On the third Day of Christmas...

...I just could not get it all done (do we ever?) so here is a little family blessing from our house to yours. We Sullivans had such a good year and here are some photo highlights from 2011. For me, I had been dreading, for years, Maggie's obtaining her learner's permit for driving. Well, goes to show that we should truly "fear not," because helping her learn to drive has been some of the most fun I have had in years. Watching Joybeth during her first year as a teenager has been a joy in all aspects. Our son, who is 10, is full of energy and, while I do not have a soccer photo in the mix, that was such a big time for him this fall.

"Grandmommy loves you....

...more than you'll ever know, Sara, darling."

Growing up in Kentucky, I heard this thousands of times in a soft, southern drawl. I am named after my paternal grandmother, Sara Evelyn Gott Cohron. I know few people so unadulterated, so full of wholesome love and affection. She died just a month before our wedding day, in the summer of 1994, but her pure and loving spirit abides in my heart. The beauty of the Communion of Saints is that I am still getting to know her quiet, steadfast person. She is praying for me. I know this. I know that many of the soft, sweet promptings that I feel, as a wife and mother and sister in Christ, come from the love poured in to me by my grandmother Sara. Lord, open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise!

This morning, as I was reflecting on a book of daily spiritual meditations (I try to take some time every morning to ask God "in" to my day, hopefully listening to one or two things that I know He has planned for me for the day.) I was deeply aware, for a minute or two, of the refreshing love God is always sending our way. He is so meek and humble of heart. His servants are meek and humble of heart.

This is so sweet. I am also praying and reading alot about our need to completely experience the Father's blessing, through the one saving act of His Son on the Holy Cross. I know that sounds like remedial Christianity. It is. As I have been going around the house doing my work, I have been humming and singing the words of the good thief, the thief who "stole Heaven." We pray:

Jesus, remember me, when You come in to Your Kingdom.
Jesus, remember me, when You come in to Your Kingdom!

As I mentioned in a recent post, lately God has been asking me to become more aware of the various charisms He gives to us, the members of the Body of Christ. Thanks be to God and his priests, there is an Awakening going on in my soul. This may sound corny. I do not care. I am, and always have been, a bit of a country girl. In the Kentucky of the 1930's, one of the delights of my grandmother Sara's youth was to feed the chickens on her family farm. Here in suburban Georgia, last month, at a recent parish mission, the priest talked about "entering the atmosphere of God's Kingdom," and he evoked an image in me of the recent movie I had seen earlier this summer with my husband and my son, "Apollo 13," with actor Tom Hanks.

In the movie, the astronauts do not make their lunar landing, as planned. They do, however, leave the atmosphere of their home planet, Earth. They circle the moon and view the Earth from afar. This has happened to me with the terrible sufferings of what has happened in Regnum Christi and the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ. Sufferings shoot us out of ourselves, making us so vulnerable. So often, it can make us bitter; and, we may choose to leave our "homeland," which is God's Love and Mercy, for a long time.

Thanks be to God, this did not happen to me. I asked, and asked, and asked again for Mary to "hold me." I asked the Blessed Mother to pray to Jesus, her Divine Son, Who will refuse nothing she asks. I asked her to ask Him to tell me what I need to stay the course and live out the Father's Holy Will for my life. In a nutshell, the answer was the Holy Spirit.

So, I do not know everything. I do know that I am loved and blessed beyond my wildest imaginings. That is so good. On that, I can hang my hat. On that, I can call it a new day, a day in which I am open and ready to love others as God loves. When I fail, I jump in to Mary's lap, which is mysteriously the Seat of Wisdom.

I answered my grandmother's blessing this morning during my prayer time. I told her, "I am just starting to know what 'more than you'll ever know' is..." I am just starting to know.

May Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.

Beach Vacation 2011

Snapshot from parish St. Patrick's day party...

Queen of Heaven, pray for us!

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

I am posting this link for the amazing artwork included at the bottom of the Wikipedia article. May the Mother of Mercy bring us to Life Everlasting!

Our first Thanksgiving in the 'new' house

Our MENU 2010
a 16lb oven-roasted TURKEY (first one)
jellied cranberries
green beans
gourmet mac and cheese (recipe below)
mashed potatoes and gravy
baked sweet potatoes and marshmallows
homemade stuffing casserole
yeast rolls and Irish butter
Joybeth's pumpkin bread
pumpkin pie and whipped cream

My daughter, Jb was looking through the November Food Network Magazine and she came across "Bobby Flay's Macaroni & Cheese Carbonara." We decided to make the recipe for Thanksgiving 2010 and I wanted to share the recipe with you!

