Happy Easter!

You might have noticed that the name of my blog is a reference to Blessed Pope John Paul II's quote:  "Do not abandon yourselves to despair.  We are the Easter people, and hallelujah is our song."  So, you might have guessed that Easter's a pretty big deal for this household!  


It was a fun day with our little bunnies.  Here's how we celebrated:  

Bunnies after the egg hunt in the living room

Running her new vacuum in her Easter dress.  Kinda looks like a 50's housewife, huh?

Playing with new blocks and a bath boat

Reading her new Bible

Family pic after Mass

Walt is so excited that Christ is risen!  Jane's ready for nap time.

Trying to keep Walt upright

Egg hunt with the cousins

What's Easter without a trampoline jump with your buddies?

Giving Grandma a check-up

My sweet "little" guy

Celebrating Mass at our beloved home parish, watching the kids hunt for eggs, spending time with family, and eating some amaaaaaaaaaaazing food added up to one fantastic day.  

Happy Easter!   

The Fifth Station: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus to Carry the Cross

Shameless Popery is a great blog I read from time to time through the National Catholic Register.  The author has been compiling reflections on the Stations of the Cross, and the reflection on the Fifth Station really spoke to me.

The Fifth Station:  Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus to Carry the Cross.

Statue in Vietnam portraying Simon helping Christ carry the cross.  Taken from:  http://www.hcmctoday.com/2009/04/i-saw-this-beautiful-tugboat-as-i.html

To make sure Christ didn't die on his one-mile trek to his place of crucifixion, the soldiers picked Simon the Cyrenian out of the crowd to help Jesus carry His cross.  As Pope Benedict XVI says in his reflection on the Fifth Station, Simon "does what he must do, but reluctantly. Significantly, the Evangelist Mark does not only name him, but also his children, who were evidently known as Christians and as members of that community (cf. Mk 15:21). From this chance encounter, faith was born." 

When I heard the Stations of Cross as a child on Fridays during Lent, I thought Simon was kind of a jerk.  I mean, here's Jesus, beaten beyond recognition, and you're annoyed that you have to help the guy carry the cross he's going to be murdered on?  C'mon!  What's wrong with you?!  This is GOD!

I didn't realize that I was still being called to carry Christ's cross everyday.  I thought it was an interesting part of the story, but I didn't see how I could participate in shouldering the cross.  As I enter into adulthood, I am seeing the countless opportunities I receive throughout my days to help shoulder the cross, but I'm too much of a blockhead to do it most of the time.

Thank goodness for the beautiful words and reflections of the Holy Fathers and blessed people like Mother Angelica.  Mother Angelica wrote and recited a reflection on "The Way of the Cross" for her order of nuns.  I'd like to share her reflection on the Fifth Station:

My Jesus, Your tormentors enlisted a Simon of Cyrene to help You carry Your Cross.  Your Humility is beyond my comprehension.  Your Power upheld the whole universe and yet You permit one of Your creatures to help You carry a cross.  I imagine Simon was reluctant to take part in Your shame.  He had no idea that all who watched and jeered at him would pass into oblivion while his name would go down in history and eternity as the man who helped his God in need.  Is it not so with me, dear Jesus?  Even when I reluctantly carry my cross as Simon did, it benefits my soul.

If I keep my eyes on you and watch how You suffered, I will be able to bear my cross with greater fortitude.  Were you trying to tell all those who suffer from prejudice to have courage?  Was Simon a symbol of all those who are hated because of race, color, and creed?

Simon wondered as he took those beams upon his shoulders, why he was chosen for such a heavy burden and now he knows.  Help me Jesus, to trust Your loving Providence as You permit suffering to weave itself in and out of my life.  Make me understand that You looked at it and held it fondly before You passed it on to me.  You watch me and give me strength just as You did Simon.  When I enter Your Kingdom, I shall know as he knows, what marvels Your Cross has wrought in my soul.  Amen.       

I have a sweet nephew who happens to be named Simon.  When he was younger, a teacher took his class to the school church where she showed the young children the Stations of the Cross.  When my sister picked Simon up from school that day, he was thrilled to tell her all about the part that he, Simon, had played in Jesus' Passion. 

"Mom!  Jesus fell down, and I told him, 'Get up, Jesus!  Get up!'" 

Lord, help me to love You like a child--simply and completely.  Give me an eager and willing heart to help you shoulder Your cross.  Please help me to enter into the Lenten season with the innocent love of a child, who pictures himself truly there, telling Jesus to get up and helping Him along His way.  

