A Birthday this week...

You are still the thoughtful dreamy little girl who likes to make us laugh with your funny faces and you are still entertaining us with your hilarious cartoons.
We LOVE you Bethany Rose - whatever would we do without you.

Happy 11th Birthday Darling!

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Day Three Novena to St Joseph

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

O Saint Joseph, assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. Amen

O Saint Joseph, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. O Saint Joseph, pray for me. (Mention your intention)

(My intention: That our business will be very successful and allow us to support ourselves well as well as the intentions of my readers. )


Say this prayer for nine days for anything you may desire. Then let go and let God. Trust that whatever is the outcome of your novena is truly what is best for you in accordance with the will of God.)

Please join my family in our novena, either with your own intention or in support of ours or both!

(Another novena with different readings for each day can be found here. )

( Image found here)

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Can't wait

...for Guardian Angel House to be published this spring. Our daughter, Anna, read one of the drafts of this book and can not wait for it to be released either. However, one can already purchase it. If it is as good a read as Kathy Clark's first book, A Whisper In my Heart - it will be excellent. (I had a sneak peek too and it will be good- I promise!) To read my review of her first book click here. Meet Kathy here and read a little more about Guardian Angel House, a true story about a Catholic convent, one very special nun and two little frightened Jewish girls being hid amongst a group of Catholic girls.

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Day two of the St Joseph Novena....

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

O Saint Joseph, assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. Amen

O Saint Joseph, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. O Saint Joseph, pray for me. (Mention your intention)

(My intention: That our business will be very successful and allow us to support ourselves well as well as the intentions of my readers. )


Say this prayer for nine days for anything you may desire. Then let go and let God. Trust that whatever is the outcome of your novena is truly what is best for you in accordance with the will of God.)

Please join my family in our novena, either with your own intention or in support of ours or both!


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Awesome...

So proud of my 8 yr old! He washed and dried his clothes today, mind he washed & dried his leather belt with them but... I'm not going to complain. Now if I can just get him to fold and put them away....

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St Joseph's Feast day....

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

O Saint Joseph, assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. Amen

O Saint Joseph, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. O Saint Joseph, pray for me. (Mention your intention)

(My intention: That our business will be very successful and allow us to support ourselves well as well as the intentions of my readers. )


Say this prayer for nine days for anything you may desire. Then let go and let God. Trust that whatever is the outcome of your novena is truly what is best for you in accordance with the will of God.)

Please join my family in our novena, either with your own intention or in support of ours or both!

(Note: This prayer was found in the 50th year of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In 1505, it was sent by the Pope to Emperor Charles when he was going into battle. It is said that whoever shall read this prayer or take it with them, shall never die a sudden death or be drowned, nor shall poison take effect on them; neither shall they fall into the hands of the enemy, or shall be burned in any fire or shall be overpowered in battle. Found at this site.)

(image found at PRAYERFLOWERS)

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Puppy Schedule

Here is what our rigid Puppy Boot Camp Schedule looks like:

7 am - 8 am person who was on night watch feeds, waters puppy and takes out to pottie
8 - 9 ..........Bethany
9 - 10 ........Benjamin
10 - 11 ...... Bethany (10:30 Puppy has 2nd meal & walked)
11 - 12 ...... Noah
12 - 1 ........ Benjamin
1 - 2 .......... Anna
2 - 3 ......... Noah (2:30 Puppy has 3rd meal & walked)
3 - 4 .......... Bethany
4 - 5 ......... Benjamin (4:30 or 5 Puppy has last meal & walked)
5 - 6 ......... Noah
6 - 7 .......... Anna
7 - 8 .......... Mummy while older children help little ones get ready for bed
8 - 9 .......... Benjamin & Noah together
9 - until bedtime - person on night watch is responsible for puppy.

During the hour a person is assigned they are the puppy's shadow taking him out after eating or having water, a play time or a nap. Blaze has adjusted well to his crate at night time and is only slowly becoming acclimatized to being in the crate during our meals. He was not crate trained in his first home and had a small room to roam in during the day and night so I am amazed at how well he has adjusted to sleeping at night in the crate. God willing he will continue to do this well.

