Thursday, November 10, 2011

A Re-Post of good 'ol papal encouragment


Encouragement from the Pope


"You need to know what you believe. You need to know your faith
with that same precision with which an IT specialist knows the
inner workings of a computer. You need to understand it like a
good musician knows the piece he is playing. Yes, you need to
be more deeply rooted in the faith than the generation of your
parents so that you can engage the challenges and temptations
of this time with strength and determination. You need god’s
help if your faith is not going to dry up like a dewdrop in the
sun, if you want to resist the blandishments of consumerism, if
your love is not to drown in pornography, if you are not going
to betray the weak and leave the vulnerable helpless."

-part of Pope Benedict XVI's introduction in the new Youth Catechism

God Bless Him!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Has it been a month????

It has been a month since my last post!  Oh dear.  Let me right that right away....


Two 'diaper' babies sleeping peacefully in Mama's bed.......

....AND the birthday girl chasing balloons on her big day!


+ + + + + + + + 
Thanks be to God for health and all the many benefits
 He has most graciously supplied to us this year.
+ + + + + + + +
......



Monday, September 26, 2011

Annie Get Your Gun!

Our first little princess turned 5 this month & to celebrate the occasion, her Mammy & I threw her a Grand Tea Party at Nana's Tea Room. 
 (That's code for my mom's beautiful dining room!) 
The party was complete with fancy friends, finger sandwiches
dainty treats and 8 pots of delicious tea.


And THEN, her Daddy gave her a birthday present........

This is her very own and very first pink, Red Rider Daisy BB Gun!

(he is holding the BB gun his parents gave him as a child)

Personally, I think 5 is bit young for owning a gun but it was quite endearing to see how Jason was beaming over it all!  Go figure, Mommy was gleaming over the fancy tea party and Daddy was beaming about the BB gun....


--------------------------------------------

And the day after she turned 5, we held our first official day of Kindergarten Homeschool!


Our schoolroom is complete with a calendar & weather center, a double desk/ table for both girls to use, music, letter chart, 2 chalk boards, a white board, a Bible Knowledge & virtue wall (I'll post pictures of that another day!), learning manipulatives, and a hook for Anne's new backpack!   


I like teaching homeschool and the girls are adapting quite well to our new schedule which includes dual-school time in the morning & Anne's 1-on-1 lessons in the afternoon. Rosie is weather girl, Anne is calendar girl, Lily is 'naptime baby', and we are still working on Michael.... he plays, watches a show, eats a snack or tries to get up to the school table. (Actually, he does all 3 of those things!) 

 ** Anyhow, 3 cheers for school 
and 5 cheers for my Big Girl getting bigger! **

Friday, September 16, 2011

Tremble

Have I come to casually 
Because it seems to me 
There's something I've neglected
How does one approach a deity
With informality
And still protect the Sacred


Cause You came and chose to wear the skin of all of us
And it's easy to forget You left a throne
And the line gets blurry all the time between Daily and Divine
And it's hard to know the difference


   Oh, let me not forget to tremble...... Oh, let me not forget to tremble
    Face down on the ground do I dare
    To take the liberty to stare at You
   Oh, let me not forget to tremble


What a shame to think that I'd appear 
Even slightly cavalier 
In the matter of salvation
Do I claim this gift You freely gave 
As if it were mine to to take
With such little hesitation?


   Oh, let me not forget to tremble.......


Cause you came and stood among the very least of us
And it's easy to forget you left a throne
The cradle and the grave could not contain your Divinity
And neither can I, oversimplify this love


   Oh, let me not forget to tremble. Oh, let me not forget to tremble
    Face down on the ground do I dare
    To take the liberty to stare at you
   Oh, let me not forget to tremble"
----------------

  Lyrics to Nichole Nordeman's song, Tremble
   

Friday, September 9, 2011

Carson Dellosa artwork for school



 I am getting REALLY excited about starting Anne Catherine's official Kindergarten schooling!!  My grandmother has been helping me organize my resources... which include several items that she used in her own teaching career.

