A simple, yummy banana cake

We often have over ripe bananas, and if you do too, try this cake! I mashed about five bananas and squeezed half a lime into the mix, added sugar, a little canola oil, vanilla, and 3 eggs. Then I added the flour/baking powder mix and wow, was it ever so good! (I don't deal with exact measures, but it was like mixing a pancake batter...)

What we watched instead of the Oscars...

We watched an outstanding play: Socrates Meets Jesus produced by Theater of the Word, based on the book by Peter Kreeft with the same title. It was a great evening of performing arts and conversation with the cast members! The Saint Margaret's teens helped with the effort and they did a great job. Number Five was responsible for a number of things including the poster--for which she needed a bit of my help. :-) The play was excellent and I highly recommend it!

Under a deadline

Today I am finishing up Chapter 16 of the excellent Catholic Textbooks Project volume entitled Light of the Nations. This is work I love to do, and both the steady snowfall outside and my Gregorian Chant channel on Pandora are coming to my aid.

Watch for a revised Sea to Shining Sea workbook edition (see sidebar), and this new one, to be published later in the spring!

Co-op art

We had some interesting results with our homemade salt-dough, cooked with cornstarch, air dried and painted with tempera.

Can't wait!

I fell in love with this Catholic author when I read Saints Behaving Badly... he sure has great titles for his books too. Amazon lists the publication date for July 2011, I am posting it on PopeStNickV and requesting our library system to purchase it.

Update Friday: when I filled out the form online with our library system, I added another one of his upcoming books, on a subject I discussed in History class recently. Again, I can't wait to read it!

Anyone is welcome to join the Yahoo Group Pope St. NickV. You will receive periodically suggestions of books you can request for purchase from your library system. Remember that the more requests they receive for a book, the more likely they are to purchase it, so don't be afraid to duplicate requests!

WInter '11 issue of Mater & Magistra

Alongside its usual beautiful cover, the winter issue revolves around the theme of Boys. In the review section I wrote about our dear Tintin, and I also included Number One's review of one of his favorite books! This is timely since another of his favorite Rosemary Sutcliff's books, The Eagle of the Ninth, is right now a major motion picture! Our teens have already enjoyed it with their friends.

Field Trip!

The younger kids loved the science hands-on area, but Numbers Four and Five also enjoyed yesterday's field trip to the Washington Pavilion. The Norman Rockwell exhibit was very interesting, as his works and the works of an Americana photographer were displayed side-by-side. We also watched Everest in the cinedome. Friend and fellow blogger Jannell has more (and better) pictures!

Georgeanne and Emma's Visit

We had a nice weekend hosting old friends from Nebraska Georgeanne and Emma, who came to visit Number Five for her 16th bithrday. Their visit was cut short due to the winter storm but we packed it in. Georgeanne even ended helping me cook Brazilain pasteis!

Number Seven plays "The Time Machine"

The King's Speech

Number Five and I went to see The King's Speech (excellent trailer, worth the click) last night with our friends. There is so much in the movie to like, and it was good entertainment! Above all their marriage and friendship: it was beautiful. The historical inaccuracies are not very important, and I found embedded in this article a recording of the actual speech in question. Colin Firth did a spectacular job. Thank you to my Canadian reader, without your recommendation I would not have gone as I rarely think a film is worth the effort these days.

Ian's Teapots

My little friend Ian K. drew me these adorable teapots. They came in separate index cards, in a homemade envelope, and they took my heart by surprise. Ian is a fellow artistic soul and we enjoy doing art weekly together. When life is at its most midwinter bleakness, Grace comes in tiny, delightful, heavenly gifts.

Posted on Pope StNickV

I have three pre-publication suggestions, one today and two more forthcoming, for Catholic reference books. As my library system has limited purchase suggestions to books published in the past 6 months, I have learned to scout pre-publication titles at Amazon.

Check to see if this title is already in your library's catalog. If it is, put ahold on it and check it out. If not, fill out a patron request form right away.This can usually be done online at your library's website. To read past libraryrecommendations visit:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PopeSaintNicholasV/.

