{this moment}: Kiss me, Lois Lane...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  Hosted by SouleMama. 

So how many toilets do we need, anyway? A re-post from 2008

[I am celebrating four years of blogging this week, so I thought it a good time to re-publish a few posts from my earliest days of blogging.  This one is from my blog's first month.]


We had another toilet-related drama this morning. Una was in my bathroom, and she usually takes a bit of time, as she has IBS and is prone to tummy trouble. Adrian, who is three, came to me and said, "I need to go pee in the potty." This was good news, as he is rarely so bored as to bother to tell me he has the urge to go. We were there at the bathroom door when Sebastian said he needed to use the toilet as well. Okay, two toilets; three kids who need to use them.

God grants wisdom to mothers who ask for it.

I eye Sebastian. "Can you pee in the back yard?" I ask hurriedly.
He shakes his head. "No, I don't have to pee."
I look down at Adrian. "Pee or poop?"
"I have to go pee I said!" He looks anxious.
"Alright, you take the bathroom, Sebastian. Adrian, come with me." I grab his hand and lead him through the kitchen and laundry room to the back steps, then I jerk down his shorts and pull-up diaper. "Now, stand close to the edge and pee down there."

Just a moment before he begins to tinkle, I see Lizzy, one of our barn cats, a shy one who never approaches the kids but likes me quite well, coming towards us just below the step where Adrian stands. And the inevitable happens.

He pees on the cat.

How is the less-than-one-toilet-per-capita problem dealt with in households full of girls, I'd like to know?

{pretty, happy, funny, real}: 31 May 2012

I am joining Leila over at Like Mother, Like Daughter, for this week's {pretty, happy, funny, real} for the first time in a few weeks.

{pretty}

We had a particularly foggy morning yesterday and so I went out early to look for spider webs.  They are so lovely beaded with dew.  

{happy}

The roof is finally on the new house.  Deo Gratias.

{funny}

Whoa!  What's going on here?!  I can tell you that it involves paper strips, paste, and one very brave if not overly-eager victim.  If you want to know more, you'll have to go to my daughter's post...

Gemma decided that Adrian's gnome doll, Thorwald Oakenheart, needed breakfast.  I'll bet the sippy cup helps keep the milk out of his beard...

{real}

Real food.  My sister and I have been doing a lot of talking about it.  We like muesli for breakfast.  And sometimes for dinner.  Typically it is a combination of old-fashioned oats, a Grape Nuts-type cereal, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, slivered almonds, raisins, cranberries, dates and dried apples.  

For more {pretty, funny, happy, real}, visit Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Yarn Along--Is Knitting More Macho than Crocheting?

[To celebrate this week marking my fourth year of blogging, I am rehashing a few old posts...this one tied in with knitting, so I thought it would make a good substitute for my usual Yarn Along post...]


Okay, I grew up in Munich, and Munich has a wonderful mass-transit system. There's the S-Bahn, the U-Bahn (train and subway), buses, streetcars and taxis. It was affordable, clean, went just about anywhere and was on time to the minute. I used it frequently growing up, and it was there I became accustomed to seeing men knitting.

I'll admit, after living in this country for over two decades now it does seem a little odd, but it shouldn't be. Knitting is a very calming, meditative activity, and it keeps ones hands from being idle. However, I do not recall ever seeing men crocheting. Why is that? Is it the implement that makes the difference? Perhaps the lance-like needles have more masculine appeal than the hook, although as I recall, iron hooks have played a nasty part in the history of torture. Maybe crocheting merely needs an image makeover, something to give it a bit of "edginess", and I have just the man in mind to do the job right here:

Actually, it really takes a bit of the edge off of Captain Hook, doesn't it...?


Join Ginny for her weekly Yarn Along on Small Things.

Love, Creativity and Beauty--a re-post from 2009

[In honor of this week marking four years of blogging here, I am re-posting a few favorite posts from the past.]

Love, Creativity and Beauty

We mothers frequently complain of never having time enough to get things done, and yet most of us with the ability will easily give up a portion of our precious time to such activities as knitting or sewing clothes for our children--even when we can pick up a nice thrift-shop baby sweater for a dollar, and if you look at the investment of time, quilt-making is not really a cost effective means of keeping your child warm at night. The investment of time is like the planting of a garden, and we hope that our efforts will show themselves in a colorful bounty. Love is the force behind Creation, and it displays itself in a blossoming of Beauty.Love is the cause behind a man and a woman becoming a father and a mother, the cause of another person coming into creation. And what, one may ask, of children born into loveless situations, such as are a result of rape or casual fornication, with violence or lust as the motivation rather than love? Even when love is not present between man and woman, God’s love is there, ever desiring to pour itself out into the creation of a soul, a soul He wishes to embrace and shower in His graces, wrap in His beauty.


