My Wee Little League-er Makes his Pitching Debut!

Malachy (9 years) was the first pitcher in the first game of the 2011 season.   He threw well!  He looked so small down there on the mound. It was a delight to watch this little man who has been throwing the ball accurately since he the first he held a ball as a baby.  His father has been working with him for a couple of years.......and now, we see the fruits.  Good thing his biggest brother Matthew created a pitching mound on our property way back when.  We need it!

In the first inning, he struck out three batters.  In the second inning, he struck out one batter, walked one, and his team made a double-play of a weak pop-fly.  He did not give up one hit.  They lost that game in a shut-out, but they had fun.

They have since lost two other games.  Malachy pitched well in one of those. He did get a chance to score the team's first run of the season, when he stole home.

Though I missed the game today because I went to a homeschool mom meeting, I hear that they won their first game.  Malachy said he had three hits and scored two runs.

So far, he has been able to make contact with the ball most every time he has been up at bat.  Looking forward to the rest of his season! 

Oh!  And one more thing:  one of Malachy's dearest wishes has come true...his dad is volunteering as an assistant coach!  With Garrett also working as a volunteer to assist Malachy's team.......the three boys are spending a lot of time at the ball field together. 

Enjoy this photo essay of Malachy's first experience on the mound......

...if you scroll the pictures fast, you can actualy "see" him throw.  :)

There were more pics.....but I cannot convince blogger to load them for me.....grrrrr.

*************

*************

*******************

*************

*************

**************

**************

**************

**************

*************

************

*************

**************

Did you know Malachy has an uncle who used to coach Babe Ruth and the local high school team here?  Well, all of those kids have grown and now have children the same age as Malachy and those grown boys are doing the coaching now.  They are doing a wonderful job....and I have heard them say they have definitely been influenced in their coaching style by Uncle David.  They do not put up with goofy kids and actually teach baseball.  Lovin' it!

********

Malachy also has two cousins who have pitched professionally.......they are actually second cousins, of some sort.......and they both still play.  The two are first cousins, but about 20 years apart in age.  Keepin' an eye on their careers.  The older of the two won 2 games in a College World Series, including the final game of the series.  The younger one has just started his career.......

Baseball & spring blessings to all of you!

Love, Chari

Thankfulness Times Ten…….



Here are the guidelines I have for this thankfulness theme……

Just find ten things I am thankful for, in the moment. I have no rules...I may go over ten, if I cannot help myself......I may repeat myself.....and, I will write in no particular order of importance. If you feel inspired to do the same....do link yourself here in the comment section.

I am thankful for........

1. A husband who works so very hard for his family……. (I pray daily for his job security and job satisfaction)….and one who keeps asking once a week if he can make dinner for us (Uh….heck, yeah!). He is a natural in the kitchen and such an excellent example to his boys…all three of whom enjoy working in the kitchen preparing a meal. I am also grateful for his attention to the boys and their sports. St. Joseph, pray for us!

2. The chance my high schoolers have to receive a scholarship from the McConnell Foundation to attend the Yosemite Institute for a week in April. Matthew attended. Then Sarah attended. Maddelyn is there now. How exciting and wonderful to live in Yosemite for a week when you are young. I am not jealous. Not.

This is Sarah during her visit in 2010.

3. Wonderful friends and family to stay with when we travel up and down California. There are more than these listed, of course……but this is where we stayed on the latest trip…. We have our second home in San Francisco with the G-Family….and we love and adore their extended family as well. My Great-uncle Howard and my cousin Lynn (my namesake) live near the ocean and were so hospitable: making a birthday party for Garrett's 14^th birthday, taking us to the beach….and putting up with us! J With one evening's short notice (due to a big snowstorm that moved into my original travel plans), my brother-in-law Christopher and his wife Dana put the little boys and I up for a few days in their home in San Diego. It was such a nice visit. And quiet, for once…..not having to run all over the place to see the sights. The boys loved a chance to swim in the pool.

To the left of the pole we have

my Garrett, 14, my Malachy, 9, my Sarah, 18, my Anne, 22 & Charlotte, 5.

To the right of the pole, we have Clairemarie, 10, my Maddelyn, 15,

Clementine, 8, my adorable godson, Benedict, 2.5 and their beautiful mommy, Gloria G.

We spent a couple of wonderful hours at the Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park.

A little pizza party for Garrett's 14^th birthday in downtown San Luis Obispo

with my Great-uncle Howard and his daughters, my second-cousins, Lynn and Claudia.

It was a wonderful night! Thanks for the treat, Unc!!

In San Diego at the grand opening of a piece of freeway in Santee.

Niece Julia, her friend, my Garrett, nephew Benjamin and my Malachy.

4. Living in a very long and gorgeous state that borders the ocean. California is something to see in the springtime!!!



5. The generosity of our friend Patty who has been tutoring my older kids in math for a couple of years now. They adore her method of teaching and all have blossomed under her tutelage. They LIKE math now! J



6. The generosity of our dear friends, Louise and Evan and their lovely and fun children, Miranda and Emileo. They fulfill that need of "family" that we all have when we live far from our own family.

7. The homeschooling lifestyle. I could rave on forever….but the fact that I get to spend so much time with my kids and that they have become each others' best friends is reason enough. Of course……the ability to travel whenever is a pretty awesome pro as well!


