The Kelly's Korner

Signs and Mysteries - A Review

2010-07-19T16:46:00.003-04:00

As part of The Catholic Company's Reviewer program, I get the opportunity to review different products that they have in exchange for offering my opinion on them. This review is for a book, Signs and Mysteries - Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols.

I originally chose this book because I was interested in learning more about the early Christians and how they marked themselves as Christians during a dangerous time to openly be a Christian. While this book does offer insight on how these early Christians used symbols to mark themselves as Christians, there was not as much new information as I was hoping for.There were a few symbols that I had not heard of before, such as the phoenix representing Christ and his resurrection, but overall, the symbols discussed in the book were not new to me. It was interesting to see pictures of different artifacts through the years that incorporated the symbols, however, I don't feel that I learned a whole lot more than I already knew.

Overall, the book was well written, the chapters short enough to hold a person's attention, and the photos added to the interest. I think this book would be a great introduction to Christianity for someone who is newly exploring their faith more in depth.

Family Cradle

2009-07-12T15:39:00.001-04:00

Many years ago, my great-great grandfather, James B. Brennan built a cradle for his children to sleep in. I'm not sure that he knew when he built this cradle how special it would become in the lives of his progeny.

The first child to sleep in this cradle was my great grandfather, James Sands Brennan. He was followed by his siblings, Marian, Harold & William.

The second generation of children to sleep in this cradle were: the children of James & Sarah Brennan- Jane, Ruth (my grandmother) and James Brennan; the children of Marian & Harry Hart - Harry, George & James Hart; and the children of William & Elise Brennan - Elise & William Brennan.

The third generation of children to sleep in this cradle were the children of Ruth & Gene McDonald - Gene (my father), Jim, Tom & Jeff McDonald; and the children of James & Janet Brennan - James, Joseph, Joanne, Jeff & John Brennan.

The fourth generation of children to sleep in this cradle were: the children of Gene & Diana McDonald - Cindy (that's me!), Michael, Lori, Kellie & Brian McDonald; the children of Jim & Diane McDonald - Julie McDonald; the children of Tom & Kathy McDonald - Angela, Patricia & Michelle McDonald; and the children of Jeff & Robin McDonald - Amanda & Megan McDonald.

Which brings us to the present and the fifth generation of children to have slept in the cradle: the children of Cindy & Chris Kelly - Brian, Sean, Colin & Ian Kelly; the children of Michael & Jennifer McDonald - Dylan & Allison McDonald; the child of Lori & Lou Roselli - Kelsey Roselli; and the child of David & Daniella McDonald - Rachel McDonald.

I thought I would share pictures of myself and my children all sleeping in the cradle. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family tradition with which to share with my children. I hope one day they feel the same sense of awe that I do every time I lay one of the down for the first time in this cradle.

Cindy Anne - 22nd baby

Brian Lawrence - 33rd baby

Sean Eugene - 35th baby

Colin Andrew - 37th baby

Ian Benjamin - 40th baby

Introducing our newest son

2009-06-28T22:03:00.006-04:00

Ian Benjamin

born: June 26, 2009
7:31 p.m.
7 lbs., 4 oz.
19.5 inches

Paul in a Basket

2009-06-19T14:39:00.003-04:00

I recently joined the Catholic Company's product reviewers. My first time up to choose a product and I chose Paul in a Basket, which is a musical production created by Rob Evans, The Donut Man. This wonderful compilation of music can be performed by a church group, or just listened to for the sheer enjoyment of the music. Plus, it's a wonderful teaching tool for your children to learn about St. Paul. And, as an added bonus, Mommy gets to learn some things too! :-)

What my kids and I love about this CD is the incredibly upbeat, catchy tunes. Brian's favorite song on the CD is the ending song, "Faith, Hope, Love". It's a short little ditty that drives home the message behind 1 Corinthians 13 - that the greatest of these is Love. Sean's favorite song is "My Name is Paul", which is the opening number. I have to admit, this is one of my favorites as well. The boys like to march around to this song. Despite this being one of my favorites, I honestly can't think of one song on this track that I don't enjoy. I have actually memorized certain bible verses as well - a big feat for this lady!

Paul in a Basket is reasonably priced, and such a wonderful addition to our time in the car, that I would highly recommend it to anyone. Be sure to check it out!

Motherhood and the Chalice

2009-05-09T00:48:00.001-04:00

MOTHERHOOD AND THE CHALICE

A good mother’s life is like a chalice.
It is a precious vessel dedicated in the deepest
sense to the service of God.
Sometimes, as with the chalice,
its depths are glowing with the wine of joy.
And sometimes it feels the tiny splash of a few drops
of water that fall into it like tears.
Like a chalice, too, sometimes it is lifted up
and sometimes brought low.
But always it is sanctified by the Presence,
undoubted, though unseen, of Our Blessed Savior.
Because a good Mother’s Sacrifice can be repaid only
by the Sacrifice of the Mass, I send this Mass to you.

God Bless!
Father Eamon

This was written by our pastor and sent out to all the members of our parish. What a beautiful tribute and reminders to mothers everywhere. Happy Mother's Day!

Benjamin's Box

2009-04-07T17:28:00.003-04:00

Today we began working with Benjamin's Box in anticipation of Easter. The book really held the boys' attention, which was nice. I liked how it told the story of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday all the way through to his resurrection from the grave - all from the perspective of a little boy. I think that helped Brian and Sean connect with the story.

For crafts, we worked on some crucifixes that I had picked up at our new Michael's. The boys used Do-A-Dots to add some color to the wood of the cross, and then glued on buttons. They both decided that they wanted to buttons to represent different parts of Jesus' body - eyes, nose, mouth, hands, feet, and even the nails.

Next, we used the Do-A-Dots again to make crosses on paper. Unprompted by me, both boys made 3 crosses on their papers. Brian even went so far as to explain to me how the really big cross in the middle of his page was for Jesus and the other 2 were for the other men who were there with Jesus.

Finally, we made our own treasure box, just like Benjamin. We started off cutting some "straw" to line the box with. Then the boys went around and found all the different items that Benjamin had placed in his treasure box. I was rather impressed with their ingenuity!
Brian later went back through the box, and through the box recounting each of the treasures. I was quizzing him on what each treasure reminds us of. He was pretty good at remembering.
Our finished crosses.
It was a good start to our Holy Week preparations. Looking forward to the rest of the week as well.

Holy Week 2009

2009-04-07T12:30:00.002-04:00

This week, in preparation for the Easter celebration, we will be putting a hold on our Alphabet Path journey and focus on the miracle of Easter.

We will be reading Benjamin's Box and The Easter Story. I plan on having the boys make their own "box" and will will fill it with treasures just like Benjamin does. We will also talk about the importance of the Easter Triduum. The boys will be coloring pages that correlate with the institution of the Eucharist, and the washing of the feet. I found a wonderful coloring book of the Stations of the Cross that we will discuss and color on Good Friday.

Starting on Easter Sunday, we will revisit our Resurrection Scene. Brian and Sean just adored acting out the Bible story of Jesus' resurrection last year, and Brian has even been asking me about where the pieces are to his favorite story.

Since going on his retreat, Chris has made a commitment to participate in all aspects of the Easter Triduum this year. He is looking forward to attending Holy Thursday Mass and The Passion of Our Lord's service on Friday. I will be attending the live Stations of the Cross performed by the teens at our church on Friday evening, followed by confession. Chris will be attending the Easter Vigil, and watching one of his team members from formation come into full communion with the Church. And finally, I will be attending sunrise Mass on Easter Sunday. I'm looking forward to the day when we can go as a family to the Easter Vigil - I just think it's a little too much to ask of all the little people in our house at this point.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and most importantly a very holy, Holy Week and a joyous Easter!

Small Successes

2009-04-02T12:38:00.003-04:00

I've been checking out all of these posts chronicling the Small Successes that people are achieving in their lives and I've decided to take the plunge and join the party.

1. I've come up with a bare bones cleaning schedule. It's based on cleaning a different room/zone each day. I've managed to stay on target for the past 2 weeks. Big success in my life actually. :-)

2. I managed to be a "single" soccer mom this past weekend and get 2 boys to 2 different games. All while toting a chair, backpack with shoes to change into after the game, snack for after Brian's game, and pushing a stroller.

3. I have been faithfully praying the St. Michael's chaplet and reading my Lenten Devotional book each night.

What Small Successes have you accomplished this week? Check out more Small Successes.

Fun with Presidents, Geography and Math

2009-03-26T22:46:00.004-04:00

Ever since the election, Brian has become obsessed with the presidents. I have had to find coloring pages of each of the presidents...he carries them around with him. He has conversations with them. I've gotten a book, Yo, Millard Fillmore from the library based on some recommendations from the 4 Real board. He now knows the presidents in their order. His favorite president is Andrew Jackson; followed by Martin Van Buren (b/c his mommy did a report on him in 4th grade), and Ronald Reagan (one of his daddy's favorites). He quizzes people on who their favorite president is. He's actually moved on to the vice-presidents and can't understand why there aren't any coloring pages available for these guys. Can you tell he's a little obsessed?

So I have decided to capitalize on his enthusiasm. I created this little game today that combines the presidents, some geography and wrapped up with a nice little bow of math.

I started with a blank wall map of the U.S.A that I picked up at our local Education Station the other day. I printed off a list of all the presidents with their home states. And with these items in hand, we began our fun!
You can see some of Brian's coloring pages at the top of this picture. As he told me which president came next in line, he would pull the coloring page out. We then placed a sticker on the state a president was from when he was elected. The boys knew a fair number of the states just by sight, but those that they weren't familiar with, we had our trusty place mat map which they found the state on and then matched it up to the big map.

Brian and Sean showing off their good work (and some coloring pages to boot!)

Of course Colin didn't want to be left out of the picture taking - he's saying "Taft"!

After putting all of our stickers on, I had Brian identify the state and tell me how many presidents came from that state. We then placed the states in order from the most presidents came from that state down to counting how many states have never had a president come from them. The highest number of presidents was 7 from New York - although as a caveat to this, we counted Grover Cleveland twice. Ohio and Virginia were next in line with 6 each. There were 12 states only boasting 1 president each, and 29 sad states that have never had one of their sons lead our country.

Here's Brian showing off his map, his tally sheet and yet another president coloring page. The great thing about today is that the boys learned a ton of stuff, but if you asked them, I bet they would say they just had fun!

Feast of the Annunciation

2009-03-25T22:05:00.005-04:00

Elizabeth reminded me this morning that today is the Feast of the Annunciation. Whew! This pregnancy brain is really working overtime! So, I whipped together some yumminess for an afternoon tea time.

