This is wonderful!

Thanks to my friend Malia for sending me this amazing video of a man's love for his wife.

Quick check in

Sorry I haven't posted regularly... we just finished up homeschooling for the semester (praise God!) and I've been catching up on all sorts of crafty projects -- curtains, a quilt, canning strawberry jam, etc.

Fun for us, but not necessarily "blog-able."

Then, I had to get ready for check off -- our accountability group requires more than the state does in terms of keeping us legal and such, and with Sean now in high school, I had to do a bit more prep work than normal... but, all that is finished now, and I can breathe a huge sigh of relief.

I will post more (promise, Beth!) about what I learned at the conference...

But for now, can I just say that having teenagers ROCKS?

I know, I know... having three teenagers in the house (two officially, but one who acts like it!) should be a "living nightmare" for parents, right? Surly attitudes, fights, a huge pulling away from family life, etc etc etc and blah blah blah...

Not here.

OK, don't get me wrong -- we do get attitude from time to time, and they are "pulling away" in a way that I think is healthy and normal... BUT...

My older children think that watching movies with us is FUN.

Sean, Reilly, Kathryn, DH, and I just watched "The Rear Window" because I told them earlier today that they HAD to watch it... and can I say, I have never enjoyed that movie more. We were all huddled around the computer monitor, sitting in the dark, watching a terrifically suspenseful movie, and loving every second of it. My girls sitting with their legs pulled up to their chins... my son leaning forward into my chair during the tense scenes... my DH mentioning that this was one of his favorite films...

Does it get much better than that?

My kids and I, for summertime fun, are reading "And Then There Were None" during lunch (OK, don't think I'm morbid -- I have a soft spot for this book ever since the 5th grade, when my teacher took the last 10 minutes or so of classtime to read this book to us. I am forever indebted to Mrs. K for introducing me to Agatha Christie, to the joys of being read to, and to being exposed to books that were "higher than my grade level."). We sit around in the living room together, munching our sandwiches, and enjoying a book together (they all think that "the butler did it." I'm not telling...)

And my girls... who have "sleepovers" on a regular basis... always ask if they can watch a movie in the computer room and ALWAYS ask if I can watch with them -- since, as they say, "It's no fun to watch if you're not with us."

I cannot tell you how much fun... how many great conversations... how much laughter... and how much joy there is in having teenagers in the house. From playing Scrabble to read-alouds to watching great movies, we have had such an amazing time together.

I don't know what tomorrow holds, but for today, I thank God that I have been given the privilege of being a Mom, and getting to share my life with some amazing people who just happen to be my children.

Weekend wrap up

Once again, because I am too late to join Jen Fulwiler's Quick Takes Friday!

1. I have to start off by sharing something that it seems everyone already knows... except me. BUT, if there is anyone else out there in the same boat that I was, I offer this to you now:

Apply Vicks vaporub to the bottoms of your feet (and then put some toasty socks on) at night when you have a cold and you WILL.NOT.COUGH.

I'm not kidding.

I thought this was the most ridiculous sounding bit of old wives' tales yet, but seeing as I have been hacking up a lung every night with this cold that I have, I was willing to give it the old college try.

Unbelievable, but true. It really works. I don't know WHY it works, but I.Don't.Care.

I've been telling everyone about this because it is just so miraculous. How did we get to the 21st century and not know this? This should be tip #1 to every new mom. I feel so gypped. I can tell you know, though, that nighttimes will be so much easier to deal with when there are colds in this house!!


2. Can I gloat (mildly) for just a minute?

WE HAVE ONE MORE WEEK OF HOMESCHOOLING LEFT!!!

Praise God!!

OK, I'm done gloating now.


3. Speaking of homeschooling, I was SOOOOOO blown away by the conference my husband and I attended back in March. I tended to stick with the "Classical Education" track and for some reason, this was the year that everything resonated with me. I cannot begin to say how much my view of everything changed after listening to those speakers.

But, I will say that I have found myself slowing down... stopping to appreciate the beauty that is all around me... READING books (rather than racing through them) and taking notes... and passionately enjoying the opportunities to learn that I am presented with daily.

I wish I had been able to blog about it when I first got back from the conference, but the home life was such that it wasn't possible... but that's OK. What is important is that my husband and I both came away with important lessons that I think will stick with us.


4. Marie (7 yrs old) just recently celebrated her First Holy Communion. I will post pictures when I can, but for now I will just cherish in my memory the image of her looking at me, bouncing on tiptoes, just before going up for the first time to receive. I've been telling her for months now, "Jesus is more excited about this than you are!" and it is soooooooo very true. He knew when each one of us would receive Him for the first time and He eagerly looked forward to it from the beginning of time. I could easily say to Marie that He's been waiting since the creation of the world for this moment... and I am so blessed to see my little girl ready to run up there and meet Him!

