The Ten Habits of Happy Mothers-Habit #1 Understand your Value as a Mother

I have heard that society doesn't value mothers.

I have heard that women don't value motherhood.

I have heard that people look down on stay at home moms.

Yet, I don't know where the accusers are. All my mothering life has been surrounded by women who either stayed at home, longed to stay home, or who had stayed home. Maybe I have lived under a rock. I don't know.

All I can say is that my battles have all been fought with myself and within myself. It is not other people who have laid obstacles in my path. It is I, who has had trouble with being just a mom. Just a mom wasn't part of my experience growing up. My mother is an excellent mother and she always had a career. Always busy, she owned her own pharmacy and taught Chemistry at the university.

I don't remember feeling neglected.

I don't remember feeling she was absent.

I don't remember seeing her torn between two worlds.

I don't remember angst on her part.

I think I knew she was a mother with a career.

And I knew that we came first.

What is different for me? For one thing, she wasn't expected to do it all. She didn't do it all. She had maids to do the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, the gardening, and, the minding of children. When she was home, she was home. She managed to be present even when she was absent. She was always reachable. She was always mom.

I have never talked to her about this. I don't know why she worked. I know that making ends meet in the Dominican Republic is difficult with only one salary. But it never occurred to me to ask her if she worked because she needed it, because it fulfilled her, because it was what was expected of her. I don't even now if she posed those questions to herself. I don't even know if she valued herself as a mother. I don't know if it is a question that she would've asked. Someday soon I am going to ask her.

It never crossed my mind that I will stay at home. Enter the United States and the daycare world and, I had to ask myself some hard questions, the main of which was, Did I want my children to be raised by others? The answer was NO. I wasn't pressured into this decision. It was made in freedom. My husband, who wanted me to stay home- I know- would have accepted my decision, had I wanted to work. So, I can't say that my doubts have come from a forced decision.

And yet, there have been doubts. Nobody has looked scornfully at me and, asked "Don't you know that these days women do not stay home?" "Have you heard? we are in the 21st century." It is I who have asked those questions. It is I, who have wondered, "Would I make it in the real world?" "Do I have anything to offer?" "Am I good at anything?". It is I, who have watched successful women and wondered, "what does it feel like to be be good at something and know it, and know that the world knows that I am good?"

In her book 10 Habits of Happy Mothers, Dr Meg Meeker reminds me of my value as a mother.

"If we could wrap our mind around our true value as a woman and a mother, our life will never be the same."

Our value doesn't come measured in salaries or talents or gifts. Our value comes from something simpler: we are needed and loved. We can do for our children what nobody can. I can love, nurture, comfort, feed, guide, train, my children like nobody can. I matter to them. I matter because I am me, their mother. There is a unique bond between us just by the simple fact that I am their mother. All I do extra, builds and strengthen that bond. I don't have to woo my children to love me. I don't have to perform to earn their love.

It is so simple and I make it so complicated.

I don't struggle with my decision anymore. I don't question it. I wouldn't have it any other way. I still wonder, though, if I have anything to offer to the world at large. Is there a place for me beyond the boundaries of my family? Is there something I can contribute? Dr Meeker reminds me that,

"In addition to fulfilling our purpose as good moms, we were born to do more, in time"

What I have to regain is not my self. I think that throughout my career as a mother I have kept a healthy sense of self. I don't feel guilty having a life separate from my kids. Never have. What I have to regain is my trust in the Lord. Trust that, in time, I will discover what lies ahead. I will discover what He wants me to do next. Trust that life is not over at 50. Trust and put to the wondering to rest. Concentrate in living my life now.

I think it is about attitude. Dr Meeker says, "love the life you are supposed to be living and you happen on fulfilling the deep meaning of your life. It works. The energy comes, you get bolder, and you live less fearfully."

The deep meaning of my life is not a hidden treasure in the future, it is the here and now.

