Grandma Orpha

Andy's Grandma Orpha (his mom's mom) passed away on July 21st. We got to go up to the hospital several times and see her during her last week on earth.

We also got to have lots of good conversations with Ira about life and death and Heaven. He was such a sweetheart after I got the phone call that Grandma died, he saw me crying and said, "Mom you don't need to be sad, Grandma's up in Heaven now!" Oh, to have the faith of a child.

Me, Grandma Orpha, and my mother-in-law, Marilyn years ago after my first concert as a Singing Quaker:

Some memories of Grandma Orpha:
-playing Canasta on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Grandma was notorious (or famous) for finding entire red canastas in her hand "Oh looky here!" She also had a knack for having enough jokers and deuces to make every pile on the table into a canasta. You had to be patient to play with her, but you were rarely disappointed!
-going over to her house after high school football games to watch the news and see which station covered Conway Springs the most/best.
-visiting her at the retirement home and hearing her talk about how cold they kept it (it was always a brisk 90 degrees in her room!)
-finding notes that she left for the retirement home staff about how gross/undercooked the carrots were that day
-listening to stories of her childhood growing up in Northwest Oklahoma.
These stories include:
-her mother (or grandmother?) nursing a "gypsy baby,"
-exploring caves as teenagers that were so deep and dark that you had to crawl on your belly to get through them
-swinging over crevasses in said caves with a rope "and if you dropped a rock down the crevice, you didn't hear it hit the bottom"
-going to college at NWOSU and earning a teaching certificate
-teaching in a one room schoolhouse

She lived an amazing life of 93 years and she will be missed!

Oh my Garden! (rant)

Much to my dismay, the garden has just not been doing very well this year. (Which is a total disappointment, because last year we didn't get to enjoy much of our garden at all because the word "garden" sent me running to the bathroom to throw up (thank you Miss Ruby.))

Our butternut squash did well enough for me to make about 4 gallons of baby food for little Ruby-roo before it succumbed to the squash bugs that ate the pumpkins, squash, and zucchini plants to death. Grrrr!

After obliterating the squash, the stupid pests moved on to the tomatoes. We've probably picked about 50 total, and don't foresee picking many more this year. Boo-hoo! I was really looking forward to putting up a bunch of diced tomatoes so that we didn't have to buy them throughout the rest of the year.

The jalapenos and banana-peppers (which must have cross-bred with some habaneros from down the street because some of them are seriously hot as FIRE) are doing well, thankfully. But seriously, what can you do with a million jalapenos when you have no tomatoes to make salsa? Grrr.... We've resorted to purreeing them in the food processor and putting them in baby food jars then freezing them. It really is a great way to use jalapenos because you have total control over how spicy you make something with them (in chili, spread on a sandwich, on pizza, etc.)

The cantaloupe are also doing pretty well. I might or might not have eaten two entire cantaloupe by myself one afternoon...

The okra are doing crazy well, so we've enjoyed fried okra once and have sliced up several quarts of them to use later this year in gumbo. Hooray!

The cucumbers are also doing crazy well. We've probably picked no less than 100 so far. If you live nearby and would like some, let me know! They are very very good cucumbers!

Sorry if this post is negative - it just really bums me out that the garden is doing so poorly this year. Here's some pictures of the babe with some of the garden produce. Yes, we picked a pumpkin in mid-July - I don't know why it was ready that early, but we are going to enjoy it since it looks like the pumpkins will not be making it to Halloween-time!

Totus Tuus

Mid-July, our parish was blessed to host the Totus Tuus program. For those who don't know - Totus Tuus (Latin for totally yours) is a week-long Catholic Bible School Program. When I was growing up, my mom organized the Totus Tuus program for our parish. Each summer I looked forward to the program and to getting to know the teams (we always had 2-4 people stay with us and hosted 2 meals during the week.) I am blessed with many, many wonderful friends from the Totus Tuus program and I credit Camp Totus Tuus for much of my spiritual development in High School. So when I saw that they were coming to our town, I was eager to help out!

The one thing that was really needed was host families for the team, so Andy and I decided to keep the two girls from the team at our house. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Korbi and Christine throughout the week. Ira was positively in love with them and got up early each morning so that he could eat breakfast with them. Even though he wasn't old enough to go to the day program, Ira still got a lot out of Totus Tuus being at our parish. If you ever have the opportunity to send you kids to Totus Tuus' day program, or are financially able to send them to Camp Totus Tuus, I would highly recommend it!!

(pardon the red eyes, I forgot to edit this pic before I uploaded it!)

Muddledness

I'll interrupt the numerous "catch up" blog posts that I have scheduled to bring up something that is fresh on my mind currently.

