Tuesday's Proverb

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with first fruits of all your produce; Then will your barns be filled with grain, with new wine your vats will overflow. (Proverbs 3:9-10)

Company in the Teen Years

It turns out that I'm not the only one celebrating a 13th wedding anniversary today (I never thought I was or anything.) Lissa at The Bonny Glen and Amy of Between Daydreams are also celebrating this momentous occasion. Congrats to them. And to anyone else who is celebrating a 13th - or other anniversary - or birthday - or whatever. Happy Day to Everyone.

Good Mood Monday

Sometimes it's all about going slow enough to notice things. When I was a child I had a picture book in which the main character stopped to notice a butterfly, and the story went on to say that grown-ups just don't notice things like that.

I decided there and then that I wanted to be the kind of grown-up who would notice a butterfly. And lots of times I do. Sure, sometimes we're in a rush, and have lots of things on our minds, and naturally, the little things may slip by unnoticed, but how much more special life is when we do notice those things.

Having a robins nest outside our living room window and next to the front door is making us all slow down and notice things. If we go in or out, we always stop to see what the birds are up to - and often we just stop by the front window for a peak.

Yesterday I saw the mother bird holding a worm above two open little beaks waiting for food. It's such a beautiful thing to witness.

Walking home from bringing the kids to school this morning I saw our goose family - the goslings are growing fast. The parents were walking behind, guiding them, as we do with our own children. I saw two rambunctious squirrels race straight up adjoining trees.

There's a lot out there in this beautiful world, and a gorgeous spring day is a perfect time to pay attention to it.

And so despite the children being in bad moods this morning, I'm in a good mood - but maybe that has something to do with the fact that today is my 13th wedding anniversary and I'm lucky enough to be married to my best friend.

If anyone else wants to post a Good Mood Monday message I'll link to you, if you leave me a comment.

A Letter from A Mother

Once upon a time men (and women) embarked upon adventures to a new world. In a day without regular mail service, no telephones, e-mail, instant messaging or anything of the sort, when a child left for the "new world" that was often the last he would see of his mother. A great and exciting adventure for the son to be sure, but for the mother left at home, wondering how he fares, not so great. And what did those mother's think.

I'm lucky to have had access to The Howard Genealogy by Heman Howard, and in there is a copy of a letter sent from Mary Hayward (alternate spelling of Howard) to her son John. I am a direct descendant of them both.

So, in honor of Mother's Day, here's the letter Mary wrote to her son living in Massachusetts in 1652.

London, Aug 16, 1652

Loving Son:--

Having a fitt opportunity by a friend to send to you, I could not, out of my motherly care to you and your brother, do less than write a few lines to you to certify you that both I and your sister are in good health, praysed be God, and that I earnestly desire to hear from you both, how you do and how and in what condition you are both. Your sister desires to be remembered to you both, and she and I have sent you some small tokens of our love for you. I have sent George 3 bands and a handkerchief, and an handkerchief to yourself, and I have sent you a shilling to you to pay for writing of a letter, if by long silence you have forgott. I wonder, son, you should so forgott your mother, whose welfare she tended more than anything in the world. Your sister hath sent you a book of your f ather's to you and a bible to George. Did we conceive you were alive, we would have sent you better tokens. Child, with my blessing to you both, desiring to hear from you and whether you ever intend for England, and how your cousing Sarah doth, with my daily prayer to the Lord for you, I rest.

Your Loving Mother,

Mary Hayward

For her loving son, John Hayward,

this: --

In case he be dead, to George Hayward in New England.

I especially like how she includes money for him to send a letter. No excuses for him. But, it's also touching that she has to wonder if perhaps he isn't alive, because it would be a real possibility. As it turns out, he was alive, but I don't know if he answered her letter.

I Hope I Don't Need This Phrase

Pippi has been teaching herself some German with an old German phrase book I have. It's a nice little pocket-sized book with some very handy phrases organized by category: Greetings, Weather, Emergencies, Eating and Drinking.

Handy phrases include:
Es gibt viel Nebel (there's a lot of fog)
Ich habe Hunger (I'm hungry)
Der Mann hat mir mein Geld gestolhen! (That man stole my money!)

And then there's this one.:
Es ist zu viel Wasser im Boot (There's too much water in the boat.)

That would be fine in the emergency section - only this phrase is under "Sightseeing." What kind of sightseeing tours do they run over there?

Poetry Friday - Kind of

It's almost Mother's day, so people are posting poems about Mothers. That makes perfect sense.
However I've been watching the mother bird outside our window today, with her (at least) three little hatchlings. And decided to compose a ditty (I'm afraid to really call it a poem) about her.

Baby Birds and Mama

Little beaks open wide
Hoping for some food
Mama feeds them
Bits of worms
Then settles down
Snug inside her nest
Her babies safe beneath her.
Is this what we call babysitting?

