St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
"I will give to you the keys of the kingdom....."
"And I will put them in my mouth!"
St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Catholic Book Review (sort-of): Last Child in the Woods
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
So the second installation of my book reviews is not necessarily written by a Catholic author or written to a Catholic audience, but I believe it's message is appropriate for the faithful. The book is called "Last Child in the Woods (saving our children from nature-deficit disorder) by the 2008 Audubon Medal winner Richard Louv.
The entire premise of the book is that in modern times, children spend way too much time indoors being entertained by electronics, tv, video games, and the like, and that this over-reliance on these things is stunting our childrens' imagination and ability to think creatively. This is a phenomenon that I completely agree with and hope that I would be able to encourage Abigail to spend as much time outside as possible, although I would also argue that there is an appropriate place and time for household play as well. This is illustrated by Louv when he states, "The problem with computers isn't computers--they're just tools; the problem is that overdependence of them displaces other sources of education, from arts to nature."
This is a book that I finished with some difficulty. Much of the book reads like a manuscript that just summarizes Study X or Study Y from some highly unique environment where children are given the opportunity to have free play in a large field at school, or is about a town that spends crazy money planting gardens or whatnot. It was somewhat annoying to read about all these studies and it left me wondering if Mr. Louv did not just create an elaborate meta-analysis of nature play. Part of my cynicism must be due to the amount of scientific research I read in grad school and the over-riding sense of "research never proves anything"/"there are always limitations in research".
Louv does a good job of organizing the text, however. He begins by describing the problem, offers some reasons as to why it is a problem, proposes some solutions, then illustrates what could be in store if the solutions are carried out. Then, at the very end, he lists, "100 Actions We Can Take" which are practical, everyday solutions to the problem of nature-deficit disorder.
Overall, I am glad that I read this book. Although I pretty much agreed with most of what was written, the practical application section was very interesting. I do not know if I would recommend this book to someone who is already planning on immersing their kids in nature and the outdoors, but it certainly would help convince someone who is on the fence, or fuel the fire of activists for the cause.
St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
You Know You're Catholic When
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
Your golf balls are marked with a monogrammatic cross :)
St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Your golf balls are marked with a monogrammatic cross :)
St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Mise en Place
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Mise en place is a French term that cooks use to describe the preparation of ingredients prior to use in recipes. Common tasks would include cutting up vegetables, preparing sauces, or breaking down certain cuts of meat.
One of the sacrifices that Diana and I have found it necessary to make is the amount of times that we eat out per month. The amount of income that we would devote to this each month was too high and we are learning that we must change this practice.
Now that we are settled in with Abigail and she is starting to put herself to sleep after minimal fussing, Diana has found it easier to get housework accomplished. One of the greatest things that she is able to do now (and God bless her for it!) is plan meals up to 2 weeks ahead and stick to that menu through the week. We were successfully able to buy groceries and, surprisingly enough, only eat the meals we planned, for the two weeks surrounding Abigails baptism. The feeling that I get knowing that the income I provide is going towards healthy and wholesome meals is very encouraging.
The most interesting thing about this is that the amount of mise en place type activities that occur is phenomenal. Below is a sampling of the changes that we have made to accomodate more home cooked meals (saves a bunch of money too!):
-Buying stalks of celery, bags of whole carrots, and whole big tomatoes and cutting them into salad topping size
-Making homemade bread for sandwiches; homemade pizza dough; homemade breadbowls for soup
-Buying a block of mozzarella cheese and shredding it as opposed to buying preshredded cheese
-Buying bulk items such as tuna and meatballs as appropriate
-Making cookies instead of buying them
We are also making a desparate attempt to eat all of the food in our house before we make large scale grocery trips. For example, we made a large grocery trip on 5/6/09 and did not need to make another until this past Monday. I will say that these changes are made much easier with our purchase of a food processor, and the presence of a nice breadmaker and the stand mixer that we recieved as gifts. Also, Diana has been extra dilligent about clipping and using coupons to save a few extra coins here and there.
As I type, my extraordinary wife is stirring some homemade broccoli cheese soup that we are going to enjoy in the aforementioned breadbowls. I am so thankful for Diana and the work that she has done to "make the home".
St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Mise en place is a French term that cooks use to describe the preparation of ingredients prior to use in recipes. Common tasks would include cutting up vegetables, preparing sauces, or breaking down certain cuts of meat.
One of the sacrifices that Diana and I have found it necessary to make is the amount of times that we eat out per month. The amount of income that we would devote to this each month was too high and we are learning that we must change this practice.
Now that we are settled in with Abigail and she is starting to put herself to sleep after minimal fussing, Diana has found it easier to get housework accomplished. One of the greatest things that she is able to do now (and God bless her for it!) is plan meals up to 2 weeks ahead and stick to that menu through the week. We were successfully able to buy groceries and, surprisingly enough, only eat the meals we planned, for the two weeks surrounding Abigails baptism. The feeling that I get knowing that the income I provide is going towards healthy and wholesome meals is very encouraging.
The most interesting thing about this is that the amount of mise en place type activities that occur is phenomenal. Below is a sampling of the changes that we have made to accomodate more home cooked meals (saves a bunch of money too!):
-Buying stalks of celery, bags of whole carrots, and whole big tomatoes and cutting them into salad topping size
-Making homemade bread for sandwiches; homemade pizza dough; homemade breadbowls for soup
-Buying a block of mozzarella cheese and shredding it as opposed to buying preshredded cheese
-Buying bulk items such as tuna and meatballs as appropriate
-Making cookies instead of buying them
We are also making a desparate attempt to eat all of the food in our house before we make large scale grocery trips. For example, we made a large grocery trip on 5/6/09 and did not need to make another until this past Monday. I will say that these changes are made much easier with our purchase of a food processor, and the presence of a nice breadmaker and the stand mixer that we recieved as gifts. Also, Diana has been extra dilligent about clipping and using coupons to save a few extra coins here and there.
