It's been two and a half weeks and I can't stand it anymore!

I wanted to see how long I could go without personally being the one to put the toilet paper back on the wall holder. It's easy to refill our holder, as there's a supply of new rolls within arm's reach of the "toot," so it's just a matter of unwrapping a new roll, taking off the empty cardboard tube, and replacing the new roll. No big deal, right? But I wanted to see how long we'd go before someone besides me put the roll on the holder instead of leaving it on the top of the tank.

You moms know the answer to this one, don't you? I knew it, too before I started my little experiment. The answer is:



FOREVER


My sis said she almost put it on there when she was here, but got distracted.


My mom didn't end up going into the bathroom at all when she was here, or it would definitely have been done.


But, neither of my brothers noticed anything amiss in there when they came over.


The Littles, who are here 24-7 couldn't manage the mechanics of it, even if they wanted to. Which they don't.


My teenage daughter apparently figured if I hadn't put it on, there must be some good reason for it.


And, my husband (bless his little male heart) isn't aware there is a toilet paper holder on the wall.

==sigh==

And so, here we are ~ two and a half weeks, and not a taker, folks. Drove me crazy every time I went in the bathroom. Our main floor bathroom is used so often, it needs a revolving door, but the wall holder remained empty for two and a half weeks. And the roll gravitated back and forth between the corner of the sink, the back of the tank, and the floor. Not that it mattered, but I started to figure out the pattern of who put it where. Interesting psychology, but frustrating.

++sigh++

So, what have I proven in this little experiment?


Nothing, I suppose, except what I already knew ~ that I am either:


A) totally indispensible to keep working all the tiny gears of happy, efficient living in my family


OR


B) totally obsessed about little details that don't matter one little bit to anyone else.


Regardless, the toilet paper is now back on the wall holder where it belongs. And I feel much better about life in general, even if I had to be the one to do the job.


I guess some of us are just meant to be the the keepers of the toilet paper. We're the same ones who are the sweepers of floors, the wipers of noses, the stockers of pantries, the pinchers of pennies, the bucklers of seatbelts, the teachers of manners, the rockers of cradles...

We rule the world.

One roll of toilet paper at a time...
(You better believe it!)

Why Obama Must Not Win This Election

H/T: Our Nicole

Monday, September 29th

The Feast of Michaelmas!

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 sun has just risen into the lower branches of the little elm over the playhouse. The children are all still in bed and the only sound I can hear is a train on the tracks in the distance, one little piping bird, and my fingers tapping on the keyboard.

I am thinking... it's so pleasant to start the morning quietly like this.

From the kitchen... we have the remnants of peach pie, apple bread, pumpkin bread and peaches and cream bread tempting me away from my diet...

I am creating... plans for lots of great feastdays coming up ~ Michaelmas today, the Holy Guardian Angels on Thursday, St. Therese on Friday, and St. Francis of Asissi on Saturday!

I am going... to the dentist with little Gabey today. (We have a wonderful children's dentist with the best toys in her office; Gabe hates to leave when we go!)

I am wearing... pink plaid pajamas!

I am reading... my new Maisie Dobbsbook, a bit at a time ~It's called Messenger of Truth (by Jaqueline Winspear). If you're looking for a great mystery series, I really like this one. &:o)

I am hoping... we can get the boys home from Omaha for a visit soon.

I am hearing... stillness...

Around the house... Our new boiler is up and running in the downstairs. The only thing left is to loop our upstairs into it and we'll have a real, honest-to-goodness twenty-first century heated house!

Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... hoping to make a get-away to the mountains tomorrow to sample some more color with the children on some naure hikes ~ The only problem is which trails to choose?!

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

A misty, chilly afternoon in the Indian Hills, above Denver. Guess who's in a bad mood this day?

Fifteen Years Ago Today

Our Fifth Baby Boy Was Born!

We're pleased to announce that, having gotten his rough and tumble years behind him, (snicker, snicker) he's turned out to be quite a gentleman and a scholar; he's an honor roll student, an altar server, a choir member, and an all around good guy.


He looks shy and humble here...
















But, don't be fooled...

















He's really a nut.


















Here are a few facts about this son of ours:


















1. He makes a mean milkshake.






















2. He likes to play on the computer.


















3. He really does have a great sense of humor.


Here's a picture of himself that he messed with on the computer. He says this is him as an old man. And, no, he won't mind that I put it on here. He'll think it's funny.





















4. He's a hard worker.

















5. Yes, he really does love hard work.


















6. But he really loves adventure ~ especially if it involves water.

















7. He likes cats.


















8. But he loves his family.

Here he is with his oldest brother, Paul.

















And here he is with his youngest brother, William.

















And we love him!

Happy Birthday, Dominic Alan!

