Waltzing Matilda

Pinning It Down {4} Baby Book of Colors

2012-01-31T09:00:00.000-06:00

I didn't think I'd get this one finished in time for this week's link-up, but a baby who took a super long nap, then stayed up way too late plus a patient husband who loves playing with silly-happy-I'm-not-tired-babies all worked together to help me make this happen.

I have been itching to make something for Cupcake lately. You crafty types know what I'm talking about. It's almost compulsive! Well, since I don't have the yarn I need for a blanket I have in mind, I turned my attention to this beautiful soft book of colors, because fabric scraps I have plenty of!

I was woefully lacking in oranges and yellows (guess they're not exactly my favorite colors) so rather than a rainbow theme like Baby Finn's book in the tutorial, I made just a book of colors and called it....

One thing I did different--- when you are ready to stitch the batting to the layered squares in step 6, I didn't just stitch the top, right side and bottom. I also stitched the corners on the left side, just about an inch each, so that there was still an open space to turn it inside out but the corners were already done.

As you can see, she really likes it! She's already read it, touched it, and chewed on it which is the equivalent of 2 thumbs up in baby speak.

Her sisters had a ball with remembering where all the little scraps of color came from.

A quiltie for a cousin, an Easter dress sash, a nightie gown, even a pair of pajama bottoms are in there.

Sleepy tired serious faced baby!

I used some adorable cupcake fabric that my SIL decorated her table with for Cupcake's baby shower for the cover. I have never made a quilt square before. Maybe a crazy quilt square wasn't the smartest one to start off with but I think I got the hang of it after a awhile. You'll notice that some pages are less crazy than others. Other than that, it was fairly easy.

Hey... speaking of stitching and fabric... did you sign up for the giveaway in the post below?

Bandana Blankets :: a tutorial and a giveaway!!!

2012-01-30T07:32:00.003-06:00

Please, whatever you do, please, please, pleeeeeease... don't sew like I do! I learned to sew in the back of a very tiny little theater, this tiny little theater in fact, by a technical director who was a magician with a sewing machine but lived by that old theater adage that things only needed to last 7 nights and only look good in the dark. I hope that what I lack in technique I make up for in enthusiasm!

So, here is a tutorial on how to make a bandana blanket and anyone who reads the whole thing, or just skips down to the combox at the end and leaves a comment will be entered in a little giveaway!

Step One: Prepare your fabric.

Choose your backing fabric and your coordinating bandanas. They can be different colors or all the same color. It's up to you. I like to make a 2x2 blanket for babies and a 2x3 for toddlers and little kids. So that means 4 bandanas for a baby blanket or 6 for a toddler blanket. You'll need 1 1/2 - 2 yds. of fabric for the back and batting for the middle. You can purchase batting off a bolt or just pick up a package of crib size batting. It's the perfect size for these blankets but buying it off the bolt is sometimes cheaper. Make sure your fabric is all cotton because really, it's the best! (I have used both cotton and poly batting, it usually depends on what I can find and afford.)

Machine wash and dry your bandanas and your fabric. Then you will want to iron everything except the batting of course. Well, you may not WANT to, but you need to. You'll thank me later.

Step Two: Sew the bandanas in pairs.

Here's the funny thing about bandanas. They are not always perfectly square and sometimes the borders are not perfectly even. Most of them are a smidge rectangular. So, you're going to want to hold two (different colors if you are using different colors) up to a window or a light and try to match up the printed designs, not the corners of the bandana. Also, they may not look like they have right sides, but most bandanas do so make sure you've got your right sides together.

It's weird, I know but it makes the blanket lie much smoother in the long run. It doesn't have to be perfect, just eyeball it!

Chances are, your corners and edges will not match up. It's OK. You're gonna cut those off anyway.... not now, but later.

Pin one side.

Stitch it.

Use the pattern as your guide for your seam allowance. I eyeball it to about an inch from the edge of the printed design.

Trim it.

I like to use pinking shears.

Iron it.

Open or flat to one side, makes no difference.

Repeat for remaining two or four bandanas. You don't need to be concerned yet about which side which color is on. Just get them sewed in pairs on one side.

Step three: Sew the bandanas all together.
Here is where color placement becomes an issue if you've got multicolored bandanas. With right sides together, you want opposite colors facing each other. Line them up according to the center seam, ignoring the edging and use the see-through technique or fold up the top one to get them straight across again.

Then, pin it, stitch it, trim it and iron it again. Just that one side.

So that when you open it, it looks like this:

And when you flip it over, it looks like this:

Don't worry if your seams don't match up exactly. Mine don't... bet you'd never notice in the dark!

If you are making a larger quilt, do this step all over again for your third set of bandanas and it should look like this:

Step Four: Sewing it all together
Here is how I like to layer it. Find yourself a large space on the floor or at a table and spread out your batting nice and smooth. Then place your backing fabric, right side up on top of the batting. It will lay out nice and smooth because you ironed it! You're welcome. Finally, place your bandana topper, right side down, on top of the backing fabric. Should look like this:

Pin it all the way around leaving an opening big enough for your hand to fit through on one end.

I like to mark my opening with double pins so I don't accidentally stitch it closed.

Trim it...

...especially the corners.

Flip it inside out. Don't forget to poke out the corners.

Step Five: Finishing it.

Once you make sure the corners are nice and pointy, turn the opening inside itself and iron it flat.

Use a blind hem stitch to stitch it closed. You can probably find a YouTube video showing you how if you don't know. It looks like this:

And now... you are done!

Don't fret if it's not perfectly even or even straight. In my experience it usually looks like this...

...so no one will even notice. Plus, it'll be dark.

These blankets machine wash and dry beautifully. The more you use them, the softer they get!

Hello?

Is anyone still there?

And now for the giveaway!

Leave me a comment or send me an email and tell me about your favorite blanket (it can be one that you loved or one that your kids love) and I will select a winner who will receive the bandana blanket featured in this tutorial!

That's right.

The very one you saw me put together here!

One lucky person will get to own it, mismatched seams and all. :-)

I'm leaving this giveaway open until Thursday and will announce a winner on Friday. Feel free to spread the word and share the chance to win! Anyone can enter, you don't even have to have a baby right now. Please make sure you leave me an email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

After Miscarriage by Karen Edmisten

2012-01-27T17:51:00.011-06:00

I haven't read the whole thing because it just arrived this afternoon, but I did take a picture! The snippets that I've read as I flipped here and there are truly lovely and inspiring. I cannot tell you what a special joy it is to be able to read these words, the words of so many wise, beautiful people who know that wrenching pain of loss and suffering, while snuggling my own little bit of hope and healing.

Nothing erases the loss of a child from your heart. But as Colleen recently wrote, "I hold in my heart the greatest of all consolations, the hope of heaven. For I realize, that even when my body is well past the age of bearing babies, even if I should live until I am 100, always, I will be an expectant mother, until the day I hold my babies for eternity." It's so true and it's what women of faith cling to. Karen knows this and it shows in every touching moment of the personal grief that she shares.

You might recognize the words in one small section of Karen's book and if they offer you any amount of comfort then I thank the Divine Comforter for inspiring them and allowing me to share them with you. And I thank Karen for finding them worthy of inclusion in her work of the heart. Thank you, Karen!

Robins!

2012-01-27T10:25:00.000-06:00

“Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off and they are nearly always doing it.” ~ The Secret Garden

Our neighborhood had the privilege of hosting a flock of robins the other day. Four of the tallest trees surrounding our house were covered in robins! I recorded a little of their chattering! Ignore the lack of film skills and just listen to them talk.

“To speak robin to a robin is like speaking French to a Frenchman” ~ The Secret Garden

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2012-01-26T10:35:00.001-06:00

subtitled: The Sister Edition

{pretty}

A pretty new sweater hand knit by her loving sister! She plans to grow into it soon.

{happy}

Shortcake was so happy to finally get to rock her little sister to sleep!

{funny}
Girls just wanna have fun!

Blond or brunette? What do you think?

Mommy... the big girls are accessorizing me again!

{real}

Ignore the mess behind the cute baby face...

Ignore the mess behind the cute baby face!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Baby Day!

2012-01-26T09:28:00.000-06:00

For Patty and possibly for Amy too!

Prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of support are on their way ladies!

Baby Boy Bandana Blankets

2012-01-25T07:28:00.000-06:00

I wanted to show you some blankets I've made recently for some super special baby boys. I was mentioning to Jessica that I think I've made more quilties for little boys than little girls and I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that my boys were much more attached to their blankets than my girls were. Maybe.

Anyway, these are the bandana blankets I made for our sweet little bud of a godson. It's cold where he lives and sending these blankets was as close as I could get to giving him a nice warm snuggle!

A ~~pretty~~ manly blue and black.
And...

... a cowboy themed blanket from Texas, of course.

This next quiltie was for a special little boy, almost as little as my own sweet Cupcake when he was born. Now for those of you who read both Jessica's and my blog, you might remember the beautiful online baby shower Jessica hosted for us. Miss Jamie Jo's family won the cupcake contest when my girls picked their adorable ducky cupcakes as their favorites. Well, I took Sunshine with me to the craft store when I went shopping for fabric and I told her who we were making the blanket for. She thought it would be great if we could find some ducky fabric. I told her that was a sweet idea but knowing that most baby ducky fabric is usually pastel and babyish and not what I had in mind for a quiltie I told her not to get her hopes up. When we found this fabric, we both knew it was meant to be! We even found blue and green bandanas to match the blue and green of the umbrellas! I love it! So cute and not babyish at all.

