Pondered In My Heart

Scenes from a Happy Thanksgiving

The Speedwell

The Mayflower

The Pastry Chef

The Perfectly Fluted Crust

The Pie Assistant

The Sustenance for the Cooks

The Apples

The Cheerful Potato Peeler

The Inquisitive Onlooker Gaping at the Pies

The Marshmallower

The Spiced and Sugared Apples

The Pumpkin Pie Man

The Professional Candle Lighter (aka Altar Boy) and The Table Setter

The Place Cards

The Pies

The Young People Toasting Marshmallows

The Happy, Thankful Family at Table

Hope your Thanksgiving was a Happy and Blessed one!

Friday Snapshots

As we were leaving for Mass this morning I opened the car door to find Mary Rose working on her NaNoWriMo novel. She's so excited to be writing a new novel.

Having finished the Magi-can's Neep-hew, Kateri moves on to Prince Caspian. She's only five.

I could take pictures of her reading all day - I love to watch her face.

Nose to nose, Eliza and her beloved Faustina. She gave her kisses in between the nose nuzzles.

White board masterpiece. This is what happens when we leave three big girls in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Gondor (you can see the White Tree on top), Pellenor Fields, Rohirrim, orcs, wild men, black ships, nine Nazgul, Mount Doom - the works. There's even a teeny tiny Eowyn fighting the Witch King in the middle.

the oldest and the youngest

He is really sick, but his Special Reading Nurse, as she calls her sweet five year old self, reads to him.

For over an hour she read the whole first chapter of The Hobbit aloud to her biggest brother.

Later on, when he felt a bit perkier, she asked for his help to make a list of all the dwarves and the colors of their hoods. Naturally, she added their instruments as well.

Be still, my heart.

And any prayers offered for my patient are greatly appreciated! Seems like the sick season is here early and in force.

Wordless Wednesday: Concentration

 

Arrrrrrrrrgh!

 

Did you talk like a pirate all day?

We had a bonnie pirate lassie

and Red Handed Jack was here as well.

We listened to some of our favorite shanties: Sea Songs & Shanties: Traditional Music from the Last Days of Sail and Sea Shanties: Rousing Songs from the Age of Sail with plenty of Gilbert and Sullivan thrown in as well.

We spoke fondly of Peter Pan, Treasure Island, the Dread Pirate Roberts and the fierce but friendly (and cutest pirate ever) Dread Pirate Dominic. Being very fond of The Pirates of Penzance, Mabel was here for a visit as well.   

All in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Do you play with your (really big) kids?

When they're little we sit on the floor and vroom matchbox cars and pour tea for teddy bears out of elegant plastic teapots. As the kids get older (and older and older) it's just as important and far more entertaining to take the time to stop and sit down together and relax and laugh and make memories and play.

 

The other night we sat down to play some Bananagrams, a perennial favorite.

Side note: While on Amazon I noted that a few people gave Bananagrams only one or two stars, and I curiously read their reviews to see why. They claimed the game is boring as you don't interact while playing, and it's anti-social. Well, sure it'd be boring if you just sat there spelling words in silence, but we always have lots of playful banter as we race to make words. Is coz a word? Sure, like, 'I pray thee Rosalind, sweet my coz, be merry.' If Shakespeare uses it, it's a word. Look I've got beer and tavern. I've got beer and gin. Don't mix them together! Look, I've used all four of my eee's. I'm stuck with j and c and x. I've got another zit. Is joules a word? No- it's a proper noun. But it's a unit. But it's his name. I don't care, I'm using it. If you win, you could have rotten bananas...

Boring and anti-social, I think not.

As we debated what to play next, some folks wanted to play 'The Game' as we call it, that we learned from Leila (she calls it telephone pictionary), while others wanted to write limericks. (I've noted before how much we like to write Limericks by Committee with family and friends.)

Then someone suggested we write 'mock heroic couplets' instead of limericks, as we could make the poems longer.

Thus began the hilarity.

Basically, you write a line of iambic tetrameter and then pass it to the person sitting next to you. Everyone playing gets their own sheet of paper, and everyone starts a poem at the same time. 

When you get passed a poem, you add the next line, keeping to the form of rhyming couplets of iambic tetrameter. 

And then you keep passing the poems around until they seem like they should end, or everyone gets too tired.

So we had seven poems going at once. And things got rather jolly.

It's especially funny to get back the poem you started as it comes around and to see where the other poets went with it, and where you are going to take it next. We laughed. And laughed. And laughed.

Of course everything is funnier the later it gets, and it got quite late as we furiously scribbled our lines.

 

Then at the end we read all the poems aloud, at least twice, pausing to savor the especially clever lines and the literary references and whence they came, and also noting who wrote each line.

  

But we had quite a jolly, jolly time playing with our kids.

Give it a try next time you need a new game to play. You could end up with something as epic as this:

There was a jolly sailorman

He washed his toes in a fryin' pan

And when he went upon the sea

He ne'er drank aught but cold hard tea

The fishes gave him sober looks

The parson, some religious books

But what wanted he with such stuff?

He hankered after Rappee snuff

He sailed away to India

A jolly time, he grinned he-ha!

When he obtained the baccy goods

He chuckled from beneath his hood

But we may see that in the end

His vulgar wants were seen to mend

When one fine day the parson said,

"Clean your nose and go to bed!"

And so he cleaned his hands and face

Of baccy juice, left ne'er a trace

The parson served him proper tea

And thus converted Sean McFee.

(notes - the toe washing is a nod to Old Dan Tucker, the 'hard' tea is naturally alcoholic, Michael says he-ha, and nothing else, rhymes with India, and I had to ask my kids where they had heard of Rappee snuff - from a book of course. Jonathan posted a few more on his blog.)

In Like a Lamb

Welcome, March. We'd been waiting for you, and you did not disappoint.

 

a little deck dancing

pussy willows just starting to peek out against an impossibly blue sky

three red-tails, a sharp-shinned, four robins, one black and two turkey vultures, red-winged blackbird, juncos, bluebirds, mourning doves, cardinals, song sparrows...

usually birders like quiet, but we're flexible

two of the three red-tails playing together

happy, slidey girls
 

stoking the cabbages (and I don't know why she was cooking cabbages)
 

hope and joy and trust and beauty and faith and patience all conjured up in little green sprouts
 

balm

lemon to rub on the skin, inhale deeply and perk up the senses, just like sun

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

 

this morning's spectacular sunrise - even the sky was in red and pink!
 

Isn't it  nice to have St. Valentine's Day to celebrate in the middle of what can be a  difficult, dreary, dragging-even-though-it's-the-shortest month?
 

Nice to have a reason to decorate  just a little bit.

An excuse to infuse our homes with little pops of red and pink, kind of like anticipating the flowers of spring that are as yet a still far off dream.

A reason to send and receive greetings of love and lace and all things heart.

Isn't it lovely to have Valentines

and pink cookies

and a tea party to celebrate LOVE? It makes everyone quite jolly.