The pictures below are samples of artwork from a publisher called Carson Dellosa.
I think I will be using alot of these because of how simple and sweet his pictures are.   Also, my grandmother gave me several coordinating workbooks.  So much of the artwork has room for messages, it's easy to manipulate and print and the details are simple, making them 'colorable' for my little ones.
      



YAY for HOMESCHOOL!

You'll find 6 pages of free Carson Dellosa
clip art here.  

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

New Favorite!!

I think I just found one of my new favorite websites...

Make It & Love It

Make It And Love It

This gal has brightly colored pictures, easy to read tutorials and some Fabulous project ideas! Also, she has children so she's does do other things besides cut, sew and blog all day... or at least, I assume she does. I found her site due to a link on Dietel Days, featuring another S.A.H.M. (stay-at-home-mom) re-decorating her daughter's bathroom. Ah- I'm inspired.
..................................................
Well okay, go have a look for yourself and don't be surprised when you ask me where I got the idea to make something or another. God Bless.

Monday, August 29, 2011

All Played Out



Our garden has weathered this hot, dry, summer very well; producing 4 varieties of tomato, white squash, bell peppers, anaheim peppers, cucumbers, a few baby corn, 5 juicy cantelope, 2 acorn squash and a pitiful butternut squash.
(Not to mention lots sticker burrs as well!)







But the time has come to dig it up- weeds and all & all the weeds- and get ready for fall. We will leave the okra, peppers and some tomatoes, since they are still producing, but the rest is getting ripped out... this weekend I hope!










(Pictured above are the 3 lg tomatoe varieties:
Old German- yellow/ orange
Purple Krem- deep red
Early Girl- bright red

and one of our delicious cantelope!)



***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
So long juicy, summer fruits-
it's time to make room for roots and gourds!
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

3 Things

1. I am excited about piano starting up again.
Suppose I should give Michael lessons?










2. The County Fair starts tomorrow- HURRAY! There are contest entries to be made, ribbons to be earned, a parade to watch (and sweat through), carnival rides to be ridden and ridiculously expensive, hot, sugary funnel cakes to be eaten!

3. I love my husband.
He is being such a hard worker and a diligent leader for our family.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A Late Night Snack



OH, the guilt of it! Of course my hips won't slim down if I keep eating dessert late at night. And of course I'm busting most/all healthy eating rules but it just has to be this way sometimes......


Reasons why a Mommy HAS to eat ice cream late at night:

A. Because that's the soonest possible moment she has to sit down and ENJOY food at it's proper temperature.

B. Because there's no one around to beg for a bite of it or "their own bowl."

C. Because she finished the wine last night!

-------------------------

.... or at least, those are the reasons why I eat ice cream late at night.



Sunday, August 7, 2011

A NOT So Glorious Sunday

11:30 am: load up kids and depart home to attend Mass
12:45 pm: stuck in slowed traffic on Hwy 281 near 1604
12:46 pm: disposing of 'grey water' from the portable potty chair because
3-year old said she HAD to go potty and can't hold it
1:00 pm: Mass begins and we aren't there
1:30 pm: 5 miles further than we were at 1:00
1:45 pm: no where near the church because the alternate route had road work too
****CHANGE OF PLANS****
2:00 pm: AC in suburban quits blowing cold air while we are driving across town
2:15 pm: happy family eating lunch together at delicious Mexican restaurant
WITH air conditioning!
3:45 pm: driving down yet ANOTHER city road stifled by construction
5:40 pm: depart friend's house after delightful visit

6:00 pm: ARRIVE AT MASS- FINALLY!!!!
6:30 pm: Priest calls us out from the lectern pointing out that we should
use the cry room. ???????
----------
Wow.
----------
"God , can next Sunday be a better one? Pretty please????"

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Oh, I get it Dad!




So just like the lunatic-fringe-anti-choice-homophobic-bigoted-fanatics we are, today the 7 of us loaded up and made our way for an hour and a half to the only Tridentine Mass in one the nation's largest dioceses. That's right, we're those kinds of Catholics. Really though, it's for the best, because I think that we really do make rank-and-file N.O. Catholics feel uncomfortable when our veil-wearing three year old refuses to hold hands with whichever poor soul manages to squeeze into the empty spot on the pew next to us during the Our Father. Well anyways, today was a special day. Today I was given revelation #5,281 on why the Traditional Mass is the better choice....for us.

