Lest I Forget

Life is full speed ahead over here and the thing that keeps me calm is knitting. It is my stress reliever. The kids have started ballet and drama. That takes up three afternoons. The crock pot will be seeing action again after a long summer hiatus. It also means I have more time to knit while sitting and waiting for their classes to end. Peter has a 50/50 chance of falling asleep on the way to his sibling's activities, and if he does, then I have uninterrupted knitting time. If he doesn't, I try to bring something to hold his interest for at least part of the time. I am currently working on three projects. A little white mouse. A soft, squishy, baby blanket. A pretty purple shawl. The baby blanket currently goes everywhere with me. I have the pattern memorized, and it is the one I need to finish first. The mouse sits on my desk, staring at me, waiting for me to make the rest of him. The shawl is for me, so it gets the least attention right now.  I am currently reading ...

It rained for a week. Well, maybe not the whole time, but basically, it has been rainy, cloudy, gray, and gloomy all this week. While I was waiting it out indoors, fall arrived. I noticed it yesterday when the sun finally pushed through the clouds and I went to the park with the kids. Little yellow leaves were dotting the trees. The air felt different. Fall. Today, on our morning walk to get some milk, eggs, and butter, a spiderweb caught my eye as we were walking out the door, which made me run back inside to grab the camera. Carefully observing God's beauty always makes me feel better. It is a sort of soul therapy. Maybe you could use some too? Take a look! Yesterday was not a good day for her. She walked in front of someone swinging, she fell off the monkey bars, landing on her face, and the tears were many and the wails were slightly ear-splitting. She finally laid herself out on the play equipment and sobbed "Poor, sad me"! This mor...

Yesterday, Therese turned 5. She is the end of the "birthday season" and we can now return to our normal eating habits! We had been thinking of going to Legoland to celebrate the three birthdays, but the mere thought of driving for four hours was a huge deterrent to the adult population of our group. Looking for something closer in, I looked up the Technic Museum. We have been to the one in Speyer, but there is a second one in Sinsheim that happens to have two supersonic jets on the roof that you can explore. There was a ticket option to add Tripsdrill to the package. I had no idea what it even was, so I clicked on the link. It was an amusement park set up like a town in the 1800's. It was a lot closer. We skipped Speyer and spent the day at Tripsdrill. We had a great day. We arrived at lunchtime. Keeping everyone occupied with the drink coasters. Concentration is required. I get this look a lot lately. Ta-da! Come on Dad! Let's go!! ...

Yesterday, we went the vigil Mass. I have been on my own this past week while Tony did his tuba thing in Switzerland. There was an acquaintance there who started chatting with me after Mass as I waited for Jack to finish up his duties as Altar Server. Until last night, we have always just made small talk, but for some reason, which I believe was the Holy Spirit, she told me that I am doing a good job, that no one is perfect, that it is all right to "mess up" sometimes. Out of the blue, I tell you! Then I went to the Commissary to get our groceries for the week. Tony called to check in while we were going up and down the aisles, checking things off the list. Peter was crying and crying because he was tired and hungry. All of a sudden, Tony stopped telling me his story and said, "I love you for being so patient with all that crying going on. You are doing a great job". Peter eventually perked up after letting him eat an entire package of dried mangoes while getting ...