Night watch means that the puppy slept in his crate in that person's bedroom and s/he took puppy to the pottie during the night - on a pee pad by the front door.

Please keep Blaze in your prayers as well as us. We need a well behaved puppy but foremost we need to be successful in house breaking him. This means we must be very committed to his training.


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Puppy Boot Camp in Progress

Learning how to call the puppy... will he come to his name?

SUCCESS!!!

Continue to watch for puppy boot camp updates!

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My Apologies...

... but as director of the Puppy Boot Camp currently being run in my living room and dining room - I have found myself very busy, uh, directing children as they direct the puppy. Then there is the whole case of still caring for a new born. One of my best friends asked if I thought my Lent was not challenging enough yet? I think that was her way of subtly suggesting I am, ummm, LOCA!

So posting might be a bit sporadic between wiping up puddles directing puppy training, changing diapers, posting schedules for puppy walks, meals, etc

So pray for me, eh?


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And heeeeres...

... the newest member of our family.

BLAZE

This "wee" baby was carefully selected this weekend after much prayer. The really incredible thing is that our second oldest daughter delivered this puppy along with the rest of his litter and our fourth daughter, Anna, was also present at the birth.

We have been wanting a puppy for a while and we have been waiting for the right moment. While he is a young puppy he is WEANED! His first night here was pretty peaceful. He woke up a few times and was taken to the potty and settled down again. Please God he will do as well tonight.

We feel with our evening classes coming up - we need a dog in the house with our teenagers when they start to baby sit a couple nights a week. Look forward to many updates as this little fellow adjusts to life with a large family!



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If you think these...

are cute....





check them out here...




and here....

BUT she is quickly out growing them - WAAAH!!!

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The perfect day...

...for hot chocolate. After a whirlwind heat wave we are back in the throes of cold, windy, rain filled days with gloomy skies. So I pulled out a large pot today, added cocoa with 1/2 of the equal amount
of sugar. I like to add a touch of coffee but there was none at hand today. Poured in several cups of milk and heated it over a medium hot burner.

Served it up with animal crackers and enjoyed listening to lions, rhinoceros, and the like, drowning and then being rescued from mugs of steamy hot chocolate.

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Aditional Update on Timothy

... a friend of the family who was here when Timothy went home with his new family met the gentleman in our local Wal-mart and asked how things were going. It seems they are enjoying Timothy very much! That was so wonderful to hear.

There might not be much happening on my blog the next day or two. It is the last two days of our spring vacation and I have a few cleaning goals to accomplish that feel as impossible as climbing Mount Olympus. If anything there will be pictures posted... I have lots of them - just lacking the time to post them!

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Please pray for this little baby...

I have been following her story for some months now and more than once thought she was not going to make it! I will be adding her button on the side so you can peek in on her recovery now and then as well.

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Timothy...

Monday was D day for Timothy - to the shelter or not? Well - he did NOT go to the shelter, but neither did he stay here. He found a lovely home in the country on three acres with a couple who have raised motherless animals before.

We are missing him, but very happy he has a good home. Meanwhile we are making plans for the summer when we will try to find our furever friend and train him, or her, up into a wonderful companion. And, hopefully, the pup will have already been weaned - so no 3 hr round the clock feeding! Whew -now that we don't miss. Read more!

Evening thoughts...

Two boys, 8 & 12, playing chess.
A 13 yr old entertaining a 9 week old.
An older sister helping a younger one clean their bed off.
An almost 4 yr old asleep on Mummy's lap.
A 15 year old using her 30 minutes of Internet time.
An 18 yr old caring for her niece; many miles away from here.
A mother journaling, father working.
A peaceful night.

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Baby Cecilia is developing a routine...

... as in routinely filling her diaper to overflowing. She adds variety, though, as to what direction she leaks - up the back, down the leg - up the tummy. Read more!

Craving Equations...

One Craving for Banana Bread

Company's Coming Recipe Book

+ 45 minutes in the kitchen
---------------------------------
5 loaves in the oven (2 pineapple & 3 banana)


Craving satisfied!
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How do you know...

... there is a puppy in the house? When you hear Daddy say: "Hey don't forget to wash your hands before you pet the baby!"

