Add a load of logs and kindlin'...
What have you got?
A perfect cozy spot for an afternoon read! 
The following makes the e-mail rounds every so often, and is always such sound and true advice, I thought I'd share it in case y'all hadn't seen it in a while.
Having Santy Clause in our pack may make it look oddly large and lumpy, but he's actually really light. Like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloon. Who knows but that the helium might come in handy at some point...If nothing else, we can amuse ourselves by sucking it in so we can sing the hiking song like Donald Duck.
I hope that doesn't offend anybody...
The countdown begins!OK, simplify, simplify... Easy Stuff... Yeah...
EASY homemade gifts may just be the ticket!
So, I went on a hunt this afternoon, I, who have absolutely nothing better to do, mind you...
And in my wanderings, I found the most interesting site. Run over and take a look at the Instructables for lots of inspiration and very whacky "show and tell" projects. I found a lot of fun stuff there. For instance, my big boys would get a real "bang" out of the homemade marshmallow shooter ! No rubberbands to wound one another with; only mini marshmallows all over the floor... We've seen these in catalogues, but how much more fun to make our own!
Here's an easy pattern for Toasty slippers that look easy to adapt to any size and can be a good use for our worn out blankets.
Using a tube and some old cds, you can make a keen kaleidoscope. I know our Littles would get a kick out of these. I'll just have to make sure they don't come apart easily...
This tutorial for Magnetic paper dolls uses a pretty grotesque example for the dolls, so please don't be put off by it. It does give a good idea of how it can be done, though. I'd be more inclined to print out pictures of my own little girls and make dresses for them.
Though this one's not as easy, I have an empty corner I'd like to make a checkerboard game table to fill.
As I ran across a container of plaster of paris when we were moving, I'd like to make a batch of homemade sidewalk chalk with the children to give to their friends. Looks fun and easy.
For the grandparents, we can easily make these boxes of hugs. But, we'll use this pattern for real paper boxes for the tiny gifts. We could put magnets on the backs of them, too, for refrigerator decor. All grandparents need refrigerator decor.
The very crafty lady at Pretending Sanity has a great lip balm recipe I'd love to try. she's also got some links to places to get supplies, if I don't find what I want at Hobby Lobby. It actually looks like a pretty simple, one afternoon project.
And, while we're at it, we could put together little soap and lotion combos from Teachsoap.com and maybe make little gift baskets for our teenage cousins. (They have a recipe there for Chocolate Lip gloss that we'll have to try!)
Here's a link to seven homemade toys for babies and toddlers that I think we'll get some use from. I like their idea for a really easy homemade book, and I know Yuyum would like the "kerplunk can."
Over at the Dollar Stretcher, there are tons of inexpensive, mostly homemade gift ideas, one of which is homemade stationary. You can find oodles of stationary ideas just by doing a quick Google search. And now that we've moved, we have plenty of use for stationary kits for all the little girls. And they can make them to send to their friends, too!
Dollar Stretcher also has a long list of good baby toy ideas!
If I had money to spare this year, I would shop from the Lehman's catalogue. We've never bought anything from Lehmans that we were not 100% tickled to death with. The Amish really do build with quality and integrity. Alas, this year, the budget won't allow it...
I also love "dream shopping" in places like Treasure Box Toys, and Hearthsong. When we have spent the money on quality toys, we've never regretted it. We've had a deluxe "busy bead" set, for instance, that we've had for about fifteen years which has had constant use and still looks good as new.
Most years, I'll start early on the garage sale circuit looking for quality used toys, as well as checking out all the thrift stores... But this year, I just don't know if I'll emotionally be able to go looking through someone else's cleaned-out-garage-goodies, when I have plenty old goodies still in my own garage! But, I will be on the lookout for books, mainly on E-Bay and Amazon.
We also have started all the older children on collections, which I'll try to add to. I'll have to post on that topic sometime, as it's made gift buying easier for us. Also, I hope to list out our gift buying route for the hard-to-shop-for men in our gang. As I have six sons, four brothers, two grandpas, one nephew and my husband to buy for this is an on-going challenge! I'll get on here soon with some of our first and last resort options. I'll try to do that next Monday...
So, there. This exercise has forced me to organize myself with links to work from! I hope it might have given someone else an idea or two as well! (And another "nice, short, quick post" for me here! Good grief! Someday I'll learn to be concise...)
Head over to MilihiMama who's organized lots more toy links!
And check out Rocks in My Dryer for lots of great tips!
