The Perils of Battle

When a knight is protecting his precious sword from his vicious, black-hearted nemesis (aka his older brother), sometimes battle wounds are a natural result.

While scuffling over his sword with WWD tonight, JPD fell backwards and hit his head--hard--on the corner of our staircase.
Lots of blood + Sunday night = No easy doctor visit.

So off to the ER we went, where JPD proceeded to charm everyone with his colorful descriptions of the battle. After triage, he sailed back to his room with the nurse, throwing a "You can wait out here, Mom" over his shoulder as he went. He was absolutely thrilled to be at the hospital where he was born, and we even--who'd a thunk it--saw my OB who delivered both him and MPD.

And two staples! In his head!
Best show-and-tell evah!

Catholic Code

h/t to Sardonic Catholic Dad for this Catholic hilarity!

This information is for Catholics only. It must not be divulged to non-Catholics. The less they know about our rituals and code words, the better off they are.

AMEN: The only part of a prayer that everyone knows.

BULLETIN: Your receipt for attending Mass.

CHOIR: A group of people whose singing allows the rest of the Parish to lip-sync.

HOLY WATER: A liquid whose chemical formula is H2OLY.

HYMN: A song of praise usually sung in a key three octaves higher than that of the congregation's range.

RECESSIONAL HYMN: The last song at Mass often sung a little more quietly, since most of the people have already left.

INCENSE: Holy Smoke!

JESUITS: An order of priests known for their ability to found colleges with good basketball teams.

JONAH: The original 'Jaws' story.

JUSTICE: When kids have kids of their own.

KYRIE ELEISON: The only Greek words that most Catholics can recognize besides gyros and baklava. (for you non-Catholics it means Lord have mercy)

MAGI: The most famous trio to attend a baby shower.

MANGER: Where Mary gave birth to Jesus because Joseph had Obama-Care insurance. (The Bible's way of showing us that holiday travel has always been rough.)

PEW: A medieval torture device still found in Catholic churches.

PROCESSION: The ceremonial formation at the beginning of Mass consisting of altar servers, the celebrant, and late parishioners looking for seats.

RECESSIONAL: The ceremonial procession at the conclusion of Mass led by parishioners trying to beat the crowd to the parking lot.

RELICS: People who have been going to Mass for so long, they actually know when to sit, kneel, and stand.

TEN COMMANDMENTS: The most important Top Ten list not given by David Letterman.

USHERS: The only people in the parish who don't know the seating capacity of a pew.

And Now For A Very Practical Post

Last weekend, my personal grocery shopper (to whom I am married) did a wee bit of comparison shopping between Sam's Club and Costco. We belong to both, because we are serious bulk shoppers and each club has certain things that we can't live without. Also, we are lucky to have both within reasonable distance from home here in our perfect little medium-sized town.

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in some of the results. The overall winner? Pretty close, but it's Costco, in almost every category. Go figure--I would have guessed the other way. Anyway, here are some details:

Classico spaghetti sauce: 3x32 oz. for $6.88 at both clubs.
Classico alfredo sauce: 3x16 oz. 4.97 Costco; 6.12 Sam's.
Basmati rice: 20 lb. bag $13.26 Costco; 15 lb. bag $13.26 Sam's.
Swanson chicken broth: 12x14 oz. $7.88 at both clubs.
Purdue chicken breasts, 10 lbs.: $23.29 Costco; $22.98 Sam's.
Velveeta cheese 2x1lb $8.79 Costco; $8.88 Sam's.
String cheese, 3 lbs.: $7.99 Costco; $8.26 Sam's.
Yoplait yogurt 18x6 oz. cups; $8.29 Costco; $8/10 Sam's.
Butter 4 lbs.: $6.79 Costco; $6.98 Sam's.
Kraft american cheese: 4 lbs. $8.96 Costco; 3 lbs. $7.46 Sam's.

And a couple of others, but I can't read Bill's writing. Also I'm so bored out of my mind just typing this up, I can't imagine actually doing the comparison shopping myself. No doubt I would lose the piece of paper somewhere in my car while driving between the two stores, and the math to figure out something like which one of those american cheeses is the best deal would probably make me want to cry.