Can't wait to really see your face!

(Was that better than a poem, son-o-mine?)

* For anyone who might not be aware, Dominic and his older brother, Jon, both board at Catholic School in Omaha, NE, where their older brother, Kevin, also works. We'll see them all at Thanksgiving, but if we can afford the fuel, it could be sooner, as well. We miss all their faces! It's just too quiet around here, and it's just unnatural to have a piece of pie sit in the fridge for two days without someone eating it. Unnatural, I tell you.

Immediate Action Necessary!

I'm horrified to have to share this news with anyone who has not already heard it, but the word needs to get out so that an abomination can be stopped. It seems that some demonically inspired individual has posted 40 videos to Youtube showing the desecration of Hosts. In order to stop this hateful, AntiCatholic display, we need as many Catholics (and others!) as possible to petition Youtube. Please go here to AmericaNeedsFatima.org to add your name to the growing list. And please pass this information on to everyone you know!

* Many thanks to Diane and Stephanie for telling us about this so I could pass the word!

Bad Language

"Dumbo!"

"What did you just say?" I admire the creativity, but I'm purposely not smiling...

Gabey, however, is smiling, with a mischievous twinkle in his brown eye.

Dumbo has turned into a bad word at our house. Sweet little, floppy-eared Dumbo. Because we love little Dumbo, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, the first time I heard Gabriel (4) call William (2) by the name. Surely, I thought, he's not using Dumbo's name as a slur! Dumbo is one of his favorite cartoons!

But then he did it again. And it was not in the tone of voice one uses to compliment. Then William picked it up, and before I knew it, it was the favored term of un-endearment around here.

Good grief! How is it that these sweet little boys can instinctively pick up a thing like this? Is it our fallen human nature? Is it a child's natural instinct for one-upsmanship? Do they think it's just fun to come up with creative insults? I don't know, but they all do it.

We went through a terrible "stupid" epidemic at our house when I was a kid, and my Mom and Dad brought out the whole arsenal of parenting weaponry to eradicate it. Soap to spanked butts. And it worked somewhat. We did stop saying it in front of them.

Mom and Dad also outlawed the phrases: "Shut up," "Sit on it," and "Oh, man" (That one just got under my Dad's skin...), and we were discouraged from saying "nerd" and the four letter word that means flatulation. But that's as bad as it got, really. It was the seventies, when the world still sheltered children somewhat. All of the families we knew made a point of it, anyway. We were only allowed to watch PBS, documentaries, and old movies on TV, and joined in the universal exclamation of horror when an eighth grader on our bus bragged that his mother let him watch All in the Family. That was racy back then; it was a scandal! We went to Catholic schools, where there were parent meetings about the appropriateness of taking the school children to go see Fantasia (Modesty issues, you know, and sorcery...). The worst word we ever heard uttered was "damn" ~ and we were horrified at that!

My parents never cursed, either, except perhaps the one mild four letter word that my Mom let slip every once in a blue moon that we didn't begrudge her. She'd usually earned the right to it, and the seven of us knew that, since we'd pushed her to it, we'd probably be the ones to answer to the Almighty for it. My Dad, on the other hand, used only creative phrases of exclamation like: "Oh, bat terds!" and "Horse hockey!" (We still giggle at these.)

But our bad words were not so much bad as just rude, I guess. Like "Dumbo." The only reason Gabe says it is to make his brother mad. Which, in a way, is worse than a curse word said out of habit, I guess. But, I'm glad that it's just a little word and one I can likely nip in the bud. I'm determined to teach him that it's an unkindness that spreads like a ripple on a pond. It spreads into other lives, like it did here, slipping into the vocabulary of his two-year-old brother, creating unhappiness.

And it digs deep down into our own characters. The habit of bad language grows and indicates a habit of unkindness and a lowness of mind. And it starts with little words like "Dumbo" and "stupid," and with unkind phrases like "shut up." All best nipped in the bud by Mom and Dad while they still have the power to create good habits of thought.

My oldest sons have an old friend who uses foul language, and they've told me that it pains them to have to avoid him because of it. It's so sad. But I'm proud of them that they understand that ripple effect and want to stay away from it. And it so pleases my parent's heart to see that one little thing we started teaching them when they were toddlers (I think the offending phrase for the big boys was "dumdum.") has come to roost in their hearts.

My boys. It almost makes me want to bite my tongue when I hear them calling each other things like "doofus" and "lunk head."

Parenting never really ends, does it?

Feast of St. Isaac Jogues

Of the North American Martyrs
"My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings."

-Saint Isaac Jogues

(Click on the title, above, for the whole story behind this amazing North American Jesuit martyr!)

Two Beautiful Prayers

I found these recently and added them to my list. I thought you might like them, too.

