Ancient Egypt -

Dani is studying the Old World in history this year. First up...ancient Egypt. She is really enjoying her history so far this year. We're trying to make it more interesting and hands on. I have her watch videos on the United Streaming website - an excellent tool for homeschoolers - we're doing lapbooks for the first time this year too. Be on the lookout for future posts/pictures on those. So, here is her pyramid made out of Play-Doh:

At least she nose she's a nut! Therese had fun taking a couple shots of Dani goofing off.

Mama's Helper

See Sophia wash.
See Sophia wash her mat.
See Sophia wash her mat and her molding tools.
See Sophia soak the wood floor.

See Sophia wipe up the floor.

See Sophia smile.

"I think washing dishes would be fun."

I Told You!

Smiles galore:

Okay, so they're not really smiling in the picture. You'll have to take my word for it! They were so excited! It was great to see such pure joy.

Let's Hear it for the Boys!

Little 80's flashback? Yeah, me too. Sorry if it gets stuck in your head...

But that's not what this post is about. It actually is about my boys...and how I'll get smiles from them in the morning and a huge smile from Daddy when he reads this post.

An 8pm run to the grocery [no milk - ahhh...now you see!] turned into new make-up items for me, some boy toys, and a container for the boys' school blocks. That's right, they're only to be played with during our school time [I know, I know...]. So want to see what I got? Oh, I just knew you would!

Like I said in a recent post, our first 4 are girls. Lots of Barbies, babies, dress-up clothes and kitchen dishes and such. Now, we have the run-of-the-mill trucks, blocks, swords and dinosaurs - but *nothing* like this pair pictured above. Well, that's not exactly true. John Paul has a Spiderman [whom he loves!] that rides on a 3-wheeler. But the boys have nothing this big and braun!

These are the foam building blocks I got from Hobby Lobby this past Tuna Day. Within the first hour of them being played with, I found countless teeth marks in most of them! What's with you kids!

And here I got these cutting mats 4/$2.99 - I got 2 packages. I'm going to use them as craft mats for the kids. Play-Doh [or clay-doh as the littles call it], painting, etc. Modeling clay, unlike Play-Doh, is pretty tacky and will smear and stick on surfaces such as granite, hands, faces, upholstery. At least the Crayola clay I got does. Hopefully these will save on some wear and tear and nerves.

And I'll save you from my make-up purchases. I get kind of excited to try a new lipstick...it takes a good 10-15mins for me to decide which color will be the perfect one. When I got home and put my paraphernalia away, I opened my lipstick and applied it. It wasn't the perfect one. Well, it's not awful - it just doesn't have that BAM that I was hoping for. Don't you just hate that!? [I don't want comments from any men on that! - especially from a certain man along with the word Smolder]

So my MNO grocery run was not only some post-day relief, it was also very satisfying to bee-bop the make-up aisle and to find additional schoolhouse items. The *tops* was the Super Hero duo and the *bottoms* was Ginger Rose. **sigh**

At least tomorrow morning they can have milk in their cereal...

The Widow's Mite

This is how I felt when I put a whopping $0.20 in the offertory during Adoration Tuesday night. What to do? Paul wiped me out before going OOT. Here I was - just The Blessed Sacrament and I - and I'm digging...searching...in my purse for just something more! So I just dropped my dime and 2 nickels in the offertory and lit my candle. I envisioned Our Lady looking down - shaking her head - that prayer intention is gonna cost you more than a couple dimes, my dear child - LOL! I would've even felt more comfortable with $0.50! I did *not* go as low as to include the 10+ pennies I had! But, then again, to be as little children. Hmmmm....


[and I did not have all the kids with me as shown :O) Although - maybe that would've explained the measley 20 cents]

Butterflies, Lizards and Snakes! Oh My :Oo

Since starting this blog, I can't believe the things I've taken pictures of [and the things I didn't take pictures of!]. For instance: I would have Never Ever Ever taken a picture of a spider. Never.

For my Nature Kids, today couldn't have gotten much better. Well, okay, maybe their very own pony in the backyard, but other than that today was tops in the nature department.

