Happy 2 Number Two Son!

Our house, and especially our kitchen, is rarely clean. Two years ago, it was my mother-in-law's birthday and they were on their way to our house to celebrate. Hubby was cleaning and decorating, I was could not be much help. The kids and I went next door and walked the Stations of the Cross, came home and had a birthday party for Grandma. I had an appointment for an amniotomy the next day. Number One Daughter had come so quickly, that our doctor was afraid I might not make it to the hospital for Number Two Son. I went into labor that night, so Hubby and I headed to the hospital a several hours before our check-in time. Number Two Son was born the next morning, leave it up to my boys to keep me up all night! I was so tired, I guess I still am. Last year and last night, the day before his birthday, we have gone and walked the stations of the cross. I hope that we can keep doing it, it is a nice tradition. Today, Number Two Son happily put on the "birthday shirt" and took pictures. Hubby and I got matching shirt/dress on our Jamaican honeymoon and we take the kids pictures wearing them each year on their birthday. One of these days, I'll get organized and put them together in a scrapbook. Today we will have coconut cupcakes with chocolate covered blueberries and on Tuesday we will have ice cream with our Field Trip Friends. As the years go by, I am finding it harder to plan birthday celebrations. We have so much stuff, I want to teach my kids not to be greedy, we never have extra money and, did I mention, I am tired? Our Little One is happy with his birthday toys and loves coconut cake and blueberries. What more can a two year old ask for? Every time anyone sings, "Happy Birthday" he smiles and sings along, so we do it on a regular basis.

Obedience

Okay, I get it now:
Abstinence = Obedience
Not eating meat is simply an act of obedience. I knew from Hubby's RCIA class and sponsoring a couple of ladies the next year about the tradition of giving up meat. The rich ate meat, the poor ate fish and had meat for celebrations. It is possible that the poor might not have had food to eat at all if they had not eaten fish or other sea creatures. Lent is a time of sacrifice, so it would make sense not to eat meat, but it is still my opinion that eating very expensive fish, etc... for a Friday Lenten meal is disingenuous.

Children's Holy Hour

Last year I read a post somewhere about a homeschool group that offers Children's Adoration, I also saw information about Children of the Eucharist. When Hubby's summer school money came in, I purchased the materials. We are in a difficult situation. I work every Friday night and the two church's that offer Adoration for Children are on Friday. After chatting with park day friends,praying about it and e-mails exchanged, I met with the pastor of the Church Down the Street. He was so kind and understanding and offered to host a Holy Hour for us. He was very matter-of-fact about my (our) challenges with having more than one child and wanting to expose them to learning, but needing to take care of the smaller ones. Moms are also in the same situation that I am. We don't carve out time to be alone with Jesus. I would like to visit Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament more often than I do. We live next door to a 24 hour adoration chapel. With our work schedules, homeschooling and all the time I spend in the kitchen, it is hard to get time for myself without feeling guilty for leaving the kids with Hubby who has worked a long day with middle school students. We had our second Holy Hour yesterday. I am so glad that we are doing this. I am feeling differently than I thought I might. I am suffering more than feeling Peace, but I will gladly accept the stress so that the children will know that, no matter what, Jesus is there for them and they can ALWAYS talk to Jesus. The experience is not a well oiled machine, and I don't know that it ever will be. Number One Daughter and Number Two Son were running around and playing with the organ (thankfully not plugged in). I really wanted to just be there and not be in charge or responsible for anything, but Jesus had another plan. After our first Holy Hour, we found out that Fr. Joe will be leaving in June to go to Chile. We don't know what will happen when the new Pastor comes, but if we are organized and helpful, hopefully this special opportunity will continue.

Swallowtail Soup

The two older kids and Hubby went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and came back with some seasonal veggies and fresh dill. I used to make a vegetarian Borscht, but haven't made it in a long time because it's main ingredients: potatoes, tomatoes and beets are on the "Not Allowed" list for some or most of us. I thought about it and went to HEB and bought some additional veggies and this is what I came up with. It was very tasty and has gotten better each day. The substitution of sweet potatoes does a good job replacing the beets and I didn't miss the tomatoes. We decided to call it Swallowtail Soup because we have never been able to grow dill at home for more than a few weeks because the Swallowtail butterflies come and eat it up!

Number One Daughter has been wanting to help in the kitchen, so I cut up all the veggies and we put them in a plastic bowl which she then passed on to Hubby who put them in the pot. We are so very blessed that the kids all loved this soup, asked for seconds and ate it as leftovers.

1 small onion or 2 golf ball sized green onions (tops included)(chopped)
1 shallot (chopped)
3 ribs celery (chopped)
4 carrots (peeled and chopped)
2 bay leaves
4 sweet potatoes(peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes)
1 head cabbage (chopped)
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill (dried won't work)
2 cans black beans
Sour Cream for garnish
Water
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper

This requires a very large soup or stock pot. Add about a quart of water into the pot with the onions, shallot, bay leaves, celery and carrots, boil for about 10 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and more water to cover, cook for another 10 minutes. Add the cabbage, black beans and dill and possibly more water to cover, and cook until the cabbage has wilted, about 10-15 minutes after it returns to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

This is a good non-meat meal for Lent. We have been eating on ours for three days. We used our biggest snap on lid container to store it. I'm sure that most families would eat this with a starch (we used to eat Pumpernickel/Swiss grilled cheese with Borscht, before food allergies) and maybe a salad.

and the devil takes hold

I read this last night and it turned my stomach. How can an man who is "personally opposed to abortion" force others to participate in the killing of babies? So they see it as over reaching. That is exactly the point!

