RIP

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Shelly McKinney.

Thanks.

 

Hablo Something

Idyllic fall weather today.  Gave the 4th-grader a light checklist for school, with more reading than writing, and explicit instructions that he might find himself a quiet seat outside, rather than being stuck indoors on such a lovely day.  Girls made leaf-beds under one of the maples, and hosted a granola-bar picnic.

Also discovered the kids’ Spanish DVD I brought home from the library isn’t that great for beginner readers: the format depends on being able to read the English subtitles while the Spanish is spoken, but it moves to quickly for a 2nd-grader who is still a slow sounder-outer.  DVD in question is Spanish for Kids: The Fun and Easy Way to Learn Spanish*, issued by Language Tree.  Will return it and fetch a copy of Hola, Los Amigos, which is the one I wanted anyway but it wasn’t there when I went out with SB the other morning.  I’ve liked the French counterpart to that one (Bonjour Les Amis) — campy, as the genre almost always is, but accessible to young children, and strong on teaching good pronunciation.  I’ll tell you how Hola goes, once we get it in hand.

So what sparked the sudden interest in Spanish?  A scheduling problem. This past Sunday, Aria had a couple of conflicts (all good, Sunday-appropriate activities), such that her strong preference was to attend the 2pm Mass.  Which is in Spanish.  Like most 2nd-graders, she knows almost no Spanish.  (Hola, Adios, and that about sums it up.)  But no skin off my back — my Spanish is lousy, but I can follow the Mass with the help of a missal, the music is fun, and anyway I’d already been to an English Mass earlier in the day, so I’d gotten my dose of comprehensible edification.

So we went.  And she fell in love.  Her belovedly-glamorous CCD teacher was there, the girls from her class got to do the offering — not just bring up the gifts, but actually take the collection! — and then there was Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Just the statue that travels from home to home each week, but I mentioned to her afterwards the music & dancing (and eating!) at that festival, and she wanted so much to be one of those girls who gets to put on the spectacularly colorful and flouncy costumes and *perform*, or maybe one of the kids who gets to be in the passion play that day . . . . and in order to do all that, you must learn Spanish.

***

In other news: It turns out I did not lose Volume III of Mary, Mother of the Son!  SuperHusband inadvertantly took it, instead of Volume I, with him on a business trip.  So now it is back in my hands, and I am taking advantage of gorgeous weather and deep laziness to plow through the remaining pages.   Excellent reading.  I will tell you more when I write up the official review, but I hold with my ‘buy’ recommendation.

***

* FYI: Learning a foreign language is neither fast, nor, when you get into the depths of it, overly-fun.  Learning a few basics — yes, that part is fast and fun.  The idea of learning a language is absolutely delightful. The excitement of the initial quick progress, the joy of suddenly being able to make sense of what was previously incomprehensible? Very fun. And it takes very little skill in order to bumble one’s way through a foreign country as a tourist — a few key phrases and you’re in good shape — so all that is tons of fun.

(Indeed, the ability to speak the language poorly is quite helpful — quickly gets the native to slow down and say only very basic things.  Or even offer to speak some other language that you might know better.)

But the long, frustrating slog to fluency can drive one to tears. The many months if not years of being able to understand some but not all, say quite a bit but never quite be able to say what you want to say, when you want to say it . . . that gets old.  And then there’s the pure *work* of it, having to push the brain that wants to rest.  Not that I suppose you’d sell many books or DVD’s with an honest, “Spanish: The Long, Slow, Painful, but Ultimately Useful Way” for a title.  But I do rather prefer it when a publisher at least discretely leaves the topic alone, rather than building false hope.

 

Chocolate Milk Sucess

You may recall the agony we went through in early September, when a certain three-year-old learned that, yet again, she would not be attending dance class.  The weekly drama as older sisters rode off in the carpool was so heartbreaking that I actually considered enrolling the child.

Fortunately, I am married to the SuperHusband.  Who brilliantly proposed: Why not give her chocolate milk?

After a month’s trial, we can confirm the SuperHusband’s brilliance.  Promised a cup of chocolate milk every week *just as soon as the big kids leave for class*, our preschooler has lost all interest in studying ballet.  No more tears, no more pleading, just a cheerful “bye kids” and then, “look, I’m in my seat, ready for my chocolate milk.”

Hurray.  Suits me.

****

Quiet weekend here, by the way.  I firmly resolve to direct my goofing-off towards actually reading all the words in the volume 3 of Mary, Mother of the Son, so that I can report back with a review soon.  (Though you already know the answer: order it.)

