Feast Day of Saint Anthony of Egypt/the Great/Abbot (1/17)

Today, as I like to do, I pulled out my Tan books calendar and looked to see whose feast it is today--Saint Anthony of Egypt/the Great/Abbot. If I don't have much to say about the feast day then, I will just state it and go about my day. But, today, I went on a bit of a crumb trail. And, what a great crumb trail it was!

(my sister updated my letterboard for the day--I told her to make it festive. And, I made sure my priest/"Father Oak" was in white vestments for the day.)

Reading/Notes from:

Lives of the Saints by Hoever

Signs and Symbols in Christian Art

Saints: a year in faith and art

Tan Books calendar

1962 Daily Roman Catholic Missal (Angelus press)

(Saints: a year in faith and art---right away reminded me of "the Scream".)

(so now, I'm thinking of this image)

I added "the Life of Saint Anthony" by Saint Athanasius to my "Books to Read" list on Evernote.

Happy Feast day!

Epiphany:: What actually happened (in pictures)

I did not end up going to any of the festivities at Saint Marys Pine Bluff on 1/5. There was a change in the schedule in that Fr Z was giving the talk instead of Fr Gernetzke so that made me less interested in going. I like Fr Z and all but I hear sermons from him nearly every week so I wasn't as inclined to go after an already full day.
1/6:
In the morning, I went to mass at Saint Mary's Pine Bluff, and when I got home my siblings were all awake so we opened our epiphany gifts (from Old Befana). I got a Mother Teresa of Calcutta Statue and some of the kids got Pac-Man(!!). I had a sudden spur of inspiration and I reorganized and rearranged the top of my cube shelf. It looks SO much better!!
I did some readings, I took some notes.
Cube shelf before:
all of the statues, the candle and rosaries were on my desk in a corner; on my cube shelf was the letter board with an overflowing bin of books for "right now". It just felt...cluttered...

(the overflowing basket) (I put the basket on the corner of my desk nearest my cube shelf where I had my statues and such before and I straightened out my books and such in it a little better. )

(some "before" pictures-all from a few weeks ago)

How the top of my cube shelf looks now! I really like it!

Pac Man!!

"Father Oak" Peg dolls! +a seminarian

A few more peg dolls! (Immaculate Heart of Mary, St Therese, Sacred Heart of Jesus)

Bishop Morlino Peg doll!

Readings for the feast day

(Lives of the Saints-Hoever, Latin Mass Children's Missal, With the Church volume 1 & Catholic All January (turns out I've been calling this by the wrong title ever since I got it)

(from Saints: a Year in Faith and Art)

