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Tina P. Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2005 Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline Posts: 1638
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Posted: Feb 28 2006 at 8:11am | IP Logged
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I just breezed through the posts and I see that Leonie is much nicer than I am. We have morning devotions *before* breakfast and if the kids don't come down in time for devotions, they might as well forget breakfast. Well ... it works.
Our devotions change all the time. Right now we're going through the one of the Eyre's later books called The Book of Nurturing. They have a lot of animal similes (and my kids love animals), but this week we're working through trees. In this chapter, the Eyres talk about redwood trees and how, though their roots are shallow, the trees stand straight and taller than any other natural entity on earth. They do this by intertwining their roots. Basically, the chapter tells us to do everything we can together as a family to keep us united and strong. Besides this, we read picture books about trees (A B Cedar, The Legend of Three Trees) for the littlies, read about the saint of the day or a saint that really hits home the point I'm trying to make at the time, and say a prayer.
Next we get to talk about bears. That'll be interesting.
Sometimes we do Devotional Stories for Little Folks. One time we did Our 24 Family Ways. But always we have a saint story and a prayer. We'll work our way through Rare Catholic Stories and More Rare Catholic Stories next. Even though the kids read these for Reading Comprehension, I don't think it hurts to get as much use out of them as possible. A year later, it's like you're reading a whole new story!
We save our rosary for evening. However, I may start mixing rosary in once per week in the morning because it is a wonderful prayer with which to wake up and sometimes, I must confess, a 30-minute prayer (we have to stretch it out so that the littlies can say the prayers with us) with tired kids seems a bit too much at night.
__________________ Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
Mary's Muse
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Willa Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005 Location: California
Online Status: Offline Posts: 3881
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Posted: March 22 2006 at 1:38am | IP Logged
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I just found a a post on Meredith's blog on this topic. It's excellent!
__________________ AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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Meredith Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 08 2005 Location: N/A
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Posted: March 22 2006 at 10:07am | IP Logged
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Willa, besides Alice, you might be my biggest fan God Bless you for the mention!! I just thought it would be helpful for people to see what works for us in a list type format. We often embelish upon our theme such as now during lent with other reflections, but at least this is a good framework that works for my dear littlies right now!! Thanks again!
__________________ Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
Sweetness and Light
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Helen Forum All-Star
Joined: Dec 03 2005
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Posted: March 22 2006 at 2:18pm | IP Logged
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Count me in as one of your biggest fans!
I really enjoy visiting your blog.
I love the new banner. There were already so many comments, that I didn't want to leave another.
To stay on topic
I just read a quote from the Cure of Ars, on what to do in the morning:
"We should say every morning: 'My God, send me thy Holy Spirit to teach me what I am and what Thou art!"
__________________ Ave Maria!
Mom to 5 girls and 3 boys
Mary Vitamin & Castle of the Immaculate
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Meredith Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 08 2005 Location: N/A
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Posted: March 22 2006 at 2:22pm | IP Logged
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HelenDilworth wrote:
Count me in as one of your biggest fans!
I really enjoy visiting your blog.
I love the new banner. There were already so many comments, that I didn't want to leave another.
To stay on topic
I just read a quote from the Cure of Ars, on what to do in the morning:
"We should say every morning: 'My God, send me thy Holy Spirit to teach me what I am and what Thou art!"
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Helen thanks so much!!! I LOVE the prayer you posted, I'm cutting and pasting it right now into my quotables!!! Thanks again for your sweet words!
__________________ Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
Sweetness and Light
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alicegunther Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005 Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline Posts: 1992
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Posted: March 22 2006 at 4:31pm | IP Logged
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Meredith wrote:
Willa, besides Alice, you might be my biggest fan |
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Meredith, your fan club is a group I'd be proud to lead. : ) The competition is stiff though with all those Sweetness and Light admirers!
__________________ Love, Alice
mother of seven!
Cottage Blessings
Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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Rebecca Forum All-Star
Joined: Dec 30 2005 Location: N/A
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Posted: March 22 2006 at 6:13pm | IP Logged
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HelenDilworth wrote:
Count me in as one of your biggest fans!
I really enjoy visiting your blog.
I love the new banner. |
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Please sign me up for the "Meredith Fan Club", too! What a lovely, thoughtful blog you have going Meredith. It provides a much needed bit of sanity in my day!