Don't get me wrong, I like making quilties for babies, I just don't like them to be the typical pastel, babyish design. You know, alphabet blocks and teddy bears and the like. I like cute and spunky, fun and funky, or even sometimes a little elegant if that suits the mama. Does that make sense? I hope so. I'm a little sleep deprived right now.

Look how cute they are! All those little duckies!

Cupcake is a bit enamored with the leftover ducky fabric. She might need a cute little spring outfit with them on it or something!

Pinning It Down {3}: Tin Bins

2012-01-24T14:22:00.001-06:00

Click to see more!

Easy peasy organizing going on today. Altoid tin organizing bins! Just the perfect size for a label and holding some doodads in the junk drawer. (Oh good grief. First, I showed you my garage, now my junk drawer. What is wrong with me?)

Altoids are medicinal around here especially during allergy season, which in Texas lasts from January to November. Nothing induces a couple of cleansing sneezes like chewing an Altoid. Unfortunately, I had tossed a big pile of these helpful bins before I saw this great idea. So, I took the few I had and started using them. I don't have a label maker so I just printed these on the computer and secured them with clear packing tape. I hope to add more later.

Bye now!

A Birthday in Review

2012-01-23T11:30:00.001-06:00

The Professor had a great day yesterday even though it was decidedly more low key than years past. We can do simple. As I mentioned, he didn't want a themed party but Sean and I still wanted to decorate something special for him, so we pulled out of the party box anything that reminded him of one of his past birthdays. A Lord of The Rings banner, Lego minifigs, a Cars tablecloth that had gone unused, a NASCAR Racers display and the Ranger's Apprentice centerpiece I made for him. (Yes, I have an under-the-bed sized party box of past decorations that I save, but I try to limit it to only those things that will store flat.)

He was surprised. I think I've been inspired to put together a little book for him of his birthday celebrations, I just need to scan in the non-digital pictures.

He received some fun presents from us and relatives. He absolutely loved Civilization IV ( for Mac)! Sean teased him that his Homeschool Heartthrob quotient increased by a factor of ten when he celebrated loudly, "Yes! I got a Christian Missionary!! Whoo hoo!"

His other big surprise... a calendar featuring the fabulous artwork of Mr. Dan Phelps at LEGO a Day!

He also was surprised by and ultimately loved this LEGO® Architecture Brandenburg Gate. Something he was reading inspired a conversation not long ago about the Brandenburg Gate and we spent some time looking at the pictures I took when I was in Berlin. He thought it was cool that I had been right there at this foreign place he had just read about.

The Brandenburg Gate

Me and some fellow travelers... technically, across the street from the Brandenburg Gate, I think.

And when he finally cracked into the set, he said it was the coolest set he'd ever put together! High praise indeed!

Minifigure Me

The dessert? Eh. It was OK. It tasted good, but the edges really stuck and it didn't come out of the springform pan I baked it in very easily so it wasn't really that pretty. Like he cared! I know, but I did. Here are some pictures proving that it's all in the perspective...

Not too bad edge...

Earthquake!!!

Fourteen

2012-01-22T06:21:00.001-06:00

Prior to Cupcake's arrival, he was our littlest baby.

And now he's the biggest...

Biggest appetite, biggest feet (taller than all of us including his dad), and my biggest helper!

Somedays, I wish I could turn you back into that cute little boy with the cock-eyed smile who loved to sit on my lap and say "Read it again!" but then I wouldn't have you here... you who I trust, who I depend on, and who still loves to read everything again and again and again.

You are an amazing young man.

Happy Birthday, Professor!

For anyone wondering, he decided that he wasn't really interested in a theme this year. (Sniff sniff.) He went to the LEGO store yesterday, is going to get a birthday blessing today, wants to eat ribs for dinner and finish the day off with a Pecan Pie Cake. I'll let you know how that turns out!

{p,h,f,r}

2012-01-19T11:30:00.000-06:00

{pretty}

See my pretty mama and her pretty grandkids? She came for a visit last weekend.

{happy}

So happy to have such helpful big kids!

{funny}

BigBoy was playing with Cupcake and her Twilight Ladybug.

{real}

Real cute!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

First Communion Cake Link-up

2012-01-18T11:40:00.001-06:00

Over at Catholic Cuisine! There is also a Baptism Cake Link-up. Won't you join us?

I am posting these old pictures from The Professor's First Holy Communion and Sunshine's too so that I can join Jessica's link-up. The Professor received his First Holy Communion back before I started blogging and Sunshine's cake is buried deep in a post somewhere. If I find it later, I'll link to it.

The Professor knew he wanted a chocolate chocolate cake!

He even drew out the little design in the middle to show me exactly what he wanted.

This is a Costco cake. I had them leave the center empty so that I could transfer his design to it myself. I thought there should have been some writing but he was pretty adamant he wanted it plain. When he was younger, he sometimes had trouble making decisions. Since he was so certain about what he wanted, I gladly set aside my personal tastes and preferences to honor his.

Sunshine's First Holy Communion happened the day after the Back-to-Back Birthday Extravaganza for that year. I remember being very tired! Here's that post I was looking for. This cake came from our local Tom Thumb bakery. I picked it out for her since she didn't have any preference other than "pink". She loved it. It came with the little girl figurine you see on the left but I asked them not to put it on the cake.

(I have no picture of Shortcake's cake because her cake was a group cake celebrating her older siblings' and cousins' Confirmation. She did get a nice dinner out with her godparents and a special dessert.)

Pinning It Down {2}: Ribbon Organization

2012-01-17T10:22:00.003-06:00

Click the button to see more!

I hadn't planned on participating every week in Sarah and Pam's link-up, just a few here and there when I could manage it, but it has been so motivationally inspiring that I just couldn't help myself. Plus this was an easy one (and I actually accomplished it a few weeks ago...shhhhh!).

I was excited by so many common sense ideas in this post that I pinned the whole thing and will probably come back to it multiple times. The wrapping paper on the ceiling idea got me thinking and looking for clever ways to store my ribbon rolls which led me to this post which got me so fired up that I jumped up to go do it without pinning it first (so I did that just now). Tee hee!

Well, combining the two ideas, here is my Pinning It Down offering for this week. It's a weird angle, I know. Imagine you have just opened the door to my garage and then looked up:

One rod for curling ribbon and one for fabric ribbon.

OK... I cannot believe I just showed you a picture of my garage ceiling. Well, it's the little entryway into the garage, but still, it's in the garage! But that's where my craft closet is and that's where it will have to stay as long as the rooms are full of little people (and not so little people). I can live with that! :)

OH... I used two tension rods that I had sitting in my closet. One of them was thicker so I put the curling ribbon on it and one was thinner but it was still too thick for some of the really tiny ribbon rolls. We found (the girls helped me) that if you cut slits in the holes of the cardboard ends of the ribbon rolls, you could push those flaps in and make the hole big enough to slide onto the tension rod. Just FYI!

Is that you, Jiminy?

2012-01-15T14:26:00.002-06:00

Well I feel like I need to post something to silence the crickets that last blog post attracted. I thought for sure there was a science lover out there who would get excited by it, but alas no. And no one on FB either! Hah! The Professor was jazzed, let me tell you! Having heard Br. Guy's talk has really opened his mind to the study of science as an exploration of faith; getting to know the Creator by investigating what He created.

Maybe everyone was still in a Downton Abbey stupor. There is a new episode on tonight but I probably won't get to see it until it's online so no spoilers, please!

Or maybe everyone was out enjoying the unusually mild winter. Our temperatures keep bouncing up and down like Cupcake in her Jumperoo. It's kind of crazy after the Summer of Never Ending Misery. We got so used to it being hot all day every day and now we have to check the thermometer before getting dressed for the day and check it again before choosing pajamas at night.

And speaking of Jiminy... have you been watching Once Upon a Time? Ooooh. It's so good! Usually I "discover" shows two or three years after they've been off the air. I am so glad I happened upon this one from the start. It's made late night nursings much more enjoyable!

Well, that's all I have for now. I've been busy taking care of Cupcake, wishing I could be in Oregon and tweaking our second semester coursework. OH!!! Have you heard about Homeschool Connections' Free Refresh! Midwinter Virtual Conference? What an awesome idea! This is about the time of year I need a little energy transfusion. Check out the stellar Catholic speakers they have lined up!

And look at this list of celebrity parents who choose to homeschool their children when they could choose any other educational opportunity in the world. Kinda cool. Think they'd enjoy a webinar?

Gratuitous baby shot:

The biggest and the littlest

Google Doodle alert!

2012-01-11T11:08:00.002-06:00

Honoring Nicolas Steno's 374th birthday today... he's also known as Blessed Nicolaus Steno, Danish anatomist, geologist, convert and saintly bishop!

There is no mention of his faith in this article, but it's an interesting read anyway:
How Nicolas Steno changed the way we see the world, literally!

Pinning It Down {1}

2012-01-10T06:58:00.005-06:00

I have been trying to love Pinterest, really I have but I just couldn't do it. I didn't understand why. I am a very visual person. It's a totally visual medium. Should be a match made in Heaven. I saw so many of my sweet friends loving it, making boards and pinning stuff left and right and here I was totally stressed out by it. "Oh well," I thought, "it's just not for me!"