Jennifer Mackintosh Planner + Notebook, ready for the day

Liturgical Year Shelf Improvements

I recently got a $200 Amazon gift card and was sure to spend it all at once. My purchases have been arriving. I got 2 white veils-an infinity one and a "regular" one. I think I'll keep the infinity one but not the regular because I don't love the color and It has a rounded edge (not a triangle edge). I've been wanting to arrange my Liturgical year "reference" books and my religious art books (although not all of them) in the same place, but not on my desk as my desk is getting to cluttered. Of the books shown I already had: Art through Faith, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art, Saints A Year in Faith and Art, my Missal (Angelus Press), To Whom Shall We Go?, the red booklet missal,  With the Church Volume 2, The Catholic All Year Compendium, the Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices and A Year with God. My new books are: Monday's With Mary, Catholic Mosaic and the Year & our Children. I haven't started to look at these books very much yet but I expect to this weekend. The pile in the front is what is in my little bag for mass but I am washing that bag now so everything is sitting there--Jesus Make Me Worthy, Rosaries, veils, a rosary card, Pieta book, The Sacred Heart and Mine in Holy Communion & St Raphael booklet. In the white binder are: liturgical calendar printouts (I have 5 or 6 in there + my tan books calendar on top of my cube shelf), mysteries of the rosary card, rosary art prints (new), various litanies and printed prayers (my favorites are always in there and some rotate with the liturgical year), some religious art, pages about my favorite nun and the Conikers, and a page of Mother Teresa. I used to use a clipboard on my desk as a place to display rotating religious art but now I have been using the cover of this binder and keep all of the extras in the back. My missal, little black bag and binder usually live on my desk so I don't know how long they will stay there since they don't really need shelf space and I use them so much. But it might be nice to have a place to store them.
Next to my cube shelf I have a bin/basket with past liturgical calendars, Lenten books, With the Church Volume 1, my Holy cards, other litanies and printables, more religious art books,my box of colored pencils, catholic coloring books, coloring pages, other religious goods (mostly things from my Grandma that I don't want to get rid of but don't want out). I also have a Latin Mass Children's Missal (new), a new book for Christmas and my next tan books calendar. These are "future" things. The Latin Mass Children's Missal I will start in Advent, the Christmas books is for Christmas, and the Calendar is for next year (although there is some overlap with this year). Also, for next year I think I will still printout several liturgical calendars that I find online when they become available.
On top of my cube shelf I have some new medals out on display that I bought a few weeks ago, some holy cards are out, a stack of books/magazines for reading with Mrs KBL-I want all of those option in one place, and I moved this stack of prayerbooks from my desk to their (I took my light up picture out to make room): Mother Love prayerbook, Sacred Heart Book, Rural Life Prayerbook, Christian Prayer and my book from/by Jerry Coniker. To be completely honest I hardly ever use these prayerbooks anymore (I used to with great frequently) but I don't want them sitting in a box or under my desk.
My cube shelf is a 2X2 shelf. The bottom two shelves contain all of my written in notebooks labeled by date (I fill a notebook about every 10 days so these two shelves are about to overflow) and the top right contains my courtship books, dating books, NFP books, spiritual motherhood for priests/seminarians booklets, Theology of the body books, "womanhood" books, the love languages, "self help" and advice books, temperaments books and such. It's it not the neatest shelf, but I want all of those books in one place. This cube shelf is basically an extension of my desk.
The rest  of my books--saints books, art books, agriculture books, nature books, catechism books, Charlotte Mason books and the rest of the homeschool curriculum live under my desk. It's not a particularly organized sight.
I still have some more new things coming in the mail this week and the next. With $200, I was able to get quite a bit.

Happy All Saints Day!

This Week:: More New Things!

This has been a busy week and I am taking some time today to catch up on projects at home. So far I have organized all the books under my desk (not an easy feat!), organized my notebooks by date (a little bit easier), and threw a load in the laundry of my sheets/blankets + new things I bought at a garage sale today (a super easy task!).

This week I (finally!!) bought a new car! This is an extremely exciting feat!

 I learned to drive on a 2012 Toyota Toyota (which I LOVE), my first/other car was a 2002 Ford Tourus (I didn't love it), I have also driven my brother's 1994 Buick Grand Regal Sport, our family's Chevy Express, I drove someone Else's truck, and Mrs KBL's car is a Dodge Grand Caravan (its not like driving a regular mini van because it carries weight funny). I am learning to drive stick shift on a Ford Focus and drove a 1994 Saturn once. i am getting better at stick, although I haven't practiced in about a month. I've also driven a 1952 ford jubilee a few times, so I have some experience. I like driving our truck best, our van second, Mrs KBL's van third, and my brother's Buick fourth. My new car is a 1999 Toyota Camry. It drives like a Toyota (what more can I say?). I don't love it but I like it better than my Ford Tourus.

So that's that.

My Desk This Week:

See anything new? Your eyes don't deceive you! I have an echo dot. I was at this garage sale today and there was an echo dot for $25 so I got it rather impulsively because it felt like a deal I couldn't pass up. I'm not really into echo dots or whatever, and I don't think I ever "wanted" one but, I couldn't walk away from such a deal. So I now have an Echo Dot!

