Saint Kateri Tekakwitha: Courageous Faith

The story of one of our newest saints is told in the book Saint Kateri Tekakwitha: Courageous Faith. This book is the latest installment in the Encounter the Saints Series which is written for children in the 8 to 12-year-old range.

The story of Kateri Tekakwitha is shared in this book starting from her birth and ending with her death at age twenty-four.  You learn of the early hardships faced by Kateri when her entire family died in a smallpox epidemic, her struggles to hide her faith from her tribe, and the constant mistreatment she suffered at the hands of her relatives once she declared her Christian faith publicly. You travel with her as she secretly escapes her village to live in safety with those who share her beliefs.

This story is told in a way which engages a young reader without being so intense as to go over their heads.  By sharing Kateri's struggles and faith, you are challenged to live your own faith more completely.

I love this series includes a glossary of unfamiliar terms in the back of the book. I know my own children are often reluctant to admit when they have stumbled upon a new word in a book. Having the glossary right at their finger tips will allow them to look up the new words without having to ask for help. I was also happy to see the Native American names used in the story sounded out phonetically the first time they appeared in the story.  The names were pronounced much differently than I would have guessed.

Overall I found Saint Kateri Tekakwitha:  Couragous Faith to be an enjoyable story that I am looking forward to sharing with my middle children.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Saint Kateri Tekakwitha: Courageous Faith. The Catholic Company is the best resource for gifts for every Sacrament celebration, such as First Communion gifts and Baptism gifts, as well as a great selection of limited-time Year of Faith gifts and resources.

March for Life 2013

Alan, Bryan, and Sean had a blast at the March for Life. They were able to attend the youth Mass/rally at the Verizon Center (which Alan says is always the highlight of the trip).  I'll have pictures to share once Alan sends them my way but I've been told it was a wonderful yet tiring experience.

Catholic Reluctantly

When your kids hit the preteen and teen years, it can be a struggle to find books that both interest the kids and are acceptable from a parental view point.  I'll readily admit that we often encourage the kids to just skip right over the young adult section of the library because so many of the books marketed towards kids of this age are full of inappropriate themes or promote immoral attitudes. I wish this problem could be solved by simply pulling out many of the books published by Christian authors for youth, but many of those books are lacking in any real substance or story.  Far too many Christian books seem to focus on pushing a message to the detriment of the story itself.  Needless to say, this sort of book makes it very hard to keep teens interested in actually reading something. In my attempt to find a new series of books that I could have around for my boys, I picked up a copy of Catholic Reluctantly: John Paul 2 High Book 1.

As the title suggests, this book is the first in a series of books aimed at Catholic youth.  The series is written by a team of young Catholic authors.  The story focuses on a small group of teens who attend start up Catholic school together. Each of the students comes from a different background and carries their own issues into the school with them.

I loved that no two kids was truly alike. However, I was a bit put off by the overuse of the stereotypical. From the super geeky homeschooled kid to slightly dumb jock, every high school stereotype was represented in the book.  I'll admit that made the story a bit hard for me to swallow.  Once I got past that, my overall impression of the book was favorable.

This is a book that I would recommend for teen readers without hesitation.  I do plan to get the other books in the series for our kids.  However, I would not call this an incredibly suspenseful or challenging read.  A decent book to have available for young readers but not what I would call classic level literature.

In an attempt to make sure the book got a truly accurate review, I asked Sean (my thirteen-year-old) to read it.  His father interviewed him about the book and you can hear his opinion of the book here.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Catholic Reluctantly: John Paul 2 High Book 1. The Catholic Company has great gift ideas for all seasons of the liturgical year, be sure to check out their Advent selection and Catholic Christmas Gifts.

Karate Class

I've decided that I totally suck at trying to get pictures while the children are moving.  Yes, there is a setting on my camera to make it easier.  Yes, I always forget to take the time to switch over to it.  Yes, perhaps that is a sign that I am a tad lazy and complicating matters more than I need to on a regular basis.  And yes, it means way too many pictures end up out of focus. Sigh.

Anyway, half the class was unable to attend karate this afternoon so I thought I would take the chance with fewer kids in the way to grab a few pictures.  Just the middle kids since the older two are in the adult class. Please ignore the slightly goofy karate instructor.  I swear some days he's worse than the kids in the class but perhaps that is why they seem to click with him so well.

Ice Skating

We headed to Batavia today to meet up with some friends and go ice skating.  The rink has open skating in the middle of the day when most folks are in school or at work. This translates to a mostly empty rink.  Which is the perfect venue for a bunch of kids who are learning (and falling).  Since I was hanging out with the younger two, the pictures are wee bit blurry at times and not so close.  It's a bit hard to get decent pictures when you are not near the action but I did try.

 Gabe did an awesome job. He actually stayed out on the ice for most of the time we were there and even let go of the wall.  His oldest brother spent a decent amount of time helping to haul Gabe back off the ice and onto his feet.  I have to say Bryan did a wonderful job of willingly helping Gabe try to figure things out.

Abby spent the first few laps around the rink using the wall for support but then she let go and took off a bit.

I know the kids would love to do this on a regular basis and I truly wish we could because everyone has a great time and comes home just a wee bit tired.

Picture Time

Court of Awards

The boys' scout troop had their annual Christmas dinner tonight.  The evening also doubled as a Court of Awards.  This is always an interesting event for us since it is meant for the entire family.  Usually the younger children only make it part way through the evening before they are done and ready to head home but aside from a minor meltdown from Robert, they did rather well tonight.

Bryan and Sean both advanced to the second class rank.  I'll admit that I am not entirely sure where this puts then in terms of Boy Scout rankings but I do know they are making steady progress.

Kieran will join their troop in January and is looking forward to the chance to be with the bigger boys.  Ok, he's jumping out of his skin excited over the chance to join the big kids.