Pretty Happy Funny Real: The Giveways to Giddy Up Edition

Once again linking up with Auntie Leila for {p,h,f,r}.

PRETTY

First off, I have figured out how to center text on my Kindle, yay! But if you are looking for pretty hair jewelry, check out my Lilla Rose link. There is a very special 72 hour sale going on right now and for every order, $1 will be donated to Mary's Meals. All new customers win big because they can still get the buy 3 get one free offer on top of the sale prices. Also, make sure to enter the giveaway for your choice of Lilla Rose prettiness.

HAPPY

Little Man appears to be as horse-crazy as Cowgirl.  He is constantly clicking his lounge and bouncing up and down, pretending to ride. He even says horse, which sounds more like "gorgk" but he gets his point across, and he cries every time we have to leave the horses after riding lessons.  We brought home, from my mother-in-law's, Cowgirl's first rocking horse that she got at the age of about 18 months.  She honestly played with it up until recently because since it has flip up and down wheels, she would tie a rope to it and drag the horse around pretending she was, well, a cowgirl.  Let's just say that everyone is enjoying having Cinnamon at home.  Little Man likes to rock on him and practice his "posting."  The big kids are having a ball taking him on "pony rides" around the house. Yup, we will be spending a lot of time at the barn for years to come!

FUNNY

This year at our co-op, I am teaching a preschool art class.  We are exploring different artists and making our own versions of some of their famous masterpieces.  This week we learned about Picasso and the girl with the ponytail. To get the children to explore seeing faces differently and ignite their creative juices, I had each child bring in a photocopy of a black and white headshot of themselves. They then were instructed to cut the picture apart however they wished and use the pieces to create a new picture by gluing it onto construction paper and coloring with bright colors.  I was impressed by how seriously and thoughtfully they completed this task.

Now, Buddy is "auditing" this class.  It is technically for five and under, but since he has no class during its time slot, he tags along and participates in the project.  He is my read-all-the-instructions-and-never-color-outside-the-lines child.  This is how he interpreted my instructions.

His response, "If it doesn't look real, Mom, it isn't worth anything." ...sigh!

REAL

Yesterday was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, so I lit two candles. One was for all the tiny saints, including mine, who are loved but lost too soon.  The other was my special Ave Maria candle that I light in memory of my daughter, Ashley, on her born in to Heaven and due date anniversaries.  Praying for all the lost little ones and the mother and fathers who love them with very full hearts despite their empty arms. God bless you all!

Coming Soon, A New Series: Teaching Vocations

So, my real passion and desire is to create a treasure chest of resources for leading little ones to vocations.  I am working on a series of posts for both boys and girls to do just that. My hope is to eventually write a book for children about the different orders, something that would have fascinated me as a child and even now.  I started this blog after searching for years to find these resources but never finding what I really wanted. So, please return in the next few days to see the start of this series--just in time for the Year of Consecrated Life starting this Advent.

I apologize for the lack of good graphics lately, my computer is being serviced by a dear friend, so maybe soon, I can get back to using Paint and a real keyboard. :)

If you have not done so already, please enter the Lilla Rose giveaway!

A Lilla Rose Review and Giveaway in 7 Quick Takes!!!!!

1

Christine at Memories of a Catholic Wife and  Mother generously offered to sponsor a giveaway if Cowgirl and I would try out and review one of Lilla Rose 's products.  We had fun "window shopping for a few days. So many clips, so little time!!  Fairies, horses, flowers, sparkles, oh, my!  It was almost impossible to choose just one. Cowgirl finally bit the bullet and chose the Turquoise Tranquility. She also has a short wishlist for Christmas. (Linking up with Conversion Diary)

2
Ok, so this may sound silly, but Cowgirl was very excited by the decorative envelope clip packaging.  She admired it, described it in detail to me, then proceeded to embellish it with markers and pens. This all brought back memories of her third birthday when she opened a bag of craft supplies from her Godmother and then proceeded to create elaborate mixed media collages with all of the gift wrappings...completely ignoring the toys inside.  She loves packaging, tissue paper, glitter, pom poms, ribbons, and glue.  But, I digress...

3

Once the thrill of the classy packaging passed, we began playing with the clip. We pulled her hair back, twisted it up, made a bun, tried a messy updos...on and on. In fact, as I type, she is still experimenting. Cowgirl has invented three new hairdos since I began this post.  The versatility of the flexi-clip is a definite plus.  One clip, endless possibilities.  I'm hoping to catch a picture of her "twirly-bun-with-half-a-ponytail"

4
Now, Cowgirl inherited my hair, she looks just like her father but has my hair. As a child, the barrettes would literally slide out of my hair before your very eyes.  So getting anything to stay in her hair is a thrill. The clip was a little too heavy to hold in just a ponytail, although I think a smaller clip would work fine. However, it stayed beautifully in all the other updos all by itself. Usually to keep Cowgirl's hair in a twist or bun, I need to pull it into a ponytail with a hairtie, then use at least 6 bobby pins to pin down the style, spray it with hairspray and hope it will hold for more than an hour. With buns, I usually put an additional hairtie around the outside of the bun.  She enjoyed having so little in her hair and no hair pulled by plastics nor bobby pins poking into her scalp. In fact, the only thing that shook the clip lose was her second change at co-op when she went from ballet clothes back to her regular outfit.  She has worn the clip everyday this week and has only taken it out when she decides to do more experimenting with hair styles. Normally, I would spend time doing her hair only to see it out twenty minutes later because either the hair didn't stay or she couldn't stand everything that was holding her hair in place and pulled it out herself.  In fact, the only negative I have to share is I wish these clips weren't made in China.

5
Cowgirl and I have wanted to do a fundraiser for Mary's Meals. So, for every new fan of Veils and Vocations, we will donate $0.25 which will feed five hungry children.  For every order, we will donate $1 to feed twenty children.  So it is a win win for you, me, and Mary's Meals.

6
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!  Make shopping easy for the girls and ladies on your list and buy one of these beautiful, functional clips. Use this link, so that I can keep track of how many orders.  Christine is offering a buy three, get one free sale to all new customers. You could have shopping in the bag in no time.

7
The take you have been waiting for, a giveaway of any clip of your choice (up to $16 value) for one of my blessed readers.  Enter in the raffelcopter below! Please note, you MUST complete the first option on the Rafflecopter to enter, thanks. Best wishes!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pretty-Happy-Funny-Real: The School Progress Edition

My blogging time has been limited with our busy school schedule, and lacking an actual computer has made posting even more difficult.  However, I am getting better at using the Kindle (Don't you think!) So, I decided it was time to link up with Auntie Leila once more and and update how our school plans are panning out, while sharing some unrelated photos, because who doesn't like cute pictures??

PRETTY

Our Little Oratory has been a welcome edition to our home and school.  By beginning our day there, everything has gone so much more smoothly. Don't get me wrong, homeschooling is still hard, especially with an incredibly busy toddler, but it is so much easier when we start by offering our day to God.

Our Morning Meeting has been a blessing. We are finally getting to many of the things I have wanted to incorporate but never managed to until now.I also have been gradually adding instead of starting with everything and then having this or that fall by the wayside.  One of our favorite parts has been the read aloud. When I was 8, my aunt and uncle gave me an illustrated copy of Little Women which I tried several times to read on my own but never finished. We are now half way through and it has been a lovely undertaking to complete with my children. My happiest surprise while reading was the chapter that describes the "little oratory" that Aunt March 's maid sets up for Amy. Ok, God, I got it! Thanks:)

HAPPY

We are happy to report that we are all enjoying Latin, which has become a "car subject".  We use a portable DVD player to watch the lesson once a week and then listen to the song CD and Gregorian Chant for Kids two or three times a week. We are currently focusing on the Chants from the Mass as our monthly Latin Mass has been reinstated.  Deo Gratis! My children are thoroughly enjoying learning the Latin and they are really learning.

FUNNY
So, the "car subjects" has been a recent development but I'm wondering why I never thought of it before. Living 25-45 minutes from everywhere we need to go, provides an awful lot of time in the car.  We spend at least two hours in the car just to go to riding lessons. So, along with the DVD player and Latin CD 's, we have moved our composer study to the car using these CD 's. We are also getting in extra reading comprehension and literature study by using audio books. We are currently studying Secret Garden.  At least once a week, math moves to the car as well.  I even have Catechism, Rosary, Stations of the Cross, and some saint biographies to help us fit in our religious ed.  My husband says that I am getting so much school done in the car that he may just buy me a van instead of building a classroom in the backyard.( A dream of mine for a few years now)

REAL
Keeping up with the Afternoon Loop is still challenging.  Friday's are IEW Writing Intensive class with our good friends, we are all enjoying that. However, we have only gotten in one science lesson and are beginning to fall behind in history.  To alleviate this, I am moving history to the Morning Meeting time and one-on-one time with mom. That still leaves science. We are trying a real hands on approach this year, but I'm not succeeding at finding the time it needs.  I've contemplated moving science to Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon.  Need to try that this weekend. I did discover that Apologia makes audio versions of their texts which they recommend for studying in the car...So science may become a car subject, too. Just hard to do experiments on the road. Then again, there is that van with the pop up table...lol! Just kidding.

How is your school year shaping up?  Come back tomorrow for a Lilla Rose review and giveaway!!

Gluten Free Cornbread Goodness

This is just a short post to announce that I believe that I have perfected my gluten free corn bread recipe.  I miss the crumbly traditional cornbread, but this is quite delicious especially with butter. So, here it is...

1 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 Tbsp honey
3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1.5 cups milk
1.5 Tbsp ground flax seeds
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 can corn kernels
1 can creamed corn
1 egg

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Grease square baking dish, and preheat oven at 350 degrees.  Bake for approximately 25 minutes until knife placed in center comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy.

