E.T.... phone...Dominos

Actually, this is a good sign. It means that the holes are fixed and the ceiling man comes tomorrow to shoot the texture and then I get my kitchen back! Yeah!!!! No more living like this...

March forth little soldiers!

"Whoever would think of a Ladybug

As a soldier, brave and bold?
His uniform red may have black spots,
Or maybe white or gold!

He clears green plants of insect pests.
He hangs his cocoon like a 'C'.
He defends himself with a liquid gun
That is shot from a joint in his knee!"

~ Eleanor Dawes Walter ~
© 1931

If you love something...

From babies,

 ...to butterflies!

Stay near me--do not take thy flight!

A little longer stay in sight!

Much converse do I find in thee,

Historian of my infancy!

~from William Wordsworth

Sitting in the kitchen, just staring at the cracks in the wall...

We are bananas for Mary!

Table for six in the living room.

My kitchen looks like a ghost town.

It's 2 AM. Do you know where my husband is?

Happy St. Mark's Day!

One more and then I'm done...
Our sweet potato muffins shhhhh! cupcakes were consumed, our happy accident of a library find (BigBoy insisted he had to have an audiobook like the big kids) was enjoyed and family movie night ( I am a sucker for anything with James Earl Jones or Robert Guillaume) will commence momentarily. Hope you had a great day!

Love,

Signs

I can't remember the last time I did three posts in one day but something happened today that I just had to share, so bear with me...

This morning, I had a notion that we should go to Daily Mass. Not really a notion, maybe more like an inkling but I have to admit that my heart really wasn't in it. I got up and got dressed, listened to an audiobook, checked my email, read some blogs and then got around to reminding the kids that we were going to try to get to Mass. I am usually better about reminding them what their breakfast cut off time is, but like I said... my heart wasn't in it today. So when Sunshine realized that she had gone "over time" I very quickly thought well, we just won't go today. I didn't want to have a blubbering child on my hands when she realized that she wouldn't be able to go to communion. Turns out, that is what I had anyway. Once she calmed down, I explained the situation to her and like the amazing girl she is she said, "Mom, I'd like to go anyway even if I can't receive Our Lord." Well, I couldn't say no to that so off we went.

We arrived just in time to see our favorite priest round up the altar boys and begin the profession. This priest is famous for his Daily Mass homilies... not only do they pack a faith filled, powerful punch, but they are usually longer than 3 sentences! I didn't want to get Sunshine's hopes up, but there was a chance, if Father was in his usual good mood that she would get to receive communion. I started watching the clock.

Not only was he in a good mood, but Father was in rare form today! Every prayer was said slowly and deliberately. The readings were each a good length and his homily... rocked!

Not only did it stretch the length of Mass by more than enough to allow Sunshine to receive Our Lord, but it caught the eyes, ears and hearts of all of us.

Father's homily began with a story of a church in Italy that was damaged in the war. The soldiers who came to the church found a statue of Our Lord that was terribly injured. They painstakingly rebuilt the statue piece by fragmented piece except for the hands. They were nowhere to be found. The soldiers decided that they must have been pulverized and would never be restored. So they left Our Lord, as He was now, without any hands and placed a sign in front that said,

"I have no hands but yours."

Now this story has been told many different times by many different people and with enough alteration of detail to make one doubt it's veracity, but that didn't matter to us today. This story touched us, all of us! The children were talking about it as we headed out of the Church. They were talking about it in the grocery store we darted into before we headed home and they were talking about it in the car as the garage door opened and we pulled in and saw what has been sitting in front of us for months...This statue belonged to my mother's aunt; a woman who married very late in life and never had any children of her own. She was the only girl born to a family of 7 boys. She spent her life serving the church, taking care of three of her brothers who became priests and enjoying the many nieces and nephews her other brothers provided her. Since her husband had died many years before, when Aunt Mary passed away, most of her possessions were claimed by family members or sold. But no one wanted this tattered Mother and Child. My mother, knowing my weakness for old religious items, brought them to me thinking I might like the challenge of repairing them. They have been out in the garage for months while I have pondered how I would proceed or even just begin the overhaul.

Now, I don't think I will.

I'm just going to make a sign.

Everybody's doing it!

Your Slogan Should Be

Between Love and Madness Lies Waltzing Matilda

The Slogan Generator

You Are a Brazil Nut

To most people, you seem exotic, unusual, and even a bit scary. But you're really quite normal. You're just hard to get to know. If people leave you alone and let you do your thing, you really shine. But you tend to get lost in a crowd, especially if it's filled with big personalities.

What Nut Are You?

Have a lovely weekend! I think I'm gonna go cry now... : (

Pegged

What's your design style?

Rustic Comfort

The verdict is in, but there's a twist. Your design style is a combination: part updated country, part ethnic flair, both with a contemporary look and feel. You need a home with casual and practical style – an environment that'll work for kids, pets, company and more. The emphasis is on simple yet attractive, durable furniture will hold up over time while your colorful accessories energize and entertain for years.

"The furniture for this design style could be contemporary or traditional, says Julie Rackley, an interior designer in Bellevue, Washington. "The common threads are comfort and durability" That means easy-to-clean synthetic blends like micro-fiber, which cleans up swiftly with a sponge. (So long silk!) Function is a key consideration as well. A multi-purpose ottoman that doubles as a coffee table or storage unit would work for you.

HT: Lisa and Kim

Frosting the dragon

Since some people wanted to know how I made the dragon cake AND since I actually remembered to take pictures during the process...I'll tell you.