Happy St. Valentine's Day to you and yours! Hope you've had a sweet and  love-ly day.

Wordless Wednesday: Remember the Signs

 

And Now She is Seven

Our little queen had a birthday yesterday.

Now Eliza is a great big seven year old girl. Seven sounds so very old for this very special little girl.
 

But she can read her own birthday cards-

She knows just what to do at a birthday party-
 

And she can read her own chocolate owl cake-

 
She can take care of her own candles-  

 

She opens presents like a superstar-

Kateri made her some super star bling-

 

She got lots of handmade gifts that were stitched and sewn and painted with so much love-

 

Mary Rose has just learned to crochet and made a little scarf for the birthday girl. And every stitch was worth it just to watch her do this-

 
She just wrapped all that love right around her neck.

"I got new peg dolls!"
 

And she got tiny wooly barn owls-

There's a whole lot of love tucked into these little owls-

 

Every girl loves a new dress-

And every queen has to have a golden crown-

 
I wish I could explain what a privilege it is to know and love this girl. I wish there was some way to convey how when she speaks it is with such utmost sincerity that every word she utters has a sweetness that can break your heart. She speaks and blinks her eyes and looks at you and it's as if she is speaking from the depths of her innermost pure soul, and you are so very privileged to receive a word from down in there. And her eyes take you right down into those depths, and the trip is so pure.

I wish you could understand how when you hug her and kiss her softness it makes a part of you melt, and you become softer. How when she loves you it is with such a pure spirit that it pierces right through you to your very soul, and you feel so very special. You feel like you've connected with a morsel of humanity that is unlike anyone else you interact with, and somehow it is so much more pure and meaningful and real. It is unspoilt by any hint of pretense or self-serving or guile. And she makes you happy. She makes you want to be good and pure and real and always of good cheer.

 

But I don't think I can possibly explain it. So I just show you lots of pictures of her sweet, beautiful face and hope you can catch a glimpse of the joy and delight and blessing that she is.

 

Happy Birthday, Eliza! We sure do Love you!

Wordless Wednesday: Harper and Composer

 

Wordless Wednesday: The Return of the King

   

Saturday Snippets

 
My children never cease to amuse and entertain me with their clever and creative ideas. This time they've decided to bury a treasure box and plant a treasure map as bait. 

 

The box is naturally filled with various assorted sundry treasures, all home made of course. There are pearls and gold nuggets and coins and a ruby ring, with a bit of cram for sustenance and an 'atmospheric' crab claw for good measure.

 
And there's a well-aged and adequately mysterious missive for whoever finds the loot-

 
The purpose of this adventure is to 'test' the sensibilities and skills of the group of nine little kids on bikes who frequent the vacant lots on the edge of our development. These are of course referred to as the Nine Riders (though no malice is implied), and my gang is anxiously waiting to see if their adventuresome spirits and cartographical skills are sufficient for them to find the booty.  Do 'modern children' still care about searching for buried treasure? Inquiring minds want to know.

In other new, the killdeer have started to 'nest!' We've been hearing them for a few weeks, and last night the children finally found their homestead-

 
They created their customary protective 'notice' to try and keep people from stomping on the nest, though they kept it rather low key so as to not attract the attention of The Nine Riders. The treasure is buried far from the killdeer site.

And finally, if you are interested in frugal gardening note that Park Seed has free shipping on seeds until midnight on Sunday April 11 (EST). Use coupon code SHOWERS. This is a great way to try a few seed packets without having to pay for postage as well. If you sign up for their emails you get notified of these occasional offers, as well as helpful gardening info.

Now I must get to my Saturday chores. Happy weekend!

Lessons in Sickness

 
Things I've learned in the last three weeks:

• There is a mathematical formula by which you can calculate how much extra sleep you need to compensate for each time you are awakened during the night and how long you stay up. I don't know what this formula actually is, but I do know the compensation needed is about tripled if you are over forty.
• A shower is worth at least three hours sleep.
• Even if you have numerous boxes and bottles of every age and dosage of Tylenol in the house you can still run out.
• If you pray enough continuous Hail Mary's it is possible to keep praying them in your sleep, and when you wake up again in the middle of one you just automatically continue.
• My pediatrician's telephone number. (For the first time in twenty years I have it memorized.)
• Sometimes fairy tales do come true and those stories you read in books about children who cook and clean and tidy and wash dishes while you are blissfully sleeping through the night really happen. And you don't even need to pinch yourself when you wake up because you can smell the raisin biscuits for real.

 
(rice pudding recipe here )

Things I've known for years but have had greatly reinforced the last three weeks:

• Always keep a plastic basin in the car and under every bed, especially your own bed. Always. I learned this many years ago from a sweet Irish nurse, bless her heart. And if a child seems the slightest bit off in any way the basin comes out from under and stays on the bed for the night.
• A temporal scanning thermometer is worth every penny and then some.
• Vaporizers are fabulous.
• A med chart is a must when you have various children on various drugs.
• My pediatrician is truly wonderful. And when I call him over and over again he meets our needs and when I say thank you he replies, my pleasure.

I would do well to learn to answer my pleasure whenever someone asks something of me, especially when I am asked for the same thing over and over again. Thanks for everything, Dr. B.

Sick

For now this is our only Lenten 'decor', as illness makes its rounds:

This picture is for Suzanne, as my great big boys are not entirely unlike her little ones. My guys hung this above the sick couch in the kitchen, and they've finally told me why they raised the 'L' instead of the 'Q' for quarantine.

"Nancy wouldn't have a quarantine flag," said John. "She'd have the plague flag itself, squares of yellow and black." 

"Let's make her one," said Titty. (- Winter Holiday page 113)

And no, we don't have plague or the mumps!

Sick Day

  .

While I spent most of the day at the bedside tending to Eliza, downstairs her sisters gave Kateri (the Princess fan) this 'copywork' for school time.

Kateri also made this nice picture for her sick sister. She explained to me how the girl in the purple dress near the window has blue feathers in her hair (of course). Those other purple things are balloons.

And thankfully Eliza is feeling much better this evening and even managed a smile for her Pa. Which is a very good thing.

 
Having an Eliza without smiles is truly like a day without sunshine, and it was so nice to get a little peek at a sunbeam from behind all those clouds.
 

Collective Family Journal

I got this idea a few weeks ago that just popped into my head.

My children are forever drawing all over everything and they are very fond of passing notes to each other in school.

 
  I am also forever wanting to capture some essence of this string of days that is our family life together.

 
So I thought, what if I just got a blank sketchbook and left it out on the counter for anyone to add to whenever they feel like it.

 
Quotes from literature and music and quotes from the three year old. Drawings, observations, happenings - whatever strikes anyone's fancy from the silly to the serious to the sublime.

 
We are all having great fun with this now, and I can only imagine what a treasure it will be years from now. A collective illustrated peek at who we all are at this point in time and what sorts of interesting things sprinkle our days.

Grab a sketchbook and a pen and leave it sitting around invitingly, and see what you get.

