a quick personal note...

Well, we are now in Texas, and we were only delayed a week due to crazy circumstances... the twins decided to come 10 weeks early! By God's divine grace they are healthy and stable and were medivaced from Washington to Texas so we could all be together. I have had the most amazing support from the most amazing people and my thank you list is growing by the hour!

2 weeks before we were due to fly out I found out I have breast cancer. To make this short my awesome OB felt a lump and got me into an ultrasound and then a mammogram within days, I had a biopsy, got the results and had a lumpectomy and lymphnodal section all in one week, still pregnant. That was the 14th, the stress from packing up the house and the surgery induced early labor and I had the twins via cesarean on the 19th. Our house was packed and we were living in the base hotel, waiting to fly out on the 21st.

My awesome friend Sue Ho put my family, including my parents, up in her house for a week while she was in Idaho (thank you!). What a relief it was to be in a house and not squished in a hotel room for that long!

The twins were born amazingly healthy and already look like babies instead of little potatoes, Lucy was born at 3:44 am at 3 pounds 1 oz and Sarah was born at 3:46 am at 3 pounds 4 oz.

I can't thank enough all who have helped us and who are still helping as the twins are in the NICU and I get set up with chemotherapy, our household goods will be delivered on Monday.... what day, or month is it? I fell as if I've slipped into a black hole, this all happened literally in less than 3 weeks!

I will continue to post great stuff that I come across, but as you can guess it just may be less often.

God bless and believe in the power of prayer!
Mrs. Murphy

Homeschooling-How do I start?

Whatever your reasons for choosing to homeschool, we all start from the beginning; and we all have the same questions. How do I start? Where do I go? What can I afford? I got this great site forwarded to me today that breaks down some different options and philosophies widely used in the homeschool world. Check out: Advanced Learners!

And as always, feel free to send me a comment and ask any questions, I would love to help you!
Mrs. Murphy

Another Great Catholic Mom Book Review Site!

Check out the Treasure Chest for Tweens! I have made a separate section on the left side bar that has all these book review sites so they are easy to find on Mrs. Murphy's Methods! Kudos to Pam in El Paso for passing this great one along, and thanks Regina from Dei Gratia for letting us know this mom is one of our own!

Online Summer Classes

Check out these online summer classes offered with a Catholic perspective through Homeschool Connections. Just click HERE!

Enjoy!
Mrs. Murphy

Been Slackin!!

I'm sure I don't need to explain all that goes on when you are selling a house (SOLD!), preparing for a move from the top of the country to the bottom, trying to transfer, change, cancel things, get some school work done (ha ha ha!) and are pregnant with twins....I'm sure I don't, do I?

One high light I will share is that I had the privilege of meeting Father Frank Pavone at a Pro-Life Mass and dinner. (Thanks to my Amiga Sue for being my date!) He is an amazing speaker, and if the name just sounds a bit familiar, he is the founder of Priests for Life. I was also given the Mother/Children blessing by him, quite the honor!

My latest bout of research has been on children's literature, and the same question seems to be going around my groups of friends who all have budding readers: what is safe for them to read? I have been reading Michael D. O'Brien's A Landscape with Dragons, which written around 1992, still gives extremely relevant explanations on what literature is fruitful for the child's mind and what can be morally confusing based on the depiction of good vs. evil. I highly recommend it. Here is an article about more recent children's literature and it's impact.

Some other Catholic sites that have reading lists and book reviews are from Love 2 Learn, Catholic Fiction.net and Catholic Mom. My other methods of finding good children's literature is when I collect my homeschool catalogs (I always check out Seton, Kolbe, Our Lady of Victory, Mother of Divine Grace, Emmanuel, Rod and Staff (Mennonite-but has some basic wholesome kids books about faith, note: to get a real catalog from the actual publisher (not a store) you have to call them and request it: 1-606-522-4348) and Sonlight (non-defined Christian, but still has some good books) and I'm sure there are some I've left out...) and I take my time to go through their reading section grade by grade. I love to hold the paper catalogs, to dog ear, to circle, to compare prices (for example a lot of repeats are in Seton from Rod & Staff, but are much cheaper through R & S, also whatever you find from the publisher go online and then check out Adoremus Books, it is usually cheaper and less shipping). FYI: Some of these sites have a place to click and just put in your info to request a catalog, others, like Kolbe, you have to send them an email and request one.

Now for some FUN STUFF!! LEGO Education of North America is having a creativity contest! Go HERE to order your FREE LEGO kit and get your kiddos building!

Also, check out my updated You Tube section with your kids! I found some super fun stuff mine love to watch! I added Philomena Girl to the kids section, let's see if it's worth the stay; Hug a Hero Daddy Dolls to the Military Support Section; and I also added some new places to shop that I found on another search. Enjoy!

Extra kudos to Sue & Michaela for the resources and friendship! If you find any of my hyper links don't work, please leave me a comment, I worked on this while my girls were hopping around me having a "balloon party". :)

Missed you too! Will be doing better at keeping up!
Mrs. Murphy

19 Year Old Homeschooler Wins at Film Festival!

Home schooler's feature film opens in theaters
Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 4/15/2009 7:40:00 AM
A movie made by a home-school teenager has been released on 94 screens nationwide.

John Moore is the 19-year-old writer and director of The Widow's Might, a light-hearted family comedy that centers on a widow who is faced with the loss of her property due to heavy taxation. Moore explains the premise of the 101-minute film. "[T]his home-school family finds out about [the widow's dilemma] -- and of course they think that that's ridiculous," says Moore. "So they go to the mayor and attempt to get him to be reasonable. Of course he's not; he's trying to do what he feels is best for the city. "So there is kind of a battle of wills there," he continues, "and eventually the family decides that they should produce a film in an attempt to spread the word about the widow's plight." Moore's film won the $101,000 "Best of Film Festival" award at the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and will now be shown at 94 Carmike Cinemas across the nation. He shares that distribution of the film began when he received an unexpected call from independent filmmaker Jerry Dalton, who requested a screener copy of The Widow's Might. "And he calls back and says, 'I can get this film into the theaters for you -- would you be interested?' And it was just so out of nowhere that God would bless the project like that," exclaims Moore. The Widow's Might opens this week (April 13-18) in theaters. A movie trailer, behind-the-scenes clips, and a list of showings can be found at WidowsMightTheMovie.com.

Back from El Paso!

I've been MIA because my hubby and I went down to El Paso to do house hunting and recon! It was NO vacation, but it was well worth it. We found a neighborhood, my gracious husband drove us ALL OVER so I could check out dance studios, gymnastics centers, churches, all of it! Even car dealerships! A new friend showed us the Dodge Sprinter, but when I got in one at the dealership I got a bit nervous about the height and me hauling newborns and carseats up that far by myself.... so I think I'm sticking with the Chevy Express and ordering a new one.

