Our Lady of Victory

What seems like a punishment, an injustice, is the sweetest consolation when it is seen as the Divine Providence.

Embracing the Cross

The past two weeks have just increased the love and admiration I have for my wife.

When I consider that Wifeofdadwithnoisykids, by fulfilling her vocation to the married life, opens her heart to more than just joy and happiness, I am awed that she has the strength to continue to live a life full of charity. Nothing shows that more than the way she has responded to the loss of our little unborn child, Therese.

I have tried to write a post to describe the events of the past few weeks, and my wife and I have struggled to understand why God would permit a family which is open to life to lose a child. We have no answers, but we do have some thoughts as to why this had to happen. Of course, whatever the reason does not make the sorrow any less.

My own personal theory is that in our present world, God has willed that someone must mourn the death of an unborn child. For the past 30+ years abortion has been legal, and the culture of death has been explaining away all the unborn dead as ‘tissue,’ or a subject of ‘choice.’ The last thing the culture of death wants is to put a human face on the aborted dead. Our unsolicited role in God’s plan in this instance was to be mourning the loss of a child who died in the womb at seven weeks. Not only did we put a face on our child, but we also put a name on her.

Without going into details, Wifeofdadwithnoisykids ended up needing a D&C in the middle of the night. A surgical team was called in for this emergency, and the procedure was over quickly. When she awoke from the anesthetic, my wife spoke to her obstetrician about how much she had wanted this child. Through her tears, she told how we had named this child, how we wanted this child, and how it hurt so much to know that she was gone.

After the obstetrician left, the recovery room nurse started telling my wife that there was no baby there, that there was no child in the womb. It was nothing. Wifeofdadwithnoisykids started disagreeing with her, stating that there was a baby in the womb, only that this baby was dead, and that the baby was named Therese. At this point the nurse got within inches of my wife’s face and told her to be quiet so she could finish her paperwork.

“Close your eyes and just be quiet. Don’t say another word,” she said.

She obviously didn’t want to hear what my wife was saying, as she immediately started talking to another person in the recovery room.

My wife lay there silently praying.

My take on this is that the nurse probably had a past experience with abortion causing her to react like this. Either she had participated in abortions or had had one herself in the past, and to hear my wife mourning the loss of an unborn child was more than she could take.

But where else will this woman hear someone refer to an unborn baby as a human being? Perhaps our presence was a pricking of her conscience which has been living a lie for so many years. Perhaps this was a means for God to call her to repentance. Perhaps this little incident in the middle of the night will lead her back to the road to repentance. I don’t know, but in some way God is bringing good out of this time in our life.

Sister To Sister

Bad News Follows Good

This is one of the hardest posts to write.

Wifeofdadwithnoisykids has had some bleeding for the past few weeks, and noticed some other signs that suggested that the pregnancy was not going well. I noticed it as well, but I kept reassuring her that 'maybe this time she doesn't have to spend the first trimester throwing up.'

She made an appointment to see the obstetrician yesterday, and I was blessed to get done with work in time to go with her. So I was with Wifeofdadwithnoisykids when the ultrasound technician told her that she could not see any heartbeat.

Eternal God, in Whom mercy is endless

and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible,

look kindly upon us and increase your mercy in us,

so that in difficult moments we might not despair

nor become despondent,

but with great confidence submit ourselves

to Your Holy Will,

Which is Love and Mercy Itself.

Amen.

It is hard to understand the Will of God right now. We keep repeating the prayer that ends the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, especially the part about God's Will being 'Love and Mercy Itself.' There are many things I have read that show me how tremendous and wonderful God’s Mercy is – like the Carmelite Sisters of Compeigne singing as they climb the scaffold and approach the guillotine. But I am not as docile and obedient a servant as they were, and the slightest cross chafes me.

In the meantime, we have named our little child Therese Mary Catherine. Therese in honor of the Little Flower, Mary in honor of the Blessed Mother, and Catherine after St. Catherine of Siena. My beloved wife was due on St. Catherine’s Feast Day, April 29. In addition, St. Catherine was one of the youngest of a large family – 25 children total – so we feel a great love for her not only as a Saint but also as a child who only came into being through the generosity of God and her parents.

Each child is precious to us, even one who only exists for seven weeks. While our living children are a source of consolation for us, they are also a reminder that there will be one less child seated at our table, one less voice calling in the middle of the night, one less hug and kiss throughout the day, and one less child growing into adulthood and ultimately Heaven.

