Where is this child's mother??

tattoo #2, compliments of Gloria! HA!

Max earns his Yellow Belt!

Max has been very blessed to have the opportunity to take Tae Kwon Do lessons. It has been very good for him in so many ways. He is learning self-control ( I have done a poor job of exemplifying this virtue for him), discipline, and so many other things. All the kids start out at white belt, which stand for purity ( meaning they know nothing about TKD). After several weeks, maybe 2-3 months total, the child is then ready to "test" for the next belt. This is done in a group setting, and only on occasion is the child singled out. Max was slated to go in the earlier group, but I could tell he was nervous. He is the child, when he doesnt know what to expect, he just shuts down. I mean...HE SHUT DOWN! He wouldnt talk to anyone, including the master, and ended up hovering under a desk, just sobbing b/c "he didnt want his yellow belt". 

Now I admit, this type of behavior DRIVES ME CRAZY! "Someone else is paying good money for this, for you, and you will get up and do whatever you are asked to do, no matter how you feel"..is pretty much my attitude. Shame on me. I have never been very good with helping Max overcome his emotions ( which can be very real and very raw), and I tend to just get fed up myself. I ended up telling his master that he would not be testing and then left. I was so upset for Max. I was so disheartened. I was in that moment when you think your child will never outgrow this! I told Max I was more upset that he wouldnt even go out and try, than if he had tried and failed. (ok, I didnt use the word failed) When he got home, his cousin asked him what happened. Then, the 2 of them preceded to go through all the "forms" Max needed to know, and not 10 minutes later, Max came back and said he was ready to try. I also told him that if he wasnt going to follow through this time, that we would have to be done with TKD! I explained about the money and the time spent to take him there, and that it was ok if he didnt like (but he does), but to throw everyone else off their schedules (which we live on in a house of 13 people) was inconsiderate of everyone. Low and behold, he did it! Not only did he do it, but b/c he missed the earlier group, he was with MUCH older children. The skills they have to perform were far from  Max's level, but he tried all of them. He did his best to watch the others, an follow their lead. He broke his boards, both kicking and using his hand! It was great to watch! I will have to post the video at a later time...its taking forever to upload!

I think the most important and overwhelming moment that took place was during the time when the kids were practicing their HIGH KICKS! Max had not learned this yet, but did his best to follow along. At one point he seemed to really hurt himself, limping all the back to his spot in line. I mean, you could see the tears welling in his eyes. He was hopping on one foot, and was really holding back the crying, and running over to me! But he didnt. For the first time in his LIFE, he didnt give in and let his emotions get the better of him. I WAS MORE THAN PROUD! I am sure there arent words to express this amazing moment as a mother. It still brings me to tears thinking about it in this moment! I feel like 6 years of work (albeit, not very consistent work, and having set a poor example) came to fruition in that moment. Lord, give me the grace and wisdom to raise THIS child to seek your comfort. Amen.

first row, 3rd from the left

Gus turns 6 months!

How can it be that my sweet baby is 1/2 a year old already!?!?! Time is flying! This also throws at me that Thanksgiving is only 6 months away too...which means Christmas is creeping up ever so sneakily!!!  

sleeping with his puppy!

My thoughts on the IHM Home School Conference (Part 1)

 It was my first time attending a conference of this nature, so I give you my thoughts and opinions as such, and can offer no comparisons to other events firsthand! I share my reactions and thoughts on just one of the talks on Friday. I will post more, but as individual posts, for it is too much to put into one blog!

Friday there were 4 talks. The first by an amazing priest, whom I have always enjoyed listening to. The power of his words reached right into me, as he spoke about forming the moral conscience. I have also been reading and following along with Sarah @Amongst Lovely Things, and she has posted twice now about forming the moral imagination through reading classic fairy tales. A HUGE EYE OPENER FOR ME! I was raised on the Disney version of fairy tales (YUCK), and often struggled in school when we did read decent literature, as I did NOT appreciate it!

