Love, Love, Just Like a Lizard

First to your heart,

Then to Your Gizzard.

What is it about siblings?  The more they love each other, the more they beat each other up.

Together

Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. 

 ~Victor Borge

Theresa and Br. Pio at Michelle's graduation party last Sunday night.

(Yeah, I know, don't ya wonder what the joke was?)

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

Congratulations, Michelle!

*  We're all home safely after having had a most wonderful time in Omaha, witnessing our oldest daughter's graduation -- and getting a really good visit with both our seminarians, and just in time to congratulate Br. Philip the seminarian who officially entered a little more than a week ago.

 I have about a million pictures to share -- and, be warned, I will do that!  But first, we have a move to make!  You'll see us here and there, in and out for a while as we process on to yet another chapter in our lives -- another home to make our own, and this time with Michelley around to help us!  (Woohoo!) Pictures of the new house coming, too!  Blessings to all and congratulations to all the Graduates out there!

  Including this guy here: our dear friend, and honorary family member.  Congratulations, Omar!

On the Occasion of Our Sister Graduating and Coming Home...

On the way to Omaha for Michelle's graduation from high school. My baby. =sigh= She's sixteen, seventeen the end of June, but she accrued enough credits to graduate out of her junior year.  So she's coming home.  And our home will be a little more complete again.  We'll have all our girls, at least.   The idea just makes me smile.  Especially now that we'll have four bathrooms to split up amongst them.  :0)  I am very tickled. Over more than just the bathrooms.   Here is all I could get out of the siblings here in the car in regard to the happy event:

Theresa:  "It's about time.  Now we have help cleaning the house."

Cathy: "We missed you!  We'll be glad when you're home.  We'll have fun this summer!"

"

Gabe:  "I hope you have a good year.  I can't wait until you get home."

William:  "I love you, Michelle."

More thoughts, words, and lots of pictures -- as soon as I have my own computer and don't have to fight with Dan's (very annoying) laptop....

The Caravan is Pulling Up Stakes Again

The gypsies are packing up their belongings and getting ready to roll.  I mean us, of course.

Yeah.  I know.  I can't believe it, either.  And, yes, I really am starting to feel like a gypsy!

 After this past move from the log house to this one, less than four months ago, I vowed it would be a long time before I ever did such a thing again. If ever.  I hate moving.  Ugh.  But, you know what they say: never say never...

Not our house. But tiny.

This little old house -- and I say "little" not because there are too few rooms (there are five bedrooms and an office) -- but I say "little" because both of the bathrooms are barely big enough to turn around in, there are no closets, and the kitchen is miniscule -- but, what was I saying?  Oh, yeah:  This little old house seemed like just the ticket when we moved here back in February (the price of the ticket was especially attractive), and it would still be just fine -- honest-to-goodness... if we hadn't happened to stumble upon THE HOUSE this past week.

What's THE HOUSE?  Let me tell you, because I'm dying to mull over all the wonderful details again, myself.

 THE HOUSE is just fifteen minutes down the road from where we are now, and still only ten minutes from church.  But, instead of being across the street from a row of houses and a huffing-puffing walk up the hill from a whole small town, it's out in the middle of the country, with only one or two neighbors barely visible in the mid-distance.  AND it's literally twice the square footage of this house:  it has five bedrooms total, four (big!) bathrooms, a formal living room, formal dining room, large rec room, library/school room, office, workshop, attached garage, walk-in pantry, master suite, and a Gi-normous laundry/crafts room.  It's situated on 76 acres, planted in corn (leased by a neighboring farmer), has a play house, small barn, and hen house (all of which need some tlc, but which will be easily made functional).  And, here's the best part:  it will only cost us $100 more a month rent than we're paying now.

No kidding!

 So, as much as I loathe, detest, and curse the very idea of the physical process of moving -- oh, baby, am I ever gonna suck it up and just do it!  It's the least we can offer up for the great favor of having such a perfect house. God is so good.  And -- our undying gratitude to St. Joseph, who we believe interceded for a recent novena with this answer.  We'll be calling the place Casa di San Giuseppe in his honor. (Rental or not, home is home, bought or borrowed...)

 The move date is June 1st. (I can't wait!) I'll post pics as soon as I'm able.