I have to give a shout out to my new friends in the El Paso Catholic homeschool group who has an abundance of girls just the same ages as mine! They threw together a welcome coffee for me and it was the most wonderful experience, thank you so much! Erika, Rae, Prudence, Pat, Tabitha, Pat.... I apologize for the names I am forgetting, but I am really looking forward to the wonderful frienships to come!

Bottom line, it was great, I'm exhausted, and the grandparents did a GREAT job staying with the 4 monkeys. How can I ever repay them?

Have some resources sitting in my email I need to sort through, I'm so sorry I dropped Holy Week on Mrs. Murphy's Methods....but I wasn't here! Next up though, check out the Lorax project (previously mentioned and in the April sidebar) for Earth Day. Lots to do to show our Lord God how much we love this beautiful Earth He created just for us!

Lots of love to you all!
Mrs. Murphy

The GIVE Act

Why isn't this being talked about all over the place? This thing, this new program that has already quietly been signed into effect, terrifies me. It terrifies me so much I shared it on email with every mother I know, and was even subject to attack from an anti-Catholic on a home school public group forum. I have since dropped that group as the moderators chose not to say anything about the unacceptable posting from that ignorant woman, even though they did chose to post that home party invites were not ok, but that is another story.

Here are a few articles about the GIVE Act: one from Fox News; their hyped up description from Service Nation; here is the data from Open Congress; be sure to read the COMMENTS; get some more scary details from The Catholic Knight; and watch what could be coming to your neighborhood on this You Tube Video.

On the surface it seems like a great deal, right? WRONG! When a government pays 6 BILLION DOLLARS for a program for FORCED VOLUNTEERISM, there is something WRONG. Why can't that money go to PAYING JOBS? Then there is the whole concept of volunteering, when the group who submits is rewarded and the groups who chose to really volunteer in other ways is punished through the allowance of or withholding of FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS, there is something WRONG. When the Obama nation is coming to your door to get your personal information and signature pledging your support, not to our COUNTRY, but to the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION to put into a national database so you can be WATCHED, that is WRONG.

This thing is wrong on so many levels, but I am here to only give you the resources for you to make your own decisions, isn't that what true freedom is all about?

The ignorant woman I mentioned above compared the GIVE Act to Catholic schools, she saw no difference, uniforms, community service, etc. LADY, when you participate in these things at a Catholic school it is not funded with my TAX DOLLARS!

Spread this news around, it has been signed, it has been funded, but it has not been in the media, and there is good reason....they don't want us to know about it.

Please don't be brainwashed!
Mrs. Murphy

April Fools Day

Tomorrow is April 1st, AKA April Fools Day. So what I am posting today is NO JOKE.

Last year I was googling about something Catholic Homeschooling and was blasted with "bad" sites, pictures, spam and spyware in SECONDS. It over took everything and looked like my screen was exploding. I just pulled the plug from the wall, and well, it never could start again without all this stuff flooding the screen.

We paid hundreds of dollars to some geeks to take it to their shop and remove all the spyware and viruses etc and retrieve our data....the whole thing was a nightmare. (Completely separate and different situation from the Best Buy/Geek Squad deal...)

So, when you see these warnings about April Fools Day viruses, they are REAL. Oh, we had firewalls and scanners and all that stuff....it didn't matter. So, just to be safe, Mrs. Murphy will not even be turning it on for the whole day tomorrow!

And yes, it's because my name is MURPHY!!

Cake Mix Cookies

A few months ago our local Safeway had cake mix on sale for 59 cents a box, so of course I picked up a dozen boxes! We are moving in less than three months and I still have like 5 boxes left, so I need to use up a couple other than the cakes I have planned for birthdays. I remember, years ago when I sold Pampered Chef (no longer) that we made cookies really quick for the cookie press demo using cake mix, so I just googled "cake mix cookie recipes" and found TONS of sites!

After reviewing a few different recipes I came up with my own in the kitchen:

1 box cake mix (this time I used devil's food chocolate, 18.25 oz)
2 eggs
1/2 cup really soft butter
2 Tbls water
1/2 package chocolate chips

preheat to 350 degrees, bake in rounded teaspoons size about 11 minutes, they stayed fresh and chewy as long as they lasted, which wasnt long!

You can check out what is out there on your own, but one site struck me enough to share: The Recipe Godlmine! Here are dozens of recipes you can make from cake mix! So, take advantage of those big sales and go to town!

Mrs. Murphy

KB Teachers

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Do you like Little House?

My oldest is soooo into the Little House series right now, she's got a pop gun, a bonnet, pioneer fantasies... I found this site: Little House Books that give all kinds of tools for expanding on the series and fun stuff to do for the girls too!

Also, I got this neat email today: Hi All Homeschoolers that are seeking college info. Check out Gary North's webpage. You can view a video and download a FREE manual titled Affordable Accredited Colleges: An Unconventional Guide. http://www.lowestcostcolleges.com/.

Every little bit helps, right?
Mrs. Murphy

Why Hellooooo There!

I've missed you too! Well, we finally have our new laptop, and after many go-arounds with Best Buy and the Geek Squad, I will say I will NEVER recommend their store or services, enough said on that. Anyhoo, our house has also been busy PACKING, we are getting rid of tons of junk, packing most of our stuff up and having the house "show ready" as the realtors are bringing people through almost every day now. Looking for a house in Washington? Let me know.

Let's see, Dr. appts for the twins, my own kiddos, field trips, Little Flowers, constant drop offs to the Goodwill, even getting ready for the granparents as we are going to El Paso for a few days of house hunting-we have been all out BUSY. But today, I finally feel caught up and I think that going to the 9am mass as opposed to the noon mass really helped, plus my hubby vamoosed to go shooting so I have my attention focused on tasks at hand. No worries, I will make penance service on Tuesday and for sure working on this Sunday will be on my list of sins, but I have to admit, they were ALL necessary.

So, through my emails I have found the resources collected and saved just for YOU. WARNING: THIS IS LONG! But, VERY worth your time!

Remember that list of 100 sites I promised to personally go through and organize? Well, ha ha ha ha ha ha on me...I should NEVER make such promises. Here, in this post I will give the link for you to go directly to that list and peruse yourself. About all of these sites I will tell you, are secular. The list comes from Homeschooler.com, which does have tons of fabulous resources and links, but here is the direct link to their Top 100 educational websites of 2009 . Both are well worth an hour of quiet and hot tea.

Looking for good wholesome reads for your teenager? Visit Come Home to Image Cascade Books.

Have a highschooler looking at colleges? Ave Maria's open house is April 3-5, go HERE to view the pdf.

Have kids who like contests? Be sure to check out the contests at HSLDA. Also, here's the 2009 KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS STATE POSTER AND ESSAY CONTEST (Applies to the Olympia/Tacoma area of WA only, sorry!)

THEME: God’s Gift is Life
POSTERS
The largest poster board acceptable is 20" x 24". The smallest poster is 11" x 14"
Acceptable -media: crayons, colored pencils, ink, collage and paint.
Media that is NOT acceptable: charcoal, chalk, glitter, pastels and pencils

ESSAYS
Legibly hand printed on college ruled paper. two sheets maximum.
Typewritten (computer or typewriter) with at least one-inch margins all around.
Smallest font is 10. No fancy font styles.
Single or double-spaced. one page only.