Summer Reading Notes

What I have been reading of late:

• Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh: Laugh aloud funny satire of British society of the 1920s. I had only read Brideshead Revisited by Waugh. A very different book. I was glad to be introduced to this side of Waugh. It made me want to read more by him.
• Memento Mori by Muriel Spark : I think I saw this book mentioned on Melissa Wiley's blog . Muriel Spark was a convert to Catholicism. I had seen her pop up several times in other blogs about Catholic writers. I wanted to read something by her. After finishing Memento Mori, I realized I had read another book by her,The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which I didn't like at all. Mercifully, I didn't remember, because maybe it would've kept me from reading MM. In one of those serendipitous reading acts, MM was a great follow up to Vile Bodies. Both were British, both were satirical, both were funny, both had a depth behind the comical.
• Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis: I have to confess I am not a big fan of Lewis. I know that is probably heretical to most but, it is the truth. Thankfully, Mere Christianity is different. I have been meeting weekly with some ladies to discuss this book. There is so much to talk about! I am not finished with this yet and I wish I had started blogging about it. It would make it stick better.
• Crooked Adam by D.E. Stevenson: Satisfying, is the word for this read. A good old fashioned spy story, Crooked Adam (if I remember correctly) was published during WWII. It is fast paced and keeps your interested. A great summer reading! (Recommended by A Library is a Hospital for the Mind ).
• Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: I listened to this from Librivox. Books on this site are read by volunteers, not professionals, so the quality of the reader varies. That was certainly true of the reader of MP, some where very good and some, not so much. But, hey! it is free. I am not complaining. I enjoyed MP immensely. It was a great companion while cooking, cleaning or folding clothes. (note: the 1999 is awful. Nothing like the book!)
• Before Pentecost, I picked up John Paul II encyclical on the Holy Spirit (Dominum et Vivificantem). It is a challenging reading but so worthwhile. I am three quarters into it and planning on re-reading so I can write about. It would be a great way of digesting the information.
• No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy: Violent, violent! It was like watching a Clint Eastwood movie. The first 100 pages I wasn't sure I was going to finish it but, it kept me going. This is one of those books that you need to have somebody to talk about it with. So, I gave it to M. to read.
• Simply from Scratch by Alicia Bessette: Just OK. Nothing great. It is her first novel and somehow it felt too formulaic, to cliché, kind of like a chick flick between too covers.It wasn't bad but it is forgettable.
• Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard (with the kids): we are not completely finished with this one. Good story and it has created some rabbit trails. It had us searching all over the net about Charlemagne and his family. It also led us into a search for information on the Saxons and this, in turn, took us to the Vikings.
• Yesterday, I began Vanishing Act by Jodi Picault. Not much to report on this one yet. But it promises to be intense as any other Jodi Picault book I have read before.
• After Mansfield Park, I decided to give the Itunes U a try. I have been listening to some lectures on European Civilization from the 17oos to 1945. It is an interesting course. The lecturer, John Merriman, manages to pull some interesting lectures, even though he has this annoying stammering habit, and he curses and, he has a somewhat dislike of the Catholic Church. Even with all those strikes against him, I am still enjoying the class.

Emilia Pardo Bazan

De vez en cuando pasa que el autor de una obra me fascina casi tanto como su obra. Este es el caso con Emilia Pardo Bazan la autora de Los Pazos de Ulloa. Indagando un poco acerca de ella me encuentro con una señora interesante. Una mujer con inteligencia y agallas,una mujer que supo superar las limitaciones impuestas a su sexo. Siempre he admirado a los autodidactas. Quizas es el "homeschooler" en mi pero, me gusta conocer la vida de aquellos que han tomado su educación en sus propias manos, aquellos que de manera metódica se lanzan a explorar los diversos campos del saber. La Condesa Pardo Bazan tenia una amplia gama de intereses. Todo le llamaba la atención: la ciencia, la politica, la filosofía, e incluso la cocina.

Buscando en el internet encontré varias cosas interesantes:

-En la Biblioteca Visual Cervantes encontré un documental acerca de su vida.

Luego de ver el documental se me ocurrió pensar ¿qué fue de los hijos de la condesa? Encontré este articulo que detalla el patrimonio de Emilia Pardo Bazan .Claro el artículo no responde mi verdadera pregunta ¿fue ella una buena madre? ¿prestó atención a sus hijos?

Aqui dejo un artículo que enfoca su feminismo.

Y aquí hay una biografía en Google Books,La Luz en la Batalla por Eva Acosta

Los Pazos de Ulloa por Emilia Pardo Bazán

Impresiones


Los Pazos de Ulloa se trata de un sacerdote joven, acabado de salir del seminario, que ha sido asignado como capellán a los Pazos de Ulloa. Una casa noble que ha visto mejores años, donde la decadencia se nota por todas partes: en la casa, en la capilla y sobre todo en la gente. La gente embrutecida, empobrecida, sin religión aún cuando la religión los rodea. Julian, el capellán, se enfrenta con una serie de personajes que se enfrentan en una lucha entre el bien y el mal, la santidad y el pecado; y donde muchas veces es dificil saber quien ha ganado.

Esta novela española del Siglo XIX me recuerda, en cierto modo, a novelas como Cumbres Borrascosas o Rebeca: Novelas donde hay una presencia maligna que prevalece durante toda la novela. Esta presencia lleva la novela. Te mantiene en vilo, esperando el suceso que parece va a suceder a cada vuelta de página. Hay una continua sensación de tragedia inminente. Senti que la novela me envolvía a pesar de las a veces tediosas descripciones llenas de palabras a mi parecer rebuscadas. Leia y leia con esa sensacieon de que algo trágico iba a pasar. Pero, al volver la última página, me quedé con la sensación de no conocer los personajes. El único personajes que llegas a conocer es Julián y a veces la verdad que quería retocerle el pescuezo. El no es mi idea del sacerdote -demasiado rezo y no suficiente pantalones. No que rezar es malo-claro que no- pero mi mentalidad del Siglo XXI se rebela a la devoción casi ciega de este sacerdote. Y lo que es más, al final te preguntas, ¿de qué sirvió tanto rezo? ¿querâ decir la autora que rezar no sirve de nada?

El libro me dejo con muchas preguntas: ¿Qué nos quiere decir Pardo Bazán? ¿Cuål es su visión de la naturaleza humana? ¿de la iglesia? ¿del sacerdote? Me perece que algo de lo que dice es una denuncia de la vida sin educación, del daño y el embrutecimiento que produce. Para mi este es uno de esos libros que implora tener alguien con quien comentarlos.

A Conversation

Nico: Mom, if I could become a very rich man, would you let me?

Me: It depends...

Nico: on what?

Me: Do you know what Jesus said about rich people? Do you know what the eye of a needle is?

Nico: Where you put the thread.

Me: You see how small it is, right? Well, Jesus said it will be easier for a camel to go through it than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Do you know why?

Nico: Because rich people are greedy. But I will use the money to give my kids everything they want.Would you let me?


Me: Do you think you should give your kids everything they want?

Nico: Well, if it is food, I only will give them if it is good for them. Would you let me, if I give them toys? toys are good for you. Would you let me?

School and Life Planning part 3: Food

There is a Chinese restaurant here in town with a great long menu. If you look closely, the menu consists of beef with broccoli, chicken with broccoli, shrimp with broccoli, pork with broccoli,etc. The dishes are few but the variations are many. I decided to use a similar principle to plan my menus for this upcoming year. I needed something simpler than what I had. This is what I came up with: a general category for each day and variations within the category:

Lunch Rotation

Pasta
Mac and cheese (homemade)
Pasta with a red sauce

Sandwiches
Grilled cheese (various types with different breads/cheeses)
Tuna/salmon
Chicken spread
Grilled Chicken
Ham and cheese
Turkey and cheese
Quesadillas with various fillings (leftover beef, pork or chicken)

Soup
Hamburger soup
Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches
Tomato soup with tortellini/raviolis and mixed vegetables
Rachel Ray soup (from Cooking Rocks!)
Rainbow Soup

Baked potatoes with fixings (some kind of meat, or bacon, cheese,etc)

Leftovers either as is or morphed into something else

Each lunch will have fresh fruits and vegetables with it.

Dinner Rotation

Ground Beef
Picadillo with brown rice
Tacos (plain tacos or taco salad or taco pie or taco over potatoes)
Tater tots casserole

Slow Cooker Meals (all these are from Allrecipes.com)
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken BBQ (
Easy Slow Cooker French Dip
Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
Awesome Slow Cooker Roast
*some side dishes that will go with these: cole slaw, sweet potatoes, baked fries, baked beans, different vegetables, chips-in a pinch-,egg noodles etc)

Pasta
Fabulous Fettuccine
Spaghetti Carbonara
Ravioli with tomato-cream sauce
Pasta with pesto
Tortellini
Pastina Chicken casserole

Stir Fry
Chicken, beef or pork cooked with fresh vegetables and served over rice or noodles (varying the sauce according to Allrecipes,com article)

Homemade Pizza

Saturdays and Sundays will be for grilling in large quantities that can be used during the week or freeze. Also for trying new recipes.

