St. John Bosco's Feast Day

You can read my post about celebrating St. John Bosco's feast day over at Catholic Cuisine.

Welcome little one!

Introducing the latest Rutherford... go say "hello" to Thomas Edmund Paul. Husband and I were engaged at the same time this sweet couple was. I even remember a double date or two. I can still picture them on their wedding day. You can too! See those smiles and all that love? Just imagine them in fancier duds and you've got it!

My Prince

Husband (after being served a simple piece of Garlic Chicken and steamed broccoli for dinner):

I miss your cooking when you're sick!

Isn't he charming? Truly. That tiny little sentiment touched my heart. It was his sweet way of telling me he appreciates what I do. Even though it might be the same dish I have been preparing every other week for years now, it means a lot to him. As wives and moms, we might be tempted to see our daily menu planning as just one part of the same old boring routine. Try to look at it from the eyes of those on the other side of the serving spoon. A sense of their perspective might be enough to inspire you to climb out of the kitchen doldrums. (So could a 2 week break due to bronchitis, but I wouldn't recommend that!)

Last night Husband sat down to Rosemary Chicken, Butternut Squash Mashed Potatoes and hot rolls. Tonight, Turkey Burgers and homemade Sweet Potato Fries! My way of saying "thanks" for letting a girl know she's treasured!

Movie Review

Are you looking for a Friday Night Date Movie? Are you a Netflix member? Right now, in their "Watch Instantly" section is a delightful movie called Arranged.

When Rochel and Nasira-- an Orthodox Jew and a Muslim, respectively -- meet as new teachers at a Brooklyn school, co-workers and students expect friction. But the women discover they have a shared expectation of entering into arranged marriages. As they experience tension between their traditional cultures and life in contemporary America, Rochel and Nasira form a special bond.

I am not quite sure what we watched that prompted Netflix to recommend this movie to us but I am glad they did. As a Catholic who has rediscovered many of the traditions of her faith, this movie spoke to me. I thought it was extremely well acted and very well done for an independent film on a low budget that was shot in 17 days.

Anyway, your husband might balk at this very obvious "indie chick flick", but mine enjoyed it. He especially liked the conversation about men who have older sisters making the best husbands! I liked the messages this movie sent not just about friendship but mostly about holding onto your traditions even though the world around you sees them as old fashioned and out dated. Both women are seeking and praying to do God's will even though it is difficult and they are tempted to despair. These women are ridiculed for being weak and dominated by their fathers and their faith but in the end, they are rewarded with fulfilling marriages and loving husbands who appreciate them for their strength of faith. Those who wanted to empower them don't see how truly liberated they are.

A Ranger's Apprentice Birthday

(If you have not read the Ranger's Apprentice books, then most of this isn't going to make sense. I highly recommend you go read the first book right now and then come back. I'll wait! : )

I love it when my kids choose a theme for their birthday that I can really get into. Not only was The Professor excited, but having enjoyed these books with him, I was too! This was providential because that enthusiasm spurred me to get some of my plans accomplished early so that when the ugly hand of illness smacked me down, all was not lost.

Decorations

The centerpiece is made from ribbon sandwiched in between cardstock and printed copies of drawings from the author's website. We also stamped the brown paper runner with gold and silver oak leaves which are the symbol of the Rangers. You can't see them here, but Husband decorated the whole room with streamers to make it really festive.

Craft

We made our own pendants in honor of the ones that the apprentices wear out of Sculpey, rubber stamps and embossing powder. The boys chose an oak leaf and the girls chose one that resembled a laurel branch. They haven't read the books yet, but The Professor told them that Alyss, a female apprentice in the Diplomatic Service, wears a laurel branch pin.

Food
"I said you were Sir Horace of the Order of the Oakleaf," Halt told him, then added uncertainly," At least, I think that's what I told him. I may have said you were of the Order of the Oak Pancake."~Ranger's Apprentice: Book 3: The Icebound Lane

The Professor cracked up when he read this scene in Book Three so we decided that pancakes for breakfast were in order and an oak leaf cookie cutter made them even more fun.

Cake

My biggest disappointment was that because I have been sick for the past week and a half, I was not going to be able to make the cake which is something I love. He had asked for a map of Araluen cake pretty early on and I had even started practicing my piping. But when I realized that the last thing I needed to be doing while coughing and hacking was to be standing over something other people were going to be eating, I started exploring my options. Plan B was to just have a photo cake made using a printed copy of the map. That plan, while not quite a knee slapper, still must have made God chuckle. Every single photo cake machine in every single bakery within a 10 mile radius was broken in some way. I. kid. you. not!
So, plan C...