RULES
There are four divisions. Each Student is allowed only one entry.
Division 1: (1st and 2nd grades) Posters only. No essays accepted.
Division 2: (3rd and 4th grades) Posters only. No essays accepted.
Division 3: (5th and 6th grades) Posters only. No essays accepted.
Division 4: (7th and 8th grades) Essays only. No posters accepted.

ALL POSTERS AND ESSAYS MUST BE CLEARLY IDENTIFIED WITH FIVE ITEMS:
1)Student's name. 2) Grade level. 3) School Name. 4) Council Number. 5) Grand Knight.
DO NOT PUT STUDENT NAME ON THE FRONT OF THE POSTER or ESSAY.

WHEN AND WHERE TO SUBMIT

Essays: 7th/8th grade essays are to be mailed to reach the Pro-Life ESSAY Chairman on/or
before April 1st. 2008. Mail to: Jim Toth , Pro-Life Chairman, 504 North Road 40, Pasco, Washington 99301

Posters: To submit posters, please call Ed Sauley at 360-491-0610 and he will hand deliver the posters to the Olympia Council for preliminary judging.

How about gardening? Check HERE for all kinds of awesome gardening info!

Looking for some fresh Catholic Blogs to peruse? Check out Overheard in the Sacristy and the Catholic Homesteading Movement (I love it! YOU KNOW I want to form that Catholic compound!) This lady is AWESOME, I don't know if she is Catholic but she states in her bio that she is "God Fearing" and that her family is part of the military, right up my alley too, oh, and her website is about everything FRUGAL, check out my new BFF, the Happy Housewife! Have I mentioned Unplug Your Kids before? I think so, if not, check it out! LOTS to do! On the subject of saving $, check out 5$ Dinners! Organic and Thrifty is another fav I've been checking out, btw the author of this blog, Carrie Thiennes, will be speaking at the NW Catholic Family Education Conference on "Nourishing your Family the Traditional Way". No Time for Flashcards is SUPER CUTE, great stuff for your preschoolers! It has crafts, songs, book reviews, alphabet activities, naptime creations, a parents corner and lots more, check it out & thanks Sherry!

Want to go to college for free? kinda? Now is the perfect time to improve your education. I know what you're thinking, though. You don't have the time or money to enroll in a college class. That's no excuse! Thanks to the Internet, you can take college classes on your own schedule. And, you can do it for free. The OpenCourseWare Consortium links to many universities around the world. You can listen to lectures and watch videos of special events. You can also access course materials. The courses cover a variety of different disciplines. But I recommend that you check out the courses on personal finance. You'll learn how to save for your child's college education. Or, you can get help planning for retirement. The courses will also help you reduce your spending and increase your savings. This is something anyone can love! These courses won't count towards a degree. That's okay. What's important is that you're learning new skills. www.ocwconsortium. org

SCOUTING SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE: The Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting, an agency of SCOBA, offers two scholarships annually. The recipient for first place will receive $1,000 and the runner up will receive $500 upon acceptance to a four year accredited college or university. The candidates are evaluated on their involvement in their church, school, community, scholastic achievements, and Scouting. Applications are due by May 1, and guidelines and application information are available online at http://eocs.org/?page_id=21

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE: Applications are now available for scholarships to be awarded for the 2009-2010 academic year from the George and Naouma Gioles Scholarship Fund, which is administered by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The Gioles Scholarship Fund was established in 1997with a generous gift in memory of George and Naouma Gioles. At least three scholarships of $1,500 each will be awarded for the 2009-2010 academic year. For application criteria and requirements visit http://goarch.org/news/giolesscholarship-02-04-2009.

Be alerted to price drops! The convenience of online shopping just can't be beaten. You can avoid crowded shopping centers. Parking and long lines are never a problem. Of course, you'll often find better prices online, too. That's because Web sites don't have the overhead associated with retail locations. But these days, low prices aren't enough. We need to find the lowest prices possible. Fortunately, the Internet makes comparison shopping easy. You can check an item's price on numerous sites in a matter of minutes. There's no driving all over town or making endless phone calls. To make online shopping even easier, try Price!pinx. All you need do is install a bookmark in your browser. Then, when you're on a site's product page, highlight the price. Next, click the Price!pinx bookmark. Price!pinx does all the work for you. You'll receive a notification if the price drops! Price!pinx can also help you with low-price guarantees. It's great for cash-strapped families! www.pricepinx. com

Job searching the easy way! Even in the best of times, job hunting is no picnic. But these days, you need all the help you can get. Fortunately, there are plenty of online job boards. You can search for your dream job from the comfort of home. With all these job boards, your search can quickly become a job of its own. You can spend hours hopping from board to board. That is, unless you visit Simply Hired. Its goal is to build the largest online database of jobs. That's a lofty goal! Simply Hired has a good start, though, with more than 2.5 million listings. These jobs aren't on Simply Hired's site. Rather, Simply Hired does the heavy lifting for you. It searches other job sites and lists openings in one place. To make things even easier, Simply Hired will alert you to jobs that match your search.

Are your kids now interested in online social networking, like Myspace and Facebook? But of course you are smart, and know the dangers these places possess for our young, well a Catholic Mom has created a safe social networking place for KIDS ONLY. Check out Yoursphere. Read the whole article about it HERE from Zenit.

Here is just a super neat site called Our Earth as Art that contains amazing satelite photos of our beautiful planet from space. Thanks NASA!

Kids want to learn to type? HERE is a link for FREE typing lessons!

Have vacation on the mind? All homeschoolers, their family, friends, and inquisitive neighbors are invited to attend this one-of-a-kind Not Back to School Days Rally and Conference at Disneyland in Anaheim, California Sept. 14-17, 2009.Please plan to join thousands of homeschoolers as we gather to rally our cause - the positive growth of homeschooling! ! Have you ever wanted to stay at a Disney property hotel? Now is your chance - our rates are about 50% off the rack rates, our park hoppers are 45% off the gate price (and they come with free YES classes), and the conference is going to be awesome! This will be the family vacation of a lifetime.For more information, please visit the new and improved website:www.southwest- home-education. com. There will be weekly free information sessions beginning this Thursday. Membership in SHEA is not required to attend the conference, all are welcome!

Is this enough? Did I make up for the time lost? I hope so!

I love hearing from you! Keep it coming!

with love during a "Lent that chose ME",
Mrs. Murphy

I'm Back....sort of

Well, my prayers always seem to be answered by the grace of Our Lord! I prayed for more family time and less time on the computer during lent....the next day the cpu DIED. Yup, it was over 6 years old and just couldn't even start. All kinds of panic and mayhem, we finally took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy and asked to just have the info transferred to a new laptop we purchased. Days later, my husband goes back to pick it all up, "what lap top?" I swear the man is going to have a stroke....and soon.