8. That my husband refurbished a computer for me so that I could move closer to rest of the world's abilities. It is nice to have some speed and space. I am not very fond of change…but I am being patient….and learning the updated programs…..one.step.at.a.time. Today I discovered how to write a blog post in Word…and publish it from there! This is so wonderful because blogger and I have a few relationship issues when it comes to writing drafts. Actually…..I have not done it yet…..still hoping it works!!


9. For the way Facebook allows frequent interaction with my relatives. Now, I do not miss them as much as I was without FB….we share more fun times and jokes…..and we can be there to celebrate or pray for each other. And most wonderful: we can watch each others' kids grow up via pictures and stories. Especially all of the sweet new cousins!


10. Our six wonderful and awesome kids. This picture will have to be worth the rest of the words…..

The first time all six kids were together since New Year's weekend.

Anne 22

Matthew 20

Sarah 18

Maddelyn 15

Garrett 14….in a few days from this photo

Malachy 9

Tell me about your blessings!

Love & prayers,

Chari

 

THE TRAGEDY OF ANTARCTICA

My wee fella, aged 9, and his "best friend", Clairemarie, newly 10.......are planning to "write" a book of tragedies.  Each tragedy is to be one page only.  Below you will find their first story.  They spent the most of two days WRITING this story instead of PLAYING.  Clairemarie did the typing and Malachy did much of the leading of the story, so I have heard.  I also was told that they had disagreements over the number of "shots" heard.......and that they finally compromised.  I want to get it out here, as is, because they are notice "errors" and are wanting to fix them.  I love it the way it is and I always want to remember it this way.

When you read this, I want you to read it as written, following where the punctuation, or lack of, leads.  :)   It is quote enjoyable that way!


In addition.....do notice the amazing plotline, the vocabulary, the sweet love of family.  I am really proud of these two little homeschooled kids, taking such an initiative at such a young age.  Please understand the violence is related to hearing stories of adventure, like Treasure Island, or what have you.  They imitate what they hear.

The next story will follow soon, written entirely by my little man.  In the meantime, I give you the first time in publication (without the authors' awareness)........

THE TRAGEDY OF ANTARCTICA

 

BY

MALACHY BRYAN & CLAIREMARIE GAZAVE

There once was a wealthy family who was blessed with three children. The first was Matthew the second was Kay and the third was Helena. The first was twelve the second eleven and the third was nine. One day the three children went on there daily horse ride by themselves as they always did. On there way home they heard gun shots then they heard screaming and voices crying out help!!! they rode back to the house to see if everything was alright but all they found was dead bodies and the ruins of there house then suddenly they felt a tight grasp on there necks some strange people had knocked them out . Next thing they new they were in a sell with two people staring at them one said I will get these three! the children did not know what he meant next they were taken to the strange peoples house they were richer then the three children used to be next they were locked up in a room with twenty other slaves then one of the people who bought them came in and said get to work! the children saw there chance and raised out of the room with five other slaves but just then the children heard gun shots they saw a slave fall to the ground but they did not stop running they could hear the gun shots getting louder and louder but they would not dare to look back finally they were out of the house then they spotted a little boat nearby they quickly jumped in just then they heard gun shots and one of the slaves dropped dead then they heard more gun shots and one of the slaves fell into the water dead .it was getting darker and darker as they floated out to sea it was almost midnight when one of them spotted a ship nearby finally they were right next to the ship when they heard a voice calling out do you children need help? Matthew answered yes we are completely lost can you tell us were the nearest island is? the man said why don’t you come aboard and I will tell you so the three children with the two slaves came out of the little boat and on to the ship then the man told them were the nearest island was he said that the ship was headed there too just then they heard lightning then thunder then the waves started to get taller and taller and then the man who was also the captain yelled there’s a storm then another person yelled look out captain a wave the captain was to late to dodge he was swept off his feet by a wave as the rest of the crew and the two slaves, the three children jumped off the ship before the wave hit they swam to a little ice burg the ice burg was only five by four feet ,they decided that they would have to live there since there was no way to get out of the strange place . one morning Matthew and Helena woke up to find there brothers dead body next to them Helena started to cry Matthew said we will have to find a way to live without Kay the next day Helena and Matthew went fishing sadly without Kay as Matthew was fishing he heard a scream it was Helena she had fallen into the water Matthew was to late to save her Helena had drown he had lost his two siblings which were the most important things to him. The next morning when Matthew was fishing the ice burg started to crack Matthew saw Kay who was frozen stuck to the ice burg sink down into the sea Matthew started to sink as well his last words were at least I will be with my brother and sister and that ends the TRAGEDY OF ANTARCTICA.



Blessings, my friends & relatives......

Love,
Chari

Happy 18th Birthday to Sarah L'il Beth!

Our beautiful daughter Sarah Elizabeth was received into our family on this day 18 years ago. 

From birth, she was such a uniquely, beautiful baby....all of the nurses ooh'd and ah'd over her...strangers always noted her beauty.

Named after a couple of ancient grandmothers on both sides of her maternal side and her Aunt Elizabeth, she always thought her name was

"Sarah Little Beth"

.......but of course, being little, it always came out lil Beth.

Congratulations, Sarah L'il Beth!

We love you!

And, we promise, we will let you maintain a part of your childhood for yours to come......we won't make you give it up yet!  ;)

This next year will be full of so many new experiences & adventures, just for you!

Have an amazing year!

AND..........

we must not forget to wish my niece a

VERY HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY

to Alexis!

We love you!

