Burning the Candle at Both Ends

St. Michael Activity Update

Somehow, most of our Feast Day observances involve cake...hmmm. 

 

So for the Feast of the Angels we had devil's food cake (huh?) covered in white frosting. We attached an image of St. Michael to a skewer and had him floating in the center of the cake. I dyed some white frosting to red, orange and yellow and made it look like flames surrounding the bottom of the cake. I pulled the pointed end of the skewer through the colors and I think it gave a nice effect of flames.  I wasn't allowed to put satan on the cake because he was too scary... maybe next year. These kids are no fun!

Here is the conversation with Dad and Hannah.

H: Dad come see the Saint's cake!

D: Oh, which Saint is it today?

H:  I forgot.

D: (Looking at cake ) St. Blaise?

Feast of the Archangels and a Coincidence???

 

St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle;

Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;

And do thou, oh Prince of the Heavenly Host,

Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who roam throughout the world

Seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

 

Tune in tomorrow to see what activity we came up with to mark this day. St. Michael is the Archangel who is called upon for protection from evil influences... yes they do exist. I recommend every married couple pray this prayer as a couple to protect their marriage and family, which as we all know are so much under attack these days.  My husband and I added this to our morning prayer time two years ago and it has helped us on many levels.  I am very thankful to our pastor for re-instituting the practice of having the congregation recite this prayer at the end of every Mass. It is a reminder that when we go out into the world, we are, in a sense, truly entering into a battle and we need all the heavenly help we can get!

Here is a happy coincidence in regard to angels and feast days.  Today, our oldest daughter ,Kate is doing something we never could have envisioned even a year ago... she is putting herself on a plane and flying out to Michigan to meet her boyfriend's family.  This is huge considering the intense fear of flying she is facing down... I can only think it is a testament to her feelings for him.  Now for the concidence (there are none, right?) she is flying out on the  Feast of St. Michael and the Archangels... and she is returning on October 2... the Feast of the Guardian Angels! When I told her this she was definitely comforted knowing  she would be protected. Anyone who reads this, I ask for prayers for her safety, and  relief from any anxiety... I am her mother.. I have enough anxiety for the both of us!

It's All-Or-Nothing With Me

  ...That is when it comes to housework!  I can't stand starting a job that is constantly interrupted.  I want to have an entire day to spend cleaning my house from top to bottom and making it look like "House Beautiful".  My problem is that I never, in all my twenty-two years of marriage, have had an entire day to devote to the house. I am only now coming to terms wtih that. Yes, I am a slow learner. Since I have this all-or-nothing mindset about housework, I have found that lately I am more "nothing", than "all", if you know what I mean.  A typical Saturday here is one of constant dropping off and picking up from sports and activities. Coming from large families, my husband and I often have extended family commitments and celebrations to go to .  Our weekends are not our own.  That is OK, because these other commitments are usually good and necessary.But they do nothing to help me with my problem.

I have a friend who is one of the most active people I know of.  We who are her friends find it difficult to keep up with her busy life. Yet, even when her four children were small, her home was always beautifully clean and orderly. I admit to being awed by that since I was in constant fear of an unexpected visitor seeing the disaster behind my front door!  Once I learned two   things about this friend, I lightened up a bit. The first thing I learned was that SHE HAS A CLEANING LADY once a week. SInce I am not in a position to hire someone, I thought I  was off the hook. Upon thinking about her cleaning lady, I realized, that   even if I had someone to come in and do the big stuff for me once a week, in less than a day I am fairly certain this place would be upside down once again.  There is something else about my friend that has helped me understand the difference between the two of us.  One day, after our Mom's prayer gorup was ending for the day this friend looked at her watch and said out loud to herself "It is 2:30, if I go home right now I'll have ten minutes 'til the bus drops the kids off. What can I do in ten minutes?"

A low-watteage light bulb flickered in my low-wattage mind for a brief instant.  It is only now, several years later that I think, just maybe that bulb has brightened a bit.  I have got to stop looking at my housework as this huge weekend project that is impossible for me to get to because I don't get huge amounts of time all in a row.  I have to look at my life in much smaller increments... say ten minutes at a time, maybe. This thought inspired me to begin a list of tasks that can each be accomplished in ten minutes or less. I have begun to list these tasks, so that when I have a few minutes between running this one to work and that one to the doctor, it is ten minutes well-spent,not spent waiting and grumbling that I have no time.  So here is my not yet completed, but still pretty long, list of ten-minute jobs. Don't try to tackle the whole list in ten minutes, just one item! 

unload the dishwasher                                                 

put away the dishes in the drainer

reload the dishwashwer                                                

shine up the sink

clean  clutter off a counter                                           

fold a basket of laundry

put away folded laundry                                               

sweep kitchen floor  

windex all mirrors on 1st floor                                      

make my grocery list

windex all glass doors                                                 

straighten up the living room

de-clutter my desk                                                       

throw in a load of wash

throw a load of wash in drier                                        

wipe off TV and computer monitor screens

put away items accumulated at bottom of stairs            

clean off back deck

This list is not complete by any means, but it is a start. And except for one or two exceptions, I wouldn't call these jobs cleaning.  Just making things look orderly and tidy.  But I think that once I get used to using small snippets of time for small tasks, the deeper, and heavier cleaning will be easier to attack.  If I keep this up, I will make my way to "House Beautiful" ten minutes at a time!