If you've ever attended the TLM anywhere other than your weird aunt Sally's living room,
you're bound to have seen them. The little red cash cow of the Coalition in Support of Ecclesia Dei called the Latin English Booklet Missal. On the front cover is one of those
delightful black ink drawings of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that was so prevalent in Catholic kitsch when the Benzinger Bros ruled with an iron fist. Sadly the spirits of Vatican II brought to the liturgical artists the new light of amorphous symbology perhaps ending forever (if not for Summorum Pontificium) exchanges like this that happened today.

Daddy: Anne, I want you to draw something that you see happen during Mass today.
Anne: OK. Like what?
Daddy: Anything. Here look at this [hands her the red book]. What's happening there?
Anne: Jesus is on the cross.
Daddy: What about at the bottom?
Anne: The priest is holding up the Blood.
Daddy: That's right.
Anne: [Sitting quietly with Pooh Bear's thinking face on for several minutes.]
Daddy: [Enjoying the repetitious sounds of the Rosary before Mass].
Anne: [Beginning to draw the altar]
Daddy: [Wondering to himself if the demon will manifest in Michael this Sunday.]
Anne: Ohhhh, I giiiit it Dad.
Daddy: ?
Anne: The priest is Jesus and Jesus is the priest.
Daddy: [Dumbfounded] That's right, Anne.
Anne: [Quietly continues on with her neorealistic, slightly amorphous liturgical sketches.]

Thursday, July 21, 2011

More Garden Delights, PLUS Canning!


We planted our garden in April/ May, knowing that we started late, but we didn't think it would take THIS long to begin producing!

Despite the drought, our garden is green and lush (with too many weeds as well) and we are beginning to pick more and more daily.
Praise be to God!

Sadly, my in-laws just lost most of their garden to desperate deer.... all except the tomatoes and eggplant. I'll post a picture later of the beautiful eggplant they've grown.



Last week, my Oma gave me a crash course in pickling. It was much easier than I thought to make dill pickles.... I guess the hardest part is waiting 3 weeks to try them!










Also, a friend and I made 18 pints of Jam. Some of it was strawberry and some, peach.
It was her first time to can and we had a great system going with one of us at the stove stirring fruit & the other, manning the canner- despite 2 fussy babies and a slew of other children darting in and out the kitchen ( oh, and husbands too).

God Bless them- the husbands that is- they tried to get the children out of our hair by taking them on a wild grape picking excursion, only the place they went to didn't happen to have any grapes on the vine.

Providence or poor planning? - you tell me.


Friday, July 8, 2011

Fresh Veggies & Sweet Babies!


Lean, mean, fresh and green!


Our garden is FINALLY producing some delicious produce...
we have white squash, peppers, cucumbers and loads of green tomatoes!



********HAPPY 4th of JULY *********


Friday, June 24, 2011

Vacation Conclusions


THANKS BE TO GOD for the blessings of safe AND happy travel! Those two things are huge... especially considering some of the breakdowns we've had in recent months.

ANYHOW, we arrived safely home last night with no sunburns & walked into a clean house. After discussing it for a while, Jason & I came to the mutual conclusion that even though our trip to the beach was short, it WAS a true vacation- filled with rest and indulgence.

The list of things we indulged in:
Sleep
Sun
Beer
Cheesecake
Buttermilk Pie
Cable TV & Cartoons

PLUS, sweet husband made it extra special for me by keeping the condo kitchen clean, letting me sleep in 1 morning & giving me an afternoon all to myself to.......drumroll please....SHOP!

(in front of the shrimp boat 'Polly Anna')

We also pinpointed the low spots of the trip as being our 2 experiences eating out.
#1. Eating lunch at a BBQ joint that WAY overcharged us
#2. Getting overcharged TWICE at the Coffee Shop

(.....Does anyone else get the feeling that retailers are intentionally deceptive and don't care much about customer service & true value? I don't want to be a scrupulous miser but it makes me feel like I have to watch out every time I buy something.)