Have a beautiful day......and wear the one green, one purple stocking!

What a treat to have two cousins share the same birthday!

Love, Mama/Aunt Chari

PS:  As I write this, Maddelyn is fingering a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday on the piano.

Oh, and Alexis's dad and I share the same birthday, too!

...the rest of my 2010 reading list.....

I wrote most of this so long ago for our 4 Real yearly reading list.......and as I do not want to waste all of this writing.........I will place it here for safe-keeping........ I am going to allow myself to "let go" of the need to polish it. Quite painful....but I am motivated.  :)



The book list covers from Easter 2010 till the end of the year........not sure if much is missing......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



I guess I went on a Nicholas Sparks spree in the Spring........I think I needed some twaddle after an austere Lent.  ;)



True Believer.....fair...not really recommending



The Wedding...this was a good book. I highly recommend it for anyone who has been married at least ten years......to remind them how to "care for the marriage".....it is an excellent story....oh, and "sort of" a sequel to The Notebook....which is also a good story.....better than the movie that everyone seems to love......



A Walk to Remember......this was a re-read, to see if my teen could read it.....she could.....my older two had read it a few years earlier.......plus, she wanted to see the movie.......I had thought the writing was better...but, it IS a story from a teen's POV.....the book is so much more than the movie....much better. It is a beautiful story...but the writing is only fair. Still, worth the read.



The Last Song.........my dd and I had got stuck watching this movie on the big screen when we went out of town for a medical procedure......everyone in the movie acted well except that ol' Miley Cyrus....ugh...she is unattractive, has too deep of a voice to be pleasing to the ear and is a mediocre actress.......I sure hopes she improves if she is going to continue to be given parts! Blech. This story was originally written as a screenplay so Cryus could have a movie to do. The book is better than the movie....but not necessarily worth reading unless you have nothing else.

I wonder if The Last Song was inspired by his sister's life....... cannot remember. Or maybe it was A Walk to Remember........in either case, she died young, of cancer.



Dear John........I read this because I wanted to see the movie. The book is way better than the movie. I think if you have an autistic child....you might enjoy this a bit more......because of the way autism is portrayed.

I did not realize that Nicholas Sparks was a Catholic......that was interesting to discover. He does not seem to use it much in his writings. He had quite a few tragic incidents in his life. That might make him more compassionate than the usual guy. I just wish he would write more happy endings.......  :)

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Hertzberg & Francois......we have been making this bread for at least a year.....based on an article...it was delightful to read it for real.  It provided a bit of extra background on the bread-making.  MMMMmmmmm.  Do make some of this bread, if you have not already.  You can find the recipe here.  It really helps to have a baking stone, though it can be done without.......but it just is not the same.  I had borrowed it from the library...but my friend bought it for me for my birthday....so now i have my own copy!  She got me the second book for Christmas.....it is for "healthy" breads.
How to Say it to Boys: Communicating with Boys to help them become the best men they can be by Richard Heyman, Ed.D.........could be useful raising boys...things to think about anyway. Secular.

Sandy: The True Story of a Rare Sandhill Crane Who Joined Our Family by Dayton O. Hyde........I loved this book. I am one of the strange people who loves to read true natural history stories. With the sandhill crane as my favorite bird.......it made it even more fun.....plus, it took place just north of here.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.....I was intrigued by this when I first saw it released at Border's.........then, when I saw it was a movie.......I remembered that I wanted to read it. It was well-written and a story with some serious issues to think about. Very emotional. Now, to remember that I want to see the movie.  ;)

The Restless Flame by Louis de Wohl.......I read this while I was reading Saint Augustine's Confessions.......just to have a basic story-line to follow. Whenever I read something crazy Augustine had said or done........I refused to believe it was true......the author must have made it up......only to find it later in The Confessions....and that it was true. Excellent story....as are every other de Wohl I have read.

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall..........I looked at every page. I read some. I do not agree with all of the choices. And, though I have read 1000's of books in my life.....I have only read 50 of these.......that is, when I finish the last of The Confessions and Walden. ;) This is where I found the inspiration to read The Betrothed. I guess that would make my list at 51 then........though I have quite a handful on my to-read shelf. I used this book to help create the girls' World Literature reading list.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.....a re-read because our library was having issues and I could not stop thinking about it.......it was followed by a blog post.....


The Story of the World's Literature by John Albert Macy (1925) I skimmed a lot of it. It was an old volume I found at my library. I want to read all of it some day.


Mark Twain's first published book: The Innocents Abroad......I loved this.......it is the main reason I did not get much reading done this year, in the number of books.....it was quite the tome......of course, it resulted in a blog post.


The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths by Bernie Chowdhury .........this accidentally made it into my library bag.......by the librarian. I was skimming it and ended up reading most of it. I learned so.very.much about the science of diving. I am glad to have read that and now am 100% sure that I or my children still under MY care, will never be diving. The writer did an excellent job of telling the story, including a lot of science to satisfy me.  :)
I think there is something else......but perhaps it is only stuff I was reading through to this year.


Okay....that's it.......now I can be caught up.  Well, I guess I should go track down the books I read before Easter.  Then...this would actually be my reading list of 2010.

I think I may start keeping track on my blog of my reading for the year.........we'll see. I will have to figure out the best way to do so....


Blessings,

Chari

Expanding my literature horizon........

I recently finished reading "the most famous and widely read novel of the Italian language."

I am so very excited to have accomplished this! 

