Did You Know?

I never knew Folding Laundry was a Contact Sport.  5 loads of laundry piled in 3 baskets, 5 boys.   Contact Sport.

Days of the Dead

 

October 31st - All Hallow's Eve

We remember the souls of the damned as a reminder to ourselves how we can avoid being one of the damned.   Avoid the slippery slope downward of Evil and the Seven Deadly Sins:  

Sloth, Lust, Anger, Pride,

Envy, Gluttony, Greed.

November 1st

We honor the Church Triumphant in Heaven, those people who have gained their Heavenly Reward. We strive to emulate the virtues they practiced.  Climb the Path less traveled.

Diligence, Chastity, Meekness, Humility,

Brotherly Love, Temperance, Generosity

November 2nd

We pray for the Church Suffering in Purgatory that they will soon be released from the temporary hellfires of Purgatory.

A partial indulgence can be obtained by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed, even if the prayer is only mental. One can gain a plenary indulgence visiting a cemetery each day between November 1 and November 8. These indulgences are applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory.

A plenary indulgence, again applicable only the Souls in Purgatory, is also granted when the faithful piously visit a church or a public oratory on November 2. In visiting the church or oratory, it is required, that one Our Father and the Creed be recited.

A partial indulgence, applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory, can be obtained when the Eternal Rest (Requiem aeternam) is prayed

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for all sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.
St. Gertrude for the release of 1000 souls from Purgatory.

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If these don't enlarge for you to print email me and I can email the PDF to you.  I couldn't figure out how to attach a PDF... so I made them into images.

First Tooth

Marigold is 5 months old and got her first razor sharp tooth (emphasis mine...)
Poor phone picture since camera is defunct... sigh...

And With Thy Spirit



Dominus Vobiscum

Et Cum Spiritu Tuo

We 99.9% of the time attend the TLM but just the same I am very intrigued by the more literally correct translation of the NOM that is coming out with the New Church Year, Advent.  My quandary today was over "And with thy spirit" and what this meant.... which of course is throughout the TLM.  Sadly, sometimes we take for granted the little things and don't realize that every word has a specific meaning that we need to contemplate.  The former NOM "And also with you." gives us that horizontal conversation between the priest and me.  The part that is forgotten is that the priest I am looking at is no longer Fr. Friend.  He is Christ.  The minute a priest ascends the steps to the Altar of God (not the table the Altar of God) that priest is "in persona Christi" in the person of Christ.  So this sheds a much more beautiful light to "And with thy spirit". I'm neither a theologian nor a great thinker but sometimes I'm a good butcherer of great thoughts so with that I will send you to a blog post on this topic at Fr. Z's blog.  Lot's to ponder....

Though not nearly so much to ponder as the very thought that God, Our Omnipotent God Who is really and truly Present in the Sacred Host.  Which, in case anyone has forgotten.... is why we are at Mass in the first place. If the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is "just a meal" it's a pretty scanty one.  But that is not what it is... it is the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Lord.  He wished to be with us, to give us Himself to us, really and truly.   I digress....

Chicken Choppin' 2011

                              

I feel like this sometimes....

 Today we (that is "we" without me... technically that would be "they") "dressed" (which means undressed) 60 chickens and 10 turkeys.  Here is Frodo proudly carrying one of  the turkeys.  The biggest turkey was 34-1/2 pounds.

Apparently this was Poppy prepping for chicken potty pie....

Immediate Prayers Please

UPDATE 10/28/2011:  Eileen passed away this morning at home.
Eternal Rest grant unto her O Lord
And let Perpetual Light shine upon her.
May she rest in Peace.

Please pray for her husband and 6 children (ages 20 to 6).

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/rrstar/obituary.aspx?n=eileen-chambers&pid=154314015
10/27/2011
Please say a prayer for Eileen Chambers as she is in the final battle with cancer.  May God, in His Great Mercy, grant her a peaceful death.  Please also pray for her family.

Saint Movies

Anyone have a list of really good saint movies they'd like to share?  Meaning the best saint movies out there.  Either post in comments or email me.

