Yuktoberfest

Laura, at Catholic Teacher Musings, the Haiku Queen of the blogosphere, is treating us with another Haiku contest! This one has to have a "yuckety yuck" Halloween theme. Here's my attempt ~ a short story in haiku:

The Jack O'Lantern

Out on the doorstep
Watching ghosts and goblins pass.
Better than tv.

Welcome distraction
From a now empty tummy
Denied a candle.

Pumpkin Jack watches
As a little frozen ghost
Presses the doorbell.

Who'd have thought?

The lonely old step

Which seemed like a bad fate

Is quite the sweet spot!

Jack scoots near the ghost
With a big bag of candy,
Close enough to reach.

Triangle eyes watch
Hands full of candy tossed in
From the open door.

Such an easy treat
Deserving an easy trick ~
Little Ghost won't mind.

He has plenty more
And no one will ever know
That Jack is the thief.

Triangle eyes watch
The little ghost disappear
Down the dark sidewalk.

If you look closely
You can see a big, bright grin
Without a candle.

Why the pumpkin smile?

Candy corn, black licorice.

Pumpkin seed belches.

Haikus are supposed to be brief, you say?
Y'all know I can't be brief!

For some brevity that is truly the soul of wit, run over to Laura's and check out all the awesome entrants.

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Besides G.K. Chesterton, Will Rogers is my favorite quote resource. It's amazing to see how his wisdom is as pertinent today as it was in the 1930s.

Here are a few good obervations of Will's:

* The more you read and observe about this Politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse than the other. The one that's out always looks the best.

* Communism is like prohibition, it's a good idea, but it don't work.

* Live in such a way that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.

* Nothing you can't spell will ever work.

* Alexander Hamilton started the U.S. Treasury with nothing, and that was the closest our country has ever been to being even.

* If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?

* If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep.

* It's a good thing we don't get all the government we pay for.

* Last year we said, 'Things can't go on like this', and they didn't, they got worse.

* The man with the best job in the country is the vice-president. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, "How is the president?"

* Things in our country run in spite of government, not by aid of it.

* What the country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds.

* When you put down the good things you ought to have done, and leave out the bad ones you did do well, that's Memoirs.

* The worst thing that happens to you may be the best thing for you if you don't let it get the best of you.

Slow Cook Shrimp Gumbo

I mentioned yesterday that we cooked up some Gumbo for our oldest son's birthday party over the weekend without taking into account that not everyone would be familiar with this food which is a staple at our house. This is one of our family favorites, a standard recipe, that we've amended a bit over the years. Though it requires some preparation, it's well worth the trouble! Anything that waits for you in the crockpot is a special treat, I think!

The sausage and chicken can be left out for a wonderful Friday meal.

We triple this recipe when all the kids are home.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons oil
(optional: 3/4 to 1 pound boneless chicken thighs ~ or whatever chicken cuts on hand ~ cut in bite-size pieces)

(optional: 1/2 pound smoked sausage, cut into bite-size pieces)

1 1/2 to 2 cups frozen cut okra
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced

3 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 tbs Old Bay

1/4 c. worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup frozen medium shrimp, cleaned and cooked
1 1/2 cups uncooked regular long-grain white rice
3 cups chicken broth or water

To make: In small saucepan, combine flour and oil; mix well. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring constantly, about 8 to 12 minutes or until mixture turns a light red-brown. Place this mixture in 3 1/2 to 4-quart crockpot. Stir in all remaining ingredients except shrimp, rice, and broth or water. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours. Add cooked shrimp to the gumbo; mix well. Cover and continue to cook on LOW for 20 minutes longer. Meanwhile, cook rice in the broth or water according to package directions. Serve gumbo over the hot cooked rice. Serves 6 to 8.

Simple Woman Monday, October 13th

Peggy at The Simple Woman hosts this lovely excuse for visiting kindred spirits. Run over there to catch up on a cornucopia of Monday morning thoughts!

Outside my Window.... The Hunter Moon is rising over the back twenty acres.

I am thinking... I'm so glad everyone is home! But, it's kept me from recording my Monday morning thoughts until Monday evening!

From the kitchen... Oh, my gosh. To celebrate our oldest son's 21st birthday, we just had a vat of shrimp gumbo, (Paul's, favorite meal), a store-boughten cake, and three gallons of ice cream (one completely eaten, one half eaten, one about a quarter eaten). But, I gotta share with you how amazed and proud I am of myself ~ I didn't eat any of it! (...except, ahem, one spoonful of Caramel Caribou ice cream.)