I am so thankful for my practical, frugal husband who will do all this stuff--especially all our grocery shopping! (See what I mean about how it would be inconceivable for me to lose $350.00?!?!)

Happy 10th Birthday, MRD!!

You're in the double digits, sweetie!
And wise way beyond your years, as always...
I love you so much!

Wisdom from FLYLady

FLY (Finally Loving Yourself) Lady has really hit a home run with her note today, so I wanted to share:

Dear Friends,
Do you want to know why your home gets messy? It is not because your children tear things up faster than you can put them away and it is not because your husband doesn't help?
Your home gets messy because you don't think you have time clean it up!
When we quit blaming others for the messiness then we will start to see windows of opportunity to pick up and put away.
The hardest person in your home to clean up after is YOU! This is because you feel like that you will get a chance to go back to that project. That is one of the reason you never put thing back where they belong.
The keys to keeping your home clean is to pick up after yourself, get rid of clutter and to quit complaining that you don't have time.
Those words, "I don't have time" are a red flag for you! They tell you that your perfectionism is taking over. When you hear yourself say those words or think them; I want you to pick up 5 things and put them away.
As we say in the south! Hit a lick at a snake. That is our way of telling you to just do something. Anything is better than nothing!
Now I want to talk about your children and their clutter. Clutter gets in the way of their enjoyment of their rooms. This is because you have turned their rooms into storage building for the other children. You are hanging on to their clothes and toys. When they have too many toys and clothes they can't think or play! All any of us want to do is play. Help your children by boxing up their toys and letting them go visit the House Fairy for a while. http://www.housefairy.org/
Are you ready to help your children FLY?
FlyLady

Uh, now I gotta go clean up around here...

Expect a Miracle

I can't wait to tell you this story.

Friday afternoon, on the way home from school with the kids, I got some cash from the bank. Specifically, I got $500, all in fifty dollar bills. Knowing that I would be working at the school fish fry a few hours later (Now I know I am officially a true Wisconsin mom, but that's another story!), I carefully put $50 in my wallet, $100 in my zippered coat pocket to give to Bill for grocery shopping (grocery shopping for me=true love!), and resolved to be sure to put the remaining $350 safely away at home so that it would not be in my purse or in my car during the fish fry.

Fast forward to Saturday afternoon.

The $350 is nowhere to be found, and I have no further memory of doing anything with it. ("Senior Moment!"--there, I said it, so you can just resist that little jab right now!)

It was not in my coat pocket, not in my car, not in our usual "cash stash" spot in the house, not in my desk, not in my pile of clutter in the dining room, not in the trash, not in my dresser, not in my bathroom vanity, and not in any of the other 10,000 places I frantically searched in my house.

Did I forget to take it out of my purse, so that someone stole it when I left my purse unattended in the fish fry break room? (Quote from WWD, God love him: "But Mom, it couldn't have been stolen; everyone there was Catholic.")

Did I scoop it up with the junk mail and toss it? Did I leave it sitting in my lap and drop it when getting out of the car? Did I ("oh please...") absentmindedly just put it somewhere strange in the house?

And it wasn't just a little money, either. Three hundred and fifty dollars!! The kids and I searched and searched, and prayed and prayed to St. Anthony, who is, of course, the patron saint of lost objects. The worst part, naturally, was telling Bill. All I could think about was how long it takes him to earn $350 at the job that he loathes, and how carefully he watches his money. $350.00. Oh my.

I went to sleep last night praying that I'd wake up with a clear mind and remember where I put the money. Instead I woke up with that sick feeling of losing $350. All day long it didn't turn up.

Just now, after watching the Saints beat his beloved Brett Favre for the NFC Championship, WWD went to bed and came running back downstairs yelling, "Mom! Mom! I found it! I found it!"

I knew exactly what "it" was, of course.

Friday night when we were rushing to get out the door on time for the fish fry, I'd helped William search his closet for the specific shirt he wanted to wear. And, since I was on my way to my room to put the money away at the time, in order to look for his shirt, I'd set down the money envelope on a shelf in his closet.

The shelf where he keeps his prayer stuff.