I had thought about making an angel food cake (for Gabriel) and blueberries (for Mary), but with not feeling well, having a sick husband at home, and absolutely no desire to drag 3 small people to the store with me, I settled on what I had in the house.

I made a butter cake but we dyed it blue - or as blue as you can get when you start with a yellow cake mix!. And added whipped vanilla frosting. We also read Mary by Brian Wildsmith (ties in nicely with "W" week as well).

Getting ready to eat cake. Say "Mary!" - and the actually did!And finally, the fruits of our labor. A "blue" cake to represent Mary, frosted with whipped white icing, to represent the Angel Gabriel and the purity of Mary's soul. The boys enjoyed the cake, and listening to the story of Mary's life. A fun time and a special way to celebrate.

Food news

2009-03-23T21:52:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a good food day in the Kelly household - well, as good as it can be. We don't have kids like my niece Kelsey.

For lunch yesterday, I offered Sean the choice between a peanut butter sandwich (a daily staple) or a turkey sandwich. He told me he wanted a roast beef sandwich. When I explained that I didn't have any roast beef, he said, "Okay, I'll have a turkey sandwich." Well, I've heard this before and then had a fit pitched when I placed said item in front of them. This time, however, Sean took a bite of his sandwich and proclaimed "I like turkey!" Woo Hoo!!!

Then for dinner, I made some slider hamburgers (just like Aunt Lori so that Brian might eat them). Sean didn't touch the burger, but Brian did actually eat some and biggest surprise of all - Colin chowed down on his burger. If I had made this comment 18 months ago, it wouldn't have been a surprise since Colin was a fabulous eater. He's unfortunately following the cues of his big brothers and has begun to survive on only air. He just kept piling the hamburger in his mouth. It was great to see.

Small success - I'll take 'em.

St. Joseph's Feast Day

2009-03-19T22:03:00.003-04:00

St. Joseph is a pretty neat guy. He had an incredible role in the life of Christ, and is a wonderful role model for all men. So, in honor of his feast day, I decided we would celebrate Italian style.

Now, Chris' mom was 100% Italian and I have always heard stories about the wonderful Italian food that his mom and grandmother made. Needless to say, I've been a little intimidated. But I have conquered my fear of making the meatball, and I moved on to making homemade sauce. Having Italian in my heritage should help, right?

I asked my friend Elizabeth for her grandmother's recipe for Bolognese sauce. And then the cooking began.

I started with the carrot, celery and onion chopping. And according to my friend Trish, Tuttorosso tomatoes are the only way to go in Italian cooking.
While I was chopping away, the mild Italian sausages were browning in Chris' grandmother's pot.
After the sausage was good and browned, I threw the veggies in and sauteed them up.
I added the sausage back into the pot, and then threw in the crushed tomatoes and let it bubble and boil for almost 3 hours. Made the house smell really good. :-)And instead of just putting this delightful sauce over noodles, I decided to incorporate it into a lasagna. It was delicious! Hope you had a wonderful Feast of St. Joseph!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T08:02:00.002-04:00

This St. Patrick's Day was extra special in the Kelly house. Not only did we have the traditional Irish meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage - which Brian and Sean BOTH tried and even admitted they liked!!! Not only did we talk about St. Patrick, read Patrick the Patron Saint of Ireland, color pictures and play a St. Patrick's Day game.

This year Gramma made Brian, Sean and Colin special shirts with her special sewing machine. They were the talk of the town. Thanks Gramma!

Super Soccer Saturday (Sort of)

2009-03-06T10:16:00.006-05:00

Saturday started out promising. Both Brian and Sean were dressed in their new soccer uniforms. Shouting "Soccer!" as I took their picture, smiling, laughing and ready to start their season.

However, the day didn't end up quite as much fun as it started out.

Brian had a ball. Let's just contrast that with the picture of Sean at his game. I would say that a picture can do this much more justice than words.

As you can see, happiness, joy and glee in Brian's face. Pouting and mad on Sean's face. At one point, Sean's coach (a high school soccer player) picked Sean up, carried him onto the field, plopped him down on the center line, and there Sean stayed - arms folded, pout on the face. It was pretty maddening at the time, but funny to look back on it now.

Needless to say, I have a few more pictures of Brian's soccer game seeing as how he actually played soccer. Enjoy the slide shows.

Teacher's Prayer

2009-02-08T21:32:00.001-05:00

I just came across this prayer at The Homeschool Classroom. As I pray daily to make the right decisions for my children and our family, this prayer really hit home for me.

Teacher's Prayer

I want to teach my students how

To live this life on earth

To face its struggles and its strife

And to improve their worth.

Not just the lesson in a book

Or how the rivers flow

But, how to chose the proper path

Wherever they may go.

To understand eternal truth

And know right from wrong

And gather all the beauty of

A flower and a song.

For if I help the world to grow

In wisdom and in grace

Then I shall feel that I have won

And I have filled my place.

So I ask your guidance God

That I may do my part

For character and confidence

And happiness of heart.

A Reminder I Needed

2009-01-29T21:35:00.002-05:00

To My Child

Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.

Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles..

Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.

Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys...

Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how yo u were born and how much I love you.

Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.

I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you goodnight I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day...

~Author Unknown

Interesting new law on the books here.

2009-01-21T11:38:00.002-05:00

Next fall, a new law in Florida will require its school districts to set up optional online schools for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The law will give parents more options for schooling their kids. Supporters of online schooling say it allows kids to learn at their own rates and get specialized instruction. But others say that it's important for kids to interact with other kids at school.

Again it goes back to that age-old question of the dreaded word "socialization". Webster's defines "socialization" as such:

transitive verb
1: to make social ; especially : to fit or train for a social environment
2 a: to constitute on a socialistic basis <socialize industry> b: to adapt to social needs or uses
3: to organize group participation in <socialize a recitation>
intransitive verb: to participate actively in a social group

Our job as parents is to help our children grow and learn how to be responsible adults one day. I don't think that having children be in an homogeneous group day in and day out will teach them how to be members of society at large. Once they are grown and on their own, they will not be living in an homogeneous society - they will need to know how to interact with people of all ages and stages. That's one of the benefits of teaching children at home.

Additionally, children come with all kinds of different abilities - some advanced and some needing a little more help. Take my middle son Sean as an example. He taught himself how to read when he was just a little over 3 years old. According to state laws, he can not enter kindergarten until he is a month from being 6 years old due to when his birthday falls. What would that mean for him? Chances are, Sean would be insanely bored by the time he got to kindergarten - where the minimal expectations that a kindergarten teacher has for incoming students is:

new kindergartners should know how to sit still and be quiet,to take turns and share, and to follow basic instructions. She also said they needed to know how to take care of themselves like knowing when to go to the potty, how to tie their shoes (or work the Velcro), how to get their coats on themselves. They should also know their address and phone number and their parents' names. She told me that some children will come to kindergarten knowing their ABCs, their colors and how to count to 10 or 20, and some will come not knowing any of that. Those basic academic skills will be taught during the kindergarten year. Children who have that knowledge beforehand will have to wait for the rest of the class to catch up.

Based upon Sean's skills at the age of 4, I have no doubt that he would end up not only bored, but would probably become a "problem" student because of it. Doesn't it make sense that children learn at their own pace - in an environment that enhances their skills and nurtures the areas that they need a little help with? I think it's a wonderful advancement that Florida is offering this opportunity to parents, and look forward to what the future of home education here will bring.

My Three Kings

2009-01-06T20:25:00.003-05:00

Brian, Sean and Colin got a special treat tonight. We all stayed up a little later than normal to watch Dora Saves Three Kings Day. So while it wasn't the most religious event, we still got to talk about the significance of the day. Happy Feast of the Epiphany!

Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-23T10:49:00.000-05:00

After weeks of procrastination, our tree is finally trimmed. Last year was an off year for us as far as Christmas went. All of our ornaments were in boxes in storage and we were living in an apartment, and getting ready to close on our new home the day after Christmas. We were in a bit of chaos to say the least. So this year has been extra special in the fact that we have been able to pull out all of our special Christmas decorations and make our house into a celebration of Christ's upcoming birth.

We began by patronizing our local Knights of Columbus tree sale. We found a nice balsam fir (we normally get a frazier fir), and the nice gentleman "tied"it to the top of the car. Let's just say that as we were driving over the Indian River bridge, we watched in horror as the tree flew off the roof of our car! How this tree landed on the shoulder of the road and not smack dab in the river I'll never know. We had to keep going over the bridge, turn around, go back over the bridge, and then turn around and start back up the bridge. Chris wasn't about to try and tie the tree back to the top of the car, so we opened the back and shoved it inside. Let's just say that if Colin ends up in therapy one day with an unexplained fear of Christmas trees, you'll know where it came from!

We finally got the tree home, and there it sat for a couple of weeks. We just never seemed to have enough time to trim the tree. Until last weekend. We decided we really didn't want to start a new tradition of decorating the tree on Christmas Eve, so we bit the bullet and trimmed away. The result is a sparkling, decorated tree.You can see where the boys did their decorating :-)

Santa

2008-12-22T10:38:00.003-05:00

We went to the zoo on Sunday where Santa and Mrs. Clause were spending some time. Finally, 4 years later I have a picture of my children with Santa. Brian went into a Santa fear at around 17 months, and it hasn't abated since. As you can see I'm holding onto him for dear life! But, I now have a current picture to put into our Santa frame. :-)

The Stockings Were Hung

2008-12-21T18:32:00.002-05:00

Who says you need to live where it can snow to have a fireplace? Not I! Chris and I decided that it would be nice to have a fireplace in our home, so we purchased a beautiful free-standing fireplace. And what's even nicer is that I can tie some history lessons into our purchase! Think we can write it off as a school supply? ;-)

A Spider Born...

2008-12-20T18:03:00.001-05:00

A Spider Bred and When I Die I'll Be a Spider Dead!
So Rah-rah for Richmond, Richmond!
Rah-rah for Richmond, Richmond!
Rah-rah for Richmond - U of R!!!!

We are the Champions!

We R..UR!

2008-12-19T20:59:00.002-05:00

This is me, many moons ago. I was a cheerleader for my University of Richmond Spiders. Let me preface this by informing you that during my 4 years at the University of Richmond, our football team won a total of 4, yes, count them, 4 games. So needless to say, my job as a cheerleader was cut out for me. I learned how to keep wearing a smile even when your team is being bested again, and again, and again.

