Lots of work to do today...

Soooo, Critter really enjoyed our library visit the other day.  He had a ton of work to finish on the computer and got rrrreeeaaaallllllyyyyy cranky if we interrupted his train of thought. 

Dollar worked on his President Garfield (he gets a kick out of THAT name!) report while Jellybean researched Presiden T. Roosevelt.  She really enjoyed looking at the cool pics of his family.

Freckles and Raminator enjoyed storytime and made black paper sack cats.  Poor Raminator's cat was de-tailed by the Critter's enthusiasm!

Oh, and here is a GREAT etch-a-sketch... catch the word???? Wow... guess who made that!??

Now that it is March - our studies will focus on  Science - Solar System
Geography - Ireland, Florida, Vermont
History - Industrial Revolution,Labor Unions,
Religion - Reconciliation, continuation of Lent, St Joseph & St Patrick, the Annunciation of our Lord,  and making the Stations of the Cross
and of course, the usual (math, spelling, writing)

Okay... 'nuf talking... back to WORK!

Celebrating FREEDOM!!

The children and I went to +Smiley's former school to watch their celebration of Black History Month.  They read poetry, excerpts from famous speeches, and performed songs.  I had fond memories watching +Smiley participate and after five years, I was ready to watch another performance. ( I missed Mr D's and Ms Janean's rhythm sticks with their students, though! I'll have to get them to get back to that!)

The students did a wonderful job!  They sang a song incorporating Dr Martin Luther King, Jr's words from his "I Have a Dream" speech:.  When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Tears streamed down my cheeks and my thoughts drifted to my +Smiley and my heart ached as I thought of his true freedom... free from pain and sorrow, irritations and aggravations, inconveniences and frustrations.  His is truly Free... and I thank God Almighty every day for that. 

The last song at his funeral was the African spiritual, "Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King..." way to go, precious son! He LIVES with the King!

Mr K, the awesome art teacher, found this photo to give me.  This is the smile I remember best.... we called it his Gazillion Dollar smile! And I know he continues to smile down on all of us as he dances with Jesus.       

* * * Winter W*nderland! * * *

Let it snow!  We are being greeted this morning by a lovely blanket of snow!  The boys were all ill last week thus the onslaught of CaBiN FeVeR.... remedy???  Make snow men!  After the library visit today ~ where they will work on  president and animal reports,~ they can frolick 'til their hearts are content in the white playland out the back door.  (I'll post the pix a bit later...)

After our last major snowfall, I had just left a mini-retreat with the Trinitarian Sisters of Mary in which we spent over an hour in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (our beloved, Jesus).  I felt so close to God and very grateful for being abundantly blessed.  On the way home, I stopped at the cemetery, trudged through the foot of snow, and placed a blanket at Smiley's headstone.  I spent time thanking God for my precious son's life and for the wonderful memories I have of him. After almost a half an hour of 'visiting' my kiddo through tears, laughter, and silence... I jumped up, went over to the other side, and laid down on his grave.  He was almost as tall as me when he died.  I remember all the joyous times we had in the snow... and gave him a little gift.  A made him a snow angel. * * *

Remember that each day we have with one another is truly a gift.  How will you GIVE yourself to others today?  My goal is to spend time this week with the children making Stations of the Cross scenes to adorn our home.   

Feeling a bit blue today....

The little boys are enjoying a heavy dose of mother nature's bounty -- wild blueberries!! :)  Okay, when I say WILD, I'm just copying what the bag says.  No, we didn't find a whopping goldmine of berries (it IS February, ya know!).  Instead, we plucked a 4# bag from the Costco freezer!  Check out these stained faces! 

And, aren't I blessed to have such an amazing laundry helper!  Sort those socks, baby!

Seeing God

What a fabulous day! Dollar and his daddy and their ConQuest boys' club had a Father-Son canoe trip today. We decided to get together with some dear friends and have our 'own' fun since the fellas were gone.


There were six girls (should have been seven, but one girlie went to her grandparents for several days) and then the Raminator who is now three. He packed in enough testosterone to make up for the other guys on the canoe trip! Although we had a blast watching his antics, the quote of the day was, "Next year YOU'RE going on the canoe trip!!" Ok, never mind that he'll be too young! The dynamics surely change when a boy is around!! heehee


He reminded us of last week's Gospel reading of Peter walking on water to Jesus. Well, except that the Raminator didn't lose faith! Our friends have a lovely pool with these huge, foam floating cushions. R was walking from one to the other and it was hilarious. One determined fellow, he is!


Seeing the joyful faces of these beautiful children of God, knowing they are created in His image and likeness, and being surrounded by their innocence made me feel so close to our Father. The blessings these kiddos bring into our lives is immeasurable. I am so grateful for the friends He brings into my life and the beauty in which I am surrounded.

Mermaid bliss

Oh, how I wish I had one of these when I was a little girl! Freckles loves it! I made it quite "modest", too! No bikini tops needed here....

She has fun beads in her purple mohair "hair" and a lovely beaded necklace. Her tail is made from silk, she stuffed with wholesome wool ~all natural materials for this mermaid.

I don't know who had/has more fun.. me making it, or Freckles playing with it!!

Can't go around it....

Dear Grief,
I remember when I feared you... dreaded, avoided, even despised you. But you kept inviting yourself back - the persistent “uninvited houseguest” of my aching soul. You are smart, though. You are like a caring friend that tells others what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear.

You know very well that if we avoid you we become bitter, lost souls. You are difficult to be around because you aren’t gentle so we try to tiptoe around you. We try desperately not to acknowledge you out of fear. You understand that we can’t survive if we lock you out. You are a harsh reality. You are treated like a huge, purple, polka-dotted elephant pushing its way through the middle of the party. It is ignored even when crushing none other than the hostess (me)!

Your desire is for us to embrace you as a dear friend. You want to help us grow with you and through you. A healthy friendship that moves forward, not stagnate by staying in the past. Oh, you bring a sting of pain that causes us to regard you as a foe. Your presence is venomous at first. But lately something strange is happening. You are bringing me comfort like a cozy, handmade scarf on a bitter, cold winter’s eve.

You help me to move into my future... to reshape it, to define it. You are there with me when I reminisce about the way it used to be... the way I want it to remain. You support me to get me through the pain of ‘now’.

Just like the kids’ camping song says about fleeing from the bear and you reach the edge of the dark, scarey forest.... grief... you can’t go around it, can’t go over it, can’t go under it.... gotta go through it.