As someone wrote on the first page of ours, Dude, this could be an epic book.

Indeed.

Weekend Sightings, Visitor Version

We had a splendid weekend enjoying a visit from the Doodle Acres gang. Getting to know this fun and faith-filled family has been one of the greatest highlights of being in this bloggy mom world. We first met Heather and Hope at a FCL conference, and then they came to visit us for the first time about a year ago. I recall being slightly apprehensive back then, wondering how the children would all get along for a whole day as they hadn't even met each other before. Heather and I were just reminiscing about that first visit, how we sat in my kitchen watching the little ones play and hearing constant outbreaks of riotous laughter coming from the bigger kids in the cellar below us.

It is a dangerous business going out your front door.

Indeed they got along. The children all share a great mutual fondness for many things from LOTR and literature to Shakespeare and sewing, thrifting and theater, Latin and music. Josiah filmed some impromptu scenes during that first visit, and in subsequent get togethers they produced a short film with a script written by Hope, directed and edited by Josiah, made complete with a score composed by Jonathan. This time around they started in on a new and larger project, again written by the multi- talented and lovely Hope. It's kind of like Lord of the Rings meets As You Like It, and the mixture of Ganymede and Aliena and Sam and Frodo with a little Aravis thrown in suits them all very well.   

At about 11 pm on Friday night, after tidying and cleaning the whole house in preparation for company, I beheld these daunting book stacks. I asked Michael if I should bother attacking The Pile, and he very kindly replied, Nah, they're homeschoolers too - they know about book piles. Isn't he a sweet husband? And upon seeing it dear Heather said something to the effect of, Oh, you left books out for me to look through! Isn't she a grand friend?

Behold the filming crew, from right to left, Arwen, Andrew Adamson, Mr. Tumnus, an Atmospheric Extra, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Macready (those aren't characters in the new film, that's just who everyone looked like at that moment):

Beware the evil Count Brone. You only get a head shot as his surcoat emblazoned with his coat of arms is Top Secret (not to be confused with the chapel in my cellar which is a Deadly Secret). I do love his scruffy villain look:

But never fear,  'Amon' escapes (thank you so much dear Hope, for not breaking your legs or anything whilst climbing out my living room window):

Here we have Lord Thaddeus making applesauce with the help of Eudora (Will she try to steal the apples to feed the horses? Nah, she'll forget.):

 
This is Radel, the Half Dwarf, obviously quite tired out from a day of forging tools in the mines (or from filming):

These are two of the little people, who played together delightfully all weekend while staging a covert Cuteness Competition (no winner was declared):

 

This is not Josiah. Nor is it the Ranger Giles, nor the Captain Gorlias, but Nicodemus, son of Lord Thaddeus and brother to Lady Gelasia (even rangers, captains and foot soldiers like to dunk their peppermint sticks in cocoa):

This is the lovely Handmaid Miriam, servant of Lady Gelasia, wearing a lovely gown crafted by said Lady (and everyone knows drippy sleeves are so exciting):

Besides filming, there were also games to play:

 
And lots of food to eat. Here they are all doing their best Oliver while I serve the soup (this is a merry band of folks, I tell you):

 

When it got too late at night for eating or filming or playing games we took to singing. We sang Christmas carols in English and the more talented among us sang chants in Latin. Jonathan was pleased they could pull off Lo, How a Rose Ere Blooming in four-part harmony, and he kept our guests from leaving on time Sunday night as they sang the Byrd Kyrie from the Mass for Three Voices.

 

It was quiet and lonely after they had gone, but we were left with lots of warm, happy and hilarious memories (and lots of film footage as proof).

So you see, Bilbo had come in the end by the only road that was any good.

And a jolly time was had by all, indeed.

In Which We Bake Christmas Cookies

That's 3,828 cookies in 28 varieties to be precise. And we are rather precise - that's Jonathan's job with the pencil and clipboard. As I've blogged before, baking cookies is our family Christmas Tradition with a capital T. We look forward to this time every year when we spend two full days together in the kitchen baking Cookies. We make up pretty cookie plates to give as gifts, and we have plenty for ourselves to enjoy as well (but not until Christmas Eve). We all love our cookie baking time together - everyone works together, everyone is in a Jovial Mood (veering off into punchy as it gets late at night), we end up with tons of yummy cookies, and we have a Really Grand Time together. Some memorable quotes:

me: Kateri, don't snitch the sugar! her (with a grin): I'm not snitching sugar, I'm snitching butter!

We chop all the nuts in the food processor, and the almonds are quite deafening as they are so hard - standard procedure involves someone shouting Nazgul! while everyone ducks with ears covered.

Eliza the taste tester approves: 'nudder one!

a supervisor implores the younger ones not to overwork the dough: Don't make them rubbery!

a baker's lament: Bowls are as scarce as hen's teeth in this house!

you know who said this: My hands are so greasy I can't pick up my binoculars!

Part of the ritual is counting all of the cookies and documenting how many we made of each kind. (Back in 2004 when people were obsessed with counts and recounts we took up chanting Count every cookie, every cookie counts!) It has become Jonathan's job to be the official counter and it suits him well, and we end up with quips such as:

We must preserve a hermeneutic of continuity in the size of the almond moons!

Congratulations, girls, we have a net gain of three lemon poppies from last year!

We listen to music while baking, but it can be distracting, hence 'No more deceptive cadences - they make me lose count!'

If you live nearby you can stop by for cookies and a cup of tea - the Russian teacakes and cinnamon crescents and lemon poppies are just getting aged to perfection. I think I'll go put the kettle on...

.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Very Merry Christmas

 Has it been a week already?

The warmth and glow and magic and joy that is Christmas continues to spill over and dominate our days. Holy Mother Church tells us Christmas is an octave of feasts and a whole season of rejoicing, and we are so happy to comply, carrying on with music and feasting and celebrating day after day.

Some of my favorite Christmas memories this year come courtesy of Eliza, who firmly believes that it is very much still Christmas. She continues to greet everyone in the family numerous times a day with a sincere "Merry Christmas", and she is not happy until you respond in kind. The Christmas tree still delights her so- she runs from shiny ball to shiny ball to peer at her own shining self. We will always remember Midnight Mass where the two little ones blissfully slept through it all until the very end. At the first notes of the recessional hymn, Angels We Have Heard on High, Eliza woke with a start and declared It's Christmas! Indeed.

After Mass again Christmas morning and much needed naps we all settled in to open our gifts. Surely Christmas is the celebration of mankind's greatest Gift, but that doesn't mean we don't revel in our humble gifts to each other. Each family member takes turns passing out their gifts.

Gifts made with their own hands and made for the sole purpose of delighting their recipients.

And delighted they are. Mary Rose is thrilled with her new bow and arrows.

 

You know you have the best brother in the whole world when he gives you your very own battle ax.

 
And Dad is very pleased with his sword not forged by dwarves or elves but carved by the hands of his own son.

But we relish 'boughten' gifts as well. Lydia was tickled with the boxed Legolas her big brother found for her at the thrift shop (and everyone knows Queen Susan gets her best moves from Leggie).

