Yesterday, I had to perform the Heimlich on Liam. I had scanned the floor before I put him on it. His sisters were playing nearby. I was near, just in the kitchen doing dishes. I could see everything they were doing. And then I turned my back, heard a scream and a gurgle, and immediately sprinted to my son. Scooping him up in my arms, I took in his wide, panicked eyes, his mouth open, tongue thrusting outward, gagging, gagging,... Read more

I always breathe a sigh of relief when we step foot inside our own humble abode, no matter how long or short the trip. I usually try to clean the house before we leave so that sigh of relief can be accompanied by a sigh of appreciation for past Calah for being so thoughtful and considerate of future Calah, but this time the haphazard, last-minute nature of our departure left zero time for cleaning. There were even dishes in the... Read more

I hope you all have a wonderful, chocolate-filled Easter.  From me to you… Read more

Thank you all for your prayers for my family and for my grandfather. I’m so glad we were able to hop a last-minute flight out here and be with the rest of my family. There’s something about the passing of a patriarch that draws us all together. At the funeral, the pastor recounted the names of all the children my grandfather was survived by, and their children, and their children. I’ve known these names my whole life; I count myself... Read more

My grandfather died last night. I’m told that he went swiftly, for which we are all grateful, as the last years of his life were full of steadily increasing suffering and affliction. We are making preparations to fly to Texas tomorrow to be with my family at his funeral. I’d like to ask you all for your prayers on Holy Thursday as my family commits the body of James Weston Adkins to the grave and his soul into the hands... Read more

This Lent has been difficult. I’ve seen that on lots of blogs, actually. I don’t know what’s going on this year, but it seems that everyone has been fighting an uphill battle. I’ve been looking forward to Palm Sunday all Lent. It’s one of my favorite Masses of the year. Yesterday, in preparation for today, the Ogre and I went to confession. It seems that all of Las Vegas had the same idea. The line was longer than any line... Read more

I’m putting a hit out on my friend Kassie, the Secret Vatican Spy. A prayer hit. This amazing woman is coming into the Church at Easter…just a week left, Kassie! She’s had a very difficult Lent, on top of a difficult conversion in general, so I’m asking all of you to join me in lifting her up in prayer this week. Just as you go throughout your day, if the though pops into your head, say a little prayer for... Read more

What a week. Since I posted my story on Sunday night, so many people have linked to it. First there were the Darwins, who linked to me both on their blog and at American Catholic. Then the Pulp.it picked it up, Leila linked to it in her follow-up to one of my commenters, Simcha linked to it at the Register, Matthew Archbold posted it to Creative Minority Report (and yeah, I totally let out an inappropriate fangirl squeal when that... Read more

Yeah, you read that right. About eleven o’clock this morning I was leaving the park with the girls, having just taken them to an Easter Egg hunt with some friends, when I called the Ogre. I had left sleeping Liam there with his daddy, who was supposed to be studying. When he answered the phone, I heard the unmistakable voice of Timothy Dalton. The Ogre quickly explained that he was just watching Bond while bouncing Liam and trying to get... Read more

I’m tired. Shaky. Weepy, even. The last two days have been really difficult. Watching my stat counter blow up has not really made up for the difficult discussions raging in my combox. They’re tame discussions, actually, by normal blogging standards, but I don’t blog about things like this very often. I’m not used to this. Then there’s the added pressure of new followers and higher readers than I’ve ever had before. Don’t get me wrong, I’m about as grateful as... Read more