Then Sarah came along and suddenly it made sense. The reason I couldn't get into it... if I don't think there is a darn good chance that I'm going to use it, reference it, make it or purchase it in a reasonable amount of time, then to me, "pinning it on a board" just becomes visual clutter and being a visual person, excessive visual clutter stresses me out. You might say, "But it's virtual visual clutter, not actual visual clutter," and you'd be in right in your mind... just not in mine. (No comments about me not being in my right mind!: ) I am sure most people don't have this weird hang up.

Anyway, when Sarah and Pam came up with "Pinning It Down" I thought... I can do this! I can pin things that I really do want to accomplish or plan to accomplish. The added goal of blogging it and participating in a linky is just bonus motivation! So here we go...

I figured... start with something easy. A recipe! Australian Crash Hot Potatoes. Here it is, on my Pinboard, and here it is in my kitchen!

BTW... they were so incredibly amazing that my oldest asked to add them to his birthday menu plans at the end of this month.

Yeah.

THAT good!

Our Lady of the Angels

2012-01-09T10:16:00.001-06:00

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." ~Isaiah 52:7

As Colleen and her family pack up and head out on their way to begin their mission work in Costa Rica, she is generously offering to carry our intentions with them and place them before the shrine of Our Lady of the Angels in Cartago, Costa Rica. Go leave her a note in the combox with yours. I can't offer anything so great in return except a promise that I will look at this beautiful statue of La Negrita, Virgin de los Angeles, every day and offer a Memorare for them and their work. This replica was a gift from Colleen's family in August of 2009, just a month before I made the hardest trip I've ever made to meet them in person and witness their tremendous faith in action during their most painful loss.

The original statue, though tiny and seemingly insignificant, no bigger than the one you see here, had a mighty job to do and she was determined to see it done. Every time she was taken in and offered shelter and comfort in a home or parish church, she miraculously returned to the street, the footpath where she was originally found lying in the dirt amongst the poor. This likeness sits right above my kitchen sink and she will be my constant reminder to pray for the work of this courageous family who has chosen to give up the comfortable and familiar to embrace the poor and bring to them friendship in Christ and an example of His divine love.

God's speed, sweet friends, and may the angels and their little Queen protect you on your journey!

Sad Update: Colleen's little one has gone home to the Father. Please pray for them. I wish Colleen's words could be read by every mother who has ever lost a child...

But I hold in my heart the greatest of all consolations, the hope of heaven. For I realize, that even when my body is well past the age of bearing babies, even if I should live until I am 100, always, I will be an expectant mother, until the day I hold my babies for eternity.

An Epiphany Tart

2012-01-06T17:01:00.002-06:00

Thanks to the recommendation of my SIL, we have been enjoying a family read aloud called The Thirteen Days of Christmas.The children have found it entertaining and informative. The antics of the young man pursuing his true love are entertaining, but the insight into English traditions during the 12 days of Christmas have made us more than a little curious on more than one occasion... Churching Day, Adam's Day, Dancing Day and so on.

Allowing ourselves to indulge in a little Anglophilia, we were curious what the English traditions for celebrating Epiphany were. We are saving that last chapter for tonight! What we discovered was a spiced cake similar to a fruit cake which nobody was really keen on. Now, Jessica's rum cake looks divine! I could go for that! But not fruit cake. Sorry friends across the pond!

So we were pleasantly surprised when our research turned up this bit of tradition we'd never heard of but seemed simple enough... an Epiphany Tart!

I posted the recipe I used over at Catholic Cuisine, but you could also just use your favorite pie crust or shortbread recipe.

Dorothy Hartley, in her wonderful 'Food in England' describes the various designs of jam tart made (very competitively, especially for Church social events) by English housewives proud of their pastry-making skills. Skill was demonstrated by the number of different coloured jams that could be fitted between the spaces of the lattice top. One star-shaped design was called "Epiphany Tart" if it was made for this day. Done well, it must have looked like a stained-glass window. Use your favourite pastry recipe or brand, and find 13 different coloured jams, and you have it. ~The Old Foodie blog

We did not have 13 different jams, but we managed to get 6. I couldn't convince the kids to go for Tart Cherry or we would have had 7! Amaretto Peach Pecan was as crazy as they would get! It looks so pretty we almost don't want to eat it. If I can't figure out how to slice it, maybe we won't!

One last Christmas book...

2012-01-04T15:57:00.005-06:00

...that finally arrived today! For Cupcake!

What's this?

For me?

Don't worry Miss Adele, it's in sweet hands!

Christmas Books

2012-01-04T09:17:00.004-06:00

Some of you have asked me which books my kids are in to right now. It would take me too long to compile that ever changing list. But in the meantime, here is a list of the books we gave them for Christmas and the ones they picked out for themselves with a gift card my mom gave them.

The Professor

Name That Style: All About Isms in Art (Bob Raczka's Art Adventures) ~ by the same author as The Vermeer Interviews. He is studying art history this year and really likes both of these books.

Mystery of the Roman Ransom ~ a sequel to one of his favorite historical fictions, Detectives in Togas.

Patron Saints: Saints for Every Member of Your Family, Every Profession, Every Ailment, Every Emergency, and Even Every Amusement ~ Everyone has had fun picking up this book and finding a patron saint for something. Thanks Mary G. for the suggestion!

Archimedes and the Door of Science (Living History Library)

Galen and the Gateway to Medicine (Living History Library)

A Grain of Sand: Nature's Secret Wonder ~ A surprise hit! I remember seeing an article about this author and decided to get both of his books. I thought they were interesting but had no idea how much The Professor would like this one!

He picked:
LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia and a Golf Tips page a day calendar

Sunshine

Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music!

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street ~ a favorite we had to own!

Emma: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) ~ This is the Penguin Threads edition. You can read about the hand embroidered cover design here.

The People's Princess: A St. Katherine Drexel Story ~ new to us but it looks very nice series in the making.

Olivia's Gift ~ a lovely sequel to one of her favorites

She picked:
Pocket Posh Tips for Knitters and a calendar of Ireland

Shortcake

The Secret Garden: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) ~ another threads edition

A Bug's-Eye View of Flowers: The Micro Photography of Dr. Gary Greenberg ~ Just as interesting as Grains of Sand. Although it became a little joke when Husband said he was waiting for his copy of "A Bug's-Eye View of Cars".

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette

St. Elizabeth's Three Crowns: (Vision Books) ~ one of her very special name saints

The Song of Francis ~ Another favorite saint, this book might be a little young for her, but one I thought she would have fun sharing it with Cupcake when she is older.

She picked:
Cecile and Marie-Grace Just for Fun: The Make-it, Play-it, Solve-it Book of Fun! (American Girl) ~ she really enjoys these American Girl activity books and we are going to be doing a unit study based on these books this semester.

BigBoy

Saint Philip of the Joyous Heart: (Vision Books)

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

Zita the Spacegirl ~ the favorite by far. Everyone enjoyed reading this one!

Brother Bartholomew and the Apple Grove ~ very sweet!

Psalms for Young Children ~ beautiful artwork. Barbara mentioned this book awhile ago.

He picked:
Children's Ocean Life Encyclopedia ~ he has a fascination with sharks and whales.

Four months old today!

2012-01-02T20:58:00.004-06:00

I took these pictures at the exact minute she turned 4 months old.

Our little Cupcake is growing so fast! She is a delight to us all. She grabs things now with purpose (especially arm hair, says Sean) and plays on her play mat with excitement. She talks to us every chance she gets I just wish we knew what she was saying! She clicks and clucks her tongue in so many different ways like she's learning some sort of African Bush language. Maybe that's why we can't understand her. : ) She's working on scooting herself when she's on her tummy so I have no doubt she will be crawling in a few more months. Hard to believe she's as big as she is when she started out so small. But we like it!

Before this Christmas Season ends...

2012-01-02T07:31:00.003-06:00

Consider supporting the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word by purchasing a copy of their non-professional live audio recording of traditional Mananitas songs.

Every year, the Sister Servants celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe with an hour of singing to the Blessed Mother in the morning, a custom called Las Mananitas in Spanish.

They are offering a CD, a DVD or an MP3 download all for $5! Tuck it away and pull it out on the next Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe or better yet, start learning the words to the songs now so that you can sing along with the sisters to honor Our Blessed Mother on December 12, 2012!

And while you are over there, poke around the bookstore and see if anything else strikes your fancy! (Like their Christmas CD!)

P.S. I don't receive any compensation for advertising from the Sister Servants other than the graces obtained from the faithful prayers of a sweet SIL who has found in them the fulfillment of her vocation as a religious sister. But we'd get those even without a blog post!

You knew this was coming... right?

2012-01-01T11:12:00.001-06:00

What else am I supposed to do with an adorable baby in the house on New Years?

We never got around to playing that game...we are soooooo not late night people. I think we might play it today and on this solemnity contemplate in a small way those last recorded words of our Blessed Mother "Do whatever he tells you."(Jn. 2:5)

Happy Feast of Mary, the Mother of God!

Happy New Year's Eve!

2011-12-31T17:42:00.003-06:00

We've got a new game to try out and a movie to enjoy and lots of fun snacks to munch on while we wait to ring in the new year! The children have already emptied their book store gift cards at what has become our annual New Year's Eve book store bash. Thank you, Grammie! As soon as my hubby gets home from picking up a sweet friend at the airport, I will have all of my dearest loves tucked safe inside my home, just where I like them on a night like tonight.