School and Life Planning Part 2: Prayer Time and Morning Reading

"Con Dios me acuesto, con Dios me levanto" (with God I go to bed, with God I get up) says a prayer I learned as a little child. I want this to be true, not only in my life, but in the life of my children.
A couple of years ago I learned that I needed to make true the scripture "seek ye first the kingdom of heaven..." in our school lives. For many years prayer was the first thing that got sacked when our lives got hectic. Not anymore. Two years ago I made a commitment to our morning prayer time. It is part of who we are and part of what we do. And our routine needed to reflect this truth. This year we continue with this commitment.
There is a slight difference this year: our prayer time is going to be after breakfast and not before. I am trying to improve the quality of our prayer time by having the kids be more alert. There is something to be said for prayer being the first thing we do so before we make the switch, I am going to be talk to the kids about the Daily Rhythm of Prayer. I want them to be in the habit of turning their thoughts to God as soon as their eyes open. Most mornings before getting out of bed, I do a morning offering. I want to teach my children to do the same. Even something short like "Today, I will serve you, Lord" or "Jesus,I love you, I prefer you and I choose you" or something similar.
For our time together we will do the Angelus and/or the Morning Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. Then we will spend some time reading. We will work down this list:

Left to Tell
Percy Wynn or Making Boy of Him by Fr. Francis Finn
St. Francis and St Claire (Vision book)
Letters to a Young Catholic
Five Loaves and Two Fish by Fr. Francis Xavier Nguyen
Yes or No? by Peter Kreeft
St Anthony (vision book)
Citadel of God (de Wohl)


Planning our spiritual reading is always a challenge because I have such a range of ages. My solution is to alternate younger and older reading.

That part we have well established. This is the new part: to introduce a noon Angelus and a family prayer at night time. Last year I failed miserably at my attempt to incorporate more prayer into our life. It is important enough to try again this year. (I wish we had bells to call us to prayer each day!)There is one difference this year, we have a family adoration hour. If all else fails, at least we have a date with the Lord every week.

To get ready: prepare a basket with coloring books, pencils and quiet toys for N.

School and Life Planning: Part 1

In past years I have used the Simply Charlotte Mason school planning ebook to help me plan for school. Since doing Classical Conversations, I don't have to plan all school subject but only a few. The biggest challenge then, is not the school planning itself but, the integration between life and school: what takes place when, who is responsible and how it gets accomplished. Having a scattered mind, I decided to force myself into order. I sat down with a big legal size notepad and set to write EVERYTHING that needs to be done on a regular school day. I divided the page in columns: time, activity, what I need to do the activity and what I need to prepare and what I need to buy. Armed with this page, I was ready to go.
The first activity is, of course, waking up. Waking up is always a chore around here and it can set all of us on a road to a bad day. The typical day finds me going around to all the bedrooms to wake kids up. More than once. Way more than once, getting louder with each subsequent visit. This year I am trying something new: alarm clocks. I'm going to get an alarm clock to each child and have them be responsible for waking up. It is going to take some time and some patience but I think it can work. The tricky part is going to be to make sure they turn their alarm clock on the night before (hopefully this won't be another too difficult battle).
While the kids are waking up (hopefully), I'll be in the kitchen making breakfast. Another change from last year. Traditionally, we have had prayer time immediately upon getting up: the kids drag themselves out of bed and unto their respective favorite places on the living room furniture and then prayer time begins. Usually after the first prayers and, by the time we get to our spiritual reading, they are mostly awake and... hungry. Then it starts the "are we almost done" and the "I am hungry" and "what is for breakfast". So, we are trying something new: to reverse the order. Breakfast will be ready to go upon their waking up. We will eat breakfast, do chores and then have prayer time and spiritual reading.

So alarm clocks go on my to buy list.

The second activity on my list is breakfast. What do I do to plan breakfast? a breakfast rotation that is healthy and easy but filling enough. Here is what I have come up with:

Mondays: Oatmeal (steel cut oats prepared on the crockpot)-this is going to take some adjustment since the kids (and I) don't really like oatmeal. It is good for you, easy and cheap-hopefully we will develop a taste for it.
Tuesdays: Eggs, bacon and toast (eggs are so versatile and so is bread :-) )
Wednesdays; Muffins and smoothies
Thursdays: Eggs,turkey patties(homemade) and toast
Friday: pancakes or waffles

I will also make sure we have granola on hand as well as some freezer items like breakfast cookies, bran muffins, oat muffins, breakfast sandwiches and breakfast burritos.