However, tonight, all of those losses are being put to rest. My Spiders are playing for their first National Championship in the history of our program! I'm finding it very easy to cheer tonight!

Nature Study at the Zoo

2008-12-17T22:29:00.001-05:00

Check out the fun we had today at the zoo. And it was educational to boot!

Go on and Elf Yourself!

2008-12-05T00:00:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy 2nd Birthday Colin

2008-12-02T22:18:00.004-05:00

My sweet little man turned 2 today. How did that happen? It seems like just yesterday he was that little preemie hooked up to all of those wires and machines with his mommy strapped to her own bed.

Now he is such a big boy! His smile lights up a room. He loves to laugh and to dance. He loves 'Mouse' (Mickey Mouse) and Blue. His vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds. He has been running around today saying 'cocoa' - talking about our Christmas Elf. Colin is a climber and a little love. He loves to follow his big brothers around and do everything they are doing.

I just adore this child and am so proud to be his mommy. Happy Birthday Little Man! I love you.

Be Creative and Win

2008-11-13T10:15:00.003-05:00

My sister Lori is starting a new business endeavor selling these fabulous diaper clutches and wipes cases that she sews.

Her problem: she doesn't know what to name her new business. So she is offering the opportunity for a lucky person to help her name her business and win a free diaper clutch to boot!

Now when I tell you these diaper clutches are great, I'm not kidding. I can fit the wipes case (either my coordinating one, or a disposable pack, plus at least 4 size 5 diapers, some diaper rash ointment and even a disposable changing pad. I can pack this up, throw it in my purse, and I don't have to: 1) drag a diaper bag along, 2) rummage through my purse to find the diapers and wipes and 3) Chris doesn't mind taking Colin into the bathroom to change him if he only has to carry this in with him.
Even if you don't have the need personally for a diaper case, you will probably need to get a gift for a new mom at some point. This is such a wonderful gift. Please consider helping my sister come up with a name for her store. Thanks!

Fight FOCA

2008-11-10T18:46:00.002-05:00

Barack Obama is now the president-elect. This fact won't change. What we can do though is take a stand against FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act) which would wipe away every restriction on abortion nationwide .

FOCA would eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support, such as:

~Bans on Partial Birth Abortion
~Requirements that women be given information about the risks of getting an abortion
~Only licensed physicians can perform abortions
~Parents must be informed and give consent to their minor daughter's abortion

FOCA would erase these laws and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future.

Please go to this site and sign the petition against FOCA.

Sadness abounds in my house

2008-11-04T23:25:00.002-05:00

Today Brian was asking me why Chris and I voted for John McCain and not Barack Obama. I tried to explain to him in terms he could understand that John McCain believes in the same things that his daddy and I did and that Barack Obama does not. He kept probing me as to what Obama didn't believe in.

I explained that Obama wants to take more of our money to give to other people, and while it's good to help people who don't have as much as we do, his daddy and I don't think it's right for the people in the government to tell us to give our money. I also explained that Obama believes that it's okay for mommies to hurt babies that are in their tummies. And that John McCain wants us to keep our money and that it's not okay for mommies to hurt the babies in their tummies.

Brian looked at me and said with complete sincerity. "Well Mommy, that's wrong to hurt a baby. Why doesn't John McCain just tell Barack Obama that?"

I told him that John McCain has let Barack Obama know that it's not right. Brian then said, "Well, we should just tell him that it's not right then."

Out of the mouthes of babes.

And now we just have to pray mightily that the next four years will not be as horrific as I'm afraid it will be.

Welcome Sarah Anne

2008-11-01T22:04:00.003-04:00

A big rousing welcome to the newest member of the Foss family. My friend Elizabeth gave birth last night to Sarah Anne. She was 34 weeks but weighed 5 lbs. 6 oz. She's still in the NICU as of this morning, working on regulating her temps and getting that whole oxygen thing down. Elizabeth is doing great, but wanting to snuggle up to her littlest one. Prayers for a quick recovery for all, and a happy homecoming.

I swear, I'm not a bad mom, really!

2008-10-30T21:32:00.003-04:00

As you can see, we have a little refrigerator outside on the patio by the pool. We keep sodas, water, juice boxes and yes, Chris' beer out there. The weather was so lovely the other day that the boys and I took our lunch outside. After lunch I took our plates inside and came back out to this:

(No, he's not really drinking the Guiness!)

The next day the boys ran outside to play while I was getting dinner ready. I heard a "concert" going on outside and found all of Daddy's beer bottles on the table.

I think I'm scared to let Colin go off to college...can you say Harvard Homeschool?

Art & Me

2008-10-29T21:28:00.000-04:00

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Conscientious, Fulfilled, and Spiritual

25 Renaissance, 11 Islamic, 1 Ukiyo-e, -39 Cubist, -35 Abstract and 19 Impressionist!

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence affected literature, philosopy, religion, art, politics, science, and all other aspects of intellectual enquiry. Renaissance artists looked at the human aspect of life in their art. They did not reject religion but tended to look at it in it's purest form to create visions they thought depicted the ideals of religion. Painters of this time had their own style and created works based on morality, religion, and human nature. Many of the paintings depicted what they believed to be the corrupt nature of man.

People that like Renaissance paintings like things that are more challenging. They tend to have a high emotional stability. They also tend to be more concientious then average. They have a basic understanding of human nature and therefore are not easily surprised by anything that people may do. They enjoy life and enjoy living. They are very aware of their own mortality but do not dwell on the end but what they are doing in the present. They enjoy learning, but may tend to be a bit more closed minded to new ideas as they feel that the viewpoint they have has been well researched and considered. These people are more old fashioned and not quite as progressive. They enjoy the finer things in life like comfort, a good meal, and homelife. They tend to be more spiritual or religious by nature. They are open to new aesthetic experiences.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

No, no and no

2008-10-28T11:39:00.002-04:00

This must be a refrain that my kids hear from me because they are starting to use it back to me. It got me thinking how often I must say "no" to them...
"No, you can't go outside right now."
"No, you can't have a snack now."
"No, don't hit your brother."

Well, you get the point.

Now, some things require a no. Like when Colin is wanting to draw on the television (like right now!), or when Sean is scratching at Colin or Brian's face, or when Brian pulls out a big knife. Safety aside, I want to be a mom that is more of a "yes" mom. Not that I want to be a doormat or let my children run the roost. There are certain boundaries and rules that are in place to try and keep our house and family running well, but for the other things, my goal is to say "yes" when my previous instinct was to say "no".

"Yes, we can go outside and play"
"Yes, I will play trains with you now"
"Yes, I will read this book to you again"
"Yes, you can have a snack now - would you like an apple or a banana?"

Are you a "yes" mom or a "no" mom?

Boo at the Zoo 2008

2008-10-26T23:20:00.005-04:00

Friday night we met up with Tommy, Kellie and Leighton for a night at Boo at the Zoo. Our local zoo closes early the 2 weekends before Halloween. Then at 5:30 they re-open for some trick-or-treating throughout the zoo. Last year we went to Boo at the Zoo - I'm seeing a tradition coming on here. The only downside of going to the zoo in the evening is that most of the animals are already put away. It's still nice to walk around since our zoo is very tropical in nature - it almost seems as if you are walking through the animal's natural habitat. So without further ado, here is a quick slide show of our evening. You'll notice towards the end that someone put on his cranky pants!

Umm, what exactly are you saying, Sean

2008-10-24T21:17:00.000-04:00

I have a similar scale to this in our bathroom. Colin loves to press all the buttons and hear the beeping noise.

This morning, Sean was playing around with the scale. I told him to hop on it and stand very still and we would see what he weighed. 35 pounds. Great job Sean.

He hopped off, stooped down to look closer at the scale and said, "Okay Mommy, time to monitor your fat." (The scale reads "Tanita Fat Monitor") Sometimes this early reading this isn't so good for Mommy's self esteem!

Snow in Florida

2008-10-23T21:11:00.003-04:00

So down here in Florida we don't get much in the way of snow. Brian has been asking repeatedly over the past year when we were going to get some snow. It's so hard to explain to him that we live in a tropical climate and that the chance of snow is, well, pretty darn slim.

So, what are some ingenious boys to do while their momma is occupied? Create their own snow! If you saw on St. Anne's Academy, today we made Ziploc Freezer Bag Ice Cream. Required salt to be mixed in with the ice prior to all the shaking. Let's just say that my big box of Kosher Salt
is completely empty now. Our playroom on the other hand looked like a winter wonderland. I was too upset to think about taking pictures, but I'll just let your imagination fill in the blanks here.

New Vocabulary

2008-10-21T23:00:00.002-04:00

On the way home from CCD this afternoon.

Sean: Mommy, what day is it?

Mommy: It's Tuesday, Sean.

Brian: No Mommy, it's Tues-night!

Too funny not to post

2008-10-20T21:54:00.001-04:00

In case you didn't stay up on Saturday night to watch this live and in person, I'd like to share one of the funniest skits I've seen out of Saturday Night Live in a long, long time. In fact, viewership for SNL last Saturday was the highest it's been in 14 years due to the appearance of Gov. Sarah Palin. Enjoy!

H is for Happy Birthday

2008-10-14T10:16:00.001-04:00

In the spirit of "H" week around here, I want to say a big Happy Birthday to my now 4 year old Sean! How did you get to be 4??? It seems like just yesterday I was at my doctor's appointment with Dr. Felluca and she sent me over to the hospital for a contraction stress test. This was the first test you failed (and hopefully the last!) and the next thing I knew, Dr. Felluca was pulling strings to get us into an operating room and there you were! With your older brother I was in such shock at seeing a little baby that I never cried. When you were born, tears came streaming down my face - I knew then what a special little man you were.

Your biggest achievement this past year has been learning to read all by yourself. You started amazing your daddy and I last December when you pulled out a book that you hadn't seen for over 6 months and started reading it (that would be How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten). And we haven't been able to stop you since. You devour books. You take a book with you wherever you go. You sleep on top of your books - really, there's no room on your bed for you at night...it is covered with your favorite books!

I am so proud to be your mommy and can't wait to see what this year brings. Happy Birthday Sean.

6th Picture Post

2008-10-09T22:23:00.004-04:00

So the instructions for this meme are very easy:

Go to your picture folder - go to the 6th folder and then the 6th picture in that folder and post it.

Now, I'm kind of cheating. I have this folder in my picture folder that doesn't have any pictures in it. So this is my result if I go exactly by the letter of the law:

This was last November. We were living in our sparsely furnished apartment while waiting for our house to be finished. We had nothing to put up for Christmas until my sister Lori lent us her extra Christmas tree and some ornaments. Chris and the boys are setting up our tree.

