Theme Thursday: Knots

This week's theme is Knots.  I instantly thought back to the days when Ellie used to knot up shoe laces and hang her Barbie doll.  Yes, I said hang, as in my four year old was pretty good at making shoelace nooses.  So I dug up a couple of pictures from those days.

Her eyes are so mischievous in this picture.  Just before she posed for this picture she had been on the couch peeking over and all you could see were those cute little knots on her hair and her eyes above the handiwork of her freshly hung Barbie.  Never being much of a fan of Barbie I saw no reason to tell her not to be a one person lynch mob for the plastic broad.

Sure, it might have been a little disturbing that she kept happily rounding up Barbies and hanging them, but look at how happy it made her.  And if you look at Barbie, it appears that she didn't mind.  

When I went through the pictures from 2009 I realized that knots were one of those hairstyles that I did all the time on Ellie.  I had started calling this style knot-sies.  But then I realized one day that it sounded an awful lot like I was saying Nazis.  Yeah, it really doesn't sound good when someone compliments your daughter's hair and she responds that she likes having knot-sies in her hair.  Far better to just call them knots.

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What We're Reading Wednesday #3

We had one of those weeks where it became glaringly obvious that the book Madeline selected for her summer reading assignment simply wasn't going to work for her.  So we pulled up the summer reading list and sifted through the dismal books on the list looking for something that I didn't find inappropriate and something she found interesting.  We landed on Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food.  So far, so good.  She's made it a good way through the book in the past couple of days and she's telling us all sorts of things that she learning from the book.  Works for me.

She also started to read Harry Potter in the Sorcerer's Stone.  I suspect it will take her a while to get through this book unless something clicks and she actually gets into the story.  I remember when I picked up that book on afternoon just to peek inside I lost about 17 hours of my life.  Don't ask me who took care of little toddler Madeline while I read that book.

Ellie has been reading a bunch of different books so it's hard to pin point what she's reading at any given moment.  She did start reading a new series of kid's books, Gospel Time Trekkers, from Pauline Kids yesterday.  She zipped through the first few chapters of Shepherds to the Rescue.  So far she likes what she's read.  Once she's done reading the book I'll be posting a review of it.  It looks a bit like the Imagination Stations series.

I've been battling headaches for most of the week so I haven't been reading a lot.  I did start to page through Bl. John Newman's Everyday Meditations the other day.  The meditations are very good.  In a way they sort of remind me of both St. Francis De Sales and St. Ignatius Loyola.  But as I was reading the book I got hit with a headache like I sometimes get when reading St. Augustine and St. Ignatius Loyola so I'm not sure if it's his writings or just the bad bout of headaches that are to blame.  Either way the meditations are very good, I'm just not sure if they're of the spiritual indigestion inducing caliber of Sts. Augustine and Ignatius.  Once I get past these headaches and delve back into the book I'll know for sure.  

I've also continued reading through the Gospels.  Last week I read through Mark and now I'm working through Luke.  I now find myself at Mass saying to myself, "Hey, I read that a few weeks ago!" or "Hmm...this sounds really familiar." and then I realize that it's familiar because I read it quite recently. Have I mentioned how much I love using the USCCB's website for reading the bible?  I just have a window with it up on my browser.  So when I find myself spending way too much time on the computer I just flip over to that window and read so I'm at least doing something more worthwhile than checking out Facebook or browsing Amazon.  I'm working my way through the Gospels at a rate of 2-4 chapters a day.  

Katie is stuck on her favorite books.  But she did humor me and sit through The Holy Twins.  She likes the pictures from her Tomie DePaola, but I don't think she's enamored with the story.

She has been a bit attached to God's Alphabet The ABC's of the Church.  It's a really nice ABC book that was originally printed back in 1938.  Each letter has a little rhyming verse about something that relates to the Catholic faith and there's a lovely blue and white illustration of the sort that you really only find in older books.  Katie happily sits and listens to this book and then pages through it herself.

When I originally ordered this book I thought it was a bit pricey, but it's a very nice quality book.  The pages are nice and thick and it's also printed in the USA.  I don't mind paying a bit more for a book when I know that it's helping to keep jobs in our country.