The Myth of the Liberal/Conservative Catholic

In an interview for a teaching position at a Catholic high school, the principal wanted to gauge where I stood theologically.  To find out, the principal asked, "You're not one of those conservative Catholics, are you?"

Knowing full well that this principal was getting at, I carefully crafted my response.  "I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'conservative Catholic.'  If you're asking if I will be faithful to Church Teaching as a Catholic teacher, then my answer is absolutely."  

Just last week, an acquaintance asked me how I would respond to accusations that Fr. Barron's Catholicism Series was "too conservative."  A few years wiser than I was in my conversation with the high school principal, I responded more resolutely.  Being a Catholic Answers podcast junkie, I borrowed a response a routinely hear from host Patrick Coffin.  I said, "I'm allergic to labels like that when we're talking about Catholicism.  It's not necessary.  Either something is faithful to Church Teaching or it isn't.  Fr. Barron's Catholicism Series is faithful.  Period.  My hunch is if the series makes a Catholic uncomfortable, that Catholic is questioning something the series asserts that's against their individual, unfaithful theology."

 

The media likes to pit the "liberal Catholics" against the "conservative Catholics."  We saw these labels bandied about after the death of Blessed Pope John Paul II.  The "expert" religion reporters offered that the college of cardinals might favor a "less conservative" pope after JPII.  To their obvious dismay, "God's rottweiler" aka Pope Benedict XVI, an "ultra conservative," succeeded him.  "So much for the Church coming out of the Dark Ages!" we heard.   

Now, we hear how the "liberal Catholics" hope that the "conservative Catholics" will "get with the times" as the Supreme Court deliberates over Obamacare and the HHS Mandate.  

Inserting the label "liberal" or "conservative" before "Catholic" seems to confuse people into believing that the same labels used in the political arena have any business in a theological discussion.  The Church isn't a democracy, and I say thank goodness it isn't!  

We Catholics take for granted the immense pressure on non-Catholic Christian leaders that our parish pastors never need to struggle with.  Pastor Bob at 9th Street Open Arms Church has to be his own pope, so to speak.  He decides the direction of the church's theology and finds himself in a big pickle if he changes his mind down the road.  

Imagine the agony for a pastor and his congregation when he makes the swim across the Tiber and converts to Catholicism.  He has to humbly admit to his congregation that he, as the leader of their church, is walking toward what they see as the enemy.  Pentecostal minister Alex Jones had such an experience when he and much of his congregation decided to join the Catholic Church.

"To them, I have apostasized into error. And that's painful for me because we all want to be looked at as being right and correct, but now you have the stigma of being mentally unbalanced, changeable, being looked at as though you've just walked away from God."

Jones said when his group was considering converting, prayer groups were formed to stop them. "People fasted and prayed that God would stop us from making this terrible mistake. When we did it, it was as though we had died."

If Alex Jones had been a Catholic priest, he wouldn't have had that pressure.  Here's the beauty of Catholicism:  The Church doesn't have the power to change Truth or Tradition.  She simply cannot.  Period.  The Church might be full of unworthy humans with all kinds of embarrassing blunders throughout Her history.  Nonetheless, Christ blessed His Church with the presence of the Holy Spirit and the promise that the "gates of hell shall not prevail" against Her.  2000 years later, we can still find the Catholic Church alive and well in the world today, and we can trace Her roots throughout history via Apostolic Succession.  Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, how do you explain the tremendous vitality, success, and history of a human institution?  

Unlike Pastor Bob back at 9th Street Open Arms Church who decides the theology of his congregation, no matter what my parish priest says from the pulpit, he can't change the Church's stance on abortion, contraceptives, marriage, or any other hot button issue.  Even if a Catholic priest is living in a state of mortal sin, it has no effect on his ability to administer the sacraments.  So, no matter which Catholic Church I go to on this planet, if there's a priest there who gives a proper Mass, I get to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.  

This conversation about "liberal Catholic" vs. "conservative Catholic" makes me think about a sign my fifth grade teacher had on her classroom bulletin board.  It said, "What's right is not always popular.  What's popular is not always right."  This simple, almost cliché saying, needs repeating.  We're bombarded with the statistics and accusations that 98% of Catholic women use contraceptives, so what's the big deal anyway?!  If it's popular, it must be true, it must be good, and the rest of you crazy, conservative Catholics ought to get with the program.  