And the dudes were in dire need of new hats.

And this is surely the sweetest apron you could ever give a bird loving baker. Thanks, Nana! 

 
Finally, at an extraordinarily late hour that is too embarrassing to mention Jonathan and Lydia made gnocchi for a late supper. When it's just the immediate family you can do that sort of thing, and make Christmas dinner when you are hungry and get around to it. Though we have not a drop of Italian blood in us, they can make awesome gnocchi like an Italian grandmother - light fluffy pillows of potatoey goodness.

 
Despite being so tired from the late night and early morning no one wanted to go to bed, and we ended our festivities by singing late into the night. It was a most blessed Christmas Day from start to finish.

Wordless Wednesday: Thanksgiving 2009

 

4:26

 

4:27

 

4:33

4:33

4:33

7:20

7:27

8:06

8:15
 

Weekend in Pictures

On Saturday after Mass we visited a cemetery where our priest led prayers for the Poor Souls.

It was a crisp, clear day with a beautiful blue sky. This ancient-looking Madonna was atop a priest's grave from 1901. Josiah noted it was a good example of how pollution causes erosion of statues. It gave her quite an eerie look.

Everyone is happy to have Jonathan around on the weekends- moods are jolly and lightheartedness prevails throughout the house. Miss Chocolate Eyes lovin' on her big brother-

 

And today we took a drive to the hawk lookout for a last look at migrating raptors. The weather was exceptionally mild, the sky clear, and no wind.

I never get tired of the incredible view. To the north is this:

And to the south:

My children don't get tired of being up on the mountain either.

And I love seeing them all, being their regular selves, on a mountaintop. Josiah carrying on as Bellarius,

Jonathan studying Gregorian chant-

Little girls who love to paint-

We also caught a glimpse of the rare Rainbow Crested Elizabird-

 I thought of other moss-and-fungus-loving bloggers as I delighted in the sunlit sights-

 And I somehow squeezed in just a wee bit of watercolor journaling myself-

It was a very slow day raptor-wise with a very low count as there was little to no wind. But we did see a couple of Red-shouldered Hawks and Northern Harriers. We were really hoping to see Golden Eagles, as this is their migrating time here and we had never seen one before. The last bird of the day, the only eagle of the day, was a Golden. We were very pleased, and Lydia gets one more for her life list.

 

 Hope you had a grand weekend, too!

Wordless Wednesday: "I love my sister - take a picture!"

 

 
 
  

 
 
  

 

 
 
 (I couldn't possibly take just one...)

The Stars - A New Way to Point at Them

Guest post by Michael, aka Dr. K, resident scientist extraordinaire (and I think he's cute too).

The Perseid meteor shower in August is a beautiful time to look at the stars – except when it rains, as it did for us this year (again).  However, a few days after the peak of the Perseids, the night was clear and dark.  After several minutes, I saw a shooting star and went inside and announced that there were still Perseids.  So, out we went and arranged ourselves on an old blanket -  Dad and the five oldest children, from Jonathan down to Mary Rose lined up like sardines.  It was very cozy, and we enjoyed ourselves, but unfortunately didn’t see any streaks of light.  Mary Rose was next to me, and I tried to point out the summer constellations to her.  Unfortunately, I could tell that my attempts were mostly unsuccessful:  It is difficult to get your “student” to look at the same stars that you are pointing at.

As a child I was able to identify the Big Dipper and Orion, but little else, despite reading several books on constellations.  But years ago, with two young boys who had an interest in the stars and a wife who has a knack for finding Just The Right Book, we started reading two books by H.A Rey: Find the Constellations   (a very simple book) and The Stars: A New Way to See Them (more detailed).  The entire sky is officially divided into named regions – the constellations.  However, there is no “official” identification that proscribes which stars make up the arms and legs of the “twins” (Gemini), for example.  Rey, the author of the Curious George books, uses his gifts as a children’s illustrator to “connect the dots” between the stars to make memorable line drawings, while providing text that is scientifically accurate yet easy to read.  I've learned a lot from these books.

Mary Rose decided she wanted to study Astronomy this year for science.  Meanwhile, I checked on the prices of green laser pointers, which I have always wanted for astronomical purposes, but which were always too expensive.  I was pleased to find that green laser pointers now cost less than $20!  I bought one almost immediately, and it arrived 2 days later on a day with a clear night.  I took Mary Rose and the green laser pointer out into the dark and pointed the laser at the stars.  WOW!  We were both impressed by the beam of light that is clearly visible against a dark sky.  The laser pointer appears to reach all the way to the stars, making it as easy to point to the stars in the sky as it would be to point to marks on a chalkboard or on a computer screen.  (The photo below, when viewed on a computer monitor in the dark, gives you a good idea of what you will see.)

[ Right click on the link below, then choose "Save Target As..."  Save the file, and then open it with a program that will let you view this "full screen".  This is a really neat picture - not enhanced in any way.  But the picture only looks good in the dark - just like the laser pointer! ]

View this photo

Within 15 minutes Mary Rose knew every star and constellation that I know in the summer sky, and I figured that the laser pointer had already paid for itself.  It is hard to describe the joy of Mary Rose’s discovery of the patterns in the sky.  When we went back into the house she said, “Now I can look up and know that the bright star is Vega, and those stars are the Summer Triangle, and ...”  ... and so we got out the books by Rey and identified several other constellations.  There is something about our human nature that has a need, and finds a joy,  in being able to name things, whether it is birds or the stars or any other part of God's creation.

The “winter stars” are coming soon and compared to the “summer stars”, they are a collection of jewels.  The clear winter air is perfect for observing stars, and there are many more bright stars visible in the winter than in the summer.  The “winter stars” are waiting for their turn in the evening sky, and are visible right now in the morning before dawn.  Mary Rose and I were up before dawn on a recent Saturday and took a few minutes to look at the stars.  Once again, I could see the delight in her face as she looked up and saw that the morning stars were not the same as the ones she had seen in the evening.  We are looking forward to the coming of crisp, clear winter air, and the joy of exploring the universe that God has spread out for us in the night sky!

About lasers:  Your eye is far more sensitive to green light, and green light is scattered better by the atmosphere – both of which combine to make a green laser pointer visible, whereas a standard red pointer is not.  I bought a laser pointer with a power less than 5 mW for two reasons:  safety for me and my family; and safety for those airplanes that I may accidentally point at.  It is not safe to view even this <5 mW laser pointer directly.  I chose the only green laser pointer on Amazon that had a 5-star rating, and bought from a vendor (HDE) who received many positive recommendations in the comments.  These pointers are not as rugged as the red pointers:  avoid shaking, jarring, or dropping the pointer.  The pointers are currently less than $15, including shipping.  At that price, you can't go wrong!

Editor's Note: Mary Rose is also using and enjoying this text: Exploring Creation With Astronomy (Young Explorers)

Wordless Wednesday: Whirlwind Washington Weekend

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday Shots

Just some shots of things that made me smile today -

like lots of girls all dressed in blue, even the dollies.