Happy Birthday to the Love of My Life

    

"...And when we grow old
I will find two chairs
and set them close each sun-lit day,
that you and I - in quiet joy -
may rock the world away."     -Robert Sexton 

Proud to Be a One-Issue Voter

Last night my husband and I along with some dear friends  , had the pleasure and privilege to attend a dinner-dance fundraiser for our local crisis pregnancy center.  The keynote speaker was Father Benedict Groeschel, founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal . These holy men dedicate their lives to the care of the poor and homeless and to promoting the culture of life.  This amazing man, who nearly five years ago was literally at death's door after having been struck by a car at Orlando Airport can barely stand up or sit down unassisted. Yet, when he spoke, all were riveted by his clear and powerful message.

His message on the upcoming election is what stands out for me. Many people who are prolife tend to cast their vote based on the candidates stand on that one issue. We are made to feel that this is not a legitimate use of our vote. After all, there are so many important issues in our day...why does being prolife somehow trump all other issues? Well, I came away from last night reminded of the answer to this question by an analogy Fr. Groeschel used. He said to imagine a candidate running for president. This candidate seems to have all the qualifications the country needs and is looking for...excellent healthcare for all; fair and just treatment for illegal immigrants; impeccable foreign policy experience, and so on. Now imagine that along with all this, this candidate believes that everyone over the age of seventy-five should be euthanized, regardless of whether or not they want to be.  Would anyone vote for this person? Well, in this day and age, some might; but overall this candidate would be soundly defeated based on is or her stand on the one issue of euthenasia. After hearing this analogy, I am no longer going to allow myself to be duped into being made to feel my vote is wasted by voting on one issue...life is too important to be lumped in with all the "other" issues of our day.  I am proud to be a one-issue voter! This doesn't mean I don't agree with the candidate's stand on other issues... it just means that a willingness to kill babies trumps all other issues in my book.

Please take a few minutes and watch this video .

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A new video from Grassroots Productions

My Favorite Quiche (this week!)

I love making different types of quiches. This is one I recently made that I thought came out particularly yummy. It had fresh spinach, sauteed mushrooms and cheddar cheese. The cheddar was tasty, but I think next time I am going to try it with swiss cheese instead. I have to say the best part of this is the crust. It is a simple "pat-in-the-pan" crust that can be used for quiche, or if you add a bit of sugar, it would make a nice crust for a fruit pie... maybe one with a crumb topping. So here is the recipe for the crust, which I made right in the 9-inch cake pan:

1 1/2 c. plus 3T. flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. vegetable oil

3 T. cold milk

Mix flour and salt together in 9-inch round cake pan.  Using a whisk, whip the milk and oil together and add it right into the pan with the flour mixture. Mix with a fork until a dough (kind of on the dry side) forms, then press the dough evenly over the bottom and sides of pan. FIll it with whatever mixture you like in your quiche. This is how I made the spinach mushroom:

3 large eggs

1 c. milk ( I used 1/2 c. of milk and 1/2 c. half and half)

1 c. grated cheddar

about half a bag of fresh spinach, rinsed and dried

8 oz. container of mushrooms sliced and sauteed

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1/2 t. thyme ( I love the flavor of thyme with my mushrooms!)

-Whip up the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and thyme til nice and frothy

-fill the bottom of the crust with the cheese, spinach and mushrooms

-pour egg mixture over the fillings in the pan

Bake at 350 for about an hour.

Happy Birthday Mary!

Today is the day that Catholic tradition observes as the Nativity of the Blessed VIrgin Mary. It is nine months to the day of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. St. Anne was very punctual, wasn't she?  We decided to observe Mary's special day by making a Marian altar on the dining room table and of course, eating cake.  It will be a white cake symbolizing the purity of Mary with white icing and some blue trim.  I can't say why blue. Somewhere along the way it is a color that came to be associated with the Blessed Mother, so I'll continue the tradition.  Thomas and Hannah were excited at the thought of cutting and gluing decorations for our altar.  We decided it needed blue, of course and also stars to represent that she is the Queen of Heaven.  Thomas made a ring of twelve stars around her feet. He very happily donated his favorite blanket to the cause and it serves as the altar cloth.  We listened to some beautiful Marian hymns and thoroughly got lost in our afternoon project. I need to do more of forgetting about what I "should" be doing when I am home with the children... nothing is more important than these moments of sharing our faith and creativity together. If I get an hour in to tidy up, I will be happy. Truthfully , even if I don't get that hour, I will be happy to have shared these moments. They are the reason  we are on this homeschool journey in the first place! 

 

Hannah and Thomas admiring their work! Now on to the cake...