This Little Lady

May 21, 2012 By
I snapped this pic after she rolled for the first time.

Josie is already 4 and a half months old and just started rolling from her back to her belly.  She's very generous with her smiles, sleeps like a champ, and rarely cries.  Last week, Gianna put her down in the corner of our playroom, where she gradually just fell asleep.  Twenty minutes later, I couldn't find her!  After a brief moment of panic, I spotted her lying, sound asleep, behind a dump truck, in the corner of our playroom. After two fussy babies (not naming names here, but we all … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Children, Motherhood and Parenting Tagged With: , , ,

Mother’s Day Reflection

May 14, 2012 By
IMG_2456

We spent the past two Mother's Day weekends in the hospital.  Once for me when I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2010, and then last year Gus was hospitalized on and off during the month of May for unexplained vomiting and weight loss.  I've been dreading the month of May, just waiting for the next crisis to hit our family.  So let's just say I was overjoyed to be spending this mothers day with 5 healthy children.  Nobody was in pain, nobody was really sick, and nobody was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Children, Motherhood and Parenting, Spiritual Life Tagged With: , , , , , ,

I Am Not a Nice Person

April 29, 2012 By

In fact, I am mean. When I go to the food store, I think mean things about many of the complete strangers I encounter there.  If I'm not pregnant, and I've just had a cup of coffee, I am very good at not sharing any of these mean thoughts.  On good days, I may even think some nice thoughts.  But on bad days, I not only think mean things, I find a way to say them.  Sometimes it's just a nasty tone or a sarcastic comment, but on really bad days, it's much worse.  And I may not even feel … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Keeping It Real, Spiritual Life Tagged With: , , , ,

Pre-School Booklist

April 23, 2012 By

On Saturday I gave a talk at the CHAPLET Homeschooling Conference on The Circuit.  It went really well, and, I was rather shocked at the positive feedback and the large number of questions I received.  Most of those questions were from moms just getting their feet wet with homeschooling, but other questions were from more experienced moms with practical difficulties in their morning routine.  The Q and A turned into a wonderful dialogue, and I left with a lot of great ideas as to how to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education & Homeschool

Happy Easter!

April 9, 2012 By
Easter 2012, from Left (Gus, Me, Charlie holding Josie, Gianna, Mr. Red, and Claire)

… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Lenten Failure and Easter Triumph

April 1, 2012 By

At the beginning of Lent I felt extremely thankful, almost exuberant, at the healthy arrival of my daughter Josie.  Our family had survived another pregnancy with mom functioning at less than full capacity. The pain, sickness, exhaustion, and worry of pregnancy were over.  The first difficult postpartum month was behind us.  For the first time in 10 months I felt like my body, and our family routine, were headed in the right direction. I felt so thankful and enthusiastic that I wanted to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Liturgical Seasons, Spiritual Life Tagged With: , , ,

Saturday Links

March 31, 2012 By

My intent was to put this up on Thursday, as part of a Thoughts for Thursday post (we haven't forgotten Thoughts for Thursday!), but life these days has been very busy, and I've been battling a cold. That cold is keeping me off the soccer field this afternoon, and it's rainy and cool here anyway, and so I'm blogging in a quiet house while my babies nap and the big kids are at soccer. So here, in no particular order, are some links-- How to peel a head of garlic in less than a minute.  I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Going Gluten Free, Getting Started…

March 12, 2012 By
Amazing GF Chocolate Chip Cookies! I didn't think it was possible.

Good morning!   I hope your week is off to a blessed start.  I just looked at the 5 day forecast and saw temperature predictions in the 70's, and that gives me a spring in my step! In the past month I have had 5!! people ask me for help in going gluten free.  After writing and sending 5 variations of the same e-mail to these friends, I decided to just type up a post for those starting the GF diet or those cooking for someone on the GF diet.  I realize that many of you will have no … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Food and Nutrition, Health

Update your RSS feed for our new site!

March 8, 2012 By

Just in case you are struggling to find the RSS feed button on this site (it's in the lower right column), click HERE to subscribe! For those unfamiliar, an RSS feed is for an aggregator, like Google Reader. Such aggregators allow you to view, in one place, the updates from your favorite blogs and other websites. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Our Phony Contraception Debate

March 6, 2012 By

Not to beat a dead horse, but I thought this WSJ article on the HHS mandate was right on point, Limbaugh and Our Phony Contraception Debate by Cathy Ruse. Here is an excerpt-- Ms. Fluke's crusade for reproductive justice is simply a demand that a Catholic institution pay for drugs that make it possible for her to have sex without getting pregnant. It's nothing grander or nobler than that. Georgetown's refusal to do so does not mean she has to have less sex, only that she has to take … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized