Catholic Preschool Plans

J.M.J.

I must be slightly out of my mind, but I am considering writing a preschool curriculum, even though none of my children are currently in preschool.  Fulton is too old, and Marialina is too young, but I had so much fun creating lessons for Fulton back in 2012, I thought I would continue them.  My plan is to eventually have 3 'classes' a week, but that will depend on how well my computer is working and if I can actually get to use it, now that the children are working on it all the time.  HA!  We shall see. 

I had so much fun doing this with Fulton, but I am getting a little teary eyed, too, remembering him before the accident.

Below is a copy/paste job from my old blog with the first day of preschool posted.  It will be tied into the liturgical year and will be mostly internet based, so the only materials you will need will be some crafting and baking items and maybe one of those mega-curriculum workbooks you can get in many stores this time of year.  I will try to use online workbook pages when I find them.

If people like this, I will maybe lay it out a little better....we shall see where the Spirit leads me.  But I need your input too!

 So let me know what you think!  Should I continue this or not?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Post from my old blog)

First day of preschool for Fulton!!!  I can't even believe how quickly time is flying by, but here we are, homeschooling 5 kids this year.  (Prayers, please!)

I have decided to toss the preschool programs I used in the past and piece together something I could work with. He just turned 4 in June, so I know I will have to take it a little slower in some areas, but overall I think he is more than ready for this adventure.

I decided to revolve his school year around the Liturgical calendar, using the day's feasts as my guide.  I went cheap and bought 2 different MEGA preschool workbooks, plus some Catholic-specific workbooks for him to work through.  He has never had any formal training on writing before, so this week we are working mostly on how to hold a crayon, how to trace and follow 'mazes' and so on.  He loves coloring and painting on his own, so I highly suspect he will catch on fairly quickly.  You have never seen a little boy happier than the frst time he sees his name in print - in his own handwriting!

Today is St. Bernard of Calirvaux's feast day, so here was the plan:

Read half of book #1 of the Treasure Box series and discuss
Do pre-writing worksheets, write name, etc
Begin Rosary Quilt program: Just introduce activity blanket and its components today.  (Have it out for him to get used to during family rosary at night)
Color picture of St. Bernard of Calirvaux  (picture found below)
Read some basic information about St Bernard of Clairvaux
Memorize his famous quote: "Jesus is honey in the mouth."  (Recite quote to daddy at dinner as part of his accountability)

Discuss bees

• Only insect that makes food for people
• Makes wax
• What does it make honey out of?
• Why does he make honey?
• Why does it make the wax?
• The bees live to serve the queen bee.  Should we live to love and serve Our Blessed Mother?  What sweet things can we bring to her? 

Read 2 quick stories on bees found here and here   Lots of giggles with these!
Make honey candy (recipe follows)
Play online bee puzzle while waiting for candy to boil and while it cools
Decorate candle for prayer room
Cut out bee pieces and have him tape together the bee.  Attach to stick and make it fly!
Read this story
Pray the Memorare (a prayer St. Bernard wrote):

REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.



Devotional candle decorated with stickers



Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

Coloring page

Honeycomb Candy Recipe

•3/4 cup sugar

•2 tablespoons honey

•2 tablespoons water

•1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Instructions

1.Grease a casserole dish or pie plate. You can use oil, butter, or non-stick cooking spray.  But be generous and grease it all the way  to the rim or you will have a difficult time removing it from the pan.

 2.Add the sugar, honey, and water to a saucepan. You can stir the mixture, but it isn't necessary.

 3.Cook the ingredients over high heat, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 300°F. The sugar will melt, small bubbles will form, the bubbles will become larger, then the sugar will start to carmelize to an amber color.  Do not burn!  LOL!

 4.When the temperature reaches 300°F, remove the pan from heat and whisk the baking soda into the hot syrup. This will cause the syrup to foam up.

 5.Stir just enough to mix the ingredients, then dump the mixture onto the greased baking sheet. Don't spread out the candy, as this would pop your bubbles adn you will lose the 'honeycomb' effect.

 6.Allow the candy to cool, then break or cut it into pieces.

7.Store the honeycomb candy in an airtight container.