Unsalted Butter, for the baking dish
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1-inch thick slice pancettam cut into small dice (or fatty part of bacon)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups whole milk, hot
4 large egg yolks, lightly whisked
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups grated asiago cheese, plus more for top
1 1/2 cups grated Irish white cheddar cheese, plus more for top
1 1/2 cups grated American Cheddar cheese, plus more for top
1 cup aged fontina cheese, plus more for top
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for top
Kosher salt & ground black pepper
1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked just under al dente
1/2 cup coarsley chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves.

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Butter the bottowm and sides of a 10-by-10-by-2-inch baking dish and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until golden brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.
3. Add the garlic to the fat in the pan & cook until lightly golden brown, 1 minute. Whisk in the flower & cook for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk, raise the heat to high & cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, 3 to about 5 minutes. Whisk in the eggs until incorporated & let cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat & whisk in the thyme, cayenne & all the different cheeses until completely melted. Season with salt & pepper. If the mixture appears to thick, add additional warm milk, 1/4 cup at a time.
4. Put the cooked macaroni in a large bowl, add the cheese sauce, reserved pancetta, and the parsley. Stir until combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
5. Combine an addition 1/4 cup each asiago, cheddars, fontina, & parmesan in a bowl & sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake until the dish is heated through and the top is a light golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

A prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas

We have had a few bumps in the road starting back to school, but God has blessed us with options. The girls are both, as of today, in school; and, Jay is still at home working here three days a week and at SJBA two days a week.

This prayer is so good:

"O Jesus, supreme Goodness, I ask You to give me a heart so enamored of You that nothing on earth can distract it...a free heart, never seduced or enslaved, an upright heart which never goes astray." (St. Thomas Aquinas from pg. 827 of the Divine Intimacy by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D.)

Lake Lanier and hitting the water locally...

I have been poking around the internet looking at places I'd like to visit around Lake Lanier. This restaurant looks good and this marina would be fun to visit. This website has information on all the public access parks, but it looks like there is conflicting information regarding bringing your dogs along.

This outfitter is close by, and I would like to get in a trip before the peak season begins. I read in a local magazine that this outfitter up the road in Dawsonville has an indoor pool where they give kayaking lessons -- you can learn how to roll in a controlled environment.

River tubing is big around here -- the one trip we had planned in Jasper last summer was cancelled due to a thunder storm. I will add on to this post as I continue my research (the links are bear at this point, but I'll fill them in...)...

Family in Kentucky on First Sunday of Easter

the big drive

I wish somehow I could capture the palpable softness that is in the air right now. As we made a whirlwind trip up to Kentucky, leaving last Friday and returning yesterday afternoon, I told my hubby that I felt as if we were driving through an Impressionist painting. There were so many redbud trees. Their lovely flowers stood out amongst the pale-green, baby leaves of the budding hardwoods. So, this morning, as I go around the house taking all the purple construction paper off our religious art (yes!), I want so very much to hold these early spring days in my heart. Our Savior is risen indeed: and, I have this sense that He is calling me to cast out all fear. God is the God of surprises. He is the Father who gives His children what they need, not necessarily what they want. He wants me to shed my fears. I had no idea that this would be my Easter blessing. I had little idea how coated in fear I am. I am reading and discovering some very powerful ideas about the Resurrection...

Peeking ahead at next academic year....

I am having a hard time doing a little work here on the computer as there is the MOST BEAUTIFUL SNOW here today in Georgia. My two academic passions are history and writing and here are two links that may assist us next year in 4th and 7th grades:

My friend Lisa loves this writing program, and I like the idea of the DVD tutorials. This review on LovetoLearn is most helpful.

CHC's motto "Educating for Eternity" has my heart, my full attention. I am looking at how they organize their history studies and plan to go dig up the CHC materials that I own and see how they differ from their most current editions.

The snow is such a delight and such a source of profound peace. The family is all here, all content, all quiet and all "tranquilized" by the pure, white blanket of beauty that surrounds us.

A link to soaking whole grains before cooking or baking...

This recipe for "muffin bread" looks easy and appealing.

I am headed down to our parish, now a half hour drive south of us, to see our middle school youth group act out The Stations of the Cross. I think I overheard JB say that she is enacting Pontius Pilate. Should be good.

Tomorrow: Happy 9th Birthday, Jaybird!

He is such a happy boy! There is not a morning that goes by that I do not feel blessed to know this person. Motherhood has been, so far, for me, an opportunity to see God's Creation as something deeply beautiful. To our human eyes, it seems ever-changing. I suspect to our Creator, there is a profound constancy to life. When I am praying well, the tumult and irritations that are part of family life fade as I am able to see, day-to-day, the goodness of our Heavenly Father.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for creating me, for sending me such a Savior as You have sent us in your Son, our Lord -- and, thank you, Father for the gift of Motherhood, which has been, so far, my opportunity to learn from the Holy Spirit that human life is fleeting, yet, it is also mysteriously a timeless work of Your Divine Hands. Amen.