Some girls sat singing together,

and some blues sat all by themselves.

Peaches, plums, pluots, and nectarines all in a pretty vintage punch bowl.

 

Fresh French bread and cherry jam.

 

This giant bee just hanging out (quite literally) on a hosta bud,

 

unlike this non-stop hummer moth going for quite a nose dive.

 

 Speaking of nose dives, here we have the new game of foyer pong. Jonathan found a package of ping pong balls and two paddles at the thrift shop this morning. I pointed out that we do not have a ping pong table, but that little detail did not deter him. We need ping pong balls, Mom, we don't have any!

 

Yes, of course. We need ping pong balls.

Here we have Kateri playing mommy and feeding Eliza while reciting Shakespeare.

 

And here we have Lydia demonstrating what the two of us spent way too much time doing today. The objects of our observations will have to wait for their own post another day.

 

Hope your Saturday was full of happy sights that made you smile too!

There's more than flowers in my beds.

If you bend down and take a peek you'll see...

The pig sty, home of Nickel, Mr. Pig Boar, and little Penny the piglet -

 

The former home of the polar bears -

 

until they moved into their new cave (much more sturdy) -

The penguin pool for keeping cool -

 

 The Shady Leaf Stables -

 

A nest for the birdies -

 

The bears set out on their 'barque', punting madly up the river -

 

A fine hut (notice the front porch) for Isaac, Buttercup, Fleecy and Bobette the dear little deer -

 

And wouldn't you like to come in for a spot of tea and carrot cake in Brunette and Moonwood's fine burrow?

Wordless Wednesday: Littlest Angel

Happy Feast Day, Kateri!

Today is the feast of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

Here is a prayer for her canonization: LET US PRAY

O God, who, among the many marvels of Your Grace in the New World, did cause to blossom on the banks of the Mohawk and of the St. Lawrence, the pure and tender Lily, Kateri Tekakwitha, grant we beseech You, the favor we beg through her intercession, that this Young Lover of Jesus and of His Cross may soon be counted among the Saints of Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocence and faith. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

My Kateri was named after Blessed Kateri (you can read about why she is named after Blessed Kateri in this post.) Our priest gave a very nice sermon about the life of Blessed Kateri, highlighting some of the many difficulties she faced during her short life. She was persecuted for her faith, but her spirit of joy and peace was pervasive, and others noted how her face changed and looked beautiful when she was in prayer and it was a blessing to be near her. Father told of how she loved to spend time in prayer and would stay for hours in the chapel. He also told of how she liked to make crosses out of sticks and hang them on trees in the woods as a witness to her Savior. So in honor of the feast today my big girls made these rustic crosses.

 

I think they look cool, and they can't look that different from the ones Blessed Kateri must have made. The girls are going to hang them in the trees both in the woods and in our yard.

 

I have to also tell you that my Miss Kateri is still as spirited as she's always been. After Mass I took her by the hand and brought her over to greet Father J. as he is new and doesn't know our names. I tried to explain how it was her feast day and I told her to tell Father her name.

And she solemnly replied, "Gwendolyn." (Yesterday she was Princess Imogen.)

And then of course when we laughed and corrected her and said her name was really Kateri she dissolved into tears and cried her eyes out in embarrassment and dismay.

That's my girl. :-)

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us!

Lessons From the Cherry Orchard

We had such a good time on our strawberry picking outing in June that we planned to return to the same farm for more picking. (Did you read Elizabeth's  inspiring and informative article about these memorable family times in the fruit field?) And so last week we actually went cherry picking twice. After the first batch of 39 pounds was cooked or tucked away in the freezer for winter cobblers and all the pie was eaten we realized we wanted more pie. So we went back and picked just a few more - another 18 pounds. Here are some pictures and things we learned along the cherry way.

Cherry orchards are beautiful, idyllic places to be on a hot summer day.

 

 Cherry trees are nice if you are wearing brown pants and want to camouflage yourself as a tree.

 

Picking cherries is easier than picking strawberries as you don't have to bend down.

 

Even though they are certainly not blueberries, you still have to say ker-plink, ker-plank, ker-plunk with every cherry you drop in the bowl. You also have to run through the orchard and hide now and then to make sure there aren't any bears, large or small.

 

Even rangers like to pick cherries as long as Farmer Maggot isn't around.

 

You might find some lovely surprises in the cherry trees,

 

as well as some most unusual nests.

 

Picking cherries makes you happy.

 

Sometimes you have to stretch up really high to reach the cherries.

 

Sometimes you don't actually get to pick cherries when you go cherry picking, but you have the privilege of holding down the branches so a little person can carefully do the job.

 

Sometimes you just have to go off chasing the little one when she decides it's time to 'fly like a birdie'.

 

We don't cry over spilled cherries - we just laugh and pick them all up.

 

Lots and lots of cherries make a pretty sight.

 

If you were foolish enough to wash your hair right before cherry picking a kind ranger may lend you his cloak to keep the gnats from swarming around your flowery smelling head.

 

But beware - he'll most certainly take your picture if you try to dash about in the field making your cloak fly.

 

It takes a long time to pit 39 pounds of cherries.

But taking turns is nice and a handy dandy cherry pitter is worth every penny.

 

Lattice topped pies certainly look beautiful but the best tasting pie is with French crumb topping made with lots of butter and just a bit of almond extract. Not that we are opinionated or anything - that's just the general consensus here. Deciding on whipped cream or ice cream is up to you. :-)

There are also a few more ideas for using sour cherries over on my cooking blog.

Happy Fourth of July!

 

We've had an incredibly busy two days. Yesterday started with Mass at 7:30 after which we came home and made pancakes, drove an hour to a field trip at a farm, after that decided to drive around the local historic sites, drove back to town and went cherry picking, stopped for milk, came home and pitted the sixteen pounds of cherries and made six pies finishing at about never mind what time at night. Today we started with Mass after which the girls tidied the whole house including the cherried kitchen, did laundry and made bread while the menfolk mowed and fertilized the lawn. Then it was off to a lovely picnic including football, volleyball, sword fighting, lots of good food and good friends and fellowship and finishing up with a rosary at dusk. Whew. The picture is of Kateri but that's how we all feel. It's been a wonderful, memorable two days but now it's really time to get some rest!

Hope your Fourth was a terrific one!

Happy Father's Day!

 

Eliza was all over her Daddy at Mass this morning.

 

She was hugging and nuzzling and snuggling and loving him while grinning her little grin that makes her eyes scrunch up and disappear and you think her cheeks are going to burst from grinning so hard.

 

Just being with her Dad made her so happy that every time I caught her eye she just burst into gleeful giggles. We had trouble keeping her quiet in church - she was too happy. It is quite likely that she is so delighted to sit with her Daddy and just love him for an hour every Sunday, but as it is Father's Day I was sentimentally paying much closer attention.

