It's still November 30th, so if you were hoping to pray this beautiful Christmas Novena, it's not too late! I know that 15 times a day seems like a lot, but this is such a simple prayer and it almost becomes like a mantra throughout the day. "Hail, and blessed be the hour..." The words are poignant and by all accounts, this particular novena is very powerful when it comes to changing hearts and working miracles in difficult situations. Will you join me in praying this beautiful Christmas … [Read more...]
Boys
November 29, 2010 By
Yesterday, my son had his first real "I'm going to give you the silent treatment, Mom!" moment, which was totally scary for me! I thought about all of the years that I have ahead of me that will involve moments like these, and I realized that I should not take for granted the fact that most of the time, Christopher still wants his dad and me to know about all of his plans and thoughts and questions! The interesting part about yesterday's incident was that after about half an hour in his room, … [Read more...]
Almost Advent
November 26, 2010 By
My family is excited to spend the next month preparing for the celebration of the birth of Christ. We have the luxury of controlling our day, so we will put aside some of our regular academic work to do reading, crafts and cooking related to Christmas. The first thing we will do is put up out our Advent Wreath and light it every night, reading a different Old Testament prophecy each week. I have brought up our favorite Nativity story books from the basement, and soon I will put out our … [Read more...]
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 25, 2010 By
On behalf of all of the Builders, I'd like to wish our Building Cathedrals family a very Happy Thanksgiving! My family is sending warm wishes from Houston, where we're wearing shorts and t-shirts and waiting for the promised "cold front" to come through tonight :) Whether you're sipping hot cocoa or lemonade today, playing in the snow or playing bocce and flying kites at the park, celebrating with lots of friends and family or just as an immediate family, have a wonderful Turkey Day! Praise God … [Read more...]
Talking Turkey
November 24, 2010 By
Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year or traveling with kids? Either way, life is complicated! Around the holidays I always think about my mom, okay, that makes it sound like she's dead, which she is not, just in Bermuda, which is like heaven, but anyway, can you tell I have had too much coffee this week? I think about my mom during the holidays because she is a terrific hostess, she manages to put out a wonderful, elegant meal while staying calm and gracious. Her home and holidays are … [Read more...]
Eating the Rainbow, First Attempt
November 22, 2010 By
In an attempt to get my children to eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables, I decided to introduce the concept of "eating the rainbow" one evening for dinner last week. Eating the rainbow simply means that you try to eat fruits and vegetables that span the color spectrum, from red strawberries to green spinach to purple plums and everything in between. The idea is that the foods in each color group contain a unique set of vitamins and minerals, and that eating a wide variety of these foods … [Read more...]
TSA, TMI!
November 22, 2010 By
So, we were sitting at brunch yesterday with the grandparents, and while the women were up at the buffet, the men had the following conversation, reported later: Dad: Where's Uncle Blank? Grandpa: They went to Baltimore, but they drove. Uncle Blank won't fly, he doesn't want anyone touching his junk. Nine year old: Then why doesn't he just put it in his carry on bag? … [Read more...]
Gift Grab–Part I
November 19, 2010 By
Try to say that title 20 times fast! Ha! I have been on the prowl lately, attempting to find the world's most perfect gift. Gift perfection connotes two key qualities-- 1) it does not require any more of me than I have to give (which these days means I'm ordering from a desk chair at the computer--it's all I can handle!) and 2) the gift must tickle my senses and make me happy. Tough criteria, I tell you... So far I have two gift ideas to pass on. They're lovely, happy, affordable, and … [Read more...]
Speaking of Haircuts…
November 17, 2010 By
After Juris Mater's hilarious post last week, I thought I'd post our latest haircut escapade (this one with pictures). We were all sick last week and Mr. Incredible even stayed home from work one day. And, while we were happy to have him covalescing at home, his weekday presence does throw a monkey wrench into our routine. Especially when he decided that it was time to give the baby (ahem, more than 2 year old) his first haircut. He had been thought a girl at least half a dozen times in the … [Read more...]
What Kids Can Do
November 15, 2010 By
I hope that everyone had a great weekend, and that Monday morning is off to a good start! For the past couple of days, I've been reflecting on the Thoughts for Thursday question, "What can my children do other than watch TV?" Really, I've been thinking about this because I feel that my kids have been watching an inordinate amount of videos since the beginning of the summer. It's a bad habit that we got into during the long, hot summer months here in Houston, I think in large part because we had … [Read more...]
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