An Easter Story

I know that Easter was last month. But we are still in the Easter season - so this isn't really that terribly out of date.

Yesterday, my son's public school teacher gave me a copy of something he wrote in his journal in school on April 3, 2007. It was probably suggested that they write about the upcoming Spring Break.

This is what Harry (age 7, grade 1) wrote:

Spring Break as a Catholic

Easter is a very happy day for Catholics because it is the day that our only lord Jesus rises from the dead. The day after that was the day that there were 12 people who partied with our lord Jesus and he turned water into wine. The day after that Mary his mother welcomed him back to Planet Earth and a bad guy asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews. The day after that Jesus rose back to heaven with Mary and turned to King and Queen. (This is all about remembering Jesus rising from the dead.)

His chronology is a little off - but he hits most of the main points.

One Egg Hatched

I was sitting, in the living room, working on my lap top, and gazing out the window (you can see how much working was going on) and I noticed that the robin was standing on the edge of her nest looking in, as opposed to sitting nestled snuggly on top of her four eggs.

Naturally, I had to sacrifice work time to go to the window and see what was up. And I was glad I did.

What I saw was a little newly hatched bird. So new that it was like a little wiggly pink ... something ... (I'm kind of at a loss as to how to describe it) it didn't have feathers - but a little bit of fuzz here and there. It was moving very awkwardly, as if it couldn't figure out what moving was all about. And while I watched, it managed to get itself into position to put its head up, and open its beak. That was when the mother bird put the little bit of food she was holding in her beak, in the babies mouth. The baby immediately opened its mouth for more (the mother ignored it.)

Later I saw both mother and father robin looking at their newly hatched baby. Then the mother settled herself back in the nest again (I guess it's okay to sit on your babies if you're a bird) and I suppose will wait for the other eggs to hatch.

I'm so glad the robins built their nest where we can see the baby birds from the living room window. It's quite a treat.

Tuesday's Proverb

Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the LORD and turn away from evil; This will mean health for your flesh and vigor for your bones. (Proverbs 3:7-8)

Time for A Little Something Different

This isn't simple or ordinary. But it's pretty cool just the same.

What I'm Reading

Lissa tagged me for a book meme. The question is: What books are you reading right now?

Let's see. I just finished one yesterday and started a new one last night, but I've barely gotten past the first few pages in the new one, so I'll include them both.

The one I finished is Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes. I was hoping for a light read, and it wasn't as light as I hoped, but it was a good story about three friends and the turmoils in their lives, and how one friend's bout with cancer helps the others to sort out their lives.

The book I just started is The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory. I'm only on page 4, so honestly can't tell much about it yet, but I've read other books by Philippa Gregory and have enjoyed them, and enjoy stories from that time period.

I'm also reading The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Latin. I didn't take Latin in school. I had 5 years of Spanish, 2 of German and a semester of French (in college) (just as a side note, if you learn Spanish and German first it's very hard to get your mouth around French pronunciations - or maybe that's just me). Now I'm interested in learning a little Latin. This seemed like a good place to start.

And then there are the books that are sitting by my bed because I've started them, and just didn't finish yet. Two are re-reads of books by Madeleine L'Engle: The Irrational Season, which is the third book in her Crosswicks Journals - and which I like to re-read every now and then, and The Love Letters - a story combining a modern day romance and a 17th century romance, as well as a Portuguese convent and a French soldier.

I also have A Friar's Joy - a book I picked up at a mission this Spring given by a Franciscan Friar. It's a lot of small stories from the lives of several Friars.

And for a little "light" reading (ha) we have A New Song For the Lord by Pope Benedict XVI, A Father Who Keeps His Promises, by Scott Hahn, and How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

One thing becomes clear here and that is that I need to finish some of the books by my bed.

Now I get to tag people.
I tag Nancy at Journey Women, Meredith at Sweetness and Light, and Milehimama at Mama Says... and Liz at A Chair, A Fire Place and a Tea Cozy.

Good Mood Monday

I wanted to get this post done earlier in the hopes of attracting more people to the idea of "Good Mood Monday" - put, what can I say - it's Monday.

Inspired by a post on joy at Sweetness and Light and by the Carnivals of Joy at Three Plus Two, I thought it would be neat to have a day when we post about good things. And Mondays are a day we could all use a little mood-lightening, whether it's because you have to go to work again after a relaxing weekend, or are trying to convince the children that they really do want to go to school this morning, Mondays can be tough.

I'd say that the most mood-boosting thing this morning was the walk to school with the kids. The sky was blue, the breeze was fresh, and the goslings were out. While Canada Geese can be a pain, with the mess they leave in parks and on sidewalks, their offspring are adorable. Right now we have four little fluffy yellow goslings trailing their parents around the park. So cute.