The title of this blog comes from a beautiful song by Marie Bellet, called Thy Will Be Done, which she wrote after having a miscarriage.

Friday Night Musings

At work, as I glanced through a parenting magazine, I came across an advertisement for ovulation predictors.

No need for that - for now.

On my drive into work this morning, I heard a recording of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen from the 'Life is Worth Living' series.

He was talking about the criteria for all living creatures, and he narrowed it down to seven things that they need to survive. They are, in brief,

To be born
To be nourished - live to eat!
To grow to maturity
To heal wounds
To drive out disease
To propogate the species
To live under government and justice in human relationships

These criteria translate over to the Divine Life, as Archbishop Sheen points out. They correspond to the Sacraments:

Baptism - to be born into Divine Life
Eucharist - to be nourished spiritually
Confirmation - to grow and mature spiritually
Confession - to heal one of disease
Anointing of the Sick - to heal our wounds
Matrimony - to propagate the species in the Divine Life
Holy Orders - to have governance in the Divine Life.

You can read it here. Archbishop Sheen explains it better than I do.

http://www.ewtn.com/library/DOCTRINE/SACRAMEN.TXT

I love hearing him end his lectures/sermons with the words, "God love you."

While the World Turned...

News from Dadwithnoisykids:

1. First, from Siberia, comes this story about a woman who just gave birth to her 12th child - all 17 pounds of her!!!

READ THE STORY HERE!!!!

We at Rancho Noisykids plan on meeting or exceeding this blessed Siberian woman's record in the near future. I am off to buy some more potatoes for my beloved.

All Ineed is for her to keep things down after she eats....

One of our dear friends is expecting again, and shares her hints on how to have ONE MORE SOUL! Please keep her and Wifeofdadwithnoisykids in your prayers.

2. Second, I was on call last night and could not celebrate the feasts of Saints Cosmas and Damian. These two brothers are patron saints of physicians, pharmacists and transplant surgeons. Here are some pictures I found online. This first one is the (yawn) portrait shot:

Here are the boys at work in the operating room, performing an orthotopic limb transplant. Note that the limb in question is the correct side. Certainly this operating room practices a 'time out' before the surgery starts! Also notice that the surgery is proceeding with no masks, no anesthetic,and no blood loss. The assistants are appropriately depicted as being angels.

The next picture shows the martyrdom of Saints Cosmas and Damian, and companions. I suspect this was somehow connected to referring to JCAHO as 'Jayco' during an inspection. It appears that the spectators are a bit bored with the whole thing.

Of course, last year I blogged on the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian, and I found this picture in a book written in the 1960's about doctors:

Here are some thoughts lifted from my old post:

The Modern Physician:

Get rid of the cigarette, substitute a styrofoam cup for the china, and there you have him.

Not likely to be martyred, but very likely to be sued.

Not working for free, sometimes.

Trying to see Christ in all his patients, but more often cynical, impatient, haughty, sarcastic - all the attributes Christ doesn't want to see when He goes looking for us.

Praying for the wisdom and fortitude to care for his patients, and praying for the repose of the souls of his lost patients.

Most likely to fall asleep during a sermon, most likely needing to hear what the priest is saying.

Spending much of his time at work, thinking about work when at home, and needing to be reminded that it's just a job, not his vocation.

Thanking God for what still is a privilege - to be a doctor.

To be an instrument of healing in God's hands.

3. Two Noisykids got their licenses today, and on the way home I suddenly realized I had not arranged for auto insurance before taking the plunge. Before I could get my son to stop so I could take over driving, this happened:

...and as I write, my 2-year old daughter is praying the 'Our Father' and 'Hail Mary' as well as saying 'abre la boca por favor.'

Happy Birthday, Daughter of Mine!

Today we celebrate the birth of our Oldest Noisykid Daughter. She is out with most of the other ladies of the house; we kept the baby. They were going to visit Home Depot, I think:



Afterwards, off to an Italian restaurant:



Even with my lactose intolerance I just love that video.

Then they saw this 7-minute scene at the Italian restaurant:



She is almost ready to get her driver's license. Here is a clip from our home schooling driver's education classes. Please note that these are not my children:



We are blessed by our daughter as we are by all of them. We pray for her, especially for her vocation.

