Luck of the Irish GIVEAWAY

It's *almost* St. Patrick's Day, so I will host a giveaway!

(Heehee...that rhymed.  I'm a poet and I don't know it.)

St. Patty's Day 1984

I'm the five year old Irish lassie on the left, and my three year old sister, Maura, is on the right.

Mom, do you see how short her skirt is?  Do you??

Anyway, back to the giveaway.  We Irish people are great hostesses, dontcha know?  Terrible cooks, but we can still put out a spread! 

So for one lucky leprachaun, the following prizes await

(like the gold at the end of the rainbow):

1)

Lovely Liz from Sugarplum Creations has taken her photography and turned it into beautiful cards that you can win:

So elegant!  Like a cup of tea with a scone :)

2)

Just a few weeks ago, I ordered one of Allison's Crinkle Square toys for our wee Alexander to play with, and to nobody's surprise he loved it:

(We went with the monster theme.  It seemed fitting.)

You can win a crinkle square toy and even get to choose your own flannel design.

Go see what else she has in her Etsy shop, she is quite the crafter!

3)

Super talented Melissa is giving away one of her $12 magnetic doll sets like this one:

Tis' St. Patrick himself!

Visit her shop to see which one you would choose!  These are cooler than Finn McCool!

4)

The hilarious Cari is giving away a print from her shop.  This one is my favorite:

When anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees. Maimed, stark and misshapen, but ferociously tenacious.

~Edna O'Brien (Irish writer)

So to enter this giveaway, all you have to do is leave a separate comment for any or all of the following:

1) If you're not already, become a follower of my blog and leave me a comment saying that you are.

2) Visit Allison's shop and tell me which flannel design you would like.

3) Visit Cari's shop and tell me which print you would pick.

4) Visit Melissa's shop and tell me which doll set you like best.

5) Visit Liz's blog and become a follower.

6) Post about my giveaway on your blog or facebook, and come back and tell me you did.

That gives you up to SIX entries! 

The winner will be chosen using a random number generator on March 29th.

Good luck!

Wordless Wednesday: Splish Splash!

Style, Sex & Substance: A Review

Guess what came in the mail on Saturday afternoon?

Guess what was completely devoured by Sunday morning?

Well, this book and six chocolate chip cookies.  

But the cookies are not as worthy of review as this book is.  And if you know my love for all things cookie, then you would see that as the ultimate compliment :)

So without further ado, here's my top ten reasons to go get this book:

10) You just signed up for a weekly Adoration time slot, but are still in that stage of your prayer life where quiet contemplation leads to constant daydreaming, and you're pretty sure that this book counts as "spiritual reading".  

Barbara's chapter on embracing and appreciating culture reinforces my way of thinking as she explains how the use of modern media allows us to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation".  And that is exactly what the authors of this book do, so your spiritual reading can be a bit more entertaining than usual this week!

9) Simcha makes you laugh out loud everyday, and you figure the least you could do is purchase the book in order to help her buy groceries for her multitude of children.  

Plus, her chapter on motherhood contains gems such as "I have nine kids.  You may think that's why I'm writing this chapter on motherhood - because I'm such an expert.  It's true - just as the kid who had to keep repeating third grade is an expert on third grade."  And some deeper revelations like: "When we conceive, gestate, and give birth, we are doing what all women are called to do whether they raise twenty children or none: to be receptive, to be creative, and then, when the time is right, to let go." So very, very true!

8)  You have just about had it with the overflowing laundry, dishes, and trash cans in your house.  You start wondering exactly how you are supposed to find prayer time in the middle of the chaos, when you come across Karen's chapter.   

She describes many concrete examples of how to live a holy life in the midst of real, everyday life.  She says "When my second daughter was born, I thought I'd never pray again.  Or shower.  Eventually I combined the two."  What great and practical advice she gives!

7) Beyonce's song All the Single Ladies, is not just an awesome dance tune, it's your state in life at the moment.  Good news, Anna has got you covered!   And her chapter is not just for those discerning their future vocations.  Even for those of us that have already been living out our vocation can find great advice like "There are so many times I've questioned why things were happening the way they were, and then later I would look back and see how God's hand was working.  I often have to remind myself to trust God.  His plans are always better than mine."

6)  That fashionable dress that once hung from your womanly frame now hangs at the back of your closet.  You struggle with the desire to be fit and healthy, but feel guilty that your role as wife and mother might suffer as a result.  

Hallie talks about balancing all these things in her chapter, Style: Balance, Beauty and You.  She writes "If you're tempted to shy away from tending to your needs, remember that, ultimately, it's not just for you: it's for every person you come in contact with.  A woman who feels confident, happy, and self-assured is a woman who will spread the light wherever she goes."

5) You "have five children spaced so closely together that fellow Catholics, when they first meet [you], often ask, 'Would you like to borrow our Natural Family Planning book?'"  

What, that's not you?  Oh right, it's me!  But don't fret if you are not living a similar life...Jennifer has a way of writing about it that will make you ponder deep mysteries of Catholic femininity while you laugh out loud at her awkwardly embarrassing encounters.  Seriously, her explanation of the propensity we have to confuse our sinful tendencies with our personality traits left me with so much food for thought that I read right through lunch!