Awhile back ago, a very good friend and I had a conversation about raising kids and the topic of sex came up. She has studied the Theology of the Body somewhat extensively, and said how refreshing it was to be able to share the good news about it with her daughter. I had heard of JPII's Theology of the Body but had done no studying of it whatsoever, but, with two children now, I thought that being prepared for how I wanted to approach the topic of sex with my children would be a good idea. She recommended Christopher West's "Theology of the Body for Beginners" as a good starting point. Luckily, my younger sis had a copy of the book and happily loaned it and West's most recent, "Heaven's Song" to me.

It took awhile for me to get into TOB for Beginners partly because lately what I've read has been Berenstain Bears and Nursery Rhymes, and partly because whenever I would sit down to read it, I was inevitably interrupted by someone needing something. When I finally did get to read it, I found it fascinating and inspiring. I remember when I would read it in the morning and I would have those "Ahhhh" moments (you know the heavens open, etc.) where it really felt like I was learning something amazing. It was hard to then go about my day "as normal" because I just wanted that feeling again. I wanted to read more. Alas, my vocation as a wife and mother (in contrast to someone in a religious order) means that I must tend to my husband and my children and my household. And there's nothing wrong with that - as a Catholic wife and mother, part of my vocation is to go about my everyday duties in a prayerful, joyful way. Sometimes it's hard though, it feels as though there is somewhat of a disconnect between those "Ahhh" moments and the trifles (is that a good word for it?) of everyday life ("do you want the pink plate or the orange plate?" "please don't smother your sister" "it's not modest to undress for your bath in front of the living room window") And please understand, I am not saying this for any reason other than to put down in writing some of the muddledness/restlessness/unsettledness that I've been feeling lately. I guess I'm not so much to the reflecting state yet as I am the recording state. This is how I feel right now, the end.

In some of my thinking/praying lately, I have discovered that I am not the most critical person. By that, I mean that when I read something, I tend to agree with it (unless I blatantly disagree with it) without giving much thought to whether I really do or do not in fact agree with it. (Does that make ANY sense whatsoever?) The easiest way to say it would be to say that I am not a critical reader I guess. And I am trying to become more of one. That has made me realize just how unintelligent I am. Or maybe it's uninformed... I don't know, but I am realizing that there is a whole heck of a lot that I don't know/understand/have an opinion on. I guess I am a little envious of those who do have such well-informed opinions of things (with multiple resources to back up their opinion) I don't even know where to start to become informed in a way that I can understand but from a source I can also trust. This is where I was really digging Christopher West's TOB for Beginners. It was something I could understand and was from a source I trust.

Well then, this morning, upon recommendation from my older sister, I pulled up The Catholic Exchange's website thinking, "here is a place that I can come to learn about issues and form opinions on things" and what do I find but an article about Christopher West! How timely! But what I found sent my head spinning even FURTHER. The article was essentially a third writing on a topic I was completely unaware of, a debate between Alice VonHildebrand and Christopher West (although it's not a debate yet per se b/c West is on sabbatical I guess?) criticizing how West approaches and interprets the TOB. It all stems from an article written by AVH for the Catholic News Agency. Then a contributor for the Catholic Exchange wrote an article about that here. Where I finally stumbled onto the debate this morning is here.

I guess I don't even know what to think about it all. I'm still trying to form my own opinion on the matter. So far though, my inklings of opinions are as follows (and I reserve the right to change them as I find more out):
-I do not know a whole lot about Christopher West, only what I have read from "The Good News about Sex and Marriage"; and "Theology of the Body for Beginners," and a little bit of "Heaven's Song" but so far I have found him to be easy to understand yet thought provoking and insightful. I absolutely loved "The Good News about Sex and Marriage." It is a favorite wedding gift that I received and one that I too love to give. I am also enjoying the reflection questions at the end of each chapter in "Heaven's Song" Reading the books is truly a prayerful time for me.

-I do not know a whole lot about Alice VonHildebrand, only that I tried to read "By Love Refined: Letters to a Young Bride" and could not get "into it" and I read her article that she wrote for the Catholic News Agency. To me, in this article, she sounded more than slightly defensive and improperly informed on Christopher West's interpretation of TOB (at least from what I have read so far, although I'll admit, I've never seen videos/heard tapes/or attended a presentation.) Her article for me, was hard to understand (but I am only a person of average intelligence) I understand that Dr. Hildebrand is a philosopher, which means that her writings need to be read through academic eyes (mine are sorely out of practice, let me tell you.)