(Hmmm......that inspires me....perhaps I could read the "most" of every language.....I wonder what those books could be......leave a note in the comment section if you are aware of specific titles)


So.......what book did I read, you ask?

En Italiano:              

I Promessi Sposi

….....or, if you prefer, en Engles:          

The Betrothed

by Alessandro Manzoni

It is odd, but when I finished, I could not decide how I felt about it. What would I say? Could I recommend it? Did I enjoy reading it? Did I learn from it? Should I read what was written about it on the Internet to decide?

I knew Willa was going to ask me about my opinion.......I was thinking, thinking. I could not part with the book.....I still had it two weeks later, borrowed from the library. There was something precious about it.....even if I could not name it......and I was not yet ready for that to end. If I let the book go, I would have to admit that I must move on.

I really want someone else to read it....so we can talk about it. I have not found anyone else who has read it, yet. I have decided that Willa must read it. :)   (She has, since I originally wrote this....we just have not found the right moment for discussion.)


Ultimately, I have decided that I DID enjoy it. I relish my memory of it immensely. It was a bit of work to read through......especially because the author seemed to need to give much background info for each new thing brought into the story, whether it was about laws, history, the plague, a specific person’s back-story. This created many breaks in the story....reminding me of the style of Victor Hugo with Les Miserables.

(Hey!  Do you think Les Miserables is the most widely FRENCH novel of all time???  If so, I can check that off my list!  And what about War and Peace???  Does that count for Russian?  I hope so!  I guess I need to get that Don Quixote read...I only made it 50 pages last year before I got distracted by Lent.  Do you think that would cover Spain?)


A little background info on the publication of this novel:

Originally published in 1827, the author, Alessandro Manzoni, re-wrote and published it a decade or so later because ........
“The age-long dispute as to which dialect should be used as the standard language of Italian prose engaged the interest of Manzoni in his later years; and, becoming convinced of the claims of Tuscan, he rewrote the entire novel in order to remove all traces of non-Tuscan idiom, and published it in 1840. This proceeding had the effect of rekindling the discussion on the question of a national Italian literary language - a discussion which still goes on. Along with the revised edition of "I Promessi Sposi," he published a kind of sequel, "La Storia della Colonna infame," written more than ten years before; but this work, overloaded with didacticism, is universally regarded as inferior. Both at home and abroad, Manzoni`s fame rests mainly on the novel here printed, a work which has taken its place among the great novels of the world, not merely for its admirable descriptions of Italian life in the seventeenth century, but still more for its faithful and moving presentation of human experience and emotion.”

A couple of quotes from the book.......

The first is probably the most often quoted:

“When a friend, then, indulges in the joy of unburdening a secret on to another friend's bosom, he makes the latter, in his turn, feel the urge to taste the same joy himself. He implores him, it is true, not to tell a soul; but if such a condition were taken absolutely literally, it would at once cut off the flow of these joys at their very source. The general practice is for the secret to be confided only to an equally trustworthy friend, the same conditions being imposed on him. And so from trustworthy friend to trustworthy friend the secret goes moving on round that immense chain, until finally it reaches the ears of just the very person or persons whom the first talker had expressly intended it never should reach.”

"After a long debating and searching together, they concluded that troubles often come, yes, because we've given us a cause; but that the most cautious and innocent conduct isn't enough to keep them away; and that when they come, with guilt or without guilt, the trust in God sweetens them, and makes them useful for a better life. This conclusion, although found by poor people, has seemed us so just, that we have thought to put it there, as the juice of all the story." (Second-last paragraph)


You can find the complete text online.

I love this review by Edgar Allen Poe. He uses the majority of his words praising and comparing the author to others.....but barely spends much time actually discussing the novel itself. He published the review in 1935, before the final presentation of the novel had even appeared.


This is so cool! A “map” of where the chapters take place.Check out the “Categorized Markers “on the left side of the page. Click on number 14 for a gorgeous view.

Of course, the link at Wikipedia will tell you much about the author and his novel.


DO NOT FOLLOW these links below, if you have yet to read the book, and plan to do so. There are spoilers present.

This link is mostly useless and I do not agree with their take on the descriptions of the characters, but there are four books listed at the bottom of the page that look good for further research into Manzoni.


This brief literary note has excellent insight in comparing the two main priests in the story, though I disagree with calling Don Abbondio's qualities "almost evil" as I do not believe the priest was "evil" at all....but simply self-centered in his protection of himself. And very naive as well as simple-minded.




Now, a few weeks later, I can say that I have fallen in love with this novel. While occasionally a bit difficult to get through, it is a truly lovely story. When I began the novel, I had no idea how beautifully Catholic it was going to be. The primary characters maintain their faith through so much hardship. I was so surprised by some of the history. I know more than I ever thought I wanted to know about the Milan plague of 1629. Manzoni creates a fascinating window to the time period of 1628-1631. It was just like being there. The pictures he has drawn of the characters are so detailed, and those details so crisp, you feel that you know each as well as you possibly could.

Though he was a side character, he was most important, and probably one of my favorites: Cardinal Federico Borromeo, cousin to Saint Charles Borromeo, with whom many of you probably have more familiarity. The Cardinal was so good and so wise, I could not help myself in my adoration. He was well-educated and created a library or two, including the first public library in Europe (and this in the 1600’s!).......qualities I also find endearing. ;) Do follow the link on his name to learn more about him.