Stay tuned to hear more about Timothy's future!
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A visitor comes to call

Yesterday I was called down from Mount Laundry by Emma who excitedly explained:

"I was sitting on the door step with Bethany and some girls stopped. They want to talk to YOU Mummy. They are at the door. I think they want directions. "

This statement was punctuated with Emma's excited arms waving about as she pointed here and there emphasizing where everyone was. I made my way to the door still folding a t-shirt.

I opened the door and found three girls on bicycles standing on the edge of our lawn. One of them held out a small puppy and asked:

"Would you like a puppy?"

Before I could firmly say "No - please take it back home.", the oldest one added:

"We found him up the road and we can't take him home 'cause we have two pit bulls."

"Yeah," added the younger girl "and they're gettin' real mean - one bit me yesterday"

The older one who then introduced herself as the mother of the other two stated;

"They sure is and they are only four months old! I wouldn't dare take this little one home to them."

Well - to be honest, I wouldn't have been taking a puppy, let alone my children, home to them either so I took a closer look at the puppy:

No Fleas
Clean Ears
Fat tummy
Willing to allow me to poke and prod...

"Well", I said hesitantly, " I can keep him here over night and then take him to the shelter.

So here he is - our temporary visitor:








This little fellow, who is currently being called Timothy, will be staying until Monday when the Shelter will then be able to take him. They have asked if we will keep him until then as they do not have sufficient staff to care for him - as he is not yet weaned. Oh LORD help us - that is more than enough time to ingratiate himself to us - we CAN NOT make that mistake again!

PS - to Pit Bull owners - I am not against Pit Bulls per say, but to have a member of this breed already showing signs of aggression towards my children is, in my opinion an ominous sign of the future. I was also attacked by a pit bull and badly bitten, at the age of five, so I have personal experience of how aggressive this breed can be if not properly raised and trained.

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A photo I was blessed to take...

Thank you Benjamin for showing me how to do the © sign! Now I need to add it to Bethany's photos.



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Some tall guys make some TALL snowmen!

Smoothing out his work.

A stake? Maybe through the heart? We are talking boys here.

Nope - a nose. What was I thinking?

Finishing touches.
(Sadly, when Emma decided that Benjamin's snowman needed a candy cane mouth too, he collapsed under her tender pressure on his face. He is but a memory now!)

Checking out his work.

Resting on his buddy.

Complete.

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Meenalu...

... your requested post on 'why not return to Canada' is coming!
Stay Tuned!

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If you are 12 and a boy...

... what is the most logical thing to do if you find a few rolls of plaster cast material? Why you immediately create a fake cast so you can try to fool your piano teacher into thinking you cannot play in the recital this spring.

After you get home from your cool joke - too late you learn that doctors apply a cotton wrap over the skin before applying the plaster. A very painful twenty minutes later you are not only sans the fake cast but also rid of most of the hair on your arm.

Lesson learned - don't try to trick your piano teacher with a fake cast!


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More pictures from our snow day

The Creation of a snowman.... by Emma.


Rolling... rolling... rolling!



Rolling some more.




And Nathaniel joins in too - rolling, rolling, rolling...




FINALLY!



Now for a few finishing touches....

Adding a candy cane for a mouth, emmm yum!

Now a nose!

Add a hat and we're done!

More snowmen to come. Stay Tuned!

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If you have a blank spot...

...on your prayer list please add me to it. I am struggling with a few things here and will be mentally on my knees quite a bit these next few days if not weeks! I could use ALL the graces that can be spared, so if you have time to slip me into your prayers - I cannot tell you how much I will appreciate it. Please also keep our 22 yr old son in your prayers as he discerns his future the next couple of days.

Thank you! Thank you, thank you in advance for all of your prayers.

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She's growing like a weed!

This adorable outfit had to be retired already!
The newborn stage is but a fleeting moment in a lifetime.
I am desperate to enjoy every moment of it.
Even now, as I type, Cecilia is resting on my lap on her boppy pillow.

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Are you a twitter?

If so, you really need to check out TweetCatholic.
BTW - do you know who are the three most followed Catholics on Twitter?
No?
Then check out TweetCatholic.
Did I say that TweetCatholic is Sweet?!