We desire to give ourselves to the beloved. In marriage we forsake all others in order to give ourselves exclusively to the one we love. As our Lord taught us, sacrifice is the very nature of Love, the ultimate outpouring of the heart. Mothers do this naturally, giving our bodies to our unborn babies and nursing infants, putting their needs before our own, continuing to give ourselves throughout our lives to the families we so love.

Love desires to bestow beauty on the beloved.

This is the impetus that lies behind such wonders as Chartres Cathedral, Corelli’s Christmas Concerti, the Taj Mahal, The Song of Songs and countless other masterpieces of art, music, poetry and architecture. It is also the cause behind the creation of the universe, made in love for us, our Creator’s beloved children; beautiful in its dazzling variety, from galaxies and nebulae down to each little beetle and Forget-Me-Not. Proof of God’s love for us.


Having been made in His image, we also have this desire to create beauty and surround those we love with it. If we are endowed with some God-given talent, we knit, sew or paint. We write poems or compose music. We put much of ourselves into our efforts. If our talents lie elsewhere, we still strive to create order and beauty in our homes, and we point it out to our loved ones wherever it is to be found--in music, beautiful books, in butterflies and daffodils. And we are delighted when our little ones begin to point it out to us in return.

Why are so many works of art, architecture, music and literature in our day lacking Beauty? Simply because they are not created out of love. They are created out of a desire for fame or fortune, a desire to be “original” or to grab attention. They are not about the outpouring of one’s self for the beloved, but about self-aggrandizement. Has Satan’s envy of us something to do with God having given us this beautiful world? No, of course not, for the Enemy already has possession of so much of it, and in any case, an immortal being is hardly impressed with finite things that will pass away one day. No, his envy, at least in part, has to do with us being endowed with our Creator’s gift of creation. We love, and we create. Hatred is impotent. This is why Satan has so distorted everything having to do with creation and made it sterile and ugly, attacking marriage, fertility, parenthood and the Arts.

God wished to give us, His dear children, beauty and to give us Himself. And He did so, giving us the epitome of created Beauty in Mary, and then giving us Himself in Jesus Christ. As we are made in his image, we find ourselves compelled by the same urge to give beauty and ourselves to those we love.

Four-wheeling fun on the farm

It has been crazy-busy around here lately, and between working a job that often runs into overtime, keeping up with things around here, and trying to build a house in KY, Bret doesn't get a lot of time to unwind; often it is only a little time between rosary and bedtime spent watching a movie or browsing about on the computer.  Things are constantly in need of his attention.  Sometimes it is not things, but little people who require it.    No matter how much one has piling up, it is a good thing to be able to ditch it all for a little while so as to relax and connect with people, especially those people who need us most.

No Humility Without Humiliation--a re-post from 2008

[In celebration of four years of blogging this week, I am re-posting a few things from the earliest days of my blog.  This is one that remains crystal clear in my mind...]

There's nothing like being a mother to young children for opportunities to grow in humility. About fifteen minutes ago I found myself suddenly overwhelmed by what we might call "potty issues".

My 22 month-old comes into the office, where I sit hoping no one will discover my whereabouts and interrupt my perusal of favorite blogs. He isn't noisy or disruptive, he just sits. And stinks. So, finally I decide that I really must do something before he ends up with a leaking, stinking diaper. As I stand by the changing table taking off this toxic mess my five year-old reports, "Sebastian put a bunch of toilet paper in the toilet and now it's stopped up." He continues to fill me in on the details as I use my fourth or fifth baby wipe. "I'll get to it as soon as I can, Gabe", I tell him. Enter the three year-old: "I have to go pee in the potty." I cannot take him, so I scream to my nine year old daughter in the other room, "Una! Stop whatever your doing now and get Adrian on the toilet! Get the potty seat out of the bathroom and use the toilet in my room, the other is stopped up!" She dutifully gets the potty seat and the toddler and disappears into my room. The baby is clean. I spray some air freshener into the air. "I'm done, mama!" I hear from my room. I put the baby down and he follows me to check on Adrian. I have failed to remind Una to remind Adrian to put his little thing down between his legs, and now there is pee on him, pee on the potty seat, pee on the toilet seat and pee on the floor. Now I feel about ready to scream. I get Adrian off the toilet, clean him and say in a foreboding tone, "Go. Go out. Now." He leaves the room with the baby in tow, sensing the threat. He has no diaper and no shorts. Now I scream. No one comes running, as they are all familiar with the sound of mother losing it. I get the spray disinfectant and the paper towels and sit on the floor cleaning everything.

"Thank you, Lord", I finally say, "for helping me to learn humility. You know how much I need it."

Post Scriptum: In the middle of this post I had to respond to another call: Gabriel spilled half a glass of iced tea all over the kitchen floor...Deo Gratias.

Monday Musings:28 May 2012--Anniversary Edition

Yes, it all began four years ago with this post.

Right now...I am in my broken swivel-rocker listening to Adrian and Gabriel chatter and giggle as they drink chocolate milk (a weekend and special day treat) and to the adolescent calves across the road making a ruckus  because they have been separated from the rest of the herd.