A few words from what the online Catholic Encyclopedia has to say about the good Cardinal:

"He was one of those men rare in every age, who employed extraordinary intelligence, the resources of an opulent condition, the advantages of privileged station, and an unflinching will, in the search and practice of higher and better things."

In The Betrothed, the Cardinal is involved in a miraculous conversion. He is so kind to the poor and the plague-infested. I love this man. Or, the idea of him. I intend to spread word about him.


The motivation to read this novel came when I discovered it listed in a book of 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I found it on the shelf at the library when I was doing some curriculum planning. I placed it on the girls’ World Literature list to cover Italy....but I wanted to pre-read it first.  I am so grateful for the experience.  All of my kids will read it, in their last year or two of high school.  It is "clean and safe" book, but you need do need to be a strong reader, as well as a persistent one.  If your kid can handle Dickens, they can handle this.  :)

I need to get my two graduated kids on it soon.  Perhaps in the summer, when they are not reading such heavy literature already......since they both are basically "majoring" in literature at school!

Blessings,

Chari

The funny things my kid says.....

I gotta love my nine year old little man.......he entertains me regularly with his cleverness.


I have listed a few amusing examples......it is somewhat difficult to paint the picture with words......but hopefully I can translate the humor....


Some of the instances may be those "I guess you had to be there " variety.....but at least I will have them written here for posterity.

I am so going to miss these cute little sayings when I no longer have a little one....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You mean, not everybody has snow at their house for months on end???


We had to drive to the town south of us to pick up his sisters from their sewing lesson. As we were pulling away from my friend's house, he exclaims, as if it just suddenly dawned on him: "Hey! They don't have any snow here!..............they could play baseball if they wanted."


Of course this was most pleasing to his baseball-loving papa.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not too young to cuddle


A couple of mornings ago......he awakened too early for my preference, and climbed into my bed. I tried to convince him he wanted to go back to sleep.....but I failed. He was rambling about "being alive for one million days." I explained that no one could live that long.....that it would be impossible. I showed him that even if a person lived one hundred years, he would not even come close to one million days. He wanted to know how many days I had lived......sooooo, I began doing the math in my head........using 40 years for my age........till I realized......"Hey! Wait! I am not forty, I am 46!" Then I say....."Gosh. I will be 47 on my next birthday........that's almost 50..... I am getting old!" He throws his body on me and slyly states: "But you are still young enough to cuddle!"....smothering me with hugs. How cute is that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why bother with one? Let's do the math here.


After confession, mass and communion, our family is in the habit of praying the following prayer & one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be for the Holy Father's intentions with the hopes to aid in the release of a soul (one soul) from purgatory.

Prayer Before a Crucifix

Behold, O good and sweetest Jesus,

I cast myself upon my knees in Thy sight,

and with the most fervent desire of my soul

I pray and beseech Thee

to impress upon my heart

lively sentiments of faith,

hope and charity,

with true repentance for my sins

and a most firm desire of amendment.

Whilst with deep affection and grief of soul

I consider within myself

and mentally contemplate

Thy five most precious wounds,

having before mine eyes that which David,

the prophet, long ago spoke concerning Thee,

“They have pierced My hands and My feet,

they have numbered all My bones.”

Our niece, Sister Maria Philomena, sent a prayer card to us a long time ago.....long before he was born....., with a special prayer and request given from Our Lord to St. Gertrude.......


Our Lord told St. Gertrude the Great that the following prayer would release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was later extended to include living sinners as well. Here it is:

"ETERNAL FATHER, I OFFER THEE THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THY DIVINE SON, JESUS, IN UNION WITH THE MASSES SAID THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TODAY, FOR ALL THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."

APPROVAL AND RECOMMENDATION: M. Cardinal Pahiarca at Lisbon, Portugal, March 4, 1936

We have always offered this prayer whenever we pass a cemetery, to remind us to pray for the church suffering.

Okay, now you have the background info for his commentary.........


So, he says, from his seat way back in the Yukon XL (Suburban).......

"You know that prayer that we pray after mass all of the time?"
"Yeah"
"Well, every time we say it, one soul is released from purgatory, right?"
"Yeah"
"And, you know that prayer we pray every time we pass a cemetery?"
"Yeah"
"Well, if 1,000 souls are let out of purgatory every time we pray that one.....why do we even bother with the other one after mass?"\\

*************

More beautiful prayers of St. Gertrude

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I had a super power.........


We were home alone, the wee boy and I:

Boy: Don't you wish that you had the super power to change yourself into anything you want?
Me: Mmmhmm.
Boy: Do you know what I would change myself into?
Me: No.
Boy: I would change myself into a kitten.
Me: Really?  A kitten?
Boy: Yes. If I were a kitten......I could cuddle up next to one of the kittens in the garage.....and then quickly change back into myself and grab it so that I could pet it.
Me: Ah, that would be clever.
Boy: If I were a kitten, I could run around under the bushes in the low areas to see what they see.
Me: That would be fun.
Boy: Yeah.......but I would have to be careful not to get eaten by a mountain lion!"

This kid cracks me up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of my favorites....an oldie.....

He was about 3 years old, not yet weaned. Like one of his sisters before him, he called nursing "nigh', night."

The girls were watching "Pride & Prejudice" with Colin Firth.

Malachy tells them: "I like Lizzie the best. I think she is pretty. ......And...... 'her nigh', nights' are BIIIIIIG."