If one of my daughters asked me about becoming a doctor, I would not recommend this line of work to them. When men and women are young and foolish, some of them get it into their heads to enter the field of medicine. In college this swarm of creatures were known as 'pre-med,' and they directed their every waking moment to the realization of that goal.

Something happened along the way, and most of the students were cured of their obsession. They went on to become useful and productive citizens. They worked and picked up a steady paycheck while a few continued on the long path of medicine. They married and started families, while those in medical school racked up debt and lack of sleep.

In my own case, I married Wifeofdadwithnoisykids half-way through medical school. As time went on, little Noisykids started to populate our efficiency, then our townhouse, then our house. For each of their deliveries, I was blessed to be able to get off work to see them born.

Oldest Daughter Noisykid was born during my internship. We had just gotten back to our house in Detroit after visiting some relatives when we had to leave for the hospital.

Unfortunately, I was not always able to be there for a lot of other events in my family's life. There were little insignificant things which happened that were never seen by me. There were other times which were important but were missed because of the obligations of working as a resident, fellow, or attending physician. Even now, when my family is recalling something that happened during those years, I will state that I don't remember. They will often tell me that is because I wasn't there.

While I love my work, I know that it has come with a price which at times is not worth the cost in my personal life. Just consider the times I have had to disappoint my wife because I couldn't be there for her. It is for this reason that I would steer my daughters away from the medical field, because the toll on a mother who is also a doctor is just too great. Raising children is a far better vocation than that of a doctor.

I base these thoughts on my own experience, and from observing women doctors who are torn between their patients and their family. It is a hard to serve two masters.

Deeep thought

Check out this story about deep-voiced men and the number of children they have....

HERE.

Listen to me sing:

Sunday Night Reflection

BANNED BLOG!!

I have been banned by this blog. I am disappointed about this because they did not label me as a home schooling blogger. Otherwise, I consider this banning to be an honor.


READ ON:

I am currently reading several books at one time:
1. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu
2. Good Discipline, Great Teens, by Dr. Ray Guarendi
3. Listen, Son, by ???
4. Jesus of Nazareth, by Pope Benedict XVI - it doesn't follow the movie as much as I thought it would....



At the same time, I am mentally preparing to review the following books:
1. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
2. The Lawless Roads, by Graham Greene
3. The Confession of St. Patrick, by St. Patrick

I hope to have these up soon.

I am struck by a quote from The Art of War, which shows how well this book applies to any age:

"When sovereign and ministers show perversity of mind,
it is impossible even for a Sun Tzu to encounter the foe"

Sounds like something one of my favorite lawyers would say - you know, St. Thomas More.

Ah yes, St. Thomas. Soon I shall take a long stretch of just reading him - after these other books are put to rest.

How it was back in 1966

A small family.

Here is a family picture my parents sent me. Mom is holding my younger brother. Dad is sporting the same kind of glasses I got when I was 9 years old. My two older brothers are flanking me. My youngest brother was not in existence at that time, except in the Mind of God.

Dadwithnoisykids, better known as Kidwithfulldiaper.

Plaid was REALLY hot back in 1966!

Wednesday Thoughts

A half moon hangs low over the North Texas sky, with a touch of yellow to give it a change from the usual white color it has. By the time I wake at 5:30 a.m. it will have set, and I will have no light to guide me to my '98 Ford Explorer.

But that's not what this post is about.

As I sat here studying the ultrasound picture of Noisykid #14, I started thinking once again about the woman who carries this child in her womb. I thought of all the wonderful blessings she has brought to me - any one of which would qualify her as a wonderful wife and mother. All these thoughts prompted me to think about marriage, and what a tremendous gift it is that God gave us.

God has given me a friend unlike any other; one who knows me better than any other person on earth. She has known me since we were children, and has shared my life for more than 18 years now. She has had to deal with my moods, temper, absence, and somnolence for all these years, and yet she has stood by me. She has turned her back on the world for the sake of her children and her husband, giving all of her time and talent to caring for them.

I can only attribute her love for us is an indication of how much she loves Our Lord, because there are times that all of us(especially me) are hard to live with.

Someone once told me that I married UP - way up - when Wifeofdadwithnoisykids said 'I do' to me. I have to agree.

This little Noisykid represents the only creature I can take with me to Heaven. Long after this computer is landfill, and the words of this blog are dissipated, the souls of the Noisykids will continue for all eternity.

Baby Caught On Ultrasound!!!