Oh well, all the more reason to appreciate the Creator's handiwork...
...things like the sunset, the fresh sea breeze, the dolphins jumping in the harbor and the children shreeking with laughter while they play.


Friday, June 10, 2011

Silliness at our house





Lily Mae had a blast spitting her cream of wheat everywhere today! According to her sisters, Michael is the one who taught her how to do that... can you hear him making 'motor' sounds in the background? Yeah, he does that all the time.


And here he is trying to ride our mutt Tawny.
She is getting to be VERY good natured with his antics.



Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Encouragement from the Pope


"You need to know what you believe. You need to know your faith
with that same precision with which an IT specialist knows the
inner workings of a computer. You need to understand it like a
good musician knows the piece he is playing. Yes, you need to
be more deeply rooted in the faith than the generation of your
parents so that you can engage the challenges and temptations
of this time with strength and determination. You need god’s
help if your faith is not going to dry up like a dewdrop in the
sun, if you want to resist the blandishments of consumerism, if
your love is not to drown in pornography, if you are not going
to betray the weak and leave the vulnerable helpless."

-part of Pope Benedict XVI's introduction in the new Youth Catechism

God Bless Him!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

A few pictures...

Easter Sunday at Mater Dei in Irving. It was great!


My Easter 'Lily'
By the Dallas Patriots Field House


Our New Dog, Tawny

AND, apparently I need a new camera. oh joy.

anne can spell. <-- (Anne's first attempt at typing! She's awesome)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Spring Planting Begins..er, has begun.


Here, Jason tills everything under with the red tractor

We found these little guys hiding out under the soil
Peach Blossoms right outside the back door, literally

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Coupon Deals

Coupon shopping is so much work but it is also SO much saving! I really enjoy the challenge but I most enjoy seeing the final bill at the register. Last week, between 2 trips to the store, we wound up buying about $210 worth of groceries for $120.

Here are some of my recent favorites:

Gain Fabric Sheets: 80 count = 12 cents















Crackers and Soup= $1.62















1 Jar Bertolli + 1 Jar Store Brand = $1.29















3 Boxes Cereal + 1 loaf bread + 1 jar of jelly + 1 jar peanut butter + 1# of fruit = $6.05
( The only thing I paid for was the cereal!)
















+ I also just found 4 boxes of Clairol Instincts Hair Color for .50 a box! + Go wild! +
Use coupons! + Dye your hair! +

Coupon Deals

Coupon shopping is so much work but it is also SO much saving! I really enjoy the challenge but I most enjoy seeing the final bill at the register. Last week, between 2 trips to the store, we wound up buying about $210 worth of groceries for $120.

Here are some of my recent favorites:

Gain Fabric Sheets: 80 count = 12 cents















Crackers and Soup= $1.62















1 Jar Bertolli + 1 Jar Store Brand = $1.29















3 Boxes Cereal + 1 loaf bread + 1 jar of jelly + 1 jar peanut butter + 1# of fruit = $6.05




Friday, March 4, 2011

Beautiful Traditional Images

Follow this link to a PicasaWeb album that has exceptional Catholic images that you won't find too many other places.

http://picasaweb.google.com/sacredmusic/ImagesForLiturgyPrograms?feat=directlink#5437062176434880898


*BONUS* the images are available for you to download/ save and use for free!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Skirts!

One of the former OLoPH moms (that's Our Lady of Perpetual Help) put me on the scent of a stellar source for beautiful long skirts. I looked last night and found so many to get excited over... the site is www.newcreationapparel.com

I had so hoped to be able to make my own cute skirts by now but what I really need is a tutor and a long block of time to try sewing a few from start to finish. Hmmmm... I wonder what's making it so difficult to find that long block of time....


www.newcreationapparel.com

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A Blog Revived?





Not sure how long or how frequently I can keep this thing updated but I can at least throw out a few new pictures of this growing family.... and after all, gardening season is coming up quick so there will be lots of other 'growing' to document. Maybe, just maybe........