Well, that's the problem.  We seem to think majority rules every area of our lives.  Here's the thing:  Even if only 1 woman on this planet wasn't using contraceptives, it wouldn't change the Church's stance on the issue.  There's no safety in numbers when it comes to morality.  There's no changing Truth.  So, there's no need to call me or anyone else a "conservative Catholic."  Likewise, there's no need to call someone a "liberal Catholic" or the perhaps even more irritating label of "progressive Catholic."  We're either faithful or unfaithful to Mother Church.  

Let's get one thing clear, though:  I'm a sinner, and I do more than my fair share of screwing up--just ask my friends and family.  Regardless of my own personal failings, it doesn't change my ability to see the Church as teaching Truth.  If we only look to one another to be our moral compasses, we're literally in for a world of hurt.  We're going to fall short of the good that we're made for from time to time.  It creates great scandal to those who watch us fall.  Yet, why in the world would we choose to abandon Christ and His Church because of the actions of another human?  Would we leave Christ because of Judas?  We're earthen vessels, and hopefully we're all doing the best we can to lead a life worthy of  Christ's sacrifice, but the choices we make cannot negate Truth.  We choose Truth when we embrace and follow Mother Church.  That doesn't make us liberal or conservative; that makes us faithful disciples.

Spring Trip to the Zoo

We took advantage of the unusually warm weather we've been having and went to the zoo last week.  It was our first trip to the zoo as a family since Walt was born.  Janie and Walt loved looking at all of the animals.  

Janie insisted on wearing her big, goofy Tinker Bell sunglasses.  Between the pink shades and her plaid shorts, I'd say that girl has a lot of spunk!   

Talking to the gorillas

We LOVE this polar bear!  He would swim to the corner you see here, flip himself onto his back, do a lazy backstroke along the glass as he pushed himself off of the cement blocks separating each pane of glass, and repeat to all of our glee.  He even dove for some fish at the bottom of the tank while we were there. 

Walt was captivated by the performing polar bear, too.

Did you know that peacocks love Goldfish crackers?

Before we knew it, about a dozen peacocks were following us in the pursuit of more Goldfish!

I never noticed them before, but apparently the zoo has an entire hillside of prairie dogs!  They were so cute!  It was like my own up-close-and-personal glimpse into Meerkat Manor.

Baby Walt passed out about halfway into our trip to the zoo.  He seems to like the most uncomfortable positions for sleeping. 

The zoo recently added this beautiful "Garden of the Senses," featuring large birds, fountains, and beautiful plant life.

Choo choo!

Starting to zone out on the way home

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand she's out!

I just happened to come across this picture of Janie from our first trip to the zoo with her when she was five months old.  It's crazy to think that this picture was taken just two years ago!  So much has changed since then!  

Philip and Jane with the elephants, Summer 2010

Philip and Jane with the bears, Spring 2012

We'll be back to see you again soon, animals!

Spring Cleaning Donations

Now that I'm implementing my cleaning schedule to keep a clean house, I'm regularly decluttering as well.  If I were really ambitious, I might consider trying 40 Bags in 40 Days like my mother-in-law.  

When I declutter or go through my closet, I usually pile up the clothes and other things to donate and give them to my local Goodwill.  

Instead of heading off to Goodwill this time around, I decided to call around and see if there were any Catholic organizations in need of my donations--gently used furniture, lamps, clothes, etc.  Sure enough, I learned about several local groups in need of all different kinds of donations.       

One such organization is the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.  The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has thrift stores and food pantries nationwide.  You can find your local Society of St. Vincent de Paul thrift store or food pantry here.  

My local Society of St. Vincent de Paul even offers residential pick-up of your donations.  If you call your local chapter, you can set up a time for the Society's truck to pick up your items and haul them away.  This is a great option for those who have little ones or who don't have a large car to haul items like furniture down to the warehouse.  

Your material and monetary donations help the Vincentians (members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul) serve the poor.  Specifically, here's how the Society of St. Vincent de Paul helps the poor in your community:

Donations help provide direct assistance to the poor in local communities throughout the United States.  Vincentians meet face to face with the poor to assess their needs.  Some of the needs addressed by Vincentians include: housing and utiltiy assistance; job training and placement; and access to food, clothing, transportation and medical care.  The National Council also makes grants to the local Conferences/Councils through its Domestic Disaster Relief Grants and the Friends of the Poor Grant Programs.  There are many ways in which you can donate.  Please click on the DONATE ONLINE button to make your selection.  Your donation is also tax deductible.   