AP Source: Obama to rescind Bush abortion rule

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama plans to repeal a Bush administration rule that has become a flash point in the debate over a doctor's right not to participate in abortions. The regulation, instituted in the last days of the Bush administration, strengthened job protections for doctors and nurses who refuse to provide a medical service because of moral qualms.

A Health and Human Services official said Friday the administration will publish notice of its intentions early next week, opening a 30-day comment period for advocates on both sides, medical groups and the public.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the notice has not been completed.

The Bush administration rule was quickly challenged in federal court by several states and medical organizations. As a candidate, President Barack Obama criticized the regulation and campaign aides promised that if elected, he would review it.

The news that he was doing so drew praise from abortion-rights supporters and condemnation from groups opposed to abortion.

"It would be a horrible move. These regulations were a long time coming," said Tom McClusky, a vice president at Family Research Council. "What they seek to do is protect patients, nurses, doctors and other health care professionals from being forced to violate their consciences."

McClusky and other abortion opponents said the Bush regulation clarified federal policies and raised awareness about the rights of medical providers to follow their consciences. But abortion rights advocates said it was vague and overly broad, and could reduce access to other services — allowing a drug store clerk to refuse to sell birth control pills, for example.

"I think it's a wonderful step," Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., who co-chairs the Congressional Pro-choice Caucus and has introduced legislation to overturn the regulation, said of Obama's move.

"That rule was actually a poorly drafted last-minute attempt to, I think, restrict health care access and I think it would have had far-reaching and unintended consequences."

Federal law has long forbidden discrimination against health care professionals who refuse to perform abortions or provide referrals for them on religious or moral grounds. The Obama administration supports those laws, said the HHS official.

The Bush administration's rule adds a requirement that institutions that get federal money certify their compliance with laws protecting the rights of moral objectors. It was intended to block the flow of federal funds to hospitals and other institutions that ignore those rights.

But the Obama administration was concerned that the Bush regulation went too far and could also be used to refuse birth control, family planning services and counseling for vaccines and transfusions.

The White House released a statement saying that Obama supports a "carefully crafted" conscience clause — not Bush's version.

"He believes this issue requires a balance between the rights of providers and the health of women and their families, a balance that the last-minute Bush rule appears to upset," the statement said.

The administration will review comments from the public before making a final decision. Options range from repealing the regulation to writing a new one with a narrower scope.

The administration's move was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

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On the Net:

Health and Human Services Department: http://www.hhs.gov

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Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.

Abstaining for a vegetarian

I've been a vegetarian for over ten years. My journey to vegetarianism started with Lent. When I was was in high school, many years ago, I gave up meat for Lent. For many years after that, even when I wasn't routinely going to Church, I gave up meat. Lent of 1997 was the last Lent when I gave up meat, I've been a vegetarian since then. I have been healthier, my allergies are better and my skin is so much clearer. I really didn't plan on the kids being vegetarian too, but when Number One Son learned how to spray meat all over my face and I could no longer cover up the flavor, I was glad I knew how to feed him healthy non-meat meals. Number One Daughter immediately broke out in a rash the first time I gave her chicken. I haven't even tried any meat with Number Two Son. Number One Son and I are allergic to at least some fish, and with that family history, it was recommended that we not try fish, at least for a while. No Meat on Fridays, as a concept, is hard for me. I really don't understand why shellfish, fish, lard, tallow and other expensive sea creatures are allowed. I do understand that Jesus called out his fellow Jews for all the rules. It just makes more sense to me that if we abstain from meat, then it should be all meat. We know more about nutrition than we did centuries ago. It is okay not to have any animal flesh (including fish) for a few days out of the week. Our family does have dairy and eggs; although, I think Number One Daughter might be lactose intolerant. So I just eat regular vegetarian foods seven days a week. Our diet is very simple, nothing too fancy, I have to cook so much for the allergy needs that my culinary creativity has taken a backseat, for the time being. I pray that my children continue to eat the simple, mostly bean-based diet, that I put in front of them.

Boppy or Potty?

Number Two Son has decided to start using the potty. He is doing this pretty much on his own, I help him when he needs it, but he's not even two yet. The other two were much older. I guess he hasn't seen a Boppy Pillow in a while. Smart Puppy has decided he likes to sleep on one and I washed it yesterday. I tossed it on the bed with the other laundry and Number Two Son procedes to pull off his pull-up and sit down on it! He was saying, "Potty, potty, " so I knew what was coming next. We snatched him up and put him on the potty, but he was very upset not to be able to use the soft, warm (right out of the dryer), colorful boppy potty. It looks like a toilet seat, but since I know what it is, I never saw it. Children are SO smart!