Thankful Thursday

What a wonderful opportunity to post the things we are thankful for during our week at Thankful Thursday.  Here is my list:

- The nicer weather for a few days here in Maryland so that my son and our new puppy and I enjoyed a walk together.

- The father-daughter dance at my daughter's Catholic school.

- The Blue and Gold dinner for my son's cub scout pack.

- The Valentine's candy a sent to my two college sons (even though it is late).

- The energy to clean and organize a little the other day.

- A potential new doctor.

- 2% milk - it gives me energy and I think I need the Vitamin D for my bones.

- The authentic history and theology my girls are learning at school.

Thankful Thursday

I am linking up with Thankful Thursday this week.  Just click on the link to participate. I am thankful for:

- Teaching my son how important our economy is with this systems view

- The library books we have this week to write about

- The visit from my college son this past weekend and the discussion we had about his difficult delivery...he gave me a big hug

- The two birth certificates I ordered for my two oldest sons...otherwise they would not have one

- Eating smaller meals earlier in the day for Lent and health

- Special food for our new puppy...she's happier and calmer

- The medicine for our puppy that cleared her round worm up

- Popcorn for my son...I think he eats ten times a day and he's still skinny as anything

- The medicine that helps me with RLS

Sabbath Moments

I am participating in Sabbath Moments today.  Here are some of my Sabbath Moments:

1)  Attending Mass and a talk on the power of God's Word with my hubby on a Saturday morning with Fr. Francis Martin.  He also has a website and has been on EWTN.  A great theologian and intellectual.

2)  Cuddling with my son and puppy last night while watching the movie "Ice Age."  (We fell asleep on the couch afterwards.)

3)  Saying the rosary today with my family...always a Sabbath moment.

My Homeschool Week

Two Daughters on Swim Team

My Awesome Tiger Scout


I am participating in The Homeschool Mothers Journal this week.  Here is a recap of my week.

In my Life this Week.....I am so proud of my swimmers and scout this year.  As a gift to them we just got a new puppy.  She is adorable and her name is Bella.  It is both a challenge and a joy to see my six year old interact with our new puppy.  At one point, I was so busy that I almost forgot an important appointment.  Bella is sometimes like having another child.  New puppies sure keep one busy.  My son spends a good part of his days laughing and playing with Bella.  I love to see and hear his laughter!!!

Welcome Bella!

In our Homeschool Week.....

Pledge, Devotion, and Prayers: 1) A child conquers evil with good. (Romans 12:21); A child learns a valuable lesson from a bad behavior. (Romans 16:19); A child learns to pray for others who make fun of her. (Matt 5:44-45); Kids return a lost wallet. (Phil 2:15); A child learns not to judge others because of differences. (1 Peter 2:1); Twins go through surgery for a kidney transplant and are not afraid. (1 Cor 15:57); Mysteries and one decade of the rosary every day.

Reading:  Finished William Bradford Pilgrim Boy by Bradford Smith.  This was an excellent book and I highly recommend it to any young elementary age student.  We even made connections to a previous novel about the Mayflower.

Religion - Lent, Holy Week, Easter preparations:

- Visual of the liturgical calendar which shows 40 days of Lent from Ash Wednesday through Holy Thursday and Holy Week to Easter Sunday. 

- Compared Easter representing 'New Life' to visual of Crucifixion by artist Emil Parrag

- Spoke about and observed changes at Mass:
   1) Purple plain linens
   2) A few less songs
   3) No Alleluia
   4) No flowers on Alter
   5) Simple decorations

*This is symbolic for Christ's suffering in the desert 40 days.

- Pages 161-172 in workbook referencing Psalm 1:3 and John 13:1-15

NOL Journal Writing and Art:
- Read Three Bags Full by Ragnhold Scamell
- Drew and colored journal picture
- Completed Topic sentence then rest of paragraph for draft
- Edited paragraph
- Completed Final copy and referenced 1 Sam 16:7

NOL Co-op Class:
- Read What is Love? by Robbie Marantz for VALENTINES DAY
- Drew, glued, and colored journal picture
- Completed Topic sentence and referenced 1 Cor 13

English:  More Adjectives

Math:  Working with tens and hundreds, graphs, money, regrouping, speed drills, word problems, measuring, shapes, greater/less than, patterns, time, fact families, order, adding 3 digits

Geography:  Used Atlas for Climate Map of U.S. to make our own climate map and key

Science:  Forces and Motion
- Pushes and Pulls
- Magnets
- Measuring Motion
   * Made a ramp and measured the distance toy car traveled
- Friction

History:  The Early Greeks
- The Mycenaeans
- The Greek Dark Ages
   * Painted Greek vase, map work, oral questions, and quiz

Helpful Homeschooling Tips/Advice.....If you are not feeling well, it is helpful to stay home and take things slow.