It's beginning to feel like fall around here and have chillier temperatures! I am not particularly excited about fall coming (I do not like fall) but....fall means NEW STEERS!!!! and I am plenty excited about that. This past week we went to look at our new ones. They were cute and solid looking. Also, at the farm there were 4 calves that were 2 weeks old and we got to bottle feed them!!!! They were so adorable! It was so exciting to bottle feed them. As for our new steers, they won't come until no sooner than October 8th. I have already ordered feed and hay (I hope I am not jumping the gun on that!) so, the Hay is coming to our house soon!

This week I enjoyed a week off of Catholic Schoolhouse, but that meant more babysitting elsewhere. I picked up some more free books. I will spare everyone my complete dorkiness and not share which books I got and which ones are now my current reads. I started using my new Erin Condren Notebook as mentioned/pictured in a previous post. It is a dot grid notebook. I don't love it or anything. It's okay but I don't know if I would ever use this specific notebook again...

As for today's feast, I found this post from Fr Z interesting and I plan on taking some notes on it later. Other than that I don't really have my liturgical act together for today.

This week: Wedding Extravaganza

Listening to a lot: I am still loving having Spotify again. One way or another from Blondie. Fox on the Run. The Parting Glass sung by the High Kings. You're nobody until somebody  loves you by Dean Martin. Brick House. Mud Digger from the Mud Digger CD. still on a Norman and Nancy Blake kick. My spotify and I spent a lot of time together this weekend.

Reading: yesterday I read The Story of a Soul by St Therese. Friday I read a booklet on Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother from Tan books. I got inspired to read the catholic hearth magazines with Mrs KBL and that's been going well. Does blog reading and reading texts count?

Comedy: I re-watched Sebastian Maniscalco's "aren't you embarrassed?" this week. it was good, as always. I am due for another round of watching My Cousin Vinny.

New things: I now have the Marco Polo app. I was inspired by someone who uses it with her brothers so I wanted my siblings and I to have it/use it.

Last Saturday was "a wedding". We went to Mass at St Rita's in Racine. At this wedding there was a table with a candle with pictures of all the family members who have died. I was glad to see that my Grandma was remembered.

This weekend was "THE wedding". Mass was at St Robert's parish in Shorewood.
 

 The church looked/felt very Roman.

It was super cool! Milwaukee is cool! This was probably the most time I have spent  in Milwaukee. I don't remember the last time I was actually in Milwaukee... Most of what I know of Milwaukee is from the "Caroline Ingalls" books. ;) The reception was in Turner Hall. we got an AMAZING! parking spot (we were in Milwaukee, after all) We were right near the Bradley Center and the UWM arena. we went and checked out the new additions to the Bucks Pro shop and whatever the name of that entire building is...

 
the cocktail hour was in the balcony of the ballroom in Turner Hall and the dinner/everything else was in the ballroom. It was so spectacular! The speeches were good. The grand march was great!

At this wedding, there was a big "remembrance table" that everyone went to pay their respects to. Its sad to see all the pictures, but I was glad to see it there.

My Grandma and the groom

The Bride and her dad. In the middle of the head table they left an empty chair for her dad. The first toast of the night was for her dad and a beer was left in its place. 