But, tomorrow we're heading out to Omaha for Michelle's high school graduation -- I'll post pictures of that, too, when I get a chance, but I expect to be pretty spotty on the computer for a little while. I guess you can imagine why.  :0)   Have no fear, though -- I'll be back!

May Blessings to Everyone!

Formerly Jonathan Charles...

.... Now Brother Philip Maria!

As of Sunday, Jon has entered Religious life as a novice in the Congregation Maria Regina Immaculata! He's joined his brother, Brother Pius Maria in the seminary in Omaha.  Talk about a Mother's Day present! I now have two sons who are Brothers.  We call them the Brother brothers.

St. Philip Neri, pray for our boy!

Prayer for Seminarians

O Jesus, Eternal High Priest, I offer You through Your Immaculate Mother Mary, Your Own Precious Blood in all the Masses throughout the world, as petition for graces for all seminarians, Your future priests. Give them humility, meekness, prudence, and a burning zeal for souls. Fill their hearts with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to know and love the Church, that they may always and everywhere speak, act, and think with her, the glorious spouse of Christ. Teach them generosity and detachment from worldly goods; but above all, teach them to know You and to love the One and Only Eternal Priest.

Good Shepherd of Souls, hear our prayer for saintly priests. Amen.

Handful of Stuff to Share

The girls and I got to go on a field trip last week to the Colorado Museum of the West in Montrose.  This is a fabulous museum, with over 500,000 artifacts of the real west. Highly recommended if you're ever in this part of the world.  We were especially honored to get the full tour from the museum's founder, Richard Pike.

Our tour guide was surprised by how engaged the girls were. I guess most school children that go through the museum don't love  history like ours do.  And I'm guessing he doesn't have a whole lot of experience with homeschoolers....

Theresa got to play a hundred year old pump organ.  She played "White Coral Bells" -- an arrangement of her own.
I have it in video, but I stupidly filmed it sideways.  Let me know if  anyone wants me to post it, anyway..

  A week from this past Friday was the Science/Social Studies Fair at Holy Guardian Angels. William and Gabe's class did a big study on the Titanic.  William played "a survivor" and Gabe got to be Captain John Smith.

"I'm that survivor -- you know -- the one with the white hat
and those things that hold your pants up..."

If you know Gabe, you know he was perfect for the part
of the meticulous Captain Smith.  (And the uniform fit...)

Cathy's opened a restaurant on our back porch.  It's called "Cathy's Diner."  She got permission for food she could use, made the menu, cleaned the porch, dragged tables and chairs out from who knows where, decorated, waited tables, cooked, and cleaned it all up when she closed up.  Good food, too.  If you happen by, you'll have to stop in!  But, take note: this is a special kind of diner...

No kiddin' -- you have to have a pair skates.  And be able to eat while using them...
(I had mine catered...)

  These are the beautiful roses Dan got me for our anniversary, May 2nd: twenty-five for each year we've been married + eleven for each child = thirty-six altogether!  They didn't last nearly long enough (like forever!), but no worries, because Mother's Day falls right after our Anniversary. (How appropriate is that?)

 Here are all the goodies I got Mother's Day:  More roses (does my husband know what I like, or what?), plus dinner out and a stroll around Ouray, our favorite mountain town.  Scads of beautiful, homecrafted cards and gifts.  And lotsa lovin.

l-r: Anna (9), Theresa (13), Gabe (8), Cathy (11), William (6)

It was a lovely day!

Saturday Morning Cartoons

This one is for all our dearly beloved "diamonds in the rough"...

Homemaker's Meme: A -- Z

Gosh, but I haven't done a Meme in the longest time!  This one was doing the rounds a while back, and I never did it, so -- in honor of a typical Work-a-day Wednesday, here's a meme.  Please feel free to grab it if you like it:

The Homemaking Meme
Aprons 
Do you use them?

 Yes!  All the girls love aprons.  We have a good collection of them, and wear them all the time.

Bake
 Do you?
I love to bake bread, but am not much of a cake-baker.  This said, I still don't do a whole lot of bread baking, myself these days -- because I react to flour, internally and externally.   It gives me exzema on my hands when I knead the dough and makes me fat when I consume it internally.  But, this doesn't stop the girls  from tempting me with their baking!

Clothesline 
Do you have one; do you use it?