Happy 12th Birthday!

Ginny

More 12 days...

(This card was a favorite of mine for years and years and years -- I still love it!) Back to a few impressions: on the 5th day of Christmas, my true loves gave to me...another morning sleeping in, more dogs jumping on me and hot EggMcMuffin before loading the van and driving back to Georgia.

On the 6th day of Christmas, my true loves gave to me, a day at home resting very peacefully.

On the 7th day of Christmas, I made Spanish tortilla and feasted with family and friends thinking what a lot of goodness surrounds us all the time.

On the 8th day of Christmas, I started stressing out about school starting back, so I sat down and drank more coffee....which brings us to the 9th day of Christmas, a cold and bright morning, when I think I'd better stop feasting so much and focus back on the coming Epiphany!

(Oh, in the last couple of days, I did have time to read this marvelous true account of Mother Catherine Spalding, an American we must learn about to see what we can really do when we put our heart and soul to plow for Christ and with Him.)

Our 12 days, so far...

On the eve of Christmas, my true loves gave to me...
a lovely Christmas luncheon, a trip to Holy Mass and prayer in front of our stunning parish nativity.

On the first day of Christmas, my true loves gave to me...
sleeping in til 9am, siblings getting along, lots of pretty presents and spaghetti lunch in front of our nativity.

On the second day of Christmas, my true loves gave to me...
sweet memories of Christmas dinner with cousins, cleaning our bedroom, topped off with a
small nativity.

On the third day of Christmas, my true loves gave to me...
morning Mass praying with the Holy Family, a chaffeured drive to Kentucky, an elegant home-cooked dinner and family dogs romping together in our continued celebration of our Savior's Holy Nativity.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true loves gave to me...
Mimi's delicious hot coffee on a brisk, winter morning with more romping dogs, a quiet afternoon with Jaybird and a movie and a love of prolonged Christmas, thinking always of that blessed nativity

Think long, think wrong - ha ha!

Mary Engelbreit's art has inspired me since my college years. I just put this as my desktop wallpaper. In our case, the kitten is our new puppy, Ginny. Go visit Mary's website for lots of inspiration for Christmas and the new year 2010.

New puppy photos!

What's cooking?

Well, nothing over here, yet. I still have dishes to process from a little dinner party that Mags, Jerry and I put on for one of his work mates this weekend. We are having friends over for breakfast on Wednesday, and I am going back and forth as to whether to make sausage gravy, eggs and biscuits or a yummy egg casserole from my favorite Kentucky cookbook. I very much want to make a pumpkin goat cheese cheesecake that I have saved from a Country Living magazine from 2005! Where does the time go? I'd like to take the cheesecake up to KY when we go for a quick trip on Thurs.

I printed out a couple of recipes over at Cooks.com for a fresh broccoli casserole and pumpkin oatmeal cookies. I was thinking the cookies would be easier to take than the cheesecake, so we'll see what happens. I'd like to make the broccoli with some chicken legs for a simple meal this week.

Looking very forward to Advent 2009. We did alot of housecleaning this weekend and hopefully will make a major push to de-clutter the basement this week and get a bunch of clothes and such to Goodwill. We have the lovliest little St. Francis Advent candle wreath, and it takes special candles which I need to hunt up on the internet. Since it has been a while since I was expecting a child, I try to put myself into that 2nd-trimester-nesting-urge and look forward to welcoming the Christ Child into our hearts and home in a quiet, gentle way. We really like to "pull in" during Advent and cook and clean and get ready for what will hopefully be a joyous 12 days of Christmas.

I am trying to pray and meditate every day with Fr. Gabriel's Divine Intimacy, a lovely aid to prayer, one that swells the heart with gratitude and praise. A couple of mornings ago, I was blessed with a lovely memory of my a cold salad my Aunt Punchie used to make for Christmas lunch. It was a layered salad with jello, cranberries, walnuts, pineapple and cream cheese, sliced in to squares over a big crisp piece of lettuce.

I am off to surf the 'net in search of a similar salad and to poke around for some locally-made or farm-fresh Christmas gifts. I wonder if the cheese made by the Trappist monks in KY is any good? I want to get some wine from North Georgia vineyards.

My son has a really bad cough, and I too feel under the weather. I hope we get better soon so we have abundant energy for all the opportunites of the season to love.

Here's to a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!