 I am sure this this candy would be delicious, had I not burned it a little, and if I actually stirred it.  The baking soda made it foam up so quickly (we used a small pan), that I had a moment of panic and dumped it in the pie pan before it was completely mixed.  Hence the white chunks in the picture.  CJ loved it, everyone else just focused on the 'burnt' taste.  I took the tiniest taste (Honeycomb Candy was not part of the 40 Day Fast-40 Day Feast plan!) and could imagine it would have been quite good with a bit less time over the flames.  Lesson learned.

I think we will do preschool 3 days a week with other activities on the off days.  Fulton needs to stay super busy, both in body and mind, but I have other children to teach as well.  It is going to be a delicate balance between the 2 different types of schooling, but Lord willing, I shall succeed!

Rosary: A New Way to Pray

J.M.J.

Today you will do it.  You will get through it.  You will pray the Rosary!  Queen of the Holy Rosary, you have deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the Rosary… 

 Suddenly, the world intrudes.  Your husband can’t find his socks.  You start to compile your grocery list instead of meditating.  When your toddler bumps is head and needs a kiss,  you decide you will finish praying later.  But later comes and goes, and suddenly it is 11:30pm and you have not finished the Rosary.  Those hidden treasures of grace will have to wait for another time.

 Sound familiar?  No matter where you are in your Rosary devotion, novice or expert, I am sure that you have experienced some form of distractions or interruptions while praying and perhaps have even given up praying because of this.  These stumbling blocks are scattered along everyone’s path, but with the grace of God they can be overcome.  I present to you will open up new possibilities for you, to give you a way to find the time and inspiration throughout each day to pray an entire 15 Mysteries, and offer a simple, prayerful and gentle way of sanctifying your soul.

 Prayer has commonly been compared to breathing and for a good reason.  Prayer is as important to the soul as breathing is to the body.  Yet, unlike breathing, you have to make a conscience effort to pray.  And for busy homeschooling mothers, we are sometimes tempted to skip the Rosary and toss up a few quick prayers instead, forgetting how prayer gives life to our souls.

I myself was plagued with stumbling blocks and I actually stopped praying the Rosary for about a year.  When I finally picked up my Rosary again, I went to St. Louis for advice.  I read his book, The Secret of the Rosary and realized that it was a direct answer to my prayers.  He tells souls who are unable to pray 15 decades all at once,

“I advise you to divide up your Rosary into three parts and to say each group of mysteries (five decades) at a different time of day.  This is much better than saying the whole 15 decades all at once.

If you cannot find the time to say a third part of the Rosary all at one time, say it gradually, a decade here and there.  I am sure you can manage this; so that, in spite of your work and all the calls upon your time, you will have said the whole Rosary before going to bed.” 

I was so freed when I read this!  With my priest’s blessing, I incorporated the Saint’s first method of praying the Rosary by asking for specific graces and virtues with each Mystery, and broke up the Rosary into manageable pieces.  I was actually praying the Rosary again, and I was astounded at my rapid growth in virtues.  At last those hidden treasures were being revealed to me! 

I soon spent each day completely immersed in Our Lady and Our Lord’s life, living the Rosary and actively working on the sanctification of my soul as I went about my day.  I learned to breathe the Rosary -  to inhale the Mysteries and exhaled the grace.

Lets take a look at how easy and fruitful this method really is.  Begin the Rosary in the morning, around 6:00am if you can.  St. Louis announces the Mysteries with a little prayer, asking for the grace or virtue attached to each one.  The Annunciation prayer is:

We offer Thee, O Lord Jesus, this first decade in honor of Thy incarnation and we ask of Thee, through this mystery and through the intercession of Thy most Holy Mother, a profound humility.

Place yourself in the room with Mary as the Annunciation takes place.  Inhale the scene, absorb the lesson, let it fill you.  Ponder the perfect acts of humility unfolding before you.  “Let it be done to me according to his will…”  Pray the decade as reverently as possible, inhaling deeply the entire Mystery.

As you pray the Annunciation, try to picture the usual situations you run into in the morning and visualize an actual plan on how to handle them with humility.  Ask Mary to obtain for you the humility you need to get through the next hour of the day.  Just one hour. 

After the Glory Be, stop and then go about your usual activities.  For the next hour you are going to exhale the grace you just prayed for.  Humility.  In every interaction you have with others, whether it be your children, your husband, the garbage man or just yourself.  Humility. 