Baby Noisykid #14 at 7 weeks, 5 days.

While you cannot appreciate it, Wifeofdadwithnoisykids could see the little heart beating on the ultrasound.

God has blessed us so much with another child!

Praise be God Who gives life to us in such abundance!!

Thank You, God, for blessing me with such a wonderful woman to be my best friend, faithful companion, and mother of my children!

I am so blessed to be married to such a beautiful woman!

Picture quality is not perfect. We shall include more pictures of our little bundle of joy as we get them. I shall put the pictures on the sideboard.

The Latin Mass

Father is gearing up for celebrating the Tridentine Mass. Right now he is preparing by studying and praying as well as taking some time off to learn the way the Mass is said. He has some knowledge of the Latin Mass, since he celebrates the Novus Ordo Mass in Latin, but he a way to go.

We have to prepare as well. Specifically, we need to learn the Mass as it was said way back when I was just a little Noisykid myself.

There are a few references I will be looking at and putting on the sidebar soon:

St. John Cantius in Chicago. In addition to celebrating the Tridentine Mass, they rescue religious articles which have been discarded.

SanctaMissa.org is an online tutorial for priests for the Mass according to the 1962 Missale Romanum. This put together by St. John Cantius in Chicago.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. This order runs tutorial retreats for priests who wish to learn the Tridentine Mass. Father spent a week with them last month.

This is an exciting time in the Church, especially when one compares the translation of the prayers from the Tridentine Mass to those of the Novus Ordo. It is comparing night to day. The Roman Sacristan is a good blog to compare the new prayers with the literal translations.

Belated Birthday Thoughts

Yesterday we celebrated the birth of our youngest girl Noisykid. Her name is derived from the names of the parents of St. Therese of Liseux.

Here is a prayer for their beatification.

We are so blessed with our youngest child. We thank God for her every day!

In other news, Wifeofdadwithnoisykids is experiencing morning sickness most of the time. As I predicted, she is the only person I know who is happy to be yelling for 'Roy' several times a day.

I love that woman.

She will go for an ultrasound next week, and I shall try to include pictures on the blog.

My baby girl loves monkeys. So we got her five of them!

The Empty Sky Revisited

A recycled post from September 11, 2006, which can be seen HERE

Yet another mediation on 9/11.

From the Office of Readings for September 11, 2006:

Our God comes, He keeps silence no longer

Before Him fire devours,

Around Him tempest rages.

He calls on the heavens and the earth

To witness His judgment of His people.

Based on Psalm 50: 1-4

In 2001, we were living northwest of San Antonio, down a dead end country road at the foothills of the Hill Country. It was quiet, peaceful; no one came down the road without a reason. The sound of Interstate 10 was muted by several ranges of hills, spread out over three miles or more of countryside. Only the sound of aircraft broke the silence: commercial airliners headed into San Antonio’s airport, small private aircraft from a local grass strip or the C-5’s from Kelly Air Force Base. Even this noise stopped in the days following September 11, 2001, when all aircraft were grounded on President Bush’s order. The silence was a bit eerie, and since I am always searching the skies for aircraft out of habit, it was unnerving. The first aircraft I saw, several days later, a lone F-16, was a welcome sight for me.

September 11 was a bittersweet day for us; sweet because we were bringing home our newest Noisykid addition born on September 9. Bitter, because we had planned on my wife taking the whole day to rest and relax in a hospital room and then coming home shortly before midnight. We had gotten the mother of my children an executive suite, complete with an on-site chef, a private nurse, and a room bigger than our first apartment for her post-partum stay in the hospital. The plan was to take full advantage of this luxury before returning to our home. This plan was ruined by our pediatrician, who told my wife about what was happening in New York and the rest of the United States. Her nurses had decided to let her rest and not be bothered for the moment. They probably figured I would tell her later, so they were almost as upset as my wife was when our pediatrician told her.

We are still reeling from the effects of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. I think for many people, airline travel ceased to be a quick and relatively easy way to travel. The idea that a passenger airplane could be converted into a guided missile, with no concern for the crew or passengers, is something that will always give one second thoughts about flying. Many people saw for the first time how much the United States is hated: the terrorists were determined to kill themselves for a chance to kill Americans. I also know the economy took a huge hit, affecting how people spend and invest their money.