And if that isn't mood-brightening enough for you, check out this video. I originally saw this when Melissa Wiley linked to it from one of her many blogs but couldn't find the original link today. I did find it on YouTube, but when I tried to embed it in my blog, it didn't work. So hopefully the link will. I particularly like the line "You can sleep when you are dead."

If you want to participate in Good Mood Monday, just put a note in the comments with a link, and I'll round it all up later today.

Edited to add: Meredith, over at Sweetness and Light, joins Good Mood Monday today with a lovely post on Mondays with Mary. And what better way is there, really, to put yourself in a good mood, then to spend some time in the company of the mother of our Lord.

Put A Little Love In It

Our priest told a story today about a nun who came to talk to his seminary class. Without going into all the details, it boiled down to this: She had told someone who was having a difficult time to "Put a Little Love in it". The woman to whom the advice was directed thought it seemed simplistic - but tried it ... and it worked.

So the nun now passed the advice on to the seminarians, and today, Father Jim passed it onto us.

Put A Little Love In It.

It would make a nice inspirational poster.

And it's also very good advice.

Today's Gospel reminds us once again of Jesus' new commandment to us. "To love one another." But it's not really new. It's more of a summary of the original ten.

A couple of weeks ago as I wrapped up teaching the ten commandments to my fourth grade CCD class I told them that all ten could be summed up in one word. Did they know what that word was?

Law?

No.

Commandment?

No.

It's Love I told them. It's as simple as that: Love.

Because if you love someone you don't want to do bad things to them. You don't want to lie about them or steal from them, or hurt them in anyway. If something good happens to them you are happy - not jealous. Basically, if you are acting in love you don't need someone to remind you of what the ten commandments are because you will automatically do the right thing.

But what about all those other people. The ones who cut you off in traffic, the teachers who give homework over vacation breaks, the friend who stops being a friend. Well, Jesus didn't make exceptions. We have to love them too. But since that is a bit harder, we do have those rules: even if we don't feel love we still need to not kill, not lie, not steal. We have to act in love even if we don't feel love.

And that brings us back to the advice Father Jim shared with us today. Put a little love in it and you can't go wrong.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane ... It's...

Super Librarian

I was reading the paper this morning and came upon this article. I know it doesn't mention Liz by name, but who else could they mean? After all the heroine is a "pretty librarian from a South Jersey shore town" and she's armed with "book smarts, street smarts and technical savvy."

Sounds like the super hero the world has been waiting for.

Poetry Friday

For Poetry Friday today - I bring you an original poem by Pippi.

The Old Door

The door was gray
It was rusted
It was old
No one opened it anymore
It was cold.
I was daring
It squeaked
It creaked
I pushed it open.
I was surprised to see
A knight without half his armor running after a chicken!
I looked again.
A dragon!
Fairies!
Magic!
Knights!
Royalty!
I blinked my eyes.
Then I found, it was just
A Tapestry.
I moved it back.
Another scene I saw
Of pirates
Pilgrims
Pioneers!
I stepped forth and found it was real!
But how would I get back?
No one had told me.

The Poetry Friday round-up is over at Big A little a this week.

A Slice of Spring and Peace of Mind

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed this evening. Our problems may be small compared to other peoples, but tonight they seemed to all be piling on. I felt the need to wallow in misery.

What I did was take my cup of tea outside and sit on the front steps.

I felt agitated and upset.

The flowers on the trees are beautiful - pink and white - and light green leaf buds.

There leaves on the red maple glowed in the late afternoon sun.

The grass, newly cut was a brilliant shade of green.

A father was pushing his daughter on a swing in the park across the way.

It's a beautiful evening.

My spirit felt soothed.

God really is good to us - even when life seems too much - he has ways of reminding us that we really are blessed.

A Candle and a Prayer

Heather, a mother of three, is undergoing surgery today, to remove a brain tumor. Please pray for her.

The prayer chain is courtesy of Alice.




To get the link for the button, go here.

I can't imagine how difficult this must be for Heather and her family, but she is approaching this with a beautiful faith-filled attitude.

Please pray that God is with her and her family during this difficult time.

Sandlot Math

While waiting to get up to bat at his baseball game the other day, Harry and some of his teammates were writing in the sand with a stick. They'd write, they'd rub out - serious conversations were going on.

Later Harry came over to us.


Harry: "I'm trying to teach my teammates something but they keep rubbing it out when I write it down."

Me: "What are you trying to teach them?"

Harry: "Four Factorial."

And surprisingly the other 6 and 7 year olds weren't interested. Maybe he should try them again once they have adding and subtracting down.

Outnumbered

Pippi sang "When The Saints Go Marching In" in music class at school. She said she was glad to learn the real words because she used to think it was:

Oh when the saints go marching in
When the saints go marching in
Oh, how we'll be outnumbered,
When the saints go marching in

You know, there's a certain truth to her version.

Tuesday's Proverb

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)