As little children

My sweet little guy was sitting in his car seat, looking out at the nighttime sky after Holy Thursday Mass this evening.

"Daddy... are you sure you can find da house?"

"Yes, buddy... I know how to find our house."

I looked back to see his little face, filled with anxiety, as he looked out into the dark once more.

"Daddy... are you SURE you can find da house in da dark?"

Once again my husband assured him that he knew the way, and he could find the way home, even though it was dark outside.

I watched the look on his little face, as he glanced once more at the black windows of the car, and then up towards his Daddy driving the car, shift from disbelief to a trust in spite of what he was seeing.

And I knew then, as clear as any homily I had ever heard, what I was supposed to learn from that.

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

Did I actually get around to doing this twice? Oh my goodness... I think I've achieved some sort of milestone... at least I think it's a milestone...

--- 2 ---

I have to post this. If you haven't seen this video yet, it is worth watching. I have seen several videos of Penn Jillette before, and while we don't agree on most things, I truly respect the way he thinks, the way he argues his point, and the way he follows his arguments to their logical conclusion. Thank you, Penn Jillette! (and thank you, Julie, from Happy Catholic, for posting this!)

--- 3 ---

On a totally different note... one of the highlights of my week is when the kids recite the poems they are learning. When they can recite it all the way through, they illustrate it and put it in their binder. Kinda goofy, perhaps, but we really have fun with it. I love to see the great pictures that they draw, and you'll understand why when you see Christopher's rendition of "Old Ironsides."  (you'll have to click on it to appreciate it fully...)

--- 4 ---

And here's a picture of the artist as he looked this morning, fever and all (oh! And you can see my messy kitchen, too! Bonus!)

--- 5 ---

Can I just say that my husband rocks? He's in the kitchen right now (and surprisingly, it looks MUCH better than it did in the above picture!) getting all the ingredients mixed for pancakes in the morning. Several years ago he decided that Saturday morning was HIS morning to cook breakfast for everyone, and he has NOT missed a Saturday yet. He lets me sleep in (thank you!!!) and he cooks pancakes FROM SCRATCH for everyone. Yes, my children think their is the greatest...

--- 6 ---

Pictures are just too much fun, so here's another picture of another sick kid -- let's hear it for Joseph!

No pictures of the other "sickies"... the poor little guys. They've been draped over the couch all day long, sleeping off their fevers. But hey, if you have to be sick, this is the best kind of illness to have -- nothing but fever and napping all day long. Does it get much better than that (illness-wise)? I think not.

--- 7 ---

And I am done for this evening!

 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes Friday

--- 1 ---

I can't believe I'm actually doing a Quick Takes Friday -- it's my first! Yeah for me!!

--- 2 ---

Remember my "big breakthrough" about putting the week's menu on the REFRIGERATOR (rather than my planner)? Well, it's been three weeks now, and honestly, it's like the FlyLady's "clean sink" routine -- once you start doing it the rest of the kitchen sort of comes together.

See this picture?

That is a picture of a clean, wiped down, organized refrigerator with no funky leftovers stashed away in the back. I'm usually pretty good about using up leftovers and not wasting food (in fact, my kids have told me quite often, "Wow, Mom! You can turn anything into a casserole!" *grin* It's funny... but true... and YES, it turns out tasting great! Don't mess with me...), but I'm feeling even more organized and that is a GOOD thing (since so much of my house... isn't)

--- 3 ---

And the chalkboard?

Used DAILY. It's making planning my weekly shopping trip a LOT easier, and I'm not forgetting to put stuff on the list!

Why... why did it take me about 17 years of marriage to figure this out?

--- 4 ---

If your kids love the Holy Heroes website (and who doesn't?) and watched the videos, you probably found yourself making pretzels today. It gave me the extra push I needed, since I was planning on making them "sometime" during Lent anyway.

However, I much prefer this recipe for the pretzels. It's the dunk in the boiling baking soda water that gives them that "mall pretzel taste" (you know what I'm talking about!).

--- 5 ---

Only 9 more weeks left of homeschooling. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I can almost taste freedom! (does anyone else get antsy in February, or is it just me?) We always start early so that we can finish up when the weather starts to turn nice... the kids are begging to go outside... and the bugs aren't out yet. By the time summer hits, our backyard is NOT a fun place to be.

--- 6 ---

Speaking of homeschooling, is anyone planning on going to the National Conference this year?

--- 7 ---

Finished on a Friday with 30 minutes to spare! YES!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

I won't even try to apologize...

... for not writing on my blog since November.

I'll just say that I hope everyone is doing well, and leave it at that.

And I'll start off nice and slow with my list of silly things that I didn't think I would need... but I do.

1. A chalkboard door.

Never in a million years would I have thought that I would want something like this in my kitchen. It's just a surface BEGGING to be written and drawn on, which would mean even more visual clutter -- something I already have great difficulty with (even though you wouldn't believe it if you were to see my house right now... or anytime, really. It's a fight I just can't win).