Title: An Illustrated Dictionary of Saints: A guide to the lives and works ofover 300 of the world's most notable saints, with expert commentary and more than 350 beautiful illustrations
Author: Tessa Paul
Publisher: Southwater
Date Published: April 16, 2011
ISBN: 1844768473
Pages: 160 pages
Amazon link here.
Product Description: Explore the religious and social history of Christian saints from the HolyFamily and the Apostles, through the medieval era, until modern times. Author Tessa Paul is the author and editor of a number of non-fiction titles onreligious festivals around the world. She has also written fiction for children,and non-fiction titles about animal life. Tessa grew up in Zimbabwe, and workedas a journalist in South Africa for the Natal Gazette and on the Rand DailyMail. Consultant the Reverend Ronald Creighton-Jobe is an Oratorian father at the Oratory Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in London.

Good news!

Two True Stories

I know, I know, it has been a while since I posted one! But we have been bringing new gems from the library nevertheless! The girls now are the ones reminding me to post about them. I selected, among their favorites, two picture books connected by the fact that they all retell true stories!

Come See the Earth Turn, The Story of Leon Foucault, by Lori Mortensen, illustrations by Raul Allen, 2010 Tricycle Press.

The kids remember admiring the Foucault Pendulum when we visited Thomas Aquinas College, and this picture book tells the story of the dedicated scientist! TAC is one of the few places that has one, in their gorgeous Albertus Magnus Science Hall, and Wikipedia has an interesting list of all of the Foucault pendulums in the world.

Calico Dorsey, Mail Dog of the Mining Caps by Susan Lendroth with illustrations by Adam Gustavson , 2010 Tricycle Press.

The illustrations of Dorsey alone are worth the book! What a cute, good dog! Our history studies just covered the California gold rush so this book came to enrich our homework! I am not sure there was ever another official US Mail dog, but if you read this book you too will fall in love with this good dog!

A gem sent by Fr. B. A.

Whether one has received the Sacrament of Matrimony, or of Holy Orders, the path to holiness is essentially the same--"deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me."

Ave Maria!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Cross of Christ Custom for Marriage

In the town of Siroki-Brijeg in Herzegovina not one single divorce has been recorded among its 13,000 inhabitants. Not one single family has broken up in living memory. For centuries, because of the pressure of the Turks and then the Communists, the people suffered cruelly as their Christian faith was always threatened. They knew through experience that salvation comes through the cross of Christ. That is why they have indissolubly linked marriage to the Cross of Christ. they have founded marriage which brings forth human life, on the Cross, which brings forth divine life. The Croatian marriage tradition is so beautiful that it is beginning to take hold in Europe and America too.

When a couple is preparing for marriage, they are not told that they have found the ideal partner. No! What does the priest say? “You have found your cross. And it is a cross to be loved, to be carried, a cross not to be thrown away, but to be cherished.” I know if fiances were told this in my home country France, they would be struck dumb. But in Herzegovina, the Cross represents the greatest love and the crucifix is the treasure of the home.

When the bride and groom set off for the church, they bring a crucifix with them. The priest blesses the crucifix, which takes on a central role during the exchange of vows. The bride places her right hand on the crucifix and the groom places his hand over hers. Thus the two hands are bound together on the cross. The priest covers their hands with his stole as they proclaim their vows to be faithful according to the rites of the Church.

The bride and groom do not then kiss each other, they rather kiss the cross. They know that they are kissing the source of love. Anyone close enough to see their two hands joined over the cross understands clearly that if the husband abandons his wife or if the wife abandons her husband they let go of the cross. And if they abandon the cross they have nothing left. They have lost everything for they have abandoned Jesus. They have lost Jesus.

After the ceremony, the newly weds bring the crucifix back and give it a place of honour in their home. It becomes the focal point of family prayer, for the young couple believes deeply that the family is born of the Cross. When a trouble arises or if a conflict breaks out, it is before this cross that they will seek help. They will not go to a lawyer, they will not consult a fortune teller or an astrologer, they will not rely on a psychologist to solve the problem. No, they will go straight before their Jesus, before the cross. They’ll get on their knees there and in front of Jesus they will weep their tears and pour out their hearts, and above all exchange their forgiveness. They will not go to sleep with a heavy heart because they will have turned to Jesus, the only One who has the power to save.