If you've already gotten rid of your spring cleaning donations, think about your pantry.  Start cleaning out your pantry the day before you go to the grocery store.  Identify extras or items you will not be able to consume before they expire, and bag them up for your local Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.  My parish distributes paper bags for parishoners to take and return full of non-perishable food items that church volunteers take to the pantry the first Sunday of each month.  Consider bringing this practice to your parish if it isn't there already.

This is just one example of ways that you can easily help the poor in your local community through a Catholic organization.  What are some other Catholic groups you help with your time, treasure, or talent?  Please share your ideas and experiences!

Keeping a Clean House

Be forewarned that this post is going to reveal a lot about my OCD-ness and other neuroses.  Hopefully this will be of some help to the other OCD-ers or even wannabe OCD-ers.

In creating our Boucher Family Binder, I dedicated a section to "Household Management."  In a previous blog post, I mentioned that this is the place where I keep anything and everything related to the running of our home.  I can't even begin to tell you what a difference these checklists are making in reducing my stress level.  I've always been a list maker.  Seeing what I have to do and when I need to do it forces me to be more productive.  

When I was still teaching full-time, I was always running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I'd go from school to home, eat dinner amid my schoolwork, convince myself that I was at a stopping point, maybe watch a show, and get to bed around midnight or later.  Housework was always relegated to the weekends, but it seemed to get postponed as we found more exciting things to do than dust or deep-clean the kitchen.  

When I transitioned to staying at home, I was overwhelmed with the time freed up for the housework (or at least the outside perception that I had all of this "free time" to create domestic perfection).  I had no idea where to begin.  Finally, two years into this stay-at-home gig, I'm figuring out that I need "do it" lists--very specific "do it" lists:  daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal "do it" lists.  I know this is silly, but I call them "do it" lists rather than "to do" lists so that it sounds like I have more of a commitment to actually do the things I write down.  

First, I have my Daily Do It List for keeping straight the logistics of my day.

   
This is where I relegate my daily mind clutter.  Before I go to bed each night, I write down any appointments or places I need to go ("go"), important or out of the ordinary tasks I need to accomplish ("do"), items I need to purchase ("buy"), people I need to call or somehow contact ("call"), and what we're having for dinner that night so that I keep the prep time in mind when I create that day's schedule ("cook").  Putting it all on paper before the day begins helps me to go to bed without obsessing over all that I need to accomplish the following day.   I used to go to bed with all kinds of mind clutter and keep myself up at night, thinking about all of the things I needed to do, go to, buy, cook, or people I needed to call/e-mail.  Now, I figure all of that out before bed, put it on my Daily Do It List, and go to bed without the mind clutter.

WARNING:  Before you read on, please keep in mind that everyone's definition of clean is different.  You must decide what is a healthy balance of safe (especially in the kitchen and bathroom) and manageable for your schedule and priorities.  You might look at my lists and think, "Is she crazy?!  Why does she vacuum that much?!"  On the other hand, you might look at my lists and think, "Gross!  She only vacuums under furniture once a month!"  The following lists are what works for me (as of now!), and they might be too lax or strict for your style.  Pick and choose what'll work for you!  

Now, enter the Daily Cleaning Schedule.  This is the list of the bare bones things I do everyday to keep the house functioning.  

 
I committed myself to doing these things each day to make them habit if they weren't already.  Wiping down the kitchen sink and bathroom sinks, tubs, and shower walls after each use is taking a huge chunk of time out of my deep cleaning routine.  Some call it crazy, I call it working smart, not hard.    

Then, I have my Weekly Cleaning Schedule.  

The goal of my weekly cleaning schedule is two-fold:

1. No more playing "catch up" or panic with unexpected visitors
• Having specific days for household tasks holds me more accountable to actually doing them.  This ultimately means I get to spend more time doing what matters.
2. Keep Sunday a day of REST and WORSHIP.  
• I have a new rule that it all will and must wait on Sundays.  Can I tell you how much more our family loves Sundays now?  