However, this has been one of the best "improvements" we've done in quite awhile (and I use the term "we" rather loosely. I bought the paint and was all set to do it, but my husband graciously offered to do it so that I could finish planning homeschooling. Thank you, love!) All those goofy little things that I make myself a note for... and promptly lose... is now on the door -- grocery lists, reminders, notes to each other, chore lists, etc.

So, even though it's rather jarring to have a solid black door in an otherwise white-ish kitchen, it's working for us, so I'll keep it.


2. A weekly menu on the refrigerator.

(I'm being lazy, here... I don't feel like going back and rotating the picture.)

I have planned breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the week for quite some time now, but I wrote it in my homeschool calendar. It was good, but (a) it was hidden away, so no one else saw it but me and (b) if I didn't take out my calendar that morning, I would forget what I was supposed to be making later on that day.

When my husband was getting ready to paint the door, I thought that I would write the menu on the door as well... but, since I had to wait 24 hours for the paint to cure (and I'm not known for patience), I whipped this out and made a scrapbook paper frame for it.

TA-DA!

All of a sudden, the kids stopped asking, "What's for lunch?" "What's for dinner?" "Hey Mom, what are we going to have for breakfast tomorrow?" That is TWENTY-ONE questions that I've eliminated from my day! (Little Joseph doesn't ask what we're having, so I'm not counting him)

Somebody tell me WHY it's taken me sixteen years of motherhood to figure this one out!


3. A paper cone.

I know, I know... I've stumped you on this one, haven't I?

As all of us who are Catholic know, mealtimes on Fridays often have to fall into the fish stick rut. We don't want to, we'd rather not have to, but sometimes... sometimes... you just have to grab a bag of frozen fish fillets and french fries and call it a meal.

I don't know about you, but I can't think of too many meals less appetizing than breaded fish fillets and fries sitting on a plate. There's no presentation, no style, no excitement.

Enter -- the cone!

Yes, it's amazing how such a bland meal becomes an exciting one when you call it "fish and chips," and serve it in a newspaper cone.

I kid you not -- my children get EXCITED when it's "fish and chips" night here at our house! In fact, my older daughters had a sleepover one Friday night, and all the girls went back for seconds... and thirds... and told me what an "amazing" dinner I had made.

It's all about the cone, people. Presentation, presentation, presentation.

Although, I do have to give myself a pat on the back and say that homemade french fries are MUCH better than store bought. I wish I had taken a picture of them this evening. The secret is to bake the potatoes first... then, when they are cool, cut them -- skin and all -- into steak fry sized pieces. Put them on a cookie sheet and freeze them overnight. Then, the next evening, take them out and fry them and your family will LOVE them! Sure, you have to think about it a day in advance, but when you've got your meal list ON YOUR REFRIGERATOR, it's not hard to remember! (see? The grief and aggravation I could have saved myself if I had just done that sooner!)

This is what love looks like

Little Joseph has croup, and has been feeling horrible the past few days. When he woke up a few minutes ago, all he wanted was to "go ah-side and jump on da tram-pa-ween."

Look who took him out... all three of his older brothers... just because they love him.

I didn't have to beg, or cajole, and barter with any of them. Sean (the oldest) just took him out of my arms and said, "Come on, Joseph... let's go outside." And with a smile on his face, he and his other brothers went out, where they are now giving him the joy of jumping and playing.

I'm so proud of them all I actually have tears in my eyes as I post this.

Unbelievable!

Don't you just love to find homemade remedies/fixes for things?

I do.

I get so excited when I find out that I can make something that works just as well... or better... than something I can find in a store.

I had just that experience last night.

See that sweet little girl dressed in brown in the picture above? That's Marie. She has a cold and, true to form, spends most of her evening hours coughing (and coughing... and coughing... poor thing!) when she's trying to go to sleep. Last night was no exception.

Unfortunately, it was 10 pm, my dh and I were already in our pajamas, and there was no cough medicine in the house. As I was rummaging around the medicine cabinet, looking for anything that could help, I remembered this post from The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking. (and if you aren't reading this blog and her other one, The Year of Less, you are missing out... seriously... you really are)

Homemade cough medicine? With just honey and vinegar?

I figured Marie would take one sip and promptly throw up. After all, my kids (and I do mean ALL of them!) complain mightily about the "horrible taste" of whatever cough medicine I happen to buy, so how on earth is honey and vinegar going to go down?

I mixed up a tablespoon of each, took a quick taste and figured she couldn't complain TOO much, and brought it in to her.

She took a spoonful, opened her eyes really wide and said, "That's GOOD!" (and gave me two thumbs up!) and promptly went to sleep.

She didn't cough all night long!

