Autism: Small Ways Parishes Can Hugely Assist Families

This is a topic important me...and not just for autism reasons; ADD, ADHD, and the like also need support and accommodations.



Autism: Small Ways Parishes Can Hugely Assist Families

Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks: Advent Goodies and Preparations and a Giveaway

Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks: Advent Goodies and Preparations and a Giveaway:    Word has it that the ever popular Shower of Roses blog is having a sleighful of giveaways this week . You don

Shower of Roses: New Christmas Books for the Feast of St. Nicholas ...

Shower of Roses: New Christmas Books for the Feast of St. Nicholas ...: Every year  on December 6th , the feast of St. Nicholas, our children wake up to find their shoes or slippers filled with treats and cho...

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come - Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Cambridge Latin Course Unit 2 (Stages 13-20)

I'm very impressed with how well these are done. They are a great support to our Latin program, as we are deep into unit 2 Cambridge.

Who Will Rescue the Lost Sheep of the Lonely Revolution? - Crisis Magazine

Who Will Rescue the Lost Sheep of the Lonely Revolution? - Crisis Magazine

Boys, Porn and Education - Crisis Magazine

Very frightening, but such words of truth



Boys, Porn and Education - Crisis Magazine

When You Discover You're Related to a Mayflower Traveler

Yes, and it happened.  One night while dabbling in genealogy, my usual pass time these days...I followed my mother's father's paternal line along the surname of Doty.  It was not interesting in the least bit, in fact, I was half paying attention to each new little "hint" leaf that would appear as I went from Doty father, to Doty father, until suddenly .....

....Edward "Mayflower Compact" Doty....appeared.  What?  I read further and did a few double-takes.  I don't think so.  No, really, it's not likely.  I mean, really?  A Mayflower passenger?  A resident of Plymouth colony?  Whoa.  No way.

...well, like my daughter would say:  way!  It was true.  As I researched more closely, I discovered, without a doubt, my mother's 8th great grandfather indeed traveled to Plymouth (rock) Massachusetts on the Mayflower voyage, at the age of 21.  He was an indentured servant to another party on board.  And the rest is history, literally.  He survived, married, had nine or more children, may have been married three times, some details aren't as clear.  But his arrival in Nov of 1620 on the Mayflower is absolutely clear and well-documented.  Edward Doty signed the Mayflower Compact; his signature appears on the last column, second to the bottom.

What's particularly interesting to me, is that now I can trace and see sons of the American Revolution.  Doty's (Doughty/Doughtie) were definitely a part of the revolution.  I'm seeing documents popping up everywhere within my genealogy resources.

Edward Doty's memorial appears here at Find a Grave, if you 'd like to read more about him, and others that traveled on the Mayflower to Plymouth.

Find A Grave Edward Cameron Doty 

Always Have a Plan(ner)!

There is no doubt this family has been on the go, go, go, high speed railway for the last two months! Some of it's good, and some, well...stressful.  I have a tight full schedule that seems neverending, but November brings me much needed relief; November smiles on me, thankfully, with a couple much needed weekend breaks.

One item that has been a literal godsend to me, especially since I began working, is an 18 month calendar planner.  Yes, I know there's plenty out there.  My pastor even gifts me with one each year, an ecclesiatical one, so he and I can be in sync with our schedules.  That one is kept opened to the week, near the phone at all times.

The beautiful and inspiring planner I purchased came from Christisnbook.com. and it's quite lovely as well as practical. Mine is called the 18 month Wildflower "With God All Things Are Possible" planner.

I love this planner because it's packed with inspirational verses and quotes throughout.  It gives me encouragement in my vocation and job and helps me to plan carefully.  It's one of my favorite things!

If you don't yet use a planner, I recommend it.  I carry this one with me so I can see at a glance my schedule.  Christianbook also carries many other beautiful calendar planners.

May God bless all your plans -- keep HIM in your plans always!

Look to Him and be Radiant: Finding Truth in Halloween

Hat tip to my friend Michele for finding this gem - it's a nice little booklet that can be printed out for instruction with your children, or PSR program.



Look to Him and be Radiant: Finding Truth in Halloween: It's almost Halloween. Will you be decorating with skulls or cornstalks? Dressing your kid as a zombie or St. Francis? Teaching abou...

Colbie Caillat 'Falling for You' - Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2010

Autumn Wedding Memories

Today we celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary. It was a similar day, only a little more colorful and blustery....and it reminded me of how quickly time passes, and yet how some things remain the same. Maybe that's a good thing, eh?

My spouse and I owe each other a dinner out...with his work schedule, life is all too busy at the moment. But we had a nice exchange of gifts and cake with our children and enjoyed a quiet evening.

Later tonight, I prepared everything needed for our co-op. I'm teaching guitar/singing this year to a couple of lovely twin young ladies, and we are really enjoying ourselves. We have a regular Dixie Chicks kind of thing going on :) The ladies have introduced me to one of their favorite current songs, 6'-2" by Marie Miller, who I discovered is a lovely folk Christian artist from Virginia, and attended Christendom. I've been teaching her song to my students, and it's been wonderful to sing this sweet tune. I introduced the gals to my favorite Colbie Caillat songs, Brighter Than the Sun, Bubbly and Fallin' for You, and we've learned three patriotic songs, three traditional hymns, and are working on four Christmas songs among our repertoire. It's been a delight to have extra singers along, so a total of five voices and three guitars. I love to have others playing a singing. It a joy to teach my western guitar picking and strumming and tips and tricks to a new generation.

So, as I close down the technology for the evening, I leave you with this lovely video of Marie Miller and the song we've come to love and sing each week.