Prayer of Offering

O my Jesus, I wish to be included in all the Masses which are being offered today in the whole world. I offer them up in union with the intentions of Thy Sacred Heart, and I beseech Thee, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to reserve for me and apply to me from every Holy Mass a drop of Thy Precious Blood for the blotting out of my sins and of the punishment due to sin.

I also supplicate Thee that, through the efficacy of every sacrifice of the Mass, a poor soul may be delivered from the pains of Purgatory; a sinner converted; a dying person find mercy and grace; an infant be preserved from the danger of dying without baptism; a child be strengthened to preserve its innocence; a youthful soul which is about to choose a vocation, receive lights and courage to act and to decide according to the will of God; and finally, that a mortal sin which would most grieve Thy Sacred heart, be prevented. Amen

Imprimatur: Thmas H. McLaughlin, Bp of Paterson, circulated by the St. Anthony Guild, 1931

Prayer for Help to be a Good Mother

Mary, my Mother, grant that my little children may instruct me in the ways of God. Let their innocent eyes speak to me of the spotless holiness of Jesus. Let their open smiles remind me of the great love God has for his creatures.

Let their helplessness teach me the unbounded power of God. May their first feeble efforts to speak call to mind the wisdom of the Almighty. May their simple trust in me lead me to cherish a like confidence in God. May my love for God be stimulated by the deep-rooted affection my children have for me. May I in all these things grow in a greater appreciation of my holy motherhood.

Mary, I trust in you to obtain this favor for me. Amen.

Mother of Mothers, pray for me!

Feast of Our Lady of Ransom

Also known as Our Lady of Mercy, this is a feast of the Blessed Mother under one of her many titles, one which was conceived for a specific cause of mercy, that of the redemption of captives. Click on the title above for the complete story!

Here is a black and white holy card image that we are coloring this morning:

One Problem Solved

Yesterday I mentioned the trouble we've had with our schoolbook organization. We have bins for each of the girls' every day work, folders, binders, and pencil cases which they carry in from our big school cabinet (pictured at right), which is now located in our living room. That hasn't been a problem.

BUT, we do our school work on our dining room table, which, of course, we also use for everything else under the sun, including eating, so we can't use the table top for storage. We have a big bookcase in the room, but it's filled with all our saints books, coffee table books, and works of classics. Then, we have the piano and only a little room for anything else. So all our every day reference materials, correction books, and "together work" has ended up stacked on the hearth right near Mom's end of the dining room table. It's handy that way, but it's rather an eyesore.

See? Here was the problem:

(The books, not the boys &:o)

And here's the solution we found:

(It's from Tarjay, it cost about $25, and it's on wheels. Note the matching waste basket!)

In spite of everything...

I'd rather live in America than:

(Invest in silver and gold if you can, folks!)

The Theban Legion

Besides being my big brother, Steve's, birthday today (Happy Birthday, Steve!), it's the feastday of St. Maurice and the Theban Legion. This is another of so many inspiring stories of the martyrs. Our big boys, especially, loved hearing tales of the great soldier martyrs of the early Church, and this one has never ceased to amaze us all with the courage and valor of the six thousand, six hundred men who laid down their lives for their Faith!

The study of these saints leads us down a couple of interesting rabbit trails. First of all, it's fascinating to read about the life of a Roman soldier. The boys would take this opportunity to make some play weapons or armor, or find some cheap stuff on the internet . But, the girls, I'm afraid, have only enough interest in Roman soldiers to take the time for these two different Roman soldier coloring pages.

Simple Woman Monday, September 22nd

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.... it's a beautiful, crisp autumn morning. The leaves on the cottonwood tree overhanging the patio right beside my window are just becoming tinged in yellow.

I am thinking... We have a full week ahead ~ without Michelle here. She's spending a week with her grandparents in Southern California. The little girls are going to have to step it up, but I'm not worried. They always relish the idea of acting like "big kids."

From the Learning Rooms... We're overhauling Michelle's curriculum, due to a change in her schooling plans this year. Though we think the homeschool co-op we started on is a fabulous option, we're finding out that it's really cramping our style. We all decided it'd be best to continue homeschooling on our own this year, without the co-op, and maybe revisit the idea next year, when Shell will start to need the higher math and sciences that we can't provide as easily.

From the kitchen... While I was gone over the weekend, the little girls made some banana bread and banana cookies! I can't wait to tast their experimental banana cookies! Sounds like breakfast to me! Also, we picked up some fresh organic peaches from a farm stand near Paonia, CO (their last two flats!), and picked three bags full of Granny Smith apples from a friend's tree on the Grand Mesa. We'll see what we end up doing with all of it...

