TGIR!

...that's "Thank God it's Raining"!!

Hey, when you haven't had a good rain in...forever. And they're really worried about our water supply - rain is precious!

So that's what I'm doing as I sit here blopping. I've got the window open, the cool breeze coming in through the back window, hearing that wonderful sound. Rain.

Thank you, Lord! - Send more; but not on Friday afternoon :O)

Not Tonight...

I know, I know! I've really got soooo much to post on this blog, but I've been trying to do school planning and some online shopping. Not to mention *all* the housework I haven't done!

Hopefully I'll be posting soon...but not tonight!

Good Night, Gorilla...

Guilty Thoughts

My thought for this evening [are you ready!] :

The Cheesecake Factory and South Beach ---------------don't mix!!

New Toy!

Paul got a new toy. He calls it necessity. I call it mine! Actually, Joseph calls it, "My new truck!".

Keys to the Beast!

When we were about to leave the park today - on our way to go pick up dd#1 - I reached in my pocket and to my surprise my keys weren't there!

It's a wordy story in my mind, so I'll try and put the quick version here.

Walking quickly up to the parking lot [up, since the playground is called "The Valley" - uphill to the parking lot] I thought for sure they were left on the rear bumper [where i placed them while getting the stroller out]. They were not there. They were not in the beast either. The beast was locked, but we have a password coded entry. It didn't dawn on me til a bit later that they couldn't be in there - because I lock it with the remote lock.

I had to call Paul - who was at one of his customer sites - to give him the news. He came to my rescue, but it took some time. He, first, had to go get Kayla, then go to the house to get the spare key. My friend, Celeste, stayed with me til almost 5pm! It was very sweet of her to sit and chat and keep me company while I tried to figure out the mystery of the keys!

Long story short. Paul arrived around 5:15. He got all of us in the beast and started to go back to his truck - I opened the door and yelled out, "Can I have the keys?". He just laughed saying how I would've just been left there again! He handed me the keys and I put the key in the ignition and when I turned it...nothin'. It was dead. I just grinned at Paul who had stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of a dead vehicle! It was just so comical! He said to me that I'd better have the cables in the back. I did. And we left.

The first thing I did when we got home was to post an email to the gals who were at the park with us. In the email I just told them that I had lost them and asked if they had found them in their things.

When Paul and I got home later on tonight, the first thing I did was check my emails - and I even said out loud, "Okay...who's got my keys." as I checked my mail. Well, my friend, Debbi, had responded that she did indeed find my keys in her cooler bag in the outside pocket. She also let me know that it wasn't she who had picked them up. I knew instantly...probably just like those of you reading this right now...only one name fit the crime. Joseph!

Wanna know what I learned at the park today?

That pesky in-your-face yellow jackets will not see another day when confidence and a shoe are involved!

Home Sweet Home!

Mom and Dad are back from Rome today. Paul went and picked them up at the airport.
Now I can't wait to hear about everything and see all those great pictures. I did talk to them today - just to make sure Paul actually showed up!! - to see how everything went. My mom told me how blown away she was with Assisi. She said it was awesome. I know it was such a memorable trip for them.
A big Thanks to all of you who prayed for them!

Eduardo's Story of Life

Many of you have seen the story of Eduardo on EWTN and the like. This isn't so much of a plug for Bella as it is a plug for life. Here, in this clip, you see Eduardo delivering his "research story" in preparation for the film Bella.
God is so good. Praise Him!

The Results:

Well, the results are in from the photo contest and Charlie didn't win. Didn't even make the 150 votes, surprisingly. I still think that there were flaws with their system! Only because I know who was voting - regularly or not.

Like Paul told me; this wasn't a contest where people were looking at photos and choosing a cute baby. Really. It wasn't. It was just like what I did. "Hey go to this site. Look at my kid and vote for him/her." I just don't have as many friends [LOL] or $$$$ :O)

Special thanks to all those who voted. :O)

Anyway, it's over...thank God. Charlie is a winner in my eyes! ::big smile::

All Saints Party -

I was so impressed with how well these kids stood there while we took pictures. I'm so serious when I say that they didn't budge or speak. We were all done shooting. And they stood there. We walked away. And they stood there. We had to tell them to get down. Amazing! I yelled out to my kids: Why can't you do this at home!
There's Joseph as St. Francis, above. I had to tell Fia to hold onto his shoulders so he wouldn't fall or jump off the stage! You can see all my kids with the exception of the Charliebee! Yeah, he was St. Francis' bumblebee! Danielle is St. Bernadette waaaay in the back [the tall one!].
The kids picked out their costumes about an hour before we had to go. No kidding. No individual pictures were taken...just the group shots. I'm just proud of myself for bringing my camera! Amazing what this blog does for that :O)
In the last shot, they're doing a procession of saints to the song "When the Saints Go Marchin' In" - the only one looking at the camera isn't Therese, although she does look like her a bit :O) She's a friend of Therese's. One day a couple weeks ago, while we were at Friday Park Day, Therese and her friend had their hair pulled back the same way [practically the same color] and had on the exact same color clothing. They totally could've passed for sisters.
Therese is in the light purple [St. Lucy - with a baggie filled with a couple eyeballs] - John Paul is in the forefront [who else, give a kid a sword, and you've got yourself a St. Michael!] - Sophia's in the navy/burgundy costume [St. Rose of Lima].

More from October 31st -

For ballet class today the girls were allowed to dress up. Obviously easy are these kitties. And quite cute...

Pretty funny leopards out there...

...and here!

A sleeping owl...

Didn't I just post that Charlie had a haircut?

Quite a happy Charliebee!

We have way too much candy! Not a good thing.

All You Holy Men and Women...

