Just Life

 Show me them baby blues

 She seems to have alot to say while saying nothing

just like her mom.

 The middle littles are into writing notes.

I received one the other day that said,

"I want to go sim En"

(swimming)

 I believe it was Eleanor behind all the

watering can pictures. 

This one I thought was neat.

 Don't you water your rocks?

 Watering the Mary Garden.

 Watering the bench.

 Watering the St. Michael Garden.
Incidentally after all this watering,

we had a deluge of rain in the night.

Or at least it sounded like a deluge

we got 1" of rain, but that's about

a foot of snow.

 Marigold is considering standing.

 Jello-legs is the name of the game.

They all played it.  When they think

someone is trying to get them to stand.

They simply won't.

What do you collect?

Merry informed me he started a collection

of Water Joe Wrappers.

We had to make a new house rule:

Only remove the labels of empty bottles.

Raising Boys

I grew up in a house of 4 girls... you  never ever heard, "I want to go to the junk yard too, pleeeease Mommy! Can I go too Mommy? Please! I neeeeed to go." (that was Pippin)  and then had uncontrollable sobbing tears from the one boy who didn't get to go.  How do you console a little boy over not getting to go to the junk yard? 

Incidentally asking, "Do you want to clean the chicken coop instead?" wasn't consoling.

Our Lord's Appearance to His Mother

My thoughts over the last several days of the Resurrection have been directed towards Our Blessed Mother. As we  know, she did not go with the Holy Women to the tomb to annoint the Body of Our Lord.  Of course not.  Afterall in the last words of the Gospel on Easter "He has risen as He said."  So Our Lady had no reason to go to the tomb to annoint His Body.  She knew He would not be there because it would be as He said.  Yet it doesn't include Our Blessed Mother in the Resurrection scene at all.  I couldn't help but consider this point and I recalled something I read in the True Devotion book by St. Louis de Monthfort.  That God always kept Our Blessed Mother hidden.  She was united and one with the Holy Spirit.  She was pure and perfect and totally and completely free from any stain or defilement.  Yet she appeared ordinary to those around her. Even Jesus referred to her as "Woman" on more than one occasion. God only reveals His Divine Secrets to His chosen ones.  So once again, there is no mention of Our Lord appearing to Our Blessed Mother after the Resurrection in Sacred Scripture, she was kept hidden.... though I would guess He must have gone right to His Mother first.   And I learned today that this was taught by various saints over the centuries.

2012 Yearbook Page

It took me a while to figure out how to convert a PDF to a JPG so I could upload it here (can you upload a PDF?)  In the end I found some free place on-line that did it for me.  This is for the homeschooler's annual yearbook. 

The Road to Emmaus

Favorite Biblical Story alert.... definitely a kerwhollop of the heart in this one!

 Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in the way and opened to us the scriptures?

...they knew him in the breaking of bread.

How You Know It is Easter Week

"Can we have a Chocolate Egg for breakfast?"

New house rule:
During the Octave of Easter dessert is allowed but only *after* breakfast... not before.
To which Poppy flopped on the floor in a flood of tears.
I won an award... the Mean Mom Award.

Easter Mass