{p,h,f,r} The Artist Stalker Edition

Um, yeah... we kidnapped Ben Hatke.

Hey... it was his own fault... he came to Texas! (Consider this fair warning for any other favorite author/artists who visit the metroplex! Ahem... Melissa Wiley, cough, cough.) We had hoped to treat him to a nice dinner, but the crazy weather killed those plans. So instead, the kids and I stalked him outside of the rental car return center at the airport and then forced him to draw for us and do backflips in the lobby. Then, and only then, did we agree to deliver him to his correct terminal and gate so he could escape home to his waiting little women. If he doesn't come back to Texas, it's probably our fault. He didn't seem like the restraining order type. Maybe we can entice him with salsa. Or barbecue. Or a Bluebonnet Award!
{pretty}

Pretty freakin' cold! And so windy. The Professor stayed in the van with Cupcake so I could get this quick shot.

{happy}

Happy to get to spend a little bit of time with Mr. Ben, watching him draw in the books we brought and talking about other books they all love.

{funny}

Sunshine sat there knitting away while the others looked on. That girl knits constantly! Currently it's some washcloths to donate to Fiber Fest. I think she'd like to figure out how to make a snazzy tool roll-up like that for her knitting needles.

{real}

Cupcake was not as impressed with Mr. Ben as the big kids were. She had had a too early nap. Thankfully, our captive has his own little toddling one. He was most understanding of her crabby behavior and didn't take her attempts to run away personally.

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Sheenazing!

Thank you so much to whoever nominated me for the Best Lifestyle Blog award. I don't know who it was, but you are very sweet. If you are so inclined to vote be sure to check out all of the other nominees and other categories, but if not, do at least go check out Bonnie's blog and her son's amazing story!

 

Science study for the day...

BigBoy: Did you know there are some caterpillars that have poisonous hairs? There's a bird that uses them to defend its nest.

Me: Does he pay them to stand guard?

BigBoy: No. It pokes them in just the right place to make them mostly dead but not all dead. Basically it builds a wall of zombie caterpillars to sting the rats that try to get in.

More than I ever wanted to know.

This is what happens when you let your kids read National Geographic for Kids. Correction: BigBoy says it was actually National Geographic Angry Birds: 50 True Stories of the Fed Up, Feathered, and Furious.

{p,h,f,r} Outside, outside...

Dear friends who live in places icy and frozen. Please don't hate us because of our sunshine and warmth. This is rather unseasonable even for us. We will be envious of you come July, I promise.

{pretty}

I love playing outside...

{happy}

...through the door, let's play some more...


 This little one is never so happy as when she's playing outside!

{funny}

Let's go and play outside.


 I know!

I'll just stay outside forever! OK?

{real}

And this is what we see when we try to bring her inside. See that tough girl face?

 See her run away? Run, Cupcake run!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Prayers please!

For Miss Courtney and her mama! Sweet Courtney is being admitted to the hospital and needs some urgent prayers. I've been reading Mary's blog for a while now and am completely enchanted with those blonde Shirley Temple curls and in awe of that feisty mama of hers! Mary, you will have my prayers all night long.

 

Celebrating Fifteen!

Yes, on this day of prayer and penance, we are celebrating the 15 years that this amazing young man has been in our life. There are 55 million children gone, children who will never see their 15th birthday.  So, we are celebrating the life of this strongly pro-life young man and in our hearts mourning the loss of those who never had a birth day.

A saved banner from year's past and ivy from a box of garland in the garage.

His day began with... decorations! He's not interested in having a theme party anymore but he did ask for a cake made in my Cathedral Bundt Pan because it reminded him of Rivendell. So, being lovers of all things Tolkien, we decided to decorate the breakfast table with our simplified version of Rivendell.

The staff and backdrop were both from birthday's past. The centerpiece was our homage to the Hall of Fire. 

Sean even made a waterfall out of the streamers! Clever man!

And then there was coffee! And then Latin...because today was the first day of his second semester online Latin class, so I couldn't give him the whole day off. His siblings each did one subject in solidarity with him and then we proceeded to have some fun. He had made a request to go to a local arcade and play some games which Sean took the big kids to on Sunday afternoon. He's particularly good at a World War II Flying Ace game proving that he is my grandfather's great grandson.

Today, he just asked to go to the bookstore and use up the rest of a Christmas gift card his godparents had sent him. We brought dinner home (which was his gift to his poor mother since it seems like I am coming down with a cold and have been battling a nasty sore throat all day) and then enjoyed some cake. A six flavor cake! It was supposed to be a five flavor cake but we snuck another one in there! Sneaky little hobbitses we are! Except for The Professor. He's an elf. Totally an elf!

The cake was super moist and delicious but not GF so Husband (the wizard in the family) had some brownies to enjoy instead.

Now I'm very tired and my face is filling up with gunk. Good night.
 

TEXAS HOMESCHOOLERS...

If you want to vote in this year's Texas Bluebonnet Award (coughcoughVote for Zita!cough), send me an email and I can give you the info. Voting ends January 31st, so do it now. If you're not in Texas, you can't vote. Sorry. Just one more reason to get here as soon as you can!

If you want to vote and you are not a homeschooler, check with your child's school or local public library.

Also, if you are in the Austin area, you can meet Ben Hatke!

