the true. the good. the beautiful. week 1.

“That his creatures should share
in his truth, goodness, and beauty --
this is the glory for which God created them.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 319

Ours has been called a culture of death.

Indeed.

As a parent, especially, I have become increasingly aware of this. Because I have to choose daily to combat it. I have to correct the lies our culture feeds my children. I have to explain the bad choices people make and the consequences of those choices. I have to shield what is ugly from their eyes and ears. We are inundated with what is false and what is bad and what is ugly.

And I ask myself: How do I teach my children Truth in a world that values relativism? How do I teach them Good in a world that delights in personal happiness, individual freedom and license? How do I teach them Beauty when every time we leave our home or turn on our television or radio some billboard or commercial or news headline bombards them with what is ugly?

Before my husband and I ever had children, we discussed what we wanted our home to be like for them. We talked of filling our home with the true, the good, and the beautiful. And we talked about how we would do this: how we would stimulate their intellects with Truth, how we would provide opportunities for their wills to choose the Good, how we would inspire their affections with Beauty.

Lately I have felt an increasing need to be more intentional about cultivating truth, goodness, and beauty in our home. To that end, I want to share with you what we are doing to bring that about, in the hopes that you might share with me the same. In teaching our children what is True, what is Good, and what is Beautiful, we can build a culture of life. one family at a time.

I'll start.

The True: Feeding the Intellect
Reading the Lives of the Saints

This past week we have been using a great study series to learn about the life of Blessed Imelda Lambertini, patron saint of first communicants. As part of our study, we've also had opportunity to talk about two other child saints: Saint Tarsicius and Saint Agnes. Better than fairy tales, these true stories have captured my childrens' hearts and imaginations and inspired in them a feeling that even they can do great things for God.

The Good: Forming the Will
Table Manners

Inspired by our studies of the Little House series, and frustrated by the noise level in our home, especially at meal time, we have begun to focus on having one conversation at a time at the dinner table. This means, practically speaking, that the children will not speak unless spoken to, at least to begin with. It sounds drastic, I know, but training in restraint in speech and learning to listen to others is already beginning to bear fruit. In addition, we are practicing our table manners. To this end, I purchased a cloth napkin for each person in the family -- each person has his or her own color, so I only have to wash the napkins when they get REALLY dirty.

The Beautiful: Inspiring the Affections
Candles

With the cold winter air howling outside (it's six BELOW zero with the wind chill as I write this!) and the stale closed up house, we brought beauty to our schoolroom this past week with a candle. It was a simple way to create a cozy atmosphere. The kids enjoyed both the smell (Cabin Scents is my favorite) and the flickering flame and asked to light it every morning as school began and in the afternoon when classes resumed.

(Link up in the comments if you'd like to join me.)

O Christmas Tree

In 2005, we trudged through the snow near Mequon, Wisconsin, looking for the perfect Christmas tree.

In 2006, a horse drawn wagon carried us out into the tree fields to begin our hunt on a warmish late November day.

2007 was the year of the ginormous tree. and the blizzard on the way home.

In 2008, we got quite chilly in Stacy, Minnesota, but then warmed up with hot cider by a roaring fire (while Daddy struggled to get the tree on top of the van).

And last year, we went to the same tree farm I went to for years and years growing up.

Ever since I can remember, I have been part of the annual tradition of choosing and cutting a Christmas tree -- first with my parents and siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. Since getting married, with my husband, and then together with our children. I have many, many fond memories of this tradition.

There does not appear to be any place near Bismarck, North Dakota to choose and cut your own Christmas tree.

What am I going to do?

Whine or Wine

Well ... I can either tell you about my week thus far. Which I'm not sure I'm up for. And you might not be either.

Or I can tell you where I'm off to in half an hour.

Mom's Night Out (fondly known as MNO).

This month?

Wine tasting!

(If you don't have a mom's night out group, you should really (and I mean REALLY) get one started!)

Cheers!

Yarn Along I

The last few weeks I've been enjoying Sarah's Yarn Alongs and I followed her link to Ginny's website, where I enjoyed some more. Since I just started knitting last month I thought I'd join in the fun. What one is supposed to do is post a picture of a current knitting project and a current read. So ... above is my first ever scarf! I know knit now, so as soon as I learn how to finish this scarf (what's that called? binding off?), I can start learning purl. I also started reading a new-to-me author this week -- Wendell Berry -- and am really enjoying Hannah Coulter.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - From the June 2008 Archives

I'm having a feeling invisible week.

(If only I could sleep anywhere!)

The First Snowfall

Though we've had snow three times already this year, in honor of my home state's first snow of the season ...

The First Snowfall
by James Russell Lowell

The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.

Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm-tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.


From sheds new-roofed with Carrara
Came Chanticleer's muffled crow,
The stiff rails were softened to swan's-down,
And still fluttered down the snow.

I stood and watched by the window
The noiseless work of the sky,
And the sudden flurries of snow-birds,
Like brown leaves whirling by.


I thought of a mound in sweet Auburn
Where a little headstone stood;
How the flakes were folding it gently,
As did robins the babes in the wood.

Up spoke our own little Mabel,
Saying, 'Father, who makes it snow?'
And I told of the good All-father
Who cares for us here below.


Again I looked at the snowfall,
And thought of the leaden sky
That arched o'er our first great sorrow,
When that mound was heaped so high.

I remembered the gradual patience
That fell from that cloud like snow,
Flake by flake, healing and hiding
The scar of our deep-plunged woe.


