Clay Buttons

Most of the buttons are made with jump rings, but the green/red rose has two holes.  These buttons are going to be sold at the Mary's Shelter fundraiser in downtown Fredericksburg.

Here's something new for me- making buttons! I was in need of some new buttons for my summer dress and one button for a toy that lost it's button.  After looking up some online tutorials, I set to work using some canes I had already made.  These buttons were super easy and would be a fun activity for older kids too. 

You wouldn't have to use canes with designs in them. You could just make buttons of different colors swirled together or put polka dots on them- etc. 

Just in case you're wondering, these polymer clay buttons don't get damaged when put in washing and drying machines. This dress was washed with the buttons on it and came out just fine.

Martha Was a Saint After All

Before morning prayer, my husband says,"We should go to Mass today."
We try to go to morning Mass the days he has off, but today all I could think about was how much housework I needed to get done.

"No, I can't. I have so much to do. I have to [insert everything imaginable household chore]."

"Ok, Martha," he said snickering.

I'm thinking: Martha Stewart? What a compliment! He thinks I run a super organized house.  Oh wait, he's calling me that woman who had no time for Jesus because all she could think about was all the work that needed to be done. How dare he!!

I gave him a "I am not amused" look and the silent treatment as I opened up the Magnificat prayer book for our morning prayers.

"Oh, common. It was just a joke!" He says.

He continues to apologize as I open up the prayers for today and see right under today's date whose feast day it is. Martha. It's Martha's feast day!  We couldn't believe it!  After a good laugh, he said, "Ok now we have to go to Mass!"  Any one of the other 364 other days out of the year, this Martha thing wouldn't have worked, but today, there was no getting around it.  I had to stop everything and go to Jesus.

The wonderful thing about Saint Martha is, that in the end, she got it all figured out.  She confessed that Jesus was the son of God and that he can do anything, even raise her dead brother, Lazarus from the dead.  She grew in great faith and love; and she became a saint! Do I think she became a saint because she found a way to get out of all her housework? NO.  I think she became a saint because she learned how put Christ in her work and make her work a prayer.  She also learned when to stop and be still and let God be the only thing in her life. 

As we read though the psalm for the day, it became clear that all those chores can become my idol when I put them first and put God last.  When I give all my time, my attention and even my obedience to my work (or anything or anyone for that matter), I've made that my golden calf.

Pagan idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths but cannot speak;
they have eyes but cannot see

They have ears but cannot hear;
there is never a breath on their lips 
Their makers will come to be like them
and so will all who trust in them!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
(Psalm 135)

By contrast, when my work becomes a service to God and done of out love for God and my family, it can lead me to heaven.  Sometimes I think, when I get all this stuff done with this, then I can pray to God.  I tend to think holiness is something that can only be achieved when one is spending copious amounts of time in prayer and solitude.  I've even had the passing thought that once my children are grown, I'll have time for real holiness! After all, who do you see at daily Mass: old people who have LOTS of time on their hands. Now I can see the error in my ways.

Give her a reward for her labors,/ and let her works praise her at the city gates. (Prv 31: 31)

Now is the time for real holiness; when I have the face of Christ x4 in front of me every day and many opportunities to offer up little sacrifices throughout the day.

So, I'm praying today:

O Lord our God, by the intersession of Saint Martha, renew my zeal for the tasks you have given me, that I may serve my family and the world around me by the works of faith and love. Amen.

NFP Awareness Week- It's Not Just for Aliens!

I almost missed out on NFP Awareness week. Thank you to Leila @ Little Catholic Bubble, for spreading this good stuff.  Read her post for some very prophetic words from Pope Paul IV about what would happen to our culture if we embraced contraception.  It's all true and so sad what we have become in the name of "convenience".

One of my first posts was about Natural Family Planning that was heavily influenced by the wonderful Dr. Gregory Popcak.  It was entitled, "NFP, Say it Loudly, Say it Proudly."  What I said then, I still day today.  Even if people think you have come from another planet, they should still be aware of this "alternative" lifestyle they are missing out on. 

I won't lie-- practicing Natural Family Planning is really hard at times.  Especially when a women is breastfeeding, her cycle has not come back yet, and there is no way God is calling to them to have another baby at this time! Who cannot deny the convenience of contraception?    However, when it causes couples to take each other for granted, treat each other as objects for one's own gratification and disrupt God's plan in a marriage, how can we not step up try our hardest to make NFP work?  It's a lot of work, sure, but what's at stake, is not frivolous stuff.   It's a human life, a respectful spouse, and communion with God that cannot be found when one says NO to God's plan for their marriage.   How I wish there was a magic button to press when trying to figure out my ambiguous fertility at times, but maybe that's all part of God's plan too.   Dr. Popcak explains in his book, Holy Sex, how periods of abstinence can be fruitful to a marriage.  It agree whole heartily! It has made my husband and I closer than before.  Sometimes periods of abstinence can make a couple feel like their dating again or it can be a chance to grow in a particular virtue, as Dr. Popcak points out.