8:30 hit and I went and sat with my Great Aunt. 9:30 came and I went to sit with my Grandpa. He and I sat in chairs and slept off and on for the next two hours. There was a polka and the tarantella dancing was the worst I've ever seen. It was a great wedding feast!
________________________________________________________________________________
I saw this "catholic tag" and I thought it would be fun to participate in.
What is your rite? Mostly TLM, but somewhere between the NO and the TLM.
Cradle Catholic/ Convert? Born Catholic.
Year You were baptized? 1998 (at Holy Rosary with Fr John Molnar)
Year you received your First Communion? 2005 or 2006 (I think '06) (at St Paul's Evansville)
Confirmation Saint? St Brigid of Ireland.
Name of Current Parish? The Cathedral Parish, Madison/St Patricks & St Mary's Pine Bluff for weekend Masses. St Williams Paoli for Daily Mass.
Parish groups you belong to? None.
Prayers you say everyday? Angelus, Magnificat, "Now I lay me down to sleep", The Creed, Act of Faith, act of Hope, Act of Charity, Archbishop Brady's Prayer for Vocations, Night Prayers, Eternal Rest, Litany of Our Lady of Loretto, St Joseph Litany
Religous Items you travel with? Missal + bag with: Veil, Pieta Book, Jesus Make Me Worthy book, Rosary & a booklet.
Do you go to adoration? Yes!
Last time you went to Confession?  In Italy.
Color of your favorite rosary? white.
Convert that helped your faith? I think Fr Z is a convert from Lutheranism...
Cradle Catholics that helped your faith? My Great Grandma's, my parents & SO many others!
Weirdest thing about being Catholic? um. I'm not sure.
Best Thing About Being Catholic? Traditions. The Bible. The Latin Mass.The Liturgical Year.
Your patron saints? (& favorite saints) I wrote about that here.
Favorite Parable? the cure of 10 lepers, emphasis on the one who went back to say Thank you to Jesus
Favorite Psalm? I don't have one.
Favorite religious order? Franciscan Sisters of St Joseph!
Favorite Catholic Singer/Band? I don't have one.
Favorite Spiritual Author?  St John Bosco. Cardinal Dolan. Gwen/Jerry Coniker. Fr Lovasik. Mother Mary Loyola.
Favorite Marian Devotion? The Rosary. The Magnificat. The Angelus.
Favorite Pope? St Pope Pius X! (Peter takes a close second, with Benedict XVI in third!)
Favorite Biblical Character: Raphael. Elizabeth. Peter.
Favorite Catholic Movie? The Reluctant Saint. The Song of Bernadette. 
Favorite Catholic Song? The Ave Maria?
Favorite Encyclical? Humane Vitae, I guess. or Fides et Ratio. I am not much of an encyclicals reader...
Favorite Marian Hymn? Oh Queen of the Holy Rosary & Immaculate Mary
Favorite book written by a Saint? The 40 Dreams of St John Bosco.
Favorite Catholic Meme? I'm not much of a meme person.
Favorite Liturgical Season? Easter.
Favorite Feast Day? the days of my favorite saints. Christmas Eve.
Favorite part of Mass? The Last Gospel or the Sermon.
Favorite Sacred Hymn? Tantum Ergo or Oh God Beyond all Praising.
Favorite Gospel? anything with Peter in his good moments in it. or the "Bread of life discourses"
Favorite Martyr? Max. Kolbe!
Favorite Titles of Mary? Of the Rosary of Pompeii, Mount Carmel & Lourdes.
Favorite Bible Translation? Douay Rhiems.
Religious Life or Married? Marriage!
Homeschooling or Catholic School? Homeschool!
GK Chesterton or CS Lewis? Neither.
St Peter or St Paul? Peter!
St Thomas Aquinas or st Augustine? Hmmm....Aquinas!

And that's a wrap on this past week!

This Week:: New Things!

So, I've been in like a 3 week funk of car problems and struggling with scheduling changes/having a consistent schedule, and basically just being thrown off routine. So, that called for some Amazon purchases on my part. :) I bought another Latin Mass book (It hasn't come yet), an Erin Condren weekly desk pad in  hopes of sorting out my schedule in a weekly format, this book because I saw it at a parish and wanted it, and lastly, the main reason for this big purchase- pens! (I'm left handed and these are the pens that I have found to work the best!) I ran out so pens were an urgent need for me!  I have also borrowed these books to read: In my own words by Pope John Paul II (its a quote book) and the Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur. I am excited for both of these books!

