You can imagine my elation out shopping at Tar.get, when I found these clearance shower curtains, lined and in beautiful masculine/feminine patterns:

Who knew shower curtains could be so nice?

I got them for a steal at half off: $15/ea and took them home to set to work.  Mind you, this is an EASY DIY–I am no seamstress.  Anyone who can sew a hem can do this.  You could also work it with sewing glue if you don’t sew.  It’s definitely not rocket science!

I first cut my curtain in half–the dimensions are 72″ x 72″, so I knew I’d have plenty of curtain to cover my windows.  

You’ll now have two separate panels, each with a rough edge.

You can lay the other panel aside. Don’t forget to be cute while being crafty–a definite plus!

Mama's best helper

Now fold once and twice on your rough edge and pin. You’ll want to have 1/4″ to 1/2″ stitch allowance.

Then set to sewing your seam.

When you’re done, admire your work, then set to hanging. I used shower curtain hooks and slipped them right through the holes at the top of each panel.

Voila, curtains!

Take that, PBK!

And with that, you’re done! We plan to hang the curtains on real rods ($2.50 ea), which will bring the project total to a whopping $55 in expenses. That’s a good feeling when you’re living on a budget! Enjoy!

"Simeon's Moment" by Ron DiCianni

Canticle of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis)

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace

Your word has been fulfilled.

My eyes have seen the salvation you have prepared in the sight of every people,

A light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people, Israel. (Luke 2:22-40)

This morning, I understood for the first time why the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord is also called “Candlemas.” Our priest explained that just as we call the Feast of the Nativity “Christmas,” we call this feast “Candlemas” – he even had all of us process into Mass with lit candles, and explained that in years past, families used to bring their own candles to church on this day. He went on to remind us that while we take light for granted today because we live in a world of reliable electricity, it used to be that Christians understood all too well the imagery of darkness and light. The words “Christ is the light of the world” held real power for them!

On this great feast day, let us try to imagine what our lives would be like without Christ as our light. What would it be like to live in darkness, without Christ to light the way?

Mary, Mother of Our Savior, pray for us!

Many of us have struggled over the years, our consciences not permitting us to give to the many races and events that friends have run because of these ties since the money that Komen donates to Planned Parenthood frees up more funds for PP’s other works. This is a great step towards focusing on saving women’s lives.

(I don’t believe that Komen has changed their stance on embryonic stem cell research, though would love to know if anyone knows anything about this.)

I went to an elementary school where the art work came home beautiful — because the teachers helped us so much!  My kids come home with crappy kid projects from their art classes, but perhaps they are learning more?

I’ve spent the last week exchanging and replacing 3 of our expired car seats and washing the new ones as I continue to nest. For anyone else in the same boat, Babies R Us has a promotion until Feb. 20 where you can trade in your old car seat (or stoller, high chair, etc.) for a 25% discount on a new one. At least it is something!  I ended up with a better deal than anything I could find online.

Also, my husband let me know about another car seat recall of Britax infant seats.

]]> http://www.buildingcathedrals.com/2012/02/01/more-from-the-car-seat-quagmire/feed/ 1 http://www.buildingcathedrals.com/2012/01/31/help-2/ http://www.buildingcathedrals.com/2012/01/31/help-2/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:50:41 +0000 MaryAlice http://www.buildingcathedrals.com/?p=5002 Okay, I have hit a parenting wall and I am hoping that some of you will be able to advise me.

My older four children take a swimming lesson every Tuesday afternoon.  In the past, my younger ones have sort of hung out poolside, been a little bit of a discipline problem while waiting or played with other kids who were waiting.  Right now, though, I would also like them to learn to swim.

I didn’t want to come to the pool on a different day for a preschool lesson, so I arranged a private lesson to coincide with the big kid lesson.  For 6 weeks, my boys happily participated in their private lesson.  The cost was substantial, but I figured that they were getting better instruction in a private and I was getting a convenient time slot, so it was worth it.

Gradually, over the last three weeks, my 4 year old has been refusing to participate.  The first week, he wanted to get out early, when about 10 minutes of the lesson remained.  The next week, he refused to get in, and again missed 10 minutes of the 30 minute lesson.  This time, as soon as the instructor came into sight, he buried his head in my lap.  I told him it was time for swimming and he said he “needed Mommy.”  I offered to sit at the side of the pool, but he wouldn’t come out of my lap.  Then, I took him into a private area and told him in strong tone that this was unacceptable and he needed to do his swimming lesson.  At that point, he burst into tears.  I sat him down on a bench and he proceeded to cry for the entire half hour, sometimes kicking the bleachers and sometimes screaming that he wanted to sit in my lap.  The people around me were horrified.  Meanwhile, the 3 year old happily went about his swimming lesson.

At the very end the tantrum stopped and he told his teacher that he would swim next week, but then again in the locker room a few minutes later he told me that he doesn’t want to do swimming lessons anymore.

What do I do?  I can’t make him get in the pool, and I hate the idea of continuing to pay for lessons while he is not participating.  However, if he gets to sit in my lap while the other 5 kids are all in lessons, I feel like he will have won the power struggle?  Plus, I really need him to learn to swim, we have a pool in our backyard.  But maybe I should just give it time? Do I try again next week, or should I just withdraw from the session and get my money back?  Was it just a bad day, combined with the fact that I did let him get out early that time a few weeks ago, and now he is trying to see how far he can take it?

Other favorites included a children’s camera that connects via USB cable to the computer (beware the games, though!), the board game Parcheesi, a cash register, and of course, Legos.

Which gifts were your family’s winners this year? Any flops?

God bless you all this morning!

Dear friends in Christ:

A week ago last Friday, January 20, two days before the 39th anniversary of the tragic Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade which has resulted in more than 50 million preventable deaths in the U.S., the Obama Administration took another step to diminish religious freedom and force Americans to violate their consciences. Against a huge outcry, the Obama Administration’s Health and Human Services Department has upheld its earlier decision to force all employers to pay for and provide sterilization, abortifacents (abortion producing drugs) and contraceptives in their health insurance coverage with only the most narrow exemption clause. This decision is being denounced and condemned by our own archbishop, the entirety of the Catholic bishops in the United States, religious leaders of other faiths, a growing number of democratic supporters of the president and many others who cherish the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence (you may read the bishops’ statement at www.usccb.org).

…In speaking to a group of American bishops on January 18, two days before the Obama Administration’s latest assault on the freedom and rights of Americans, Pope Benedict XVI said:

“At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not, is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good and thus about the conditions for human flourishing. In America, that consensus enshrined in your nation’s founding documents, was grounded in a worldview shaped not only by faith but a commitment to certain ethical principals deriving from nature and nature’s God. Today that consensus has eroded significantly in the face of powerful new cultural currents which are not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity as such.”

…Some may ask, “what is the big deal?” The big deal is this – when foundational principles are assaulted and eroded, sooner or later the house comes tumbling down. Our country has survived, grown and flourished because these principles have been honored, defended and respected. America’s greatness has been in the liberty and the rights that her citizens have enjoyed…