She's also decided that she'd humor a few of the baby board books the other day.  She had me read Dr. Seuss's ABC a few times.  I used to have to read this book to Madeline all of the time.  Ellie HATED books when she was a toddler with the exception of a few Boynton titles.  I was amused that after all these years I still have that book memorized.  "Big U, little u. What begins with U?  Uncle Ubb's umbrella and his underwear, too! U...u...U."  I have to say it's one of the more amusing ABC books that we own.   

She also humored me reading her some nursery rhymes from The Real Mother Goose.  Honestly, I'm still not sure how I feel about this book.  I brought it back in 1998 when my best friend was expecting her first child.  I got a copy for her baby and one for my future children.  The illustrations are nice, but I take issue with how some of the nursery rhymes are worded.  They're not the same as the book my mother has.  I do wish I could find a copy of the Mother Goose book my mom has.  I always liked the illustrations in that book.  Years ago I searched for a used copy and had no luck.  But back to the copy that I do have.  Of the several Mother Goose books that we own, this one is the one I like the best.  It's a close second to the one I grew up with.  I do have my eye on the Tomie DePaola Mother Goose book.  Maybe Katie will get a copy for her birthday.  It's on her Amazon wish list.

I am happy that she's allowing a bit more variety with her book requests.  I did order her some out of print Tomie DePaola books hoping to add a few new favorites.

Head over to Clan Donaldson for more What We're Reading Wednesday posts.

Quick Takes: Volume 75 NFP Edition

In honor of NFP Awareness Week I give you 7 Quick Takes on NFP.

~1~

If you're scratching your head and wondering what NFP stands for, it's Natural Family Planning.  Basically you track your fertility cycle and use the information you record to avoid or achieve a pregnancy.  And, no, it's not the rhythm method.  There are several different methods of NFP.  We use the Sympto-thermal method because I like how I can cross check symptoms and temperature to better assess my fertility.

~2~

Does it really work for postponing pregnancy?  Lots of people out there, including some medical professionals, would have you believe that people who use NFP have a gazillion babies, because...well....don't they?  I know that was my perception of NFP for several years.  Then I researched the subject and realized it had lower failure rate (when you follow the rules) than artificial birth control.  So really, for a couple that is determined to follow the rules of the NFP method they're using to avoid a pregnancy, they have a slimmer chance of conceiving than say a couple using an IUD or hormonal birth control.

~3~

If you're skeptical about using NFP to delay a pregnancy, I have to tell you that it really does require a leap of faith to abandon artificial birth control.  I can tell you that I felt like I was stepping off a cliff when we ditched birth control.  Then as I became more comfortable with charting my cycles and interpreting them, I realized that using NFP is such a liberating experience.

~4~

You want to know something that is awesome about NFP?  There are no side effects or health risks associated with using it.  With hormonal birth control you run the risk of massive mood swings, blood clots, strokes, and a whole host of other undesirable side effects.  And let's not forget that birth-control pill are a class 1 carcinogen.  Not sure about you, but I'm not interested in increasing my risk factor for cancer.

~5~

Oh, I could tell you stories about an IUD!  And honestly, I so wish that I couldn't.  Let me assure you that NFP is an infinitely better choice. Just like hormonal birth control, an IUD also brings with it a host of side effects and risks.  I kid you not when I tell you there's a booklet that lists a lot of really unpleasant potential side effects.  Among them, and repeated many times is "perforation of uterus."  What they don't tell you is placement hurts badly enough to make you see stars, and expulsion of the device is almost as bad.

~6~

One of the things I like best about NFP is we decide whether or not we're going to throw caution to the wind and possibly add on to the family.  If you're contracepting, you're really not in control even though you may be operating under the illusion that you are.  In using NFP and being aware of my fertility, we know when we're taking a chance.  You simply don't have that awareness when you're using birth control.

~7~

Now I'm not going to tell you that everything is all sunshine and roses with NFP.  It can be a challenge during the postpartum months and while you're breastfeeding.  And there are plenty of times where abstaining is a royal pain in the rear, but on the whole, I've find using NFP to be a worthwhile experience.  I only wish we had considered using it right from the start of our marriage.  I am convinced that the use of contraceptives is detrimental not only to your health but also to good communication.  If there's one thing you need when using NFP, it's good communication.

