These Thy Gifts: April 2009

Favorite Sites

Grace Before Meals
The online source for families looking to strengthen their relationships through shared mealtime experiences.
Epicurious.com
My favorite source for recipes.
One More Soul
Info about the harms of contraception and sterilization, help in discerning whether to have another child.
The Couple to Couple League
Best Natural Family Planning instruction around! (I'm biased - Tom and I are a CCL teaching couple).
Catholic Educator's Resource
Their bi-weekly email newsletter is a must read.
Cathe Friedrich Fitness
The best exercise DVDs out there, and a great online support forum too.

Charlotte Mason Education Websites

Ambleside Online
Not just for home educators! Check out the resources for supplementing your school children with Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies/History, Fine Arts, and Foreign Languages.
Simply Charlotte Mason
Don't miss the CM Bookfinder (click on top left link). Search by subject and/or grade level for high-quality book suggestions for your children.

April 12, 2009

The Easiest Easter Craft Ever ....

Inspired by this month's issue of Family Fun magazine, we used leftover paper and plastic partyware to create this Easter egg display, in under 2 minutes! An upside-down clear plastic cup is glued with Tacky-glue to the dinner plate on the bottom and the dessert plate. An upside-down white dixie cup, decorated with Easter stickers, is glued to the top. A hole has been cut into it's bottom to hold the top egg upright. Easter grass completes the look. This is my kind of craft - quick, easy, and using stuff I already have on hand!

Posted at 02:29 PM in Crafts, Liturgical Year | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 08, 2009

How to Explain Sin to a Child?

This is one of best explanations of sin and repentance, heaven and purgatory, that I've ever seen. It was meant to help a child understand how each of these stem from God's immense love for us, but I dare say many of us grown-ups could benefit this approach which turns the mistaken idea of a punishing God on it's head.

Posted at 11:25 AM in Religion | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

About Me

I am a Catholic wife and home-educating mother of two: Nathan (8) and Zachary (6). I am also a certified catechist for The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and a chastity speaker, my husband and I are Natural Family Planning instructors. I have a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, and left the corporate world after nine years to run my own small business. The name of my blog is a perfect reflection of me - a former personal chef and adoptive mother to two very special gifts from God.

Recently Read

Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel
Masterfully written story of a dying author who is finally revealing her troubled past to her fans. An extraordinary and riveting story that I continued to ponder long after finishing.
Yann Martel: Life of Pi
I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastical tale of a child who survives a shipwreck, sharing his lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.
Sigrid Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross (Penguin Classics)
Her children grown, her marriage at odds, how will stubborn Kristen respond? Again, a true-to-life portrayal of human nature and the choice we all have to nurture resentment, or allow our trials to be redemptive.
Sigrid Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife (Penguin Classics)
A very realistic tale of marriage - when disillusion sets in, how will Kristen respond? I especially appreciated how the challenges - and joys - of both marriage and parenting are masterfully related.
Sigrid Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath (Penguin Classics)
Beautifully written tale of a young girl in medieval Norway, who must choose between the good man her family approves of, or the man who excites her passions but has fallen from grace .
Ray Guarendi: Discipline That Lasts a Lifetime: The Best Gift You Can Give Your Kids
Humorous approach to common parenting issues from a clinical psychologist and father of ten children.
James Martin: My Life With the Saints
Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Barack Obama: Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
While not a political supporter (especially after reading this book!), it was educational for me, as a mother of two biracial boys, to read Obama's experience of growing up biracial in America.
Khaled Hosseini: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Historical novel about two women enduring 25 years of war and injustice in Afghanistan. Tip - don't read this if you're already feeling depressed!!! But definitely do if you're in the right place to be able to handle the intensity of it.
Immaculee Ilibagiza: Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust
A survivor tells her story of hiding in a bathroom for 3 months during the genocide and her spiritual journey from fear and hatred to trust and forgiveness. A difficult read at times, but beautiful and filled with hope.
Gregory Howard Williams: Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black
Eye-opening story of a biracial boy coming of age in the 1950's Midwest and the bigotry he endured.
Morris L. West: Daughter of Silence
Set in the hills of Tuscany, this thought-provoking legal drama explores the question of culpability and free will.
Paul Horgan: Things As They Are (Loyola Classics)
A boy's transition from the state of innocence to knowledge.
Adele Faber: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
I finally read this after hearing it recommended umpteen million times - now I'm highly recommending it - extremely helpful communication advice.
Rumer Godden: In This House of Brede
A highly successful professional woman leaves her life among the London elite to join a cloistered Benedictine community.
Helen Doss: The Family Nobody Wanted
Inspiring and entertaining story of a Caucasian couple who adopt 12 children, mostly of mixed races, in the 1940's - when this was simply not done!
Maria Augusta Trapp: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
The first couple of chapters are what inspired the "The Sound Of Music", the remainder of the book tells the story of their escape to America and their fascinating life there.
Francois Mauriac: Vipers' Tangle (The Loyola Classics Series)
A dying patriarch's attempt to come to terms with alienation from his family and his consuming personal greed, written by the Nobel Prize winner for Literature.