I am creating... Some new way of storing my every-day books and every-day school items. Right now everything is just piled up on the hearth in the dining room, and it's just not working. I'll let you know what I figure out...

I am going... to the chiropractor and nowhere else this week, if I can help it. I need a full week of organizing at home and doing home-centric things!

I am wearing... my favorite, comfy green, black and brown patterned gypsy skirt and a green button down blouse.

I am reading... Just got the fourth in the series of Maisie Dobbs books! Looking forward to a cool autumn night in my big comfy chair-and-a-half in front of the woodstove to get started on it!

I am hoping... I have success on a cleansing diet program I'm starting this week. Pray for me! It involves eating a lot less food than I'm used to ~ and breaking the sugar and caffeine habit. But, I know I need to suffer it for my health. (Ugh.)

I am thankful for... A beautiful weekend's rest seeing beautiful scenery, laughing, talking, and eating too much with my fellow M&M enthusiast, my friend, my sister, Nina. And I'm thankful for my wonderfully thoughtful husband who arranged for me to go ~ and cleaned up the house so well before I got back!

One of my Favorite things... Fresh, sweet, juicy, Colorado peaches!

I am hearing... The little boys running up and down the stairs, laughing and playing. (That kind of laughing and playing usually turns into trouble, though.... I'm just waiting for the crying to start...)

Around the house... My sweet husband and children did a wonderful job of cleaning up before I got home from my weekend trip. I have nothing but laundry to catch up on this morning. Like I said, I'm a very grateful mama!

Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Work on more fall decorating. Pull the sweaters out of storage. Can peaches and make apple butter and whatever else we can think of that's yummy ~ like at least one pie ~ before I start my diet.

Here is a Picture Thought (or two or ten) I'm Sharing With You...

Some pictures of the weekend's hunt for fall color in southwestern Colorado.

The leaves near the tops of the San Juans were changing, and at peak, but the lower elevations have only just begun to turn. The talk on the trail is that the cooler, wet summer and somewhat warm fall thus far have pushed the usual peak color dates back a week or two.

I'm sure I've probably shown pictures of these areas before, but they're always beautiful, always changing, so, if you don't mind sitting in for a tour, here we go,

First, to a favorite old "haunt" of ours: The Ironton Ghost Town on hwy 550, above Ouray:

This is a chicken house built onto the back of someone's late-1800s home. The snow got so deep in the backcountry up here, that some would build their animal's pens very close to the house, or even connected to the house for ease of care during the winter. I have to wonder that the bad smell wouldn't outweigh the inconvenience of moving the animals downwind... Check out the size of this wasps' nest! Yikes!

The path to someone's home ,once-upon-a-time.

Aspen leaves changing outside a very old stable.The eaves of a well-presevered 1870s homestead against the autumn blue sky.
Paul and Nicole. Such a fun day spent with our young people!

My sis ~ camera in hand, as always. (She's trying to catch an "orb" here...)

Looking up and around: To one side of the ghost town, you see the above mountain (don't know the name of it), and to the other side, the view below:

This is Red Mountain, towering over the Million Dollar Highway route through the San Juans. The mountain is red due to the iron oxide in the rock that forms the mountain. So, this mountain is red because it's actually rusty!

Now, we're looking over Silverton, Colorado, from the Christ of the Mines Shrine.

Here is the beautiful image of Christ, erected in 1959 as a tribute to the miners of the region.

This statue is sculpted of real Italian Carrara marble.

And here is some of the scenery that this image of the Sacred Heart presides over:

This hollow concrete "globe" is specifically intended for votive candles. It protects them from being blown out by the ever-present wind up here.

Here's the view to the northwest: And to the south:

Do you see the little train way dow there: The Durango and Silverton narrow guage steam engine roughly follows the route of the Las Animas River through the San Juan mountains. As we stood on the top of the hill to the north of the town, we could hear the sound of the steam engine whistle floating up to us and see the puff of smoke from the engine. So cool!

Here's some bright color to the southwest. I wish I could show them to you the way they really are ~ so golden they look lit from within! Alas, my camera's not quite up to that challenge.

Here are Paul and Nicole walking down from the shrine heading to the car so we can go down to Silverton and get some goodies at one of the candy shops down there. It's the fall, you know, when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of fudge...

Here are some of the brightly painted victorian facades of historic Silverton, Colorado. A snippet of the train whistle at the Durango-Silverton Railway Station:

And, last, a couple views from the northern end of our weekend trip ~ from the West Elks range on the way over McClure Pass, between Paonia and Redstone, Colorado. I wish we could go back up next week; all these aspen will be changed to autumn gold by then!

Here's one last "hello" from Colorado: The wind in the aspens in the San Juan mountains at the Ironton ghost town site.

Happy Autumn, everyone!