The Annunciation is a joyful moment, a challenge, and a heroic chance to say “Yes!” to whatever it is God is calling us to do at any moment.  Talk to Mary.  She will begin to show you pieces of the Annunciation that mirror your own situations during this hour in the most amazing ways.  Live humbly from 6 to 7:00am.  That is all.

So what happens at 7:00?  If you are in the middle of changing a diaper or chasing the dog, don’t’ panic.  Live humbly through the interruption and know that God is asking something else of you at the moment and you will return to your prayer in a minute.  But right around 7:00am, return to your room or prayer space for a moment.  Kneel down and review your hour.  Where were you blessed with humility?  Where did you fall?  This is a mini examination of conscience for you.  Make the Sign of the Cross and pray, the Fatima Prayer:

“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fires of Hell.  Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.”  Then pray, “Grace of the mystery of the Incarnation, come down into my soul and make it truly humble.”

Have about 5 seconds of silence and then inhale the next Mystery:  the Visitation, for perfect charity towards our neighbor.

The beauty of this method, for me, is that I can spend the whole day with Our Lady.  I spend from 6 to 6:05 inhaling the Annunciation.  From 6:05 to 7:00 I am exhaling the grace, trying to live in the example of humility Mary is showing me.

From 7 to 7:05 I make myself account for my failings, ask for forgiveness and then inhale the Visitation.  From 7:05 to 8:00am I exhale, in my own imperfect way, charity towards my neighbors.  My husband, the children, the person who just pulled out in front of me on the highway, and to myself.  I relive the Visitation during that hour and try my hand at being charitable.  I am reminded that the greatest act of charity is to bring Christ to others, just as Mary brought Christ to Elizabeth.  At 8:00 I take another moment to recollect the past hour.  How did I do?  Can I gather strength in my successes, thanking Our Lady for showing me how to be humble?  Can I find my failings and pray for guidance next time I am tempted to pride? 

 The following is a list of the 15 Mysteries and their “treasures” as St. Louis de Montfort presents them.  Use this list as a basic framework for your day.

Annunciation - Humility

Visitation – charity towards our neighbor

Nativity – detachment from things of this world, love of poverty and love of the poor.

Presentation  - the gift of wisdom and purity of heart and body.

Finding in the Temple - to convert us and help us amend our lives, and also to convert all sinners, heretics, schismatics and idolaters.

Agony in the Garden of Olives - perfect sorrow for our sins and the virtue of perfect obedience to Thy Holy Will.

Scourging -  the grace to mortify our senses perfectly.

Crowning with thorns - a great contempt of the world.

Carrying Thy cross  -  give us great patience in carrying our cross in Thy footsteps every day of our life.

Crucifixion on Mount Calvary - a great horror of sin, a love of the Cross and the grace of a holy death for us and for those who are now in their last agony.

Resurrection  -  a lively faith.

Ascension - a firm hope and a great longing for Heaven.

Pentecost - Thy holy wisdom so that we may know, really love and practice Thy truth, and make all others share in it.

Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Thy Holy and Blessed Mother - the gift of true devotion to her to help us live and die holily.

Coronation  -  the grace of perseverance, an increase in virtue until death that we may receive our eternal crown.  Ask the same grace for all the just and for all benefactors.

If you want to honor Our Lady and make an honest effort to try to overcome bad habits and develop a virtuous soul, this method keeps you right on track.  Vigilent, in fact!  Every person you come across, every situation, every moment of every day is an opportunity for sanctification.  Do not try to go throughout day on empty lungs.  Really take in Mystery when praying.   But do not hold your breath too long, either. Exhale the graces that come to you from your prayers throughout day.  You must exhale to practice the virtue!

When I die, I want to die somewhere between inhaling and exhaling, so that my last dying breath that leaves my body will be filled with an effort and attempt to practice and spread the grace.  We are all called to sanctity and many paths to choose from on our way to Sainthood.  I choose to take my path one breath at a time.  Fifteen stairs and 15 breaths a day brings me closer to Our Lady and to Him.  Progress.  Success is not as important as the effort.  The effort comes from what is in your heart.  When you inhale these Mysteries and exhale the grace, it all passes through our hearts, doesn’t it?  And that is what Our Lord will be looking for when we go to meet Him.

Put your hearts in Our Lady’s hands and breathe the Rosary to help us know God, so that we can love Him and find ways of serving Him, surely we will find the hidden treasures of grace she promises are there.

For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also. Mtt.6:21

Another Step Closer for Ven Fulton Sheen!

J.M.J.

I am so very excited to hear of Venerable Fulton Sheen's progress towards canonization!  When we named our own Fulton, we just knew that eventually the holy Archbishop would one day have his name listed among the greats.  And we wanted to be one of the first in line to have our child named after him.


My email is getting flooded with notifications about his progress and I rejoice every time I read of it.  My mother's heart goes out to Bonnie for the suffering she endured when her son James was born.  Her prayer - her very words - were my own words during those first 2 weeks at Fulton's bedside in those moments when it seemed so bleak.  "Fulton Sheen, please heal my baby!"  Bonnie, you are my hero, proving the power of a mother's faith and tears can move both the heart of a Saint (OK, saint with a lowercase 's' ... for now!) and the heart of Almighty God Himself.


I keep crying when I see that sweet boy's face - so very thankful we have such a merciful God who shows us His love through souls such as Ven. Fulton Sheen's! God is so good!



However there is another side to this that I am struggling with. And I am embarrassed to even admit it - because this is so NOT about me! 


I know you all mean well and know what this approval means to the Poppe family as well. But when I am told, "Keep praying - I know God will bring about a miracle for you, too!" this is a pressure becoming difficult to endure. Especially today for some reason. (more tears here)

I do not want other people to lose faith in God because their prayers for Fulton have not come to fruition in the ways we sometimes hope. And sometimes I feel I am letting all of you down somehow when Fulton's scars remain, his ears are still missing, etc. But please know that miracles are happening, nonetheless. Our Lady of Lourdes already saved him once. That is good enough for me!

As one dear, online friend put it: 

The miracle you've received in having Fulton with you here I think is enormous, wondrous and cause for being incredibly in awe of God every day. Fulton is a walking testament to the greatness of our God just the way he is. What God will do with his future will be a continuation of that miracle and whatever The Lord's goal is will be accomplished and for that I praise him.

 Fear not - I have not lost hope in those bigger miracles of which we Catholics marveled as children, and I continue to 'covet your prayers like candy' here, but please also accept that perhaps we are to go the long way with Fulton's suffering and the long road will be the best for our sanctification. (I'll take prayers for that intention, too BTW!)  Sometimes, well, most of the time, Our Lord chooses to work the great miracle of inward conversion instead of physical healing.

If He decides to miraculously heal him at some point, PRAISE GOD!

And if not, PRAISE GOD!

Always

Prayer for the Canonization of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen 

Heavenly Father, source of all holiness, You raise up within the Church in every age men and women who serve with heroic love and dedication. You have blessed Your Church through the life and ministry of Your faithful servant, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. He has written and spoken well of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and was a true instrument of the Holy Spirit in touching the hearts of countless people. If it be according to your Will, for the honor and glory of the Most Holy Trinity and for the salvation of souls, we ask You to move the Church to proclaim him a saint. We ask this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

Prayer for Fulton's Miraculous Healing through the Intercession of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen 

Eternal Father, You alone grant us every blessing in Heaven and on earth, through the redemptive mission of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and by the working of the Holy Spirit. If it be according to Your Will, glorify Your servant, Fulton J. Sheen, by granting the favor I now request through his prayerful intercession - that Fulton Poppe's body heals and functions normally and that he is spared any detrimental scarring. I make this prayer confidently through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

St. Lawrence and Burn Safety Activity

J.M.J.

 

Today's Collect: O God, giver of that ardor of love for you by which Saint Lawrence was outstandingly faithful in service and glorious in martyrdom, grant that we may love what he loved and put into practice what he taught. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

 



I am so inspired!  St. Lawrence's day is today and to celebrate, I have decided to designate August 10 of every year:

The Feast of St Lawrence and Poppe Fire Safety Day If I Happen to Remember to Check the Calendar!

(I have a lot going on and I try to be honest with myself) 

After reviewing some of my early entries I wrote on the Pray For Fulton Facebook group about Fulton's burns and care, I am reliving some of that horror and sorrow all of us mothers were going through on the critical burn unit floor.  Praise God Fulton has no memory of those first several weeks, but so much of the images and sounds of utter suffering will be with me forever. 