So, we have some data backed up on disc, but NO LAPTOP. I've pulled my 8 year-olds cpu just for internet for the meantime and have hundreds of emails and messages to sort through....so just bear with me!

We also have been praying for orders to someplace WARM, being Marine Corps this would take us to San Diego, North Carolina, back to Hawaii....even Tampa. What do we get? A joint tour at Fort Bliss in El Paso Texas!! Yup, it will be warm and yup, we are BACK with the ARMY. It will be fine, I will breathe... So, anyone know anything about the El Paso area? I've been trying to make some contact with other homeschoolers there but with not much success.....sigh.

sorting, muddling
Mrs. Murphy

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI FOR LENT 2009

"He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry" (Mt 4,1-2)

A Rare Personal Note...

I rarely post anything personal, but today I feel a calling. For Lent my motive was to give up "yelling" or "snapping" at the children and show extra acts of patience, mercy and tenderness towards their needs. We are having less TV and computer time and more time focusing on each other, and that is great, because as a great friend recently pointed out, you can "give up" whatever...but it is for nothing if it doesn't bring you closer to Him. So true.

So, Tuesday we had our pancake supper. Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, it all fell apart for me. I have such horrible bouts of insomnia and am a light sleeper anyway, I am extra tired. Carrying twins I am twice as big and twice as uncomfortable as I normally am for almost 15 weeks.... We are working on moving plans, waiting for orders to apply for HAP to get this monkey, I mean house, off our backs, cleaning out the junk and getting ready for the realtor, my husband is traveling and traveling and traveling, not to mention tax time..... So, my plan for an easy kick off day for Lent did not go so smoothly....

With little sleep I was awoken before 6 with the "Moooommmyyyy!!!" cry, littlest peed everywhere and was up. Chain reaction with the children getting up. Oldest was already up watching a Little House on the Prairie episode when a riot broke out that it was not Noggin for the little ones. No one liked their breakfast, or what we had available... School work? Are you kidding? We couldn't get it together to barely find clean panties. Found some, little one brought her FULL bowl of cheerios and milk and dumped it in the recliner. These things went on for a few hours, no shower for me that day.

My intention: noon mass at the base chapel, well, one of them. My husband left work to meet us, the whole "going to the base" thing is a process since it is a half hour trip one way, also this is Washington, it's like 35 degrees and pouring..... short story, I misread the schedule and we went to the WRONG chapel. No time to make it to the right one. To please the riot crowd, fed them dirty Burger King and headed home. School work? By this time I'm already losing my fish sandwich and spent a lot of time in the bathroom. Wanted to crawl in bed, but no one would allow for that! Littlest thought it would be fun to emptly the salt and pepper shakers in the tv room while I was in the bathroom.

We agreed to make it to the 6:00 mass, right chapel on post again, and met up with friends at the dirty Pizza Hut near the chapel for dinner. Wait, dirty and SLOW. Fed the kids, cleaned the kids, left and it is a blizzard, all the rain turned to slush on the road. Made it to mass just at 6:00, and everyone who has made it a point NOT to attend weekly has filled it up to the brim, dressed to the nines. I know you know what I mean. All of us "regulars" are stuffed around the front door which keeps blowing open with the rain and snow and wind gusting in. Little one wants none of it and is to put it bluntly, a living NIGHTMARE in the foyer. Yes, I am the mom of THAT kid. The others are itchy, loud, need to potty.... then it comes time to get ashes and no one knows where to go. There are 4 stations at the altar so two rows up the middle and a row on each side, so when the people get their ashes they cross paths with those going up from the opposite direction and come around and now there are like a thousand people crossing through in the foyer trying to get back to their pew or out the door. Finally, a lay minister and old friend comes back and give us ashes in the back. Well, my husband has had it, I can see the vein, that one, and it is time to go NO MATTER WHAT.

It is like 40 mile an hour winds, snowing like crazy and he met us there so I have the kids alone in the van, we split up and head home...he thinks I'm following him down the I-5. Hello, visibility is like ZERO. I take the slow long way our the back gate and he was at home already waiting for a good 15 minutes for us.

Here is the point of my story, it was a ROTTEN day. We could not fully appreciate the ashes and service, but I know better than to think that the Lord is just going to grant me the magic fuzzy warms of unending patience and kindness for my children and husband. What He gave me was such a day that it TESTED my patience, situation after situation that would give me the opportunity to choose how I handled myself with my babies and husband. It seemed every possible thing that could go wrong nearly did, but I made it and I prayed over it and I saw it as the opportunity for what it was. I called on my Lord for strength, Our Lady for Guidance, our Guardian Angels for safe travels....so much during the day. I saw the frustration for the situation in their little eyes and recognized my need to be the mom who could get them home and comfortable and safe and tell them I loved them with my whole heart, and no matter what that is what I did.

It doen't matter what you "give up", what matters is that it brings you closer to Our Lord and you offer up that real suffering for him. EVERYTHING happens for a reason, NO MATTER WHAT.

God Bless,
Mrs. Murphy

The Holy Face Feast Day is Shrove Tuesday

Have you heard of the Devotion to the Holy Face? Neither had I until my friend Michaela sent me this amazing site. The Holy Face Feast Day is actually on Shrove Tuesday, this coming Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. Well...in my infinite ignorance, I had never heard of Shrove Tuesday either! Here is a brief explanation of the origin of the holiday. Now, I HAVE heard of the New Orleans variation of Fat Tuesday, the day of eating up all the sweets and treats and good stuff in the house in order to purge it before the fasting of Lent begins. Here is another bit of info on how Shrove Tuesday became Fat Tuesday.

Well, hence the name Murphy, we are Irish through and through, yes even my heritage, being Irish and marrying an Irishman....half our girls are redheads, we cry at piper music and we know how to step dance! So HERE is my favorite bit on the holiday. I'm very excited now! I love to see the link of our Liturgical feasts and our own family heritage, especially when it involves PANCAKES! Every two weeks or so we have breakfast for dinner, but we will be sure to have big stacks of pancakes this Tuesday night. Now, you could either be like Jessica, and already be planning your "from scratch" family feast, or you could go to IHOP and partake in their National Pancake Day!

Either way, be sure to share the origins of this yummy feast day with your family! Purge your sins at confession while purging the goodies from the kitchen, take the time to learn a little bit more about the Devotion to the Holy Face, and, if you happen to see a holy image on your pancake, take a picture and send it to me and I will post it here on my blog!

Happy Purging, maybe we'll see you at IHOP!
Mrs. Murphy

THINK

Saw this over at 10 Kids and a Dog... super cool blog site! It has weekly projects that encourage your kids to "Think Outside the Box". Love it! I'm posting the Think Link to my blog, check it weekly for a new project! What a great new free resource for fun stuff to do!