Check it out!

 

{p,h,f,r} January 17th

{pretty}

Shortcake has pretty princess hair. She's been growing it out for about two years. It's quite a change from the short, stacked bobs she had as a little girl. I love the little wave it has in it.

{happy}

I made another gluten free cake and this one didn't collapse! That made me happy. I used a Namaste Gluten Free Vanilla Mix. The texture was good, but the flavor wasn't that great. That didn't make me happy. Oh well. Lately I've been trying some recipes from The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free. I'll let you know how it goes.

{funny}

Cupcake's bed is pushed up against our bed but it sits a few inches below our mattress. This is how I found her the other day at the end of her nap. Funny girl.

{real}

This calendar is so gross I can't give it away! Seriously.  After writing to the company to tell them that we wouldn't be buying one this year because my kids are not fans of gross stuff and that I hoped that next year's edition would be something more palatable, they wrote to me an offered to send me a free one to review in it's entirety. If we still decided that it wasn't for us, we could give it away. Well, I've offered it to multiple people, including our homeschool group and nobody wants it. I think once someone says, "This is too gross for my kids... you want it?" people aren't so inclined to jump up and say "me, me, me". Surprise, surprise. But now I don't know what to do with it. Maybe I should donate it to the library or the school down the road? What do you think?

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Boring bloggers...

Barbara in OH writes this morning:

 I am thinking... 

...that I have become the most boring blogger. Time to pack it in? I'm hanging on with the hope that I will be inspired some day soon to write very interesting posts. Until then, it's Daybooks and sewing posts. My apologies.

And this is something I've been thinking about a lot too. Not the packing it in part because frankly, I don't think I could give it up all together. My blog is my memory annex and without it I wouldn't be able to remember half the stuff that happened over the year. But feeling like a boring blogger... yeah, I get that.

I think it's partly the fault of the time of year. The holidays, with all their excitement, are over and life feels more boring right now. My living room certainly looks more boring with all the decorations taken down. :( No longer are my thoughts turned to feasting, festivity and play, but rather "let's get back on track" (food, money, chores, school... you pick the subject) and "I need to make those dentist appointments". And if you happen to live somewhere where it's too cold to go outside long enough to run an errand or run to the library, then it's even worse in my opinion.

So, my point is... life is kind of boring right now for all of us. But I think reading someone else's boring blog post is like calling up an old friend to chat about nothing in particular. It's just nice to hear their voice.

Gratuitous baby shot. Yes, she is hugging a giant teal platypus wearing a fedora. Why, you ask? Because her daddy is a sucker for baby giggles.

That daisy hurt my eye...

I'm just too visual. The backside of that daisy on the background I had before kept bugging me. And one of the reasons I love the quote at the top is because I love the rain. So, if you feel so inclined, you can pop on over and check out the new new decorations.

 

How do you like these daisies?

I'm having fun playing with the decoration of my blog today. If you want to see the daisies, I think you'll have to click through. (Frankly, I'd like them a little better if they were not so ginormous. I feel like I just drank a bottle of "Drink Me". You guys see that smoking caterpillar or is it just me?)

There is also something new here that isn't as noticeable... can you find it?

 Nope, not a new widget although some are missing while I revamp the sidebar.

No, it's not a new coloring page although there is a new "About" page on tab at the top.

Give up?

OK..... It's my new blog address! That's right! Welcome to...

www.waltzingm.com

I'm so giddily excited about it, I can hardly sit still! Waaaaaaay back when I started blogging, someone had already snatched up waltzingmatilda.com. Have they ever done anything with it... NO!!! So annoying.

You probably don't remember the old address. That's OK. I barely did. Waaaaaaay back when I chose it, I never thought that more than 3 people would ever see it and one of those was my husband.

I don't think you have to do anything about the new address. You might want to change any bookmarks but even those and any old links should automatically redirect.

Why, yes, I've been awake since 3:30am. How did you know? :)

 

{p,h,f,r} Epiphany Edition

IT'S NOT THURSDAY!!! I know. I've been telling myself that for two days. But for some reason, I keep thinking it IS Thursday and I  keep wanting to write this post. So I'm going to give in and write it, since Thursdays have become our super busy days, and just link up with all the lovely ladies who are actually enjoying their Wednesdays (like the sane rational creatures that they are) tomorrow!
{pretty}

I got this shot of my sweet girl in her beautiful Epiphany dress just before we headed to Mass. Why yes, those are the wise men and camels on her smocked top! This was a Zulily find from last year that I saved and it fit her beautifully!

{happy}

It makes me so happy that my children still like to present the wise men's presents to the Baby Jesus. Our gold, frankincense and myrrh are from this set and are teeny tiny so they fit in perfectly with the size of our nativity set.

{funny}

Every year, when I print out the pages we use for our house blessing, I ask The Professor to wipe off the old markings to make way for the new. This year, he didn't need a step stool.

{real}

It's so hard going from break back into school work! It's nice to be able to ease the transition for them a little bit by making the children a mid-morning energy booster! Graham crackers with strawberry cream cheese and a pot of coffee! It was decaf with a few scoops of hot cocoa added.

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ with the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Gluten Free Twelfth Night Rum Cake

On the twelfth day of Christmas...

 Recipe over at Catholic Cuisine!