To create my weekly cleaning schedule, I listed all of the things that I think need to get done in our house on a weekly basis.  I consulted a few other websites for guidance on this.  No wonder I was getting stressed out!  I was keeping all of these things in my head and expecting to remember to do them all and try to conquer as many as possible each day.  That system wasn't working.  I ended up overwhelmed, and the perfectionist in me delayed housework because my mentality was that if it wasn't going to be perfect, it wasn't worth doing.  I'd wait for the right amount of time to come along to do a chore rather than doing what I could when I could.  Mothers of young children know that my system of waiting for the "perfect time" to come along to do a chore was bound to fail. 

After listing all of the things I want to accomplish each week, I considered what our family's schedule looks like each day.  I considered what my motivation level looks like on various days of the week, what items require more time or attention, and in what order I will be most likely to accomplish these items.  I tried creating a weekly schedule before, but it wasn't nearly this detailed or accurate in terms of what I'd actually do.  If something unexpected comes up like a last-minute playdate or a sick kiddo, I let myself off the hook when I need to and reassign items that don't get accomplished to other days.  I tell myself that the goal is to teach my children by example that it is important to care for home and family through cleaning and cooking and everything else, but that it's equally important to spend time with one another and having fun.  True to how I've always been, I'm much busier these days trying to keep up with my cleaning schedule, but I end up having much more quality time with my children and Philip because everything that needs to get done is actually getting done.  

Next, I have my Monthly Cleaning Schedule. 

   
As you might have guessed, these are the things that only need to be done once a month.  Quick tip:  Work with your microwave to clean it.  Put half of a lemon in a microwave safe bowl full of water, and let it run for five minutes.  When done, wipe down the inside of the microwave walls with the steam.  ¡Voila! 


Finally, I made a Seasonal Checklist of the chores that need to be done each of the four seasons.   

That's it!  These lists are keeping my home clean.  I hope they help you and your home.  Work smart, not hard, and spend more time doing the things you love with the people you love!


If you're interested in a copy of these lists as Microsoft Word docs that you can edit for your own use, e-mail me at cboucher08@gmail.com.

What We've Been Up To

Here are some of our latest pictures and the funny things that've happened lately.

The largest strawberry I've ever seen

Family trip to the neighborhood park a few weeks ago

They're starting to play together more and more.  Jane is surprisingly good at sharing her toys.  "Here ya go, Walt."

First bath together

Splash, splash, splash!

Cheeeeeeeeese!

Walt in my favorite footie monster jammies

Army crawling with Monty

Celebrating Philip and Jane's birthdays with Philip's family.  Jane looks like she's making a wish.

Oatmeal and nanas.  Yum, yum, yum!

When I was pregnant with Walt and had a really sensitive nose, I started covering my nose with my shirt as I changed Janie's diapers.  I still cover my nose from time to time if the kiddos have stinky diapers.  I caught Jane changing her Baby Stella's diaper and covering her nose with her shirt.  Monkey see, monkey do!

We got some ice cream after dinner tonight.  Jane had two memorable quotes.

"Oooooooo, yummy!  So cold!"

"Janie, slow down!" 

Jane:  "Mommy, watch show?"

Me:  "No, no shows."

Jane:  "News?"

At lunch, Jane kept saying, "Mama, tray, tray, tray!"  I thought something was wrong with the tray on her seat.  Eventually I figured out that she wasn't saying "tray," but "pray."  She was upset that I offered her food without praying first.  I said, "Oh, Janie, thank you for reminding Mama to pray first."  She said, "You're welcome, Mama."

Philip came home from work.  As he reached the gate at the top of the stairs, Jane said to him from the other side, "Dada, come over here!"

Now that Janie's 2, we decided it's time to say goodbye to the binkie.  I was dreading the whole ordeal, and I was so nervous for her reaction.  One night we decided to go cold turkey.  As we got Janie ready for bed, we told her, "Janie, binkies are all gone.  Binkies went bye bye."  She looked at us, and I held my breath, waiting for screaming and tears.  She looked in the box on her changing table where we had kept the binkies and discovered that they were, in fact, gone.  She said, "Mama, Dada, binkies all gone."  Then, to our surprise, she climbed into bed with her stuffed animals without a fuss, and went to bed as usual!  She's never asked for a binkie since that night, and she's never tried to steal Walt's.  Who is this kid?!  

With allergy season in full force, there has been a lot of tissue use around here.  I ask Janie several times a day to come over so that "Mama can wipe the boogies from your nose."  The other day I was changing Janie's diaper.  She looked up at me and pointed to my nose.  "Mama, you got boogies in your nose!"  Thanks, sweetie.