Tuesday, September 29, 2009

My grade school education

In class on Saturday (Diaconate Formation), we talked about how most Catholics have the equivalent of a grade school education in the Sacred Scriptures. Why? Well, how many Catholics do you know that actually read the bible?

We have begun this great discussion on Scripture. We are learning not only the spiritual aspects, but also the historical aspects of the Scriptures. Some of this may be difficult for some to swallow - "What do you mean Matthew may not have written the Gospel of Matthew??!!", but so fascinating. I am learning so much. For example, never before had I sat and compared Matthew and Mark. They have so many differences! So, the next step is then looking at why they are different. Taking into account authorship, audience, and expectations. Why does Jesus seem so much more frustrated in Mark than in Matthew? Why the "secrecy" throughout Mark?

I feel like this whole new world has opened up for me. I have been through two phases of scriptural study in my life - the first was strictly spiritual and the second was strictly historical. Now, I am learning how important it is to merge the two together. Without either one of those aspects, you cannot fully understand scripture. It's like seeing a pencil sketch of a painting - you get an idea of the beauty, but you don't experience the fullness of beauty without the color.

I am definitely looking forward to spending this year expanding my grade school education!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Poor Kitty

One of my poor kitties almost got eaten by a dog last night.

Granted, this is the cat that I would not be too upset about if he just up and disappeared one day. He is a jerk. He scratches the kids if they bother him, he pees on my bathroom rugs, and he loves to find my clean clothes and lay on them. He drives me crazy!

But, last night, we heard this horrible yowling. When we followed the sound, we found 3 dogs (not ours) running away. The poor cat came flying inside, hysterical. He was covered in dog saliva and dirt, had bites/scratches on his neck, he was missing some clumps of hair, and he was panting. He was completely freaked out. After awhile he calmed down enough that we were able to make sure he didn't have any serious injury. He is walking a little stiffly, but he seems to be otherwise o.k. He ate, drank water, and is currently hiding.

So, for at least the next few days, he will be my poor kitty instead of that stupid cat.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

I am mean!

I am a mean and unfair mom! At least, that's what Darian told me today. What makes me so mean and unfair?

Well, I actually want him to understand his homework. He had a ton of homework tonight, and he was having problems with his math worksheet. It was a word problem involving money - if you have x number of coins and they are all quarter, dimes, or nickels, what is the greatest/least amount you can have? So, mean old me, I walk him through step by step how to figure out the answer. He got really frustrated and said "Why can't you just tell me?!" When I calmly explained that I wanted him to understand how to do this, his response was ,"(name removed)'s mom will just give him the answer when a problem is taking too long!"

Well son, too bad for you that you have a mom that cares more about your learning than just getting the work done.

I proudly remain,
Mean and Unfair Mom

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Breathing and Braces

Well, yesterday proved to be even more hectic than I had planned.
First, immediately after school we rushed to the orthodontist. I had spoken to the receptionist earlier and she told me that if I could be there by 3:10 they should be able to take Darian right away. Well, we arrived at 3:10, but she must have told other people the same thing, because the waiting room was completely full and we ended up having to wait half an hour.

In the end, Darian's braces were repaired, but we missed Sophia's doctor appointment for her coughing and wheezing and ended up having to wait in Kaiser's pediatric urgent care - we waited long enough that the kids were able to watch all of Finding Nemo. Too long a wait for four antsy kids.


So, after way too many hours sitting in Kaiser Pediatric urgent care and then the pharmacy, Sophia is finally breathing well again. The doctor said she is definitely asthmatic. He has her doing breathing treatments 3 times a day, as long as we can still smell smoke. He also put her on prednisone to help control the inflammation. Fortunately, she is not too traumatized by the whole thing.



Vibiana, however, does not like the nebulizer at all!


Hopefully, we will be done with having to use it regularly fairly quickly and Sophia won't end up with severe asthma. Please, pray for her!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Anyone have a few hours to spare?

I sure could use them. These last few days have been super hectic - and it will remain so until Friday.
Yesterday was Sebastian's first day back at preschool. He fought going, but once there he had a great time. I had to pull Darian and Sophia out early to take Darian to the orthodontist for his braces. Once that was done, it was across town to pick up a prescription at Kaiser. Then, pick up Sebastian, go home, straighten up and fix dinner before the babysitter arrived, at which time I left for Back to School Night. Home from Back to School Night to discover Darian had loosened one of his brackets (he only has two - one on each front tooth). And, he forgot to finish his homework.
So, up early this morning so Darian could finish his homework plus extra time getting ready because today is picture day. As the kids are running out the door for the carpool, I realized I forgot to send the envelope/check in for their pictures. Luckily my friend drives the carpool, so she waited while I filled stuff out. Then, another argument with Sebastian about going to school - many tears and screams. Finally, I managed to get him calmed down and excited about going to see his friends. Immediately after picking the kids up from school today I have to take Darian to the orthodontist to get his bracket glued on again, and then again to Kaiser - this time for Sophia. She has been coughing and wheezing like crazy thanks to all the smoke. We used Darian's inhaler on her and she felt much better, but I need to get her in to get her looked at and get her own inhaler. Then, finally, I can come home and relax...and oversee homework, fix dinner, finish laundry...
Oh well. Relaxing is overrated anyway, right?