4) You convince yourself that you do not need socialization, or do not have the time to foster friendships, because after all, you are a blogger, or a tweeter or a facebooker facebookie you use Facebook, and therefore fill your friendship quota via your computer screen.  Besides you have a husband and children with whom you can socially interact.

But Rachel, with all her Southern charm, points out the importance of having friends.  Real life friends.  Because, she writes, "Friends keep us sane, make life more fun, and help smooth out the rough edges of our human nature, helping us be the person we were created to be."

3) You are sort of kind of tired of comparing your marriage to everyone else's seemingly perfect partnership, and wondering if anyone else argues over the misunderstandings caused by male vs. female communication.  

Um, yeah, Danielle Bean will not only empathize with you, she has that special gift of making you feel a little.less.crazy by speaking of her own experiences in married life.  "My husband and I are madly in love.  I feel the need to announce this publicly because, on the surface, it can be hard to tell sometimes." Besides her engaging chapter in this book, she still reigns as Queen Bean in my reading lists...her blog and books on motherhood opened my eyes to this whole world of Catholic media, creating an outlet where I felt a little more connected and welcomed.

2)  You have questions about sex, passion, and purity.  

Well, by golly, that's the exact title of Betty Duffy's chapter!  Without wanting to offend any of the other awesome authors, this chapter was my favorite.  Mostly because I was nodding my head in agreement at the end of every paragraph.  Who can argue with a woman who can openly say things like "My husband and I are in our mid-to-late thirties.  We're practicing Catholics who don't use birth control.  To our happy surprise, the sex only gets better as the years go by, which makes you wonder, because it wasn't too terrible to begin with."  Amen!

1)  You will be supporting some of the most wonderful Catholic women bloggers I have ever had the pleasure of reading.  

This is the work of their hands, and as Rebecca writes in her important chapter, no matter if we are out in the corporate America, or a stay-at-home mom, we are all working women.  And we need to be mindful of how Christ-like we perform our duties.  She explains that "the ordinary way a person encounters Christ is not through explicit teaching but in the goodness of some Christian who touches his heart."  And with that in mind, I urge you to support these brave, funny, and poignant writers, who have touched my heart.

Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another....

~Thessalonians 5:11 

Thank you, ladies, for some wonderful words of wisdom, great advice, and practical solutions we can apply to our lives.  All wrapped up with a witty sense of humor and beautiful editing by Hallie!

(For some real life pictures and stories of *some* of these authors, see this.)

This is Unbelievable

Click on this to see a larger image, or read about it here:

This was an ad in the New York Times.

Could you imagine any other religion being attacked like this?

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

~Matthew 5:10

7 Quick Takes Friday: Volume 30

Back to Lighthearted Blogging...

1) John-Paul had his nine year old physical this week. He is 50% for his weight (62 pounds) and 70% for his height (53 inches).  I had a momentary flashback to when he was a pre-term baby (5 weeks early) and was always on the 5% weight curve.  I never thought a day would come when he would be considered smack dab in the middle of normal for his weight.  Of course I also thought he would never be physically "caught up" to his peers, since he scooted on his bottom instead of crawling, and wasn't able to walk until he was 18 months old.  But now he is a great athlete and a super fast runner.  It's amazing how time and patience and perseverance can really overcome so many obstacles in life.

(I didn't notice at the time of the picture...but that troll in the background and Xander look eerily similar....)

2) Alexander went along to the doctor's appointment to get shots and his awesome doctor looked in his ears because he has had three ear infections and even when they clear up, there is still fluid inside.  We have been pushing for suggesting an appointment with an ENT to start the process for ear tubes, and she gave us the green light since he had yet another ear infection.  That's four since January.  As much as I hate to have my babies go through the surgery, I love ear tubes and the relief they bring.  No more ear infections, no more antibiotics, no more painful nights for the baby, and no more trouble hearing us clearly.

3) I picked up the kids from school the other day and one of the teachers came up to me and said that today was her birthday, and my Andrew asked her how old she was, and she told him 42.  He said "You look way younger than 42!!" and it made.her.day.  I love that boy, he is so well-trained, and such the little ladies' man  :)

4) The full moon effect was in full force this week.  These kids almost got banned from the house until the new moon. Geesh!

(oh sure, they look all cute and innocent...)

5) What do you get for a mom who has a new baby, but already has other children, and doesn't need anything specifically for the baby?  I suppose I could ask myself that question...but my answer is always diapers.  Or a home cooked meal, but she lives far away.  Does anyone else have any good ideas?

6) As I was hemming and hawing about going to my Women of Grace meeting, and Phil was all but literally pushing me out the door trying to get me to go, I realized just how introverted I have become.  Do you know what my favorite part of every day is?  Lying on the couch in my jammies watching TV.  Not having to entertain anyone, not having to be "on", just relaxing with Phil.  Is it because I am surrounded by people at work and kids at home all the time and need some downtime?  Or am I just lazy?  Or shy?  Is this a natural part of getting older?

