G Week

* The focus of our journey down the Alphabet Path is on helping BigBoy develop better fine motor skills. He has enjoyed the helpfulness of his older siblings a little too much for a little too long!

G is still for Greyhounds ...

and...

Ghost Cookies

If we have any left over they might also be Holy Soul cookies for H week!

(Most of you who have been reading these little snippets of my life probably know that we don't celebrate Halloween as a secular or cultural holiday but simply as the eve of All Saints for lots of different reasons but one of them includes my kids' complete aversion to anything spooky. Well, the girls were playing on the Webkinz website the other day and when the little ghost character came on the screen, BigBoy freaked out. He was really upset. So I came up with this idea to fit in with G week. We made ghost cookies together. I dipped the Nutter Butters in melted white chocolate and BigBoy put on the Mini M&M eyes.
Then we devoured them!
Yup. Teaching my kids to battle their fears one delicious treat at a time!)

Gumdrop Garden Cake

(We didn't have any gummy worms, so we made a gumdrop caterpillar with a jelly bean hat. We also ended up using pirouette cookies instead of madeleines.)

Green Beans

BigBoy declared that his hands were going to be really tired after G week!

Goober Pea Butter
(homemade peanut butter)
This was Husband's idea. I think he just likes saying "Goober Peas".

Sitting by the roadside on a summer's day
Chatting with my mess-mates, passing time away
Lying in the shadows underneath the trees
Goodness, how delicious, eating goober peas.

Recipe: 2 Tbl. oil & 1/2 tsp. salt per 1 C. peanuts; then process...
...and process...

...and process...

...and process some more.
Then...
...enjoy!

Happy All Hallows Eve to you all. Everybody stay safe and have fun!

Amen, sister (in-law)!

A must read.

A Costume for St. Dwynwen

St. Who? Oh, I wouldn't expect you to know who this patron saint of sick animals is unless you are Welsh or as much in love with all God's creatures (except snakes and spiders) as my little Shortcake. So when she asked to be St. Dwynwen for our All Saints Party, I said, "Um... hang on a minute!" What in the world does St. Dwynwen look like? Well, like this:

...or a close approximation. Honey, wouldn't you just want to dress up like a vet? They would fall under her patronage? Nope.

So here is our approximation...
She cracked me up with this face when I said, "Now give me big eyes!"
I promised her I would post a smiling shot.

I used that awesome Jedi robe tutorial to make her robe and then painted on the detail. I used a real ribbon for her belt and some green and blue cotton to make a simple veil/shawl. The braids (which are kind of hidden) are made out of yarn and are taped and sewn onto a piece of ribbon. The cross was printed from the internet onto card stock and hung on a ribbon which is a cheap and easy way to make any kind of prop like St. Therese's crucifix, or St. Josephine's necklace. I added a popsicle stick to the back to give it some weight and strung it on a ribbon. The church is just a plain birdhouse we found at Hobby Lobby and painted as best we could to look like the picture. We painted the backside so that the hole and perch wouldn't get in our way.

You can find out more about St. Dwynwen here.

Oreo Cows

This is especially for all of my Scottish friends out there!

These Belted Galloways live nearby and we love looking for them whenever we are out and about. These little rural pockets are one of the things I love about our area. We count the horses at the horse farm on the way to swim lessons and look for the herd of miniature donkeys on our way to the craft store. We used to have a zebra down the road from us and if you look in the right places you can find some bison being guarded by a camel!

Rejoice with us...

...over the addition of a new cousin to the family! My brother-in-law just called to announce the arrival of his son. The kids are bouncing up and down excited and we just had to share our joy!

St. Thomas a Becket, pray for him!

Costume Sneak Peak

Pssst........Girls cousins, please look away! BigBoy wants his costume to be a surprise!







BigBoy wanted to be St. Blaise at our All Hallows Eve Party this year and since he is most familiar with this picture, it's the one we decided to try to duplicate. Personally, I have always found it more effective to try to imitate a particular picture of a saint rather than just using symbols of saints. I think the child comes away feeling like they really do look like the saint, but you also have to work with the skills God gave you and the amount of time and effort you have budgeted.

BTW... this is not an angry 5 year old boy face who doesn't want his picture taken. This is an "I'm Saint Blaise, God's fierce warrior who defeated the Devil and made it to Heaven" face. From the mouths of babes... : )

The miter is made with craft foam and glitter paint. I have learned not to bother using the special craft foam glue that takes 12-24 hours to completely bond. Who has that kind of time? I use hot glue or rubber cement. The rubber cement will take longer than the hot glue (and it tends to make the pieces curl so clamp them or place them under a heavy book if you can) but it is still considerably faster than the craft foam glue. I also made the beard out of foam and cotton balls, but BigBoy has decided that it's too tickly and he probably won't wear it for the party.