Rosaries for Our Priests

Lovely website to pray for our wonderful priests. <<<---click linkie 
If you'd like to pray for one of our priests please sign up!  If you would like to start your own rosary crusade for priests in your area or another Order that would be great too!  Priests need alot of prayers!  How many great priests end up with fan clubs but no one to sincerely pray for them?  When I hear that a priest fell, I often wonder if their life would have been different if they had someone to pray for them... Where would we be without our priests?  We'd have no Christ on the Altar, we'd have no forgiveness of sins, no Sacramental Marriages, no Sacraments at all..... 'Nuff said....   that's scary territory.

Love

♥ We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place for those who love us.
St. Bernard

Walk What You Preach

♥ It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.

St. Francis of Assisi

Waterslides and Gardens

WATER PARK

A generous soul decided that she would not mind if a family of 13 invaded her time-share and enjoyed waterslides for 2 days.  I know... that does not happen very often.  (Does it ever happen?) 

The kids got a chance to ride in a shuttle bus. Being homeschooled means never riding a bus. I now want a shuttle bus to drive around.  The conversation turned to things like "this would be great, Sam won't put his long legs into the back of my seat!" Right, he will now kick you instead.  "No one will get car sick because we can look out the window no matter where we sit!"  You know, projectile vomiting will now get you in the face rather than the back of the head.    Etc....  But truly... I want one! The gas mileage is no worse than our 15 passenger van.  In one look I can see everyone.

 The waterslides were great.    Even I went on them.  Of course I didn't relish them quite as much as the kids.  This one is the "Under 12" waterslide.  So I found out when I tried to ride down this one, figuring it was my speed. 

 Poppy loved the water but it was agreed that she would stay home the second day with Galadriel.  Poppy is.... Poppy.  Those of you who know her in real life need no other explanation, those who have lived with is vicariously through this blog need no other explanation, those who are just stumbling upon us... no explanation is possible.  She's just... Poppy.  And there is a reason for that.  When she was enroute I was told by a very good and dear friend of mine that she would be the child to "keep me in line". 

 The 12 and under slide. I was at the bottom watching as Eleanor put Poppy down this slide.  Fortunately there are life guards all over the place.  Poppy did not say whether she liked the slide or not but she also did not go on it again.

 That night, the said, generous soul, took out out to Sarento's restraunt.  Being that it is 1 child eats free with every paid adult... we had 7 paid meals and 7 free meals. See?  Taking out our family is quite a deal!!  (and an ordeal)  And as you can see, our table was very long.

Chicken SarentoSautéed boneless chicken breast topped with arugula, basil, tomato, onions, olive oil, balsamic vinegar
Oh... my... goodness.... it.... was.... soooooo good. And that bowl of stuff is Risotto. Plus there were breadsticks with olive oil/paremsan/pepper.  The 7 freebies all got chicken fingers with fries. The others got things like Chicken Alfredo (one of Sam's favorite meals), Spaghetti, Lasagna... etc...

Very, very yummy!

 Even the setting was quaint... not a place a family of 13 usually goes but we loved it!

 Back to the water park and no, I am not including all 200 pictures.  If you really want to see all the pictures I'll make you a CD... haha.

 And this, was the end of the "Hurricane".  I even went on this one.... twice.  It was just like being in a hurricane.  The first time down the life guard so kindly put me going down backwards. (He was obviously an unknown enemy of mine)  I was glad that several "Hail Mary's" could be said on the way up to this hideous waterslide... no, waterslide is not the word.... My first ride down I went with Rosie.  I do not know how we did not flip over.  I vaguely remember her being straight up from my vantage point, before we were whipped around and around and around and nearly up-side-down.  My second ride was with Aragorn and a couple other kids whose faces I cannot recall as one never looks sideways in one of these, it is humanly impossible, but you do get a very absurd look at whoever was insane enough to ride down this opposite of you.

The lazy river was more my speed.  And I hear my picture was taken on another camera... fortunately for me... and you... I have not yet received these pictures.   Marigold loved the lazy river and the wave pool.

 These were some of the slides that we rode in that circled outside.

 See that odd looking thing? That is the outside of the "Hurricane" that we were inside of.  No... you cannot envision how one rides inside that. You have to experience it.  And by "have" I do not mean I recommend it.

