Linky Link

Today is going to be a heavy link day, because I've been browsing around the internet a lot lately. If you're looking for homeschool preschool links, stay til the end, because I'm planning on posting what I've been using!

I recently read this article, which is AMAZING. Seriously, everyone should read it. Especially moms. It then led me to the writer's blog, Momastery. This blog is awesome. Like, I can't stop reading. She's real, she talks about motherhood like it really is. Like this post. It's perfect, and I couldn't stop laughing at it. And finally, she had this post in the Huffington Post about the SAHM vs the WOHM. Well worth the read too. Anyway, enough about her blog, but I'm sure I'll be reading it more in the future.

Then there was also this lovely piece by a woman some women I know, know. How's that for complicated haha? To the Mother With Only One Child. And my final non-homeschooling link is this one. It's about Mary, the Mother of God. It's a new site I've heard, and it talks all about Mary. I honestly haven't looked at it much, but I've heard it's awesome, so am kind of putting it here to remind myself to come back and look at it. ;-)

Now... homeschooling. I've been posting lots of pictures with our homeschooling on Facebook, and many people have asked me what websites I'm using, so here's a run down of a lot of them.

I started off with the idea from a letter a week, doing just that. However, I really wasn't a fan of everything there, even though many said they loved it. So I decided to stick with the idea of a letter a week, but do my own thing. First, I wanted to include scripture memory in for each letter. These are the two sites I found that had fabulous scripture help for children. Impress Your Kids and I Can Teach My Child.

Everyday, we talk about what our letter is, the scripture, and words that start with that. With "C" I gathered a bunch of things from around the house that started with "C" and put them in a 'grab bag' and let them pull them out and talk about how they started with "C". Then, because they LOVE writing on the dry erase board, I let them practice writing the letter on the board. My 4 year old definitely writes them better than the 3 year old, but I'm not going for perfection yet at all.

I also printed out cards with site words, from this website. I colored all of them, and hung them on the wall. We are only on "C" and my site word wall is very full, so we may have to figure out a different plan eventually. We also have a "learning wall", that we hang all of our Bible verses on, and the things they've made, like cotton ball clouds for "C".

I also like to throw in a Bible story or Saint story, or both, if I can. This site is great for Bible stories. The Catholic Toolbox. and if you're Catholic and never checked out her blog, Catholic Icing is FABULOUS for Catholic ideas and crafts, for Saints, Holy Days, Feast Days, etc. She also has a Catholic preschool Curriculum, but I didn't want to be tied in to one curriculum, and wanted flexibility for the preschool years. (Ut oh, what does that say about me and homeschooling in the future?? I've always said I'll use a curriculum when we get in to the serious years. ;-))

This site is AWESOME for craft ideas for kids. I mean, AWESOME. Preschool Alphabet.

Someone also told me that "Confessions of a Homeschooler" was a good website, but i haven't checked in to it yet.

Anyway, I hope you found some of these links helpful! In all honesty, I take one night on the weekend, and sit down with my computer and start googling for ideas. For example, I found this days of creation mini book just by googling. Not sure if this was the site I used, but it was the same book. The kids colored it and can easily read it to you and tell you what was made on each day. It's amazing to see a 3yo and 4yo tell the story of creation!

Frustrations and Family Fun

Well, life in a foreign country definitely has it's frustrations. I've had several lately. Our cable (Tv and internet) provider just decided to go digital. They emailed everyone saying swing by and pick up the new box you need for your cable. (We had the very small package, just €20 extra a month, so we could have Disney, National Geographic, a few extras since tv is different here.) We go to pick it up, and it costs €90 to get! No where in the advertisements/communication did it say that. I let them know that was ridiculous, and instead canceled our cable and sent an email to their customer service, although I don't expect a reply. I'm still furious about it.

Then I went to the Post Office to pick up a package. After waiting in line for 45 minutes, I got told we didn't have a package. Either they gave me two slips for the package I already picked up, or they miss placed it, but I could just wait until I got a second notice. That's the second time in a month it's happened! GRrr.. I wish I could just have mail delivered to my house.

