping Beauty kick for awhile which brought a terrible fear of dragons into my little girl's heart.

"Mommy, what if a dragon comes and tries to get me while I'm sleeping?"

"Well there aren't any dragons around us.  None will come to our town."

"But what if one does?"

"Well, St. Michael and your Guardian Angel will protect you."

"But they're up in Heaven."

"Well then Daddy will get his shot gun and kill it."

"Okay.  Good night, Mommy."

7 quick takes

1 - Going out on a limb here with some 80's music.  But man, this song is so good.  And you know what, I wish I could rely on my old man's money.  It's a bitch, girl.

2 - Hey, if you want simple, awesome cookies that mix peanut butter, chocolate chips, and little else, you have got to check out this recipe.  They're gluten free if that matters to you, and it only makes a dozen or so cookies so you don't feel quite so bad when you eat the whole batch.  (Not that I have done that... yet.)

3 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is pretty popular in my home right now.  Ben prefers it because he loves the dwarfs.  He walks around the house, holding his toy hammer on his shoulder, singing "Heigh Ho!"

4 - L, on the other hand, belts out, "Still I think he's rather tasty" over and over again.  It's a line from the Prince Ali song in Aladdin.  She even does the voice.  You may have heard her at Wal-Mart earlier this week.

5 - What are you making for your Super Bowl party this Sunday?  I'm supposed to bring cookies and will probably bring chocolate chip cookies but I'm definitely open for a suggestion.  Also, I may do a rendering of Skip Bayless' and ESPN's Tim Tebow - All He Does Is Win song.  Rejoice that we're not going to the same party.  (But my husband loves it!)

6 - What, you don't know what song I'm talking about?  Well pause Rich Girl and enjoy:


7 - Now on a more serious note, my new post is up over at IGNITUM TODAY.  Another Life to Remember is one part encouraging pro-lifers to stop ignoring babies lost in miscarriage and one part suggestions for what you can do if you or someone you know is miscarrying.  I hope it's helpful.

Blessings for a good, safe, fun weekend, everyone!

quality of life

We have been very blessed to stay in contact with several of the doctors and nurses who cared for JF the night he was born and throughout his NICU stay.  Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking with one of the nurses who worked on JF the night he was born.  She shared her experience of the night with me and her words were quite powerful and left me stammering, looking for words. 

She said that once JF was alive again there was a feeling of "what have you done?" because of how badly disabled JF would be.  But then she told me, and I'm paraphrasing a little bit, "Quality of life is not to be decided by doctors and nurses.  Quality of life is determined by the person with the problems, the people who love him, and God."

I wrote a post about having a son with disabilities when JF was a month old and still in the hospital.  I was terrified of what our new normal would look like.  I was terrified and angry, and I was still holding out hope that God wasn't done healing my son, eradicating all his special needs.   I knew that as a Catholic Christian I should know and believe that quality of life is determined by the person with the problems, his loved ones, and God, but I was pretty sure it would be determined by kids at school, strangers at the store, and my own fears and insecurities.

This issue is something that I had to face for a long moment and then JF continued to improve and the issue wasn't forced any longer.  It still resurfaces, though.  Take, for instance, a recent viewing of The Village.  I was watching it with a group of people and when the mentally disabled Noah died and his mother sobbed I sat in the back of the room crying, too.  Not because I was invested in the characters but because they forced the issue again. 

The fear, the burden, the unknown, the guilt, the loneliness, the relief, the sorrow, and the grief - they still sit in the back of me.  Not dealt with.  Hidden most of the time.  I know that's not healthy but I am not ready to go through it all again.  Not yet.  Maybe they will just go away.

I am glad for Absolute Truth.  God is good even though our circumstances are not.  A person's dignity does not depend upon what he can or cannot do.  Quality of life is decided by God, loved ones, and the person who suffers.  These things do not change based on how I feel or what I believe and so my only options are to ignore them or embrace them.