Now, if I go by the spirit of the law, this would be the 6th picture in my picture folder.
This picture was taken last November also - at Thanksgiving. All of my brothers and sister came to town as well as my Grandma Summers and her husband Lyman. My parents had a photographer come to the house.

If you feel like playing, leave me a comment and let me know - I'd love to see your picture/pictures!

HT: Kimberly

Puppet Show for the Letter G

2008-10-08T20:41:00.003-04:00

This week we are studying everything to do with the letter "G". Today we made giraffe stick puppets. Brian & Sean decided (on their own) to have their own little puppet show. And now, for your entertainment...Brian Giraffe & Sean Giraffe!

Before & After

2008-10-06T21:13:00.002-04:00

It's amazing what a little haircut can do.

We have had our first sighting

2008-10-06T12:24:00.001-04:00

I came home from t-ball with the boys this morning, and as I looked out the back door I saw something sticking up slightly from the water in the lake. When I went outside to investigate, my suspicions were confirmed - we have an alligator. I called our neighbor and she ran down the block to gaze in horror at the site with me. Looks like we'll be playing inside the house today!

Another reason why I'm so glad

2008-10-02T22:08:00.002-04:00

1) we don't live in VA anymore

and

2) we don't send our kids to school to see this overt effort at swaying children.

When I started my teaching career, Chris warned me that the teacher's unions are forcefully liberal, and he was going to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn't get brain washed. And yes, the liberal "junk" was all over the place in that little school. Fortunately the teacher across the hall from me was an ultra-conservative, so we were able to vent about this issue. I've never understood why teachers, as a rule, are so liberal. Conservatives don't want to crush the teachers - they want to offer choices to parents. The option of having vouchers and letting parents send their kids to another school if their school is failing scares the beejezus out of most teachers. It forces them to look at themselves and realize that they can't just sit on their tenure and get by.

And don't even get me started on the No Child Left Behind policy - which by the way keeps getting blamed on George W. Bush, but in actuality was a bill proposed and co-authored by Ted Kennedy - a Democrat in case you weren't aware. All this bill does is cause teachers to feel forced to teach to the test. So if you teach science and you are studying the solar system, and your students get really excited about this topic you have to stop studying because you have to move on. This crushes the natural excitement that children have for learning. We are teaching our children to just be memorizers, not learners. All in the name of getting a high enough score to please the federal government. What?? Does that sound like a way to get our children to the next level? I don't think so.

Kelly for President

2008-10-01T12:06:00.001-04:00

Your result for The Presidential Capacity Test...

Presidential Success!

79% Values, 95% Charisma and 82% Judgment!

"In America, anyone can become president. That's one of the risks you take." -Adlai E. Stevenson

Congratulations! You encapsulate everything that a successful candidate should encapsulate.

Crack open the whiskey and break out the celebratory cigar. You are destined for success in the Presidential Campaign. You exude confidence and charisma. You exhibit true leadership abilities and demonstrate the ability to make snap judgement calls if the need arises. You are well-respected for your strong values and your steadfast stance on honesty and loyalty.

The USA needs a President like you. You are one of a select few deserving of the influence and recognition commanded by the Presidential title. Congrats!

Other possibilities:

Take The Presidential Capacity Test at HelloQuizzy

Pizza Party

2008-09-29T22:05:00.003-04:00

I helped put on a retreat for my church 2 weeks ago. When Chris picked me up at the end the day of Sunday I was totally exhausted. But, we had to go to the grocery store to get the fixings to have Family Pizza Night! See, while I was at church on Saturday night, Chris ordered pizza for he and the boys. Now, as you have probably gathered from other posts, my boys are a wee bit picky when it comes to food. The only pizza that they will eat is bacon pizza hold the sauce. Despite ordering the pizza this way, when the pizza arrived, there was sauce. Major catastrophe ensued. So to make it up, we were going to make our own pizza.

Daddy was in charge of "rolling" out the dough.

Sean was in charge of the cheese.

Brian was in charge of the bacon.

And Colin was in charge of taste-testing the bacon prior to the pizza!

The pizzas turned out really yummy. Although there was a little "issue" with Brian's pizza when it first came out of the oven. I guess it wasn't cooked enough - who knows. Chris put it back in the oven as the oven was cooling down - and then he forgot it. When he remembered to check on the pizza it was a wee bit overcooked. Surprisingly, for Brian is was perfect!

Check out our "E" week fun

2008-09-28T23:01:00.001-04:00

Check out St. Anne's Academy and see what we did over "E" week.

Cookout with the family

2008-09-27T22:54:00.004-04:00

This post is way overdue...

Labor Day weekend (see, I told you it was overdue!) we went over to Uncle Lou and Aunt Lori's house for a cookout.
In addition to having us over, Gramma & Grampa were there - always love seeing Gramma & Grampa! Lori also invited 2 of her friends from her Mom's Group and their kids to come play as well. This worked out quite well, since Drew was at Kelsey's 1st birthday party.
As you can see, Brian and Sean had a BALL playing with Drew.
Kelsey was dying to get outside and play with the bigger kids.
And Colin was caught in the act of being just too cute for words! He's getting so big - I keep wondering where my little bitty baby went. Can you believe he's going to be 2 in a couple of months??!!
I truly enjoy the blessing of living near family. I love the fact that my children have the opportunity to know their aunts and uncles and cousins in a way that I never got to. Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful life growing up, but moving around the country the way we did never afforded us the chance to be around our extended family the way our boys have been.

If I lived in the 1400s...

2008-09-17T11:18:00.002-04:00

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test...

The Prioress

You scored 8% Cardinal, 67% Monk, 56% Lady, and 35% Knight!

You are a moral person and are also highly intellectual. You like your solitude but are also kind and helpful to those around you. Guided by a belief in the goodness of mankind you will likely be christened a saint after your life is over.

You scored high as both the Lady and the Monk. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the lady, or you can be happy that you're an individual.

Take The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test at HelloQuizzy

Pretty fair description, I think. HT: Margaret in Minnesota

Catholic Voter's Guide

2008-09-15T22:25:00.003-04:00

As we approach this election, those of us who are Catholic are being called upon to make a moral stand. I don't care if you are voting for dog catcher or the president - if you take your Catholic faith seriously, you must "cast your vote in an informed manner consistent with Catholic moral teachings and fundamental human rights." (Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics)

It is our duty to vote. It is one of the duties we bear as citizens of this nation; the greatest nation in the world. Men and women have fought and died for the freedom we possess, and for this, we must take our duty seriously as well. As a Catholic, we have an added responsibility - "A well formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law that contradicts the fundamental content of faith and morals" (CLP 4)

Some things are always wrong. There are 5 non-negotiable issues which we as Catholics must use as our litmus test when it comes to whether or not to vote for a candidate, whether on the local, state or national level. These are:

1. Abortion - Our Church states "it is never to obey it, or take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or vote for it" (EV 73) There is a reason that this is the number one non-negotiable issue when it comes to voting.

2. Euthanasia - Again, another issue of killing innocents. It is unacceptable to kill someone - even when you frame it in the pretty terms of a "mercy killing". Killing, is killing. You cannot square up killing as a "compassionate act". It just isn't.

3. Embryonic Stem Cell Research - There are no valid medical reasons to destroy human embryonic beings in order to obtain the embryonic stem cells when they can be obtained from adults and those will provide the same if not better results. And even if there were valid medical reasons, again, it is not morally acceptable to harm these innocents.

4. Human Cloning - This is explicitly against the Church's teaching on the dignity and purpose of a marriage - to procreate. Additionally, when cloning occurs, the rejected or unacceptable clones are destroyed. See Non-Negotiable Issue #1 - since each of these clones are a human being, they are being killed.

5. Homosexual "Marriage" - Marriage is the union of a man and a woman - period. Homosexuality is immoral, and the promotion of "marriage" between homosexuals is doing a disservice to those people who are already living in an immoral state. The Church believes that when it comes to legislature that "the Catholic lawmaker has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it. To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral."

So what is a faithful Catholic to do with this? When comparing candidates, you must:

1. Not merely vote based on political parties. Nor just because your parents or grandparents voted a particular party. You need to research each candidate and find out what their positions are regarding the Non-Negotiable Issues.

2. Not vote for someone because they are a "star", "look good" or say what sounds good. This should really be a no-brainer.

3. Not vote for someone because they say they are Catholic. There are plenty of candidates and politicians who say they are "Catholic" but do not espouse basic Catholic teaching.

4. Determine which candidate can promote the common good, versus "what's in it for me".

5. Not vote for candidates who are "right" on lesser issues but morally wrong on the 5 Non-Negotiable Issues. There are a reason why they are in the order they are in. If both candidates that you are comparing do not espouse the Catholic view on issues 2-5, but one of them is in favor of abortion, and the other is not - the choice should be obvious as to which candidate you should cast your vote for. Our duty is to vote for the candidate who is most likely to do the most good -or worst case, the one likely to do the least harm.

When it comes to Election Day - or any day really - our conscience should be our warning bell that we are about to do something wrong. The problem is that many Catholics aren't informed enough on key issues that are intrinsic to their faith. When this is the case, their conscience isn't trained to "sound off". If you are unsure of what to do, place your faith in the unwavering teachings of the Church - you will always make a moral decision.

Start of a Season

2008-09-08T20:30:00.002-04:00

Today was the season "opener" for our Homeschool Sports T-Ball/Softball program. Ever since we signed Brian up for T-ball, he has been talking non-stop about how much he loves baseball, and how he is going to be the best baseball player in the whole world. And if he makes a mistake, that's o.k., he'll just keep practicing.

The morning dawned, and we were getting ready to head out as a family to the park. Brian decided that he didn't want to use a glove - he only wanted to use a bat, because bat starts with "b" like Brian. When we got to the park, he wanted nothing to do with joining in with the other kids. He wanted Daddy to hold him, and he wouldn't look at anyone else. Fortunately we were with a group of Christian families, and no one thought anything of it. We followed Miss Angela, and Miss Andrea (2 homeschooled teenage girls) over to the younger kid's field. Chris stayed with Brian while I took Sean and Colin over to the playground equipment. When we came back over to the field, Brian was getting ready to get up to bat for the second time.
Here Brian is getting some coaching from his daddy. Chris was so wonderfully patient with him - not surprising!
Brian hit the ball off the tee all by himself this time. This is a picture of him running towards 1st base. As you can see, I hadn't taken the lens off zoom before he hit the ball! He got a little confused and started running towards the ball/pitcher's mound. Then he wanted Chris to run with him.
When Brian's "team" took the field, he played shortstop, and 3rd base. Chris stayed with him in the field. Brian almost got the ball one time, but a gaggle of other kids were running for it, and managed to get there first. But it was really neat to hear the "coaches" and some of the kids say "Brian, get the ball." - very encouraging atmosphere.

