Hittin' The Home School In 2013!

OK, so I'm posting the "after" picture first...Don't you love before and after pictures?

As a Mom and Teacher, I sure do!

It helps me keep on believing that mountains can be moved:)

Take a lookie at the school room "before" our cleaning project:

*YUCK*

What a MESS!

Embarrassing, right?

It took us all day today to hit it...2 big, black, trash bags and 2 grocery bags full-of-trash-later...

Ahhhh, we ALL feel much better!

Now we can safely hit the books on Monday and be happy in our new, tidy, spaces:)

Dear Dad is working a 4 day stretch, bless his heart, so the rest of us are working too, in his honor.  My lesson plans are next on the list, a long with bedroom tidies and getting laundry done.  It's always nice to start a new learning period feeling fresh and on top of things, even if it's short lived sometimes!

It was fun to pull out this photo of Princess today on the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.  

She worked hard on this project, that fit into the Colonial period that we were studying this past Fall.  
*A free packet from the Sisters of Charity is a valuable and fun resource for kids!* She got to present her project to a group of other home schoolers...It was great practice standing up in front of a group and speaking. (Which she doesn't like to do;)

Moments like this help me to appreciate our home schooling. Being able to weave our faith through our studies is always a main goal...Sharing it with others was an added bonus!  

I rarely bring up moments like this in fear of being bragidocious. Did I just make up a word? The point is that we all need inspiration to keep us going.  Being called to home school is not always easy for me.  Speaking for myself, it's far from easy.  For heaven's sakes, being called to motherhood and being open to life certainly isn't a piece of cake. But as most of us know, God doesn't call us to easy.  He calls us to things that are challenging, things that will strengthen our souls, things that draw us closer to Him. 
No cross, no crown.

Speaking of crosses, I am joining in prayer, with many others, for some Mamas who are bearing theirs right now. I was thinking about what an honor it is to pray for Kelly from the Careless Catholic and Jennifer Fulwiler from The Conversion Diary who are courageously living their faith, the gospel of life, and suffering for it.  Jessica has a beautiful prayer posted for both ladies and all pregnant Moms.  If you follow Kelly, Barbara is organizing some CARE for her.  I don't know either of them in real life but I have gotten to know Kelly from our contributions at Catholic Cuisine, as well as her inspiring blog about her family.  
I am storming the heavens! 
(Including all of my other expectant friends here in the bloggy world and beyond:)
Speaking of crowns...

We are looking forward to our annual Royal Epiphany Celebration.  We will be celebrating on Monday since Rod will be on duty until then.  We I am especially looking forward to receiving new patron saints:)  It will be a nice way to end our first day back to school!
+Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go+

Catholic 12 Days Of Christmas (Day 11 & 12)

~A clean school room in honor of Mother Seton~

It's back to school around here!

These are the last plans for the final days of Christmas as we get back "to work."

Note: I created a Catholic 12 days of Christmas page on our blog sidebar that lists all 12 days in one spot:)  I know that I will need it for future reference!

Day 11 (January 4)

Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Read and Reflect on the life of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.  She is an important saint for all Americans being the first American-born canonized saint.  After the death of her husband, she continued to raise their 5 children and became a nun while doing it!  Numb with grief, she marched on to found many Catholic schools, orphanages and the American Sisters of Charity.  She holds a special place in my heart as the Patron Saint of Widows and those who have lost children. (She later lost 2 children to tuberculosis) Read the Gospel (John 1:35-42) and reflect on following Jesus.


Reflection: Would we be ready to change our plans for Jesus?  Would we drop what we are doing as readily as both the apostle Andrew, Simon and even Mother Seton?  I am in awe of this when I reflect on my own widowhood and how paralyzed I was at the time.  I pray that I will have the strength and grace to handle future trials with deeper trust and hope in the Lord.


Respond:  In preparation for the Epiphany and the arrival of the Magi to honor Jesus, we are cleaning house!  (Not taking down our decorations quite yet, but cleaning and organizing the clutter:)  As a special honor to Mother Seton, we hit our very MESSY school room this week!

Here are the "before" photos...

One VERY cluttered desk!

After a full day of work, we are tidy again and ready to hit the books!

Our pre-schooler wanted to start back "to work" today!  Every child is different but this one LOVES her work books.

(AND she was the only one with an eager spirit)

The rest of us will start back to school on Tuesday.

Pray Psalm 23, known to be Mother Seton's favorite prayer, and/OR this prayer:

Prayer by Mother Seton

O Father, the first rule of our dear Saviour's life 
was to do Your Will. 
Let His Will of the present moment 
be the first rule of our daily life and work, 
with no other desire 
but for its most full and complete accomplishment. 
Help us to follow it faithfully, 
so that doing what You wish 
we will be pleasing to You.

Day 12 (January 5th)

Last of the 12 days of Christmas

Feast of St. John Neumann

Read and Reflect on the life of St. John Neumann who came as a missionary to 

America. He ministered to American Catholics when there was an extreme shortage. 

(Only 36 priests to serve over 200,000 Catholics) Discuss how it must have felt for 

John to be uncomfortable as he lived in poverty to serve the poor...How can we get

"uncomfortable" to serve those that Jesus calls us to? In what ways can we stretch 

ourselves from our comfort zone?

What have we learned the most from these 12 days of 

Christmas?

Respond:  We will be planning for our Epiphany Royal Celebration to celebrate on 

Sunday.  

It will take a bit of organizing to gather what we need... We will pretty much 

following the same menu and plan as last year. Our Firefighter Dad will be on duty

through the weekend, until then, so we will look forward to him coming home:)

Prayer for the Epiphany of the Lord:

Dear Jesus, as You led the Three Kings to You by the light of a star, 

Please draw us ever closer to You by the light of Faith. 

Help us to desire You as ardently as they did. 

Give us the grace to overcome all the obstacles that keep us far from You. 

May we, like them, have something to give You when we appear before You. 

Mary, Our Mother, help us to know Your Son. 

Amen.

Wishing everyone a glorious and royal celebration!