Take one Field and Stream Camping cake from your local Bullseye Superstore. Be sure you ask them NOT to put the tent, kayak and fire pit on the cake, just in a baggie on the side and don't pull your hair out when they ask you twenty thousand times in a skeptical tone of voice, "You don't want anything on top? You don't want anything written?"

Add one Sleich archer figure with a Mommy stitched cloak and one worn, torn, crumpled and burned copy of the map (taped to a popsicle stick) for character. Now, go ahead and add the fire pit for fun and for those slightly confused but sweet ladies in the bakery.

I really like the way it looked (no comment on the taste) and ended up being happier with it than the Plan A cake I had in my head. He was thrilled and couldn't wait to pluck that archer off and go play with it. Right now, he is diving into Book 4 and waiting for me to finish hemming the Ranger's cloak he was hoping for. He got it, I just have to finish it. But that is a post and a chore for another day!

Celebrate!

Eleven years ago today, Husband and I celebrated Pro-Life Day by laboring to bring to our first born son into this world. This day is a special one in our family. Husband grew up celebrating today as his mom's birthday. (The Professor always reminds us that it's Grandma's birthday too so I really have no excuse for not getting to the post office in time!) When Husband was in college, he had the opportunity to participate in a March for Life and knows what those brave people are enduring. Our hearts are with them. But while others are fasting and praying and marching today... we will be celebrating life!

I'm still here!

Thanks to everyone for your concern. I am still here and hoping to be completely on the mend soon. I went to the doctor today and the good news is that my lungs are clear. After having pneumonia in college, I get nervous when a chest cold goes on for too long and I was worried that this one had reached that point. The bad news is that I have to take more medicine (insert pout here) which I don't like to take but I will if it means that I get to enjoy celebrating The Professor's birthday tomorrow! More on that later. For now, I am off to try to take a nap. Doctor's orders!

A Bed with a View

"Can we get Mommy some flowers?"

Sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy-head, without fever so I guess I don't need NyQuil, but the flowers did help! I have to get back up on my feet. We have a birthday coming up this week! Could someone please inform the gunk in my head?

Ricardo Montalban RIP

Nov. 25, 1920 - Jan. 14, 2009

In 1944, Montalban married Georgiana Young, actress and model and younger sister of actress Loretta Young. Both Roman Catholics, they remained one of Hollywood's most devoted couples.

Hi there!

How was your weekend? It was pretty exciting around our parts and elsewhere.

My fiery SIL Red had a scare that sent all of us to our knees and into action. On the plus side, I got to spend some time with my sweet nieces which included going to Church and getting to meet a friend I hadn't ever met before. Andrea and her husband were in town visiting family, raising funds and bringing awareness to the FOCUS ministry.

Dawn's husband planned the most wonderful surprise to celebrate her 40th birthday. He says that he is so lucky to have her in his life and I think we are lucky that he isn't a selfish man! Thanks for sharing your family with us, Mr. Sun-and-Candlelight! What a beautiful gift it is to the blogosphere.

Michelle apparently thinks that they have no sinks, or dishes, or laundry baskets, or peanut butter in Australia. Yeah. I can't think of anything a spirited little lass like Mary could get into on an island surrounded by sand and water. Maybe she thinks it would be easier to just dunk her in the ocean for a rinse off instead of her preferred splashing in the potty?

And Jennifer created a pattern for the perfect hat. And knowing how cute her little guy is, I can just imagine how cute he looks in that gorgeous hat! Now, If I could just learn to translate from knit to crochet. I'm not bilingual.

And now I am off to convince myself for the twelve thousandth time today that it really is Tuesday and not Friday like my brain wants to believe. Don't you hate it when that happens?

Daddy Time

My husband has always enjoyed bath time. (Yes, I wrote that sentence just to make him blush!) The kids' bath time, that is. He has been Chief Baby Washer since the time The Professor was in diapers. (I wrote that just to make The Professor blush!) Well, now that we have three who can take care of cleaning themselves that only leaves Husband with one to supervise. BigBoy came out of the bathroom last night singing the new ditty Daddy made up for him (probably to distract him from his evil nemesis "Shampoo"):

I had three monkeys for lunch...
I had three monkeys for lunch...
I had three monkeys for lunch...

And we all had banana milkshakes!

He delighted in the queasy looks on the faces of his older siblings while singing the first three lines and then chuckled out the punchline to their relief and amusement. So today, my morning has been filled with answering questions like:

What kind of milkshake would dogs like? (Milk bone milkshakes, of course!)