Our time ended with a reading from Samuel and a prayer. Then the kids headed over to the playground for a rousing game of freeze tag. The older kids were so sweet to Brian - explaining how to freeze.

I got to start meeting other moms who homeschool near us and have children near in age to our kids. I am so excited that I found this group of homeschoolers and am looking forward to getting to know these women and their children better.

What Happens When Mommy is on the Phone Making a Playdate!

2008-09-08T20:19:00.003-04:00

A certain someone gets into the peanut butter jar!

Welcoming the newest "member" of our family

2008-09-07T20:19:00.005-04:00

No, I'm not pregnant! We adopted a cat today. Introducing Darcy...
Brian calls her the "lovey-est cat in the whole world".
It's been 2 years since our cat, Meaghan died. I wasn't even thinking about getting another cat until a couple of weeks ago when Brian's assistant CCD teacher asked me if we would want a kitten. Chris and I talked about it and decided that we weren't quite ready to take on a kitten with homeschooling and everything else going on in our lives.

However, Brian and I stopped by Petsmart yesterday and they were having adoptions. I saw a cat that reminded me of Meaghan - she was always more like a dog than a cat! I brought the idea up again to Chris. He eventually warmed up to the idea and we went back to Petsmart today. Of course today there were different cats there! We just decided to check out the cats at the store today. And then, Darcy adopted us!

She's 4 months old and is considered a "tuxedo" cat because of her pretty black and white markings. She is an absolute lover - just comes right up to you and will give you kisses. This is going to be a fun new adventure in our lives. Wish us luck!

Sarah Palin's Speech

2008-09-03T23:49:00.002-04:00

Oh, I can't tell you how proud I was while watching Sarah Palin accept the nomination for the Vice Presidency. She was so eloquent, well-spoken, and funny! She is going to be a "pit bull with lipstick" when it comes to holding Biden and Obama's feet to the fire.

Here's a link to her speech.

Some of the highlights for me were:
"...two decades and five children later he's still my guy" - has nothing to do with politics, but is evidence of her love of her family.

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening." - nice dig!

"But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country." - go get 'em!!

"...we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and ... a servant's heart.
I pledge to all Americans that I will carry myself in this spirit as vice president of the United States." - we will hold you to that promise, but I certainly feel your servant's spirit.

"But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. " - AMEN!

"But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate." - ouch, but true!

"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.
And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change." - And this is why John McCain needs to be the next president of the United States!

I Had Tears in My Eyes Tonight

2008-09-03T20:43:00.003-04:00

As I was putting Brian and Sean to bed tonight, the boys said their prayers like they normally do. Brian said his prayers first. His new way of saying prayers involves him saying "Now I Lay Me", then me saying a "Hail Mary", and then Brian saying "Our Father". After Brian and I were done, I moved over to Sean's bed for his prayers. While listening to Sean's prayers, I heard Brian in his bed talking to himself as he was "writing" on his Doodle Pad.

Afterwards he told me that he was writing a note to Daddy and I to tell us he thanks God for all of the good things he has. Then he stopped. "Mommy, I have to write God a note, too!" Here's Brian's "note" to God.

Dearest God,
I love you so very much. Thank you for all of the things that you give to me. They are really cool things. Thank you so much. I love you.

Love,
Brian

I guess when Chris and I talk, Brian is listening.

Fun at the Waterpark

2008-08-30T21:14:00.000-04:00

We met up with Aunt Lori and Kelsey at a waterpark that's about half way between our houses. All of the cousins had a great time playing in the water.

Aunt Lori and Kelsey.

You always have to have a picture of a cute tooshie in the air!

Kelsey chasing the big cousins - she really wanted to be in on the action.

"I almost got you, Sean!"

Brian and Sean had fun "crawling" around in the water.

Colin - such a big boy!

The brothers.

Daddy eating Colin's head - he's so silly!

There was a big "play house" in the middle of the pool. There were water fountains spraying all over the place.

Up on the platform waiting to go down the water slide.

Sean coming down the water slide.

Brian coming down the slide.

We all had a lot of fun. After a lot of hard playing in the water, we had a picnic lunch with Aunt Lori and Kelsey. Then we packed everyone up and headed home - for naps!

Overheard this morning

2008-08-30T21:12:00.002-04:00

Sean: "Daddy, why do you have hair in your nose?"

Daddy: "Um, because I'm a grown-uper. One day you'll have hair in your nose, too."

Sean: "Hair? No, Daddy, I only have boogies in my nose!"

This was amusing to me!

2008-08-29T00:15:00.003-04:00

I found this over at Angie's little corner and found it so funny I thought I'd bring it over here to "The Korner".

So...what's your sentence? Or any sentence from any member of your family? Here are mine:

Cindy - I smelled my dog because I'm AWESOME!
Chris - I kicked my sister because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Brian - I did the Macarena with your mom because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Sean - I sang to a stuffed animal because I'm cool like that!
Colin - I ran over a monster because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway -oh, I don't like that one, can I go with the shirt color he was wearing earlier today? - because Big Bird said to and he's my leader. Yes, I like that one better.

Let me know about your funnies!

Pick the month you were born:

January-------I kicked
February------I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May----------I jumped on
June----------I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena with
August--------I had lunch with
September----I danced with
October-------I sang to
November-----I yelled at
December-----I ran over

Pick the date (number) you were born on:

1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my mobile phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19------ - a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a surfer
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that.
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink-----------because I'm crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to.
Blue-----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple---------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars.
Orange--------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown---------because I can.
Other----------because I'm a Ninja!
None----------because I can't control myself!

What do you say to this?

2008-08-28T10:03:00.003-04:00

Yesterday as I was getting Sean out of his car seat, he put both hands on my chest and asked me (in all seriousness) "Mommy, what are these 2 big things you have?"

Well, I guess he's a guys' guy after all! Yikes!

He's Out!

2008-08-22T17:32:00.003-04:00

Chris made it out of the neighborhood!! In my car, because of course his car still won't start. Now, the question is, will he come back? ;-)

Oh goodie

2008-08-22T11:17:00.003-04:00

'Cause we haven't had enough rain already - guess what's pouring out of the sky right now?

Yesterday we were watching some of our neighbors get in their SUVs and slowly drive through the river that is our neighborhood streets. We could see them manage to get out of the neighborhood. Chris went into the middle of the street and thought it looked like we would be able to get out of the driveway to go to the store. I asked if I could go since I was going a little stir crazy, and I figured if Chris was going to leave for work on Friday I'd like to get out of the house by myself. Chris was pretty worried about me going by myself, but I assured him that if it looked bad that I would just turn around and come home.

Datapoint: A Saturn VUE is not high enough to get out of our neighborhood in its current water state. How do I know this, you ask? I tried. And the car died. Right in the middle of the street. Fortunately there are only about 15 homes occupied in our neighborhood, so I wasn't in danger of getting run over as I sat in the middle of the road in our dead car. I opened the window to see if I would be able to open the door and not get the car flooded. While looking at the water, I saw fish swimming by - yes, in the street!

At this moment, an angel driving a monster truck came by. She lives right outside of our neighborhood and wanted to "sight see" in the flooded area. She told me she didn't have any towing cables on her, but if I was okay with waiting, she could head back home and get the cable to tow me. Um, I'm not going anywhere, so yeah, I'm okay with waiting for your generosity! She came back shortly with not only the chain, but her husband. He hooked the car up and I was pulled back to our house. At this point they are asking if we need anything since I had mentioned that I was going to the store. They were insistent on going to get us some milk. When they returned I made sure to exchange phone numbers and said lots of prayers in thanksgiving for the gift of kind strangers. I have a feeling we're going to become good friends with these people.

My Visual DNA

2008-08-20T23:10:00.001-04:00

HT to my sister-in-law Jennifer. This is an easy "quiz" to take.

Compare and Contrast

2008-08-20T15:41:00.003-04:00

Not exactly the same angle, but just to give you an idea of where the lake is now in comparison to our back yard.

May 2008August 20, 2008

Not out of the woods

2008-08-20T14:14:00.002-04:00

Or rather, not out of the water yet. The rain seems to be coming down even harder today. Chris has been draining the pool all day long, and is just barely keeping up with keeping the pool from flooding over.
As you can see, one of our trees has fallen over. And no, typically it is not located in the lake in our backyard!
Chris has now moved that tree further up into our backyard. If you can see that stick in the right side of the picture, that is our property marker...and from there (typically) the yard slopes down to the lake.
Here is our front yard. Once again, in normal circumstances, we don't have a river running in front of our house - it's the street. You can also see the sidewalk at the top of the picture underneath the water.
And the last view of the front yard. I moved the both cars up so that they are almost touching the garage as the water was already creeping up past the back tires. From the street to the top of the water line was 20 of my feet (size 8)

Really, he can read

2008-08-19T20:06:00.006-04:00

I told you that Sean can read. Now I have video to prove it! In the second video you can see Sean helping Brian read - that is before Sean ends up having a meltdown from being so totally exhausted!

We're Still Here So Far

2008-08-19T16:36:00.004-04:00

Fay has been fun so far. Lots of wind, and even more rain.

You can see how all of the plants and trees around our house are living at an angle right now. And this is during a relatively calm period!

We've emptied out the closet underneath the stairs and utilized the 'fraidy closet once already today. We're under a tornado watch until 1 am. A tornado warning just sprang up to the east of us.

Chris was draining the pool for 3 hours, and it's already totally full again. Here's a little video I took at around 4 this afternoon. My weather guy just told me that my county is the bulls-eye for Fay - happy day! Hope your day is not anywhere near as rainy or windy!

First Library Visit

2008-08-18T23:38:00.003-04:00

As an adult I have never had a library card. Which is rather surprising considering how much I love to read. You would really have thought that checking books out from the library would have been much easier on my budget over the years. But I digress.

Today I took the boys to the library for the first time. I figured with Tropical Storm Fay bearing down on us it might be helpful to have some "new" books to read - especially if we lose power at any point over the next couple of days. I strapped Colin into his stroller and we trekked into our local library. Brian and Sean did really well. I prepped them on the way in that we don't use loud voices in the library - of course they wanted to know "why?"!

