My Brief Reflection on the School Shootings

I'll keep it brief because, to me, it is sadly simplistic.  Guns don't kill people.  People kill people.  Crazy kills people.  Crazy will find a way to kill people whether or not crazy has a gun.  Before crazy had guns, crazy had something else.  In fact, the most deadly school massacre in history was committed with a bomb.

Wow.  I had actually written six more paragraphs.  I've been writing for the last 30 minutes.  I got a Blogger error.  I wept (metaphorically).  I guess the universe is telling me to keep it shorter.  I'll just add back the part about Fr. Luke Suarez.  Please keep him in your prayers.  He needs them.

How Much Time Off Is Too Much?

One of my big "things" is that we school year-round, but this year we have ended up taking off the last six weeks, and it is definitely likely that we will not start up again until after the New Year.  I'm pretty sure, my friends, that that counts as the equivalent of a summer vacation.  The fact is, though, that I can't get it all done right now unless we take some time off.  The following things are breathing down my neck:

1. Changing the playroom into Mary-Catherine's room
2. Keeping up with my edHelper work, my work for my main client, Colby, and my weekly writing for BellaOnline
3. Trying desperately to free my house from the junk stranglehold on it right now

I love doing school, but I just can't fit it in right now.  I can just hear all of the public school advocates shrieking "A-HA!" triumphantly.  Sigh.  As I've said before, though, I honestly believe learning takes place all the time.  Last night my kids watched a double-feature of Raging Planet and they learned a ton about lightning and volcanoes.  Actually, they were a little peeved because they already knew everything about volcanoes and they were disappointed not to get some new information.  Can I pull out the lesson planner and check off Science for yesterday? Oh...wait a minute:

    4.   Endeavoring once and for all to make lesson plans and stick to them. 

Double sigh. 

The Opus XIX

Grand organs are a tradition in cathedrals.  We are fortunate in Houston to have a gorgeous cathedral:

A cathedral this gorgeous deserves an organ just as amazing:

The Opus XIX is too technical for me to try to describe, but it is well-worth reading about.  Its FAQ sheet does it justice.  Thanks to a friend of mine, we were able to get up close and personal with this incredible instrument yesterday.  After First Friday Mass, we got a tour of the organ, after which Therese and Nicky got to play it.  Yes, they got to play an organ so special it has a nationally known name.  What an honor and a privilege!

Don't Look At My Kids Askance Because They're Not in School...

I'm not the only one to whom this has happened...over and over and over! We have been taking it kind of (okay, very) easy with school for the past couple of weeks.  My husband has been off of work.  My twins had their birthdays (and, in the tradition of their paternal grandmother, they didn't just celebrate once; they celebrated many times).  We are transforming our playroom into a bedroom for M-C.  There are lots of reasons.

To that end, we have been out and about in public A LOT during school hours.  At the mall.  At restaurants.  At the grocery store.  Sometimes I *know* people are looking at me funny (although, to be honest, doesn't it seem like there are so many kids out and about in public during the day lately that it feels like the homeschool revolution is in full swing? If the revolution has started, I'll bring the catapults - you know, the ones we've all made to demonstrate either physics, medieval warfare, or something!).

I digress.  My kids may not be doing formal school right now, but this was the scene in my living room last night around 8:00.

Circuits were being completed and sirens were being heard.  I guarantee they didn't think they were doing school.  So, I really don't worry if we are not in the schoolroom at 8:30 of a Wednesday morning.  My kids are learning.

Then there is that tiny matter of the fact that we school year-round, so while all those public school darlings are laying around the pool or the house, we're, um, well, reading great books, watching wonderful documentaries, playing on the iPad.  Gee, that doesn't sound a whole lot like school either.  I think I need to have a talk with my children's teacher.

Jesse Tree Ornament Exchange

Almost two months ago, my friend organized a Jesse Tree ornament exchange.  I need to be totally honest here.  Prior to that point, I actually thought of Jesse Trees as something far more common to Protestant tradition than to Catholic.  I couldn't have been more wrong! Jesse Trees as art have their origin in Medieval times.  This stained glass window at the Chartres Cathedral is one of the earliest depictions of a Jesse Tree, which is really just a genealogical depiction of Jesus' family tree.

Here's a closeup of the bottom of the bottom panel of the window: 

Obviously, the Jesse Tree is inherently Catholic! 

Sometimes Protestants and Catholics have different ways of "doing" a Jesse Tree, though, which should not be surprising, given that Catholics have such a rich way of living the Liturgical Year (brief aside: I always get a thrill of excitement when we get to daily Mass and see red vestments - of course, I just admitted that I don't always make myself aware of the saints' feast days ahead of time!).  Here are a couple of my favorite Jesse Tree resources.  One reason I chose these (apart from the fact that they really are my favorites) is that not as many people know them as Catholic Icing, etc. (which are also great).