 

Settling Down – bwahahaha

I was just joking with that title.  Things are most definitely *not* settled down since my last post.   Just re-read, things are about the same — GI virus and all.  Aah.  Finished In Soft Garments, excellent.  Started on Characters of the Reformation by Hillaire Belloc.  Chosen not because I was interested in the topic, but because I was interested to read something, anything, by Belloc, and that was what my parish library had stocked.  Interesting reading — I would recommend it.

Still need to make myself go back and finish book III of Mary, Mother of the Son. I’ll be honest, a lot of times I’m not in the mood to read other people’s reflections on the mysteries of the Rosary.  I don’t know why — inspiration fatigue, I guess.   But I know I’ll be glad when I do it, and ’tis the season.

Meanwhile, wanted to post a link to the Catholic Writer’s Conference.  Registration is now open.  Highly recommended: Helpful and Free.  Doesn’t get much better than that.  If you like to write, this is your friend.

 

Distracted — who, me?

Quite a lot of ordinary normal life going on here.  Hence the internet silence, and no book review either.

Have been reading In Soft Garments by Ronald Knox, an ancient copy mined from the treasure trove of my parish library.   Sturdy apologetics in Knox’s readable, witty style.  If you like Chesterton and Lewis, you’ll like Knox.   Even though the book is strongly catholic, there are chapters of definite interest to non-catholic christian apologists.  Don’t know where you find a current, in-print, version of the book though.   (For all I know, it’s widely available.  I just don’t know.)

In school news: So far so good.  In all we have a decent rhythm going, though between regular visits from our friendly neighborhood GI virus (a different child every time! Always at 4 AM!), and your hostess’s naturally lacksadaisical personality, let’s just say that we’re doing admirably under the circumstances.

CCD got off to a great start last week.  Big thank you to 6th grade public-school Spanish teacher Chris Craft (google him, I don’t have a link this week) whose helpful tips made a huge difference in getting the classroom running smoothly right off the bat.  You should book Chris next time you need good basics-of-sound-teaching-for-any-age conference for your collection of educators.  [He's the Chris Craft who teaches at Crossroads Middle School in South Carolina, if that helps you with your googling.]

And I like my excel-created timeline enough I’m thinking of printing out another one for my hallway at home.  We have a time line made out of a neutral, geometric-patterned wallpaper border, but I never seem to use it.  Tragic, for children whose mother is a social-studies major.

[Our textbook covers several saints or bible heros every chapter, so I wanted a timeline so the kids could see where everyone fits in the scheme of things.  I also put up some maps so they can see where the saints lived.  So far we've got St. Augustine of Hippo up there.  And some question about how to pronounce his name.]

***

That’s the news for now.  What else?

-I’m an SCA flunkie — haven’t been to fighter practice in weeks, have already missed 50% of the two events I had planned to attend this fall — but the garden looks okay.

–> SuperHusband said he was thinking of getting me a net book for my birthday.  I voted for a guilt-free trip to the nursery.   And my first round of plant-buying happened when their was a rose sale — whoohoo.  (You do know that roses are edible, right? So I can justify buying extra, on that count.)

- And other notes: Not much camping so far this fall — see ‘overwhelmed mother’ — ailment holds steady, and the cat with the deathwish finally got too close to harm’s way.  We did not adopt a pit bull, and our tadpole has feet!  Just in time for winter!  Quick, must install waterfeature in back yard before this thing starts hopping in my kitchen . . .

See you around, hope your vocation is a lively as mine, in a good sort of way.  My apologies for typos, gotta run.

 

Score.

So I kinda put off picking another book to review for the Catholic Company, on account of having taking six million years to get my Angels review up.  Procrastination pays.  Went to check the available-books list early last week, and there was the 3-Book Set of Mark Shea’s Mary , Mother of the Son.

Clicked hopefully, not quite believing this could be real.  Books arrived just minutes before I headed out for Labor Day weekend.  Happy Birthday to me!

Sailed through the first two books while out camping, and skimmed the third.  Verdict: Excellent.  Highly recommended.  (Which you didn’t need to hear from me– I *knew* they were good because A: I’m a Mark Shea dittohead and B: The books have been getting very favorable reviews by people much smarter than myself.)

Official book review coming soon.

