Don’t Tempt Him.
Joseph (Just after getting home from shopping with Mom): “We got a present for Sarah, and we can’t tell!”
Johnathan: “What is it?”
Me: “Nooooo!”
Journal
Why You Never Tell a Secret to a Six Year Old
Alexander (trying to get onto the computer): “Mom, how do you spell Boba Fett? That’s the password on my settings.”
Mom: “I think it’s B-O-B-A F-E-T-T.”
Alexander: “But I tried that already and it didn’t work.”
Johnathan (who had been standing nearby the entire time): “Alexander, I know how to spell Boba Fett.”
Alexander: “Hey, how do you know my password?”
Christmas Novena
“Happy new year!” Dad greeted me this morning. Advent has arrived, the first day of the liturgical year, the time to remember the waiting of Israelites for the coming of the Messiah, and prepare for Christmas. One of the ways I’m getting ready is by saying the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena, which I have heard of but never done before. Though its not technically a novena, it consists of saying this beautiful prayer 15 times a day from Nov 30, (St. Andrew’s day), until Christmas:
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [State your intention(s) here…] through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ and of His blessed Mother. Amen.
This seems like a good way to keep continuously in mind the true reason of Christmas on mind throughout the day, and I strung together some plastic purple beads together to keep track of the number of times I’ve said it. I’m looking forward to starting it Tuesday.
Thanksgiving Day Snapshots
The table settings, with a hungry boy thinking that if he sits at the table supper will be done faster.
Pumpkin pie made a day ahead.
I made the main course and wanted to experiment a little with cornish hens.
The finished product. I made an orange glaze for on top of the hens, which received mixed reviews. Some of the family really didn’t like it, but I thought it was a nice change.
There was better feelings about this turkey I baked on Saturday after Thanksgiving. I brined it overnight and baked it breast down for 2/3 of the baking time, all the while babysitting it with a meat thermometer. It turned out to be the moistest turkey we had ever eaten!
Association of the Living Rosary
A few days ago I received a thick packet in the mail and I opened it hastily. It was from the Universal Living Rosary Association, which has over 11 million members all praying a single decade of the rosary daily. When I got the envelope open, I couldn’t find the card which had my assigned decade amidst all the pamphlets and holy cards of Saint Philomena, the patroness of the organization and also my confirmation saint. I found it eventually, however, and my decade is the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven. If you would like to enroll and be assigned a decade, you can visit http://www.philomena.org/.
Giving Thanks
With less than a week to go before Thanksgiving, we at the Frederes house find ourselves extremely grateful for the completion of our basement. The last step in repairing the flood damage was the carpet that arrived this morning and is now installed in every part of the downstairs except my room, which has to wait till next week for more carpet to come in stock. After four months of a half finished lower level, it finally feels like a house downstairs.
I love the new color of the walls and our carpet, which is very, very soft and plush.
This is the color of the downstairs bathroom, which goes with a palm tree shower curtain we have.
The boys' room, which they are planning to decorate in a space theme.
Daniel is thrilled by being able to walk downstairs without fear of tack strips.
How to Win a Woman’s Heart
Joseph: “Sarah, you are pretty.”
From Alexander
Straight from his six year old heart!
(Explaination: the figure on the right is me, and the one on the left is himself, and the hearts above his head is his love for me. How sweet!)
A Little Known Fact About Large Families
The green patrol should give us a conservations award for record low water use per child on bath day!
Rub-a-dub-dub, four men in a tub, and who do you think they be?
Mom’s Birthday
Sunday was both the end of daylight savings time and Mom’s birthday. We went out to Johnny Carinos, my favorite restaurant, where Mom got free tiramisu. The next day she opened a present that Landon, Maria, had I ordered her a birthday present and came a day late.
We’ve been eying this statue of Our Lady for a long time, plotting to get it for her sometime. Once Mom was paging through the Leaflet Missal Catholic catalog, and she remarked that she had always liked that statue. Landon and Maria were with me, and they both winked and nudged me with their elbows at the same time. Thankfully, Mom didn’t see it.
Requiem Mass in the Octave of the All Souls
Last night I sang at a requiem mass for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. The Priest was dressed in black to symbolize our mourning for the dead, and the music was solemn and beautiful. Landon and John were both serving, and Landon was M.C., a part he had waited to be for a long time and only recently learned how to do.
The procession into church.
Genuflecting before the tabernacle.
Incensing the altar.
“It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” (2 Maccabees 12:46)
All Saint’s Eve 2010
It’s been two years since we’ve had a homeschool All Saints Eve party, but this year it was announced on Oct 20 that we were starting up the tradition again. I spent Friday and Saturday sewing costumes, which turned out pretty well. Maria was St. Bernadette, Johnathan was St. Anthony, Alexander was St. Michael, and Joseph was St. Juan Diego. Maria and John slipped out the door before I could get a picture of them, but here are the little boys:
Daniel thought Joseph’s makeup was really interesting. (“What is it with you people in the last week? First Sarah makes her eyes really strange and now you have black on your face!”)
I made my first pleat on Alex’s bottoms, and it turned out pretty well.
Daniel was a lion from Noah’s Ark. This costume I didn’t make.
He found the mane a little annoying.
But that’s OK, because he has a mane of his own!
When we got home, everybody dived into their candy. Maria didn’t like caramel apples, so she gave hers to me.
Chewy pieces of candy are a good way to lose teeth.
Ballroom Dancing Halloween Party
For the last couple of months, my friend Jennifer M. and I have been going ballroom dancing on Friday nights when they have teenagers only. It’s pretty casual, and since there’s a shortage of boys, most of the time girls are dancing with girls. It’s a ton of fun, and Jennifer is really good at it and she teaches me more moves each time we go. Sadly, the ballroom is closing down in December, but we’re enjoying the time we have left. Last Friday there was a costume halloween party, and as Jennifer couldn’t make it I took Landon. He dressed up as Frodo from the Lord of the Rings, and I went as Cleopatra.
The one on the left is the real Frodo.
This neat costume was on sale a few days before Halloween. Mom also found this perfect wig for me.
It's hard to see in the picture, but I'm wearing this ring I found on clearance that went with my outfit perfectly.
Here's a close-up on my Egyptian styled make-up.