 Eleanor in the Wave pool. Now that was the most fun I've had in a long time. I cannot remember laughing so hard. 

A couple more waterslides were in this area.

 Now I have a question, there is no doubt that we were the most dressed people in the waterpark, fortunately there were very few other people there.  I began to feel that we had forgotten something... our tattoos.  I never saw so many tattoos in all my life gathered in one area. I began to wonder if it it was Tattoo day. Buy one pass get one free... if you were tattooed.  Some where rather intriguing. I wondered if one is tattoo'd all over if that would count as clothing.  There were so many tattoos I almost thought everyone was modest.  Alright, 'fess up, do you have a tattoo?  I will boldly say, "I DO NOT"  There!

SITTING

 Look who is sitting!

GARDENING

We spent some time with a  friend of mine working in our gardens to prepare them for spring.  I'm all about getting ready for spring. I'm all about dreaming about spring. I love spring.

It is questionable around here whether a mini-hockey stick is a garden tool.

Bilbo

What are the chances of a picture like this? I believe it was either Eleanor or Rosie who took the pictures this day as I deleted at least 150 pictures lest my computer explode.

 Precious!

A sheep in wolf's clothing...

How could I have left this at the grocery store.  I mean who else could it have been meant for?!

 We have 4 gardens we worked on.  One in honor Our Lady, one in honor of the Sacred Heart, one in honor of St. Michael (and the Guardian Angels) and one in honor of St. Francis and St. Claire of Assisi.  I will admit I LOVE statues.  I love outdoor statues. I love beautiful indoor statues. 

Our Lady's Garden had added in 2 big mums, an exisiting mum moved to a nice spot, lots of flowers I've forgotten their names were added in either the form of bulbs or stuff moved from another garden which is much better and more beautiful than mine!

The cats found the sacred scratching post.

I think climbing plants are so beautiful.  I'm not an indoor plant person, probably because neglecting plants comes naturally to me... and then I feel badly... sorta.  And no, I don't *do* plastic plants.

See those nice red berries by Galadriel's head. You aren't suppose to eat them.  And we wondered why Poppy would sometimes complain of a tummy ache.  What child wouldn't want to eat those nice pretty bright red berries?  I bet they were luscious and good for us before the fall of man.

 You know you love me. You know I'm irresistable. You know I'm wrapped right around your little finger.  You know I'm adorable dressed in monkeys. 
(my favorite part you cannot see in the picture... and although I abhor words written across someone's behind, a monkey face on a baby's backside is so doggone cute!)

Clever or what.... as soon as St. Michael's head and wing are epoxied back on he will stand upon the lower septic, covered with a brick pedestal.  The other septic will hopefully have a bird bath on it... soon as they are on sale and brought down to our price range.  Pretty clever, eh?

The Sacred Heart garden entailed cutting down very, very, very tall roses.  Wow, you never saw such tall rose... trees.

My beloved St. Claire of Assisi.  

Our Assisi Garden is huge as far as need-to-tend-to gardens go... at least from the vantage point of someone who does not have a  green thumb!

I stared at this statue everytime I went into Ace for two whole years before I finally bought him.  I liked this one because of the cute little bird in his hand.

THE END

Inquiry

Has anyone ever installed seatbelts in their homeschooling desk chairs?
Is a lapbelt sufficient or should I look into 5-point restraints?

St. Isidore's Pumpkins & Squash For Sale

Our pumpkin patch is unofficially St. Isidore's Pumpkin Patch since St. Isidore is the patron saint of farmers and we are "hobby 'n eats" farmers. So, if you like pumkin and/or squash and like *alot* of it, or would like a nice *big* pumpkin for your porch or party, feel free to email me and I'll send your request on to Aragorn who is likely... man fashion... to overlook emails, in the meantime... here is a picture of what we have harvested at the moment:

You can be sure to find something really unique and unusual... which is our theme song for our "Farm of Misfit Plants and Animals"

Oooh, I love it:  St. Isidore's Farm of Misfit Plants and Animals... thank you for helping me come up with a name for our farmette.