 Anyhow, this priest was so on point about this part of the parenting, and growing in my own understanding of the Faith. He spoke about how "freedom is the ability to choose what is right and good." He spoke of the natural law that is inscribed on the hearts of each of us, as God's creation, and that seeking satisfaction outside of God's law will never make any of us happy. WOW! WOW! I am pretty sure I spent my entire life, minus the last 3-4 years, seeking this type of satisfaction. How could I be capable of showing this to my children when I am so immature in this area myself? As always, God had the answer. God spoke these words through this priest standing before me " God's grace is ALWAYS sufficient". Does God know what I need to hear, and when I am ready to hear it or what?  He continues to speak about our job as parents is to give our children a properly formed conscience, based on Church teaching, regular and constant prayer, regular reception of the sacraments ( esp. the Eucharist), and striving for excellence in living out virtue. I have an obligation to know my faith and to continue to form my conscience accordingly. If there is anything the last year has taught me its that I can never go back to not knowing what I know now. Sure, I could ignore it, and continue to seek satisfaction outside of God's law, and continue to allow myself and my children to be unhappy. I could ignore it, and God will still hold me accountable for that choice. We are not the auditors of good and evil, God's divine law is, which He put on the hearts of each of us during His formation of man.

SO, what does all this mean in regards to homeschooling? My primary goal should be the the forming of my children's moral conscience by way of teaching them about God. The means of doing so are Mass, prayer, the sacraments, and helping them live the virtues to the best of the ability. How can I do this if they are away from me 7-8 hours a day in "school"? How can I continue to strive for perfection in said virtues if the means that God has given me to do so are gone all day? Am I ready and eager to accept the moral teachings of the Church, so I am able to LIVE them out for my kids? Do I even know the moral teachings of the Church well enough to be the teacher of them? This I do not know, but I do know that God's grace is always sufficient. If I am seeking out the Lord through the means He has given me through His Church, then I feel I can not fail. I know that for our family, home schooling is about so much more than "sheltering our children" from the evil that prevails in this world. I do not think there is a way to keep them away from it anyway. My job in being called to home school is to RAISE GOOD CATHOLICS, who can stand on a properly formed moral conscience, so that when the world attacks them for it, they are able to defend it, and die for it. This priest hit the nail on the head for me, and articulated what I knew God has wanted for our family, but just didn't have the words to express it!

Add these to the photo book...

Bella's latest photographs! I, literally, just let her take the camera in the yard and go at it. I do not watch or bug her. She brings me that camera when she is done, and we look at them together...I am always AMAZED at how good she is! My 2 favorite!

Baking...Always a Necessity!

I make it fully known that I have a hard time letting my kids "help me". I am learning. I love baking, which makes it that much harder to let my kids help me when I do. My perfectionism (yes, pick yourself up off the floor), is at its PEAK when I bake. Its my comfort, my love, and a way that both helps me think, and helps me escape. Its therapy! Good for my brain, bad for my waistline. 

I started planning SEPARATE baking projects for my kids. This day we decided to bake banana bread. We had a few rotting bananas ( Keeping it real, people...they were brown), and they needed a good home. My girls really did well, even Gloria sat and stayed with me through the entire process. I love baking b/c it applies so many learning tasks in one. Math, science, reading, and emphasizes things like task completion, following directions and taking turns. All things my kids really struggle with! It was fun all around. We then ate this banana bread during afternoon Tea Time ( post on this coming soon)!

May, the month of Our Mother

Thank you to Catholic Icing for this FABULOUS idea. While my family does not have a specific devotion to Mary, our Mother ( other than the expected from a good Catholic Family :)), I love May for this reason. An entire month to celebrate Our Blessed Mother. We went, last week, to a great Family Rosary and May Crowning, which we lovely, and a new experience for my kids. 

Since my kids love to be artisitc, I am always looking for ways to play it up. They dont seem to get bored of just paper and crayons ( THANK GOODNESS), I know I do. So when I found this exciting Miraculous Medal idea, I was sold. WHO KNEW YOU COULD COLOR ON ALUMINUM FOIL? It never occured to me. Bella had the best time. 

Template

I did do the tracing onto the foil for her!

Practicing her cutting!

 While Bella and I were doing this project, we had a bit of company keeping a close eye. Blaise had a blast sitting in the high chair, and watching us. As he gets closer to crawling, he does not enjoy not being able to see whats going on or being excluded. which means he doesnt like to be in the family room while we are in the kitchen ( note: these rooms are right next to each other, not separated by anything!!)

Finished Product!

These now hang in the window in the kitchen. I am hoping to have Max make on this weekend so that I can have his hanging up as well. My ONLY complaint, if you can even call it that, is that this has to be colored with permanent marker. As we know, Gloria seems to like those these days! HA!