Then I went to the grocery store. Strawberries were on 'sale' for $1.99! That's great compared to the $3.36 they've been (or at one point, $8.11!!!). So I went to check out, and they ran up as $3.36. I noticed and complained and the woman said "Oh yeah, it's been ringing up wrong." Umm... then why isn't it getting changed if I'm not the first to complain? And the part that gets me, that happens ALL.THE.TIME. here!!! Seriously, I can tell you at least 5 stories of things being marked one thing and ringing up the wrong (more expensive) price in the past two months. Sometimes they honor the marked price, other times they don't, and you have to catch it. So that means you have to make sure you're watching every thing as it's being rung up. And this is only on the base.

Oh, and there's the issue that the government still owes us a few grand, and then, for some mysterious reason, our paycheck this week was a few hundred dollars short. But can we check our "paystub"? no, because we only get it at the end of the month. And can we call finance? No, because they only do communication via email here, and we've only been emailing them for 3 months with no reply.

So, these are a few of the frustrations. In happier news, my husband actually had today off for MLK Day. Normally he never gets a 3 day weekend because his job can't afford people to be off for 3 days in a row. But, because he's in school and not at work for a few weeks, he got it off! Wahoo! So what exciting things did we do? Nothing. Well, we got a few random things done I've been needing my husband to do, and today went on a huge walk, including some jogging for the kids and I. My middle child is a great motivator. She loves to run and says "Hurry mommy, don't stop! We've gotta beat the boys!" Loved it heheee.

Also, we've been homeschooling finally. This is why I haven't had the time to blog. Every time I sit down to work on the computer, I'm usually looking up stuff for preschool. We just began letter "C" this week. Maybe I'll write more about that later, if I get time. ;-)

And in final news, I'm considering participating in a 3 month "Biggest Loser" program on base. I can either participate, or pay to possibly win. I'd be SHOCKED if I won, but hey, maybe it'd motivate me even more. Either way, maybe if i do it, it'd give me the push I really need to lose weight. MAYBE. ;-)

German doctor

I had my first endocrinology (for T1 diabetes) appointment the other day with my new doctor, a German, off-base doctor. I was so nervous, was 15 min late, cried climbing the stairs to find the office. I finally figured HUGE letters across the door might be a doctor's office and went in. It was. I still don't understand why "PRAXIS" was across the door, when that means surgery according to my translate book... Endocrinologists don't do surgery that I'm aware of, or at least, never in the 26 years I've dealt with one have I had surgery... Although Google also says it translates "Practice".

Anyway, aside from being stressed, it was okay. Although, not much of an "appointment". More a meeting with the doctor where she told me "I dont understand any of these (convenient) printouts. Here's a logbook, write down a week's worth of sugars and bring it in next time." I HAVEN'T USED A LOGBOOK IN 10+ YEARS!!! Ugh, outdated Europeans.... And it's really easy to understand if you look at them. You have minimed patients, since you assumed that's the pump I use, why don't you understand the minimed software???

So they took blood for my Hemoglobin A1C, and made me two appointments for the future, one to come in and do lots of labwork-fasting, ugh- and an ultrasound (!?!?). Apparently to look inside, like at my bones from what the nurse tried to say when trying to find the English word... I'm still uncertain. Then I have to go back a week after that. Unfortunately, I made the appointments for a bad time, so need to call and try to reschedule. Like bad time as in my husband will have our one vehicle and there's no way to get there.

Which is another fun thing we're about to deal with. The husband will be in a very special 'school' for about 6 weeks. This is awesome and i'm very proud of him. However, it will be about 20 minutes away, and we only have one vehicle... this will be a BLAST! :)

Fun times, fun times. Now to dishes and then I'm determined to sew something I desperately need today. Pics to follow if i get it done! :)

Kids pondering the Holy Family

Today during lunch, my older two were admiring a Holy Family scene that was on the table. The conversation went something like this:

Zach: Mommy, Mary used her scarf to wrap Jesus up. Why?

Me: Well, he was probably cold....

Zach: Mommy, why don't they have any children?

Me: They do! They have Jesus!

Zach: No, they need two more kids. They need 3 kids!

Me: Oh? They do?

Zach: Yeah! They do. They need 3 just like us. Two more girls.

Me: Well, next time you pray to Jesus, let him know.

Zach: Mommy, why don't they take Jesus to Church?

Me: They do.

Zach: But I've never seen him. (He's thinking BABY Jesus, as opposed to Jesus on the cross)

Me: Well... ::thinking:: Well, Jesus isn't alive anymore, to where we can see him. He's in heaven. But he's in church. Remember on the cross?

A few moments later. Zach: But? Jesus became God?

Me: Well, kind of. He's the same person. Like you call Daddy "Dad, Daddy, Father, and I call him Jon", well, Jesus and God are the same.

Zach... no more words, just quietness. After about 2 minutes, I notice it's completely quiet from the two kids. I asked them why they're being so quiet.
Zach: Because, it's nice. Let's all be quiet. No talking.

Hannah: Yeah, because Abby is asleep.

Wow! For a four year old, this kid threw me some tough Spiritual questions today! I love seeing his mind work, but man, I'm not quick enough on my feet!! Looking back, I could have said things better, but oh well. I have years to continue to form him. It's also hard to try to give an answer on a 4 year old level.

First Day of 2012

The first day of 2012 was overall good. I wasn't a "good" Christian. I did lots of housework. I got the dishes done, finally put away TONS of laundry and cleaned my shower. I disassembled the drain outside our tub and took out a HUGE chunk of hair because it kept overflowing, getting water a foot away from the drain. My husband and I moved the bookcase in to the office-well, I guess it's the spare room now- and my desk in to the den. I was struggling using it in the spare room because I couldn't keep an eye on the kids and be in there to work on things. I took some stuff to the basement storage room, and brought up a box and packed a few Christmas things. I sat down and put all my new recipes I've printed in my food notebook, and wrote down several meals to cook through the week. I really thinking having a list of meals I could cook will help me be more organized about cooking. I also figured out how to download my pump to my computer- good thing since I've had it about 10 months, and have a new doctor appointment with a German doctor on Tuesday. Ugh, I'm not looking forward to that.

The bad part of today was mass. Oh.my. BAD. Our kids apparently have horrible cabin fever and are bouncing off the walls because it's so wet outside. Clearly I need to let them go out and play in the mud anyway, because they were HORRIBLE in church. After mass, Jon made them kneel and say 3 prayers with him. Then somehow, we still went to Burger King for dinner. Why? Because I did NOT want to go home and make dinner, so it was a treat for me lol. We were going to go to Chili's, but since it's New Years Day, it was closed. So, Burger King it was.

I also decided to try again and do the 365 day picture challenge like I did last year and failed in May. Here's today's picture- The 'best' of the 20 or so I took. Abby didn't want to sit still. They're all in red because it's still Christmas, and they didn't go to mass on Christmas, so I wanted them to get to do the Christmas dress up. :)

New Year and all that

Of course, it's the New Year. The holidays have come and are almost gone, and it's a great time to make new changes. What are your changes you hope to make this year?

2011 was a wonderful year for us. Yes, my husband was gone for part of it, but it was still fabulous. My kids finished a year of preschool and loved every bit of it. My brother got married to a wonderful Catholic girl whom I love so much! They also had their first baby, our sweet Goddaughter whom I cannot wait to me. My husband came home, we went on a one month vacation across the country and saw many people we love and had not seen in a year, and won't see for a long time. Then we made the huge move overseas to Germany, and finally got our "own" place in September after not having a place of our own since May 2010. And to top it all of, we got to spend 10 days in Rome, spending time with Jon's brother and watching his ordination. It was fabulous and I cannot be more thankful for all the blessings God has given us.

My new resolutions for 2012 focus around the fact that we have nothing in the future, no big plans. No babies coming, no moves, no traveling, etc. As far as we can tell at this time, 2012 looks to be pretty boring. (And yes, I do realize that can change very easily, but I think every year since we've been married, we've gone in expecting at least one big change.) So now is the time to start some things I've been wanting to start in our home. Here's my 'resolutions' or changes that I can think of.

1) Create more of a schedule and organization in our home. I want to make sure we eat around the same time each day, that I get up at a decent time, that we begin preschool finally, and other things of that nature.

2) Create meal plans to help me be better about dinners, and start to eat healthier. I'd also like to work out, but there are some other health things I need to look in to first.

3) Learn more about my faith, read the Bible and other Christian books and really grow in my faith. This also includes praying more and seeking God in more than I currently do.

4) Blog more- haha, don't laugh ;-)

5) Otherwise, spend less time on the internet. I installed Nanny Chrome tonight to prevent me from accessing my favorite two websites most of the day. Hopefully it helps to keep me accountable, since I can't keep myself accountable.

6) Take better control of my diabetes.

Here's to 2012! Happy New Year everyone!

German New Year

Here's some very interesting info about the New Year in Germany! Thought I'd pass it on, if you're curious.

Church History

So I didn't get back the next day to write more about day 3. And to be honest, I'm not going to write about it now either. But it is something "spiritual" if you will.

Ever since we were in Rome, learning about a lot of the history of the Church, I've been dying to know more about the history. I remembered that we had a book on our bookshelf that I should dust off. I haven't read a book in a LONG time. It's just not so possible with children, and honestly, come 8pm, the last thing I want to do is read and think more. I want auto pilot, and tend to just browse the web or tv. But last night, there was nothing on tv, and nothing seemed interesting enough on the internet, not even blogging. (Weird, huh??)

So I picked up the book, and couldn't put it down. In fact, I kept going "Honey, listen to this! Oh, listen to this part too!" as I basically reread everything I read to him. The book is entitled The Catholic Church Through the Ages: A History by John Vidmar, OP. It's great, because it gives you the history, pretty thoroughly, but not too much that you get bogged down and bored. It's also wonderful because now, when they're talking about the Catacombs, or the Circus Maximus, or St. Peter's Square, or about Nero, etc. I know WHERE they're talking about. I've tried to read this book before, and just got a little lost with the places.

But there was one part that blew me away. And I don't mean it as an offense to anyone, but given my past, it seriously did. When Christianity was still in the beginnings, around the year 180, a man named Celsus set out to destroy Christianity, asking questions like "Why should God come to earth, to learn about it? to make it right? Why didn't He come sooner? etc."

There was also a man named Marcion who had questioned the authority and value of the Old Testament, the book of Acts, and Revelation.

There were Christian responses to these attacks by men who likely knew one or more of the original apostles personally. There's a lot more information about this I could discuss, but this is the part that blew me away. The final thing that was created because of the controversy brought on by Celsus and Marcion was the canon, or authorized list of books of Scripture. There were three principles that were created for deciding which books were to be regarded as Sacred Scripture. Directly from the book The Catholic Church Through the Ages: A History by John Vidmar, OP.

1) the book had to go back to apostolic times, at the latest;

2) the book had to be highly esteemed from an early date;

3) the guarantors of this were the bishops who could trace their origins back to the apostles.

Thus, defenders of the "scripture alone" are faced with the dilemma that the "scriptures" were defined by the bishops or by what Catholics call "tradition."

After reading this, I just sat there in awe and amazement. When I first began studying Catholicism, one of my biggest reasons in considering it was that it was from the beginning. The Catholic Church is what dates back to Jesus Himself. Yes, it's not perfect. Just like any church, it's leaders on earth are human. It's seen bad times. But it had remained.

However, since beginning this post, I was going to say more, and realized I was wrong. I was going to say Until the 1500s, Catholicism was the only religion. I am now wondering more about Orthodoxy. It appears that Catholicism and Orthodoxy were together until 1054, when there was the East-West Schism. I am interested in eventually researching that more, but for now, will continue on reading this book to learn what I can about the religion I've embraced. Either way, for the first thousand years, this was Christianity. It's amazing to see how the Scriptures were originally picked.

My moments of peace and quiet I had trying to write this are long gone, and now I can't concentrate to write more. Will have to come back to this later to make sure it makes sense ;-)

Ordination Mass- Long and Picture Heavy

Day 3 was THE day, December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, the whole reason we had all traveled to Rome. My husband and I were there, my husband's sister-in-law, my husband's parents, his brother, wife and 3 kids, 5 of his other brothers, one of his sisters with her husband and one of their children, and one of my husband's other sisters. (My husband is one of 14 children.)

The setting was the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano. We didn't get a 'tour' of this church, so I can't tell you anything special about the building itself. But it was beautiful! Thankfully there was a professional photographer. All of the pictures to begin with, during the ordination, were provided on a CD afterwards. Here are a few pictures of the altar.

All the men sitting on each side in white are the ones about to be ordained.

Here is Jon's brother, as Deacon Nathan, before the ceremony.

Here they are entering the Basilica.