What We're Reading Wednesday #2

I think I missed a week or two since the first WWRW link up.  But we're still reading!  It's taking me a bit longer to recover from our super busy VBS/Birthday Party week.  I think the heat wave we had last week didn't help matters.  Maybe I just need a nice long vacation.

I took a break from some of the books I was reading and delved into Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle's latest book, The Miraculous Medal.  Honestly, when it arrived at my house I intended only to page through it and put it in the pile with the rest of the review books to wait its turn.  Instead I wound up finding myself needing to read the book now.  I'm just a few pages from the end.  It's not a book I can easily put down.  I'll be writing a review for it very soon, but here's the short and sweet of it:  We get the back story of St. Catherine Laboure and the origins of the miraculous medal.  Then we move into chapters that discuss miracles surrounding the miraculous medal.  Donna-Marie tells us of how she came to be friends with Blessed Mother Theresa and thus became inspired to make giving miraculous medals to those she meets as part of her ministry.  She then tells many stories about how the medals she has distributed to others has made an impact.  The final part, which I haven't yet read contains novenas and prayers.

I'm also slowly making my way through Fr. F. X. Lascance's Our Lady Book.  I really enjoy reading older prayer books, but with so many other things to read I really only find myself able to read bits and pieces of it each day.  It's just not a book I can sit and read for an hour or so, but I am still enjoying it.

Ellie just started reading the Julie books from American Girl.  She finished up Meet Juliethe other day and has just moved on to reading Julie Tells her Story.  She's enjoying the books so I can't complain.  I would have preferred it if she selected one of the other American Girl's.  

Madeline has been avoiding books in favor of distractions like the iPad or the Wii.  But she did just devour A Bundle of Trouble: A Rebecca Mystery.  She's been in this phase where any book Bryan or I suggest to her is THE. WORST. BOOK. EVER.  Sigh.  We had told her that we expected her to start reading either The Hobbit or Harry Potter.  But those are "boring" books according to Madeline.  Those of us who like those books just don't know any better.  Sorry kid, you're going into 7th grade.  It's time to start reading real books.  Save the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the truly horrible book selections for the language arts teacher.

Katie is still on her Tomie DePaola kick.  She's been adding Strega Nona into the mix.  I love how Tomie DePaola weaves our Catholic faith into the stories.  Katie seems to love both the pictures and the stories.  For a while there I thought she was just interested in the pictures but I've noticed that she has little interest in books illustrated by Tomie but not written by him.  She must be a fan of his story telling.

Earlier this week she spent a bit of time brining me some of our (meaning me, Bryan, Madeline and Ellie) favorite Boynton books.  I think she was a bit annoyed at how short the books are.  She's just so used to sitting and listening to longer stories that these short little board books don't impress her.

So what are you reading this week?  Visit Housewifespice for more What We're Reading Wednesday posts.

The Dreaded Crying Room

About eight and a half years ago we began to learn the not so pleasant reality of the crying room.  For about three and a half years I pretty much avoided Mass not wanting my young child to disturb others at Mass if she should cry or act as young children often do.  So as we prepared to welcome a second child into our family we also attempted to get back into the routine of going to Sunday Mass.  The attempt wound up being a fail of the crash and burn variety which I largely attribute to our decision to use the dreaded crying room.  Still not wanting my eldest child to be the cause of annoyance to anyone at Mass we opted to sit in the crying room at our church.  The concept of the crying room was nice, but the reality wasn't.

In theory, the crying room should be a place where I could retreat with an upset child where her noise making would not garner death stares from those around us.  It was the prospect of those icy stares that sent us to the crying room.  We learned quickly that the crying room wasn't an environment for reverence.  The Sunday Mass missalettes were absent from the crying room so following along with the readings or singing with the rest of the congregation wasn't going to happen.  Instead of pews, the crying room was furnished with metal folding chairs.  And instead of a prayerful environment, we found a zoo like atmosphere where children ran wild, munched on snacks and played with toys.  Our efforts to attend Mass on a weekly basis quickly fizzled.  We felt like our options were: 1.) Hang out in the parish wild child exhibit for an hour each week. 2.) Sit in the nave and be subjected to icy stares anytime our children made noise. 3.) Just stay home.  We wound up choosing option 3.  Awful, right?