7) I just got an email saying this book will be shipped to me on March 12th!  I am so excited!!  Have you ordered yours yet?

Speaking the Truth with Love

After my post yesterday, I began thinking about why I feel the need to discuss controversial topics such as this on my blog.  It would be much easier to just avoid standing up for my beliefs when people attack them, or easier still to ignore the "signs" that seem to point me directly to a topic.  Within this past month, I have been emailed quite a few articles about IVF and selective reduction, Phil is teaching it to his students in his morality class, and has been asked to talk to the elementary school teachers in our Diocese about it at their faculty retreat day.  The topic keeps coming up over and over, and I felt compelled to write about it.  In doing so, I exposed myself to people who don't agree and even lost a follower on my blog yesterday.  Coincidence?  Probably not.

About a year ago, I reviewed the book Motherless, and got this comment:

It really bothers me that you said this book "had to do with creating life outside the normal, morally acceptable means."

Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to conceive on their own, without reproductive assistance. Does that mean that they are any less entitled to having or wanting a family?

I guess I am neither normal nor morally acceptable in the eyes of some, which I feel is very, very sad.

I replied with this:

I agree that not everyone is lucky enough to get pregnant the old-fashioned way. But I also don't think that having children is a right...I think they are a gift. I would be devastated if I could not have children, and would be completely open to looking into anything I could do within the moral boundaries of my Catholic faith to help me conceive a baby. I would also pursue adoption. What I wouldn't do is try to create life apart from God's design. These are just my personal beliefs, and I am so sorry that they made you feel sad. I will pray for you in your struggles with infertility and hope that one day you can know the joy of becoming a mother :)

 I also left a comment on her blog asking her to email me if she wanted to talk further.  Instead she UN-followed my blog.  Her comment still makes me feel such sorrow.  I am sorry that I made her sad, and I am sorry that she can't see the harm in using IVF, and I am sorry that I couldn't convince her otherwise. 

I am so blessed to have a wonderful and faith filled family, a family-in-law, real-life friends, bloggy friends, and coworkers who almost all share my Catholic beliefs.  So it is not very difficult or courageous to speak my mind on moral topics on my little platform here.  It's like preaching to the choir.  If I offend someone because of my beliefs, then I don't really care, but if I offend someone because of the way I say something, or the way I act, then I am sorry.  

I stand firmly behind my morals and values and my opinions presented on those, but I don't want to push people away with them.  I want to attract people with them.  People followed Christ because He spoke the truth in a loving way.  He didn't back peddle on his teachings in order to gain more followers, nor did He preach his message in a vile or hate filled way.  Christ was not here to be popular or worry about who liked him.  Can you imagine him counting his friends on Facebook, or followers on his blog?  Puh-lease.  We need to be strong yet compassionate, and it's a work in progress for me. 

I don't know how to deal with the children who were conceived through IVF.  I don't know how to talk to twins who were conceived through IVF but should have been triplets if their parents hadn't chosen to selectively reduce the pregnancy.  If  they know this, and feel, as their parents do, that killing the triplet was the "right" thing to do so that they could be born healthy, how do you try to teach them in a loving manner that what their parents did was wrong?  Luckily I don't need to be the one to directly talk to them, but the topic will come up in their theology or morality or biology classes, and I would hate to be in that teacher's shoes.  I hope the students will be able to feel loved while hearing the truth, but I can foresee that they will get defensive and sad and upset.  It's human nature, and nobody wants to hear that they (or their parents) have committed a terrible wrongdoing.

A few years ago, my cousin who is Catholic got married to a non-practicing Jewish man in an outdoor ceremony with a Justice of the Peace.  She invited us all to her wedding, but because she is Catholic and wasn't having a Catholic wedding (no Catholic priest presiding), we couldn't in our conscience attend.  By attending, we would be saying that we approve of the marriage, which would be completely against the teachings our the Catholic Church.  Luckily, I was able to use the valid excuse that we couldn't attend because we had company visiting that weekend.  It was the truth but it was the cowardly way out.  My mom chose to go the brave route and sat down and wrote a loving letter to her neice explaining why she couldn't attend their wedding, and urging her to do what it takes to get married in the eyes of the Catholic church.  And you know what happened?  Everyone got upset at my mother.  Sometimes speaking the truth falls on deaf ears, and causes more distress.

But sometimes, speaking the truth can actually change a person's life and save their soul.  Last night I went to my Women of Grace meeting and one of the women in the group is becoming a Catholic this Easter. Her husband is Catholic but they were married outside the church, so three days after Easter, they will be married in the Catholic church.   Two weeks ago, our pastor pulled her aside and said he noticed that her husband was still receiving Communion.  She said, yes, he is Catholic.  And our pastor said that because they aren't yet married in the eyes of the church, her husband can't receive the Eucharist unless they are living as brother and sister.  He told her this in a loving and funny way (making sure she knew what "brother and sister" meant) and she talked to her husband about it after.  They decided they would spend this Lent living as brother and sister until they could be married in the Church. 

What a great example of how to steer someone towards the truth while not pushing them away from it.  So I know it can be done, through prayer and the grace of God.  And that, my friends, gives me hope.