Tales from the Bonny Blue House

Praying for Grace: It Takes Courage

2008-11-03T09:43:00.000-08:00

2006-09-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

Please click here to be redirected to the new Bonny Blue House, please update your blogroll if you are kind enough to include me.

2006-09-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Blogger still seems unwilling to let me post pictures of the Baptism. I am working on a Type Pad blog which I will hopefully have up and running in a few days. I am trying to work it out so that if you come to this blog you will be automatically transferred there. Stay tuned.

The Big Day

2006-09-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a wonderful day to become a Christian! Bridget and Sean were wonderful on their big day. They didn't cry at all and slept through most of their party. I will post pictures as soon as Blogger lets me. It seems to be rejecting all of my attempts to upload photos today.

Thank You Peggy Noonan

2006-09-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

Peggy Noonan wrote a poignant piece in remembrance of the terrorist attacks. Please click to the Wall Street Journal read and weep.

This motley looking crew....

2006-09-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

belongs to me. Thanks be to God!!

First Nature Walk

2006-09-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

It's never to early to begin homschooling.....

Remember The Fallen

2006-09-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and may the Perpetual Light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. For the innocent people who lost their lives, may their families find comfort and peace. For New York's Finest who bravely gave their lives and New York's Bravest who rushed in without fear we are humbled by their sacrifice. Heroic does not seem adequate to describe them. For those brave men and women who are now fighting to keep this country safe, we are immeasurably grateful. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host - by the Divine Power of God - cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits, who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

Alice is back!

2006-09-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

The Cottage has opened it's doors again and there is a lovely post to welcome us inside....

Happy Birthday Blessed Mother

2006-09-08T06:29:00.000-07:00

Litany of the Blessed Virgin R. Christ, have mercy on us. V. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us. God, the Father of Heaven: -- Have mercy on us. (repeat at end of each phrase.) God, the Son, Redeemer of the world: God, the Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, One God, Holy Mary, -- Pray for us. (repeat at end of each phrase.) Holy Mother of God, Holy Virgin of virgins, Mother of Christ, Mother of divine grace, Mother most pure, Mother most chaste, Mother inviolate, Mother undefiled, Mother most amiable, Mother most admirable, Mother of good counsel, Mother of our Creator, Mother of our Savior, Virgin most prudent, Virgin most venerable, Virgin most renowned, Virgin most powerful, Virgin most merciful, Virgin most faithful, Mirror of justice, Seat of wisdom, Cause of our joy, Spiritual vessel, Vessel of honor, Singular vessel of devotion, Mystical rose, Tower of David, Tower of ivory, House of gold, Ark of the covenant, Gate of Heaven, Morning star, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, Help of Christians, Queen of Angels, Queen of Patriarchs, Queen of Prophets, Queen of Apostles, Queen of Martyrs, Queen of Confessors, Queen of Virgins, Queen of all Saints, Queen conceived without Original Sin, Queen assumed into Heaven, Queen of the most holy rosary, Queen of Peace. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us O Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us. v. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. r. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray: Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord God, unto us Thy servants, that we may rejoice in continual health of mind and body; and, by the glorious intercession of blessed Mary ever Virgin, may be delivered from present sadness, and enter into the joy of Thine eternal gladness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Lesson For The Day

2006-09-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

When using the little baby bathtub on the bathroom counter top to bathe Sean move the toothbrush cup out of tinkle range.

