Lest I Forget

I know, you are probably tired of my food posts. But I am excited to share the stories from my kitchen this week. First of all, I didn't plan it, but if I had, it couldn't have worked out better. On the menu for Monday night was spinach and sausage calzones. I bought a package of sweet italian sausage and a 16 oz. package of frozen spinach. I added some onions to that for the filling. Well, I had A LOT left over. As I sat there pondering, I realized I could use that as pizza topping on Thursday. Thursdays have become boring. The kids always want the same pizzas for dinner: BBQ pizza with pineapples and veggie pizza with olives, onions, sun-dried tomato, and whatever leftover veggies I happen to have. So on pizza night, I really changed things up around here. I oven roasted an eggplant and some mushrooms and made one pizza topped with that. The second pizza I kept to the standard BBQ only for the kids sake. The third pizza I used some of the leftover calzone mixture. I could...

Favorite color: green What street you grew up on: Woodlawn Ave. What was your favorite game when you were a kid? Monopoly. What was your favorite card game? Old Maid. Who was your favorite friend? Jennifer Ways How many brothers and sisters do you have? None. What was your Confirmation name? St. Felicity Favorite animal? bunny rabbit Favorite book? The Bible Favorite show? Dancing with the Stars. Here is the link to view all the entries in the Young Writers Club .

Yesterday morning, Anna came downstairs for breakfast and the first thing she said was, "Mom, I am really nervous about my First Penance tonight." We talked, again, about what would happen. I assured her that once it was all done, she would feel so much better. We practiced the Act of Contrition over and over. She thought of the things she wanted to confess.   We headed to the Church after dinner, but as I looked at her sitting in the pew, I could tell that she was still very nervous. Can't you? Those eyes are so telling.  But look at those eyes now! Can't you see the radiance of a clean soul shining through? She came right back to our pew and knelt so tenderly and whispered her prayer that was her penance.  My heart was so full. Full of love for my sweet child that received her second Sacrament. Full of joy that all our preparing led to this moment. Full of thankfulness that we have this wonderful Sacrament available to us. And very soon, s...

Oh boy! I am so nervous about this newest knitting project. I am going to have to seam it together! I am not quite sure what I was thinking when I decided to try and make this bolero . Not to mention picking up hundreds of stitches to make the ribbed edge. Good grief! Then, as I started knitting, the gauge is so confusing. It says the swatch should be knit in the pattern, but it doesn't say whether the measurements are supposed to taken as it is or as blocked. That makes a huge difference. Sometimes it is good to step out of one's little bubble of security and try new things. How else can one learn? This second picture captures the color a bit better, I think. The purchase of this yarn led to one of those embarrassing little moments in life. The owners of the yarn shop are Jewish and as I was paying for the yarn, the kids noticed a little aquarium with a turtle in it. Running over to peek at the turtle, they broke in song, "Turtle, turtle, turtle, I made i...

Before: flat, builder's grade paint scuffs and handprints The access for the heating/cooling system is on her ceiling. Workmen with dirty hands don't really care about cleanliness. This little bookcase I bought years ago does not match the bed.  After: We moved her chandelier into her room from Jack's room. It is neutral, but clean and fresh! The ceiling, doors, and trim got a fresh coat of white paint. Her room is small, but everything fits. This room is also our guest room when family visits. The repainted bookcase It only took me two Saturdays to get this accomplished!

As most of you know, my last two children have dairy and soy protein intolerance. Little did I know that once you have a child with such an intolerance, subsequent children have a very high likelihood of also being intolerant. I really, really want to breastfeed this new baby. So, I have made the decision to go dairy-free before the baby is born. I am 18 weeks right now and my goal is to be completely dairy-free by 20 weeks. I want to be good at not eating dairy long before those sleepless nights arrive and I am in a fog. So I have been tweaking recipes, searching for new recipes and searching for dairy substitutes that are not yucky. This morning, I made Dutch Apple Bread. The recipe is filled with dairy. So I started making changes as I added ingredients to the bowl. It turned out delicious! Everyone agreed. Here is the dairy-free version: Dutch Apple Bread 1/4 cup coconut oil 1/4 cup applesauce 1/2 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla Cream together these ingredients, then ...