My next step regarding breakfast is collecting all my breakfast recipes and putting them all together in my kitchen binder together with grab and go grocery lists.

El Juego del Angel

El Juego del Angel es un libro escrito por Carlos Ruiz Zafón, el mismo autor que nos trajo La Sombra del Viento. Yo compré el libro porque, francamente, la selección de libros en español de Barnes and Noble no es de lo mejor y yo quería comprar un libro para mi madre que esta de visita. Entre todas las ofertas de libros esotéricos y libros de un autor al que no conozco, Paulo Cohelo, pero quien parece ser muy popular con quienquiera que sea que ordena los libros para B&N, el único libro que reconocí y que sabía que mami no había leído era El Juego del Angel. Claro que tenía que leer el libro antes de que ella se lo llevara consigo a Santo Domingo.

¿Cuál es mi impresión del libro? Bueno, eso depende. Si lo que busco es un libro que me ayude a pasar el tiempo, que me entretenga, que me haga querer leer más para saber qué pasa al final, entonces este libro llena ese cometido. Si lo que estoy buscando es un libro bien escrito, con prosa fina, con descripciones lindas, con trama complicada, este cometido también lo llena. Entoces, ¿por qué no sueno muy entusiástica? ¿por qué no estoy cantando las alabanzas de este libro si está bien escrito y es entretenido? Porque es un libro producto de nuestra época y de lo parece ser que vende: la moralidad ambigüa,los temas sobrenaturales, la visión pesimista, las tramas inconclusas-¿dejando el paso abierto para una secuela?-, el autor que no se compromete, los personajes que no tienen ideas claras,etc.

David, un escritor novato que se dedica a escribir novelitas baratas bajo un pseudónimo, recibe una propuesta misteriosa y tentadora de un editor tan misterioso como su propuesta: escribir un libro que creara una nueva religión. Un libro como ningún otro, que "prendiera el mundo en llama". David, halagado y falto de dinero, decide aceptar-aún a pesar de su consciencia que parece decirle que no.

Al principio el libro me cautivó. La primera parte del libro la vi como prometedora. ¡Habia tantas promesas de grandes temas! Estaba el tema de la fe, de la lucha entre bien y mal, del héroe que ve sus malos pasos y decide cambiar de vida... Pero todo queda en nada. David, que pudo ser un gran heroe, se convierte en un personaje que da lástima, sin despertar compasión. Y un libro, de un escritor talentoso, se quedó siendo siendo un libro mediocre y menos que satisfactorio.

¿ Lo recomiendo? pues, si buscas diversión, léelo pero, no digas que no te advertí :-)

Some Books to Keep in Mind

I am going to link to this post so I can remember to check out these books.

Every Day I Learn Something New

I just learned today that those little blurbs you find on the back of book jackets are done by professional reviewers. Poor innocent me! I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a professional book reviewer. I often wondered how the publishers knew what people where going to think about the book before it was published. I did figure out that some people have to get some sort of advanced copy of a book. But frankly I didn't give much thought about how this work. Now I know that people actually get paid to read books. I wish somebody would have told me that when I was trying to decide what to do with my life. Maybe I would've been a Professional Book Reviewer instead of a Psychologist.

How did I find this out? Because I have read some posts about it. Mostly because now that there people blogging about books all over the place, some reviewers think that they are not qualified to talk about books (kind of the same thing we hear about homeschooling-how dare we teach our children without an Education degree?). But there is also the bloggers that are being approached by publishers and authors; and, there are those that are being paid but don't say it up front, and those that think they should not be paid, and blah, blah, blah. Why do things have to be so complicated?

In other news about books, I liked this post about reading levels. (HT to Melissa Wiley). I enjoy reading children's books. In fact when I want to know something about a topic, quite frequently by first stop is the Picture Book Section. I have tried to instilled a love of books to my children. Any good book deserves our enjoyment independently of how it is cataloged at the library. count. Sometimes though, I have to admit that when I see A pick up Baby Blues or Calvin and Hobbes for the hundredth time, or when I see G, at 16, enjoying The Rangers Apprentice series rather that The Scarlet Letter, I am visiting by those feeling of "shouldn't they be reading something more challenging?" This post by Jen Robinson reminds me that good literature transcends the boundaries of age or reading levels. The fact that you pick up A Bargain for Frances or Little Critter, Air Mail to the Moon, Peanuts, We Are Going on a Bear Hunt, Blueberries for Sal doesn't mean that you can't read something "more challenging". It means that you have good taste. Never mind your age.