We walked right over to the children's section - which was very empty since today was the first day of public school. I was totally not prepared for the library. I didn't have a list of books; I was going in cold and was totally lost. But Brian and Sean weren't. They immediately found the Bob Books and took some over to the little table to read while I was perusing the selections to bring home. It was awfully cute watching Sean help Brian when he got stuck on a word. I managed to find a couple of books that go along with our study of China and the Olympics - The Mud Flat Olympics and Dumpling Soup.

When we were ready to go, Sean had to be convinced to put back 12 of the 15 Bob Books he was holding. I told you he likes books! While we were at the check out desk, the librarian said, "Oh, that's who was making that noise -he sounded like a siren." She was referring to Colin making his new "uuh-ooh-uuh-ooh" noise.

In addition to the books I found, Sean checked out 3 Bob Books, and Brian checked out 2 Bob Books. They were so excited that they "bought" new books at the library. I'm looking forward to using this wonderful resource as we live and learn together this year.

Gift Giving 101

2008-08-16T22:50:00.003-04:00

Tonight I was out of the house during the final moments of the bedtime routine. After I got home, Chris relayed this story to me. I do so love it when my boys "get it".

Daddy Time

2008-08-16T22:07:00.003-04:00

For some reason, today was tough. All of the boys were cranky and whiny. It was a trying day for both Chris and I. Despite this, tonight all of the boys had some special snuggle time with their daddy.

Big shout out

2008-08-16T15:40:00.001-04:00

to The Cutest Blog on the Block for the awesome changes to my blog. So many beautiful designs it was hard to just pick one! I feel so pretty now!

Preparations

2008-08-16T14:55:00.002-04:00

So we are preparing just in case Ms. Fay decides to pay us a visit. Chris is out in the pouring rain right now getting together our Disaster Supply Kit. Tonight we will be watching the DVD tutorial on how to put up the hurricane shutters instead of the Olympics. Alright, I may have to commandeer the big t.v. to root Superman and his teammates on to victory.

If you want to follow along

2008-08-14T19:40:00.003-04:00

I've created a seperate blog for our schooling adventure. You can see what we are doing at St. Anne's Academy.

Kelsey's 1st Birthday

2008-08-14T19:01:00.007-04:00

This past weekend we went down to my sister's house for an "intimate" gathering of 60 of Kelsey's closest friends to celebrate her 1st birthday. Now, I must pause and admit that we probably had about 40 people at Brian's first birthday party - but most of them were adults since we all know that your first child's first birthday party is all about you, right?

Lou's mom made Kelsey's cake. It was absolutely darling - and tasted even better to boot! There was a ton of yummy food (with only 1/2 a ton left over), and the boys had a great time running around with the 22 other kids at the party. Brian certainly wasn't shy. He made fast friends with an 8 year old boy. They were out leading the "pirate crew" on the "pirate ship".

Now that Kelsey is starting to walk, she and Colin are going to have much more fun together. Their 8 month age difference is becoming less dramatic. It's going to be so much fun watching them grow together.

Happy birthday, Kelsey. We love you!

It's Here!

2008-08-11T12:46:00.004-04:00

So, the super secret project that Chris and I have been working on for my friend Elizabeth is finally here.

I know she is totally embarassed to have her name in lights, but I'm proud to introduce...

Elizabeth Foss.com

Chris and I have been working really hard to organize all of Elizabeth's great ideas to make them much more easily accesible in one place. Blogs can tend to get a little overwhelming with all of the "stuff" on the sidebar, and not really knowing where to look for something, and then having to scroll and scroll and scroll through posts to find the one item you are looking for. Now, with this new site, everything is categorized, organized, and just plain pretty!

This is also going to make it much easier for people who have been trying to follow along with the Serendipity lesson plans to find what it is they are looking for. Check out the tutorial on Elizabeth's site for instructions on how to navigate the Alphabet Path.

Books, Dinosaurs & Sleep - what more can a boy ask for?

2008-08-10T21:49:00.004-04:00

Have I mentioned before that Sean can read? Not just "cat" and "dog" either - we are talking, full fledged, all out reading. And he's been doing it since shortly after he turned 3. Chris and I are still amazed daily by his reading prowess.

Every night you can find Sean sleeping on top of his books - he spends a lot of time reading by the light of the bathroom {I have no idea where he got that trait from ;-) } before falling asleep.

A couple of weeks ago, this is what we found when we went in to kiss the boys goodnight. And no, we didn't doctor this photo, or set up the shot!

You see why he's going to be learning right alongside Brian?

Boxes are Arriving!

2008-08-04T19:28:00.005-04:00

I bit the bullet last week and ordered my "curriculum". The boxes have begun to arrive! (Insert picture of grown woman smiling with glee and doing a little happy dance!)

As I discussed, we are mostly going to be following along the Serendipity trail this year. I've added Handwriting Without Tears for learning to write, Explode the Code for learning to read (not that Sean really needs this since he's been reading for awhile now), Cuisinaire Rods for extra math practice, and for just plain reading fun, Catholic Children's Treasure Box of Books. I've been eyeing these books for a couple of years, and am so glad that I bought them - they are just beautiful!

Looking forward to seeing the UPS guy tomorrow!

Once in a Lifetime

2008-08-04T11:03:00.009-04:00

There are those events that happen once in a lifetime. For me, some of those days include:

My wedding day

Brian's birth

Sean's birth

Colin's birth

and now, meeting Bishop John Magee.

While up in Northern VA to help my friend/cousin Daniella & David with their new baby girl, I got to attend Mass at Holy Trinity. Daniella & David had never been to this church, but thought it would be nice to check it out with me up there. We arrived a couple minutes late (new baby syndrome!) and figured out there was a special guest celebrant, but had no idea who he was. When it came time for the homily, this guest celebrant gave the homily. It was a good homily, talking about how the Lord always wants us to come to him, come back to him. I am the Lord and you are my people. I thought this was particularly appropriate since my friends/cousins are trying to come back to the Church. Then after this appropriate homily, the bishop kept talking. He began speaking on the 3 previous popes - Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II. The bishop is the only man to have served under 3 popes. He gave us a history lesson on these three extraordinary men whom he served under. It was long, but it was fascinating to get an inside and personal look at 3 of the men who have sat on the Chair of Peter.

After Mass, we made sure to exit through the center doors so that we could meet "Bishop John". The bishop gave my little cousin Rachel a special blessing on her 1 month birthday. Then I got to shake his hand, and kiss his ring - a ring that Pope John Paul II gave to him.

After getting home last night, I Googled "Irish bishop who served 3 popes" and learned the name of the man who had presided over our Mass - Bishop John Magee. He began his vocation as a missionary priest in Africa. He ended up being sent to Rome and became the personal secretary to Pope Paul VI. After the pope's death, he was cleaning out the study of Pope Paul VI's personal effects when Pope John Paul I entered the room looking for coffee. A friendship was struck up and Bishop Magee stayed on to serve Pope John Paul I. After his death, Pope John Paul II came up to Bishop Magee (who was still a monsignor at the time), hugged him, and told him - You will stay with me!

While not quite as monumental as getting married or giving birth, meeting Bishop John Magee was still an amazing moment in my life as a Catholic.

Happy Birthday Grampa!

2008-07-31T15:28:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, the boys and I went down to my parents' house for the day. We were celebrating Grampa's birthday. It was a very relaxing day. Brian took a special ride on the wave runner with Grampa. They sought out some waves so they could ride the "bumps". The boys played. Grampa relaxed. And I got to get an oil change - excitement abounding!

One of the neatest moments of the day, however, was when a peacock couple decided to roost and preen on the top of my car that was parked in the driveway. It was a most amazing site.
After leaving my car top, they wandered around the side of my parents' house to the backyard where they promptly hopped up onto the gate surrounding the pool.
This led the female to hop down to the pool deck, and wander about,
while the male hopped up to the higher part of the fence, onto the table,
and eventually right up to the doors.
I did some checking on the significance of the peacock, and this is what I found:

What the peacock is meant to represent is open to many, many interpretations -- many of them likely valid and true, others a bit more fanciful. Amongst the most common are these:

There was an ancient Greek tradition that a peacock's flesh did not decay; hence it was a particularly potent symbol of eternal life.
Over the life of a peacock, its grows new feathers each year; and each year these are more brighter than those of the past. As such, there is an image in this of newness of life and lustre.
The 'eye' patterns in the peacock's tail feathers, when the tail is spread open, have often been taken to represent the vault of heaven bespeckled with the sun, moon, and stars, giving the bird the symbolic significance of the cosmos.
More commonly, the 'many eyes' of the peacock's tail are taken to symbolize the all-seeing vision of God.
Following an old Persian and Babylonian custom, the peacock was associated with Paradise and the Tree of Life (which is why it is so often seen next to the Tree of Life in religious depictions), and hence associated with immortality.

St. Michael's Chaplet

2008-07-31T15:24:00.005-04:00

I wrote a few days ago that I have been starting to pray the St. Michael's Chaplet before going to bed each night. I found that I was having to use my Rosary beads to try and keep track of how many Hail Mary's I had said. Inspired by my friend, Andrea, I tried to make my own St. Michael's Chaplet. Here are the fruits of my labor.

Marital Scale

2008-07-29T14:30:00.002-04:00

I found this on Amy's blog and thought I'd give it a whirl. I guess I could have made it as a wife even back in the "old days".

As a 1930s wife, I am
Superior

Take the test!

Happy Name Day Feast to Me!

2008-07-26T09:40:00.002-04:00

My parents in their ever present brilliance baptized me with the name of St. Anne. Today, is the Feast Day of St. Anne and her husband St. Joachim. So in celebration of my saint's feast day, enjoy these wonderful prayers.Memorare to Saint Anne

Remember, O glorious and Good Saint Anne, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored they help and sought thy intercession, was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, behold, I cast myself at they feet, and beseech thee, by thy great prerogative of being the Mother of the Queen of Heaven and the Grandmother of Jesus, come to my aid with thy powerful intercession, and obtain from Almighty God through the ever Blessed Virgin Mary, this special favor which I beg of thee...

Cease not to intercede for me until, through Divine Mercy, my request may be granted. Above all, obtain for me the grace one day to behold my God face to face and with thee and Mary and all the Saints praise and bless Him through all eternity. Amen.