First I made a devil's food cake (Husband's idea) in two 9 inch round cake pans. Typically when I make a cake that is heavily decorated, I cheat and use a box mix. The first round was cut in half and "glued" together with red frosting (The Professor's idea!) and placed cut sides down. From the second round, I cut a tail and two wedge shapes that made the head. The extra pieces were glued together to make a neck. The thighs were Ding Dongs that I sliced flat on one side while the feet and snout were Ding Dongs cut in half.
Then I slathered the first layer of frosting on top. (Again, I cheated with canned frosting which I wish I hadn't done as it was so humid here yesterday that the whole thing practically melted before we reached our destination.) This is usually where most people would give up because it looks terrible. There are crumbs mixed in with the frosting, smears on the base and holes everywhere. My trick is to pop it in the freezer, just long enough for the first layer of frosting to firm up. When you put the second layer on, all of those little crumbs will be trapped in the cold frosting and you can usually get a clean top layer. Damp paper towels work wonders to clean off smears and don't be afraid to use any utensils you have to work the frosting into all the nooks and crannies including the ones God gave you (yes, I washed my hands and no, I didn't lick!).
After the second layer went on, I used the tip of a butter knife to give the appearance of scales and a piping bag with white frosting to make teeth and eyes. The pupils and nostrils were Hershey's kisses turned upside down and the spikes were some chocolate covered graham cracker cookies. The wings were supposed to be Fruit Rollups but I forgot them at the store so I used tissue paper instead.I hope this makes sense. I am terrible at tutorials. You should just come over the next time I make one! We've got back to back birthdays coming up next month and I already have a request for a pirate ship. That should be fun!

Take a look at all of the other creative dragons that were devoured yesterday:
Bountiful Blessings
Shower of Roses
Knit Together in Love
Lord, Make Me a Saint
Pinewood Castle
Go East...

Let me know if I missed yours!

On our way...

To celebrate St. George's Day!
We have a dragon to slay and some friends with whom we want to play.
Sorry about all the "A's". I really have nothing more to say!
(Couldn't resist!)

Garden of the Good Shepherd Week 5

Life has hit us smack in the face this week and I realized that we have so much to do, I will have to bail out of "special activities" again. We do have a few planned, but they don't really have much to do with the stickers or meditations for this week. So, if you are looking for some fun ways to celebrate each day as we journey on toward Pentecost, hop on over to Jessica's place for inspiration galore! Have fun while I sit here and figure our how I am going to feed these hungry munchkins without a kitchen for about a week while we have our ceiling repaired. And I thought having no hot water was bad! (Wow, that sounded a little passive aggressive. I really mean it though! Go have FUN! I'm not complaining. I am glad to get this work done as soon as it can be!)

Have a great day... we just might go get lost at the library for a few hours! I have found it to be a great place to avoid reality!

Can I live?

What a courageous man. He must have gotten that from his mother.

I had to pass this along! Please share it gently. You never know who might be dealing with the "sickness of mourning" stemming from a decision that they once made or one that was made for them.

From rosetta stone and decrease to increase

TGIF!

I hope each and every one of you sweet friends have a lovely Friday and either a productive or restful weekend... your choice!

Love to you all,

Speaking of Papal inspired food...

Fr. Leo has another idea for celebrating the Holy Father's visit to our country...

Buffalo Mozzarella – a Papal Favorite!

I read an interesting food article about our Holy Father’s culinary preferences. He obviously has good taste because the Pope really enjoys buffalo mozzarella cheese. The texture of this cheese, especially if it’s fresh, is so silky smooth that it is perfect for salads, pizza, or just eating whole on its own. I’m sure you know how to make Caprese Salad, but this week, you may want to consider making it for your family as a great way to bring up the topic of the Holy Father with your family. You can present this beautiful dish to your family and say, “Did you know that the Pope loves this type of cheese?” Then, you can ask your children, your spouse – and don’t forget to ask yourself – dinner questions, such as: “Why do you think the Pope is important to the Church?” “If you were Pope, how much time do you think you would devote to prayer?” “Do you ever pray for the Pope?” So, go ahead and try this typical Italian salad, most enjoyed in the spring and summer season, and enjoy the conversations that can come from it! While you’re at it, toast the Pope with BOGO’s fine Pinot Grigot – an excellent wine pairing for an excellent Papal recipe tribute! For the recipe, [click here].

From Fr. Leo's Grace Before Meals Newsletter

A Happy Accident

So I was going to steal Margaret's idea for cupcakes stuffed with Bavarian cream but forgot that my muffin tin rusted out a while ago. So I used a pan that I have that looks similar to this one only the cakes are little more flat and flared. I filled them with an easy (not necessarily authentic) Bavarian cream recipe using vanilla pudding and poured a can of frosting on top. We call them Zucchetto Cakes! Yum! Yum!

Happy Birthday Holy Father!

Please tell me I am not the only sap out there who got a little weepy when they sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic for him? That last line really choked me up. And then when they sang Happy Birthday? Oh my goodness! We all burst out in song! I feel so silly, but I don't care! I'm thinking brats for dinner and Bavarian Cream cupcakes! Happy Birthday Papa!

Photo credit: Benedict in America

First Fencing Tournament

This was just a club tournament and The Professor did about as well as you would expect someone who has only had 9 weeks of lessons to do. I am so proud of him for trying hard and doing his best! He's a winner in my book!