-Most of all, I think I am disappointed in the whole thing. I do believe that West's TOB for Beginners has led me to a deeper understanding of God's love for me precisely because of the language that he uses. I have read JPII's writings on numerous occasions and it is more than challenging for me to comprehend it sometimes. I guess to me it seems childish of VH to take such issue with West's TOB (as if he's infringing on her (or especially her husband's) territory or something.) She is certainly well respected and understood in the academic community (and I'm guessing although I don't know for sure, for good reason), but I don't think that is West's audience. I think he is writing to the average, everyday Catholic - namely a person like me. And quite honestly, I sort of think that they are saying the same thing in two different ways.

There is also a bit more about the debate on this website that is linked to in the Catholic Exchange Article.

Whatever the case may be - I just wanted to get my feelings down "on paper." This is far from a compendium on my feelings on the matter, nor a thorough reflection about my thoughts/insights on the Theology of the Body, but blogging about them has allowed me to clarify my opinion a bit, which is just what my muddled mind needed. I would be thoroughly interested to hear others' opinions on the matter, if you do take the time to read through the articles (which might take some time!) And sometime, I will have to share more of my thoughts on Theology of the Body.

For now, God bless!

Tea Party

No this is not a post about politics.

In July, Ira and Ruby and I had our very first tea party ever. Complete with (Decaf) Chai Tea and dress up clothes. Ira was thoroughly thrilled because he's never had tea before. I just really don't think the kid needs caffeine given that he already has an insane amount of energy. I was thrilled because I was able to fit into the dress that I wore to Prom. Huzzah! It's the little things really. After the tea - we had "Prom Dance" as Ira called it - where he serenaded me and Ruby on the drums to "I Love You Baby." Pretty appropriate! I LOVE my babies!!

Ruby's 4 Month Stats (7/5/10)

So wow, July 4th was almost a month ago! I'll try and get you caught up on our lives!
The first week in July we had Ruby's 4 month checkup. At four months, here are her stats:

Weight: 15 lbs. 4 oz (80th percentile)
Height: 25 " (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16"

At four months, she:
- does this funny "inchworm" movement by putting her head on the floor and pushing her feet against the floor (thus pushing her bum up in the air) when she flattens herself back out, she has inched forward a bit. (Just picture Slimy on Sesame Street)

-loves to splash in the bathtub. She looks very intentional with her kicking sometimes (directing it at Ira with pointed toes.)

- Rolls both ways

-Grabs for toys and puts everything in her mouth

-Says "mmm", "nnn", aaaa (short a), and makes raspberries very proficiently.

Four month pictures:

Pretty smile

Her "disinterested" look that she gets most of the time the camera is out
"Here is my tummy" she says (in a very disinterested tone)


I do this same mouth movement. I think she looks a lot like me in this pic.

Happy Fourth of July!

Fourth of July has always been a big holiday for my family. I can remember celebrating fourth of July with ice cream cones, painted nails, parades, and fireworks about as far back as I can remember. It's a tradition I certainly want to pass on to my kids. This year was a little soggy with all the rain... kinda not quite what I think of when I think of the 4th, but whatever...

Our preparations started on Wednesday when my little sis and I made bows for our little girls (and for a family friend...).

On Thursday night, I painted Ruby's toenails. Yes, I'm just that crazy. I put her in her bouncy seat and at first she was kicking like crazy (it's what she does in there, I should have known better.) But like every girl knows (it must be inherent) pedicures feel so good that you could fall asleep... which is just what she did after awhile. It was a good thing too, because I had to do 2 coats on several of the nails!

Saturday we went to my hometown for a parade. One of the floats was throwing stuffed animals! Ira was lucky enough to get an adorable teddy bear. He named him Red Robin, but also calls him Teddy the Bear sometimes too. We spent Saturday evening with Andy's family. We blew up some fireworks in the soggy mistiness but finally were forced inside when it started raining. Ira wanted nothing to do with lighting anything. He was perfectly content throwing snap and pops - and that's fine with me!

Sunday after Mass we went to my folks' house for a cookout. My family has a tradition that you can eat as many ice cream cones as you want on the 4th of July, and my mom is awesome about getting tons of different and delicious ice cream flavors. It's kind of turned into a contest (not like the hotdog-eating one though!) I had 10 cones this year as did my dad, but Andy snuck one in at the end and beat us all with 11. Ira had 3 (or was it 4?) and Ruby did not have any...obviously... Sunday evening we sat out on my parents' deck and watched quite the show of class A fireworks blowing up all over their neighborhood. It really cracks me up because the law states that you can't blow up anything that goes higher than 6 feet. Maybe these people were confused and thought that it couldn't go more than 6 feet... from an airplane... or that the mortars had to be less than 6 foot... in diameter... Regardless, it was fun to watch and longer than any fireworks display I've ever been to (it was still going strong after 4 hours...)

Anyway, that was our 4th of July. I had fun with Photoshop yesterday with all the pictures. Happy (belated) 4th to you and yours!