Now over the years I think I have done a fairly good job of teaching my children what is dangerous and what can cause burns.   But what I never once even mentioned to any of them was what to do if they actually got burned.  And this will be one of my regrets I will take to my grave.  Lord help me, by kindergarten I knew to Stop, Drop and Roll if I ever caught on fire.  But Fulton never knew.   It is not like I kept the secret from him.  It just never occurred to me that such a horrible thing could actually happen to people, unless it was on TV.  But that was drama.  And actors.  And if they didn't die in the story, they never looked too bad off in the following hospital scenes.  No.  Fire wounds were never on my parental radar.  Because who could imagine seeing one's own child in flames?

Burn safety, needless to say, is becoming my passion and I will dedicate this post to remind all of you to please be sure your children are well versed in burn safety!

I want everyone who reads this to try to recall the last time you spoke with your child about being safe around hot things.  The stove, bathtub, fireplace, burn barrel, electrical outlets, power lines, irons and candles are all possible safety hazards you should point out to your children.  Chemicals and flammable fuels are also high on the list of  dangerous items.  And, of course, matches. 

I created a little fire safety activity I want all of you families to play on every Feast of Saint Lawrence.  It is easy to play and full of action, so your children will love it!  Below is a page I created with several flames on it.  It is a JPEG file, so just paste it on a document and stretch it out to fit if you need to.  (I don't but your computer may be different)  Print it, cut the squares out and go around your house and tape one to everything that could cause a burn.  Stove knobs and oven doors, outlets and curling irons, hot water taps and candles.  Everything!  Print out multiple pages if you want to.  Go nuts with it - decorate your house! 

As you tape the flames by each item, talk to them about how the burns can happen (no forks in the outlets, please!), what to watch for (is that electrical cord frayed?) and how far away they should stay from dangerous items (if you blow towards the candle flame and it flickers, you are too close!)  Tell them that steam burns are especially painful and to always let an adult take care of steaming items on the stovetop. 

The special flame with Fulton's picture on it should be used on a box of matches and a can of gasoline (if you have it).  While Fulton was not playing with matches when he was burned, matches and gasoline are extremely dangerous especially when used together.  You have permission to gently tell them of his accident and how he now warns all the children he meets that gasoline is very dangerous.

Then tell them how to treat first and second degree burns and how to tell the difference.  Talk to them about third degree burns, too.  Although there may not be much a child can do about helping to treat a third degree burn, just knowing the information could save a life somewhere down the road.  Use a medical book or this site here for now: Burn Care   (When I get the game all together, I will include this information as well)  I have an issue with the administering pain medication to anyone who is badly burned, but that is something I learned in the hospital and will be covered when the game is complete.  So you may tell them that for first and small second degree burns, this treatment is OK.  But for burns that require medical attention, this is not always a good idea.

Finally, show your children where the first aid kit is and make sure you have sterile gauze pads and a bag of clean washcloths stored with your first aid kit. You can also purchase a few packages of sterile lap rags which will come in handy for both burns and any wound that is bleeding a lot.  Tell them that when someone has a first or second degree burn, cool water will be the first thing they will want to apply to the wound.  Second degree burns should be covered with a moist sterile bandage until an adult can look at it and decide if a physician must be seen.

Then teach your children how to Stop, Drop and Roll.  It is very simple and fun to practice, too!  (Remind them to cover their face if they can, as this is what happened to have saved Fulton's eyes.) 

Once they get the basic idea, each child and parent will take a turn getting 'burned' by something you marked in the house.  Have the child holler in pain and everyone else will come running.  Ask your other children how the 'injured' child probably got burned.  Now you take a look at the injury and assess it out loud.  "Oh no!  Michael burned his finger from the outlet here.  The tip of his finger is red and has blisters on it.  What degree of burn is it?"  Have them answer.  "And how do we treat it?"  Send a child to the first aid kit and actually treat the pretend wound.  After it is treated, ask, "what should we do now?"  Call a doctor, watch it and see how it does, etc.  And finally, "What should we do if we see someone playing with an electrical outlet?" or whatever object that caused the pretend burn.

Put your supplies away and start again.  Let each child get 'burned' at least once, and let each child take care of an injured person as well, so that they all know how to quickly get the first aid kit.  Hopefully a parent will be home when a real burn or other injury happens, so having children who all know where the first aid kits are kept and how to get the washcloths wet for you will be very helpful in a true emergency.