Happy New Year to you all!

Cozy in Momma's Tummy!

2011-12-29T20:25:00.000-06:00

Go tell Jennifer congratulations on the new "little project" she's been working on!

Ham and Egg Cups

2011-12-28T20:54:00.001-06:00

Ham and Egg Cups

1 dozen eggs
24-36 pieces of thinly sliced ham (I like black forest ham best.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tins. Place two or three slices of ham in each cup spreading out to cover the whole cup. Gently press into cup. Crack one egg in each ham cup. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes. Less time for softer eggs, more time for firmer eggs. (My family prefers firmer eggs.)

My kids eat them just as they are. Husband and I like to toast English muffins and eat them as part of a breakfast sandwich. I have never tried to make them ahead but I think you can as an easy make ahead breakfast sandwich filling.

From the combox:
Kathy says "If you did want to freeze these, you would want to scramble the eggs and then bake, cool & freeze. Egg whites get rubbery upon reheating if the eggs are not mixed (scrambled)."

Christmas Morning

2011-12-28T04:55:00.002-06:00

Our tradition has always been that the children wake up early on Christmas Day, peek in their stockings to see if good old St. Nick returned and then get ready for morning Mass. It is such a quiet, uncrowded Mass. The monks at the Abbey who have already said Midnight Mass and celebrated the arrival of the Christ Child are allowed to sleep through their usual 6am call to morning prayer so they join in community to say them right before Mass. It is beautiful to get to hear their chanting as you arrive for Mass on such a special day.

Off to church!

After Mass, the priests are usually still a little sleepy (maybe even a little slaphappy) but very cheerful and happy to socialize. One of the older Hungarian priests told us he was without any hot tamales this year. He made sure we understood that he liked them HOT! Not hot from the oven, HOT as in SPICY!!! Our friend, Fr. R. who grew up in San Francisco very much enjoyed the Ghirardelli chocolates we gave him. He passed the bag around to everyone who walked by saying "These are authentic San Francisco candies!"

We came home, put brunch in the oven (ham and egg cups, toasted English muffins, cinnamon rolls, left over Nutella Dream-Cheese Ball, clementines, biscotti and coffee) and then sat down to open some gifts.

The first gift we open is always the best gift. I usually place all of the baby Jesus's from the nativity sets we have on display (we have too many to count and don't always set them all out) in a wrapped or decorated box. The youngest child gets to open it. Once all of the baby Jesus's are all snug in their mangers, we move on to the other gifts.

My favorite part of the day was when the children opened the stack of books we had picked out for each of them. Some were books they had already read but that we didn't own copies of and some were new surprises.

A hush fell over the house.

Not even the tempting call of bigger presents under the tree could pull them away.

Food however, did get their attention... if they could bring their books.

Everyone loved the other things that had been chosen for them. LEGO sets for the boys and some kitchen things and cookbooks for Shortcake, a play mat for Cupcake. However the best reaction was Sunshine's!

Guess what she wanted for Christmas...

She got it!

Nutella Dream-Cheese Ball

2011-12-27T22:00:00.000-06:00

Miss Jennifer is to thank for this inspiration. We made this delightful appetizer to go along with our Christmas Eve mini-pizza buffet. I served it with graham crackers and apple slices. It sure was a hit! I mean, a-grand-slam-out-of-the-park-winning-run-the-Giants-win-the-pennant kind of hit! Yum!!!

Nutella Dream-Cheese Ball

8 ounces, cream cheese, room temperature
¾ cups Nutella
1 cup powdered sugar
⅔ cups mini chocolate chips
⅔ cups toasted chopped hazelnuts (I used almonds.)

Beat cream cheese in stand mixer until smooth. Beat in Nutella until evenly distributed. Slowly beat in powdered sugar. Lay out plastic wrap on a flat surface. Pour the mixture into the plastic wrap. Gather it together into a ball twisting it and secure it with a clothespin or rubber band. Place in a small bowl and refrigerate or freeze for at least two hours. While the ball is chilling, combine nuts and mini chocolate chips. Once fully chilled, roll it in the chocolate chips and nuts to coat. Serve immediately or wrap again in clean plastic and chill until ready to serve. Serve with graham crackers or fruit.

Christmas Tree Bleg

2011-12-27T13:31:00.001-06:00

Katherine's comment below reminded me that we are considering getting a larger Christmas tree for next year and now would be a good time to snag one on clearance. We think our space can handle an eight or nine foot artificial tree. Pre-lit is not a must, or is it? You tell me, we've never had one. I don't have time to go from store to store so I'm hoping someone can point me towards a good online sale or a for sure in-store deal at a store that would be in my area...someplace I could call or run in to quickly.

Any suggestions?

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T21:10:00.002-06:00

Making cookies...

Found here via Cay Gibson on FB. Thank you, Miss Cay!

Decorating the tree...

That would be my 13 year old son right there. Yes, sigh, we need a bigger tree!

Roaring fire on the television...

I put this on as a joke for the kids since our weather was very un-chestnuts-roasting-on-an-open-fire-ish. They were fascinated by it! Ooohhh, look at the sparks. Hey Mom, the third log finally caught on fire. Crazy kids!

We had Midnight Mass at the Vatican streaming on the computer in the other room. It was a very relaxing evening. Everyone went to bed excited to wake up, head to Mass to delight in our Savior's birth and then come home to enjoy the generosity of the season.

Christmas Cracker Cookies

2011-12-26T09:11:00.000-06:00

I wanted to post this recipe here to that we can find it easily later. We made these cookies on Christmas Eve and it was so easy, the girls did mostly everything themselves. We played with different toppings... crushed candy canes, white non-pareils, toasted almond and mini-chocolate chips, marshmallows and sprinkles, so we opted to give them a new name. They were all good!

Christmas Cracker Cookies

8 - 10 graham crackers separated into individual pieces
12 oz - milk chocolate almond bark (half of a 24 oz block)

toppings:
crushed candy canes, mini-chocolate chips, chopped nuts, sprinkles, etc...

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or waxed paper. Melt chocolate according to directions. Dip one piece of graham cracker into melted chocolate. Using a fork, lift cracker out of chocolate and gently shake to allow excess to drip off. Place cracker on parchment paper and sprinkle with topping. Allow the chocolate to firm up again and enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:38:00.000-06:00

Thank you all for your gifts of love, friendship, and prayerful support throughout this past year. May God bless each and every one of you this year and for many years to come.

The best gift!

Outtakes

2011-12-22T17:40:00.003-06:00

A Future Homemaker's Kris Kringle

2011-12-21T09:20:00.000-06:00

BigBoy drew Shortcake's name in the family Kris Kringle draw. She has been loving her new role as primary kitchen helper since Cupcake was born. She has made several batches of pumpkin bread, banana bread and even surprised her siblings with a batch of Daddy's famous chocolate chip cookies. BigBoy gave her a HUGE hug for that act of service!

So he and I came up with an idea to decorate a recipe box for her. I thought we'd be able to find just a plain wooden box for him to paint but we had no luck in our craft stores. Jewelry boxes, yes, but no recipe boxes. So we opted for this photo storage box on sale at Hobby Lobby. He drew a picture for her to decorate the front and chose some recipe cards with puppies on them. I printed off the pumpkin bread and cookie recipes for her and made some dividers from some cardstock we already had. I added a bag of chocolate chips from the pantry to let her know that he would appreciate if she would put her new gift to good use... soon!

I won't be able to post the girls' gifts to their brothers because they are already wrapped and hidden away. Sunshine chose this map of middle earth poster (it was less than $5 when we ordered it but it looks like it's gone up a little) for The Professor along with a pair of fingerless gloves that she knit for him. Shortcake found a Family Circus comic book for BigBoy. He loves The Family Circus and was sad when we told him that Bil Keane passed away last month. It's a used copy, since most are out of print, but my kids don't mind. A new book is a new book even if it's been owned before.

A Christmas Manger by H. A. Rey

2011-12-20T16:42:00.001-06:00

A Christmas Manger by H. A. Rey

If you are all done with your Christmas shopping, then put this on your list for next year right now because you are going to love this book! It arrived the other day for my children from their Grandma and Grandpa (Sean's mom and dad). I think we will save it and put it together for the O Emmanuel Antiphon night.

Who doesn't love H. A. Rey's books? Of course, there are his Curious George books but his Find the Constellations is also a favorite around here. This book, A Christmas Manger, tells the story of Christ's birth using text from the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke and includes a punch out and fold manger scene complete with all the key characters, a stand alone manger and even chickens in beautiful H. A. Rey illustrations! That's right... no cutting, no gluing, no paper doll tabs, just punch out and fold. It even has pockets inside to hold the pieces once it's time to pack it away. It was originally published in 1942 and if they are smart, they will continue to publish it for years to come. I want to give copies to my grandchildren someday!

Jessica's Baby Boy is HERE!!!

2011-12-19T08:53:00.004-06:00

Thanks be to God! He was born at 5:02 am weighing 7lbs. 5oz.

Mom and baby are doing great!

More details and gorgeous pictures HERE

Baby Boy is on his way!

2011-12-19T05:51:00.005-06:00

Please pray for Jessica and her little man. She has been in labor for the past few hours and might still have another few more to go. Baby Boy is definitely making his appearance today!

Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10

O great Saint Gerard, beloved servant of Jesus Christ, perfect imitator of your meek and humble Savior, and devoted child of Mother of God, enkindle within my heart one spark of that heavenly fire of charity which glowed in your heart and made you an angel of love. O glorious Saint Gerard, because when falsely accused of crime, you did bear, like your Divine Master, without murmur or complaint, the calumnies of wicked men, you have been raised up by God as the patron and protector of expectant mothers. Preserve Jessica from danger and from the excessive pains accompanying childbirth, and shield the child which she now carries, that he may see the light of day and receive the purifying and life-giving waters of baptism through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Gerard, pray for us!

St. Therese the Little Flower, pray for us!

O Antiphon Treats

2011-12-17T15:09:00.006-06:00

Wrapped in gold and tagged with a beautiful handmade O Antiphon ornament.

This tradition that Jessica's family inspired of giving little treats each night of the O Antiphons (harkening back to a monastery practice) has become a much beloved institution in our house. Thank you, sweet friend! Here is what I have planned for this year. You can find past years by clicking the "O Antiphon" label at the bottom of this post.

December 17th

O Wisdom, who came from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come, and teach us the way of prudence.

Since Cupcake's arrival, we haven't been to the library as often as we used to. My kids love audiobooks and have listened to ours to the point of having them memorized and the ones we have checked out from the library are almost worn out from replaying. Thankfully, our library lets us renew online! Since Wisdom is symbolized by a book, we decided some new audiobooks would be a treat for the family. I chose an assortment of Jim Weiss Audiobooks: King Arthur and His Knights, Shakespeare for Children, and Mystery! Mystery! for Children.

December 18th

O Lord and Ruler the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come, and redeem us with outstretched arms.

This is by far our favorite tradition of the Golden Nights. We've done mini-houses, homemade houses, and houses for the boys and girls to team up on. This year we purchased just one Pre-baked Gingerbread House kit and will all enjoy decorating it together while we pass the baby around.

December 19th

O Root of Jesse, that stands for an ensign of the people, before whom the kings keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication: come, to deliver us, and tarry not.

Root beer. Chillin' in the fridge. Easy peasy.

December 20th

O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel, who opens and no man shuts, who shuts and no man opens: come, and bring forth the captive from his prison, he who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death.

We attempted a Nativity puzzle this year. Got about half way through it... and gave up. I think this David and Goliath puzzle is more our speed! : ) Hah!

December 21st

O Dawn of the East, brightness of light eternal, and sun of justice: come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

We have enjoyed playing with Sun Art Paper in the past and thought it would be fun to try it again. Plus, we put breakfast for dinner on the menu for the week so that we can enjoy our Texas Sunrise Mocktails.

December 22nd

O King of the gentiles and their desired One, the cornerstone that makes both one: come, and deliver man, whom you formed out of the dust of the earth.

I have a crown cookie cutter similar to this one and will let them make and decorate crown cookies in honor of Christ Our King. It's a cookie cutter we've used before. I just wrapped it up knowing that the real treat is making cookies together.

December 23rd

O Emmanuel, God with us, our King and lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Savior: come to save us, O Lord our God.

I found these beautiful magnets at Hobby Lobby. I know it's just a fridge magnet but I loved the colors and textures. It's simple, but sweet and can be a little bit of Christmas that stays with us all year long, even if it is on the fridge.

Golden Nights

2011-12-17T12:13:00.001-06:00

Tonight begins the O Antiphons. We have a special treat planned for each night. Some are favorite traditions and some are new simple treats. We are still using our O Antiphon boxes. Here's the link if you have any Altoid tins lying around. I've told the children that we will be singing the appropriate verse tonight when we light the Advent candles. We are soooo not the Trapp family singers, so they needed the warning.

Best surprise treat ever!

2011-12-16T00:10:00.003-06:00

Sean was supposed to take this Lethal Peppermint Chocolate Cake in to work

for a lunchtime departmental potluck yesterday.

He got stuck in a project meeting and never made it to the party.

The kids got the cake.

To them... it was a Christmas miracle. : )

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2011-12-15T09:33:00.000-06:00

{pretty}

Our "Lucy buns". With dental work done that morning, nobody was in the mood to eat the traditional Santa Lucia Bread so we opted for cinnamon rolls with a promise that the Lucia Bread will be made for Christmas!

{happy}

Is there anything happier than the wonder in a baby's eyes when seeing their first Christmas lights? Even though she was coming down with her first cold.

{funny}

They begged to put up the tree themselves.

Too many generals, not enough soldiers!

{real}

St. Lucy left behind on a pile of clean laundry that hasn't been put away. That is real life right now.

Feast Day Fun

2011-12-13T21:38:00.000-06:00

The girls put together this centerpiece and BigBoy decorated our Starry Mantle Tablecloth in honor of Our Lady's starry mantle. He takes this job very seriously!

We enjoyed soft chicken tacos, homemade spanish rice (I use a quick and easy recipe, not an authentic one) with refried beans and sopapillas from the Mexican restaurant down the road. YUM!

Today, everyone except the baby and I headed to the dentist super early for some minor dental work of some kind and came back not really feeling like enjoying a hearty breakfast of cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa so we saved them and had them for dinner this evening. All in all, very lovely feast days!

Lucia Light

2011-12-13T07:28:00.001-06:00

Hear us, O God, our salvation, that, as we rejoice in keeping the festival of Blessed Lucy, thy virgin and martyr, so we may profit by the tender devotion we gain through her example. Through our Lord. Amen.

Our celebration is being postponed to this evening due to early morning dentist appointments.

Happy Feast of St. Lucy!

Feast Days!

2011-12-11T20:47:00.000-06:00

Today, Gaudete Sunday; tomorrow, Our Lady of Guadalupe; the next, Santa Lucia!

Here are our celebrations past if you are looking for ideas. This year will look very much the same. That's why we call them traditions!

Lady of the Roses (2010)
Our Lady of Guadalupe (2009)

Under Her Starry Mantle :: Our Lady of Guadalupe (2008)

Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (2007)

Lucia Light (2010)
A moment :: St. Lucy's Day (2009)

Sunday Ends :: St. Lucy's Bread (2009)

Happy St. Lucy's Day (2008)

My little Lucias (2007)

St. Lucy Day Recap (2007)

More Monday Inspiration :: a St. Lucy Crown (2007)

Glasses

2011-12-10T12:25:00.002-06:00

Her daddy has already said he'll beat any boys
who make passes at his girl in her glasses!

They are mostly just for reading so she can take them on and off but she likes them so we'll all get used to seeing her in them, I guess. Right now, it's a big change. Is it just me or did she just turn into a teenager in those things? She's only eleven!!! Sigh.

Sisters, sisters...

2011-12-07T20:29:00.003-06:00

There were never such devoted sisters.

Sunshine says, "There is nothing better than having a baby fall asleep on you."

These were taken a few days ago. We spent most of the afternoon today at the eye doctor. It wasn't a difficult visit but one of these lasses will soon be in glasses. : )
Do you want to guess who?

A Bishop's Miter

2011-12-06T18:40:00.003-06:00

...not a "bishop smiter" which had BigBoy giggling all day today!

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

"Mom are you making a bishop smiter?" (chuckle, chuckle)

I was going for gold with the sanding sugar but it just looked yellow. Next year, I'll make sure I have red on hand!

Thanks for the inspiration, Tiffany and Mr. Fireman!

He came!

2011-12-06T09:26:00.000-06:00

The slippers were set by the fireplace with care...

... in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Daddy will get to enjoy Cupcake's tiny St. Nicholas. I am still eating dairy free.

Not a creature was stirring except this little mouse...

Someone forgot to tell her that St. Nick doesn't come until everyone's asleep.

He came!

St. Nicholas day books: The Animals Came Two By Two, My First Christmas, The Gift of the Magi, Francis Woke Up Early, and Joy To The World.

Peppermint cocoa with peppermint marshmallows...mmmmm!

A table full of St. Nicholases. Or is that St. Nikolai?

Still can't find a runner I like but I found the perfect thing to go in the middle which was looking a bit empty. This triptych was a gift from a sweet friend and it's patiently waiting to be opened on Christmas Day. There's still room for our Christ candle behind it.

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas, patron of children, bakers and thieves! May this good saint steal away all fear and frustration and stir up feelings of joy and peace leaving you with a childlike heart full of delight.

My teenager's idea of a good time...

2011-12-04T17:01:00.003-06:00

Attending a college lecture (with his dad) by Br. Guy Consolmagno, S.J.,Ph.D.,

Curator of the Vatican Meteorite Collection, Research Astronomer, and Planetary Scientist at the Vatican Observatory...

"Listen to the Heavens!"

...and getting his autograph.
Twice!

You can't see it in this picture but he inscribed it "For Z~ a future adventurer".

I wish I could have gone. They both said Br. Guy is an amazing speaker who is incredibly personable and amusing to listen to. A funny scientist... who knew? : ) He's also a fan of homeschooling! Get this, his recommendation for educating excellent future scientists ~ focus on literature, writing and speech! Oh... and he says he is very aware of the lack of good Catholic science programs. His words to Sean, "We're working on it." Hope for the future!

Three Months

2011-12-02T13:49:00.001-06:00

Sunshine said the other day, "It's like she's always been here!"