Mrs. Murphy

LENT

Lent begins next week, Ash Wednesday, February 25th! One thing we greatly enjoyed during Advent was Holy Heroes. Well, they have a Lent program for kids too! I have put a link on the left side of this blog for easy access. Enjoy!

Mrs. Murphy

Cool Frugal Site!

Thanks Marti for this cool site, I love everything frugal!
http://frugalvillage.com

always frugal!
Mrs. Murphy

A Human Statue of Liberty - from 1918

Human Statue of Liberty
I find it amazing that this photo, taken so many years ago, actually still exists! This INCREDIBLE picture was taken in 1918.

It is 18,000 men preparing for war in a training camp at Camp Dodge, in Iowa . EIGHTEEN THOUSAND MEN!!!!!

What a priceless gift from our grandfathers and great-grandfathers!

FACTS:
Base to Shoulder: 150 feet
Right Arm: 340 feet
Widest part of arm holding torch: 12 1/2 feet
Right thumb: 35 feet
Thickest part of body: 29 feet
Left hand length: 30 feet
Face: 60 feet
Nose: 21 feet
Longest spike of head piece: 70 feet
Torch and flame combined: 980 feet
Number of men in flame of torch: 12,000
Number of men in torch: 2,800
Number of men in right arm: 1,200
Number of men in body, head and balance of figure only: 2,000

Total men: 18,000

God Bless America,
Mrs. Murphy

Nationwide Petition Launched To Withhold Communion From Speaker Pelosi, V. P. Biden and Other Prominent Dissenting Catholics

PewSitter.com

Voice of the Catholic Lay Faithful

February 17, 2009 – As Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi prepares to meet with Pope Benedict tomorrow in Rome, stateside, a nationwide petition project has been launched requesting the Catholic Bishops of the United States to withhold Communion from her and other prominent Catholics in public life that obstinately persist in their dissent from Catholic teaching on serious moral issues.

This nationwide Withholding Communion petition is being launched by Pewsitter.com, a Catholic News Portal. The goal of the petition drive is to gather a least 1 million petitions for presentation to the U.S. Bishops and the Vatican.

The basis for withholding communion is Canon 915, which stipulates that those "obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion." Archbishop Burke, the head of the Church's highest court reiterated his view on this subject in a recent interview with LifeSite News dated January 30, 2009, in which he stated, "The person who persists publicly in grave sin is to be denied Holy Communion, and it [Canon Law] doesn't say that the bishop shall decide this. It's an absolute."

Most Catholics don’t know that in addition to Canon 915, Canon law also compels Catholics to take action." Canon 212 S3, states that the Catholic faithful have " ..the right, indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position, to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters which concern the good of the Church."

While the Catholic faithful understand and support the behind-the-scenes dialogue and diplomacy that goes on with prominent Catholics, by the Bishops, to reconcile them with the Church -- when such dissent continues for years and in some cases decades - - in spite of the actions and activities that have been undertaken by past and present Bishops - - then it becomes necessary for a Bishop to take a formal public stand to prevent further scandal.

Unfortunately what has happened is that prominent, dissenting Catholics, in public life have continued to receive communion with impunity—and this has led to the false impression that the Church condones or at least tolerates such dissenting opinions on serious moral issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and embryonic stem cell research to name a few.

Not only do these prominent Catholics disregard the Church’s teachings, but in many cases they actively and publicly promote policies and legislation that undermines, opposes and contradicts the Church’s teachings. Examples of such Catholics include Speaker of the House - Nancy Pelosi, Vice President - Joseph Biden, Senator Ted Kennedy, and Senator John Kerry, to name a few.

For more information or to complete the petition go to www.pewsitter. com/petition/


Well, I signed the petition, but it's sad that we think we even need a petition to get the priests and bishops to do whats right!

Mrs. Murphy

Pelosi Spin on Meeting With Pope Dramatically Different From Vatican Statement Pope Rebukes Pelosi, Tells Her Catholic Legislators Obligated to Protec

By John-Henry Westen

VATICAN CITY, February 18, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Vatican Press Office released a note this morning detailing part of the conversation which Pope Benedict XVI had with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Pelosi also released a statement on the meeting, which ignored the one and only crucial issue mentioned in the Vatican note. While Pelosi presented the meeting as a fully positive encounter, the Vatican indicated the Pope reminded her of the requirement of Catholic politicians to defend life. Also, contrary to normal protocols for such meetings with dignitaries, no photos of Pelosi with the Pope have been released.

The Vatican note reads: "His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics, and especially legislators, jurists and those responsible for the common good of society, to work in cooperation with all men and women of good will in creating a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

Vatican insiders stressed to LifeSiteNews.com that such releases are always phrased in diplomatic language and thus the correction of the Speaker who describes herself as a "faithful Catholic," despite her abortion advocacy, should be taken as a firm rebuke.

LifeSiteNews.com also learned that concerns about Pelosi were presented to Vatican officials a day prior to the meeting.

Such encounters with the Pope are treasured by politicians for the photo opportunity they provide. Pelosi, however, was not afforded that customary photo by the Vatican. The Associated Press reports that "the Vatican said it was not issuing a photo of the meeting -- as it usually does when the pope meets world leaders -- saying the encounter was private."

For her part, Pelosi issued a press release on the 15-minute meeting with the Pope. "It is with great joy that my husband, Paul, and I met with his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI today," she said. "In our conversation, I had the opportunity to praise the Church's leadership in fighting poverty, hunger, and global warming, as well as the Holy Father's dedication to religious freedom and his upcoming trip and message to Israel."

The release from the Vatican, however, made no mention of the comments that Pelosi stressed in her release.

Pelosi's positive spin on the meeting is not being swallowed even by left-leaning Papal watchers. Vatican correspondent John Allen, who writes for the National Catholic Reporter, noted that "routine Vatican declarations after diplomatic meetings also generally sum up the range of issues discussed rather than concentrating on a particular point. In that sense, the statement can only be read as a rejection of Pelosi's statements last summer, and, in general, of her argument that it's acceptable for Catholics in public life to take a pro-choice position."

Allen also noted that "by issuing an unusual public statement after the session with Pelosi -- which insisted that all Catholics, including legislators, are obliged to work for the defense of human life from conception to natural death -- the pope also made clear there will no let-up in the pressure on pro-choice Catholic politicians to change their ways."

Many pro-life organizations from the US and Canada expressed their serious concerns to the Holy See that Mrs. Pelosi was going to be received by the Holy Father. Some of these organizations sent to different Vatican authorities comprehensive memoranda in which they showed in a detailed and precise way the anti-life statements and the pro-death voting record of Mrs. Pelosi.

Catholic sources in Rome, who asked to remain anonymous, said they were "very much encouraged by this statement," saying that it shows that the "Holy Father is ready to stand up with courage to politicians that claim they are Catholics but their voting record denies those hypocritical assertions."

I have some personal news....

Well, we went to the OB yesterday for my first real appointment and I expressed some concerns about how this particular pregnancy was "feeling". I could lay down and already SEE and FEEL baby move, I am REALLY showing for this stage.....I have had some complications and 2 losses in the past, so I requested an ultrasound.