When we moved and started going to our current parish I told my husband that I had no intentions of ever setting foot in a crying room again.  I would rather stand outside while I waited for my child to calm down rather than entertain the idea of a crying room.  Of course, at the time when I made this decision my youngest was three years old.  By then, she was pretty good at behaving quietly and I think I only ever had to bring her out to the narthex twice.

Even on Ellie's bad days, she was still behaved enough to remain in the nave of the church without disturbing anyone.  There were days where I would cringe anytime she made a sound or acted like a child at Mass.  I was so worried that we'd be an irritant to those around us.  Instead, we found ourselves in a parish that seemed incredibly welcoming to young families.  Warm smiles and words of encouragement is what we were met with on those tough days and I have to tell you that it really meant a lot to me.

Can I tell you that my biggest worry when I was expecting Katie was how I was going to be able to bring her to Mass and avoid the crying room?  I wondered if those friendly people who were so encouraging of our middle daughter a few years before would tolerate a baby or a toddler sitting in their midst.  I spent many hours wondering just how I was going to pull this off.

Much to my surprise, the first year of Mass with a baby went amazingly well.  Most of the time Katie slept through Mass.  We did have plenty of times where the baby would cry, but usually we were able to quiet her within a minute or so.  I want to say that she was probably 8 or 9 months old the first time we actually had to take her out to the narthex due to crying.  The lovely elderly woman who sits behind us most weeks was always so encouraging on our more difficult weeks.  And when Katie did have a bad day at Mass, most of the time we had friends around us offering us a kind smile or a sympathetic glance.

Now that Katie is a toddler things have been a bit trickier.  She rarely sleeps through Mass and she's interested in getting into things.  So there are weeks where I feel like I need to apologize to the person in front of us because my child thought it would be funny to toss a pacifier at her, or because she decided to scream in close proximity to them.  Thankfully, Katie is pretty well behaved for the most part.  She does have her moments where she reveals that she is, in fact, a toddler but fortunately those moments are few and far between.  Sometimes, those toddler moments are timed so perfectly that they wind up becoming part of the homily, like this past Saturday for instance.   Katie decided to let out an ear piercing screech that left me cringing during Father's homily.  Her timing was so good that Father went with it and mentioned that it was an excellent opportunity for patience.  Another time, one of our other priests was able to comment that her crying and his annoyance at it made him realize that he had no room to say anything about it when he began to read the gospel for that Mass.  So it was yet another time that she worked her way into the homily.  So in those moments when she finds her way into a homily, I do internally cringe a bit, but I have come to a point where I accept that she's one and she's not going to behave like a mini adult.

Now just because I refuse to use the crying room doesn't mean that I'm being selfish or refusing to consider those around me.  I'm not about to sit in the church and just let her wail for an hour.  For a Sunday Mass both Bryan and I are fully prepared to remove her to the narthex of the church if we are not able to clam her within a minute.  For daily Mass, I sit near the back of the church on the outside aisle.  I do this so I can remove her to the narthex as quickly as possible if the need should arise.  I'd have to say that daily Mass is probably the only time I'd ever consider retreating upstairs to the crying room.  And that's only because I know that it's empty.  I haven't had to remove her from a daily Mass yet, but if I did, I'd probably be more inclined to just stand in the narthex.

I think that crying rooms would be less of a hot button issue if they were only used for children who were crying or in the midst of a melt down.  Instead, they seem to be hotbeds of chaos where parents let their kids run wild.  Of course, it's not just parents of young children who use the crying room.  I once had a 7th grade religious ed student tell me that her mom preferred to sit up in the crying room so that she could chat with her friend during Mass.  The biggest issue with crying rooms is they seem to be devoid of all reverence.

When I think about the concept of the crying room it does make me think that in a way the church is saying that little ones aren't necessarily welcome at Mass.  True they're not obligated to attend until they reach the age of reason, but they're still a part of the parish community and should be included.  I'm convinced that you cannot train little ones to behave properly at Mass by brining them to the crying room week after week.

