spicy!

if variety is the spice of life. then things are spicy around here.

we managed to squeeze in one of the last performances of the phantom before its farewell performance. i saw it years ago. but really wanted the little ones to see it with a live orchestra. and they did. at the historic pantages theater. in downtown hollywood with lots of bright lights. limos and trendy restaurants. stars under our feet. literally.

it was a 95 mile one way trip. i managed new shoes for both of them but my son has a bowl cut. and i wasn’t able to get that fixed before. he looks sort of young paul mccartney-ish.

it was worth every second we spent in traffic. and every second i spent explaining. in a very whispering voice. all of the details of this very exciting production.

on a completely different note. it is deer season. the tail end.

and it is so tempting to play with all those deer parts. at least for some folks.

oh deer!

i told you things are really spicy around here!

we are coming to the end of a very whirlwind week. and if i can just make it to sunday i’ll breathe a big sigh of relief….i am keeping the calender very empty for november and december….we need some time to unwind.

and i say that with a heavy heart. knowing that both of my grandmothers are sick and dying.

how soon, only God knows.

i do know that we are all dying.

one of my favorite lines from the movie braveheart is: every man dies. but not every man truly lives.

so what do i want to remember about this week of truly living? 

singing taylor swift songs at the top of our voices. till our throats hurt. picking out pumpkins and big kids who are not too big for pumpkins. a boy who can walk around the house cutting up a pom-pom while he lets pieces fall all over the place like furry confetti-like it is the most natural thing in the world to do. finally sewing the owls with the girls. pomegranate wine mixed with spiced apple-cider. edgar allen poe read aloud. frivolous fake jewelry. velvet shoes. and black fingernail polish.

 signed. yours truly.

raindrops on pumpkins

and tin signs on doorknobs.

these are just two of my favorite things…..

some of my other favorite things. this very night. include:

:singing my babies to sleep. songs that are some 16 years old for me. that’s how long i’ve had an audience.

:running my fingers through their hair and stroking soft. velvety foreheads.

:clear. sparkly nailpolish. and actual nails to paint! (i stopped biting…and, well, i am pretty thrilled with my stubs!)

:warm showers. the string of butterfly lights twinkling in the bathroom. and a comfy robe to put on.

:body scrub that smells yummy.

:chocolate covered bing cherries from trader joe’s. i hide them in the fridge so they stay nice and cool. and so no one else can find them.

wishing you a weekend full of lovely. favorite. things.

seen & noted:

the baby. measuring the rain. in a rainbow colored shot glass with the words acapulco, mexico plastered to the side…plastered…ha! no pun intended.

bible test. question number 31: after noe, people became more…larger and larger.

hmmmmmm.

that shot glass is looking more appealing as the day goes on.

and i don’t drink rain water.

better

oh. those. kinds. of. days.

the kind where you burn your tongue taste-testing your husband’s morning coffee.

and middle son uses your favoritest tea towel. the one you embroidered as a young girl. while you were still living at home. dreaming of your own home. to wash the car.

and the baby eats a bowl of yogurt and frozen blueberries in your bed while you are away visiting your sick grandmother. so when you come home. and fall into said bed. you collapse on said bowl. and it hurts.

no. this wasn’t quite what i dreamed it would be…

it’s better.

with her own hands

it came wrapped like a present.

he very carefully unwrapped it.

sometimes you can tell a book by its’ cover.

“did she make this with her own hands?”  he asked me.

“well, yes”,  i said.

“did you take the pictures?” he asked.

“no, i did not”, i replied.

“wow, this is really nice. can i get a pocketknife?”

and that pretty much sums up how very interesting this wonderful book is to little Catholic boys.

there have been repeated requests for a pocketknife.

there have been numerous attempts to start fires in the yard.

and there is a renewed interest in bug watching. 

which quite often happens on an hourly  basis.

so i am ever so grateful for this inspiration.

this enthusiasm for boyhood and the faith.

this work of her hands.

a book that makes me proud to be a Catholic mama.

grateful that i have boys to share this adventure with. 

now go buy yourself one.

you know you want to!

the end

do you ever feel like that about the week?

like: oh, hello friday. i am so glad you came. i never thought i’d see the likes of you again.

the weekend has a peaceful glow that the rest of the week just doesn’t have.

the rest of the week is like being at the center of a cyclone. there are these powerful and destructive forces swirling about you. scattering your senses and bearings. but there is beauty and awe can which can only be seen when you step away from it all. 

a beauty and awe which is nothing less than the Hand of God.

 so. what to write today?

i thought you might want to discuss which is the lesser of the two evils. playdough or oil-based clay.

definitely playdough. and besides, i like the way it smells.

i declare playing with playdough a life skill. my children have been keeping busy for hours during these too hot to go outside october days. i, too, have been running the air conditioning a lot. it makes me sick. but the weather leaves me no choice.

or i could share with you the contents of my apron pockets. things i’ve gathered throughout the day. trash. treasures. re-chargeable batteries. clingy dustbunnies.

or how my hands are itching to do something creative. to knead some dough. to hold a needle and some thread…i can’t seem to get any projects besides dusting the mini-blinds and sorting the laundry completed.

so instead i’ll just leave you with these pictures. of my home. with pumpkins and the color orange abounding. 

love of the good. the just. and the beautiful.

words from yesterday’s magnificat.