Pray for us!

Feast of All Saints

Penal Thriller

The Cast:

The Hunter [and the loyal dog]: The Nice Pirate:
The Leopard:
The Owl:
The Bumblebee:

The Dragon, Owl and Nice Pirate

More later. I must go to bed! Good Night...

The Making of an Owl...

We went to the thrift store on Saturday [remember?] where I got the stuff for Sophia's owl costume. I found the brown sweater with fringe on the bottom. And as we were browsing I came upon different fabrics which were hung on hangers. I saw this material - for $1, I might add - and thought: these would make perfect wings for the owl. So that's what my plan was.

So I cut a bunch of feather-shaped pieces out:
And cut 'feathers' at the bottom of the sleeves. That wasn't enough, so I had to cut some more above the ends and then made some 'V' cuts above those.
Found a mask online...stapled some elastic to it. And voila - an owl!
I started to hand-stitch the feathers on - then had a revelation after the first row [the bottom]. I know I have some Stitch-Witchery somewhere! I searched and searched in my sewing basket and finally found it. So that is my secret weapon here!

And I am also very aware how scary the mask looks. She kind of reminds me of some bad 80's slasher-flick character. It really was a cute mask...see?

This was just a dress rehearsal, but for Sophia's sake - I need to put the video on...

Rome Sweet Home ~

Please keep my parents in your prayers. They left for Rome this afternoon and will be coming back next Thursday.

Thank you!

A Little Off the Sides, Please ~

Inspired by this post [John is the same age as Charlie], I wasted no time in trimming Charlie's over-the-ears-hairdo! Thanks, Katherine :O)

Before:

These 2 were taken on Sunday. I really do love the baby hair though ::sigh::

After:

Now if only John Paul and Joseph were this easy!

Gadgets -

When we bought my new laptop a couple months ago I, of course, got the new Windows program Vista.

It's got some pretty neat features. One of the things you can do is have "gadgets" appear on your desktop on your sidebar [they're a little larger than the icons]. There are hundreds of "gadgets" you can put on your computer...

I have 4 on mine. I have my Outlook info - how many are in my inbox, any reminders, etc... - I think I'm going to delete this one though. I just don't use it. Then I have a flower clock. Real cute. And also one that shuffles through My Pictures in slideshow fashion. But my favorite one - bar none - has got to be the weather for the town we live in. How cool is that? Well, actually pretty cool...it was 45 degrees this morning when I got on my computer!

Bella IS Beautiful!

I almost forgot to post this! Paul and I went to see Bella last night! What a beautiful film. So many thoughts flooded my mind as I watched this movie. You must support this film!

Put it this way...my eyes were a bit puffy this morning! Not that it's a tear-jerker, per se - I think I was a bit overly emotional last night. Plus I've been waiting and longing to see it and just saw a beautiful story unfold from the opening scene!

This will adorn my family room wall one day: If you want to make God laugh...tell Him your plans!

My Day...

Today was a busy day, but a really nice day. First of all, it was a beautiful day - though we're in such an awful drought and I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see rain - the air was crisp and the sky a beautiful blue.

I went to a Pampered Chef party. My very first one. I must say when I told people that their mouths dropped to the floor. I've been invited to many, but never went for whatever reason. The friend who hosted the party did it as part of a fundraiser that her kids are doing for Food for the Poor. Truly an amazing family! More to come on what I ordered...

I had a surprise at this party. The Pampered Chef consultant was a friend I went to Catholic grade school with! It was so cool. I love those little surprises that God gives us. Just to keep us on our toes :O)

Paul is finishing part of our basement off. So this afternoon was dedicated to the "drywall stage". This is the part I like. You know - where you can see results and the room...well, looks like a room.

At any rate, he is very satisfied that it's coming along so well and that he's at this stage in the game. It means his office is that much closer to completion.

And finally - I took 5 of the kiddos to some thrift stores to find things for their costumes on All Hallows Eve - otherwise known as Halloween. The only one out of the 3 girls who knew what she wanted to be was Dani. Any guesses? Here's a hint: camo is involved.

So we found some things for her and got a back-up camo hat just in case hers wasn't found in time!

Therese will be a leopard - that was easy..."oh, look. Here's a leopard print shirt! You can be a leopard!" Done!

Sophia had no real clues on what to be. So, I found a funky-looking Ladies sweater and told her: "Look, you can be an owl!". Done!

Another post to follow on their costumes. Personally - I'm looking forward to the owl ;O)

Here they were last year [see Penny in the background by the door? :O) ]

Where Oh Where?

UPDATE: Camo hat is safe and sound in Dani's room now. As we were driving around today it dawned on me that Joseph [aka: *The* two year old!] has this hiding place where he likes to put all his secret stash of random items. I told Dani to look there when we got home. To no avail. Ahh, but she [or should I say older sister Kayla] did not look in all nooks and crannies. So Mom and St. Anthony to the rescue! Needless to say...she was very thankful and very excited!

--Can Dani's camo hat be? She's misplaced it. She had it on Saturday; a day that she would have to have it, but she couldn't find it when she needed it on Saturday! She hasn't looked high and low...yet. She just knows that she doesn't have it.

--Can Pepi be? She might be in someone's bedroom or...outside. We put a kitty door in the basement door from the kitchen so we could put her litterbox down there. Paul was doing work down in the basement today - building stuff - so he had the basement door opened to the outside. I hope she didn't get out. She's still not fixed :o0

Ohhhhh, St. Anthonyyyyyy!

UPDATE: Wow! St. Anthony is on top of it tonight! Just caught Pepi finishing up Charlie's food in his highchair. All is well! I can even envision a camo hat atop his bald head below!