Do you have any great gluten free recipes to share?

The Cry of the Orphan

Though a mother forsake her child, the LORD will never forsake you.

It is difficult to think of a mother forsaking her child, but children are forsaken for many reasons. Some are for selfless preservation as in the one-child policy China or a very young mother who is unable to care for her child but loves him too much to keep him, so she makes the ultimate sacrifice.  Orphans are created through war, disease, famine, and oppression. Worldwide, there are an estimated 153 million orphans waiting for a home.  That number is staggering, but considering that there are an estimated 133 million housing units in the United States alone, it is not an insurmountable problem, if secularist fond a way to cut through the barriers and get the waiting children to eager families.

The cost of adoptions and governmental red tape leaves most orphans without a forever family.  That is the sad reality.  An adoption can cost as much as $70,000 after years of waiting and paperwork. I have always hoped to adopt but the shear cost of doing so has never permitted it.  So, I continue to support charities like Show Hope and pray that my turn will come.

More disturbing, though, than the children who have been abandoned by desperate or dying parents, are the emotional orphans who are not cherished as the gifts they are.  The availability and acceptance of artificial birth control and abortion has created generations of would be parents who think they should be able to have it all their way, like Burger King's catch-phrase "Have it Your Way."  However, parenthood and life in general does not work that way.  We are now facing a crisis of children emotionally abandoned because they did not fit their parents' ideal or willfully killed so they do not interfere with well laid plans.  This is true poverty of spirit.

Parenthood requires sacrifice, a true dying to self.  It is not for the faint of heart, yet we are all born with the capacity to become a parent.  It is through daily letting go of your wants for another that the beauty of parenthood is revealed.  God designed marriage to bear the fruit of children not only to sustain the population and allow us a brief glimpse of the intimate, creative workings of God, but more importantly as a path to sainthood, a development of our deepest self.  Marriage is a vocation, because just as the consecrated do, we lay down our lives at the altar rail and rise up a new person, with a new mission, and name.

We must find a way to teach the next generations the power of sacrifice, how in giving it is that we receive.  Yes, life is easier and seems happier when you get all that you want when you want it, but it is also intensely shallow.  True beauty and peace comes from a relinquishing of earthly desires for an eternal reward.  Let us all pray that the art and joy of devoted parenting will be resurrected in our home, parishes, and world at large.

If you are looking for a read-aloud this month, let me suggest The Secret Garden, which is about a young girl who is emotionally abandoned by her parents, then orphaned, but through love and trust unlocks the keys to a garden of happiness for her adoptive family. Let us all commit to praying for future parents and families that they may be filled with grace and joy. Let us also strive to teach our children the beauty of a family and the gift of sacrificial love.  God bless!

Angel of God, My Guardian Dear

Today is the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels.  It is a good time to get reacquainted with your Divine appointed guardian.  Throughout my life there have been times that my Angel has been so close I could physically feel him.  I suppose that our angels are always close, we just aren't attuned to their presence.  When I was twenty years old, I was in a bad car accident.  The exact details of what happened, I don't remember. What I do remember is that I was bit by some type of insect while driving and then I was barreling toward a telephone pole. The pole snapped when I hit it, sprung up and then came through the windshield. It landed in the passenger seat. My friend, Lucy, was supposed to be in that seat, she changed her mind about joining me at the last minute.  I never touched the brakes nor panicked. The irony is that I had just had the brakes replaced the day before. As my car headed straight for the telephone pole, I remember thinking, "I'm going to crash into that pole, but it will be alright."  I remember something else, too, someone behind me, with arms wrapped around my chest, holding me still. My head never hit the steering wheel, and though the glass completely shattered, I received no cuts or damage to my face and arms.  In fact my only injury was a small cut that I received sliding out of my seat over a shard of glass. It only required two stitches.  My car was beyond repair.

The feeling of those arms has never left me. When I told people that my head had not moved, they did not believe me. I was told that things happen so quickly in an accident we are unable to process them. However, I know I saw the entire accident and never flinched. Those arms were my Angel and once again I realized, God had a bigger purpose for my life. My time and tasks were not complete.  I am still praying for that purpose, to discover my divine vocation.  Perhaps writing this post is it, I suppose I will never know my true purpose this side of Heaven.

Today, we read The Angels God's Messengers and Our Helpers by Father Lovasik, S.V.D.  At the end, Cowgirl remarked, " There are four angels right here in this room!" I told her there are probably more, we are surrounded by the holy presence of His messengers and guardians.  Then I began to think of the guardian angels who lose their post through this culture of death, how sad a turn of events for them; but how comforting to think that even those who are unloved, abused, abandoned, disposed of, rejected, and forgotten pass through their trials wrapped in the attentive, affectionate arms of their Angel. No one is ever truly alone.

We will be adding the Guardian Angel Prayer to our Morning Meeting.  Do you have any Angel stories to share?