 

Being a most wise judge of character, Eliza has chosen her Daddy as her most favorite, most loved person in the whole wide world. She knows how good he is, and how much he loves her, and her face just tells it all about him. I don't think there can be anything that makes a mother's heart happier than seeing her husband and children love each other. Father's Day is a beautiful day for just basking in that love.

 

(On top of all that, the dude hit a home run at the church picnic.)

Happy Mother's Day!

As Josiah put it, today is Tuesday of the First Week of Mother's Day Time so I can still say Happy Mother's Day to all of you dear mothers!

We had a very nice day and I received some lovely gifts. My handsome husband made me happy with a hibiscus-

 

There were sweet homemade cards-

Anna made me this charming brooch-

 

Lydia stitched up these beautiful goldfinches-

 

So now I have two-

Josiah carved this little shrine-

And Jonathan gave me chocolate, so all bases were covered. Flowers, birds, the Blessed Mother and chocolate. And lots of tea, of course.

After Mass and social time I spent most of the day setting out my hundreds of seedlings. I started planting last Thursday, getting all the vegetables in first. I had planned to post this as one of my 'Small Successes', but after all that hard work and fresh air I fell asleep on the couch. :-)  I had been working on the flowers here and there, and I was determined to finish them all on Sunday. So my dear family cooked and tidied and brought out cups of tea while I planted and planted and planted. Here is that looong bed-

And here is my first bloom of the year from one of my seedlings-

 

At the end of the day my dear husband sat down with me and our cups of tea. He asked me what I planted, and he very kindly and patiently sat while I told him not only what but how many of each. All the way from the nine bee balms and ten black eyed Susans and nineteen cosmos and ten daisies to the forty-two zinnias in three varieties. And he looked at pictures of the ones he didn't know as I pointed them out in my gardening book. True love. 

 

I hope that your Mother's Day was a blessed one, and that even though it's back to the laundry pile you are still basking in all the joys, large and small, of Mother's Day Time.

Spring Sights

Glorious, delightful, fickle, teasing spring is finally here-

Lovely blooms are everywhere-

Last spring Dawn mentioned her spring violets, inspiring us to dig up some from the empty lots nearby.  Now we have our own cheery clumps, so pretty to look at and a lovely reminder of Dawn's sunny spirit -

The goldfinches are fairly neon-

New life is everywhere-

There are lots of extra chores to do, but it feels so good to be working outside. Not to mention the breaks-

Yes, dining al fresco is definitely in style. Nice warm lid-potatoes, anyone?

We've also been doing lots of this-

So that my kitchen looks like this-

And outside there is beauty unfolding on its own-

And beauty thwarted-

Albeit by cuteness-

But these are cuter still-

And verily bursting with the flavor joy that only warm sunshine and fresh air can bring-

Birthday Girls

Along with all of the celebrations of Eastertide we've recently had two jolly birthdays as well. My big girl is fourteen!

Lydia's birthday was on Easter Sunday, a lovely but busy day for a birthday. We kept talking about making her a cake but by the evening it was becoming clear it wasn't going to happen, so the dear girl just had a candle stuck in her poppy roll for singing purposes:

Being a jolly sport, she didn't mind. We finally got around to making her a proper cake on Easter Thursday. I had envisioned a bird cake with lovely depictions of various species alighting on branches, but this was all Josiah and I could muster:

 

Again, good sported Lydia didn't mind. But it was partly a relief when every one of our sad attempts at birds was neatly removed by the precise frosting-swiping fingers of the two little girls.

Fourteen must be a special year as Lydia received some very generous gifts from her Nana:

This young birder was thrilled to get her very own pair of very nice binoculars!

They have been put to good use daily, 

 

and Lydia now does most of her school work sitting on the front porch like so:

She also received a very nice set of colored pencils to fuel the other part of her avian affections - drawing birds: 

 

And moving along to my littlest birthday girl-

 

Miss Kateri is three!

 

She insisted on a dolly on her cake, so Raggedy Ann it was. For her present she requested a pink pig that she intended to name Housie Housie Housie. Lydia obliged and crocheted said pig with much love -

 

And Housie Housie Housie has been Kateri's trusty companion ever since:

 

I could just eat her (Kateri, not the pig). And for one more final indulgence of cuteness and to thank Nana for all the wonderful gifts, I present Kateri enjoying her new CD:

 

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Loves

  First I loved him-

 

and then there was him-

 

and then his brother-

 

and then I loved their sister-

 

and then her sister-

 

and then her-

 

and her-

 

and her-

Now these all are my loves, and my love is all theirs.

Hope you all had a Happy St. Valentine's Day celebrating love with those you love the most. 

Wordless Wednesday: Grampy's Birthday Edition

Grampy and me-

Grampy making birdhouses with the boys-

And if you would like to hear some Hungarian music to brighten up your day see my post from last year: For Grampy

Wordless Wednesday: Sister-love

 

I Have Five Daughters!

 

Rich man, indeed.

Braidy Bunch

 

Pippi Longstocking has nothing on these girls.

 

Okay, so they're not red braids but they are long.

On the Mend

The siege seems to be coming to an end. Battle-weary soldiers are staggering about the field surveying the damage. A few remaining bodies remain strewn about, but they are recovering from their afflictions.

 

Thank you all so very much for all of your prayers and concern as our family fought a dreadful intestinal virus. It affected us with varying intensities, and some of us are farther along in recovering than others, but all are on the mend (excepting Anna, who has somehow escaped unscathed - so far). God's mercy was on us as the sickness hit in a staggered fashion. Sunday night as Eliza was starting to feel better, Michael and Jonathan got sick, officially promoting me from patient to charge nurse. Josiah was also struck that night, just a few hours after he posted his cheery update. I will spare you the gory details but he was hit hard and looked absolutely dreadful by the next morning.

   

It's always most difficult to have poor Eliza sick as she is so sweet and inculpable - it's hard to watch her suffer - hence my plea for prayers whilst the girl was vomiting every twelve-to-fourteen minutes all Sunday morning. (!) It was such a blessing and seemed like an amazing feat when she could finally rest twenty minutes between episodes. She had a hard time of it.

Sometime in the midmorning she mustered her strength to speak and she let out a most heartfelt Dad!, by which she very clearly meant this is a most wretched thing that is happening to me and I don't understand it but I'm so glad you and Mom are here with me and taking care of me and loving me through it all but I do hope it ends soon because it stinks. We thought our hearts would bust.

A while later she did it to us again. She was feeling a bit better so Michael was reading her favorite book for her:

"My goodness, Pickles," said Joe, "what big paws you have!" Pickles looked at Joe and said the one word he could say:

And Eliza let out the sweetest, most feeble, most dear little "Meow!" you ever heard. That girl. Rips your heart right out with one word.

But it really was difficult for everyone, and we are still sleeping lots, eating little, and having difficulty getting our foggy brains to work and discuss anything more intelligent than the merits of red versus orange jello or why Gatorade made from the powder mix tastes better than the stuff in the bottles. My children are all getting tired of my inquiries about their bodily functions that have overtaken our world for the last week. I haven't had a cup of tea since last Friday (those of you who know me understand this is truly shocking).