Meanwhile, I’ll say that if you have a blog and like reading top-quality, newly-released catholic books, the Catholic Company’s reviewer program is very well run.  It does, of course, mean that you can’t get autographed copies like you could if you purchased directly from the author, but then again, you can afford to buy a *second* autographed set after you’ve confirmed how awesome the books actually are.  Since you know you’ll need to have a set of spares for loan anyway.

***

[Hey, and if anyone has had success making the Tiber River review program work, please let me know how.   They sent me an e-mail asking me to sign up, so I did, because how can you refuse more book-reviewing fun, even if you do have a history of being an unpredictably-paced reader??  But in my efforts so far, I have only managed to get mighty confused.  Haven't, of course, employed any adult problem-solving skills such as, say, e-mailing the guy in charge of the program.  But you could save me that display of maturity by telling me what the scoop is. Thanks!]

***
PS, weather was great camping this weekend, and it was kinda nice to skip out on school for a few days.  It sure pays to start homeschooling before Labor Day, so that you get that first vacation weekend right off the bat.  Otherwise it could be weeks and weeks before you get some good excuse to cut class.

And let me add: Putting six growing people in a 26′ Airstream for long weekend is an excellent way to make your previously-cramped house seem just enormous.  I mean, wow, there is *so much* space here!  We have, you know, bedrooms and stuff.  I love it.

 

Assorted Madness

Madly in Love: With Ronald Knox.  Just re-read The Theology of Martyrdom.  Man I love this guy.   If you are a Chesterton and Lewis fan, he’s the next step after.  The dry humor, the precision, the willingness to talk touchy subjects.  Love it.  (Note for non-catholic friends: Definitely a catholic writer.  Which is not to say you won’t love him, but his business is teaching and defending the *catholic* faith, just so ya know.)

Gonna go scour the parish library and maybe my local catholic bookstore to see what else I can find.   (Already have The Hidden Stream.)  And speaking of which, if you are, by any chance, the person who is holding my copy of If Your Mind Wanders at Mass by Thomas Howard, now would be the time to speak up.   I can’t find it, so I assume it’s out on loan to somebody.

Crazy Person Ideas: Some very kind, perhaps slightly sneaky, people persuaded me to sew my own fencing tunic.  And, the real madness: I decided to do it.  Let us clarify: I am nobody’s seamstress.  I have successfully sewn 1 toddler tunic (single layer!) and a handful of dishcloths into rectangular pouches.   Made up the pattern for the muslin mock-up yesterday, and I’m supposed to finish cutting fabric today, but there’s too much craziness in the house, I don’t see it happening this afternoon.

But I will do it.  Because I own the fabric.  And because it’s the only way to get what I actually want.  Which is not to say that I *will* get what I want, only that I will try.

And finally, Catechetical Madness:  Trying to explain the principals of Double Effect and Means-Don’t-Justify-Ends to a 4th grader.  In broad strokes, yes, sure.  But honestly, I’m not sure most of us adults really have a knack for the fine line where the one ends and the other begins.  But, as with the tunic, the only way to hope to get it done, is to try it.

 

School Underway

Started the new school year yesterday.   So far so good.

Mr. Boy & I are starting up a massive Latin review, as we realized we hadn’t quite mastered our lessons from last year.  Fun — I mean that.  Also this year we’re doing a year-long unit on just warfare, waging peace, legitimate self-defense, and conflict resolution.  Combination of thelogy and history.  (Literature tie-in: Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series.)  Way cool, I’m super excited and both of us are already enjoying it.

Happy to report that a year of Spelling Power, the boy’s first year of formal spelling study, has pushed him up two grade levels on the placement testing from this time last year.  Turns out that study and practice can be good for you ; – ).

Aria is doing a heavy push on reading skills as she enters second grade — she’s a definite beginner reader still.  At her request we’re also starting ASL this year, which I took a couple classes on when I was younger, but still have much much much to learn.  All kids are doing that, and so far so good.  All children are also in for intense penmanship training — they have nature and nuture both working against them in that department, and it’s evident we need to take radical action to counteract the forces of illegibility.

Discovered the Bun is definitely a right-hander (had my doubts).  She is thrilled to be K, and begs to do her princess math book every day.    Startling to have a kindergartener again, and see both how much a little one has to learn, and see that fresh enthusiasm for school.  Delightful.

Andabel of course was indignant that any suggest she *isn’t* in school.  So she sits at the table and pitches fits when I won’t give her magic markers.  I don’t care if they are “washable”, you’re only 3, you get washable crayons, darling.