They will teach their children to kiss the cross every day and not to go to sleep like pagans without having thanks Jesus first. As for the children, as far back as they can remember, Jesus has always been the friend of the family, respected and embraced. They say “nighty, night” to Jesus and kiss the cross. (As Fr Jozo says “They go to sleep with Jesus, not a teddy bear”) They know that Jesus is holding them in his arms and that there is nothing to be afraid of, and their fears melt away in their kiss to Jesus.

Praying for the people in Egypt

We have been praying for the people in Egypt... I just read a good Catholic Exchange column about the need to continue praying for the Christians in Egypt.

The Digestive System

Here are Mrs. G.'s proud students as they finished their study of the digestive system at our tutoring center today! Thank you Mrs. G. and assistant Mrs. S.!

Snow sports

Our homeschool group's kids enjoyed another afternoon at Great Bear...

Chocolate-Sauerkraut Cake

I may have lost just one miserable Lb so far, but I have enjoyed the meetings, and of course have been inspired by the excellent WW recipes! I made this for Husband and the girls' friends, it is a delicious cake! No eggs, no milk, and a cup of sauerkraut! Husband was in cake-heaven.

Saint Valentine's Day gifts!

Our priest friend Fr. B. A. sends informational emails, and here is a story of the saint in question!






Husband brought roses, which in winter always seem to be even more beautiful. Truly they seem to me to be bringing warm sunshine inside the house!

My friend Jannell gave this adorable hand-sewn heart. Her talent, and constant, accomplished handiwork never ceases to inspire. Thank you, dear friend!

Please pray for him with me

My friend Liz got me praying for Philip, and we have been praying for him daily. So has my dear auntie in Brazil. Here he is, speaking about his own journey to high school students.

Seminarian Philip Johnson from Deacon Watkins on Vimeo.

Please vote!

As many of you know I am on the editorial board of Mater & Magistra, the only Catholic Homeschooling magazine--we made it as a finalist for the About.com national Catholic readers choice awards! Please vote!

Go here to vote. Thanks!

Seventeen below

We are notoriously bad at making snowmen, and the minuscule size of this cute one reflects the amount of minutes we endured being outside the other day, in these subarctic temps.

A friend in heaven

Today is the feast day of a dear friend... my patroness Saint Scholastica! I share her with all of the Benedictine sisters of the universal Church, and honor and thank her today for her guidance and prayers! She was the twin sister of Saint Benedictine and they were great friends. Her life of prayer has always been an inspiration to me as well as her feminine strength and her love for her brother.

I found the holy cards while looking through Mother's old cards in Brazil and also photographed a few other ones. I don't know if she was ever in the Saint Bathilde Priory in Vanvers, I suspect she liked and bought these in one of her trips to Paris or in Metz, where they lived for a year before I was born. I have posted about this dear saint before, here and here , and I close with this prayer posted 3 years ago:

Dearest Patroness,
whose favor with God was such as to bring about a mighty
storm, bring about for me, who has loved you since infancy (when the Benedictine
sisters in school would give me holy cards with your image), that I may
persevere in God's love, allowing Him, whose Infinite Wisdom is unfailing, to
guide all of my days. Amen.

The San Patricios

We studied them this past week in History. I found two You Tube videos that were helpful, one here and one here. This is a little known-chapter of our American History, but it should touch the chords of any Catholic American heart. Our History book, I think, does an excellent job bringing the story to the students!

Pro Life video

H/T goes to a seminarian's blog I follow. My prayer is that in the future of our beloved country speeches such as this courageous one will no longer be needed.

Growing girls? No problem.

I had to add trim to Number Five's jeans for years, and now it is Number Six's turn. She will beat me soon as she has her dad's tall genes ... I have learned to use old jeans to cut and add new length, and a cute trim (brought some yardage from Brazil) adds a feminine touch! She loved them!