Summer Thoughts

Thoughts of summer fill my head. I have been working on planning our trip to Santo Domingo. It took for ever! Buying a plane ticket is such a hassle. What happened to the days when you could go to a travel agency and feel that you got a good deal? Now there is all the websites to check, all the "deals" to compare; and in the end I always feel cheated. Anyhow, I got that done.

Now is time to prepare for the trip. I need to make sure the kids have the proper clothes and shoes. I need to make sure we take things to entertain them. Visiting family is not like a non-stop vacation. There is a lot of down time, time spent soaking up family and basking in the feeling of, once more, belonging somewhere. For the kids,of course, is a different experience. If I don't want them to "soak up" TV instead of family, I need to have some activities planned. These are tricky since I need to take things that don't take too much room in a suitcase and that are interesting enough to keep their attention for a certain amount of time. I have not even started on planning these.

Between the end of the school year and the trip to Santo Domingo, there is a gap of time. I want to be prepare with activities and ideas so that the kids don't default to TV, Wii and computer games. This is year we have the complication of the addition. Our backyard is going to be swamped with workers and equipment. That makes it off limit for the kids. We won't have the yard to set up the pool. This means more creativity is needed to keep the kids occupied.

I am therefore busy creating reading lists,compiling a list of topics for science, history, geography,literature so that I can rotate the books in our book baskets. I also want to make a list of movies to watch as well as a list of art projects and games.

As my ideas develop and find resource,I am planning to post them here so I can have easy access to them. This afternoon I spent some time thinking and researching. I came up with these ideas:

String Art Project

Minimath Projects This site sells some kits for some fun puzzles as well as string art.

I also found this blog post 25 summer ideas I need to peruse it and pull a list of things that are suitable to our family.

More activities here Some of these sound like they would be fun.

Housework-the Search Continues

It seems that I am on a permanent search for a system, THE SYSTEM, that will make housework easier to manage. There is always a book or a blog post or forum post that makes sense. "Maybe I'll try this"- I think. And I do.

The thing with housework is... It is always there! It is this ever-present entity, always looming, always lurking. If you ignore it, it doesn't go away. If you tackle it, it comes back again, to stare at you in the face. There is no other choice but to stare back at it and hope that this time you will claim victory.

Thank God I am a person of hope. Because hope is what I need. Lots of it!

Hope that I find a system.
Hope that I will be consistent applying the system.
Hope that abuela's (my mother) organization gene, that seems to have skipped a generation, will show up in my kids.
Hope that someday, somebody, might invent a self cleaning house.
Hope that someday, somebody, will come up with disposable (biodegradable of course) clothes.
Hope that lint will evaporate, and dust will vanish and that stuff will magically find-on their own- their proper place, toilets will be self sanitized and tubs will be anti mold and soap scum repellent.

In the meantime I am left with the truth: housework needs to be done. In my constant search I came across this (HT to Elizabeth who got it from here who got it from Jennifer ) So for now, I am going to read this list and see if I can apply it to our household. Maybe, just maybe, this list will help me to get the essentials done.

Learning about Real Foods

Since I have been hanging around here I keep hearing about eating healthy,eating local and eating organic. Before, I had this idea that only people that were out to "save the Earth" or people that were paranoid about disease worried about pesticides, chemicals and whether their food was organic or not. I don't know if it is who I am hanging around with; or the fact that I am getting old, and mortality seems a closer fact, but all those conversations have piqued my curiosity.

I started by reading The Omnivore's Dilemma I haven't really finished it yet. What I have read though, have been eye opening. I learned all about corn and how it has turned into the big commodity it is today. I also learned about cows and how they have been transformed into grain eating animals instead of keeping to God's original design for them.

The Second book I am reading is Real Food . I have found this book interesting. I can't say that I don't gloss over some of the details but overall it has made for a riveting reading.