As I type, my extraordinary wife is stirring some homemade broccoli cheese soup that we are going to enjoy in the aforementioned breadbowls. I am so thankful for Diana and the work that she has done to "make the home".
St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Crib and Crying
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
We might be crazy.
Just yesterday, Abigail spent her first full night in her crib. She looked so tiny in it but she slept just fine with no abnormal sleep pattern.
So we decided to just dive straight into the deep end without blowing bubbles in the bucket first. Tonight she just finished about a half hour (the longest 34 minutes of our lives if you ask Diana) of wailing in two 15 minute sessions by falling asleep (we think, both of us are too scared to go in there and see) all on her own!
Hopefully tomorrow night will begin her alleged slow but steady decline in time before she goes to sleep herself!
St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
We might be crazy.
Just yesterday, Abigail spent her first full night in her crib. She looked so tiny in it but she slept just fine with no abnormal sleep pattern.
So we decided to just dive straight into the deep end without blowing bubbles in the bucket first. Tonight she just finished about a half hour (the longest 34 minutes of our lives if you ask Diana) of wailing in two 15 minute sessions by falling asleep (we think, both of us are too scared to go in there and see) all on her own!
Hopefully tomorrow night will begin her alleged slow but steady decline in time before she goes to sleep herself!
St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Abigail firsts!
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Abigail has had quite the 24 hours.
On Fridays at St. Mark, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed from after the 7AM mass until benediction before the 9AM mass on Saturday. We were having a lazy afternoon so I decided we should go take Abigail to visit Jesus. Diana and I were both a bit unsure how she would behave in the chapel. To our surprise, she did quite well; she even talked a bit in her "Ah-oooo's" and "Eh's" and "Gaa-O's". It was pretty neat to think that Abigail could be talking to Jesus in her own personal way! Unfortunately, though, we were only able to stay for about a half hour before she started getting fussy (we were on the back end of her 2-3 hour block of nursing).
Also last night, we are pretty sure that Abigail slept for a continuous 7 hours. She nursed at around 8:30PM and did not nurse again until 5:30PM! We are hoping that our efforts to keep her "bedtime" consistent will continue to pay off like this!
St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Abigail has had quite the 24 hours.
On Fridays at St. Mark, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed from after the 7AM mass until benediction before the 9AM mass on Saturday. We were having a lazy afternoon so I decided we should go take Abigail to visit Jesus. Diana and I were both a bit unsure how she would behave in the chapel. To our surprise, she did quite well; she even talked a bit in her "Ah-oooo's" and "Eh's" and "Gaa-O's". It was pretty neat to think that Abigail could be talking to Jesus in her own personal way! Unfortunately, though, we were only able to stay for about a half hour before she started getting fussy (we were on the back end of her 2-3 hour block of nursing).
Also last night, we are pretty sure that Abigail slept for a continuous 7 hours. She nursed at around 8:30PM and did not nurse again until 5:30PM! We are hoping that our efforts to keep her "bedtime" consistent will continue to pay off like this!
St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Man Chores #3: Vegetable Planter Box
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
Sometimes I surprise even myself.
For the past few years Diana has maintained some simple vegetable plants on her back porch. I believe she started out with just tomatoes, then added bell peppers last year. These plants have been very successful with the intense morning sun that they get on our back porch.
This year, Diana and I brainstormed a better way to plant these veggies, as the pots just did not seem big enough and not the most effective way to grow these plants. Our solution was a planter box that would be deep and wide enough to plant several plants and fit on our back porch as well.
Following a gracious gift of plywood and lumber from my Dad, I put the following together:
The materials
The walls and supports are cut
The frame put together
All settled in on the back porch!
Sometimes I surprise even myself.
For the past few years Diana has maintained some simple vegetable plants on her back porch. I believe she started out with just tomatoes, then added bell peppers last year. These plants have been very successful with the intense morning sun that they get on our back porch.
This year, Diana and I brainstormed a better way to plant these veggies, as the pots just did not seem big enough and not the most effective way to grow these plants. Our solution was a planter box that would be deep and wide enough to plant several plants and fit on our back porch as well.
Following a gracious gift of plywood and lumber from my Dad, I put the following together:
The materials
The walls and supports are cut
The frame put together
All settled in on the back porch!I used only my battery powered circular saw, drill, and some decking screws. The dimensions of the box are 60"x14"x16" which we plan on filling with dirt and planting 3 cherry tomato plants and two red bell pepper plants. Also, we have a mint plant, 2 zucchini plants, and several flowers that are going to be put into pots to finish the ensemble. Diana is presently working on planting everything.
It was kind of a cool moment in the street when I was putting everything together and it actually felt sturdy! If I had to do it over again, I would have cut the plywood in more daylight. As it were, I had to cut it later in the evening and my lines were not as dark as I would have liked and the longer cuts got a bit crooked, but overall everything fit together pretty well.
Hopefully this is the first of many things I will be able to build for the family. I already have plans on building a set of wooden blocks for Abigail to play with, and hopefully, a playground set for our future backyard!
I will update when everything is planted.
St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
It was kind of a cool moment in the street when I was putting everything together and it actually felt sturdy! If I had to do it over again, I would have cut the plywood in more daylight. As it were, I had to cut it later in the evening and my lines were not as dark as I would have liked and the longer cuts got a bit crooked, but overall everything fit together pretty well.
Hopefully this is the first of many things I will be able to build for the family. I already have plans on building a set of wooden blocks for Abigail to play with, and hopefully, a playground set for our future backyard!
I will update when everything is planted.
St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!
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