Here is a picture of the other seminarians behind the altar. The chair behind them is the Pope's chair, a chair that he sits in after being made Pope, and makes him "officially" the Pope.

The mass was amazing.

The Cardinal laying his hands on Nathan.

Father Alvaro putting the vestments on Father Nathan.

Father Nathan accepting the patent and chalice from the Cardinal.

The Cardinal telling Father Nathan congratulations.

Preparing for the Liturgy of the Word.

An amazing sight. All the men in black and white cassocks are the other seminarians.

Body of Christ.Blood of Christ.

The new priests participating in the first consecration.

All of the new priests!!! Congratulations to all of them!!

I cannot begin to express how amazing this whole thing was! It was mostly done in Italian and Latin, but thankfully they provided books that had the Italian, Latin, Spanish and English. One of the readings was in English and one or two songs, including "Here I am, Lord" which is Father Nathan's "theme" if you will. Meaning, they had a video before the mass started and that was what his said. "Here I am Lord."

Up until this point, I had never met Jon's brother, Nathan. Everyone else had not seen him since 2005, and Jon hadn't seen him since 2002. Here are a few pictures of the first time everyone saw each other.

We were the first ones to see him. Here is Mary, her daughter, Jon and Emma with Fr. Nathan (all siblings)

Brian and Nathan embracing.

Looking at each other. Such a tender moment.

Greg and Father Nathan hugging.

Father Nathan can't believe how much Greg's grown haha!

Father Nathan holding one of his nieces.

Mom and Father Nathan. Tears were flowing from all because of the sweetness.

Father Nathan and his dad.

Dad kissing Father Nathan's consecrated hands.

Father Nathan giving his parents a blessing.

And the last picture, not really related, but taken after the mass, is us, in front of St. Thomas.

I apologize that this was so picture heavy, but I felt pictures were much better in showing you what all happened. There are many more pictures, which my husband is in the process of posting on a new family website, www.16millers.com. Feel free to check it out if you want to see more pictures. I'll tell you more about the rest of Day 3 tomorrow, along with Father Nathan's first mass. I think the ordination and the first mass were equally as beautiful, in two totally different ways. But you'll have to read tomorrow about that. ;-)

When in Rome-Days 1 & 2

This past month has been super busy with the holidays, family in town, and traveling. The biggest part of the past month was that my husband and I got to spend ten days in Rome, alone. And the best part? It was so we could experience my brother-in-law's ordination!

Let me back up a bit. My parents were kind enough to fly to Germany and stay with our kids while we were gone. They were here a total of 20 days, and we were able to spend Christmas together. We left for Rome on Saturday, December 10. When we arrived, we immediately went to the San Callisto Catacombs. There we had mass in a very small chapel, which was an incredible experience. We also went down in the catacombs, but unfortunately were unable to take any pictures. Here is one of us at the entrance though.

This is the little chapel where we had mass the first day.

After the catacombs, we visited the Basilica of San Clemente. This Basilica is 3 layers, the basement being an ancient mithraeum, and the middle layer being a 4th century church, with the current Basilica built on top of that. We were able to travel all the way in to the mithraeum, but have no pictures because of how dark it was in there. Here is one picture from inside the Basilica.

On Sunday, we went to the Colosseum. We learned that every year the Pope says the Stations of the Cross here.

Several of us grabbed a quick picture in front of the Arch of Constantine while running to the bus.

We also went to St. Paul Outside the Walls. This is one of the four major Basillicas in Rome, and it was beautiful. St. Paul is believed to be buried under the main alter, and you can see part of his tomb. This was the first church built after Constantine legalized Christianity in Rome in 313 AD. The amazing thing about this is even if you aren't Catholic, you believe in Paul (who was Saul) and can catch a glimpse of Christian history here.

A little blurry, but still, a picture of us in the Basilica.

All of the Popes are on the wall in this church. Here's the current Pope Benedict.

Sunday evening was completed with a 'retreat' to prepare us for the ordination on the following day. There was a bit telling us what to expect, along with confession and mass at the seminary where Jon's brother, Nathan, is studying. The school is the Center for Higher Studies of the Legionaries of Christ Rome.

Well, that's all I have time for right now, as my 1 year old is sitting on my lap and not wanting to let me type. I'll have to write about the other 8 days later. ;-)