Fish Eaters

Sanctus Simplicitus

So I can't wait for Advent! Without further ado, with photo credit to my friend, Lindsey, here are my Jesse Tree ornaments from the exchange!

Review of Vocal Coach Singer

Can you sing? If so, you're way ahead of me! I mean, I sing in church, sure, and I sing to my kids (lullabies when they were younger, songs in and for school now). I can carry a tune, but no one could ever accuse me of having sweet dulcet tones.  There is talent in my family, though.  My older sister has a beautiful voice.  My father has been singing his whole life, from glee club in college to Archdiocesan choir today (that's the official choir of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston; it's an audition choir).  Thanks to my Dad, my elder kids are getting piano lessons and I *really* want them to be able to sing while they play (a whole different skill set!). Sadly, I don't have the talent to teach them to sing.

Enter, The Vocal Coach Singer.  This comprehensive training program brings two professional singing teachers straight to your home.  Through a series of exercises and lessons, both you and your children can learn to sing!

What is included in this all-encompassing program? Bear with me. Vocal Coach Singer includes all of the following (straight from the horse's mouth...or the website!):

7 Training CDs:

• Getting Started
• Complete Breathing
• Complete Warm-Up
• Complete Tone
• Complete Expanding Your Range
• Complete Diction
• Complete Performance

4 Workout CDs:

• Daily Workout High Voice 1 & 2
• Daily Workout Medium/Low Voice 1 & 2

Plus these great educational tools:

• Guidebook – Full-size Instructional Guidebook to Ensure Success
• Printable Lead Sheets – each exercise in our course, plus track lists
• Personal Singer's Journal (Getting Started Journal & Workout Journal) to Track Your Progress
• Vocal Coach Song Evaluation – Evaluation form to enable you to make more intelligent song selections

In my case, I didn't receive the CDs, but rather I downloaded MP3 files.  The more things I can store on my computer, the happier I am!

Although Vocal Coach Singer does not come with lesson plans, it is fairly easy to follow.  The CDs (or MP3s) seem to follow in a natural progression (the one listed above).  You can go as slowly or as quickly as you see fit.  The Guidebook explains things like posture and taking care of your voice, but doesn't really explain the "nuts and bolts" of the program.  Again, that is not a detriment, but it is something to be aware of. Homeschoolers looking for a traditional music curriculum might be taken off guard, but those looking for bona fide singing training will likely be delighted.

The MP3 files vary in length. Some are only a couple of minutes long, while some are up to five or six minutes long.  Chris Beatty conducts most of the lessons, but Carol Beatty often asks questions or clarifies things, much as a parent might do if she were present for the lessons.  Both are pleasant and easy to listen to.  

As I indicated, there is great flexibility in this program.  While it comes with a journal to record what you do each day, songs you practiced, questions you have, etc., I didn't have my 11 year-old daughter use the journal.  As we progress through the program, I foresee her using it, but to start, I just wanted her to familiarize herself with the breathing and the exercises.  I didn't want this to seem like "school", per se.  I wanted it to seem more like dance or piano - an extracurricular activity for her to enjoy and benefit from.

She has done both with Vocal Coach Singer.  Although I was going to use the program with my younger kids, too, I honestly don't think they're ready for it yet.  Some of the breathing exercises are, to their immature ears, funny.  Think Lamaze-style breathing sounds.  From my perspective, though, I have learned so much about how a singer uses her whole body to create sound.  I even think that I might be sounding a little better - and we're not done with the program yet! It's amazing how posture, control, etc. make such a difference in the final sound.  As long as you are not truly and honestly tone deaf, I absolutely think this program will make you a better (and, in my case, more confident) singer.  My daughter needed far less help than I.  She sounds beautiful, but I think that she has a lot more voice hiding beneath her shyness.

Vocal Coach Singer is available for $119.99 for the CDs or $99.99 for the MP3 downloads.  When you compare that to the cost of private singing lessons, you realize that this product is an incredible value! My family is really excited to continue learning with Vocal Coach Singer.  To see how other families felt about this product, visit the Crew blog.

Disclaimer: I received Vocal Coach Singer free in exchange for my honest review.  I received no other compensation.

Two Great Apps for School

I don't usually send my blog readers over to my Sons page at BellaOnline, but today I wrote a post about two great apps that I think everyone should know about.  Since I don't write content that duplicates that at my Sons site, I'm sending you over to Bella! These are such great apps that if you have an iPad and kids who like horror classics (think Poe and Shelley), you won't want to miss them! After you read my article on these iPad classics apps, use the link at the bottom to jump over my forum to tell me about your favorite apps.  I just got the 4th generation iPad, and with 64 gb, I finally have room for tons of great apps!