Not much to report

2006-09-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging lately... well because I just had twins and it's been busy. The twins are wonderful, content babies but babies still require a lot of time and there has been some disruption to the schedule. The first thing to go is my computer time. I'm hoping my readers will be patient. I have some new pictures that I will post later or tomorrow. We started official school yesterday. Thank God for the good people at Seton. I was able to have everything ready and all the lesson planning was done for me. I don't think we would be starting for another three months if it had been up to me to do lessons for four children this year. The day went well and everyone was very enthusiastic about their new school supplies and books. We accomplished a lot and I think it's going to be a good year. Since I am not posting much I will direct you to some essential reading. Elizabeth wrote a wonderful essay about submitting to our husbands. I wouldn't miss it if I were you - it is profoundly wise. This is going back a bit but I have to point you toward Dawn's post on Christmas in August. Yes Dawn is planning for Christmas already and in a beautiful way. She is planning on a handmade Christmas this year so it requires some forethought. She mentions a lot of great resources. Danielle Bean has a great first day of school post today. Everyone knows how much I love Catholic Mosaic. Now Hillside Education is exploring the idea of offering a book package to go with Advent. Go here to Cay's Cajun Cottage for more info. You can also check Hillside's blog. At Our Magnum OpusBridget gives some good advice about having a merry heart

Boy Country

2006-08-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

I am not a particularly outdoorsy type of person. Anyone who knows me at all knows that I merely tolerate the outdoors as a means to an end, the end usually being a well air conditioned or heated restaurant. I don't much care for picnics and I would rather be tossed off a bridge than go camping. I do these things because I want my children to love God's creation and to experience it's beauty and perfection in every setting possible rather than just on the National Geographic channel which is where I prefer to experience nature. I do it for them and I have managed to fake it pretty well for the last few years. I take them on nature hikes and to game farms. I let myself be licked by llamas and goats and I have stuck my hand into the sting ray tank at the aquarium. I have inspected bugs in bug boxes and raised tadpoles to frogs. I have taken charge of Rosie the hamster and I have stood still for deer and moose in Maine. I haven't enjoyed any of it but I do love the pleasure the children get from it all. In my defense I was unlikely to turn out any differently. I was raised by a woman who considers nature a vast conspiracy to muck up your nice shoes or to drop things on your head. Mom's idea of roughing it is a three star hotel and being any more than forty miles from Lord and Taylor. (Sorry Mom but it's true). There is nothing wrong with this, it takes all kinds to make a world and Mom and I would definitely be considered the indoor kind. Lately nature has been intruding into my house. This makes me very uncomfortable. Kevin has developed a love for all things crawly and has decided that I must share his fascination. I don't. Last week he came running to me as I was feeding one of the babies. "Momma look" as he tossed a big dead bug (I mean a BIG bug) on my lap. My screeching and leaping up from the chair did not deter his joy in the creature. "It's a big bug Momma," he says bursting with pride as he fished it off the floor where it landed. I finally convinced him that it would be missing its friends outside. I didn't even get into the fact that it was dead as a door nail. I just wanted the big ugly thing out of my house. Since that day I have been brought a few worms, in varying states of trauma, a cricket, a fuzzy catapillar, two spiders and I caught him trying to entice a stray cat into the house. I am so nervous I could jump out of my skin at any moment. I never know when a "look Momma" is going to result in some slimy creature being tossed to me or a cloud of locusts being ushered into the house. I am in boy country. Dave assures me that this is perfectly normal behavior for a boy and a good mom would encourage his fascination with nature and teach him to respect his buggy friends. Of course, he then gets on the bug-free train to go to his bug-free office and talk to his colleagues who are unlikely to start throwing worms at him or to ask his advice on feeding a cicada. I am living in stark terror of the next time a dead bird shows up in the yard. Boy country - an unattractive place, but never boring.

Big boy, little boy

2006-08-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

Looks like a lifetime friendship is forming.........

Handy Helpers

2006-08-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

There are some advantages to this bottle feeding thing.

