Excited

With some birthday money, I ordered this amazing (Thanks for the recommendation Ellen!) book. It is by Maria von Trapp (yes Sound of Music Maria) and an incredible book about celebrating the liturgical year in your family. It is not in print anymore but I landed a good deal on Amazon....it is well worn around the edges but the pages are perfectly in tact. There are all kinds of reflections, activities, songs, recipes and prayers to help the family celebrate the liturgical year!! Can't wait to read and implement in our family!!!

Lenten & Liturgical Year Resources

I mentioned that I would post some of my favorite books I am using to celebrate the liturgical year in our home....so far these are ones I own and enjoy:

• The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions for Holidays, Feast Days, and Every Day, by Meredith Gould
• The Year & Our Children: Catholic Family Celebrations for Every Season, by Mary Reed Newland
• The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions for Children's Faith Formation, by Beth Branigan McNamara with Sue Robinson and Anne E. Neuberger
• Catholic Mosaic: Living the Liturgical Year with Children, by Cay Gibson (I can't wait to get the Christmas One)

Then there are the resources online as well, many of the blogs and sites which I list on my sidebar and enjoy. I especially enjoy incorporating special meal ideas and Catholic Cuisine gives lots of good recipes and ideas, plus I like my cookbook: Building the Family Cookbook, by Suzanne Fowler (it goes through the year and gives foods tied in with stories of the saints)

I would love to hear if you have found and enjoy any resources that you couldn't live without. Also we are slowly building our children's library...so any good Lent/Easter book recommendations would be fabulous!! Still trying to nail down what we will be doing for Lent...might be more of a planning year for me and implementing next year when Angel is a bit older. I did order the Jesus Tree (similar to Jesse Tree) for Lent (thanks Jessica for the info) from Scripture Trees...and will make all the symbols this year and have ready to use next!! The Catholic Lapbooks look fun and so faith-filled as well so keeping those on my list too! We are also signed up to get the daily prayers and ideas from Holy Heroes (we enjoyed the Advent ones and coloring books we got as well!). Will keep you posted!

Grateful

I feel so grateful tonight to have gone to mass and actually hear the homily (this barely happens but I went along with no little one tonight!)...and it was a fantastic one all about intercessory prayer. I also feel grateful for a wonderful priest at our parish that relates the message of the readings and gospel so beautifully and truly gives us something to reflect and pray upon and take home with us. In tonight's homily he used some excerpts and examples from a book called, Miracles Do Happen, by Sister Briege McKenna...all about how God sometimes answers prayers in a different timeline and way than you might want or expect but it is only later that you see the graces and gifts that were given because of that answered prayer. He also talked about the importance and power of praying for others and how they can be intercessors for us. He reminded us how powerful our sacrifices and prayers for others can be for their conversions and answered prayers and for ours!! I can't wait to read the book myself...because I truly believe that Miracles DO happen!!

Hubby Recommends...

...this Book by Stephen Wood.

Tidbits

Ok Ok....I will try to respond to those that have emailed with questions, but here is at least a list of books I have been reading about vaccinations and the diseases. The one that I LOVE that truly gives the information without EVER choosing a pro or con side, is Vaccinations: A thoughtful Parent's Guide, by Aviva Jill Romm. Also How to Raise a Healthy Child...in Spite of your doctor, by Robert S. Mendelsohn, MD. Vaccines, Are they really safe & effective? by Neil Miller. A Shot in the Dark, by Coulter and Fisher. Two GREAT websites with a lot of information and research are: National Vaccine Information Center (on the left side they list every disease with information on it and the vaccines etc) and Children of God for Life (an awesome site with Catholic direction, especially like the section if you click on the left on Moral and Historical Perspectives and then click on Moral Obligations...good information and food for thought!)

Some of the things we have used in our decision:
-you cannot know the effectiveness of each vaccine on each child for immunity unless you get a blood test drawn
-some of these diseases like chickenpox are better to contract naturally as a child to build lifelong immunity to it (vaccinations do not give you this) (would probably give them this shot when they are older if they do not contract it naturally because as an adult it it more serious....although with the vaccinations not a lot of kids are getting it anymore...which is leading to serious issues of adults getting cases of shingles...that is another topic!)
-too many shots at one time increase the risks of reactions and then also make it hard to tell which reaction is being caused by which vaccine
-babies immune systems need time to develop and breastfeeding passes along immunities already
-the chickenpox and MMR vaccines contain aborted fetal cell lines
-why would my babies need HEP B, especially at birth?? I am sure that for awhile they will not be having sex, exchanging needles etc. not necessary!
-so many of instances of these diseases that occur happen to just as many VACCINATED children as unvaccinated
-the research of links of the DPT vaccine and SIDS is REALLY interesting
-so many of these diseases if contracted are VERY treatable and then give you lifelong immunity to them.

Dr. Sears, while a proponent of vaccines, as issued a booklet that also now gives an alternative schedule for vaccinations so children do not get them as early or as many at one time....very interesting and makes sense to me!!

If you are wanting to do more research...what I did and found very helpful for my husband and I to discuss and make decisions (still deciding on some) is take each vaccine/disease and have a sheet of paper (or for me almost a notebook) for each one. List all the pros, cons, info, questions etc....makes it a lot easier to decide when each one is looked at and treated individually. Unfortunately with a lot of medical physicians unwilling to discuss these concerns with you and truthfully not educated on the specifics, it comes down to the parents needing to do the research and equip ourselves with the information to make the best decisions for our children. Good luck!!

A Recommended Read

Just finished this and found it fabulous...a good read for all parents and just those who are interested...(click on)

Books I recommend...

Today reminded me of a great book, if you haven't read: Let's Roll, by Lisa Beamer. Sad, but very beautiful.
Another one I just finished (thanks Sue) and loved is: Amazing Grace for Mothers. Laughed, cried and just a good end of the day read!