This weekend...was really nice.  On Saturday Bret worked with a friend to finish getting the metal roof on the new house.  It's on, but Bret still has something like 2,500 screws to sink into it to secure it.  And metal roofs are decidedly Not Pleasant in 90+ degree temperatures.  While he was doing that, I was home making iced tea, lemonade and my favorite pasta salad, all in preparation for a get-together and cook-out at my sister's on Sunday. And I spent an hour and a half catching up on ironing, which I dislike intensely.  I got myself and the little guys bathed, and when he came home he showered and we all went off to shop for groceries.

In the evening we watched a documentary, Surviving the Dust Bowl, which was very interesting, and I worked on my knitting.  This is my fourth cast-on for the February Lady Sweater.  I am 32 rows into it.  I have two buttonholes done.  So far, so good.

Yesterday was brilliant.  Lovely drive to Mass, and it was one of those mornings when we actually were not in a crazed rush to get out of the house on time.  I don't know how that happened.  Anyway, the Mass for Pentecost was lovely.  Fr. Wade Menezes gave us a wonderful homily, and many of the priests were home from the missions, so we had quite a good number processing in with the red vestments.  It is such a beautiful sight.  Una leaned in at one point and said something to me about the richness of Catholicism.  To those who say that it is a waste to lavish so much on our churches and vestments and chalices, I ask, what better place to pile beauty upon beauty if not in the house of God, He Who is the source of all that is beautiful and Who gave us the sense and the senses to appreciate it?

We rushed home to change clothes and get together the things to take to my sister's.  We had a lovely meal and the cousins so enjoy one another's company.  We were blessed to have unexpected company for lunch:
two of the Fathers of Mercy called and asked if they might come by, and so our Pentecost was made even more special, for before they left in the early evening, we all prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy together and our families received a blessing from both priests.

Some plans for this week:  I am putting a down payment on a side of grass-fed beef.  Our cow has had infertility problems, and so we haven't had a calf in 3 years.  Fiona, Nuala's granddaughter, is due to calf in July, but that beef will be two years off, so we need some meat.  I dare not eat supermarket meat.  Anyway, we have found a good, local source.  It's not cheap, but even lousy, supermarket mystery-meat is pricey these days.  I still have grade reporting to do.  And I still haven't made a card for deacon who will be a priest on Saturday.


If I find some time for myself, I would like to...oh, I don't know...there are so  many things I have piled up that I want to do, I wish I had the time to do even a fraction of them!  I suppose I would really like to get to the lace on my knitting.  Had I not had so many difficulties, I would likely be done with the February Lady Sweater by now!  I also have thought that I would like to go over my blog archives and re-post some posts from the past this week, maybe one a day.

I am grateful for:  the lovely time we all had at my sister's yesterday, and for the prospect of living near her and my mom, brother-in-law, and nephews & niece; for this morning having been breezy and overcast, which is a good thing when your husband is putting 2,500 screws into a metal roof; for all of us having been able to get to confession yesterday.

Some prayer intentions for this week:  for guidance and discernment in choosing Una's courses this year; for Mary Rose, who will be celebrating her birthday on Wednesday; for energy--mine has been lagging for the last couple of weeks, and I wonder if it is not a seasonal thing, as Una and Sebastian seem more tired than usual as well; for Bret's safety in working on the house and that things will progress with it more rapidly.  I also pray for the sale of my sister's old house and the farm of my friends up in KY.

Something that makes me smile:  Getting the roof up on the new farmhouse! Yippee!

Here's hoping you're having a nice Memorial Day and wishing you a great week ahead!

{this moment}: her favorite thing

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  Hosted by SouleMama. 

Yarn Along--stick-to-itness

I'm joining Ginny for her weekly Yarn Along.

Oh, what's the point?  I have been knitting, frogging and ripping back my February Lady Sweater so much in the last two weeks that it is only a dogged refusal to give up that keeps me going.  Is it possible to actually have a knitting deficit?  I think I have actually unknit more than I've knit.

My problem was first with a mistake I made in the lace, which threw the pattern off for the first repeat.  And I hated my sloppy buttonhole.  So I frogged it for a fresh start.  My subsequent troubles have been with the button holes.  I think I am putting it aside for a week and will just knit swatches with button holes until I nail it to my satisfaction. Either that or I will do four small button holes in the usual yarn-over manner to which I am accustomed rather than the larger one-row button holes in the pattern.

And I am considering casting on a second project, something quick and satisfying, and with a bit of lace.  Something that I can put aside as a gift for someone.  Something that restores my confidence in my ability to knit.  Maybe a shawl...

On a less redundant note, I have finally finished The Two Towers!  I am on to The Return of the King.  My journey through the books is taking longer, I think, than it actually took Frodo to get to Mordor, or so it seems to me.

Hopefully I'll be back next week with some actual knitting...in the mean time, happy knitting and reading to you!