The blog world is buzzing with talk of back to 'school' work, new routines and schedules, clean slates and fresh starts. We can't yet think of such things (do we get extra credit for losing that holiday five pounds in a week?) Instead of feeling refreshed by our extended break we are starting the New Year wiped out. But we don't care. We are feeling cheerful and chipper, ever so thankful to be on the mend.

And our hearts and prayers go out to all of those families still battling the bad, bad bugs out there.

7 Quick Takes Saturday

1. Happy Feast of St. Nicholas!

Hope you are having a blessed, joyful feast day. The blogs are just bursting with wonderful ideas for celebrating this special day, and it's delightful to peek at so many diverse family traditions. There's a wealth of information at the St. Nicholas Center, and a St. Nicholas Fair over at Catholic Cuisine. An extra special 'Happy Feast Day' to all of the Nicholases (Nicholai?) and Nicoles out there.

2. TypePad Woes

I just want to mention that I am having difficulty leaving comments on TypePad blogs since they've switched to their new 'Next Generation' platform and profiles. So please excuse me for not leaving comments as I read your lovely blogs. After investigating the problem and having numerous exchanges with TypePad tech support, their most recent advice states:

When an issue is reported, we go through a specific, formal process in which the issue is discussed with the development engineers and a priority assigned. Once we can determine the cause of the problem, the code changes must be made in development, tested, and verified. Finally, they are assigned to a release and pushed into production. Since this process does take some time, we are unable to give a specific date at this time when the change would be made. This will be determined during the development process, as we mentioned.

Translation for when this problem will be resolved - Not Anytime Soon.

3. Snowman

Sometimes someone in the family does something that just begs to be blogged, almost like I bet there's no way you can resist blogging this...

For example:

 

You may recall how my dear husband enjoys trying to get the grass to grow. Look at this dedication and hard work! He actually told me with an almost-straight-face that it's easier to apply fertilizer in the snow because you can keep track of where you've already been. But do note that he is grinning for the picture above.

 

4. About Last Night

Did you hear excessive screaming and laughing and roaring and generalized very loud hoopla? That was us. There is something about Friday-after-a-long-busy-week (aka Fried-day) that naturally invites a bit of blowing-off-steam in the form of some fun rowdy play and happy hullabaloo. We started off by piling on top of dear old Dad who was trying to get a little un-fried in typical Dad fashion by resting on the couch -

 

You have to love a guy who can support six womenfolk.

We also had the rare treat of having Jonathan home for an evening. The girls jumped, quite literally, at this opportunity and coerced him into being their horse. 'Macintosh' took turns giving rides to his sisters, sometimes stubbornly dragged by his lead ropes-

 

but most of the time galloping wildly through the house (hence the screaming). The girls were quite kind to him and fed him sugar cubes whenever he got a rest. A good time was had by all.

5. The Cook

 

You have to love it when Gandalf comes and makes soup in your kitchen.

6. Advent

 

I haven't blogged about our Advent devotions this year because they are the same as last year. As Alice pointed out, families may add something new occasionally but it is the things we do every year as we have always done - that's what makes it tradition. We are praying the beautiful St. Andrew novena prayer, doing our Jesse Tree readings each evening, lighting our Advent Wreath, and singing the same Come, Lord Jesus that we have sung for years and years. It's always lovely to watch a new toddler learn this simple song and sing it every night with all her heart, bowing her head at the Holy Name. We also just started listening to just a little Christmas music, beginning with our friends' CD, Eventide Lullaby.  Soon the children will start crafting in earnest, as they've been doing 'handmade holidays' for years  and I hope to blog some of their projects. And right before Christmas we will make cookies the same way we always do.

7. Et Moi - Quick Takes

It was Jen at Conversion Diary who started the 7 Quick Takes, but you may know that it is supposed to be a Friday thing. You may also know that I have trouble doing anything on time, which is why I rarely post in blogs fairs and things that normal, organized bloggers do.

 

Scenes From a Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

the girl and her clementine

 

the boy and his fugue

the table (the pie is here)

the girl and her biggest brother

I love this picture. They are watching chant videos together on You Tube. :-)

 

For our evening entertainment we watched  Lord of the Rings - one  movie a night. This required careful planning in keeping the littles up without naps so they would go to bed extra early and sleep all night. It worked fairly well for the most part - just don't ask what time we actually started watching Fellowship on Thanksgiving night, after all those dishes and all that pie...

 

On Saturday night Eliza woke up right when the Fellowship arrived at the Black Gate and we couldn't get her back to sleep for anything. So Michael held her and rocked the sleepy princess for the rest of the movie. But she gleefully popped right up out of his arms and was wide awake for the very end. I think we will always remember the sight of her sitting directly in front of the TV in her pink polka dotted fuzzy pj's at never mind what time in the morning singing and signing Into the West with all her heart. It's one of her most favorite songs.

 

You know how they're always good as gold when they're up when they're not supposed to be. So she got to go downstairs for pie as well:

In the kitchen we found that the two middle girls had been crocheting while we watched the movie. I thought these horses looked like they could have galloped right out of Rohan in their majestic new coats:

 

 

These are the simple happy moments of blessed family life that we treasure.

I leave you with Eliza leading the evening Angelus before our Thanksgiving grace:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I trust you all had a Happy Thanksgiving, full of family blessings, as well.

Happy Wednesday

Messiah is blaring throughout the house, the bread machine is whirring, big girls are helping little ones dress dollies and Jonathan is parked in front of his laptop in the kitchen catching up on Fr. Z. I raise my teacup in a toast and unite my bliss with mothers-of-college-students everywhere who are basking in the presence of their scholars home for the holiday. Jonathan does commute but he usually heads out to 7:30 Mass before his siblings are awake and often doesn't return until they are asleep again. Needless to say Eliza is very happy and wouldn't let Josiah take her out of the car with  a No! Jon-a-fin! I happily anticipate hearing lots of those over the next few days.

I wanted to share my new cloth napkins with you because I am so pleased to have finally made them:

 

I have wanted to switch to cloth for quite some time and I had bought pretty yardage for the project.  I made about three napkins and the rest of the cut pieces have been sitting on my sewing table for ages. I enjoy the sewing but the task of ironing all of those edges was quite daunting - just the thought of turning and pressing twice those narrow hems and my fingertips can practically feel the steam burns. And then the other night I was surfing around on crafty blogs and saw a link for a napkin tutorial on reversible napkins. Did you hear me smack my head and let out the biggest, gleeful duh? I didn't even go read the tute - just the word was enough to make me realize I could make napkins without all those pressed edge hems. Yippee! So two Wiggles videos later I have a dozen lovely reversible napkins - and they feel much nicer than single layer ones as well. I also like how they look with my new fall coasters. Now I just need a clever basket liner like Jenn's.

 

Along the domestic lines you might be interested in my recipes for cranberry orange salad and our favorite pumpkin crumb pie over on my cooking blog. They are Thanksgiving favorites here.

