a great summary

I found the following in the comment section of this blog post, and I had to share it here because it very neatly sums up one of the main pulls of the Catholic Church for me.

"As our country becomes more hostile to Christianity I think we will see two things happen. First, many will come into the Church from the American protestant churches, mostly from the evangelicals. These are good people who really believe, but I don’t think American style protestantism, especially non-denominationalism can survive in a environment that is not basically Christian in nature. American churches not only effect their environment but are also very much effected by it. Thus the slow drift on things like contraception, IVF and even divorce. It is not like these churches want to do this, the problem is more one of culture. Individuals congregations are too small to create an effective culture without insulating themselves from the world. Some churches will try doing just this. Some small fundamentalist churches already do this, but they give up the ability to impact the wider society. We must live in the world without being of the world. This is the reason I am in the church. After my divorce pondered long and hard on the topic of our divorce culture and the way it was impacting our churches. I decided I wanted to find a church that still had a positive culture but wasn’t isolating itself. What a surprise it was to this Church of Christ boy to find the Catholic Church."

-cel

As our society becomes more and more secular, it is nice to have found a place where conservative, traditional values are still appreciated and fought for. The more I learn about the Church, the more blessed I feel to have found her at this time in my life. Now we just have to keep secular society from further infiltrating her and pray for Catholic hearts everywhere to return to our conservative roots.

blog links and a prayer request

Here's a few blog posts that caught my eye in the past few days:

• Pro-life people need to realize what "pro-life" really means.

• If you need anymore evidence that Planned Parenthood is evil, check this out.
  

• Suze Orman, are you kidding me?!
  

There were more, but these really stood out I guess.

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Pray for me today. Amelie is being extra challenging. She is pushing every button. I've already half-spanked her, and I've screamed several times. I don't like this version of me. I want to find something else that works. She's currently in a chair in the dining room facing the corner. She's not happy. She's been in time-out for almost an hour, and I think she's maybe finally ready to obey, although she now insists that she doesn't love me anymore.

Ah, the joys of motherhood.

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Edited to add one more blog post of note. That's it - I'm done for the day!

vaccine warning

Maybe you already knew this, but I certainly didn't. Several vaccines that are given to our children are made using "aborted fetal tissue". I've never thought to ask for an ingredient list before letting my children be vaccinated. I'm pretty sick to my stomach right now. Thankfully, there are some alternative vaccines you can have given instead (although I don't know how easy it is to request a different vaccine brand if your doctor's office carries one of the deplorable ones).

More information here and here. Also, this site better explains what is meant by "aborted fetal tissue" although I don't agree with this person's stance.

And some related news.

The New Depression

I saw this video yesterday and had to share it with you. There is one bad word right at the beginning, so clear any kids out of the room - they probably won't get the references anyway.

Aiden

typical morning

Aiden is really developing his own personality. It's been building over the past few months, but this week has been amazing.

He thinks he can use the computer.









This morning he came in here and enticed Aaron to chase him by using his gibberish talk at Aaron and then running. When Aaron didn't respond, he ran over to him again, gibbered, and ran. It was hilarious.

Later, Aaron was getting dressed to run to the store for some milk. He put on a hat, then decided he didn't want to wear it. What does my little man do? Grabs it and puts it on of course!
I remember thinking with Amelie that 18 months to 2 years was so much fun, and I'm so thankful that I get to experience that again.

NOW, as you can see in some of these pictures, my house is a mess. So it's time to get off of the computer for a while and actually get something done around here. Seeing the disarray in these pictures is a great motivator.

List for the day:

• clean kitchen (including washing dishes, wiping down counters and the table, and sweeping the floor)
• replace litter in litterbox
• work on the boxes of unpacked junk by the couch (yes, we've lived here over a year)
• wash Amelie's clothes (poor child has NO clean shirts)
• hang up clean clothes that are stacked in our room, the living room, and still in the dryer
• vacuum
  
• take kids outside
• Stations of the Cross tonight at 5

Is that too ambitious?

and knitting, and knitting, and knitting...

Kudos to you if you got the Pee Wee reference.

I am dying to learn how to knit. Not that I need another hobby that will get very little of my time, but I've been promising myself since Amelie's first Christmas that I would learn how to knit - if for the sole purpose of knitting her her very own, overly-long stocking. Since then, I've really gotten interested in knitting for my own pleasure. I'd love to knit myself a sweater, my kiddos a cute hat, or a new scarf for whomever.

Can someone teach me, please?

things on my mind

First off, I had a wonderful day! My friend Pamela and her mother (and baby Gianna!) came and spent the day with me. Pamela is my sponsor as I go through the RCIA process, and today's Rite was the first she was able to attend with me. After Mass we ate lunch and then came back to my house and discussed Catholic traditions and issues. Then we headed back to the Cathedral for an awesome service. Bishop Corrada was powerful today, both at Mass and at the afternoon service.

Amelie's also very much on my mind today. She is really testing me and feeling for her limits. I need to be very mindful this week to strike quickly at disobedience, or she is going to be completely out of control. Let me tell you, spanking would be so much easier right now. I have to really make a conscious decision to not do that. She also seems over-sensitive for some reason, so I think some extra attention needs to be dished out.

I'd like to post more, but duty calls so I need to wrap up my computer time for the night. I do want to leave you with this link about Red Envelope Day. I've come across this movement three times now, and I don't want to forget about it! As you're preparing your envelope (or envelopes) to be mailed, please say an extra prayer for the unborn and that hearts across America will change on this issue.