It started with Therese yelling from the back deck [this is similar to the Chubby-Matthew post, but...it's not]: "He's out! He's out, Mommy!" - it just snowballed from there. To me this meant that the caterpillar she caught about 3wks ago -who immediately wrapped himself up- emerged from his cocoon.

Wanna know why Therese was heading to the tank/cage on the back deck in the first place? Because of this:

"He's a smart one. I was chasing him all over the backyard." Yes, our Nature Girl.

Sorry for the not-so-good photos here.

So - we had to let little butterfly go immediately. Just in case Mr. Green Guy had Butterfly on his menu [yes, that's what Therese named him!]. The girls found a couple grasshoppers - on the too large size - and a cute little bug and put them in the tank. Along with some shredded carrots. We'll see.

Then as I was giving the boys a bath in my bathtub, Kayla - armed with a flyswatter - and Dani entered my room. "Come here. You've got to see this." - "Ummm... I don't want to see any bugs." - "It's not a bug." [yeah, right. so why does Kayla have a flyswatter! I'm no dummy!] So they lead me out to the garage and they pointed to this while saying, "Isn't it cool!!?":

Oh, yeah. That....that is just adorable.

For clarification purposes: I did not take these pictures. Dani did. Kayla poked and prodded. I stood in the doorway. [oh, yeah, I did yank John Paul from the tub, wrap a towel around him and escort him to the garage. But by then the snake had coiled up in a crevice and it was hard to see].

No, I don't know what kind of snake it is. I don't know where it went. I don't know where it is right now. Hopefully it's just gone.

I'll let the girls research the snake tomorrow.

So - that was our critter coverage for today. And just think - it all happened between 6-8pm! I hope I don't have any update tomorrow about a snake in my house or how I passed out from stepping on said snake. Yuck! Whats more - dh is OOT. Just a bit unsettling.

Pray for me! *wink*

Lazy Beautiful Saturday ~

What a day. What an absolutely beautiful day. Fall...definitely my favorite season.

Therese went to American Adventures today for her friend's birthday party. Paul took her...just a little Daddy & Theresey time. Stephanie lived next door to us at our old house - she's only 4mo younger than Therese. So they 'go back' a ways :O) Therese was so excited...she hasn't seen Stephanie in so very long and she really misses her. It's so hard to get families and friends together, ya know? Trying to find an available day...we're all so busy. Sometimes - I think - too busy. That's why today was so great.

Besides some cleaning and cooking...I just enjoyed my day. And dinner was made in the slow cooker, so there wasn't a thought at all @ 4pm about what to make [since I didn't have my menu planned]. I had nothing scheduled. The kids had nothing scheduled - other than the b-day party. It was so nice. Thank you, Lord, for such a day!

This is the day the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice.

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After our yummy dinner I took this little video of Sophia and Charlie - and, ahem, a little goofball [remember the Eyeballs on my Planet guy?]. You probably won't laugh as hard as we all did - but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless:

This is one of Charlie's favorite spots:

It won't be too much longer and he'll be too tall to fit underneath the table! I don't think he'll appreciate that. He'll probably bang his head over and over again. Hey, he does the same thing as he crawls under the coffee table and whacks his head on the overhang. Again and again and again. And depending on his mood - he'll bang his head on purpose - almost to prove some point - and wind up hurting himself. Another goofball in the making. *sigh* :O)

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We played a couple games of Crazy Eights before bedtime. John Paul got to play with Daddy. By the second game though he moved over to Mommy's lap - where he proceeded to prove his Crazy Eights playing ability and won! I must also add here that Dani won the first game without even having to draw one card! [that's for Dani and Paul's amusement - I can't tell ya how many times we heard that!].

Another blessing today: Joseph was such a wonderful sweet boy all day long! We had no screaming fits or frustrating outbursts [from him]. There was no crying one bit for naptime or bedtime. There was no - well, just one - tantrum. And I received many pleases, thank yous, okays, whys and kisses & hugs! It's so nice when a 2yo uses and expands his vocabulary. It makes for a much more pleasant and tolerable day. A blessed day!

The Down-Side of Owning a Golden...

...the fur!!! With endless vacuuming, we still have fur galore! Which Baby Charlie cannot get enough of! YUCK! Time to call the groomer...