But just in case you go thinking that NFP will be really hard and allow little time for the marital embrace, this is not the case 90% of the time.  Ask couples who have been doing it all their life.  Sure,  you may end up with more than the average 2 or 3 kids, but you can be sure that it was God's plan all along.   I guess that's probably the biggest hang-up that I get from people when I share the awesomeness of NFP.  They don't want any more kids.  It's hard to get around that except that if they would try asking God what He wants, they might find out that this martian who just landed in front of them is speaking the truth after all.

Disclaimer: The number of kids is irrelevant. I do not cast judgement on how many kids people have and it's only between the husband, wife and God that can know what is best for their family. 

Edible Arrangement- The Reprise

For our 6th anniversary, my husband's parents sent us this lovely edible arrangement. I couldn't bear to through away the pot, so I made another with the left over stuff.

I can't believe how much these things go for- considering I probably spent about $10.00 in fruit that was on sale, and some chocolate.  And it only took about 30 minutes to do.  Although, there is something special about a stranger knocking on your door at odd hours to drop off chocolate covered fruit.  It's kind of exciting!

Liam had fun sticking blueberries with me.

The chocolate dipping did not look half as good as the original. I think I burnt the chocolate in the microwave because it was a little lumpy. It didn't stick on the fruit very well either. But we made it work!

The Only Domesticated Plant That Will Grow in My Yard

There's not much else to say except that if I had to choose one, I'd prefer this one to be the domesticated plant that will grow in my yard.  I love how showy they are. They say LOOK AT ME, I AM GORGEOUS!  Just like my two year old daughter.  When we say, "you're so pretty", she says, "Yeah!"

The Commando Crawl

Jude been doing the commando crawl for a while now, but I've been waiting to take pictures until he gets up on all fours.  I'm not sure this will happen since he is very good at getting around quickly and efficiently on his belly.  I keep telling people I need to put a swiffer pad on his belly because he does such a good job at collecting dirt off my floor.  Gross, but true.

   It's been a challenge to keep every little thing off the floor, but at the same time, I am liking this crawling thing.  He loves being mobile! It keeps him happy for much longer so that mommy can have more time picking up marbles and coins that the other kid leave behind.

He is so happy just to explore and see what he can find behind the toilet. Yes, that's right. He loves to get in the bathroom when Mommy's not looking and get that little white cap off the screw that holds the toilet to the floor. Probably the most disgusting thing and forbidden thing in my house- which is why he make a bee line for it every time the door's open. Gotta love boys!

Monstrance Bead and Jewish Roots of the Eucharist

My monstrance bead is finally done and now I can send out those orders I have been holding on to for Eucharistic rosaries! 

While I was making this bead, I popped in a Lighthouse CD and it was coincidentally, on the Eucharist.  I learned a lot about the Jewish roots of the Eucharist from listening to this CD (three times in a row!).   One interesting fact: at the passover meal, their was no lamb present! If you have ever participated in a Seder meal, you would find this very odd since the lamb is one of the most important parts about the passover meal for the Jews.  I wonder why I have never noticed this before.  The reason for this was that Jesus is the new lamb- sacrificed for us all, and the new sacrificial food is his body and blood in the form of bread and wine.  I bet the twelve apostles were like, "hey, where's the lamb?? Why the bread and wine??" Although, maybe they were used to all of Jesus' radical changes by then.  Knowing the Jewish roots to Christianity is so important to understanding the Faith since Jesus says he did not come to abolish the law (Jewish), but to fulfill it.  If we only know one side of the story (the Christian/Catholic side), we are missing a lot of the "reasons why".

That was just one tiny part of that CD, so if you want to know more, you can get the CD here.  One last thing...Have you ever wondering why Jesus says in the Our Father: Give us this day our daily bread? He says day twice--which is unnecessary. Jesus wouldn't make such a grammatical error on purpose.  It's because of the Greek translation for the word "daily".  Literally, it is translated "super substantial" but we don't have a word in English for it.  Give us the day, our super substantial bread doesn't mean whole wheat vs. white.  I means give us super natural bread!  Try that on for size, my protestant brothers and sisters (in all love and respect).