I feel a little overwhelmed by the possibility of changing the way we eat, not because I am attached to it, but because it requires thinking and planning. It becomes one more thing I need to do. But how can I not? The information I have gathered just makes sense. It makes sense that once we have tinkered with the natural processes, things are bound to go down hill. Not that I am against industrialization. (God knows I am thankful to be alive in the 21st century. And, as idyllic as a farm sounds, I couldn't live in one. Dealing with animals and the hard work of a farm are not my things! ) It makes sense that chemicals and pesticides not made for human consumption, would cause harm. It makes sense that when we alter genetics and force animals to deny their nature, it is only logical that some ill consequences will follow. It stands to reason, I think, that if cancer and other diseases are more prevalent nowadays we need to look for causes in what we eat and their source.

All this information begs for action. Where to begin? Budget is a consideration. It is difficult to make myself spend, for example, almost $6.00 in a gallon of milk when the regular milk only costs $3.47. Availability is another consideration. Here where I live, local farms are not common; Farmer's Market is only available for a couple of months in the summer. It makes eating locally and seasonally, difficult. It leaves us with the small overpriced organic departments of the local groceries and the small (and somewhat weird) health food stores.

Small changes seem to work best for me. Baby steps,as the Flylady would say. A good place to start seems to be making a conscious effort to eat more vegetables and fruit. It is not that I have discovered this for the first time. This is something I have been hearing all my life. I am just lazy. Vegetables have to be washed, cut,dressed and I have to deal with picky kids who won't eat them. Nina Planck has this advice:

If you can't find or afford ecological produce, eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables anyway. You may be sure that most studies showing the benefits of diets rich in fruits and vegetables were done on industrial produce. It is sensible to wash industrial produce, but peeling is a tough call. Most of the pesticide are found in, or just under, the peel. So are the vitamins and antioxidants. I simply don't know which is the lesser evil.

She also has some suggestions to increase the intake of fruits and vegetables:
-have them on hand
-have a salad every meal
-be aware that some vegetables are more nutritious when cooked (broccoli,cabbage, spinach). Others, like carrots, liberate more of the nutrients when they are peeled, juiced or shredded.
-dress them up nicely
-eat salad first
-sometimes eat salad as a main course
-put some vegetables and fruit out when the kids are hungry, even if is right before dinner
-eat local food, it will increase the variety
-mix different vegetables for a variety of textures and tastes

Action? The first action I am taking is printing this to take with me to the store. It is a list of the fruits and vegetables with highest pesticide content and the ones of the least amount. Secondly, I am going to try to wash and cut vegetables as soon as I get home so they will be ready to eat. Thirdly, I am going to make an effort to have more salads. Fourth, I am going to come up with more creative way of preparing the vegetables we do eat. And lastly (and more difficult), I am going to try expand our repertoire, in a search for some my kids will eat.


We will see how it goes.

The Spear by Louis de Wohl

Today we finally finished The Spear. This book was our Lenten reading but it is a long book, 400 pages long. It is the story of Cassiua Longinus a Roman soldier whose father is betrayed and cheated out of his family fortune. Cassius sets to avenge his father's misfortune and ends up first a slave and then a soldier in Judea. In Judea he comes on contact not only with the puzzling Jews but with the even more puzzling followers of Rabbi Yeshua.

The books is masterfully done. De Wohl pulls together Scripture and his own imagination, and the result is a believable and well told story. The descriptions were in tad too long for the kids. It was a little anti-climatic to read the scene of the crucifixion on Easter Monday but, it was compensated by the reading today of the events following Pentecost. It was a great story and it really enhanced our Lent by fleshing out the events leading to the death of Our Lord.

The Power of the Resurrection

In Easter, with Jesus' resurrection "a new way of living has opened up, a way of living focused in Jesus and the power of his resurrection" (WAU, p.22).

What does this mean? How is our life this week any different than life last week? After all the resurrection, the actual event, happened many, many years ago. How does it affect my life today?

Jesus is the same "yesterday, today and forever". What He did all those years ago, He can do today. In a supernatural but real way, the power of the resurrection is the same today as back then.

What did the resurrection accomplish? Simply put, it changed lives. It transformed the apostles. It made it possible for them to understand, to see and to comprehend the truths of Jesus' teachings.

It is true that the most dramatic changes happened after Pentecost. The time between the resurrection and Pentecost was a slow unfolding of the life that begun when Jesus left the tomb. That Easter time seemed to have gradually affirmed, in the mind of the apostles, the reality of what they had witnessed. I picture them, growing more assured with each apparition of Jesus. Each encounter deposited more confidence in their souls and made them thirst for more. The resurrection began it all.