September 11th...2007

Many bloggers are posting about what they remember about that horrific day 6 years ago - where they were and what they were doing when they got the news. I honestly, like so many of you, cannot believe it's been 6 years. Gees.

Our parish invited a speaker to tell her story on 9/11/07. Her story is one of horror. Her story is one of pain. Her story is one of God's love. And her story is one of forgiveness. Complete forgiveness.

You see, she is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Her name is Immaculee Ilibagiza and she found God in a powerful way in the midst of her nightmare.

If you haven't read her book - Left to Tell - you really should. It's hard to put into words what she went through and how compelling her message of forgiveness and love is. Hiding out in a 3x4 bathroom - with 7 or 8 other women - for 91 days. Christ truly came to her in more ways than one, as did the devil. I read her book a few months ago and it was so very hard to put down...captivating to the very last page.

And if you ask me - it is no coincidence that she came to speak on 9-11. You know what they say... Coincidence is just when God wants to remain anonymous.

So my reflection of 9-11: Hate is the absense of Love. If we hate there's no room for love. We all need to love...a bit more. It starts in the home and spreads to our communities...our nation...our world. Without love there can be no hope. Without love there can be no forgiveness. Hate is what causes wars. Point blank. If we would all learn to stop being so self absorbed and truly love and truly forgive - well, then, wouldn't that rub off on this world. God's world.

Happy Birthday Blessed Mother!

Lovely Lady Dressed in Blue

Teach me how to pray...

God was just your little Boy,

Tell me what to say!

Did you lift Him up, sometimes,

Gently on your knee?

Did you sing to Him the way

Mother does to me?

Did you hold His Hand at night?

Did you ever try

Telling stories of the world?

O! And did He cry?

Do you think He really cares

If I tell Him things-

Little things that happen?

And do the Angels' wings

Make a noise? And can He hear

Me if I speak low?

Does He understand me now?

Tell me---- for you know.

Lovely Lady dressed in blue

Teach me how to pray!

God was just your little Boy

And you know the Way.

I know I'm late in posting this, but we did celebrate Our Lady's birthday last Saturday, the 8th.


The kiddos made this cake for her:There were supposed to be more decorative elements to this blue beauty of a cake, but we had a buttercream issue! Needless to say, I found a new recipe for buttercream icing. :O) I'm sure Our Lady smiled - contently - that those little hands and hearts were at work in honor of Her - Christ's humble Mother.

I liked what this homeschool group did in honor of Our Blessed Mother. Very creative!

Thank you, Dear Sweet Mother, for your yes!

Practicing...

...for his $1300 photo shoot! [Just kidding to all you out there in cyberLand!] ~

Charlie at 7months

~Last Sunday's Photo Shoot~

Sept. 2

Smilin' Chawee

We'll call this one Lovey Boy

Wow, how he's grown! It's so evident in this picture:

Lashes:

"Hmmm...there's got to be something here I can eat off the floor."

"Now that's just *got* to be something!"

"I'm outta here. I know there's a fur ball somewhere over there."

Why do you keep calling my name? What do you want?

aaaaaa....the air vent!

"Do you honestly think I've never heard, 'Oh, he's so cute!' - yeah, right."

"Okay...I'm done subjecting you to so much cuteness! Ciao."

Cast Your Vote!

I can't believe I'm doing this, but I entered Charlie in a photo contest!

It wasn't something I planned. I was just looking around online one day last month and a sidebar advertisement was displayed about this baby photo contest. So I did it...on a whim I might add. It was quick and painless. I didn't know anything about the contest, to be honest. Apparently it's an Alabama schools fund raiser - to teach them core subjects or something like that. What did they do before? I wonder. ;O)

The voting starts September 12th and closes Friday, October 26 @ midnight.

So - with that said, if Charlie receives at least 150 votes he'll get a thumbnail-sized photo in a calendar. If he wins the whole thing...front cover and a month, plus a photo shoot worth $1300! Yeah, I'm shooting for the thumbnail!

