Detroit trip...

So we took a short three hour trip to Detroit to see my son, who is studying architecture at college. It was his birthday week and we wanted to see him. You can tell everyone was saving their energy for the day!

We picked J up and went to Mass at a beautiful church in Greektown, Old St. Mary’s. It is run by the Redemptorists, and is a must see. I have a very special friend who lives in Louisiana, and she has introduced me to Blessed Seelos. The more we have learned about him, the more we are just amazed at the intersections between our lives and Blessed Seelos. Here is a link to lots of information on this wonderful priest. He was in Detroit for a short amount of time before he traveled to Louisiana, where he died a year later as he tended to those with yellow fever. Fr. Seelos was known for his joyful devotion to his people, he was a true shepherd to his flock. I count him as my newest friend amongst the Communion of Saints.

http://www.seelos.org/

As I walked into the main church, I was so struck by the church’s beauty. I immediately saw our mutual friend, Blessed Seelos, in the front of the church.

Here’s a few pictures of the inside of the church...

The wood was ornate and hand cut with intricate designs. The main altar was so nice.

I took this with my phone, so they aren’t the best, but it really does need to be seen in person to appreciate how beautiful this church is on the inside. 

Old St. Mary’s also has a few grottos in the back, within the church itself. I have never seen anything like this, a Marian grotto and one for the Sacred Heart. Very nice, Lily loved these. 

These were made to be like caves that you walked through...very European looking. 

Old St Mary’s is a German church, I haven’t seen many like this since we left Indy. It reminded me of Sacred Heart and Old St John’s, both in Indy.

We returned to J’s dorm room,where we slowly heated up home made beef stew I had brought from home, in J’s microwave, and opened presents. It’s fun having a little sister who is ever so helpful in opening those gifts! 

It’s sort of strange seeing my son live and work somewhere other than our home. I am so proud of him, but miss him, as we all do. I am happy things are going well, and look forward to our next visit when he is home for Fall Break. 

Do get to Old St. Mary’s in Detroit if you can, and look of Blessed Seelos, I love his story! 

What to do after a hard summer.....

So, this summer hasn’t been the greatest, most fantastic, amazing recharging kind of summer. No...this has been of the “keep breathin’ ya’ll, it will get better eventually” kind of summer. And, it has gotten better, Deo Gratias. I see the boys outside right now trying to play as much ball as they can before it completely goes dark outside. This is the first time they have played ball together this summer....late at night...and it is August. The pertussis just took it out of us. We rallied a bit a few weeks ago, everyone was so sick of being sick, not quite great enough to do any heavy hiking, but desperately needing to be outdoors...without a lot of camp smoke, allergens, you get the picture, sterile nature walks?? Ha!  We headed two hours north of here and found an amazing state park that included the largest acreage of virgin forest in our part of the state. We didn’t find an allergen free forest, but the beauty here was the medicine we really needed. What drew me to this particular place was the fact the interpretive trail was PAVED. That means we could bring our stroller for a certain five year old who gets pooped out waaaay too soon, but there was no way anyone could carry her this time, so a paved trail was perfect for this convalescing crew.

We have been on a lot of nature walks and have tried to read interpretive trails before, but it always feels a bit forced or not too relevant to the kids’ experience.  The Hartwick Pines State Park did a terrific job of writing the trail map and historical markers. It flowed nicely through the forests, without belaboring points or overwhelming us with too much information, but enough to keep us wanting to get to the next stop to read about the next area. We all really enjoyed this part a lot and learned so much about new vs. old growth forests and many historical facts of Michigan’s logging history that we had no clue of until visiting here. There was a really neat cluster of buildings as part of the “museum” area on the trail....Lily and Gabe hung out for a minute, playing checkers in the building that was a replica of the house that all of the loggers stayed in while working the forest. It was a very interesting slice of history, with tables set up like it would be in a logging mess hall, and bunk areas to show what it looked like in the sleeping quarters for the crews. 

The wheel that helped carry out the 150+ft long logs was impressive. There was a gentleman that worked for the DNR that was an historical interpreter, he eagerly showed us around, including how this  large wheel set worked...very cool!

The nature center at the start of the trail had a great bird watching area and several stuffed animals like wolves, etc from around Michigan. Everyone enjoyed that and the gift shop! Speaking of birds, I saw this beautiful bird that was so striking red, but not a cardinal, I had never seen anything like it....so you might be able to make out the “Scarlet Tanager” that I tried hard to catch with my camera. The bird books say this bird is usually in the canopy and often not seen closer to the ground! Not bad for a very amateur bird watcher, don’t you say? 

More “out to heal with nature” trips are planned for the next few months. Autumn here is absolutely gorgeous and we plan on taking advantage of a flexible homeschooling schedule to get out and enjoy it! 

An Answer to Some Questions....

Positive for Whooping cough.....that is the answer, my friends, to the fierce breathing and asthma issues  from the last month here at our outpost.

Yes...we vaccinate...and guess what? It is NOT 100% effective. The first year following vaccination, it is 80-90% effective and after that it wanes. Three local docs could not believe it was possibly Pertussis, because we “had been vaccinated” and therefore, it can’t be Pertussis. Wrong!! Fortunately, we finally had someone listen to my amazing rendition of Peter’s cough, and ordered the swabs so I would shut up and quit doing the cough drama. If ever in doubt, be dramatic, right?