Obviously if your child gets frightened easily, this level of teaching might be overwhelming.  Tweak it where appropriate. 

I am sorry this game is not in its final format for today's feast, but I will post it in its final form when it is complete, and on every Feast of St. Lawrence.  And St. Florian, too!  Please leave a comment below and let me know how it went in your home and if you have any suggestions on how to make it better.  And please, please, please spread the word about this game!  Like I said, if I had read a blog post about fire safety just the day before the accident, I would have been reminded to teach my son Stop, Drop and Roll.  "If onlys" and "I should haves" will haunt me forever.

One last request:  if you could, please end your game with a prayer to St. Lawrence for all burn victims.  There is a certain mother in Oklahoma who will sleep a little better tonight knowing so many pure souls are praying for her son!

Stay safe and God bless!




This post is linked up to the Catholic Monthly Bloggers Network monthly linkup blitz
 and the Equipping Catholic Families Saints Cele-linky

St. Anthony, Where Are You?

J.M.J.

Rumor has it I write a blog.  Sorry for the long silence, but time has been short lately.  In fact I should be in bed right now, but I can't seem to find Fulton's mouth stretcher and I have finally decided to let St Anthony take over while I put some words on this blog before bed.

As I write this, I realize I have lost something else besides the mouth stretcher.  Actually, I have lost many things.  Time.  Grace.  Patience.  Sleep.  And a few marbles, too.  In fact, I have lost just about everything, except the 40 pounds that continue to stick with me through thick and...(well, hopefully those pounds won't stay with me through the 'thin'!)

I will be painfully honest with you: Ever since returning home, everything has been a fabulous source of sanctification for me.  And luckily for the rest of the family, I have been a great source of sanctification for all of them as well.  Bound together by love, loyalty, and the unavailability of extra vehicles to aid our escape, we are beginning to adjust to the new demands on my time and adapt to new personality traits that have emerged in Fulton.  And in myself.

I was always been a bit frazzled and forgetful, but since returning home I think I am beginning to lose my mind.  The house is a mess.  I spend far too much time looking for things.  And I have completely deleted far too many conversations I have had with people.  I couldn't even tell you how many times Jay has heard me say, "I am so sorry!  I completely forgot to...."

While the forgetfulness is certainly annoying, it is my newly perfected skills at misplacing things that is really a problem.  Fulton's care requires so many items, it would be hard for a Martha Stewart type person to keep track of it all, let alone me.  His blood pressure cuff, medical syringes, pressure garments, lotions and potions, etc is a lot of 'stuff' to handle on a daily basis, so it was off to the antique store for me! 

We came home with a lovely 3 shelf hutch with a cabinet underneath to put in our bedroom.  I could have settled for a cheap Walmart bookcase or something, but ugly and clutter make me crazy (although you'd never guess that based on how the house looks) so I spent the same amount on a real piece of furniture.  I still need to get a basket or two to hold the multitude of tiny but oh-so-important items in my medical collection, but overall I am quite pleased with the new addition.  I am still losing things on a regular basis though, and am considering making St Anthony my new favorite Saint, but overall there is a marked improvement.

It is still ugly and cluttered, but hopefully after a few more rustic looking baskets these shelves will be a little easier to look at first thing in the morning.  Meanwhile I will continue to try to Lord willing, this is just a phase of readjustment and I will eventually become a more helpful addition to the rest of the family.  But for the time being, we have all come to the understanding that Mommy is still Fulton's special helper.   I will NOT forget that!

I continue to strive to transform his care into acts of love, thanksgiving and reparation to Our Lord and offer up our sufferings to The One who has done so much for us.  I continue to see Our Lord Crucified in Fulton's little face and am learning to love on a whole new level.  And I am continuing to lose my sense of 'self', slowly but surely, and that is one thing I hope will stay lost forever!

For everything else that I continue to lose, it is good to know that I have St Anthony to back me up!

Saint Anthony, perfect imitator of Jesus, who received from God the special power of restoring lost things, grant that I may find (mention your petition) which has been lost. As least restore to me peace and tranquility of mind, the loss of which has afflicted me even more than my material loss.

To this favor I ask another of you: that I may always remain in possession of the true good that is God. Let me rather lose all things than lose God, my supreme good. Let me never suffer the loss of my greatest treasure, eternal life with God. Amen.

St Anthony, pray for me!