However, I am not here to write about economics. I believe the one thing that was not done sufficiently after 9.11 was to evaluate how our country has strayed from the path of righteousness upon which it was founded. The newspaper is full of examples of people who are committing all sorts of crimes that cry out to God for justice. In addition, our government is slowly changing the definition of the family and reducing the right to life at both ends of the spectrum, to name two examples. All of this is steering us down the wrong path.

It reminds me of an incident that happened in June 1987. At that time, I was a newly commissioned Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force, and we were getting a bunch of lectures on how to eat, sleep, walk, and talk as an Air Force officer (most of it wore off). One afternoon, we were informed that our next speaker would be a retired General who had served not only in the Air Force, but also in the Space Program. We were told to be on our best behavior. The lecture was quite enjoyable, as the General told of his various adventures in the Air Force as well as his journey to the Moon.

As he was wrapping up his presentation, he became serious. He reminded us that the Pledge of Allegiance includes the phrase ‘under God,’ and that our coins have the phrase ‘In God We Trust’ on them. He pointed out to us that the phrase was worthless if we did not live our lives under God and putting our trust in God. He also said that a country that did not live under God would one day fall, and those who serve in its Armed Forces would likely be the ones to suffer first. We were warned.

I wish I had remembered his name.

I think 9.11.2001 was another warning for what will happen if we do not work to make this country more pleasing to God. Looking back on the past 19 years since I heard that General’s warning, I would say I have failed, more by omission than by commission, to do my best to make this country a nation that is truly ‘under God.’ There are some things we have done.

Shortly after George W. Bush was elected president, we began praying daily for world peace and for the culture of life to prevail in the United States and in the World. We made a pledge to pray for these things as long as Bush is in office, but we plan to continue it. Every Monday, we pray for missionaries and for the conversion of the Moslems, the Jews, and the Mormons in particular. This is the best thing we can do to not only save our own country, but the world as well. The answers to our prayers are known to God alone.

Please pray for the repose of the souls of those killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, especially those who died without receiving the Sacrament of Penance.

Please also pray for our dead soldiers, sailors, and airmen who have paid the ultimate price for our country, especially those who died without receiving the Sacrament of Penance.

Please pray for those who currently serve in the Armed Forces. It is sobering to me to know that the physicians I trained while on active duty are those who now are serving our country in the Middle East.

Check out this website!

I really love this website!

ZOMBO.COM

Happy Birthday, Son!

Today we celebrate the birth of Noisykid #11, who turns 6 today. We named him after these gentlemen. Yesterday we celebrated at home with pizza, brownies, and ice cream. Today we had a barbecue at our church and cake afterwards. Then came Holy Hour and Confession....

We are so blessed with this child, as we are with all of them. We brought him home on September 11, 2001, shortly after the World Trade Center came crashing down. He shines as a beacon of hope and new life when we recall the events of September 11. For example, today I almost had to physically restrain him during the Consecration because he just couldn't keep still.

An Attack Against Home Schooling

An attack against the Noisykids!

And this on the day Histor the Wise matriculates!

And the day after we went to First Friday Mass and had to sing GATHER US IN by Marty Haugen. Almost as bad as the Finger Snap Alleluia(click on the contents tab)....

Thanks to PAUL at his website:

Reasons Home Schooling is bad:

1. Homeschooling Rejects Communion: How can kids be in communion with one another when they're at home? Answer: They can't!
Homeschoolers are Neocaths, RadTrads, and Cathlofascists: Have you ever talked to one of those Homeschooling parents? talk about Phariseeism - man!

Respondio:

Considering that my family of 12 has to get along together in our house, I would say that they learn to get along rather well. I am not sure what the author of this meant by 'communion(sic)' but our children do come together with other children for various events. The most significant event we share is that of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where we receive Our Lord in Holy Communion.

I cannot begin to imagine how much my existence must offend some people, but I was not put on this earth to be pleasing to the eye, ear, or conscience. I have been given the responsibility to serve my wife and children in my role as husband and father. If my rejecting of most of what society has to offer offends, that is tough. Deal with it.

2. Homeschooling is a Negative Value Judgement Against Public Education: Face it - the French Revolution and the Public Education System here in America are the greatest events that the world has ever seen, at least since Plato was forced to drink the poison by the fascists in Greece.

Respondio:

I have consistently stated that all parents are responsible for the education of their children. There are several means for educating children, but in the end, the parents will have to answer for their children's formative years. We have chosen to educate our children at home. We make value judgements all the time - I am making one as I select words for this composition - and I am surprised that the author of this list would care what other people think.

