I had planned to write a nice, sappy little post today about all the things I love and miss about my ugly-as-sin home state, Texas, but that’s going to have to wait until tomorrow. Just about an hour ago I received a series of comments on my post from Sunday regarding my position on abortion, and I feel compelled to state my position unequivocally. Please understand that this is not a post inviting dialogue. I will leave comments open, of... Read more

I really think that I have a wicked case of SAD. I’ve been cheery and happy for three weeks, and (coincidence? I think not) the weather has been gorgeous. But today, it’s freezing. The sun is shining, but it’s a lackluster sort of shine, and the vicious wind is whipping the palm trees into a frenzy. It’s depressing. I want to cry. #7 Of Course my icky sadness probably has more to do with residual frustration from last night. See,... Read more

This conversation occurred today. It’s a good thing I got 10 hours of sleep last night, or I probably wouldn’t have been laughing so hard.  Sienna: Mom, are you going to have a baby today? Me: No! (hahahaha) If I were going to have a baby, my tummy would have to get really big with a baby inside it first. Does my tummy look like I’m going to have a baby? Sienna: Yes. Me: Sienna! (hahahaha) It does not. Sienna:... Read more

My children are lucky to be alive today. Don’t let those innocent faces fool you.  Seriously. I am shocked that the Ogre didn’t construct iron rails across their bedroom door last night in his fury. And if he had, they totally would have deserved it. I think I’ve mentioned before that the Ogre really possesses the cool head in our family. His reactions to our children’s mischief are calm, measured, thoughtful and, like the proverbial oak tree, unyielding. Mine tend... Read more

I took my sister to the airport this morning. We drove through the early-morning semi-darkness, the mountains just jagged shadows on the horizon, shivering in the desert coolness. After I dropped her off I drove back home on the side-streets, skipping the highway so I could watch the sun rise without risking highway drivers running me over. Watching the sun rise over the mountains is always a treat. Even after nights filled with sick babies when the snatches of sleep... Read more

 I’m a whole day late on this one. Sorry, guys. My sister is in town this weekend, so blogging is likely to be sparse until Monday. But I thought I would take advantage of the late morning semi-stillness to do some quick takes. They will be quick, though. #7 Charlotte might have croup. Sigh. She woke up in the middle of the night with that awful dog-barking cough, and has been walking around hacking all morning.  This is on top... Read more

When Sienna was about a month old, the Ogre and I began trying to get her baptized. We went to the class, we met the requirements, we selected godparents. When we filed the official petition with our parish to have her baptized, we were denied. Sienna was not allowed to be baptized, said the parish, because she was born out of wedlock. She could only be allowed the sacrament of baptism once I had converted and we were married in... Read more

Oh. Wow. What a weekend. Guess what? That post on the iron? I wrote that post three days before I put it up and saved it for this weekend, because I had some sort of wicked premonition that things were not going to go well around our house. I was so right. I’m seriously glad I saved it and posted it Saturday, otherwise you’d have had nothing to read at all from me this weekend! And then your lives would... Read more

I found this link on Pentimento and wanted to re-post it. It is such an awful tragedy…a family answering God’s call to adopt a little boy with Down Syndrome, approved through the whole adoption process, only to have a judge deny their petition because the precious boy is “not socially adaptable” and is better off in an institution than in a home with a loving family. Horrible.  Please pray for this family, their child who is waiting to come home,... Read more