We had some friends over to celebrate Matthew's birthday yesterday.  Because the day was so nice the boys had planned on spending some of their time playing air soft.  When they got back this is how Matthew's friend Josh looked.  I asked him how it happened and he gave one of the most unique excuses I have ever heard for getting wet.

He said, "When you are standing in the water and there is no place to hide, the only way to go is down."  When he took off his boots to dump them out and put on some dry clothes he must have dumped out a quart of water from each one.

Reminded me of our antics when we were kids.  If there was water someone was bound to end up in it.  But that had to be the best excuse that I have heard yet.

Outside my window....it is dark and chilly.  There is a rumor going around that we are going to have a beautiful, sunny fall day. We will see how the day goes.  Perhaps it will be nice enough to hang the mountain of laundry that needs to be done on the clothesline.

I am thinking...there is so much to appreciate and so much to be thankful for that there really should be no room in anyone's mind for anything else.

I am thankful for...the beautiful weather that we have enjoyed this past weekend, for the family that I have been given to enjoy it with, and the faith that God has given me to see his work in my life and praise him for the blessings that are all around me.

From the schoolroom....Matthew and Mary-Kate start a new week of school.  I think that this week will be better for MK now that she is more used to the routine of online learning.

From the kitchen...that is a good question.  Yesterday Melissa and MK made a sumptuous meal to celebrate Matthew's birthday and there are no leftovers.  That is a tough one on a Monday.  I will be forced to put on my thinking cap and come up with a delicious meal today.

I am wearing...navy sweat pants and an army sweat shirt.  It is very chilly these mornings and one must dress for the weather. 

I am creating...order out of chaos, I hope.

I am going....nowhere today.  Melissa works today until 4, Matthew must work 5-9, Doug works until he calls me and MK has a lot of school to do so I am in charge of Layn.  Besides I don't really want to go anywhere.

I am reading...a volume of the writings of Mother Teresa.  She was a very holy woman and what she said is very inspirational.

I am hoping...to get this place neat and cleaned up and laundry done at an early enough hour so that Layn and I can take a good long walk.

I am hearing...the sounds of the house as it wakes up for the day.  Sounds of comfort that wrap themselves around my mind and carry me into the day with feelings of warmth and contentment.

Around the house...what a pleasure to wake up to the fact that my family worked together to clean up from yesterday's party.  Dishes were done, furniture was all put away, and things were generally cleaned up so that no one has to face it all in the morning.

One of my favorite things...being around a house full of young kids and listening to their chatter and watching them interact with each other.

A few plans for the rest of the week...a bit of the same and a little of the new.  Holy hour on Tuesday and Matthew has to get to Karate and his religion class.  Thursday I have a class to teach, Matthew has Karate again, and I have a meeting. Friday another holy hour.  Along with all of my activities there are people to get to work, rides to coordinate, and Layn to care for.  Nothing too taxing.  Saturday we will finish the week off with a Rosary Rally and then the parish rosary shrine will be in our house and a bit of relaxation on Sunday.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

Sunday we celebrated Matthew's 19th birthday.  Mary-Kate and Melissa planned and executed the whole thing without any help from the ranks.

There were large friends to play air soft with.

Silly friends to jump on the trampoline with.

Some of the little friends even got in on the air soft game.

There were even some very little friends who were there just because they are cute.

The food was delicious, the company was friendly, and a good time was had by all.

Interesting words concerning Our Lady. Words that on the surface I have always thought stopped there and concerned only the joyous proclamations of the shepherds at the time of Jesus' birth.  On deeper reflection, nothing could be farther from the truth.

In our upbringing and formation we are all taught to be thankful. Gratitude is something that is drummed into the lives of every child from the minute they are able to articulate "thank you".  Later in life we hear various bible verses exhort us to give thanks.  On the surface most of us very likely assume that it means for the good, the blessings, just a case of reinforcement of our parents' up bringing.  Again, deeper reflection brings up the real truth and ties those verses of thankfulness into the example of the Blessed Virgin as she "ponders them in her heart."

When her son was preaching and teaching in Galilee, vast crowds followed him and proclaimed him the Messiah, equally vast crowds reviled him as well.  He spoke truths, difficult and painful truths.  His mother heard these things as well, the adulation and the revilement and she pondered them in her heart.

When her son was scourged, crowned with thorns, spit upon, and hung upon a cross, she witnessed this as well.  She did not speak against the Romans.  She did not run and hide and beg God for deliverance.  She prayed and silently bore witness and pondered all these things in her heart.

Why did she do it?  More to the point, why is it significant for us?  True she was proud of her son, proud of his piety, strength of character, and courage at facing such horror on our behalf.  However Our Lady wasn't proud in the worldly sense of the word.  She was not proud because his actions reflected well on her or the way that she and St. Joseph brought him up.  She was proud because he was fulfilling the very reason that he had been born, he was dying.  But this is not why she pondered all of these incidents in her heart. What kind of mother stores up memories of her son being reviled, tortured, and crucified? She stored up these memories for a very different reason; grace.  She did it because she knew that by silently enduring the suffering of her son , powerful grace can be merited for the salvation of all mankind.  She knew that her participation in his crucifixion and death was somehow a mysterious participation in the salvation of the whole human race.

From her silent and patient suffering we also learn a lesson. To walk along beside our loved ones as they tread their roads to calvary, we learn to patiently endure their scourging, witness their crucifixion, and even smile as they breathe their last, pondering all this in our hearts in order to merit grace and participate in Christ's work of salvation. 