And the envelope--no kidding--was sitting right in front of a holy card of St. Anthony.

What's that saying...

"Don't believe in miracles; depend on them."

Indeed.

Look out! I'm almost two!!

First, a self-portrait:


But really, like mommy/like baby--falling asleep reading:


We love you, MPD!

A Poetic Song

"Marriage alone can save love between man and woman and place it above the contingencies of daily flux and moods. Without this bond, there is no reason to wish to transform the dreariness of everyday life into a poetic song."

- Alice von Hildebrand, from the introduction to Marriage - The Mystery of Faithful Love by Dietrich von Hildebrand

Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee Beans

Ever heard this one? It's perfect for MLK Day--h/t to MommyLife.

First, a quote from MLK himself:

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – MLK

Now this:

A certain daughter complained to her father about her life and how things have been so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and she wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that just as one problem was solved another arose.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen, filled three pots with water and placed the fire on high. Soon the three pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the other he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter sucked her teeth and impatiently wondered what he was trying to do. She had problems, and he was making this strange concoction. In half an hour he walked over to the oven and turned down the fire. He pulled the carrots out and placed them in the bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in the bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her he asked. "Darling what do you see?"
Smartly, she replied. "Carrots, eggs, and coffee."

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee.
Her face frowned from the strength of the coffee.

Humbly, she asked. "What does it mean Father?"
He explained. "Each of them faced the same adversity, 212 degrees of boiling water. However each reacted differently."

"The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after going through boiling water, it softened and became weak."

"The egg was fragile. A thin outer shell protected a liquid center. But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened."

"The coffee beans are unique however. After they were in the boiling water, they became stronger and richer."

"Which are you," he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

"Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with the smallest amount of pain, adversity, heat you wilt and become soft with no strength? Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? A fluid spirit. But after a death, a breakup, a divorce, a layoff you became hardened and stiff. Your shell looks the same, but you are so bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart, internally.

Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean does not get its peak flavor and robustness until it reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water gets the hottest, it just tastes better. When things are their worst, you get better. When people talk the most, your praises increase. When the hour is the darkest, and trials are their greatest, your worship elevates to another level.

How do you handle adversity?
Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

~AUTHOR UNKNOWN

I don't know about you, but I'm really identifying with the carrot on this one!

Friday Quick Takes: The WWD Edition

Check out lots more great Quick Takes at Conversion Diary!

~ 1 ~

In an hour or so my dear firstborn is going away to weekend ski camp with his Catholic boys' leadership club. Three nights away from home--his first ever! Last night I helped him pack, which was weird--I have just a bit of experience with packing, and it was so funny to help someone who has never, ever packed a suitcase before. Made me think about my early travels to summer camp and high school student council conferences...ah, glory days. But I digress--WWD's going away! I'm nervous! What if he forgets to wear a hat skiing? What if he can't find his pajamas? What if he gets homesick? Ha! He's so excited--he's going to have a blast!

~ 2 ~

This week W's teacher and principal invited him to represent the school at "College for Kids" this summer. College for Kids is a three-week day camp at the University of Wisconsin for gifted and talented fifth graders, where the students get to attend multi-disciplinary workshops with professors from different departments. How cool is that? He's super excited about it. I think it will be a neat opportunity for him, and I can't wait to see this year's workshops (they're not posted yet).

~ 3 ~

Basketball has always been, like, my least favorite major sport. I have horrible memories of basketball from my college days, including a particularly embarrassing experience trying to play intramural basketball for my sorority, and a bad taste in my mouth from being a Final Four Widow on an otherwise special-to-me weekend. (Ahem. Oh--and please know that the "Final Four Widow" thing involves an old boyfriend and NOT, certainly, my dear husband!) But this year I am learning so much about basketball, and loving watching W's team so much!! His team is great--they are winning almost all of their games--and his coaches are just spectacular. What an awesome opportunity for him to get to play on this team, with such great teammates and such strong coaching. The boys are working their tails off, and have already improved a lot this season. And I'm finally figuring out such fine points about the sport as why they sometimes get a free throw after a foul and sometimes don't. (Good job, Mom.)