Guess what? It's TWINS! I still can't believe it, especially since no twins are in my family! All I can say, is that when I was wanting to get pregnant, that month my friends and I fervently prayed for specific intercessions....I believe Our Lord granted a miracle upon my family and gave us a double blessing!

Now I need to change my widget and have another bowl of spaghetti for breakfast! Please pray for us my friends!

With much love,
Mrs. Murphy

Pope: Catholic politicians must protect life

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday told U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, that Catholic politicians have a duty to protect life "at all stages of its development," the Vatican said.

Pelosi is the first top Democrat to meet with Benedict since the election of Barack Obama, who won a majority of the Catholic vote despite differences with the Vatican on abortion.

The Vatican released remarks by the pope to Pelosi, saying Benedict spoke of the church's teaching "on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death." That is an expression often used by the pope when expressing opposition to abortion.

Benedict said all Catholics—especially legislators, jurists and political leaders—should work to create "a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

Pelosi could not immediately be reached after the 15-minute meeting, which was closed to reporters and photographers. The two met in a small room of a Vatican auditorium after the pope's weekly public audience.

A number of the bishops in the United States have questioned Pelosi's stance on abortion, particularly her theological defense of her support for abortion rights.

Benedict has cautiously welcomed the new Democratic administration, although several American cardinals have sharply criticized its support of abortion rights in a break from former President George W. Bush.

Pelosi had meetings with Italian leaders the past few days, including Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

I'm very curious to see if there is any change in Pelosi, if she comes back from meeting with the POPE, being DIRECTLY COUNSELED on this specific issue and STILL DOES NOT CHANGE, we all know where she will be going.

Mrs. Murphy

Happy Birthday Thomas Edison!!

Here are some cool links to learn more about one of the most important men and inventors in American History!

thomasedison.com
about.com
How Edison Are You? (for this site I had to allow a pop-up to get in, but once in it has some super cool science projects!)
The Thomas Edison Papers
Tour Thomas Edison's Birthplace Museum Online!

Happy Feast of of Our Lady of Lourdes!

Be sure to check out all our crafty Catholic ladies! Matilda, Jessica & Catholic Cuisine are all sure to have amazing coloring pages, ideas and recipes to bring this feast day to life in your home. Ladies, thanks again for all you do! Or, if you want to see what EVERYONE in the Catholic Blog community is saying about, or doing for the Our Lady of Lourdes feast day, click HERE and prepare to be overwhelmed!

For Jesus, through Mary,
Mrs. Murphy

REAL Advance Notice on a Super Cool Earth Day Project!

Thanks Bonnie for this awesome project! Check out the Lorax Project for Earth Day, April 22nd. It has all kinds of ideas, print outs and a great plan to get everyone involved!

WOW!

I had so much to post today, be sure to go all the way through! I have information on scholarships, Military Family resources like a free vacation and dealing with deployment with Sesame Street, more FREE homeschooling resources and printables and how a HS Blogger like myself can earn a free trip to Baltimore to attend the Apologia HS Conference for FREE.

Enjoy!
Mrs. Murphy

Military Resources!!

FRA Kicks Off 2009 Scholarship Program

The Fleet Reserve Association (FRA) will host a teleconference on Feb. 11, 2009 to announce the beginning of the Association's 2009 scholarship program. The call, which begins at noon (EST), will highlight eligibility requirements and application guidelines. To participate in the call, dial 1-800-391-1709, and use access code 444143. FRA's scholarship program awards more than $100,000 each year to deserving members, their spouses, children and grandchildren. Awardees are selected based on financial need, academic standing, strength of character and leadership qualities. FRA scholarships are awarded to FRA members, their spouses, children, and grandchildren. To learn more about FRA's scholarship program, visit www.fra.org/scholarship or call 1-800-FRA-1924.

Apply for Free Military Family Retreats

The National Military Family Association is piloting two Operation Purple Family Retreats. These free, four-day retreats are set in a National park where families will have opportunities to participate in fun family-focused activities. These retreats are free and are open to servicemembers and their families who have had a loved-one deployed within the last 12 months. Families who attend will receive a $200 stipend upon arrival to the retreat site to cover cost of travel. For more information, visit the National Military Family Association's Operation Purple Family Retreats webpage or contact Cynthia Clagg at cynthia.clagg@nmfa.org.

Sesame St. Military Family Special

Sesame Workshop will air a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) special on April 1, 2009 that is aimed at helping military families cope with changes. Actor/singer Queen Latifah and singer John Mayer will join Elmo to present, "Coming Home: Military Families Cope with Change." The special carries a message for children whose parents suffered a physical or psychological wound in combat. The half-hour special, which will air at the beginning of the "Month of the Military Child," is a part of Sesame Workshop's "Talk, Listen, Connect" initiative, which began two years ago. The special is scheduled to air Apr.1 at 8 p.m. EST. Please check your local listings for the exact air time in your area.

$1,500 Military Scholarship Deadline Nears

For military parents who have children about to enter or already attend college the opportunity to apply for a $1,500 scholarship through the Defense Commissary Agency's Scholarships for Military Children Program is ending Feb. 18, 2009. Applications are available in commissaries worldwide. You may also fill out an application online at the Military Scholar website, but the website does not have a "submit" button. So you must print a copy of your completed application and drop it off at a commissary. You may also fill the application out by hand. At least one scholarship will be awarded at every commissary location with qualified applicants.

Scholarships for Military Family Members

There are a couple of scholarships for military family member that are currently accepting applications:

• If you have a child who will be attending college or vocational school during the 2009-2010 school year, click here to learn more about the American Freedom Patriot Scholarship Award for Military Dependent Children.
• The Joanne Holbrook Patton Military Spouse Scholarship Program, administered by the National Military Family Coalition, has extended the deadline for applications from the spouses of wounded and fallen military members until February 16th.
• The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation offers scholarships to the children of current and former Marines.

Learn about more available scholarships on the Military.com finance blog.

More Free Resources!

Here is a site from TLSBooks.com that has tons of FREE worksheets, printables, coloring pages, handwriting etc. for K-5th Grades.

SuperKids has an Educational Tools section where you can create your own worksheets tailored to your lessons for math, telling time, vocabulary, and even free games of Logic and Reason and Hangman!

ABC Teach has a specialty section just for handwriting too, including free worksheets and lessons on instructing leftys.

Home-Schooler.com is a brand new place for home-schoolers to list Classified Ads, participate in Forums, connect with other home-schoolers, and more. Best of all, it's all free.

To celebrate the launch, there are weekly contests going on until the end of February where you could win $25 - $250.

You can get your free account by visiting http://www.home- schooler.com/join/ .

Check out http://www.home-schooler.com/ today, and let your
home-schooling friends know.