Litany of Saint Anne

Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Queen of Angels and Saints
Pray for us.
St. Anne, instrument of the Holy Ghost,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, faithful spouse of St. Joachim,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, mirror of the married,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, example of widows,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, miracle of patience,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, mother of confidence,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, mother of constancy,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, mother of prayer,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, mother of blessing,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, vessel of sanctity,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, merciful mother,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, comfortress of the afflicted,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, help of the poor,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, protectress of virgins,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, support of the oppressed,
Pray for us.
St. Anne, refuge of thy clients,
Pray for us.
We sinners,
We beseech thee, hear us.
Through thy love for Jesus and Mary,
We beseech thee, hear us.
Through thy virtues and merits,
We beseech thee, hear us.
Through thy goodness and mercy,
We beseech thee, hear us.
Through thy compassion and charity,
We beseech thee, hear us.
Through the graces bestowed on thee by God,
We beseech thee, hear us.
Through the joys thou didst experience with Jesus and Mary,
We beseech thee, hear us.
Through the happiness thou dost enjoy for all eternity,
We beseech thee, hear us.
Through the honor given thee by the Saints in Heaven,
We beseech thee, hear us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, St. Anne,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, Who didst vouchsafe to endow blessed Anne with grace so that she might be worthy to become the mother of her who brought forth Thine only-begotten Son, mercifully grant that we who devoutly venerate her memory may also be helped by her powerful intercession. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Rosary of Saint Anne

This little chaplet dates back to 1875. The
author is unknown. This chaplet is the source of
a great number of favors both spiritual and
temporal.

The Chaplet consist of the recitation of the
following prayers:

In honor of Jesus, one Our Father and
five Hail Marys.
After each Hail Mary say:
Jesus, Mary and St. Anne, grant the
favor I ask.
In honor of Mary,one Our Father and
five Hail Marys.
After each Hail Mary say:
Jesus, Mary and St. Anne, grant the
favor I ask.
In honow of St. Anne,one Our Father and
five Hail Marys.
After each Hail Mary say:
Jesus, Mary and St. Anne, grant the
favor I ask.

Prayer Life

2008-07-25T23:45:00.003-04:00

Over on the 4 Real Boards, someone asked what other people's prayer routines were like. This really got me to thinking about how I would describe my prayer life & routine.

Lately I have been in a very dry patch in my prayer life - and I have felt the effects of it, let me tell you! Once I realized that I was under attack, I asked for prayers from my friends, and with their prayers for me, I began to refocus on the Lord and have been feeling my life settle back into order.

In the morning, before I get out of bed, I say a St. Anne's Chaplet. I have developed a deep devotion to the grandmother of Jesus as of late. The chaplet is quick and easy to say, and I like to start my morning off with this devotion.

Throughout the day I will find myself saying short, informal prayers for people I know who are in need of prayers. I typically don't stop in the middle of the day to say a Rosary. Maybe I should try, but for the time being, I pray my Rosary in the quiet moments in my house while Chris is putting the boys to bed. Or if he is out of town, I go to my room after I've gotten the boys down, and pray my Rosary. I am finding that this centers me and has been helping me transition from being mommy all day to being Cindy.

Right before I head off to bed at night, I have begun praying the Chaplet of St. Michael. I have been reading the book Angel Power on the recommendation of my spiritual director for my Christ Renews His Parish formation group. I am gaining a better understanding of angels. Last week, Andrea gave all of us at formation this Chaplet prayer. One of the nice things about this chaplet, is that if said daily, St. Michael promises that an escort of 9 angels from each of the 9 choirs will escort you to receive communion. And deliverance from purgatory for me and all my relatives isn't a bad deal either! This prayer is a little more complex than my other ones and harder to memorize, so I've been reading it nightly. It gives me a sense of peace before I go to sleep.

What does your prayer life consist of? Do you do anything special for yourself, or with your kids? I'd love to hear it.

Vocabulary 101

2008-07-25T23:41:00.001-04:00

Monday...

Brian: Mommy, I am hurrying frantically to get my jammies on before Daddy gets up here!

Mommy: Brian, do you know what frantically means?

Brian: It means doing something really, really fast.

Alright. We got something going on here!

Today...

Brian: Mommy, I'm exhausperated.

Mommy: What does exhausperated mean?

Brian: It means I'm so tired I can hardly stand up!

I'll give him an "A" for effort on that one!

About Our Family

2008-07-24T15:34:00.003-04:00

I am a Catholic homeschooling mom of 3 little men. I've been the proud wife of Chris since 10.6.01. I am the creative element behind CC Websites & CP Creations.

Chris - now works for Harris and has his own web design company - CC Websites. He writes on his own blog 350 Degrees.

Brian (5) - is my brilliant first-born. He looks just like his daddy, and has an engineering brain as well!

Sean (3.5) - is my bibliophile. This is the child that taught himself to read just after his 3rd birthday, and loves to sleep with his books.

Colin (20 months) - is my cuddly baby. He is quick with a smile, and loves to dance, and laugh.

Other Family Blogs We Visit:
Kelsey Summer
Kellys Summertime Fun
The Burkhart Blog
Raleigh Mom
The Phillips Family
Decor 2 Ur Door
Mom On Wheels

Mosaic Meme

2008-07-22T23:48:00.003-04:00

I've seen this before, but when I saw it today on Waltzing Matilda's blog, I just had to play along. Instructions to play are at the bottom of the post thanks to Jessica.
The Questions (and The Answers):

1. What is your first name? Cindy 2. What is your favorite food? Mexican 3. What high school did you go to? Coral Springs High School 4. What is your favorite color? Blue 5. Who is your celebrity crush? Kiefer Sutherland 6. Favorite drink? Appletini 7. Dream vacation? Young Island 8. Favorite dessert? Creme Brulee 9. What you want to be when you grow up? A saint 10. What do you love most in life? God and family 11. One Word to describe you? Mommy 12. One hobby of yours? Reading

Your turn to jump on the bandwagon! Go ahead and make one of your own. Here's how: a. Type your answer to each of the questions above into Flickr Search. b. Using only the first page, pick an image. c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker. d. Save image to hard drive and post to blogger. e. Copy HTML code for flickr photo credits and paste into blogger at the bottom of the post.

**Please let me know if you play along! I'd love to see your mosaic!

1. Congrats Cindy :), 2. Covet My Lunch, 3. Sunset over the canal, Coral Springs, Florida, 4. The Chesil Beach at Portland - Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, 5. Kiefer, 6. appletini, 7. young island, 8. Crème Brulée, 9. Madonna della Salute, 10. Day 27/365: Two years, 11. Always by your side, 12. The Old Library

Salted Fish

2008-07-21T10:25:00.003-04:00

For those of you who know Brian, you know he's the originator of my picky eaters. He started out so promising back in the days of baby food. He ate everything I put in his mouth - even spinach! When we went to solid foods, he was still pretty good at eating. I'm not sure when the pickiness started, but it took hold of Brian and hasn't let go. His influence is long as he's helped Sean and Colin turn from really good eaters into the picky boys they are today.

My dad told Brian that the best birthday present he could give to Gramma & Grampa would be to start eating "grownuper" food. Who knew that the day after he turned 5 he would be chowing down on fish! We had grilled some tilapia on our new grill. Chris made one fillet plain for the boys, and the others he put some lime juice and McCormick's Montreal Chicken spices on. Dinner was proceeding as usual - Chris and I eating, and the boys ignoring everything on their plates but the fruit. We asked Brian to try the fish. He told us he wanted blue fish with a mouth. I tried to explain to him that even if the fish was blue to start with that the blue part would be scraped off before you cook it. Next he asked for salted fish with a mouth. Again, the explanation of how he really wouldn't want a fish with a mouth on his plate. Finally, he said he would like fish like "you guys". Chris went and got the other fillet and put it on Brian's plate. We had to pick our jaws up off the floor as Brian started to chow down on his fish. I really tried to not make a big deal of it while he was eating - I didn't want to distract Brian and have him stop eating! At one point, Brian tried to get Sean to try the fish "Sean, just try it, it's good." - I had to laugh at the irony. Hopefully this new Brian will continue and his influence on his brothers can turn the tide back to some good eaters!

PS - Brian later told Chris that he would eat "salted fish" anytime we made it. I'm seeing a weekly fish meal in our future...

Stay Tuned

2008-07-21T10:22:00.004-04:00

Exciting things are happening! Chris and I are working hard to make Serendipity easier to navigate (and oh so pretty if you ask me!).

My Baby is 5!

2008-07-17T17:13:00.003-04:00

7/17/03

7/17/08

What a difference 5 years can make. Not only in physical changes, but in emotional ways as well. This is the child who changed me into a mother. Not only was Brian born 5 years ago, but with his birth came the birth of my new family. A piece of me now resided outside of my body and Chris and I were charged with loving, caring and raising this gift from God.

I have so enjoyed watching Brian grow these last 5 years. He has gone from the tiny little baby the doctors were worried about not gaining weight, to a really big boy. He has always been a mini-me of Chris, although as he gets older he's developing into his own look. He has always made me smile just thinking about him, but now he can make me laugh with his sense of humor, and his imagination - he can tell some really funny stories! Brian is no longer my little baby, but my big boy.

Last night I pulled Brian into bed with me so that he could wake up on his birthday right next to his mommy. As we were laying there in the middle of the night, I was stroking his hair as he fell back to sleep. Thinking he was asleep, I whispered, "I'm so lucky that you are my boy." To my surprise a sleep voice answered me, "I'm so lucky you're my mommy." Tears sprang to my eyes. No, Brian isn't a baby anymore - he's a big boy with big thoughts and feelings all his own. I'm so excited to see what this year will bring.

Dinner at Brian's favorite restaurant - Pancheros!

Yeah for presents!

God's celebration of Brian's birthday.

Brian's 5th Birthday - Part 2

2008-07-16T21:11:00.002-04:00

Aargh, matey! Ye be invited for some birthday spirits at Captain Brian's birthday bash. He needs some shipmates to swab the deck and hunt for long lost treasure. Chart yer course for the 14th of July at 5:30 p.m. Join us for some grub, fun & swimming. Yo ho ho let us know, call deck hand Cindy. See ye there if ye dare.

Our birthday party ended up being more of a birthday playdate, but Brian still had a lot of fun. Leighton and Ms. Kellie came over for some celebrating on Monday afternoon. The weather didn't cooperate for swimming, but the kids played, and we ate pizza,
made some "X" Marks the Spot crafts
opened presents (Leighton did such a good job decorating her present for Brian!),
hammed it up for the camera,
got some hugs (and a marriage proposal!),
and ate cake! Chris found some pirate candles on clearance at Target back in January that worked perfectly with Brian's pirate cake.
Brian blows his candles out - hopefully he made a wish!
Happy Birthday Brian. We'll be eating cake until you're 6!