View out the picture window. See my upturned birdfeeder out there? Gotta fix that. Also that yogurt still smeared on the table... You don't notice these things til you get them in pictures sometimes...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who are the Fourteen Holy Helpers?
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The Fourteen Holy Helpers were formed into a heavenly band, so to speak, in fourteenth century Germany (Rhineland, to be exact), as an aid in a time of particular health calamity: the Black Death. Originally, all of the fourteen were called upon for specific health problems and were known to be particularly effective, thus adding to the popularity of their following. As the centuries progressed, their lists of specialties were added to, and include the following:
Just a quick thought on the saint of the day, St. John of the Cross, the reformer of the Carmelite order, friend and mentor of St. Teresa of Avila.
This is Dali's painting, Christ of St. John of the Cross, based upon a sketch of St. John's.
Three of my four brothers waiting for the "pot to boil" so they can deep fry one of the three turkeys that were brought by extended family.
The potato-peeling brigade, working on the twenty-five pounds of potatoes to be mashed, the remnants of which have been made into today's traditional VAT of potato cheese soup!
The table set, before the food is all brought in. Don't you love the shabby (really shabby!) chic mix-and-match-chair look? Two farm tables put together didn't quite accomodate the 23 people who shared the bounty and blessings. All the odd chairs and extra table get stored away tonight.
The gang just after Grandad offered the Thanksgiving blessing, and before the "Great Devour."
Fifteen pies (a couple are missing in this pic), a plate of coconut fudge, and a fruit compote. The great pie-makers (Jon, Michelle and my brother's girls) received a round of applause at the "reveal," and then several moments of silence while everyone dug in!
This is the song I am a Fine Musician in German.
The boys in the choir at the Academy in Omaha use this song as a warm-up. They began our sing-along for us by entertaining us with this one. What a hoot! I wish I'd gotten the whole thing, but I'm afraid, as it is, this video may slow people's computers down.
Please let me know if that happens, and I'll delete it. If it isn't a problem, though, I'll try to add the family rendition of Ave Maria. (Hopefully that one will turn out with brighter picture quality!)
* Just in case you wondered, "doodlesack" means bagpipes.
This is the one picture we got on moving day before someone packed the camera! See my wonderful washing machine being moved in by Paul and Kevvy? We finally got it hooked back in today, and not a moment too soon! We have dirty clothes piling up to our chins!
These are the roses my most wonderful husband had waiting for me . See how they match the kitchen he painted for me before we got here? What a sweet surprise!
Lacking any other furniture, Jon and Therese made do with the edge of the hearth to play the keyboard. Can't have a day without music!
Furniture in and things are getting a little more back to normal by Wednesday afternoon. The children and my brother, Dave, relax over a rousing game of Pictionary here. Ah, what wonderful noise! I've missed the sounds of my teenage sons laughing and joking and arguing over board games.
Gabey mugging. (See the crazy burping pencil sharpening monster behind him? This guy is a big hit at our house, and is responsible for some very short pencils around here.)
Anna, has crayons, will travel.
Cathy, just lost another tooth today, and we're all speculating about whether she'll have to gum her turkey tomorrow!
Dominic, Theresa and our sweet family friend, Alena, in the middle of Pictionary.
L-R: Anna, Theresa, our friend, Lindsey, Cathy and Michelle
Happy feastday of St. Albert the Great, the saint who taught "everthing there is to know" and the instructor of the great St. Thomas Aquinas! I wish I had time to post more about him, as he's one of the great minds of the Church. We owe much to him! Along with St. Thomas Aquinas he's one of the heavenly patrons who's so good to apply to for aid in our studies. And in this day, where knowlege has a tendency to be so misplaced in the world, his wisdom is sorely needed!
OK, just had to pass this one along!We're in the midst of packing up a four bedroom home, which shelters between 8 and 12 people and all their junk at any given time. While we've been unloading drawers and closets, we've run into a very disconcerting and annoying problem: hundreds of anonymous cords, adaptors and remotes.
Between my husband and me and our four teenage boys and all our electronic equipment, laptops, stereos, and cell phones, we must have collected 100 different kinds of wire-type thingamabobs and remote controls. And I haven't a clue which ones work and can be used, and which ones are broken or obsolete. Aghgh! So, I'm dumping them all in one box and hoping my sons can make sense of it all when we see them next week.
So what's the tip? Here it is: Somehow mark every adaptor and other cord that comes into your house with the name of the equipment to which it belongs! I'm taking a strip of electrical tape and marking with a sharpie all the ones I know for the time being. There is likely a more graceful way to do it, and I welcome ideas!!