And all this is pretty much got me consumed.  Skipped fighter practice tonight (SCA – fencing!) even though I really really want to get back to learning (have been away due to the summer vocation and vacation combination), because I just have sooo much to do before tomorrow morning.  Like sit around and breathe, lol.  And get children to bed.  And then actual work, too.

So that’s the news for this week.

 

Book Review: The Angels and Their Mission

The Angels & Their Mission by Jean Danielou

Sophia Institute Press, 2009

ISBN 978-1-933184-46-3

Originally published in French in 1953, published in English in 1957 by The Newman Press, The Angels and Their Mission is one of the many great titles being brought back into print by Sophia Press.  I picked this out as part of the Catholic Company review program, and like all the titles I’ve chosen so far as part of that program, I can highly recommend it.

The book is a survey of the teachings of the early church fathers about angels.  Themes are arranged historically, starting with “The Angels and the Law” (of the Old Testament) and ending with “The Angels and the Second Coming”.  A full five chapters are devoted to the roles angels play in the current lives of believers — in the church, in the sacraments, in the spiritual life, as guardians, and at the time of death.

The survey is thorough and eye-opening.   Included are mention of certain beliefs held by one or another church father that are not consistent with catholic doctrine, but were, presumably, open theological questions at the time.  One of the most interesting things I learned was that the old cartoon depiction of an angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other, each pushing and pulling at the human soul, is in fact a long-held belief taught by the church fathers.

–> And this is why I find this book invaluable.  We hear very little about angels these days.  Here is a book that remedies the doctrinal ignorance that plagues modern christians.

This is not, however, a beginner book.  The text is readable, along the lines of any of Pope Benedict’s popular works — my new word for this book was “Trisagion”.  Although I think the ideas presented would be interesting for a non-catholic who wants to compare beliefs about angels, I suspect that you really need a working knowledge of the catholic faith in order to make sense of the information.  If you are not yet comfortable consulting The Catechism of the Catholic Church, this book might not be for you.

Likewise, a little background in patristics would go a long ways.  All the quotes from the fathers are footnoted, though there is no guide to the abbreviations used in the footnootes.  If you’ve never read any of the church fathers, a book like Pope Benedict’s The Fathers would be an excellent pre-read to get you ready for this one.

Know in advance that this a book you read for information, not entertainment.  It is not light — the writing is clear but technical.  It is not humorous — no punny subheadings — and it does not contain any heartwarming Chicken-Soup-For-the-Angel-Lover’s-Soul type anecdotes.  Unlike Pope Benedicts’ writings, there are not inspiring pastoral comments tied into the theological survey.

–> But if you want to know what the historic church teaching is on a topic, here it is.  Laid out systematically, so that is is easy to find the information that you want.  And the theology is, as theology always is, inspiring and edifying on its own.

So I recommend this book as one for the shelf.  While there is value in reading the book cover-to-cover, you can safely go straight to to the chapter of interest, to be informed and delighted there where you really wanted it.

And because the book is so rich with information, you can’t possibly read it once and have retained everything.  For a catechist or apologist, you will want this at hand so that when someone asks, “Well, what *do* catholics beleive about  . . . <insert angel topic>??” you can quickly get to the appropriate chapter and review the historic teaching.

Good book.  It took me a long time to finish it, mostly due to personal busyness.  And I ended up with two copies, because I misplaced the first in the process of dragging it everywhere trying to get it read.  Now I’m glad, because I really want to keep a loaner copy on hand, without letting *my* copy off the shelf.

 

Back from the extended Field Trip

Did so many fantabulous fun field trip things I can’t remember them all.  Red Rocks, Great Basin, Excalibur, shootin’ .22’s in the desert, Mt. Charleston, Baker Archeological Site . . . oh, and there was a wedding in there somewhere, too.  And Aria went to Girl Scout Camp.

Gotta get my report cards done for the end of this school year.  Did my basic planning f0r the coming year.  Mr. Boy’s going to be working a unit around Just War and related topics (religion, history, literature), Aria’s going to be doing the full press on reading skills.  For all children, need to improve penmanship, and breathe a little life into the math program.

Trying to decide whether the Bun should do Primer or Alpha for Math-U-See . . . starting K, but have noticed lately that she seems to know more math already than I had realized.  That little unschooled wonder.

I forsee the vocation continuing to swirl about, filling in those little spaces of reading and writing time that I always think I have, but apparently do not anymore.

So much to do.  Always so much to do.  Good problem.