And if y'all not 'a twitter' - check it out anyway!

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Snow Day...

...and school is canceled. After all who could resist taking the day to enjoy this....

'Early Morning Sun' by Bethany Rose (10 yrs)

'Icicles' by Bethany Rose (10 yrs)

Enjoying the neighbours driveway!

(You know we are in the south when your neighbour is encouraging the kids to pile snow ONTO the driveway - instead of shoveling it off!) (photo by mum213 :)

I have 2 videos of the sliding - if only I could get the links to work. Maybe my jpgs are too large? Anyone have some ideas - if so could you comment or email me?

(Please, if anyone shares the photos by Bethany give her credit as they are her property! :-)

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A little change from puppy news...

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Today he comes!

Yes! Today the repairman comes to ... repair my dishwasher. Oh I hope it is something that can be repaired easily AND today! My beloved washer is but 6 months old. Surely we have not worn it out already? We are only running it twice a day! Maybe we should have gone with Maytag so that the repairman could stay... as bored as this guy looks!



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Storm prep

Flashlights ............................... check
Candles ..................................... check
Camp stove............................... check
Butane for stove....................... check
Safe place to use stove ............ check
Baby's laundry on ................... check
(Can't run out of jammies, eh?)
8 loaves of bread ...................... check
food heatable on camp stove... check
Prayers ....................................... check
Rain - lots of it .......................... check.
Wind ............................................ check
family dinner .............................. canceled :-(
Freezing rain............................. not yet
Snow........................................ nope - not yet either and praying it doesn't come nor the freezing rain and praying our preparations will enable Murphy's Law to come into play - in our favour!


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Joy of Joy!

There's a baby in the house and I've been sorting and folding her little socks.

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Neena's last day with us...

On Thursday Neena attacked a purple Pompom - much to our amusement. Inspired with a possible post I grabbed my camera to take some photos. I almost video taped it as it was so funny to watch. Little did I know this would be Neena's last day with us. Later that night I scooped her up off my rocking chair and plunked her down on my lap while we prepared to say our evening prayers that we are trying to re-institute as part of our Lenten contract. She stayed but a moment and then hopped down and stretched before leaving the room and that is the last time I remember seeing her.

This morning we received a phone call. Unfortunately it was 12 yr old Benjamin, who especially loves cats, who answered the phone. Our neighbour who was distraught and thought she was talking to me and informed him that Neena had been hit by a vehicle during the night but that someone had already kindly removed her from the road. Neena was an indoor cat but of late she had begun to sit by the door waiting her moment to escape and she was lightening fast. Nosey, a stray that has adopted Benjamin and consequently us, typically would chase her and pin her down so we could bring her back in - much to her chagrin. We think she slipped out last night when my husband took a forgotten bag of garbage out to the curbside for Friday's pick up.

The children were devastated as you can well imagine by the sad news, each mourning in their own way. One child tried to occupy herself with her math lesson and failed, finally succumbing to her tears. I reminded her as she resisted the tears that God had designed us to cry and even Jesus had cried when Lazarus died, even though he knew he would be bringing him back to life. Another child could not eat all day even though he was hungry - he just choked on each bite and gave up until evening when he was finally able to eat his supper.

Here are the pictures of Neena enjoying "killing" the pompom she had just hunted down.

ATTACK!

Almost finished!

Abandoned kill!

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Abstinence isn't realistic - say WHAT?

Enjoy a good read on abstinence and one mother's response to Bristol Palin's statement that abstinence isn't realistic. To read Brigid at Redemptive Diapering click here.


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Small Successes...

1) Got my hair CUT this week after wanting to do it for about three months! LOVE IT! And probably shed a few pounds as a result! Seriously - we cut so much off I bet I lost at least a pound! :-)

2) FINALLY called the repair guy for my under warranty BRAND NEW dishwasher that is grinding and groaning! He will be here Monday - praying my beloved dish washer lives until then.

3) Did a dry run of my first ESL class to see how long it would go - should take a solid hour to go through it all. My kids played the part of ESL students. Benjamin practiced his Spanish accent and Bethany pretended to need the work sheets to answer! Noah was the wise guy and Gabriela the perfect student who always got it right! Cecilia played the cute and silent student while the three little ones watched a cartoon or two!

