Season of Miracles

Advent is the liturgical season for preparing our hearts and souls for the coming of Christ--not only at Christmas, but for His Second Coming, also. In this spirit, we pray, sometimes we fast, and especially now, we are more inclined to give. Advent is also known as the season of miracles--a virgin birth, God incarnate, the appearance of the heavenly host, Scriptures fulfilled, a special star, and now...this.
As our family was purging the mudroom looking for clothes and shoes to give to the local homeless shelter, I happened upon my old nemesis. I have tried unsuccessfully for years to rid my home of this particular filth, but something (or someone?) always held me back. I managed to banish this enemy to the back porch for several months once, but eventually, it returned. The revolting sight and putrid smell taunted me from its protected perch. This time, though, I was surprised with an unexpected victory! My dear hubby astonished me by allowing his 20+ year old, tattered, weather-beaten, feline-scented indoor soccer shoes to be thrown away!
It is quite apparent that they are well past their usefulness...and attractiveness...and fresh-scentedness. Poor hubby did need a quiet moment to say "good-bye", but, in the end, they were deposited in the big black trash bag of final farewells.
Truly, Advent is a season of miracles.

Note to self...

The next time you make the custard filling for banana cream pie, DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK ON THE STOVE and BURN the filling, scorching your pan and making the entire house smell horrible!!! (Not to mention making this cook a bit grumpy!) This is the second year in a row that I have had to make a second batch of filling because I burned the first! I have a very strained relationship with my electric cooktop--I need it, but I do not like it. I am looking forward to cooking with gas in my new house!

Appreciate Technology? Too funny

How to Avoid Math

Let us say that there is a young lAdy, who shall remain Nameless, who doesN't live at my housE, who really doesn'T like math. WhaT inventivE, creative means could she use to avoid it? She could slip the Math U See DVD into a Netflix envelope and mail it away..... that would be inventive and creative. Luckily for her, the good folks at Netflix picked up on the "mistake" right away and will be mailing that Algebra 2 DVD right back!!! Phew!

The Government Can

A funny anti-government video by Tim Hawkins:

Signs of Readiness

My boys are sending me mixed messages, but thankfully, after 20 years of parenting, I am able to decipher their signals.

Yesterday, my 7 year old made the statement, "I want to do school." Using my keen mothering skills, I have decoded his subtly worded message. He really means, "I want to do school in September." It takes years of motherhood to achieve this level of intuitive understanding.

For instance, when both 10 and 7 year old boys picked up notebooks and pencils yesterday and began writing in their journals, I knew better than to jump to the conclusion that they are desiring some structure and stimulation. I'm not that naive! It's still summer for goodness sakes!!Still, they almost had me today when my 10 year old, after spending some quiet time on the computer, started pulling out pans, mirrors, paper and other items. He was trying to make a rainbow according to the instructions on the Magic School Bus website. Now, this is very tricky, but I know it was just subliminal suggestion causing him to do this. You see, I told him that we would be studying Magic School Bus books in our science curriculum this year, and that I had won a big lot of them on ebay last night. It's really not that he's excited and eager.

Really.

Wouldn't want to do that, would we?

I sort of surprised my dear husband tonight with a birthday dinner at a local restaurant. He knew we were going, but he didn't know who was going to be there. It was only family...just a few extras he wasn't expecting. He was pleased.
Scott tends to be a quiet man and is not comfortable with attention being called to himself....well, unless it has something to do with sports, and then he is perfectly happy to take a bow! Anyway, he is adamant that he does not want any of the hoopla or singing that is done in some restaurants for patrons' birthdays.
Him: "I will stand up and walk out if that (the singing & hoopla) happens."
Now this made me chuckle because that would certainly call more attention to him than the singing, but whatever. I respected his wishes.
However, another family member, one he cannot divorce:), began singing the dreaded Happy Birthday song to him and we all joined in--quietly. In fact, a nearby waiter said that that was the quietest Happy Birthday he had ever heard. And Scott remained in his seat.
We had a lovely evening, and no undue attention was focused hubby's way.
As we were saying good-bye outside the restaurant, though, my husband and his aunt (yes, aunt!) began to scuffle as only two stubborn New England Yankees can. She had the audacity to try to slip him some money for his birthday. He was having none of that. So he and his aunt had a wrestling match (yup! wrestling match!) in the parking lot in front of the windows of the restaurant. At one point during the skirmish, he actually picked her up in the air. In the end, she won when she slipped the money inside his sleeve and he couldn't find it.
Thank goodness no one called 911 and we were able to slink into our cars and scurry home.
Sheesh, it's a good thing we didn't draw any undue attention to him by singing, right!?