Now I need to go make more tea. I asked Jonathan if he wanted a cup of tea with his cinna-scone and he said I might as well make him one. It's nice to know he can still sound like a teenage boy. ;-)

Brain-eration Gap

Jonathan has been extremely busy at college, and between classes and commuting and rehearsals and staying on campus to use computer programs we don't see a whole lot of him. He was recently home for a whole day and it was a rare pleasure to have him around for so long. But it did also bring to light the fact that even in the best relationships, communication with our young adult children can be difficult at times. So throughout the day when he would take breaks from working on the fugue he's composing I was simultaneously amused and bewildered by his remarks such as:

I'm going over my work for parallel fifths and parallel octaves because you want your voices doing counterpoint...I'm going through and playing each of the ten combinations of the five voices to check it...however parallel fourths, sixths and thirds are okay...

He apparently has never read How to Talk So Your Non-musical Mother Will Listen and Listen So Your Non-musical Mother Will Talk.

But I still love him.

Wordless Wednesday: Eliza and the Paint

 

 

 

signing dirty

Yesterday...

...was my birthday!

In between errands and appointments we managed to have a busy but very nice day. I was treated to lovely presents from my children. Lydia made this pretty card and did this beautiful stitching for me:

 

Anna made me these charming handwarmers from recycled felted sweaters (Josiah's not the only one who likes to thrift shop)

And Josiah made me these fingerless gloves since I liked his so much:

 

I am tempted to embroider vines on them and Jonathan said that would make them look elvish, but I kind of want to keep them looking Josiahish, so maybe I won't.

I did get to sit a spell and get some crocheting done,

 

finishing up a scarf for myself:

Can't help sticking a flower on everything - I'm just that kind of girl. And Lydia can't help putting birds on everything, 'cause she's that sort of girl:

 

As a final treat Michael got out his clarinet - something he only does when the mood strikes him - like every five or ten years or so. Jonathan accompanied him and we enjoyed their fine impromptu playing. Eliza was delighted to have a new instrument to dance to. As I look around now I see the music and stand and clarinet have all been whisked away back into the closet. 

 

It's a good thing I have pictures so I know it wasn't all just a dream!

Thank you, wonderful family, for a wonderful birthday! I sure do love you!

 

The Birthday Man

That's what the children were calling their dear dad yesterday (you know, instead of The Birthday Boy). My dearly beloved Birthday Man had quite a busy day, like most dads do every day. He put in a full day at work, and then dashed home to take Lydia to her piano lesson. While Lydia played away at her Schubert and Beethoven he walked 1.4 miles down the road to pray a rosary at the clinic, then walked all the way back. After returning Lydia home he grabbed a quick bowl of soup and dashed out again to take Josiah to his piano lesson. He called to check in on his mother while Josiah plugged away at his Debussy, and then he finally came home to stay. Then it was on to the nightly routine of McDuff stories and snuggles with Eliza. Falling prey to the warm and cozy fleecy pajamaed Eliza, the dear man succumbed to sleep.

But he was awakened by his family singing Happy Birthday as they processed into the darkened room with his 'birthday bread'. He didn't want a cake as we are fasting for Life, so Lydia made him a loaf of bread, threw in some craisins, and braided it up fancy. It was simple, unpretentious, good for you and yet delicious. Just like him.

After a bit more camaraderie, munching and visiting with his family, he finally got to end the day. A day full of the little things that make him who he is. Well done, good and faithful Daddy.

Happy Birthday, Michael! We all sure do love you!

Edited to add: Okay, so he tells me he didn't walk to the clinic last night. He got stuck in traffic on the way to lesson and was running so late he drove down. I still think he's pretty awesome. :-)

Sniff sniff

So we're driving in the car and Kateri is being all chattery as usual, smiling and waving to everyone in turn.

'Hi, Anna! Hi, Mary Rose! Hi, Wydia! Hi, Eliza!'

Then Mary Rose asks her, 'Where's Jonathan?'

Kateri pauses just for a second before declaring rather solemnly, 'Jon-Jon's lost.'

Grammy Comes to Town

We just enjoyed having my mother, aka Grammy Dear, here for a visit. My cousins were traveling through to see their relatives and kindly dropped her off for the weekend. It is always a delight to visit with family and to get reacquainted and share some time together.

My children spent most of their time just hanging around, wanting to be in her presence and waiting anxiously for her next tidbit of entertainment. Nothing monumental transpired, just family being family together. They didn't want to risk missing any of her funny stories or reminiscing. They didn't want to miss any Grammyisms. We heard about when her own father had asthma the only available remedy at the time was some scary sounding stuff in a green can called Asthmador.

She recounted how when he started to have an attack she and her three sisters would each go flying to do her part, each girl having her own appointed job. One would fetch the pan, one would get the matches, one would bring the green can, and the fourth would - well, Grammy couldn't remember what the fourth would do. But they would pour the powder into the pan and light it on fire and their father would inhale the subsequent fumes to ease the attack. My children were at once mesmerized and dissolving in laughter at this incredible remedy.

By popular demand, Grammy retold the famous story of the stolen hat. Grampy had a wonderful Tyrolean hat, a beautiful creation adorned with feathers and one whole side embellished with numerous special pins. They were riding on the subway in New York city when they noticed a man gesturing to his companions, rubbing his hands together in a signal (think ASL picnic). The men quickly got off the subway, then reached in through the window and stole Grampy's hat right off of his head, just before the subway started going again! And that was the end of Grampy's Tyrolean hat.

We laughed and laughed to hear about when Grammy was a little girl of six and was so excited with anticipation about her upcoming Christmas gift.  Pleased as punch, she could hardly contain herself with expectation and glee.

She was going to receive her very own union suit!

And on and on it went all weekend. We in turn tried to entertain Grammy. The children somehow convinced her to watch the Narnia movie which she found altogether terrifying and utterly despicable. They made me watch that awful Narny! I didn't like it, she lamented to my cousins.

So you see I am actually very different from my mother. She doesn't drink tea. (yuck!) Or water. (blah!) Or milk. (brrrr!) She doesn't sew or craft or bake. At all. Not. Ever. She doesn't like chocolate (!) or cake (!) or scones (they have no taste). We playfully ate spoonfuls of fudge topped with whipped cream in front of her just so we could see her dramatic shudder. She doesn't even own a computer. When we took her to our beloved Traditional Latin Mass, which she hasn't attended in over forty years, her only comment was to flatly remark, That was different. We frustrated her with our free-spirited ways and night-owl habits. I'm sure we seemed unbearably loud and quite boisterous to a lady accustomed to living alone.

But of course it doesn't matter a bit if we are alike or not. She's our Grammy Dear, the Queen Mother, and that's that. We loved having her here and we adore her and there's no one else like her in the whole wide world.

Oh, and we're not entirely different, of course. Neither of us could possibly sit still through this:

 

All together now -

WE LOVE YOU, GRAMMY DEAR!!!