St Rose of Lima

Sweetpea's class was responsible for the All Saints Mass today. Part of this event involved dressing up as the Saint of your choice. Sweetpea (and 3 other little girls) chose St Rose of Lima. St Rose was the first saint from the Americas and is often represented wearing a crown of roses (which she used to hide the metal spiked crown underneath).

I assumed it would be easy for me to make a costume for this event. She just needed to be dressed like a nun with some roses on her head. Off I went to the local fabric store where I bought a pattern for religious costumes (nativity set type) since I think I will have a lot of use for this in the future. I also bought some brown and cream fabric. Now I was beginning to think I was in over my head in this endeavor (I only had 2 days of time left). My sewing experience is very limited, even though I own a sewing machine, I have never had the occasion to make something with sleeves. I went home and promptly made the easiest part, the crown of roses. Check, one task down and off to bed.

Thursday has arrived and Sweetpea is worried that she will be going to mass naked with just a crown on her head. I assured her that I would get her costume finished or at least pin material to her body. I set out cutting and sewing, piecing bits of pattern together and just winging it for the veil since the right type of veil wasn't included in my pattern.

I am happy to say that I was not up to 3 am sewing and that it only took me 3 hours from start to finish(including dinner and numerous interruptions) to make this simple nun outfit. I think it turned out great and Sweetpea was just beautiful!

The voice of an angel

I wasn't sure what to call this post. It was a toss up between "The next American Idol winner" or "The voice of an angel". Considering the response elicited by this sweet voice, I had to go with angel.
Last night was Sweet Pea's Christmas recital at school. We had the traditional yelling of songs from K, 1st, and 2nd grades along with a few mumbled songs from 3rd and 4th. There was also a very nice violin solo from a 6th grade boy and several songs on the chimes and recorders. The most outstanding part of the evening was when a small un-assuming little 5th grade girl walked up on stage to sing her solo.
This small girl had the only solo of the night. Her song was "Mary did you know?" and when she started to sing the entire room broke out in tears. The depth and beauty of her voice was amazing and the feeling she brought to that song was incredible. If you could have seen her and then heard this voice you wouldn't believe it came from her. Every person in the room was weeping as she sang of the wonders Jesus would do in his life. I even saw teenagers, who I'm sure were forced to be there, crying as she sang. When she was finished she gave a quick tiny "Thank you" and ducked off the stage. We all immediately stood and clapped as loudly as possible and this sweet girl burst into tears in her Principal's arms. She was so nervous to sing and she did a wonderful job.
I can only imagine where the years will take her and I am feel blessed just to have heard her this one time. I hope God continues to bless her and that her voice continues to touch people the way she did last night.

Closest to God

I am a religious person in many ways. I am a Catholic by choice but I don't agree with every teaching the church has, just the majority of them. I choose to be a practicing Catholic because this is where I feel closest to God. I also have many other beliefs that the church would oppose but in my heart I don't believe that God would. Either way, with or without the support of the church, I choose to believe what I want to. Most of all I believe that yes there is a God, that without God we wouldn't be here and He has a major impact on our lives.

One thing I came to realize by having a baby is just how close they are to God. I truly believe that being that new and so close to just leaving heaven, children have a deep and true understanding of where they came from. I never thought about it this way before Sweetpea though. It probably also helps that their brains aren't cluttered with useless information yet. There were many times that Sweetpea would talk to me about God and heaven. At these times I was always amazed to see the reaction in her face ( I believe she was actually glowing with peace at times) as she talked about heaven and how nice it is there and how beautiful God is. She didn't know the typical words we use and I didn't prompt her for things, often times she would just make passing comments. Through her I was able to get a glimpse of heaven and the peace and beauty that is there and waiting for all of us.


Another thing I have come to have a deeper belief in through her is the existence of past lives. I know this can be a controversial topic for some but as I said earlier, I believe what I want and you can do the same. I always had a casual interest in the possibility that our souls have had the chance to live on this Earth more then once. From the time Sweetpea could put a few words together (and trust me she has been talking non-stop since she was 1) she would occasionally mention things she did before she was with us. She would specifically say that when she didn't live here but somewhere else she did...this and that. Her descriptions were so realistic I can't deny they were the truth. She has also indicated that she was more then one person and she has told me of things that happened to her in different times. I wish I had written down exactly what she said right away so she could see it someday. Instead I have to rely on my fading memory of the few things she mentioned. If I can remember them in detail I will add them later, I am afraid that if I try to force my memory I will add things she didn't say so I will leave my thoughts floating around for a few days and see what I can recall.


As she has gotten older she has stopped talking about these things all together. I suppose you could contribute her ideas to a child's imagination but I think she really did have these memories and that as she gets more involved in this life, her other memories have faded. Now instead of telling me her memories, she asks me questions about the things she is learning in Church and school. It's been at least a year since she's mentioned anything else; she still has her childlike innocence and her basic trust that what we tell her about God is true but I actually miss that insight she gave me. I do wonder though if her obsession with the french language is a vestige of these memories.