Related posts: 
the music that got me through
this thing that I fear
special needs

bad idea

I got Tangled from Netflix for L.  Now she plays with my hair saying, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair!"  She pulls on it, twists it, tugs at it, all but swings around on it.

Cute movie.  Sore scalp.

7 quick takes

1 - Blogging at my mom's sucks.  I can't post videos.  I can't leave comments on other people's blogs.  For some reason my blogger dashboard is odd formatted.  And this is about the 3rd time I've typed this...  Otherwise, staying at my parents' home has been wonderful, but here's a few things I've wanted to say:
Kaitlin, I loved your engagement story!  The best ones always involve peeing in the woods. 
Cynthia, I loved your post on beauty.  Thank you for sharing those thoughts.
Also, I apologize that there is no music to read by today.

2 - Travis has been working hard on our house which is why the kids and I are at my parents' house.  He's gotten a lot accomplished, including our laundry room.  What was once a 30% finished room filled with crap is now DONE with shelves, cabinets, and all kinds of room for storage.  You might be jealous when you see it.  Fair warning.

3 - L has taken to saying "cockle-doodle-do-do" all the time.  It is her expression of choice.  I turned it into a brilliant joke:
What did the rooster say when he stepped on some poop?
Cockle-doodle-do-do!
I know.  I'm awesome.  You can bask in my glow.

4 - We saw the newest Pirates movie.  Lame-o.  However, I did love that the Catholics were the portrayed rather well.  Did you like it?  Or were you smart enough not to see it?

5 - For those of you who haven't seen it, I am referring to the end of the movie, when the British, the pirates, and the Catholic Spanish all arrive at the Fountain of Youth at about the same time.  The Brits and the pirates are fighting over it when the Spanish come in  and declare that only God can grant eternal life.  They then destroy the the area.  Boo-yah! 

6 - Teeth.  Ben loves brushing his and JF now has 3.

7 - Tonight we are going to Galva for Ella Berry's benefit.  Ella was born with an undetected heart condition.  She almost died when she was a few days old, was life flighted to the same hospital JF was in and just came home from the PICU last week.  If you are looking for something to do, and would like to support the Berry's huge medical bills, please consider coming.

Seen any good movies lately?

Funny you should ask because, yes, I have.

Seriously, thank God for Netflix.  It makes life without cable a little better sometimes, ya know.  So if you're looking for something good to watch, here's a few reviews:

Watch Instantly
The Right Stuff - astronaut movie, made me think of Mrs. Cox (GHMS).  Good but very long. 
Shawshank Redemption - of course I've seen it before but it had been so long.  What a great movie.
Hearts in Atlantis - I can't help it, I like Anthony Hopkins. 
Planet 51 - cute, but I was disappointed in some of "adult" jokes.
The Searchers - you know, the John Wayne movie
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - how can you not like this movie?
Tender Mercies - I also happen to like Robert Duvall.  Did you know he could sing and write music?!
Michael Jackson This Is It - impressive.  I was amazed at how current his songs still sound. 
The Men Who Stare at Goats - I wanted to like this movie.  I just couldn't do it.
Ballykissangel - the old BBC show set in Ireland.  Have you seen it?  It's soooo good!

Not Watch Instantly
Up in the Air - it was okay.  Too much casual sex for my liking, but take that away and it was good.
The Book of Eli - I liked this a lot.
Invictus - Sooooo goooood.  Watch it.  Love it.

What about you?  Do you have any good movies to recommend?

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol 6)

-1-

I didn't get the job.

This is what I had prayed for - that God would make it clear to me if He wanted me there or not.

But I still feel the twinge of failure that calls for sweet things and iced chai.  (Really it calls for rum and coke but that will have to wait a few more months.)

-2-

Recently I watched the movie Frost/Nixon.  It was really interesting and I encourage you to check it out.  I know it wasn't 100% accurate, but it still gave me a good sense of what went on with President Nixon.

