Stigmata?

Poor Ethan. On All Saints' Day, he took a hard fall and seriously gouged both of his palms. They took weeks to heal and were very painful for him. Truly, with the bandages he needed to wear to control the seepage, he resembled St. Pio a bit.
Yesterday, on St. Patrick's Day, as he was playing outside with his siblings, he stepped on a piece of post-construction litter that still adorns our yard (now visible that the snow is melting) and a nail pierced the sole of his foot. He was a very brave boy...no tears or hysterics, just a wee bit of yelling as I bandaged him up.As I was encouraging him by comparing his foot wound to the wound of Christ, and saying how he could share in Our Lord's sufferings on a deeper level during this last part of Lent, Ethan said, "Mom, do you think that since I hurt my palms and my foot on two different holy days, that maybe I am going to get the stigmata? "

Gee, I hope not, Buddy. I don't have enough bandaids for that.

Heartstrings

The kids are making a "Welcome Home" banner for College Girl, who flies in tomorrow (yay!).
Do you think they miss her?

I know just how they feel.

For Lexi

Annie is missing her big sister a lot right now. So, this morning I told her we would make a paper chain with the same number of links as days until Lexi comes home for her semester break in December. Annie can take a link off each day and watch the days dwindle until Lexi is back home. As we began our project, the 2 younger boys joined us saying, "Annie isn't the only one who misses Lexi!"
Also to let you know that you are not alone, see your chaperone at work with another couple!

Here's MY homeschooling success story

Haggard-looking teen son upon returning from taking his SATs:

"Well, I will probably be able to get into clown school."

The Cow from Heaven

I have deprived my children of fresh pineapple (canned is always delicious!) until today. They begged at the grocery store and I caved. Actually, I have always found the fruit quite appealing in appearance, but thought it would be difficult to cut through that thick outer skin. Turns out it wasn't so difficult after all, and it tasted very fresh and intensely 'pineapple'.
When my ten year old son took his first bite of fresh pineapple, he exclaimed, "It's heavenly!"

Three year old daughter, also tasting the fruit, mumbled something I could not decipher, "It's a cow from heaven."

What?

Her: "A cow from Heaven."

After a long, thoughtful pause, a light went on in my poor muddled brain.

Me: "Do you mean 'Holy Cow'?"

Yup. That was it. Holy Cow.

OK, he may be awesome, but....

At our family co-op this morning, my niece was reminded that next week is Holy Week. Her immediate response:

Emmalee: "Oh yeah. I have to put Jeff Gordon in the tomb."

Me: "Wait. What?"

Emmalee: "I have to wrap Jeff Gordon up and put him in the tomb on Good Friday." (Apparently, they use a figurine of Jeff Gordon to represent Jesus--what is their mother teaching them?!)

Ummm, Emmalee, just remember, no matter what Uncle Scott says, Jeff Gordon is NOT Jesus!

I don't know what got into them...

For some reason, the Sweet boys were quite profound today. Here are their wise words:

Ethan (for a project on the Fruits of the Spirit): "Love your opponent even if he/she doesn't like you."

Sam (out of the blue): "Mom, getting pregnant is like giving a present to yourself." so true, Sammy, so true:)