October 15: Pregnancy and Birth Loss Remembrance Day

Today, we remember our little ones who died, either in the womb or close to their birthing days. Of course, as mothers, we remember them every day. But today, we ask a society that sometimes would rather keep pregnancy and birth loss as something whispered about behind closed doors, to remember with us.

Tonight at 7 PM, I lit a candle as part of the "Lights of Love" campaign. I remembered Mary Elizabeth, our first baby who died at 13 weeks over ten years ago. I also remembered my two very recent losses, Samuel Paul and Maria Hope. I remember also my dear friends and their babies-- "real life" friends and the strong compassionate women I've met online. God be with you on this day and give you peace.

Updating the blog

So... what do you think?

An Autumn Circle

Call to Circle
Are we ready? Are we ready?
Holding hands together? Holding hands together?
Time to light the candle, time to light the candle.
Circle time! Circle time!
Adapted from The Singing Day, sung to the tune of "Frere Jacques"

Candle Lighting
The sun it shines so warm and bright.
It shines on all I do.
Now let me take this bit of light
So I shine brightly too.
Autumn Seasons of Joy
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Autumn has come to the country and town,
Wearing its garment of golden and brown.
Apples she brings us so round and so red,
Brings us our corn that we bake into bread.

Lo, there's a bridge of wonderful light,
Built of colors so warm and so bright.
Brown, gold, and purple and yellow and red,
Softly we tread, softly we tread.
Wynstones Autumn
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Let's go walking through the woods
On this windy Autumn day,
Through the leaves, all red and gold,
Let us dance and sing and play.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Come, little leaves," said the wind one day,
"Come over the meadow with me and play!
Put on your dresses of red and gold.
Pentatonic Songs
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The summer is gone and the days grow cold."
Who comes creeping in the night
When the moon is clear and bright?
Who paints the leaves red and gold
When the autumn day turns cold?
Up the hill and down he goes,
In and out the brown corn rows
Making music crackling sweet
With his frosty little feet.
Jack Frost!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Three little oak leaves, red, yellow, old
Were happy when the weather turned cold.
One said, "I'll make a coat for an elf
So he will be able to warm himself."
One said, "I'll make a home for a bug
So that she will be all safe and snug."
One said, "I'll cover a see in the ground
'Til spring, it will be very safe and sound."
Three little oak leaves, red, yellow, gold
Were happy when the weather tuned cold.
Rhymes for Learning Time
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I shake the trees
And blow my tune,
Hi, ho, -- the leaves
Will be dancing soon!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
This month is October
With leaves falling down.
Flutter hands down.
They make a soft carpet
To cover the ground.
Smooth hands like a carpet.
Soon we will rake them
Into a heap.
Pretend to rake.
Then into the big pile
I will leap!
Jump!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Faith, Hope, and Love

I've been having trouble sleeping lately, and so I've been praying the rosary. When I was little, someone once told me that if you fall asleep praying the rosary, your guardian angel finishes it for you. It seemed like a win-win solution.

Another rosary tradition left over from my childhood is to say before the each of the three Hail Marys at the beginning "For an increase of faith...," "For an increase of hope...," and "For an increase of love."

I get why we need to pray for our faith to be increased, and I understand why we need more love. But to be honest, I've never understood why hope was lumped in with the other two. I've always thought of hope not so much as a necessity, but as a luxury, something that's nice to have because it makes our days more pleasant.

We're losing another baby. We were really shocked when we found out I was pregnant so soon after the miscarriage. We had an early ultrasound, and there was concern because they couldn't see the baby's heartbeat. Then, three days later, there it was--a beautiful little flutter on the ultrasound. And now, two weeks after... nothing. No heartbeat, no growth, no increase in HCG levels. No life.

I have faith and I have love, but hope is a little hard to come by right now.

"Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?" So writes St. Paul in the book of Romans. He then goes on to say "But if we wait for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."God promises in Isaiah that "those who hope in Me will not be disappointed."

Right now, I'm very disappointed. I won't lie. Not in God, but in the state of things. I'm beginning to see how inextricably entwined faith, hope, and love are. I'm finding myself despairing a little. And so, there is nothing left to do but to pray.

For an increase of faith.

For an increase of love.

For an increase of hope.

Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

Happy Birthday to Nicholas,

Lover of youth group girls

Daddies,
Siblings,


And grandparents.

Always on the go!

Risk-taker...
Creative thinker...
All around happy guy...

(Mostly)

And now a big six-year-old boy!

A B See!

I wanted to share some of links for inspiration I've found while Nicholas and I have been wending our way through Fairytale Land, learning the first three letters of the alphabet. They aren't even necessarily things I've made or done, just beautiful and inspiring!

Aa
Fairy Tale: Star Money
Book: The Falling Stars ill. by Eugene Sopko
The A is found in the star, and is also the sound we make when we see great beauty: "Ah!"
A Star Money transparency
Star Money beanbags on Etsy
Star Baby on Etsy
Felt Star Crown from BellaLuna Toys
Kinderkram Falling Stars mobile- We actually have this one. This is my favorite fairy tale in the world!

Bb
Fairy Tale: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Book: Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Jan Brett
The B is the shape of the bear.
A wooden playset on Etsy
Another playset; this one is felt and wood.
Three Bears felted balls
Lots of ideas in this Goldilocks and the Three Bears unit
A lovely Three Bears party

Cc
Fairy Tale: Puss in Boots
The C is the curl of the cat's back.
An audio recording
Sweet little cat rattle
Cat and babies
Travel Kitties on Flickr!
Sleeping kitty from clay

Main Lesson Book

Michael's narration and illustration of the Susan Constant and how she carried Englishman to North America on King James's command to find gold.

Michael's definitions and illustrations of the three types of rock.

Katie Grace's multiplication wheel for factors of 3.

And factors of 4.

And factors of 2. She's really been enjoying these!

One was the only wheel with curves.

Michael's diagram of the layers of the earth.

Two Recipes

Here are two recipes we enjoyed this week that I promised to post.

Soft Pretzels (from Creative Resources for Early Childhood)

Mix 1 1/2 cups of warm water, an envelope of yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons if you have loose yeast), and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Set it aside for five minutes.

Pour 1 tsp salt and 4 cups of flour into a bowl.

Add the yeast mixture to make a dough.

Form shapes with the dough. Brush on some egg and sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.





And Spinach-Ricotta Skillet Lasagna from All You Magazine:

Mix 1 cup shredded mozzarella, 1/2 cup grated parmasan, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, pepper to taste and a pinch of nutmeg.

In a separate bowl, whisk 1 1/2 cups ricotta with 1 large egg and 10 oz of frozen chopped spinach that has been thawed and squeezed dry. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread 1/3 of a jar of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a large, heavy skillet. Arrange 2 sheets of no-bake lasagna noodles on top. Spread 1/2 the spinach mixture on the pasta and then scatter 1/2 of the mozzarella mixture on top. Top with 2 more pasta sheets, then spread with 1/3 of the sauce. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella mixture. Place another 2 sheets of pasta on top and pour over the remaining sauce. Break remaining sheets of pasta into large pieces to fill in around the edges of the skillet.

Dollop the remaining spinach mixture on top and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese mixture. Transfer to stovetop and cook, covered, over medium low hear until the top is firm, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Meatless, delicious, and a great way to get kids to eat spinach!

Making soft pretzels

Yum!

Starcatching

This week we're focusing on the fairy tale Star Money. Nicholas went searching for the letter A among the stars.

And of course, Daniel wanted in on the action as well.