I am inspired by.....my daughters dedication to their education and sport, a devout priest we spoke with recently, and my college son who visited us with his girlfriend yesterday.

Places we're going and people we're seeing.....A session for the eighth graders to have interviews for a prestigious award at their Catholic school.  We are always impressed with the speakers.  One alumni spoke who had just finished college and pointed to the virtues in their Catholic high school as guiding her through college and giving her hope for the future.  She realized that this high school is what kept her grounded and virtuous during her college years.  This is so good for parents to hear.  The principal of the school also gives very philosophical and heart warming speeches.  It is quite awesome.

I'm grateful for.....God letting me live until I'm 50 years old on this earth and for all the loving children I meet and teach.

Things I'm working on.....CCD class went very well when we talked about Lent.  Nevertheless, there was so much excitement that no body raised their hands enough to speak.  Therefore, I'm going to create a chart to reward all the students with stickers when they raise their hands to speak.

I'm praying for.....Some friends and my two oldest college sons and all the adults in the world.

Hubby is cooking.....fish, shrimp, and crab cakes

My favorite thing this week.....Doing our morning devotion and prayers with a cuddly new puppy to snuggle with while we pray.

Photos to share.....

Some science ideas and teaching the young simple economics with a systems view.

Thankful Thursday

I am participating in Thankful Thursday today.  What a wonderful way to remember ones gratitude to God for the week.  I am thankful for:

- The Valentine celebration for my NOL Journal Writing class (with yummy ice cream cake)

- Quiet time at McDonald's with a coffee, some books and writing materials

- Attending the VERITAS celebration my eighth grader applied for at her school

- Preparing my CCD (first graders) for Lent

- The Father Daughter dance for my middle schooler

- The swim meet my sixteen year old daughter was chosen to attend this weekend in Richmond, VA

- Beginning to teach my first grader about the economy using a systems view

- The box of chocolate my hubby gave me for Valentines Day today

Commentary on Article

I came across this article at Catholics United for the Faith website and wanted to take a closer look at the meaning behind some of the statements.  Let me know if I'm jumping the gun or they are beating around the bush or neither.

http://www.cuf.org/2013/01/the-art-of-living-whose-rights-the-paradox-of-moral-relativism/

The title is The Art of Living:  Whose Rights?  The Paradox of Moral Relativism

The Holy Cross is a great paradox that good Christians embrace every day.  The Holy Cross is the sign of sacrificial love that can foster freedom in the ART OF LIVING while fulfilling our purpose in life to KNOW, LOVE, and SERVE the Lord. 

The purpose of a knife is to cut our food into bite sizes in order to eat.  Why would someone choose a spoon when they need a knife?  They would not be able to eat at all.  In fact, they would become extremely burdened in the process of trying to cut their meat with a spoon.  So why would a Christian bargain with morality when morality points to the good actions we can take in fulfilling our purpose in life? 

It is apparent that relativists want to suppress morality but this article some how...seems to suggest there is a way to bargain with them.  Maybe it comes from hope in a change of heart or prayers.  Nevertheless, I feel there is too much dependence on immoral leaders posed by some of the statements or questions in this article.  Therefore, if you gain any insight from my analysis...please share.

To begin, the article poses a question:  "Whose rights are protected in a relativistic culture?"  If the answer isn't learned by now, many are being deceived.  The rights of individuals who put morality up for a vote are the ones whose rights are protected because they don't have to follow a higher order or have faith in God.  It becomes obvious that they have a deep hatred for true wisdom which is knowledge in relation to the God of Israel.  The Christian becomes the enemy precisely because they do not believe morality should be put up for a vote.  It is the Christian who gets blamed for the ills that happen in society by the sheer power of immoral people put into the highest leadership roles.  They claim the Christian is intolerant when it comes to destructive behavior/sin but they assign a different title to the sin...like marriage equality, etc. to justify their claims.  They also attempt to make past ills of society resurface (slavery, racism) by describing behaviors that have nothing to do with the past ill.  As long as the attempt suppresses Christian morality...than it is a right to elevate the unjust claim into the consciousness of society.

The article answers this question with many interesting questions. The first paragraph reads... "It is precisely on this point that relativistic societies face a serious dilemma: How does a community arbitrate various individuals' competing interests?  There is much rhetoric in our modern world about protecting human rights and every individual's freedom, but what if one person or group wants to do something that is directly opposed to someone else's values or interests? How does a society decide whose "right" or whose "freedom of choice" will be protected?"