And here is: Great site for printable readers. There's a bunch of neat little books on there.Crosswords, mazes and bookmarks too! http://www.learning island.org/

Are these good? Sorry about the font difference, some of the information I cut and pasted directly from the email I received it from. I will have all the sites also listed in the Homeschooling Resources section of my blog.

Blessings & Happy Schooling to you all!
Mrs. Murphy

Calling Homeschool Bloggers!!

Would you like the opportunity to attend an inspirational Homeschool Conference for FREE? Apologia is looking for 5 homeschool moms who have existing blogs that would like to come to Apologia LIVE Homeschool Moms Conference in exchange for posting about Apologia Live on their blogs!

If you live in or around the Baltimore-Washington area and you would like to blog about Apologia Live in exchange for FREE admission to the conference please contact us today! Administrator@ TheHomeschoolLounge.com
Sincerely,

The Homeschool Lounge Team

For the OFFICIAL SITE go HERE!

Happy Blogging!!
Mrs. Murphy

KISS Grammar Curriculum for FREE

I just received this from one of my homeschooling loops and checked it out. Dr. Ed Vavra teaches English at the Pennsylvania College of Technology and wanted an easy to use, all encompassing Grammar Curriculum to be available for FREE to all who could use it. Go HERE to check it out!

Happy Writing!
Mrs. Murphy

The HEART of the Matter ~ Presidential Pro Life Craft Project

I got this same idea from a few different sources today, how wonderful! Let's do it! Let's FLOOD the White House with red envelopes, symbolizing the loss of innocent lives due to selfish motives! With Valentine's Day approaching, this gets to the heart of the matter.

Get a red envelope. On the front, address it to:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

On the back of the envelope, write the following message.

This envelope represents one child who died in abortion.
It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world.
Responsibility begins with conception.

Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president?

Another woman wrote, "Good idea but if you get the flimsy envelope then it will not work and it will jam the Post Office's Automated Machines." She suggested putting a blank white poster card or card stock in the envelope.

MY IDEAS -

If you don't have red envelopes, let your little ones color or paint white envelopes red so they can be involved. The potential of a child......

OR, HERE is a link to MAKE your own envelopes! Why not incorporate a little Origami lesson while you're at it? I also suggest, if you have used envelopes (we just got 4 large Valentine's Day cards from Meemu to the girls:) that you can separate the seals and flip them inside out, and decorate!

Another idea for inside the card is a white card stock note saying....

OPEN your heart to the lives of your unborn CITIZENS. Be a President to ALL Americans!

Put in a bunch of prayer cards while you're at it! :) PASS IT ON.

Saint Valentine's Day is February 14!

A PRAYER TO SAINT VALENTINE
Dear Saint and glorious martyr; Teach us to love unselfishly and to find great joy in giving. Enable all true lovers to bring out the best in each other in God and God in each other. Help us to ponder the words of Holy Scripture from your Holy Apostle St. Paul – words of LOVE:
Love is Patient and Kind,
It doesn't envy or Boast and it's never proud,
Love is not rude or selfish,
It doesn't get angry easily or keep track of wrongs.
Love doesn't delight in bad things
But it rejoices in the truth.
Love always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres.
Love never fails.

St. Valentine, we offer this special intention: ____________ ________ calling upon the Holy Spirit, all the Angels and Saints, and our Blessed Mother, asking our Lord to fulfill this intention if it is His Holy Will and to send us special graces of charity and love. Amen.

Here are some cute ideas for Preschool Valentine Crafts, and from Family Crafts here are some more ideas for fun treats to eat and cool things to make, here is some more fun stuff from Kaboose, and here is more from DLTK (although their twist is "Christian" ie, SAINT Valentine was a "Christian" Priest as opposed to a Catholic, but their intent is good.)

Did you know EWTN had a Craft Corner? Well, I didn't until just now! Here's a St. Valentines craft from Paula McEneany, and here is a party theme idea from the blog "Lord Make Me A Saint". Don't forget to check Matilda, Shower of Roses and Catholic Cuisine for their, as always, fabulous ideas & resources!

Enjoy & love & blessings to you all!
Mrs. Murphy

Pre-School Fun!

Want to check out something different and fun to do with your preschooler? Ten Kids and a Dog is consistently posting super fun activities around some of our all time favorite books and characters. This week's project is on Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom.

Click here for the details of their Teaching Tiny Tots fun stuff!

The KizClub is a new place for me, lots of cute colorful printables and phonics!

I also love Jessica's Shower of Roses, and was so tickled to see all the projects she is doing for Winter Fun with her little ones! Click here for more details...

And...I've just discovered Unplug Your Kids! I'm in love! I have dreams about a TV free life... but then I remember my show will be on tonight...sigh. That's a project for deployment. Anyhoo, this site has weekly hands on activities, this week is color and marbleized-paper.

My favorite Aussie is Aussie Anne at Under Her Starry Mantle, she is so thoughtful, has some super cool crafts listed, and today I was looking over her blog and checked out her Faith Dolls. Super cute! And a great substitute to what dolls are floating around now based on cartoon characters.

And speaking of crafts...this is probably for the older crowd, but I found and LOVED this idea to celebrate the year of St. Paul from Our Domestic Church. She also posts some fun craft ideas, many appropriate for all ages.

Jammin has some good ones too! Want to mummify a Barbie? Make a pizza box solar oven? Check out her blog and scroll down on the right to the Outside the Box Ideas. She also has Crafty Things, Field Trips and is the mecca for lapbooks. Enjoy!

And, of course there is Matilda! She has posted for nearly every feast day and Saint coloring pages and craft ideas to celebrate.

To all you ladies who put in so much hard work to make all our children's homeschooling experience that much richer, I am saying a special prayer for you. Thank you!

Boom-Boom!
Mrs. Murphy

But Will it Be Carried Out?

Vatican Official: Bishops Have no Choice But to Refuse Communion to Pro-Abort Politicians

By Hilary White

ROME, January 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Archbishop Raymond Burke, in an exclusive interview last week, told LifeSiteNews.com that the issue of pro-abortion politicians continuing to receive Holy Communion is still one of major concern and that it is the duty of bishops to ensure that they are refused.

He told LifeSiteNews.com, "I don't understand the continual debate that goes on about it. There's not a question that a Catholic who publicly, and after admonition, supports pro-abortion legislation is not to receive Holy Communion and is not to be given Holy Communion."

"The Church's law is very clear," said Archbishop Burke, who was appointed last year by Pope Benedict XVI as the head of the Church's highest court, the Apostolic Signatura. "The person who persists publicly in grave sin is to be denied Holy Communion, and it [Canon Law] doesn't say that the bishop shall decide this. It's an absolute."

To read the full story click here.

Do you think this will really happen? Do you think the priests will actually carry out this action? I pray so, and am waiting to see.

Mrs. Murphy

Punxsutawney Phil

clipped from www.itv.com

How Could I Have Missed Groundhog Day?!

It must have been due to the sick kids, the mountain of laundry, the final Twighlight book lingering on my bedside table and the bouts of morning sickness that are coming back off and on..... I missed Groundhog Day! What a fun lesson that would have been! Actually, it still WILL be, I've got a plan for today!