Three months old is a such a sweet spot in babyhood. This little one is more alert and engaging. She smiles all the time now, not just occasionally. I feel more confident in my ability to interpret her cues and cries and she is starting to fall into some predictable patterns when it comes to sleeping which makes the day run a tiny bit smoother. Also, as you can see, my big kids are becoming more comfortable with holding her and carrying her around which helps give my aching back and shoulders a break. Shortcake even entertained her the other day for a whole 30 minutes while I took care of some necessary online banking.

Cupcake is growing so fast! She has a tooth that is popping in and out of her gum line. It will probably take a few weeks to break all the way through but it's still causing her some fussiness and tons of drool. My kids are usually early for everything... teething, crawling, walking, weaning. She is following BigBoy's pattern with the teeth. By the time he turned four months old, he had two bottom teeth fully grown in. He didn't grow any more teeth until he was between 8 or 9 months old. When he started losing teeth, those two were the first to go and then he didn't lose any others for quite some time.

She doesn't like to lay back and relax. She does crunches and grunts until we pull her up into a sitting position. She wants to sit up and take a look at the world! She also tries so hard to talk to us by imitating the sounds we make. She's already made sounds that sound like "wow", "hey", and "I love you". It's so funny to see her purse her lips or play with her tongue trying to talk to us. "Un-goo" is her favorite word. We're not sure what it means yet, but we hear her say it a lot in a soft, sweet voice that just melts us!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2011-12-01T06:55:00.002-06:00

{pretty}

I love our Advent mantle.

{happy}

Happy baby! Happy momma! She slept 6 1/2 hours the other night. Whoo hoo!

{funny}

You try taking a picture of a not-yet-three month old's first tooth. Can you see it?

{real}

My Advent wreath. It's not made out of greenery, real or fake. Heck, it's not even green. The summer drought did a number on our fresh greenery and all of the fake stuff seemed either really ugly or really scratchy this year and really expensive! So I grabbed another strand of metallic silver garland and made my own. I'd still like to get a pretty runner to go under it to cover up our ugly brick hearth. Maybe by the 2nd week of Advent.

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

A Knitter's Kris Kringle

2011-11-30T06:06:00.001-06:00

My kids love to do Secret Santas with each other. I encourage them to make things when they can but it isn't a requirement. If they choose to purchase a gift, it should be something small and simple.

This year, The Professor pulled Sunshine's name in the draw. Everyone knows they can get her a new skein of yarn and make her Christmas bright but he decided to try his hand at a little crafting after I showed him this ornament Kelly had pinned on Pinterest. I think it turned out great. He chose the yarn from our yarn box and wrapped it himself. I helped him cut the skewers and glue on the beads (hot glue).

FYI... he used a styrofoam ball ornament instead of a glass ball ornament like the original poster used. He also wanted to make her a CD. Last year he made a mix-CD of Christmas song for Shortcake. We set about looking for songs that have to do with yarn or knitting and these are the only 7 we came up with. If you know of any others that are appropriate for a young lady, please let me know.

Yarn Washing Girl (Huan Sha Nv) by Xu Hong (instrumental)
Doozer Knitting Song by Fraggle Rock
Knitting by Arthur Askey
The Knitting Song by Sophie Madeleine
Knitting Class by Nancy Wilson/Jimmy Heath
Weave the Yarn by Mary Knickle (a fun little Irish jig)
Flourescent Scraps of Yarn by Laurel Brauns

Mary G. found another one:
Knit One, Purl Two by Glen Miller

Book Link-up!

2011-11-29T12:49:00.000-06:00

Jessica is hosting a link-up! Create a post with your favorite Advent/ Christmas books or a list of all of them if you can't decide and link it over there!

Can't wait to check out what everyone is reading this season.

Favorite Advent/Christmas Books

2011-11-28T05:51:00.006-06:00

They are like potato chips. You can't have just one!

New Favorites

Joy to the World: Tomie's Christmas Stories

A new Tomie dePaola! This book is going to be a surprise for the kids especially Sunshine who just loves Mr. dePaola's art. It's a compilation of The Night of Las Posadas, The Story of the Three Wise Kings, and The Legend of the Poinsettia, along with some illustrated Christmas carols. Our copy of The Three Wise Kings is getting worn and considering what used copies of that book go for, this one is worth it even if you already have copies of the other stories in your collection.

The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe Empress of the Americas by C. Lourdes Walsh

I ordered this last year after seeing it over at Jessica's but it didn't make it here in time so I saved it for this year. Just a heads up if you are wanting it for this year! There are some used copies available that would make it in time. I've only glanced through it but the pictures are little works of art from master artist Jorge Sánchez-Hernández. I can't wait until this one gets unwrapped.

Old Favorite

Through the Animals' Eyes: A Story of the First Christmas

Christopher Wormell is an amazing artist. The pictures in this book are so vivid and interesting to the eye because of the contrast between the colors and his heavy use of black. Look inside his version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and you will see what I mean. This book is also educational. Bonus! It introduces the reader to a variety of unusual middle eastern animals, not just the donkey, camel and sheep that show up in most nativity stories. Especially excellent choice for boys!

Special Local Favorite

The Homeless Christmas Tree by Leslie Gordon

“Of what use is one ugly little tree?”

Atop a windswept hill, a crooked little tree stands alone . . . until one Christmas Eve, when an old woman labors up the hill with a box of ornaments, and tells the tree that he is special. He is to be the official Christmas tree for all of the homeless people in the city below!

This is a book based on a true story about a real little tree and a once homeless woman who took it upon herself to decorate it. We have driven past this tree many times. It's a landmark we look for on the way to the dentist or the zoo. I cannot read this book to my children without choking up a little towards the end. If you live locally, get this book and then come see the tree! If you don't live close by, come for a visit and we'll take you to see it!

Find out more about this special book here.

Tear Jerker

every. single. time.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

Everyone knows this book. It must be read every single year and every single year, I cry like a baby. I saw the movie and thought it was OK, but the book brings a tear to the my eye whether I'm reading it or listening to it. Ours came with a CD and included was an extra audio recording of When Jessie Came Across the Sea which is also a lovely story to listen to.

Will you share your favorites with us?
We'd love to hear about them!

Advent Basket of Books

2011-11-26T15:46:00.001-06:00

They are all wrapped up and ready to be opened starting tomorrow. One for every day of the Advent season and 12 for Christmas. I am posting the list here as a reminder to me in the future. It seems like I never keep a copy for my records and each year I start from scratch coming up with an order. Hopefully, this post takes care of that. Feel free to peruse the list. You might find one "new to you". Some are secular and some are religious. I'll be back to highlight one of my favorites later.

*Advent Books

November 27: Spirit Child: A story of the Nativity
November 28: A Golfer's Night Before Christmas
November 29: Mortimer's Christmas Manger
November 30: Jesus' Christmas Party
December 1: Country Angel Christmas
December 2: The Legend of the Candy Cane
December 3: Corgiville Christmas
December 4: The Little Fir Tree
December 5: The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale
December 6: The Legend of Saint Nicholas
December 7: Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons
December 8: An Orange for Frankie
December 9: The Lady of Guadalupe
December 10: The Christmas Donkey (Little Golden Books)
December 11: The Night of Las Posadas (Picture Puffins)
December 12: The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe Empress of the Americas
December 13: Hanna's Christmas
December 14: Lucia, Saint of Light
December 15: The Christmas Kitten (Timeless Tales)
December 16: One Snowy Night
December 17: Papa's Christmas Gift: Around the World on the Night Before Christmas
December 18: Angela and the Baby Jesus: (Children's Edition)
December 19: The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey with CD: Gift Edition
December 20: The Friendly Beasts
December 21: The Three Gifts of Christmas: Book with Audio CD
December 22: The Homeless Christmas Tree
December 23: The Miraculous Child: A Christmas Folktale from Old Russia
December 24: A Gift from St. Nicholas

Christmas Books
(Wrapped in gold but not in the basket until Christmas morning!)

December 25: Father and Son: A Nativity Story
December 26: Stephen's Feast
December 27: Good King Wenceslas
December 28: All for the Newborn Baby
December 29: There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve
December 30: Saint Francis Celebrates Christmas
December 31: This Is the Star
January 1: Through the Animals' Eyes: A Story of the First Christmas
January 2: The Animals' Christmas Eve (Little Golden Book)
January 3: The Shepherd's Christmas Story
January 4: The Saint Who Became Santa Claus
January 5: Silent Night
January 6: The Story of the Three Wise Kings

*This is not our entire collection. Some are set favorites but I like to rotate others every year or so.

Thankful

2011-11-25T10:48:00.000-06:00

For a baby almost three months old and the size of a Butterball turkey.

For sons who can entertain themselves all day with a little cardstock and glue.

For a husband who uses the skills and talents the Lord gave him to provide such a bountiful table and for daughters who love to decorate it.

For the beginning of Advent and the promise of a peaceful season.

Thanksgiving Preparations

2011-11-22T11:30:00.003-06:00

Sorry to have been so quiet. Nothing exciting is going on here. Just daily life. We aren't planning to travel for the holiday, so it'll just be our sweet family here together. I'm cooking a traditional meal but have taken steps to make it easier. Most things will be made ahead and the turkey will be cooked using the spatchcock method which doesn't take nearly as long to cook as an intact bird. My kids call it "the turkey that went splat". I've cooked one this way before and it was great! We plan on attending Mass, printing out this super cute little turkey in disguise , enjoying the National Dog Show and watching some football, of course.

