Family Prayers

Prayer is very important to me and I KNOW it is important to pray as a family, but it is definitely one of my challenges.  In any case, lately I have stumbled up on some ideas that ARE REALLY WORKING FOR US!!!  So I thought I'd share.  But first, I want to give a shout out to my good blog-friend, Monica.  A while back she posted about her family's Morning Prayers and I was awed and amazed and inspired (and possibly a little jealous) by what goes on at her house.  In any case, I have prayed and stewed over the notion of family prayers, trying this and that, but this past Advent I have finally struck gold with my clan.

The secret I believe is the candles.  My kids REALLY enjoy having candles lit and even more, blowing them out.  The minute a candle is lit, they are quiet and their full attention is on it.  In addition, knowing they are going to get to blow that candle out keeps their attention on the task at hand.  So, for Advent, they were LOVING the Advent wreath. (especially once we reached the fourth Sunday so they all could blow out a candle - rather than having to take turns - and then even more once we got to Christmas so Mom could blow one out, too!)

For Advent, I put our wreath on a large platter so I can move it from the top of the bookshelf to the table for meals and then back up for "safe-keeping."  Once the Christmas season ended, I put the Advent wreath away, but kept the platter out.  I found four candles and

some green cloth (ok, they are pot holders, but they ARE green for ordinary time) and a nice cross that stands up.  Now I move our "sacred space" from the top of the bookshelf to the table for every meal we eat together (sometimes breakfast, often lunch, and normally dinner every night). 

I found this really neat book called "Prayers for Each and Every day."  It has a morning and evening prayer for each day of the week.  It also has some special prayers in the back.  It is scripturally based with some poems and reflections, too, but in a fairly kid-friendly way.  So we use that and then sometimes we discuss what I read or ask for petitions.  We then conclude with a few prayers from "My First Prayers for my Family" or "Daily Prayers" or another little prayer book of some sort.  The kids like to look at the pictures and my daughter can now read some of the prayers on her own (which she LOVES to do).  Eventually I imagine they will have most of these prayers memorized (as they memorized our Advent and Christmas prayers (from My First Prayers for Christmas, which I highly recommend, by the way).  Then we each blow out a candle.

We, of course, still say our regular blessing of the food before meals (well, I say "regular" but for us, we usually sing it in various ways - such as to the tune of Gilligan's Island, or we chant it - yes, that is one of our favorites - or sometimes we sing the "Johnny Appleseed" grace), but this gives us a bit more opportunity to be prayerful together and if nothing else, I find it to be a great breath of fresh air.  The kids seem to enjoy it as well and I can only hope we are planting seeds during this time to help them grow into spiritual giants, able and willing to following Jesus in whatever He asks of them.

P.S. I really would like to show a picture of our "sacred space" but you can refer to my last post for an update of why that is not possible at this time.  For now these images will have to satisfy my need for visual description.

An explanation

So I have not been blogging much and here are my reasons:

1. My computer broke and the one I use now does not have any working USB ports.  This may seem like nothing, but blogging to me is all about pictures.  How can I possibly blog with no way to plug in my camera and add pictures?!?!  It is quite a dilemma that I have not been able to fix yet.

2. I am pretty miserable right now with a lot of things going on in my life (that I would love to share, but don't have time right now - lol) and blogging is just not high on my priority list.

So, I'm sorry if you miss me.  I actually kind of miss sharing stuff with you all  (all 3 of you that actually check my blog once in a while) but that is how it is right now.

On a side note, a few blog ideas are popping around in my head and I MIGHT just break the cycle and post one or two of them WITHOUT A PICTURE!!  But only if I can find some time so. . . wait in anxious anticipation if you want. . . or just consider yourself warned.

In the mean time, Happy Tuesday.

New Year's Intentions

"Resolutions" just sounds so resolute. I want something a bit more flexible, so I'm calling mine "intentions." These are what I "intend" to do this year. Some of them I have been doing for a long time (or some version of) and I just want to keep up. Others are new to my routine and sound like a good idea. So, without further ado, here they are:

Spiritual

*Read the Gospels for 10 minutes a day and try to apply them to daily life (this was actually suggested by our priest and although I try to get in my bible regularly I like this focus).
*Read my catechism for 10 minutes a day. (I used to do this in college and I miss it.)