~ 4 ~

This afternoon WWD won his school Geography Bee. I must admit I wasn't too surprised, since he came in second in the very competitive homeschool bee last year, and he's kind of a whiz with geo-trivia. We both love it. And the questions this year were unbelievably hard--winning was more a matter of being lucky enough to get a question that it was possible to answer at all! If the next level qualifying test is the same flavor, it's going to be tough to pass--we're going to study up on rivers, big time, as there were a lot of questions about obscure rivers.

Another happy Geo Bee surprise? Miss MRD took third! A couple of days ago, she didn't even want to do it, because she knew it would be hard. But she's really good, especially with states and capitals, so I'm so glad she tried. She did great, too, and now she's so glad she went for it! Hooray MRD! :)

~ 5 ~

I've been thinking a lot about sixth grade for WWD. To homeschool or not to homeschool? Our Catholic middle school is just outstanding--and literally less than a mile from our home, so he could ride his bike. The tuition, while not nothing, is really quite reasonable. So there really is no downside.

But I still want to homeschool.

I would love to spend a year working with him one-on-one. I have so many ideas for things I'd like to do with him for sixth grade. We share the same academic interests and strengths, and we would have so much fun reading and learning stuff together. And always at the heart of my homeschool motivation is my feeling that my years with my sweeties are just going way too fast. I'm going to blink and they'll be grown up and out of here. I want to savor every minute with them that I can. This especially applies to WWD for two reasons--first, because he's the oldest and will be gone the soonest, and second, because I really do regret letting him go to Montessori preschool so much, so early. Montessori was wonderful, for sure, but I should have kept him home. What was I thinking--now there's a topic for another post!

After all, how much academic damage could I possibly do in just one year, anyway? :) He'll probably go to Catholic school for 7th grade when MRD goes for 6th. He'll have two whole years to get the whole GPA thing going before high school, when his grades really count. Also, maybe I don't even care about grades anyway (yeah right!).

When it comes down to it, I really just think there's much more chance that I'll regret not homeschooling in the future than I would regret homeschooling. But on the other hand, of course, it's not like I have nothing else to do around here! Sigh...there's that "life's too short" thing again. I think I'm gonna have to stop now, lest this "Quick Take" turn into a whole blog post!

~ 6 ~

Have I told you how tall he is getting? All I know is that back in September, when he got crutches, we had to set them for 5'4" and now his school pants are getting too short. And for football weigh-in, back in August, he was 111 lbs. As has been the case for his whole life, he looks much older than he really is! This, of course, brings some challenges and complexities for him. I am so proud of him!

~ 7 ~

When WWD grows up, he wants to be a sports journalist. Oh, and as for the Longhorns' and Packers' fates last weekend...he's taking it well. It's nice he has so many good things going on this week to distract him from those two sad endings of the football season! At least he's still got Favre and the Vikings, for whom he's only a temporary fan--but for this year he's really just focused on the NFL draft at this point. And then, of course, comes March Madness! :)

So proud of you, my WWD!

Snow Girls

Lovin' our Wisconsin winter!!

All Grown Up (Well, Almost)

MPD's first haircut! He's officially not a baby anymore, as you can see!

Before:



After:

JPD's Greatest Hits, Part 2

JPD, please don't grow up!

JPD's Greatest Hits, Part 1

The many faces of JPD...

This Blog Is NOT About Politics

...but this was just too good to pass up!

"The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and time again that they have the management skills of celery. They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy.

The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they wouldn't bother to stop because they'd want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club."

~ Dave Barry

Retro Thursday

These are from 2006. I'm hoping we can make it out for some skiing again this winter!

Chore Update

After more or less giving the kids a pass on chores this fall, with them being back in school and all, a couple of days ago I finally snapped. Mealtime alone around here is enough to require a household staff (hmmm....there's an idea...), and I was worn out.

