Elena 
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1.
Mary’s birthday is celebrated exactly 9 months after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Mary’s Birthday is one of only three that we celebrate during the liturgical year, the other two being John the Baptist and of course Jesus!
The story of Mary’s birth is somewhat familiar. Joachim and Anne were two holy people, married for many years without being able to conceive a child. But by remaining faithful to the Lord, they were rewarded by finally conceiving a child- the little girl who would become the Blessed Mother. The story goes that the Angel Gabriel appeared both to Joachim and Anne separately, telling them the good news that they were pregnant, and when Joachim and Anne found each other to share the news they each already knew!!
Usually for Marian Feast Days the kids and I make a “white dinner.” Everything is white in honor of Mary.
White chilli is a nice meal to make this time of year when soccer and cross country and all of the other activities are going in full swing. Just pop the chicken and spices in the crock pot and go! Of course a lovely white cake for desert is a natural!
We read Mary My Mother by Father Lawrence Lovasik and Catholic Traditions In The Home And Classrooms: 365 Days To Celebrate A Catholic Year
2. We have extended family caught in the path of Hurricane Irma. We haven’t heard a word about Mr. Pete’s cousin, who was recovering in a rehab center after a pretty extensive surgery a few weeks ago. My ex-brother-in-law and his wife are also in the way and last I heard they were going to ride it out. Today I heard that their county had a mandatory evacuation so hopefully they have left. No one is updating their Facebook statuses. Some long-time blogging friends are also in the path including William Luse and Steve Riddle.
When I was a little girl, I remember my grandma burning palm leaves over the kitchen sink and praying quietly before a storm. I looked that up on line and apparently that was a very eastern-European thing to do. Not sure why. I think it might have something to do with the palms being blessed and having the ashes go into the ground or the wind to bless them and ask for protection. I feel the need to do that for this hurricane for the protection of all, and to respect the tradition. Why else would I have that memory?
3. The Flip House is coming along. We worked tirelessly on it last week and Gabe moved in on Thursday. He has a freshly cleaned and painted bedroom, a freshly cleaned and painted room for Miss C, and a brand new remodeled bathroom!
Before…
After!
What he does not have is a working kitchen or a painted living room and hallway and all of our working supplies and most of his furniture are crammed into the back sunroom. But hopefully by the end of the weekend, he will have a remodeled kitchen and a stove. We’re still working on the refrigerator.
4. Izzy has been the best worker on this house! She muds and spackles and paints and scrapes and paints. She even set the tiles in the flip house bathroom. We really couldn’t have done it without her.
5. My General Science class is coming along. The students are engaged and they are participating. I managed to cram 4 experiments into one 1-hour long class this week and we still ended 10 minutes early!
6. Rosie was within two seconds of beating her best record in the two mile last weekend. We did some visualization exercises and calming techniques before she started the race. I had been “reading” about how this can improve performance in the book, Less than a Minute to Go! on Audible.
One of the most helpful analogies in the book was the one about St. Peter getting out of the boat to come to Jesus. As long as he kept his focus, he was able to walk on water! But as soon as the doubt crept in and he lost his focus, he started to sink like a rock. I shared that with Rosie and it seemed to help. On game day I just reminded her to “Run to Jesus. He’s at the split and at the finish.” Hopefully we can repeat this practice and she can beat her own PR this week!
7. Friday Freebee – 10 Essentials for Homeschooling High School! Learn the 10 critical courses to study before graduation with this handy guide.
[…] have been living there ever since. The home was livable, but it certainly wasn’t beautiful. Here’s an example. The walls needed to be scraped and painted, it needed a new floor in the back room, and water […]