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:)

H is for Humility or For the Love of Cheesecake

Well, in order to make the Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake I was hoping to prepare for St. Patrick's Day, I needed that very special ingredient....Bailey's Irish Cream. The problem was that I was going to have to bring my three youngest children with me to the liquor store. Unfortunately, I had no alternative, so off we went.
I pulled into the parking lot, took a deep breath, and unloaded the kids from the van.
Feeling very "bad mother-ish", I led my 3 year old by the hand into the store, with my 7 & 10 year old boys tagging along behind. Now, there's a Kodak moment for ya!
I was delighted to spot a display of Bailey's just inside the door. This would be a quick trip into the land of Humility.
My three year old, who is not feeling well and is a bit on the grumpy side, said, in a loud voice upon entering the store, "LET'S GET A CART!"
Oh. my. gosh.
Inside my head: now these people think i always get a CART at the liquor store, oh my gosh..what should I do? What should I say?
"No honey, we don't need a cart. We're only getting one thing" (loud enough for the cashier to hear me) should I add, "for a recipe?".....
This was when the little grumpasaurus began crying...you know....loudly. She wanted to ride in a cart.
By this time, I was dragging her to the checkout where the cashier tried to talk to her, only to be met with more howls. I quickly paid for my booze and the four of us exited the premises, about 2 minutes after we entered it. Oh, what a long 2 minutes!
I should mention that I am not a teetotaler...I enjoy a drink once in a while...I just usually try not to involve my children in my alcohol consumption. I'm funny that way.
I guess this was just another "gift" of mortification from Our Lord this Lent. He has been so generous with me.

A wise priest once told me, "If you pray for humility, expect to be humiliated." Yes, I can say it is quite an effective remedy for pride. And it seems to be a prayer that always gets answered;)

This cheesecake had better be good!

Yeah, waaaaaay

From the 3yo in the backseat who tripped and fell from the stage to the gym floor this morning, and landed on her face (!): I want rollerskates for my birthday.

Me: Ummm, after your incident today, I really don't want to think about rollerskates right now.
3YO: No, when I get bigger!
6YO piping in: Yes, when you get older, then you can have rollerskates.
3YO: Yes, when I get mommy's age..
6YO, with enthusiasm: NO! Mommy's age is way high. You can't rollerskate then!

What is he really saying?

My memory is so NOT what it used to be. Many times I have returned from the grocery store to have my dh ask, "Did you pick up razors/contact solution/lightbulbs/whatever?" Often, the answer to his question is "no". What makes it worse is that he probably reminded me that morning, but "life" got in the way and I forgot. Even though I am a prolific list maker and that helps, sometimes I forget to write things on the list....oh dear....

For Christmas, my dear, thoughtful hubby got this cool gadget for me!! It sticks (magnet) to the fridge...just push the record button, say what you need, and it is added to the grocery list. Before I go to the store, I can push another button and the list is printed out...grouped into categories!!! Hello!! How cool is that!!

I do have a little bit of a concern though. Some of the other gifts he got me were a new sewing machine and new knives. Great, useful gifts, and I am happy to have them, but what do you think he's trying to tell me about my job performance?

A new passion

As we passed through the produce section of the grocery store the other day, three-year old girl began making hand gestures and incomprehensible noises as she struggled to find the word that was eluding her. I stopped the cart and asked her what she wanted.

"I want the um, um, juicy sings(things) with grass"

OK, I was having a bit of a hard time solving this riddle, then she pointed to the shelves where the strawberries were displayed....Of course! She has recently developed a love/passion/obsession for these yummy juicy sings. I can't say that I blame her; I love them too....as long as the grass is taken off.

Just Doing My Part

This morning we were rushing out the door to get teenage son to an appointment. My chief lollygagger was up to his tricks again...couldn't find the "right" jacket. Finally we were all in the car and away we went...um...lickety split! Apparently, I was going a little too "lickety split", since when we met one of the city's Finest in his shiny black and white car, he made a perfect U-turn right behind me! Soon, those blue lights were flashing, drawing all kinds of attention. I pulled over to let him pass me :) but, alas he parked right behind me. My three sons were properly embarrassed especially teen son who was riding "shotgun".
Did I mention we were on Main Street? Very busy.
As the good homeschooler I am, I used this "teaching moment" to show my son where the registration is located. I demonstrated the proper attitude and demeanor to use in this situation(be friendly, don't argue, be contrite),and then we waited while the nice officer took my license and registration back to his car. Teenage son was not impressed.
When the officer returned he told me that my clean record saved me and let me off with a warning. Bless him! I pointed out the value of having a clean record to my son, who rolled his eyes at me.
Apparently, while we were parked along that busy road, my father-in-law and a business associate of my husband's drove past and saw us. When they told dear hubby about it, he chuckled.
"Do you know where she was taking our teenage son this morning?"

OK get ready for it......


"Driver's Ed!"