3. When you Homeschool, you are basically saying "I can teach my kids better than a licensed teacher." Come on, people!

Respondio:

You are correct on this point. I have a couple of letters after my name, and my wife does not, but she exhibits more wisdom and patience than I do when teaching the children. She also LOVES her students!

4. Homeschooled kids are Overpriviledged: They are the winners of life's lottery already, since all Homeschooling Parents are rich. Why should Homeschooled kids get all that attention?

Respondio:

Most home schoolers are rich beyond one's imagination, but not with money. Most of the ones we know are living on one income and are doing all right. The comment about 'attention' I assume has to do with the blessing of having one's children at home with mom and/or dad for more time than school children get. That is the greatest privilege and blessing. Why would one be jealous?

5. Homeschooling oppresses Womyn: Who do you think is staying home and doing the homeschooling? The man? No way! Over 99.6% of all homeschooling parents are womyn. This is just another way to keep them locked up in the house and not pursuing happiness through a career.

Respondio:

You got me there. My role is not as 'hands-on' as that of my wife. However, those children who do not respond to the loving and gentle way of Wifeofdadwithnoisykids do end up having me as their private tutor - meaning that they get to do school work when dadwithnoisykids is home(weekends, post-call days while everyone else is on a field trip). I am assuming that 'womyn' is a typographical error for the word women. AS for the happiness of a career, I have this to say: I love my job, but it does not give me happiness. Happiness comes from God, not from what is more often than not a very discouraging line of work.

6. Homeschooled kids are 67% more likely to become exploitive white males: Look it up. Statistics don't lie.

Respondio:

Based on the previous argument, the author implies that home schooled children will home school their own children. What does not make sense is that one will end up with a larger number of males compared to females, not to mention the ethnic majority being skewed. In our home school group, the majority of children appear to be female. Is the author implying a later change of gender in this population which will increase the number of males in the group. I know that there are people with genetic anomalies(not to be discussed here) where a child appears to be female until adolescence, but this is rare and to find this population represented mainly in homeschooling groups would be worth reporting.

Regarding statistics, the author appears to have omitted the reference that is cited to support his argument. I would question the study, since the number of people who were homeschooled and now are raising children would still be too small to make such an argument. I would think that another 20 years would increase the size of the study population so that one could have enough data points to propose some trend. This is similar to children with congenital heart diseases, where new types of surgeries are increasing the survival rate of these children, and now they are facing diseases seen in adults. Heaven help the cardiac surgeon who has to perform coronary bypass on an adult with a single ventricle and Fontan physiology.

But I digress....

7. Public Education was Good Enough for Me!: Case closed. I am a product of Public Education, and when you Homeschool, you're not only making a Value Judgement about the Public Education System, you're making a Value Judgement about everyone educated in the Public Education System

Respondio: I think this demonstrates the logical error where one cites a specific example and from that makes a generalization. A simple example might be:

Our dog has a brown nose,

therefore all dogs have brown noses.

In this case, the author argues that since he turned out well(let us assume this for the sake of the argument), that all who receive a public education turn out well. Since I do not know the author, I have no way of validating his argument that public education worked well for him.

This brings up another final point: Divine Providence, gifts from the hand of God, are far more important to our spiritual growth than how we were educated. In my own life, I recall that one of the greatest reasons for learning more about my Faith was a series of discussions I had with a lab partner who was an atheist. My inability to discuss my Faith with him led me to learn more about it.

Having said that, I still consider Home schooling the best way to prepare the soul for God to come along and plant the seed of the Faith.

Retooling Time

I have been busy learning new skills which will make me a more complete person.

This is the training video I am using:

Cheating at the Miss Teen USA Contest?

I think this clip suggests that Miss Teen South Carolina was prompted:

Wednesday

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo. He is one of my favorite saints because of what he wrote in his 'Confessions.' He described the problem of knowing what is the right thing to do while not having the strength to do it. This can apply to many areas of one's life, and reminds me how much my Faith is truly a gift from God, and how much I need His graces to guide me through the obstacle course I call life.

We named one of our sons Augustine.

This is our prickly pear cactus patch. You can actually eat the prickly pears.