: ))))))))))

I know there are so many more........but my mind is unable to grasp them for now........thanks for reading along with me!

Blessings,
Chari

The Hearts' Haven Family Patron Saints of 2011

Inspired by I-do-not-know-where, we choose patron saints for each year, for each member of our family.

We did not always do this……I suppose we have been doing it for the last ten years, maybe more, perhaps less……..it just feels like a long tradition for our family.


We learn about that saint and share the knowledge with the rest of the family. This is casual, and sometimes does not happen. We will try to be better this year. :)

Thus far, our method has been to pull out all four Butler’s Lives of the Saints and, one at a time, have each person choose a book, and then a page. The saint listed on the page becomes that family member’s patron saint for the year.

With evening prayers, we usually do a “litany” of the family saints, with each stating their own. This helps us to keep our saint in mind. When one of our members is not home, we beg their saint's intercession in their place.

It is funny, but some saints seem to come up frequently……which is interesting considering there are over 1,000 saints listed.

St. Augustine, St. Louis & St. John Chrysostrom have been up twice each....PRIOR to 2011's "Litany of Saints"

We try to do it on or as close to New Year’s Day as possible. I write the names and pages in one of my journals so there will be a permanent place for the list. Most years, that is all that is in my journal. :)


Our family Patron Saints for 2011:


Marty------------St. Thomas of Villanova


Chari------------St. Louis




Anne-------------St. Cyprian




Matthew--------St. Eanswide




Sarah------------St. Wereburge




Maddelyn-------St. Peter




Garrett-----------St. Oswald




Malachy---------St. Andrew Corsini


A friend was visiting at the time, and he picked a saint, too:  St. Augustine!


This is the third year in a row.....that St. Augustine has come up. It is the third time for St. Louis and the second for St Oswald.....and, I believe, it might be the second for St. Peter as well.  That makes all of them old family friends!  :)


My friend Willa recently posted a link to this Saint generator. Perhaps some of you might find it helpful.  We may start to utilize it in the future, to have an opportunity to receive patrons who are newer to the Calendar of Saints.  Some of my friends, especially those with younger children, pick saints from "saint cards" or from smaller saint books with the more familiar saints.


Blessings to you & yours, from me and mine.....and our saints....... in this new year!


May all of the saints & angels in heaven, pray for us!


With love,


Chari

PS  I would love to know who else does this.....leave your name in the comments!  Who is YOUR saint for this year?  What is YOUR tradition?

Mark Twain and I are parting ways.....

...........................for now.



We have spent five glorious months together, exploring and traveling the Europe and Holy Land of 1867. We had the most wonderful time! Twain had me laughing out loud quite frequently. I sure am going to miss his humor.


I have just finished reading THE INNOCENTS ABROAD, apparently his first book, whereby he shares the stories of a "pleasure excursion " he took on the ship, The Quaker City. He is hilarious and sometimes mildly offensive, though he always wins you back. And I do not mean mildly offensive in the modern way....but in a way that says things you know people think, but really shouldn't say. :)

Here is an example:

"It was breezy and pleasant, but the sea was still very rough. One could not promenade without risking his neck; at one moment the bowsprit was taking a deadly aim at the sun in midheaven, and at the next it was trying to harpoon a shark in the bottom of the ocean. What a weird sensation it is to feel the stem of a ship sinking swiftly from under you and see the bow climbing high away among the clouds! One's safest course that day was to clasp a railing and hang on; walking was too precarious a pastime.


By some happy fortune I was not seasick. --That was a thing to be proud of. I had not always escaped before. If there is one thing in the world that will make a man peculiarly and insufferably self-conceited, it is to have his stomach behave itself, the first day it sea, when nearly all his comrades are seasick. Soon a venerable fossil, shawled to the chin and bandaged like a mummy, appeared at the door of the after deck-house, and the next lurch of the ship shot him into my arms. I said:


"Good-morning, Sir. It is a fine day."


He put his hand on his stomach and said, "Oh, my!" and then staggered away and fell over the coop of a skylight.


Presently another old gentleman was projected from the same door with great violence. I said:


"Calm yourself, Sir--There is no hurry. It is a fine day, Sir."


He, also, put his hand on his stomach and said "Oh, my!" and reeled away.


In a little while another veteran was discharged abruptly from the same door, clawing at the air for a saving support. I said:


"Good morning, Sir. It is a fine day for pleasuring. You were about to say--"


"Oh, my!"


I thought so. I anticipated him, anyhow. I stayed there and was bombarded with old gentlemen for an hour, perhaps; and all I got out of any of them was "Oh, my!"


I went away then in a thoughtful mood. I said, this is a good pleasure excursion. I like it. The passengers are not garrulous, but still they are sociable. I like those old people, but somehow they all seem to have the "Oh, my" rather bad.


I knew what was the matter with them. They were seasick. And I was glad of it. We all like to see people seasick when we are not, ourselves. Playing whist by the cabin lamps when it is storming outside is pleasant; walking the quarterdeck in the moonlight is pleasant; smoking in the breezy foretop is pleasant when one is not afraid to go up there; but these are all feeble and commonplace compared with the joy of seeing people suffering the miseries of seasickness."

I got to thinking about this book because my son Matthew was in Switzerland for a year.....and one day while we chatted on Skype.......he had me surfing websites to see the "big church" in Milan...and I found a quote from Mark Twain on the webpage.....and Matthew says:



"That Mark Twain has been following me all over Europe......wherever I go....I find he is there, too."