The white robe was made using these instructions. I can't even count how many times this tutorial has come to the rescue. I have used it for everyone from Mother Teresa to St. Francis of Assisi over the past years. Thanks for being a geek, Mr. Steve!

We repurposed St. Thomas More's Tudor Rose and used it as a broach on the cloak (which I just pinned on BigBoy's shoulders and cut to the shape I wanted it around the back). The candles are two real beeswax candles that I ordered to use for the month of the Holy Souls. They smell like honey!

OK, I better get back to the sewing machine. St. Dwynwen needs a veil!

G is for...

our new Greyhound!
We take the Alphabet Path seriously around here!

My dog has tattoos and used to spend all her time at the race track. How Redneck does that make me? : )

OK, so actually, this is the conclusion to an adventure that began back in September. Do you remember our search to find the right dog for our family? Well, in talking to BigBoy, it's not the size of a dog that matters to him, it's the wildness factor. He kept telling us he doesn't like "wild dogs". So, a friend turned us onto Greyhounds. Her daughter has an irrational fear of dogs too but she tolerates and even enjoys the Greyhound that a friend of hers owns. We started researching the breed and found out that they are very docile creatures. They have been described as "lazy" and "couch potatoes" which you wouldn't expect from dogs that are bred primarily as racing dogs. Ex-racers especially make very nice family pets because they are already house trained, crate trained and leash trained.

Husband took the kids to a Greyhound meet and greet in our area while I was out of town (but with full knowledge and consent on my part) and they were hooked. BeeGee came for a visit last month and we made the decision to rescue her at the beginning of October but had them hold her for us until all the noisy bathroom renovation was completed. She moved in yesterday, the kick off to G week, much to the delight of my little St. Francis (Shortcake) who was breathing down the contractor's neck praying for him to finish quickly. She is planning on a puppy themed birthday next month. I wonder why? : )

How do I feel about his new addition to the family? I will be honest. I wasn't totally thrilled about the idea. I got my fill of dogs and cats growing up and I loved every minute of it (well, maybe not the minute that one of my cats hanged itself). As a grown up, I have never felt the strong desire to own a pet, even when we used to own a dog a few years ago. He was pretty much Husband's responsibility. I was taking care of babies. But I wouldn't have had that opportunity as a child if my parents hadn't so generously allowed me (including bringing home a stray cat named Idgie from my first year at college and keeping it for me when I returned the next semester). So, even though I know it is a sacrifice on my part to put up with the mess and extra responsibility that a large indoor dog brings, I want to be as generous with my kids as my parents were with me in this area. And she is very sweet!

For the stats: her name is BeeGee, she is classified as a red but is fawn colored and she is 7 years old. She really does have tattoos in her ears identifying her breeder and litter information. She used to race down in South Texas and actually won once which the kids think is really cool. BigBoy is still a little nervous when she decides to explore the house, but he was petting her on the floor last night and giving her kisses before bed so I think he'll be fine.

St. John Vianney Coloring Page

In honor of Priesthood Sunday tomorrow!

I know some of you are saying, "Well, it's about time!" : ) and I wholeheartedly agree! Can I tell you though that I have been working on this coloring page since before the Year for Priests began and I'm still not happy with it? I'm not fishing for compliments or anything, I just think the Cure of Ars is not that easy to capture. In fact, Husband tells me that according to a biography he read, the Cure never wanted his portrait painted and artists would try to catch him on the sly to draw his likeness. Maybe that's why I'm not really satisfied with this page. Such a beautiful soul! Anyway, here he is and I hope your kiddos enjoy coloring him!

St. John Mary Vianney Coloring Page


HT: Mary G.

F Week

Fall Leaves on the Window

Fingerprint F's and Fall Leaf Stamps

Lots of fingerprint art going on around here inspired by this story about the discovery of a new DaVinci painting. HT: Jennifer

Finger Painting

I made finger paint using this recipe. The colors aren't as vibrant as store bought, but I could pronounce all of the ingredients and it was super easy to clean up.

I painted this tree on an extra piece of drywall in the garage and then BigBoy went to town.

Edible Fall Leaves

And regarding finished bathrooms...I'd rather not talk about it.
Silly me! I forgot that we also made Fall Leaf Pumpkin Muffins using this pan (I paid less locally). They were kind of a disappointment. I think the muffin recipe I used was too spongy and the texture of the leaf didn't come through. I ended up carving in the veins using a toothpick after the glaze had set.