I love Danielle Bean!

"Sarah Palin's Pro-Life Hesitation"

This article by Danielle Bean is awesome! I understand where Sarah Palin's 'hesitation' for a moment comes from. We all have that thought of 'Was getting pregnant a good decision for our family?,' or "Will I be able to handle everything physically and emotionally that a new child brings?' I had these thoughts especially when we were pregnant with Bridget and we realized how closely spaced our children would be. But, just because Sarah Palin or I had 1 second thoughts about wishing something didn't happen or that we could rewind time, doesn't ever mean we would actually have an abortion.

But, actually,what I like best about this article is how it made me realize that even though we consider ourselves to be very pro-life, we need to be doing more...MUCH MORE. We need to have a completely different mindset in offering anything and everything we can to pregnant women or new/young/struggling mothers and fathers. I hope to strive to learn and get involved in more through my internship this summer, which is through Healthy Start, a program through The Children's Foundation in Bloomington, who mostly do home visits to pregnant or new mothers with young children.

My favorite line Danielle says is "In the evil of abortion, we should hear God’s call for us to meet women’s needs with such with such crazy, over-the-top magnanimity that the temptation to abort becomes no temptation at all." Awesome!

New blog: Summa 3 Reading Group

Alleluia, He is risen! On this Easter Sunday, I want to invite you to another Herr blog, the "Summa 3 Reading Group":

http://summa3readinggroup.blogspot.com/

Here is some more info:

What is the group reading? Articles by St. Thomas Aquinas about Christ, from part 3 of his Summa Theologiae.

Do I have to buy a book? Nope. Every Sunday, I'll post another reading onto the blog. (The entire Summa is available for free on the Internet.)

What's the commitment? None required, it's really flexible. If you want to participate, do so when you're able, to the extent you're able.

How do I participate? You don't have to sign up for anything.
1. Go to the blog to read the weekly articles
2. (Optional) Ask questions and discuss. (Click on "comments" underneath the article.)

Who is welcome? Anybody. I'm iniviting the Third Friday Group from Epiphany and some alumni of the St. Robert Bellarmine Newman Center. If you know someone else who may be interested in this sort of thing, feel free to send them the link.

The Summa seems intimidating. Am I prepared to read it and qualified to discuss it? Personally, I'm neither prepared nor qualified, but anything worth doing is worth doing badly.

Any other questions? Feel free to ask. Thanks, and happy Easter!

-Ryan.

Notre Dame

This is my favorite article so far about the Notre Dame/Obama scandal. He explains so simply but effectively what Catholics are thinking when we say we do not want Obama to speak at ND's commencement. But, my favorite line of it is right at the end:
"It’s time for Catholics and Catholic organizations to decide if they are truly Catholic or not. Either you believe in Church teaching or not." So simple and to the point. Awesome.
'Is Notre Dame Not Ashamed?"

In case you haven't noticed.....

....we have extremely gorgeous children! This past Saturday we had a photo shoot with a photographer, Summer Knoblach. I had some other friends who had pics from Summer, and immediately I loved her and knew she had to have a shoot with my family. So, after saving for a few months, I booked her! I knew they would be good pictures, but the sneak peeks we saw on her blog were so much better then I could have imagined! We can't wait to see the rest and to FINALLY hang some pictures on our walls!

Small Successes

I love the Faith & Family Live Blog, and I love all the mothers who contribute to it. Most especially I love Danielle Bean and the way she encourages everyone by admitting her faults and also by knowing how to give a good 'pick-me-up.' One of her new weekly posts is called "Small Successes," and I was so inspired I wanted to share it with my family and friends. So post some of yours in the comments, either from today, this week, this month, whatever - And be proud of them! Here are mine:
1- Both of the girls and myself were all dressed and fed before 10am and we don't even have anywhere to
go today!
2-The clean diapers are dry and put away, not just sitting in the dryer today.
3-Yesterday we finally decided what carpet to buy, and where to buy it from (we've been sitting on making
the decision for too long now, and our goal is to have it done by Lucy's family birthday party which is just
over three weeks away).

I wish....

I wish that my daughters (and sons) will be as strong in 10 years as this girl.
I wish that I would be as strong and courageous as this girl.

I wish that I was good at making dinners and keeping the house cleaner.
I wish I was a more patient wife and mother.
I wish I liked road trips.
I wish I liked being pregnant.
I wish I was done with school.
I wish that I have a boy for our next child.
I wish our basement would finish itself (as well as our library, master bath, main floor bath, and family room).
I wish I could go to the bathroom throughout the day without a child in there with me. :)

But, what makes me feel not so depressed about all these wishes, is what I have on my feet. :) I used to wish that I had Ugg moccasins that I have been dreaming about forever....and my lovely hubby got those for me for Valentine's Day. :-D Thank you wonderful hubby! My feet have never been happier!

BABY!

Congratulations to one of my best friends, Lauren (and Drake) who just had baby Thomas Steed around 3:30am this morning! She was 34 weeks yesterday (her due date was March 30 - the same as Lucy's due date!), so he will be in the NICU for about a week or so. But for being a 34 week baby he was almost 6 pounds, and has no medical issues at all. I can't wait to see him, hopefully it will be sometime this week or next.
Whoo Hoo!
Sagel's are next......