Could I Paint the Sky?Could I Paint the Sky? by Catholic author Julie Hoy is a book about a small child’s inquisitive nature as well as her amazing love for God and her willingness to serve Him!
The main character, Madeline Judith, wants to help God do something really big and asks Him if she could help Him paint the sky? As big a task as it is, she asks and asks again (I love her persistence) but then one day God says “no” and the child is puzzled. Many of us (adults) have experienced when God in His infinite wisdom says “no” to us… in the end there is always a reason and usually a good one at that!
With some parental guidance, Madeline is reminded that we can serve the Lord in the small things we do everyday by picking up after ourselves in our homes to helping our neighbors, the elderly, etc. I love how this small child goes to her mother for help and advice. In addition, this book just overflows with the message of being merciful in a world that contradicts that! What kept coming to mind as I read this book were the words of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “Do small things with BIG love!”
To read the rest of my review, visit CatholicMom.com by just clicking here.
Here are some great projects for families who get their kids involved in 40 Days for Life!
In my "past life" (pre-SAHM/pre-Catholic Homeschooler) I was a Reading/Language Arts teacher for eight years and prior to that I spent four years in the Elementary classroom. Therefore, I know LOTS of teachers. Either as previous co-workers or peers at college, or a friend of a friend....most of my friends are teachers. Over six years ago (I think it was right before I got pregnant with #2), a group of them started a "Book Club" and the first book was great. When time came to read a second book, everyone voted on The Davinci Code. Most of the teachers in this group were Catholic School teachers in either Middle or High School. Much to my dismay, I read it...but when we met up, everyone's interpretation of the book was warped by what society teaches...not what they know as FACT from our Mother Church...these ladies were all supposed to be Catholic....I was appalled, to say the least, and once the next book was announced, I slowly but surely exited stage right from this little group. Maybe I did it to save my "friendship" with them because I just couldn't listen to my friends of many years speak such uneducated and false interpretations of our Lord and our beautiful Church. Fast forward years later and now living in a different state, my only form of contact with these ladies, most of whom are English teachers, has been via Facebook. (This is the background story to the purpose of this discussion.)
So, as a family of six I felt (a couple of months ago) that I was drowning in laundry! When laundry day came, I wanted to run away as fast as I could! When I found myself doing laundry and about six months pregnant with number five - I freaked! So I did what a good mommy and housewife would do, first, I panicked, second I called for help from the "veterans" AKA mom friends with more kids than I!
"Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms" is the new show on EWTN hosted by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle. I've blogged about her wonderful books on here in the past and wanted to share this news with you! You can read more about this great experience on her blog by clicking here. You can also read up on the show on Faith & Family Live, written by Lisa Henley (creator of CatholicMom.com and an author herself, The Handbook for Catholic Moms) by going here. I can't wait to watch the show myself...her books are fascinating (I'm reading two right now: One with a local group of moms Domestic Church: Room by Room and the other Prayerfully Expecting on my own since I'm 7 weeks away from seeing our new baby!). She is such a great Catholic mother and woman!
I've had days were we don't turn the set on all days...the silence is lovely! Now, my friends who have opted for this lifestyle do watch movies. Some very limited kind, of course and no, they aren't weird or dress or look weird, lol! They are very "normal" Catholics who are trying to keep the focus on their faith - that's all.
The past week, one friend recommended a movie entitled The Robe...she saw it with her nine-year-old and they both loved it! It is from a very different perspective about the life and ministry and death of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in the view and words of the Roman Soldier who cast lots to win Jesus's robe. I really want to see it with my 12 year old! I think it would be a fantastic film to watch during Lent as well!
Last night I asked another friend to make a list of these kinds of movies so that I could share with other moms; and for my family as well of course. These are older Catholic movies that you could watch with your kids. Here is the list that my friend Dan compiled for me, he entitled it "The Best Catholic themed films that I have seen" [he has made specific comments]:
If you have other films you'd like to add to this list or if you have already seen any of these and you'd like to tell us about them, please feel free to leave a comment. Also, when I taught at a Catholic school in Florida, I always went to this website: http://usccb.org/movies/ to see what the Catholic US Bishops had to say about current films and TV shows. Of course, for newer films you can also visit: http://www.lukefilms.com/
If you have attended a home educating conference in the past, please leave us a comment of your experience at these conferences. Also, let us know why you would recommend that Catholic home educators attend these conference. By the way, a lot of these conferences are FREE of charge! :) Who can resist that? LOL! Don't forget, leave us a comment with your experiences.
There is a plethora of ideas and activities to work with your home schooled children via other Catholic Blogging Mamas throughout the net. Here is the line up of what I've found thus far (if you find other good sites to recommend, please post a comment on here withe link). Some of these overlap a little, be aware! :) Here is the line up (hover over the name of the blog to click on the link):Enjoy!