So, not to start a debate about vaccines, because that is NOT what this is about, I do want to make people aware that if your family has a cough that just won’t leave, or gets worse after you think they should have been getting better, or they have a nasty “whooping” sound with breathing in, (think long audible high pitch gasping sound) or if your asthma kids are especially drained from coughing...or turn nice shades of purple and gray like our dear Petey, perhaps the whole Pertussis eval should be broached with your doc. It is a simple swab of the nose to send to the lab. AND...sometimes there is no “whooping sound,” only Pete had that with his cough. Fortunately, Lily didn’t come down with this, she had just been vaccinated a few months ago.

I’m not a doctor, and the only advise I am giving is to persist with your doctor if you think your child might have pertussis. The big deal is, for infants, it is especially serious. People usually need treated with an antibiotic once there is a positive test for Pertussis.  Read what the CDC says about this, and ask your doctor if you have any questions.

http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/

We are on the mend and feeling better, but that cough....oh...you don’t forget it, let me tell ya’!

Now....I leave you with a picture of my latest shower gift I have made for the next bride- to- be in Jim’s family. I love this pattern, I have made it a few times now, and the brides all seem to like it a lot. It is the “Emmaline” from Sew Liberated. I intentionally post a pic with the chaos showing in my room/sewing area in the background....I didn’t have time to clean up, I was sewing aprons and keeping kids breathing.

Sew Liberated Emmaline Apron

It is reversible, but I forgot to take a pic of the other side! It is in a complementing blue chevron from the same fabric line, bought at Joann’s....with my 50% off coupon, of course! 

Room For God

“Make room therefore for Christ, and refuse entrance to all others. When you have Christ, you are rich and have need of (nothing) else.
--Thomas A Kempis


How are you making room for Christ? What does it look like in your life to make room for Him? I am endeavoring to attend daily Mass as many times during the week as possible. This has been a challenge in the past, and continues to be so. We have a lovely chapel not too far away, and I am starting with 7pm Mass there on Monday and Tuesday. It is a start. I also am praying through “33 Days to Morning Glory,” renewing my Marian Consecration that I made several years ago. I need to hold tight to Our Lady. She was the perfect follower of Christ. If we endeavor to follow Christ, we need look no further than His dear Mother, who will always point the way back to Him...and boy do I need some directions!

So often in the last several years of motherhood, my prayer time has consisted of short cries of distress, like a “toddler” cries for “Help!” and yells “Why?” My childrens’ medical needs have been so intense at times, I haven’t been able to count on anything being consistent except that it won’t be consistent, and someone will need to see a doctor the present week...often several times in one week. We are moving out of a difficult time this Summer. It hasn’t been full of camping, hiking and beach trips like I was dreaming of the last several months of winter.

Lovely Sleeping Bear Dunes from last year’s trip.

Instead, we got an awful virus in June that set off some of the worst asthma flares we have had in a long time, including myself, and an older son who isn’t typically as fragile as he has been the past few weeks. We have made many, many trips to the doctor and children’s hospital and the pharmacy staff are incredulous when I drive up...again. It has been rough. I shouldn’t complain too much, the time we have spent at clinics and such are a far cry from what they used to be! Now the kids have wave cushions and videos to keep them occupied during long waits. But...the view isn’t quite as pretty as the one above.

I am still brought up short when these times happen, and start the same old whine of “But Lord, why?” Instead...I need to say, “Lord, what? What is it You want me to get from this time?”

During this last round of medical crises, I have heard....”Come closer....lean into Me....and quit with the distractions.”

So, I will read....I will pray...and I will try to attend Mass when I can. I’m signing off of FB for the foreseeable future. I need to hone my writing skills and this is a nicer format for me to do just that, and I need less distractions.

Share with me what works for your prayer time, are you consistent? That’s my most difficult challenge....consistency!!

New Blog

Hi Friends!

I have an introduction to make here. My friend, Camille, is a book artist, calligrapher, and poet along with being a homeschooling mama. She does amazing work. I have encouraged her to share her knowledge and the beautiful work she does with her own blog, and waahhlaahh--here it is! Go give her some bloggy love and check it out. Camille plans on doing some tutorials on how she makes her sweet books, which would integrate nicely into art plans for the entire family. Go Camille! We want more!!

http://leafandline.blogspot.com/

Off to make plans for the week and nurse a rotten head cold. I am hoping to get some homeschooling plans up soon!

Happy Memorial Day!

Yarn Along...how fun!!

Hi Everyone!

I am participating in Ginny’s Yarn Along...what a great idea to share what we are knitting AND reading....double bonus!! So I am reading Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather. I am reading along with some of Gabe’s reading selections for freshman year. He is actually starting early to get a jump start, which is going really well. Willa Cather’s book is one of the books to choose for early American history. I LOVE this book so far. I am about a third of the way along. It is a beautiful depiction of early French settled Quebec. Cather’s rich description of the villager’s lives is a lively and intricate look at that time period. I have learned so much, and want to re-read the pages in which she brought to life the devout Catholic life.

My knitting is coming along...I am ALMOST done with the lace scarf I am knitting for myself. This is such a rarity, that I am knitting for me, and I have stuck with a long term project. I could have finished it long ago, but have often put it aside to knit up a gift or such.

Here is the Ravelry page for the Winter Flame Scarf. I am using Knitpick’s Stroll Tonal Sock Yarn in Gypsy. Oh how I have loved this pattern. I am newer to lace patterns, and this has been easy to learn.

Look how much left you have, Mama!!

Still need to block, but it is going to be nice.

What are you reading and knitting? Check out Ginny’s blog for more links to everyone’s show and tell.

Confirmation

We are so proud of Gabe, he received the Sacrament of Confirmation last week. Sam is his sponsor. It is nice having big brothers to fill in those roles! Congratulations, Gabriel “Damien” Elijah Klee. May the Holy Spirit guide you through life.