Sorry folks, when my pee stick turns, my mind goes to mush! For example, my friend Michaela has 7 chickens, I asked her last week how many eggs she gets from them a day. She replied, about one per chicken. I replied, "Wow! A dozen eggs a day! That's great!"

Silence, blink....blink. Very typical of the pregnant Mrs. Murphy.

Any hoo, here is the "Official" link for Groundhog Day, a day late. Oh, and 6 more weeks of winter, thanks Al Gore. Did you notice extreme cynicism is another symptom of the pregnant Mrs. Murphy? So sorry.

With the best of intentions!
Mrs. Murphy

Amazing Message from Bishop Hermann

Bishop Hermann: 'I thought you should know’

By Bishop Robert J. Hermann, Archdiocesan Administrator

January 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - I was very edified this past Saturday to see the Cathedral almost filled for the Pro-Life Mass. Then to see such a large contingent, on a very cold day, make a pilgrimage to the abortion clinic, praying the Rosary for Life, was truly heartwarming.

At the very moment I am writing this, our new president, Barack Obama, is being sworn into office. We congratulate him, and we pray for him, but we cannot condone his pro-death policies, even while we are happy that so many people feel they have new hope. We must do everything we can to oppose his pro-death-to-children efforts.

Joseph Bottum, in an article entitled "Abortion after Obama," writing in the January 2009 edition of First Things, pages 13-15, tells us, "Now the 2008 election has brought us the presidency of Barack Obama, the most consistent supporter of legalized abortion ever nominated by a majority party."

When asked about making decisions as to when a baby gets human rights, President Obama answered that "is above my pay grade." He also stated that he would not want his daughters "punished with a baby."

He has made it known that, upon taking office, he will remove all federal restrictions on funding embryonic stem-cell research. He also intends to sign the Freedom of Choice Act. Seldom has our nation ever been confronted with such an extreme measure. The Freedom of Choice Act will invalidate for the entire country all restrictions on abortion before viability, including parental notification, waiting periods and partial-birth abortion bans. President Obama has no problem supporting legislation that would even kill a child who survived a botched abortion.

If at this stage our anger is directed at President Obama, our anger is misdirected. Obama is not the enemy. He needs and deserves our prayers, not our condemnation.

As Catholics, we are not guiltless. It seems to me that when President Kennedy compromised Catholic teachings and accommodated political pressures in order to be elected to the highest office in the land, he set the tone for many Catholic leaders to follow and to compromise their Catholic principles to get ahead.

In our Supreme Court and in our Congress, we have a plethora of so-called Catholics who are failing to live their Catholic identity. Over 50 percent of our electorate voted for a president who is one of the most pro-culture-of-death candidates from a major party to run for the highest office of the land.

Yes, we can thank one-half of our Catholics for bailing out on their faith!

After almost 50 years of having 50 percent of Catholics abandoning their Catholic identity, we cannot expect to turn this culture around by short-term political efforts.

In order to bring about a transformation from a culture of death to a culture of life, we have to restore our Catholic identity.

This means that all of us, as Catholics, have to undergo a profound transformation. It means that we have to take a good look at every facet of our Catholic life, including the serious study of life issues, the regular and devout use of our Sacramental system, especially the devout and weekly attendance at Mass, the regular reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the devout praying of the daily Rosary, and then the faithful, loving and firm witness to lax Catholics about our Catholic beliefs and practices.

We have to live our lives in such a way that we will be unafraid to witness to what we believe and live.

I may courageously say that I am willing to die to end abortion, but am I equally willing to say that I am ready to let my ego get ruffled daily for the same cause? Yet … that is where I need to arrive if I am to be a credible witness.

What a glorious opportunity we all have to make a difference in the pro-life cause. Until we are willing to be politically incorrect in order to be biblically correct, we will never convince anyone that our religion is worth living.

It does not take 100 percent of our Catholics to transform this country. If 75 percent of our Catholics were steeped in Catholic identity, the abortion issue would be over for our entire country. We have many, many evangelicals on our side in the culture of life. Look at how many more of them would flock to our side if we really lived our Catholic teachings! They, too, are looking for changeless principles lived out in practice.

But there is more! Our laxity in living our Catholic life has blinded us into not seeing the role of Satan in the culture of death. Satan is having a heyday in our midst, because he has managed to remain invisible in the culture of death, and our laxity has granted him that luxury. Since we are not steeped in the Word of God as we should be, we do not recognize his darkness in our society. Our first reading from Hebrews tells us, "The word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart."

St. Paul tells us that our warfare is not against flesh and blood but against the power and principles of darkness. He also tells us that we should not let the sun go down upon our anger so as to give Satan a foothold. These readings are wake-up calls for us all. I bring this up deliberately, because I do not want us to fall into Satan's trap of getting us to hate President Obama or any of the pro-choice Catholic legislators in Congress. Being pro-life means that we engage far more in spiritual warfare than in political warfare.

That Satan is very alive in influencing all of us is his best-kept secret. Becoming steeped in the Word of God and the teachings of the Catholic Church exposes his evil machinations.

President Obama, pro-choice legislators and Planned Parenthood are not our enemies. Our enemies are the invisible forces masked behind these people. Most of them do not have a clue that they are being deceived by our common enemy, the devil. They are used by our common enemy, Satan, and his evil forces, to get us to hate so that we, too, will end up in a culture of death. President Obama and all pro-choice and pro-abortion legislators, as well as members supporting Planned Parenthood (and we have in our own state a national legislator who has received over $900,000 from groups that advocate for abortion rights) — these are not our enemies. They are used by the evil one to get us to hate them in our efforts to be pro-life and thereby ditch our pro-life efforts. We cannot fall for that trap!

We owe all of them prayers and fasting for their conversion. At one point, Gov. Reagan was California's very pro-abortion governor. Yet he became a very pro-life president. He repented and regretted the evil he supported.

We must bravely witness against supporting pro-choice and pro-abortion candidates in political elections, but pray daily for their conversion.

This is a great time to be a Catholic. This is a great time to witness to such a clear choice, the choice of Christ or the anti-Christ.

We have only one life to live, and Jesus is it!

If our focus consists only in counting votes, we will be discouraged. If our focus is on giving ourselves and our activities totally to Christ so that He can use our witnessing as He wishes, our hearts will be throbbing and radiating with life and joy.

This is a great time to wake up from our slumber of simply calling ourselves Catholic, and wage war against the forces of darkness in ourselves first and then in our culture, a culture which is resting on the premise that God does not exist.

Our actions and our lifestyles have to radiate the inner presence of Christ in the home and in the marketplace.

This is a glorious day and a glorious opportunity for any follower of Christ! We need to recover our Catholic identity, and we can do it!

This article is from LifeSiteNews.com. I enjoy this site so much, I have added it to my news section. What took me so long?!

Mrs. Murphy