Air conditioners don’t cool anything if they are out of freon.  It doesn’t matter how long they run or how much air they move, they cool nothing. ******************************************************** Toothpaste does not feel good in your eye, or more specifically toothpaste does not feel good in my eye.  It doesn’t do much for my vision or appearance either. ******************************************************** Some children learn to read easily, others do not.  Sometimes the slowest reader can be one of your brighter children.  It just... Read more

It’s that time of year again when completely ordinary bloggers compete to prove that they’re only slightly better than average! Please take a moment and head on over to vote for Shoved to Them in the Cannonball Catholic Blog anti-awards for Best Potpourri of Popery and Best Underappreciated. You can vote once every day…so you should vote once every day! Thanks.  It’s not a lot, but it’s all I’ve got. Read more

“I have found that whenever someone I know does something which seems non-sensible, uncaring, or downright mean, that it often only seems that way because I am missing information.  Once I get that key bit of knowledge about what’s going on, then it all makes sense to me.  It’s why I now wait to make up my mind until I’ve heard the whole story.” -the Girl with the white mini-van Read more

For years, our sweet #4 has wanted nothing more than anonymity.  She liked to sit quietly on the outskirts of a room and observe the action and wish for invisibility.  Every so often, we would see flashes of self-confidence only to watch her shy self reappear. Then we moved. Without the social safety net of the friends and family who had surrounded her with shelter for the whole of her life, she was forced to put on her game face... Read more

Today I learned to speak another language.  I’m not sure which one, because I thought I was speaking in my native tongue.  Nobody understood me though, which leads me to believe a miracle has occurred and I’m speaking in tongues instead.  A little Esperanto anyone? This morning, we had preschool playgroup in the neighborhood.  As I walked across the street with my two youngest boys, I said, “We’re going to the house with the red car in the driveway.”#5 gave... Read more

A few days ago, I wrote a blog post about God and 9/11.  Most of the responses were positive, but I got one which was not.  “Where was God’s mercy for the 3,000?” She asked me.  She went on to state that terrible things happen which can not be explained away, things which show a heartless and ruthless side to God with which she struggles.  How can anyone rely on the love of God when He allowed the 3,000 to... Read more

This has been a difficult week to discuss the concept of Free Will with my children.  Perhaps it is Divine Providence that we hit upon this topic in the same week that the news channels are all running footage of the attacks of September 11th.  My 10 and 11 year olds are fascinated by the events of that day, but they keep coming back to the troubling question of “Why did God let that happen?” I struggle with an answer... Read more

We have suspected for some time now that our 4 year old son may be dealing with some of the poor vision issues his 10 year old brother faces.  (Conversion Insufficiency – true double vision caused by his eyes working completely independent of each other, dyslexia, etc.)  We are seeing in him the same symptoms which we explained away in his brother, i.e. no writing or coloring at age 4, extreme fear of heights, fear of animals, constant touching of... Read more

All week, my 11 year old has struggled with the concepts of Free Will and the Omnipotence of God.  After all, he has repeatedly asked, how can it be free will if God already knows what we will do?  I’ve been struggling to explain it to him, as it’s not something my human brain can easily understand.  I’ve been trying, and praying, and then praying about it some more.  Yesterday, he explained it to himself as he watched me put... Read more

A woman at my 7 year old daughter’s dance class today asked how many children I have.  I patted my belly and said, “This is number 7.” She gave a a stunned look before replying “Oh my, that’s way too many.” The very next thing in my mind was the song “Boy for Sale” from the musical Oliver!. That’s just the sick way my mind works.  People are rude and I answer with Broadway musicals.  No smart retorts, just quiet... Read more