*Liturgy of the Hours:

-Morning Prayer WITH the husband
-Evening Prayer
-Night Prayer WITH Rebekah (and possibly husband) at least twice a week

Physical

*Show temperance in eating and make good healthy choices.

*Continue to work-out regularly and listen to my body on days I SHOULD take it easy.


Personal

*I want to COMPLETE at least two "crafty projects" (knitting or crochet or some such).

Other

*I'm going to try and stick to my chore chart. (It does not have to be perfect, it just needs to get done. And I will have no guilt if I choose to do something over cleaning.)

*I will sort and file/dispose of the mail AT LEAST once a week. (No more letting it pile up for weeks on end.)


Kids
*Continue to read books to them (or with them in Rebekah's case) daily.

*Be more vigilant about having them do their chores.

*Let them "help" more in meal preparation and baking.

Whiney Wednesday

1. Stomach flu.

2. I feel like I am treading water all day and not getting anywhere.  Seriously.  I work HARD all day long, giving of myself to my maximum capacity in all ways I can think of and by the end of the day it seems like nothing has gotten done!  The only way to get items crossed off my "to do" list is to make a list of things I have ALREADY done.  Hmmm. . . maybe I am on to something here :)

3. Charity junk mail.  I don't care if you send me an envelope every month.  I told you I was giving one time or two times or whatever when I gave MY INITIAL pledge so stop sending me your letters.  They get shredded and recycled and frankly I'm tired of dealing with them.  I am not going to suddenly be "moved" to give you more money just because you sent me another envelope and sob-story letter.  Oh and while we are on the topic.  DO NOT CALL ME AND ASK FOR A PLEDGE ON THE PHONE.  I don't care how pathetic I sound or how guilty you make me feel.  You cause my be the worthiest of all, but I do NOT want to be bothered with a phone call where I have to LISTEN to your sob story and then tell you no and hear you all gruff and disappointed.  If I think you cause is worthy, I will give you money, but let me do my own research. - Don't call me, I will call you.

(On a side note, one charity called to thank me for my past support and ask if I had any prayer requests - no strings attached.  That was nice.  They can call me anytime.)

To join in Whiney Wednesday, click here for details.

Samuel has turned 5-years-old

Samuel turned 5-years-old at the beginning of December, but due to a lot of factors (broken computer, sickness, busy schedule, etc) I have been unable to reach my blog and pictures for a while, but fear not, it is still December, and a good time to stop for a moment and reflect on the little gentleman I am growing.

SAMUEL:

*Favorite toy right now: any Ironman paraphernalia he can find (I blame this fascination on Daddy who INSISTED we watch Ironman as a family.  I personally thought it was scary, but obviously Samuel thought it was "cool.")

*Is an AMAZINGLY helpful little guy - when he wants to be.  He cleans off the table, picks up/sorts toys, brings me things (like a wet wipe or the phone) and is just generally a very handy child to have on hand.

*Loves to play creatively (aka pretend) with his brother, Jacob and his older sister, Rebekah.

*Likes to make Paul laugh and can keep him "occupied" for at least a few minutes.

*Enjoys books and would have me read to him all day if possible.

*LOVES to cook.  Sometimes if I don't let him help often enough he hauls his chair in the kitchen and demands to help.  And baking anything from cookies to muffins, completely makes his day.

*Is intensely inquisitive.  He is constantly jabbering - talking things out, asking questions, pondering.  Quite the thinker.

*Runs very quickly!!  He really is quite athletic.

*Is exceedingly honest.  He has no concept of "secret" and is blatantly truthful about everything - so innocent.

Thank you, dear God, for my sweet son, Samuel.  May he continue to grow in gentleness and faith as he blesses our family.

Jacob and Samuel playing



Fun with Fair Toys

 There are these fun car-track sets at the State Fair every year and this is our second year of Nana's generosity bringing a set back to our home.  Here is the combined result of those two sets and Daddy's engineering (as well as the kids' assistance).  I call it "The Track of Awesome."

Later Jacob decided the track needed to be modified.  Here is his creativity at work.

Helping Daddy

Fortunately, my husband is amazing and can fix things for me - like the vacuum cleaner.  He is passing on his talent to our children (as witnessed here - for your viewing pleasure).