President Bush and the Pope

I've been following the blog "Benedict in America" and I thought this was very interesting:

"It was the first time in his presidency that Bush had gone to Andrews to welcome any head of state. The air base has hosted more than 300 arrivals or departures by heads of state since 2006."

The president also gave a really nice interview with EWTN's Raymond Arroyo (I recommend The World Over podcast) and was not bashful about expressing his admiration for the Holy Father. That really endeared President Bush to me. He made a great comment about not separating his faith from his public office that was very eloquent. He's definitely not the blubbering idiot Jon Stewart wants you to believe he is.

Joy in the firsts!

As an adoptive mom, so many times I regret not being there for the boys' firsts... their first breath, their first cry, their first words, and the list goes on...

But with the choice of homeschooling, I've been there for many more firsts... firsts that I helped create! Today was one of those firsts... MULTIPLICATION!

Bobcat started working on multiplication... and he did his first problems today and managed to understand it! Yippeeeeeee!

Another song

I think the Ipod shuffle is trying to make me cry today. John Michael Montgomery's "The Little Girl" just came on. I haven't heard that song in years, since before we had the boys. Definitely hits close to home now. Here's a YouTube link. I'm pretty sure it's not the original video, someone else made the slideshow and set it to music. (And the story in the song doesn't quite match our boys', but still, it's a tear jerker.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRriDcrU7-Q

Now I just need to watch "The Land Before Time" tonight and it'll be the perfect day. My next post will be more macho.

A Step or Two

Another beautiful song came across on the iPod randomizer. I love rediscovering music that we bought in high school and haven't heard in a long time. This one is Michael W. Smith, "What Are You Waiting For". Here are the lyrics:


I walked this road so very long ago,
to show the way so you would know.
I walked the road with holes in my hands and feet,
to make the way. Come follow me.

No you are not alone, you will be free indeed.
The journey begins and ends with me.
One million miles, it starts with a step or two.
What are you waiting for? I'm waiting for you.

You run the race, thinking you've almost won,
Then you may find you've only begun.
You're on the road thinking you're far from here
And suddenly find, you're very near.


No you are not alone, you will be free indeed.
The journey begins and ends with me.
One million miles, it starts with a step or two.
What are you waiting for? I'm waiting for you.


This was just the song I needed to hear. I have a big account to work on today. Lots of little steps, it's a bit overwhelming to even get started. I've already had two coffee breaks, trying to put it off. Time to dig in.


Also, I hope we can use this song at some point in our work with prospective adoptive families, and prospective homeschoolers. It's a much gentler way to present our core message which is, essentially, "Quit whining and just do it!" Take a leap, folks. God will catch you.


To MommaLlama - I'm so glad we took the first step. Some days it feels like we're far from home. Some days it feels like we haven't gone very far at all. We definitely have a lot more steps to go, but we'll make it. I love you.

Progress Report

Homeschooling, while we have had our share of challenges this semester, is moving along quite well. Better than expected actually... and most subjects are well ahead of schedule. When I planned out the semester in December I had each of the boys finishing up mid-May... but thanks to a few days of great attitudes and concept comprehension that exceeded my expectations we are nearly done with everything NOW!

Bobcat

• Finished Handwriting Book
• Finished Phonic Book
• Nearly done with Grammer
• Spelling I'm purposely taking my time so that he is really getting it
• Math is still somewhat of a struggle but that should be finished in the next few weeks (but I plan on Math going throughout the summer with drills, flashcards and activities)

Bubba

• Finished Handwriting Book
• Will finish Phonics by the first of next week
• Spelling (same as Bobcat)
• Math (same situation as Bobcat)

Snookie

• Finished Math TODAY!!!! Yeah little man!
• Finishing up Phonics this week
• Finishing Handwriting this week

Me... well I have goals too ya know. For homeschooling I'm still finishing up my book order list for the next grade levels and working out the way I want to organize them. On the whole I'm pretty much done, I'm just researching some alternative Math programs to see if we can have a better year with Math than we've had the last few years!

On the injury front, I went to my first therapy (evaluation) session on Friday... and it turns out I misunderstood on a previous phone conversation... but I actually tore all three of the ligaments found in the previous post. The very nice therapist said this will mean a longer recovery time because... well, it just takes a long time! I am still very sore, actually the ankle pain seems to be getting worse... because I have daily exercises to help the muscles start to loosen up and those muscles have now become angry with me. But the pain from the RSD (some sort of nerve condition that is causing the bruising and pain found in other areas of the foot, my orth says I have a mild or early stage of it) is starting to settle a little. It went from any weight being put on the foot felt like stepping into broken glass... to now it just feels like jagged gravel! I call that improvement. And the massage they want me doing along with the exercise does seem to be helping... desensitizing the area, that went from feeling like my toe nails were being ripped out after the massage to just feeling like my toes and foot were smashed... again I know it sounds bad, but it happens to be an improvement!

Tonight I have my first of 9 therapy appointments... bring on the pain meds :-).

Jolly Old Saint Nick

Patrick at Creative Minority Report has a post up about first communion preparations at this parish. Here's a sample:

"Then the children proceeded to the sanctuary right in front of the altar where they began a song that made the first little diddy seem like a Schubert composition. This song had more hand motions than a three day conference for the hearing impaired. Then they started a clappin'! Then they started a hootin' and hollerin' punching their fists Arsenio Hall style "Woo Woo! Jesus!" clap clap clap "Woo Woo! Jesus!"

Hilarious! As I posted previously, we opted out of the group instruction for Bobcat, and it's not half as bad at our parish (but they do require the making of felt banners... barf).

I got this wonderful historical gem from one of the commenters:

"At the Council of Nicea, Arius was TKO'd by another bishop, who was outraged by his heresy. What I mean is, he was slapped hard right across the kisser! The emperor threw the misbehaving bishop in jail. That night, the emperor had a dream, seeing that bishop resplendent in his episcopal robes and holding the Book of Gospels. Awakened and alarmed, he called his guards to accompany him to the dungeon. There they found this "disrespectful" bishop, just as the emperor saw him in his dream. The bishop was immediately released.That naughty bishop was none other than Nicholas of Myra. That's right... Jolly old St Nick cold-cocked a heretic!"

Any suggestions on how we can incorporate this story into our family's Christmas festivities?

Personal space

The next time you think your house is too small, consider the following: