Faustina signs for "milk"!

Faustina has been watching "Baby Signing Times" in DVD and has apparently picked up a few things. She now knows "food/eat" and "milk". "Milk" is especially cute as she does it somewhat incorrectly, putting her pointer and middle fingers together with her thumb instead of as the image below. This is great- the little one is learning to communicate!




The sign for "milk" is supposed to appear as if you are milking a cow.

Contrapposto?

I think Faustina fits in among the greats: Michelangelo's (1475-1564) "David"; Polyclitus' (c. 300's B.C.) "Doryphorus"; and Cesare Sesto's (1477-1523) "Leda and the Swan".

From Wikipdedia:

Contrapposto is an Italian term meaning "counterpoise" used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This gives the figure a more dynamic, or alternatively relaxed appearance. It can also encompass the tension as a figure changes from resting on a given leg to walking or running upon it (so-called ponderation). Contrapposto is less emphasized than the more sinuous S-Curve.

Contrapposto has been used since the dawn of classical western sculpture. According to the canon of the Classical Greek Sculptor Polykleitos in the fourth century B.C., it is one of the most important characteristics of his figurative works and those of his successors, Lysippos, Skopas, etc. The Polykletian statues for example Discophoros (discus-bearer) and Doryphoros (spear-bearer) are idealized athletic young men with the divine sense, and captured in contrapposto. In these works, the pelvis is no longer axial with the vertical statue as in the archaic style of earlier Greek sculpture until the Ephebe-statue of Kritios ca. 480 B.C.

Contrapposto can be clearly seen in the Roman copies of the statues of Hermes and Heracles. A famous example is the marble statue of Hermes with the infant Dionysus in Olympia by Praxiteles. It can also be seen in the Roman copies of Polyclitus' amazon.

Here, again, is Faustina getting in Mom's cookbooks... gotta love those leg muscles.

Lots of Lettuce [UPDATED]

Mike took several pictures of my meal this evening because he simply cannot believe how enormous I make my salads. He made sure to put a glass next to the plate for relativity purposes. ;) What can I say. I really, really enjoy salads. I go to Sam's Club and get one big bin of organic mixed springs and one of the organic spinach; they last me about 1 week or so. Mike's eyes almost pop out of his head when he looks at how big they are. He says it would take him hours and hours simply to chew up all the lettuce that I devour in about 15 minutes. You have nothing to lose because you can put whatever you like in them and it tastes fantastic. This particular salad has red peppers, onion, walnuts, crasins, apple, cheese, tomatoe, and tuna. And, probably the best of all - they are healthy! Really a win-win situation.

======================

I would just like to say that overeating is NOT healthy! Kidding. It is a lot of lettuce though!
-Mike

Feels like Vacation

And it is! Aaahhh...the life of a teacher - we won't complain about a 'winter break' week off to relax. Since Faustina slept in late this morning, we did as well and then enjoyed a breakfast of grapefruit and banana/chocolate chip pancakes (the banana and chocolate a wonderful idea from my sister-in-law!). Faustina is a great eater and she absolutely loved the pancakes. It is fun since there are so many new things to try with her. We plan on having a lazy day and enjoying not having to do anything!

Anything but toys

Faustina and her crony are officially at the point where anything is more interesting than toys. They sprint crawl, one in the army crawl and the other on her knees, around the whole level of the first floor looking for anything to get into. Cookbooks on the lower shelf, doors that are not yet secure, crumbs on the floor, shoes on the floor, you name it. And of course Faustina can stand up to anything so that her reach gives her even more ammunition for adventure. This time I forgot to close the bathroom door and it was the toilet paper. It was one of those 'They are too quiet, what are they up to...' moments. Faustina may have a bit of extra fiber in her diet today.

St. Jude, pray for us!

Saint Joseph

Saint Michael the Archangel

Saint Jude

I've been reminded recently of my namesakes: St. Michael the Archangel, St. Joseph, and St. Jude (my Confirmation name).

Not only have I been asking for prayers for Gail from St. Faustina, apostle of Divine Mercy, but those other great saints who have done much in my own life.

Here are some prayers, people! Please, through Christ, ask these saints for intercession for Gail to our Father in Heaven. Gratias vobis!

St. Jude Prayer
A Prayer to St. Jude Thaddeus

Most Holy Apostle, St. Jude Thaddeus, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the traitor who delivered your beloved Master into the hands of his enemies has caused you to be forgotten by many. But the Church honors you, and I invoke you as the special advocate of those who are in trouble and almost without hope. Help me to realize that through our faith we triumph over life's difficulties by the power of Jesus who gave his life for us. Come to my assistance that I may receive the consolation and succor of heaven in all my needs, trials, and sufferings, particularly that Gail be healed and cancer free, and that I may praise God with you and all the saints forever.

St. Jude, apostle of the Word of God, pray for us.

St. Jude, follower of the Son of God, pray for us.

St. Jude, preacher of the love of God, pray for us.

St. Jude, intercessor before God, pray for us.

St. Jude, friend of all in need, pray for us.

St. Jude, pray for us, and all who invoke your aid.

Thank You Saint Jude for answering my prayers. Amen.

St. Michael Prayer
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Prayer to St. Joseph over 1900 years old
(offer this up for Gail, and re-devote yourself to God.)

O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen

(Say for nine consecutive mornings for anything you may desire. It has seldom been known to fail.)

We attended a Vigil mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul on the eve of World Day of the Sick. The mass was beautifully said by Archbishop John Neinstedt who delivered a wonderful homily on carrying the cross in suffering as Christ.

As we continue to storm the gates of Heaven with our prayers for Gail, I am reminded continuously by the words I hear from Scripture that we must always remember to end our prayers with "Thy will be done."

The Lord has total control over our lives. Like Job, we have no idea what is going on or what is best for us. The Lord can in fact heal us and others around us through allowing us to go through suffering or purification. In many ways, those faithful ones who suffer are miracle workers, for they are witnesses to those around them.

Yet we also know that in the Gospels Christ heals many, many people; for this we pray: (1) that Gail's illness remind us all of the frailty of life and therefore we ought to love one another better by first reorienting our lives toward the Creator God (Ash Wednesday is coming up: "You are dust, and unto dust you shall return."); (2) that the Lord's will be done and achieved in this difficult situation; and (3) we humbly pray that the Lord grant many more years to Gail and for her family members who dearly lover her. Amen.

Our icon instructor in action...

When Cynthia and I took an icon course, this Russian Orthodox fellow was our teacher; he's a very passionate fellow and well known throughout the world as an iconography master.

Here's Vladislav Andrejev working on the parish of St. Michael, in St. Michael, Minnesota. The first image is the dome bearing the icon of Christ the Teacher. Very cool stuff...
I hope to take another icon class sooner than later.

KEEP YOUR SPEAKERS ON TO HEAR VLADISLAV.

On Sickness & God's Healing Love

Thinking about Gail, I came across the following reflection-

On Sickness and God's Healing Love
"We Are Made for Life"

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 8, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.

* * *

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today the Gospel (cf. Mark 1:29-39) -- in direct continuation with last Sunday -- presents us with Jesus, who after having preached on the Sabbath in the synagogue of Capernaum, cured many ill people, beginning with Simon's mother-in-law. Entering his house, he found her in bed with a fever and immediately, taking her by the hand, he healed her and had her get up. After sunset, he healed a multitude of people afflicted with all sorts of ills.

The experience of the healing of the sick occupies a good portion of the public mission of Christ and it invites us once again to reflect on the meaning and value of illness in every situation in which the human being can find himself. This opportunity comes also because of the World Day of the Sick, which we will celebrate next Wednesday, Feb. 11, liturgical memorial of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes.

Despite the fact that illness is part of human existence, we never manage to get used to it, not only because sometimes it comes to be burdensome and grave, but essentially because we are made for life, for complete life. Precisely our "internal instinct" makes us think of God as plenitude of life, and even more, as eternal and perfect Life. When we are tested by sickness and our prayers seem in vain, doubt wells up in us and, filled with anguish, we ask ourselves: What is God's will?

It is precisely to this question that we find an answer in the Gospel. For example, in the passage of today we read: "He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him" (Mark 1:34). In another passage from St. Matthew, it says: "He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people" (Matthew 4:23).

Jesus does not leave room for doubt: God -- whose face he himself has revealed -- is the God of life, who frees us from all evil. The signs of this, his power of love are the healings that he carries out: He thus shows that the Kingdom of God is near, restoring men and women to their full integrity in spirit and body. I refer to these healings as signs: They guide toward the message of Christ, they guide us toward God and make us understand that man's truest and deepest illness is the absence of God, who is the fount of truth and love. And only reconciliation with God can give us true healing, true life, because a life without love and without truth would not be a true life. The Kingdom of God is precisely the presence of truth and love, and thus it is healing in the depths of our being.

Thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, the work of Jesus is prolonged in the mission of the Church. Through the sacraments, it is Christ who communicates his life to the multitude of brothers and sisters, as he cures and comforts innumerable sick people through so many activities of health care service that Christian communities promote with fraternal charity, thereby showing the face of God, his love. It is true: How many Christians all over the world -- priests, religious and laypeople -- have given and continue giving their hands, eyes and hearts to Christ, true physician of bodies and souls!

Let us pray for all the ill, especially for those who are most grave, and who can in no way take care of themselves, but depend entirely on the care of others; may every one of them be able to experience, in the solicitude of those who are near to them, the power of the love of God and the richness of his grace that saves us. Mary, health of the sick, pray for us.

[After praying the Angelus, he said:]

[. . . .]

As I said just a moment ago, next Feb. 11, memorial of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes, the World Day of the Sick is celebrated. In the afternoon, I will meet with the sick and other pilgrims in St. Peter's Basilica, after the holy Mass that the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, Cardinal Lozano Barragán, will preside over. From now, I assure my special blessing to all the sick, the health care workers and the volunteers of every part of the world.

[Translation by ZENIT]

Psalm 92

Please keep my dear mother (Gail Lee) in prayers. On Wednesday we learned that her breast cancer has reared its ugly head again. It is stage four and the same HER2 cancer that she had 5 years ago. She will not be going through chemo, but a series of other treatments as time goes on.

God is good! We have hope and confidence in healing; we have faith in the future knowing that the Lord is in charge. Mom has been blessed with the Lord's peace; she continues to be a witness as she is such an amazing woman of God!

Psalm 92

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]

2 I will say [b] of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

"The Invisible Mom" - a tribute to motherhood

Father Z. posted this, and it is stupendous.

"The Invisible Mom"
[comments and emphasis from the web site where I copied it]
by Anonymous

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.

Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’ Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, ‘What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England .. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’ It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: ‘To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.’

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals we have no record of their names.

[1] These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. [2] They made great sacrifices and [3] expected no credit. [4] The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.’ And the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make everyday, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.’

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. [!]

When I really think about it, I don’t want my child to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, ‘You’re gonna love it there.’

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Good Balance

8 months old and standing on her own. No help, except she is leaning a bit on the coffee table...! She would become the leaning tower of pisa for a second, and then correct herself. Good work Faustina.

Ella is in the house

And life just became a great deal busier on Monday!

Ella Springer is 6 weeks old and a little sweetie. She loves to be held and takes one long nap during the day...and we are just getting to know each other. Faustina is already very fond of her and is very concerned when she hears Ella cry.

I don't really know HOW it is working out taking care of 3 little ones under 10 months old - but somehow it is! God provides. They keep me on my toes with lots of diaper changing, bottle feedings, heightchair time, comforting and juggling naptime.