Can we sing about cats since BigBoy loves cats and doesn't like us to say bad things about cats? (Sure, as long as you all have tuna fish milkshakes.)

Elephants like peanuts, right? (Yes, but peanut butter works better with the rhythm of the song.)

Thank you, God, for the gift of Daddies!

Tips for the New Year

If you are like me, you are always looking for little gems, tips, hints, helpful pieces of advice that make the difficult parts of your life more manageable. But, if you really ARE like me, you can also over think yourself into a corner looking for the perfect method or just the right way to tackle that challenge heading your way whether it is a fast moving schedule or a 2 ton line of dirty clothes.

Dawn is working on a new system of notebooks for seasonal planning. I am intrigued! One part of my brain wanted to rush right out and tried to replicate her system immediately. The rational side is going to sit back and see how she makes it work for her family and think about how it might work for mine. I might take some small little notebooks on a test drive before jumping into the project full steam.

With the start of a new year, some people are searching for a way to do things better and some people are sharing their own methods and insights gleaned from their own personal experience. Places like A Servant's Heart can be a great source of information and inspiration, just don't let your brain ruin it for you!

Not all of Gretchen's ideas or anyone else's ideas will work for your family or for mine and the trick is to figure out what you can apply before your brain shuts down and leaves you pouting on the bench (can you tell we have been watching a lot of football around here!) For example: I read her line about everyone over the age of 12 doing their own laundry and chuckled thinking about The Professor making plans for turning 11 in a few weeks. Whoops. So should that mean that Husband and I are the only ones licensed to operate a washing machine? Well, no. In our house, while the children are not responsible for doing their own laundry from start to finish, they are responsible for sorting, sometimes folding, and putting away. We also have a front loader which means that they can start a load all on their own and switch the loads when asked. That works for us, but may not be possible if you have a top loader.

I totally agree with her about toy boxes now, but there have been times in our life when a toy box was the best solution. When I had three under three and our life hadn't yet succumbed to the tiny toy brigade that seems to creep in as children get older, a large toy box worked to contain the things they played with on a regular basis but wasn't so cluttered that they had to dump and search to find them.

Most of the kitchen gurus out there will tell you that stocking your kitchen and pantry with food that has been well thought out and planned is a beautiful thing. I have been using a two week rotational meal plan for a while and have enjoyed the order it has brought to my kitchen and shopping routines, but all the illness going around here has taught me that some flexibility is very necessary. A surprise trip to the doctor's office at 4pm followed by that time wasting conspiracy known as rush hour traffic means that the chicken that should have been seasoned and roasted at 4:30 to be on the dinner table by 6pm just isn't going to happen. Had I foreseen that my day would end with fluorescent lights, stethoscopes and oxygenation monitors, I would have popped it in the crock pot in the morning; but I didn't.

So, when this time of year rolls around, and you feel the urge to give your routine/house/classroom an overhaul, enjoy the stories and advice, the glimpses into someone else's life and the successes they are enjoying by figuring out what works best for them. If you feel inspired to try to incorporate them into your life, give it a the old college try but remember that while we are all made in the image and likeness of God, He isn't using a factory of mass production.

Bathtime Songs from a Feverish Little Boy

Five little pumpkins sitting in the water. The first one says, "Blub blurb blub blub blurb blub."

First a stomach flu, now a cold. Life is grand here in the House of Plague! Be back later when this thing is finished with us!

Most Holy Name of Jesus

To celebrate the Most Holy Name of Jesus tomorrow and since January is the month of the Holy Name, I made a few coloring pages. The first comes from this image on the left which I think was from a picture taken in a cemetery. The other came from a stained glass window, which I can't find online now. It was similar to this picture here.

Most Holy Name (simple)

Most Holy Name (window)

Bookstore Find

We continued our traditional New Year's Eve trip to the bookstore although we only came back with one calendar this time instead of one for everybody which is a good thing. Shortcake picked up a few more dog themed easy readers, Sunshine grabbed two American Girl Mysteries and The Professor chose some classics.

Of course, I had to peruse the Christmas book table (50% off!) and I have to tell you about the sweetest little book I found there. Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons is a darling little book written by Amy Krause Rosenthal and illustrated by Jane Dyer. This book is like a little dictionary of values and lessons demonstrated in the course of making Christmas cookies.

CHARITABLE means setting a big batch aside to give to people who maybe don't have any cookies at all....FRUSTRATED means, I can't believe we burned them again!

My favorite...

PEACE means no one is worried about anyone else's cookie... in this moment we are all quietly content with the cookies we have.

A simple little book with charming illustrations that I just had to share with you all. Happy Holy Day to you all and blessings for a beautiful New Year!