“we have an obligation to make a sustained effort on a daily basis to work at interior perfection, because whether we intend it or not, the effect we have on others will be the reflection of what we are within.”

now mind you, my standards are kind of low. so please bear with me.

happy weekend friends!

39, 100…

this slight numerical/counting error was overheard by me today during a hide-n-seek session.

wherein i was sitting in a comfy chair. basking in the glory of  how well the baby knows his numbers in spite of the fact that i haven’t worked that much with him lately….

ah, humility.

sweet humility….

any guess what subject we’ll be focusing on tomorrow?

greetings!

from the land of milk and cookies.

the baby said this. referring to the promised land. and i thought it sounded so wonderfully cute.

oops. he laughed: i meant the land of milk and honey.

the idea that there is a place that actually has two of his favorite things flowing is incredible to him.

6 is a great age. it is right before the age of reason.

reasoning isn’t always good.

i was going to say something negative about teenagers and reason. but i’ll keep my mouth shut.

for now.

anyhoo…there is a chill in the air. everyone is sporting warm jammies. it’s too cold to go out with wet hair. and i feel like i need tea 12 times a day to keep warm. and i am wondering what happened to fall? did we somehow skip it? because the chill is february-ish. and i. want. fall.

so i had all sorts of grand things to share. but i am just too tired. and i have papers to grade and some juicy snail mail to read. and the baby keeps trudging up the stairs as if he hasn’t had my undivided attention all-the-day long.

spoiled rotten you say? you bet! to. the. core.

i am IMMENSELY enjoying my snail mail pals-and i rarely use CAPS-you know who you are ladies-it is so fun and relaxing. this exchange of handwritten letters and cards. and, well, just plain special to forge a bond with someone unseen. and really, unknown. yet, so kindred.

well, sisters in Christ (because that is really what we all are, right?) my dear readers and friends. i am signing off of this virtual space. again.

but i will be back soon.

nonsense

i woke up early. probably too early. and by the time my kids get up i’ll be tired again. regrettably. and grumpy. regrettably. but i am so grumpy these days anyway. having teenagers does that to you. it is inevitable.

a spam comment just made me smile: i can has cheeseburger it says. who sends this stuff? do these people really have nothing better to do? really? because they could come over here and do a few loads of laundry…i have some strange instinct that makes me automatically want to give naughty people chores to do. i am definitely a mother.

when i came upstairs to find my magnificat i spied the newest issue of women’s health, which i bought a few days ago because there were some exercises that my daughter wanted to do-abs and butt-plus flat belly power snacks-that’s the good part.

the bad part is somehow i didn’t notice the 25 HOT SEX SECRETS on the front cover as well. it’s nice to know that’s been lying around scandalizing my children for about a week.

i am desperately searching for a prayer routine for our extremely busy schedule right now. i think i have an idea. but it is going to take some work on my part. the important things always are a lot of work, aren’t they?

downstairs is nice and tidy, thanks to my girl. so hopefully this morning will go smoothly. we are deep in history. biblical history. finishing up with noah. starting sargon. cuneiform. the tigris and euphrates river. the first farmers. etc. too bad there isn’t a closer field trip for this unit study.

breakfast: sweet potatoes with milk and honey.

listening to: the phantom of the opera. still. the baby just loves it. along with annoying pop music from the teenagers. always trying to drown out the good stuff they are.

a picture thought: i love all of the baby’s doodles. this pumpkin makes me smile too and the way he cuts things into small squares.

i am really failing him miserably right now. the baby that is. because the bigger kids’ schedules and schoolwork needs are all-consuming. and i often feel like he gets brushed aside. he is lonely for little people companionship and i can’t even seem to fit it in.

so i suppose we’ll go and see that owl movie today. that has to count for something, right?

playing along

with alice.

snapshots focusing on making home.

i do so love a season that incorporates fake cobwebs into the picture, don’t you?

i am sort of over the limit…it was 2 photos, wasn’t it?

so sorry, alice.

but after not posting for, oh…say…5 days…my fingers were itching!

and here i am. with another sunflower. they really are my favorite flowers.

this one has a face i’m tellin’ ya. she was smiling at me in my kitchen on sunday morning as i baked a chocolate cream cheese birthday cake for our priest. and i just had to capture it.

so….we’ve got pumpkins and acorns galore in every nook and cranny of this old house.

oh, and cobwebs. real ones.

and there is rain pitter-pattering outside. it was an awfully gloomy day. but we won’t focus on that.

and i am still overwhelmed. super busy. annoyed with school.

hence my absence here in this place.

i will get over this folks. i am trying.

i am doing lots of spiritual reading and it helps.

the saints do wonders for making one feel like a complaining worm.

signed,

yours truly. a complaining worm.