Recent funny quotes from my Jack... ...during Mass last week, "Mom, next year I think I'll give up Mass for Lent." ...at dinner, when the chicken was brought to the table, " Mom, you know I gave up meat for Lent." "But Jack," I said, " You have been eating hot dogs for lunch all through Lent." With a look of surprise, Jack said, " That's meat?" ...during an especially competitive game of Candyland yesterday, after the card let him move only one space, "Well, now, that wasn't really very helpful".

As we finish up our study of the earth's layers, we once again have a fun experiment that helped us end with a bang fizzle. We took this one outside since someone had just scrubbed the kitchen floor and really didn't want to do that job twice in one day. The Catholic Heritage Curricula 2nd grade science book is wonderful! Did I mention that before? It is because I like it so darn much. First we built the volcano out of clay. It is surrounding one of Therese's baby bottles. Then we made an ocean. Jack is my ham. He is wondering if this thing is really going to work. The less of a ham science student who can't wait to add the lava.  The lava.  Our first eruption from the volcano was not impressive enough for the kids. I let them go ahead and add ALL the vinegar lava. Much better.  And that my friends is just about the only schooling that got accomplished yesterday. But what fun we had. Today is going to be 82 degre...

A few weeks ago, I found some yarn in my stash that Sophie had used to start a project that she never finished. (She is a little  lot like her mama.) The purples and blues were so soothing that I decided to try and make this shawl with it. I was pretty sure that this was going to be for me since the sweet lady who wrote the pattern gifted a copy to me after reading Ben's story . I was a little over halfway through knitting the shawl when I learned that a dear friend and her family were in the midst of a great trial. God whispered gently in my ear, "It is for her". Not being one to argue with God, I began to pray for this family as I knit the rest of the shawl. I did not get any pictures other than while it was being blocked. I hope that when she wears it, she will feel wrapped in love and prayer. The first picture is a more accurate representation of the colors. With nothing on my needles now and hands anxious to be knitting, I have been haunting Ravelry for s...

My husband loves baseball. It is why, when we moved here, we got cable TV for the first time in 15 years. He wanted to watch his favorite team, the Detroit Tigers, play baseball. I have to admit, though not a sports fan in any sense of the phrase, going to the ballpark with my family is fun. Tony and I watch the games on the computer these days. I have made a sincere attempt to learn the Tigers player's names to give us some common ground. ( I am pretty sure he has no intention of learning to knit any time soon.) Recently, my husband has been scouring our library for books on teaching baseball to your kids. He has spent many hours at his workbench repurposing orange juice containers and hula hoops into practice equipment for the kids. He also cancelled our cable subscription. This evening, while I was preparing the dinner, he took the kids out front and started baseball drills. The kids ate up this time with their dad and I enjoyed a few minutes of quiet in the kitchen. But I could...

Anna is joining in the Young Writers Club again this week. Every year we go the the beach with Grandma and Pa and aunts and uncles and cousins. And every evening we go crab hunting in the dark with Aunt Holly. And sometimes we walk to the pier. And we jump waves. And we make sandcastles and dribble castles and we boogie-board the waves. The end. I wanted to add her original work because it fills an entire page. She worked on this for several days. We talked about all the things that make the beach trip special and made a list on the dry-erase board. Then she set to work, every so often calling out to me "How do you spell....?" and I would ask her to just sound it out and to not worry about that, but work on remembering all the details.

Outside my window... Finally! The sun! I was beginning to think I would never see your glorious rays shining on my face ever again. It has been so, so dreary, gloomy, damp, and all around depressing. Therese and I have been singing, "Rain, rain, go away" for days. I am thinking... all those around me that are in dire need of prayer and comfort. So many, it seems, are in the midst of some very hard trials. My heart has been as gray as the skies lately. I walk around offering up all the little things for those who have such big burdens, that their yoke may be lightened. I am thankful for.... ...kids who say funny things that make me smile. ...my family ...a warm cup of coffee with coconut milk creamer to start my day. From the lesson plans... I counted how many weeks we have yet to complete. Umm...at our current pace, we will not finish up until the end of June. In an attempt to move that date up a bit, we are trying to do more each day. Amazi...

Anna: What is my secret wish? To see the rest of the movie "Prince Caspian". My Mom and Dad won't let me watch it because they think I am too young. I saw the first movie and I want to know what happens next. Here is the link to the Young Writers Club .

Exhibit A Exhibit B Toddlers and mudpuddles must be magnetically attracted to one another. I lifted her out of the swing and in less than a second, she was in the mud. I cleaned off her face, but really, until they want to come in, there is no reason to clean the rest of her.