This is the first week I felt I had some small successes since they started this! Guess my post partum tears have finally passed! Looking forward to posting more!

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Huh?

Sunday night Anna wandered into the kitchen and asked permission to make a delicious chocolate pie she has recently made for her sister, but we were missing a key ingredient. Could she call her Dad while he was at the store to pick it up.

Spying two cell phones on the counter she picked one up, noted it was her fathers and tossed it back on the counter declaring "Ugh, I don't like Daddy's cell phone, I'll call him with yours!" In so saying she grabbed mine and flipped it open to dial her dad's phone.

I chuckled and picked up her father's cell phone and waved it in front of her face - waiting for the groan of comprehension! It came quite quickly broadening my grin even more. But maybe I should have just let her dad's phone ring...

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Lenten Prepartions

Have you, either as a family or as an individual, decided what you will strive to achieve in terms of spiritual growth this Lent? Three days ago we sat down as a family this morning and came up with what one child has termed our Lenten Contract. But as we worked on this spiritual exercise I kept this following quote that was included in Holly Pierlot's workbook from her book; A Mother's Rule of Life.

"We should not want to practice many [spiritual] exercises at the same time or all of a sudden. The enemy often tries to make us attempt and start many projects so that we will be overwhelmed with too many tasks, and therefore achieve nothing and leave everything unfinished. Sometimes he even suggests the wish to undertake some excellent work that he foresees we will never accomplish. This is to distract us from the prosecution of some less excellent work that we would have easily completed. He does not care how many plans and beginnings we make, provided nothing is finished...

St Jerome says "Among Christians it is not so much the beginning as the end that counts."

(St. Francis de Sales, "Finding God's Will for You", New Hampshire, Sophia Institute Press, 1998, p 52-53 )

It can be very tempting to strive so high that you are almost destined to fail. While it is good to have challenging goals, they must be reasonably attainable. I cannot tell you how many Lents we have had goals set too high to accomplish for where we were (spiritually) as a family and so when we kept failing to meet the daily goals set out - we gave up. At the end of Lent we felt more guilt than joy. I am determined that this shall not be the case this year and so we kept revisiting this premise as we set out our family goals.

Finally when we finished we had 4 goals set out. Some will require sacrifice, some are additional activities and they all intertwine nicely with each other. They will not necessarily be easy to achieve but they are attainable - allowing us, as a family and as individuals, to travel further in our spiritual journey.

I pray for a spiritually successful Lent for all of you!

Blessings
Christi

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Lesson Learned... a stroll down memory lane.

I have always loved chocolate though it was not until I was an adult that I learned to appreciate the finer qualities of dark chocolate. So it was that at the ripe old age of seven I was fully in love with milk chocolate and happy to consume it in whatever form it appeared in. And it just so happened that there was usually a bag or two of chocolate chips hidden in one of the kitchen cupboards, waiting for baking day.

I am ashamed to admit that it was not beyond me to sometimes slide a chair across the shiny kitchen floor, clamber up on it and rustle a small fistful of chocolate chips that I would smuggle into my room. There I would savour the tiny morsels of chocolate one at a time while I read. It is hard to say what I loved more those days, the taste of chocolate or reading. I still find today that the two go well together.

Apparently I was a very stealthy thief as I do not recall ever being caught, but I came very close to it one night when I hit upon, what seemed to me a most ingenious plan. It was choir practice that night and I thought being able to nibble on a piece of chocolate throughout practice would be just divine. "Icing on the cake" so to speak as I especially enjoyed gathering with my friends in the church to practice singing.

With my usual covertness, I clambered up into the cupboards and filled a sheet of paper towel with more than my usual bounty of chocolate chips. After all I might be called upon to share these luscious treats with the singers to my left and right. Then I was faced with a problem - how to get my larger than normal treat into my bedroom where I needed to dress for practice. I solved the problem quickly by wrapping the chocolate chips up tight and placing the paper package beneath my undershirt. I padded quietly to my bedroom and got changed for the evenings activities.

Once dressed in good clothes, I headed to the hallway where my father was patiently waiting for me to prepare for the cold drive to the church. On went my skidoo pants, followed by my parka, hat, scarf, mitts and finally snow boots. As far north as we lived one did not venture out with any less than that on - at my age at any rate. Sufficiently wrapped up, my dad and I got into the car and left for practice. I jumped out as we stopped in front of the church door and I carelessly waved good bye before dashing up the stairs and into the church without even taking time to enjoy the smoke curling out of my mouth into the cold icy air.

Most of the choir was already there and the pile of boots by the door was growing quickly as we peeled off our winter wear. Like the rest of the students, I left on my bibbed snow pants and quietly followed the Choir Mistress down to the front of the church. Somehow Miss Johnson managed to get us all quiet and arranged in the pews, more by age than by ability I think. The books were pulled out of the shelves and the correct page found with much rustling. We giggled and teased each other through the hour long practice, severely testing Miss Johnson's patience, I am sure! The hour in the warm, cozy church passed by all too quickly and before we knew it - it was time to envelop ourselves once more within our jackets, scarves and mitts. We had all already saved a step by keeping our snow pants on. The drive was quickly filling up with cars as parents slowly eased up by the steps to pick up their young, lively cargo. I was keen to get outside and hopefully a few snow balls thrown with everyone else, before my dad's car was next to pull up. All too soon it was my turn to crawl into the front passenger side of a car and share with my father the details of practice. What songs had we covered, who sang best, had I had fun. I pulled one of my mittens off and blew on the window so as to try and compete with Jack Frost by creating elegant designs on the window. As I pulled a quickly chilled fingertip across the icy glass, I suddenly remembered my ill gotten treat safely tucked beneath my undershirt. I grinned in the dark thinking of the delicious treat I would now have all to myself over the next few days. With having forgotten my larger than usual spoils, I would not have to risk pilfering through the kitchen cupboards for several days. Now I was more than anxious to be home and was quick to retreat to my bedroom once we had left the cold frosty car behind.

I quickly undressed and tossed my clothes into a pile. Once I got to my undershirt I tugged on the white bit of paper towel peeping out. It did not slide out as quickly as it had slid in. In fact, it seemed stuck. I tugged harder and finally a very dark piece of paper slid out of my shirt. Smeared on the inside of my undershirt were streaks of brown that were quick to attach to the streaks of brown slathered on my chest. Horrified, it dawned on me what had happened but what was not so quick to come to mind was the solution. What to do with this incriminating evidence - the chocolate streaked undershirt? A facecloth was easily going to erase the evidence smeared on my body, but the undershirt? It posed a larger problem. The solution I came to was to simply dispose of it in the garbage. For some reason I chose the bathroom garbage can and given it smallness in size - I still wonder to this day how my mother never discovered the shirt. Or did she?

Lesson learned - never hide chocolate chips inside your undershirt!




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Pay Back!

How many of us have heard this question and winced: "You mean you had (fill in the blank) when YOU were a kid? Wow - I had no idea (fill in the blank) was so old!" or the other version "Did you have TV/ PHONES/ DVDs when you were a kid?" I still remember when my children found a rotary dial phone amongst a lot of surplus equipment and brought it to me to ask how to use it. (To read original post click here)

Well, last Friday was pay back time! My current teens were listening to Weird Al and enjoying one of his newest songs - Moo Moo Moo - who let the cows out? and I commented to them; "You know when Aimee, Jenny, Jonathan and Miguel were teenagers, they used to listen to Weird All too."

Noah (13) gasped; "You mean HE is that old?"

Yes - you better believe I called as many of the four oldest as I could and enjoyed the gasps and peals of laughter that rolled through the phone!

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I don't want to be one of those...

A talk show radio program was playing in the back ground the other day and a commercial came and went after which Emma and I had the following conversation:

Emma: "I don't want to be one of those. I am afraid of heights."
Mummy: (After a significant pause as I thought about the commercial...) "What don't you want to be, Emma?"
Emma: "I don't want to be a millionaire."
Mummy: (after another significant pause while I tried to connect being a millionaire with heights, or to be more exact - fear of heights) "Why not Emma?"
Emma: " Cause I am afraid of heights and they said you have to be way up there to be a millionaire."
Mummy: "Do you know what a millionaire is, Emma?"
Emma: "Nope"
Mummy: "It's someone who is very, very rich and has a lot of money."
Emma: "OH! I want to be one of those! Don't you Mummy? "

I guess at the tender age of six Emma has indeed realized that money makes the world go round! And for those curious as to how I answered Emma - I simply said I wouldn't mind having a little more money than we do, Emma.
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Calling all writers...

Young and Old - Here is a nifty website I discovered through a post left at Beyond Pearls.
Click here to check it out. I will follow it for awhile and then probably add it to my favourite links on the side bar! Sounds like a fun place to hang out if you like writing or have kids you are trying to encourage at writing!








(Credit for picture: Christopher Stott)


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How Stupid is Stupid?

Scribbit asks; "Is stupid a bad word now?"
I have to agree with how Scribbit answers this question.
Read her post see what you think.

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My Bakers doz is leading...

... as the possible name change for my blog and my 79 % of my readers have declared that I need to change my blog's name.

If you haven't voted yet - do so soon, as I will be making my decision in the next few days and taking tentative steps towards a name change. Has anyone else done that without accidentally deleting their blog???

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Testing testing... 1 2 3

Testing to see if my dad and step mum are following the blog. If you are - we are ALMOST out of TETLEY tea! Hugo has been enjoying it immensely. I had been too until Cecilia had a caffeine meltdown and I had to cut it out of my diet.

Still... we would all love some more...





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Emma up close

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Sleep, oh elusive sleep...

Cecilia rarely sleeps from 9 pm to 1 am. I should get her a third shift somewhere. The other day, she was quiet and an opportunity arose for me to be able to take a nap in preparation for her owl shift from 9 to 1. As tired as I was - I desperately wanted to spend that time working on either my curriculum, or an article I have been asked to write for a Catholic Magazine. As much as I knew I needed to sleep - I so wanted to work on one of these two things. However, common sense won out and to bed I went. These newborn upside down days will pass all too quickly and I must need follow her routine and enjoy every precious, cuddly, soft cheek to my cheek moment with her. Even those fussy, tummy ache can't sleep moments. The clock is ticking and the pages on the calendar are flipping too quickly. Before I know it she will be crawling, then walking and one day, all too soon, I will be looking at colleges with her, trying to decide which one is the best fit.

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A great game idea

... for the cold rainy days we sometimes experience here in the south and for those still freezing in the north. This game suggestion comes from about far North as you can go and still be in the States. Want to know what it is - click here and then have a rousing game of ooops - almost gave it away. Sorry - you have to go check it out over at Scribbits!

Say just had a grand idea! Anyone who engages in this game- take a picture of the family enjoying a break and then post it on your blog, come back here and leave a comment with your blog's url so we can all check out your home team having a blast. Could be really fun traveling the globe together.

Or if you have another game you play inside to get out the energy that builds up during cabin fever -do the same. Take a picture and send us a comment with a link to your blog.

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a few polls...

poll by twiigs.com

poll by twiigs.com

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Happy Valentines Day

Remember my post earlier this week about the red envelope campaign? Well, what better Valentine gift could we give to the world than to make a huge impact on Obama with this Red Envelope Campaign?

Here are three sites that are promoting it. One of them, as of 5:30 pm EST Friday, had a record of 96000 envelopes mailed. Come on - we can MAKE IT 50 MILLION if we try hard enough to get the word out!

The Red Envelope Project

Send a Red Envelope

Red Envelopes for Life

Just click here for the address again if you want to do this without visiting the above sites. Once there scroll down my previous post and you will have the address and the message to write on the envelope.




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Here comes those dogs...

Elsa is not sure what to think of these dogs... they are kind of cute but...

Oh oh.. they are coming closer!

Get them off! Get them off!!

WHEW!!! They're gone!

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Sweet 35...

Days that is. Or five weeks.

We were heading out to the play ground and I dressed her in this adorable pink velour snowsuit. - it was our first chance to use this absolutely adorable snow suit that was a gift from Peggy on the occasion of Cecilia's welcome party, which we had while her oldest sister was here from Ireland.


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