Listen...I'm not going to beg. But if you'd like to vote, you can do so HERE. And if you'd like to vote for Charlie [**wink**] - scroll down to FREE VOTE: CLICK HERE...enter info and Charlie's name...UPDATE: you need to enter Charlie D2...they worked out some kinks from this morning. If you'd like to see the picture, click on Gallery C ['c' for Charlie] and go to the 4th page...there you'll see 'Charlie D2'...it's the pirate hat photo. DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK here...if you do, you'll have to do the donation vote thingy. Hey, if you want to... that's great but it's your choice. It's 20 votes minimum for $5. Talk about buying votes!

One free vote per person per day. So....if we all work together **wink, wink** we can make it to the thumbnail!!

The winner is announced Nov. 4, I believe. There sure is a lot of competition. But not tooooo much, if ya know what I mean ;O) Hey...I'm his mother!!

If you'd like I can send out reminder emails so you can vote each day. Ummm...just kidding.

Happy voting!!

My Eyeballs are Stuck on My Planet!

Boy humor. Who can live without it? Sometimes, - I can.

That's what 4yo John Paul said as he jumped into The Tank after Mass on Thursday. Having 4 girls at the front of our brood - boy humor is sooooo apparent with our first son. Sometimes it's disgusting, sometimes it's down-right potty mouth, but mostly it is really funny...like the title of this post! I have no idea what goes on in that little 4yo mind - actually I have no idea what goes on in *any* of my kids' minds, but...oh well - I have no idea what he meant by his eyeballs being stuck on his planet. Should I? I don't think I'd want to know. It's probably just better that I say something like, "John Paul, you are such a goofball!", or something like that. Chalk it up to *wiring*, right? I love this guy!

First Day of School!

Yes, the day after Labor Day. Not the first day of August like the county schools. We had a nice long 3 month break this summer. And boy did I...I mean...*we* need it. I'm looking forward to getting back to the swing of things though. Although I don't think the kids are as enthusiastic as I am...well, there's Sophia - who gleefully smiled and said "Yay!" as she clapped her hands, glad at the idea of doing school work! At least for now.

Please say a prayer for us as we officially start our year.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton...Pray for Us!
St. Thomas Aquanis...Pray for Us!
St. John Bosco...Pray for Us!
St. Joseph...Pray for Us!
Mary, the Mother of God...Pray for Us!

Separate Ways

Who out there remembers this 'oldie but goodie'?

T G I T !

Since Fridays are a day of abstaining from meat around here, this is what I heard Therese exclaim this morning:

"Yay! It's Tuna Day!"

Woodstock...the City of Brotherly Love!

Okay, I know that Philly has already taken that motto, but if you came home from the grocery store to find this going on you'd want to use that motto too!
Dani sure knows how to delegate!!

Along Came a Spider...

...at our back door!

She's decided to make her web right over - not above - the doorway every night. At first, Paul was going to, ahem, get rid of her if you catch my drift, but I told him to leave her alone. Me, telling my dear husband to let a spider live...must've confused him a bit!

My sister happened upon said spider as she opened the door to the deck Saturday night to feed Pepi the Puppy Kitty. She had a surprise by this huge [chubby huge, gross huge] arachnid. And quickly shut the door! We turned the light on and saw her spinning her web...cool. Gross, yucky and gives me the willies, but...cool. So, I thought we should let her live.

She's a tidy little thing. She'll take her web down every morning - not leaving the slightest bit behind...you'd really never even know she was there. It's a good thing, too, for the dog and Dani's cat, otherwise my kids would not go out there to put food in the animals bowls!

And the Winner Is...

...[the poor dear!]. You'll see what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQdhMSEqhfg - Looks like this child was "Left Behind"!!

Breakthrough!!

Well, at almost 9mo old we finally have breakthrough!! Yes ~ Charlie cut his *first* tooth today. I think this is the record for our family for "late-breaking tooth-s"! As I was feeding him his favorite Pumpkin and Pears at dinner tonight I felt the tooth as he bit down on the spoon. It was so cute as the whole family came 'round sticking their fingers in his mouth and cheering; so excited about this new milestone - as I asked, "Did you wash your hands?!".

Funny...when he ate some peaches at lunch today I don't recall feeling that tooth!!