I am creating... plans, patterns, and supplies for starting our home-crafted Christmas presents next week.

I am going... to the chiropractor three more times this week to get our boys' spines back in straight lines. These boys really throw themselves into life, let me tell ya.

I am wearing... Peach and pale pink plaid victorian-style blouse over a white tea, jeans and pink retro sneakers.

I am reading... Nothing much this week, as the children are keeping me busy ~ Someday, I may actually finish my Maisie Dobbs novel.

I am hoping... that all my children keep their love and enthusiasm for their faith and family throughout their lives.

I am hearing... Our teenagers, their friends and uncle throwing a little beanbag elephant around the living room, Catherine and Theresa desperately trying to convince everyone to get a game of Pictionary started, Jon playing the piano, Paul warning everyone not to walk in on whoever is in the bathroom showering, Gabe and William saying goodnight and heading off to bed...

Around the house... I've been cleaning and tidying and cooking 29 hours a day, I think, and I'm never done cleaning, tidying and cooking... which really is quite alright...

Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... I plan to enjoy the crowds and noise, and try not to be overwhelmed by the socks, shoes and dirty dishes that come with it all.

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing with you...

Left to right ~ The Boys: Kevin, Dominic, William, Paul with Gabe on his shoulders, and Jon. The Girls: Catherine, Anna, Michelle and Theresa.

Mystery Guest from the Fabulous Fifties!

The charity and respect of all the game contestants is so heartwarming, but we especially loved seeing the Catholic in the group kiss the Bishop's ring.

A Day in the Life

Everyone is home.

(Can you see me smiling from where you are?)

Family

My older brother just called me to straighten something out.

It seems he was having a conversation with my mom this morning (we can only guess how it came up...) about how when she was pregnant with him, there was one particular spot in her womb that he kicked until it was sore.

Then, Mom says, I came next and constantly kicked her in the exact same spot. She's sure that when he was there, my brother, Steve, scribbled some graffitti on the walls, to the effect of: KICK HERE.

Steve told my mom: "No, it was not Kick here, it was Kilroy was here."

He called me this morning to verify.

I told him I must have read it wrong ~ but then, my reading skills were not good at the time.

He understood. "That's ok," he said, "My writing skills weren't great, either."

Homecoming Weekend at Our House

One boy home

Three more to go...

Paul, his girl, Nicole, our friend, Alena, and I got in last night. The rest of the boys, their Dad and Uncle are due around 5 this afternoon. &:o)

Thanks for the travel prayers, friends!

Pretzels with Chopsticks

Paul and Nicole after breakfast.

Good News

Only 26 more days to have to listen to these guys ...
Looks like this little guy is going to be ok...
These guys were found, safe and sound...
They're seeing these guys again...
These guys got a rider to a colder place...
While this guy is destined for warmer climes...
And, we're heading out today to fetch these guys home for a fall break!
Wahoo!
Pray us all home safe?

To Love the Rosary

The smallest child

.... should, in infancy, become accustomed to her mother's hands wrapped around her rosary beads.

.... should learn from his Mother on Earth how much she and her Mother in Heaven love him.

.... should know the blend of Mommy and Daddy's voices together in prayer.

.... should grow up with the melody of the prayers of the rosary singing a tune in his head.

.... should expect the daily rythm to include the family rosary, as naturally as he expects mealtime and chores.

.... should know that games, and books, and even television can wait for twenty minutes.

.... should know the peg or basket where the rosaries are stored ~ and the crucifix and/or statues where everyone kneels to pray.

.... should learn to respect the family's conversation with Mary, by sitting quietly holding her beads or looking at her rosary book until she knows she is a big girl, and can kneel to pray like Mommy and Daddy.

.... should know that talking to God often includes smiling, and sometimes includes laughing.

.... should clap and praise with everyone else when the newest sibling gets to add his Ave to the decades for the first time.

.... should know that she is safe to repeat the prayers whenever she is ready, without correction or criticism.

.... should learn to properly pronounce the words of the prayers and correctly manipulate his beads because he wants to be like Mommy and Daddy and his big brothers and sisters ~ and practice makes perfect!

.... should look forward to rosary time every night as family time, often followed by conversation, stories and/or music.

.... should rejoice at a new rosary or rosary case (especially handmade!) as a most favored gift on birthdays and holidays.

.... should long for the sound of any family member's voice missing at rosary time.

.... should feel that something is missing if she's gone to bed and not said the rosary that day.

.... should purposefully be given the gift of the happiness, comfort, and graces of the rosary by his family, and not as an accident of his Catholic heritage.

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

The Rosary

Not on the lute, nor harp of many strings

Shall all men praise the Master of all song.

Our life is brief, one saith, and art is long;

And skilled must be the laureates of kings.

Silent, O lips that utter foolish things!

Rest, awkward fingers striking all notes wrong!

How from your toil shall issue, white and strong,

Music like that God's chosen poet sings?

*

There is one harp that any hand can play,

And from its strings what harmonies arise!

There is one song that any mouth can say,

--A song that lingers when all singing dies.

When on their beads our Mother's children pray

Immortal music charms the grateful skies.

~ Joyce Kilmer

Things to do on the Feast of the Holy Rosary:

* Check out the Fisheaters website has a most complete catalogue about everything rosary-related.

* Read aloud G.K. Chesteron's epic poem The Battle of Lepanto, which describes Christianity's defeat over Islam by the power of the holy rosary. (The boys love this one!)

* For the crayon set, Jennifer at Family in Feast and Feria has the most beautiful online Holy Rosary devotion and coloring book to print out. We're enjoying it through the month of October.

* And here are some more beautiful rosary illustrations to color, and here are some more. Oh! And here is another beautiful one! We're going to have busy crayons around here this month!

* Now, if you're interested in the craft of rosary making, run over to Charlotte's at Waltzing Matilda for a unique approach! We've made rosaries out of all kinds of beads and string, but never have we made a paper bead rosary. We'll be trying this one today, though!

But, most importantly, pray the holy rosary! Love it and teach your children to love it. If it's like taking medicine to you, then, by all means, take the medicine! Don't put it off. Don't make excuses. Every soul needs the balm of this most important of prayers. Every heart needs its loving Heavenly mother. Our families need our prayers, our world needs our prayers! And there are few prayers more powerful than Our Lady's Psalter.

Cathy!

I am from kites and kittens, jungle gyms and jump ropes.
From bangs pushed to the side and and perfectly matched outfits.
I am from cottonwood tree tire swings and prairies with room to run .
From hotdogs and pork-n-beans and s'mores over a campfire.
I am from Sunday afternoon hiking trails and sledding trips in winter,
From my Mommy and Daddy, from Paul, and Kevin, and Matthew in Heaven; from Jon, and Dominic, Michelle,and Theresa and my little brothers and sisters, Anna, Gabe and William.
I am from the teasing, the laughing, and the singing.
I am from Toot and Puddle's cousin, Opal, from Fairytale on the piano,
And my beloved Ragdoll, Audrey Ann.
I am from the beauty and tradition of the ages in my beloved Roman Catholic Faith.
I am named for St. Catherine of Laboure who laid her head on Mary's lap, and Cecila, the saint of music.
I am from the width and height of the Rocky Mountains and the rolling beauty of the Great Plains of Colorado,
I am from Wales and England and Ireland and Germany.
From my Grandad and his life on the sea, and my Grandpa, also a man of the water; I am oceans and mountains and prairie and sky.
I am from Aunt Nina's treasure chest of albums and Grandmom's photo covered walls.
I am Mommy's cheerful helper, beloved of all my family, my Daddy's sweetheart and my Mommy's dear one.
I am Catherine Cecilia.
And I am eight years old.

(I am also the only eight year old girl anyone knows who can do one arm push ups...)

Hugs and much love to my Cathy, from Mommy!

*The outline for this poem can be found here.

Paul

I spotted him, easy, out of all those bald young men at Marines Officer Candidate School...

My first born son, Paul...
The first pride and joy of my life ~

The one of my children who is so much like me, we drive each other crazy ~ but it's a special kind of crazy with an underlying appreciation and understanding... My Paul ~ So smart, so full of life, always the big brother... When he works, he works hard...
When he plays, he plays hard...When he sleeps, he sleeps big... When he hugs, he hugs good...

We're so proud to be the parents of this young man, and so pleased that he's brought Nicole into our lives. His judgment in seeing and seeking the goodness of this sweet girl proves his Godly discernment and good taste. He has always been the perfect example to all of his brothers and sisters ~ a man of honor, integrity and faith. We couldn't ask for more. We thank God every day for him and pray that every day of the rest of his life is filled with grace and happiness.

Happy 21st Birthday, Paul Joseph!

We Love You!

Can't wait to see you next weekend!

Pray it doesn't snow so we can get over Eisenhower Pass to come get you!