Enjoy your preparations and the holiday to come!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2011-11-17T03:13:00.004-06:00

{pretty}

The perks of a Sunday birthday... a special birthday blessing! This was a beautiful moment.

{happy}

This little girl is always happy when she is gazing at her biggest brother.
See that little finger of hers? Yep. He's totally wrapped around it!

{funny}

Grammie always sends wonderful gifts, but Grammie's gifts are always heavy on the tape making the tiniest of boxes akin to Fort Knox.

{real}

As a special birthday favor, Shortcake asked for her baby sister to wear her favorite outfit (from her sweet godparents). Look at those cute puppy toes! Look at that sad, sad face. She really didn't want her picture taken.

Check out more pictures of contentment over at Auntie Leila's place!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Let's Go To The Movies, Shortcake!

2011-11-14T06:21:00.002-06:00

When Shortcake first saw the trailer for the movie, Dolphin Tale, she asked if she could go see it, maybe for her birthday. We told her it might be possible depending on how long it ran in the theaters. Well, her birthday was yesterday and there was one movie theater in our area still showing it. Yay! So, for her 11-11-11 birthday, we decided on a Let's Go To The Movies *themed party so that she could go to the movies!

Decorations

I pulled out our red tablecloth and set the table with gold paper plates and some clapboard napkins. Sean found a real clapboard at the party store and my kids are already imagining the home movies they want to make with it. I printed old fashioned looking movie tickets on card stock and scattered them around the table. These popcorn boxes filled with yellow and white puff balls were for decoration but we used the other ones in the package on her cake and for holding, well, popcorn. One of them was weighted down with rocks to keep the star shaped balloons from flying away. Her birthday is one of the only times we can have balloons since the ceiling fans are usually turned off by November. It has become a little tradition that she gets balloons from Daddy and Sunshine gets flowers. The concession stand was just a basket filled with movie theater candy and a sign I printed using a font called "Showtime" found here.

Happy Birthday Banner

The font for the banner is called "Movie Times". The cute little hanging down swirly things were also from the party store.

Craft/ Activity

We took our inspiration for this activity from Grauman's Chinese Theater and put our handprints on a black posterboard to simulate cement. We signed them later with our blog names and our real names which is why I don't have a final picture here. This one is also missing a few hands. Cupcake's hand and foot print are in the lower left corner looking very smudgy. You can check out prints from Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, and one of our favorites, Star Wars just for fun.

Party Game

This game turned out to be a huge hit. They wanted to play more rounds so it was a good thing I had some spares ready. Each person had a movie character taped to the back of their shirts on a Hollywood Walk of Fame type star that I printed and colored. They had to ask questions of the other players about their character to try to guess who they were. Their prize for guessing correctly was a trip to the Concession Stand! The first round were all animated characters. In the second round, we pulled characters from the same movie. But really, the choices are endless as long as it's a movie that everyone has seen.

The Cake

Jessica introduced me to Pinterest when she was here and found the inspiration for Shortcake's cake there. (I've been exploring it slowly.) This was the inspiration cake. Shortcake wanted a Snickerdoodle cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting. She asked me if this would be an easy cake to decorate knowing that the baby takes most of my time these days. It was fabulously easy to decorate. The frosting turned out stickier than I would have liked and just wouldn't smooth out. It's one I haven't used before and I think I might have doubled the recipe wrong. The popcorn came from a bag of kettle corn. Easy peasy!

Mocktails, anyone?

Ginger ale with star shaped fruit punch ice cubes. I used a candy mold tray to make the ice.
They looked very glamorous!

Party Favors

Shortcake made treat bags with candy stars for her siblings and friend who went to the movies with her. She came up with this idea on her own. I am so proud of her thoughtfulness and generosity. Sometimes, this big-hearted girl melts mine.

A Gift

I have to show you the super cute gift my mom gave her. She's been giving the girls James Avery charms to collect on a charm bracelet ever since they were about 4 years old. She tries to get one that will fit their birthday theme and this year's was perfect!

The End

Happy birthday, sweet girl!
We love you!

*You can see past party themes by clicking on the tab at the top.

An 11-11-11 birthday... sort of!

2011-11-13T05:49:00.002-06:00

She's 11 years old today in the 11th month of 2011!

We are celebrating now but will be back with more pictures later.

I love this brown-eyed girl!

Scenes from the Feast

2011-11-11T19:57:00.001-06:00

Our horseshoe cookies were not as nicely shaped as Margaret's and they had no oats for his horse, but they had powdered sugar for the snow (isn't there snow in your St. Martin story?). Sunshine made them this year. My girls are getting so good in the kitchen since I have had to turn so much of it over to them.

And our lantern turned out very pretty. I followed the link Dawn provided in this post and it took about 5 minutes. I just wished I had had a prettier shade of tissue paper. I loved sharing this feast day with these two sweet ladies even if it was only virtually. I remember their blogs being so inspirational to me when I first started blogging. Happy Feast Day!

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord...

2011-11-09T12:46:00.002-06:00

If asked when I will retire I say "probably about 11 o'clock tonight. But, hopefully, I'll be back at the ol' drawing board in the morning and happy to be there!"

Bil Keane

Oct. 5, 1922 - Nov. 8, 2011

My children were very sad to hear this news.
He has touched all of our hearts by sharing his family and his talent with us.

Real Motherhood

2011-11-08T13:23:00.004-06:00

*Melanie's comment on the post below reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend from church when I was relating Sunshine's comment to her. I'm glad I was reminded because I remember now that I meant to mention it along with that picture. I told my friend about my response to Sunshine's beautiful expression; how I was delighted to see her looking forward to the beauty of motherhood, as Melanie put it but how I also wanted to make sure she saw how hard taking care of a baby is to have a balanced perspective, not to scare her from the challenge, but to be better prepared for the realities of it. I wanted her to realize how I need every bit of help I can get from everyone in the family and sometimes that isn't enough to take care of it all. How taking care of a baby requires sacrifice that is repaid 10 fold in a single giggle or coo. How motherhood is tiring and physically painful sometimes but how I wouldn't give it up for a minute. That babies are hard work but that moments like the one she was having made it all worth it.

I told my friend that I remember being shocked by my first days/weeks/months of motherhood with The Professor and I wanted Sunshine to have a realistic impression, not my rose colored view. I think the tint of those glasses contributed to a lot of my grumpiness, frustration and even a bit of depression in those early days. I was a pretty miserable person to my husband, myself, yes even my first little babe sometimes. I hope that Cupcake's existence in our life will better prepare my older kids for those early days with their new families, should that be God's will for them.

My friend, the oldest of five, surprised me by agreeing that she too was caught off-guard by the full demands of motherhood. I guess it's true that noone is completely prepared when it's their baby and they are the primary caregivers. Whether it's the time that is no longer your own, the demands a baby places on you and the schedule of your day that is now at the mercy of the helpless little one in your arms or the complete mental and physical exhaustion that comes from trying to provide for all the needs and wants of a completely irrational little being, something is going to make you feel things you didn't expect to feel. It can make you feel rotten. Here is the fulfillment of years of heartfelt desire, to cradle this visible sign of your love in your arms, and yet you might be battling feelings of resentment and disappointment at the same time.

It's something that's not discussed openly especially in pro-life circles and when it is, it's most likely chalked up to post-partum depression. No one wants to give even the vague impression that they might be less than thrilled for even a minute regarding caring for this tiniest creation of God's unless it can be blamed on a chemical or hormonal imbalance. But shouldn't it be discussed more openly? There are aspects of motherhood that are really gross. Does anyone here joyfully look forward to a warm, wetness running down the space between (if you know what I mean) when your precious one spits up and the nearest burp cloth is in the laundry? Does anyone here happily leap out of bed to change a diaper at 2 am? Of course, we do it because the reward, earthly and heavenly, is worth it and so much more but that doesn't mean that we can't be real about our struggles without wallowing in them, or course.

We are all working on holiness, none of us is perfect and a feeling is a real thing to be acknowledged. It's an expression of our soul. It doesn't make us who we are nor is it the sum total of what we believe, but it is real. It's also something that we can't always control. It might be evidence of an area of immaturity or selfishness that should be addressed. It might just simply be a feeling that needs to be acknowledged before we can move on from it. I tell my kids all the time, especially in these hormonal roller-coaster years, "You can't always choose how you feel, but you can choose how you respond to those feelings and you can choose how they lead you to act."

My point in this long ramble is that I do want my children to see the beauty of motherhood and get to experience a taste of the delights. But I don't hide the tears. I let them flow when they come (much less frequently now) and I tell them whether they are happy or sad tears. Tears of tiredness, frustration or jubilation. I want to share it all with them each as much as they are ready to share in hopes that they will remember these days and be comforted by the memory of them when it's their turn.

Updated to add from the combox regarding loved ones who's disapproving looks at your family make you feel like you have to wear a perpetually happy mask:
I know what you mean. Those people who love you but don't understand why you would "put yourself through this difficulty" and who's solution to the problem is to "make it easy on yourself and stop having so many kids". You know, those people would never tell an Olympic gymnast to stop exercising, stop getting up at 4am to practice so much, stop putting her body through all of that pain and anguish just to win a gold medal. Those people would probably admire her for her hard work and dedication. Just consider yourself going for the gold medal of motherhood. It takes work, pain, sweat and tears but the reward in Heaven will be worth it!