Yes, indeed!  We didn't have a line at our last house (the log one) and I missed it terribly!
Sadly, I have one now at this house, but have just been plain ole' too busy to use it.  Hanging clothes, though cathartic in its way, is definitely more time consuming and labor intensive than just shoving everything in the dryer...  

Donuts
Have you made them?
When I attended Our Lady of Victory school as a teenager, dear Sr. Alice used to make the world's best potato doughnuts every Saturday to feed the hungry after-Mass crowd the next morning.  I was honored to be one of her hand-picked helpers.   But, the only doughnuts I've made in the thirty years (!) since, have been in an electric doughnut making contraption the girls got last Christmas.

Anna & Cathy in aprons

Every day 
Name one homemaking thing you do every day.
I make my bed every day.



Freezer
Do you have a separate deep freeze? 
We have two separate deep freezes.  And we're getting ready to have a cow (or two) butchered here pretty soon to fill them both up.


Garbage Disposal
 Y/N? 
No.   Honest to goodness, I haven't had a garbage disposal my whole married life!  If you don't count teenage sons (or the pigs we used to raise).


Handbook
What are your favorite go-to guides for home making?
I love my Fanny Farmer cookbook, Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living, and my vintage 1956 copy of Hints From Heloise.


Ironing 
Love it or hate it?
I actually really do love to iron.  Another therapeutic task that I wish I had time for these days...

Junk drawer 
Yes or No? Where is it?
Just one?  I have a whole wall of junk drawers lining our mud room.


Kitchen
 Design & Decorating?
Our kitchen right now is almost too small to design or decorate... but if I had to call it anything, I'd call it Cramped Country...

A corner of our living room,
 Theresa and William...

Love
 What is your favorite part of homemaking?
I really enjoy" imagineering" how I want my house to feel, more than how I want it to look -- and then pulling together the colors and textures and "props" to evoke that mood.  What's the mood I'm trying for?   Relaxed, comfortable, cozy, loved.

Mop 
Y/N? 
At least once a week (Saturday) -- or I can't stand it. (Traditional string mop and wringer bucket)


Nylons 
Wash by hand or in the washing machine? 
Wash by hand, hang over the shower curtain rod.


Oven
 Do you use the window, or open the door to check?
Usually open the door, because, for some reason or other, the lights in our ovens never seem to work.  (What's with that?)


Pizza
 What do you put on yours?
Our favorites come from Murphy's Take and Bake: Vegge gourmet (our Friday splurge occasionally), which has artichokes, spinach, and I don't know what-all other wonderfulness with a white sauce; or the gourmet chicken and bacon, also with a white sauce...


Quiet 
What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Make lists for what I need to do when it's not so quiet.


Recipe card box
 Y/N?
Not a box, a small 18"x18" bin, within which I stuff all my favorite cut-out-of-magazine and hastily scribbled recipes, which I intend someday to put in an organized recipe card box...

Not actually our house...

Style of house 
Hundred-and-eight-year-old, two-story farmhouse


 

Tablecloths and Napkins

Y/N?

Almost never.  Maybe Christmas and Easter.  Why make more laundry than I already have, I ask you?


Under the kitchen sink 
Organized or toxic wasteland?
Well, not quite toxic wasteland, but I wouldn't call it organized...


Vacuum 
How many times per week?
Once or twice.  Always Saturday.  Sometimes midweek, too.

Wash
 How many loads of laundry do you do a week?
Oh, wow.  At least one load a day, usually at least two -- every day but Sunday.  More if all the kids are home.  You do the math; I don't want to think about it...


X's 
Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off?
Lists?  I have lists of  lists!  (And I really do use them and cross things off occasionally!)


Yard 
Who does what?
These days I do as little as I can get away with...  Dan and the kids do almost everything -- but there's not a lot to do in the yard in this house -- and I'm not really sure now whether we're going to get the chance to get a garden in this year.  (Which makes me sad.  I do enjoy planning and planting the garden...)


Zzz’s
What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Right before the kids go to bed, I usually have them play the: You-Ain't-Getting-Outta-Here-'Til-You-Clean-Up-This-Mess Game -- wherein, I have each of the five of them pick up anywhere between five and ten things and put them away where they belong.  Then, once that's done, I go around and tidy and wipe so I don't have to get up to a messy house. (I hate getting up to a mess!)