And again to the child I whispered,
'The snow that husheth all,
Darling, the merciful Father
Alone can make it fall! '

Then, with eyes that saw not, I kissed her;
And she, kissing back, could not know
That my kiss was given to her sister,
Folded close under deepening snow.

Quick Takes - Volume 11

So, last time I posted, more than a week ago already (!), I posted about time, specifically how time is not our own, especially if you're a mother.

Case in point: I have not had time to post since last Thursday! Why?

-- 1 --

Last Saturday I spent the whole day -- and I mean the. whole. day (like from eight in the morning until ten at night) -- trying to catch up on my other job. I did take some breaks to eat and the like. If you are a homeschooling mother contemplating doing some "real" work (also known as that work for which someone else gives you money), I advise against it. Don't get me wrong. My job has been a huge blessing during these husband-in-graduate-school years. And I do enjoy the work. Really. It's a good and necessary ministry. But ... I am finding myself more and more unable to deal with the stress of having to get twenty-five hours of something-other-than-taking-care-of-my-family-in-the-way-I-want-to in.

St. Raymond of Penyafort, patron saint of canon lawyers, pray for us.

-- 2 --

Since cupboards and refrigerators do not fill themselves, and since I was working all day Saturday, we had to spend Sunday running errands. This is something I do not particularly like to do on Sunday. I would have rather been outside enjoying one of the last warm days of fall with my family. But we tried to make the best of it, by running errands together as a family. And the week goes much more smoothly when I have a menu and the groceries to make the items on said menu.

St. Martha, patron saint of cooks and homemakers, pray for us.

-- 3--

Monday morning I put The Baby down for her nap and then The Boy and I went to look at some houses. It's been a while since I posted a housing update. Our main criteria in our housing hunt is space, both inside and out. What we've found is that the old houses in the city with lots of space inside, don't have very much outside, and the houses with a lot of land are too small for our growing, spend-a-lot-of-time-in-the-house-because-we-homeschool-and-the-winters-are-long family. Whether or not to purchase in the city or the country has been a quandary for me for some time. I like the idea of living in the country. a lot. But ... what does that mean for my children in terms of friends and extracurricular activities. Do I say no? Or do I spend a lot of time in the car? Right now it's not a huge issue, but as they get older .... I would love you country ladies to chime in now with your thoughts on this issue.

St. Joseph, patron saint of finding a home, pray for us.

-- 4 --

Tuesday I was able to cross a major item off my to-do-in-my-nonexistent-spare-time list. (By the way, how do you like all my hyphenations today?) I had The Baby's picture taken. The other three had their pictures taken at the hospital, when they were three months old, when they turned one, and then formal pictures at eighteen months. My Gramma has 16x20 portraits of each of her three children at eighteen months of age hanging over her couch. My Mom has 16x20 portraits of my three siblings and me hanging on the wall in the master bedroom. I have 16x20 portraits of my three oldest children, unframed, in a box in the basement. Hmmm ... The Baby is twenty months old and hasn't had her picture taken by a photographer other than mom since she was two weeks old. You can see my problem. With the move and starting school and finding a photographer ... anyway ... it's done! She didn't show her dimples, but we'll see how they turned out in a couple of weeks.

St. Veronica, patron saint of photographers, pray for us.

Tuesday we also attended a new parishioners dinner at our new parish. And a great parish full of wonderful people it is. We are so blessed.

-- 5 --

Wednesday was an exciting day for The Boy. He had his first guitar lesson. My little man LOVES music -- he likes to sing and play his harmonica and xylophone and mess around on the guitar he got for his birthday last year. He has been eager to learn to "really" play something and he's been asking about guitar lessons for over a year. I contacted the music department at the University and found a senior music education major who is willing to come over to our house once a week and give The Boy lessons.

St. Cecilia, patron saint of music, pray for us.

-- 6 --

Thursday the girls and I took our first steps toward bringing Irish dance to this German city. We met with the director of a local dance studio. She would love to offer Irish dance. I'm going to try and help her find a certified teacher. This would certainly make things easier for me. The Girls love to dance and want to continue, but driving back to the Twin Cities for private lessons ... not my favorite thing to do every four to six weeks. Dance has also always been the girls social network too, so it would be good to have that opportunity again.

St. Vitus, patron saint of dancers, pray for us.

-- 7 --

And that brings us to Friday again. You know, it's amazing to me where God has brought me. Last year at this time, I was shuddering over the possibility of moving to Bismarck, North Dakota. I can't tell you how many hours I spent crying in the shower, away from my children's questioning looks and not wanting to discourage my DH. But, once again, God knew what was best for us. You'd think I would have learned this by now. Trust, trust, trust! And that's what I'm still working on. I trust that I will know when it's the right time to quit my job. I trust that things will slow down (a little) and we'll have more of a family life when the dissertation is done. I trust that I won't always have to run errands on Sundays. I trust that we will find the house that God has waiting for us, whether in the city or in the country.

And I am grateful. I am grateful for all that I have been given. I am grateful for my faith. I am grateful for the support and encouragement I get from you, my blog friends. I am grateful for my friends in real life -- old and new. I am grateful for my husband's perseverance on his dissertation. I am grateful for his new job and that I get to share in the exciting things happening at the University of Mary. And I am especially grateful for my children and the opportunity I have to spend hours with them each and every day, watching them grow and learn and love.

All you holy men and women, pray for us!

Have a good weekend!

And check out more quick takes at Conversion Diary.