Check out the link-up at Catholic All Year where other moms share their thoughts on the crying room, too.

Book Review: Geekpriest

About a month ago an advance copy of Geekpriest Confessions of a New Media Pioneer by Fr. Roderick Vonhogen showed up in my mail box.  I don't know about you, but when I see a book with a picture of a priest holding his lightsaber on the cover (Yes, I said lightsbaer) I can't help but think it's a book that I have to read.  So never mind the fact that this book won't be released until September, I had to read it right away.

I was fairly certain when I picked up this book that it would be an entertaining read.  Perfect for summer, but again, it's not coming out until September.  So I guess really it's perfect for some nice fall reading.  The book certainly did not disappoint.  In fact, I pretty much devoured the book over the course of a few afternoons.

Geekpriest is filled with lots of anecdotal stories from Fr. Roderick's life.  But this isn't just a book of his amusing memoirs, no it's got a great underlying message of how to utilize new media to evangelize.  Fr. Roderick pretty much lays out how he started using pop culture rallying points like Star Wars, Harry Potter and video games to evangelize.  He illustrates how finding a common ground with people who shared a particular interest, such as Star Wars, gave him an opportunity to share his faith with them.

I found so much of what Fr. Roderick had to say in this book to be incredibly helpful with regards to using new media for the purpose of new evangelization.  So as a Catholic blogger, I felt this book had plenty of great takeaway points that I could use to improve the way I blog with regards to sharing my faith.  But this book isn't just for someone like me out in the blogosphere.  It's really for anyone who is utilizing new media or is interesting in doing so as a way to share their faith and evangelize.  Fr. Roderick discusses some of the difficulties you might encounter as you foray into new media and gives great advice on navigating through those circumstances.

I also think this book has the potential to be of use to clergy.  Not just for the great information on reaching people using new media, but also on thinking outside the box when it comes to the ways in which you try to reach them.  It's the idea meeting people where they are and evangelizing from there.  So if drawing parallels between the plot of say the Harry Potter books and the Gospels enables you to connect with your intended audience so that they're able to connect the dots and grasp what you're trying to convey, then why not?  So more or less, Fr. Roderick lays out ways in which you can think outside the box to evangelize.

Overall, I found Geekpriest to be both informative and entertaining.  It's an engaging book that is packed with lots of helpful advice on navigating new media as part of new evangelization.  It's certainly worth reading.

I was provided with a review copy of Geekpriest by the publisher, Servant Books, in exchange for my honest review.  You can pre-order a copy of this book at Amazon.com.

Theme Thursday: Bright

You know how flies and moths are attracted to bright lights at night?  Well so are little tree frogs.  Two nights ago Bryan and I decided to go for a swim after we put the girls to bed.  In the super bright light of the pool I spotted a frog on the coping, but he looked like he had blue stripes.  Bryan was convinced that it was poisonous and didn't want me to touch it.  I love to pick up frogs when I find them.  So it took a lot for me not to grab the little frog.

On our way into the house I noticed we had a few more frogs on the sliding glass door.  But because of the blinding spot light we have right next to the door they still looked like they had blue stripes.  Once we got in the house I turned off the lights and grabbed my camera so I could get a few pictures of the cute frogs.  Turns out that you can see them much better when you shine a bright flashlight on them from below.  And the added benefit of shining a light on them is you get to see them eat the little bugs that are attracted to the light.  I felt like I had my own personal nature documentary playing out on my sliding glass door.  

I think this is my favorite frog picture from that night.  If I had my camera with me when I laid down on the couch about 30 minutes later I would have taken some pictures of the frog who snuck into our house!  I thought we had a cricket on the floor (I'm terrified of them!) and then I realized after I screamed that it was a frog.  At that point Bryan was freaking out and asking me to pick it up and get it out of the house.  Of course, I was still worried that he was poisonous since Bryan had made such a big deal about the frogs earlier.  I ended up trapping the frog in a cup and sent Bryan to release him into the front yard.  These little frogs are super tiny.  They're about the size of my thumbnail.

Visit Clan Donaldson for more Theme Thursday pictures.