Today I came home from a cross country meet to find that this box came in the mail! Everything was generously gifted to my by Jennifer Mackintosh and I couldn't be more excited! (and this isn't the first time she has gifted me with some planning things!). Here are some pictures of what I got + I received LOTS of stickers. The sticker sheets are half used or ones she didn't want anymore. :) Everything is from the Erin Condren company but the stickers are from an assortment of places.

I am thinking of using the deluxe monthly planner for the liturgical year, a desk pad (I got another one today) for babysitting dates, and I'm not sure what else....the possibilities are kind of endless. good thing I bought new pens! I love the Erin Condren snap in dashboards too! Just a super exciting day!

My planners came with out covers because they had her kids name on them, so I pulled out my covers from the EC Horizontal planner that she gifted me with 2 years ago (she chose the cover design), here it is:
Isn't it pretty? It's not exactly what I would choose but I like it, and sometimes I flip them around and use the inside facing out (my notes from a fair two years ago were still on them today!) It's nice having interchangeable covers. I could always buy more/new ones, but I can be kind of cheap, so I bet I will just keep these. :)

Stay tuned for what I end up doing with this all!

Currently Reading This Week

Our Quest to Happiness series: Toward the Eternal Commencement

I've been reading this book for awhile, at least all Summer. Its good and all, but I haven't been plowing through it as quickly as I would have liked--I have read way too many catechism type books this summer. I put in a lot of reading/study in it this past week, so  I now have about 200 pages left. I am really hoping to finish this book this weekend and I think it will happen!

Introduction to the Devout Life   

This summer Mrs KBL and I read through the 40 dreams of St John Bosco twice. I like this book a lot, but for my sake, it needed to be rotated out of our reading pile for a little bit. Earlier this week I chose the Introduction of the Devout Life by St Francis de Sales for us to read together. Two years ago, I read this book for Advent but wasn't really into it but kept with it because it is a spiritual classic. This week I have gotten pretty into it. I don't think its the best book for us to read aloud, but its working for now. We are currently on page 39. I have skipped around a little bit while reading out loud because the meditations seemed a little weird to read out loud. We also sit and talk about the readings when I stop to catch my breath, and I always find those few minutes so valuable in our "reading time". With in a few hours of reading to her or the next morning, I take the time to make my notes on our reading either with quotes, a written narration or questions from the Kolbe Academy study guide for this book. As of now, I plan on us reading this book the whole way through, skipping some things here and there. With this book I don't, and really can't, have a goal for when to finish it. This book is clearly such a spiritual classic and I am so glad that I am taking time to read this book again!

Praying for our Priests by Monsignor Peter Dunne and Vicki Herout

This book came in the mail yesterday and I didn't get a chance to look it over to much yet, but I am excited to add it to my collection of Spiritual Motherhood for Priests/Seminarians resources. It seems more like a prayer book and less like a reading book.

My Desk This Week

This afternoon I had to laugh when I saw the things scattered on my desk.... The normal things are all there-- Tan Books Calendar, babysitting schedule (on post-it notes), waterbottle, shining light dolls & other statues, books I am currently reading, notebook, pen, new bottle of LAC enzymes I am trying out.... generally my desk isn't this cluttered and I think that is when/how I noticed the syringe, antibiotics bottle & tube of antibiotics ointment. These are for our kittens. Earlier this week 2 of our young kittens caught the disgusting cuterebra parasite. I watched the vet pull one out of the black kitten, and later that same day, I had the experience of pulling one out of the orange kitten. anyways, currently both kittens are getting some drops of the oral antibiotics (with the syringe, no needle) and we rub on come of the ointment on the spot of the parasite. Typically, we keep livestock medicine in a cupboard because of infrequent use. Right when we came back from the vet, I put all the medicine on my desk. and there it all sits to remind me to give them the medicine. I found it pretty comical to see the kitten meds mixed in with the rest of my things.