Run over to Rocks In My Dryer for lots of great tips!
And we did get to see the aspen change in the mountains and hills that surround us here. We got to go through the corn maze up on the mesa behind us, and taste the fruit of the orchards around our town. We've had the pleasure of watching the yearly procession of deer that meander down from the hills in herds to fatten on the leavings of the farmers' fields before the winter cold draws them back in to the high country. They come early every morning and at dusk to check for fruit under our fruit trees, and follow the river south to the harvested fields of hay and alfalfa just beyond the town. Though we see them often, the deer are never commonplace to us.
We're absolute suckers for a beautiful view, and there are plenty here, in every direction
But it's not just the natural beauty, we've fallen in love with. It's also the slower, country pace. Though it's growing to be rather a big town, with a population of over 16,000, Montrose still has a small town heart. One day I watched rush hour traffic come to a dead stop on the main road through town, the highway that connects the rest of the world with Telluride, in fact. A little old man had inadvertently stranded himself on the center median, as he was very slowly crossing from the grocery store. He was not even at an intersection, but traffic stopped for him. Not a horn was honked. In fact, many people smiled and waved at him as they proceeded past him after he'd crossed.
You understand, I grew up in the suburbs of large cities where this would never have happened. It brought tears to my eyes. I half expected Norman Rockwell to appear with his pipe on the steps of the courthouse across the way.
Everything here in this tucked away little corner of the Rocky Mountains feels like a shadow of another time rests upon it. It's a modern town in many ways, with a super Walmart and even a good handful of popular restaurants, but more than half the local businesses are closed on Sunday. The only two drive-in theaters in Colorado survive here in this one valley. And cars full of little kids in pajamas fill them up on warm summer evenings. The carefully preserved Egyptian Theater in the next town over still employs ushers who walk the aisles during movies with little flashlights, and fuss at you if you have your feet on the seats or are talking too loudly.
Strangers ask you how you are and are interested inyour answer. And they don't stay strangers long. Friends congregate in the aisles in the grocery stores coffeeklatsching and the check-out clerks make a point to know you. It's unusual for the driver of a car passing on the side roads not to wave at you as they pass. Neighbors look out for all the neighborhood children and expect you to look out for theirs. Life revolves around the football games at the local high schools. And everyone, Catholic and nonCatholic, knows and loves the sisters that teach in our little Catholic school. 
So, we'll be up to our elbows in packing boxes this week and physically moving next week, then settling in the week after that. 
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I remember taking a quizlet at a Homeschool Conference years ago to determine how best to avoid Homeschool Mom Burnout. One of the aims of the quiz was to point out to us moms where each of us found her best true "down time." And, then, of course, we were all encouraged to have no guilt about indulging prudently in whatever this was.
Two little prairie chicks, Theresa (8) and Anna (5 this week).
My time and attention span being limited these days by our upcoming move, we're not getting in as much of the cooking and sewing, and deeper study that I'd like, but just reading these books together is such a wonderful bonding thing for us. We all cried together today, for instance, when Laura found her dear ragdoll, Charlotte, abandoned in the mud outside the house of that dratted neighbor child, near Plum Creek ~ and Charlotte was missing one shoe-button eye! =sniff= 
A shot of the high prairie near where we live ~ west and over the mountains from where Laura's little house was on the prairie.
Especially since our girls were born on the prairie, and will be moving back there in a couple of weeks, we can associate with so much of the nature in Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. And her descriptions are always so perfect, so poetic. Everything about this read is good learning for the girls. 
The corner where we read about Laura's adventures every morning.
What better way to learn to write well than to read well? By reading the rhythm of words well written? These books are so alive with a sense of place and time, too. How better to gain an interest in natural science? And in the homemaking arts? In frugal living? In proper manners and respect? The Little House books are full of lessons. Every time I read them, I appreciate that more. They're a little blunt sometimes about the harshness of life in the days of our ancestors, but how better to learn the truth of history? The real-life characters who people these books suffered and sacrificed, but exhibited great patience and faith through it all.
Yuyum (almost 2) kicking up his heels. He'll do anything for applause...
The girls, inspired by Laura and Mary's craftiness in On the Banks of Plum Creek, went out back and found some reeds, and were delighted to find them hollow and "telescoping" just as Laura describes in the book.
So they gathered a bunch.
... and made necklaces out of them. Too much girly fun!
On Backwards Works-For-Me-Wednesdays, where I get to ask you all to help me...
