Matt Pinto Endorses The Catholic Homeschool Companion!

“This book is awesome, a real treasure trove of information about homeschooling. It will surely give confidence to any parents who are considering homeschooling their children. Wittmann and Mackson are to be commended for the work they’ve done.” --Matthew Pinto, Author, Did Adam & Eve Have Belly Buttons?

Mom Avatar

Miss Teen and her friends created the above avatar for me. I have to admit it does look like me. I'm always cold, so you'll usually find me with a fleece blanket wrapped around my shoulders and nice warm slippers on my feet. That is, until the doorbell rings.

Unity of Truth

Unity of Truth has been more active lately. I hope that you all will pay a visit and leave a comment. All questions, suggestions, tips, and ideas to make the blog better at serving parents are welcomed!

High School of Your Dreams by Nancy Nicholson

I just got this book in the mail and it looks great. I promise a thorough review once I have a chance to read it all the way through, but for now I'll say that I'm sure glad to see this new book available to homeschoolers.

It's pricey at $58, but then it can be used for multiple children and it would be used extensively throughout the four years of high school. That taken into consideration, the price is well worth it.

If you're shaky about spending that much on something sight unseen, make sure to put it on your list of books to check out when you go to your homeschool conference this year.

Nancy Nicholson put a lot of work into this baby and I would like to extend my congratulations to her for a job well done. High School of Your Dreams is available from CHC's beautiful newly revamped website: www.chcweb.com. Or click on the above graphic of the cover to go right to the information page, which will tell you everything that this book includes.

Thank you Nancy and CHC!

The definition of stress is . . .

. . . teaching a 16-year old to drive while menopausal.

Or maybe that's the definition of scary!

Hey, there's the title for Greg Popcak's next book: God Help Me! I'm Scared: I'm Peri-Menopausal and My Teenager is Learning to Drive. I'm going to email Greg right now and tell him to start writing!


Update: I really did email Greg and he replied, "Sounds like a winner. I'll get right on it."

Be the First on Your Block To Own the Companion

I received a lovely email this morning from Amy, a mom who ordered The Catholic Homeschool Companion earlier this week:

I got it yesterday and LOVE it! I'm about 4 essays in but what a blessing! We have six children so far and were wondering if we had made the right decision to homeschool (we're in year 5 of homeschooling). This book is really speaking to me! God Bless you!!

Thank you Amy!

Bulk Orders Get a Break

I set it up so that support groups can get a break on shipping and handling if they order The Catholic Homeschool Companion from my Catholic homeschooling website, www.maureenwittmann.com.

S/H on the first book is $3.00. The second though fifth book is $1.00 each. Books six and more are free shipping. All that, plus 20% off the list price of $24.95. This is a limited time offer.

Middle Age, Pantsuits, and New Glasses

I so get Hillary Clinton now. No, not her politics, I'll never get that. I mean her pantsuits.

Pantsuits so fit the middle aged body. They cover the imperfections nicely and compliment the extra curves that we find in our forties.

The little black dress that used to hang in my closet has been replaced by a not-so-little black pantsuit.

Speaking of middle age, I got my new progressive lenses a few weeks ago. For those of you who have never heard of progressive lenses -- it's a nice way of saying trifocals. I love them. My eyes adjusted to them right away. It's wonderful to be able to see again!

Gooey Butter Cookies

This is the cookie version of Gooey Butter Cake. Make these for your next social event and you'll impress all your friends and family. Gee, just make them now and impress yourself!

Recipe is from my sister-in-law, Sue.

1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 (8-oz.) package softened cream cheese
1 box yellow cake mix
1/4 c. powdered sugar

Beat butter, vanilla, egg, and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in cake mix. Chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly coat cookie sheets with spray. Drop dough by the teaspoonfuls into the powdered sugar. (Don't use cookie scoops, teaspoon is big enough.) Roll into balls. Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 4 dozen.

In Loving Memory

Today, we attended the funeral Mass of a dear priest, a dear friend.

Father Timothy was joyful priest, truly filled with the joy of Christ. You could see it in his eyes, his smile. The bishop referred to him as "that happy Franciscan." That he was. Though he suffered greatly due to many physical maladies, Fr. Tim never complained. And he was so witty. Gosh he could crack a joke and get you laughing.

One of the things that I loved most about Fr. Timothy was how sweet and gentle he was in the confessional. Once, after hearing me confess, for the hundredth time, my failings as a wife and mother, he said to me, "Your penance Maureen is to do something special just for yourself. I mean it. Go out by yourself tonight and do something just for you." The next time I found myself confessing the very same failings, he told me, "Maureen you got all them kids, get them praying for you! The first thing they should do every morning when they get up is pray for their mother."

My favorite Fr. Tim quote from his homilies: "If you (insert sin here) you'll end up down south. And I don't mean Florida! Dontcha know?"