Giovanni Francesco Bernardone

Feast day of

St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

Morning Prayer of St. Francis

Lord Jesus, I offer you this new day because I believe in you, love you, hope all things in you, and thank you for your blessings. I am sorry for having offended you and forgive everyone who has offended me. Lord, look on me and leave in me peace and courage and your humble wisdom that I may serve others with joy, and be pleasing to you all day.

I don't know how to shoot a bow ~ yet...

But, I gotta get me one of these.

Pretty, pink, lethal, and supporting a great cause!

Our Dear St. Therese

Traditional Feastday: October 3rd

There are not words to describe how we love this Saint of the Little Way. How can anyone not be touched by the story of her life and the roses she still showers on earth? Thank you, St. Therese, for all the little roses you've strewn our way!
"The good God does not need years to accomplish His work of love in a soul; one ray from His Heart can, in an instant, make His flower bloom for eternity... "
Letter to her sister Celine

"Yes, my Beloved, it is thus that my life's brief day shall be spent before Thee. No other means have I of proving my love than to strew flowers; that is, to let no little sacrifice escape me, not a look, not a word, to avail of the very least actions and do them for Love. I wish to suffer for Love's sake and for Love's sake even to rejoice; thus shall I strew flowers. Not one shall I find without shedding its petals for Thee...and then I will sing, I will always sing, even if I must gather my roses in the very midst of thorns - and the longer and sharper the thorns the sweeter shall be my song. "
Story of A Soul, Chapter XI


Here are a few ways to celebrate the Feast of St. Therese:

*We found a good summary of the life of St. Therese with follow up questions and activities for her feast day at Catholic Families Today.

*You can find some lovely coloring pages of St. Therese as a little girl and as a grown up Carmelite nun at Waltzing Matilda.

*There is an album of photos and images of St. Therese at this site, and there are a couple of wonderful movies we can watch about the life of St. Therese. We'll watch our Therese DVD this year, but I'm hoping to be able to order the release of an old classic movie, The Miracle of St. Therese for next year.

* Make roses! My girls love to do origami, so we're going to try to make some origami roses. We also found some directions for a cut and paste paper rose that turns out really pretty, as well as a tutorial for ribbon roses. The younger children can probably navigate the directions for this napkin rose or this toilet paper rose.


* You can make edible roses for dinner, too! Here are instructions for making radish roses for our salad ~ and here's how to carve a rose out of a tomato.

* And then, for dessert, make a cake decorated with roses! If we get really ambitious, we might try to make our own, squeezed, or wrapped with fondant. Or maybe we'll just buy some... We found a wonderful recipe for a St. Therese cake here. And here is a recipe for St. Therese cupcakes. Both of these are from Catholic bloggers with tons of wonderful recipes and ideas: the ladies at Catholic Cuisine and Barbara at Bless Us O Lord. And Jessica, over at A Shower of Roses has a wonderful idea for chocolate St. Therese roses!

* But the best way to remember St. Therese is to follow her example in prayer and in little offerings of sacrifice. Here is a site devoted to prayers for St. Therese's intercession. And here is an excellent tutorial for making sacrifice beads.

I don't know what we'll end up doing tomorrow. I expect, since I'm on a diet, we'll make a big grilled chicken salad with carved radishes and tomatoes. I may let the girls make the cupcakes, so long as I can stay out of the way of temptation. (St. Therese, help!) We'll definitely work on Charlotte's beautiful coloring pages, and I'm sure we'll be making a selection of the different paper and ribbon roses. I'll let our Theresa call the shots since it's her nameday.

Happy nameday, Theresa!

** Make that salad without chicken ~ today's Friday, for goodness sake!

On the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels

Angel - 1: Mountain - 0

How many times do you suppose our angels have saved us and we didn't even know it? They may have been the ones to hide a child's shoes so that, even though we got out of the door later than we intended, we were saved from a car accident. They may have turned away a purse snatcher or a burglar from our door unknown to us. How many times have they put their hands on the children's backs to keep them from falling off of swings? Or saved them from the more serious threat of evil friendships or bad places? There is no doubt about it, we owe our guardian angels far more than we even know!

But sometimes we do know beyond a doubt when they have stepped in.

The last weeks before Dominic and Jon left for school in Omaha this summer, I wanted to take each of them up to the mountains, just the two of us, for a mom and son hike. Neither of the boys had been to St. Mary's Glacier and I hadn't been in over fifteen years, so we decided that was to be the destination. Jon and I went up one week and got back down without mishap.

Then, Dominic hiked up with me the next week.