October 7, on the calendar of the Catholic Church, formerly known as the Feast of Our Lady of Victory now known as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, is a day that the faithful remember the victory of the Holy League over the Muslim Turks of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.  Last night on October 7, 2010 in a little country church there was a very beautiful and lavish celebration of that victory, but more importantly, a celebration in honor of the Mother of God whose motherly love of the faithful who begged her intervention that day through the words of the holy rosary brought about the victory.

The little humble country church situated on the main street that could have been located in any small town in this country gleamed like a rare jewel last night as the priest and altar boys prepared it for the mass in honor of Our Lady.  Candles were lit and the boys were instructed in the parts that they were to play with care.  While the preparations were going on upstairs the sounds of voices rising in song could be heard coming from the basement of the church.  The faithful who knelt in preparatory prayer could almost imagine that the heavenly choirs were even at that moment warming up to sing the praises of the Mother of God during the ceremony.  As the time came for the celebration to begin a hush fell over the little church as all the congregation stilled in anticipation of the beginning of the mass in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The bell rang signaling the the beginning of the procession, the opening notes of the hymn swelled and the people stood and burst into song, "Sing of Mary, pure and lowly....". Could Our Lord not be more pleased at the praise being heaped on his dear and holy mother?  The glimmering candle light, the sweet smell of incense, the glorious song being sent up to heaven, and the solemnity of the people standing in that little humble church gathered there last night. 

No one was there to worship that humble mother, no the people were there to love her.  Every soul was there to do as Jesus does, as each one of us does for our own mother.  We were there to give to that mother the love that a mother deserves, for as truly as Jesus is our brother his mother is our mother as well.  Every note of the Gregorian chant, every sparkle of the candles and golden vessels that were there on the altar, every bow given to Jesus in the tabernacle, and every genuflection of the knee before his sacred presence was a breath of love to his mother.

At the end of mass we all lit our candles and processed out of the church and stood before her shrine and chanted her litany.  Just as any child will do with their mother, we listed all the lovely titles of praise and endearment that we have for our mother.  Then at the end we closed with a love song to Mary, as a mother will to her child, we sang to our dear mother words of love letting her know that our hearts are full of her because of the blessed word that she spoke long ago giving her son to us, "fiat".

Outside my window...it is cold, very cold. Temperatures are falling into the 30's at night now.  On Sunday Ian and Doug installed the wood stove in the living room so that we can take the chill off the house without lighting the big furnace in the basement. I can feel the season, the temperatures closing in on me yet again.  It is that time of year.  Time for each one of us to gather in and to do our own version of hibernation.

I am thinking...about family, about the overly used word commitment. I wish at times that I could rewrite the dictionary and redefine that word.  It has been trivialized so much today.  However, here is not the place for me to climb onto one of my usual soapboxes.  Suffice to say that I believe with all my heart that the concept of commitment is far larger than the greater population understands.

I am thankful for...blessings beyond my ability to count and the awsome wonder that I have done nothing nor could I ever do anything to merit such blessings.

From the schoolroom...Matthew shall finish his first quarter this week and MK will begin her first semester with AMU.

From the kitchen....there is leftover barbecue pork for lunch and I am sure that I can come up with something for supper.

I am wearing...jeans and a warm shirt.  Time to reshuffle the clothes in the closet, get out of denial about the change of season and start dressing for the weather.

I am creating....I have decided that I cannot create.  How is this for crazy, someone who is mentally handicapped about sewing accepting a commission to make a dress for an infant?  I did and somehow I will.  Prayers please because this one is going to need it.

I am going....to have a busy week. Tuesday is holy hour and karate.  Wednesday is October devotions at church.  Thursday is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  We have to go to mass that evening and participate in the procession and the rosary.  Friday is holy hour.  Saturday MK and I have to prepare to celebrate Matthew's birthday on Sunday.  Sunday is Matthew's birthday party. 

I am reading....actually I am re-reading The Seven Levels of Intimacy by Matthew Kelly.  I am also treating myself to Robert Frost.

I am hoping....for strength, unity, grace, and forbearance.

I am hearing....MK and Matthew chatting quietly in the next room.  Doug sitting beside me grading Matthew's Math papers.  The general sounds of home.

Around the house...there is much to do and much that has already been done.  Each and every day we wake with new challenges on our hearts, new hopes and new dreams.  The key is to face them with the love of God as our shield and our weapon.

One of my favorite things...coming home from being out and finding my family together in peace and love.

A few plans for the rest of the week....cooking, cleaning, teaching, loving, caring, praying, and generally working my way toward my salvation.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

A sampling of what we have been doing and enjoying the past week.

Beautiful sunsets.  In spite of the chill Doug and I have taken the time to soak in the majesty and splendor that God paints on the sky of all of us each evening.

MK made four batches of green tomato mincemeat this week and canned it.  This will be a treat for all of the men this coming winter.  Even the big dude has voice his approval from afar.

She blessed us with a sampling of her pie making skills as well as the mincemeat.  What a joy and pleasure to have her here at home with us.

Layn continues to grow and astonish all of us.  It is becoming increasingly difficult to diaper him.  He doesn't wish to be still nor stay in the same place.  Consequently there are few volunteers for the job.

The view across my backyard gets more and more beautiful by the day (if that is possible).  How blessed I am to be able to rest my mind and to replenish my soul simply by looking out the window.

Makes me think of you and Mr. B.