God Bless,
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saintanneshs Forum All-Star
Joined: April 15 2005 Location: Virginia
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Posted: March 22 2006 at 10:20pm | IP Logged
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Wow...looks like I'll have to check out your blog, Meredith.
Our morning routine consists of 30 minutes of alone time for me before I get the kids up with 20 minutes or so of bible study and 10 minutes of prayer time. I keep a list and do the Five Finger Prayer because I'm terrible about forgetting, something like Maria's "God bless what's-his-name," from The Sound of Music... My bible study is Woman of Grace by Michaelann Martin (still...I can only answer about 1 question every few days because I get so side-tracked!) I try to do the rosary every afternoon with EWTN. It's so helpful for me to have someone else responsible for start-times. I need a bell (for me) too!!
After the kids are up and dressed, we gather in the nursery to say our version of The Morning Offering. (I know I need to introduce the formal prayer but we haven't done it yet). Anyway, morning prayer time is routine and they remind me if I head out to make breakfast and forget!
We pray the Our Father and Hail Mary just like in Catholic school , looking at the beautiful cards we ordered from CHC, taped on our living room wall...(I was hoping the pictures would help my little guys focus on the meaning of the words)...then we say The Pledge and sing God Bless America
We save the family rosary for 1 night/week because with the littles saying it, it just takes so long, although I did notice my 6yo picking up the pace a bit tonight I wonder how old they'll be when we can transition to saying it every night? I'd love to hear how families who say it together daily started out with this tradition (at what ages were the kids? did you have to start out slow or did you just dive right in? and for those who say a decade together daily, do you say an entire mystery thorughout the week or change mysteries each day?)
Anyway, we sing at bedtime (it's actually very quiet singing) and we try to sing/memorize a new hymn or two every few months. Isn't there a quote about when children sing to God, it's like praying twice?
Sorry, Willa, I guess I've gotten away from the word "Morning" in your "Morning Prayer Routines" topic!
Thanks ladies, for the inspiration you've given me! Lots of great routines here!!
__________________ Kristine
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Meredith Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 08 2005 Location: N/A
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Posted: March 23 2006 at 1:45pm | IP Logged
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Rebecca wrote:
Please sign me up for the "Meredith Fan Club", too! What a lovely, thoughtful blog you have going Meredith. It provides a much needed bit of sanity in my day!
God Bless, |
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WEll, I am blushing at all the praise I sure appreciate everyone's kind words and it does my heart good to know that perhaps I can inspire someone else as I have gained SO much by the inspiration of other's here at this forum as well as all the lovely blogs that are being generated by this forum!!! God works in wondrous ways I am certain of that!! May God continue to Bless us in our days! And my sincerest thanks again!
__________________ Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
Sweetness and Light
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momtomany Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 17 2005 Location: Pennsylvania
Online Status: Offline Posts: 505
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Posted: March 25 2006 at 9:13am | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
So, not too long ago I bought a little bell.
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I bought a little bell at a homeschool conference a couple of years ago. At noon they all take turns ringing it for a call to prayer. We do the Angelus and the Memorarae if we have been asked to prayer for others. And we sometimes invoke other saints help for school work, like St Matthew for help with math.
__________________ Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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Willa Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005 Location: California
Online Status: Offline Posts: 3881
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Posted: March 25 2006 at 3:25pm | IP Logged
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momtomany wrote:
I bought a little bell at a homeschool conference a couple of years ago. At noon they all take turns ringing it for a call to prayer. We do the Angelus and the Memorarae if we have been asked to prayer for others. And we sometimes invoke other saints help for school work, like St Matthew for help with math. |
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I love the ideas you are all suggesting. I come from an undemonstrative Scottish/Dutch Protestant family. There was no question that my parents were very devout and lived their life by Christian principles, but we did not have family prayer beyond grace at meals, and my parents didn't bring up religious things in daily conversation except very rarely. If you have read LM Montgomery's books you will see that kind of staunch, faithful but slightly uncomfortable religious devotion in practice. I struggle with that discomfort about sharing my faith with my kids, and living it out and practicing it in regular life in "little ways". We share faith mostly intellectually and in the philosophy of how we live, not so much liturgically and in "private-devotion" type ways.
So these details are very helpful to me!!
__________________ AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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