Though I know that Fr. Tim is now free from all his suffering and that he is on his way to his Beloved Lord (and oh, how he loved Jesus, especially in the Eucharist), I'm going to miss him terribly.

Please pray for the repose of his soul.

Children's Author Recommends CHC

"The word 'companion' in a book title implies a book you'll turn to for support and inspiration time and time again. The Catholic Homeschool Companion is well named indeed. There is nourishment here for structured homeschoolers and unschoolers alike. Like a good friend, this treasure of a book offers a combination of sound practical wisdom and heart warming encouragement." -- Melissa Wiley, author, The Martha Years and The Charlotte Years series

If you're not familiar with the Martha Years series or the Charlotte Years series, you should really check them out.

The Martha Years Series is a prequel to the Little House On the Prairie series about the childhood adventures of Martha Morse, the great-grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It takes place in the Scotland Highlands, 1788.

The Charlotte Years Series is also a prequel to the Little House On the Prairie series. It is historical fiction about the childhood adventures of Charlotte Tucker, grandmother of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Takes place in 1814 Boston.

To learn more, visit Melissa's blog at http://melissawiley.typepad.com/. There you will find links to the individual books in the series as well as a link to her website.

Ballet Stories

Princess Rose and I are reading The Illustrated Book of Ballet Stories by Barbara Newman, a DK Read and Listen book. A nice introduction to ballet, it's a perfect read for my almost-six-year-old daughter.

It tells the stories of Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppelia, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. Includes nice illustrations from the ballets and also teaches children about dance basics, costuming, set design, etc., all in typical DK fashion with little snippets alongside the story.

The book comes with a music cd of the ballets. Believe it or not, my 10- and 7-year-old boys went out of their way to listen to it while I read to the princess.

Parental Mistakes

I remember reading, back in my college days, in Psychology Today that the average parent makes 40 mistakes a day in rearing his or her child. I figure if I make 39 mistakes today, I'm an above average parent.

The School Week

Child number three had a lovely week at real school. It was a nice place to visit, but she doesn't want to live there.

Her observations:
The ravioli at lunch is real good.
She can do the same work at home in 2 to 3 hours.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is an okay movie.
Since it was such a small school (7 kids in her grade), it wasn't that different.
It was easy to make friends, especially since everyone had seen her before at Sunday Mass.
It's nice to see your friends everyday instead of now and then, like with our homeschooling friends.
Getting up early isn't fun.
The spelling was too easy.
The teacher was real nice.
Every single kid in third grade and up plays on the basketball team. (And it's a championship team!)
They have ugly uniforms.

Friends Love the Companion

Our friend Patrick, upon picking up The Catholic Homeschool Companion:

Wow, this thing is as big as my Bible. It's the homeschool bible!!!

Another Endorsement for The Catholic Homeschool Companion

From my husband, upon being handed this 500 page book:

Wow! I'd pay $30 for this!

Thanks Hun!

Name Rosary

I saw this posted at CathSwap today and it looks really neat. You can have rosaries custom made with your name. I think they would make nice presents for any sacrament, holiday, or the birth of a new baby. The website is: http://www.rosarieswithnames.com/.

If anyone has ordered from this company before, leave a comment. I always like to know about a company's customer service before I place an order.

Catholic Blog Awards

I just discovered this award site after visiting Nancy Brown's blog. It's sponsored by Cyber Catholics. I'm new to the blogging world and not sure of how I'll vote. Voting ends tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 3) at 3 pm, so I'm going to really think on it quick. Who are your favorite bloggers?

The Mass and Theology of the Body

One of the many things that I love about the Catholic Mass is the way that it uses our whole bodies. It is such a multi-sensory experience.

Touch. We walk into the church and bless ourselves with the holy water, reminding ourselves of our baptism. We shake hands with our neighbor during the sign of peace.

Smell. The sweet smell of incense reminds us of Jesus. The smoke and smell rise to heaven as do our prayers.

Sight. We see Jesus on the crucifix, reminding us that He died for our sins. We see the beauty of the stain glass, icons, and statuary.

Hearing. We listen to the Word. We hear the entire Bible during the Mass (with the exception of some of the genealogies) for every 3-year cycle.

Speech. We praise God with our voices through prayer and song.

Taste. The Eucharist. Just as Jesus commands us in John 6, we eat His Body and drink His Blood.

The Church, in its infinite wisdom, shows us through the Mass how to praise God through our bodies. Radically cool.

It's Here!

The UPS man just brought my copies of The Catholic Homeschool Companion. It is a gorgous book. Holding it in my hand, I can't believe what a hefty volume this book turned out to be - 500 pages.

The Catholic Homeschool Companion website is also up and running: www.maureenwittmann.com. Books can be purchased there for 20% off of the list price of 24.95. Just click on Books and then click on Add to Cart (Paypal and credit cards accepted). If you want the book autographed, I think there is a place to leave comments when you place an order.