The relativistic society does not face a dilemma but faces destruction and injustice when morality and freedom are shut out.  Therefore, immoral leaders must be prevented...not bargained with to prevail over...but taught the right approach to solve problems in order to serve justice.  It is the Christian who is forced to face a dilemma from their freedoms being denied them little by little.  It is a dilemma to the Christian's art of living (title) not a dilemma to the relativist.  In fact, most of them take joy in seeing the Christian suppressed.  The immoral leader is not concerned with the destruction and injustice he/she causes because it doesn't affect them...at first.

"How does a community arbitrate various individuals' competing interests?"  The answer is...The community is prevented from making decisions and the Christian is oppressed when power is taken away from the citizenry according to the arbitrating immoral leaders.  It is the immoral leaders who arbitrate various individuals' competing interests...always suppressing those who favor morality.

"How does a society decide whose "right" or whose "freedom of choice" will be protected?"  They don't decide because the tyrannical immoral leaders will decide for them.

The article states..."How does a relativistic society determine whose freedom of choice will be safeguarded and whose will be limited?"  EASY - those who will be limited are the ones who believe in morality...the way a good Christian does.  "In a culture that has no reference to a common good - that has no shared vision about the good life for man - these questions are not resolved in any fair way."  RIGHT - The immorality will spread a common apathy toward any morality or even go as far as spread a common evil.

The article states...They remain constantly up for debate and completely up for grabs."  WRONG - debate is discontinued as the immoral leaders dictate their discriminatory views towards Christian morality to us.  Christian morality has no place in a relativistic society because it is perceived as a constraint.  How can one be so naïve to believe debate continues in a relativistic society?  That's my question!  One must be able to see the effort beginning to rear its ugly head to attack our freedom of speech.  Otherwise, one should not be influencing others that wait on debates without morality as a serious contender.  Decisive moral action should be taken into consideration before morality is shut down.

The article states..."In the end, the very determination of what a human right is and whose rights are safeguarded is completely arbitrary."  It is not arbitrary to a tyrannical immoral leader as he/she knows his/her goal is to suppress morality.  What they believe in their hearts and what they say out loud are apples and oranges at times.   This is all to deceive the public into accepting their false claims in the initial stages of the deception.  Once they have convinced the public to believe their spin on matters of importance, our rights will slowly erode away.

True human rights will not be protected because what will be arbitrary in the beginning is the decision itself...not the right.  Immoral leaders know they don't want good citizens to have rights.  Their ruling decisions will always confuse, burden, and suppress the good which our individual rights foster.  The good is what must come before the right and immoral leaders will not have this vision for justice.  Arbitrary means selected at random and without good reason.  Therefore, debates will be arbitrarily chosen and debates that serve justice will never see the light of day. 

The article says - Vatican II states..."Man finds himself when he makes his life a sincere gift to others."  YES - man "makes his life" not the government "makes his life."  It is largely his own choice and own work to give to others.  The government causes too much waste with spending.  Immoral leaders want to claim helping or giving to others for their photo ops.

The article states..."When, for example, a man gives liberally to the poor, he realizes a deeper fulfillment in life as he grows in sacrificial generosity.  The sacrifice is not just good for the poor people he serves; it is good for him as well."  It is the man HIMSELF that gives and serves...not the government to do it for him.  We have a wonderful safety net but people are beginning to take advantage of it.

These are just some of my thoughts.  The article makes one think...and maybe it is just supposed to do this.  If you have any insight on it, please feel free to share...no pressure though.

Thankful Thursday

I am participating in Thankful Thursday at Jenni's blog today.  Here are some of the items I am thankful for this week:

- Completing our Science lessons on how matter changes along with some experiments

Which ice cube will melt faster?

Air takes up space

Salt in the water reappears after some water evaporates

- My hubby who drove the girls to school today for me because of bad weather here in Maryland

- Our new puppy

- Discovering that our new puppy has round worm so we can give her medicine

- My hubby who said he will make a volcano with my son this weekend for his history project

- Completing our Journal entry for The Empty Pot

- Learning about adjectives in English

- My first grader working with adding and subtracting tens successfully

- Learning how the Lord loves children at CCD

- My college son possibly coming to visit this weekend

- The flowers and balloons I was able to send a family going through a difficult time

- Discovering potatoes to cook for dinner -  before they go bad

- My wrist brace for Carpel Tunnel while I cut potatoes