So, I immediately order the volume from my library, the library we were still praying would not close.  I was not sorry.  In fact, the time I spent with Twain on this journey will be counted among some of the happiest memories of my life.


I had SO MANY quotes to share from our trip........but before I can remember one.....another comes and takes its place!


Here is an excerpt I shared with my ballroom-dance-loving kids:



"On several starlight nights we danced on the upper deck, under the awnings, and made something of a ball-room display of brilliancy by hanging a number of ship's lanterns to the stanchions. Our music consisted of the well-mixed strains of a melodeon which was a little asthmatic and apt to catch its breath where it ought to come out strong, a clarinet which was a little unreliable on the high keys and rather melancholy on the low ones, and a disreputable accordion that had a leak somewhere and breathed louder than it squawked--a more elegant term does not occur to me just now. However, the dancing was infinitely worse than the music. When the ship rolled to starboard the whole platoon of dancers came charging down to starboard with it, and brought up in mass at the rail; and when it rolled to port they went floundering down to port with the same unanimity of sentiment. Waltzers spun around precariously for a matter of fifteen seconds and then went scurrying down to the rail as if they meant to go overboard. The Virginia reel, as performed on board the Quaker City, had more genuine reel about it than any reel I ever saw before, and was as full of interest to the spectator as it was full of desperate chances and hairbreadth escapes to the participant. We gave up dancing, finally."



My kids began to roll their eyes every time I called all of them into a room and they spotted the big blue book in my hands. I think it made them a bit crazy......but I am pretty sure they loved the slices of humor I shared with them. At least I will keep telling myself that.


Near the end of our travels, he shared a story about some time that he spent in the "worst" hotel in America.......comparing it to the worst hotel he stayed in on his European travels (that one was in Egypt). I read this aloud to my hotel manager husband and he was quite amused. So were my literature-loving girls.



"Alexandria was too much like a European city to be novel, and we soon tired of it. We took the cars and came up here to ancient Cairo, which is an Oriental city and of the completest pattern. There is little about it to disabuse one's mind of the error if he should take it into his head that he was in the heart of Arabia. Stately camels and dromedaries, swarthy Egyptians, and likewise Turks and black Ethiopians, turbaned, sashed, and blazing in a rich variety of Oriental costumes of all shades of flashy colors, are what one sees on every hand crowding the narrow streets and the honeycombed bazaars. We are stopping at Shepherd's Hotel, which is the worst on earth except the one I stopped at once in a small town in the United States. It is pleasant to read this sketch in my note-book, now, and know that I can stand Shepherd's Hotel, sure, because I have been in one just like it in America and survived:


I stopped at the Benton House. It used to be a good hotel, but that proves nothing--I used to be a good boy, for that matter. Both of us have lost character of late years. The Benton is not a good hotel. The Benton lacks a very great deal of being a good hotel. Perdition is full of better hotels than the Benton.


It was late at night when I got there, and I told the clerk I would like plenty of lights, because I wanted to read an hour or two. When I reached No. 15 with the porter (we came along a dim hall that was clad in ancient carpeting, faded, worn out in many places, and patched with old scraps of oil cloth--a hall that sank under one's feet, and creaked dismally to every footstep,) he struck a light-- two inches of sallow, sorrowful, consumptive tallow candle, that burned blue, and sputtered, and got discouraged and went out. The porter lit it again, and I asked if that was all the light the clerk sent. He said, "Oh no, I've got another one here," and he produced another couple of inches of tallow candle. I said, "Light them both --I'll have to have one to see the other by." He did it, but the result was drearier than darkness itself. He was a cheery, accommodating rascal. He said he would go "somewheres" and steal a lamp. I abetted and encouraged him in his criminal design. I heard the landlord get after him in the hall ten minutes afterward.


"Where are you going with that lamp?"


"Fifteen wants it, sir."


"Fifteen! why he's got a double lot of candles--does the man want to illuminate the house?--does he want to get up a torch-light procession?--what is he up to, any how?"


"He don't like them candles--says he wants a lamp."


"Why what in the nation does----why I never heard of such a thing? What on earth can he want with that lamp?"


"Well, he only wants to read--that's what he says."


"Wants to read, does he?--ain't satisfied with a thousand candles, but has to have a lamp!--I do wonder what the devil that fellow wants that lamp for? Take him another candle, and then if----"


"But he wants the lamp--says he'll burn the d--d old house down if he don't get a lamp!" (a remark which I never made.)


"I'd like to see him at it once. Well, you take it along--but I swear it beats my time, though--and see if you can't find out what in the very nation he wants with that lamp."


And he went off growling to himself and still wondering and wondering over the unaccountable conduct of No. 15. The lamp was a good one, but it revealed some disagreeable things--a bed in the suburbs of a desert of room--a bed that had hills and valleys in it, and you'd have to accommodate your body to the impression left in it by the man that slept there last, before you could lie comfortably; a carpet that had seen better days; a melancholy washstand in a remote corner, and a dejected pitcher on it sorrowing over a broken nose; a looking-glass split across the centre, which chopped your head off at the chin and made you look like some dreadful unfinished monster or other; the paper peeling in shreds from the walls.


I sighed and said: "This is charming; and now don't you think you could get me something to read?"


The porter said, "Oh, certainly; the old man's got dead loads of books;" and he was gone before I could tell him what sort of literature I would rather have. And yet his countenance expressed the utmost confidence in his ability to execute the commission with credit to himself. The old man made a descent on him.