Brian's 5th Birthday - Part 1

2008-07-14T16:01:00.004-04:00

Brian is turning 5. I'm not really sure how that happened. Wasn't it just yesterday that he was the tiny, little baby we brought home from the hospital? I guess it was almost 5 years ago, but boy, has a lot changed in those 5 years.

This year, Brian gets to celebrate his birthday week. Part One of the festivities surrounding this big birthday was a McDonald Family celebration at Gramma & Grampa's house yesterday. We had a very special guest list (although we were missing Brian's Daddy :-( ): Gramma, Grampa, Aunt Kellie, Aunt Lori, Kelsey (missing Uncle Lou as well), Great Uncle Jeff, Great Aunt Robin, cousins Amanda, & Megan, and my oldest friend Melinda and her two kids, Madison & Christian. Despite being a slightly dreary day, the kids hit the pool with Grampa. The dinner menu (for the kids!) consisted of chicken nuggets and french fries, while the adults ate some Cornish "Gay" Hens, rice, sauteed zucchini and the yummiest Vidalia Onion Casserole. There were presents abounding for Brian. He got a fun Brain Quest game from Aunt Kellie (who remembers her own Brain Quest from when she was little). Uncle Jeff and crew got Brian 3 fun dinosaur books and a dinosaur painting craft. Aunt Lori made Brian the awesome crayon holder that Brian and Sean are holding up. And to follow with Brian's current obsession with pirates, Gramma & Grampa got him a fabulous new pirate ship - complete with a cannon that shoots, a plank that the bad guys can walk, and 2 skeleton brothers!

Of course, what party would be complete without some cake? Sean began asking for cake when he woke up Sunday morning! Brian is not a big fan of signing right now, so he covered his ears while the signing was happening. Everyone got such a kick out of it, that they all covered their ears right along with Brian!

Stay tuned for Part Two - The Party.

Speaking of family videos

2008-07-13T23:35:00.001-04:00

Check out my sister Lori's blog for a video of some of my niece's first steps. Go Kelsey!

Dance, dance. Everybody now, dance, dance...

2008-07-13T23:11:00.005-04:00

I'm not really sure how this "dance" started, but back when Brian was a little guy, Gramma made up this silly song to get him to wiggle around. It has morphed, and become an obsession for my little men every time we see Gramma. Every time, she is requested for the "dance". So without further ado, I present you...Dance.

Seredipity-do-dah!

2008-07-10T23:14:00.005-04:00

I've spoken a number of times about the beauty of Elizabeth's Serendipity site. Now there is a way to keep up with all of the women who are implementing parts or all of the "curriculum". The Serendipity-Do-Dah blogroll. Check out my sidebar and if you have a blog and are planning on using Serendipity next year, click on "Click here to join". Even if you don't have a blog, check out the other sites to see what's going on.

Lake Norman 2008

2008-07-10T19:48:00.001-04:00

I'll actually write a post about our family trip soon, but in the meantime, enjoy a slide show from the week.

Welcome Rachel Charlotte

2008-07-06T21:49:00.002-04:00

I'd like to welcome the newest member of my extended family:

Rachel Charlotte
Born: July 3, 2008
4:58 p.m.
5 lbs, 9 oz,
18 inches long
Proud Parents: My college roommate, Daniella and my cousin, David

We have been waiting for you for so long. We love you and can't wait to meet you and kiss your little cheeks!

Next Year's Plan

2008-06-26T21:57:00.002-04:00

Following along with Elizabeth, here's a rough idea of my plans for next year when Brian and Sean will be starting Kindergarten. This needs to be fleshed out a little more, but I'm feeling pretty excited about the plan as it is shaping up.

Monday
Religion

Review Previous Sunday's Gospel
Study Doctor of Church

Math

Gnomes & Gnumbers

Language Arts

Along the Alphabet Path

presentation

Alphabet of Catholic Saints

Picture Book Read Aloud

Phonics/Handwriting

Handwriting without Tears

Fine Arts

Science/History

Dinosaurs

Tuesday
Religion

Read Sunday's Gospel
Our 24 Family Ways

Math

Gnomes & Gnumbers

Language Arts

Along the Alphabet Path

faith

Picture Book Read Aloud

Phonics/Handwriting

Explode the Code

Fine Arts

Our 24 Family Ways Coloring Book

Wednesday
Religion

Discuss Saint of the Week/Liturgical Year
Re-read Sunday's Gospel

Math

Gnomes & Gnumbers

Language Arts

Along the Alphabet Path

language

Poetry

Flower Fairies CD - memorization

Picture Book Read Aloud

Phonics/Handwriting

Handwriting without Tears

Science/History

Dinosaurs

Thursday
Religion

Discuss the Fruits of the Spirit for the month
Re-read Sunday's Gospel

Language Arts

Along the Alphabet Path

nature study

Picture Book Read Aloud

Fine Arts

Flower Fairies Coloring Book

Science/History

Nature Study

Friday
Religion

Catholic Mosaic
Re-read Sunday's Gospel

Math

Gnomes & Gnumbers

Language Arts

Along the Alphabet Path

Picture Book Read Aloud

Phonics/Handwriting

Explode the Code

I'm super excited about this coming year and the journey we are getting ready to undertake. Lest anyone be concerned about the dreaded "socialization", rest assured that I'm not going to be keeping these kids in a bubble. They will be playing sports this fall, and I'm looking for a homeschool group to meet up with. I just know that I can be my children's best teacher - heck, who knows them better than Chris and I do? :-)

One more saint in heaven

2008-06-26T10:45:00.001-04:00

Please pray for Baby Cate's family. Grant them peace in this sad new world they are entering into.

Birthday Weekend

2008-06-08T22:03:00.003-04:00

As my birthday comes to a close, I sit here and reflect on the fun (and some not so fun) times I had this weekend.

The weekend started off nice in the fact that Chris' off Friday was this weekend - hooray, 3 days with all of my boys together! We took the boys to a park around lunchtime, bought Chris' new grill, and swam in the pool.

Saturday saw us head down to my parents' house for a birthday celebration. Lori and Kelsey came over for the fun as well (Lou was up in Gainesville for his MBA class). We went out on the boat, swam, the boys went on the jetski with Grampa, and then played in the "beach" on the river looking for seashells. My mom made Chicken Divan (yummy!), and Vidalia Onion Casserole (another yum!). Brian and Sean had helped Gramma make ice cream earlier in the day, but the freezer door was ajar, so it was more like a thick soup - oh well. We had cake, hopped the kids up on the sugar, and then headed out the door (while listening to Brian wail that he didn't want to leave) and trekked back home.

This morning, I was woken up to the sound of my oldest son whispering "Happy Birthday Mommy" in my ear. What a nice way to wake up! Sean then came in and told me Happy Birthday as well. Colin just gave me a big smile and said "Dah!". We headed off to church together - and that's where the fun began. Brian didn't want to go into either the "little church" (ie. the nursery), or big church. He wanted to go to another church altogether. He was finally convinced to go into church with Chris and I, and he actually did rather well despite the fact that he likes to lay on the kneelers. Next up came my birthday brunch at Perkins. We did pretty well until the end of the meal when people were getting a little fidgety. Back home to no naps for the big boys (but a good one for Colin). I went outside to help Chris put together his grill. When I came in to check on the boys, I found that Sean had an upset tummy. How did I find this out, you ask? Well, it seems that he took his Pull-Up off (that he had had on for the pretend nap), and then couldn't...quite...make...it...to...the...bathroom. Yes, my friends, I was cleaning up poop off his legs, his feet, the floor (of course it was upstairs so it was the carpet)! Happy Birthday to me!

Come later in the afternoon, Brian got ~~horrifically~~ slightly cranky. Let's just say I got a preview of the teenage years, and they ain't pretty! We managed through the multiple, multiple meltdowns, had a wonderful dinner of mussels, crab cakes, bacon wrapped scallops, broccoli slaw, and rosemary roasted potatoes. The boys signed their card to me, and then Sean brought it out and read...all...the...words. Yes, he's only 3.5. We opened my presents (thank you my love!) and had my cake - a lovely almond flavored cake with raspberry filling and white chocolate buttercream frosting. If you live in the area (and don't make cakes yourself), please try a cake from this woman. You won't be disappointed - and all of her proceeds go to therapy for her 5 year old son with autism!

Now I am spending some quiet time here with Chris. Reflecting on all of the many blessings of the last year, and looking forward to the blessings of this coming year.

My Mother-in-Law

2008-06-06T15:25:00.002-04:00

There's the old stereotype that mother-in-laws are also known as "monster-in-laws". I know quite a few people who have to deal with this phenomenon.

Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to meet my mother-in-law. 10 years ago today, Chris' mom succumbed to cancer. 8 years ago next week, I met Chris. If you do the math, the two don't add up.

I'm always sad that I never got to know Sara in this life. From everything I have heard, from my father-in-law, Chris and his siblings, and even the other "out-laws" of this family, Sara was a warm and kind-hearted soul. She was always giving and loving. There is a gaping hole in this family since she died - one that can not be filled. The pain gets easier to bear, but it is always there, and especially on this day and other important days in our lives.

Chris wrote the most amazing, beautiful letter to his mother on this the 10 year anniversary of her death. Please take a moment to read it.

Sara, please know how much I love your son and grandsons, and that I'm taking care of them here until we all meet again.

Love,

Card Deck Bible

2008-06-04T21:26:00.002-04:00

I received this from my Grandma in the mail today. I thought it was so profound. I'll never look at a deck of card the same way again.

"A Deck of Cards"

A young soldier was in his bunkhouse all alone one Sunday morning over in Afghanistan. It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't made a noise. The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week. As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk. Just then an army sergeant came in and said, "Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?" The soldier replied, "I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord." The sergeant said, "Looks like you're going to play cards." The soldier said, "No sir, you see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards." The sergeant asked in disbelief, "How will you do that?"

"You see the Ace, Sergeant, it reminds me that there is only one God.
The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.
The Three represents the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Four stands for the Four Apostles: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
The Five is for the five virgins. There were ten but only five of them were glorified.
The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and the Earth.
The Seven is for the say God rested after working the six days.
The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives, in which God saved the eight people from the flood that destroyed the earth for the first time.
The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed ten but nine never thanked Him.
The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.
The Jack is a reminder of Satan. One of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.
The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.
The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.
When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.
There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week, 52 weeks in a year.
The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
Each suit has thirteen cards; there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.
So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for."

The sergeant just stood there and after a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, "Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?"
Author Unknown