Today I stayed home(I was on call last night) and tutored one of the noisykids while most of the others went to the Dallas Aquarium. Wifeofdadwithnoisykids took them. She is the only person on the planet who is looking forward to morning sickness, as that is a good indicator that the pregnancy is progressing well. I recall with our previous child, she would be in the bathroom yelling for 'Roy!' and all the while thanking God for the blessing of another child. With our one miscarriage, the sudden stop of the morning sickness was an ominous sign for what was to come.

But enough about that. It has cooled down to the 80's and there is a chance of rain, and after a day of filing stuff at my desk I can see the pattern of the wood through the remaining papers. I even found some bills I had overlooked - doctor bills, of course!

How about a Haiku from 2005:

It ends abruptly

It ends abruptly
like a Saturday cartoon
and then that's all folks.

SMD
1.12.2005

Particular Examen

They say that one's life is defined
By one's final moments on earth.
That the words and dispositions
Of the heart, that make a man,
Are played out for all to see - or at least God.

If that is so, may God have mercy on me
And may I resolve to sin no more.
For if the car hadn't swerved
I would have stood before God
Invoking a synonym for manure rather than Him.

SMD
8.20.2007

Teach Me, O Lord

Teach me, my Lord, to be kind and gentle in all the events of life;

in disappointments,

in the thoughtlessness of others,

in the insincerity of those I trusted,

in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.

Let me put myself aside,

to think of the happiness of others,

to hide my pains and heartaches,

so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.

Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path.

Let me so use it that it may mellow me,

not harden or embitter me;

that it may make me patient, not irritable;

that it may make me broad in my forgiveness,

not narrow, proud and overbearing.

May no one be less good for having come within my influence.

No one less pure, less true, less kind, less noble for having been

a fellow traveler in our journey toward eternal life.

As I go my rounds from one task to another,

let me say, from time to time, a word of love to You.

May my life be lived in the supernatural,

full of power for good,

and strong in its purpose of sanctity. Amen.

- from Father Hardon's Catholic Prayer Book, by Father John A. Hardon, S.J.

St. Bartholomew, and a Novena Ending

The Beheading of St. Bartholomew

Yesterday was the Feast of St. Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel. I tried to find a decent picture of him holding his skin - he was skinned alive and then beheaded - but most of them were too gory and I would have lost my 'G' rating for this blog.

Another name of one of the Noisykids - one of the ones taller than me!

Novena Complete

We finished a 5-day 'Novena' today, asking for a healthy baby and a safe delivery. Some of the children are praying for twins. Some are praying for quadruplets or quintuplets, and one just wants what sounds like 'twin-chocolates.'

We have been praying:

St Therese,

the Little Flower,

please pick me

a Rose from the

Heavenly Garden

and send it to me

with a Message

of Love.

Ask God

to grant me the

Favor I Thee

implore and

tell Him I

will Love

Him each

day More

and More.

UPDATE:

1. THIS IS A FIVE DAY NOVENA

2. TO BE SAID BEFORE 11 A.M.

3. SAY 5 OUR FATHER'S, 5 HAIL MARY'S, 5 GLORY BE'S

4. ON THE LAST DAY, SAY 10 OUR FATHER'S, 10 HAIL MARY'S, AND 10 GLORY BE'S INSTEAD.

SOURCE: Pieta Book of Prayers

Baby News

I don't have to rack my brain for topics anymore.

Wifeofdadwithnoisykids will be seeing a lot of our NFP-only obstetrician, as he keeps a close eye on her various hormone levels. Tomorrow she gets more blood drawn.

When she went to the OB a few days ago, our 5-year old was disappointed that she did not walk out of his exam room with a new baby.

The 7-year old told me how the baby would 'walk out of mommy' when the time comes....

Tonight we celebrated our good news by breaking out a bunch of sparkling cider at dinner. We had kept bottles of the stuff around for such an occasion. The last time we had this specific reason to rejoice we were eating rice and beans, but tonight we had chicken and pasta - the preferred food of our Noisykids.

We are still flying from the positive pregnancy test we got on Tuesday. It appears as if God has chosen us once again to participate in the creation of another soul. This is something we have been praying for ever since we held our youngest child. I even wrote some bad poetry about it. This gift, our children, is the ONLY thing we can take with us to Heaven, and we are already praying for our newest addition.

In the future, I will try to put up any interesting ultrasounds that we get.


I feel like breaking into a song.

If only I could find a version of this song by the Showbiz Pizza Refugees:



I think I still have a shirt like that....