It was the resurrection, that ultimate miracle, what made believing easier. If God could raise Jesus from the clutches of death, what couldn't He do? With the resurrection everything becomes possible. The resurrection creates an expectant faith.

An expectant faith is fertile ground for receiving the Holy Spirit. Faith that awaits opens itself. Like thirsty ground waiting for water, a soul who expects will receive the Holy Spirit and produce abundant fruit.

The Church, full of wisdom, uses the liturgical year to help us re-live these truths. During Lent our family focused on certain readings. We read the story of the woman at the well. Jesus was for her the Living Water. We read about the man born blind. Jesus was light for him. We read about Lazarus. Jesus was life for him. We meditated on these stories. Jesus is for every person what that person needs.

Now is Easter. Easter comes during spring time, when nature all around us is freeing itself form the grasp of winter. New life is everywhere. It is time for us to have new life too. It is time to make those truths we read about during Lent, be our truth. It is time to let Jesus, who is Living Water, Light and Life, be our Living Water, our Light and our Life. It is time to make the power of the resurrection OURS.

Nature Study: We did it!

N. and I went for a nature walk today. Honestly speaking, I wasn't planning on it but, I have made the mistake comment to N. yesterday. Sure enough, today he reminded me. I didn't have an excuse. So armed with binoculars, magnifying glass, baggies, and a camera, we went for a walk around the block. We took samples of leaves, put them in baggies and brought them home to identify. It was a fun experience. N. was all into it. It kind of make me feel a tad guilty that I haven't taken him on more outings.



To identify the leaves we used this Virginia website as well as some field guides we have at home. We learned ( and I really mean we, not a figure of speech) about the parts of leaves, and what to look at when trying to identify them.

We also did some leaf rubbings. Even A. got involved. It was fun experimenting with different leaves and colors, different coloring media (pastel, crayons and coloring pencils) and different patterns.

King Tut

Yesterday, we went to Dallas to see King Tut. Actually King Tut wasn't there but tons of artifacts found inside his tomb were.

I think there is a little bit of false advertisement going on. They use King Tut's gold mask for the publicity but the gold mask is not there and, of course neither is the mummy. I am glad a friend warned me ahead of time. I think we would've been disappointed.

I found this article that explains a little bit more about the mummy, King Tut's Mummy. This article tells a little more detail about how the mummy was moved into the glass case that house it today and why it was moved there.

I was really impressed by the beauty of the jewels, furniture and amulets we saw yesterday. They are exquisite! I was amazed at the level of craftsmanship and beauty they could attain with the primitive means at their disposal. I was also struck anew with how much time and money was spent in thinking and preparing for the afterlife. If we invested as much time thinking about heaven, we would really be holy!

Nature Study

I am a nature student wannabe. I drool over sites like this. For years, since G. was little, I have read Charlotte Mason books, and Charlotte Mason inspired moms that seem to have the perfect homeschool. They take the kids outside backpacks in tow, ready for a nature walk. Nature walk, just the name excites me. Doesn't it sound dreamy? It evokes times outside, under the trees, with picnic lunches and sketchbooks. Then I wake up and I remember that 1) I don't like bugs, 2) I am scared of running into wild animals, 3) I don't know how to sketch.

Once more is Spring. Spring seems to beckon me outside. Really? well, not really. It is the same thing again. I want to, really want to go outside but, there are so many things to do inside- books to read, blogs to check and did I mention school, cooking, cleaning?

I am determined this year. I think. I am going to go outside. I am going to take the kids, at least N. for a walk in the neighborhood. We are going to do something simple: collect leaves, identify them and tally the trees in our neighborhood (more like our block). Maybe do some drawing. No, wait, don't get ahead of yourself. Try the most simple thing and see how it goes.

I found this book at our library. I think I am going to follow it and see how it goes. But because I am how I am I couldn't resist doing some poking around on the internet and found these helpful-tuck away somewhere in the back of your mind-blog them so you can remember- links:

http://www.squidoo.com/cmnaturestudy

http://mrshappyhousewife.com/homeschooling/science/nature-study-thirty-six-weeks.html


Tomorrow I'll go. I think.

He Is Risen!!

He is risen INDEED!
(Just a note: I did not misspell alleluia. It is written in Spanish)