I gave her another spoonful this morning and she is happy as can be, playing on the trampoline and still.not.coughing.

So if your kids are coming down with colds, give it a try! And spend some time time today checking out Kelly's two blogs -- she will challenge you and inspire you... I promise!

Sigh...

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, a study of a beautiful painting by Giotto (entitled "Noli Me Tangere," which means "Don't Touch Me")...

... degenerates into this:



I will NEVER be able to look at this painting the same way again!

We survived another October!

Almost... close enough...

For those who do not know, FIVE of my children have birthdays in October... THREE of them in the SAME WEEK (we are nothing if not consistent!) Since I despise the idea of throwing one big birthday for everyone, that means we have five different cakes and five different family birthday celebrations. The ten of us usually manage to eat half a cake (more  or less) at a sitting, which means it takes two days to get through a cake.

You do the math. Of the 20 days so far in October, 10 of them have had cake served.

We are seriously all caked out over here.

All those fun fall desserts that you see plastered on the covers of home magazines? Yeah, we never get to have those here.

Fall cookies? No thanks.
Pumpkin coffee cake? uh-uh.
Spiced pumpkin lattes?
Cute Halloween cupcakes?
How about a fun dessert to commemorate Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha being canonized tomorrow?

No, no, and no.

By the time our anniversary rolls around next week, I will still be burned out on cake.

When Halloween and All Saints' Day comes around, I will NOT be tempted to dig in my children's bags for something chocolatey, either. Blech.

Still, we rejoice that we've had another year with these great children, and remain awed that we have been entrusted with them.

Cake aside, one of the best part of the birthday celebrations here is at dinner time, when we all take turns saying what we love best about the birthday person. I LOVE hearing what my children love about their siblings! They see the gifts and talents in each other, and truly love spending time together. With all the mistakes I make daily, it is encouraging to see that!

Weekend Wrap Up

And we're back! The kids and I drove up to Indiana last weekend -- as in, without my husband. (He wasn't able to get time off). I was more than a bit anxious over the whole thing, since I have two children who routinely get carsick (as in buckets and change of clothes carsick!) and a two-year old who would NOT understand the concept of 12 hours in the car.

I needn't have worried.

Thanks to the grace of God and some AMAZING kids (can I brag here for a minute?) we drove 12 hours (each way) with only THREE bathroom breaks and NO whining, complaining, "are we there yets", etc... and that was WITHOUT any videos or electronic games of any sort -- just pencils, paper, lots of good conversation, and the radio. I was blown away by how easy the trip there and back was, and I am so incredibly thankful, both to God and to the kids who really did a fantastic job. Everyone pitched in and helped, and a special thank you to my daughter Kathryn, who made two meals for us in the car -- balancing paper plates, several kinds of meat, cheese, fruit, chips, and water... taking everyone's order individually... and never once getting impatient. Sean and Reilly did it as well, and I give them credit, too... but Kathryn volunteered for the second go-round, which gives her extra "brownie points." *grin*

We had a great time there -- got to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday -- but we are glad to be back home. Everything is unpacked, the house is back to normal, and we go back to homeschooling in the morning. Whew!

Fall, anyone?

This morning... I must confess... I was a bit down. It was just one of those days when emotionally I just didn't have it in me. I asked the Lord to please give me something to be happy about today, because otherwise I was just going to bring everyone down.

I had to go to the store for milk in the middle of our homeschooling day, and on impulse I bought a pumpkin scented candle. When I got home my two oldest girls smelled it and started talking about how good it smelled... and how it brought back memories...

and the next thing you know, I said, "we need to get this house decorated for fall."

That was all it took.

There were whoops of joy as the kids got up into the attic, pulled down the boxes, and started bringing out all our traditional fall decorations -- the bowls, plates, garlands, knick knacks, etc.

Then we were off to our nearby craft store for wooden balls, felt, and pipe cleaners so that we could be ready for one of our favorite hobbies of the season -- making acorn people! (more pictures when we actually make them)

It was such a joy to see the joy THEY were feeling, as we were participating in one of our yearly traditions, and it gave me that feeling of joy/wistfulness also (thanks, CS Lewis, for defining this so well!) as we enter my favorite time of year.

Of course, being in South Carolina, our fall decorating day came about in 80 degree weather with a thunderstorm to boot, but hey! I'll take fall any way I can get it!

Sounds you do NOT want to hear

As I was busy in another part of the house, my "mommy radar" kicked in and I heard the sound of the microwave opening...
then closing...
then turning on...
then opening...
then closing...
then turning on...
then opening...
then closing...
then turning on...

You get the picture.

I was already headed to the kitchen to see what was going on when I heard this sweet little 2-yr old voice saying, "Yook! My fwog is goin' round and round!"

Yes, Mr. Rubber Frog was spinning around in the microwave.

(Thankfully, I stopped the microwave... and Joseph... before any real damage was done...)