Rather than taking a couple of weeks to scrape together enough spare time (in between loading and unloading the dishwasher, you know) to make up a complex chore chart for us on Excel, which has often been my standard operating procedure in the past, this past weekend at dinner I just announced,

"Now you're all going to have mealtime jobs. Except for MPD. Here are the four jobs:
1. Clear all the dishes,
2. Put away leftover food,
3. Sweep under the table,
4. Wipe down the top of the table.
You will each have one of these jobs for a week. I will still be here, helping you and doing all the hard stuff, like deciding which container to put which leftovers in and loading the dishwasher. Each week, you'll switch jobs. These will be your chores following every mealtime. Starting now. Go."

It reminds them of the lunchroom jobs that the 4th and 5th graders have at their school, so they like it. Well, at least JPD does, because he feels like a big kid. And you know what? This little thing is making a HUGE difference around here. We're getting in a new year's groove!

(They don't know it, but my evil plan is to add back in pre-mealtime chores too, then Saturday morning chores. I'm heading for easy street around here!)

I Miss Homeschooling!

The kids went back to school today. I missed them. Well, not all the sibling bickering that filled our holidays, I have to say...but in spite of that, I had that homeschooler-wanna-be feeling that I always have when I have to give them up after vacation.

So this morning, JPD and I did a bit of homeschooling, which I've been planning to get to all year for the days of the week that he's not at preschool. Now that our move is pretty much all wrapped up (we're into just normal messy-house organization now, more or less) it's time to reclaim my life, and spending more time with JPD is part of that. So we did a bit of math, some Sing, Spell, Read, & Write, some sight word flash cards, and a cool science read-aloud about sharks. JPD LOVED it. MPD climbed in our laps and joined right in.

I miss homeschooling. I do. I also cannot imagine how I ever actually did homeschooling, since now, without it, I can still barely figure out what's for dinner around here while keeping everyone's clothes clean and making sure that our house remains recognizable as a house (and not, say, a cross between a mad scientist's lab and a junky locker room, which was the general appearance of things back when full-fledged homeschooling was going on around here).

Anyway, I miss homeschooling. Especially the following Top Ten Things I Miss About Homeschooling:

10) Sleeping in whenever we (I) want. Of course. Not that we did it that often, but still.

9) Field trips with Grandma to cool places. Like apple picking and going to see the whooping cranes and scouting for bald eagles.

8) Nutritous, home-cooked family lunches, complete with Mom reading aloud from our literature selection du jour. We really did do this, more than once, even.

7) My amazing and talented homeschool mom friends, most of whom I haven't seen anywhere near as often this fall.

6) Our crazy, messy, hands-on projects, like building a model of the Nile delta in a foil lasagna pan, making a pizza model of the Earth's layers, or modeling the seasonal rotation of the Earth in the dark basement with a light bulb and an orange. My beloved, ever-patient, traditionally schooled Bill, on the other hand, does not miss these projects at all.

5) Working one-on-one with each child, enough to know precisely how their brains learn new stuff. SO cool. I do so miss that--helping with homework doesn't even come close.

4) Getting to decide exactly how we will focus our academic efforts, including what to include (a little Latin, some practical life, chronological history from the Creation of mankind) and what to leave out (bunches of politically correct blahbiddyblah about Native Americans and conserving Wisconsin's forests--NOT, of course, that I have anything against Native Americans or Wisconsin's beautiful forests--just the Political Correctness part!).

3) Selecting our curriculum (traditional math, grammar and spelling, history and literature synched up and taught with lots of read-alouds, picture books, dictation and narration).

2) Being so busy I don't do anything but live in the moment, at all times.

And the very number one thing that I miss the most:

1) Getting to be with my sweeties all day, when they wake up, when they stumble down to breakfast, when I nag them about their chores, working, playing, fighting, relaxing, learning, loving, crying, laughing, growing, running in the house (no!), jumping on the couch (NO!), loading up in the van, playing in the yard, more chores, dinnertime, bathtime and pajamas, crazy bedtime and reading, and finally sleep. When I like them best! Just kidding, of course.

I do hate letting them go away all day, during the best, sunshiny parts of the day when we are neither just waking up nor already worn out. School is great, for now, but I just miss them and I want to teach them all this cool stuff myself! If only I could find a way to make a couple of clones of myself, so I could do everything I want to do in this life.

Coming soon...the top 10 things I DON'T miss about homeschooling!!