-3-

My husband and kids have been gone since Wednesday and I've been enjoying the time to myself.  I've slowly cleaned the house, spent time with friends, worked on the next Behold Conference and loved the way the bathroom and kitchen have stayed clean!  I even got my dining room tablecloth out!

-4-

I would like to say 2 things about the oil spill:  #1 Remember Apollo 13?  Three men in space and not enough air, so the engineers at NASA - in a matter of hours - created a filter out of tape, a tube sock and other basics.  The filter worked and astronauts lived.  Why don't we give those engineers a call?

#2  There are more than 2,000 people who belong to Facebook groups about how the oil spill has ruined their summer.  I think I may be more upset with them than the oil industry, BP or our government.

-5-

Number 4 was originally a lot stronger but then I went to Mass today and felt like I needed to be a little more respectful.  Today is the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - where we celebrate how much God loves us.  The priest kept talking about it, God's amazing love, and I realized that the people in our government, at BP, and on Facebook are all dearly loved by God and so I shouldn't call them names.  I can be mad at them, but I shouldn't call them names.  Or use swear words.  And after about 8 rewrites I accomplished both of those things.

-6-

Baby #4 update:  this pregnancy has been going really well.  Because of Ben's birth size (10lb 11oz) and my current weight, my midwife and I want to take care that I don't develop gestational diabetes.  While I have still been enjoying fruit pops and ice cream cones, I've tried to eat lots of healthy food, too.  At 27 weeks I've only gained 15lbs and after 2 days of finger-pricking glucose testing I can proudly say that my blood sugar is under control and I am gestational diabetes free!

-7-

This is our garden and I am in love with it.  Last weekend Travis hoed the entire thing, a process that took hours.  Today I hoed a few little weeds and then planted a tomato plant, cilantro and mint.  I'm not sure how the herbs will do but I'm hopeful about the tomato. 

Please also note our compost.  I love our compost.

***  I know that I am posting this on Saturday, but hubby got home right as I was beginning #7 and he told me I needed to shower quickly and get ready to go.  He surprised me with Cold Stone and Robin Hood.

Good movies

The Visitor and Arranged are two recommendations for anyone looking for something good to watch.

The Visitor is about a bored, lonely college professor who meets two illegals who have rented his NY apartment. His friendship with them brings passion back into his life. I thought the movie was incredibly interesting and I liked that the main characters were all kind people. Travis liked this one, too.

Arranged is about two coworkers, an Orthodox Jew and a Muslim, who become friends as they bond over their shared beliefs in modesty and arranged marriages. It's kind of a chick flick but not silly, and it doesn't glorify going out, looking hot and hooking up. I think the number one reason I liked this movie is because it reminded me of falling in love with and marrying Travis, since ours was definitely an arranged marriage (masterminded by my Heavenly Father).


Heads up: If you have Netflix you can watch both of these online.

my great weekend

Friday night I went to the birthday party of a college friend. Trav stayed home to take care of getting L to Grandma & Grandpa's for the weekend and to hang out with friends.

Going to this party made me feel great. I stayed until past 1am. There was a good mix of people I knew and fresh faces. My favorite part of the night was towards the end, when we stragglers talked about Jack Handy and his Deep Thoughts. There was a some twins there, one with his girlfriend and the three of them made me laugh for hours. I left feeling young and vibrant - two things I haven't felt in at least 8 months.

Saturday Travis and I sat around like newlyweds until it was time to use an old movie pass and go see Gran Torino. Great movie. On the way in I commented to Travis that I didn't miss L. On the way out I asked him if he wanted to go to my parents' house.

Let me tell you, it is amazing how cute she is and how great it makes me feel when, upon seeing me, she beamed, squealed and began flapping her arms in excitement. After a wonderful dinner of beef stew and croissant rolls Trav and I left L at my Mom's to go home. We watched The Straight Story (super duper good, wholesome movie. The actor who plays Matthew in Anne of Green Gables is the lead.). I slept for 10 hours that night. It was awesome.

Right now I'm baking cookies and watching my daughter eat a carrot. It has been a terrific 3 days.