Homeschooling Book Meme

2006-08-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Bridget (one of the homeschool moms I would most like to be like) for my list of homeschool books. I love participating in these things.... 1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED There are so many but I think Elizabeth Foss' Real Learning, Education in the Heart of the Home has to be my favorite. 2) ONE RESOURCE YOU COULDN'T BE WITHOUT My laptop and wireless internet connection, it's my window to the homeschool world. 3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT Learning Language Arts Through Literature. It works really well for some but we all hated it. 4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR Math-U-See 5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR Catholic Mosaic - I can't wait to use it. 6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY I would like to buy all of the books featured in Catholic Mosaic. 7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED Self changing diapers. 8) ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING Catholic Heritage Curricula 9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY http://4real.thenetsmith.com/ www.setonhome.org 10) TAG OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS I can't really find anyone else who hasn't already been tagged. I'm always late to the party!:-)

Introducing....

2006-08-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

Bridget Claire and Sean Francis with their proud papa.. and their proud but weary momma. Cradle cuddling. Holding hands.

Carnival of Homeschooling

2006-08-01T03:38:00.000-07:00

Phat Mommy is a hip, homeschooling mom with a great blog. She is hosting this week'sCarnival of Homeschooling so please go on over. There is so much great stuff over there. It is a Galatic Adventure in homeschooling!

2006-07-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

Late yesterday afternoon the sky grew ominously dark. I knew that the toddlers had left some toys around the backyard and that our big heavy shed doors were open. This was a job for Ryan. Ryan was upstairs in his room and I was directly below him the living room. Now my preferred method of communication is generally NOT shouting from across the house but since it now takes one adult or two strong children to hoist me out of a chair and I am completely unable to climb stairs shouting is what I am reduced to. So I call him, and call him, and call him. After about ten minutes of intermittent screeching I am completely aggravated both at my inability to get around and what I thought was his refusal to hear me. So I call Katie (who came right away) and ask her to go upstairs and send her brother down to me. "DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME CALLING YOU?" I asked , not really bothering to keep my annoyance out of my voice. "No, I'm sorry". "What are you doing up there that prevents you from hearing me when the whole neighborhood can"? "I was praying for you and the twins". Ouch. So of course I wanted to cry but I didn't. I just hugged him until he begged me to let him go and then he went out back to pick up the toys and lock up the shed. Natural piety is a pretty enormous lesson to live with. How often am I so deep in prayer that the distractions around me disappear? Uh, never. Through this child God often shows me who is the more disabled in this world and it's not the child who is struggling in school it is the adult who lets the temporal cares of the world outweigh the eternal cares. I sincerely hope that when Ryan reaches heaven he continues to pray fervently for his mother. I have a feeling I am going to need it.

What's the Goal?