"What are you going to do with that pile of books?"


"Fifteen wants 'em, sir."


"Fifteen, is it? He'll want a warming-pan, next--he'll want a nurse! Take him every thing there is in the house--take him the bar-keeper--take him the baggage-wagon--take him a chamber-maid! Confound me, I never saw any thing like it. What did he say he wants with those books?"


"Wants to read 'em, like enough; it ain't likely he wants to eat 'em, I don't reckon."


"Wants to read 'em--wants to read 'em this time of night, the infernal lunatic! Well, he can't have them."


"But he says he's mor'ly bound to have 'em; he says he'll just go a-rairin' and a-chargin' through this house and raise more--well, there's no tellin' what he won't do if he don't get 'em; because he's drunk and crazy and desperate, and nothing'll soothe him down but them cussed books." [I had not made any threats, and was not in the condition ascribed to me by the porter.]


"Well, go on; but I will be around when he goes to rairing and charging, and the first rair he makes I'll make him rair out of the window." And then the old gentleman went off, growling as before.


The genius of that porter was something wonderful. He put an armful of books on the bed and said "Good night" as confidently as if he knew perfectly well that those books were exactly my style of reading matter. And well he might. His selection covered the whole range of legitimate literature. It comprised "The Great Consummation," by Rev. Dr. Cummings--theology; "Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri"--law; "The Complete Horse-Doctor"--medicine; "The Toilers of the Sea," by Victor Hugo--romance; "The works of William Shakspeare"--poetry. I shall never cease to admire the tact and the intelligence of that gifted porter."

One of the things that amused me the most was when Twain, while on a trip out of the good ol' US of A, would go offf on tangets about how wonderful and amazing Lake Tahoe was in his opinion.

This happened at least three times and once went on for three pages! 

Well,  at least we definitely have a love of Lake Tahoe in common.  He spent much time there, as did I, as a resident there during my last two years of high school.

He felt some strong pull to compare every lake he saw with Tahoe.  And, the other lake always lost out in the comparison.  Even the Sea of Galilee was not left untouched!

A sample:



"The celebrated Sea of Galilee is not so large a sea as Lake Tahoe --[I measure all lakes by Tahoe, partly because I am far more familiar with it than with any other, and partly because I have such a high admiration for it and such a world of pleasant recollections of it, that it is very nearly impossible for me to speak of lakes and not mention it.]--by a good deal--it is just about two-thirds as large. And when we come to speak of beauty, this sea is no more to be compared to Tahoe than a meridian of longitude is to a rainbow. The dim waters of this pool can not suggest the limpid brilliancy of Tahoe; these low, shaven, yellow hillocks of rocks and sand, so devoid of perspective, can not suggest the grand peaks that compass Tahoe like a wall, and whose ribbed and chasmed fronts are clad with stately pines that seem to grow small and smaller as they climb, till one might fancy them reduced to weeds and shrubs far upward, where they join the everlasting snows. Silence and solitude brood over Tahoe; and silence and solitude brood also over this lake of Genessaret. But the solitude of the one is as cheerful and fascinating as the solitude of the other is dismal and repellant.







In the early morning one watches the silent battle of dawn and darkness upon the waters of Tahoe with a placid interest; but when the shadows sulk away and one by one the hidden beauties of the shore unfold themselves in the full splendor of noon; when the still surface is belted like a rainbow with broad bars of blue and green and white, half the distance from circumference to centre; when, in the lazy summer afternoon, he lies in a boat, far out to where the dead blue of the deep water begins, and smokes the pipe of peace and idly winks at the distant crags and patches of snow from under his cap-brim; when the boat drifts shoreward to the white water, and he lolls over the gunwale and gazes by the hour down through the crystal depths and notes the colors of the pebbles and reviews the finny armies gliding in procession a hundred feet below; when at night he sees moon and stars, mountain ridges feathered with pines, jutting white capes, bold promontories, grand sweeps of rugged scenery topped with bald, glimmering peaks, all magnificently pictured in the polished mirror of the lake, in richest, softest detail, the tranquil interest that was born with the morning deepens and deepens, by sure degrees, till it culminates at last in resistless fascination!






It is solitude, for birds and squirrels on the shore and fishes in the water are all the creatures that are near to make it otherwise, but it is not the sort of solitude to make one dreary. Come to Galilee for that. If these unpeopled deserts, these rusty mounds of barrenness, that never, never, never do shake the glare from their harsh outlines, and fade and faint into vague perspective; that melancholy ruin of Capernaum; this stupid village of Tiberias, slumbering under its six funereal plumes of palms; yonder desolate declivity where the swine of the miracle ran down into the sea, and doubtless thought it was better to swallow a devil or two and get drowned into the bargain than have to live longer in such a place; this cloudless, blistering sky; this solemn, sailless, tintless lake, reposing within its rim of yellow hills and low, steep banks, and looking just as expressionless and unpoetical (when we leave its sublime history out of the question,) as any metropolitan reservoir in Christendom--if these things are not food for rock me to sleep, mother, none exist, I think."



I have not read anything else, really since I started this tome. Life has just been so busy, and while I LOVED reading this book, it was not exactly gripping material.....so, I just plugged away till I got to the end. A most worthwhile task on my part, and one that I am sure will be entertaining me long after the exact words have faded.

Blessings to all.



With love and prayers,



Chari