It's only a one mile hike, at most, but all uphill, with lots of boulders and big rocks to navigate. But it's worth the trouble when you get to the top. There's a beautiful lake just below the glaciers at the summit, surrounded by stunted pines and wild flowers. Dominic and I hiked up that far then stopped to get our breath and enjoy the breeze. My son, the labrador retriever, checked out the water and we took some pictures. Then, we decided to take a path through the hillside up to the glacier where we might be able to get some more pictures. It was a pretty easy path most of the way, and ended up leading to a hidden crevice, through which ran a little waterfall. Dominic decided he needed to climb down into the waterfall to get a good picture of how it flowed down into the lake. I told him to go ahead, but to be careful; it didn't look very dangerous, just a tiny streamlet without much incline.

So, he climbed down to it and took some pictures (Oh the places my camera has been!). Then he decided he needed to climb up the waterfall for what he thought would be better shots. I wasn't so sure about that, but it looked like there was a path that led to the top of the mountain, around and above the glacier. Once he got to the meadow above the glacier, he could easily go around and meet me at the top of the fork that we passed earlier. It didn't look too far. It seemed like a good plan, and maybe easier than climbing back down the waterfall.

But, as you might have guessed by now, it was not a good plan. The slant of the slope to the top was misleading from where we were. It was a much longer hike than we could tell, and the route to the meadow at the summit was blocked by a wide "finger" of the glacier. I didn't know this at the time, but, just as Dominic climbed out of sight I got a terrible feeling of dread and fear. I knew that my Guardian Angel was warning me about something, but it was too late to stop Dominic at this point, so I said a prayer to our angels then climbed back down and around to wait for Dominic at the fork in the path.

But he didn't come.

And he didn't come.

So, of course I started to get really worried. I called his name and hollared and called some more. Then prayed. And called and called his name. And waited and prayed. And started to make a plan in my head for calling 911, and how I would explain to them where we were... And then I prayed some more.

Then, just as I had started up the path to go find him, Dominic appeared over the rocks ~ coming back up from the waterfall. Thank Heaven!

This is what happened:

He had climbed up to a big rock outcropping to reconnoiter his path to the top and realized that it was going to be a longer, harder hike than we'd realized, and that he'd have to go over some of the snow and ice of the glacier, but, being fourteen and invincible, he decided he might as well continue on up.

And he got pretty far.

Before he slid on the ice and started careening on his back down the glacier.

If you look very closely at this picture, you can see his tracks in the snow. See the big rock formation in the middle the snow peninsula? His slide started straight above it and to the right. He slid straight down toward this rock ~ which is about the size of a school bus...

And then the slide mark just stops...

...and continues down at the bottom left of the rock. Dominic has no idea how he got over that rock. He ended up with some scrapes on his leg and arm and that's it. You'd have thought if he'd tumbled over the whole rock he should have been mangled. But, he didn't scrape over that rock, and there is no track in the snow along the left side of it.

There is only one explanation for it. His angel carried him over.

His angel's name is Mark.

Thank-you, Mark.

PS ~ My husband helped me put the red line on the photo here this evening to hilight the path through the snow. That helps, huh? (Thanks, dear!)

Ha! Found my camera!

Thank-you, St. Anthony! It was in the zipper pocket in the bottom of the baby backpack that we took with us hiking on Sunday.

I had to wait until I could download the camera to show you what we've been up to. It was definitely a "pictures-worth-a-thousand-words" kind of weekend.

We baked all day Saturday...

Remember these?

We turned them into these:

*Apple walnut bread (sugar-free and yummy!),

*Pumpkin bread

*Peaches and cream bread

*Apple pie

*Peach pie

*Baby pumpkin muffins

*Peaches frozen for cobbler later

Then, after Mass on Sunday, we stayed for the parish potluck (to which we brought some of our baked goods) and Catechism classes with the traveling Sisters.

While the Sisters were here, Catherine got to be tested for her first Holy Communion. And, guess what?! She will be receiving Our Lord for the first time on Christ the King Sunday at the end of the month! We're so excited! That was the hilight of the day, but we still had more fun to come.

After the potluck, we changed into play clothes, packed ourselves up, and brought ourselves and the rest of our baked goods up to the mountains to celebrate the season with some of our oldest and dearest friends at their annual fall outing. But, enough words; I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

On the Way

At the campsite at Chicago Forks

On the Trail

(This trail is called "Hell's Hole Trail"! Can you believe it? Talk about a misnomer!)

It was a lovely day!