2006-07-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

In home education I think every parent faces the question, at some point or another, what are they working towards? School teachers are working toward the last day of school so they can get some peace and quiet until the next batch of students roll in. In the case of the homeschool family the goals are much more eternal in nature. We have a vested interest in the future of our students that an elementary or high school can't possibly share. We start to formulate these goals much earlier than a school district or administration would because we are blessed to be able to see their gifts an abilities at a very early age. We can explore more thoroughly how best to set them on the right path. In the case of our homeschool and all of the others in the community which we belong the ultimate and first goal is heaven. We are educating our children to know,love and serve God; to be devout Catholics; to love their faith; to love their families and their neighbor. In addition, it is important to know the more temporal goals. I know some families who homeschool with the idea of getting their children into a great Catholic high school. Others homeschool in order to make time for the study of an instrument that the child is gifted with. Still others know all the facts about homeschoolers scoring higher on the SATs and getting into more prestigious colleges and universities. These are all good goals. Choosing to homeschool is very personal and the reasons and goals are as individual as each family who makes the choice. What if your goal isn't as clear cut? What if you have a child with special needs for whom high schools, SATs and universities are not an option. Then how do you discern the goal? The primary goal remains the same. Heaven, a relationship with God, a good prayer life all as best as can be accomplished depending on your child's abilities. And don't worry if it takes five years for him to learn the Hail Mary - God knows this child's abilities and loves and glorifies the efforts. Tremendous grace shall come of it. The big question for parents of special kids is what shall they do when school is complete? Now in some cases this might be really simple. A child might have a disability but be gifted mechanically or with computers, they might be a great artist or a gifted musician. In that case finding the right situation, vocational training or job might be the challenge but at least there is a path on which to forge ahead. There are those people who are aware from a very early time that their special child will always be with them. A child who will be unable to effectively take care of themselves or function alone. What are the teaching goals for that child? That child may not go to college but it is still very important that they feel like they are contributing something. That there is a reason to get up in the morning and have somewhere to go where they can earn respect and feel pride in accomplishment.It is so important in case like this to pray ferverntly for direction. God will reveal His plan in His time but it is important to be in communication with Him so that we don't miss out. In my house the teaching goals for Ryan are quite different than those of my other children. Each child is very different as are their methods of learning but for my more typical children the goals are to educate them well by teaching them to love learning, to have inquiring minds and to want to do well and take pride in their work. These goals are pretty broad at the moment since they are still quite young. Ryan's goals are different. It is unlikely at this point that Ryan will be able to learn higher math or embrace great literature such as Shakespeare and Milton. He can memorize facts about history but lacks the ability to fully understand the causes and effects of the events he is memorizing. The same applies to any science he picks up. So what is the goal? For what are we educating him? Functioning well in everyday life is the primary. Ryan needs to know enough math to use an ATM, to go to the market and to balance a checkbook. He needs to be able to make or count change and avoid being cheated. He needs to be able to read and follow directions well enough to fill out a job application or an insurance form. He needs to be able to read a map and find his destination. These are not lofty goals but they are likely to take the next ten years to accomplish. We will not ignore the other things, he will still listen to Shakespeare and Milton and will visually be taught geometry and algebra. He will be exposed to all the History and Science I can cram in there but the true goal is functioning in the world around him well enough to get by. Anything else will be a tremendous blessing. Ryan does have some gifts that make discerning God's plan for him a little easier. He is a gifted musician with a great love of God. He is gifted with great piety. Before he could tell time Ryan instinctively knew when it was 3:00 p.m. and would say the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I did not teach him this, it just came to him. He spends a great deal of his time in our yard walking with his rosary, praying fifteen decades. His great joy comes from playing the guitar for our weekly family rosary night or for the occasional home Mass said by one of the Franciscan Friars we know. He loves the Mass. Tridentine, Novus Ordo, Life Teen, whatever.... he just loves to be part of it. This has given us some direction. He has on many occasions over the years expressed a desire to be a priest. While I do not believe the rigors of the seminary would be possible we have great hopes for the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. We love these friars and know many of them well. They are so good with children and Ryan loves nothing more than to be at one of the friaries. We have talked to several of the priests there about people like Ryan who might have a vocation but not the capacity for seminary or vows. They assure us that there can be a place in religious life for those people. Thanks be to God. Ryan is only 11 years old but since his preparation for the real world will take a great deal longer it is not too early to pray, plan and begin the process.

Catholic Homeschooling Blog Directory...

2006-07-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

...has moved. Check it out here. Many thanks to Esther for doing such a beautiful job setting it up, it's so pretty.

A New Book

2006-07-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

Please go to the Cajun Cottage and congratulate Cay on her new book contract. Cay is the author of Catholic Mosaic and House of Literature. It's wonderful to have such literary friends.

Habit Forming

2006-07-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

Pay a visit to The Bonny Glen to read a great and funny post on forming good habits in your children. I do like Lissa's style. Edited for truly idiotic typo.

2006-07-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Since I am regulated to the couch most of the time Katie decided this would be a good time to rake in some cash. She and Erin set up a lemonade stand and have been rolling in dough ever since. Two days ago they made $18 in about an hour and a half. Today seems to be shaping the same way. They have all become adept at adding .25 increments. Math lessons seem much easier when there is cash involved.

This little devil does not wear Prada

2006-07-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

This was Kelli's idea of a good outfit for today. She is wearing a kitten costume over which she layered a shirt, skirt and sweater. The addition of the winter socks and my wedding shoes complete the look...