*Speaking of sweet Melanie, please offer a prayer for the repose of the soul of her grandmother and the grieving loved ones who will miss her.

Why we do what we do.

2011-11-07T07:30:00.000-06:00

"I can't wait to get to do this with my own babies!" ~Sunshine

A Happy Accident

2011-11-04T08:18:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was the feast of St. Hubert.
Hugh for short.
He was a hunter.

For dinner, I made an excellent stew with a fabulous recipe Margaret shared. (God bless Cathie B.! And God bless Margaret!) I had planned on making it on Tuesday but not enough time to allow for proper thawing meant a quick shuffle of the menu plans.

Did I mention I made elk stew, not beef, with the new supply of elk meat in my freezer.
My dad brought it up at the baptism.

He's a hunter.

God, please bless my dad. Good St. Hugh, pray for him!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2011-11-03T09:35:00.003-05:00

{pretty}

The girls shared some of their wall stickers with Cupcake and prettified her changing space. She loves talking to the butterfly while getting a fresh, clean diaper. Except at 4am, when according to Sean, Ms. Butterfly committed some grievous offense and needed a talkin' to!

{happy}

Happy girls in headbands! Yes, they are still trying to accessorize her!

{funny}

7 year old BigBoy: "Hey Mom, my mug looks like a mosaic!"

Later on at golf lessons, after hitting a 75 yarder with his driver: "I hope NASA finds that one!"

BTW... we don't normally give in to such marshmallow madness but for the first cocoa of the year, we couldn't resist!

{real}

Babies spit... a lot!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Remembering Vivian...

2011-11-02T06:10:00.002-05:00

Collect (from Masses for the Dead):

Merciful Father,
hear our prayer and console us.
As we renew our faith in Your Son, whom You raised from the dead, strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters will share in His resurrection, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

~from Women for Faith and Family

It always was this time of year that made me wonder about her. This year, there is no wondering, just peace. Our journey began in earnest a year ago and from beginning to end, it has been a most precious experience. I had hoped to visit Vivian's grave today but with a tiny one who only tolerates the car for 3.5 minutes, I thought it better to spend those minutes getting us to her 2 month checkup today.

On this commemoration of all the faithful departed we pray eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord...

What's more exciting...

2011-11-01T16:22:00.007-05:00

...than a bag of candy, the holy day off from school and leftover party desserts?

The latest John Flanagan story!

The Brotherband is here!

If you remember his Ranger's Apprentice birthday, you should know that he's still just as fascinated with these books as he was. That's how good they are.

I ordered this one back in July and he didn't know it was coming today.

I love surprising him with books!

UPDATE:

It's so good even Cupcake is enjoying it!

Feast of All Saints

2011-11-01T08:33:00.001-05:00

Happy All Saints Day! Our celebration began last night with our family party in which, St. George, St. Dorothy and St. Teresa of Avila made an appearance. This year, the kids took on the responsibility of getting a costume together completely on their own with no help from me. I was very proud of what they pulled together and helped each other with.

St. George and his How To Train Your Dragon sweatshirt

St.Teresa of Avila carrying an ice pack for anyone with a headache and St. Dorothy with her apples and roses.

Saintly Scattergories was fun although more of a challenge than the kids or I expected. They really had to think outside the box and were delighted when they came up with an answer that no one else thought of. The categories we came up with were:

Things associated with Christmas
Feast day foods
Things Associated with Communion or Confession
Feast Days
Things associated with Easter
Saints (Men)
Our Lady of. . .
Things Associated with Confirmation
Person in the Bible
Sacraments
Things associated with Advent
Picture books of saints
Things Associated with the Rosary
Symbols Associated with the Saints
Priests (real or fictional)
Saints (Women)
Beliefs Stated in the Apostles Creed
Things Associated with Mary
Things Associated with Baptism
Patronages
Things Associated with the Mass
Books of the Bible
Titles of Mary

Things associated with Lent

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over our bonfire (firepit) and ate our dinner outside which the kids declared their new favorite way to eat dinner. We ran out of time to play the windows game
but, hey...that's what today is for. Last night was just the kick-off! The scavenger hunt was a huge success! Sean and I had so much fun seeing what the teams came up with. The cleverest was probably the glass of milk that the girls poured to represent St. Catherine of Alexandria. They remembered the story of milk flowing from her neck instead of blood when she was beheaded. Remembering some of the other stories we've read, the boys made a cross out of LEGOs for St. Helena (they didn't want to use and possibly break a crucifix) and they tied a blue blanket around their shoulders for St. Brigid of Ireland.

As you can see, I have no other pictures because our little Holy Innocent demanded my arms and most of my attention all night. How is it babies just know when you want to be doing other things?

A brief moment in Daddy's arms. She doesn't mind sleeping there but when she's awake, it's got to be the Momma!

All Saints Games

2011-10-28T11:07:00.001-05:00

Like Jessica's family we find ourselves making different plans for our All Hallows Eve party this year. It's going to be just us, but I like to think we are enough for a party by ourselves!

Instead of our traditional carnival style games, this year we are focusing on games we can play just as a family. I've already made a family saints version of Guess Who just like Monica did here. (I made my own template which meant that I could also make an American Girl version and a LEGO minifigure version to tide the kids over until Monday.)

I also ordered this Church Windows game and we are looking forward to figuring out how to play it.

Lastly, we are going to attempt a sainted version of Scattergories that I made for the kids and a Saintly Scavenger Hunt. I've never played Scattergories except for this demo version online but I made up lists of Catholic categories using some from the Catholic Edition and some of my own.

The Scavenger Hunt is super simple. It's a list of saints and each team has to locate something that could represent that saint based on the stories they have learned about them. They don't have to choose traditional symbols but they must be able to justify their choices if asked to. You can download my list here.

Along with carving pumpkins and toasting things over the fire pit, it promises to be an evening of family fun!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

2011-10-27T05:29:00.003-05:00

{pretty}

Story behind the gown here if you missed it.

{happy}

So happy she finally got her picture taken holding her baby sister!
(And nobody's blurry.)

{funny}

Someone has discovered her tongue.

{real}

This is how she really looked throughout most of her Baptism.

Not this...

this.

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Pink and White Baptism Reception

2011-10-26T04:45:00.003-05:00

After Cupcake's Baptism, we had our family back to the house for a cake and punch reception. I can't tell you how much fun it was to have Jessica right here in person to help decorate and prepare for the celebration. Here are some snippets:

The picture in the black frame is one that our doula took in the operating room when Cupcake was born. She wrote up a beautiful birth story for us and paired it with this sweet picture. I did not make this cake, but I did make the candy cross on top using this mold and a mixture of pink and white candy melts. The cake came from Costco. In the basket are favors the girls and I made for our guests.

We also had a birthday cake to celebrate my mom's birthday. She calls this "death by chocolate" and it was!

I made the swirled pink and white seashells and the girls made little white roses to add to the favor bags. Jessica made the labels for the dips we set out: ranch, pepper onion relish and cream cheese (that she also made) and hummus.

She even decorated the water bottles with her fancy duct tape just like she did for her daughter's birthday party. The Pink Paradise Punch recipe can be found here. It seemed like everyone liked it. I know Father did! I only used half of the amount of Kool-Aid called for in that recipe and I think that cut down on the sweetness.

And see all the beautiful roses? Those are more of my novena roses (that's what Sunshine calls them now). We couldn't find any white or pink flowers at the stores, so my mom cut these off the rose bushes and forced some of the buds to open. They were gorgeous and such a perfect addition to the celebration!

*pictures taken by Jessica

The Gown

2011-10-25T05:29:00.000-05:00

Isn't that dress gorgeous? Elegant feminine sleeves, attached crinoline, satin lined bonnet. I can gush about it because I didn't pick it but rather was gifted it by a sweet SIL who's super savvy shopping skills provided my little one with a dress fit for a princess. Doesn't she have excellent taste?

The story goes, about 5 years ago, she was walking through a discount clothing store when she spied this beautiful dress for a ridiculously reasonable price. Thinking that surely she could find someone to use it, she bought it and offered it to the first SIL expecting a girl (not me). That SIL already had a dress coming from Rome and didn't need it. She offered it to the next sister to be expecting a girl (not me) and that sister too said she already had a gown for her little one. So this one continued to sit untouched. When finally there was another niece expected, she offered it to that SIL (ME!) and I said, "Well, can I see it first?"

I did... and then I didn't give it back.

Child of God

2011-10-24T15:15:00.008-05:00

Cupcake and her beautiful Godmother

*all pictures courtesy of Jessica and her sister Mary

{p,h,f,r} What we have been learning...

2011-10-20T07:29:00.003-05:00

The kids have been given a reprieve from the bulk of their schoolwork since Cupcake arrived. It's why we started early back over the summer. But that doesn't mean we aren't learning things like:

{pretty}

How to hold a pretty baby

{happy}

Proper happy snuggling techniques

{funny}

How to accessorize your baby and...

that some babies don't like to wake up and find they've been accessorized.

{real}

Why in the world mommy has a mini-megaphone. BigBoy came up with that one. The Professor thought it looked more like an air horn. At least nobody guessed sonic freeze ray!

Right now, I'm learning that it's really hard to wait for airplanes to arrive!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter