I love Fall!

Despite the fact that we've had a really rainy and chilly October, I still love fall!  And we have finally had several sunny days here, and time to go get pumpkins!

The girls brought Max, who met a few farm animals.  We found some great pumpkins and took a few pictures.  Becca had fun posing with this goofy scarecrow!

 Later in the day, Steve and I headed out past Augusta to a winery.  What a great day for it!

Biology

This...

is a really hard book.  And this is coming from a mom who likes science, a lot.  It is engaging and has a great way of explaining the topic.  Now, for Becca, she is not enjoying it quite so much.  It is almost stretching her to the breaking point, and I think we are going to have to take a step back and determine how much we can (realistically) get through each week to keep pace with the co-op class.  Otherwise, I think we will both pull out all of our hair!

What Heaven looks like...

according to Maria.  Last week Jenna and I were discussing some ideas for the upcoming Little Flowers meeting, where we will be learning about St. Monica and the virtue of hope.  The girls will be decorating little 'hope' chests, and we were trying to think of something they could put inside that would represent heaven.  We decided that 5-7 year olds probably have a lot of different ideas, so we would let each of them draw a picture.  Imagine my surprise yesterday, when Maria presented me with this:

It's too bad all of the glitter paint she used to decorate it does not show up in this photo, because it really gives it some sparkle. I love the two tiny little angels waiting at the entrance gate.

 

Becca Biologist...

on a mission to study pond life and collect pond water to culture (four different ways).  She really enjoyed this field trip and is very enthusiastic about the co-op biology class.

Lucky Us

Jenna just completed an activity-filled spirit week at Incarnate Word Academy, including themed dress-up days, the "Big Sit," decorating "the Wall", homecoming dance, parade, frosh-soph dodgeball and junior-senior powder puff.  It was quite a whirlwind, and she is exhausted!

 She invited a few friends over on Friday before the dance, including the moms.  The girls snacked on appetizers and cheesecake outside on the patio, and the moms did the same inside, after snapping a few photos.  All of us moms commented that we are so lucky and blessed to have such sweet girls who enjoy having their moms around at a party. These years are going by so fast...

Small Successes

It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes

in our days can add up to one big triumph. 

1.  Completed Maria's plant unit study/notebook which we have been working on for 4 or 5 weeks (I've lost count!)
2.  Helped Becca finish her biology lab report and American government assignments for co-op on Friday
3.  Baked an Oreo cheesecake for Jenna to share with her friends before the Homecoming Dance tomorrow  (I hope there is a slice left for me!)

It Is Not Knowledge

I read this in "Magnificat " yesterday and it really struck a chord with me.  It is from Dom Guillerand, who was a French Carthusian monk and a revered spiritual author.  It was a great reminder to me, and made me think of my mom, who acted like this every day.

   "There is no need to wait for that knowledge which is the result of study before acting in the region of our relations with God.  Religion is belief:  but above all, it is practice.  It is not knowledge.  It is a mutual exchange of love, and it is in this exchange that God reveals himself.  He reveals himself in the measure in which we love him, not according to our learning, even in the matter of our religion.

    It is not necessary to know precisely all the perfections of God, nor to be able to expound eloquently all the arguments which prove his existence.  How many souls pass the whole of their lives without knowing these things, and yet how profound is their knowledge of him, how warm their fervor, and how intensely real their relations with him.  

  These souls look upon God as a Father, who is unceasingly communicating to them his thoughts and desires, and it is by these thoughts and desires they live.  He becomes, as it were, their very soul and their innermost life.  His Spirit abides in the depths of their spirit, enlightening, encouraging, and directing all the inner resources that they possess.  And they love the Father, and hold converse with him.  They share with him their joys and their sorrows, and he is the secret confidant of all their hours.  He is there, in the depth of their soul, waiting to receive them into his intimate dwelling-place the moment they turn to him.  They recognize him, and they know that is is he who is calling them, whenever an interior voice invites them to think of him.  Their minds meet inevitably, and thus they enter into a relationship at once living, continuous, and full of delight - a relationship between the soul and its divine Guest, which grows in intensity."

It is all about love, the love we share in relationship with God.  And when we have that living relationship with God it overflows into all of our other relationships.

Thank you, mom, for nurturing the gift of my faith and being such an awesome example of being in relationship with God.  I love you!

Maria's Yummy Lunch...

made with red beans blended in the Magic Bullet, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped olives, chopped garden chives, and a dollop of Daisy.  Served with chips all around the blue square plate.  It tasted very YUMMY! YUMMY! YUMMY!
-posted by Maria

A Prayer, Please...

as Becca begins her first day at the homeschool high school co-op.  She has not been in a classroom setting for a long time, and I'm a bit nervous as to how this is going to go.  The teachers seem open to having her, Down syndrome and all, and hopefully the other teens will be as welcoming.  Becca is taking Biology, American Government & Economics, and Art.  She will also be there for a study hall period and lunch.  It's a big chunk of time for her to maneuver, in addition to the academic challenge.  It will be a huge learning experience for all involved, of that I am sure.  Love you, Becca...and have a great day at co-op!

How blessed am I...

that 8 moms would share their young daughters with me as we begin our first year of Little Flowers Girls' Club.  We just had our first meeting on Tuesday, and the smiles and excitement were awesome.  The 12 girls were so happy to be together! Maria is hiding behind her binder, and one of our Little Flowers didn't make it into the photo, this time.  Aren't they precious?

We learned about the virtue of faith, St. Catherine of Siena, and the sunflower.  We talked about how the head of a sunflower always follows the path of the sun during the day, just as we should always follow the Son.  The girls worked hard on their "Faith" notebook page and coloring the cover picture for their binder, a beautiful picture of St. Therese of Lisieux as a child.  Thank you, Charlotte!   The girls were also quite impressed to hear that St. Catherine was the youngest of 25 children.  I spoke with one of the moms this morning, and she told me she overheard her daughter telling her big sister that they learned about "St. Catherine of Louisiana."  I guess we'll need to review that a bit! 

Several of the girls are working very hard on their memory verses, and completing other 'faith' activities so they can earn their first badge.  I am just as excited as they are, and can't wait for October's meeting.